#the world's hardest game

[msaw]

list of creatures id cradle like a baby

[eeveekitti]

day 8: saint

may the void care for you well, dear friend

[bug-juices]

Oh Alexander, you silly goose.

[astridthevalkyrie]

"Here's your tea, weirdo," you greet Levi sweetly, with a kiss to his cheek. He takes the cup from you, pinching your thigh in retribution from your sass as you sit down. You pout, seeing his open books. "Did you start without me?"

"You went to get drinks first," Levi says, deadpan.

"Um, for you!"

"No, for you," he nods at the much-larger-than-his cold drink in your hands. "I was just a lucky bonus."

"SMH, you do something nice for your boyfriend and this is how he treats you."

"Don't say keyboard abbreviations in conversation, freak." His eyes scan over your laptop when you open it, nodding approvingly at how long your essay is as you scroll to the bottom of the page. "How's that coming?"

"Ugh, it's not."

"It's hard?"

"No," you groan, "I just keep putting it off. I have the World's Hardest Game open on a different tab and whenever I'm stressed I just try my best not to let those idiot blue balls hit my precious square instead of working. I only have three levels left and I've hit five thousand deaths so far!"

Someone else in the library laughs, and both you and Levi look up. A scowl settles on his face.

“Good job,” he says pointedly, “I’m proud of you.”

You let out a little laugh, even as your heart warms with the praise. “Don’t hurt yourself with those lies, baby.”

“I don’t like anyone thinking they can laugh at you,” Levi seethes, the part of his forehead where his brows meet scrunching together in such a way that makes you wanna kiss the tension right off his face. “And I’m not lying. That game’s hard as shit.”

Love you, you think dreamily. All the dreariness of the day and all the work seem to melt away when he’s the one advising you through it, when he’s the one kissing your temple every time you answer a question right, when he’s the one holding you to his chest as you rant about the day’s troubles on his lap.

But you can tell him that when you’re in private. For now, plenty is conveyed by you just bringing his hand to your lips and kissing his knuckles. Levi’s hand closes over your thumb, and he brings your hand down to hold against him, seemingly content with this to go back to reading, even though you need your hand to type.

Eh. You’ve been procrastinating all week. What’s five more minutes?

And you can play the game you definitely haven’t mastered with one hand anyway.

[nilesmoon]

this shot of sawashiro is simply breathtaking to me!!!

like. seeing him crash and burn after hearing that his son has never trusted him, realizing that the chance he took by sending a tip geomijul didn't pay off, that the "miracle" he asked for is too late (just like he is). It truly is something to watch!!

to me, this really is the scene to show how incredibly miserable this asshole is and the cherry on top is how the way he sits is the exact same pose the corpse next to him has got.

[silenzahra]

More Super Mario Bros. Wonder SPOILERS! ⚠⚠⚠

Guys, with all the family stuff I forgot to update you on this! Super Mario Bros. Wonder spoilers below! ⚠⚠⚠

GUYS AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭 I can't believe it yet BUT I DID IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!

Oh. My. GOD. That was HARD. I swear my thumbs hurt when I finally completed this level, but damn, that was so satisfying!!! I'm so happy I finally did it OMG 😭😭😭

This was literally the last level I had left before completing the first eight levels in the Special World, since I completed The Semifinal Test: Piranha Plants Reprise before Climb to the beat.

Therefore, I then gained access to the last two levels of the game!! The Final Test: Wonder Gauntlet was AMAZING, it was also really hard but I managed to complete it after a few attempts and I really loved it! 🤩

And so, here is where I am now! Literally the last level of the whole game! 🤩 I'm SO CLOSE to 100% it! 😭

But yeah, this last level is just as hard as it should be, and also very frustrating 😂 I've already lost like 40 lives on my first attempt, and I can only manage to get to the fifth badge, so I still have a long way to go! I'm taking it as easy as I can and I'm somehow enjoying it? 😂 Not that much though, since every time I manage to complete one badge, I die in the next one and have to start from the last check point and complete the previous badge again 😂

Still, I believe it's a great challenge! I'll obviously continue trying until I'm 100% done with this awesome game, and I have to admit I kinda miss discovering each level and every secret Mario Wonder hides 🥹 I'll let you know in case I complete it, but yeah, the new 2D Mario game has been such a BLAST!! 😭 I've enjoyed every single second of it and I'll definitely replay it at some point! 👏✨

However, as of today, I'm switching to Super Mario 3D World, since I got it yesterday and I seriously cannot wait to try it at last! 👀

See you later, dear friends! 💖

[shokuheshi]

I'm terrible at playing bg3

[alynnl]

Barok van Zieks, I'm honestly beginning to warm up to you, but you really should have known better than to pick up a gun at a crime scene.

