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kachuuyaa · 3 years

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— ELYSIAN’S FUGITIVES.

06072021 ; g.i oneshot , gn!reader , bsd!reader

genre ; angsty fluff ig i dunno???

includes ; WISP!CHUUYA MAKES HIS APPEARANCE :D mentions of death, gore, gods, chuuya being cute (He Squeaks!) chuuya and reader meant to be REAL, literally just a first meeting between aether n you Italics is Japanese

synopsis ; The punishment from the gods is to be sent to Elysian, then banished into a never-ending cycle of paranoia.

author's notes ; U FINALLY MEET AETHER. wisp!chuuya is the best thing I have ever written ever I was mentally squealing because oh my oiguoidsp[';][][21P]2;\.,sdmNXK

You couldn’t count the days you have roamed Teyvat, it has been too long since then. For 60 years (it was 60 years, wasn’t it? You don’t remember anymore), you have not crossed any country’s border, only listening to their seemingly endless musings. You have never been out in the sea, tensity and uneasiness forming in the pit of your stomach whenever so. However, being isolated from the land the gods rule upon, has earned you a title. Your name is being whispered as a warning or a legend like a scripture formed with the wind. Some were afraid of you, while some respected you. It was pathetic, really, how desperate these people were compared to those in Yokohama. There was no point in dwelling in the past, now, was there? Despite receiving unwanted attention by passersby, you paid no attention to those who whispered your name like a mantra, spouting vile, vulgar assumptions about you. You realized-- quickly-- that they only think for themselves, not for the benefit of others. Wouldn’t that be the source of their demise? Well, you don’t linger on trivial topics for too long, it’s only fair for you to care only about yourself in a world you don’t belong in (you know you belong here now, yet you felt as if Elysian was better than this place they call home).

You have heard of the outlander who caught the wind, saving a foreign nation he seemed to have been in once, only, and you have let the news flow from one ear to another. Who were you to care? No one should catch your attention in a world full of insatiable people. Each step made the grass crunch, making your way to the foot of Dragonspine. Chuuya followed suit, and he settled himself on your head. You figured out that he could shapeshift, probably his punishment as well, yet so far, he has only shifted into a bird and a wisp. His wisp form wasn’t as elegant as you may think, a small, hooded figure encased in smoke-colored clothing, resembling the coat he used to wear. On top, there was a small black X-shaped symbol in the middle of his chest. Around his small form were orange particles, that remind you vividly of Chuuya's ability. A little hat, one you were familiar with, was situated on top of his small head. It was the hat he was wearing during his time as a mafioso, you deduced as such. The tiny creature lets out small squeaks of content, nuzzling itself on your head; seems like he thought it was a good pillow. A chuckle of amusement escapes your lips, turning your head around to watch the scenery in front of you. Dragonspine was one of your favorite places to visit during your free time, snow piling on top of another, making the white mountain as beautiful as it is. However, you do not venture into Dragonspine, not wanting to risk your life for creatures who seem to always take your time.

As much as you hate to admit it, you have most likely killed more hilichurls than you ever killed back in Yokohama. The songs of relentless, snow-covered winds never fail to make your unease and worry falter, even for a moment. The glacial scenery of the mountain attracted your attention, especially your first visit here. A few snowflakes settled themselves on your face, melting due to the heat emitting from your body. If you had the chance, should you tell your friends about the scenery, they would love it too, wouldn't they? You know they would, however, how would you know so? They’re gone, and so is your attachment to anything but Chuuya. “Do you like the scenery, Chuchu?” soft taps on your head were his response, indicating that he was displeased with the nickname you gave him. He agreed nonetheless, sitting on the palm of your hand. He squirmed, looking for a more comfortable position, and stilled after a while.

Memories of the past have always plagued your mind, reminding you that you were alone, again. Despite the copious memories you have stored away, none will bring you back to the place you have regarded as your home. For once, you have felt safe, all the while knowing death follows you wherever you go. Death was the dark, hollow cloak you wore while walking the path of dread in your past life, hands coated with the blood of another, and your eyes held the burden you were forced to carry until the day you died. The amount of blood was enough to shatter the dreams children told you to believe in, you were holding on the thinnest thread, one soaked with blood, your blood, reminding you how much you have suffered and how you made others weak, on their knees, while keeping a straight face as you watch the life draining from their faces. You have learned that life was unfair, gods turning a blind eye to the generation you were put in, leading the people to be self-reliant, causing resentment and disrespect to be aimed at those who call themselves “gods”.

Did they even exist? You have heard, and read, tell of what the gods and goddesses have done to provide, to give, and to sacrifice. Did they give up? Were they satisfied with what they have gotten? Has their insatiable lust for approval and desire to fulfill their selfish, carnal desires quenched? Did they only long for what they have desired, using their power to prove themselves better among the world of mortals? Were they not the selfless, kind gods described in the books of old? Nevertheless, you had no respect for the divine. You only had yourself to depend on since the start. You controlled your own death, knowing that when you died, it was time. You could have stopped yourself from fading, though, but you were tired, you let it happen. And though you know that your death will be remembered, not in the history books, but in the Port Mafia, you will be forever remembered.

59 years have passed. There is no time to dwell in the past, all you have is the memories you swear to protect. Your fight with immortality has been futile, leaving you to bask in your own presence for 59 years. That is until Chuuya finally found you. And you? You found him. It wasn’t expected for you to know who he was, a mere spirit cursed by gods above to wander a world he was unfamiliar with. He was stripped of Arahabaki, leaving him with only his outermost ability, “For The Tainted Sorrow”. He didn’t mind, as well, Arahabaki resides within him, giving him a sense of dread, and leaving him with his identity that he can’t seem to solve. Arahabaki has forever stained him as blood stained your hands, giving him scars that will never leave him. In that life, and in the next. He had you, sweet, malevolent, outstanding you. Though he never voiced it out, he felt, well, complete, to say the least. And while feeling detached from not being completely human has affected him far too much, you were there to make him feel-- what did you make him feel, really? He can’t decipher his own feelings as his own identity. In all the years he has roamed this world as an insignificant wisp of the wind, he found himself tangled in another adventure with the “most insufferable partner aside from Dazai”.

Your footsteps were carried by the wind, walking to the City of Mondstadt, again, Chuuya on your shoulder, scanning the area for any enemies or the like. You were currently looking for food, choosing to shop in Mondstadt instead of catching wildlife. Each step has your coat moving from one side to another, boots making the grass crunch in every step. “Ne, Chuuya, do you want to buy pancakes from Mond?” you whispered, voice soft, only for Chuuya to hear. Said wisp only nods its small head, his little hood moving ever so slightly while he nods. Deciding that it would be best for him to rest, you put him in your breast pocket, his little head poking just a bit. Chuuya softly squeaked, nuzzling on the fabric, and opted to rest despite his unsaid protests. But before you could set foot onto the City Of Freedom, a high-pitched voice prevented you from doing so. “Hey!” they said, you whipped your head to the direction you heard it from, spotting a seemingly young-looking traveler, and a floating pixie-- wait.

Isn’t he the honorary knight? You thought to yourself, unconsciously cupping the pocket Chuuya resides in, feeling him squirm when he came in contact with your gloved palm. Instead of giving them a response, you simply stared at them, eyes glimmering with amusement. “Hi.” a simple, short greeting. Although you would prefer to ask the traveler some questions, that wouldn’t be necessary. You were able to decipher every detail easily, too easily, in fact. Aether, however, wasn’t fazed. He was well aware of how they described you, and how notorious you were due to appearance. Scoffing at the assumptions, he looked forward to meeting you. Perhaps he will look forward to his endeavors with you by his side, no? A star sent from Elysian would only brighten the mortal world, cursed with divine power and lonesome memories.

However, you did not know that a simple greeting exchanged on your first day of the meeting would bloom into something much more.

Ah, it seems that the show is starting once again, a different chapter, a different genre.

