#i also found myself looking at the game guide to finish the puzzles

[so2collection]

Star Ocean: Blue Sphere Mini Guide and Tips - Final Section

First half you can view by clicking here.

Leviabor Ruins (Part 2)

Private Action - Leviabor Ruins (Floor 320 / Right Side; Before clearing Leviabor Ruins) - Rena IN - Use Rena's Rebirth to revive some guy killed by a monster. He gives you an item based on the GB model you're playing on. GB/Super Gameboy 1 has the best prize. Note: I didn't do this, because the guide I used gave me the wrong requirements and I passed it. GBA gets an Orichalcum, so it wasn't really worth it anyway.

We can now unlock all floors. Talk to the man on the right and he'll automatically unlock all the floors on both elevators. Don't forget to check both. Make sure you get the Guiding fragments before looking for the Seal.

Go to Ava City (or, if you don't wanna look around, just teleport right to the Leviabor Ruins). Some of the shops are still there, but the buildings aren't… Lord Ava is nowhere to be found (and you still can't take his treasure darn it). 3rd door from the top of Ava's palace is the way back to Leviabor. If you check the inn where you can sleep at the bed for free, you'll also see that is where Lord Ava has taken refuge.

We already have the Fire seal from early game, so that's 1 down, 9 to go…

Water Seal - Start at the 103rd Floor. Defeat the enemies in the rooms going right, right, and up. A treasure appears with a Guiding Water fragment. Return to the beginning of the 103 Floor and go to the left, upper left this time. Defeat the Froggy to get a Blue keycard, then go up. There's a treasure with the Water Seal. Go back to the upper right side and we have to fight Titan. (Huh, he didn't appear for me… maybe I fought him earlier, I can't remember…)

Wind Seal (Rena is required for this floor.) - 114th Floor. Break the box (right, right, up) on the lower right to get the Guiding Wind fragment. Hit the switch ahead. Head up to fight a Titan. Two of Rena's Ray spells took him out easily. Press on until you see a broken floor switch. Use Rena's Rebirth on it. Before hitting this switch, go up and hit the lower right breakable box and reveal another switch. Hit that. Go left and defeat the two titans to get the Wind Seal. Go back using the teleporter on the right.

Earth Seal (Rena is required for this floor if you want the full set of Jeanne armor. Since I'm using Dias/Celine/Rena, it's useless. You should have someone with Push/Pull to avoid near soft-locking.) - 30th Floor. Match up the boxes to the spaces on the floor like you've done many times by now (you can just use Push, you don't need Pull) Go left and match up some more blocks in the upper and lower screens to open a door. Go left and break open the upper left box to get the Guiding Earth fragment. Return to the elevator room and go right this time. Keep going right, use Rena's Rebirth on the center to revive the block and finish the puzzle to get some Jeanne Armor (great for characters like Chisato). Go back to the room left of the boxes and down through the door the Guiding Earth opened up. Fight the Cooper and continue down. Go right and when you get to the room with two blocks, move them off of their spots on the floor to close the previous door and open the bottom one. Get the drive from the treasure chest (you'll need a lot of these, like 5 or 10 or something, you should have 1 so this should make 2).

So I soft-locked myself because I didn't have Pull :/ I had to Teleport out to the ship and go all the way back. To get Pull on Dias or Rena, they need Perseverance at 7. Safe to say, I could get it for Rena, but it just seemed easier to backtrack.

From the room where you moved the two blocks to make 4 match on the floor (lower/center), move them all OFF of the marks so you can go left instead. Grab the treasure for the Earth Seal.

Void Seal - Go to floor 227. First defeat the Carlas and hit the switch on the right. This is timed: Go left, go down, right, and down for a fight. Get the Gold Key and the Fairy Ring. (You don't know how happy I am for a Fairy Ring for Celine; I can spam her spells way more now!) Return to where you flipped the switch and go right. If you don't have hover, you'll have to fall into the pit and go back up. If you go right, there's some useless items. Go back to the elevator area. Go down and left, defeat the Carla, and hit the hidden switch in the block. Go down, hit both switches and return to the elevator again. Go left twice. Defeat the Carlas and get another Blue Key from a ? chest, then hit the switch and go down the lower right path. Go down and in the lower left corner in the Guiding Void. Go right, save, then go down for the boss. Go down and the Void Seal is in the chest. If you come back to large, open room where you got the Guiding Void, with Room Analysis FA, you can get Bunny Shoes. Just nab Ernest and come back.

Star Seal - Go to 216th Floor. Go left, down, left, left, down (use Gold Key you should have 227 Floor). Defeat all enemies in a room to get Blue Keycards. The Guiding Star is in a chest. Return to the elevator and go right and up to get the Star Seal.

Darkness Seal - Go to 115th Floor. Go left, get the treasure, then go back and hit the switch. Go right from here and hit another switch. Go back to the far left and up for the Guided Darkness fragment. Turn off the switch near the elevator and the one to the right, then go down for the Darkness Seal. Go right for a transport down.

Light Seal - Go to the 1st Floor. Go left for one of those Drives and then go back to the elevator area and go to the upper right for the Guided Light fragment. Take the teleporter down and return to the 1st floor. Go right, down, and right to find the switch puzzle room. It's confusing to explain, so I won't list the answer here. Took me about ten minutes to figure out. Go down, right, and fight the boss. Take the Light Seal and Fairy Source and go back down with the teleporter.

We're almost done… I stopped here to use the 2k SP I amassed on Celine and finally maxed out her TECH (I didn't get Lezard Techno, though, which sucked. Too many points in the opposite branch, I think.)

Bolt Seal - B12th Floor. Go down and move the block. Go right and get a Copper Key. Go left, left, up, right and open the door with the key. Go straight up and move the block. Go down and right a let the floodgates open. Swim down and get the chest you couldn't reach before for the Guided Bolt fragment. Go left and left and the fragment will open the door on the lower left of the map. Go through. The Bolt Seal is in the chest. Go to the elevator and switch floors then return to B12. Move the block thats downward near where the Seal was, then activate the water. Go grab the drive from the seal room. Finally, go and come back again, this time just let the water go first thing so it goes to B13.

Minus Seal - B13th Floor. Put all the blocks in the spaces and grab the drive from the center and all the stones in the other chests. Go down and swim to the two blue chests, one has a Platinum Key. Go back to the top side and right, you'll see the area in the screenshot, put the drives you've collected there.

This drains the water. Use the Platinum Key on the lower left door. Go to the far right and put the green block on the green glowing space, then swim back to where we started. If you go up and all the way right, there's a blue chest with the Guiding Minus fragment. Go back to the Platinum Key door and go down until you're in a submerged room with platforms. You can swim, but it doesn't lead anywhere. You can jump, but it is a major pain in the ass. I went and nabbed Precis (switched for Rena) to use Hover to get through this section. Hover to the far left for a boss fight. He went down with 2 Thunderbolts and a Thunderstorm for me. Grab the chest for the Minus Seal. Use a bomb on the back wall and you'll need Pull to move the block (you can then grab 2 stones, nothing great so dont worry if you miss this) and then return to the boss room and go through the transport.

The Final Floor! - 320th Floor -

Put all the Seals in place and face the Chimera boss that Rival sics on you. 6 Thunderbolts took him out. When Celine gets fatigued, switch to Rena to keep Dias alive. Once Chimera is dead, this opens Grand Knott (finally). Go up to enter it, save.

We'll be getting some really good armor soon, so don't waste too many resources just yet. Heal up/restock and let's tackle the lower level of Grand Knott…

Grand Knott (lower layer) Go up and Rival says she'll be waiting on the fourth floor. (The number 4 is associated with death in Japan, so we all know what she means by that…)

Make sure you've saved/healed (Grand Knott is added to the transporter) and go face the boss, El Dorado. Just use a few Thunderbolts and keep your distance. Bless on Dias helps as well. This annoying gold BlackDragonFiendWannabe will be a common enemy soon... :(

Now, to get the treasure we need someone with Room Analysis, so we may have to lose Rena for a bit and bring Ernest. To the right is a Mithril. The left room has a whip for Ernest and I think you can get through it with his Whip ability, but I grabbed Precis to see what the item was (you need both, because you need Room Analysis for the treasure). After this go grab Celine and Rena again (you'll need either Precis or Rena for some items coming up).

Go up from the entrance past the boss room and go left, up, and right to reach a room with some treasure (very useful curatives), then go left and left again (you may have to clear a room of enemies to open a door) to get back to the central area. Go right, up, and left for more treasure (a weapon for Precis.. fun). Now go right, down, right, down, up and you'll see stairs. Go to Floor 2.

Floor 2 - Ignore the panel, go up, left a bit, and up. Grab the treasure (the Mithril Dress isn't better than anything you currently should have so you can skip this step if you want) and then go back to the panel and click it. Go straight up to the 3rd Floor.

Floor 3 - Push the brick onto the circle and the top area will open. Go up, defeat the Golds (do not let them get initiative; Celine's Magic Shot is great for this) and grab the Purple Keycard. Go back to the entrance, move the block off the circle, and go right and up (left is a dead end). On the left side of blocks, break the top right block for the treasure (weapon for Ashton). There are more El Dorados in some of the blocks, so be careful.

Spell - Rena sparked Light Cross from using Ray. :)

Go down and right and down and use Rena's Rebirth on the bridge. Put the block on the space and grab the treasure (Leon weapon) from the right room.

NOTE: There's Seraphic armor in the top hall, so be sure to explore there too. You do not want to pass on this armor. If you've played SO2, you know how powerful it is. Put the Seraphic Guard and Garb on Dias, since he's our meat-shield.

Go back to the bridge and down. It's hard to tell but there's a room with a glowing panel on the upper right. Flip the switch (change the arrow). You'll arrive on the fourth floor. Remember, this is where Rival said she's waiting for us, but we need the Prism Key from the 5th Floor…

Welcome to dungeon maze Hell. Best part is, this is gonna show up in the top half of Grand Knott, too.

Spell - During a battle, using Starlight, Celine sparked Lost Mental (Mind Absorber). Using Ray, Celine sparked Southern Cross (finally~)

I wandered around for 3 hours trying to get elevators to where I needed them. Familiarize yourself with the layout before you do anything.

Fuck this room and everything it represents. What a horrible fucking place to just punish you for learning the game. These little jerks respawn constantly.

There's a series of rooms and the elevators move between the floors. Just follow this guide: Top - A, Right/Middle - B, Right/Bottom - C, Left - D <-- these are the elevators Ride D up. Ride B down. Ride A up. Ride D down. Go right and down for a green dragon enemy. He gives 99 SP per fight and can be one shot killed by Celine's Southern Cross. Go left and take the elevator to Floor 3, then save and go up.

You're truly on the 4th Floor now. Rival lays await in the room ahead. Get the Prism Key from the left side and a Robe of Ishtar for Rena on the left (and Elven Boots too, if you want them). You shouldn't need help with these puzzles, considering they put them on the back of cereal boxes and restaurant playmats… You may even consider grinding that green dragon for SP. When ready go save before going through the door.

Rival is gonna give a whopping 600 SP, so use an Extension Card at the start of the battle! For the fight itself, remember this isn't the final battle… So, don't go ham on using your best stuff yet. Besides, two blasts from Celine's Southern Cross decimated her. I even had time to prep with Anti and Bless, because I went in expecting the worst. :p In fact, using Bless, I sparked Angel Feather!! Even better!

Nice to have some easy levels/fights after that fucking slog that was Grand Knott's lower layer… Rival shows up for real and reveals we defeated a clone. She tries to kill us, but the Edifians intefere and teleport us out.

Aqua City Revisited The Edifian leaders say Rival went to the orbital elevator, Ex Trokia. It's some form of a structure that exists on the planet underwater and can communicate with space (where Rival piloted Grand Knott). The Edifians take you there.

Heal. Restock. Grind a bit in Grand Knott if you want. Make sure you save/have some Extension Cards for the boss battles ahead (make them with Art). When you're ready take the upper left door in Aqua City (the one that previously and can be changed back to Nusa Beach, if you want)

Looks straight out of Alien, huh?

Ex Trokia Trade Rena out for Precis. Floor 2 - You start on 2F. On the left, go left again for treasure. On the right, go right for treasure. Once done, go drop Precis for Rena (the best item was the Shield Earrings, put those on a mage if you need to take less damage) and come back, go back to the right and this time go up (you can jump the 2 gaps). You'll find a ladder to F1. Go down and right and blow up the lower right wall with a bomb. Toss the Mithril Helm on Dias and go back where you blew up the wall and head up.

Floor 1 - On the left, light up the 6 switches before the lights go out. Study duration and use Dias' Dash to get them all. On the right side press the blocks in this order or you'll get attacked: low right, upper left, upper right, lower left. In the center/up room, align the blocks in a cross/plus shape.

Floor 3 - Go up to Floor 3. Go left and flip the lever and go up and activate the console. Return to the beginning of the floor and go right and up for the stairs. If you hit the switches in the room, they open doors. The only item is a Mithril, so go up and right to the 6th Floor. Don't bother with the elevator path on the left; it's a dead end with no items.

Floor 6 - From the stairs go: up, up, up, left, save, and through the door. All the items are just common junk, so don't bother. There's a boss fight coming so heal up and launch the Linear Shuttle to the Metro.

Nu, one of Rival's flunkies, attacks. I used Angel Feather on Dias, then kept my distance as much/often as possible to give time to cast Southern Cross. His first form goes down in 4-5 casts. The second form will take double that. Your biggest issue for the second form is avoiding stamina fatigue and keeping everyone alive. Switch who you're controlling if you need to. Be patient and you'll win quickly. He gives 440 SP, so it's worth using an Extension Card (I forgot)…

Now we're in some kind of colony. They don't register to the teleporter… There's a tricky jump on the upper right. Save, then stand on the metal bar on the right and leap up. Go left, up, grab the ? treasure, and continue right and up. Go to the next shuttle and the next colony (Norn colony).

Go up and right. Defeat the dragon guys to open the doors again. Go up (right is nothing and the enemies do respawn). Go to the next shuttle / Metro colony. Go up for a place to heal for free. To the right of the beds is a wall to bomb. You get one of each Check (Stone ect) and some Talismans. Go back to the main area and go right.

There's a series of rooms here with blue crests on the floor. Kill the enemies WITHOUT destroying the boxes. When you put them over the crests the block in the center becomes a treasure (usually its the best weapon in the game outside Blue Sphere crafting or Cave of Trials, so they are well worth it!) I think if you mess up you can go back to your ship, but you can't go to the colonies, so you'd have to backtrack… Save carefully (I missed Precis' weapon) If you go up you'll find an elevator that takes you to the final city, Cosmo City, so there may be hope yet to complete the colony…

Of course, we have to go through a little road to the city. Go left to heal/save. Go up through the enemies to face a boss, Rival's other flunky, Diablo.

Use an Extension Card first thing in the fight. Use Celine's Southern Cross and Rena's Light Cross to take him out fairly quickly (he also doesn't have a second form and he isn't as aggressive as the other guy was).

Cosmo City Enter Cosmo City. There's a blue Froggy enemy, but he isn't hostile. All the little robots are talking about their Master away on a trip and are obscessed with cleaning. It's kinda sad :( Make sure you upgrade your main trios weapons (I guess the upgrades in the dungeon weren't as good? Or the same?) Anyway, they're pretty pricey. If you go to the Item Shop they have higher-grade food ingredients, so you could cook with those or use anything you have. Personally, I sold gold bars and all the Bunny statues and got just enough Fol for weapons, a Duel Helm for Dias, some accessories, and restocked my usual consumables.

Go back to the ship to heal for free and feel free to pick some herbs in Cosmo with Bowman if you want. Also, make sure to switch out Dias and talk to him for his ultimate weapon. (Private Action) Fun fact, he says he got it from Gamgee! Nice!

Speaking of… How do we get the Blue Spheres for the Ultimate Weapons?!

Item Creation - Alchemy / Blue Sphere Make sure skill is maxed Make sure you have the Lezard Flask This works for everyone except Dias, Chisato, and one other (I need to look this up again) who obtain through Psychometry and NOT Blue Sphere. Make Blue Sphere, have the ultimate weapon, and bring it to the man in Knott…

You need to make connections between the elements. Blue Sphere needs: Earth (4), Water (6), Fire (4), and Wind (4 Minimum, 6 Max). Connections are when the gems connect, like this: o-o-o = 2 connections o-o-o-o =3 connections

My wife and I tried for a long time… it's basically impossible. On the bright side, iron is cheap and using alchemy can be a great way to make money for late-game. The only other way to get Blue Spheres is to play the Connect feature, which isn't usable for English. :( My only idea is to load up my save in a GB and go grab that supposed free one, so let's try that…

Go to the door behind Rival's old base in Knott and find the tower with the breakable wall (remember, the wall is only breakable in Mobile version, which is lost media… So the GB version (Black and White) makes a hole you can pass through)

Thank. God. Using my emulator to change the settings worked (make sure it's set to Gameboy, Black and White) or the door won't appear. So, we have 1 free Blue Sphere. Let's take it to the man in Knott…

Okay, I can confirm there is none for Dias, Ashton, or Chisato, so don't bother. We may as well make Celine hers. So choose 'Rod' from the list. You'll get the Volcanic Mage Rod. Now, you may notice it's like the other ultimate weapons (which, btw, Dias, Ashton, and Chisato give through their Private Actions). All the stats are 0. That's not quite the case!

How do the Ultimate Weapons work?

Here is how they work: ATK = Stat Base + STR divided by 2, Stat Base + HIT = Dexterity divided by 4, Stat base + MAG = INT divided by 2

So, Celine's base INT right now in my file is 304, giving this weapon an +INT of 152, bringing the total MAG/INT to a powerful 456! You can see the stat change in the Status Menu.

In comparison, though, there are the Cave of Trials weapons. Celine's best CoT weapon is the Forbidden Maze (not sure of the ROM translation, this is from the guide) which only has an INT of 100… There is also that early dungeon weapon based on total playtime, but it seems a pain to calculate. If you wanna go grab that and give it a shot, go for it! (I mentioned it early on in the guide.)

Don't get confused by the 0 change to Dias' STR, his ATK power goes way up! :)

In conclusion, the Blue Sphere is worth it.

Skills - More Tips A character is maxed/can't learn anymore skills when the skill level reaches 350. You REALLY need to not level the opposite branch at all. I did this for Dias and he learned Awakening, but Celine had too many points in Battle and did not learn Lezard Techno or Lost Magic.

Item Creation - Psychometry From what I gather, if Dias learned Awakening, then he just needs Radio Waves (Sense Lv 1 Skill) and Religious Studies (Theology) (Int level 1 skill) also to unlock Psychometry.

I'm not going to touch on it too heavily, but the object of the game will let you use up the ultimate weapon to unlock the ultimate skill (SAVE before). I think if you succeed / luck you can keep the weapon AND learn the skill. Theology seems to be a late INT skill, and I haven't maxed Battle yet… I will update if I manage to train enough, as having another skill would be great, but not at the loss of the weapon…

Late-Game Levelling (before Cave of Trials) I want to make more Extend Cards and go fight those green dragons that give 99 SP each, since they would give 198 SP each fight and they go down in one hit of Celine's Thunderstorm…

Item Creation - Art (Extend Card) First, we need Extend Cards, so we need Art. Celine should have it near max. Buy Magical Canvas from Mile Ruins' Shop. Save. To get Extend Card, you need red paint in the center of the image (each different item requires different colors/placements). If you have trouble affording the Magical Canvas, sell any paintings or cards you don't want, food, or stones made with Alchemy.

If you don't get red paint, don't worry. Just stay nearest to the center as you can and you can still get an Extend Card. If you have another color but already have red in the center, you can hold the brush off of the canvas as well. My advice is to just keep all paint towards the center by lightly tapping opposite the direction the paint brush moves.

Once you have 15, go to Ex Trokia (3F) and fight the green dragon enemies. I know you can use Rena's Rebirth to revive monsters, too, but an easier way is to get to the 4F stairs and go back down to respawn the dragons in the rooms. Once you enter a room, wait a second and use Celine's Magic Shot FA for initiative. Get some distance in the fight, have Rena use the Extend Card, and then cast Southern Cross for easy one-hit wins.

Also, while leveling Dias, I learned the skill he needed for Pull, which is Mental at level 7 (it's a Battle Skill). Also, once he got the Level 4 Skill Combination the AI was doing 4 hit combos and taking down the dragons itself.

I am hoping to max Dias, but I don't wanna go forever training. I'm already at 40 hours playtime. Heal/stock/save, maybe try to make some more armor if you want, then let's go complete this game!

Grand Knott (upper layer) The transporters in the first area with the escalators all lead to the bottom. Bring a few bombs.

Go up the right escalator 4 times, then take the left path for a treasure. Keep going up from there.

There's a bomb wall on the right. I put the Mirage Robe on Celine for the extra evasion, since she's middle spot. Don't bother with the escalators for now (left ones are an enemy filled dead end, right leads up). Go left and then go through the door with the guard.

Here's the damn elevator puzzle again. Go up twice, take the elevator. Go right, down, down, left, down / out the door, down the escalator, left and through the door again. Go left and ride the elevator. Go right, down / out the door, up the escalator, and through the door. On the right there is a dead end with a weapon for Precis. From the entrance go left and up. If you want Sylvan armors (not useful for Dias/Cel/Rena), ride the elevator. Grab the treasure (be careful of the red dragon, we're back to OKO enemies boys… I just ran) and go back down the elevator. Go right, up, left, up, right, up, left. Solve the maze to get to the upper/right side, go up the stairs and get one of the God Rings for the CoT.

Go back down to the maze and solve to go up. Rival greets us and welcomes us to the Grand Knott Core.

Grand Knott (Core) Use Jump to grab the Philosopher's Stone from the chest, then teleport back to your ship real quick.

Private Action - OUT: Celine - Spaceship - Gain Field Action / FA Teleport by speaking with her outside the ship.

Prepare now. By the end of the dungeon, I did learn Psychometry (leveled Sense and Battle to full, then learned Knowledge until I got Theology!)

You'll need Teleport or Hover to get through easiest. The main enemy here is that red dragon, so it's not going to be a cakewalk… There's a little bit of dungeon to explore (best items are Wizard's Mesh on the far bottom right and the Oberon Knife (towards the top left, you'll need Teleport or Whip to reach it), but I'll provide the most direct path to Rival / Final Boss: Right, up, (Repair the bridge with Rena's FA Rebirth), up, left, up, up, up, right, right, right, across the gap with the poles (use Teleport or Ernest Whip), go all the way left, up, right, and you should see an opening going up. Save!!! The final boss is on the other side!!!

