#the only fighting game mod plays is Smash

[askmarcille]

Are you into fighting games Marcille?

If so, who do you main in Tekken????

I'll confess, I'm more into relaxing games like Animal Crossing or indie games like Potion Permit and Plant Daddy. Falin and Laios got me into Pokemon as well!

However, there are times where I'll play something from the Legend of Zelda series. Senshi recommended Cooking Mama, so I'll be checking that out soon too!

[wishing-stones]

I remember you mentioned Dust playing Skyrim and the Star Sanses messing with him by sending the Dark Brotherhood "we know" note, so I was wondering something else

Do they play any other video games? Do they have a favorite game, and are there any games they don't like?

Oh god HAHA yeah Dust got sent that because Dream caught him snooping on his Myriad (UTVM Social Media) under a burner account.

The guys have a couple group games, but they sometimes have to get broken up if it's one of the Mario ones.

Killer likes to play FPS games. He's your COD player, but also the more recent Resident Evils as well. He likes horror games. Dust likes games like Skyrim. Easy to get into the immersion, lots of options for how to play, easy to mod, etc. Low stakes most of the time, too. He plays just about anything, but he likes RPGs in a similar vein. Axe likes simpler games to play. Things he doesn't have to keep track of a lot. Low stakes, easy games that aren't terribly stressful and have simple mechanics. He likes a lot of retro games. Cross likes to play strategy games. He's scary good at them and no one likes to play any form of video game with him where he can plan ahead. He also has a preference for fighting games, and is the Smash champ of the castle. Baggs also likes strat games and puzzle games. His Tetris score is absolutely insane, and he entertains Candy Crush every now and again if he has time between projects, or is waiting on something. If he's rested enough, he's scary at fighting games, too, and the only one who has even come close to Cross' record. If he put any amount of effort into practicing, he'd hold the title. Nightmare isn't one much for video games, but he likes the ones that tell a good story. He can follow a complicated plot, but if the story gets muddled by too much action, he loses interest. He's the one who prefers handheld consoles the most.

As for the others...

Dream is big on RPGs. He likes ones that let you influence the outcome of stories, where you can change things for the better. Don't let him fool you, though - he's a crackshot at FPS games. Ink likes games that can keep his attention. It can't be too repetitive or dull - He's great with MMOs and other online arena-style games. He's a good shot, too, but not to the near-sniper level that Dream is Blue doesn't have a lot of time for video games, but likes JRPGs. He's played a few of the more obscure and older titles - newer ones just don't have the oomph that he likes.

[aardvark-123]

Skyrim can be much happier with mods, but you have to use good judgment and know your limits. Piling on script-heavy gameplay mods or SKSE engine plugins makes it hard for Skyrim to breathe, and even risks heart failure.

Just last week, I tried a new modpack with an ENB overwriting the graphics engine and fifty-seven armour and spell packs, in three distribution frameworks that plug directly into the game engine, all running through SKSE in Mod Organiser 2. When I got to Bleak Falls Barrow, all the draugr were too sick to fight me. They just lay there, groaning and coughing, while a Dragon Priest gave them honey lemon tea.

Everyone in Whiterun was bedridden too, this time just from exhaustion. Everyone except Braith, who begged me (a Redguard alchemy-stealth-barbarian named Jenny) to help her parents. None of the three hundred and six healing spells I'd downloaded made a difference; Amren and Saffir were too weak to get out of bed, and Amren's armour kept swapping between four hundred and ninety-seven different models.

With what little breath they could spare, Saffir and Amren begged me to put them out of their misery. Braith started crying, turned into a four-dimensional knot, smashed through the ceiling and sailed off into infinity - only possible thanks to Breakable Ceilings NG, by wSkeever and Jelidity.

I decided to give up and play Fallout: New Vegas, but I'm too scared to open Nexus Mods. Should I try and make do without kvatchcount's diverse Powder Gangers?

[chaosites]

Sup its me again

Do any of you have a favourite game?

Do any of you share one?

This one could take a while!!! Let's do it Let's go down the line~! It doesnt count if it's their source, that's our only rule.

Starting with some collective ones! Yahtzee! Mergefruit (the shitty phone one where you have to drop the fruits and merge them to try and make the giant golden watermelon), earthbound(legal middle name!), UTDR, wii sports/wii sports resort,MySims, mario in general

And now some individual faves!

Alan: Cut The Rope, Run series, Wind Waker

Ann: she loved those baking flash games but a lot of them don't run well enough anymore, so just baking games in general!

BASIL: There's this specific solitaire game called like.... solitaire gardens? no. Solitaire Grand Harvest. He loves that one.

Brandon: Unfortunately one of Brandon's favorite game series is in fact Danganronpa. He knows it's not any good.

Callum: Callum loves a good itch.io indie game. Nothing really specific. Zey also like Mystic Messenger

Chara: Chara likes OMORI, the mother series and especially games where you can play as A Creature instead of a person. They would like animal crossing a lot more if this was an option

Chel-c: Dating sims, worse the better

Chia: fighting games, namely the crossover ones

Clara: Mysims SO much she is a mysims superfan. She also loves the barbie games, namely barbie horse adventures riding camp.

Clyde: IMVU, online virtual worlds in general, overwatch

Cocoa: Dating sims and otome games

Colbie: Colbie likes most nintendo games but they especially eat up those godawful mobile games. They also love SSX tricky

ENA: Yume Nikki

Ethan Lee: KATAMARI!!!

Fern: RPGs mostly. He in fact does like ISAT. For reasons.

Gary: Baking games

Glass: Absolute Majong fiend. Solitaire also

Gregory: Games that are made to mimic the style of old arcade games, definitely. He really loves skee ball, too. And claw machines. If those two count as games

HERO: He also likes baking games!

Jax: "Best game ever, Hong Kong 97. What? Of course I'm serious.'

Joan: Animal Crossing

Karma: Sims, apparently?

KEL: Wii Sports

Ken: Style Savvy

Kid: I love Hue

Kira: Card games

Kris: Smash Bros, especially brawl, Wii games in general

M: Portal 1&2, Garry's Mod

Mabel: GirlsGoGames.com forever. I cant remember the name of it but she LOVED this weird hair styling one. It had a like, hair growth potion that you could use? Will edit if any of us remember

Mae: rhythm games even though she sucks bad at them, Sam and Max

Marcy: Silly DS games, Mysims, arcade games

Maxie: Nintendogs + Cats

Napsta: ThisIsSand

Neil: Gameboy/Wii/DS games of All Kinds, Tetris type games

Ray: Connect 4

Rio: Card games

Rox: Any game where you can pet the cat

Sal: Super Mario Galaxy

Seven: Any game where you can pet the cat+ Connect 4

Si: Mystery Case Files/Hidden object games

Simon: Wii Sports

Star: Dressup games

SUNNY: JRPGs

Sysfrin: Candy Crush, Solitaire

Tobi: Yahtzee

Torrin: Shipwrecked 64

Trent: Yaoi dating sims/ Blush Blush

Unknown: Connect 4, Papa's Freezeria

Vanellope: Mario Kart, Karting games in general

Vix: Smile For Me,Nintendo in general

X: Solitaire

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Master System - Double Dragon

Title: Double Dragon / ダブルドラゴン

Developer/Publisher: Sega / Arc System Works

Release date: 1 October 1988

Catalogue No.: G-1369

Genre: Beat-em-up

FM Sound: Yes

Double Dragon has held a place in gamers' hearts as the game where beating the hell out of some thug on some city street was worth spending money on. Spawning several sequels, home system games, cartoons, comic books, and even a doomed movie, Double Dragon is the stuff dreams are made of! Pitting you in a role as either Hammer or Spike, later to be known as Billy and Jimmy Lee, you take to the streets in an attempt to find the kidnapped Marion. As the game progresses in its side-scrolling fashion, you'll punch, kick, hold, and chuck people with enough action to make you think you're in a martial arts flick!

