#Despite doing 7800 words in one day though

[undercityrezident]

My Commentary on Pokemon Scarlet

Way back in—wait, when was it… April, May? February even?—whenever it was we saw the first trailer for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I was gobsmacked because I absolutely did not expect to see a new Pokemon game so soon. I was taken so by surprise by it that I was almost confused. I was thinking to myself, “Man, it feels so soon after just getting done with Pokemon Legends: Arceus that I’m still coming down from it. And there’s already another one coming on the horizon. Is it too soon? Did they even have enough time to make this game?”

Yes, as a Pokemon fan, I was asking myself: am I getting too many Pokemon games too quickly?

It feels like there’s some measure of absurdity in that, but having read and written work about crunch time in the video game industry (not on this blog, but for school), I feel like the cost for Game Freak putting out another game would be too high. And I don’t mean monetarily. I’m sure they’re raking in the green, but I’m talking about other costs: the costs to the sanity of developers and the costs to customers on the quality of game they’re getting for modernly full-priced triple-A games. I could also cite the cost of Game Freak’s reputation but I don’t know if that’s worth mentioning in the same breath as the former two. Plus, I’m starting to worry the franchise and the Pokemon Company no longer have the esteemed reputation they once had for putting out great quality games.

Okay, let me try and turn the tracks on this train before it becomes a full-on rant on my annoyances with video game industry standards and my tendency to wax on at length about where the Pokemon franchise is going. I’m here to review Pokemon Scarlet. Yes, just Scarlet. I’m only paying for one of these games. I’m a student and don’t have money to burn on both versions. Given what I saw, especially toward the end of the game, maybe there are some differences in Violet that make for a different tone in the story, but I won’t be able to account for that in this review.

I should also list out where I am in the game so that folks know exactly where I’m coming from when I write this review so I can get flamed in the manner of: “Oh Rez! You need to do this, this, and this to get the full experience of the game!” I do think I’ve completed most of the actual substance in the game to make what I feel is a legitimate review. But, like my other reviews, this is largely something for me to just get my feelings about the game on some medium so I can properly look back at it later and either cringe or feel some sort of justification for my struggles, frustrations, or feelings of accomplishment. At any rate, listed below are what I’ve done so far for context so that you, my few-and-far-between readers, can see the context from which I’m coming at this assessment of Pokemon Scarlet. Suffice to say, from this point on, there’ll be major spoilers:

·       I’ve completed the main three storylines.

·       I’ve finished the Area Zero arc that comes after the three storylines.

·       I’ve gotten about 320 or so out of 400 pokemon in the pokedex.

·       I’m still working on the four ghosts Professor Raifort tasked me with finding.

·       I still need to find another Sweet Herb Mystica for Professor Saguaro.

·       I did my victory lap with all the gym leaders.

·       I finished my first School Tournament.

·       I’ve peeked into just about every nook and cranny in Paldea’s huge map.

Ok? We good on establishing where I am? Ok, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this review.

The World of Paldea

Pokemon, especially in more recent generations, has been notoriously slow to start their games and hook me in. Lengthy tutorials and exposition are the names of the game with Game Freak. I can’t entirely blame them, as they have to make introductions that help new fans integrate into the game while also cementing established or new features for veterans. That said, it takes quite a while for us to get to a point where we feel like we’re finally being unleashed on this promised open world.

Pokemon Scarlet has this problem too, unfortunately. Grant you, I’m an obsessive explorer who has to see everything available to me—side content and every little hiding spot on the map—before I push forward in the plot. Still, I think streamlining the introduction up through to when the treasure hunt starts would make the start of the game feel a lot less dull for me. My interest wasn’t truly seized until I finally found myself starting on the game’s three main quests.

That said, this world is expansive and, at least at a distance, pretty to look at. Paldea has some great vistas and I definitely wouldn’t mind settling down to live there if I had the chance. Compared to other open-world games that can feel quite empty, this one feels pretty lively from the differing environment types and the fact that pokemon… are… everywhere. You won’t go more than 20 meters before you see another lone pokemon, or even a swarm, that either draws your interest or force you to change course to avoid them.

On top of that, Paldea has a littering problem that certainly needs addressing. There’s a wealth of items both visible and less so scattered around the region. If you’re one to build up your stock of potions and other battle-item essentials, you’ll barely have to spend money at stores, as the world itself seems to provide it in abundance for the obsessive explorer such as myself. I usually only had to restock on pokeballs at stores, mainly due to my obscenely bad luck with pokemon catch rates.

And exploring has other perks too,  such as how I was able to catch my adorable ghost pupper, Greavard, early due to a Tera Raid Battle in the first area. That was a nice find and a treat to start with.

Beyond the starting area, the game offers a diverse landscape. From grasslands to a scorching desert to a, chilling mountain, Paldea mixes up its environments. Admittedly, it seems mostly green and grassy at the start, but the diversity comes when it’s needed: toward the middle and the end of the game. Sorry, no fiery volcano level for you fire-type lovers, though the fire types themselves aren’t absent in this game, so don’t worry.

Of course, there are barriers to this exploration. Compared to some other open-world games, you can’t just go anywhere immediately, at least not without consequence to you and your feeble starting team. While you can choose how you explore, either east or west from the main city, or both if you want to be like me and inflate your playtime, the pokemon levels in the zones increase from area to area. I had hoped that levels would scale with you and the number of badges, titans, or squads you’d bested, but sadly, that level of dynamic world adaptation was not programmed into this game. I think it would’ve greatly enhanced the fluidity of game completion if you were able to truly go about and do this game in any order you wanted, but maybe there were some logistical issues that I wasn’t aware of that necessitated the existing system.

Barriers also exist in the form of what capabilities your ride pokemon, the legendary Koraidon (or Miraidon if you’re playing Violet) is capable of. While I don’t recall anything essential to game completion being put firmly off-limits (except for the final titan requiring surf) by these mechanics, it does open up new, more convenient, and more fun ways to explore the landscape. Once you’ve unlocked the ability to dash, high-jump, surf, glide, and climb, the world really opens up to you and you feel like an absolute badass as you explore even the roughest, most remote regions of Paldea… even though it’s your ride pokemon doing all the work.

That said, for all my praise, there are a few issues I find with this world.

I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss one of the big things that have been on everyone’s mind when it comes to this game: the graphics. I’ll try not to dwell on it too long, as countless people on the internet already have. But, as I said before, the game looks great… at a distance. Get up close though, and that’s a different story.

Like in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the textures leave something to be desired, and the framerates for characters, pokemon—or any moving object in the distance, such as a windmill—are absurdly choppy until you get close enough for the game to decide to start rendering them at an acceptable rate. While I’d thought Legends would be a tech test for this generation and thus would improve on its performance, I found the graphical quality and framerate issues to be even worse in this game. I would even caution those with any sort of epileptic condition to prepare themselves for flickering lights in places where shadows keep appearing and disappearing without apparent cause. I know I found it a bit of an eye strain at times.

Admittedly, I recognize a lot of these issues stem from the fact Scarlet and Violet are ambitiously large games and their zones aren’t rigidly segmented like in Legends, but we’ve seen other games from earlier in this console cycle perform much, much better—cough, Breath of the Wild, cough. Again, I chalk this up to the obscenely short development time on the game. There are clearly optimization issues and other ways this game could’ve been smoothed out if the proper time and care had been taken. But Game Freak seems quite obsessed with the idea of putting out a Pokemon game every year. And this isn’t the only part of the world that suffers as a result.

While there’s a diversity in landscapes in Paldea, there’s very little creativity in the naming of these regions. The towns and a few specific areas get names: Glaseado Mountain, Asado Desert, and Casseroya Lake just to name the ones I can recall off the top of my head. But the great majority of areas and regions don’t even have a name. Now, if this were an unexplored, unestablished region, that would make sense. But Paldea, as noted in the game’s own history class, is a region that’s been inhabited for thousands of years by a once-powerful empire and is now a modern country. You’d expect some great naming conventions for the areas in-game. Instead, all we get are descriptors along the lines of “South Province: Area One” or “North Province: Area Two.” While I understand the Great Crater of Paldea being named Area Zero for dramatic effect and the idea that it’s generally been a place humanity has not been able to colonize or explore until recently, I don’t think that naming theme did any favours outside of that forbidding place. I think so much character could’ve been added if they’d named these areas properly. And yes, I know we’re talking about a franchise that routinely names areas “Route 17” or “Route 22,” but this is a game that’s supposed to defy standard conventions of the franchise with its open-world concept. The naming of its areas should reflect that initiative as well. Again, this lack of polish in even the naming smells of the limited development time the game was put under.

That all said, I do think Paldea is an amazing place and I’m happy to have been able to explore every little cave and cliffside. Exploration of the massive landscape is even encouraged from an in-game perspective, with flight points gained from finding Paldea’s ten famous landmarks. From Cortondo’s Olive Fields to Glaseado’s Peak, the world is fun to explore, and I actively encourage you to do so, especially if your goal is to fill your bag with potions or to fill your PC with mons.

How We Play in Paldea

The gameplay in Pokemon Legends: Arceus gave us a new way of looking at how a Pokemon game could play—or even should play. It was tailored for a new paradigm and design philosophy that I hoped the franchise would take: give the players the choice in how they approach exploring the world and catch pokemon. You could chuck an endless stream of balls at pokemon after creeping around in the grass and luring them over with bait to ensure a better catch rate. Or you could dive into battle and capture them the conventional way. It was liberating to have the ability to choose.

In that regard, Pokemon Scarlet took a step backwards.

I will wholeheartedly admit, discovering couldn’t catch pokemon in the same way as I did in Legends put me off the game at the start, probably contributing to my dislike of the game’s introduction. Instead, I was forced to get into a battle, weaken the wild pokemon, and throw balls until I get it while my poor team members soak hits for every failed catch attempt—not something enjoyable as someone with shit luck when it comes to catch rates. Now, I won’t say that the system in Legends was perfect, but, thinking Legends was a tech test for this generation, I figured that the system would be improved upon. The fact it wasn’t implemented at all was disappointing, considering how they decided to iterate on the open-world concept that Legends brought to the table. I got over it as I played, but the wish for this more dynamic way of approaching how I filled out my pokedex was something that teased the back of my mind the whole time I played. At least quick balls are still in the game, thank Arceus.

One thing that I’m fine with being left in the misty past of Legends was the new battle system. It was intriguing and a nice departure from the main series’ methods, but I found it rather unpredictable, especially combined with the absurd power and tendency towards revenge KO’s that littered Legends. The traditional way of doing battles still seems more balanced to me, though I’m not opposed to Game Freak trying their hand at the other system again when they inevitably try to do another Legends-type game. Maybe they’ll refine it enough next time that I’ll like it over the current system. But, in the meantime, the main-line battle system works well enough, and I still enjoy it.

Imported, to some degree, from Legends, is the ride pokemon system. While you had several different pokemon that could help ferry you around Hisui’s landscapes, in Paldea, you have one legendary pokemon you get near the start of the game. As you complete tasks in the titan pokemon storyline, your legendary ride, Koraidon, gains the ability to dash, high jump, surf, glide, and climb. What’s more, it ties almost neatly into the story being told in the titan storyline, making it feel both rewarding and helping to cement your bond with your goofy lizard on whose back you’re on the majority of the game. I have and will continue to advocate for the riding pokemon model, as it’s far superior to the HM system from the days of yore and fits very well into world traversal in Paldea.

