#I've never drawn outer..

[contamination-zone]

Can u prettiest of the pleases draw outer and fresh together idc how idc how strange I just,,, I need to see them together.. pleas e :pray: - algae

frengs :-]

[antihibikase-archive]

Pokemon Blight / Blur - Aspertia Trio Character Sheets

Nuvema gang here.

A peculiar troublemaking trio that specialize not only in seeking out ideals as youthful heroes, but with the weather as well; Nate utilizes rain, Hugh utilizes sandstorms, and Rosa utilizes hail!

Nate Blake - A new hero emerging from Aspertia City. Having obtained his own Pokemon and Pokedex, he leaves on a journey with his friends in his quest to become a hero- a hero that spreads smiles, unlike The Hero of Truth.

Hugh Obsidian - A young trainer who has been preparing for his journey ever since that fateful day when Team Plasma attacked, leaving him and his friends scarred, and his sister with her Pokemon stolen. Even with his recklessness, he still manages to be the most sensible and responsible of the trio.

Rosa Whitefield - An excitable starlet, and Unova's next sensation- or so she claims. Though she seeks the thrills of life and to have the spotlight on her, she's more keen than she lets on- her intuition is almost never wrong.

[neverendingford]

.

[captain-bubble-wrap]

Srry but I love thar you're doing auston writings so could you do a quickie before morning practice?

YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL MIND, OKAY!? LIKE, GORGEOUS! 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

C|W : 18+ obviously, the rest is pretty vanilla; nothing worthy of a "warning". Just don't read it while operating heavy machinery!

W|C : 1.6k

It was some time past nine when you finally started to stir. Auston had been up since well before you, and the sounds of him in the shower had been what had awoken you. There he was, wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist as he passed through the bedroom towards the closet. You couldn't help but stare, and he didn't seem to notice that you were awake anyways, so where was the harm? The curves of his back, the tattoo on his spine, the way that towel was clinging to his ass -- you were hoping it would start to slip.

Just then, as if he had heard your silent pleas, Auston looked over his shoulder at you. "Good morning, baby," he smirked, seeing you looking at him like you were. He knew that look. "I wondered if you were going to join me."

"Easier to admire the view from here." You propped yourself up amongst the numerous pillows as he made his way over to you. There he stood, chest dotted with water droplets falling from his hair, but you didn't mind because the kiss had your eyes rolling closed.

"I'll let you get your sleep," he mumbled, lips just far enough away from yours to speak.

The sun was filtering in through the still-drawn curtains, but in a way where everything felt hazy, dreamlike. The weighted duvet you were under was warm; Auston's t-shirt you were wearing was already pulled up past your waist.

You couldn't lie that you were still tired, but it was his fault you were awake -- he owed you. "Come back to bed."

That grin was dangerous, and your body reacted accordingly to the desire it masked. "I've got to get to practice, babe. If you're still there when I get home," he trailed off.

"I'm not going to wait that long. C'mon, honey. Just real quick."

"You're never quick," he laughed, lying to himself that he wasn't fighting the urge to bend you over the bed. "Later okay?"

Pouting, you wouldn't let your eyes leave his face. You knew how you could make him stay for just a little while longer, and you wouldn't have to tell a white lie to do it. "I'd rather you get me off than me having to do it myself, Auston."

There it was. The way his amber-coloured eyes narrowed at you. He knew what you were doing and it was working.

"Baby-- I've gotta go."

"Just blame being late on the traffic. Please?"

For a second you thought he really was going to be strong enough to resist you, but when he sighed, you knew you had won.

"That 'please'," he whispered, "It's unfair. You're going to get me in so much trouble."

When the towel finally hit the floor, you could tell he was already half erect as he slipped beneath the blanket to settle in between you legs. The anticipation of any part of him touching your skin had your heart beating out of control.

"They won't know," you replied, catching his gaze. His right hand found your inner thigh, gently forcing it wider apart. There was so much pressure between your legs, just waiting to be released, and you'd get the ability soon enough. Auston was going to hold you to your word of "real quick". His fingers found your wet pussy, causing your back to arch against the pleasure of his touch. The first moan had him smiling -- likely something he'd hear in his head the rest of the day.

"Ah, good girl," he hushed, leaning over you while he pressed his head against your dripping lips. You were spread wide and ready for him to plunge deep into you -- the wait was unbearable. With each teasing poke, you wondered if he had second thoughts about getting to practice.

"Auston!" You begged, feeling him softly probe your outer folds.

He just laughed softly, back in control like he liked it. "I love it when you beg for me."

No sooner was he done with his sentence, did he fully enter you, forcing you to take every last inch he had to offer you. Your nails dug into his shoulder blades with each slow, deliberate thrust he was so kind to treat you with. The sound of his moans sounded so good in your head, and you loved knowing it was you who had him sounding like that. He'd nearly pull out just to fuck you just a little harder than the time before, trying to hard not to slip out.

"Fuck, babe--." he said breathlessly. "You feel so good."

However, you couldn't speak. You were lost in the fact that every time he pumped deeper into you, he was leaning forward and grazing your clit just enough to make you dig your nails deeper into his skin. Eventually, his pace quickened, as you found it hard to catch your breath against the constant panting. He wasn't messing around and had completely pushed the fact that he needed to go out of his mind. You were too nice to just use and walk away from. You were a treat to be enjoyed, and enjoy he was.

"You're taking me so well~ Just like that, baby."

Your eyes were rolling back in your head, the bed creaking against his cadence. He'd have your hands pinned above your head before he was through. You felt so small beneath him; so tight as he continued to stretch you wider. What time was it? Was he late? Did any of that matter? No.

Just when he thought you couldn't possibly get any wetter, he had to catch himself after you wrapped your legs around him, getting a new angle to go deeper.

"Ah, fuck--," he moaned, as you matched his. God, he knew just what he was doing to send you into a dizzy spell. "Keep going, good girl."

Did he know you were close? Had your rapid whimpers signaled that you were going to be reduced to a puddle if he kept talking to you like he was? He knew your body just as good as you did, if not a little better with how he could tease you enough to keep you going till he was ready to let you come. Any time you had tried to edge yourself, you gave in and finished after the second attempt. It was too easy to give in to yourself, but Auston was something completely different.

He wouldn't keep you wanting for long. His right hand continued to hold both wrists in place, while his left trailed down your face, tipping your chin for a kiss before wrapping his fingers around your throat. He was so strong, yet gentle when and where it mattered.

"Just a little more, baby. Not until I say so."

You were hanging on to him with dear life, but fuck if it didn't feel so amazing. His fingers squeezed slightly, heightening the pleasure you were receiving. You met him with each fleeting thrust, wishing somehow he could give you even more. He had already hit every secret spot you had, but you were being selfish.

"That's it-- wait for me."

Auston knew you were struggling, but he also knew if you waited you'd be happy with your reward. The mattress bounced beneath the two of you, Auston fucking you rapidly at the end until he couldn't hold on any longer.

"Tell me what you want, baby. Say it."

"Come in me, Papi. Please!"

The desperation in your voice was the release he needed and together, the two of you collapsed into a fit of staggered breathing and clouded, incomplete thoughts. His full weight on top of you made you fell so safe, so protected and at peace. Slowly, you'd unfold your legs, feet now flat against the mattress although he was still fully inside of you, as per your request. You could feel the raised marks your nails had caused over his shoulder blades. He'd have to be careful in the dressing room with those fresh marks on his skin, or else everyone would know why he had been late.

"You're amazing," he whispered, mouth right next to your ear while he laid there. "I'm glad you talked me into this."

His comment made you laugh, running your fingertips along his back as a soft thank you. "I'm happy you stayed."

Nuzzling against your neck, Auston slipped a hand beneath your shirt and carefully played with your nipple, knowing you'd be borderline overstimulated. You'd bite your lip to stifle the gasp he had caused.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said with a kiss. "I like to play with you."

He'd lift himself up slightly, your body instinctively clenching around his cock at the feeling. "I'll go slow, okay?"

Taking his face in your hands, you'd give him a nod -- still nibbling on your lip. Feeling him finally slip out of you left you aching.

"I've gotta get cleaned up and go, baby," he confessed, wishing he could just spend the day in bed with you. "Wanna join me?"

"No, you go on ahead. You're already late."

"Are you sure?" He half-whined, hoping you'd change your mind.

"Yeah, we both know what's going to happen if I take a shower with you. I need to lay here for a little bit anyways." You smiled as he got back on his feet, reaching for the towel he had discarded beside the bed. He felt guilty leaving you there like you were, dripping wet with his cum and yours, but you had had a point. "Can I get you anything before I go?"

You'd just shake your head, watching him walk around the foot of the bed. Those marks on his back were so red.

"I'm sorry about your back."

He laughed, feeling the heat coming off of them, "Hard to blame those on the traffic."

[omaano]

SW Hades AU MAY-JUNE Update

Some links and previous updates: May - June - July - August - September - October/November - December - January - February - March-April - everything else in this AU

Would you look at that! I managed to put together an update post with more than just May the 4th Boba :D Happy Pride, happy last days of June, and please enjoy the fact that I finally added 2 more ladies to the Hades AU. Full renders will come.... eventually ^^; I feel like I'm really super overdue to one though...

We're making this a girls thing >:3

I've drawn a younger, cockier Boba in the style of Hades 2 (instead of the usual Hades (1)) for May the 4th, because I am very much obsessed with the game and I desperately wanted to draw Boba again.

It's been deeply unfair to him that I had drawn him way back in 2022 (Jesus Christ! am I taking my sweet time) and never again ever since in this style. But when he wears it so well!

I also have a surprise Leia! And Satine as well!

If you recall I'd had the hardest of time for months to come up with anything for Leia, which I can only partially blame on whatever shape of artblock/burnout/exhaustion I had been feeling recently. Then one night - BAM! I was just messing around, looking at pose references on my pinterest boards and sketching and all, and suddenly I had a "businesswoman in a rush between meetings not having enough time for your shit" pose and look for her that I was very happy with. Might have been shortly after I watched (and had a great time while doing it) The Phantom Menace. Or the end of Andor. One of these two.

Originally I wanted her to appear as if she was on a holo call with Din, projected by R2, because she is busy and in a rush (like Hermes), but I'm undecided if I will want to go through with that in the end. Mainly because I'm not very thrilled by the idea of having to draw a portrait for R2 as well for that.

I also had a surprisingly great time coming up with a getup for her!

I believe that I finally started slipping along the double edged sword of how it's both a hindrance and liberation that I don't have to come up with character designs of my own for this AU to most characters. It takes a lot of pressure off me that I can treat this as a style and coloring exercise, but at the same time it's very limiting. I think I have already bemoaned how Star Wars character designs can be so grey and same-y at times (especially in the Outer Rim, and seriously, why is everyone so blue? Or black and grey) whereas Hades is so beautifully and colorfully designed!

I did a tiny bit of research on Wookiepedia - nothing major, as this was still just a past-midnight-waste-some-time sketch - and set out to merge some design and wardrobe elements from Breha, Bail and General Organa. If you can make out my handwritten notes, you might see some of these design elements, and to whom they shall refer to (like the bracers and belt to Bail, the braids and bun for Breha and Leia's own future). Ultimately more of the "Bail" elements won out if you wanted to weigh them against each other. I feel like that would fit Leia, her fierceness, and pragmatic strictness and determination best.

I'm a little regretful about the veil, but I worried that it would be too much flowy fabric next to her sleeves/cape. Very sad.

So it really was a relief to get into some designing with Leia, and to add some more colors and intricate details to Satine.