Double Dragon features some of the best beat-down action of any side-scrolling platformer in its time. Putting you in the role of Hammer or Spike, you take to the streets and beat up the numerous thugs that come after you with vicious punches and kicks as well as throws and the infamous knee bash to the head throw! Through several different stages, you'll hone your skills against a computer opponent that becomes increasingly stronger and meaner as the game goes on.

With that being said, you'll find challenges waiting at every corner, and different enemies that force you to learn different tactics. A game of this type really doesn't have much to offer but a one time through the outside of its addictive qualities. In later stages, you'll more than likely be overrun as the enemies get larger and come in a higher number. The two-player option is a great addition to the game, but you’ll find that the one thing missing from this version is the team-up maneuver in which a friend holds an enemy, and you start beating them down.

While the control on the Master System is not quite perfect, it is pretty damned close. You have a punch and kick button that allows you to grab onto your enemy and beat them down, however, you can no longer hold them for your partner if you have a friend playing with you. You can latch onto an enemy, knee them, punch them, and then chuck them over your shoulder. In certain areas, you can pick up weapons and use them against the onslaught of opponents with the punch button. All it takes is practice, and you'll beat them down with the best of them!

For a game of this age, it has all the trimmings, from the run-down slums to the character designs and fighting attacks! With heavy hits, you'll see blood fly just slightly, and even though the speed isn't the fastest in video game history, it gives a certain amount of impact watching the punches land with slow, plodding accuracy! Character colors reflect the player number, blue for player one, red for player two, and it's a hell of a sight to watch you or your friend hold an enemy while the other punches the hell out of them! However, you’ll still see the limitations that the game has to offer with some of the variations in the enemies and it is apparent in this old version of Double Dragon that the emphasis is more on the action and not the overall presentation.

The music is rather quiet throughout the game and only changes depending on what stage you're on. It's pulse pounding and keeps up with the flow of the game, but really is too quiet to keep tabs on! The sound effects range from grunts and groans to the sickening thump and thud of your fists smashing against some schmuck's face and busting out their teeth! The Master System does an excellent job keeping with the original theme of the game, and it gets even better if you own a Japanese console or your original console has been modded with the FM Sound module, so those who are fans of the original arcade game will find this to be a well-done port over.

[jacquesthepigeon]

Turns out I never knew what traditional enjoyment of fighting games (specifically smash bros) looked like until today bc my coworkers were talking about each fighter’s stats and their best moves and I was just like ??? cuz as a kid my sister and I mostly just played to role play the characters and my smash-obsessed brother who has a million mods downloaded only talks about giving different characters unique color palettes in delfino plaza

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi pt. 1

So what, four subsections until something dark happens then?

Very excited to once again just skip all the way to the next to last part of this just to see what the alternate ending looks like.

I wonder if the poems will tie into the narrative at some point. I imagine they will. Like chapter eight will roll around and then looking back at the poems before the very end it'll be like "aha so this meant that." It might not tie in directly to the plot, and this is more metaphorical than everything, but I imagine it'll still have some bearing on events you know?

This is a very minor thing to harp on given Rena is confessing to presumably either a big violence or murder. But it bugs me the indentation on the line "and with that there was silence." I didn't mention it during Meakashi but there was an extremely minor spelling error during the incident report. Where it mentions that Oryou was violently abused "post-portem," which isn't a word. It's post-mortem. I try not to harp on minor spelling issues though because I don't think anyone really likes that sort of extreme nitpicking.

Gonna admit going into this chapter I didn't think it was going to be the Rena chapter. Makes sense that it would be since everyone gets one, and she hasn't so far. Also for some reason this particular line reminds me of this bit from the end of the shooter Spec Ops: The Line. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody." "No one ever does."

I wonder if this chapter will go deeper into her past when she smashed up her school and classmates with a bat?

Also a clean screenshot of the curtsy just because I think it's a nice visual.

Anyway it's not a week or so prior to this confession scene. The class is going to have a big squirt gun fight for their PE class. Do the youth still call them squirt guns? Or do they just call them water guns?

Now I'm not saying it would've fit the mood at the time, but what if they had cross-dressing Satoshi or Keiichi. It's all a conspiracy, Ryukishi07 doesn't want to draw boys in lingerie. Anyway, what follows is a big water gun battle until Rena and Keiichi are the only ones left standing. Mion tries to manipulate the situation into the two ending in a tie in an effort to get away from whatever the penalty game is.

I imagine Tomita or Okamura were probably some of the ones who kept shooting Rika. I recall one of them has a huge crush on Rika so... you know. It makes sense to me.

This is playing it a bit heavy-handed huh. Everything is perfect and peaceful forever. Ignore the pre-title screen stuff, clearly everything is going to be peaceful and idyllic forever.

Something amusing happened when I started playing this chapter. I forgot to install the mod, so for a minute or so it was the remake version from GOG installed. I clicked on the "omake" button because I wanted to see if it was like earlier episodes where you could see how many TIP files there are in the chapter. It was all blank, but what's interesting was I clicked chapter jump and it had all twenty-six available right from the jump. At least I assume there's only the twenty-six, but I just thought it was interesting the game was like "hey you want to just skip directly to the end?"

I do occasionally think about just going with the unmodded version of the game before starting the latest chapter. Except for chapter one though I've just installed the mod every time. I like the voice acting.

[game-boy-pocket]

The new Super Smash Bros. Remix update is out that adds Goemon from the Legend of the Mystical Ninja/Ganbare Goemon series as a playable character, as well as Peppy and Slippy from Star Fox ( thought they're hidden on Fox and Falco. Don't be fooled, they're not simple alts.

Smash Remix is one of the most impressive mods on the N64. And it's proving to be a Smash game worth playing even with Smash Ultimate right there. Like, yes, a lot of what they add is just stuff in later Smash games, which is nice, but there's also so much new content too. Conker, Mariana, The Mad Piano, and now this. Idon't know how much more they plan to add, I was expecting them to be done adding things to this game two updates ago. But they keep surprising me. I hope they continue adding in both old and new content. Especially the ones that are love letters to N64 fans... I may not be that familiar with Goemon, but I'm very fond of his design and recognize his importance to fans of SNES and N64 ( though I know his legacy goes back much further than that, but only in Japan )

I'm crossing my fingers Banjo and Kazooie make it in one day with a surprise playable Gruntilda or Mumbo or something.

Also, my favorite new thing is that they added the announcer from Pokemon Stadium into the level and he actually says things that match up to your fight.

[quinsixtridrupled-k]

Ruby Rose joins Rivals of Aether's Steam Workshop!

(And I'm part of it!)

RWBY is an anime-styled action fantasy web series created by Monty Oum & Rooster Teeth about young huntsmen & huntresses fighting soulless beasts while protecting the world from a greater threat,

Rivals of Aether is an incredibly fun, fast-paced platform fighting game (think of Super Smash Bros., or Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl as examples) featuring elemental animals. It also has an extensive modding community by Steam Workshop!

Combine those two, and what do you get? RWBY in Rivals, naturally! Ruby seems to be an explosive rushdown character, with her Down Special allowing her to switch between Gravity or Fire Dust bullets - the former has a focus on movement, the other damage. Most of her attacks seem to be derived from BlazBlue Cross Tag's version of Ruby, fitted to be in a platfighter setting. I can tell she's going to be fun to play!

While developing the mod, its creator, MegaNintenBro, had requested the community to submit small sketches of numerous RWBY characters encouraging the main character and series' namesake, so that it may be used in the Workshop's Miiverse stage - and I, was one of the many ones lucky enough to not only have my art featured, but ALSO in the trailer itself. Have a gander below:

Ain't he just a positive little prince? Congratulations to the others who've made their submissions to become a part of this exciting project as well - I know for sure they've spent more effort on theirs than I did heh.