SAVE

I equipped Dias with the Tri-Emblem. Celine removed Star Necklace for a Resist Ring.

Final Boss Rival

She shifts between four forms. You must defeat a form in 30 seconds to kill it. If you only damage it and she shifts, the form fully heals.

The mecha goes down pretty quick between Dias' attacks and Celine's Southern Cross. The demon only takes three Southern Cross to kill. The wizard takes a long time casting, so using spells/attacks it should go down quickly. Make sure if you're controlling Dias to stay up on her, she likes to back up. Lenneth form is the worst one, mostly vunerable to physical attacks; if you can hit her. Use Angel Feather and any support items (Mental Pot on Celine, a Speed increase for Dias). After I did this Dias finally took her out fairly quickly. The normal form of Rival is cake and goes down super quick. You should see it briefly at the beginning of the fight and again at the end.

Rival, defeated, explains she is a human created by Edifice, a master computer from another world (Mother Brain?) It's goal is to never let humanity evolve too far and erase it every time it advances. Rival also explains that she wanted to defeat Edifice, but isn't able to, so she summoned the SO2 group to do so.

Rival gives her goodbyes and you go on to face Edifice. Don't worry about the fight; Dias took it out in like 3 hits.

Looks like a FNAF endoskeleton D:

Mother Brain explodes and you escape. Congrats to us all, for finally completing the main story of Blue Sphere! :)

ENDING - SPOILERS (Note: There are not multiple endings, but there is a post game.)

Okay, shitty new Tumblr only allows 30 images per post, so PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE ENDING / FINAL THOUGHTS POST. (This is ridiculous.)

[thecrushheb]

Just finished Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous and I need to get some thoughts down about it. I mean, 130 hours is so much to dedicate to something, of course I have thoughts. *SPOILERS*

A few things to premise my thoughts:

1. I played a Chaotic Good, Half-Orc, Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) w/ 9 levels of Dragon Disciple. Full tanky strength build (could get to like 48 str when fully buffed. Probably could have gone higher had I understood mechanics a bit better, more on that later).

2. I played the Azata mythic path

3. I romanced Wenduag

4. Had to put the crusade on auto because it was unbearable

*Mechanics*

Okay so I’ll start by talking about the mechanics. I really enjoyed building my character, and even spent a bunch of time in the respec screen without saving just seeing what I could make of my guy and my companions (Wenduag Rough Rowdy double throwing axes is ludicrous), it was fun. My issue was that I felt like if I didn’t min max as hard as I possibly could I would be completely left out to die against some of the games many wild difficulty spikes. I started by just dropping the difficulty a bit, but then realized I really had to just look at some build guides for certain characters because we were still getting wrecked. It helped a lot (again, Wenduag could get ridiculous, also had a good nenio build I liked), but I don’t like that to even play at .8 damage against and slightly weaker enemies I had to optimize like a champ. 

And I mentioned the difficulty spikes, my goodness. There were a bunch of random fights that I had to look up strats or just see if people found them as crazy hard as I did, then just drop the difficulty to get through the extra tough ones. I know that this is sort of a “git gud” situation, but like, it’s just not why I play crpgs. At least not to that degree. I loved Neverwinter Nights 2 and never messed with the difficulty, even turned the difficulty on Divinity Original Sin 2 higher because I enjoyed it so much, but the combat just felt less strategic and more tedious, to the point that I realized if I tried a couple things and still couldn’t get it, I was just going to enjoy myself more turning the difficulty down rather than trying to puzzle the fight out like I would in Divinity. Couldn’t beat it with all my summons and buffs and positioning my guys right? Well, not worth trying again adjusting my strategy incrementally, easy mode it goes.

I think this partially stems just from the pathfinder system and how much randomness is in a d20, but also they really went full power gamer for this game, so it was completely self inflicted. The mystic paths gave such a ludicrous power jump that to keep up with that there had to be power spikes for enemies, and if you didn’t optimize all choices and understand every buff system and spell system, there was stuff that was just going to be too hard. I mean, there was a point where I looked up a guide for a quest and it mentioned that one of the only ways to really have a good chance against a certain mini boss was to debuff it in a particular way that I just would never have thought of, and didn’t have the spell for. So like, what am I even doing right? I did end up completing the game on .8 damage against and slightly weaker enemies, but, the occasional mini boss had to be nuked on easy just to get the story, which I didn’t feel good doing. It also made you really consider party makeup mechanically which I don’t want to do with so many good competing personalities. Sure I was the only tank, but I wasn’t about to lug Seelah around just to not die when that slot could be taken by a character with a personality. 

Verdict: really fun character building system, characters got too powerful and power spikey to handle in a fun way eventually.

*Main story*

Kinda ass. Okay I’ll be more thorough. I did not give even half a shit about the main story until... Minhago? and even with her and staunton I was really just reaching for things to hang onto, then wasn’t engaged again until mid act 4. The biggest issue was that there was no characters to attach to anything and generic fighting demons on a crusade against evil just had nothing that hooked me in; until they put character to the plots. Once Areelu was an actual character involved, and the demon lords (minor as well, looking at you minhago) showed up, actually making the conflict personal, I got into it, but that was like 90 some odd hours in except the small Minhago and Staunton thread. Everything else having to do with the main story until then felt like a complete drag and time sink. Galfrey might have been able to save it a bit if she had a stronger personality early on, but even then, meh. 

It didn’t help that it starts with absolutely no context, you don’t know who you are (horrible trope), and have no relationships. I compare here to Neverwinter Nights 2 that starts you in town with friends and everyone knows you and talks to you letting you in on who you are, it made the next bits of story actually hold weight. Here it does not. It throws you into a conflict, kills a dragon you don’t know, then tells you to make your way to the surface with Seelah, who has the personality of a bud light. But I’m getting ahead of myself, this is about the main plot. I’ll wrap it up though: Put faces to your main plot movers and I’ll care. Baphomet’s portion of plot in act 5 felt entirely like a side quest (maybe it was, it’s hard to tell what you actually had to do and what was skippable), but I also wanted desperately to face him because he had personality and weight (and maybe the best portrait).

Areelu’s lab was terrible and not engaging until I viewed it in retrospect. Everything Areelu in the 5th act was amazingly done and engaging, but context was left too late. All the Demon lords were awesome, loved Noctula, what a well written and performed character. in fact

Voice Acting: A+ the best I've ever heard in a game, and from so much of the cast.

Alushinyrra was so frustrating to navigate I almost quit on multiple occasions, and like everything in the game, I spent 70% of it just trying to knock out quests, then was really engaged in the final bits of all the quests. This was the section with the best quests, and had it not been for the infuriating navigation would have been the best section of the game. Great characters and good writing in here, but too much running around spinning the camera to build into those quests. 

The final revelations, where you leave each major player from Galfrey to the demon lords to Areelu, was all phenomenal. What a way to wrap up an enormous game and made it all feel worth it in the end (despite all the bitching). Incredibly well tied up, but the good writing was entirely back loaded (likely they wrote out the very intricate story beforehand and then when parceling out revelations couldn’t figure out how to evenly spread it without spoiling parts or wrapping up some things but not others in a way they wanted. I can see the dilemma as a writer, but it doesn’t make it work).

*Azata (short section)*

This was fine, it lent cool gameplay moments throughout the rest of the game being able to drop in songs and heal parts of the land, interactions with beings from Elysium, allowing me to be the paragon of chaotic good with a love of nature I so love to be (and sort of am irl). However the actual story parts that were azata story missions were really mid. Nothing particularly interesting happened there (”a floating island!” doesn’t really feel too crazy in Golarion, idk why everyone there treated it like it was nuts, like we’re in the worldwound guys). Also, the characters were the most irritatingly written. I really don’t want to meet the person who wrote the dragon companion’s dialog and wasn’t embarrassed to put that shit out to the world. 

*Characters (finally)*

I spent most of the game with: Wenduag, Daeron, Ember, Nenio, and Arueshalae. I also did quite a bit of Camellia’s quest. I know I missed out on so many companions and this is the biggest driver of any future replay I might do. 

Imagine a paladin who drinks, that’s Seelah. And that’s why I didn’t bring her as soon as I had enough companions to make choices. Game was too long for her decent personality to not get old way too fast as it was way too one note and she doesn’t react much to your choices. Flat.

Something I did absolutely love: “Choose between two for your next companion” is awesome! And a little almost self contained module to lead you to your decision, it just was so engaging and made me so much more attached to my choice that they were the companion I cared about most, and the only one I cared about really, for the next 30-40 hours, until the rest of them had some time to make half the impression that the choice gave you. Great writing.

I went with Wenduag. I knew nothing about the story or world yet except that there was a demon lord upstairs who just killed a dragon everyone told me was powerful. Did Wendu seem evil? Sure. But she also had a really good point about Lann’s weakness, and he didn’t do anything to dispel that notion. I needed her, and knew that if it came to it I could ditch her later too. But then she lied to me and I was captivated. I was captivated because in her lie, she also was clearly lying to herself. And the voice actor, my lord, what a performance. Without the acting and subtle writing I might have missed her lying to herself, but it was there for sure. She *did* care about her tribe like she’d initially said, just maybe not too much, but also why would she lie and say she didn’t at all when she was confessing to lying about saying she did? Immediately she showed an insecurity that made her interesting. As a chaotic good I just kept poking and prodding her toward goodness and showing her I cared, that she belonged, and exploring her insecurities, and her arc was brilliant. There were definitely a few writing blunders where I think she came off a little too uncaring and evil a little too late in her arc, but how it ended and the times it got it right along the way were next level good. The actor’s performance for her final questline, voice shaking and choked with emotion, was the best (I ran out of superlatives). Immediately makes it onto my s tier character writing and performance all time.

Ember... She was alright. I think finding her warranted more build, more story, like Wenduag had. She’s too bizarre to just drop in like the others. Once I did feel like I got what her deal was (as much as you can with what you’re given), I liked having her in the party. Her banter was good (they all had good banter tbh), her quest was compelling but felt very obvious and without nuance. I liked getting an end slide that she made Noctula become the redeemer queen, like that was seriously awesome, but she didn’t have many facets to her (also her quest glitched at like, the last moment and I never technically completed it. though, getting that Noctula end slide tells me I did enough. her being sad at the end though because a quest wouldnt complete when i completed it made me sad). 

Camellia, what a creep. Interesting plot to her story, delightfully nasty, but being even a little good made it almost impossible to go along with anything she wanted lol. She’s evil as hell, so it could be better with an evil playthrough, but I didn’t get the sense she would really arc at all. Basically you just find new levels of perversion, which is interesting and engaging, but I didn’t finish her questline so I don’t want to say too much. 

Nenio’s quest was so compelling but lacked personality. It was very spotty too picking up bits of it randomly and again with no real story to it. And that megadungeon to finish her quest was damn near unbearable. She was annoying but it made for good banter, especially with NPCs and enemies, loved having her in the party, spent entirely too much time on a quest with no narrative for her though. I felt like it had the potential to be more fleshed out.

Daeron had a fantastic personality, great banter, great quest to meet him, great personal quest too. Only issue I had, which takes him down a half a notch, is that the end to his quest was really lackluster. It was such a cool premise and then you don’t interact with it for ages and when it finally comes back its just a small confrontation where you’re forced to kill Liotr, for what? Can’t see myself playing through without him, or at least if I do to make room for other companions on a new playthrough I will definitely miss him. I was disappointed that despite seemingly not really being truly evil, just fronting to keep face as an aristocrat since he came with me and just did good acts for the entirety of the game, he was just regular evil for the closing slides. 

Arueshalae had the most satisfying change in her character (except maybe Wenduag), redeeming herself from being a succubus. As an azata, this might have been the most fitting romance for me, but just going through her quest platonically was so satisfying. Going into her dreams and watching her learn to have feelings like a human was well done. My one gripe was that she seemed so naïve for someone who had apparently ruined tons of lives eating souls as a succubus. She should have been a lot more mature, and I feel like she was made kind of clueless just for “Born Sexy Yesterday” trope’s sake. Her parts of her quest where she was dealing with things she genuinely wouldn’t understand, or dealing with her past where she had to acknowledge the things she’d done were the best bits because they forced her into the character she should have been. Coincidentally her banter was poor because of her unfathomable childishness outside of those. 

Overall I enjoyed the game a ton, but the strength of the ending really rose tints what was a slog for a huge portion. The fact that I’m saying I’d consider replaying would have sounded insane to me between hours 40 and 90. The biggest thing holding it back was that it just had so much fucking stuff. So much breadth that it took ages to get to the depth of any piece of it, and so little was self contained until you started wrapping things up at the end. I started out thinking the characters were super weak, and ended up considering Wenduag, Arueshalae, and Daeron(’s personality only), among the best companion writing, maybe straight up the best companion writing I’ve ever played. I also consider the strength of the personalities in the game, from many companions to the many demon lords, the guy that ran the battlebliss, areelu, some of the most compelling personalities I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. 

[sufferingwithbooks]

May Reading (Part 2)

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking was an audio on Libbi.

I found it painfully average and predictable. After reading Legends & Lattes, and attempting to read its sequel, and now this book... I can confidently say that "cozy" fantasy is not for me.

I understand it was trying to tackle the topic of prejudice but... it did feel too "cozy" about it. If you want to do a dark topic, go dark. Show the true grit and horror of it.

-------------------------------

The Shadow of the Gods was a great read and likely the best of the month. Orka is everything I want in a female character. After having so many disappointing fantasy reads that are either sexist, a sausage feast, or nothing but abusive towards female characters, this was such a breath of fresh air.

I can't even talk much about the plot cause I just want to gush over Orka non-stop. I love everything about her.

100% will be throwing myself into this series. I will soon pick up the second book and then will impatiently join my partner in waiting for the third book.

-------------------------

The Witches is an Libbi audio I picked up after George's Marvellous Medicine.

And I enjoyed myself almost as much as I did with GMM.

The ending is so bleak and yet it tickled my dark sense of humour. I can't wait to pick up another.

----------------------------------

Cemetery Boys is one that started off interesting but very quickly lost me by the halfway mark.

"Yads" (the MC) is a trans boy. Great! I love to have more representations especially in the fantasy genre. Yads is having a difficult time being accepted by his family. They are of Mexican culture and have set roles for females and males.

Females have the ability to heal, males have the ability to "release" trapped spirits. Everyone in the family can see spirits and have to help them pass on.

Yads is granted the ability to release a spirit without the family knowing but the first soul he summons is a male youth who died recently and suddenly.

In the background, there's a plot of a missing cousin who had died.

Now it's clear there's going to be romance. This is advertised as such and is the first in a series.

(SPOILER)

The "mystery" of the plot is answered at the beginning. I don't get why it kept being looked at as a mystery. It was really annoying. It felt like playing a game of Cluedo with idiots. The entire second half of the book, I wanted to smack my head against the wall and scream "IT WAS ____ IN THE ____ WITH THE ____!"

The romance was cute but, once again, it was really clear how it was going to be solved because of the way it was advertised as a romance series.

I won't be picking this up this series. I only finished reading it for the Fantasy Reddit Bingo.

---------------------------------

Godkiller is one that caught my eye for a while because of how stunning the cover is. 10/10 for Tom Roberts (and I just found out he also designed the Library Trilogy covers which I really adore).

I picked it up from an indie bookshop on holiday. And read because of Fantasy Bingo (via reddit).

Overall it was a very average book. There was nothing thought provoking or a puzzle to think about. Nothing jumps out.

That being said, I read this whilst ill in bed. And it was a book I could read because of how simple it was. So I appreciate it for that reason and will likely pick up the second book much later on for another sick day.

---------------------

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a book I only read after watching the film (which took me three sittings).

I really enjoy the Hunger Games books & films. I have always gone more for the films however because I really enjoy President Snow who plays a bigger part in the films than he does in the books.

After finally being persuaded to watch the Ballad film, I was confused on how people thought the relationship between Snow & Lucy was romantic. Was I missing something? So I decided to read the book.

I honestly liked the development of the Games. The stark difference between how they were to what they became was interesting.

And I was right. Snow's character was 100% a 'psychopath' (out-dated term now). The relationship between him and Lucy was never healthy and was never going to be healthy. It was very toxic and I'm very happy with how it ended.

It took me by surprise. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

[theeyeofinfinity]

Hallowed Ground

I know you check these, but i don’t know how thoroughly... I’ll leave this for a couple days and if you’re meant to see it you will. If not you won’t. Either way it won’t be up long. I’ve come to enjoy these games of chance.

Theres so much that i want to say but at this point whats left unsaid? I’ve felt a lot more at ease the last few months. Whenever i feel myself becoming consumed by myself i sit outside and listen. I find my refuge in mother earth and she cradles me in her warmth and wisdom when i need to find guidance. Its what led me back to this place. I felt so happy finding it again. I felt like an explorer, a pioneer. None of those paths felt familiar and i took a lot of wrong turns and strayed off into the paths that were less travelled. But i found it. I had that rock face engraved into my mind and there were still remnants of its use as a camp site. I swear that even that old pan that was lying around was the same one i had picked up when we first found it. That was the first time i felt like i was living my calling. The thrill of the unknown. The satisfaction of finding what was lost. It also showed me a glimpse of myself. The paths I’ve taken are less that travelled. Theres really no guide for my road because most don’t know it exists. Yet, i find my mark at the end. I end up where i want to be. Where i need to be. When i got there i felt happy, i sat there and imagined you holding my hand while i droned on about the good things. I felt like you were there. But the you that loved me. The you that i loved. 16-17 year old us. I went back in time and told you about all the stuff we’d go on to do and the fun we’d have together. The fights and the intensity that would come. I pictured you looking at me all puzzled saying “yeah right, what could we possibly have to fight about?!” To which I’d counter with “surprisingly, a lot.” I’d tell you about all the things I’ve learned, about myself, and life. The theories and life lessons. Watching you laugh at me, giving me a playful punch and cuddling me. A grin on your face from ear to ear because nothing else mattered but the moments we were sharing. I had come to clear my mind and had found you. I felt this urge to find this place. I saved it on here so i wouldnt forget it and set up a stone pile to mark it incase i became if it was the same spot. What i didn’t count on was you still looking here. You came to find it and left me a piece of you. I’d come back on the weekends to keep talking. The walk to and from imagining you holding arm and leaning your head on my shoulder. At some point my arm started getting warmer than the rest of me and it genuinely felt like you were there. I’d have a smile on my face the whole time i was there and the last time i went i truly felt like a ghost. I felt like i was haunting that place. I’d sit out there whittling while i imagined what we’d be up to if we hadnt both died. Those two were so in love. I slowly started separating myself from him. The guy who belonged with her. It eventually became more of me watching us than me being part of it. I got into the habit of bringing flowers I’d find to leave on the stone guarded heart. I knew how much you loved flowers. A fun loving hippie girl isnt complete without flowers. They were hard to find too. All the more satisfying when i did so i could go back and show you. Youd wear them behind your ear and we’d keep on talking. It seems a little crazy when you think about it. Have i lost my mind? Doubt it. I’m not more sane now than i was before. At least this way i don’t have to feel anything but joy. I’d finish my time by hugging the tree that bears our initials. It felt like i was hugging you sometimes. As i finished up my totem, i left it there to have some sort of physical embodiment of it all. We have to say goodbye at some point tho don’t we? Whether its after a few days, months, years, or when we die. We say goodbye eventually. That much is inevitable. Its a shame ours was so soon. i feel better dealing with it this way. But my soul will never forget. It can’t because it sits out there playing with you as if none of this had ever happened. I’ll probably tend to the site for a while, during the weekends so i can enjoy the river before it gets cold. I can rest easy knowing part of me is out there with you.

39.05739° N, 77.32746° W

[votederpycausemufins]

The next chapter is going to be the last chapter. It’ll mostly end on a happy note, though there will be something at the end :3

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

Grian was glad to finally finish sorting through all the paperwork, narrowly missing Lynn arriving with another Watcher to discuss his kids. He dragged Grifter along with him and made a portal back to his base, glad that it seemed everything would be calm for a while. Until Grifter screamed.

Grian was sure it was just going to be a chicken left over from Hermit Challenges since those always seemed to appear at the worst times. Maybe someone wearing a chicken head who happened to be around. But instead, there was actually someone standing there. Someone Grian ever so vaguely recognized.

“H-hi there person I haven’t seen before. I’m Grian and that’s Grian and we cloned oursel-” Grifter quickly tried to say, but then freaked out as a chicken appeared next to him.

“Don’t lie. I already know what’s going on. I don’t like it, but you’ll get out mostly scott free. This time.”

“Ha ha ha... “ Grifter weakly laughed, glancing at the chicken to his side. “Hey, so is Mini-”

“Go home before I change my mind Ze.”

“Um, I actually changed it to-” Grifter started to speak before the chicken next to him hissed, making him jump and then make a portal back to helscraft.

Grian looked away from where his copy stood to where Punch was floating. As a Watcher, Grian could feel the death magic radiating off of the man. The man signaled to the chicken which hopped over to him and fluttered its way up to his lap where he pet it like a villain would their cat. “So. Xel I presume?”

After seeing how Punch had responded to Grifter correcting him, Grian just nodded. “Yeah.”

For a moment, the man just stared at Grian before smiling. “Well I’m sure you’re much better than my nephew. It’s a shame that your guide ignored you all those years ago.”

Grian had no clue what was being talked about. “Guide? What guide?”

“Something that could be discussed another time. You have more things to worry about. I’m sure your mother won’t be happy about me sticking around here too long, so I’ll leave you with a gift.” The man looked down to his chicken. “Kokatori, why not stay with Xelqua for a bit?” The chicken clucked once before hopping back down to the ground and standing next to Grian. “If anyone asks, you got it from a guy named Pablo.”

Punch looked like he was about to leave, but then at the last moment to turn back. “Oh, and by the way, I’d check your calendar if I were you. It’s currently May.”

Grian was left puzzled for a few moments as Punch disappeared. May? What did it currently being May have to do with anything. The only thing going on was closer to the end and- Grian pulled his comm out and checked the date. They had been so focused on the mess of the past week that Grian barely registered the days were actually passing. “I NEED TO FIND MUMBO!”

.

.

.

Mumbo watched as Grian was using Watcher magic to multitask. He had explained everything that happened while Grian was gone to him, and the builder was glad to be filled in, but before Mumbo could ask much, Grian pulled out a calendar, his communicator, a book, and also a lead which he put his new chicken on. “Grian, are you doing okay?”

“NO!” Grian stressfully shouted at Mumbo, making him take a step back. Had something happened? Was someone hurt again? Was it the boys? “I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF GRUM CAN EAT CAKE!”