I don't have that much more to say about Boba and Satine tbh. Mostly because Boba is still a bit of a miracle I'm still unsure how he happened and how he looks so good (although not shiny enough compared to the latest update of Hades2 where all the gods, and really all the characters, are suuuuuper shiny. like. seriously). While with Satine my only goal was to make her look less willow-y (because it drives me insane how everyone in TCW is so damn thin), and might have fallen off on the other side of the horse (I'm pretty sure that's not the actual English idiom, please excuse me), and she's got some real massive shoulders and sleeves XD also how does she keep her head up with all that on her head? ^^;

Anyways, I love her with all her faults, and I just really wanted her to look beautiful and sad, and Mandalorian, and let her wear beskar heart elements in her design.

-

.

Taglist of anyone who wants to be pinged once a month for these updates <3 If you want to be added to the list send me a message, or just reply to this post (a 👀 would do, nothing fancy required ;))

@elwinged @yeehawgeek @velsayshi @lionsaint @hastalavistabyebye

@ribbonkandy @nalase @schrodingers-cosmic-abomination

If you want to be taken off the list just message me and I’ll take you off, no hard feelings :)

[mariahillsgirl]

the diner

toxic emily prentiss x reader

tw: mentions of suicide, angst

thank you @uzmacchiato for the dividers and my friends for proofreading this.

i've been working on this instead of my exams :/

you were sat upon the high top chairs of the diner. staring at the glass of pinot noir in front of you. emily's favourite. in the black dress you knew she adored. waiting for the ghost of her to bless you with its presence. even when you knew it wouldn't.

was that all you were to her? an illicit affair. even when she outwardly called herself as single. you knew better than to believe her sweet poison. after all, you were able to witness it first hand. how her silver tongue skillfully twisted every lie. how unavailable she was. busy flirting with just about any pretty thing with legs she came across.

you guys were at the bar. you caught emily's eye wandering to a redhead across the room three times now.

"do you know her?" you asked, trying to keep your voice casual.

emily's attention snaps back, smoothly as if it never left. "who?"

"the redhead you've been watching."

she slid her hand over yours, thumb tracing circles on your wrist. "i wasn't watching anyone. i was thinking about how much i'd rather be alone with you right now."

such a blatant lie to your face. it was too late for you. drowning in her. you don't need to breathe when she looks at you, all you see is green.

when she kissed you and took your breath away, you forgot to wonder if she's said those exact words before, to someone else.

she said her heart was jaded. she couldn't take another heartbreak. instead, you were the one who shattered. into a million little pieces. like the empty dust particles floating in outer space.

sometimes it was hard to believe you were made of stardust. the minerals found on celestial planets flowing throughout your veins. when all you felt like was a grain of sand in the grand moment of time. inconsequential, insignificant. especially, to her.

you were at a bar with the rest of the bau, her work friends.

emily's hand rests casually on your lower back as she laughs at something JJ had said. to anyone watching, you might as well be together.

"another round?" she asks the group, but her eyes linger on you.

they all orbit her, drawn to her gravity like you were. and you're just the temporary distraction. the inside joke emily will tell them about someday.

later, when you're alone at the bar waiting for drinks, you pounce.

"everyone thinks we're dating," you observe.

she shrugs, unbothered. "people see what they want to see."

"and what if I wanted that too?"

her expression shifts subtly, that warning look you've come to recognize. "don't make this complicated. we're having fun, right?"

before you can answer, she touches your cheek with surprising tenderness. "you're amazing, you know that? i don't deserve you."

the conversation is effectively derailed. instead it ends up with another night of you in her bed, her skilled fingers making you lose yourself in the ecstasy.

she only wants you for your body. a little voice in your head reminds you. creeping up on you.

your phone pings at 1am

"hey, you awake?" em's text reads simple, direct.

twenty minutes later you were at her door.

"rough case?" you ask as you shed your jacket.

"don't want to talk about work." she pulls you close, kisses you hard.

later, as you're lying in the dark, she says something out of the blue.

"sometimes I think this job is eating me alive." her voice sounds smaller than you've ever heard it. so different from the big and strong emily prentiss.

but the moment you try to pry for more, that emily is gone again. disappearing with the slightest breeze.

she kisses your shoulder, changing the subject with practiced ease. "have I told you how amazing you are at distracting me?"

the deflection works. it always does. she stops answering your texts for a week after that. no explanation given.

you're alive. you're alive. you're alive.

although you barely feel it. life passing around you, the kaleidoscope of colours swirling into a watercolour painting gone wrong.

sometimes it felt like a nightmare. living like this.

it was so wrong, and you should know better. but how could you resist her when she beckoned you over. her like an owner calling her puppy.

sometimes, the gleam of your fruit knife in the kitchen cabinet shined greedily, tempting you. to expose the scarlet paint flowing throughout you, to let it splatter onto a new canvas.

nevertheless, you could feel the whispers around you.

Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?

it wasn't fair.

she really knew how to make you cry. and you couldn't stop. it was fucking terrifying. falling into her. into the one person in your life who would actually not give a single fuck about you.

she knew damn well. for her, you would ruin yourself. a million little times.

spence was right. she always saw you as dispensable, a brat at best. another warm body to lie on. you took his warnings to heart.

"you're on your own, kid. you always have been."

a curse etched so deep into your bones. twisting like a maggot and fueling your darkest thoughts.

why was she the one who got away? leaving you alone, your ghost lingering in the diner. waiting for her to come back to you.

your friends told you to snap out of it. the same friends she tried to hide her disdain for. they heard that you've been in love. if you could call whatever you had with her a twisted form of love. but the wrecked ball on your bed no longer looked like you. there was a hole in your heart, the shape of her tattooed onto it.

"angel, your friends don't seem to like me much," emily murmured casually, stirring her coffee.

"they're just protective."

her smile doesn't reach her eyes. "they don't know me."

"they sees how I am after you leave."

"and how's that?" her tone is light but the glint in her eyes are calculating.

"a mess."

she sighs. "friends should support each other, not judge. you might want to consider who really has your best interests at heart."

the suggestion hangs in the air - subtle, but clear. choose.

"my friends just want me to be happy."

"and I don't?" Her expression hardens. "i'm the one who accepts you exactly as you are. no expectations, no pressure. isn't that what you said you wanted?"

it was clear she was using your own words against you, but you couldn't care less.

"that was before."

"before what?" Her voice softens dangerously. "before you decided this wasn't enough? or before your friends convinced you it wasn't?"

by the time you left her apartment, you were somehow apologising to her, and cancelling plans with your friends.

when she mercifully ended the cruel dream,

it was screaming. crying. throwing up. hunched over in bed, begging to forget. to escape from this living hellhole. to die.

the mirror became the enemy. for the things you saw in your own eyes. the hunger. the need. it wasn't love, no. it was an addiction. and you were the only one who got high on it.

so you haunted the diner.

right where she left you.

and maybe a piece of you was forever left there too.

[curiositysavesthecat]

*This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).

[helslastangel]

Hi. I hope this question doesn’t come off as stupid but what does it mean when the majority of the planets are aspecting your ascendant or ascendant ruler? How does that affect your appearance and personality?

Hey love! Not at all - you know what they say, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

Dominant 1st House or Many Aspects to the 1H/Ascendant

The 1st house represents the self in various ways

Self-expression, self-awareness, identity, and so on. Having many planets aspecting your 1st house can indicate that you put a great deal of time and effort into yourself. The exact ways in which you do this depend on the planets and specific aspects. Inner planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) will usually have a greater impact than outer ones.

Having the Sun, Mercury, and Saturn aspecting your 1st house may indicate a dominant and highly communicative person with some aloof or stoic tendencies while having the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter aspecting the 1st house could indicate an easygoing person who seems to get lucky and either charm or "stumble" (lol) their way into beneficial situations or opportunities quite often.

Personal development is important to you and you may be more of a trendsetter than a follower. If you are a "follower," you may fall into categories like "innovator" or "early adopter" when it comes to new trends in technology, fashion, ideologies, or whatever interests you have.

You know who you are and don't take kindly to others putting words in your mouth or trying to tell you who they think you are. Of course, no one likes that but 1st housers DETEST it, as they're not usually confused or unsure of their identity.

Your appearance could take on the characteristics of multiple planetary stereotypes. 1H Dominant people usually look unique and have striking features that turn heads or are memorable in some way, especially with Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus aspects.

You might not get compared to celebrities or mistaken for others often, if at all, simply because most people might have never seen someone who looks like you before.

For example, I have a friend with strong Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter aspects to their 1st house, and they look almost unreal. They are tall with very high, striking cheekbones and insanely sharp jaw structure mixed with dark yet extremely soft, ethereal eyes, small, full lips, and an androgynous look overall. They look authoritative, tough, cute, and approachable all at the same time. Their energy is the same, harmless and terrifying all at once. Like you want to protect them with your life and yet call them to save you from a dragon in the same breath, lol.

This is just one example of how having multiple planets strongly aspecting your 1st house/ascendant could affect your appearance.

♡♡♡

Personally, I think Aquarius Junos and Eros people are especially drawn to 1st housers, but that's just an observation I've had, it may not be universal.

♡♡♡

Hope this is what you were looking for! 🌺☺️

[elwensa]

hello! i’ve noticed some recurring characters in a couple of your young founders comics (jasper, beryl, shale… jasper) and i was wondering if you had any info about them?

i’ve been thinking about the village elders a bit, and i love it when people make characters from way back then, who aided in their upbringing and helped raise the community ::]

I was waiting to post this comic to answer this x)

So!

Jasper was the previous Mayor, before Rutile. They were your typical old-school grampma: very strict, often grumpy, and not hesitating to pinch your ear or slap you in the back of the head if you're acting like a smartass.

They could be very sweet and caring too. They loved caring for the hatchlings and would call almost everyone Pebble. They were very close to Rutile and Gneiss back when they were young.

They would very often butt heads with Feldspar, as they became more and more reckless with years. They were also very opposed to the space program when the idea was first brought up. It took them many years to finally convince them to consider it. They unfortunately passed away before any test flights.

Beryl used to be similar to Tektite. They would travel around Timber Hearth and make sure everything's alright. Back when ghost matter wasn't easily detected, Beryl didn't fear exploring around. Personality wise, I see them like an elderly sailor: they were very stoic, barely any emotions showing, and they would laugh very loudly.

It was Beryl who saved Tektite when they lost their leg. As they were exploring, Tektite stepped into a patch of Ghost Matter, and Beryl carried them back to the village as quickly as possible.

Shale is the eldest of them 3. They were the scientist of the village. They were the one who were interested in space in the first place. Their cabin was where the observatory is now placed.

My idea is that as they grew older, they started to get mobility issues, so they mostly spent their days studying space. This is also why everyone called them Old Shale; they looked older than they actually were, and had trouble walking around.

Feldspar loved being around Old Shale. While Feldspar was fascinated by outer space, Shale would always happily answer their questions. Shale also loved having Hornfels around since they were very smart. Which sometimes made Felds a bit jealous.

Shale died when the founders were still teenagers. After their death, Hornfels kept all of their notes out of fear the the rest of the village wouldn't understand them and throw them away. This helped Felds realized that Hornfels could be an important member of the OWV.

Shale is the only one I've never drawn so far. And so far I like them being in the shadows. They're a mystery character x)

[countesspetofi]

I was inspired by @the-blue-fairie's post about favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios movies to share this memory I've never talked about before.

I always feel guilty for deeply personal and equally ridiculous reasons when I find out someone is a big fan of Treasure Planet.

I started a new antidepressant in May 2002. I have pretty bad malabsorption issues, so normally it can take weeks or even months for enough of a new medication to build up in my system to know what effect it's going to have. But for some reason, this one hit me like a ton of bricks right from the first dose. I remember being at work and time just sort of... slowing down. Everything got really far away. All the moisture was somehow removed from my body. I could talk, but it was in somebody else's voice. I felt incredibly light and heavy at the same time. Some part of me knew I ought to be worried, but I just couldn't bring myself to care. In short, I was stoned off my gourd.