As a lifelong RWBY fan (give or take since 2016) and a fan of platform fighters in general, I can't begin to express how joyous it is to see a fan project that combines the two come out after 2 years in development by a passionate fan! If you're interested, go check the game out on Steam (and I do mean Steam, because the console versions lack the Workshop feature). The game itself costs 20 dollars.

The future of RoosterTeeth, and RWBY at the moment of writing is unclear, but a hopeful one, and it's fan projects like these that help keep the series alive and a reminder as to why its fans watch and love the series. I hope we keep seeing more of these in the future. But for now let's just live, and keep moving forward.

[bluepoodle7]

#Dharkon #Johndoegame #Househuntedgame #UncannyMiis #Miis #MinecraftSkins #MyThoughts

What I thought would happen in ending 6 of John Doe that he would just break out of his fake human body then grow huge and kill the player.

Found some John Doe and Maison Talo Mii's.

Images not mine but links are there.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate: Eric (My Mii) VS. Dharkon (youtube.com)

Miipedia | John Doe

Miipedia | John Doe (John Doe by MortisFox)

Miipedia | Maison Talo

If I made the Maison Talo Mii then I'm playing on these stages.

Smash Stages: Onett (Melee) (youtube.com)

Fourside (stage) - Super Smash Bros. Melee (youtube.com)

Found some Minecraft Maison Talo skins on google images.

These were a few of them that I liked which had the lure cord added to the Maison Talo skin and with Maison Talo without the blood red, burning red, bright red, blazer on.

Maison Talo House Hunted Minecraft Skin

Maison Talo (other skin) | Minecraft Skin

If you are good at modding videogames then you could mod this Maison Talo Minecraft skin with the John Doe ones into Smash Ultimate.

Image not mine but link is there.

John Doe Minecraft Skin

Miison the House.

I know a Maison Talo and a John Doe spirit battle would be so cool with using these Miis but have the battles roleplay similar to how the characters act in game.

Also a REALTORs lure body of the Onett yellow and blue houses would be cool.

Like Maison Talo is a stamina battle where you run away from him and you can only use items to defeat him but the Maison Talo Mii can fight you back but can grab you if you get close to him also have Mii Maison Talo can't pick up items.

Maybe have the John Doe Mii be a timed battle with the character always making black holes appear and holding beam sword since I would make the John Doe Mii a brawler with Maison Talo also being a brawler with the Maison Talo Mii holding a boomerang like his business cards.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Spirit Board - Dragon Quest Spirits (DLC Board)

The enhanced spirit is just his house body or just fight a bigger version of the Maison Talo Mii with a Villager and a Isabelle with their final smash activated with your player character at low health to trap you in the house like Maison Talo lured you.

I would make the Maison Talo's house body a legend spirit. I know for the Heim Baile Mii spirit battles will be similar to Maison Talo's but the Heim Baile Mii would be at low health but you just let him heal up by eating the burger food items while the player character avoids.

And Maison Talo's lure body is a Ace spirit, John Doe's would be a Advanced, and Heim Baile's spirit is a Novice that can be a enhanced spirit to be his house body.

Have the John Doe Regular Guys doeballs be just black toned Kirby's that you can attack to defeat to have Mii John Doe appear in this spirit fight like they ate all the Regular Guy doeballs to regain their body mass back with this monster hair character having a timed healing.

Maybe have each John Doe Mii be from the beta cyclops House Hunted 1/2 or 2, the two eyed John Doe, and "normal" John Doe as Miis to defeat. The only one with a beam sword is the two eyed John Doe Mii and not the other two forms.

The song I would use in the Maison Talo spirit battle.

Stage: Manor Macabre - Miitopia OST - YouTube

Can't wait to get these uncanny men in my Tomodachi Life game and great I got to make the whole Illbleed cast as Mii's also.

There is a Heim Baile Minecraft skin.

Johndoegame Steve Minecraft Skins | Planet Minecraft Community

Maison Talo's House Body.

https://x.com/Maison1963_0508/status/1835435913826165080

[oceansreducedtoshallowcreeks]

ghhghgh zavodila with lyrics but it's. sarv and ruv singing it.

alternate title: dan wanted to combine 2 different covers of zavodila with lyrics and thought that this was the best way to do it

inspired by this mod right here:

lyrics under cut. idk man

Sarv: Italics

Ruv: Bold

Both: Both

Here in these hallowed halls, here in these hallowed halls!

Here in these hallowed halls, here in these hallowed halls...

We're gonna break your balls! We're gonna break your balls!

We're gonna break your balls, I have to break your balls.

Desecrating our haven, you defiled our sanctuary!

Now you'll learn the grace of god to sin is merely temporary!

He shall turn the other cheek when we bring to an end your final week!

Came into the house of light, denied us, now you get a fight-

So now you face the rival's hymn-- Your survival? It's looking grim.

You had the carrot, chose the stick, so now I show you, little prick, what's to be scared of here among the seraphim!

Ruv and Sarv are here for war!

He shakes foundations to the core!

For your sins, oh, so aggressive,

I hope god can forgive you once more!

Earthquakes and thunderstorms,

Bass smashing through the floor,

You will learn what we have in store

When we show your sins you'll answer for!

Such vile vitriol to our ministerial!

I welcomed you into our home,

You spat at our faith so you'll atone!

Repent, you infidel! It might save your soul from hell,

While your girlfriend puts up her facade, I'll crumble this house of god!

Bring down the house of god! Bring down the house of god!

Bring down the house of god, bring down the house of god.

Pray for forgiveness, clod! Pray for forgiveness, clod!

Pray for forgiveness, god, this chorus is really odd- (Ruv!)

I ask for forgiveness for the sin of pride that I'm committing...

I beg for forgiveness for the sin of wrath i'm now committing...

But in my name, he'll punish every single bar this child is spitting.

In her name, I have to punish every bar this poor man's singing.

Their blood mixed in communion wine, the closest they get to divine...

Hallowed be thy name, the Zavodila shall now end their game.

If they spurn our faith, then death's a rest that they will never find.

In the name of god in heaven, this lost boy I shall detain.

Ruv and Sarv are here for war, shake foundations to...

I have no choice but to do a deciple's job and discipline you.

Earthquakes and thunderstorms, bass smashing through the floor,

For your sins, oh, so aggressive

You'd better pray, only god forgives!

Cast down the wicked one! For the father and the son!

We'll come to our faith's defense, you'll pay for your ignorance!

Repent, you infidel, it might save your soul from hell!

While she puts up her facade, i'll bring down the house of god!

Goodbye!

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 17

January 2025

Hey hey, new year, new games to play! I took a break from playing stuff in December because I was feeling particularly down and wanted to enjoy my next big RPG in a better mood (it was Fantasian, I'm currently feeling better and playing it right now and enjoying it a lot!)

Ultimately it was the right choice, and now I'm really back with a desire to play a bunch of games! And I got some good gaming done in January, and now it's February... Soooo... Let's talk about what I played!!

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite & Beyond (December 21, 2024) - PC

OH MY GOD!! DID YOU HEAR, MARVEL VS CAPCOM IS IN THE NEWS AGAIN!!! I feel like I don't talk about it much, but even though I'm not a huge Marvel (or comic in general) fan, I AODRE Marvel vs Capcom. A genuinely lovely and incredibly fun fighting game series that's become very near and dear to my heart over the years (I just recently came to the conclusion that UMVC3 is one of my favorite fighting games of all time!) And you may also know I ADORE mods! I love modding and got really attached to it through Brawl mods and my love for Project M and have recently dived into TONS more Smash mods like P+ and Akenia Build!

So... imagine Project M... but for Marvel...

I'm sold. I actually LOVED Infinite, I thought it was a really underrated game in terms of its gameplay, a lot of its newcomers are AWESOME, the power stones are fun, I even like the story (though I dont remember much of the specifics, it's just a great idea for a plot with Ultron Sigma and X being the protagonist.) But when Beyond was announced I was BEYOND excited (ha) for it!! MORE MvCI? And they're fixing the admittedly pretty nasty graphics? YES PLEASE!!