[excessive-moisture]

hi. nerd time

I wanted to see how well the Rain World personality modifiers correspond with the Big Five personality dimensions observed in (at least western) humans and some animals.

Scavengers, slugpups and some other creatures have six distinct personality modifiers; aggression, bravery, dominance, energy, nervous, and sympathy. They all have their own effects on creature behaviour.

Some of these traits have significant overlap with personality dimensions used in assessing human personality. Dominance, for example, is actually considered one of the more specific traits that contribute towards extraversion. Other such traits include boldness, which is arguably somewhat similar to bravery.

Another obvious connection to make is the one between the nervous modifier and the personality dimension neuroticism. Neuroticism is sometimes defined as negative emotionality, meaning the tendency to experience and express negative emotions. Out of these emotions, anxiety in particular is one that scavengers with high values of nervous are more likely to express.

The personality dimension of agreeableness overlaps with at least two of the Rain World personality modifiers. Agreeableness consists of traits such as empathy and compassion, so therefore it seems to be in line with the personality modifier sympathy, which makes scavengers less likely to attack the player lethally and more likely to want to help their friends if they're in danger. Another connection could be made between low agreeableness and aggression, a modifier which makes scavengers more likely to attack the slugcat. Antisocial behaviour is a typical sign of low agreeableness observed in human children.

I already mentioned how bravery is somewhat similar to extraversion. However, I think there is a stronger connection to be made between bravery and the personality dimension of openness to experience. Bravery causes scavengers to be more likely to investigate strange noises rather than flee from them, and be less afraid of the slugcat. Openness to experience is defined by similar tendencies.

The personality dimension of conscientiousness does not have an obvious equivalent. This one usually refers to strong self-regulation (and sometimes adherence to societal norms, but this is problematic and irrelevant since we don't get to see much of that in Rain World, anyways). Notably though, conscientious behaviour is likely heavily influenced by the early environment; high levels of conscientiousness emerge if there is little perceived danger of death and triggers long-term reproduction strategies (putting a lot of resources into one's future well-being, having children later rather than earlier in life, etc.). In Rain World, the ecosystem is cruel and there doesn't really exist such security. It makes sense that the creatures would not have many individual differences in terms of conscientiousness.

So out of the Rain World personality modifiers, energy is really the only one that couldn't reasonably be connected to any of the five personality dimensions.

Aside from the individual dimensions overlapping with one another, I also find it interesting that, much like with human personality, Rain World personality also gets easily overshadowed by situational factors. If you spear a scavenger then all its friends will try to kill you, regardless of how high they are in sympathy or bravery. You could easily play the game without ever realizing there's personality differences between these creatures. And from a hypothetical, non-human outsider perspective, humans would probably look the same. :)

Conclusion? I don't know if the devs were even thinking of the theoretical categorizations of human personality when designing the Rain World personality modifiers. If they weren't, then it's quite interesting to see ones that correspond so closely with the Big Five dimensions regardless. If they were? The attention to detail!! Rain World good

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

grrr..... i need.... to write...... LETTERS!!!!!!!! *dozens of objects go hurtling around the room*

[msaw]

wait im supposed to post here? uhhh

have this worlds hardest game doodle dump ig

[dormont]

GIVE IT UP FOR GAY CODEPENDENCY

[ganonfan1995]

okay, I made changes to that rough drabble I wrote for the AU and I think it sounds better??

The night was calm and quiet, with no moon to help illuminate the star studded sky. Sonia, the first queen of Hyrule, walked peacefully along the garden path leading to the courtyard, accompanied by young Zelda - the mysterious girl who had recently arrived at her court and followed closely behind.

"Alright, Zelda, we are alone as you requested. What is it that you wanted to discuss with me in private?" Sonia spoke with gentleness and curiosity and kept her back confidently turned to Zelda, feigning comfort and familiarity with the girl who crept silently into her shadow.

"You are far too trusting," Zelda's words echoed with an unsettling twist, as if an invisible presence whispered through her. With a treacherous glint in her eyes, she took a step forward and revealed a dagger she kept hidden behind her back. With swift movement, she flung the blade towards the unsuspecting queen. However, to Zelda’s surprise, the dagger abruptly stopped before it could reach its intended target, suspended in a moment of frozen time.

Sonia, her composure unbroken, shifted her focus to the youth, who braced herself for the storm of the queen's ire; though Sonia gave no indication of hostility. 

"Oh my, I am surprised to hear you say such a thing. That is quite out of character for the Zelda I know..." Sonia remarked as the youth relaxed and her composure straightened.

"But then you…” The queen said, “You are a puppet of Ganondorf."

The puppet remained silent, even as the true Zelda emerged confidently from behind the pillars that lined the path, revealing herself with an outstretched arm. Verdant eyes greeted the puppets' own, and reflected a cold determination that had been otherwise unseen in the young woman since her arrival in the ancient Hyrule.