I got through the day on autopilot, which was pretty par for the course at the job I had at the time. My sister picked me up as planned, and we went to the mall to go to the movies. I dimly recall getting something to eat first. I think she noticed something was up, because I remember that other voice saying, “It's been a long day. A looong day,” a lot. We ran into someone from work at the cinema and I remember being uncharacteristically chatty and bubbly; my sister and I were going to see About a Boy with Hugh Grant, and I'm 99% sure my coworker and I lapsed into bad English accents at some point.

When we got into the auditorium I was so disoriented I couldn't tell where I was going. I was as sure as I knew my own name that they had turned the whole room sideways, and kept trying to go where I thought the seats should be and running into the wall. My sister had to steer me to a seat, but she was sort of used to that because of my night blindness and I don't think she realized I was quite as bad off as I was. Then the trailers started.

The first one was a short teaser trailer with GORGEOUS hand-drawn animation of an old-fashioned sailing ship flying through outer space, with the text: “Robert Louis Stevenson's greatest adventure as it has never been seen before: Walt Disney's Treasure Planet.” It really looked impressive on the big screen.

And I laughed. In my altered state I probably would have laughed at pretty much anything, but “Treasure Island in space” just struck my funny bone for no reason and I was all out of self-control at the moment. I wish it had been just a giggle, but it was a great, big, “HAAAA! Treasure Planet!” that I'm sure they could hear at the concession stand. And instead of the shushing I deserved, it set off a round of titters from the entire audience. By the time the feature started, I had settled back into the semi-catatonic state that had gotten me through the workday, and apart from a scary adventure finding my way back from the ladies' room the rest of the evening passed uneventfully.

I never took that drug again. The doctor said I should have stuck with it to see if the side effects subsided, but I was just a working stiff. I couldn't work in that state, and this was pre-ACA. Without the health insurance I got through my job it would have been game over.

But in my worsening depression as we continued the series of shots in the dark that finding the right medication can be, I became irrationally convinced that it was my intoxicated public ridicule of the trailer that was single-handedly responsible for Treasure Planet's failure at the box office and probably the entire death of hand-drawn Western animation. I didn't watch it myself for YEARS because I would just inwardly cringe SO HARD at the memory. And it's good! It's REALLY good! I wish I'd gotten over my embarrassment and seen it on the big screen so my $7.50 could have gone toward the box office receipts.

@ariel-seagull-wings @themousefromfantasyland @thealmightyemprex

[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2023 Part III

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2023

The year is soon coming to a close, but I've still got more recs of stories published in 2023 to share with you all! Reminder that you can also still submit asks for Follower Recs and Proud Author Spotlights for the Rewind (just make sure to mention that it's for the Rewind!).

Part I

Part II

~*~

💙 Heaven, Wait

by sunflowersfield

T, 2k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: “So, if you could have a tea bag that made 100,000 cups of tea,” he asks, grinning widely, “what kind of tea would you choose?” Silently, Lan Zhan considers this. He thinks he knows what his response would be if Wei Ying asked him the same question. If he was the one on this date with Wei Ying. “I have no idea,” Wei Ying’s actual date is answering now, shaking his head. “Do you really spend your time thinking about that sort of thing?” Lan Zhan clenches his fists as he watches the light behind Wei Ying’s eyes disappear. Or: What happens when you finally find someone who wants you to be yourself.

~*~

Every Mother's Son

by Chrononautical

T, 11k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: When the former Madam Lan hears that the new Sect Leader Lan married a criminal who is kept in the same house where she once lived, she has only one choice. She has to return to Cloud Recesses to rescue Wei Wuxian!

~*~

Duo With You

by Nyatci (@nyatci)

T, WIP, 48k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Wei Ying, a college freshman doing his best to keep his life in order after being kicked out of his house, finds solace playing a new video game. He's a total 'noob' who one night gets paired up with a much more skilled (read: arrogant) player named 'HanguangJun'. After the match, HanguangJun is less than impressed with Wei Ying's skills and lets him know so, leaving Wei Ying with two choices: Follow HanguangJun's suggestion to 'uninstall the game' or...'git gud' ;)

~*~

The View Down Here

by Ferrous (@poorly-drawn-mdzs)

G, 1k, Wei Wuxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: You took a rest on the ground when the sun was high. Someone called your name, and you did not move. The sun dipped below the mountains and you remained. Your breath moves the hazy air above you in spirals as you continue to live despite your persistent stillness. - - - The Yiling Laozu takes a rest. Something observes.

~*~

catatonia: on the subject of mothers

by AvoOwO

M, 20k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Nóngwù is a dense, foggy town that drifts close to the east. It is a large, bustling merchant-town that consistently sees an added number of newcomers every new census. People are disappearing. Lan Wangji does not oftentimes believe in the worst outcome; often, the demon everyone is so fearful of is a simple imp, a simple ghost that may be dispelled. Memories and small things; the idea of mothers and something prodding at the very topic of it.

~*~

Hidden in the Clouds

by Karmiya (@fannish-karmiya)

E, WIP, 17k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: While on a night hunt in Moling, a seventeen year old Lan Wangji meets a promising cultivator in a place he never could have expected. Wei Ying, for his part, only ever expected to have a pleasant few nights and pick up a few new talismans from this handsome young cultivator; but somehow, after a whirlwind affair, Lan Wangji proposes that he join his sect as an outer disciple and finally receive the formal training that was denied to him all his life. As foolish and reckless as it is, Wei Ying can't resist. The clouds hide many secrets, but how long can this secret be hidden?

~*~

💙 Reconnaissance

by TomatenMark (@tomatenmark5)

M, 2k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: The Sunshot Campaign is over, but only just. Determined to finally get through to him, Lan Wangji seeks out Wei Wuxian who is selfmedicating in a winehouse. Turns out, once Lan Wangji has him in his grip, Wei Wuxian has peculiar trouble freeing himself. Or alternatively, the fic that was born from my fascination with how effortlessly Lan Wangji could hold coreless Wei Wuxian down during the stolen Poenix Mountain kiss and what that might mean in a different setting.

~*~

My Pet Rabbit Found His Husband at the Library, Or: How One Mischievous Rabbit Got Lan Zhan a Boyfriend

by katje

G, 1k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Lan Zhan had thought today would be like any other day working at the library. He had been working at this branch for nearly three years as the Youth Services Librarian, and he had his routine down to an art. From planning programs to culling books and replacing them with books more children would enjoy to holding animal therapy sessions with his Flemish Giant rabbit Tofu, he was as set in his routine as one could be working with the general public. Little did he know, however, his peace would soon be disrupted by none other than Tofu himself, who was usually a model employee. OR Lan Zhan is just trying to do his job, but his pet rabbit has other ideas - namely, finding himself and his baba a husband.

~*~

The Second Hand Unwinds

by trulywicked (@trulywicked)

E, WIP, 25k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Sent back in time without his husband after a night hunt gone wrong, Lan Wangji is determined to ensure that Wei Wuxian’s safety and in the process hopefully mitigate, if not prevent, the war. Through marriage among other things.

~*~

The Housewife's Guide to Causing Chaos

by dvasva (@dvasva)

M, WIP, 127k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: “Of all the rotten luck I could have!” Outside, in between the gentle embrace of an imposing misty mountain and the caress of soft wind, stood the Cloud Recesses. It wasn’t a section that Wei Wuxian had recognized from his time in the sect, but the motifs of clouds and cranes in the buildings, the impeccable feng shui and carefully manicured paths, and the utter silence as the sect members slept peacefully, all burned themselves into Wei Wuxian’s eyes. No wonder the curtains were so firmly nailed to the walls! Any bit of demonic energy escaping the room could call down a veritable army of righteous cultivators! What sort of person in their right mind would dare to summon a spirit into their own body using resentful energy in the Cloud Recesses of all places? What kind of person would scoff so rudely at the Lan Clans most important rule, ‘Do not fraternize with evil?’ After being dead for four years, Wei Wuxian wakes up in a body he doesn't really feel comfortable with, in a place that he's sure wants him dead, and married to a man who surely hates him.

~*~

heated

by ilip13 (@ilip13)

E, 5k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: "I’m so fucking horny," Wei Ying moans. She really is — she starts running a hand down her body, sweaty throat, unpleasantly sticky dip between her breasts, and then she is too tired to continue. "Wei Ying." Poor Lan Zhan, the heat has affected her even worse. Wei Ying’s beautiful, articulate Lan Zhan, spending the last three days with a blush high in her cheeks, blinking these slow, miserable blinks. "I know," Lan Zhan says. "Me too." * The AC is broken.

~*~

bitter cold, sweet mouth

by hauntedotamatone (@hauntotamatone)

E, 7k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: “I’ll be out for a long while,” he says, running his fingers through the ends of his damp hair. “I’m not to make a habit of it, but Lan-daifu is concerned enough to think it’s necessary this time.” There is a wry little twist to his mouth, a hint of worry tucked into the corner of a smile. “You’ve got to protect me, alright Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying rises to his feet and walks past him without so much as a single glance over his shoulder. “What a shame it would be if some scoundrel found their way in while I was like this? All vulnerable and ripe for the taking.” The idea of any such scoundrel making it into Cloud Recesses, let alone getting close enough to even lay eyes on the jingshi is laughable, ridiculous. It has been far too long since Wei Ying has said anything ridiculous. He has missed it even more than he thought possible. _ Wei Wuxian struggles to acclimate to the change of seasons, Lan Wangji does his best to handle him with the care he deserves.

~*~

Seasons of Love

by Witch_Nova221 (@witchnova221)

G, 23k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Part of the MDZS Reverse Big Bang: 2023

Summary: Wei Wuxian returns to the Cloud Recesses, world weary and still looking for his place in the world. Lan Wangji is determined to show him just where his place is and that it will never be taken from him again. Inspired by the wonderful art of Esper-aroon for the MDZS Reverse Big Bang - 'Lan Wangji protective of Wei Wuxian'

~*~

Haunted house

by Indrel (@lovewanxian)

G, 2k, Pre-Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Two haunted homes and three promises made to protect A-Yuan from the ghosts and monsters that want to harm him.

~*~

lovely thorns and singing crows

by isabilightwood

E, 37k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Part of the MDZS Reverse Big Bang: 2023

Summary: “Lovely weather for a funeral.” “Atmospheric,” Lan Zhan agreed. Expecting, as had happened so often in his life, for the handsome stranger to stiffen at the sound of his voice, for that smile to turn false and brittle as they made their excuses. “You have a lovely voice,” they said instead, as if they weren’t calling eroded gravel beautiful when their voice was the finest jade. It was far from a typical compliment, but Lan Zhan was so starved for praise his heart clenched in his chest. On the day of his father's funeral, Lan Zhan receives a box of letters from his long-missing mother. His quest to find her leads him to a spooky, kooky, and loving family who just might want him to stay forever. (And of course, to the man of his dreams).

~*~

💙 Down comes the night

by danegen (@danegen)

E, 67k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Lan Wangji walks forward, extending his senses for some sign of the magic confining them. But there is nothing. One moment, he is walking away from the village. The next, Wei Wuxian stands in the road ahead of him, the dizi tracing lazy arcs in the air. He stops and looks behind him. The view has not changed. He stands there, helpless. Baffled. Like a koi circling a pond, eternally struggling to go nowhere. “Messes with your head, doesn’t it?” He turns to Wei Wuxian, who regards him calmly, almost pityingly. Wei Wuxian has endured this for months. Months. Lan Wangji wants to scream. He wants to batter down this cage and fly away without looking back. Or while returning from a night hunt, Lan Wangji is trapped in a strange village that is terrorized by monsters. However, an intriguing cultivator named Wei Wuxian is also trapped there, so it isn't all bad. And guess what? They have to be roommates.