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rjhpandapaws · 3 years

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Music and Magic among Knights and Thieves

Chapter 2: Trained to Turn Against

Tw: passive suicide mention

Gavin had always wanted to be a knight, though not for the same reason as the other recruits. He had not interest in being in the back pocket of some dusty old family. He wanted to fight. Growing up he had always been told that the best way to prove your strength was to become a knight. Behind the scenes as he grew up the Knights of Nordia had gone from being a testament of strength and prowess to a collection of Noble lap dogs. By the end of their initial round of training it had been made abundantly clear that the only way to make rank was to gain Noble approval. Strength and valor no longer mattered. They were corruption dressed in plated silver armor, and Gavin wanted none of it. His second year of training he collected his things; the few personal items he had and his set of hand axes; and left. There was nothing for him here. He wasn’t going to play by the strings of corrupt Nobles. Of course after such an act of treason he couldn’t stay in Nordia without being hunted. There was a traveler’s town on the coast called Greenwick, if he made that his last known location the assumption would be that he left the continent. Nordia would be content with that and the search would be called off. He was only one knight after all, a full scale search would hardly be worth the effort.

It was in Greenwick that he heard rumors of the disappearance of the first heir to House Arkait. There one day, gone the next. The Arkait family was one of the oldest families in the Kingdom, not one of the original founders, but close. So the news sent the continent into a bit of a shock. Some of the rumors were that he had been killed, others claimed it was a suicide cover up, and there were a few that ventured it was a kidnapping. Gavin hadn’t had the displeasure of working with that particular house of Nobility but he knew they were one of powerful magic. His personal theory was that the little noble-ling had either runaway or gotten himself snatched. Either way, it wasn’t his problem. In his opinion, the fewer stuck up Nobles running around the better. He spent the winter in Greenwick, then come spring he and a guy named Connor caused a shitstorm then went their separate ways. The shapeshifter was headed for The Hero’s Valley, and Gavin followed the road that lead south to see where he wound up. The last he saw of his companion was paw prints in the snow. Gavin didn’t plan to stay in any one place for too long; his trade had become protecting those that could afford his company, and theft. If he became a familiar face in a town the more lucrative half of his trade would be in jeopardy, and he couldn’t have that.

It was four years on, he was in Raven’s Hollow, when he heard the first rumors that the second one had vanished. The official statement by the House was that he had died in the fire that had broken out in the owlery. Which would have been all well and good; but Gavin had a nice burn scar from sparring with him. Silas was a pyromancer, he might have started the fire in the owlery, but Gavin had his doubts about his dying in it. Something that was solidified when he met up with Daniel who was now travelling with a pyromancer after his time in Nordia. Daniel had asked him not to say anything about it, though he never actually introduced his companion. Gavin gave his word because there was honor among thieves after all. They parted ways a few weeks later. There were faint whispers of revolution coming from Nordia. House Arkait only had one heir left, and he was the most dangerous. Rune Magic they said; scrip and ancient magics were at his disposal. They could rise back up as the house of war they had once been. There was an unspoken tension in the air as the continent held its breath. They were on the knife’s edge of history being made and no one knew which way fate would fall.

Then, much like his brothers before him, the last heir disappeared. This time, Gavin was more inclined to believe the rumors of a kidnapping. This noble-ling was a valuable one. The last remaining chess piece of House Arkait was off the board. Fate had fallen in their favor. He was back in Greenwick, enough time had passed that had certainly been forgotten. Gavin had settled at the bar and was reveling in his victory. He had bested a city Knight in Pharaoh as well as a fight he had gained the man’s coin as well as his armor. A disguise of sorts. Drinks had been in order, and he might have had a few too many. His tongue got rather loose when he was drunk. “You see, I think the little Noble was kidnapped.” He remarked and his words caught on his teeth on their way out. “Coming from a family like that would fetch someone a pretty bit of gold. Not to mention, imagine even just being a part of the group that brought about the fall of House Arkait.” He wasn’t normally one to buy into rumors, but valuable spell books had gone missing along with the heir. Old magic. They could be ransomed for as much or even more than the noble-ling himself. Gavin found that a little suspicious. Noble houses normally kept things like that under lock and key.

Gavin liked this particular bar because the drinks were cheap and the performers in the area were usually trying to collect a bit more coin before they set off so they tended to perform very well. Tonight’s singer wasn’t a tavern performer, he was dressed too nicely. He also used magic, something done usually for playing in open courts or gardens. Assurance they would be heard without fade, echo, or distortion. This one put the sigil on his lute and his throat. It was something Gavin had never seen before. That wasn’t what pulled him in though. What grabbed him was the gentle croon of the voice and the haunted innocence of his songs. They were of adventure and travel, as many tended to be. The difference was the adventure came after breaking free of a golden prison. Learning the world in ways that most other people never had to. In a way that Gavin had never seen before, this bard held the attention of the tavern as a whole. Enough so that he was applauded into another set. Gavin had never been one to be particularly moved by music, but there was something about these songs that wouldn’t let him go. He wanted to know why. He knew it wasn’t magic, so there had to be something else to it.

When the bard had settled at the bar again Gavin flagged the bartender for two drinks and made his way over. He placed the drink on the bar beside him and it earned him a confused look. “Thank you?” It came across as more of a question than a statement, “Might I ask what this is for?” “Your performance mostly.” Gavin replied as he took the open seat beside him, “We don’t normally get musicians like you around these parts.” There was a split second when the bard almost looked afraid. He had a secret then, interesting. “Care to explain what you mean?” He asked once he had his composure about him again. “Magic users.” He said, “You lot normally tend to stick to the Nobles pretty closely, they pay better than taverns do. So I suppose I’m just curious as to what would bring you to a place like this.” He watched with interest as the bard relaxed. “I wanted to see more of the world.” There was a bit of wonder to his voice as he said that, but it turned more serious as he continued, “Playing for the same crowd every few weeks paid well, but by doing this I get to write my own songs.”

He was chasing the same thing as Gavin then. The freedom to just be. Unlike Gavin though, he also seemed to be running away from something. “There’s no one you have to worry about pissing off.” He remarked, “That has to be nice.” “It is.” Gavin agreed. He watched the bard pull some kind of magic before he tried the drink, “Could I ask your name?” “Most people just call me Reed.” He said, “Got something I can call you?” “Nines.” Was the quick response before he turned his head away to cough, “Forgive me. I sang more than normal this evening and my throat isn’t too happy with me about it.” Gavin couldn’t exactly relate to that, but he enjoyed talking with Nines. So he told a few stories, with the better details exaggerated of course. When Nines asked to use some of them for songs - until he’d had an adventure of his own - Gavin was over the moon and agreed. Only the greatest adventurers got their stories immortalized in such a way and Gavin was proud to make one of their rank. Even if his tales would be heard in small wayside taverns and on street corners.

It wasn’t until Nines excused himself citing the early hour, that Gavin realized just how much time had passed. He was exactly the most socially adept person; especially when compared to someone who had run in Noble circles, but talking with Nines came easy. He listened to Gavin with an intensity and awe to his eyes that just kept Gavin going. He was almost disappointed to be traveling in the morning when it seemed like Nines would be staying here a while longer, but he had lingered long enough. If Nines meant to travel they might cross paths again. In a way, he did come across Nines again. In the form of a ransom poster that he found on the outskirts of the capitol city. His mysterious bard had been none other than the last heir to House Arkait. One Richard Arkait, the last one of a lineage of lies. A runaway like his brothers before him. Gavin couldn’t help but wonder if the fact that he had run into two of them probably meant something. What he was sure of though, was that change was coming, and it was going to shake the Continent to its core. He didn’t know when; and just hoped to be far away when it did.

#Music and Magic among Knights and Thieves #MMTKAU #fantasy au #reed900 #dbh gavin #dbh nines #dbh fic #dbh #passive suicide mention tw

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eat0crow · 5 years

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Marigolds

Summary:

Marigolds-the flower of the dead. They are used to guide spirits visiting the land of the living.