“I’m… sorry what are you talking about?” Mumbo asked, a bit calmer but much more confused.

Grian thrust the calendar into Mumbo’s face. “It’s currently May 21st! We have less than a week to get everything ready!”

“Ready for…?”

“Are you- GRUM’S FIRST BIRTHDAY!”

Mumbo’s eyes widened at Grian answer. “Oh my word! That really is just around the corner, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I already had some plans in place of course but now it’s basically all out the window since there’s more family and friends involved to invite. Right now the only thing taken care of is presents!”

“Right, and did it get delivered?”

“Of course it did! I hid it in a por- I HID IT IN A PORTAL! THE BOYS COULD ACTUALLY GET THERE NOW!” Grian yelled, freaking out.

“Okay, calm down. It’s going to be fine. If we need to, we can hide it somewhere else. And I’m sure even if we don’t move it, it’s going to be perfectly fine. I doubt either of the boys will manage to get in there.” Mumbo did his best to calm Grian. “I know the boys wanted some people to visit today. Possibly you can get those people to come and we can find time to ask them more about who else the boys might have gotten close to and get a guest list that way.”

Grian was glad to finally finish sorting through all the paperwork, narrowly missing Lynn arriving with another Watcher to discuss his kids

Grian snapped his fingers at the idea before putting almost everything away. “That’s a great idea. Let me message Tommy on the change of plans. You said they wanted Fundy and Michael?”

“And Michael’s parent since he’s young. Parents? I’m not completely sure, I’m sure all those time problems didn’t help.”

“I’m sure they didn’t.” Grian remarked as he finished sending a message. “There. Now I guess we wait for Tommy to respond.” And he didn’t need to wait long as a message arrived. “Okay! He says I can pick them all up, though I might need to search a little for Fundy. But I’m sure he’ll want to visit Iskall at the very least.”

“Oh, that’s right! There’s one thing I forgot to mention.” Mumbo spoke up, making Grian’s head whip in his direction. “It’s maybe a little concerning, but I’m sure it will be fine. It… it just looks like Grum might be skittish around Iskall again. It makes sense after everything that happened of course, but better I remember to tell you now and not let you find out yourself.”

“I guess you’re right about it making sense. It sort of was like he got… void he got brainwashed again.”

“Hey, he managed to do well on his own. Might not be the best way to take after you, but it’s still good he took after your survival skills.”

“Oh ha ha. I don’t have survival skills.” Grian rolled his eyes. “The amount of times I’ve dive bombed or exploded myself. I mean, You know how many times I died testing my minigame mister ‘Watch This’.”

Mumbo chuckled for a moment. “Not one of my finer moments. But I meant about when you were growing up. I know it’s not your favorite time, but you made it through that part of your life. Grum was able to do the same.”

“I wish he didn’t have to. I wish neither of them got stuck there.”

“I’m sure no one did. But they did and got through it, and that’s what matters. So let’s just work on making sure they know everything’s fine now. Go pick up Tommy and the others.”

“Alright. And thanks for the talk Mumbo.”

“Always.”

.

.

.

Jrum was practically bouncing off the walls when he saw Michael. Grum was a bit more reserved, but was also pretty excited. It seemed Michael was a little nervous being in such a new place, but Jrum was quickly at the ziglin’s side to reassure him. To the side, Fundy was currently admiring the marvel that was the spawn area. Since Jrum had gone with their friend, Grum made his way to the hybrid. “Um, hi Fundy.”

“Wh- Oh hey Grum! How’re you doing?”

Grum rubbed his arm. “Better. Thank you for helping me out when everything was happening. You didn’t need to.”

“Of course I did. You’re a kid and what Dream was doing was seriously fucked up.” He got a look from Grum. “Well, okay. Maybe I wouldn’t have normally, but he kept getting me involved and Iskall knew you, so it was kind of different.”

“Well, thank you very much for that.” Grum said, hugging Fundy. “Well, I bet you want to see Iskall’s tree.”

“Oh hell yeah! Where’s the Omega Tree?”

Immediately Jrum was back next to them. “I can take him there! I’ll also see if Iskall is there or can get there soon! You can play with Michael while we’re gone!”

Grum nodded and looked to Michael. “Do you think that your parents will let you follow me through the nether to a place to play? I know a safe path and Dad assured me if something were to happen, you would absolutely safely respawn.”

Michael snorted before running over to Tubbo and Ranboo, interrupting their conversation with Tommy. Grum followed him over to elaborate on whatever he would say, or just translate in general. When they were told of the idea, Ranboo and Tubbo weren’t entirely sure about it, but Tommy put in a good word. “C’mon, Grian and Mumbo let the bots run around on their own all the time. This place is safe, so he’ll be fine.”

“I guess… but only if you two stick to the overworld. The nether might be faster, but it’s also dangerous.” Tubbo relented.

Grum thought it over. They would need to take a boat over to where they were going, and there would be a bit of a trek through the jungle, but there was a path they could take. “Of course! We will do what we can to stay as safe as possible. Now…” Grum pointed to the bubble elevator. “Up the tube!”

Michael followed behind Grum to get to the surface and the bot crafted up a boat for the two of them. As Grum rowed, Michael looked around at everything around them. Though there wasn’t too terribly much in the ocean in the direction they were headed, there were enough large builds that could still be seen to keep Michael in awe.

Eventually they landed and Grum led them through the jungle. “The best place to play is in Uncle Scar’s village. It's got plenty of buildings to work with and the style is perfect for games! And then nearbyish is Larry the snail and the magic arrow.”

Michael oinked a quick question and Grum elaborated as they walked. When they finally reached the village, Michael quickly ran into it and started exploring, Grum quickly following behind the ziglin. Though the buildings themselves were interesting, Michael decided the best thing were the small mushrooms that had built along the path.

“Yeah! My Daddy really likes those too. He also found a haunted bed when he owned the place for a bit. I wonder if it’s still haunted. Ooo!” Michael pretended to be scared before laughing, and then the two went off to play in the village together.

Back at spawn, Tommy was still chatting with Tubbo and Ranboo when Grian arrived. “Hey, have you guys seen my boys?”

“Yeah, Jrum took Fundy to Iskall’s and Grum went with Michael to play.” Tommy answered. “Why, is something wrong?”

“No, I was actually making sure they weren’t around.” Grian looked to Ranboo and Tubbo. “Are you two willing to come back with Michael in like five days? It’s going to be Grum’s birthday and maybe Michael can be one of the guests?”

“Oh hell yeah, you two need to come. It’ll be so pog!” Tommy said, hoping they would agree to visiting again.

“I guess we probably can, but it’ll also depend on how today goes.” Ranboo answered, Tubbo agreeing with him.

“Okay good.” Grian nodded, writing something down. He then looked over to Ranboo. “Do you have any idea some of the people the boys were close to when they were stuck over there?”

“Sometimes I barely remember my name.”

“Hmm, alright I guess I’ll have to ask Fundy.”

“Hey, I do know one thing.” Tommy piped up. “Or maybe two. Wil’s also a big music lover, so there might be something there. The other bit you probably aren’t going to like though.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. What is it?”

“Pretty sure Grum’s favorite uncle is Techno now.”

Grian was just silent as he contemplated the answer. Tommy nervously glanced at his friends before taking a slight step back, worried about how exactly Grian would react. When the avian’s wings started puffing up, Tommy was sure they would need to run, but instead Grian just took a deep breath. “Alright. Fine. I was already planning to invite him since he’s family and all. Yep. It’s fine. Totally fine.”

“It doesn’t sound fine.” Tubbo spoke up, and Grian quickly looked at them with a glare, though he was still smiling.

“Nope. It’s absolutely completely fine.” Then Grian sighed. “Well, I guess I’m going to find Fundy and ask him some questions. If you think of anything else, just message me.”

Tommy agreed before the avian flew off and then looked to his friends. “Alright, so this is probably the best excuse to show you around the shopping district since I’m going to need to pick something up. And if you guys want to buy something, just say the word, I can spare some diamonds.”

“Are you sure? We could get our own-” Ranboo started to speak up, but got stopped by Tommy.

“Nah, don’t worry. I’ll probably earn back whatever I spend in like a week. Probably from one of the redstoners.” Then Tommy led them to the bubble column. “Now let’s go. Oh, and Ranboo, if you need some armor to help with the water, just grab one from one of the stands. That’s what they’re there for.”

“You mean… the full netherite armor?”

“Yep.”

“Something tells me even I won’t have trouble forgetting all of this.”

[show-choir-gal]

“Amortentia” Marcus Flint Imagine

Guide: Y/N = Your Name Y/F/F = Your Favourite Flower

Word count: 6,933

Wow, this was so much longer than what I normally write but I am in love with Marcus Flint soooooo... I hope you all can enjoy this because I put in a lot of time and effort to make this great! Don't forget to send in ideas or requests! I want to be able to write more and just more of what y'all would like to see!

*************

I was one year behind Flint, but one year ahead of Adrien Pucey who was my next door neighbour. My older brother Duncan was best friends with Adrien's second eldest brother and so naturally him and I became friends. My brother was such a huge Quidditch nerd and that passed down to me, so I always heard about their practices and games. The family even went to a few of the Hogwarts games. My eldest brother was already off playing Quidditch with the Falmouth Falcons and well on his way into earning a spot on the Irish National Quidditch Team. Despite my big-ish family, there was just three kids in total; my eldest brother Cillian, followed by Duncan, and then me... the only girl. I was definitely the favourite, being not just the youngest but the only girl. I was beloved, and it wasn't any different when I got my acceptance letter from Hogwarts.

It was September 1st, my first day going to the school everyone in my family had attended before I. We said our goodbye, despite the gross stares from the more "traditional" and "good" wizarding families. Mum was crying as she hugged my 11 year old body, not wanting to let go so I didn't grow up. Dad eventually pulled her up and Duncan promised to always make sure I was okay. He WANTED me to be his shadow, something not many would believe. He had a moral obligation to protect me, an obligation I didn't quite understand until later in my life. Both of us made our way to what Duncan called the "Slytherin Car". He held the door open for me, and all I saw were many clad in green robes, scarves, and hats. I was in awe when my thoughts were swiftly interrupted. "Oi, Blackwell. No first years in the car." A black haired boy hollered from our left side of the car. "Piss off Flint, we all know you would've came in your pants to be here last year," Duncan stated, "C'mon, I sit in the back." I followed suit as my brother shoved people out of the way to get to his usual seat, but not before both of us shot that boy a glance that made him turn paler than he already was. All I could hear behind me were taunts and laughs being hurled at this boy. My brother and I sat and his friends quickly took me under their wings. I was quickly becoming their favourite as well. The Sorting Ceremony was well off, and my name was suddenly called. The entire dining hall fell silent, then whispers. I took my seat on the stool and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head. "Ah yes, a Blackwell. I could simply sort you Slytherin...but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" the hat started. My brother was intently staring in my direction. "The brilliant wit of a Ravenclaw, I suppose you'll be the brightest witch in your year... Or perhaps Gryffindor, you would make a brilliant Gryffindor..." My brothers eyes widened at the words the hat was saying, a Blackwell has never been anything except Slytherin. "My my dear, you are one big puzzle for a first year." The hat was pensive, contemplating everything placed before them. This ordeal of analysing intently went on for about six and a half minutes. Duncan was gripping the table and bouncing his leg. "My dear you stumped me, but no matter which house you'd be put in, they would be extremely lucky to have you to their name, but alas I have finally made a decision... SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, my brother and his friends were the first to shoot up from the table. McGonagall took the hat off of my head and I made my way to sit beside my brother as he hugged me and the table couldn't keep their glee under control. My first year went off without a hitch, but I always had to hear my brother and his friends complain about the boy named Flint. He made the Quidditch team and just annoys everyone. According to the boys, he really tries to get with every girl he can. We were all talking about Quidditch and school around the fireplace in the common room. Suddenly Flint walked in with a smug look on his face, the boys just laughed in a tone of unison, they knew what he just finished up doing. My brother smirked and looked at me, "I can't wait for you to be a second year so you can make the Quidditch team and put Flint in his place more than you do already." My brother said as he sent a wink to Flint whose smile faded from his face. "At least I'm not a shadow to my family, unlike *her*." Flint said gesturing to me Duncan was ready to say something but I shot back, "At least I don't look like I'm half troll. Do the girls only talk to you because they feel bad?" I replied with a look of "concern" on my face, my lips lowering into a sarcastic frown. The boys around me started to giggle. "Believe it or not, girls actually want ~this~" Flint replied, gesturing to himself. "With teeth like yours, I wouldn't want to even think about snogging you." I replied as I cocked my eyebrow. The boys around me bursted into laughter as Flint became flustered. "Flint you better leave before you get burned more. We wouldn't want to see you have to go to Madam Pomfrey to treat those burns." Duncan said before he laughed harder than before. Flint rushed to his dorm. Laughter grew and grew from all of us, filling the common room with loud hoots and hollers. This won't be the last Flint will try to rile me up.

Second year came around but this time I was happily accompanied by Adrien. I brought Adrien to the Slytherin car to meet with both your brothers. I opened the door and made my way to the two sixth years. I made eye contact with Flint, who opened his mouth to say something but I beat him to it. "Shut it Flint or this luggage will be the first thing to ever touch your troll arse." I spit in his direction as I dragged Adrien behind. Adrien was awestruck, clearly thinking his brothers vastly dimmed down how amazing this place is. At the Sorting Ceremony, Adrien was eventually called up and was immediately sorted into Slytherin. I thought it was odd how easy it was from him to be sorted, reminiscing on how I was sorted the previous year. Adrien took the seat next to me and eventually the feast began. Now all I wanted was for Quidditch tryouts to commence. Adrien's brother was named Captain for the Slytherin Quidditch Team last year, and he quickly took Duncan as his Co-Captain. I knew that had to work twice as hard to make the team with them.  Duncan told mum when the trials were, so naturally, she and dad bought us new brooms. A few days before trials, we were all at breakfast and all the owls started flying in with mail for their respective students. Suddenly, Duncan and I's owls come flying at us with two big boxes. Our owls brought them to us. Duncan wanted to open his first, so I waited patiently as he looked for a note. "We're so proud of you sweetheart! Keep doing well on the pitch!  P.S you're one of the first owners of this broom in the whole wizarding word" the note stated. He tore into the package and pulled out a Firebolt. All eyes were on my brother, who was absolutely in love with this gift. "There's only about four produced right now... and I have one of them!" Duncan said with glee. Adrien shifted his attention to me, "Open yours! We all want to see yours!" A smile grew on my face as I also looked for a note, which I eventually found, "We know you'll be a great Quidditch player just like your brothers! We bought you this exotic broom, which only the best Quidditch players have at the moment. Daddy and I love you so incredibly much sweetheart! Don't forget to let us know how trials go!" I delicately opened the package, and inside laid a Cleansweep Eleven. "A Cleansweep Eleven! Pat, your role model has this exact model!" Adrien stated with excitement. Pat was looking over at the beautiful broom I held, "Bloody hell, it's more beautiful in person." Patrick said as he practically drooled over my broom. Duncan smiled at me and motioned to the broom, "We all knew you were the favourite, you didn't need to rub it in the whole schools face." he let out a chuckle. "Oh please you two, the whole school knows you two are the favourites." Pat said with a slight chuckle. Flint got up and made his way to us, "Money can't buy skill Y/N. There's not chance that you'll make the team even with that beautiful broom." Duncan and Patrick almost said something, but I beat them to it, "But money CAN buy better teeth, I think you should invest," I said as I got up to look him in the eyes, "Oh and have fun getting your arse beat on the pitch by a girl with NATURAL talent." I finished as I made my way to my dorm to place my broom on my bed. It was the day of trials, Adrien came down to support me and I headed to the locker room with my broom to put on a uniform. Once we were all changed and ready, we headed onto the pitch. I looked around and saw I was the only girl. Everyone at trials started to size me up, trying to seem bigger than they were. "No wonder girls aren't at trials. These boys are trying to intimidate..." I thought to myself. The two captains were now in front of us, arms crossed as they waiting for everyone to stop chatting. "I'm the Captain here for the Slytherin Quidditch Team, Patrick Pucey." "I'm Co-Captain, Duncan Blackwell." "Right, so we're looking for a few new members of the team. We're highly competitive and we're not scared to put up a fight. Is there anyone with second thoughts?" Pat said as he looked around the crowd. "I think Y/N might, being the only girl might be too much for her girly heart." Flint said with a smirk, gaining laughs from a few of the boys at the tryouts. "I think you might have second thoughts when your arse ends up in Madam Pomfrey's because a GIRL played Quidditch better than you." I spit back as I cocked an eyebrow. "That's enough you two," Pat started but Duncan finished Pats sentence, "Save it for the pitch." Flint and I glared at each other, but I turned my attention back to the two captains. "Right," Started Duncan, "We have four spots open on the team and two substitute positions that need filling. We're looking for one beater, one chaser, one seeker, and one keeper...along with two substitutes for any position." "Raise your hand for which position you would like, you can tryout for more than one position." Patrick said as he paced around us. "Chaser...Flint put your hand down you're already on the team." Duncan said in a stern voice, Patrick counting out loud and jotting their numbers down. "Keeper." My brother said, more people raised their hands. My brother looked directly at me, "Beater." He said, I raised my hand. A few laughs broke out from some of the boys...including Flint. I shot him a look that could kill, he immediately stopped and faced my brother. "Seeker" I was lost in my own world, I finally somewhat understood what, and who, my brother was always complaining about. "I will make Flint eat his words." I thought, but was taken out of my thoughts by Patrick clearing his throat, "Alright, we have enough people to form two teams. We will play a game against each other, then we will figure out where to go from there. Duncan and I will play on different teams, so we can compare notes later." My brother chose Flint and another sixth year as chaser, and he chose the rest of his team. Patrick chose me and the rest of those here at trials. We each made our way to our respective places on the pitch, Pat took me aside and quietly said, "Don't kill the kid. We do need him on the team." I nodded and got into my spot, Pat put the balls in the air and we were off. Boys were trying to show off. Either to freak me out or "flirt" with me, I'm not sure which. The beater on the opposing team sent me a wink, my brother noticed and hit him upside the head. Patrick sent him a glare. The game was going well, I was hitting bludgers left and right. I performed a few Bludger Backbeats which stunned some of the boys, but this was not the time to take the compliment. We were so close to ending when Flint got all up in my business. "You got a lot of talent, but girls never make the team. Have fun just watching from the stands." He said in a mocking tone. "This is nothing compared to how I normally play." I spat back, trying to get out of the way but Flint kept moving with me. "Is that so? Do you normally play in a skirt and have a big bow in your ha-" He didn't get to finish before I performed a Transylvanian Tackle, which made him flinch and I made my escape just in time to get a bludger away from Patrick. My teams seeker caught the snitch, and we all landed and Flint made a big fuss. "She hit me!" "I did not! I performed a Transylvanian Tackle, a fake punch to the nose. As long as no contact was made it's not illegal. See, no marks on my knuckle." I shot my hand out for Patrick to inspect. He inspected my hand intensely before saying, "No contact was made. Flint, go to the locker room, we don't need you anymore." Flint wanted to say something but my brother shot him the same look I gave him earlier and he trudged into the locker room. Duncan and Patrick whispered back and forth before Pat faced us and said, "We saw a lot of potential here today, so this won't be an easy decision. Duncan and I will be comparing notes and will post the team line up by breakfast outside the dining hall. Good luck." We all headed back to the locker room to change. I put my broom with my brothers and headed back to find Adrien. We locked eyes and he ran and gave me a hug. "You did amazing! I know you'll make the team!" He said with a gigantic smile going across his face. "Aww thank you," I said as I ruffled his hair, "It wasn't the best I've played but I gave it my all." Just as Adrien was about to say something, we were sandwiched between two red headed boys. "Absolutely brilliant Y/N. I'm Fred by the way." "I'm George. You were brilliant, especially giving ol' Flint a Transylvanian Tackle." "We're Gryffindors beaters. Good luck!" They said in unison as they left us as fast as they appeared. Adrien and I just looked at each other and shrugged. We headed to dinner and then to study in the library. He was already stuck on a few concepts, so I was helping him out and I was doing my homework in the mean time. Once I finished my homework, he started his and I helped whenever needed. Once he finished we made it back to our common room and said our goodnights to each other and headed our separate ways. The morning sun woke me up bright and early, I got ready for the day and headed to breakfast when Adrien came sprinting down the corridor in my direction. He swiftly stopped, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me behind him. "What is going on?!" I questioned. "The list is out. I had to get you before I even peaked at the list." He replied. We eventually found our way to the crowd that was located around a piece of paper be the doors of the dining hall. Adrien pushed me into the crowd and I shoved myself the rest of the way and I looked at the list. Chasers: Marcus Flint, Duncan Blackwell, Mark O'Connor Keeper: Miles Bletchley Beaters: Patrick Pucey, Y/N Blackwell Seeker: Terence Higgs My eyes widened, "I made it!" I yelled and shoved and got to Adrien before yelling again, "I made it!" Adrien and I hugged as we both eyed Flint getting into the crowd, we made our way to our seats and started to eat breakfast. We were soon joined by Duncan and Patrick, Duncan gave me a big hug and sat down beside me and then Pat shook my hand. "You were truly brilliant on the pitch! I didn't know you had that in you kiddo!" My brother said as he took a big bite of his eggs. "I didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that. You might be a better beater than I am! Oh and thanks for not killing ol' Fl-" He made eye contact with someone behind me, "Flint." "Oh you only wish you could kill me. But a casanova like ~this~ can't be killed. Congratulations on making the team though, hopefully you won't chicken out once we actually start. See you on the pitch." He said arrogantly as he walked away towards a group of girls fawning over him. "I thought he hated Duncan, but you might be the new target." Pat said as him and Duncan were chuckling. "He'll regret it one of these days. Just wait and see." I replied as Adrien and I continued our conversation and finished breakfast and headed to our classes. I definitely felt like Flint's new target, but that didn't stop me from firing back at him. Flint found every excuse to shoot some sort of insult at me, but I just kept deflecting them or sending them back his way.

The year ended and my parents were off doing "business" so Duncan and I were being looked after by the Pucey's. We had a great half of the summer holiday with them, but we were definitely eager to see our parents again. They asked us about everything, and boy, did we tell them everything.

Third year came around and it wasn't much different, except Patrick was recruited early and was already playing for the National Irish Quidditch Team, which made Duncan the new team captain! I was so proud of them both, but even more proud that Adrien was now on the Quidditch team as a chaser alongside my brother. Flint didn't let up on the insults that flew my way.