That said, crossing Paldea is not without its own set of pitfalls, and not due to the adverse weather conditions you’ll face—and believe me, with the majority of your battles, even gym battles, taking place outside, you’ll be dealing with plenty of that. I’m talking about, yet again, something that’s taken the internet by storm: the glitchy and scuffed way you interact with the world.

Now, I knew going into this game that it wasn’t polished, so I set my expectations low. I also knew that the internet has a way of blowing things way, way out of proportion. I’m pleased to say that I didn’t encounter anything game-breaking, nor any goofy character model glitches, and I had only full-on game crash (though plenty of slowdowns that had me spamming the save feature for fear that I was on the cusp of one). I didn’t even fall through the world once! But I did freak out when I saw a whole squad of Golduck come out of a cliff wall to try and assault me. And there were plenty of times I saw pokemon simply standing partly inside a wall, reminding me of poor Han Solo in his slab of carbonite from The Empire Strikes Back.

I wasn’t always completely fortunate in avoiding glitches and issues though. As battles tend to reposition your character for space, my character was placed on a slope that ended up having me slide ingloriously into the sea after the battle was done, and there were plenty of times I couldn’t even see my pokemon battle since it spawned into a wall as a part of the battle arrangement. And I can’t forget the time I skidded around Levincia City on Koraidon stuck in his downward falling animation until the game decided to black out and reset me. I’ll be honest, all these instances made me laugh out of the sheer absurdity of it. None of these glitches caused me too much delay or caused a loss of progress, but these are all things that could’ve been handled so much better and allowed me to immerse myself in the game that much more deeply if the game had been allowed to bake for another six months to a year.

Another thing that could’ve benefitted from that time is something I find a lot more damning and frustrating though: the user experience. What do I mean by this? Well, to start, menus were laboriously slow to load sprites of pokemon, particularly in the box menu. Considering how often I went into this menu, I feel like I could’ve shaved several hours off my play time for time spent loading the pokemon in the boxes. As well, I found myself rarely changing my look and clothing because my character model took twice, or even thrice as long to load as my pokemon in their boxes. I find myself confused by why menus are so slow, considering that they have nothing to do with the world, which I imagine is what takes up most of the processing power. Again, this might be an optimization issue that isn’t as easy to resolve without more time. Worse yet, sometimes menu elements would overlap in annoying ways, such as experience screens popping up over status bars in double battles, or prompts overlapping pokedex text when I’d caught a new mon. And then, on top of this, about 10% of the time I picked up a new item and it popped up a text box to explain what it was, it would disappear before I pressed anything else, leaving me no chance to read it and have to play a game of “What’s this new item that’s popped up in my inventory!” Not fun when your back is stuffed full of goodies already.

But another thing I should mention that frustrated me was how the world didn’t pause when you did. I found it interesting, and perhaps even charming at first, to bring up my menu to muck around with my team while wild pokemon wandered up to me and made their cute little noises as they looked at me with all their curiosity and wonder. But later in the game, I found it an absolute pain, since most pokemon were aggressive, and would actively camp your spot while you were paused, so that the moment you vacated your menu, you would be thrust into a battle you didn’t want. Heck, even during battles the world continued to move around you, which I have to admit, was kind of cool. I loved the idea of drawing a crowd of pokemon to witness our battles in the wilderness. But even that got tiresome as the fifth Tauros charged me immediately after I finished with its companion’s battle, leaving me in a chain of endless battles that, more likely than not, left my team a wreck as I tried and repeatedly failed to run away from them. In a sense, it almost resembled griefing from MMOs I used to play, and that didn’t leave a great taste in my mouth.

And you know how that problem was solved in Legends?

You could—quite literally—move your character in battle and run away physically. How amazing would that have been? This was another feature inexplicably absent from Pokemon Scarlet that I loved. Moving your character in battles, even to the degree you could have yourself being knocked over by standing in the way of moves, was goofy and fun: feelings I have and want to continue and associate with the Pokemon franchise. It would’ve likely solved most or all of the problems I had with griefing pokemon and the weird battle position issues.

But, all of this aside, the classic core gameplay of pokemon is still present and still works very well. But that’s the thing: it’s just the classic stuff. In terms of gameplay, we had something great on our hands in Legends, even if it was an unpolished gem. I had so desperately hoped it would be refined and made to gleam in this game. But alas, that is not what we received. I’m hoping, as time and the series goes on, that we can revisit these new ideas and implement them into the main games to help the series evolve beyond the standard that’s been repeated for nine generations now.

The Distinct Stories of Paldea

Much as the introduction of the game is mired by a slow start in terms of gameplay (i.e. the delay of the true appearance of the game’s open-world nature), I found the opening of the game’s story to be equally underwhelming. I won’t say that I ever expect much in terms of story from the Pokemon games. The series has never been too well known for that sort of thing, barring a few exceptions like Gen 5’s attempts to cast a shadow over the concept of pokemon battling and ownership with N and Team Plasma. That said, even from the first trailer explaining the concept of the school academy angle the story was taking, I was not a fan of the idea. Having finished the game, I’m still not fond of the school angle.

While it’s certainly possible that a school setting can make for exciting narrative works, it fell flat for me here, and frankly, I don’t think it’s a great fit for pokemon games in general. It worked to a minor degree in Pokemon Sun and Moon’s anime, but I still would’ve liked Ash to have just travelled around Alola more as opposed to resetting to the school all the time. But this isn’t about what Ash did in the anime. This is about what school means for these games. And I think it really was wholly unnecessary since we ended up leaving school for an independent study/journey anyway.

To me, the initial school arc of the story was fodder, and all it did was set the stage for us to travel around the region on our treasure hunt and introduce us to the characters. Setting the stage for our adventure and introducing characters are admirable goals, but we didn’t need all the lengthy pageantry that came with our enrolment in school to meet these characters. Hell, we met Nemona, our rival and precious battling-obsessed cinnamon roll, at her house minutes after we set foot out of our own house and we didn’t need much more than that to realize what her character was about. I would’ve been just as fine with meeting Arven through a sandwich shop that could’ve doubled as a good way to tutorial us through the picnic system and learn about the titan/herb mystica quest from there. As for Penny, it’s harder to integrate her storyline without the school setting. Maybe the school could be a resource used on the side rather than being forced through it and the Starfall Street quest line could’ve been what introduced us to the school as an option for additional tips and interactions. I do love that the school seems to function on post-secondary rules in terms of when and how you enroll and how you take classes. As such, emphasizing that quality by making interacting with the school an option rather than something forced and contrived would’ve felt a lot better and more interesting to me.

That said, I do love all the teachers at the academy. They’re all rich with personality and zest, and it was perhaps the sole redeeming quality of the whole school concept. Feel free to let me know which professor you liked the best, and why it was Professor Raifort.

But, once you’re past that nonsense and finally get the chance to travel Paldea, the school angle tends to fall a bit into the background. Yes, you’re still on your treasure hunt, but the school angle is played down on two of the three questlines. The school setting constricted us, but thankfully, the freedom of travelling for our independent study feels a lot more liberating. I just wish we’d gotten to it a bit faster.

But, as I mentioned, and as most of you have no doubt heard from trailers and the like, the game is split into three quests. Now, in the way I played the game, I chose to complete the challenges levied by each questline in batches based on their area and level range. I’m not sure if you could zip through a single quest line without rapidly falling behind on your required levels, but it seemed to me that completing these quests a little at a time and swapping to another seemed to be the best way of going about the game while levelling at a steady pace. Swapping also helped to pace out each story, since there wasn’t a whole lot to each one: there are eight gyms, five titans/herbs, and five gangs affiliated with Team Star. Not quite enough to make each one feel like a deep, rich narrative if you chose to hyperfixate on one to the exclusion of all others.

But that’s fine! I feel like the intended method was to space out these encounters so that you could take in Paldea one province at a time and dip into these storylines little by little. I think it’s very much to the benefit of the game’s story to have separated these ideas into three distinct narratives because it gives some much-needed focus on certain story elements. The previous iterations of the Pokemon series lost out on this opportunity due to these elements being subjected to a homogenized blend of badge collecting versus intermittent interference by the games’ villainous teams. It made each of these smaller stories a little richer for it.

“Victory Road,” the game’s quest for collecting badges, pits you versus the gyms as you have in most previous Pokemon games. It’s simple, tried and tested, and true to form. And you get to see the lovable Nemona time and time again. There were times I wondered if she was stalking me, and there’s even a one-off comment she makes that plays on that worry, which did make it feel pretty funny in the moment. But that doesn’t stop Nemona from being endearing and adorable and one of my favourite rivals for her sheer exuberance and energy. You also get to talk with her a lot more than most of your rivals historically, so that in itself helps make her a more relatable and enjoyable character to see grow with you. Or rather, she tends to watch you grow and keeps testing you along the way, given she’s already at the top of her game. It’s an interesting angle to take on a rival, and an actively supportive one compared to most friendly rivals in previous games, and one I enjoyed very much. Also helps she’s cute as heck.

As to the gym leaders themselves, I’m happy to say that Game Freak has continued with the tradition of making interesting personalities and main/side-gigs central to their characters. There are some big hits and small misses in my opinion though. Iono is a standout for me, with her gym challenge showing off her personality and her very transparent need to get more views and subs as a streamer. In her case, I’m not sure if she was written like that to be a reflection of what the developers think of people in that profession or as a parody, but she’s easily one of the most memorable gym leaders.

Though… Grusha… I love that man. He’s so cool… But no really, the fact his background has him lecturing you about being reckless as a trainer as a way to emphasize the lesson he learned after an injury led to the end of his snowboarding career—and subsequently being so cold about it… haha—really speaks to great characterization in my books. It’s especially apparent when you beat him a second time that it was a hard lesson for him to learn and something hard for him to overcome.

And if we’re talking about personality in a gym leader, we definitely need to mention Ryme, the MC of RIP! She’s fantastic but suffers from what Piers did in Sword and Shield, that is to say… she, and a lot of people in this game, really need some voice acting. Especially when it comes to these musical gym leaders and characters, there’s so much awkwardness in seeing character swing and lip-sync to a beat but with no actual sound or song to back it up.

On the other end of the gym leader theming spectrum, I found Tulip to be an odd choice for the psychic type. The link between her personality, motivations, and the psychic type didn’t stand out for me as much as that with other gym leaders. Also, I think Tulip might’ve been abusing her friendship with Professor Dendra to get her to run the psychic gym challenge, but I might’ve been reading into it a bit much.

Also, on a minor note, I felt some of the gym challenges lacked the depth they had in Sword and Shield. I know that isn’t saying much, but a few of them felt… almost tacked on compared to others. Again, I bet this was a problem due to the limited development time.

Of course, at the end of this storyline, we had to take on the Elite Four and the Top Champion: Chairwoman Geeta. This was an interesting challenge in itself because it started with an interview where you had to pick a gym leader you had the hardest time with. For me, it had been Larry, the normal-type gym leader. And guess who was the third member of the Elite Four: LARRY! I thought, for certain, this meant that your choice in those questions actively influenced whom you’d meet in the Elite Four as your third challenger. Suffice to say, I was crushed when I found out it was a mere coincidence. I thought it was an absolute stroke of genius that these questions might influence how your elite four fight went since it was so odd to have an interview before the battles. The idea of disguising that one choice with all these other questions seemed so clever to me, especially for a Pokemon game. But nope… it was just Larry all this time. Which is fine, I love the guy, but how brilliant would it be if they brought in the gym leader you had the hardest time with? Ah, well, for a little while, I was awed at the idea of Game Freak doing that.