"Did you really believe we were that oblivious to your deceit?" Zelda commanded as she took her place next to the queen. 

The pantomime princess did not emote, but stood silently still as Zelda held the blade in suspense. Then, with a flick of her hand, the dagger, which had lingered ominously in midair, now trembled with newfound purpose. It retraced the path it had once taken, and followed its arc with uncanny precision. The hilt of the blade came to a sudden stop mere inches from the puppet's vacant expression. There it lingered for only a moment, then, with a resounding clatter, it fell heavily to the ground at the impersonator-Zelda's feet. For a brief second, Zelda could swear she saw the look of boredom mark the puppets face, but with the passing of an instant, it quickly contorted into a twisted smile; accompanied by an unsettling chuckle. Slowly, the puppet began to dissolve into a murky silhouette then vanished, leaving an eerie void behind.

Sonia and Zelda remained alone in the quiet still of the courtyard path, their presence hauntingly juxtaposing the emptiness that surrounded them. Zelda's eyes darted across her surroundings, scanning every corner, searching for any concealed danger, any deceptive ploy, any lurking snare that meant them harm. Yet, despite her vigilance, she had not detected the presence of the Gerudo King, who watched on silently, concealed by his own magic. 

Devoid of a weapon, and without spilling a single drop of blood, he stood there, his figure sinister, twisted, and consumed by an insatiable greed. Wordlessly, Sonia had collapsed to the ground, with the thud of her body being the only sound to alert Zelda. The Gerudo King had ensnared them both in his cunning trap, and now loomed menacingly over Sonia's lifeless form. His grip clenched tightly around her secret stone, and a monstrous smile ripped grievously across his face.

Zelda rushed to Sonia’s aid, heeding no regard to the words of Ganondorf. "Sonia! No! This is all wrong. It shouldn't have happened. I don't understand... I-I was watching for him," her voice broke and trembled in fear. Her hands were unsteady as she desperately reached out to cling to the motionless body of the queen, as though she were her own mother.

"So, this is the source of your treacherous powers—the secret stone of the Zonai. What a mischievous thing to leave lying around…" Ganondorf mused, examining the small stone held between his fingers.

He took several steps away from the stunned youth and the lifeless figure of her matriarch, and clutched the stone tightly in his fist. He could feel the stone pulse as it began to reshape itself before his very eyes. First, growing twofold, then threefold, and with every beat of its inanimate heart, the once golden hue shifted and began to reflect a deep and dark resentment that lay dormant within himself. Ganondorf felt his own magic – of which he was already a master – warp and grow, and a foreign wickedness emanated from within him. Scarlet ribbons of greed and hatred flowed through his veins, and the moon - now suddenly visible and changed - ascended high above his newly demonic form. An unnerving and bloody light poured down upon the queen and her ward, and the world, once quiet and still, lamented in fear and anguish.

Zelda's eyes widened with realization, and a wave of recognition flooded her subconscious as she finally understood who the entity standing before her truly was. This, she thought, was Ganon. The demon king, the embodiment of calamity and the relentless evil that plagued Hyrule. He who now towered over her with undeniable presence, and he who she had held captive for 100 years.

But, he was different now. Before she considered him no more than a mere animal, a creature driven by instinct and unrest, it was unruly but sympathetic and only reacting by its own true nature. But now, he stood before her as a man. His appearance retained his humanity, as did his ambition and the beating heart in his chest. This realization twisted her own heart with spite, anger and unresolved grief she thought long buried. Zelda clutched Sonia's hand, her eyes locked onto the manifestation of their entwined destinies. She hated him, she hated every fiber of him…Yet, something began to pull at the depths of her heart, it was something that she could not define.

"Sonia!" Rauru's voice came rushing in, and in an instant, he was by Zelda's side, cradling his wife in his arms. She fell limp in his embrace, and the Zonai King of Hyrule, a man rarely showing such empathy, now looked like a lost child to Zelda. How could he have not anticipated this betrayal, she wondered, how could he have not listened to her like Sonia had? Done anything to stop this, to counteract this tragedy. He was king after all, he could have prevented this, all of this! 

"You are too late, Rauru.” The Demon King that took the on form of Ganondorf spoke, breaking the spiral of Zelda’s thoughts. “You took for granted and abused the godlike power that once rested in your hands. Now, do you see the true horror that your actions have unleashed upon this land?" The Demon King's voice echoed, sounding like a choir of a million distorted and unrecognizable voices all at once. "And as for her…” He gestured to Sonia, “she is but the first victim of your arrogance. You and your kind sought to control us, but you shall die here, knowing your true failure."

Rauru snarled and leapt forward, abandoning his place beside Sonia who now rested in Zelda’s lap. His long ears flattened against his head, and his seldom-open third eye fixated on the demonic man who shared his name with the once human king who had knelt before him. 