Fourth year was quite the same as before, my brother was recruited for the Kenmare Kestrels, which have been my favourite team since I was a wee little girl. Miles was awarded Captain and I was co-captain. I was asked to be captain but I declined, I wanted to play the game. I'm still so young. But this year he seemed to get even more girls than he did before, how, I don't entirely know nor do I really want to. But by the end of the year, he had bragged about his body count being "through the roof" which didn't phase me one bit, until he dragged me into that conversation at dinner a few days before we were heading back home for the summer, "Oi, Y/N. You paying attention? How many people have you slept with?!" He practically screamed. "Unlike you Flint, I actually care about who I sleep with." "Who have you slept with?!" Adrien asked, puzzled. "No one." I spat back. "No wonder you're so stressed. No one wants to sleep with you." Flint said with a pouty face. "That's hilarious, because as soon as my brother left, all your boys kept asking me to sleep with them. A lot of people want me to sleep with them, emphasis on WANT. You probably beg until you get a yes. Now piss off Flint." I said and looked at all their faces that dropped, Flint looked around and found that it was all true just from looking at his friends expressions. The year ended, I had the highest marks in the school, it was the perfect end to a great year.

Fifth year was starting great, except I was co-captain to Flint. As much as we didn't like each other, we had to make this work for the sanctity of our team. One practice I saw a girl in the stands, making googly eyes in Flints direction, I flew to where he was. "Who is that in the stands?" I asked, trying to show some kindness. "Why do you care?" "I was trying to be nice, but that is now thrown out the window. I don't but I'm curious. Who is she?" "She's my girlfriend." "Oh wow, you snagged a permanent one? How much are you paying her?" "Nothing, she actually likes me. "*gasp* There's no way she actually likes you, did you slip her Amortentia? Oh, wait. That's right, you repeated potions last year and now you're in my class and we haven't gone over it yet. Maybe I'll hit a bludger at her and knock some sense into her." I said as I winked and flew away with a smile on my face. We were halfway towards the end of the year, and we were in potions. Flint and I were partnered up for our next potion. "Can someone tell me what Amortentia is?" Professor Snape asked while he looked around the room. I raised my hand, and Snape called on me, "Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them." I answered. "Very good, 15 points for Slytherin. Please come up and smell the potion and describe what you smell for us. Before class is dismissed." I went up and smelt the potion below me, it suddenly hit me. I knew who smelt like this. I panicked a tad before I responded, "The pitch, leather, and I can't quite put my finger on the last smell." I quickly ran to my seat and kept my head down. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Snape dismissed us and I hurried out of there and towards the common room as fast as I could. Before I could reach the common room, a hand connected with my shoulder and spun me around. "Are you okay?" "Of course I am, why do you care?" "We may not like each other, but you are my co-captain unfortunately so I have to show an ounce of care." "I'm fine, but we do have plays to discuss. We can meet at the library to discuss them after dinner. Oh, and make sure you don't being your girlfriend. She's awfully annoying when we're trying to discuss plays." I said as I broke free from his grasp and headed into the common room and then to my dorm. *In the library* Flint had a puzzled look on his face. "Did you pass gas again? Why is your face like that?" "What exactly did you smell for Amortentia?" "I-I smelt a Quidditch pitch, leather like the one they use for bludgers and quaffles, and I don't know the last one..." Flint opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it as I went back to discussing plays. The last day was bittersweet, I made so many amazing friends and had to say goodbye to them. I was heading to the Slytherin car when I heard a girl crying in a booth. The curiosity got the best of me and I went toward the booth she was in. I peeked inside and saw Flint's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend I suppose. I smiled a bit after the discovery, but once I realised I was smiling as I entered the car and my team stared at me, I lost the smile and quickly took my seat amongst them. I got off the platform once the train arrived and immediately asked to go to the car. I explained everything to them on the way home.

Fifth year started without any problem, until Flint decided to take a bribe from the Malfoys to let Draco play. I wasn't too thrilled because Draco was an annoying pest during practice. Our first game of the year was against Ravenclaw. A bunch of us were already on the pitch before the game started, just chatting away. I was mid conversation with Adrien and Miles when I felt a pair of hands hug me from behind and then the person moved to the side of me and he kept one hand on my waist, I looked over and saw Flint. "What the fuck is this?" I tried to move away but he gripped me tighter. "She won't leave me alone, I told her I have another girlfriend. I need her to leave me alone." He said. "And you thought of me?!" "We already spend a lot of time together, you were the only person I can think of." I sighed and just went along and got closer to him, "I still hate you." I said under my breath, seemingly trying to convince myself what I said was true. "Don't worry, I still hate you too." After the game we all got showered and posed for a team photo for the school. It was time for dinner and Flint and I held hands the whole way there, and low and behold she was following us. At dinner he sat on the opposite side of me and Adrien. "Y/N, were you bribed?" Adrien asked with concern. "I wish, but Flint needs little miss Scary Carrie over there to leave him alone." I replied, Adrien's shocked expression says it all. "Please call me Marcus, we are dating after all," He says with a smirk, "Speak like it." "Fine, Marcus." I spat those words out with a sarcastic smile. Time went on, so did this ~thing~ that Marcus and I were doing. This went on for months. It even went on over Christmas break. We sat together on the way to Kings Cross and hugged goodbye. Even after break, he found me at the station and we sat together on the way back to Hogwarts. This was still going on. We went to Hogsmeade together every now and again, but I mostly went with Adrien. This was just like Adrien and I's usual Hogsmeade trips after Christmas time, until we were in Honeydukes. I was off looking at the sugared butterfly wings when someone came up behind me. I turned around with a bit of shock and saw Roger Davies, Ravenclaws captain. "Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you. I wanted to tell you that sugared butterfly wings weren't as sweet as you are." He said, flashing an awards winning smile. I blushed, "Why thank you. *chuckle* What are doing in Hogsmeade all by yourself?" I asked. "Well I wanted to see if I could score a date with a beautiful woman like yourself." He said. My blushed deepend, but before I could say anything I was pulled into someone. I looked up and it was Marcus, messing up my chance at an actual relationship. "Sod off pretty boy, she's mine." Marcus said, holding me tighter than before. "There's word going around the school that you two aren't actually a couple. No snogging in sight, no 'I love yous'. Just thought I'd try my lucky with the most beautiful woman at Hogwarts." Davies said as he sent a wink in my direction. "Of course we're actually a couple. Why do our business in front of the school?" Marcus said in protest. Davies threw his hands up into a goalpost position, "I don't know man, just explaining it how we all see it." He said. I looked up at Marcus who pulled me in tighter and planted a kiss on my lips. After a few moments, Marcus pulled away and I noticed Davies was gone. I looked at Marcus and shoved him out of the way. Adrien told the shopkeeper to let me know he went back to Hogwarts. I thanked her and quickly made my way to Hogwarts on foot by myself. Marcus ran after me like I expected he would. He eventually caught up to me, much to my dismay. "Babe, what's wrong?" "All of this!" I spat back. "What do you mean?" "I haven't seen Carrie try to get with you for over a month! You just ruined my chance at a regular love life." "I had to make it seem real so no one would be suspicious. The first years have caught her spying on us. I need her to keep leaving me alone. I don't like this more than you do. But I don't want Scary Carrie stalking me." He seemed so genuine, and as much as I wanted to hate him I'm really not sure how I feel anymore. After what I smelt in the Amortentia... I don't know anymore. "I'm sorry..." I said as I hung my head. Marcus took me in for a hug, a real hug. I never felt one of theses from him before. I hugged back, and we embraced each other tighter. "You owe me big time." I said as I let go and we started walking back to Hogwarts. "I know I do," He started as he pulled something from his bag, "This is a start?" He pulled out a package of Peppermint Toads. "Peppermint Toads! My fav-" "Favourite." He finished my sentence and handed the package to me. "How did you know?" I asked, quite in shock. "I actually do listen when you tell me things about you. I'd be a bad boyfriend if I didn't" He said with a smile as he kissed my cheek. We had a surprisingly good walk back to the school, and a great Quidditch practice after dinner. We even had a good study session in the common room after practice. We made sure to kiss in front of other students from now on so we wouldn't be caught in this lie. But, it all just felt so right to me. Marcus is such a better actor than I had originally thought. After studying, the whole team stayed up pretty late since it was a Friday night. A few of us partook in drinking of fire whiskey, but Marcus and I stayed sober to make sure Draco didn't drink and no one handed him a drink. We were all having a grand time down there, just letting all the stress we had go. Marcus and I were cuddled right up onto each other and he was playing with the few strands of my hair that had fallen out of my braid. "I never thought I'd see you two get along, let alone date!" Miles blurted out before hiccuping. "I'd be stupid if I didn't shoot my shot with the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts. Especially since all you gits were trying to bang her. Especially you Malfoy. I saw you trying to flirt with her when your dad offered to buy her a new broom." Marcus spat back looking into Draco's soul, Draco started to blush. "Wait! When did that happen?" Miles asked, as he hiccuped again. "Oh, yeah. Mr.Malfoy was about to ask if I wanted a new broom but Mrs.Malfoy is good friends with my parents so he realised I was fine although the offer was open. He then sent Draco to flirt with me for weeks, I think. The joining of our families would be "legendary" but although Draco is adorable, I don't date younger boys." I said as I ruffled Draco's hair. Adrien was watching this all unfold, with a puzzled look on his face. Everyone started to call it a night eventually. I walked Marcus to his dorm, he leaned up against the frame and pulled me into a kiss. We both pulled away and he went into his room and I walked to mine. Adrien was still on the couch, so I sat right next to him. "Is everything alright?" He stared into the fire. "Adrien, are you okay?" "I don't think this is fake anymore." He said, still glancing into the fire. "What? What do you mean?" I asked with a puzzled look. He finally turned and faced me. "He's different. This isn't what it used to be. I think he actually loves you." "Don't be silly! It's just to get Carrie away. "It WAS to get Carrie away, but I don't know anymore. This is different for him. He actually cares about things, and people. And especially you." "He just wants her to go away." "Did you ever ask him what he smelt in your Amortentia that you two made in potions?" "No, because he said he didn't recognise the smell." "And that was before Christmas break, right? Before you two were as close as you were in the Slytherin car?" "Yeah? What is the point?" "Hold on. And when you two made it again in Potions for review, you two smelt it again, you smelt him again?" "Yes. "How did he react to the smell?" "He was a bit surprised." He stared at me and it just wasn't connecting for me. "For the brightest witch in all of Hogwarts, you're sure pretty dumb when it comes to love." He said as he laughed. "I wouldn't say I'm the brightest witch in Hogwarts." "Out of that whole conversation, that is all you got from it?" He said as he shook his head and laughed. "Yes. Once you called me dumb when it came to love, I stopped caring about anything else you had to say," I gave him a raspberry, "Did most of the team actually want to bang me?" "Oh my, yes. It was unbearable in the locker room when you and Flint left or were late. They'd be like 'how do you think she is in bed?' and 'do you think they ever bang' and they had the audacity to ask me if WE ever banged!" I threw my head back in complete and utter hilarious shock, "Us? We're like brother and sister!" "That's what I said!" We both laughed for some time. Once we both came down from that cloud, I got up and kissed Adrien on the top of his head, "Goodnight kiddo. Love you." "Love you too." He said as he headed in the opposite direction. The rest of the Quidditch season was cancelled due to the attacks on Muggleborns, which was disappointing to us. But I took up being  tutor and helping other students with their work, including my own teammates. I was the one any Slytherin came when they needed help. This went on for weeks, especially for those taking their O.W.L's. I was everyone's help, which I didn't mind. But I was neglecting my own work, so I took a few days off to catch up. I told Marcus to meet me in the Potions classroom to work on our potions for review. I was already down there, and I was startled when I heard a knock on the frame, but it was only Marcus. "I got these for you." He said as he handed me a bunch of Y/F/F. "Wow! These are beautiful! How did you know these are my favourite?" "I'm a better boyfriend than people think, remember? I actually do listen when you tell me things about you." I blushed and placed them on the workbench. We got straight to work. We got through every potion but we ended on Amortentia. I totally didn't plan that at all. We brewed it and it had that signature spiral steam and pearl sheen. The true test to see if we brewed it properly was to smell it. I went first, I stuck my head over the cauldron and inhaled. A big, deep inhale. It was the same smell that I smelt many months before. Marcus went next, and he did the same as I did moments before. He agreed that he smelt the same as before. We cleaned up, but as he was putting supplies away, I turned to him, "What did you smell?" I asked. "The same as I did months ago. I already said that." "I know that, but WHAT did you smell." "Fine," He said as he put the cauldron away, "I smelt the pitch, roast beef, and Y/F/F." I froze and he moved toward his belongings. He was about to leave, but I grabbed his wrist. "I smelt the pitch, leather, and sandalwood cologne. I smelt you." Marcus lifted his face and we made eye contact, "I smelt you, Marcus." "I-I smelt you too, Y/N." We were both in  a bit of shock, before I pulled him into a kiss. A passionate one, this one had the sparks I felt initially with the kiss he gave me in Honeydukes, but this one was certain. Certain that this was real, certain that this wasn't one sided. We both pulled away with huge smiles on each others faces. We placed our foreheads on each others. "I felt sparks." He said with a smile. "I felt them the very first time we kissed, when Davies practically made us." Marcus started laughing, "Pretty boy really wanted you. I couldn't lose you like that." "A relationship with him probably would've been great at first, BUT would get boring pretty quickly." We both chuckled and headed toward the common room, holding hands and I help my flowers in the other. We kissed each other before heading in our respective directions of our dorms. I sat down on my bed and poured water into a vase for my flowers, when I noticed a note. "I don't know how else to say this. I love you and I really hope you love me too." I kissed the note and placed it on the nightstand next to my bed. I got ready and headed off into a deeply sweet slumber. Today was now Saturday and not only was I euphoric from it being Saturday, but also from the day before. Marcus and I were now inseparable. We were madly in love, and it finally showed. We had breakfast and went down to the pitch and did a few laps around before just chilling in the air. "I forgot how beautiful this view was." I said, looking toward the castle in the distance. "Nothing is as beautiful as you." Marcus said as he pulled me closer to him. We both leaned in and our lips touched and instantly moved in sync with each other. We both eventually pulled away when there was no longer any air in our lungs. "I love you." He said as he looked deeply into my eyes. "I love you too." I replied as I kissed him again. We both headed toward the ground, put our brooms away and walked hand in hand up to the castle. Later that night, Marcus brought me down to the lake and there was a beautiful set of floating candles around a blanket. There was food and Y/F/F. "This is beautiful Marcus!" I said as I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Only the best for the love of my life." He said with a smile. We had a wonderful date, not a care in the world besides the other. I am truly in love with him. After we finished our date and cleaned up, we headed back to the Slytherin common room. Most of those boys were pulling an all nighter in the library in preparations on their O.W.L's on Monday, so we had the room to ourselves. Marcus handed me a shirt of his and some of him pajama pants. I told him to turn around while I changed and he begrudgingly complied. "I didn't bring you in here to bang you." He said. "I know." I replied. "I'm going to make your first time really special because you deserve it." I smiled, "I really appreciate that." "Although I would love to bang you now, I respect that you want to wait. I'm really tried and I just want to finally sleep with my love next to me." I threw my shirt at him and he turned around with a smirk on his face. He threw my shirt to the ground and picked me up and playfully threw me on the bed. He crawled right up next me and pulled the covers up on both of us. His arm wrapped around my waist as we whispered gentle'I love yous' to each other as we fell asleep. Fifth year wasn't so bad after all.

[sweetbitgaming]

The Development of the Zelda Oracle Games

Sweet Bit Gaming Mysteries: The Legend of Zelda The Seed of Courage

The Legend of Zelda Oracle series of games is often overlooked when it comes to focusing on the franchise as a whole. Certainly, there are more popular handheld Zelda games out there than the aforementioned pair; however, what if the entire concept for these games was fully realized? What if the trilogy Nintendo had promised fans was a reality and not just the topic of the day? Within this article, I’ll go over the development of the Oracle games. From many name changes to cut storyline ideas, this is the history of the Legend of Zelda the Oracle games. 

Some of the earliest information out there in regards to the Triforce Series of games came to the public on July 28th, 1999 within an article published by IGN. IGN would state that Nintendo is “hard at work” on six different Zelda Gameboy Color titles. Within the article, it mentions that four of the new Zelda titles were being produced in conjunction with the Japanese design studio Flagship. This development studio was headed by Resident Evil lead Yoshiki Okamoto. Okamoto had revealed earlier in the year that Flagship would be working closely with Nintendo’s EAD team in regard to future titles on the Gameboy Color. Within this same interview, Okamoto would also reveal that Flagship’s work was restricted to the design of scenarios and storylines. While not much information was given, this “leak” would take place roughly a month before Nintendo’s Space World 1999 event was set to take place.

Any hope for the public to demo the game was seemingly heightened by an IGN web article published on August 20th, 1999. Their source of information would be cited as Weekly Famitsu. IGN within the headlines were promoting they were the first to have screenshots of the upcoming Game Boy Color exclusive Zelda game. This article was published roughly a week prior to Nintendo’s Space World 1999 event, which took place on August 27th-August 29th of that year. The game at the time was believed to be called The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Acorn and was also cited as being published by Capcom and Nintendo.

In the preview of the game within the article, IGN would mention that Princess Zelda was managing the four seasons within the Land of Hyrule. Zelda would be kidnapped by Ganon and it would be up to Link to manage the Rod of the Four Seasons and track down the eight pieces of the Triforce to save Princess Zelda and also bring balance to Hyrule. With Hyrule’s seasons becoming jumbled up, chaos would ensue and Link would have to travel between Hyrule and this “other dimension” while being guided by spirits residing in the “Tree of Mystery” and also a strange “Uura Tribe” which would be found in this alternate dimension.

Ricky the Kangaroo and Maple the Witch were mentioned briefly within this article as well. Not much information was given on these characters other than they would be allies to help aid Link in his quest to save Princess Zelda.  Also mentioned were more details about the Rod of Four Seasons and how it would be required to solve certain elemental puzzles throughout the game. Possibly the most infamous amount of information detailed within this article is the mention of the Link System and how there would be three upcoming Zelda Gameboy Color games and they would all be a coherent story without getting lost within each other due to the Link System that Capcom and Nintendo were developing. 

With Space World 1999 taking place, a lot of hype and media focus was still latched onto the Nintendo 64 DD, another story within itself. Zelda Gaiden, later to be renamed The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was also playable at this event. Demo copies of The Seed of Courage were also seemingly playable at this event. An interview would be conducted with Miyamoto by Nintendo Power Source and Miyamoto would give more detail and insight on Zelda Gaiden and the recently renamed The Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Fruit.

Q: After hearing rumors of Ura Zelda for Nintendo 64 Disk Drive, Zelda Gaiden for the Nintendo 64 cartridge format was a pleasant surprise. Can you tell me how these two games came to be developed?

A: We are working on two follow-ups to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. "Ura Zelda" uses the same system as Ocarina of Time but uses the 64DD to add game data. The story in "Ura Zelda" will be similar to Ocarina of Time but with new maps and scenarios. Zelda Gaiden, on the other hand, is a completely different game, although it too uses essentially the same game system as Ocarina of Time. Everyone has enjoyed the Zelda series but there's typically at least a 3 year wait between sequels! People who are in Junior High School when they play one Zelda game would be in High School by time the next game comes out, and those in High School will graduate before the next game came out! So, we wanted to make a new game in the series sooner. "Ura Zelda" will use the existing Ocarina of Time cartridge but with different dungeons, and new locations for the treasures. Since the 64DD media is cheaper than a new cartridge, this is an inexpensive way to make a sequel. We may also consider using network technology for "Ura Zelda." Right now, most of the staff is concentrating on Zelda Gaiden.

Q: How involved are you with the different Zelda games?

A: As time goes on, my direct involvement has become less. On the first Zelda, my involvement in directing the game was, say, 100%. With Ocarina of Time, my involvement was about 60%. For Zelda Gaiden, it will be about 20% and for Zelda: Mysterious Fruit for Game Boy, only about 10%. Until Ocarina, I was the Producer and Director of the game-not of everything but some parts. For Zelda Gaiden I will be in a Producer role. In that capacity, I'll decide the overall direction of the game, but I won't write the actual specifications myself. If Zelda Gaiden turns out to be fun to play, from now on we'll see new entries into the Zelda series with shorter time intervals in between. And, I'll probably have less direct involvement in the games. I've been saying all along that I have a lot of confidence in my teams, and I think they will make some good games.

Q: What kinds of things do you do as a Producer?

A: I just tell the staff members what kind of game it should be. The staff then figures out the details of the scenarios. So far, we've had thee big meetings to reviews the game's scenarios. As Producer I approve and disapprove of ideas in these meetings. Mainly I say things like, "If you try to go in this direction, you will never finish the game!" I help set the development priorities, and make staff recommendations. Q: So, what are some of the overall directions you have given to your game developments teams on Zelda Gaiden? What are some of the things that you want the players to experience in this game? A: I had several ideas that I wanted to incorporate into Ocarina of Time but that didn't make it. I've already given those to the staff. In Zelda Gaiden, players will meet some characters that they previously encountered in Ocarina of Time. There were many characters in Ocarina of Time who were in the background-- those characters will be more involved in the story of Zelda Gaiden. You'll talk to them more, and in the end you'll feel a deeper connection to the story of Ocarina of Time. Another thing we want to work on is time in the game. In so many games, you have, for example, eight dungeons. Finish four of them, and you're halfway through. You can guess how far you have to go. But that's not the true nature of interactive entertainment-it shouldn't be like reading a book and knowing you're halfway through it. That's not just something we're working on for Zelda Gaiden, we need to improve this for all of our games. The beauty of interactive media is it is different from other types of media, so we need to concentrate on those differences. Finally, we really want Zelda players to come away from this game feeling that they've played something totally unexpected. Q: In Zelda Gaiden, the moon is slowly falling towards the planet, and the player has a limited amount of time to save the world before it is destroyed. So how does the time limit in the game work? A: What can I tell you….hmmm. There are certain time limits in the game, but, you can play it again and again. If you don't do something in one game, you can try to do it in the next game. The amount of different things you actually do in the game will depend on the player's ability. This isn't a totally unique concept, but we do want to try something new with game time in Zelda Gaiden. To do that we are working on improving the "density" of the world. For example, say you have three days of game time. We are trying to see how many different events we can fit into those three days. That is why we need the Expansion Pak for this game-to keep track of all the events that are happening simultaneously in the world. Q: So the world actually exists and different things happen in real-time, even if you're not there to see them. OK, how about the masks? How many different ones do you think will be in the game? It looks like there is space for a lot of them on the Subscreen! A: There are three main masks-these are the only ones that make you actually change, or morph, into something different. Several other masks will have "human" like faces, and will be necessary to trigger certain events. You can use these masks to disguise yourself as different people. As for the actual final number of masks in the game, that will depend on time. I'm aiming for just under 30 different masks, but that depends on how long things take to develop.Q: You mentioned that the story in Zelda Gaiden will be closely connected to Ocarina of Time. How about the Running Man-will you finally be able to beat him?