Marinette is used to weird, she's no stranger to spirits. Even so, she never imagined she would meet her soulmate like this

Chapter 1

“Wow, didn’t think magic girls were actually a thing. Good to know.” Is the first thing Marinette hears after she drops her transformation.

Which makes no sense because Marinette is completely, one hundred and ten percent sure that Tikki was the only living thing in this room with her. She’s careful to check than double-check. The tape she had left along the window had still been intact when she entered it. The powder she dusted her hatch with hadn’t been disturbed.

The only thing out of place is the chill in the air, it’s bone-deep like something leaching the life out of the room. A cold current that makes something in Marinette’s brain tingle. Chat would call it fur rubbed wrong, it’s the closest Marinette can come to describing the sensation.

No one should be in the room with her.

Her identity must be maintained at all costs, she takes precautions to ensure it. None of them have been bypassed.

“Got to say I dig the suit,” the voice says completely indifferent to how she’s tensed. Marinette can’t place it. “It’s a little gaudy sure, but hey we can’t all be the Dark Knight. I get the appeal even, flashy, attention-grabbing, it’s a nice stick.”

Marinette can’t breathe, she’s not sure what exactly to do. The voice is coming from behind her. It was relaxed, casual if a bit hollow, like this was the sort of thing that happened every day.

“Maybe not the safest option. You're like a freaking stop sign. How does that work, like sure the Robin costume is a bold as hell traffic light but that’s the point, you know? Draw away the gunfire so the big bad Bat can swoop in a knock them all on their asses.”

Marinette narrows her eyes. Because while knowledge of the Justice League is expected to some extent. Their world-renowned, it would be hard not to have heard of them with all the earth ending disasters they’ve put a stop to, the lack of knowledge is surprising. Everyone in Paris knows who Ladybug is.

The fact that he doesn’t seem to, it sets off a red flag in Marinette’s mind. One that makes her fingers twitch with nervous energy even though her muscles are locked in place. Frozen over by manic fear.

“It’s funny, you’re acting almost as if you can hear me. I’m not complaining, talking to myself gets boring fast, trust me on that one. Bats isn’t anywhere close to great company.”

Marinette turns. Reclined back on her chaise is a boy. He’s tall, taller than Adrien, probably taller than Luka even, with windswept black hair that falls into his eyes. Eyes that are so blue they’re the first thing she really notices about him. They glow iridescent, demanding attention and focus and….

The next thing she notices just as he opens his mouth again is the blood.

“Wait,” He says slowly, his words tentative. “You can see me, it’s not just the isolation talking here. You can see me.”

The blood dripping down from his matted hair onto the bruises that line his cheeks.

“Am I not supposed to?” Marinette asks, her voice shaky.

The blood bubbling out from fresh burns.

“No,” his voice is just as uncertain. “You really shouldn’t.”

She thinks her reaction is more than justified. Even if her screaming makes the boy pop out of existence and sends her parents racing up the stairs.

Her parents leave her after a few minutes. Buying her excuses of spider, spider I saw the biggest spider under my desk. It had so many legs! without much fuss.

Tikki comes out of her hiding place shortly after they disappear down the stairs. There’s a look in her eyes, one that Marinette’s seen maybe a handful of times in the two years she’s held her Miraculous.

It’s a look that comes with answers. Answers that scare Marinette far more than the questions ever did. The first time Tikki’s eyes glinted like this Marinette transformed for the first time. The last time, Marinette met the guardian and begun training to take his place.

This is the look Tikki gives her when she’s about to be trusted with a secret that changes everything.

She hates this look.

Marinette's still standing in the middle of her room staring vacantly at her chaise. “Tikki who was that.”

“That’s not what you should be asking Marinette,” Tikki says looking at Marinette with a keen eye.

Often enough Tikki will watch Marinette like she’s waiting for something. What that something is, Marinette doubts she truly will ever know, that she’ll even want to know. Maybe it’s due to the magic that binds Tikki to the role of guide, which forces her to needle Marinette into asking the right questions in order to get her half-answers.

Tikki is a god. No matter how kind she is, no matter how much she cares for Marinette, her games are not optional.

Marinette will never be able to refuse Tikki, not after having spent years as her patron.

“I saw him,” Marinette chokes out, “I saw him Tikki.”

“That’s good Marinette, I saw him too.”

“Have you seen him before?”

“No.” Tikki pauses, brushing the hair out of Marinette’s face. “I’ve seen others, yes. But not him.”

“Others, who else-”

Tikki cuts her off with a little tut. “Marinette, you’re still focusing on the wrong question.”

Genies were most likely based on the Kwami. They’re all a fickle bunch, hiding behind double meanings and exact wording. It’s hard to figure out just what question Tikki wants her to ask the right question, the exact right question. She can’t tell her the who the why would be pointless to ask about. Marinette knows Tikki will only answer with something having to do with fate. So what's left is…

She breaks her staring contest with the chaise, turning to meet Tikki’s eyes. “What was he.”

“You’re still not quite there. You, humans, are always a lot of whats depending on the when. I could say child or man or soulmate or-”

This time Marinette is the one to cut Tikki off. “He can’t be my soulmate. You said Ladybugs and Black Cats are always connected.”

“And you are. A lot of Ladybugs find their soulmates outside of their Black Cats. There’s a lot of different ways to be connected Marinette, most people have more than one thread attached to their soul, my bugs especially so. Not all threads are soulmates.”

“What does that make Chat Noir than?” Marinette asks.

“Nothing besides what he is now, soulmates aren’t the end all be all, you know. They’re not the soul the completes you, they’re just the soul that fits best around you. They’re a possibility, your hearts still your own.”

“So even though he’s my soulmate…” Marinette trails off.

“Not is, was,” Tikki says, her voice sad. “That’s the when.”

“Was.” She can feel her throat closing up around her words. “What is he now.”

Even as she asks it, Marinette knows the answer. It’s in the corner of her mind, right along the edge snuggled tightly against secrets like Chat Noir’s identity and the real reason Master Fu has lived nearly two hundred years.

She doesn’t want to put a name to the feeling the boy had stirred in her. She doesn’t want to put a name to what the boy is. She doesn’t want to acknowledge the end of a possibility that never truly started to begin with.

Names have power, it’s why their titles are so important. Once she says it. Once the word claws past the dark barbed parts of her mind and out her mouth there will be no going back.

Tikki has never been afraid to do what Marinette can’t, she’s a spirit after all. Humanity is something she observes and doesn’t understand.

“He is a ghost silly,” Tikki says.

It’s an end, one marked before anything had ever had the chance to begin. It shouldn’t hurt but all the same, Marinette feels a part of her heartache. The part of her that's still so heartbreakingly young wants to cry over how unfair this all this.

The part of her that’s grown up much to fast, faster than anyone should have to, stops her from mourning. Life is not fair, the Kwami have no interest in silly things like that. Fair is a concept that Tikki won’t get.

Fair is something that no one gets.

Marinette doesn’t get any sleep that night either.

Notes:

I really wanted to play with the prompt "when they die your soulmate comes to haunt you" . It had so much potential so while my insides said 15k one-shot my heart said nope we're gonna milk it. I needed to get some multi-chapter practice in any way.

Also because Jason is currently 21 in the canon universe I will say this takes place when he dies, which is 15 according to his death certificate. Marinette is also 15, she's had her Miraculous for 2 years now after receiving it at 13. I feel no guilt in destroying the show's timeline to suit my needs, not when the episodes don't care about continuity.

#maribat #crossover #crow writes #Jason Todd/Marinette Dupain-Cheng #dcu #jason todd #ml #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng

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tjkiahgb · 5 years

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Episode Recap: 3.19, “A Moving Day”

Can you believe we only have 50 or so minutes of content left with this show?

I want to love every single one of them and not take any for granted. Each minute feels truly precious.

Never mind.

Folks... we got ourselves a Toast-Off!

Cyrus has brought Jonah, Buffy, and Andi together to make toast. I wish I had more here, but that’s the extent of it.