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[cricky-butspicy]

could you describe their slasher costumes a bit more? (or tell me which chapter it might be in, I've tried looking back over and I think I might be missing it)

I can tell you that you are not missing it, because I have never fully described what their costumes look like in the story! There is a good reason for that!

When explaining things in detail, what I like to do is have full references first, and the thing is, is I still haven't gotten to drawing out full references for their slasher costumes. I did this in my creature fic where I waited to write out the creatures' descriptions until I had fully drawn and colored them so I knew what I was talking about and that no details would change that I would regret later and that nothing prominent would be left out (like Creature Sun's back spikes that were a last minute change!)

I know what they look like for the most part, but there are things that I need to draw out first and look at before I'm able to describe them in the way I want and to be exact. BUT there are sneaks at what their costumes look like a bit in a few chapters, and I can kind of explain what the majority of them look like for the most part, but some of it may look a little different once I get the chance to draw them. Let me try to compile the brief descriptions below!

I'll start with the a general inspiration is of course their FNAF:SB animatronic counterpart designs, but they are not exact! I will also say they are completely hand made save for the base of the masks by Soleil himself! The outfits are both made from a waterproof material with a soft almost fuzzy inside (They both wear clothes under their costumes, 1 for easy change and get away, and 2 so Soleil doesn't get sensory issues!) (this is why they can spray each other off with hoses after sprees without worry. They are waterproof and will not get soaked. Blood will not soak them either. Smart choice.)

Here are some small descriptions that are scattered throughout the fic (Not including just how many damn times I talk about their gloved hands or heavy boots. I guess I wanted to make those clear.)

Chapter 1: Chapter one you find out that they "...created matching costumes with masks they altered and painted to look like a bright shining sun and a phase of the moon. The night of the party, they hooded up, put on their gloves and boots..." So, we know they both wear masks, they are covered by hoods, and not quite described, but they wear thick rubber gloves and both wear large rubber boots that have 3 inch platforms on them (Never described in the fic, but both pairs of boots are the same size and do not match Soleil and Atlas's true shoe sizes. They are both bigger and then strapped tightly to their feet with outer thick red ribbons so they don't trip.) For the masks, they are large, circular, and have eyeholes cut out with extra space whittled away so they can see better. The hoods are like costume hoods. They are black and slip on over their heads to cover most of their skin and hair with a space cut out for their faces. Their gloves are both a deep gray/blackish and are those long elbow length work/cleaning rubber gloves. We also know from this chapter the boot are heavy and it's hard to see their eyes properly through the large masks' eyeholes unless closer up.

Chapter 4:

"The man was covered with splatters and droplets of blood, one streak that covered right across his large round mask. Now that you had a chance to look at the thing without a large distance, you could see the paint streaks on its surface and the way the rays were added on after it had been made with some sort of thick glue."

Chapter 6: We learn that Atlas keeps a knife strapped to the back of his belt so he can easily pull the knife out from behind him.

Chapter 11: We learn that their pants are puffy and so are their shirts!

Chapter 16: Sun's mask now has a large crack across the middle!

Now details I can describe for you that are not mentioned yet that are key:

Their masks are different than their faces in SB, mostly Sun's. Both have painted on noses but Sun's mask isn't split in two colors. It's one solid color with the accents in a different. I am still deciding if his rays will be straight triangles when I draw it, or more artistic squiggly rays in two varying heights switching on an off from long and short. Moon's mask is split because it's a phase of the moon and matches more of his design. They both have big wide straight tooth smiles on their masks and swirls at the "cheeks." Soleil also added swirled accents around the eye holes.

Moon's cap has a puffy furry ball at the end of it and it's attached to his mask so it hides the back of his head and sides of his face more, but also interrupts more of his peripheral vision from outside the mask.

The puffy shirts are looser fitting on their torsos with puffy sleeves, almost more like jackets or hoodies. Each is two toned for their specific coloring and has a sturdy zipper in front as a closure. Their buttons from the original designs are sadly lost 😔

Both have reddish brown belts with gold buckles. Moon's belt houses both of his knives (one on his back and one at his side) and has a loop for his axe (opposite side than his side knife.) Sun's houses one of his knives and on the back has the sheath for his machete. (both usually carry their main weapons as we know though.) Sun's second knife is strapped around one of his boots! While their sleeves do not have ruffles or ribbons, their pants above their boots have ruffles and they still have their waist ruffles and neck ruffles. (Their belts are on top of the waist ruffle.) (All ruffles keep their golden line painted on their tops near the hem and match the colors of their animatronic designs.) Their pants are quite puffy near the ends, but aren't as puffy as they could be (A design choice to save them in case something or someone tried to snag them.)

While Soleil's read and yellow pant's stripes are actual stripes of fabric sewn together, Moon's blue pant's golden stars are painted on with a durable leather fabric paint and set in place, the same with his blue sleeping cap. (Sometimes after sprees, Soleil will go around and touch up stars if they got disturbed or ruined.) Neither have bells unfortunately in case it alerts people to their presence without them wanting them to. (We miss the ribbon bell combo on their wrists 😔)

Never mentioned in the fic, but both of their main weapons are custom decorated by Atlas! He put charms on the ends of them that dangle and they have custom wraps where they hold the weapons. (Sun's machete wrap is a deep red while Moon's axe wrap is a dark blue. They have charms of each other (a small sun on Moon's axe and a moon on Sun's machete) on the ends of their weapons through holes Atlas drilled at the end of the weapons) (They are both old weapons Atlas fixed up, sharpened, and decorated himself. That theatre techie background helps with prop making, and it was sort of like making props when you think about it.)

I think those are all the major aspects of their slasher costume designs! I'll draw them out one day, just not soon sadly. I know what I want them to look like and a majority of the silhouettes! Just gotta get it on paper (or digital canvas in my case.)

[nic0-r0bs]

My Headcanons about L from my fanfic November 8th, 1997:

- L's eyes are actually grey. They are drawn black but in the anime there's a lighter outer ring, and I liked the idea of him having incredibly dilated pupils from being "stoned" from excessive glucose and caffein intake (a reference to Sherlock Holmes drug addition). Also, I've drawn "not so stoned L" and he's such a cutie! Might draw him again.

- He has almost no eyebrows nor eyelashes from rubbing his eyes too much because he never sleeps.

- He's canonically 1/4 English, 1/4 Japanese, 1/4 Russian and 1/4 Italian or French. Therefore in my fic he used to live with his mother (half Italian/half Russian), an alcoholic, and had a caring Italian great-aunt, who had married a Frenchman. On Sundays, his great-aunt brought him to gramps and granny. Gramps was an Italian soldier sent to Russia during WWII who escaped and was saved by a Russian farmer girl. Since L also canonically "stayed in England" for five years and entered Wammy's House only at 8, it made sense to me that his maternal grandparents would be immigrants in the US.

- He is neurodivergent, in my mind has Asperger's, and as a child he couldn't understand other people's emotions, reactions and feeling. His auntie got him psychology books (she used to be a teacher so she really encouraged him a lot) to help him understand people better, and he became so obsessed than after that he started reading books on cryminal psychology, because "normal people" minds had started becoming boring.

- He has sensory issues, and the ones linked to food have a double take. On one hand he loves sweets because he wasn't allowed to eat them, so when he discovered them he became obsessed (I'm picturing Tim Burton's Willy Wonka as a child during Halloween, I even wrote a one-shot about it). On the other hand, he can't stand "normal" food because to him it tastes like ash, because his mother would tap her cigarette in his dish while he was still eating, telling him that it was taking him too much time to eat (he already had a hard time eating in general).

- He has a strong sense of personal space (except, apparently, with Light, as we can see in-canon) and dislikes touch (except with Misa's ass in-canon, If I may add). But, as I ponted out, those rules don't apply to everyone 👀👀👀

- Also has OCD, and when he didn't live with Watari (aka Alfred Pennyworth) he used to clean and do laundry because everything had to be exactly as he expected. I also picture him wasting days to decorate a Christmas tree because it needs to be perfectly symmetrical and balanced.

- Speaking of house chores, he would also love cooking (his Italian blood showing), and used to do it often to remember his gramps and auntie who he liked very much.

- I pictured Wammy's House as an academy for gifted people which at a certain point has been funded by Thatcher government to train spies or detectives for the Cold War. L would rather be a detective than a spy, but has the necessary training, if needed. (Other OCs of mine instead went full bounty hunter/undercover agent, notably J and K. Mello would also be in spy program while Near would be in detective program).

- I liked the idea of having Watari older. A child soldier himself who served during WWII in the SAS (and he met Sir Christopher Lee!). I imagine Watari having good intentions with his academy for orpahned and gifted children, but he just couldn't understand what children in time of peace need. Or what they need in general. But then he grew attached to L and spoilt him without shame.

- L has endured a trauma which has caused him to regress at an infant stage. He used to be less hunched over and more athletic but he started feeling too overwhelmed and has worn out over the years. The clothes he wears were the same he had on the day of that traumatic event, and I pictured him moving towards the darkness, hand in pocket, day after day, growing more and more scrawny and curled up on himself (I should draw some panels for this!).

- He Falls First. But won't realize it because as much as he has studied psychology he's too arrogant to understand his own feelings.

- He's pansexual, and poly. I mean, he found Misa hot and we've all seen how obsessed he was with Light in-canon. I picture him being very open on those matters.

- ... and would be kinky af in bed. 💀 There I've said it.

Edit to add

- Tennis players have a hell of a physique. Just imagine L if he ate and sleep like a normal person and trained like a professional tennis player 👀👀👀👀

[nirikeehan]

🔥 hey I do want you to do the Spite rant. deliver the Spite rant

Unpopular opinion ask meme

GOD YOU REALLY WANT ME TO CHOOSE VIOLENCE TONIGHT HUH

Okay Spite is fucking stupid and here's why

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?

Like. I literally just mean logistically here. if I was a corrupt Tevinter Magister/Venatori or whatever. I've kidnapped one of the deadliest assassins on the continent. I want to use him to do my bidding, find a way to collar him for my own ends. GRAFTING A DEMON TO HIM, A BEING THAT IS NOTORIOUS FOR BEING IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL TO THE POINT WHERE ENTIRE INSTITUTIONS OF SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN INVENTED TO SLAY THEM seems like it would be like pouring gasoline on a dumpster fire. Obviously it's not going to work out for you. Only the biggest idiot/most cartoonish villain on the planet would attempt it.

2. HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?

Isn't it extremely rules-breaking to the world-building of this universe to possess a non-mage with a demon? Aren't they like, famously drawn to mages who have to accept them into their hearts to corrupt them and whatnot? I'm not saying this means there could never be an exception to this rule, but the fact that Lucanis is supposed to be hypercompetent without having access to magic kinda just cheapens the whole thing. Everything is magic now, I guess. Yawn. It's kinda like when in the Star Wars prequels they made everyone a Jedi and the Jedi became super boring.

(And like, while I get the idea they did the Spite thing to give Lucanis some sort of "cool" companion ability – iirc you can't control companions and he doesn't even do much for you in battles anyway so like??? Why bother????)

3. No fucking character agency

This is where it really starts to bother me. Unlike other characters in Dragon Age who consented to possession by spirits/demons, Lucanis has no say in the matter. Some crazy evil Tevinters experimented on him and now he's doomed to live out his life sharing space with an alien entity??? And the narrative seems to treat this like he should just buck up and deal with it??? Like as far as I know there's no plotline to get him UN-possessed by the demon – everyone else just gaslights him and tries to convince him that if he's just nICE to the demon, they can be friends???? I am, admittedly, vague on this point bc I didn't play enough of the game to even meet Lucanis, but i did see some banter between him and Harding where Harding is literally trying to get him to play nice with Spite like "did you ask him what he wants to be called?" like Spite is his classmate in kindergarten and not AN EVIL ENTITY THAT CAN TAKE CHARGE OF HIS BODY WITHOUT CONSENT OR WARNING????