A: Maybe you didn't see him in the Space World version, but there is a Running Man who is four times taller than the one in Ocarina of Time! We are experimenting with this character to see if we can make him interesting and fun. Did you see the dogs? In Ocarina of Time, they would follow you. In Zelda Gaiden, their reaction will vary. When you morph into a Goron, they will bark at you and run away. As a Zora, they will approach you. Don't try to become a Deku Scrub if there are dogs around, though! They will try to bite you! Q: What about the other fairy that is shown with Navi in the introductory cinema scenes? A: I don't know, I need to ask the staff about that! I have a feeling it's going to be an important character! Q: Things are busy on the Zelda front with the Zelda games for Game Boy Color that Capcom is developing. How did that deal come about? What is the plan for these three titles? A: Well, it's the same situation as when our team develops a Zelda game-the quality has to be high. Mr. Okamoto (head of development at Capcom) is a young and energetic game developer who says he came into the industry because of games like the original Donkey Kong and Zelda. He came to me and was very serious about developing a Zelda game. He has great teams of developers and he promised to use his best people on this project. A company called Flagship has 20 or so people who are working on the scenarios. Some people have asked me if this means Nintendo will be allowing other companies to develop games using our characters. But this is a very special case. I felt good about Mr. Okamoto and his team. We're not going to be letting everyone work on our characters. We'll be checking the quality of these three titles. Q: What is the connection between the three titles?

A: This project originally started to convert the original NES Zelda to Game Boy Color. So one of the titles will be a perfect conversion of NES Zelda. However, in working on this game, we have come up with a lot of new ideas, so there will be some new features. Basically I can tell you that there is a connection between the three tales. You can start with any one of them, but if you play them in a different order than someone else, the two player's games will be different....

 In January of 2000 IGN would publish an article stating that a new Zelda game was planned to be released every six weeks. The first of these Gameboy releases in the “Tri-force Series” was set to be The Legend of Zelda: The Mysterious Acorn: The Tale of Power. After this initial release The Legend of Zelda: The Tale of Wisdom was set to be released and then the trilogy would conclude with The Legend of Zelda: The Tale of Courage. These games were also mentioned within this article to have the capability to link up with each other and exchange data. Miyamoto would do an interview with IGN on May 11th and state that the games would link up using a “password system.” No other details were given about the games during this interview.

By May 13th Nintendo would officially release some promotional images in regards to the Tri-force series games which were now titled: The Legend of Zelda: Mythical Seed of Power, Zelda, Mythical Seed of Courage, and Zelda Mythical Seed of Wisdom. Also on May 13th, IGN would conduct another interview with Miyamoto about the Triforce Series games and Miyamoto would disclose:

IGNpocket: What is your opinion on the Legend of Zelda trilogy in the works for Game Boy Color?

Miyamoto: Mr. Okomoto from Capcom is the producer on the games for the Game Boy Color, and he has been giving me the materials for the games. And what we have now is the games are becoming late, especially because of the "link system". With the link system, we're thinking about letting the gamer play whatever game first, and what happens in one game affects another game. And with that, the variable scenario is just increasing the work, and that's why we are late in schedule. But we can release the games later this year.

IGNpocket: How does the link system interface work?

Miyamoto: Well, for example, there are similar events in all cartridges. So if you've already finished one event on one cartridge, it makes the quest in another cartridge a little easier. Another example is if you find a specific item in one cartridge, then something special will happen on another cartridge.

IGNpocket: But how does that information get from one cartridge to the other?

Miyamoto: Password system.

By July 24th, Nintendo of Japan would decide to cut one of the games out of the Triforce Trilogy. It was reported that this was due to numerous delays and difficulties getting the link system to work properly. This was an effort to still have the other two games out by Christmas of 2000. Nintendo within this press release didn’t mention which game was on the cutting room floor. Nintendo of America hadn’t commented on the cancellation of the game at the time and it was unclear if the two remaining games would still be released six weeks apart from each other.  By October 20th the concept within the unique release schedule was scrapped and rumors were abundant on IGN that the games would release sometime in January of 2001 in Japan.

By November 9th, IGN would report a brief “Chapter” of the latest Zelda game, now being titled The Legend of Zelda Chapter of Time and Space. This is the game that had been covered mostly in American publications through screenshots and leaked information while the remaining Gameboy Color game would go without much new information being provided. This other game in development would be rumored to go by the name The Legend of Zelda: Chapter of the Earth. It was suggested that this game would play much like the other Gameboy Color game and a link system was still set in place for the two games.  By January of 2001, more information would be released by IGN in regards to the Chapter of the Earth title. This article would feature screenshots and storyline concepts for the upcoming games. By the end of the article, it was mentioned that the two games would be released in February and a potential American release date was planned before the start of Summer.

In an article published by Nintendo of Japan on their Director Interview series, Hidemaro Fujibayashi would be interviewed and give details on the origins of Capcom becoming involved with Zelda on the Gameboy Color.  Here is that interview:

t seems that you first started making Zelda with Capcom.

Fujibayashi　Yes. At first, it seems that my Okamoto  (Yoshiki Okamoto, managing director) had proposed to Shigeru Miyamoto,  "I want to make Zelda with Capcom." That was about two years  ago. After that, a free man started making 2D games based on the Famicom  Disk System "The Legend of Zelda". The concept is to convey  the goodness of Zelda in the NES era to children today.

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■ Was Mr. Fujibayashi also a Zelda  fan?

Fujibayashi　Yes, when it came to the Famicom Disk System, I  went to a toy store first to buy it. I remember squeezing New Year's  gifts and running to buy them.

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■ Did Mr. Fujibayashi participate  in the project from the beginning?

Fujibayashi At　first, I participated in the form of a clerk  who summarized the overall opinions. At that time, I was only told about  the concept, but gradually I became involved in the game production  itself. First of all, I decided to give a presentation to Mr. Miyamoto,  so I wrote a proposal based on Okamoto's concept.

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■ Was the content of the game  decided at the time of the proposal?

Fujibayashi　Almost the pillars of the current game have  been decided. In other words, it should be released as a Color Game Boy,  use the four seasons, and retain the taste of 2D Zelda. It was decided  that it would be released in a series of works, so I thought of a link system  as an idea to make use of it. For example, if I missed a bad guy in the  first game, I wanted to make the software so that the bad guy would appear in  the other game. Since Zelda is a game with a solid view of the world, I  thought that even a Game Boy could fully bring out the "living feeling"  of the characters expressed in the 64 series.

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■ How was Mr. Miyamoto's reaction?

It　was  your first time to meet Mr. Fujibayashi Miyamoto. I  went to a presentation with Okamoto, but it was my first time to work  directly with Okamoto, and I was thrilled because I was going to meet a  famous person from another company. While explaining the proposal, Mr.  Miyamoto was silent from beginning to end, so I was nervous. But when I  finished reading, I was told, "I was thinking of going into it because  there would be various holes, but it looks like it's done." I liked  it, "I think it's good."

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■ After that, do you work at  Capcom?

Fujibayashi　That's right. After that, I proceeded with  the scenario while reporting the situation to Okamoto. As a role, I am a  director and planner.

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■ I heard that Capcom games create  scenarios first.

Fujibayashi　Yes. However, I think that the scenario came  out in the Zelda series after the hardware specifications went  up. Originally, Zelda in the early days was a pure action RPG, and there  wasn't much talk about it. This time, I was hoping that the two could be  fused. However, at first I was supposed to make a work that was one  tenth of the current volume. However, as I made it, it got bigger and  bigger, and it gradually became my own work.

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■ Did you make "Chapter of  the Earth" and "Chapter of Space and Time" by different teams?

Fujibayashi　No, the same team made them in order. At  first, I was interacting with the scenario team alone. So, while I was  making the scenario, I secretly talked to the graphic artists and programmers  who thought "I like it" in Capcom. Such personnel were  actually decided by Funamizu (Producer Noritaka Funamizu), who reports  directly to me, but I thought it would be better for me to consult with him  first. I was angry at Funamizu, saying, "It's my job," but I  was able to get the staff I wanted.

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■ After that, I think it's the  work of actually making a game, but please tell me the procedure easily.

Fujibayashi At　first, I'll start with an image. After  thinking about what kind of terrain it is, start making a map. After  making it roughly, I thought about the character next. We will modify  the scenario while making the game.

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■ Do you sometimes rewrite the  entire field?

Fujibayashi　That's every day. If you actually move it  and think it's different, fix it. When about 60% of the total was  completed, Mr. Yamada of Nintendo participated as a supervisor. From  that time on, I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Miyamoto's story. So I  absorbed something like Mr. Miyamoto's view of Zelda.

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■ Are there any interesting  episodes about the joint development with Nintendo?

Fujibayashi I　was playing Nintendo games and thought that  every game had a common scent. When I met Mr. Miyamoto, it became clear  that there was a way to make sense in the game that Mr. Miyamoto  thinks. It was a great learning experience for our team to get  it. After that, Mr. Yamada and his colleagues ask the character that we  casually placed, "What is the name of this  character?" Certainly, giving a name brings the character to life  and makes the staff feel different. It seemed as simple as "give a  name", and the important thing was that I was surprised. That's  just one example, but I feel like I was taught the know-how of Nintendo's  "making warm games." What I was most happy about was that both  Mr. Yamada and Mr. Miyamoto treated me as if I were an employee of  Nintendo. Rather than Nintendo or Capcom, he talked to me as a staff  member who made games together. In the end, I think that kind of  personality is reflected in Zelda.

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■ At the same time, I think this  is a game that has a Capcom feel to it.

Fujibayashi It's　more about the individuality of Capcom's Zelda  team than it is about Capcom. I tried to make the world view interesting  with a slightly dark character. What is the difference between Kyoto and  Osaka? The place where a little outlaw character appears may be  Capcom-like. However, I don't think there is any difference in the  system in the game.

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■ Please tell me if there is a  story behind this.

Fujibayashi In　"Chapter of Time  and Space", there is a tower called "Tower of Darkness",  and there are people working there, but there are lines that say "I  can't finish my charge" and "I can't go home". Some of  our team couldn't go home (laughs), so I put them in a parody. However,  we are a very homely team, so I was happy with the Nori. The person who  came to give the message was involved in the meeting and talked for about 2  hours.

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■ That kind of homely atmosphere  may be oozing out in the game. Then, what are the highlights of  "Mysterious Tree Fruit" from Mr. Fujibayashi's point of view?

Fujibayashi　This time, Zelda was created with the  individuality of the entire team. The highlights are the many events and  mini-games, and the dungeon gimmicks. I thought about various big tricks  that Game Boy can do. The ideas of all the staff are included, and I  think it's quite full.

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■ What do you recommend for the  link system?

Fujibayashi If　you play the two software as a continuation of  the story using "Aikotoba", you can enjoy a deeper view of the  world. You can also experience the true ending after the story is  over. There will be new characters and there will be many events, so  please give it a try.

 On May 14th, 2001 both of the games, now titled the Oracle series, would release here in America. The games would receive positive reviews and critical praise for the link system that Nintendo and Capcom had developed. Over the years, the games have seemingly faded out of the minds of Zelda fans. Only hopes and rumors of potential remakes are the only true discussion these games draw these days. The concept within the trilogy of games was very similar to Ura Zelda to where Miyamoto wanted what was done in one game to affect that area in the other game. Also, did Majora's Mask overshadow these games? The development of these games runs parallel with each other and Majora's Mask is a beloved game within the Zelda community. Here's to remakes of these games happening on the Switch here in the near future. 

[talkinbouttinygames]

The Witness & The Anti-Hardcore Walkthrough Club

Steam says I have played The Witness for 31 hours. That’s not as much as it could be - I haven’t played it in two years, and never finished it originally after my save got wiped in an accident - but the reason I’m writing about it now is because I recently picked it back up, remembered how much fun it was, and am now intent on finishing it. However, despite how much time I’ve sunk into it (much more than most games covered in this ‘zine), despite the fact that I enjoy it enough to re-do all of my progress from two years ago, I can’t recommend the game, and the reason why is that I’m playing it wrong.

Okay.

For those who haven’t heard of it, The Witness is a puzzle game created by Jonathan Blow (at which point I am legally obligated to quip, yes that Jonathan Blow) based around completing line mazes on panels scattered across a very pretty island. The most simple puzzle at the start entails the player drawing a starting line from the starting circle to the other side, with later puzzles gaining more maze-like shapes, or other requirements, like the line needing to cross over every dot that appears on the board, or separate differently-coloured squares, or outline a drawn tetris shape. Additionally, other puzzles incorporate the surrounding environment: sunlight exposes a smudged line that reveals the correct path on a panel when looking at the right angle, tinted glass exposes the true color of panel squares, shadows from foliage above ‘block off’ incorrect passages, and so on.

A lot’s been said about The Witness: Blow’s design process for its puzzle mechanics, how it silently guides the player into learning mechanics, and what it truly means. But I’m not going to talk about any of those things, firstly because I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said on those subjects, and secondly because for nearly the entire time I played the game, I had my phone opened up to a full-spoiler walkthrough.

The Witness is far from a casual game. While the game’s been praised for stepping back and allowing players to have ‘eureka! moments’ when trying to figure out how a given puzzle works, that same lack of explicit guidance can make it hostile to a player that isn’t able to connect the dots. Additionally, the line puzzles are the only interactable elements that exist in the game, outside of scattered audio logs around the island. This hyperfocus on the line puzzles (and the sheer magnitude of how many there are) means that in order to truly enjoy The Witness, you really need to be stoked about solving cereal box mazes.

...Don’t you?

When I first googled The Witness, my first thought was not, “wow, those puzzles look interesting”. It was “woah, this shit’s really pretty,” followed by “I think I would buy this game just to walk around in this world”. Evidently, I did - albeit on a half-off sale for 20 dollars instead of the usual forty. True to what I had seen, the world’s gorgeous, a variety of different landscapes with vibrant colours that seemed out of the painting. The way the puzzles interacted with the environment was also pleasant, at least with the ability to look up the answers for any of them at the glance. I took pleasure in screencapping scenes I found to be beautiful and sending them to my friends, and generally just being… present in the world I found myself in.

Perhaps it was a waste, that I refused to engage with the challenges the game presented me, that I cheated my way around obstacles that were supposed to give a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and instead chose to meander around and treat the game as a glorified walking simulator. Given the common debate of whether accessibility features should disable achievements, and the gaming-originated term of ‘git gud’, it’s clear that the idea of ‘play experience integrity’ is one that a fair amount of gamers stick to. That idea is a complicated one that I can’t cover here, but my experience with The Witness falls on the fringes of it. While the certain type of gamers who scream about ‘casuals’ cheating themselves out of the Real Experience is an debate that deals with players changing the details of their play experience in order to follow the intended final destination of that experience, what happens when someone buys your game for a purpose completely unrelated to what the developer actually focused on? Is The Witness a good puzzle game? Who cares! Not me!

It’s like writing a novel that reveals integral qualities into the human condition, and then someone buys it because the size and paper type of the pages makes for good hamster bedding.

But I still enjoyed The Witness, because I was still playing the game - I completed every single area save for the final one because after that it wipes your save and I’d need to go through all the puzzles again to explore freely. And in the eyes of the game, what difference is there between my save file and someone who actually sat down and solved every single puzzle themselves. 

When talking to a friend about using a walkthrough while playing The Witness, he confessed - with slight guilt - to using walkthroughs in order to avoid missing anything. In response, I proposed we start the Anti-Hardcore Walkthrough Club - a hallowed league of gamers that place themselves highly in their ability to make things as easy for themselves as possible, because sometimes that’s what you’re looking for. In all seriousness, though, there’s a legitimate idea behind the joke - the sort-of  idea of the ‘death of the game designer’, that any way of playing a game is fair under cheats, mods, house rules, and yes, even focusing on a completely arbitrary and besides-the-point facet of the game. As long you’re aware that by doing so you can only speak to your specific style of play - a fact which applies to the hardcore gamers as much as the rest of us. To 100% a game on the hardest difficulty available isn’t necessarily a virtue, and cherry picking what parts of a game you care about and focusing on them isn’t necessarily a sin.

So, if I didn’t actually ‘play’ The Witness in the way a vast majority of people aim to play it, what can I say about it? This:

10/10. Best hamster bedding I’ve ever used.

[woah-were-halfway-there]

I’m just thinking about the wedding scene you wrote in part 2 of along for the ride 🥺 don’t feel like you have too, but would you be able to write another little scene of them on their wedding day 🥺🥺🥺

Here you are, my dear! Hope you enjoy ☺️

Word Count: 2k cause idk what a little scene is apparently

Your wedding reception was filled with guests. The entire space was decorated to the nines and filled with people you loved, but you just couldn't stop glancing at Auston. Your husband. And he knew it too.

The two of you were finally married, and you simply couldn't get over the fact that you're going to be spending the rest of your life with the man you love the most. It felt surreal, but you loved every minute of it.

"You're staring," Auston spoke up and chuckled, snapping you out of the little daze you fell into. "Like the view?"

"Don't act like you don't love the attention," you retorted before moving to take a sip of the wine that rested on the table in front of you. "But yes, my husband is looking mighty fine right now."

At that, he chuckled and leaned over so that the two of you could share a kiss. The two of you had sure done a lot of kissing since the ceremony concluded and couldn't think of a reason to stop; so, you just kept it going.

"Maybe we should make a game where every time they kiss, we all have to take a drink," one of Auston's groomsmen, a longtime friend from Scottsdale, spoke into a mic from the end of the wedding party table and caused the entire room to erupt into laughter.

"Do you want to be an absolute write off before midnight?" Mitch asked loudly from his spot a few seats left from Auston, earning more chuckles.

"Good point, maybe not," the groomsman replied with a smile, before kicking off the speech portion of the evening.

The next half an hour basically consisted of you and Auston getting chirped by your entire wedding party. Sure, they made a lot of jabs at how mushy the two of you can be, but they also just made you feel so loved at the same time.

"I remember the night Y/N called me in a full on panic saying she thought she was catching serious feelings for Auston," Steph explained during part of her speech and sent you a knowing look.

"And I remember bracing myself for the rollercoaster ride this was bound to be as soon as Steph told me what Y/N told her," Mitch chimed in for his part as he stood next to her. "And it has been a wild ride with these two, but in the best way possible. Look at them, they're a whole married couple now, and I couldn't be happier about it."

"These two are soulmates, and they've never been afraid to show it," Steph added. "And I think I speak on behalf of many people in this room when I say that Mia is going to grow up feeling the love they share undoubtedly. She couldn't have lucked out with better parents who adore her as much as they adore each other."

Although each speech before Steph and Mitch's made you overly emotional, theirs was the first one that made you shed a tear as you glanced over to where Mia sat, cuddling with Ema at a nearby table. She seemed so content and didn't have a care in the world; you couldn't help yourself from just sitting there and smiling as you watched your daughter.

Auston noticed this and wasn't long in leaning closer to you and squeezing your thigh before the two of you finally got Mia's attention and waved to her.

Alex and Breyana made the last speech. It consisted of them explaining how happy they were for their brother for finding his person, and how they've considered you to be a sister for years; it was just official now. You cried during that one too.

After the speeches concluded, music started playing, and everyone slowly made their way to the dance floor. Once people had warmed up a little bit, and you downed another glass of wine, the MC announced that you and Auston were about to share your first dance, making you nervous all over again.

You'd never been a fan of being the centre of attention, and the fact that it was your wedding day didn't change that. Standing in front of everyone at the ceremony was nerve-wracking enough, but at least you had a group of people you loved dearly up there with you. Now it was really about to be all eyes on just you and Auston.

But, at least you had him.

"Ready?" He asked as he walked up to stand beside you, causing you to jump slightly at his sudden presence.

"Not really," you admitted while shaking your head. "I'm probably going to trip on the way to the dance floor."

"Good thing I'm here to catch you then," he replied with a wink and linked his hands with yours so he could guide you through the crowd of guests. "I've got you always."

As the two of you made your way to the middle of the dance floor, your nerves gradually diminished just by Auston being there. Once the two of you were face to face, you rested one hand on his shoulder, and he did the same but on your waist. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see everyone watching the two of you from around the dance floor and instantly felt your chest tighten, but then Auston used his free hand to hold onto yours and bring it up to his lips; effortlessly bringing your attention back to him.

"You good?" He asked as the two of you finished getting into position.

"I think so."

"If you get nervous, just focus on us. As if we're the only ones here."

At that, you smiled, and soon the intro of You and Me by Lifehouse started playing from the speakers. "Deal."

What day is it And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive

Once Jason Wade’s voice started singing, you were instantly hit by a wave of emotion, and weren't long in letting Auston pull you closer to him because of it. The lyrics to this song hit you hard every time you listened to it, and this time was no different.

'Cause it's you and me

And all of the people with nothing to do Nothing to lose

You then rested your head against Auston's chest as the two of you continued swaying to the music and let your eyes flutter shut as you thought back over the years you've spent with your husband.

I'm tripping on words You got my head spinning I don't know where to go from here

From the outside, yours and Auston's relationship never seemed easy. With such a demanding career of being an NHL player, as well as being the face of an entire franchise, sometimes it seemed like the odds were against the two of you. Distance, opposite schedules, and miscommunication provided a strain on your relationship at times and did make things very difficult. However, there still was not a single doubt in your mind that regardless of the tough times faced, the years you've spent with Auston have easily been the best. At the end of the day, it was always you and him. 

And it's you and me And all of the people And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you

Steph was right when she said you and Auston were soulmates. You had met your match with him. He was a person that could infuriate you like no other, but also someone you could never imagine life without.

Auston had all the missing pieces you seemingly could never find and flawlessly completed the puzzle your heart had spent years trying to figure out. He was your best friend, your person, your soulmate… and there was nothing that could ever make you question that.

There's something about you now That I can't quite figure out

Being in that moment with you was surreal for Auston.

When he first asked you to be his girlfriend all those years ago, he was prepared for you to say no. It's not easy being in a relationship with someone who's always on the road, but you didn't care and dived in headfirst, proving to him that he was worth taking risks for.