As an aside, I do want to compliment Pokemon Scarlet on the idea of making champions a level of trainer, rather than a distinct, singular trainer in this region. I think it makes a lot more sense and I hope it’s an idea they carry forward into future games.

But this game doesn’t just have the gym challenge; next, we have “The Path of Legends” questline featuring Arven, a young man who I was decidedly not a fan of to start until we learned his secret. That secret: he’s a softie for his dog for whom he’s going on a whole mythical quest to save. There’s a lesson here in narrative: if you ever want to make a character more sympathetic and relatable, have them pet a dog. No, but seriously, the moment we learned about Mabosstiff and Arven’s dedication to that big, good doggo was perhaps one of the most tender and heartfelt moments in the game. And then we got more of that as our dark-type dog friend got more and more of its vitality back with each new herb mystica we found. On top of that, each time we found one, it felt well-earned because each of the titans’ fights felt pretty epic, or at least fun and well-earned. It definitely felt reminiscent, perhaps even a bit old-hat, as it felt like we were fighting a mix of an alpha pokemon and a totem pokemon. But the encounters added more variety to the world and the story itself. And learning about Mabosstiff merited enough motivation on my end to look past the gimmick central to this storyline.

Finally, we come to “Starfall Street,” the third storyline featuring Penny, our adorable friend with their eevee backpack. Now, never let it be said that pokemon did anything with any sort of subtlety. This storyline’s twist is easy to see from a mile away. After encountering Penny when she’s accosted by Team Star thugs trying to be a bit pushy about getting her to join, we get a mysterious call from someone named Cassiopeia who puts us on a quest to dismantle the various squads making up Team Star: five in all. We take on the extremely entertaining and goofy personalities of the leaders of these gangs (Mela, Giacomo, Atticus, Ortega, and Eri) to have them surrender their positions as leaders and essentially dissolve the squads one by one. As we go on, we learn an intriguing and, at times, touching story about a group of students who were victims of bullying who come together to fight their oppressors. As someone who was bullied, I absolutely loved this idea and could only dream of something like this happening. It turns out they succeeded, but at a cost that had their big boss—no not the one from Metal Gear—disappear on them and leave the squads to grow out of control and become something of a menace. We learn more and more about these five leaders’ precious friendships and, in the end, I almost felt guilty for having to continue along our path and end Team Star.

Now, remember that plot twist I mentioned earlier? As it turns out, Cassiopeia was their big boss. And in another big, though easily foreseen twist, Cassiopeia was revealed to be Penny herself. As a shy, computer-savvy type, we got to see her little by little over the course of the story as someone who gave you supplies during your quest to end Team Star. Given this character development, it was easy to see that she would’ve been Cassiopeia, but it didn’t make the story any less impactful for me. Her bond with her allies made the final battle with her all the more enjoyable and climactic. Also, an all-eeveelution team? Ballsy, but I like it! Goes nice with your backpack, Penny!

I have to say though, one of the standout moments of that questline was the incredibly transparent attempts of Director Clavell, the school’s headmaster, to disguise himself as an outrageously pompadoured student. The fact the game lets you poke at the disguise through dialogue options was a great touch.

Now, despite having these individual questlines, if you want to reach the end of this game and Area Zero, you need to complete all three. I like this because all these stories diverged near the start of the game, and I love the idea of them converging again to help finish it off. Moreover, the new friend group formed by your character, Nemona, Arven, and Penny, has some quirky clashes in personality and dialogue that makes me want to see all four of them go on more adventures together. It makes me want to go out and find fic for all four of them just being goofy on their off-time.

However, despite this high note of companionship, the story’s ending left me feeling a bit off. The revelation of Sada’s work in the crater bringing back pokemon from the distant past (the incarnations of those pokemon very are cool and I love them) using a time machine felt a bit jarring after everything leading up to it. It felt like a bit of tone and genre whiplash to me, especially when the game revealed that Sada we’d been interacting with was an artificial intelligence of all things, even going as far as to say in dialogue that we don’t possess that technology yet, but the resources in the crater made it possible for all these things to happen.

Again, I know not to expect too much from a Pokemon narrative… but really? This felt so… forced and contrived. I don’t know… like… someone was forced to write this under really tight time constraints? Oh right, just so many other things in this game. I should’ve expected even Pokemon’s writing would suffer under those conditions. Now, for those who played Violet, and got to see futuristic pokemon and Professor TRON MAN, I imagine that this seems more on theme for a story involving the future and advanced technology (assuming it had the same story beats, I have no idea if it did or not). But for Sada and the theme of prehistoric pokemon… this seemed way off base for me. At the very least, the clash between your Koraidon and the opposing Koraidon that ousted it from the crater had a heartwarming ending, especially with it getting strength from your companions’ encouragement. But overall, the final moments of the main story felt unfulfilling to me after so much hard work put in to recover from the terrible start the game had in its story.

Overall, the story had many ups and downs. Still, for the most part, especially concerning the titan/herb questline and Team Star, there was more to sink my teeth into than in a lot of previous Pokemon games. I’m glad I was able to endure the start of it to get those parts, but it’s just a bit sad that the ending flopped for me. But it’s not just the story we’re here for when we play these games, is it? It’s the pokemon!

The Pokemon of Paldea

So having 400 pokemon in this game’s pokedex seems like a pretty good haul to me, honestly. I haven’t been privy to any debates, so I don’t know if there’s a fuss being made online about how not all the mons are in it again like they did for Sword and Shield. Whatever the case I’m pretty happy with the lineup we got… except for no Heliolisk and Helioptile. I got lucky with them in Gen 8, so I guess I’ll be thankful for that and their presence in New Snap.

That said, I love a lot of the new variants and mons that we got in general. I won’t dive too deep into all of them because this review is already getting long enough as it is, but I’ll say that when I played, I went for all new pokemon that were added in this game for a variety in my final teams.

They were:

·       Skeledirge

·       Pawmot

·       Arboliva

·       Squawkabilly

·       Garganacl

·       Mabosstiff

·       Rabsca

·       Tinkaton

·       Veluza

·       Annihilape

·       Clodsire

·       Cetitan

·       Baxcalibur

Not only did I have fun using all of these, but I thought most of their aesthetics and designs were top-notch. But I used plenty of others throughout my journey and loved all of them too. I won’t mention them all here, but shout-outs to my new favourite pun pokenames: Capsakid and Scovillain. My favourite new designs and concepts (aside from the above) were found in Naclstack, Lokix, and Brambleghast. Overall, I loved all the new additions and variants. Except for the new Dudunsparse… I mean, I’ve seen so many fan-evolutions of it that looked so much better and more creative than making it bigger and adding more sections to its body.

The prehistoric variants were killer though, especially Great Tusk, Scream Tail, and Sandy Shocks (I always had wondered what the magneton line would look like before modern times, if they even existed). Also, have you ever heard of a more metal name than Roaring Moon? Probably not. And I’ll admit, I still think Koraidon and Miraidon look goofy to me, but given that I’ve formed a bond with Koraidon over the game, I’ve been able to overlook it.

The Music of Paldea

I always have to talk about music in new Pokemon games. It’s practically a genre unto itself for me and one of my favourites to boot. I do like how they tackled overworld music in this game. They made a theme for each of the four provinces and then had different remixes and reorchestrations of it in different regions of each province, including towns and named areas like the Asado Desert. Some might think this could be lazy or uncreative, but I think it was well-executed, such that I enjoyed most iterations of each province’s tune. Heck, even the wild pokemon’s theme in that area was adapted from those themes too, which made musical transitions so smooth. I loved it!

Except for the south province’s tune. I got tired of that one very quickly. And I could see how people could easily get tired of any of the ones I liked if they spent too much time there or had negative experiences associated with the zone.

That said, you cannot hate the West Province’s theme. It’s objectively amazing in all its forms and you cannot convince me otherwise.

Of all the gym themes from previous generations, this one took me the longest to warm up to. But I did, and I’m glad they kept the final crowd-chanting version when the gym leader’s down to one pokemon as they did in Sword and Shield. However, while there generally is a crowd around your gym battles, I feel like the crowd chanting suited the big stadium settings of Galar more than it did here, so it didn’t feel like it belonged as much. That said, it didn’t detract from the experience.

Meanwhile, the Tera Raid theme was a banger (and one of the ones that Toby Fox contributed, from what I understand), as were most of the battle themes throughout the game.

Overall, the array of music in this game was very solid and well-composed. While many musical pieces were derived from each other, they helped link the world together and made for a fantastic experience for the ear that synced up to what you saw and did.

My Final Thoughts on Paldea

So, we’ve been through it all. The gyms. The titans. The squads. The sandwiches. Admittedly, I didn’t do much picnicking, but that’s something I might do more of later, but the few times I did it were charming.

Actually, that’s what this game has in abundance: charm. And I don’t mean the fairy-type move.

This game has a lot of faults, I won’t even try to deny that, nor should I. The fact that Nintendo has been offering refunds for this game is a damning spotlight on the poor condition of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on its release. I didn’t go into this game with much hype at all because, funnily, we have too many Pokemon games. Almost one a year it seems like. It’s way too much. There’s something to be said about building up anticipation. Hell, I don’t even remember seeing this game very heavily promoted, which might speak to how crunched they were to get this done. I imagine they barely had time to do anything to advertise it, let alone finish it properly.

But below all that scuffed, unfinished woodwork that makes up this game, seemingly teetering on the edge of collapse as you see it creaking and bending sometimes, there’s a lot of heart put into it. Every time I play a Pokemon game, I can see that the developers behind it love what they’re doing it shows in the soul of the game. From the goofy pics you take after every major game accomplishment—Kofu’s stands out to me in particular in my mind—to some of the more ridiculous dialogue that either had me facepalming or laughing hysterically, there’s a charm in this game that I can’t ignore.

That’s what keeps me coming back. That’s what makes me love these games and put up with the other nonsense I’ve ranted about throughout this review. It speaks to that child in me and makes me smile as I sit on a couch in these cold winter months looking for entertainment.

Is this the best example of a top-tier Pokemon game? No. Is this the best example of what a Pokemon game could be? No. Pokemon Legends: Arceus still holds that prize for me. But it’s part of what I hope are just growing pains for this franchise as it struggles to transform into something new and incredible. I wonder how much more fun I would’ve had if I could’ve played this game like I’d played Legends.

But I still did have fun while playing this game. I did my fair share of shouting at the game for bullshit too, and some eye-roll moments at some technical nonsense, but that’s nothing new for this franchise. Hell, it’s nothing new for me with video games as a whole. But in the end, I did have fun.

What I want is to have more fun. I want to see this franchise take what it’s learned from SV and Legends and make a truly stellar game out of it next time.

And. I. Want. Them. To. Take. Their. Time. Doing. It.

That’s how we’ll get the incredible, technologically impressive, open-world Pokemon game that so many people have been pining for. And I’m willing to wait for it.

[freckled-petals]

The Relationship: Part 3; Talbott/Reader

Summary: When Talbott’s “fan club” causes him trouble, Penny’s idea for you to step in causes quite the uproar.

Word Count: 7800+

Part one and part two found here!

----

Since the afternoon in the greenhouse, things between you and Talbott just seemed...different. A good different, in your opinion. The two of you had decided to step things up after the third years’ inquiry, and Talbott certainly hadn’t disappointed in that regard.

The next week passed by in a blink, but within that time, you were sure you’d seen Talbott more than you had in your entire six years at Hogwarts. The two of you went just about everywhere together; all meals, met in between classes, and even when you weren’t together, you were thinking about him.

Most of the time, this would leave you with feelings to didn’t want to focus on, which would result in silent reprimanding on your end. This was fake, you found yourself constantly repeating in your head.