Jonah presents his toast first. It’s burnt.

Andi says toasters are the trickiest appliance in the kitchen, which is true. Sure, anybody can figure out how to put the bread in, but when it comes time to select between the settings of Light, Medium, and Dark, too many people just twist the dial all the way past dark to Burnt to a Crisp. Avoid that setting. That’s where most people get tripped up.

Jonah advises Cyrus to not eat his burnt bread, and Cyrus agrees.

Buffy presents her toast, which is more like the concept of toast.

Buffy claims it wasn’t fair because Jonah was using the toaster. To think, if only Jonah had used the toaster less, both he and Buffy could’ve made decent toast and been in the running to win... I don’t know, something. I really don’t know what we’re doing here.

Anyway, because Jonah sabotaged both his and Buffy’s chance to win the Toast-Off, Andi can walk away with the competition if she’s just made a piece of non-ruined toast.

And, of course, Andi went extra and made some kind of toast chicken coop.

Seems like an easy win, but Cyrus can’t declare it thus until he’s had a taste.

He thinks it’s pretty good, but there’s a flavor on it he can’t place. What is that, he asks.

Cyrus spits it out as Jonah and Buffy chuckle about one of their friends almost poisoning their other friend.

I guess it was only right to get one last random cold open in before the show ended. Here’s to the nonsense cold opens: the Toast-Offs, the extended oral hygiene montages, the projects for school about eggs, the bad coffees made, the phone chargers stolen, the games of Scrabble played, the times the Mack family argued about what to eat or what to watch or who stole clothes from whom. Oh, random nonsense cold opens, you were always... there, and we shall sometimes remember you.

49 or so minutes left. Each one from here on out? Truly precious.

At Celia’s, Celia has gathered her family around to do an aggressively large jigsaw puzzle.

Frankly, I’m a bit worried for her. This puzzle size is the type you buy when you want to make a statement: No, I don’t have anything better to do and no, I don’t plan on leaving the house for the next week! This puzzle is my life now.

Bex comes walking in, finishing a phone conversation. She tells the family she won something. The family guesses what she won, but they don’t come anywhere close to the right answer, which is a free meal cooked by famous chef Raoul Ricci. No one’s heard of Raoul Ricci, not even Celia, which you might think would tip them off that something’s afoot here, but no one seems interested in digging for the truth.

Even a quick Google search would’ve told them that something was wrong, as it seems the only known Raoul Ricci is an Italian dentist.

Or, as they call them in Rome, a dentista.

Anyway, Bex explains, through a long and bewildering story, Raoul Ricci was famous and had restaurants, but then he didn’t want to have restaurants anymore, so he left to be a hermit.

Andi’s like...

...oh, can we keep him?

Bex explains the prize is that he’s going to cook for them. They just have to go out into the forest and find him. Once they do, though, he’s going to make them the meal of a lifetime.

I can’t stress enough how shady this sounds. There’s a 75% chance this ends with Raoul Ricci chasing the Macks through the woods in some kind of “Most Dangerous Game” type scenario.

Bowie and Andi are in. Celia’s like, this sounds like an awful pain.

Bex warns her if she doesn’t go, the whole family is going to “rhapsodize” about this meal forever. Quick question: where does Bex get off? Just dropping rhapsodize in a sentence like that? Who does she think she is? I’m offended for Celia and I’m offended for us.

Celia is still not interested, despite the threats of rhapsodization, so Bex turns to Andi and Bowie for help. They basically say they’re not going to do puzzle-time with Celia unless she goes with them to the woods, so she relents, with one condition.

A puzzle so big it causes you mental anguish just thinking about it. It ain’t a real puzzle unless your fingers are bleeding by the end.

Meanwhile, Cyrus, Buffy, and Jonah walk around, somewhere, and talk about that “thing” they all have tomorrow. Jonah’s worried he won’t be able to make the thing because his family is moving. Cyrus and Buffy agree to help him move, but Jonah asks Buffy if she will be able to, given her foot and all.

Buffy’s like, of course I can...

Okay, but I’m pretty sure a strong gust of wind could lift Cyrus. I would require stronger proof. Jonah, however, doesn’t need to see more than that minor show of strength, and agrees to let them help.

The next day, the Mack family is all loaded up in Celia’s SUV that we’re seeing for the first time this entire series in the penultimate episode. Celia goes through a long series of things to get ready to leave: moving seats, checking mirrors, putting on gloves, searching for sunglasses. It’s agonizing.

Eventually Celia puts on her suit of knight armor and night-vision goggles and chugs an entire large coffee and she’s ready to operate a motor vehicle.

I do want to warn her though, she should make sure all those production lights and reflectors are moved out of the way before she starts driving.

Wouldn’t want to run over one of the crew members.

Celia drives off. They head for the mountains.

And in a hurry, too. Celia seems to be doing at least 80 on these winding mountain roads.

Me? I’d be worried about ice or sudden hazards or taking a turn too fast, but I guess the Macks trust Celia’s driving ability more than I trust my own.

The Macks all sing songs and make jokes and-- OH MY GOD!

LOOK OUT FOR THAT BUS!

THEY’RE BOTH DOING 70 ON A TWO LANE MOUNTAIN ROAD AND HEADING RIGHT FOR EACH OTHER!

IS EVERY DRIVER IN THIS TOWN MAD?!

The family survives that hairpin turn, though, and makes it up to Mount Washington, named, of course, after America’s most famous obelisk.

Bex leads them onto the trail at Panther’s Hollow, which naturally leads Celia to ask if there are panthers around. Bowie’s like, no, no. Well, maybe one.

And then he scares the hell out of an already nervous elderly woman.

Everyone has a good laugh about it and they set off walking to find the hermit.

Then we get about twelve minutes of footage of the Mack family walking through the woods. I’m not going to include screencaps. I’m just adding that for posterity’s sake.

Over at the storage unit the Beck family rented to put all their stuff in, Cyrus and Buffy help Jonah move said stuff into trucks.

Cyrus comes across a crate of old VHS tapes and DVDs and screams when he sees their contents.

He calls Buffy over to show her.

It’s Judy Bartholomew!

Who’s Judy Bartholomew? She’s an old workout video lady who became a meme. Cyrus feels like he has to show Buffy the video, so he pulls out his phone.

They both have a good laugh about it. Cyrus is surprised to learn she’s real. He’s like, I can’t believe how big a fan Jonah’s mom is. She must be to have the entire Judy Bart collection like this.

Then Jonah’s mom shows up and she’s like, hey Jojobear, can I finally meet your friends? The ones you’ve been good friends with for like a year and a half now and that you won’t let me be around for some reason?

She walks over to Cyrus and Buffy who are shocked to see the Judy Bartholomew standing right in front of them.

Jonah’s like, yeah, it’s her.

Honestly, I’m impressed Jonah’s been able to hide his mom from his friends for this long. Did they never hang out around his family? Did she never come to pick him up from some place?

And doesn’t she wonder who his friends are? When he’d talk about the stuff they’d done together, would she just sit there going, “Oh, that sounds nice, Jonah. Sure would like to meet some of your friends one of these days.” And would Jonah be like, “Uh huh, yeah, you should,” and then he’d just continue putting it off for 15 months? Just kept kicking that can down the road?

Anyway, I still appreciate the show broaching this subject. Media so often lacks in representation of children whose parents have become internet memes.

Back out in the woods, the Macks walk through the woods. All but Bex grow restless. They ask her for proof that she knows where she’s going, like a map.

This doesn’t make them feel comforted.

Bowie pulls Bex aside and asks her what’s really going on. Bex is like, you trust me, right? Bowie says of course. Bex is like, okay, good, back into the forest we go and she walks off.

Bowie tells Andi and Celia it will all be worth it, like a liar, and they start another walking through the woods montage. Bex carries Andi. Bowie carries Celia.

This episode has more characters carrying other characters than any other episode the show has done.

Back at the storage unit, Judy Bart teaches Cyrus and Buffy how to trot.