I haven't played it an insane amount but I've played it a bit and so far it's WONDERFUL, the game genuinely looks AMAZING. The new OST rules (I particularly love the remix of the MvC theme in the menu and Zero's new theme rules! I also find it funny that they gave Gammorah She-Hulk's theme. It's a great song and I love playing as both of them lol). The new stages are awesome, the new costumes and colors are nice, and it's cool they're trying to change some balancing and moveset stuff. I'd love to see them add in AT LEAST 2 new characters from both sides of the battle, but I imagine something like that is WAAAAY down the line. No rush, they're already doing amazing work with this!

My only issues is that the Onslaught stage makes the game CHUG like crazy, just becomes unplayable for me. And also GOD DAMN THAT FINAL BOSS IS A PAIN IN THE ASS AND I WAS PLAYING ON NORMAL MODE!!

But other than those tiny nitpicks, nah MvCI:B rules! And I can't wait to see where it goes from here! I hope it shows that there's still an audience for the VS series, even if Marvel isn't the next foe for Capcom to take on. But in the mean time, I'm cool with an insanely high quality mod.

Side note: PLEASE MAKE MODS FOR FIREBRAND THAT ADD THE OTHER DEMON'S CREST GARGOYLES TO HIS MOVESET, I DON'T CARE THAT THEY DON'T ALL HAVE WINGS, DESIGN SOME CUTSOM WINGS FOR THEM!!

Panzer Dragoon (March 10, 1995) - Sega Saturn

And next up, for my first brand new game I beat in 2025, we have Panzer Dragoon! A series I have been LONG overdue to play! I love Dragons, I love Starfox and general Shmup/On Rail games, I love lowpoly graphics, I love tropical settings, and I love mixes of ancient/scifi technology. Panzer Dragoon is TAILOR MADE FOR ME. And yet, I haven't given it a chance yet. Mainly because Saturn Emulation wasn't that great for a long time, and Panzer Dragoon isn't super cheap (though not as bad as Saga.) But I decided to give it another shot this year, and found an emulator that takes a bit to understand, but works PERFECTLY! And so, I finally got to dip my toes into this series!

And uh... honestly?? This game was okay. Like, it has a COOL story and world. Like, people having to fight the strange experiments of a bygone civilization while the powers-that-be are constantly trying to resurrect them for their evil gain. And dragons are there? That RULES. I LOVE that shit. I love the graphics, and the music, and the design of the Blue Dragon are wonderful. I particularly enjoy the kind of odd design the Blue Dragon has, with it's big horned helmet, it's unique! And the fact it has fully animated cutscenes is pretty impressive I feel like, especially in a pre-starfox 64 world. The game is very compelling.

But honestly it just wasn't really the most exciting game for me. In fact, I felt like it was pretty lackluster from a gameplay perspective. I know I shouldn't compare it to Starfox 64, its one of my favorite games ever and Panzer Dragoon came out before it... But maaaan, there's just not much you can do in this game. No real movement techniques, movement is kinda stiff in general and I felt like I could barely dodge ANYTHING and instead had to rely on shooting it down. No bombs, no laser upgrades, no upgrades of any kind. Even lock on feels a little impactless to me? And it makes the whole game a little boring at best and frustrating at worst. Like, the main gimmick is that you can look in 360 degrees all around your dragon to fight attackers on all side. Cool! But when you're looking at another angle you lose the ability to dodge all projectiles. Not so cool. It's a neat idea but it's not really as exciting as I feel like it could be if you made more use of the buttons to give the player more techniques and tools. Maybe it's just me?

Gargoyle's Quest II (July 17, 1992) - NES

Speaking of Capcom series I don't talk about nearly enough. Did you all know I LOVE Firebrand? More specifically, Demon's Crest! It's one of my all time favorite games ever made!! But I hadn't really tried any of his other games until GQ1 was added to the NSO. It was fine, but not exactly what I want out of the series and not nearly as good as DC (an unfair comparison for sure). And then, GQ2 just never came to the service! So I forgot about it... UNTIL TheSeventhForce did their Firebrand video and it reminded me I never played it (one of my favorite channels atm btw you should totally watch their stuff!!) And now I finally made the time to play it and complete the Firebrand trilogy! How did it stack up compared to the other 2?

Eh, it's tough to say. Obviously it's not as good as DC again, but that's still an unfair comparison. And when compared to GQ1 it's get a little trickier. It looks way nicer, the NES sprites are actually very good looking. It's faster cause there's no random encounters this time. And it probably controls better and the plot is maybe more interesting? But idk, it was just a little more boring maybe. I don't remember any of the music or anything and sad to say, it just didn't leave the most impactful impression on me. But it was fine! Like, it wasn't bad or anything. Just kind of unremarkable in the grand scheme of things. However, if they ever do that Firebrand Trilogy Remake they mentioned in the Capcom Survey, I think they could totally make this and GQ1 REALLY nice with some improvements and mechanics pulled from DC. But in the mean time, it is nice to have finally played this whole trilogy :)

I will also say, now I have a better understanding of what I think a new Firebrand game should be if the series ever got a reboot of some kind. I won't go into too much detail but I think they should just fully embrace the RPG inspired parts of the Gargoyle Quest games and make the next one a full blown JRPG. And since the series never really had turnbased stuff, and even GQ1 used platforming in its combat, you could totally make it an Action RPG! And what I'm getting at here is that the Tales of team should make a Gargoyle's Quest / Demon's Crest JRPG Reboot.

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (March 22, 1996) - Sega Saturn

Speaking of Panzer Dragoon... Did you all know there was a sequel to it? I actually don't think I was aware of this game until recently (I thought Saga was next). But I was never one to not be thorough, so, I had to give the sequel a shot too!

Zwei is more of the same, cool world, cool plot, cool cutscenes, you ride a dragon. But this one improves on the first a LOT in my opinion. For starters, you can actually maneuver your dragon in a more meaningful way, allowing you to actually dodge enemy fire. The game on the whole just feels better to control and play, like it's considerably more polished. And while they didn't add a ton of upgrades or techniques your dragon can preform. There is now a bar at the bottom of the screen, and when it's full you can preform a screen wipe / deal massive damage to the boss. It's small, it's not really groundbreaking, but it's COOL and makes the game feel that much more engaging. But I think the most interesting change is the fact your dragon can mutate based on how well you play the game!! This is REALLY cool and I can only imagine how interesting it could've been if different mutations allowed for different control, blasters, or sub weapons you could use in levels. However, I'm not sure if this mechanic will return in the future games. We'll have to see. In the meantime here's what mine looked like by the end of the game, again a very interesting and unique look for the dragon. I like their use of oddly shaped helmets for them.

And building off that concept of lost potential, yeah the game still isn't perfect. Once again looking around you isn't used that amazingly, and some of the bosses are real damage sponges this time around. Similarly, what was UP with that final battle? The camera for the first time ever is jumping all around the arena and it was genuinely a little stomach churning with the way it's snapping all over the place. It certainly was an improvement over the first, though. No question about it, and I hope to see some big improvements on your options in Saga and Orta.

And yes. My Saturn emulator works like a charm. I've played Panzer Dragoon AND Zwei... That means it's finally time. Next time I return to the world of Panzer Dragoon... It's finally time to play Saga. I can't believe it.

Bombing!!: A Graffiti Sandbox (May 18, 2021) - PC

Next up is a really tiny game where there's not too much to talk about. But it's an indie game so I still wanted to give it some attention and love. Bombing is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, a graffiti sandbox! You just walk around small areas and do some graffiti! It's simple, but it's a lot of fun. There's no goal, you just take your time drawing stuff in quiet night time locations in a city. Listen to music, experiment with different tools. The works.

I don't have too much to say except it's really cute and you probably own it if you've bought any of those big relief bundles, cause it was in a few of them! If you're looking for something small to play and draw with for a bit, it's a good time!