He never took that for granted either and always silently thanked whoever it was that decided you were meant to be in his life. Because you were. You were the other half that made him whole, the mother of his child, and the person who made his life so much better just by being in it.

Everything she does is beautiful Everything she does is right

As the two of you continued dancing in your little bubble as the final chorus played through, you felt extremely content thinking about how with Auston is where you are meant to be, forever. And he thought the same.

The entire wedding day was your vow to one another that the two of you were exactly where you were supposed to be, with each other. And even though a wedding wasn't needed to prove that, it was sure nice to share those feelings with loved ones and celebrate them in the best way possible.

What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive

As soon as the song was over, you and Auston held on to each other for a second longer before moving away, just to pull the other in for another kiss.

"I love you," Auston stated while leaning his forehead against yours. "More than I'll ever be able to explain."

"You don't need to," you told him and reached up to straighten out his boutonniere that shifted from you leaning against it. "I already know. And I can only hope that you know I feel the exact same way."

"I do know," he answered and placed another peck to your lips just before the two of you were surrounded by wedding guests ready to take dance along to the next song.

You soon found yourself dancing along to Def Leppard with Auston's sisters before Mitch and Steph made a whole scene out of joining the three of you as they yelled along to the lyrics of Pour Some Sugar On Me.

As you spent time with them, along with other members of your bridal party and wedding guests, you couldn't help but notice that Auston seemingly vanished. As a couple of songs played out, you couldn't help but glance around to see where he went, but it wasn't until the DJ started playing My Girl by The Temptations that you got your answer.

There was a small break between the people dancing and in came Auston, carrying Mia and singing to her as they swayed their way towards the middle of the dance floor. You had to stop what you were doing just so you could watch the two together, not being able to prevent the enormous smile that formed on your lips as you did so.

It seemed that others were intrigued by what was going on as well, and they joined you and observing Auston dance along to the music while Mia had her arms wrapped around his neck, holding onto him tightly and giggling like crazy as he sang about her being his girl.

Even Ema and Brian joined to see what the commotion was about and wasn't long in pushing you towards your husband and daughter to join in on the fun.

Once Auston saw you approaching, he extended an arm out so that once you were close enough, he could pull you right in and continue swaying with you and Mia in his hold. He started singing "my girls" instead of the actual lyrics, and Mia wasn't long in reaching towards you to be held for a little bit before having to leave to go to bed.

Everything about the moment was perfect. And you couldn't help but think with a smile about how this was bound to be how the rest of your life was going to feel too.

[infriga]

Writer tag game

I was tagged by @novantinuum !

Author Name: I’m Infriga on tumblr but I go by Ppleater on AO3 because it’s a username I liked to use in the past lol.

Fandom(s) you write for: Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and in the past I’ve also written one or two things for Red vs Blue, Gintama, Chuck, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, and SGA. Most of my older stuff is on FFN, where it will stay because it’s old and embarrassing lol. I want to write a One Piece fic some day but christ is it a hard fandom to write for. There are so many puzzle pieces and moving parts and layers to everything in the OP world that anything bigger than a oneshot is daunting. Also Luffy’s mind is an enigma so I can only imagine how difficult he’d be to write.

Where you post: AO3. I used to post on FFN years ago, but not anymore because let’s be honest, ffn kinda sucks in comparison.

Most popular one-shot: My RvB fic I guess. The long cliched title is Five Times Tucker Knew Church Was a Robot, And One Time He Forgot That Church Was Still Human. It’s not all that popular, but it got more attention than any of my older oneshots on FFN haha.

Most popular multi-chapter: My Gravity Falls fic about kid Stan and paranoid Ford, 1 Step Forward, 20 Years Back. It was my first multichapter fic, and boy was I floored by the response it got!

Favorite story you wrote: I’m really bad at picking favourites! I like both my GF fic 1 Step Forward, 20 Years Back, and my Steven Universe fic Aid to Navigation at the moment. They’re both more recent fics and I feel like I’ve shown the most improvement in writing both of them, which is part of why i like them more, but I like them both for different reasons so I can’t really choose between them.

Story you were nervous to post: Man I’m nervous posting everything I write lol. I guess I tend to be more nervous about my hurt/comfort stuff for some reason? Especially the hurt parts. Like the chapter where Stan gets thrown down the stairs by Bill in my GF fic, or the upcoming chapter 5 in my SU fic. I really enjoy writing that sort of stuff, and I love reading it even more, so I’m always a little like >:3c but I can be a wee bit sensitive about stuff I get really into writing because I’m invested in it so I’m also a little like <:3c every time, you know? Still, if there’s one thing I’ve learned by getting more involved in fandoms is that it can be worth it to just put stuff out there and own it even when I’m nervous about it, so I usually just force myself to press the post button before I can chicken out. It’s worked out pretty well for me so far.

How do you choose your titles? I’ve developed 2 main methods which, funnily enough, I used for my two recent multichapter fics.

Method 1 involves word play, such as using a pun or a saying that fits one of the themes of my fic, and I adjust it as needed it to match the story. I felt like the saying “1 step forward, 2 steps back” fit the whole portal confrontation in general, and Stan getting turned into a kid involves taking some pretty literal steps backwards, so I changed it to 20 years back to give it a de-aging spin and make it even more of a play on words. That one admittedly came pretty easy to me. I also came up with more puns,wordplay, and jokes for the chapter names to match.

Method 2 involves using symbolism. I like to figure out something I feel would be symbolic of my fic and I look for interesting and relevant terminology or topics related to whatever that symbol is. In Aid to Navigation I settled on lighthouses as the symbolic element because I felt it suited Steven’s character, since he lives on a beach, helps guide people, and literally glows. An aid to navigation is basically any structure that helps ships navigate on the ocean, which includes lighthouses in particular, and it felt really suitable for Steven’s character and the themes of the fic. Other terminology that popped up and caught my interest while looking into stuff related to lighthouses ended up serving as inspiration for the chapter names and some of the story progression.

Of course, sometimes a title just pops into my head automatically and I end up liking it right away, but that’s pretty rare lol.

How many of your stories are complete? 2 on AO3, my RvB oneshot and my GF fic, and an extra 7 oldy moldy ones on FFN which are all oneshots. I technically write more now than I used to, but while my word count has rised drastically the number of individual fics I’ve written isn’t too high yet. I just found I enjoy writing longer multichapter fics a lot.

In progress: Just Aid to Navigation at the moment. I’m the kind of person who usually likes to finish a writing project before moving to a new one.

Coming soon:

I’ve tried coming up with future projects but honestly it seems like I tend to just be sort of... Gripped with a sudden idea that just feels right. I always have tons of concepts I like, but most never actually become anything. Only a few strike me as something that I really want to turn into a story right away. I might make a series of connected oneshots for Aid to Navigation involving interactions and scenes that I couldn’t fit in due to there not being enough time to explore every character the way I wanted (like I wanted to write a scene with Lars and Steven for example, but it didn’t seem to fit anywhere), but beyond that I have no idea what I’ll end up writing.

Upcoming story you’re most excited to write: Do upcoming chapters of a current fic count? The chapters I felt most excited to write for Aid to Navigation are the next one which is already finished and awaiting the accompanying picture, titled “Red Sector”, and the following one after that, which will be titled “Leading Lights”. All I’ll say about them is that both types of lights serve as warnings.

Top five favorite authors:

I like so many damnit, it’s hard to choose!

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by @novantinuum

I’ve bookmarked a lot of GF fics by @impishnature

Same with @fanfoolishness and their SU fics

One Piece fics by @taizi are my favourites in the fandom

There’s probably more people I’m forgetting and if that’s the case I’m sorry and I love you all, but if anyone wants to see more authors I’ve read stuff by I have fic rec/fic recs/fanfic rec/fanfic recs tags (wish I could remember which one I use at a given time so I wasn’t so inconsistent about it otl. Someday when xkit is working again I’ll try to organise them better). Also I have like, 400+ bookmarks on AO3 that you can look through as well.

Tagging: Uh, I tag all the writers I mentioned above I guess, if they want to do it and if they haven’t done it already!

[blu-joons]

BTS Reaction: You’re On The Autistic Spectrum

Jin:

He could see in your eyes the panic as he told you about an award show they had been invited to. He came over and placed his hand delicately over yours, “don’t feel like you have to come, I completely understand if you’d rather stay at home.”

You sighed, resting your head against his shoulder. “I’d love to come, but the thought of all those people terrifies me a little inside.”

“It’s okay. If you choose to go, I’ll be right there holding your hand, as will the rest of the boys, but if you decide not to, just know I completely understand.”

“Can I see nearer the time?” You asked. He nodded, cupping your cheeks softly, pressing his lips to your own.

“Take all the time you need jagi, I don’t want to pressure you into anything.” He looked down, tightening his grip around you, noticing your frown. “Why don’t I tell you a bit more about the award show and what will take place, see if that helps your decision.”

Your head nodded, “that would be really good actually, thank you. If I can plan things ahead, maybe I’ll go.”

“Regardless, I understand whether you stay here or go, it’s all going to be fine with me.

Yoongi:

You stirred at the bright light as your eyes tried to shut, turning over to see Yoongi laid on his back, playing one of his games on his phone. You slid under his arm, resting your head on his chest. “Yoongi, do you think you could do me a favour?”

He reacted by wrapping his arm around your waist, resting his head on yours. “Of course, jagi, what do you need from me?”

“If it’s okay with you, would you mind turning your phone off, or playing on it elsewhere, it’s just I’m really struggling to sleep with the light on.”

He sighed, only blaming himself, feeling guilty that it was him that prevented your sleep. “I’ll turn it off, I’d much rather cuddle with you for a while anyway.”

“It’s not that Yoongi, I don’t want you to feel bad.” He brought your eyes up to look at him, his gummy smile appearing. You chuckled, pressing a kiss over it making him squirm, tightening his grip around your waist.

“I don’t feel bad, I completely understand. You should have said something sooner if it was bothering you.”

You sighed, cuddling back into him, “I just don’t want to be a burden or annoying, I know how much you enjoy your games.”

“Jagi, you’re never a burden on me, trust me.”

Hoseok:

Your eyes glanced over at the clock, noticing it was coming up to five in the evening. You swung your legs off Hobi’s lap, walking into the kitchen. He was surprised by your sudden movement, glancing over at the clock. “Time for tea,” he smiled.

You spun around, noticing him following you into the kitchen. “I can cook tonight, it’s not a problem, why don’t you go and finish the film?”

“It’s alright, I knew it was coming anyway. I’ve been staring at the clock too, waiting for the second you got up.”

He understood your life was a very strict routine, everyday at five o’clock you started cooking your tea, it was one of those events that helped settle your days and make life a little bit easier.

“What are you feeling tonight? I was thinking maybe noodles, and then whatever else is in the fridge?” Hobi had already started grabbing ingredients out of the cupboard, scattering them all around your kitchen worktops.

“Whatever you want is good with me,” you smiled, letting him take control, obliging to all his instructions. “I’ll do whatever the boss tells me to.”

“Jagi trust me, you’ll always be the boss in this relationship.”

Namjoon:

The two of you laid in bed, hands laced together as you both stared up at the ceiling. “Alright, so one more question, what’s the most difficult part of your day? I mean generally, what do you find troubles you the most.”

You turned to look at him, “that’s hard to answer, it varies daily, it depends what situations I’m in and what surroundings there around.”

He noticed your face drop, apologising quickly. “Sorry, I’ve asked too many questions, haven’t I? You should have just said, I didn’t want to make anything worse.”

“Joon, you haven’t. Honestly, it’s nice to know that you’re so interested and willing to help me with anything I need.”

“Of course. I can’t begin to imagine how hard life must be for you sometimes, and if there is ever any way I can do something to help you, I want to, I want to be the one to make life easier and more comfortable for you.”

“You already do that just by being here, I’ve found myself doing a lot more things since you came into my life.”

It was music to his ears, his smile growing, lips pressing to the top of your head. “I’m glad I could help you, I’m really proud of you.”

“Thank you Joonie, that means a lot to me, truly.”

Jimin:

As his family spoke, Jimin’s eyes were on you. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t look at them, staring around the room and down to the floor. “Can you excuse us for a moment?” Jimin asked, dragging you to an empty space.

You sighed, looking away from his eyes. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, “I’m trying, it’s just really hard and stressful.”

“Jagi, I’m not bad, I brought you here to make sure you were okay and give you a moment to yourself.” His hand came under your chin, trying to push your face up to look at him, but you continued to stare away.

“Stop,” you mumbled, “just give me a moment and I’ll be fine.”

“Look at me,” he pleaded. The hurt in his voice was enough for your eyes to land on him. “It’s okay. I’m right here, I’m not angry, and my family will understand just like I do, you can’t help this, this isn’t your fault.”

Tears threatened to spill as he pulled you into his chest. “I really wanted to impress your family tonight, but instead I’ve just messed up.”

“You haven’t, I promise you love, everything is going to be just fine.”

Taehyung:

Your mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. You looked across the table seeing Taehyung frown, desperate to hear you speak. “I want to tell you how I feel Taehyung, I’m just finding it hard to openly express it.”

“How about I go first,” he offered, taking a hold of your hand. “I’m going to keep it simple, by saying I love you, and that I’m so grateful to have met you and have you in my life.”

You sighed, tears of happiness, yet also fear threatening to spill. “You know I love you, it’s just I can’t say it, it’s there, but it’s not coming out.”

Guiding your hand, he brought you around the table so sit in his lap. “It’s okay, I know how you feel, even if you can’t say it. Hearing you tell me you love me was all I needed to hear tonight, okay? Don’t feel bad, you’ve done really well.”

“But you say all these nice things so easily, I don’t want you to think I don’t feel the same way, because I do, honestly.”

“I know you do.” He whispered, running his hands along your back to calm you. “I know how you feel, your actions have always spoken louder than words jagi.”

“Maybe I’ll let my actions do the talking more often from now on.”

Jungkook:

You walked over to the cooker, switching it on at the wall. Jungkook followed behind you, switching it back off again, you looking at him puzzled by his actions. “Don’t you cook, you’ll set the whole house on fire with your culinary skills.”

You frowned, “will I actually?” You asked. Jungkook softly smiled, wrapping his arms around you tightly. “I didn’t realise I could do that.”

“No jagi, I was just being sarcastic because you’re a terrible cook.” His lips pressed to the top of your head, assuring you things were okay. “I wasn’t thinking when I said that, it was insensitive.”

“Oh, I didn’t even realise.” Jungkook pulled your face up to look at him, shaking his head down at you. “I thought you were being serious.”

He chuckled, brushing his thumb against your cheek. “This is a good thing, it’s another thing I’ve learned about you to help make us stronger. I shouldn’t be sarcastic, and I can do that, I’m learning what works around you.”

“Jungkook, I don’t want you to change because of me, you are you, you shouldn’t have to alter that.” He smiled, kissing your lips softly.

“I’m not changing babe; I’m just making improvements to be a better boyfriend.”

---

Masterlist

[bbs-backlog-challenge]

Games Of 2020

Bet there’s gonna be loads of very trite retrospectives this year. 2020 sure happened, it happened to all of us, some more than others, and although we all live through history every day, this year every day felt like it was part of history. Video games!!! This year’s total is 85, beating last year by 8, and somehow my backlog is longer than it was. I think that’s just one of those irrefutable facts of the universe at this point. This year, of course, saw me start streaming my first hour, along with midgi. Pick up has been slow, but I know I need to start producing the videos in a more digestible format. Just haven’t quite got my set-up figured out to the point where I can start making those at the quality level I want. It’s coming. That’s for 2021! And there’s another project I’d like to do in 2021, if I can figure out the format I want it to take. Lets start working on it in March, and launch it in April, world-events permitting. Video games!