Wtf is the message here?????? Appease your abuser and life will be better????? Y I K E S

4. That's not how trauma works

So one of my favorite things about Inquisition is the grace and nuance it puts into the portrayal of Cullen and his reckoning with his past trauma. There's even a great metaphor about it in his struggle to quit lyrium – a very real tangible thing that keeps him tethered to the corrupt Templar Order, no matter how much of its poison he tries to cut out of himself. it's such a beautiful, elegant metaphor. And the narrative never punches down at Cullen, never makes light of the horrors he's been through. It treats him, and through him people who have been through unspeakable trauma, with respect and dignity.

Meanwhile, I feel like someone read Lucanis's Tevinter Nights story, saw this character that is clearly breaking under the weight of his own obligations and the horrors of the profession he never really had a say in joining, and said, "You know what would be hilarious? If we stuck a literal demon to him. So his inner demons can be an outer demon!"

It feels like a punch line. A joke. An invitation to point at this character and laugh. Isn't it so fucking funny? He was vulnerable once. He was in pain. He was weak. Let's punish him forever.

I have no idea who came up with that as a plot twist, but they must be a cruel, unfeeling person. (And no, I don't believe it was anyone with an actual writing credit on his character.) I suspect it's the same person who decided the only "right" ending for Lucanis would be to become First Talon. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, Lucanis, and accept your place in this dynasty that's going to help rule the world. I bet Elon Musk would fucking approve. Maybe the Crows will get into crypto.

It feels like the ending to a horror movie.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

star wars but I've never watched it

I'm flirting with death (the star wars fandom) and it's about to succumb. I mean, be seduced. I promise when I flirt the intended result is not succumbing (usually). Here, have this, I know you maggots have missed my summaries they're so comprehensive and well-researched. Two cups of black coffee down. LET'S GO, MAGGOTS.

It is not Star Trek, and if I mix them up, both fandoms will tear me limb from limb, but mainly Star Trek because they're less popular?

No, that was not intended to be inflammatory, it's just what I was warned when I first got kidnapped. Don't blame the student, blame the system.

LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER.

Except that's actually a misquote, it's No, I am your father. Mad trivia game. Huge star wars fan, me (why do I sound like Crowley).

It's set in outer space.

Are daleks stormtroopers?

Yoda pulls sentences in half like Crowley pulls Aziraphale's legs apart while they're not talking, and then tries interesting positions.

Leia has space-buns and makes out with Luke.

Luke is Leia's brother.

Anakin, whom I thought was some sexy babygirl side character, is apparently Darth Vader.

I am certain some people still find him a sexy babygirl. I just hope if he has a sister, she doesn't.

Is incest hereditary? Besides the obvious, I mean.

Small and green, Yoda is.

Daleks or not, there are storm-troopers, and they wear white plastic but not in a kinky way. Mostly. I remember one video a maggot showed me of a dustbin and--anyway.

They have bad aim.

There is a Death Star, and there is also a Death Star in Star Trek, but this is the more obvious one.

It has machinery specially engineered so if you shoot at that one place, the entire spaceship explodes or shuts down, which is a convenient feature.

A baby Yoda, they made. To make merchandise in time, Disney failed. Money, they lost.

There's something called the Force which everyone irl uses to try and get their remote to fly to them while sitting on the couch watching TV. They squint and reach out their hand while doing this. It rarely works.

There are a lot of unnecessary sequels and prequels. People are not happy.

A lot of Star Wars has inspiration drawn from ancient Indian philosophy and Hindu mythology. Just fun trivia, since I'm such a huge Star Wars fan.

Chewbacca?

R2D2? Robot go beep beep.

Han Solo and Leia get together.

Who is Han Solo? The guy who witnessed Leia making out with her brother. Whatever gets you off, king.

Dead, Yoda might be. Not sure, I am.

Rogue 1?

Return of the... Empire? No, wait, Jedi.

Empire Strikes Back!

Jedi exist. Because uh, it was in the title. They'd better exist.

Luke's daddy cuts off his hand. Not in a sexual way. But you never know with this family.

End (Not. Disney is going to milk this cash cow till they run out of ideas because of underpaid writers, and then they'll do a remake, probably).

Welcome, you are. Comprehensive, all-inclusive, this summary is.

[catherinekal]

Giant Fucking List of Obscure Video Games I Recommend!

It's finally done!! Took me long enough, but here it is. Over 50 games I recommend. Just in time for the Steam Sale. Holy shit I spent way to much time on this.

Some of these are well known to anyone into the indie/AA gaming scene or just on the internet often, but I still felt the need to mention in case people haven't heard of them. All of these are obscure compared to any AAA game and I'm confident no one would have heard or played all of these.

They all have something I found interesting in someway. I was going to include a trailer for each game, but apparently Tumblr doesn't like that. So I have put a link to a Youtube playlist for all of them in the same order as this list. Some of these games are also on various consoles to, but I can confirm they're all on Steam beyond one.

I only picked games I've played personally. I know of many other good obscure games, but haven't tried or bought them yet so they don't get on the list. Also many games on this list remain unfished to me, but that's more due to time and other life shit then them getting bad.

There's a lot of fucking games In this list so hopefully you find something you've never tried before and give it a shot. All these games are on Steam with one exception, but that's a free game. I also organized them by genres that make perfect sense to me.

Trailers Link:

The Best Game Ever:

Outer Wilds

Fuck it let's just start with the only mandatory game on this list you need to play. You know how nearly every space game is a overpromised underdelivered fucking mess? Like all of them.

Outer Wilds is the actual good one. Don't want to say much more then that. This is very much an experience that you need to know as little as possible to get the best experience. Not even linking the trailer in the playlist.

Absolutely play this game if you had to pick only 1 thing on this list.

EarthBoundLikes:

OMORI

OMORI is a game about a group of kids who go on magical adventures and save the day. That's it. Nothing else sinister going on here.

It's a well known indie game and for good reason. It's fucking good. One of my favorite games of all time.

Art style is peak. A mix of pixel and pencil drawn art that works so damn well for me. The battle system is turn based and revolves around changing emotions and teamwork. It mixes a happy child like vibe with a darkness underneath it, which is right up my alley. A tale of trauma and grief. I'm still fucked up thinking about some story bits in there. 

All the characters are wonderful and the story is helped a lot by keeping it focused on a small group of friends.

Play it.

LISA: The Painful and LISA: The Joyful

LISA: The Painful/Joyful are a pair of games that fuck. They fuck hard.

They're morbid, tackle many taboos, and have a dark but also stupid sense of humor. The visuals are nothing groundbreaking, but this isn't a game that needs perfect pristine pixel art. The combat system is a lot of fun, but takes very clear inspiration from Earthbound. The story is just perfect though.

You play Brad whos on a journey to rescue his adoptive daughter who was kidnapped in a post apocalyptic world of only men. You meet the strangest allies and the game has a lot of odd characters in it. Want a lawyer fish in your party? This game has it.

It does not shy away from throwing punches and is not for anyone who can't handle a story that tackles themes of abuse, depression, suicide, and more. The game also has a sequel I don't want to say to much about, but it's absolutely worth it as well.

If you want a fun and fucked up 2D RPG adventure and somehow haven't played this then please do so.

Mandatory Metroidvania Soulslike Indie Game Darlings:

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

Ender Lilies is the first of many metroidvania's on this list. The indie scene is filled with them and for good reason. The formula works so damn well.

What I love about Ender Lilies is the concept of the player character. You play a white priestess who is also a child and helpless on her own. However, you can summon the spirits of allies and slain enemies to fight for you and those spirits are all your attacks. Gameplay is the same as any other Metroidvania, but knowing I'm this helpless child in this world infected by blight really sells me on the setting.

There's nothing revolutionary to this entry in the pantheon of Metroidvanias, but the visuals and setting are why I recommend it. This game is a slow descent into hell. Also you do get a big heavy hammer attack and any game with a big hammer weapon attack is a good game. Big bonks.

Craving a Metroidvania with a macabre setting? This will do it.

GRIME

GRIME is something else. I don't hear anyone talk about this game and it's a damn shame. I don't even know how to even describe GRIMEs setting. You play as essentially a sentient black hole on a rock body. You go through, with lore slowly revealed as is the Metroidvania stable, and absorb your enemies.

This games aesthetic is best described as fleshy stone. It's very unique visually and what made me want to try it out. As for gameplay you'll need to learn parrying as this games combat system heavily relies on it.

This game surprised me and has a entire level I never expected with one very unique boss to top that off. Also be warned. This game is very much a platformer as well. Similar to how the Ori games are, not just pure combat challenges. If you like your metroidvanias with little to no platforming then you won't enjoy parts of this game, but nothing as difficult as things in Hollow Knight.

If you enjoy metroidvanias then this is a must play. More people need to talk about it.

Salt and Sanctuary

This is where it all started. Certainly not the first Metroidvania by any means, but the first 2D Soulslike Metroidvania or at the least first advertised as such. The devs intended to make Dark Souls in 2D and they did it. Before Hollow Knight, the games listed above, or so many others that took inspirations from Souls in the 2D world, was this game. I know this game was popular with the souls community as it came out, but I don't really hear about it anymore. Hollow Knight just dominated all discussion.

The controls and combat are very much Dark Souls but in 2D. The lore is cryptic and hidden away. There's a fuckton of weapons and spells and multiple playthroughs worth of stuff. The game is hard though Hollow Knight would easily one up it in terms of difficulty.

This game also has covenants that are actually good and the mechanics around them are vastly improved over any souls game that has covenants. I won't go into detail, but I wish the souls games copied this games mechanics for that.

The setting is high fantasy with the lovely dark bloody horror underneath it all. The art style can turn people away, it's not as pretty as other 2D souslikes, but I enjoy it personally. It fits.

The game has a lot to explore and you can get lost in its world pretty easily. I remember walking into a boss room from the exit somehow and got behind the boss and it was all intended if you navigated around him.

If you can appreciate or just get past the visuals and want to see where the 2D soulslike genre began then you should play it.

Metroidvania's Before the Dark Age of Soulslikes

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Long ago there was a time where Metroidvanais didn't have soulslike mechanics defaulted in and set in these bleak post apocalyptic worlds. I have 3 of them to recommend. Starting With Dust: An Elysian Tail

This is a fun little game. A game that I'm not sure many people know about or would think to play today. Metroidvanias pre Hollow Knight tend to get forgotten when I see people about them now. It has a mix of platforming and hectic combat. I remember the game having a cool spin sword attack with a even cooler aerial attack. I liked it a lot when I played it many many years ago.

The art style is colorful and everyone is an anthropomorphic animal. More games need anthropomorphic animals beyond catgirl or rabbitgirl, seriously I grew up on shit like sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank.

You play as Dust and are accompanied by Fidget. you got a magic sword and you kill a bunch of shit while saving the day. Just a fun little Metroidvania that doesn't overstay and go on forever.

It may be dated in some ways, but if you're a fan of these types of games and want to play a older one then here you go.

Guacamelee!

The combat in this game feel great. Another little forgotten gem of a Metroidvania. It has such a unique style to it and has a fun cartoony vibe. It's pretty fucking great.

You play as a farmer who dons a luchador mask to save his friend he loves and the world being taken over. The combat is a mix of punches, kicks, and throws which is unique from the usual swords and magic these types of games tend to default to. As the game goes along enemies will have shields that need certain moves to break and you'll be switching from the land of the dead and living in combat and platforming.

Both this and Dust before it don't reinvent the genre or anything, but have their own unique charms that I recommend them both if you're a fan of Metroidvanias.

Cave Story+

This is a old classic. The original Cave Story came out in 2004, and was released with a enhanced version in 2011. This is a must play Metroidvania and an old gem. It's the oldest game on this list technically.