BUT, I have to give it one point of criticism. It's unnerving to me. IDK WHY!! But for some reason cozy first person games where there's NO NPCs while you just do your own thing in silence freak the FUCK out of me. Power Wash Simulator is genuinely so unnerving to me aha. And this one takes place at night so it's even worse. But it's still cute.

Bayonetta 2 (September 20, 2014) - Wii U

ITS FINALLY TIME FOR PEAK ONCE AGAIN!! I played Bayonetta 1 back in 2023 and was blown away by just how amazing it was. And so I went into Bayo 2 with high expectations. I've heard it was just better from my friends and also, I prefer her character design in this one a lot more! I just like the short hair over the bee hive lol.

Overall I'd say Bayonetta 2 is more of the same but clearly much more polished. Combat feels nicer, movement in general feels nicer, and those graphics. GOD DAMN THIS GAME LOOKS GOOD!! I was seriously blown away by how amazing the cutscenes looked, I dont think I've played anything this hyper realistic made for Wii U, and I'm genuinely impressed it was able to do graphics that look this stunning. I also liked the new story, it's nice seeing Bayo adapt to her new life and hanging out with Jeanne. I thought the whole plot with her saving Jeanne from hell was really cool and it was nice to fight some demons this time. I like teaming up with Bayo's parents, I'm shocked this series has had 2 child main characters and neither of them were annoying, Snake within was SO COOL I can't believe the animal transformations aren't in smash, Bayonetta pole dancing on the ISS before shooting it at the final boss was AMAZING! The whole game is just as exciting and over the top as the first, and I'm SO glad they didn't tone anything down! In fact, it felt even hornier and even more violent than the first, I'm blown away Nintendo let them do all this stuff lol. I liked the new summons like the frog, and I loved do boxing matches between the giant summons. Bayonetta is still awesome!

But, I still have a lot of the same problems with it as I did the first. Easy is too easy, hard is too hard ect ect. Like all character action games I just cannot be bothered to care about combat when it's stuff like X,Y,X,X,Y,Y,Y,X ect ect. But for me. I do just feel like this one dragged a little bit towards the end. Like, it wasn't as exciting in the final moments as the first one was? I'd argue the plot was easier to follow than the first, but I still found myself more bored by the ending than I did the first one. However, it certainly did pick up for the final boss. Maybe I would've liked it more if it had focused on fighting Hell's forces the whole way through, cause I can't help but feel like the Loki stuff almost got in the way of it and Jeanne's revival felt a little rushed? Idk

Over all though, yeah it's more good as fuck Bayonetta fun. Bayonetta rules, and I'm... interested to find out why everyone hates 3 so much. Oh well, even if 2 maybe wasn't as life changing as 1, I still think it was probably over all a better game. Maybe... Maybe I just think she's hotter in this one... Idk. Bayo is cool.

Fatal Fury 2 (November 26, 1993) - SNES

They put Fatal Fury on NSO. I pay for the damn thing so I'm gonna play some Fatal Fury!! I've played my share of SNK fighting games in recent times, but I still feel like I haven't played enough of their stuff. So any excuse to try more is always appreciated.

Not much to say on this one cause I'm a coward and played it with super easy settings, but yeah Fatal Fury 2 was neat! I'm actually still really impressed with the graphics and music in this game, I don't know if it was higher quality on the arcade cabinet but it looks pretty damn good even if it was compromised in any way to get it on SNES. I was particularly really thrilled when I saw it had a light day/night cycle where the time of day changes between rounds. More fighting games need that NOWADAYS, but this game was doing it on the SNES. Also while I couldn't really get the hang of the lane system (something I remember struggling with when I tried FF1 when Terry was announced for Smash, and also struggled with in Guilty Gear Isuka lol) I feel like the idea of having a fighting game take place on multiple lanes COULD be really cool. Especially if they were to make attacks that traveled between lanes or could be angled? Idk.

Another random small detail I have to give this game some love for is that the final boss music is actually being played by a band in the background. Such a cute detail. Neat game :)

[elliespuns]

wait so when you film all those scenes with the mod, can you go back to certain parts in the game without replaying everything? Like for the david scene did you have to play the whole game up until that point to film it lol

Yes and no. It's not that difficult, yet sometimes, it's not so easy either.

It depends on what scene you want to do.

Firstly, it's useful to finish the game before playing with the mods. This way, you can choose from whatever cutscene you want to use the manual camera in. If you haven't finished your game, the cutscenes will be adding themselves gradually based on where you are in the game, which is a bummer if you just want to play with the mods.

Not to bother with this, I downloaded a mod that completed the game for me, so now the game has saves that are 100% complete, and it allows me to do whatever I want and choose whatever I want.

But there are still downsides to all of this. It depends on what you want to use the manual camera for. If you want to use it in cinematics, it's easy. You just go to the section "cutscenes" and choose the one you want to work with.

But if you want to use it in one of those in-game cutscenes that are not listed as the original ones (for example, the 'we stick together' scene, the giraffe scene, David choking Ellie, etc.), you actually HAVE TO play the game to get there. The worst part is that even if you go to "encounters" in the main menu, it doesn't do the scenes, so that only allows you to play certain parts of the game, but after you slay all enemies, it ends without the in-game cutscene that should follow after. So there's really no other option than to choose a chapter that is closest to the scene you're looking for and play it until you get there.

Don't worry, tho. I don't really waste time with the real gameplay when I need to do that. The debug dev menu is not just about the manual camera; it allows you to use mods in the game that make you cheat, which is sooo helpful when you need to get somewhere quickly.

What I do every time I need to play is activate an "undetectable player" mod that allows me to just sprint forward and pass all the enemies without them noticing me. So instead of playing like a dodo, I get to the part I need almost immediately. I have to fight/shoot sometimes when the game requires it to move forward, but the fun thing is that once you're undetectable, the enemies yell at you because they're programmed to, but they still can't see shit even if you're up close.

Also, I learned that it's very useful to manually save your game right before you know the little in-game cutscene starts, so whenever you need to play it again, you just load that part of the game and you're right there and you don't have to play again.

And yes, the David part was the real bummer because the original cutscene starts when Ellie is already smashing David's face, so whatever is before this, you have to get to it by playing. And as you know, this chapter is too long because you switch between Ellie and Joel, and it was nerve-wracking, but I did it!

[labcrowndiaries]

It was 2022, I forgot the exact date, but, if my Discord chat with myself is correct, it was July 30. We were on vc in this Discord server I mod called JoJomaniacos, which is where I met @/shio_sunshine. We were playing Gartic Phone and, as it's usual for me, I ran out of initial prompts to start the game, so I wrote "Draw Hydron and Clay fucking." shio_sunshine was the first one to get the prompt and she was so confused like "Who are these people?", she had barely entered the server and, therefore, she barely knew me and my other obsessions outside of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. She had to google Clay and Hydron to make a nice drawing and that's where today's fanart comes from.

Soon it will be 2024, and it will be the second year I've had the brainrot with this ship. The idea of shipping them seeped in first on January 1st, 2022, when I finally fleshed out a fic idea I've had since 2016 but didn't know what to do with it. The idea was dark and, honestly, although the fucked, the idea wasn't romance or smut, it was horror, and I only planned to make them fuck (although against their will) in that fic and then never touch the ship again.

But, oh, life had a different plan for me, and here we are, in a Tumblr blog I made to only speak about this ship. Who would have thought that my psychological horror masterpiece (that I haven't published yet) would start my spiral into madness, into a brainrot so strong it hasn't let go of me in almost two years? And I doubt it'll let me go soon, finding this ship was like entering into a pyramid scheme, except I'm the only member and the preacher and the whole cult is me. And I can't get free. It's not like I'm fighting it, I'm actually having lots of fun with this and this ship is my source of dopamine and serotonin when I'm feeling down for not knowing what to do with my life. Life is complicated and the only thing getting me by is smashing these two dudes like Barbie dolls and inventing all sorts of stories with them.