Isabella Mott and her group of friends were still bothering Talbott any chance they got, but when you were together - which happened more and more each day - she would at least keep her distance. Perhaps that was why Talbott was seeking you out any chance he got.

The girls hadn’t bothered you much, either, but perhaps that was because you didn’t give them an opportunity to. You could t shake the feeling that it wasn’t the end, though.

You didn’t want to admit your feelings were going beyond this farce of a relationship...but they were. Each subtle touch, each longing glance...it was affecting you more than you could handle.

Talbott Winger had buried himself deep in your mind, and you didn’t imagine that would change any time soon.

Almost two weeks after this relationship had started, Talbott had found you as you were heading out of the castle. It was a chilly day, and you absently wondered when the first snowfall would reach Hogwarts.

He was quick to make his way over to you and he embraced you so easily, so naturally, that you almost forgot this wasn’t real. You longed to forget it wasn’t real.

“Afternoon,” you hummed, inhaling his scent deeply as his arms wrapped around your form. He’d been even more affectionate than usual, though you had no objections. His warmth was certainly a welcome contrast to the brisk air. You hated the way your heart would leap just from being in proximity to him, though, at the same time, you found you craved the feeling. “What are you doing out here?” You questioned, snaking your arms around his waist, under his heavy cloak.

“I was hiding out in the owlery,” Talbott responded sheepishly, glancing down at you. “Three of them practically chased me up there,” he drawled, pulling you closer the slightest bit. “I’m never been so happy to be an animagus before,” he smirked at you.

“I could only imagine the look on their faces when you seemed to vanish,” you giggled, resting your chin against his chest as you grinned up at him.

“I’ll tell you; it was amusing,” he said. He glanced down at you, only for his brow to furrow as he looked you over. “You’re not in your school robes...”

“Well spotted,” you giggled, tugging on the sleeve of your sweater before pulling him over to a nearby bench to sit.

“It’s...nice,” he complimented, flushing faintly. “Where are you headed?” He questioned, pulling you against his side once you were seated.

“Quidditch practice. We have an upcoming match against Ravenclaw,” you said with a grin.

“Ah, then you’ll need all the practice you can get,” he teased, reaching up to poke your nose. You were sure it was pink from the cold, but his touch felt like a blaze of fire. Over the last week and a half, he’d certainly opened up around you - teasing, joking, touching. It was a welcome change.

“I’m not worried,” you hummed casually, playfully nudging him before leaning against his side with a sigh. “I have about an hour to kill...will you wait with me?” You asked, your eyes scanning his face.

He looked at you in surprise before letting out a slight chuckle. “It’s a bit chilly, don’t you think?” He asked.

You were quick to pull out your wand, casting a warming charm. “Any other complaints?” You grinned up at him.

“Well, that settles it, then,” he chuckled, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to keep you close.

You were sure you felt yourself melting with how sweet he was being. The more time you spent together, the more the lines blurred between what was real and what wasn’t. At that point, you weren’t too sure you wanted to figure it out. In the moment, just being with him like this was enough for you.

“There’s a trip to Hogsmeade this weekend,” he spoke after a bit of time had passed.

“Mm?” You hummed, glancing up at him. “Are you...planning to go?”

“Well...that depends,” he trailed, biting his lip. That action immediately filled your head with thoughts of kissing him, and you squeezed your eyes shut in an attempt to block it out.

“On?” You managed to question, your voice just above a whisper.

“On whether or not you’ll come with me,” he responded, and after chancing a look, you noticed just how dark his cheeks were tinted. Just the thought that he didn’t want to go unless you were going with him made your heart thump erratically. When you didn’t immediately respond, he continued. “I-I mean, the third years will definitely be there, and I don’t want to have to deal with all of that,” he murmured, not quite meeting your gaze.

You couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed that he’d mentioned the third years, but of course he had. That was the reason you were doing this, after all. This wasn’t a real relationship; you weren’t really dating. Reminding yourself of that didn’t help with the sting you felt, though.

“Right,” you murmured quietly, tightening your grip on your wand slightly. “There’s a few shops I’ve been wanting to go to,” you murmured. “So if we can stop there, then sure. I’ll come with you,” you said.

“Really?” He confirmed, his face lighting up slightly. “Yeah, sure. Of course,” he said, smiling at you. “Thank you,” he added, lightly rubbing your arm.

“As my boyfriend, though,” you playfully drawled, sitting up a bit straighter. You needed to stay calm. This was all pretend, anyway. “You’ll need to carry all my purchases,” you smirked up at him. He didn’t hesitate in letting out a laugh.

“I think I can manage that,” he said cheekily. “Oi, look there,” he nodded suddenly, drawing your attention across the grounds. It didn’t take long for your eyes to settle on Isabella, Madison and Ella leaving from the Owlery.

“Took them long enough to figure out you weren’t there,” you scoffed. “Not the brightest Ravenclaws, are they?” You teased.

Talbott laughed, pulling you deeper against his side. “It would appear not,” he said, watching as the girls made their way back towards the castle. It was inevitable they were going to pass right by the two of you, so you knew you were going to have to do something.

It appeared that Talbott shared the sentiment, and as the girls drew closer, he turned to face you completely.

“They’re close,” you whispered, gazing up at him.

“Mm,” he breathed, his eyes staring deeply into yours. It was as if he hadn’t even acknowledged what you’d said. “You’ll do well at practice, yeah?” He asked suddenly, his voice a bit louder. You knew he was making sure the others could hear.

“Yeah, of course,” you murmured with a nod, gazing up at him. You reminded yourself to look overly infatuated with him...but that wasn’t a hard sell. The hand that wasn’t holding your wand made its way to his knee, lightly resting there. “O’course you will,” Talbott smiled, reaching up to cup your cheek lightly. Was he...was he going to kiss you?!

You felt you heart beginning to pound and it wasn’t long before your breathing picked up slightly. All he did was stare at you like you were the most beautiful witch he’d ever seen.

“You’re incredible,” he added, lightly thumbing at your cheek. “Good luck,” he said, and with that, he leaned in.

Your breath caught in your throat and your eyes widened a fraction. Was this really happening?! Your grip simultaneously tightened on your wand and the fabric by his knee. You needed something to hold on to to tell you this was truly happening.

He gazed at you affectionately for a moment, his face mere inches from yours. With a final smile, he tilted your head down, pressing his lips to the crown of your head.

You let out a breath, stunned at what you were feeling. You couldn’t tell if you were elated or disappointed. All you could focus on was the tender way his lips pressed against your head.

“Talbott...” you whispered, but it wasn’t for another few moments that he pulled himself back, a satisfied look on his face. “Let me walk you to the pitch,” he smiled, helping you up. You were thankful - your legs felt like jelly.

You chanced a glance to where the third years had been approaching; all you saw was their frames scurrying back to the castle with a few unhappy glances back over their shoulders.

“That worked,” you said, a bit more breathless than you intended. “You’re really quite...convincing,” you murmured, looking away shyly.

“It’s not so hard to be,” he responded as the two of you headed towards the Quidditch pitch. You couldn’t even begin to fathom what he actually meant by that.

——

It was another day closer to the weekend, which meant you were one day closer to spending time in Hogsmeade with Talbott. You were admittedly excited, despite Talbott making it quite clear that he was only interested in fending off the bloody third years.

Just the thought of being with him - out and about - had your mind reeling. So many thoughts were running through your head as you waited outside your Transfiguration classroom. It was a while until class was to start, but you needed time to just...think before you had to sit through class with Talbott.

The way you were feeling about this fake relationship...the way you were feeling about Talbott...it was overwhelming. You knew your feelings were real. You knew this wasn’t pretend anymore.

It only hurt knowing that this was all just a show to him. It had to be. It was just a way to avoid some silly girls.

“Long time, no see,” Penny’s voice rang out, jolting you from your jumbled thoughts.

“Hey, Pen,” you sighed, shutting the book you’d been reading. Well, staring blankly at was more accurate.

Penny’s expression faltered at your less than enthusiastic response, a moment of concern washing over her face. “What have you been up to?” She asked softly, taking a seat beside you.

“Oh, you know. Class, Quidditch, fake relationship,” you said, biting out the last bit. “My head exploding,” you added.

“That’s...a bit concerning,” Penny frowned, surprised by the edge in your voice. “Are things not...going well?” She questioned.

“Ah, things are bloody fantastic,” you scoffed, chucking your book onto the bench beside you.

“You’re not making any sense...” she frowned, turning to look at you fully.

“It’s this relationship!” You groaned, shutting your eyes and resting your head against the stone wall behind you. Penny frowned, unsure what you were getting at.

“You seemed like you were were getting on well enough...” she frowned. “Is he being horrible?”

“No!” You said quickly, looking back over at her. “He’s...he’s brilliant...” you admitted, your cheeks burning.

“Oh,” she frowned, creasing her brow. “Well...then...”

“That’s the problem,” you murmured. “It’s not real, I know that. But...it feels too real,” you admitted, biting your lip.

“Oh,” Penny repeated, gazing at you earnestly as everything seemed to click.

“Yeah,” you grumbled, crossing your arms over your chest.

“So...you have feelings for him,” Penny murmured.

“I...do,” you admitted, letting out a deep sigh. Admitting that out loud - not just repeatedly screaming it in your head - was like a weight off your chest. “I do,” you repeated.

“Wow,” Penny murmured, gazing at you steadily. “What are you going to do?”

“What can I do?” You countered, looking at Penny. “It’s not like he has any sort of feelings for me. It’s all an act just to deter some third years,” you groaned.

“You don’t know that...” Penny murmured. “Have you mentioned any of this to him?”

“I couldn’t!” You said quickly. “There’s no way,” you said, shaking your head. “It would be too embarrassing. And not to mention, awkward. No one would believe us after that,” you murmured.

“He might feel the same,” Penny offered softly. She felt bad seeing you like this.

“I doubt it,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“You never know,” Penny murmured, but before you could argue any further, none other than Talbott strolled up to the two of you.

“Hey,” he greeted, glancing at Penny before smiling warmly at you.

“Hey,” you grumbled, but Penny was quickly dominating the conversation.

“Hi Talbott! I was just being told how much fun you’re having messing with the third years,” Penny chimed, and you were quick to shoot her a look.

“Yeah?” He asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. You wanted to simultaneously throttle Penny and melt into oblivion. “She tell you we’re going to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

“No,” Penny grinned, glancing over at you. “That’s a fun little date,” she smirked.

“Yeah, should be,” he said, taking a seat beside you before reaching for your hand. You were surprised he hadn’t corrected her. That didn’t go unnoticed by Penny, though, who was grinning brightly.

“Madame Puddifoot’s is a great date spot,” Penny continued to ramble, but you couldn’t help but keep your gaze fixated on where Talbott was holding you hand. It seemed so effortless on his part - like it was something he enjoyed. He was playing with your fingers subconsciously whilst carrying on his conversation with Penny. It made your heart clench painfully.

“You ready?” Talbott’s voice broke through your thoughts, and you suddenly realized Penny had disappeared. “Class is starting,” he said with a chuckle, moving to help you up.

“Yeah,” you nodded, letting out a sheepish laugh.

“She had a lot to say,” Talbott mused, leading you into McGonagall’s classroom.

“Doesn’t she always?” You questioned, receiving a chuckle in response.

“S’pose so,” he agreed, taking his seat behind you. “Though she had some good ideas,” he said.

“To shake off the third years?” You questioned a bit sharply, not turning around to face him.