This game has little to no melee combat, but instead goes all in on using guns. More Metroid then Vania in that sense. What's unique to the combat is enemies will drop experience that will level up your guns automatically. Each gun can be upgraded to 3 levels, but when you take damage you lose experiences and levels. This adds a extra layer or rewards and punishment to getting hit that I like. Your weapons are perfectly usable at level 1 so it's not like you're fucked, but it gives a greater incentive to avoid damage.

It has fun characters and and fun gameplay. It's a genuine indie gem that I think everyone should play.

Pixel Action Adventure Games With A Dash of RPG Elements to Taste:

ANNO: Mutationem

This game is a pixel art cyberpunk adventure. I adore the art style. It's a 2.5D action platformer set in a futuristic setting. You're on a quest to save your brother with the help of your hacker friend/girlfriend. A quest which leads to a far more complicated story.

The story in this game goes off the rails in ways I love, but I know it threw people off. People have compared the latter half to Evangelion and It can be confusing to follow at times. I still highly recommend it, even if you get lost near the end. A simpler story in terms of Lore would have worked better, but I say fuck it. Go all in.

To me the appeal of this game is the setting. A fascinating cyberpunk sci-fi setting shown through wonderful pixel art. Just walking around the various cities was a joy on its own. There's a lot of attention to detail and I think it's worth playing for that alone. Combat is your standard side-scrolling Metroidvaniaish kind of stuff with various weapons and upgrades and all that. I found it a little challenging at times, but this isn't a game meant for extreme difficulty from what I remember.

If you want to play as hot badass woman in a cyberpunk setting given life through detailed pixel art, then this is the game for you.

CrossCode

This is the most dense indie game on this whole list. CrossCode has so much to do. The game is expansive and slowly drip feeds you with more. You have 5 skill trees, 4 of which are tied to an element, multiple upgrade paths in them. You have a mix of melee combat with twin stick shooter mechanics thrown in. The game has multiple dungeons with puzzles that are both difficult to figure out and then execute the solution for. These aren't like a 2D Zelda dungeon where things never get to complicated, I really took a lot of time with every dungeon.

The setting takes place on another moon physically, but its actually all virtual and a MMO people are playing from all over the galaxy. Though the game itself isn't a MMO really. You play as a set character in a set linear story that's unrelated to that actual in lore story of the MMO. 

The characters are fun and the setting is a joy to explore. There's a lot of side content and I don't remember any of it being a drag. This games also challenging and I know It took me a bit to progress at various points. The pixel art is very detailed, especially with the outdoor environments.

This game will keep you engaged for a while and there's challenging DLC and even fun incentives to play new game plus. This is just all around a solid game experience.

Hyper Light Drifter

I played this game a long time ago so details are hazy, but I know I really enjoyed it. It's top down and filled with action. You got a sword. You got a gun. You go kill things and I do remember many challenging combat encounters.

I have forgotten all story elements, but even now I still remember some imagery that reminded me of Evangelion, which is always a plus. Though story was never the main draw to games for me so the setting and combat were all I needed to keep engaged.

Not the most descriptive review of the game, but I know this is one of the furthest game on this list from when I played it and I only went through it once. It's a cool game though and if the trailer enticed you then you owe it to yourself to get it. 

Phoenotopia: Awakening

I adore this little hidden gem of a game. If CrossCode is the most dense indie game on this list then this is a very close second. Possibly even more dense, I truly can't decide for sure. It's cute, funny, charming, and full of legitimate challenges.

You play as Gail who lives in a small town village. Some shit happens that I won't give away, but you end needing to travel the land and go on a fun adventure. The story is full of comedic and lively characters. It never takes itself to seriously or gets really dark which Is a nice change of pace.

This game really is an adventure. You will travel a lot and get very familiar with any hub area. There's secrets and puzzles packed all over and gives you good reason to revisit. A nice drip feed of progress is felt as you unlock more stuff.

In terms of combat it's bar far the most simplistic on this list and could even frustrate others, but like everything else in this game it has charm and I adore it. The simple mechanics don't mean no challenge though. I was stuck often, but felt so satisfying when I won.

Some of the late game areas can be bullshit and will frustrate you, but stick with it. This is a genuine top tier hidden indie gem that got no attention. Honestly just under Outer Wilds this would be the other must buy. Absolutely play this.

Vampire Survivorlikes:

20 Minutes Till Dawn

Everyone knows about Vampire Survivor and everyone knows many games came out that tried to capture that style of gameplay. This one is the only one of those I've played and it's wonderful.

You unlock multiple characters and multiple guns with various upgrade trees. Kill the horde, survive, upgrade, survive even longer. Each level only takes 20 minutes, hence the title. I appreciate that as the game would never end with how strong you end up being by the end after you learn the mechanics.

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but if you need to kill half a hour then it's a fun thing to play.

Hawklikes:

Umurangi Generation

Let's fucking go!! This game rules!

As someone who is going to pursue photography more seriously as a hobby this game is perfect. Unlike something like Pokemon Snap or games with photo modes, this game really captures the feeling of holding a physical camera and the moment to moment decisions you make with each shot.

You unlock different lenses and control each shot as you would a real camera. After each photo you can edit it on the spot purely for your own creative reasons. The visuals are low poly and very colorful.

The game has a tony hawk style of progression. A hawklike if you will. You get dropped in a level and are given a list of photos to try and take. You can of course take photos of anything. You have a limited amount of film and can find more throughout the level.

Also there's a story. There's a dark undercurrent to the whole thing and the game is very overtly political in all the right ways. Don't like politics in your games? Fuck you! This game dives right in while still maintaining the core gameplay loop. Need more games like this please.

Please buy this game and it's DLC.

Action Games:

Furi

Top tier action game. It's a boss rush game, that's it. 10 bosses with some vague story that briefly connects them. It's not bloated with bullshit and knows exactly what to focus on.

The combat is a mix of intense melee combat with parries and dodges and the like, with twin stick shooting. No upgrades. No farming. No choosing between this weapon or that. No additional moves or mechanics. You fight a tutorial boss which teaches you everything and then you go. You have the full toolkit from the start and that lets you master it slowly over the game.

It's so fucking satisfying finally winning and knowing you improved and earned that win. I like the story as well. It's not that complex, but the ending bits worked for me.

If you want a genuine good action game that has no bullshit attached then get this.

Amid Evil

There's not much to say about this one other then it's really fucking fun. It's a first person action game where you use magic and weapons to go through combat filled levels. You have health and mana that all weapons use outside of your axe. The levels are filled with secrets, you move fast, and it's just a fun action game.

Sometimes a game isn't more then that and it beats games that are stuffed with unnecessary mechanical bloat. If you want a fun first person action game that's not just a full shooter then this is the game for you.

Adventure Games:

The Cat Lady and Lorelai

I love these games. No one ever talks about them or knows about them and they will certainly linger in your mind. The devs have made 2 other games that I have yet to get to so for now I am recommending only these.

Play The Cat Lady first. It's the first one and tells the story of a very depressed middle aged woman who gets a second chance at life, at a cost.

Lorelai is about a young woman in a very abusive household trying to survive while seeing what lengths she will go to save those she loves.

Both these games revolve around deals with a devil and feature a lot of horrific violence. Fun!

The stories in both evoke a creepy disturbing feeling and you're always on edge. I won't say these are straight horror games, but they sure use horror imagery. The art style really helps sells it. The animations or character models may not be the most beautiful thing around, but it has that indie charm I love. The voice acting isn't perfect either, but these aren't negatives for me. These are passion projects and imperfections are what make any piece of art shine brighter. Real people put their soul into these games and it shows.

The gameplay is standard adventure game fair, but all keyboard controlled. So no endless mouse clicking everything on the screen. which works wonderfully. Though being pure adventure games you're here more for the story then the moment to moment gameplay.

Please play these.

Detention

Detention is probably well known due to the controversy with Red Candle Games other game, Devotion being wiped online for shitty reasons. It's available now on their own websites store, though I still have never played it. I should one day as Detention was pretty fucking good.

The gameplay is the usual 2D adventure game fair. A lot of clicking and puzzle solving with some horror thrown in. The story and setting are where it's at though.

The game is unique in that it's made from Taiwanese devs and the games setting is rooted in their cultures history. I don't want to give away any real details beyond that, but it certainly left an impact and seeing a game not set in Europe, America, Japan, or any fantasy equivalent to those was refreshing. The games also not super long and could easily be beaten in a day.

Go buy it. Play it on a long free night. Support these devs.

Rime

I love the aesthetic of this game. Cel shading indie colorful goodness. I got this for the visuals alone and was very happy the game that came with it was good to. Visuals are a major factor in me getting interested in a game and the reveal trailer was enough for me to play it.

It's very light and cryptic on story for most of it as to be expected from this kind of game. You're a kid, you wake up on a beach and go forth exploring. You solve puzzles and hide from danger and go through each of the unique levels trying to piece together whats going on.

Like the game before, this isn't a super long one. Shouldn't take more then a day or a few to get through it all. Though I do recommend you take your time and explore like I did. Let yourself be immersed in the setting.

This is another example of just a pure perfect indie game. Doesn't overstay it's welcome, tells a simple but cryptic story, and has lovely visuals.

Atominous

This is the one of the few games on this whole list that I would say is truly obscure. In fact I have no doubt this is the most obscure. If you're big into indie games then nothing on this list will honestly surprise you, but I'm confident this is the exception.

In this free game you place as a a little guy who's job is like pest control. Instead of bugs your job is to collect and protect the world from rare atoms called Atominous. Basically little atoms that can alter reality. You go into a big house and your job is to find them through the power of puzzle solving and clicking every little thing you see.

This game is all about clicking everything. Nearly every object has unique text that pops up, if not multiple. You find keys to open more of the house and slowly suck up the atominous atoms and clean up the place.

That's it. It's a fun quirky little free game that shouldn't take more then a couple hours. No excuse not to try it, it's free. It's also the only game not on steam, but instead here

Adventure Games Where You Hit Things:

TUNIC

TUNIC is a lovely indie game. You play as a little cute fox and go on a adventure to save your poor trapped mom. such a cute game :3

I adore the visuals, I love low poly stuff and the game is full of charm. Looking at this game makes me happy. The game is like a mix of a top down Zelda and Fez and it being reminiscent of FEZ was what really took me by surprise. I won't go further in how it's like FEZ, but it really elevated the game for me.

It's a fun top down game with simple fun combat. You kill enemies, find key items, unlock more of the world, and get fed cryptic lore. The perfect formula for a fun little indie game. The game is decently challenging to with it's boss fights, and overall a nice fun little experience with some neat surprises.

TUNIC is wonderful, go play it.

Kena: Bridge of Sprits

This is the most PS2 game I've played since the PS2. I mean that as a compliment. This game felt like going back in time to a simpler time.

Visually the game is not at all like the PS2. The visuals are beautiful and has been compared to Pixar. It's bright, colorful, and well polished. To me this is peak aesthetics. This game is worth playing just to see all the work that went into the game's visuals alone.

It reminded me of a PS2 game because it's a self contained fun third person action adventure. Just a fun game with no bullshit holding it down or any other purpose then being a fun adventure. The world is a joy to explore with a nice steady progression. I especially love how the Hub is mostly corrupted and you slowly restore it over the course of the game. Shit like that always feels so good.

There's a lot of unexpected challenge to. Some of the later fights and especially bosses took me a bit to beat. Just like a PS2 game you'll get random difficulty spikes that are so fucking satisfying to beat.

I highly recommend this game.

Adventure Games Where You're in the Desert:

Sable

Sable is a coming of age story presented in a very fun interactive package. This is a game about heading out into the world and exploring on your own whim to figure out what your character becomes as an adult.