So, cheers for another year here. Let's hope I get a good job so I can keep spending my money in commissions for these two, so this ship has more fanarts. And let 2024 be the year where I write more fics about them.

For everything that came and went and for everything that will be, cheers 🥂

🎨: shio_sunshine

[comfyspookyburrito]

Blog update End of September 2023

Hey everyone and maybe even newcomers to my tumblr blog!

Usually every few months I post a status update of anything and everything I've been doing as time goes by the time that we cannot control.

Let me start off by saying that as of writing this, I'm tired so I won't have much energy and need to sleep.

First, I will confess that I have been on a procrastination vacation. Things in real life right now have been affecting my mood to live stream and produce content efficiently, however I have been very happy this whole time. I am starting to finally work more, i had too much free time on my hands and spent all of them playing genshin impact and other new games that have recently come out.

I am sorry in advance for not posting any new content, sharing my smash ultimate custom content, or even keeping everyone up to tabs on my hobby life. The truth is that I am lazy and wanted to spend more of my time relaxing and doing stupid things like neglecting my health and time to have fun playing video games.

Thing is, a long time ago I've been working nonstop on content and live streams, artwork, the usual.

While that made me extremely happy at the time, years later I finally went back on what I've missed out on.

Soon I will return with more health and self care, more content shortly will return, and I'll be back for real like I did for all these years.

There's two more things I want to address for this update life of mine.

A brand new 2D metroidvania platformer called Nyaruru Fishy Fight has popped up to me on steam. This game has a style similar to Rabi Ribi, rabi ribi is one of my favorite indie games of all time. So it has to be good!

This game is fantastic! Very fun, adorable, and I admit almost as perfect as rabi ribi!

Nyaruru is actually a sequel to a different game called Nyakori's Rabbit Doll.

In that game, you navigate and try to survive in a top down puzzle game like in those horror rpg games. The typical second game sequel that changes an entire genre.

If you enjoyed rabi ribi's story and slightly even remotely care about the story of nyaruru before playing either game, it would be a good idea to get both of them.

As for the whether you should play the first or second game, that's up to you. I played the second game first and only played the original game and it's dlc afterward. But both nyakori's dlc chapter, and nyaruru's story is sooo....good. So damn good I feel emotional about it.

I love nyaruru and want to play that game again a lot. And it's actually shorter than rabi ribi too!

The last thing for me to talk about is that I still plan to procrastinate until I have finished and completed a few things that are very important to me and will a strong impression of my channel themes and stance as a whole.

I have to finished a lot of animations I am sure many people will enjoy, afterward I might try to compose a theme song for them when I get tired of using different franchise video game songs, sonic, mario, ect.

Some new artwork thumbnails, a 4k youtube social media wallpaper banner, some additional artwork to push myself towards future content creation.

And another update to Crypt of the Literature Club Expanded and Enhanced steam workshop mod for crypt of the necrodancer! This update will include visual polish fixes to many sprites such as UI, statue's, player sprites, items, and more to a cute apealing artstyle. that update will also include the finished bestiary displays of the characters, and a classic style skin return from the original mod before it was removed.

And that's it! That's everything I wanted to talk about today. I might share another tumblr update blog around fall or winter. I always appreciate everyone who willingly stuck around! I care about all of my viewers and participants regardless.

TLDR; Sorry for slacking off the past few months, will return soon, go check out nyaruru's fishy fight, and lastly I've got more exciting content in store for you all when I return! Thank you for reading.

[total-drama-takes-takes-2]

tti episode 9

"Last time on Total Takes Island: the campers played a friendly game of hunter and hunted, complete with costumes and projectile weapons. Max gave Michael the cold shoulder, for some reason, and Austin showed off his not-so-groovy side when he used his teammate as a human shield. Sha-Mod got rivals Ass and Courtney in a tangle, and for that he was sent packing. Will the Fujoshis ever win another round? Will Scruffy ever find some solid evidence of what’s happening on their team? Find out now- on Total! Takes! Island!”

Caesar sits up, looking at the analogue clock on the wall- 6 AM- and then sighs as he covers his ears to drown out McLovin’s sobs. 

---

CAESAR: “All. Week. All week! That homo-wannabe has been crying over his boytoy leaving the island. If I had known it’d affect his fragile little heart so much as to disturb me from my beauty sleep, I would’ve voted for Ass!”

---

McLovin shakily holds a simple crayon drawing he made of him and Sha-Mod surrounded by a large red heart as he sits on the cabin floor. Caesar gets out of bed, eyes tired, and stares blankly into the camera. 

A knock on the cabin door forces him to shuffle over and open it, only to see Bonnie holding a pillow and looking equally as tired. 

“Ass and Courtney have been fighting. All. Night,” they mutter, eye bags heavy. “I don’t care about the gender-adjacent rules anymore, I just want to sleep.”

Caesar sighs and points into the cabin where McLovin is crying. “No sleep around here,”

“Oh, brother,”

---

Julia sits on the porch outside the cabin door, legs crossed and eyes closed as she pretends to meditate to listen in on Austin and Kelly’s conversation. 

“And then I said, why have one bird when you can have all of them?” 

Kelly laughs. “You have such a way with words,”

“Smashing, baby,”

Julia sighs in defeat, clearly not learning anything of value, and stands, walking over to where Max is leaning against the cabin exterior wall. She hovers in front of him until he finally acknowledges her. “What do you want?”

“I was thinking we could discuss strategy,”

He scoffs. “Yeah, right, as if I’d take pointers from you,”

Julia rolls her eyes. “I just think we should go over what we’re doing about the Scary problem?”

“No one’s gonna vote her out,” Max says, beginning to walk away. “You’re playing the wrong game here.”

“Attention, campers! Meet me on the beach in five for your next challenge!” Chris’ voice blares over the intercoms. Everyone winces at the mic feedback and then slowly begins moving, quietly grouping off. 

“Today’s challenge will not only test your strength, your endurance, your intelligence, your patience, your-”

“Oh, just get on with it,” Julia rolls her eyes. 

Chris glares. “You’ll be cooking a three-course meal. Each team will appoint a head chef to create a theme for the meal, and oversee the cooking. If you’ll all look off to your rights- no, your other rights- you’ll see our food delivery truck, stocked full of ingredients, which is what you’ll be using for your meals,” he continues, pointing to a small truck down the shoreline. “Chef and I will be judging, so make it edible, please.”

Courtney turns to the rest of the team, now a five-player ensemble. They cross their arms with a smile. “So… who wants to lead this thing?”

“Why not you, your holiness?” Ass says, rolling their eyes. Courtney glares, but doesn’t object, turning to the rest of the team. 

Caesar shrugs. “I don’t have any problems with that. Bonbon?”

Bonnie yawns. 

“McLovin?” Caesar turns, and then looks around the beach. “Um… has anyone seen McLovin?”

---

A spiritual, wistful tune plays as McLovin sits at the big cliff’s edge, cradling his knees to his chest and crying. 

---

“Oh. Joy,” Courtney sighs. “Normally, I’d look for him myself, but I need to oversee the cooking. Bonnie?”

“Bonbon and I are kind of a package deal,” Caesar says, holding their shoulders to prevent them from collapsing. “Where they go, I go.”

“Fine! As much as I hate to say it-”

Ass smiles a little and stands. “I’ll find him. Just worry about not losing this time, m'kay?”

Courtney rolls their eyes and turns to their two-person team. “We can work with this. Caesar, make sure Bonnie doesn’t hurt themselves. I’m going to go check out the kitchen and then make a list of what we need. Is that okay?”

Caesar shrugs. 

---

“Now, clearly, I should be the head chef-”

Julia elbows Max in the ribs, causing him to cough and sputter. “Fine! Whatever. Scary, you’re in charge,”

Scary beams, giggling and cartwheeling towards the ingredients truck. 