“For us to spend some time together,” he corrected, and when you finally turned to glance at him, you were met with a sincere look - a look you’d grown so accustomed to over the last two weeks. It made your chest clench painfully, though hope swelled inside of you. Did he actually want to spend some time with you? Just for the sake of it?

“Talbott...” you began, though quickly fell silent as Professor McGonagall entered, silencing the room with her presence.

You were sure this was going to be the longest class of your life.

——

Eventually Saturday rolled around and it was finally time for the trip to Hogsmeade. You were looking forward to it - maybe you’d be able to breathe with all the fresh air; Talbott was intoxicating.

“Hey,” he greeted, finding you finishing up your breakfast before you had meet your professors in the courtyard.

“Morning,” you smiled, taking a moment to look him over. He’d forsaken his school robes for a quarter-zip sweater and jeans; he looked so relaxed and it was quite the change from his normal appearance. It only served to make your heart flip. “You look nice,” you remarked before you could stop yourself, your face quickly heating up.

“Thanks,” he murmured, scratching the back of his head. You were able to see the blush spreading to his ears, which did nothing to alleviate the feelings you felt. “S-so do you,” he quickly added, his eyes quickly scanning you.

“It’s not too much, is it?” You questioned, glancing down at your sweater dress and tights. “I...wanted to dress up...a bit,” you admitted, your face on fire. “Look the part, you know...”

“You look brilliant,” he quickly responded before a smile returned to his face. He watched you for a moment, seemingly taking you all in. “You look brilliant,” he repeated softly.

You were sure your heart was going to erupt at any second with how sweet his words and gazes were.

“We should probably head out there before they leave without us,” you chuckled, taking one last bite before standing. Talbott was quick to stand as well, and you could feel his eyes on you the entire way until you were by his side. He didn’t hesitate in lacing his fingers with yours before leading you out to the courtyard.

Students were already gathered in the area, eagerly chatting about the trip. You spied a bunch of your friends interspersed through the crowd, and even your favorite third years huddled in a group by Professor McGonagall. Glancing up at Talbott, you saw that he’d spotted them as well.

“Hey,” you murmured, shaking your linked hands to bring his attention back to you. To make it believable, you knew you needed to focus on only him. You knew the third years would be watching, so you needed to put on a show. “Just look at me, okay?” You said softly, offering him a smile. “It’s going to go well. After today...I’m sure they won’t even look your way anymore.”

“You think so?” He questioned, the expression on his face conveying just how much he wanted that. You swallowed before giving a nod. If you were convincing enough, you wouldn’t have to keep up this charade any longer. You didn’t want to think about that now, though - it would hurt too much.

“We’ll be so convincing, they won’t know what hit ‘em,” you grinned and he laughed, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to bring you closer. Of course, you could only imagine what you’d have to do to be that convincing.

——

The walk to Hogsmeade was uneventful - you and Talbott were in the middle of the pack, giving you a clear view of Isabella and her minions who frequently turned around to stare. Each time, you’d snuggle closer to Talbott and they’d spin back around in a huff.

“Where should we go first?” Talbott questioned you as you reached the village. All the other students had quickly broken off into groups and had scattered off into the shops.

“I need a new quill,” you told him. “And some things for my broom,” you mused, quirking your lips as you gazed off at the nearby shops. “And...we’ll need to go somewhere to convince the third years to leave you be,” you added, your tone a bit unhappy.

Talbott shifted from foot to foot, frowning a bit. You couldn’t really understand why.

“Let’s get you your supplies,” he said. You were frankly surprised he didn’t just want to get this all over with.

“Sure,” you murmured, gazing at him as he led you off to the shops.

——

“Honeydukes was packed!” You exclaimed, munching on a chocolate frog. A few hours had passed and you were having a great time.

“I’ve never seen it like that,” Talbott agreed, letting out a laugh as he glanced down at you. “We’re lucky we were able to get anything at all,” he mused.

“What we got is going to be gone before we get back to Hogwarts,” you laughed, drifting closer to him as you continued along the path.

“Ah, you’ve got a bit...” he trailed off, and before you could question, you felt his thumb gently wiping at the corner of your mouth. You could only gape and he quickly retracted his hand before looking off in the distance.

“Where should we go next?” You questioned, quickly changing the subject.

“Well...” he trailed off, and you glanced up to find him biting his lower lip. “Penny did suggest one place,” he said, still not looking at you.

“Where?” You questioned, your brow furrowing. You leaned forward, trying to catch his gaze. You honestly didn’t remember much about the conversation Penny had had with you both; your mind had been reeling at the time.

“She said Madame Puddifoot’s was a good date spot,” he said, and you were able to catch the blush spreading across his face. Honestly, it made you want to scream. The thought of being with Talbott in a place that was notoriously romantic was too much to handle.

“Y-yeah, I guess that’s the spot to go,” you murmured, your breath quickening slightly. What better place to parade around your fake relationship? That would certainly shed any doubt the third years had, right?

The two of you made your way towards the infamous shop, your heart practically pounding out of your chest.

“Here it is...” you murmured once you came to a stop outside the shop’s window.

“Oh,” Talbott murmured, grimacing slightly as he gazed inside.

“It’s a bit crowded,” you murmured, glancing around at the overwhelming amount of couples at the tables. There were even some snogging, right out in the open!

“Very crowded...” he responded. “And pink...” he frowned.

“We don’t...we don’t have to go here,” you offered up, and he was quickly nodding in response.

“We can go somewhere else,” he agreed, backing away from the window. “Three Broomsticks?” He suggested.

“Sounds good,” you said, casting one last glance toward the shop as he led you away.

——

“It’s getting a bit chilly out,” you remarked once you two were seated by the nearest fireplace. “I hope it snows,” you mused, happily glancing towards the window.

“You can borrow my scarf on the way back. You know, if you want,” Talbott offered, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“I’d like that,” you smiled softly over at him.

“What can I get you, dears?” Madame Rosmerta questioned as she stopped at your table.

“Two butterbeers, please,” Talbott ordered and Rosmerta nodded. She inspected you two for a moment with a knowing look before sauntering off for your drinks. It did nothing to alleviate how you were feeling.

“Today’s been a good day,” you murmured, leaning against the table with your crossed arms. “I got my new quill, too many sweets,” you began listing, a bright grin on your face. “The polish for my broom, two books on curse breaking,” you continued happily.

“Free butterbeer and a bloke to carry your packages for you,” Talbott chimed in, resting his hand on your back. “Yes, it’s been a good day for you,” he grinned.

You turned to look at him, feigning a look of appall. “I’m hurt. You’re with me; what’s not to enjoy?” You teased.

Talbott gazed at you for a long moment, his smiling growing. “You’re completely right,” he hummed.

“Of course I am,” you grinned, shrugging your shoulders cutely.

“Don’t look too pleased with yourself,” Talbott drawled, still grinning at you. You just felt so good in this moment. Things just felt so...natural. “I know we’re doing this for show...” he trailed off suddenly, and you felt your breath catch in your throat. “But...it’s been nice...not being alone,” he said.

“Talbott...” you breathed, gazing at him.

“I know, I know. I’ve turned into a sap lately, haven’t I,” he said sheepishly, glancing at you. “But I mean it,” he said.

“So I guess you’re done...flying solo,” you said, only to snort at the pun.

“And you’ve ruined it,” he drawled, playfully pushing you away.

“No, no! Don’t let me ruffle your feathers,” you continued, letting out a loud laugh. Talbott gazed at you before rolling his eyes.

“Never heard that one before,” he drawled.

“Oh, come on,” you giggled, gazing at him brightly. “You should have seen that coming...you have eyes like a hawk,” you said, only to burst out laughing again.

“You’re too much,” he responded, pinching your side. That only caused you to squeal at the ticklish feeling.

“Here you two are,” Madame Rosmerta said as she placed the drinks on the table. She eyed your laughing form before shaking her head and walking off.

“You’re going to get us kicked out,” Talbott grinned over at you, threatening to pinch your side again.

“That’s entirely your fault!” You laughed, grabbing his hand to stop him. You couldn’t find it in yourself to let go, though, and he didn’t really seem all that concerned either.

“So be it,” he hummed, taking a sip of his drink as he shifted his hand to link his fingers with yours.

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself at how natural the action had become with you two. You couldn’t help but wonder if Penny had been right. Maybe it was possible Talbott could feel the same way you did. He was acting like this - he’d been so sweet all day - and you hadn’t even run into the third years. Was he doing this for another reason...?

Perhaps you’d spoken too soon.

Not another moment passed before you spotted none other than Isabella Mott entering the Three Broomsticks with Avery Thorne and Madison Lee following closely behind her.

“Bollocks,” Talbott grumbled, his eyes settling on the girls, just as yours had.

“They’re everywhere, aren’t they?” He glared.

Where you were sitting wasn’t completely out in the open, but you both knew it wouldn’t be long until you were spotted. Isabella just seemed to have a Talbott radar.

“Ignore them,” you said, grinning his shoulder to turn his attention back to you. “Focus on me, remember?”

“And what was your brilliant plan to end it all today?” He questioned, looking frankly exhausted with it all.

“Snogging,” you blurted, only for your eyes to widen at your outburst. You’d actually said it. You couldn’t believe yourself! “I-I mean—“

“Alright,” he responded before you could even attempt to take it back. “Let’s do it,” he said, nodding resolutely.

“S-seriously? It...it just popped into my head. I don’t even know why I said it,” you rambled, clearly flustered.

“Let’s do it,” he repeated, not allowing you to go back on it.

“Okay,” you whispered, gazing up at him. His eyes were piercing and you felt frozen under his gaze. You couldn’t believe this was about to happen. You were going to kiss Talbott Winger.

You weren’t sure how you hadn’t combusted on the spot. It felt like a swirling tornado of fire had filled your chest, and it was taking everything inside of you to not to jump out of your skin.

Talbott turned towards you, his body shifting closer as he seemed to get into position. Your eyes were desperately scanning his face, and you could see the nerves spreading through his body. He sucked in a breath, his lips slightly parted as he shifted his hand to your cheek. He was going so slow - or maybe it was time standing still? Either way, it was too much for you to handle.

“Talbott...” you murmured, not trusting yourself to say anything else as he ever so gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Okay,” he murmured, his gaze drifting to your lips before he began leaning in.

Your breath hitched as the distance between you grew shorter and shorter. The next thing you knew, his lips were covering yours and you felt like you were floating.

Your eyes had drifted shut and you were focused solely on the incredible feeling his lips were providing. You were melting into his touch; the way his hand helped tilt your head to deepen the kiss, the way his other hand gripped at your waist to pull you even closer. It felt like you were on autopilot, and before you knew it, your fingers were tangled in his hair, keeping him rooted in place.

His lips felt magical against your own and it was even better than you could have imagined. They fit against yours like they were meant to be there, and it felt like every synapse in your brain was exploding.

You weren’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually, your lips had broken apart, though your embrace didn’t end. He kept you close, his thumb lightly caressing your cheek as his labored breath fanned your face. In that moment, you knew it: you had completely fallen for the boy. Fake relationship or not...what you felt for him was real.

You let out a shaky breath, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze. His tan face had a pink tint, all the way to the tips of his ears. He looked so handsome in that moment and it only made your heart want to combust.

You happened to chance a glance towards the third year’s table, only to find the majority of the Inn gazing at your table. Suddenly, you felt very self conscious. You’d certainly made a statement.

“I think—“ you began, but before you could even finish your thought, Talbott’s lips had captured yours once more.