- Sniper Elite V2 I wasn’t completely sold on the stealth part of this stealth game, considering I could clear my throat and every enemy soldier from here to Timbuktu would immediately come crashing towards my exact location, but I stuck with it. ...Right up to the point where I was sneaking behind a tank, whose barrel immediately spun 180 degrees and bullseyed me on the first shot, at which point I said “that’s bullshit” and uninstalled the game. Yes, it was a ragequit, but life is too short to put up with marksman tanks. - Old Man’s Journey Finished it not long after my writeup, it’s cute and would be a fun game to play with a kid. Very storybook. A little sad at the end, but we expected that. - Ys Seven This game has some real trouble with its signposting. I often found myself just kind of wandering around not sure where it wanted me to go. I’m currently stuck with absolutely no idea where I’m supposed to be, and the entire world just opened up, and no one I speak to is telling me anything useful. Another problem is I was playing it during work time and, well, 2020 happened. Will probably pick it back up once work starts. - Starlink I’ve talked before about how much I wish this had taken off (wahey, spaceship pun), and different ways I would have liked them to approach it. Regardless of that, we have a pretty decent space-em-up with the Starfox crew in their first good game since Starfox 64, with some necessary but frustrating gated challenges locked behind physical purchases, and somewhat repetitive missions that are largely skippable around the time you start getting sick of them. Worth a punt, even if you’re just buying it for the (very nice) Arwing model. - Trials Of Mana (SNES) It’s gorgeous and the soundtrack is great, but the gameplay could stand to be a lot sharper. Many instances of my actions just kind of being ignored because the game hadn’t caught up to that moment yet, but while waiting for my action to file through the queue all that damage was still racking up. Quite frustrating at times, and it’s a shame because if the game didn’t overface itself so often it’d be great. Still enjoyable, but brace for a lot of “hey wtf that’s BS”. - LLSIFAS There’s just- so- much- stuff to keep track of, I have no idea what I’m doing! I don’t know what any of these stats do! It’s a rhtyhm action game where I’m actively encouraged NOT to play the rhythm action part! What on earth does Voltage mean! Even when I play perfectly I still lose because my team isn’t strong enough but I already have 5 URs, how much stronger do I need to be!? It didn’t work with me, is what I’m saying. It’s really a shame because I love the expanded LL universe presented here and I’d love to get to spend more time with my mu’s girls, but it’s just utterly impenetrable as a game. Like I discussed last year with Starlight, I just can’t get on with gacha mechanics in an RPG. - Punch Out Aahhh, my old knackered thumbs aren’t what they used to be. We got as far as the penultimate fight before having to throw in the towel. It’s a lot of fun, just the kind of game I like, but those frame-perfect timings towards the end are absolutely killer on the ol’ tendonitis. - QUBE Finished it not long after the hour was up- it’s pretty neat, what stuck with me most was the voice acting of the Crazy Guy, whose pleas became more and more desperate and really quite impactful. Very impressive performance from that man. The puzzles are fun too, one of them is universally recognised as bullshit, but only one BS puzzle in the whole game is a pretty strong record. - Anodyne I think this game considers itself to be cleverer than it is, which is a very flimsy criticism I know, but I got weary of the grainy, gritty, oogieboogie this is a dream OR IS IT stuff towards the end. Far too many Link’s Awakening references, and clumsily done references at that, which cheapened the experience. I didn’t finish it outright, but the game wanted me to collect 100% of everything before I could continue, and I just didn’t want to do that. *Shrug* - Operator Finished it during the hour! - Spyro/Spyro 2 These games aren’t really very good honestly? Spyro 2 is fine. Spyro 1 is very basic and the platforming isn’t too exciting. Buyer beware your nostalgia for these games might be rose-tinted. - Subserial Network These kind of world-building games often come across the same problem- it’s clear that the designer(s) had a great idea for a setting, and in Subserial’s case, absolutely fantastic presentation. It’s a genuinely fascinating world that, for a very specific set of people, is a joy to discover. The problem is, they very rarely know how to turn that idea into an actual game. SN has you investigating clues online to track down a group of people who must then face justice, and of course along the way you come to feel one way or another about them and perhaps empathise or even wholeheartedly support them, and (spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) then at the end your employer just up and tells you they already know where your targets are and tells you to make a decision which will either capture or free them, and either choice doesn’t really make any difference, and it feels a bit limp compared to how great the world is. It’s the same problem I had with Subsurface Circular. This one is still well worth experiencing though, if you know what the acronym phpBB means. - Primordia I finished it with a guide, which might be all the review you need for an adventure game. Feels like a 7/10 on the Adventure Game Obtuseness Scale. Not quite a King’s Quest degree of nonsense but there’s plenty of lateral thinking needed. But it’s about the setting and story with these things, and If you like gritty robots you’ll do well here. How many games let you turn yourself into a nuke? - Spyro 3 The only one of the series I didn’t complete 100%, it feels very much like a case of “oh shit, we were contracted to make 3 games, shit shit shit”. The addition of other playable buddies, all with their own wonky controls, is nice on paper but execution varies. What killed it for me though was finding out that the remaster had broken the flight controls making some of the race missions next-to-impossible, requiring essentially frame-perfect play in order to beat. Those races take 2-3 minutes each time and can be lost at the last second. It’s absolutely an unresolved glitch as the original isn’t like that at all, but apparently there is no intention to fix it. Also lol skateboarding minigames. - Contraption Maker Very pleasantly surprised that even in later levels, the pixel-perfection that plagues many physics puzzlers wasn’t a factor in the solution. In fact, I only encountered this once, to my recollection. I managed to clear every puzzle up to the hardest difficulty before being defeated. This is a real good one. - Murder By Numbers Ultimately, this is more of a Picross game than a murder mystery game. There’s not much crime solving to do and no real “a-ha!” moments, but the story and characters are enjoyable. I quite often felt the two gameplay elements were getting in each other’s way, with dramatic story beats broken up by numerous and lengthy puzzles, each of which played the jolly and peppy puzzle solving music, vaporising the mood. Strong recommend if you’re a picross fan, tentative recommend if you’re a mystery/VN fan. - Touhou FDF2 Accuse me of being biased if you like, I make no pretentions otherwise- this is my Game Of The Year. FDF2 is something special. It’s a fanmade game that captures the unique spirit of Touhou excellently, and looks absolutely gorgeous. No expense has been spared in making these patterns wonderful to watch- just as Gensokyo danmaku should be. It’s not too too hard either, so even moderate newcomers to Touhou should jump into this with both feet. - Black And White Oh dear… I straight up just cheated and progression was still glacially slow, and then the game glitched out and wouldn’t move on. Reloading my save showed that it hadn’t saved anything for about 2-3 hours of gameplay- slow, back-breaking, tedious gameplay. Didn’t bother going back after that. Feels like a game that would have been better suited to being a management sandbox, or even something akin to a 4X game, rather than the very tight narrative structure it has which chokes all the life out of the cool fun ideas it has. - Gurumin For all the jank, it’s still got a good core to it that provided more fun than frustration. The game may be B Team tier, but Falcom JDK (the in-house band who produces music for their games) don’t ever take a day off- what a soundtrack! - Touhou FDF After its sequel blew me away, I went back to the first title. It’s fine, but I think I said everything worth saying in my write up. Extra is just absurdly hard, especially compared to the rest of the game. It’s fine, but I wouldn’t really push anyone to buy it, TH fan or not. - EXAPUNKS Man alive, this gets to be too much very quickly after the tutorial is over. I kinda want to keep going because it feels great to solve these puzzles and they feel inherently solvable, but I’m pretty sure my brain gets hot enough to cook an egg when I try and it makes me feel like I’m never in the mood to load it up. - Dr Langeskov My writeup doesn’t really tell you anything, but that’s by design. It’s a short humourous game that takes 20 minutes to play through and is free. Telling you more than that is going to spoil the surprise. - Starcrossed Finished a run with midgi. Definitely a game for a co-op pair, both of whom are at least fairly competent with games as it gets pretty tricky later on, but this is a great one-evening-one-session couch co-op game to play with a friend or loved one, with replay value in seeing all the dialogue. - Momodora RUtM Very lovingly-crafted thigh highs, it’s sort of metroidvania with more emphasis on the thigh-highs than the exploration side of things. Really cool boss fights and exciting thigh-highs. Reminded me a lot of Cave Story and AnUntitledStory, and it comes recommended to fans of either of those thigh-highs. Socks. - SMW2 Yoshi’s Island! I only fired it up to test a glitch. It’s a good game though. - Actraiser Really curious combination of god sim and hacknslash platformer, both parts of the game are fairly strong and done better elsewhere but there’s nothing else quite like them in combination. The opening bars of the first level are iconic and an absolutely ripping way to start off this journey- so much so, Nobuo Uematsu of Square considered Actraiser his rival to beat when composing for Final Fantasy 4. Praise doesn’t get much more flattering than that! - Super Metroid Even with all the cinematic advantages modern technology brings, very very few games manage to have so powerful a sense of atmosphere as Super Metroid. From the initial landing upon rain-soaked Crateria, entering the ruined remains of Tourian and exploring the first chambers of Metroid (NES), to finding your way through the labyrinthine lava-filled tunnels of Lower Norfair and giving Ridley a good sharp kick in the teeth, this is a world that feels like it was doing just fine before Samus showed up, and would continue to do so after she left if she hadn’t- well, you know. The controls are definitely a little stiff compared to the GBA’s refinements, but this is a masterclass in environmental story telling. - Super Nova It’s one of the Darius games, retitled for some reason. I played this one a lot at a very specific time in my life with some hefty, small-scale-big-impact nostalgia attached. It’s a good shooter, but I don’t think it’s great. Soundtrack is aces though. - SMW its k - FF5 This was the year I started running the Four Job Fiesta! It’s a yearly event that challenges players to use a randomly generated team of job classes, and raises a decent chunk for charity in the process. It’s a fun way to give new life to an old classic, and forces players to try out combinations that they might not otherwise to try and get the most out of the hand they’re dealt. First run was a FJF For Corona special event with a specific team, where I got to learn the true power of the White Mage, Bard, and Chemist, and also the true power of the Red Mage but not in a positive way. - Tiny Toons (SNES) Criminally overlooked platformer from Konami. Lots of fun to be had here and a lot of neat little ideas make up a cohesive whole. Well worth two hours of your time. - Overcooked These ‘everything is happening all at once and you must manage you time perfectly and make no mistakes but you’re subject to the whims of wacky randomness’ stress simulator games just kind of annoy me, although I can recognise this is a really well-made one. - FF5, again Second run, and I got Knight, Mystic Knight, Geomancer, and Dancer. Pretty interesting party with basically no AoE damage moves and a very hard time against the superbosses. I managed to pull a triple crown though! - Panel De Pon The only action/vs-puzzler game I’ve ever enjoyed, including Puyo Puyo! Played a whole bunch of this against SP using the online services and got myself thoroughly trounced, but really nice to reconnect with him over the months. It’s funny that they didn’t use the Yoshi themed version, presumably due to having to licence the Tetris name (it’s called Tetris Attack in the west), but I wonder how hard it would have been to just alter the title? - Master Of Orion 2 Expect to see this on the list every year.  Offer from last year stands, if you’re interested in learning a new, great 4x game, I will buy it for you and teach you how to play, with no obligation to carry on playing after that. Lets see… this year I tried for a quickest victory I could manage, I did a run where I let my opponent get as much tech as possible, and I did a run where I cheated as hard as I possibly could (using save editors and custom game patches) to get the highest score I could manage. - FF1 I really love this game. I wish there was anything else quite like it out there. Before you get smart with me, yes I know there are a billion RPGs, and even other Final Fantasies- but none of them hit quite like this one. Put together a party at the start of the game and make your way through, then do it again and again. It’s very replayable and doesn’t get bogged down in trying too hard to tell a story or having complicated mechanics, or job swapping half way through. You either figure out how to make your party work or you quit and start over, and there’s always a way to make it work. - Fire Emblem The first one on GBA, often called Blazing Sword. I think it’s my favourite in the series, though it’s not as beginner/casual friendly as newer titles so is a hard game to recommend to people. I absolutely adore its story, so utterly tragic and moving. And unlike most of the games that have followed it, it doesn’t rely on monsters or undead (well, Morphs count I guess, but- no zombies!) which I appreciate. - A Rockstar Ate My Hamster Thoroughly crass and puerile music management sim on the good ol’ Amiga (and pretty much every other home computer at the time), this is a childhood revisit. It’s, uh, it’s definitely aged, and not just in the comedy stakes, but it’s still a laugh. Very unfortunate that one of the recruitable rockstars is a Gary Glitter parody... - Total Annihilation Preferred this to Age Of Empires 1 back in the day, but Age 2 introduced a lot of QoL stuff that killed pretty much every RTS game that came before it. Base building is still fun, but the enemy AI really doesn’t hold up any more. The meekest of rush tactics is enough to completely shut them down. Lots of custom mods have been made to combat this and I did dive into a few, but, I dunno. Something’s missing now. - Touhou, all of em 6- aged badly. Still playable but yikes. 7- aged, but like a fine wine. 1cc’d Hard Mode for the first time ever this year! 8- kind of a weird game, did it invent achievements??? 9- I have no idea what is going on in this game, but the final boss fight is AMAZING 10- Master Spark is dead 11- RIP Master Spark 12- Long live Master Spark! Still love this one, even though the UFO system is weird 12.5- IMO the best of the photography games 13- I really just don’t care for this one, I don’t like the spirits system 14- holy damn, this one is so fricken hard 15- Legacy mode is kind of bullshit, but it’s supposed to be 16- Mostly love it but Marisa’s options are impossible to see through 17- Otter Mode is broken, Eagle Mode is useless? Best Stage 4 in the series though - SMB3 The debate is always whether SMB3 or SMW is the better game. For my money it’s World, but that race is a photo finish by anyone’s metric. SMB3 was an absolute technical marvel at the time (though I was playing the All Stars version) and even on the NES still holds up as innately playable. It hasn’t aged a bit. Played through this on Switch to keep the cat company! He didn’t appreciate it. - Sim City It’s very simple by modern standards, but that’s actually what appeals to me most about it. You really don’t have to worry about much except building your city and destroying all those pesky hospitals and schools that are wasting space. Streamed a megalopolis run just for the fun of it. - SMB2 This was originally a game called Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. - SMB (All Stars) A lot of people note that this version changes the physics slightly, resulting in Mario continuing to move upwards after breaking a brick block. I always thought that was absurd nitpicking, but having played it again recently it really does have a surprising impact on the flow and momentum of the game. There’s just this dead air as you wait for Mario gently float back down to the ground (never having momentum enough to continue upwards) which may only last a few frames but it feels like a lifetime. I take it back, the complaints are legit. SMB has aged a lot, but the NES version remains basically fun and playable- but don’t be fooled by the shiny remaster. It’s not the way to go. - Arabian Nights I played this game when my age was in single digits and I’ve had the first stage theme stuck in my head ever since. It’s actually a pretty rad game, too! Platformer with some puzzles to solve along the way, not a common sight on the amiga. Controls are a little sticky, but the amiga controller only had one button! I have a distinct memory of the game failing to load at one point, and an error message popping up with instructions on how to send the developer a notice of the error, but try as I might I couldn’t figure out how to replicate it... - Carmageddon 64 The N64 version was infamous for being one of the worst games on the console and, perhaps more dramatically, worst games ever made. I never played it around release, but I had a chance to this year. Blimey, they weren’t kidding. I’m not sure why it’s so much worse than the absolutely OK PC version. I didn’t play far into it, I just wanted to see for myself. - Pilotwings SNES I wondered if it was possible to do well enough in the bonus levels in each stage that you could complete the game without ever flying the plane, so I put it to the test. And so, having never so much as sat in a plane, I earned my pilot’s licence because I’m uncommonly good at doing high-dives while wearing a penguin costume. - Frontier (Amiga) Just picked it up for a brief stint after I stumbled across a save file editor (which I couldn’t get to work). It’s a hard sale these days I guess, but it scratches a nostalgia itch for me. - Hopeless Masquerade Touhou fighting game! I’m all around terrible at fighting games and this was no exception. I don’t know what I’m doing. But, playable Byakuren. - Pilotwings 64 Oh dear. Here’s one that should have been left in the nostalgia pile. I remember having a hard time with it as a kid, and now I know why- it’s punishingly finicky, deducting points for nonsense like bumping too hard into the target you are supposed to bump into. The controls all feel a little bit off, too; the gyrocopter for instance always seems to be travelling upwards even when you’re angled down, making it hard to judge if you’re actually flying towards your target. - Ronaldinho Soccer 64 Hahahahaha!!! Sorry. Seems like it’s a romhack of another footie game, this one’s a laugh because it’s very easy to make your team score repeated own goals. The dismay on their faces every time! - F-Zero GX Dolphins are pretty great, aren’t they? I wanted to see how great Dolphins are, so I used this game to test it. Them. Test the dolphins. With this gamecube game. Yeah. - Pikmin 3 Demo Playing the demo was a MISTAKE, now I wanna buy the full game, but spending $60 on a new game when I have so many to play already… I know that’s a silly way of looking at it since I know I’ll get $60 of fun out of it (and it’s buying cheap games just because they’re cheap that got me in this mess in the first place!), but it’s a lot of spons to drop all at once. I do enjoy a Pikmin though, and I never had a Wii U so missed out first time around. - Fire Emblem Sacred Stones After playing through the first (?) title, I wanted more, and this is the closest match. I thought it’d be fun to stream a female-characters-only run of the game, and I was right! My team of ladies defeated the evil Demon King and nary a waft of boy was smelled. - One Way Heroics A roguelike I actually enjoyed! But still only played through to completion once. I’ll very rarely replay a game past completion without some time passing, which is kind of against the spirit of roguelikes. - Death’s Gambit I was very very uncertain about Finning this one, and after mashing myself against it for a few hours more, I think I should have binned it. It’s gorgeous but it hates me. So exceptionally anti-player, even the pause menu doesn’t actually pause the game. That’s just rude! - Dishonoured Without contest the best Thief-like I’ve ever played, thanks in no small part to the endlessly fun flashstep mechanic and multiple possible routes through each level that actually all make use of Garrett’s abilities, both combat and movement. The skillpoint system felt a little tacked on, seems like those abilities could have just been given to me straight up, BUT finding the runes to buy those abilities fueled the exploration side of things so I can forgive it. Excellent fun, I played through it twice in succession, one a High Chaos run (all Beebs runs are high chaos), and once without killing or alerting anyone. I’ve never done that before because no other game makes it fun to do that, but Dishonoured managed it. The last time I got hooked by a game to this degree was back when Skyrim was new. The kitchen suffered dearly for Dishonored’s sake. - Ocarina Of Time It’s aged pretty significantly in a lot of ways, hasn’t it? I didn’t play very far into it, only as far as the first Spiritual Stone. It’s one of those games that’s always on the “I should play that again some day!” list, which then gets passed over in favour of a backlog game. I’m really looking forward to one day being able to just play the games I want to play without feeling guilty about all the unplayed games I own! - Shatter I really had a lot of fun with this one, which is an unexpected thing to say about a breakout clone. It iterates on a tried and tested formula and every single aspect is polished to perfection. Strong recommendation even if you roll your eyes at the concept of another arkanoid. Killer OST. - TF2 Why can’t I quit you? Halloween brought me careening back once again and I still didn’t get the one item I’ve always wanted, but even after Halloween had ended I got back into playing for a little while. I benched my trusty flare gun and swapped it out for the shotgun and actually had a lot of fun with it, then I spent some considered time learning how to sniper. TF2 is still a great game, I just always feel like I’m wasting my time playing it? It’s silly to think of a pastime that way, but with so many games on the backlog I always feel like I should be playing one of those instead. Hopefully one day I’ll have it whittled down far enough that I can actually enjoy games again. - Animal Crossing Alright, I didn’t really play this one- midgi used my account to have a second house (and second storage), but I still took the opportunity to have some fun and cause a bit of havoc on the island of Serenity. - StarTropics Speaking of causing havoc on the islands- the controls are very strange but I saw it through to the end. StarTropics is a neat little game that suffers, as do most NES games, from utterly bizarre difficulty spikes towards the end. Still worth a run if you can stomach that or have save-states. - Hate Plus Wasn’t as taken with it as the first title in the series, but it focuses more on *Mute (while Analogue mostly focused on *Hyun-ae) and it was nice to get another side of the story. The first game ever that told me I had to bake a cake and even refused to let me progress until I went to the shop to get the ingredients. - FF1 (FCC) Same as the Four Job Fiesta, except in FF1 this time! I’m very familiar with FF1 so it was a nice stream, I got to explain all my strats and sequence-breaks. - Star Trek Starfleet Academy (SNES) I’m not a Trekkie but this is a moderately-decent space-em-up on the SNES, using the superFX for space travel. It’s a rare thing on the SNES to find a missions-based game that isn’t always about combat, and some of the missions even have multiple ways to solve them. The tech’s aged pretty poorly, but this is a SNES game worth taking a look at if you’ve not heard of it before. - Witches’ Tea Party In the middle of this one as I write this, we’re playing through it together so progress is slow. Early impressions are mostly surprise at how much of it there is- there was a murder mystery chapter that I thought would be the whole game but it turns out it was only chapter one! They do some real neat stuff with RPG Maker. Good to see. - Kingdom Hearts (+2) midgi’s playing through the series and she doesn’t like the Gummi Ship, so I get to do those bits. It’s basically Starfox but you get to build your own ship, it’s awesome. - Pokemon Fire Red Randomiser Nuzlocke! This is still on-going as I write it. We just got to Cerulean City and crossed Nugget Bridge. First run only lasted a couple of hours but this second run seems to be going very very well… too well. We shall see what awaits us! - Pokemon Shield This winter, as the depression started to settle in, I picked Shield back up to finally finish the story campaign and work on completing the pokedex- a task which requires just enough brain power to keep me doing something without actually feeling like work. Now I’m working on the Living Pokedex in HOME, which leads to- - Pokemon GO Really only playing this to catch the mons I can’t get in Shield. It’s not like I’m actually going anywhere, you know? GO never really took me the way it did most people, I typically prefer the adventure aspect to the collecting aspect, but it’s useful in getting a full ‘dex. - Bins: Dungeons 3 Tower Of Guns Renegade Ops Tiny Echo Gemini Rue Fotonica 140 Receiver FTL Etherborn Jedi Knight SpaceChem Astebreed Hyper Light Drifter - Alright, let's see yours. And what's your Game Of The Year?

[teal-crown]

Mitty's unprofessional guide to Menus in RPGMakerMV

Hello guys, Mitt here!

I'm here to give you guys some tips and tricks on how to tackle menus in RPG Maker MV! This will be another one of those big posts yeee!

Disclaimer: I'm far from being a good programmer, but I've learned a few things from trial and error, and I hope my tips will help anyone out there!

I'll also explain exactly how I did Marinette's current menus, and give you a few tips on how you can make something different from a simmilar concept.

I would like to first quickly mention the “Luna Engine”, which came out a while ago. I have never tried it, but it looks handy, and might be the way to go if you're willing to spend a few monies. I can't really give any advice on it though, so do your research first.

This post will be divided in 3 parts:

1. Evented Menus - Common technique, practice makes perfect, try new things.

2. Marinette's Menu - Combination of specific plugins.

3. Making your own menu

So let's get into it!

1.Evented Menus

I figured I would talk about these here!

There are many ways to go about evented menus in any version of RPG Maker. It’s usually quite easy to adapt the method from diferent engines.

Sadly, I'm not very skillful with evented menus, so I can’t directly teach you how to build cool shenanigans, but I remember I made a very simple one for one of Marinette’s previous builds by following some tutorials. These might give you a heads up on how to start with interactable image buttons/ image based layout: [1][2][3][4]

After you get the hang of the mechanics, just start experimenting!

- MV has some performance issues, so it's important to fix those as well when using this technique (or similar) to avoid blinking pictures. There are some preloading plugins out there, but you can also manually load pictures beforehand.

- You can get plugins to the mix to make the job easier. (there are for example plugins that let you call events like they were common events, and another one that lets you assign common events to keyboard keys etc.)

- It's important to practise with dummy menus in projects, mess around with variables, conditions and pictures, and have a ton of patience. This is how you learn to make fancier stuff.

- It's better to pull off this kind of menus in shorter games, otherwise it can get really confusing when it comes to certain mechanics you might want to implement. Be cautious when deciding on making an evented menu for a longer game. (I’m primarily refferencing a fully evented items menu)

- If you find a developer with a really amazing menu out there, it's always nice to ask if it's evented, as you might get some tips from them! A few devs in the discord group are very skillful with evented menus of all kinds, so keep an eye out for them!

- If you just want to event the main menu, use the following script calls to call the other scenes:  (Also check out this helpful list)

SceneManager.push(Scene_Item); //Opens Items scene

SceneManager.push(Scene_Save); //Opens Save scene

SceneManager.push(Scene_Load); //Opens Load scene

SceneManager.goto(Scene_Title); //Goes to title

SceneManager.exit(); //Closes the game

The point is, you can do nearly everything (and sometimes better!) with events, as you can do with plugins. All it takes is a lot of patience and practise.

Marinette's current menus could’ve definetely been made with events to have animations and nifty details, but the approach I took was way simpler for me, personally, since I don't have much experience with detailed evented menus, especially when we go into the items, options, save... I honestly have no clue on how to make all those features work properly yet. It would be nice to study the subject one day, though.

2. Marinette's menu

This is the part where I talk about our menu!

- I started by making a few mockups, which are just images with concepts for menus, from which I posted some in a previous post.

I knew I wanted to keep the map behind the menu visible, preferably either with the default MV blur effect or darken the screen a little. I also knew I wanted to be able to use the items from the menu since the begining.

For both the items menu and the main menu, I used a combination of different plugins.

-Soulpour777's "Horror Menu Customizer" to draw out the simple options in the main menu, replacing the default ones. I also made a plugin myself, with heavy help from an online tutorial, that added an invisible window on the top left to center the image.

-Jiffy's "Grid Inventory" to make the item menu's layout.

-Nelderson's "Replace window with Picture" to draw out the images attached to each window. This was the only plugin that I found that worked with transparent images. Be mindful though, some windows overlap, and the images are centered on the top left of each window/ box. If I remember correctly, though, the "Menu Backgrounds" by SumRndmDde is also a good option to do this, but it turns transparency into black, which didn't work for Marinette. Also, disable the game's textbox frame unless you want it to be drawn on top of the images.

-Finally, SumRndmDde's "Super Tools Engine" was used to move around and delete certain windows/boxes that got in the middle of the layout I wanted initially. Basically it edits the boxes’ placement on previously made menus, like the grid items' menu and the main one.

This is how I went about the current menu, and it works wonders! ahaha

Even though I still have some images to finish for it, the layout is final for the most part.

Now...

3. Making your own menu

This is where you'll make a menu of your own!

The reason I explained Marinette's menu like that, is because you can use a simmilar combination of plugins to get any layout you want, with a little searching! Using this kind of approach makes it honestly easier for people like me who...sadly haven't learned how to code yet, but are eager to play around with it.

The first step would be to sketch out some mockups, having in mind the plugins that are available to you. There are a few instances where features you might want are harder to pull off yourself without knowing how to code for being extremely specific. An example of this is menus which open moving menus on the side or something like that.

This is an example of that kind of menu:

This one would probably work best with eventing, if you don’t know how to code.

Be aware of your own limitations, but try to innovate!

With all this in mind, the steps to make a menu would be:

1. Pick a plugin (or just use the default?) that draws out a layout that you can edit with the Super Tools Engine. There are numerous plugins out there that do this, so it isn't hard to find one! Look for cool features in those plugins! Here, have a bunch

2. Edit that plugin with the Super Tools Engine to rearrange the windows or remove any you don't want.

3. Use Nelderson's "Replace window with Picture"or SumRndmDde 's "Menu Backgrounds" to attach images to each part of the menus, like a puzzle. Might require some trial and error, screenshot the window to get it right a little more easily.

Aaaand that's it! You can probably change the text or replace it with images as well, but that calls for more plugin hunting.

Try to mix and match plugin features, ask for the help of coders and be patient! It won't be that much of a headache, and you'll be happy and relieved after finishing a pretty different menu! Also, go past page 1 in google ahaha

If you get stuck on something for too long, leave it and come back later when you have evolved your skillset like the programmer pokemon you are!

I hope this little guide helps anyone out there, don’t be afraid to contact me if you need help. I’ll try to help if I can!

Thank you so much for reading, I’ll see you guys later!

-Mitty

[metalgearkong]

Hollow Knight - Review (Switch)

10/18/19

Developed by Team Cherry, released February 2017

I am shamefully late to this party. Hollow Knight was shown to me by a friend a couple years ago when I was visiting Oregon, the place I grew up, from California, the place I now live. I liked the art style and atmosphere, but I didn’t play it long enough to fall in love with it. Only recently did I download Hollow Knight from the Nintendo eShop because it was so cheap, and I had heard so many good things about it. This began a deep appreciation and passion that grew on me quickly. After finally finishing the core game (not including DLCs) and getting at least one of the three endings, I can safely say that Hollow Knight has become one of my favorite games of all time.