Michael raises an eyebrow. “Have you lost your mind?”

“We took a vote, Mikey,” Julia grins, wrapping her arm around Michael’s shoulders. 

“Don’t call me that,"

Scruffy blinks. "Who voted for Scary?”

“Let’s see… Frollo, Staci, Scary itself, and me and Max,”

“You and Max are in agreement on this?” Michael scoffs.

Max storms through, shoving Michael out of the way while Julia snickers to herself. 

---

JULIA: “This is too easy,”

---

“Is this everything?” Courtney asks as Caesar and Bonnie dump a few armfuls of food packaging onto the table in their designated kitchen. 

Caesar pants, gasping for air as if he’d just run a marathon. “No, we still have a few trips to make,”

“Okay, okay, we’re all good. I’m gonna get started on the appetizers, since that’s what’s getting served first. I think I have an idea of how we could pull this off,”

---

Somewhere deep within the woods and very far from camp, McLovin and Ass walk together, shoulder-to-shoulder. 

“Well, why do you think it was so distressing? Were you really that good of friends?” They ask, kicking a pinecone along the path. 

“We weren’t just friends, we were bromates. That’s like soulmates but for men… Joner came up with it,” McLovin sighs. 

“And this Joner guy wasn’t your… ugh, your bromate?” 

McLovin shakes his head. “Michael was around way before I was. I only came in around the ninth grade, so he was already spoken for,”

"Isn't Michael a girl?"

"is she?"

Ass raises an eyebrow, then gives him a sympathetic look. “Third-wheeling, huh? I know how that feels,”

“It was more than third-wheeling. But I don’t wanna talk about it, it gets… complicated. Things with Michael aren’t so good anymore. But Sha-Mod was like my oasis in the desert, man! He saved me from all the girl drama and the cooties!”

Ass rolls their eyes, but an endearing smile sneaks through anyway. “You’re funny, you know that?”

“I know,” he sighs. “Sha-Mod used to tell me how funny I am…”

---

Scary scampers around the kitchen, laughing maniacally while writing down their own recipes on the back of napkins from the mess hall and passing them out like party favors. 

The other Anons raise eyebrows at the messy handwriting, and then turn to Max, who shrugs. 

---

JULIA: “My plan is simple. Get Max to put Scary in charge, convincing him that her failure will get her eliminated, and then when we inevitably fail, I’ll pin it on him and he’ll be toast!"

---

“Okayyy, let’s see- I want this to all go perfectly, so no lollygagging, tomfooling, dilly-dallying, or horseplay, pretty please!” Scary says. “Austin, Kelly Staci- course number three. Julia, Scruffy- course number two! The rest of you-” Scary narrows her eyes at Michael and Max, then at Frollo across the room. “Course number one and STAY OUT OF MY WAY!”

Michael takes a step away. Max rolls his eyes. 

Austin reads the recipe card Scary had handed him, and then beams. “Black forest cake- right on, baby!”

“Pasta,” Julia squints at her group's napkin. “Um, wait- where are we supposed to get the-”

“Figure it out!” Scary grins wickedly. 

Max finally looks at the remaining recipe. “Um. This isn’t real,” he ignores Michael, turning to Frollo behind them. “She’s messing with us. She has to be.”

Frollo closes his Bible with a loud snap and walks over, taking the napkin. He squints at it, and then his face goes pale. “Witchcraft!” he shouts, dropping the napkin on the floor, kneeling down beside it and repeatedly smashing it with his Bible. 

“You know it’s already flat, right?” Max asks as he and Michael watch the ordeal from above. 

---

“Caesar! I need you and Bonnie on the main course. I can handle everything else until- if- those two ever get back,” Courtney shouts, tying an apron around their waist as the two remaining players come back from their final round of carrying ingredients. 

Caesar half-heartedly salutes them and picks up the cookbook Courtney found, flipping to a tabbed page. He grins. “Courtney, you genius,”

“Yeah, I know, but we still gotta make it!” they say, grabbing an oven tray and spreading a thin layer of tortilla chips over it. 

---

COURTNEY: “My parents aren’t really at home a lot, so I’ve been feeding myself for most of my teen years. Whenever I don’t feel like cooking something big, I go to my defaulto easy and quick meal- Americanized-Mexican food.”

---

Julia and Scruffy stare at the last ingredient they need on the list, and then look to each other. “So… you don’t suppose they have that on the truck, right?” she chuckles. 

“Not that I would think, but… someone’s gonna have to get it,” 

Julia’s nervous smile drops as she realizes they mean her. “Fine. If I die, kill Max for me,”

“Um… sure,”

Julia takes off her apron and walks out of the kitchen just as Kelly and Austin come back in holding a new carton of eggs. 

“You know, my great-great-great-great grandma Eliza actually published the first ever recipe for chocolate cake. It’s an old family secret, but we use chopped chocolate instead of melted,” Staci smiles, pulling a huge butcher’s knife out of a drawer and smiling as they begin dicing a few chocolate bars. 

Kelly smiles. “Your family sounds really nice, I wish mine was so talented,”

“You’re always welcome to join! As my great-uncle Bertram said, family is determined by bonds, not by blood,” 

“You mean it?!” Kelly’s eyes widen. “I get to have a big sister??”

Staci beams. “Ohmigosh, totally! I’ve always wanted a younger sib!”

Austin pops out of nowhere, holding an armful of eggs. “I want in on this found family dig too, baby! I’d make a smashing sister!”

“Yay! Sisters!” Staci smiles. “OW!”

All three look down to their finger, where the knife had slipped and produced a thin cut. Staci turns white and then immediately passes out. 

“I don’t get it,” Max says, pacing around Michael and reading the napkin again as soon as he got Frollo out of the kitchen. “She’s actually trying to lose.”

“Will you-”

“This is all because she has this tall-person superiority complex, she thinks I’m stupid!”

“Can I-”

“That’s why she puts everyone she hates on appetizers! She wants us booted! Shit- this must’ve been Julia!”

Michael grabs his shoulders, shaking him. “Let me read it!”

Max’s face turns red and he crosses his arms after handing her the napkin, ignoring her again. She rolls her eyes and stares at the list. 

“Tongue of lamb… hair of toad… guts of eagle… hm, okay. She wants us to make a salad,”

Max’s jaw drops. 

---

MICHAEL: “Joner went through a witch phase in the 7th grade. All of the “eye of newt” stuff is just fancy herbalist language for different plants,”

---

“So, what’s your deal?” McLovin asks, no longer crying. His hands are in his pockets and his face is dry. 

“My deal?”

“You know, you’re all dry and sarcastic and stuff. Why?”

Ass shrugs. “When you deal with enough drama, it gets to you,”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” McLovin says, holding up his finger as a butterfly lands on it. He turns and smiles at Ass. “It’d be awesome to see you smiling more, you know?”

They smile a bit. 

---

ASS: “It’s kind of ridiculous how Courtney thinks they can just claim a person… however, when that person is McLovin, I guess I can kind of get it.”

---

Courtney slices a jalapeno, watching Bonnie carefully as they attempt to dice up a few tomatoes, but lose their grip on the knife every few seconds. 

“Here, let me,” Courtney says with an apologetic smile, taking over for Bonnie as they finish up the jalapeno. “Sorry about last night. I’m sure that wasn’t easy to sleep through.”

“What… sleep?” Bonnie yawns. 

“I guess I just keep letting my emotions get the best of me. I don’t mean to step on anyone’s toes, you know?” Courtney picks up the cutting board and scrapes off the diced tomatoes into a nearby bowl. “Can you grab the cilantro?”

Bonnie nods and drifts across the kitchen before returning. “It’s okay, I get it. And, for the record,” Bonnie smiles, picking apart the cilantro. “I’m on your side.”

Courtney smiles. 