You certainly weren’t going to fight the amazing feeling, and soon enough, you’d melted back into the kiss. Your mind was racing and you couldn’t focus on anything but him.

This kiss lasted longer than the first, both of his hands holding your head against his. You felt weak; not that you’d resist.

Even as the kiss slowed, he didn’t let you go. He continued leaning in, pressing chaste kisses to your lips in between breaths. You honestly hadn’t experienced anything like this feeling before, though you found yourself growing addicted.

“Talbott,” you managed in between kisses, and he paused just long enough to let you finish your thought this time. “I think...we made our point,” you murmured, your hand resting against his chest.

This seemed to break the trance, and he lowered his hands from your face, allowing more distance between you two. You took in his features, noticing just how red his face was. His lips looked plumper than usual, and that just made you want to kiss him all over again.

“I think so,” he agreed, his voice slightly breathless as he gazed over at the other tables. People had certainly taken notice of you two, including Isabella. The third year looked like she was ready to snap her wand in half with how tightly she was gripping it. She had a look of pure fury etched on her face. The other Ravenclaws looked upset, but Isabella looked murderous.

“That was...um...” you murmured, lightly touching your lips. They felt sensitive and appeared to tingle with the remnants of the embrace. Talbott glanced back at you, waiting for you to complete your thought. Amazing, heart-stopping, mind-blowing all ran through your head. “...convincing,” you murmured, glancing down at your lap. He had to feel something, didn’t he? You had such a nagging in the back of your head that you wanted to ignore, but he’d never expressed a real interest in you, right? After all, all of this was done with the pretense of a false relationship. Was he simply trying to throw off the third years any way he could?

Talbott let out a sigh, and you could feel his gaze lingering on you. “It was,” he spoke softly, turning back to his butterbeer. He wrapped his hands around the glass, staring down into the golden liquid. Oh, what you’d give to be inside his head, just for a moment.

You so desperately wanted to tell him how you felt. You wanted to know if it was possible that he could have felt the same. Despite breaking curses...you weren’t brave enough to confess. You knew you couldn’t handle it if he didn’t feel the same.

——

The trip back to Hogwarts was a quiet one. Talbott was holding your hand securely - as he always did - but his typical stoic expression was plastered on his face as he stared straight ahead. It did nothing to help you sort out his feelings for you.

“That was a fun trip,” you murmured, unable to keep silent any longer.

“Mm,” he responded simply, keeping his gaze focused ahead of him. Was he upset? Unhappy with the kiss? Hell if you knew, and it was slowly driving you mad.

Not another moment passed before you let out a gasp, your gaze fixated on the sky. Talbott was quick to stop, looking at you in concern.

“It’s snowing!” You beamed, your face practically glowing with excitement.

“Look!” You chimed, holding out your hand to catch a few snowflakes.

“You’re something else,” he chuckled, gazing down at you. You were happy to see the soft expression on his face once more.

You were happily gazing around, only to pause when you felt something wrapping around your neck. Glancing back at Talbott, you felt yourself flush as you watched him wrap his scarf around you.

“Thank you,” you said softly, lightly touching the fabric. It smelled just like him, and it made you melt all over again. Before you could stop yourself, you’d leaned up on your toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

You couldn’t believe you’d done that - neither could he, apparently, by the look of shock on his face - but in the next moment, he was cupping your face again and kissing you deeply.

This kiss felt very much like the first two, in that it enveloped all of your senses. You could certainly get used to kissing him, and if that meant continuing this charade for a bit longer, then so be it.

After a bit longer, the two of you broke apart, though you couldn’t keep the smile off your face. You settled for burrowing you face in his scarf to hide how pleased you were. Talbott let out a chuckle, wrapping an arm around you securely as you returned to the school grounds.

——

You’d remained pressed to Talbott’s side for the rest of walk, your mind racing as you replayed all three - three - kisses in your head. Each was more magical than the last, and you found yourself craving the feeling. You were addicted, in a sense.

He’d kissed you so effortlessly, and for the last, no one had been around - so you thought. Who knew; all of your senses were focused on him. That had to mean something, right? Maybe he did feel the same.

The more you repeated it in your head, the more sure of it you were becoming.

“Talbott,” you murmured, grabbing his sleeve once you’d broken apart upon your return to the courtyard.

“Mm?” He hummed, turning back to look down at you. His eyes seemed to shine with a beautiful light; one you hadn’t seen much of - or at all, really - before you two had started “dating”.

“I...there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” you said, gulping slightly as you tried steeling your nerves. “I’ve...been thinking a lot, you know...” you murmured, guiding him to sit on the edge of the fountain.

“Is something wrong?” He asked softly, his eyes scanning your face with a hint of confusion, mixed with a bit of worry. “You can tell me,” he said sincerely, reaching for one of your hands that had previously been twisting in your lap.

“Everything’s brilliant, actually...” you spoke quietly, a smile toying at your lips before you turned to glance up at him. “You’re—“ you began, only to be cut off.

“Bombarda!” A voice shrieked, and you turned your head with just enough time to see a flash of blonde before you were being shoved out of the way.

You hadn’t been hit, you knew that, but you could hear crumbling following the blast from the spell.

Talbott’s body was hovering over you, a grimace on his face as you gazed up at him. Glancing just over his shoulder, you spotted a massive hole in the fountain’s columns, bits of debris falling from the spot.

“What...” you began, only to find Isabella leveling her wand at the two of you from a short distance.

“You can’t do this to me!” She shouted, her outstretched arm trembling as she adjusted her grip on her wand. “He’s mine!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” You shouted, fumbling for your wand. You just managed to pull it out in time to counter her Flipendo. “Protego!” You cast, blocking both you and Talbott from her attack.

“You can’t have him!” Isabella continued, practically seething as she sucked in furious breaths.

“Talbott, get up,” you urged, shifting yourself out from under him.

“My arm,” he groaned, clutching onto his arm in pain. You caught Isabella opening her mouth to perform another spell, but you were quick to act and beat her to it.

“Immobulus!” You cast, waving your wand at her. She immediately froze, and you let out a sigh, relief coursing through you.

“What is going on here?!” Professor McGonagall’s panicked voice rang out, her robes billowing as she rushed over. “Explain the meaning of this!” She demanded, casting a glance at the third year before turning her attention to you.

“She attacked us, Professor,” you said, glaring in Isabella’s direction before glancing back at your head of house. “She’s barking,” you drawled, pocketing your wand.

You took a moment to survey the area, noting the nosy students that had swarmed to find out what had happened. You spotted the massive hole in the fountain, glad that hadn’t been your head.

“Mr. Winger,” McGonagall spoke, seeming satisfied enough with your response before her focus shifted to the Ravenclaw sprawled beside you. “Are you hurt?”

Your gaze quickly turned to him, only for your breath to escape you. He looked pretty banged up - his forehead and cheek had a few nicks, the arm he was clutching was splayed at a weird angle and the edge of his robe was slightly singed. Your heart clenched painfully at the sight of him, and instant worry filled you up.

“My arm...” he groaned, his head tilted towards the sky and his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“Let’s get you to the hospital wing, Mr. Winger,” she spoke.

“I’ll take him,” you spoke quickly, already wrapping his good arm over your shoulder to help him up. He seemed a bit woozy.

“I’ll send for Professor Filtwick,” McGonagall called after you. “He’ll want to hear about his students.”

——

The next hour and a half was agonizing. After dropping Talbott off in the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey had all but shoved you out, stating that you’d just be in the way. Maybe it was something about how panicked you had looked.

You’d paced around outside the hospital wing until you were sure you were going mad, but eventually, she came to retrieve you.

“Don’t stay too long. The poor boy needs his rest,” she called as you all but raced to his bed by the far window.

“Talbott...” you murmured, taking in his bandaged appearance. It hurt to see him like this, but his smile was a bit reassuring.

“It’s broken,” he said, nodding for you to take the seat beside his bed. “The tosser can’t aim. Barely hit me, but the falling fountain did me in,” he drawled and you were glad to see he still seemed like himself.

“That was rather noble, Mr. Winger,” you grinned, gazing at him cheekily. “Very valiant. Pushing me out of harm’s way,” you hummed, resting your hand on his bandage-free arm.

“I’m practically a knight. See if Sir Cadogan can swear me in,” Talbott responded cheekily.

“We’ll see,” you grinned, only to pause as your eyes drifted away from his face and your hand dropped off to the side. “It was very foolish. Look at you,” you spoke softly, all previous hints of joking gone. “Be lucky this is all that happened. You could have been seriously injured,” you murmured sadly.

“You would have been if I hadn’t,” Talbott spoke, resting his hand on top of yours. “And I couldn’t let that happen,” he said.

You frowned, your lower lip trembling the slightest bit. It had certainly been an overwhelming occurrence. The entire day had been filled with emotional highs and lows. It wasn’t long before your vision had blurred from the sting of tears.

“I...can’t believe she attacked us,” you said, the tears spilling down your cheeks.

“Hey...” he murmured, reaching up to thumb the tears away. “We’re okay now,” he said.

“You’re not...” you murmured brokenly, blinking furiously as more tears fell. “And...and it’s all because of this stupid, fake relationship! This wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t done this,” you cried, your gaze troubled.

Talbott’s eyes studied you for a few moments, his thumb still wiping away your tears. “Do you...” he trailed off, cupping your cheek tenderly. “Do you regret doing this with me?” He asked, his voice slightly fearful.

“Of course not,” you said quickly, resting your hands by his lap. “I don’t,” you said, pursing your lips as you absently toyed with the hem of the blankets. “But look what happened to you,” you said.

“What could have happened if she thought I was available?” Talbott posed, shrugging his shoulders - only to wince slightly as pain seemed to shoot through his bandaged arm. “I’m...happy we did what we did.”

“You are?” You asked in surprise, and he smiled at you again.

“I am,” he confirmed, his hand wrapping around to cup the back of your head to draw you closer. “I haven’t thought of what we’ve done as fake,” he stated, staring into your eyes.

You couldn’t believe you were hearing what you were. It made your heart swell.

“I think that’s just the medication talking,” you murmured shyly, though a smile was threatening to spread across your features.

“That’s possible, I suppose,” he grinned, shutting his eyes and resting his head against the wall. “I liked kissing you,” he added in, causing your eyes to go wide. Your face felt like it was on fire, but you would thankful he wasn’t gazing at you in that moment.

“Now I know it’s the medication talking,” you drawled, shifting to sit on the edge of his bed. “How long are you in here for?” You questioned.

“Madame Pomfrey should let me out by the morning,” he hummed, turning his head to catch your gaze.

“Good,” you murmured, reaching up to lightly touch his cheek. You felt his hand on your arm, lightly thumbing at your skin. You so desperately wanted to kiss him in that moment. “Talbott...what I was going to say...before...” you trailed off, biting your lower lip nervously. “I—“

“Mr. Winger, Miss—“ Professor Flitwick’s voice suddenly rang out as he strolled into the hospital wing, only to pause when he noticed the two of you sitting so close.

“Professor,” the two of you said in unison, shifting slightly back from each other. Your hand dropped from Talbott’s cheek, and you could feel the absence on his hold on you.

“Ah, I see you’ve told Mr. Winger about what was said the day we practiced Obliviate,” Professor Flitwick spoke with a grin. “Hearing the sincerity in your confession, I knew it was only a matter of time before you ended up together!”

“I hadn’t, Professor, but thank you,” you spoke hastily, quickly averting your gaze as your face blazed with embarrassment.