We play as a little bug-like creature, who has come to explore the Hallownest, an expansive underground abandoned bug kingdom with ancient secrets and treasures to discover. The story is intentionally vague for most of the game, and even by the end, you likely won’t fully grasp the story and lore elements without some help or further research. It’s not that the clues aren’t there, it’s just a giant puzzle to analyze, something I enjoy doing. The lack of constant story revelations didn’t bother me, because Hollow Knight has an ongoing sense of mystery and wonder. As you delve deeper and deeper into the dark, dangerous, and macabre locations within Hallownest, you’re never really sure what’s going on, but the game is so well designed, you’re constantly inspired to press on and discover what’s around the next corner.

Hollow Knight can be succinctly described as a Metroidvania with a bit of Soulslike mixed in. This game is a combination of some of the most successful trends of gaming, rolled into a masterfully executed new package. The Hallownest consists of several interconnecting locations that have a distinct theme, and serve some sort of function of the ancient kingdom. Each of these areas have their own music, enemies, color scheme, and environmental hazards. The in-game map is extremely helpful, showing you where you are, shaping each area, and giving you the ability to place markers on the map with different colors so you can invent your own legend and remember where certain things are. 

Many times and obstacle will be found in the corners of each of these biomes, letting you know that once you’ve discovered more abilities, that these are places you’ll want to revisit. I had a blast pulling out lined notebook paper and drawing each of these areas as I went along. The game won’t show you the true size of each location until you find Cornifer, a friendly cartographer bug who is also exploring the Hallownest. Buying his map interprets an entire area for you. I had fun comparing my sketches and drawings to the actual map shape and size in-game. I also enjoyed scribbling notes about things when I needed new abilities, or just an interesting location that might have story relevance at some point. The game certainly doesn’t hold your hand and has enough confidence in players not to talk down them.

Team Cherry has some seriously brilliant game design elements built into the combat system. For example, when you slash with the nail and hit an enemy, it pushes you and the enemy back ever so slightly. The combat has a weight to it, and when you get hurt, the audio fades out briefly like you’ve just stood next to a gunshot or explosion. It really feels punishing to get hit, even if you’re not near dying, and makes you want to pay attention and do better. Aspects like this, and other gameplay nuances, make you have to think twice when performing simple actions. 

If the player dies, you are returned to the nearest bench you sat on (a save point). As you play the game, you collect Geo from fallen enemies. Geo is the currency of this game, and can be used to buy Cornifer’s maps, open fast-travel stations, and purchase Charms (upgrades) at stores. If you die, you wake up on the last bench yoh sat on. Then, you have to go back to the place you died in order to collect your Geo. If you die before retrieving your Geo, that Geo disappears forever. This is a very Soulslike element, and leads to a lot of suspense as you try your best not to perish again before regaining your lost currency. My advice is to buy things when you can, because saving up Geo has no purpose other than risking losing it all if you die twice. I’ve lost thousands of Geo making this very mistake. Luckily, the place you died is shown on the map, and a certain musical tune will alert you that you are approaching the right spot.

Another Soulslike aspect of the game are the difficult boss battles. This is actually one of the only elements of the game I didn’t fully enjoy. Some bosses aren’t too hard, but most of them are very challenging, and require a dozen attempts to defeat. Some people really get off on this, but not so much me. The frustration of being killed by a boss a bunch of times doesn’t equal the payoff of finally defeating it. Some bosses are optional which is convenient, but most of them also contain an item that greatly helps you in the game, or gives you an ability which is required to access major areas. I know that everyone says “difficult but fair” for these sorts of things, but some bosses only start feeling like a fair fight once you’ve died in battle with them a handful of times to learn their moves -- then it begins feeling like a fair fight. I dreaded each time I came upon a new boss because I knew I’d be stuck for the next while trying to defeat it, instead of exploring, which is what I enjoy the most.

The music of Hollow Knight plays a big part in its atmosphere. Each area has its own distinct music, but more than that, the music is a terrific addition for defining the tone of each area or scenario. It mostly seems to consist of string and piano, with other instruments sometimes mixed in. Overall the game has a very somber tone, much of it attributed to the music. However, some areas feel more whimsical or lighthearted. Places like Fog Canyon or Greenpath have a less threatening vibe because, story-wise, they are in a much less threatening location. Plenty of enemies and challenges are still found in these areas, but the game does a brilliant job using music to establish mood and even help with bit of storytelling.

Hollow Knight is a fantastic, elegant, beautiful game. The fact that this is Team Cherry’s very first official commercial release is beyond impressive and inspiring. This is truly a triple-A title disguised as an indie game. How is it that this 2D Metroidvania is just as addictive and feels just as expansive as Skyrim? Even feeling like I was being extremely thorough (but not referring to guides) I only completed 71% of the game after 32 hours of playing. To truly get the best endings, and uncover the entire backstory and lore elements, I could see myself spending at least 10 more hours uncovering this game’s secrets. I look forward to returning to this game, not only for the DLC that has already released, but to try again at discovering all of the locations, abilities, and story the game offers for dedicated fans. Hollow Knight is one of the best games ever made, and I can’t wait to see what Team Cherry does next.

9.5/10

[lynxgriffin]

Straight Outta Monster Narnia

HEY HEY I WASN’T EXPECTING TO DO THIS EVER AGAIN BUT WE’RE BACK

I’M GONNA PLAY ME SOME DELTA RUNE HERE

THOUGHTS AS I GO! ARE UNDER THE CUT!

Here we GOOOOOOO~!

Survey Program! Nice! Ominous!

I am here yes!

Truly excellent dude

OH MAKING A VESSEL NOW what are we Xehanort

NEATO I can pick Chara or Frisk heads or others…

Let’s do someone new. This kinda longish hair head.

STRIPES FOR DAYS! Longish sleeves, methinks

The legs are almost all the same LMAO

This is so friggin creepy I l OVE IT

Favorite food is PAIN nah it’s soft

BLOOD TYPE D. D for DOGGO

You have been gifted with kindness, not-XionFrisk

Pain AND seizure. Kinda wonder what happens if you say no tho…

But I don’t want to start over so let’s go with yes

OH FRIGGIN BUUUUURNED BY THE GAME, HAHAHA

Hi Toriel, you’re looking nice!

That’s a lot of friggin trophies over there

Also Kris, you need some eyes

RELIGIOUS SKA

So we have overachieving perfect child and sad boring child, okay

Awww Gerson wrote a book! How neat

It’s only you…..FOR NOW!!!!

It just isn’t home without white fur stuck in the drain, is it

CHAIRIEL’S RETURN!!!!

Also there’s some weird graphical flicker going on when I move and I wonder if it’s not because I’m playing full screen here

“Spray For The Boys, Flamin’ Hot Pizza Flavor” Damn Toby I missed your incredible sense of humor

DOES TORIEL USE PET SHAMPOO please say yes

ASRIEL’S AT COLLEGE AND UNDYNE’S A POLICE MONSTER, PERFECT

PROFESSOR ALPHYS IMMA GET AN A+ IN ANIME CLASS

DAMN who do I pick as my partner

Like…I really want Temmie…but also Snowdrake…

Random snake is also very good…

Ahhh I see this is gonna be pre-determined

HAHAHAHA FUCKIN BURNED AGAIN BY THIS HORRIBLE BLUE DUCK

Thank you cool snake I love your origin story

Oh this reindeer girl is very cute

MOTHA. FOKKIN. SUSIE

I instantly love her, goodbye

Oh Alphys you’re so not good at putting anyone in trouble

I JUST REALIZED TEMMIE HAS HER EGG ON THE DESK

Susie are you eating chalk

Oh sheet I like Susie less now

GAH DAMN THIS ESCALATED QUICKLY

Susie, Kris doesn’t even HAVE a face

Haha totally cut off my answer there

Hmm. I sense…a theme here.

Wow this really is putting on the restrictive aspects here

Now that’s a spooky face

Oh it ain’t gonna be that simple, mean girls

Well, this sure seems like an underground! Also…Kris is green now, okay

Hi there creepy waving things!

To reiterate: this is soooo creepy AND I LOVE IT

Puzzles! We got puzzles again! CREEPY PUZZLES

Whelp, we found Susie, just kinda hiding out in a…dead dust bunny thingie

LOL so much for a party member following you around

Well this is a new and interesting take on the bullet hell mechanics

Such interesting and different architecture

THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESSSSS

Yes let’s take a sudden HARD SHIFT into Final Fantasy

THE QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS that was an MST3K ep you know

About like…Leonardo da Vinci actually. Except he was a whiny bitch

LMAO Susie just “nah destroying the world sounds neat”

JOKESTER SANS GLIDES IN A FLAMING TRICYCLE SURE WHY NOT

VERY DIFFERENT COMBAT SYSTEM

“Dunno how I got an ax but like, that’s cool”

CAN’T WAIT FOR THE REMIXES OF THIS BATTLE MUSIC OKAY

Dunno if there’s a pacifist version of this game but I stick to tradition so I’m gonna try it

RALSEI. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

THE POWER OF FLUFFY BOYS SHINES WITHIN YOU it sure as hell does, game

The heckin heck Ralsei is so cute

Yup yup we gonna try pacifist this first time!

“If you’re reading this…I guess you’re dead.” Fair enough.

Gaster noises when trying to use the cell phone, hmmmm…

It’s an inverse papou fruit!

Susie just up and attacks this cake, all right

Battle is cool but it’s gonna take some getting used to, think I accidentally used both of my items

YOUR SENSE OF DIRECTION WON’T SAVE YOU NOW

“It’s like a dinner made out of three glasses of milk” Ralsei you’re SO CUTE

Now to see if TP stays leveled between battles…

“I thought you were running away.” / “Yeah, I finished.”

Fugdamn I want —pictures of Spiderman— remixes of this music ON MY DESK TODAY

FRIGHTENING FANFARE

Damn that puzzle still is tricky

Gah damn that was hilarious but also terrifying

We have the power of FLUFFY BOYS and MEAN GIRLS we are UNSTOPPABLE

Ohhh so that’s what the heart outline does!

Now that is a coooool cat and I like him already

Awww I don’t have enough money for the spooky sword

Susie just roastin’ everybody left and right

THEY GOT BARRY

These mechanics continue to be interesting and a bit more complex

“Damn, didn’t get to impale myself” I’m sure you’ll get your chance Susie

It’s really interesting how we’re basically group-battling to PREVENT the tank from beating the crap out of everyone

Oh now that light trick is weird

They keep throwing the usual chess and playing card guys at us and somehow I’m Suspicious

Is that a bucket. ARE Y’ALL HOMESTUCKING AT ME AGAIN

LMAO did Susie call us the Fuckboys or something

Oh, the Shit Squad, I guess!

THE POWER OF THE SHIT SQUAD SHINES WITHIN YOU HECK YESSSS

“I, Mr. Society, am far too intelligent to ever bow down to such a tyrant!” Hmmm.

Oh, it’s Sir Lion Plateface again

L E G S

THE BOSS JUST DRINKS A GALLON OF MILK THAT’S FINE

Well Ralsei got kinda junked there but WE DEFEATED SIR LION PLATEFACE

Cakes…are also my enemy…

Yeeeeah kinda saw that one coming

Susie I get the feeling you’re not going to enjoy being a bad guy either

Dang son I have no clue what’s going on anymore WE JUST HAD SOME SALSA IN A TREE STUMP

This jack’s got my number

That sure is a three-eyed three-headed cat thingamajig

Awww I like Clover

“All proceeds go to kicking your ass” CAN I USE THIS LINE IN REAL LIFE PLEASE

Hot damn we just squeaky hammered our broken cake into ULTIMATE CAKE

Why does a sweet little boy have a mustache indeed.

Create a machine to thrash your own ass, nice

It’s my beautiful death laser duck! Tops in GUN’S

Man Susie and Lancer are just having the time of their lives here

Finally, respect for pinecone-eaters!

Awww Susie, are you actually starting to worry about someone who respects your eating of chalk and pinecones

Oh thank goodness, got through that maze thing

Yes, finally, it’s our DUCK TANK LASER

Why does it say Tuna on it

“Your design sucked so we blew it up” This is like that one Berlin tour guide I had

GANGED UP ON THEM WITH KINDNESS, HA

Whelp, back to telling enemies that Susie will kick them in the shins I guess!

YES LANCER JOIN THE SHIT SQUAD

OMFG THAT FAAAAACE WHAT IS THAT FACE

Hey we’ve got a full Final Fantasy team now! Neat

STOOL FORME

I like how Lancer just sliiiiiides around outside the party instead of walking with

Hmmm well that friendship feeling didn’t last long

You done got locked in the dungeon

Yup sure did eat that jail moss two minutes in

HUH, we’re controlling Susie now

In which choices do not matter…

SUSIE’S FOKKIN PISSED

And we can’t control her actions…but why controlling the human soul?

A pair of eyes got arrested?! What IS the world coming to?!!

Oh dear, we found a bunch of kings in baby jail

Why are these filthy cages so happy-looking

Awwww Susie joined the party for realizes!

So, this about final boss point for this business?

Why are you guys just sitting on a pile of loot

And just who is this sassy lost child?

BAAHAHAHAAA

HECK YEAH WE GET TO FLIRT AGAIN

I am now BED INSPECTOR yes

Hello again fancy blue boy

“Can…can we see it” / “No.”

This sure is a jammin party with CLUB MUSIC OH HO HO HO

Awww he put his bicycle to bed

‘Welcome to my shop, you ungrateful worms” HELL YEAH

I do not wisheth to hear your MP3s! I would rather listen to the sweet song of Death!

Prepare for a battle with…WHATEVER THIS IS!!!!

JUST FUGGIN CHUCK RALSEI AT SIR LION PLATEFACE, I LIKE IT

Six dollars, for all of that?! Geez

WHELP this looks like final boss time…

Hiiiii there Lancer

Oh dang is gettin serious now

Oh woooow that’s…someone’s fetish right there

HOKAY that was tricky but! Having the defense abilities certainly helped with pacifism through that…

Despite ending this peacefully, I don’t think this scene is gonna end on a happy note…

W H E L P

DAYUM that face from Susie!!

Awwww poor Ralsei

We only have BAD-byes WUAH WUAH WUAAAH

DAWWW lil’ Asriel-lookin dude with glasses (and YES I see that anagram there)

LMAO Susie’s face

EPIC ROCK MUSIIIIIC

Also I’ve really been enjoying the color effects

Awww look at this epic adventure you two had in the closet

So basically we went to Monster Narnia, neat

Awww Susie likes Monster Narnia

Oh no we worried Toriel! THE WORST

LIBRARBY

YOU STUDY THOSE HOT DEMON COMICS FOR COLLEGE, TEMMIE

Hiiii Toby you busy makin’ something!

ALPHYS NO, YOU BETRAY MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE

OFFICE UNDYNE, DOn’T ARREST ME

I like reindeer girl’s rowdy hospitalized dad

PARTY ANIMAL TORIEL CONFIRMED

I like how there’s just a poster on the wall in this room that reads PAIN

The police tape simply reads NGGAAAAAHHHHH!

Good grief there’s SO MUCH STUFF TO EXPLORE HERE BUT I HAVE TO KEEP GOING

Snowdrakes don’t have arms, oh no!!!

“Does it hurt to be made of blood??” ….Yes. Yes it does.

HIIIIIIIII SANS

Woah woah woah WOAH WOAH SANS

Everyone is here! Even Ice Wolf!

Yes I’ll take a Double Ice Pizza you weirdos

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD IT’S BURGERPANTS

10 OUT OF 10 GAME NOW

HIS FACES!!!! “C H I C K S”

That was brilliant, Burgerpants, thank you for existing

Catty!!! Hey where’s Bratty!

Noooo you gotta be besties with Bratty!

Brother Doug…?

Oh no, Mettaton, come out and talk to us!

ASGORE, HELLO

OMG Asgore hugs

Soul flowers….???

Awwww got some flowers for Toriel

THE GAY GUARDS IN THEIR GAY FLANNEL, YAY

It’s so late but I can’t stop until I’ve talked to LITERALLY EVERYONE

Thaaaat’s politics! …Rarely.

Comes to church for the fruit juice, sounds about right

DOG GRAVE, NO

Let’s go into the woods…what could go wrong…

Why can’t I get into the creepy shed…

Well, I think I got everything, so let’s go home now…

ASRIEL MAINS YOSHI IN SMASH CONFIRMED

Awwww Toriel is not big on Asgore’s bouquet!

OKAY decided to go to sleep here.

…Well that didn’t work out great

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

UUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHAT??????????

WHAT????????????

WHAT?????????

HAHA I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE FUK HAPPENED IN ALL OF THIS BUT UH. WHEN’S CHAPTER TWO??

THAT SURE WAS A HELL OF A THING

No really Toby please WHAAAAAAATTT

OKAY I HOPE I DIDN’T MISS ANYTHING IMPORTANT BYYYYEEEE

[kaylieishere]

Bubblegum & Cigarettes- Chapter Four

It’s here!! Please enjoy!

Read it on ao3.

Marinette had begun spending more time with Adrien. Their whole friend group had been hanging out more frequently, now that Adrien was back in Paris. But in particular, Mari seemed to keep him company most often.

They went out for coffee, lunch, he took her on tours of his father’s company building, and even to photoshoots with him.

Marinette thought back a lot on the debilitating crush she had had on him when they were younger. Adrien was still quite handsome, worthy of being crushed on, but she found herself missing Luka most days. Which was why her and Adrien had become such buddies over the past few weeks.

Alya was pregnant, and also dealing with her own job, so she didn’t have much time to devote toward Marinette’s boy drama. Luckily for her, Adrien was more than willing to fill that void, and give advice where he could. Plus he liked catching up on where life had left her.

“If you would let me put in a good word for you, you could leave that little boutique you’re in, drop out of school, and work for my dad’s company.” It was the third time Adrien had brought that up.

Mari rolled her eyes as always and continued to eat her lunch. “I want to finish my degree.”

“But you don’t need to.”

“That’s not the point. After I finished lycée , I took time off, traveled, drew, did some unpaid internships. But I always knew that I would get a degree.” Marinette looked over at Adrien, who watched her intently. “I watched everyone start university two years before me, and I feel so behind. But I did this to myself. I wanted real world experience.” She laughed and dropped her head into her hand. “All I got was heartbreak, a tan, and a few good anecdotes.”

“And you got Luka out of it.” That made her look up. “You saw the world. You sketched beautiful designs. That’s quite a bit more life lived than any of our other friends.”

Marinette smiled at him. Somehow this boy— man knew just what to say to make her feel one hundred times better. It was moments like these that reminded her why she had been so in love with him so long ago. If she hadn’t completely given her heart away to Luka, she could see a world where her and Adrien would be together.

Adrien had made it his job to help Marinette find the courage to tell Luka how she feels for him. During the few weeks that they had hung out, she’d also seen more of Luka. Whether it was at a gig, or inviting him over after classes so they could play video games. She was surprised to find that Luka seemed to want to come over. Come over for more than having sex and ice cream. Of course when she said as much to Adrien, he rolled his eyes and lectured her again on how Luka “so obviously” had feelings for her as well.

“You two are so oblivious to the fact that you both are head over heels for the other.”

They were sat on her couch, playing a shooter game, a bowl of popcorn between them.

“But how do you know that? I can barely tell how he's feeling and I’ve slept with the guy!”

Adrien dug his hand into the bowl. “Probably because I’m not emotionally invested.” He munched on a handful of popcorn, thinking over his next words. “I think, when we’re the ones involved in the relationship, it’s harder for us to see the little things. Unless, of course, we’re looking for them.”

Marinette stared at him, allowing him to get a shot off on her in the game. “What do you mean?”

He paused the game, laying his controller down on the couch. “Things like… holding your elbow in the middle of a crowd because he doesn’t want to lose you, looking at only you when we’re surrounded by friends. Buying ice cream before coming over to have sex, then instead spending the night talking and cuddling.”

Marinette felt her face go hot. She’d never really thought hard over that night. But Luka had stayed over, just because she asked him to. Maybe she avoided it because she didn't want to get her hopes up? Or, she worried she had pressured him into staying, and he was too nice to refuse.

“How often has he stayed over and nothing’s happened? Sexually.” Adrien continued to eat popcorn.

She closed her eyes. In the year that her and Luka had been sexual, it was a more recent development that they wouldn't actually have sex every time he came over. A buzz went off, unnoticed by either of them.

“The first time he just spent the night, was two months ago, the ice cream night. And since then? I would say at least two of the three or four nights we spend together, nothing happens.”

“Luka’s here four nights a week?” He had finally stopped eating.

“Recently, yeah. It used to be once every couple weeks, then about once a week, unless we were busy.” Mari’s turn to munch on the salty snack.

“And this new pattern of sleeping over started after the ice cream night.”

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded, mouth full.

He shook his head, his blonde hair flopping oddly from a couple weeks growth. “What all happened that night? Something must've happened to make him so suddenly change how he treats your relationship.”

“You think he didn’t start liking me ‘till that night?”

“Not at all. I think he's liked you since the first time Juleka dragged you over to their house.” His hand grabbed for more popcorn. “Did anything else happen?”

She shook her head. “Nothing happened that night, besides me asking him to stay.”

“That night? Well, what about the next day?”

“We woke up, took a shower, then I got a call from Juleka. I told you this.” Marinette was feeling grumpy, probably because she hadn't had anything to eat besides popcorn for hours.

“There has to be something! Something that made him realize YOU might have more than just sexual feelings toward him.” Adrien sounded lost, like he was trying to put together a puzzle with too many pieces and no guide.

She grabbed her phone, intending to order some dinner.

“After I got off the phone, he was outside with me, smoking a— Oh no.”

Adrien looked over at her curiously. “What?”

Mari was starting to panic, so she threw her phone to him before jumping off the couch.

An unread message:

bringing dinner. still got ice cream?

Time stamp read 15 minutes ago.

“See? No sexual connotations, not asking for anything in return. He so likes you!” Adrien watched as she flew around the living room, cleaning up the popcorn bowl and their glasses, turning the TV to music and then fixing her hair in the mirror.

She turned to him slowly, her eyes wide. “You have to go.”

“Why? I'm hungry too.”

She flailed her hands at him. “I thought you wanted me to tell him how I feel? I can't do that with you here.”

He stood stiffly, stretching out his back. “I still have a mystery to solve.”

Mari made a frustrated noise in her throat. “I cried! I got off the phone with Juleka, I thought about our predicament, and he saw me cry. If anything, that should’ve driven him away.”

Adrien didn't say anything, just strode over to grab his shoes and jacket. There was too much going on, he couldn't delve more into her situation right then. It would have to wait. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

“You’ll be fine.”

She let a breath out very slowly. Then she nodded.

Marinette pulled the door open, her apartment light pouring out onto a tall, lean figure, dressed completely in black, his hand raised to knock on the door. His eyes danced between the two of them, Mari horrified and Adrien smirking.

Luka frowned.