---

COURTNEY: “Bonnie is kind of sweet, actually. Now I get why Caesar won’t listen to anyone else,”

---

Frollo paces back and forth outside the kitchen, looking at the ground with a contemplative stare. He hears some motion in the distance and looks up- seeing a pitch black figure approaching. 

“DEMON!” he yells before running off into the woods. 

Julia rolls her eyes as she walks by, doused in black squid ink. Scruffy blinks at her when she enters the kitchen. “Did you get anything?”

She glares, pulls out a bowl, and then wrings her hair into it, a metric ton of squid ink filling it to the brim. Scruffy blinks, and then shrugs. “Let’s cook,”

Across the kitchen, Max finishes tossing the salad before turning around and seeing Kelly and Austin alone, frosting an amazing looking cake. “Where’s Staci?” he asks. 

The two look at each other and then step apart, revealing a still-unconscious Staci on the floor. Max sighs, walks over, and shakes them awake. 

“Whu- huh? What happened?” Staci looks around, then winces. They look at their finger, still bleeding slightly, and immediately pass out again. 

Max slaps her awake this time, holding her hand away from her face. “You up? Good. Hope you had a good nap, sleeping beauty. Get some rubbing alcohol and band-aids from the medical tent and get back here before I lose my mind. Okay?”

Staci nods and shakily stands, slowly walking out the door. 

Max stands, smacking his palm to his forehead and gritting his teeth. Austin and Kelly make fleeting eye contact. 

“Hey, baby, are you doing alright? You’re not looking so groovy,”

“I’m fine!” he snaps. “I’m doing so awesome, thanks for asking!”

---

MAX: “I hope they all know how close I am to snapping,” he pauses to laugh insanely, holding his head in his hands. “Cause I’m really getting there!”

---

“Woah, dude, calm down,” Michael steps in from behind, putting a hand on his shoulder. Max’s face goes blank and he relaxes a little, losing tension. “You’re gonna give yourself a headache.”

He sighs, exhaling deeply. “I’m… okay. Let’s get this over with,”

---

“Campers, you have twenty more minutes to finish preparing your dishes!”

Courtney glances around the kitchen nervously, surveying the nachos and tacos prepared for the meal. “I feel like we’re missing something…”

Their face goes blank. “Oh my God- the dessert!”

Bonnie and Caesar's tired eyes widen and they look at each other nervously, neither one wanting to step in and volunteer to save the day.

Luckily, McLovin and Ass walk in just before the two have to, laughing to themselves. Courtney’s head whips around to them. “Where have you two been!?”

“Walking, talking, vibing,” McLovin shrugs. “Ass said you had it under control.”

Ass shrugs. “With all your amazing skills, I figured you wouldn’t miss us,”

Courtney glares, holding their arms out for emphasis as they get in Ass’ face. “Thanks for the input, but we’re about to lose! You are so going home!”

“Woah, let’s all take a chill pill,” McLovin steps between the two, holding out his arms. “Court, what’s going on?”

“Bonnie and Caesar are exhausted, you two have been missing for hours, and I didn’t have enough time to finish the dessert!”

McLovin raises an eyebrow. “Is that all?”

“What do you mean is that all?! We’re gonna lose!”

“I can make churros in like, fifteen minutes,” McLovin shrugs. “My abuela taught me this super quick recipe back in grade school.”

Everyone stares. Courtney’s jaw drops. 

---

Staci walks back into the kitchen, dazed and confused, holding a large bottle of rubbing alcohol with their entire hand bandaged. Max narrows his eyes. “What is that?”

“What?” they ask, holding up the gallon container. “Rubbing alcohol?”

“I didn’t want you to bring it back here! And look, you’re getting it all over!”

Staci looks at the ground, where a tiny hole at the bottom of the bottle is leaking a trail of fluid all over. They glare back. “You have no right to criticize me. You’re not in charge today,”

“Scary!” Max yells, before looking around the room. “Where is Scary?”

The other Anons look at each other, and then hear a faint giggling outside. The entire team walks out, Staci leaving the bottle on the counter adjacent to the one with the delicious-looking salad, squid ink pasta, and black forest cake. 

“Oh, Jesus Christ!” Max exclaims. 

 A large wooden stake has been set up just outside the kitchen, a massive pile of sticks under it. Frollo walks around one side, spinning the stake around to reveal Scary tied to it. She giggles again. 

“Jesus Christ is correct, my brother,” Frollo says. “I’m going to burn this witch and free this island of sin.”

Julia turns to Max. “When I said I wanted her gone, this isn’t what I meant!”

“Let her go, now!” Max shouts, though no one dares get any closer. 

Frollo shakes his head and lights a match just as Scary easily slips out of the ropes and somersaults into the woods. He doesn’t notice, though, and drops the match anyway. 

Max’s eyes drift down as the flames consume the wooden pyre, then flit down to the trail of rubbing alcohol leading to the mobile kitchen. 

He sighs. “Oh, sh-”

The steam of liquid immediately catches fire and the mobile kitchen explodes, blasting everyone backwards onto the beach. The Anons stare in shock as a massive bonfire envelops the charred remains of the shiny trailer, and their challenge along with it. 

---

“Mm, amazing! And these churros, man, I’m impressed!” Chris chuckles, dabbing his chin with a cloth napkin. “Fujoshis, despite everything, you’ve really outdone yourselves this time.”

“De-licious!” Chef nods, looking at Courtney. “Have you considered a summer internship in the kitchen? I could save you from this competition.”

Courtney smiles proudly. “I think I’ll stay on the show, but I appreciate that, Sergeant Chef,”

Chef salutes and Chris chuckles again. “Now, time for the-”

The sound of the trailer exploding outside makes everyone jump and run outside. The Anons are lying across the beach, groaning. Chris blinks. 

“Um… oookay... I guess we have a winner, then!” he shouts. The Fujoshis cheer, McLovin hugging Ass and Courtney while Bonnie and Caesar high-five and then both pass out. 

“Anons, I’ll see you- or what’s left of you, anyway- at the campfire tonight!”

---

“Anons… wowwwww. Wow. Just wow!” Chris shakes his head. “And the sad thing is, from what I saw, that weird goth meal looked delicious!” 

Max sighs, massaging his temples. Julia rolls her eyes. 

“You had a lot of mishaps today, some worse than others. But only one of you will be walking the dock of shame, boarding the boat of losers, and never returning. Ever,” 

“Scruffy- you’re safe. 

Max,

Scary- good work today, champ.

Michael, Kelly, Austin- safe!”

Chris looks between the final three marshmallow-less players. “Julia- you’re safe.”

Julia smiles and catches her marshmallow before flicking it at Max’s head. 

“Frollo- your weird 17th century point of view blew up a very expensive trailer, and your team's hard work inside. And Staci- you supplied the ammo. But only one of you is going home tonight. And that person… is…

Frollo,” Chris tosses Staci a marshmallow. “Staci, you’re somehow still in the game.”

Frollo stands, looking unbothered, and begins walking. He stops to whack Max upside the head with his Bible one last time, and then disappears down the dock. 

---

FROLLO: “I set out on a mission. However it turned out, I’ll know that I did well. We’re all in God’s plan. I can only hope the brothers at my church will forgive me for fraternizing outside of the membership…”

---

Max’s eyes open slowly and he sits up, rubbing his head. The campfire area is now abandoned and it’s clearly late at night. 

He looks up as someone walks into the area and offers a hand. He hesitates for a moment, and then takes it, allowing Michael to pull him to his feet. 

“I was just coming to check on you. Julia finally fell asleep,” Michael says. “Sorry you got knocked out.”

Max rubs the back of his head. “I’m just glad that nut is gone,”

Michael nods, looks around for a moment as the silence looms over them, and then begins walking away. Max watches for a few seconds before clearing his throat. “You did well today!”

She turns for a second, smiling. “I’d hope so,” and then walks back to camp. 

Max also smiles- just a tiny bit- and follows a few minutes after, just as Julia peeks around the corner with a frown.