You play as Sable, a young adult girl who has to leave her tribe and head into the wider world to discover herself. The goal is to find mask which representative a life path and pick one by the end. The actual game is about heading into a desert open world, solving puzzles, helping NPC's, and discovering what bits of hidden lore hide throughout. You do this all on a hoverbike you can customize as you unlock more parts.

As always the art style is important to me and this game has something really unique. The characters animation is low framerate and it can be off putting to some, but of course I loved it as I love any odd creative choice. I love the lighting and colors to. It's hard to describe just why I was so mesmerised by the art style, but I can safely say it's one of my all time favorites.

The only negative goes to technical issues. The game ran like shit on my PC and my PC isn't bad. Even people with far better PC's then me ran into frame rate issues and others didn't have any. Sometimes games aren't optimized well, but this game was so magical to me that I loved it, despite the tech issues.

It's a very chill game. You want to explore a cool world at a slow pace and get lost in it? Sable's the game for you.

It Comes In Waves

This is a short game where you have to start over if you die. A penalty I feared, but truthfully this isn't that difficult of an experience. You start on one end of a desert and have to carry something to the other end as it grows inside a tank on your back.

As you wait for whatever your transporting to grow you will explore minimalist environments with some unique imagery that speaks of a wider history you just have to wonder about. The whole time you have to watch out for raiders and watch your water level. It always depletes and you will need to explore and refill it as you journey on. I also love how you have a map, but the map is like an actual map. It doesn't show you on it, but just the overall area.

This game will take you a hour at best and is unlike anything else on this list. There's something about just slowly walking across the desert, not knowing what's ahead, and hoping you can make it to the next water tank. Just a little experimental game about a harsh journey.

Platformers With 2 Entire Dimensions:

MO: Astray

Ever wanted to play as a little blob? No? Well you should because this game was a hidden gem. I was thrown off by this game at first and then pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

This game feels like it should be a metroidvania. It's 2D and you're on a broken down ship or facility or something. Nope. This game is fully linear and at first I didn't think I'd like that and was disappointed, but it works so damn well.

You play a slime essentially and you have the magical power to read the last thoughts and minds of corpses by settling on their rotten fleshy head. With this power and other little story tidbits you learn what's going on, your purpose, and so on.

There's no combat in this game really. You move by shooting yourself in any direction you can see and you can stick to surfaces. There's danger. There's enemies. There's boss fights. All without the usual fair of attack/dodge roll, that's standard for 2D metroidvanias now. This game is something different and that alone makes it worth it.

Also a note on the boss fights. All of them felt very unique from each other I prefer having a few well crafted unique bosses then having a bunch of the same type of fight over and over again.

Another genuine hidden gem you should try.

Platformers With 3 Entire Dimensions:

Frogun

Frogun is adorable. It's like a N64 game and I love it.

You have a frog grappling hook and go through little short levels that ramp up in difficulty. There's optional challenges in each one. The art style is absolutely going for that early 3D low poly vibe that is starting to become more popular.

This is a perfect example of just a fun video game for the sake of being a fun video game. No serious story or message or intense complicated gameplay mechanics. Just a cute 3D platformer reminiscent of a older time.

Also I played this back when I used to stream and a Frogun speedrunner showed up in chat and helped me pull off a couple speedrunning tricks so that was fun.

If you want something simple and fun then here it is.

Cyber Hook

The ultimate speedrunning game. You have a gun, a grappling hook, and the ability to slow down time. This is a pure platformer. You enter levels with the goal of getting through as fast as you can.

I never got great at it, but the few times I really got going fast and flew through a level felt awesome. It's so satisfying finally doing things right after many failures and you will fail a lot.

There's really not much more to it. Neat visuals with satisfying and simple mechanics. If that sounds fun to you then check it out.

Marble It Up! Ultra

Platformers really are just the perfect mechanic to make fun mindless games with. Marble It Up! Ultra is another simple 3D platformer that's just purely focused on being fun.

As always it's not that complicated either. You're a marble and you try to reach the end of each stage with a time limit. There's items to stop time, make you jump higher, and go faster. Just all about building up speed and there's tons of ways to skip past parts of levels. Like the two games before, this one is perfect for speedrunning.

It's fun, go buy it.

RPG's:

Roadwarden

I was going to make a big post about why I preferred this to BG3, but scrapped it. BG3 is fun, but the story just bores me from the get go. Where BG3 failed for me Roadwarden succeeded. All story and all fantastic.

This is a text based RPG. Very simplistic visuals which show just enough to let your imagination handle most of the work.

You play a roadwarden who has the lovely job to travel the dangerous roads and help the townsfolk all while working on your greater goals. You pick between 3 starting classes and those do change how you approach things quite a bit. You have a time limit and that will force you to prioritize things over others. You can't do everything in a single playthrough. Your decisions matter and you aren't going to figure everything out.

You have to manage your health, money, hunger, and cleanliness. You will never have enough money for everything and that helps create more interesting choices. You have to manage what you do in a day. You meet a lot of people and forge allies or enemies and it's all told with stellar writing.

If you want a well written fantasy interactive story then you must play this game.

RPG's With Intense High-Octane Turn Based Combat:

Epic Battle Fantasy 5

A long time ago in times forgotten there existed these ancient relics called Flash games. Maybe one day I'll talk about old flash games I was into, but for now I'm only talking about the latest instalment in one of them. Epic Battle Fantasy is a series of games made by Matt Roszak. They started as little flash games, but have since turned into bigger games that are on Steam. 5 is the latest one and also the best so I'm recommending this one.

I've gone through this game multiple times. This game fucking rules. The game is easy to control, satisfying, and has my favorite turn based combat system period. No seriously, this is my favorite turn based combat system. I could go on what I like about it so much, but I'll spare you all most of the details. I'll say it gets rid of mana entirely and put all your abilities on cooldowns which changes based on what you're using. This just fixes balancing and helps you from spamming heals and all that. I love this system. It's easy to control, intuitive to understand, full of options, and can have a chaotic randomness I enjoy.

In this game you explore the overworld, solve puzzles, and fight enemies. The story is not at all serious or anything like that. It may not be a Flash game anymore, but it still has the older internet spirit of not taking things to seriously and being a little juvenile. There's also a lot of post game challenges that still are impossible for me to really do well or at all.

You can change the difficulty anytime and another thing I love is the entire game can be controlled with just a mouse. You can use a keyboard to, but a mouse covers everything which I think is neat.

This is such a wonderful combat system and the game I've beaten most on this list. If you want legitimately challenging turn based RPG combat and don't care about story or characters to get that then this game is a must play.

Shadows Over Loathing

Want a lovecraftian mystery RPG injected with a dose of comedy where everybody is a stick figure? Yes? How very specific, but luckily there's a game just for you.

Shadows Over Loathing is a turn based RPG where you search for your missing uncle in a area full of strange locations and characters. I never did play their other game West of Loathing, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a lot of fun, creative, difficult at times, and had a world I really wanted to explore.

It has a lighthearted comedic tone throughout and the silly art and stick figure characters help with that. The actual turn based combat is fun to. Nothing to complicated but could be challenging to which is needed to help this style of combat really shine.

There's really not much more to it. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy then please check it out.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel:

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

AA games still exist! I finally get to talk about Ys. I've played 3 Ys games and I'm going to talk about my favorite one because of the fun gameplay. This is a very unknown franchise that has existed since the 80's and even now the 10th instalment is set to release later this year.

As for why I'm recommending Ys 8, it's because it has some of the most fun gameplay. The combat is fast paced, encourages good timing, and full of that anime over the top stylish action. You control up to 3 characters and can easily switch between them. Each character plays differently and has their own special moves and everything just feels so satisfying.

You play as generic light novel anime man, Adol. Tagging along is generic tsundere light novel anime girl and other light novel anime characters. Like edgy boy with a gun, loli raised in the wild, and blue haired girl. You crash land on a island and have to survive and find survivors. Much like LOST the story goes off the rails and of course in classic JRPG fashion you need to stop the end of the world somehow. Unlike LOST characters are generic and the usual anime fair.

Despite the lackluster story this game still fucking rules because it's so goddamn fun to play. It also solved crafting forever by making it so you can convert common items into rarer ones making anything you find useful potentially. Seriously it's such a nice feature and all crafting systems without it are lesser.

If you want some fun action combat and don't mind anime bullshit then really, check out the entire franchise. Any of them will do, but this is the one I'd recommend the most.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel and A WW2 Textbook:

Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4

Picture this. WW2, but with anime and magical girls. Japan just never stops with these incredible ideas.

I adore these 2 games. I haven't played 2 or 3 as those are PSP games and I don't hear great things. However I can confirm 1 and 4 are fucking fantastic.

These games are tactical RPG's where you command troops one by one in missions. Most are usually about capturing a enemy base, but there's a lot of variety beyond that in both of them. You lay out your troops at the start plus your commander who's in the tank. You get a set level of CP per turn and each CP is used to control a unit. The actual game is probably piss easy for experienced tactical game players, but I'm not that at all. I found it legitimately difficult, both games.

What sets it apart is the game turns into a sort of third person shooter when controlling the units. You can freely move up to your AP and get one action to do. If it was just top down the whole time I'd find that not that interesting, but actually moving around and taking cover unit by unit is very engaging. There's 5 classes in the first game and a 6th added in the fourth game. Each class can be upgraded as well along with weapons, equipment, and the tanks.

The stories in both are nothing special truthfully. It's anime WW2 with silly dumb anime characters. I don't mind that and had a lot of fun, but if you can't stand something like Persona then these games will infuriate you. To me stupid anime characters in games can be a lot of fun, like Raz in 4, the dumbest but somehow most entertaining character for me. Expect some silly anime cliches and tone changes and the usual fair for these kinds of games. Even if the story is a big nothing for you, I still think both games are worth it for the gameplay.

Another aspect that I really love is all your units have personality traits that can trigger as you control them. What caught me off guard was that they're both positive and negative ones. There's ones like a woman having man hater and fancies woman as traits, aka the lesbian. There's straight up a guy with misogynist as a trait. Some are lonely, frail, daredevils, have crushes or people they hate, even one with the masochist trait. All these good and bad traits translate into potential buffs or debuffs that can happen in the game.

Sadly these side characters don't get much story in the first game. Just a unique design with some personality traits and maybe a couple in battle lines of dialogue. However, the 4th one introduced squad stories. Essentially little side stories that revolve around the non important squad mates. They were always fun to do and the missions for them are more unique because they are designed around only using those 3 characters.

I recommend both of them, but if you had to play one I'm not sure. 1 has the better story, the overall lore itself establishes in 1, and the gameplay is still fun. 4 has the better gameplay, more unique missions, and the squad stories which were a highlight for me.

Just pick which one sounds more like your thing if you only want to spend the time with one of them. Both are fun.

RPG's About the Harsh Reality of Capitalism:

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

I adore this games concept. It takes the common NPC seen in these little RPG adventures, the shopkeeper, and puts you in their shoes. You're father has a big debt to pay off and you now have to sell items out of your house to help pay it off before the deadline.

You lay the items out and then have to haggle your way to a profit. Finding the line of when to haggle and how much is the key to success and I failed miserably. I never did beat this game, but I haven't beaten many games on this list and that won't stop me from telling you to play them. I think the concept alone is enough of a reason to check it out.

The game does have combat as well. You can hire an adventurer to go with you into a dungeon and fight enemies for treasure. I like how you hire someone from the Adventurers Guild, just another cool concept as a typical game would have you play as the character being hired instead all the time. I also like how dungeons are high risk high reward. If they die then you lose most of what you gather and essentially just wasted the day.

It's just a cool concept and a nice change of pace from how a game set in these typical fantasy settings would go. You aren't some savior of the world, but just a shopkeeper trying to pay off debt.

Spooky Games:

Yuppie Psycho

Do you want a game about a corporate building being haunted by dark forces and being a badass fighting your way through it all? That's Control. You just want Control.