“I—oh, well...oh dear, this is a conundrum,” the professor spoke, clearly flustered with his misinterpretation. “I suppose I shall leave you two to it, then,” he said quickly, backing out of the hospital wing. “Come to my office once Madame Pomfrey dismisses you and we can discuss the situation.”

You chanced a glance at Talbott once his head of house had left, only to find him looking at you in shock.

“You...” Talbott began, but you were quick to hold up a hand.

“Please don’t. I don’t think I can take any more today, thank you very much. Madame Pomfrey has enough on her plate, mending your arm and patching you up,” you sighed, gazing at him. “I don’t think she’ll have time if I die of embarrassment,” you drawled. Talbott clearly wasn’t going to drop this, though.

“You fancy me,” he murmured quietly. “And you Obliviated me after saying so?!” He questioned, clearly unamused.

“You said to make it a good secret...” you murmured sheepishly, absently toying with his scarf that still hung around your neck.

“Bloody hell,” Talbott drawled, resting his head against the wall once more.

“It wasn’t the right time,” you argued, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Did Penny know? When she arranged this whole thing?” He questioned, shifting his eyes over to you.

“Not until after,” you murmured, biting your lip. “It’s...what I was going to tell you,” you said, chewing on your lower lip. “Before...in the courtyard,” you said. “I...fancy you, Talbott. I like being with you like this. I...don’t want this to be pretend,” you said, pouring your heart out to him. Once you’d started, there was no stopping you. “I’ve fancied you for some time, you know. Everything that’s happened to us...it just felt right. And I know...I know you probably don’t feel—“ you rambled, only to fall silent as he reached for your arm.

He stroked your arm, allowing it to slide down to uncross your arms and take your hand.

“I told you,” Talbott began, gazing at you earnestly. “I haven’t thought of what we’ve done as fake,” he said, pursing his lips in thought as he gazed off into the distance. “You’re important to me...I care about you,” he spoke, flicking his eyes back to you. “I...fancy you, too,” he said.

“You...do?” You gaped, the words swimming around your head.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Talbott grinned at you.

You rolled your eyes at Talbott’s cheeky response, though you couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across your face. Talbott Winger actually fancied you.

“Come here,” he murmured softly, drawing your gaze back to him. Your eyes locked with his and you felt warmth creeping up your face. Scooting closer, you smiled as his good arm wrapped behind your back. “I fancy you,” he repeated, pulling you closer.

“So you’ve said,” you responded, grinning at him as your eyes drifted down to his lips. “And I fancy you,” you hummed, your faces mere inches apart at this point.

“So where does that leave us?” He questioned softly, his eyes searching your face.

“Together, I suppose,” you grinned before your lips molded together. Never would you have imagined that this fake relationship would have turned into something more, but you couldn’t wait for more time spent with him.

~The End~

[something-tofightfor]

Magnetic sneak peek:

I have 7800 words written of the chapter, BUT it won’t be finished tonight because I ate too much at dinner and literally am 94% a chimichanga style shrimp burrito now (aka uncomfortably full) and we have plans most of the day tomorrow and Sunday morning + a 2 hour drive home, so I’m unsure when I will get another chance to work on this one before we get home.

So here’s an extended sneak peek of chapter 20, which is called The Living Force. 

For the next hour, Din filled you in on Mandalore and what going there - and staying there - meant. He explained where you’d be living - a compound that had been used as one of the council’s outposts, complete with different areas for training, meetings and sleeping. There was even a small learning center there for the Foundlings, and Grogu could attend classes with them if he wanted. There would be plenty for you to do, too, as Din and the others worked on a plan; compiling history, assisting with communications, strategizing based on your knowledge of other planets and people - they were all options. And I don’t have to choose right away. 

You’d asked questions, too - for yourself and for Grogu, Din answering as best as he could. There’s more to learn, kid. We won’t know everything until we get there. He’d paid attention as Din talked, Grogu’s eyes focused on the man, his body still in your lap. But even he had a breaking point, despite the fact that you’d seen Grogu motionless for hours at a time, eyes closed when he was meditating. “I think that’s enough for right now, Din.” You stroked the kid’s ears, thumb rubbing over the top of one of them. “He’s kind of …” You glanced down and then looked back up at Din. “Drifting off.” “Yeah, you’re right.” He said Grogu’s name and the child perked up, reaching for the man. “Ready for bed, kid?” You didn’t know how the sleeping arrangements would work after you and Din had spoken, but before you could ask, he was standing and scooping Grogu off of your lap. “I’m gonna put him downstairs.” I guess that means he’s still sleeping there, too. “I’ll be back up when he’s asleep.” Oh. 

“Sounds good. I might go into the cockpit. Since we’ll be grounded for a while after we get to Mandalore, it’s… I want to see.” You knew that you didn’t need to explain further, Din nodding at you and  then leaving the room, boots heavy on the metal rungs of the ladder. You changed clothes when he was gone - putting his long sleeved shirt back on along with a pair of comfortable pants and  then headed into the smaller space, settling in on the chair you always used and leaning back. 

You had more questions about Mandalore, about Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians, about what would happen to you when you docked on the planet - but you didn’t want to ask. I can’t plan for everything. Some things just need to happen. Din would protect you - he would make sure that you were comfortable on the planet, and even though you didn’t want to depend on him for everything, you welcomed that. He invited me there. He’s … and if we … One of the things you wanted to do while in flight was look up more about Mandalorian culture. I can’t look like an idiot. Your behavior would reflect on Din, and you wanted to make a good impression. Especially if he’s already … committed to me. He’d already essentially done so without the actual act, but you knew that for him, words weren’t enough. “He’s out.” You froze, eyes narrowing, but Din’s voice was modulated. Alright, so it’s not happening now. “Is he excited? Could you tell?” 

“He is.” Din lowered himself into the center chair, swiveling it to face you. “He was really paying attention, Din. I think … I think he wants to make sure that you’re… proud of him.” 

“I’m already … he’s … proud of him? Why wouldn’t I be?” I’m not sure. “He’s going to fit in. The adults … a lot of the Mandalorians have agendas, but the Foundlings? The ones his age? They’re going to love each other.” 

“I hope so.” You leaned in, running your fingers over the back of Din’s hand. “At the Academy? He was bored sometimes, in classes. But never … never when he was training with the other kids. Never when he was having fun.” Wrinkling your nose, you squeezed the man’s hand. “I know you’re all warriors and all that, but … tell me that Foundlings are allowed to be kids sometimes.”

“They are.” He sighed. “Not for long, but … for long enough.” The cockpit went silent, the only noises quiet beeps from the control panel, but then Din spoke again, clearing his throat. “I … told him that after we’ve been there for a little while, he’s going to have to tell you when to call Skywalker.”

*** 

I hope to have it finished and posted Sunday night so that I can post Buried 5.5 on Monday and then continue with the Christmas prompts. 

Thank you for being patient with me. I’m so sorry that I’m being so lazy with this one, but ... it’s coming. 

[lambourngb]

he’s got a smart mouth but a good heart - Michael Guerin

It’s Day 2, celebrating characters, and much to my own surprise, at the end of season 2, Michael Guerin decided to move into my brain and take up residence. Obviously I still love Alex Manes (He lives first and foremost in my brain since 1x08), but there was something about how Michael buried his own pain about his mother to help everyone in season two that rang pretty true to my own life right now. I didn’t always like what he was doing in season 2 but I understood it.

Anyway, when I find a story that celebrates how complicated he is, I cheer and rejoice- so here’s a few of the stories that I have gone back to again and again.

Truck stop knives and other assessors of childhood @angsty-aliens (13,200) I can’t lie, I love a good trope story, and I especially love a good sci-fi trope story, so this story hits all of my buttons. It takes our two science nerds, Liz and Michael, mucking around, and accidentally creating a version of Michael- but not just any version, but the child who hitchhiked to Fosters ranch, completely over humans and desperate to find his family. The kid who was feral from neglect and abuse... he was the cutest thing and the most mortifying thing that ever happened to Michael to be displayed and shown. This story takes the de-aged trope and turns it on its head, and oh yeah, there’s a sweet backdrop to Michael and Alex getting together.

Implicit Memories of You by @ninswhimsy (3464) - So this is an amnesia story canon-divergent story set after 2x11 basically, where they use the mind erasing drug on Michael. I know, I’m reccing this about Michael characterization, but it’s so solidly him after all the memories are stripped away and he’s acting on instincts, locked in a room to torture Alex with before death. There’s so much going on in so few words, something that Nin is a master at, especially the ephemeral remembrances of his mother that Michael has- oof right in the feels.

Maybe this time (he’ll stay) by @hannah-writes​ (7700) This is a sequel to one of my favorite stories I recced last year, dealing in alternative timelines where in one world, Michael is lost and alone and has pushed Alex away, and in another world where Alex came home from Iraq in a flagged draped coffin. It answers the question, what about Mikey? Where’s his happy ending? The confirmation of the multiverse means there’s an Alex out there who needs him- and through trial and error, Michael finds him. The world building in both stories is top notch, because for every action, there’s a reaction and reason shaping Michael.

Constant as the northern star by celzmccelz (53,000) - don’t know the tumblr here - This is an Mpreg, and it starts solidly after 1x13 and goes AU from there. But what if in the 100 mile drive home from Caulfield, Michael and Alex share a grief-induced moment of insanity where they fall back into their oldest language- sex for comfort, and then Michael does everything he does in the finale, including turning toward Maria, what if there was a souvenir? Despite the trope of mpreg, this is just how I see Michael, deeply in love with Alex but unable to trust that Alex feels the same depth in return. The friendships in here are also top-notch, from Kyle being a baby-doctor, to Isobel having her own Max-related spiral unable to let go of her brother only to refocus on Michael, to Liz fucking off with Rosa for the first half of the story because she’s caught up in her own grief (which turned out to be canon!). And there’s a whole plot here! With Jesse Manes being the worst.

Leave the light on by @sabrinachill​ (36,900) - Confession time- I love fake dating as a trope, I know, shocked right? But I especially love it with RNM because Malex are exes by 1x03. Mattie nailed the dynamic of pining and the assumption of unrequited love so well in this story. Although the POV switches here a bit between chapters, (and Alex is fabulous) what I really really loved was how she wrote Michael, in love but convinced that he’s messed up too much for Alex. Aware of his faults but not in a sullen way, but an acknowledgment that he was in a bad place and Alex hasn’t always been the best remedy him in the past. It was a very mature take on the “give me another chance” trope in Malex reunion stories, where both sides had a share of blame. The plot was suspenseful and tight (how do people do that???) with a climax that honestly shocked me! I really enjoyed rereading it while I prepped my rec-sets, and I won’t be surprised if this story isn’t mentioned by everyone doing ‘Creators Week’. It’s worthy of all the love.

Temporary wounds by @prouvaireafterdark​ (7800) - How many times can I rec this story? Hopefully you’re not bored by my adoration of this Lynne.  So even though it’s set post-season 1 with the assumption that Michael/Maria will fizzle out while Alex/Forrest date- it’s actually perfectly set for season 3 (an author who is psychic??). As a rule, I hate jealousy as a trope, but this story has the only type of jealousy I want to see on screen- where Michael wonders what was missing inside of him that Alex didn’t want to be public during their long affair (even with the acknowledgment that Alex was too scared before)- like that type of sad pining is my catnip!