“Ganondorf!”

Fuelled by her new found frustration, Zelda reprimanded the Zonai King, who had thoughtlessly stood up to contest Ganondorf. “Rauru.” She was stern, “Sonia needs you!”

Rauru snapped back to the present, realizing Zelda was correct: the queen lay motionless, but her death had not yet arrived. Bracing himself, his fingers formed a triangle above his third eye, and Rauru projected a shield of light to protect both his ward and his wife.

Overwhelmed with an incredible power, Ganondorf tested his strength and will against the Zonai King's shield, sending a formidable current of darkness hurdling toward the trio. The blast struck with great force, but the shield stood strong. However, Rauru, despite his own magical prowess, felt his feet beginning to slip on the smooth stone, unable to match the physical strength of Ganondorf.

In a fleeting moment of clarity, Zelda remembered a conversation she had shared with Sonia. The queen's words echoed in her mind, and a realization came flooding in. Zelda gazed down at the once animated and kind face of the now-still queen. She no longer resembled the Sonia she had grown to know and love, but Zelda knew every expression, every kind look, every soft smile, and could hear her words as if she still spoke. "Something only I can do..." she murmured, finally understanding the hidden meaning behind Sonia’s words. "Sonia... I will set things right," she declared between the two of them and placed a tender kiss on the queen's forehead. "I promise, I won’t let any of this happen."

Zelda, fuelled by a sudden surge of courage, stepped out from her place behind Rauru's shield and charged head first towards the Demon King, catching him completely off guard. Her arms felt weak as they wrapped around his waist, but she held her ground, determined to maintain her grip. And in a flash, they vanished from Rauru's sight, leaving behind trails of shimmering dust in their wake.

While she disappeared from Rauru's moment in time, Zelda's own experience remained unchanged. The Demon King struggled and fought against her grasp, but his efforts were meaningless as time began to hold him still. The stone embedded on his forehead dislodged itself, retracing its path to a memory now lost in time. As the king's form shifted from demon to man, Zelda tightened her grip, feeling her own strength grow. "The secret is..." she whispered, her voice now gentle yet tinged with an intimate sadness, "to treat it as if you're drawing out the object's memory..."

Ganondorf continued to change, at first it was subtle, but then he grew shorter, and his face appeared younger. Despite the growing feeling of anger and grief, a sense of tranquility settled over him, as his greed and ambition dissipated with each passing moment. Time unwound between them, enveloping them in a cascade of brilliant light. Zelda, determined and true to her heart, clung dearly to the man she had only come to know through hatred and destiny.

"Then..." her voice quivered with tears, a blend of empathy and loneliness stained every word, as she began to cry. "You ask the object where it has been and how it arrived at its current state." In that moment, she thought she felt him crying too, but his expression remained unchanged in its stoic stasis. Holding on tighter, she pressed her face against his chest, their heights now nearly aligned.

"Finally," she managed to utter, her voice cracked with sobs, "you guide it back to that specific moment in time."

With one last tight embrace, Ganondorf dissolved in her arms, and she watched as his once-twisted form was replaced by the visage of a sorrowful youth, much like her own. They were unrecognizable to one another, no longer foes, but intertwined souls lost in the chaos of destiny and bound by eternity. In the ethereal light of space and time, Zelda lingered, her consciousness fading. She closed her eyes for the last time, blinking away the few remaining tears that stained her face. And with that, a profound emptiness engulfed her, transporting her to another place in time entirely.

Then…She woke up.

[flipperworld]

Chapter 384 - The Great Golshi

[cantofworms]

gonna post a gamerboykarl edit in honour of my boyfriend being on the forbes list one sec :’)

[captainlordauditor]

13 and/or 17! ✨

13. Is it okay to make detailed contingency plans to take down your teammates? (see: Tower of Babel and a million other storylines) Why or why not?

there are a million storylines that involve this but also like. there are also ten million storylines that involve mind control and/or evil doppelgangers who have your teammate's powers so like?? justified asshole?

17. Who is the best civilian love interest, and why?

ALL OF THEM

I've said it before and i am SAYING IT AGAIN civilian love interests are better than hero love interests 9/10 times and the remaining one time is whoever Bruce Wayne is dating this week and therefore doesn't count*. Civilian love interests just go SO HARD thematically, work-life balancey, the rescues the communication necessary to have the relationship in the first place how am i supposed to PICK

okay okay the best civilian love interest, thematically, is Lois Lane. The best civilian love interest in terms of goddamn that's a healthy relationship that is absolutely going to work out long term and i'll happily read about them forever is Beatrice Bennett. And the best civilian love interest in terms of the one who has had the best story that got followed through on, is Linda Park, whose love for Wally West makes me insane (affectionate)

*DC only actually the real 1/10 time is MJ Watson even Bruce has nice civilian LIs