She’s doing like this locomotion move, very simple.

Cyrus is like, AM I DOING IT?!

As he twists his body back and forth and throws his arms out.

Like, no, man. You can’t tell that what you’re doing is nothing like what Judy is doing? That it’s like, almost the opposite of what she’s doing?

Judy tells Jonah to show them how to do it, so Jonah steps up and does a whole dance routine that I’m also not sure is what Judy was doing.

But it looked good and had a nice finish, so whatever.

Jonah says he’s been doing that since he was six and it’s permanently ingrained in his head now like so many childhood scars.

Then Judy’s like, hey, didn’t you kids have to be in the mountains right about now? And they’re like, oh yeah, we have to get changed and get to the mountains, so they leave her in the storage unit.

Speaking of the mountains, the Macks find rocks.

They collapse on the rocks.

Bex is like, no, don’t sit on rocks now! We almost made it. The family doesn’t want to believe her, but she convinces them it’s true. She leads them around the bend where they find a fancy set up and...

Cyrus?

You see, Cyrus, for three years now, has been posing as celebrity chef Raoul Ricci and sneaking off to the mountains to prepare three course meals for random tourists.

No, wait.

Buffy appears from out of nowhere and this whole thing reeks of a setup.

How in the world did these two get up here so fast from the storage facility? Helicopter?

Andi’s like, what is going on? Where is the hermit I was promised?

Bex tells everyone there’s no hermit. This was all made up to trick everyone into going to the mountains. Bowie asks why.

Bowie’s like, oh, is that back on?

Cyrus and Buffy bring them rings and flowers.

Bowie’s says finally and they embrace.

They all head for a gazebo.

Jonah plays Bowie’s song, “You Girl”, on the guitar.

Andi walks Bex to Bowie.

The two take each other’s hands as the officiant begins doing his officianting.

Where did he come from, too? Did Jonah and Buffy and Cyrus ride up here with him? Carpool?

The wedding goes as weddings do. You know, rings and stuff. Bex and Bowie are about to kiss when--

Everyone looks around trying to figure out whose phone that is before Andi realizes it’s hers. She shuts it off and the music and kissing starts again.

They complete the kiss this time.

Bex is like, I know... it’s been a lot. Thanks for not fleeing.

Later, Bex and Bowie delight in calling each other husband and wife. Everyone is sort of shocked it actually finally happened.

The Mack family (the ones we’re still counting) share a hug.

That night, Cyrus shows Andi the Judy Bart videos and then he brags that they spent the day with her. Jonah says he introduced her to them. Andi doesn’t believe he knows her, but Jonah’s like, yeah, I do.

Andi’s stunned. She feels bad, but, in fairness to Andi, it’s super weird that Jonah kept her hidden this long anyway, especially from Andi of all people. She couldn’t be expected to make that guess.

Jonah’s like, don’t feel bad, the whole thing is funny. He used to be embarrassed about it but he’s over it. Andi says she can’t wait to meet her. And then they talk about meeting Jonah’s dad. Buffy makes a joke about his dad being one of the hairy guys from the workout video and Jonah’s like, yeah, he is.

Everyone sits around thinking about this for a second before they all decide Jonah’s joking.

He’s not.

I don’t know what makes them think Jonah has suddenly acquired a subtle sense of humor. Jonah’s idea of jokes are jump scaring Andi and “S’less.” You really think he’s got a level of clever beneath all that that he’s been hiding for a year and a half as if it was his mother?

Jonah leaves without saying another word.

Can I just take a quick second to try to piece together the history of the Beck family, because I find it fascinating.

So, sometime in the 1980s/early 1990s (I assume based on the fashion), Judy Bartholomew makes it big as a workout video star. Jonah’s father, Mr. Beck, is hired at some point to be a background guy in one of her videos.

I assume this is where they meet and fall in love. Later, they get married and have Jonah.

In the years that follow, Jonah’s dad undergoes a full-body transformation, getting buff and changing hairstyles and retires from the workout video business to coach little league, and, I guess, control the finances of the Judy Bartholomew workout empire.

Eventually, Jonah’s dad invests the Judy Bartholomew fortune unwisely, and the family loses their house, and they’re homeless until very recently when he gets a new job. Doing what? I have no idea. I can’t begin to assume what his area of expertise is.

I guess my question is this: does any child in this town have a quiet, average family? Buffy’s mom spends half her life in foreign countries doing work for the military and Buffy’s family is still somehow the most normal of the group’s.

Later, Andi wanders off from the group and checks her phone. That call earlier? It was from SAVA.

The school left her a voicemail. Andi listens to it and gets sad, but I don’t think in the “rejected from a school” way.

Plus, I don’t think schools call you just to tell you to screw off. “Hi, this is Caroline from SAVA. Is this Andi Mack? Okay, great. Just calling to tell you you weren’t good enough to get into our school. Have a nice evening.”

Bex and Bowie sneak up on Andi and scare her.

God, this poor girl must live in constant fear. Why is everyone always doing this to her?

As the episode ends, Bex and Bowie talk about how happy they are right now. Andi says she is, too.

Though, as TJ would say, “Tell your face.”

Speaking of TJ...

Aww, this is the last time I get to be excited about seeing TJ in the scenes from the next episode.

One more to go, people. One more.

#Andi Mack #Cyrus Goodman #Buffy Driscoll #Jonah Beck #Bex Mack #Celia Mack #Bowie Quinn #Judy Bartholomew #Dr. Raoul Ricci DDS.#episode recaps

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opheliathedreamer-blog · 5 years

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Goblin x Reader

Summary: Valentine’s Day for goblins is understandably different than the human equivalent. Of course he still gave you chocolates and roses just to see you smile, but on the first new moon of spring, he invited you to join a celebration that was far more adrenaline-fueled.

At dusk, when your eyes fluttered open at the sound of your alarm, you rolled over with a groan and instinctively reached over to the other side of your bed. Your brow furrowed with confusion when you found it vacant. Blinking away whatever remained of the sandman’s dust from your eyes, you glanced more clearly at the room. Darik, your boyfriend of two years, was nowhere to be found. You stifled a yawn and set your feet on the floor. While running a hand through your knotted hair, you paused upon seeing two items on a nearby table that weren’t in your room the previous evening. One was a bouquet of red roses. The other was a heart-shaped container, presumably filled with chocolate.

You wondered when he had snuck out of the cabin to buy those for you. Goblins were nocturnal by nature, and you both had gone to bed half an hour before dawn. The thought of him bundling up and braving daylight for you made your heart flutter.

Although you smelled breakfast cooking and heard the sizzling of bacon, you decided to sneak a few. Dark chocolate bordeaux. Your favorite.

Humming with pleasure, you righted yourself and shuffled over to the closet. When you slid open the oak door, however, you pinched the bridge of your nose. All of your clothes were gone save for that crop top and pair of tight leather pants that made Darik go wild on your third date. You groaned. This was parr for the course when it came to dating goblins, but that didn’t mean you still weren’t annoyed.

“Darik!”

You heard his barely restrained cackles and could all but see his silver eyes twinkle with mischief. You rolled your eyes, shut the door, and entered the kitchen in your pajamas out of spite.

“Good morning, love!” he called from his spot at the stove. He used a spatula to place some cooked bacon on your plate, his already piled with raw meat from your fridge. “I missed that voice of yours. It has conquered my heart like the roaring river.”

“Don’t sweet talk me.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “What did you do with all my clothes?”

He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, shoulders shaking. A clawed hand did little to quell his snickers. Your own lips twitched at his contagious laughter until you bit the inside of your cheek. You were supposed to be mad, damn it. Prank calling you during work and rigging your fridge to play the Jeopardy theme whenever you opened it was different than taking all of your clothes.

“Darik.” Your eyes narrowed. “I’m serious.”

He placed your breakfast in front of you. “Aw, don’t look so cross. Life’s no fun at all if the unexpected stays well away.” His sharp teeth winked at you in the room’s dim lighting. “You’ll get them back once you wear that outfit I’ve picked out.”