Unlike Control which bored me to death after a while. Yuppie Psycho is about a haunted corporate building, but you play a new lowly worker who's been tasked with something far above his pay grade. Brian Pasternack is a new hire who's in way over his head. What should have been a normal corporate jobs turns into a witch hunt, literally.

You aren't a badass and will have to sneak your way to victory, uncovering the buildings hidden secrets along the way. For me that's part of why this works over Control as a effective story. You're kind of a fucking nobody who has to be extra careful and is reluctant to even do this. Far more relatable honestly.

The joy of this game comes from exploring this building and uncovering the secrets and horrors. Each floor is unique and this game gets creative with the corporate horror vibe. I love some of the designs of things and how it blends comedy and horror together. It also has branching paths and even limited save slots which seemed frustrating at first, but wasn't really a big deal. Not saving every chance you can really adds to the tension when sneaking around.

It's not a true horror intense experience, but as someone who is a baby with horror I found a lot of genuine tense moments. It's a real indie gem.

The Complex: Found Footage

Kane Pixels backrooms videos are honestly pretty fucking great. I'm not usually a fan of horror at all, but there's something about these videos that just work for me. Then pgWave decided to make a video game creating the experience of exploring these kinds of spaces.

This is a creepy game where you slowly move through liminal spaces and just sort of get lost in it. There's no jumpscares or anything intense happening, but as a baby with horror this game was tense to go through for me. Honestly I appreciate it's not a more traditional horror game with a monster or something. Just dropped in a space that's inherently unsettling and leaving it up to you to explore.

If you have a free night and want to get lost exploring spaces only games could deliver then play it. It's literally free.

Games Where You Gotta Go Fast:

Distance

This game fucks. I actually remember when playing the first version of this game back when it was a student project. Students at DigiPen made a game called Nitronic Rush and it was (maybe still is?) available to download for free from the schools website. That game fucks and they announced a proper full game called Distance and it was one of the rare instances I actually bought a early access game.

Distance is a car game about going fast as fuck. The levels don't put you against anyone and instead just getting to the end is the challenge in itself. You have a boost that can overheat, a jump, and even wings when needed. The levels will require you to weave in and out of oncoming danger. They have jumps where you'll need to turn the car 90 or 180 degrees to land on a new track. All while giving you a wonderful sense of speed and accomplishment when you pull things off right.

It's not a easy game either and levels will get challenging. There's a ton of levels and challenges and if you get sucked into the gameplay then there's a lot to keep you there. This game seeks to deliver the thrill of going fast in a dangerous track where everything is out to kill you, and making it to the end. There's really not much more to say. It has a specific vision and fully realizes it.

Games Where You Trust the Heart of the Cards:

Foretales:

This game is very unique and nothing quite like what I've played before. The entire game is card based. Each of the characters have their own decks that are all mixed together in your hand. You have 4 resources you can collect, gold, food, fame, and infamy. You can get item cards as well. The board has various location cards you need to move through to move the story along. What's unique about this is the cards can be used in battle or on locations.

It's hard to really go into details how this all works, but you don't have a separate hand or anything for when combat begins.

Some cards have uses in locations and battles and others don't, but there all mixed together which adds to you planning ahead and making the best choice. You can use a eavesdrop card near a guard post to get a juicy secret which can be used for blackmail later. You can forage for food and obviously a forest will give you more then a mine shaft. There's a lot of really cool little interactions and creativity put into this systems that's just to complicated to type out and explain.

One thing I can get into is the best feature of combat. The fact that you can get through it without fighting or with less fighting then needed. Those 4 resources can be used in locations for story or optional reasons, but they can also be used in combat pacify enemies. Bandits can be bribed with gold or food for example. Fame and infamy can be used as well in certain circumstances. They are a constantly growing resource that always have uses. I'm sure it's possible to do a full pacifist run, though I imagine it would be difficult.

The game also has multiple paths for the story to go and lots of optional stuff. Multiple characters to use down the line but only 3 party members so there's more choice as well. Also everyone's an anthropomorphic animal because why not.

I just like how it's a card based game that's not just a battle between opponents or a roguelike or how cards are typically used in video games. If nothing else this game should be played for it's game design alone. If you want a really unique interactive story experience entirely dictated by cards then this is about the only game I know of like it.

One Step From Eden

I'm very bad at this game. So bad I still have never beaten it once. It's really fun all the same though.

It's a deckbuilding roguelike set on a grid. As the formula goes you fight your way through, choosing your path, collecting cards, and seeing if you can win. In my case that's a no.

The game is set on a grid where you have to manage what spells you currently have, dodging enemies, and somehow making sense of the chaos. You can unlock other characters that have their own unique mechanics to help freshen things up. Also the game just throws you in the deep end and lets you learn through playing. No tutorial or anything, just have at it.

If you're itching for a roguelike that's very fucking challenging then enjoy. 

Inscryption

This is another game I expect many others to know about, but if not then honestly just play it.

It's a rougelike card game set in a wonderfully crafted creepy setting. You're alone in some mysterious persons shack forced to play a really well designed card game. Of course if it was just that I'd not be recommending it.

The mechanics are well thought out and slowly learning the mechanics feels nice. You will fail, a lot, as is the case for roguelikes, but keep at it. The game is filled with secrets and puzzles and mysteries that you'll just have to figure out for yourself.

Much like with Outer Wilds way back at the top, I don't want to say much more. If you have somehow not played this or don't know anything about it then you should.

Tainted Grail: Conquest

This is still the only proper deck-building roguelike in the same vein as Slay the Spire. While I haven't played much of that and honestly couldn't get into it, this game I did.

It was described to me as Slay the Spire meets Dark Souls by some poor soul who's brain is forever lost in soulslike hell. In reality it's just a cool deck building game where you fight creepy monsters and slowly build up the village to make each run easier. There's characters to find and NPC quest you can make little progressions on each run. It's just enough story and context to give this game a sense or purpose and progression outside collecting cards.

What added more replayability to me beyond the quest was having 9 classes to work with. In truth it's really 3 broad classes with 3 variations on those broader class types. You have the fighter, archer, and summoner as the broad classes. They use similar cards, but their strategies vary with each subclass. A summoner is more about making their summons powerful, bloodmages use their own life to summon minions that get stronger and die on their own, and necromancers sacrifice their minions to turn into a Lich. The fighter and archer subclasses are as varied and it's a good way to use similar cards across different playstyles.

I had a lot of fun with this one. It's a fun deck building game. 

Thinking Games:

Manifold Garden:

I love the space this game takes place in. This is the shit only games can truly deliver on. The world is basically always looping. Each level repeats in all directions when your in open space. If you fall anywhere, you'll be ok. You can just fall endlessly even, it's very mesmerising and freeing once you get used to the fact that you can just jump off anywhere, and even needed to solve the level sometimes.

The other fun mechanic the puzzles primarily revolve around is the ability to walk on any surface and change gravity as you do it. Essentially you turn the wall into the new floor and is the main mechanic for puzzles in enclosed spaces. This game uses blocks of various colors and the simple task of putting them in the right slot is made complicated by having to altar gravity and matching them up. There's other mechanics introduced of course, but you'll need to discover those yourself.

The game can be beaten in a day give or take your skill at puzzles. I appreciate that it doesn't overstay it's welcome and uses it's mechanics in interesting ways. Also this reminds me I still need to play Antichamber someday.

If you like exploring spaces only games can deliver on or puzzles then this is the game for you.

FEZ

FEZ! This is such a fun interesting little game. It's probably well known given who the creator is, but if you haven't checked this out before, then you should.

The trailer makes it appear to be more a platformer then a puzzle game and that's half right. Similar to another game on this list, FEZ goes much deeper then a mere platformer. It has some esoteric puzzles. As I understand (could be wrong) one puzzle still hasn't been solved legitimately, but had to be brute forced and even now the community has no concrete answers on how you were supposed to get the solution.

The good news is the harder puzzles aren't technically required to just finish the game. You could still enjoy this as a fun platformer. The way the world works is you see the game world on a 2D plane. Like any other 2D platformer. However, the world itself is in 3D and you can switch the perspective to change where platforms and other things are. It's really fun moving about this world and in a sense each level is it's own puzzle to figure out how to get through it with these mechanics.

I highly recommend this game.

Thinking Games for DJ's

FRACT OSC

This is another game I would be shocked if anyone knew about. No one talks about this game ever and I don't even remember how I found out about it wayyyy back in college. This is also the oldest game on here I've played. I haven't touched this is years, but know I enjoyed it a lot.

What i remember is it's filled with music based puzzles. I also remember being very fucking confused and having to look shit up, but the real joy is just the vibe. Everything makes sound and the whole game revolves around music. I slowly explored as much as I could and just took it all in. It's a fun space to be in and I'm a sucker for being dropped in a unusual place only games can delivery on.

If you don't know shit about music production like me you might have a hard time or maybe I was just a fucking idiot and needed help. Either way I still recommend this to everyone.

Vibing with the Beat Games:

Sayonara Wild Hearts

This is basically a interactive album. It's a rhythm game that's not to difficult, which is good as this is more about the flow and vibe. There's not much more to say about it. It will take an hour and every bit is lovely. It's a visual and auditory feast that has some clever ideas packed in. I think everyone should experience it.

Soundodger+

This game won't be on the Steam store for much longer sadly. Warner Bros being shitty and taking cool shit down. I haven't played any other of the Adult Swim games that are being taken down, but I encourage you to find the list and get anything interesting while you still can.

The game itself is a fun little bullet hell rhythm game. The song plays and you are a circle in the middle of larger circle. Obstacles are thrown out into the middle timed to the music and you simply have to dodged them. I don't remember it being to hard, but I know there are community levels and I just have to assume those are going to be tough.

It's a cool game to vibe to and it's going to be gone soon. Don't miss your chance to get it.

Artsy Games That I Don't Know Where Else To Put Them:

The Beginner's Guide

This a narrative experience about the relationship between the narrator and the game dev who's games are being played. That may not sound like the most interesting premise, but trust me it's very engaging. This game has a unsettling feeling underneath it all and it's really hard to go into more without just spoiling things.

The actual game is you going through a series of small little games made by a Dev named Coda as the narrator Davey speaks to you about various things relating to the game and Coda himself. It's explores a character who's frankly caught up in a unhealthy obsession with someone else and quite the journey.

It will only take a hour and half to get through and I think it's worth a playthrough if you like narratives only video games can deliver on.

The Static Speaks My Name   

This is the shortest game on this list. It's also the most depressing. If you struggle with dark thoughts and depression and really need something happy to distract you, then do not play this little free game.

It's a sad and unsettling little experience that has a lot of room for interpretation. I'm a fan of little strange pieces of art like this and if this sounds interesting to you then it's free. Check it out.

Minimalist City Builder Games:

ISLANDERS

This such a cute game. It's a simple city builder where the goal is to keep building things correctly and move on to another island. You start on a randomly generated island and are given a set of buildings and a number to reach. Buildings will get bonuses based on whats near them and as you unlock more buildings the number to reach gets higher.

That's really it. It's easy to understand and a nice little relaxing game about building a cool island town. Pretty cheap and pretty fun.

Multi Genre:

The Hex

This is multi genre because it quite literally has many different gameplay modes packed in it. A bunch of old video game characters stay at a Tavern where a murder may take place. It's a murder mystery! Also so much more.

In truth it's a narrative video game about exploring these characters past lives and revealing a larger narrative underneath it all. This was made by Daniel Mullens who's latest game I recommended earlier. Much like Inscryption, this game slowly draws you into it's setting and drop feeds you it's secrets slowly.

The Hex was pleasantly surprising as I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. It's worth playing.

That's it. That's the list. Over 50 more games to add to your Steam library which means over 50 more games you'll get to, eventually.