The first who ever did by nostalijinks (33,000) post season 1, but really it also stands pretty well after season 2.  There was an interview during season 1 I think that talked about how all Michael really wanted was to be a hero to Alex (the way he stepped in front of Jesse as a kid)  but he thinks he failed at it since Alex enlisted. That failure soured him in ways but he never stops trying, for Alex. This is a really well done 5 times plus 1 story, with an overreaching arc of reconciliation between Alex and Michael, starting as teenagers, then as adults while Michael is with Maria, then as friends, real friends, trying to support Alex as Alex dates. The whole emotional journey of maturity that Michael takes here is so well done, where there’s no real villains in the friend group. I just love it. I wish the author had written 100 more like this one, but as a standalone work it’s epic.

The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger by @iwontbeyourmedicine​ (25,000) Ly has a very large body of work, that you could spend days paging through on AO3 or tumblr, but this one hits two of my kinks hard- the amnesia story line and true love conquers all. So three fandoms ago I was huge into Steve/Bucky, that iconic moment in Cap 2 where Bucky breaks through the brainwashing has never left me. This story takes my love for that moment, and makes it Malex. Alex gets programmed by his family and set loose on his friends, on the aliens and it’s a shitshow bloodbath since he’s really fucking good at kicking ass. Michael is caught between keeping everyone safe and trying not to hurt Alex, and the tension is just top-notch. I love how it’s not an immediate fix either, the way they circle each other in the aftermath, wanting to come home, but home would be a totally new step for both of them. Just chef’s kiss good at joining action, angst, and romance together.

Into the palm of your hand by @haloud​ (5900) hal is a treasured friend, so I am admitting some bias here, but we both enjoy talking about how wonderful and sad Michael is and how desperately we enjoy poking at that softness and then wrapping him up with love again... so this story was written pre-shamegate (and if you know what that means, I’m sorry) but it matches my head canon of what the history of hiding does to someone. The internalization of believing maybe there’s a reason behind the hiding that has nothing to do with homophobic townies. Alex has an ex boyfriend come to town, and he doesn’t tell Michael. And omg the journey hal takes us on with Michael’s spiral and Brave Little Toaster act was so wonderful and painful and real. The communication between these two was top notch as they worked through a road bump from the past, and let’s face it, once we get our malex back, these things are going to happen, and it will either tear them apart or bring them closer together- I prefer to believe it will be closer together.

There is beauty in a failure by @jule1122​ (2400) There’s been a few Greg and Michael stories to pop up on my radar after 2x10, and this one was one of my favorites. This is a Greg who pulls no punches in exposing his brother’s past to Michael, but also gives Michael the space to work through what he wants. It’s an AU from 2x12, that allowed Michael to break up with Maria for basically the same reasons that Maria used on him in 2x13. The way Michael is able to what he wants and communicate it Alex in the end- so good! We can only hope to see something similar in season 3.

I don’t know what to think (but I think of supernovas) by @queersirius​ (3900) This story is a delight from start to finish- I mean frustrated cursing turns the console on into a hologram who then takes the most pleasing form to Michael’s eyes? SIGN ME UP for those shenanigans. I fucking loved how Isobel saw it first too. And then the comedy of Alex discovering it? And what happens afterwards? Oh it’s so delicious. Now of course, full disclosure, this light-hearted romp through the feels also inspired me  to think up a much much sadder version of Michael building an AI for companionship considering how isolated he ended up being at the end of Season 2 and we all know Michael needs friends, badly.

Innuendo by the Roswell anon (6000) written for @bisexualalienblast​  the roswell anon is my favorite treasure in this fandom, I could pretty much list all of their stories as examples of some very fine Michael Guerin characterization. This one was one of my favorite post-season 1 fix-it fics though, because it has some of the most real 28-30 year old guy dialogue I’ve come across- from the crude jokes, to the sharply self-deprecating observations- this is Alex and Michael stripped down, all edges but what’s left is fatigue and love. The resolution at the end, where Alex observes that yes, Michael has tried the last 10 years but this is their first chance to try together- to pull in the same direction? It just lays me flat on the ground with how true that is to canon.

Whenever You Want to Begin, Begin by @foramomentonly (3200) - this is a sequel, and the first story is dynamite- don’t get me wrong- but it moves from the hopeful side of an ending to legit Happily-Ever-After here, and I devoured every word. First of all, having Michael turn to photography as a way of self-improvement is fucking genius. Photographers are always at the center of every happy event, but never the focus, and that screams Michael to me, the way he lives on the outskirts of the 9-5 job and literal outskirts of town in his trailer. The other thing is photographers are revealed by their work, and that’s also something I head-canon with Michael just in the mundane- he’s good with his hands, he wants to leave a car better than he found. Anyway, this story is gorgeously written, moves a bit like a really good bottle of wine- heavy but soft, as you watch Michael become Alex’s friend, and even more importantly, Alex becomes Michael’s friend. Fantastic- I’ve read it about four times now since it was published.

[attract-mode-collective]

Just Another Late Night At The Game Center

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look at these hipsters...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

... or this one? (via mendelpalace)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eggman also has aesthetics (via posthumanwanderings)...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[manuelmueller]

A MASTERPOST

Every fic from 2017 that made it on my fic rec. Or, some personal favourites!

I tagged all the authors I could find on tumblr; if I missed someone, please tell me! (Inspired by @lahmly whose rec lists and fics are amazing!)

DELE ALLI/ERIC DIER

Can’t Help Falling In Love With You ~22k, Teen by @ericdier-and-chill “Have you found out who sent you the mixtape yet?” Dele asks blinking at him with sleep in his eyes. Eric shakes his head. “I haven’t really started looking yet,” he frowns and Dele yawns. “Maybe you should.” Yeah. Maybe he should.

Floating into our Wishing Well ~29k, Not Rated by @sodetectivegalaxy When Eric does something at the end of their Euros’ campaign, it triggers a series of changes to his and Dele’s relationship as they navigate what it takes to fall in love with a teammate in this day and age of football.

I’ll Keep My Cool but I’m Fiendin ~8900, Not Rated by @sodetectivegalaxy From the first moment, he knew that something would be different. He expected the banter, he expected the connection, he expected the goofy smiles and he expected the affectionate cuddles. He did not expect to be falling in love quite so hard, though.

Light on the Water ~1100, Teen by @jackdaws Everything about Dele becomes more complicated as Eric falls in love with him.

XABI ALONSO/STEVEN GERRARD

all that heaven will allow ~4200, Not Rated by @carraville Steven asks Xabi a question.

XABI ALONSO/PHILIPP LAHM

your heart is a mineshaft ~1800, Teen by @bayernluvr69 There is some part of Xabi that has always been longing to come home, the same way there is some part of you that has always been longing to make it your own.

PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG/MARCO REUS

everything i feel returns to you somehow ~11k, Teen by @manaholic-mongolian

Auba takes the assistant manager position for Borussia Dortmund’s youth squad without realizing his ex-husband, Marco Reus, is the manager. Or, when Dortmund calls, Auba doesn’t have to think twice.

I want you to love me ~6900, Teen, AU by @manaholic-mongolian The one where finding your soulmate and falling in love are two different things.

MICHAEL BALLACK/PHILIPP LAHM

again, february ~6800, Teen by @lahmly Philipp didn’t plan on almost hitting Micha with his car after seeing him for the first time in years, but he can see how maybe that’s a little hard to believe. Or: “Tell me,” Micha says without hello, “how does one get rid of you?”

JAMIE CARRAGHER/GARY NEVILLE

Oh Lord ~7800, Mature by @carraville Five times Jamie Carragher borrowed Gary Neville’s clothes.

Play the Whistle ~13k, Mature, AU Those who can’t do, teach. Or rather, referee. Despite not quite making it through the Liverpool academy, Jamie Carragher is at the top level of the game in his own way, which would all be well and splendid if not for a certain disagreeable colleague.

Remedial Exercises in Teamwork ~13k, Teen, AU This was definitely not Jamie’s fault. It was just pre-determined: Carraghers and Nevilles weren’t meant to mix. Especially not when it came to Quidditch. It was just his luck that the two of them had wound up in Gryffindor, and both Beaters to boot. But that was that.

souls in narrow spaces ~2100, Teen by @neyvenger Every ground in the league had its hauntings. It was understandable in a way. People left a piece of themselves behind anywhere where they felt strong emotions. Sometimes, after their death, that’s where they would return, clinging to a semblance of life, until the next derby, until the next title, until the next trophy. Some ghosts had been there for decades. Jamie couldn’t guess what they were waiting for.

strangeways, here we come ~14k, Teen by @carraville Even before he can pull away, Stevie’s got the end of the tape and he’s pulling it away to reveal six miniscule words inscribed on the skin, just under the veins. Get off me, you Scouse twat. Stevie looks at him, then down again, then back up. “What the fuck?”

KEVIN GROSSKREUTZ/MANUEL NEUER

Heal My Wounds ~15k, Mature by @tyskerunge And now the traffic announcement with an urgent message from North Rhine-Westphalia. A severe accident on B54 in Dortmund-Süd is currently blocking all northbound traffic. The emergency services are on site, reporting two cars involved, two dead, one critically and one moderately injured. The road will be closed until further notice.

leaving kingdom finding men ~7900, Teen by @lahmly Maybe if Kevin had picked up a book or two about quantum physics in training breaks, he’d be able to explain how he managed to show up in a world where Manuel calls himself a software reviewer.

ISCO/TONI KROOS

Tuyo ~12k, Not Rated, Semi-AU Toni doesn’t make it a habit of waking up in other people’s beds, but yet it seems to happen.

THOMAS MÜLLER/MANUEL NEUER

a pirate’s life for me ~2500, Explicit, AU by @manaholic-mongolian One of Captain Muller's routine ventures in robbing a merchant ship, reveals an unusual but unique prize. Or, ‘Oh really?’ Thomas says, taking his shirt off and handing it to Manuel for repair, ‘your most precious belonging isn’t some locket with the picture of a lover in it?’

In The Shadows ~9500, Explicit Manuel and Thomas have been close friends for years, but this changes after the celebration of a title win. But just when they are finally alone in Thomas’ hotel room, Manuel runs away from him without explanation. Will this incident ruin their friendhsip or will Manuel tell Thomas why he ran away before it’s too late?

Not another airport meeting ~1200, General Audiences, AU by @khalehla Thomas + Manuel, for the tags #mild homophobia, #airports are the worst.

One Night With You ~5500, Explicit, AU Legatus Manuellus Novus and his second-in-command Tribunus Thomas Mullericus spend one last night together before Thomas has to go on a dangerous mission.

LUKAS PODOLSKI/BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER

Around the World and Back Again ~3500, Teen Bastian’s always been overwhelmed by how generous Lukas is with him, right from when they were kids. He makes friends easily in general but Lukas had just slipped himself right under Bastian’s skin from day one and hadn’t let himself get dislodged by the intervening years.

OTHER, MULTI & GEN

reliquaries ~7200, Teen, Semi-AU by @bayernluvr69 “What did you think?” asks Iker, when he returns later that night. He is flushed and smiling and his hair is damp and a little mussed. His breath smells of something Acatchz cannot place, something sharp and just shy of overpowering. He looks something like he did that night in low orbit, when he had stood on the other side of the pitch from Acatchz. “You played well,” says Acatchz. “But I think you can do better.”

sweep me off my feet ~1100, General Audiences, AU by @bayernluvr69​ The entire business started twenty-four hours before the Quidditch World Cup semifinal against England, when Thomas sat on Mats’s wand. (side Hömmels – mainly Thomats bromance)

We Fought Hard ~2100, Teen Philipp looked around, like he was afraid he’d forgotten something. He felt utterly hopeless. That was the word. Hopeless. After staring at the empty bus for a few long seconds, he realised everything he cared about was already in the hotel, so he might as well get off.