“Or I could wear this and go stay at Nicki’s for the night,” you said nonchalantly, sliding into a bar stool. “I could make you wait for your present until tomorrow evening.”

With a half-hearted growl, he grabbed his own plate and pulled himself into the seat next to you. “You’re stone cold, you are.”

You snorted, a smile finally forming. “You’re lucky I love you.” You leaned forward and placed a kiss on his hollow cheek. “I’ll wear the damned thing. Just put my clothes back by tomorrow.”

“Whatever you say.”

“And thank you for the roses… and the chocolates. It was very sweet of you, no pun intended.”

His lips twitched upward. His long fingers caressed your temple and ran through your hair. “It ain’t the goblin way, but it’s worth it to see you smile.” He glanced downward, food still largely untouched. “Speaking of which, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Your eyes flitted over to him, giving him their full attention. He looked just as serious as he did when you gave him a key to your cabin. He was silent, contemplative. You could see his mind sorting out possible statements, wanting to choose the best possible words. His prominent brow was furrowed, already thin lips stretched to nonexistence. All that and his pointed nose brought to mind silhouettes in the books your grandparents used to read to you. But in all those stories the goblins merely wreaked havoc and were defeated by a wise woman or brave knight. Those stories never told how deeply one could love.

“My people have our own celebration similar to this one. It happens on the first new moon of each spring. My tribe’s elders will be there and mated pairs, too. One half runs into the forest and hides, and the other half has to find them.”

It sounded like a large-scale game of hide-and-seek, but you didn’t want to trivialize the celebration by comparing it to a human children’s game, so you remained silent.

“The first couple that makes it back to the elders wins something—jewelry, tools, furs, gold or silver. It changes every year. But what’s really important is what it means to the tribe and the mated pair involved. It’s a way of showing that they intend to stay together, before and after the bonding ceremony. It shows that no matter what separates them, distance or otherwise, they’ll always find a way to come back together again.” He scratched his neck. “At least, that’s how Mum explained it to me.”

It’s a way of showing that they intend to stay together. For goblin kind then, this ceremony was significant. You wondered if his parents were going to be there. You’d met them a few times before. His father seemed friendly enough and praised your skill as a healer (you were a nurse), but his mother seemed to have her reservations. You were the first relationship he’d had in decades. She could tell you meant a lot to him and murmured to you as you left the burrow not to hurt him.

A commitment like this was a big step, but one that you were excited to take. Then, perhaps after this, you could decide how to present yourself to the elders officially.

“I understand if you wouldn’t want to go. It’s April 5th, and I know the hospital can be pretty busy during spring so…” He trailed off, digits fingering his silver necklace.

“Darik, if this is important to you, then it’s important to me. I’d love to go.” You reached down for his limp hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “I’ll inform the hospital that that’ll just have to be a vacation day for me. No if’s, and’s, or but’s.”

You saw the way he stared after you in your periphery, features softening in a wide, heartfelt smile, a hand resting against his cheek like a schoolboy with a crush. It warmed your insides and made you forget all about your rude awakening.

The closer April drew, the more you and Darik buzzed with anticipation. It would be the first time you had ever participated in a purely goblin tradition and, although you were human, Darik was consistent in reminding you that he wouldn’t go easy on you.

“We ain’t cheaters, are we, love?” He teased. “Besides, it’ll be a riot to see you stumble through the dark and try to find me.”

“Can’t I be the one who hides?” you had asked.

He tapped the side of his nose. “I could smell your vanilla shampoo a mile off. It simply wouldn’t be fair.”

And so you found yourself stumbling through the woods at night. The elders, after some thought, had given you a flashlight so you wouldn’t accidentally sustain an injury, but its beam was far too small and dim to be of much help except when it came to avoiding roots on the path. Muffled laughter, crackling leaves, claws scraping against wood, and exclamations of the names of other goblins who had joined the celebration echoed around you. You walked as quickly as you dared, checking berry bushes and hollow trees for Darik’s familiar features. Hours passed and you only succeeded in uncovering a female goblin hidden in a fallen log. She chortled upon seeing you.

“Good luck finding Darik. I can’t even smell the bugger.”

Encouraging, you knew.

But still, you refused to give up.

Keeping the general direction of the rendezvous point in mind, you abandoned your westward route, having found no other signs of goblins there, and veered north. The wind whispered around you, and the ancient silence of the forest was only broken by the calls of owls and bats and the occasional whoop of triumph from goblins who had found their partner.

More hours passed. The scent of pine, oak, and evergreen would have been invigorating if your feet did not ache from running and hiking up and down unpaved terrain. Your flashlight grew even more dim, something you hadn’t thought possible. You were hardly afraid of the dark, but the thought of being stranded with no light source wasn’t a good option. You supposed you could wait until dawn to move about if it came to that, but what if you didn’t find Darik and return before then? Would the elders judge you more harshly?

You shook your head, momentarily banishing such a thought, and continued onward. After you trudged another quarter of a mile, you froze at the sound of a branch breaking on a tall pine nearby. You watched as the branch plummeted to the leaf-covered forest floor and pointed your flashlight upward. It flickered and the light died.

“Oh, no you don’t!” you hissed and gave it a few whacks with the heel of your hand. It sputtered to life, but you weren’t sure how long it was going to last.

You tried glancing into the heavily boughed tree again but saw nothing. The light was too weak to make out a distinct silhouette, but intuition warned you not to pass this one by.

“Darik?” you called, but expected no answer. Goblins weren’t allowed to speak or move unless they were officially found.

You worried the inside of your cheek and glanced around, eyes squinting in an attempt to see through the shadows. If you did what your gut was urging you to do, you could be wasting more time. No matter how high you climbed, there wasn’t enough moon or starlight to see into the surrounding trees. However, if you were right…

Sighing, you decided to take the chance. You held the flashlight in between your teeth as your fingers searched for purchase in the dark. After a few moments, you found deep enough grooves that you thought would support your body weight. You pulled yourself up and your right leg came to rest against a low-hanging branch. A few moments later and your left leg did the same.

You continued on in this way until your light permanently died, and you counted your blessings that your brother had urged you to regularly climb trees with him as a child. You spit the now useless device out and heard the snap of dry leaves announce its landing.

Grumbling, you reached forward for another handhold and felt your foot slip. You yelped and clung to the trunk. Your fingers ached and your right leg fought to right itself on a nearby branch. Several tries later and it still met nothing but empty air. The muscles in your upper arms bulged as you tried to pull yourself up in the hopes of finding another suitable branch.

You breathed a sigh of relief when your fingertips brushed against one overhead. You tentatively placed one hand on it and then another. Your legs blindly searched for another foothold, and you readjusted your grip, brushing against something smoother and cooler than the branches and bark.

A beat passed before that something grasped your wrists and lifted you up onto the branch. Once you settled, you registered silver eyes and smelled earth, leather, and hot metal.

“Darik?” you whispered.

His arms tightly wound around you. “You found me,” he breathed.

You smiled at the purr that vibrated in his chest as well as your own triumph, but forced your voice to remain neutral. “You’re terrible, you know that? You made me climb a very tall tree in the dark with no flashlight.”

He nuzzled the crook of your neck, lips stilling over your pulse. “Admittedly not my best idea… I thought the flashlight they gave you was of better quality. But, by the time the horns sounded, I couldn’t move. I’m sorry.”

“Well, this certainly isn’t a human celebration…” You released an airy chuckle. “But it’s more exciting than any Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had.”

A brief silence passed between the two of you.

“Do you know how I found you?”

“The broken branch?”

You scoffed. “Besides that.”

“How?” he hummed.

“This tree felt right. It felt like you were here.”

His hands entangled themselves in your hair. You could feel his smile against your skin. “That is what this is all about. Goblins may see in the dark and have a keen sense of smell, but it’s our hearts that guide us to each other.”

You reached out a hand and rested it against his chest, feeling his heart thrum against your fingertips. “So I passed the trial?”

“Was there ever any doubt?”

“And if this means that we intend to stay together, then we can start planning for that bonding ceremony?”

“One ‘trial’ at a time,” he chortled.

And although your legs and arms throbbed, your hair full of twigs and leaves, your sweater torn from wayward brambles, the respectful nod the elders sent your way and the small, hopeful smile of his mother were well worth it.

#exophilia #monster boyfriend #goblin x reader #male monster #gender neutral reader #I hope you all enjoyed my first substantial goblin story!#I originally wanted to write a deep cave goblin #but Darik emerged of his own volition and here we are

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shyguycity · 6 years

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GOTY 2017

Hey y’all, it’s time for my third annual game of the year list. I hope it’s not too boring or longwinded. I also hope you don’t go into this expecting reviews of each game; with very few exceptions this list isn’t going to go into deep dives about individual game mechanics or plot beats, and I also don’t bother explaining highly specific video game terms and genres that the lay person isn’t going to be aware of, which is more down to this seeming too long already rather than apathy on my part. Discussion or questions are very welcome! Anyway, before we get into the actual top 11, here’s a couple games that didn’t quite make the cut that deserve to be talked about, as well as some housekeeping as to why some pretty big games aren’t included elsewhere on the list.

Some friends and I are also looking into doing a podcast later on to talk more in-depth about our lists, as well as maybe some other year end awards-y type things for other categories in games. Anyway, here we go.

Games I haven’t gotten to yet: Ruiner, Pyre, Prey, Yakuza 0, Hollow Knight, Hellblade

Don’t @ me I’m sleeping: Resident Evil 7, Persona 5, Mario + Rabbids, PUBG

Special shout outs that didn’t make it to the actual list but are still good, quite good!:

Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together (Switch) - Absolutely everyone that owns a Switch and has someone to play co-op games with should buy Snipperclips, be it significant other, child, sibling or roommate. It’s a game where you each play as two pieces of paper that have to cut each other into different shapes to solve various puzzles, and it’s even way more fun and goofy than that description makes it sound. If I had been able to put more time into this game it probably would’ve made the actual numbered list.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Wolfenstein’s story about an alternate 1960s where Germany won World War 2 and occupy America was so absolutely fucking bonkers and fun while at the same time bleakly sad and interesting. It’s a shame the actual game isn’t very fun to play, but this absolutely deserves mentioning somewhere. Get fucked Nazis.

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4) - Horizon has maybe the most interesting and well told story in any big budget, non-indie game I’ve ever played. It’s also maybe the best looking game I’ve ever seen, especially running in 4k. It’s a shame it released so close to Zelda and Nier, since I feel it’s going to be overlooked in a lot of other GOTY lists, but it’s absolutely worth playing. Also the main character, Alloy, is really fun and tells weird kings to fuck off when they try and hit on her.

Aaaaaaaand here’s the actual list this year:

11. Night in the Woods (PS4/PC) - More games should address mental health. I think the medium is especially suited for not only discussion of the matter, but potentially as a teaching tool as well. It’s especially neat in Night in the Woods because of its slice of life, shitty rustbelt town in fall atmosphere. The main character, Mae, is an unexplained college dropout that returns to her hometown to hang out with friends, and discovers that they’ve all started making progress towards various goals in life while she has largely languished. It’s a very personal and sweet story about reconnecting with your roots and rebuilding connections with loved ones, all while surreal shit is going on in the background and it’s always kind of unclear what Mae is actually suffering from.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, much like Life is Strange (PS4/Xbox One/PC) before it, what starts off as a very simple and charming slice of life game eventually strays into much bigger, cosmic scale ideas, and it kind of feels out of place. Still, I was never bored or driven to the point of rolling my eyes, and I’ve never played a game with more realistic dialogue between goofy and awkward punk rocker friends. The fact that everyone is an anthropomorphic animal for no reason other than to make it look cuter is a huge boon as well.

10. Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/Vita/PC/Wii U/3DS/PS3/Xbox 360) - The original Shovel Knight was a very cute, very charming, very ok game. It never blew me away the way it did for other people, despite the fact that it seemed tailor made for me, but it was still pretty dang good. The two expansions, however, have been far more interesting games, and Spectre of Torment in particular is a love letter to the original Mega Man X (SNES), a game which has weirdly never had its formula and feel replicated or expanded upon. Having full freedom to select which order to complete stages, as well as finding hidden doodads within that let you purchase new weapons, really maximizes the replay value. Add to that a completely remixed soundtrack that’s way more fun and melody driven than the original, and you have maybe the best action platformer since Mega Man 9 (Wii/PS3/360).

9. Destiny 2 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - I think Destiny 2 represents pretty much everything I hate about modern game design - approximately 8,000 unique currencies all with their own uses; different classes and subclasses that in broad strokes don’t feel any different from each other; no real sense of progression aside from seeing a set of numbers arbitrarily rise; needlessly large worlds that aren’t fun to explore; a heavy emphasis on story when the story is complete fucking trash; etc. And yet I still put dozens of hours into the game.

It’s a dumb game and I am a very dumb person. That said, despite the constantly online, shooter focused nature of the video game industry, there really aren’t any other shooters so devoted to cooperative play on a scale larger than team versus modes. I can’t think of a game that’s had more fun co-op in recent memory, and that’s enough to make up for the mediocre pomp and frills surrounding the actual game. Who cares that Destiny is borderline predatory when my friends and I are throwing lightning grenades at shadow emperor space worms?

8. Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) - At one point in time I’d have considered metroid my favorite game series period, so watching its decline over the past decade has been particularly painful. I wouldn’t say this half remake, half new game is an unmitigated success. But for an outsourced, low budget, sidescrolling entry in 2017, a time in which the indie scene has completely taken over the space metroid used to occupy, Samus Returns is an admirable experiment.

Unlike most, I think making the game more combat focused than any previous metroid is actually a wise move, especially considering the developer pedigree; Mercurysteam, despite any other faults, has proven that they can handle designing engaging combat mechanics. And weirdly, even though the main heroine is a 6 foot tall amazonian space goddess with bird alien power armor and a cannon arm, the series has never had engaging combat encounters before this. The game definitely lacks some of the atmosphere that the series is renowned for, but it’s hard for me to fault the game too much for what it isn’t when what we have is an interesting interpretation of a classic game and a new entry in an amazing series that has been dormant for too long.

7. Sonic Mania (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Sonic was never really that good, even the Genesis era games that people hold in such high esteem. I’m actually of the opinion that, prior to Mania, Sonic Colors (Wii) was the best game in the series - the gameplay possibilities added by the wisps felt right at home in a Sonic game, while not feeling like a cheap gimmick. Generally speaking, the original Sonic games feel far too simplistic in terms of the verbs available to you to compete with anything like Mario. And while Mania doesn’t give Sonic any new verbs besides a variation on spin dashing, the level design is so creatively above and beyond anything previously seen in the series that it feels like an entirely different beast. Honestly, chemical plant zone alone has more creativity in its two acts than the entirety of any previous 2D Sonic game, and that’s before it culminates in a freaking Mean Bean Machine battle against Robotnik. I liken Mania the most to Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) in its ability to capture everything that the previous entries in the series were known for while still being able to modernize its design.

Despite all of that, the best part of Mania is its unflinching devotion to its aesthetic. It truly looks like a long lost Sega Saturn game. And while the soundtrack isn’t quite as slavish to what came before, I don’t think I’ve had a more dumb grin on my face this year than when I heard the calypso style Green Hill zone remix for the first time. Mania is a celebration of all things Sonic the Hedgehog, which means different things to different people. To me, what the game most loudly celebrates is the untapped potential of a tragically mishandled series. Consider this game the fulfilment of a promise the series originally made nearly 30 years ago.

6. Splatoon 2 (Switch) - If I’m being completely honest, Splatoon 2 is making it this high on the list almost solely for how fun the new four player cooperative mode, Salmon Run, is. You get stranded in various locations to take on hundreds of slimy zombie-esque salmon while terrifying horror movie music plays and you send out unheard pleas to the universe that you were paired up with players that actually know how to use the charger weapon (Splatoon’s equivalent to a sniper rifle that apparently takes more skill to wield than an actual real world sniper rifle based on my dozens of hours playing).

Salmon Run is fucking incredible. The rest of Splatoon 2 is also really quite fun to play. However: Nintendo is still so stubborn or incompetent or both when it comes to online play that any amount of fun you have with friends outside of Salmon Run is usually punctuated with spikes of rage the likes of which I’ve never experienced.

You can join your friends and play turf war (the standard Splatoon battle mode) pretty effortlessly at any point.

That’s good!

Every single match you play assigns you both to random teams, meaning you’re not always actually playing on the same team as the friend you’re attempting to play with. In fact, I swear there’s some kind of algorithm going in that actually assigns you and your friend to opposing teams more often than not.

That’s bad!

There is a mode where you can play with a dedicated team of two or four people, paired up against other groups of two or four.

That’s good!

It’s actually a ranked mode which is where all the professional Splatoon teams that stream on Twitch for hours everyday hang out, so you’re more than likely going to be facing off against a team of people who are so good at the game they make money off of splatting.

That’s bad!

Every few weeks there are big game-wide events called Splat Fests where each person chooses between two options, and then represents their selection and are paired up against players from the opposing team. These can range from pretty basic, such as cats vs dogs or ketchup vs mayonnaise, to the extremely goofy like Spongebob vs Patrick. Also, the music and backdrops of levels completely change during Splat Fests; all the levels are changed to take place at night, and you’re treated to ‘live performances’ of squid pop music. You even get exclusive in-game t-shirts based on the team you picked.

That’s good!

But your ability to play with friends during Splat Fests is even further restricted, limiting you solely to the aforementioned ranked mode. It’s to the point where it almost feels like Nintendo would just prefer you to play by yourself against strangers in some weird joyless, lonely world, which feels entirely counter to the kinds of games the company makes.

………..can I go play Salmon Run now?

I hope that this entry doesn’t come across as too negative, because despite all my personal frustrations with how Nintendo completely mangles their own online modes, the game is an absolute blast to play. And Salmon Run really is good enough to make up for a lot of these shortcomings! I just hope a Splatoon 3 really changes pretty much everything about the interface surrounding the game; we could really have something absolutely amazing if that were to happen, instead of a really fun game that has to be talked about with asterisks.

5. Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch/PS4/Vita/PC) - In a year that brought us the first new Metroid game in the better part of a decade, I never would have expected the best metroidvania style of game in 2017 to be a sequel to a pretty lowkey indie game that seemingly flew under the radar of the vast majority of both the industry and fans. I played the original and enjoyed it for what it was, but I never would have imagined that a sequel would be hanging so high up a game of the year list. And yet, it’s the best one of these in quite a few years, handily beating out recent darlings of the genre Axiom Verge (which was pretty ok) and Ori and the Blind Forest (which was really great). This mostly comes down to the new abilities you get in Steamworld; they’re not trying to subvert your expectations and knowledge of metroidvanias like a lot of recent games. Nope, you’re getting a damn grappling hook and jetpack. But these are the most satisfying and friendly grappling hook and jetpack mechanics in video games in a very long time. The game just has a very friendly vibe in general, from it’s warm, beautiful visuals to its amazing soundtrack. Even its upgrade system is extremely pleasant and forgiving, allowing you to swap out upgrade cogs with no fuss or punishment.

I’m also fully aware that Steamworld doesn’t quite fit into the metroidvania bubble; you’re constantly digging downward as opposed to exploring and re-exploring labyrinthine spaces looking for missile expansions, to the point where it’s almost a sidescrolling dungeon crawler. However, I think calling it a dungeon crawler is doing it a disservice due to certain connotations with that term. All you need to know is that if you’ve already finished Mario and Zelda on your Switch and are wondering what’s next, you can’t do any better than this.

4. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) - It actually hurts my soul that a brand new 3D Mario game isn’t even in my top three games of the year. Especially since it’s a really good Mario game! Most of that is down to just how stacked 2017 has been, but it’s also down to some disappointments I have with Odyssey. Let’s just get it out of the way - there really isn’t a whole lot of high quality platforming in the game. I went in expecting this from the moment the game was announced as a return to the exploratory style of Super Mario 64 (N64), but even adjusted expectations couldn’t assuage my disappointment in those regards after playing the game for a few hours; Mario is so fun to control in Odyssey, and has such a wide array of moves at the player’s disposal, that my soul aches thinking about a hypothetical version of this game with devious platforming on the levels of Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube). Despite all of that, you can dress Mario up as Don Draper and ride a moped as a t-rex chases you down an alley.

So the level design never even begins approaching manic perfection of Super Mario 3D World (Wii U). It’s hard to be too upset about it when you start to realize just how dense with content every single area in Odyssey really is. When you first touch down in each kingdom, you can barely take 10 steps from your ship without stumbling onto a handful of moons. And what the game lacks in regards to its dedicated platforming challenges, it makes up for with the fever dream of creativity that is allowing the player to throw Mario’s cap at dozens of different creatures and possessing them, each with their own unique controls, movement and abilities.

And look. Even though I’m sorta full up on nostalgia for 8 and 16-bit games at this point, I absolutely am ready for nostalgia for Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64 games, which Odyssey is hopefully kicking off here. I was six-years-old when I played Mario 64 for the first time, and as hyperbolic (and maybe sad) as it sounds, I consider clumsily using an analog stick for the first time to try and make Mario climb trees outside of Peach’s castle to be one of the defining moments of my life. Without spoiling anything, there are a couple moments in Odyssey that brought me hurtling back to that time in my life that nothing has been able to previously. It’s absolutely worth buying a Switch for just to experience Odyssey, despite my opening volley of complaints. Just feel free to stop well before you find all 880(!) moons if you want to leave with the best possible impression.

3. Nier: Automata (PS4/PC) - Generally I don’t consider myself a particularly intelligent person, at least in the grand scheme of things. But by and large, talking about games, especially the kind I like, is a pretty straightforward affair (“Kirby pilots a mech in this one!” “This is a dual ghost fairy type that dresses itself up like Pikachu to trick humans into loving it. Oh wow.”). With Nier though, I find myself mostly feeling intellectually incapable of talking about its story and themes in any meaningful way beyond that a game has never made me feel the way this one did. And maybe not being tempted to make a fool out of myself by talking about things above my education level is for the best, because I would consider being spoiled on such an amazing game in some idiot’s end of year list to be a true shame.

Nier might look like typical anime goofiness on the surface, what with blindfolded french maid sexy butt android fighting wind up toys with a katana. But the game is fully self aware of every single trope it uses, including all of the questions it asks about existence and humanity. It goes some places and has some things to say, man. The one message I feel comfortable in talking about that the game espouses: being human essentially means being in a community and taking care of one another. This is exemplified in what was, for me, maybe the most stunning moment I’ve ever experienced in a game, and during the end credits no less.

This has been a very hard year to be a human living on planet earth. And though Nier is unflinchingly bleak, the overall message of hope and positivity beneath the surface was something that I personally needed. There has never been anything else like this game, and though there are certainly better playing games in 2017, I don’t know if anything will emotionally stick with me the way Nier has.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch/Wii U) - Not since I was a teenager with nigh unlimited free time have I been so enraptured with a video game like I was with Breath of the Wild. I put 60+ hours into the game in the first week it was released; it was like Zelda became my second job, only I was being paid in korok seeds and bloodshot eyes. And I say all of that as a person that considers the Zelda series pretty low on my personal Nintendo franchise totem pole!

What Nintendo was able to do with the open world genre, a type of game they’ve never touched before, is nothing short of remarkable. Most ‘open world’ games are open world only in the sense that there’s a lot of empty space to drive around in to get to an arbitrary objective marker, with no mechanics to give players a way to actually have fun in all of that space. Zelda lives and dies by how the world reacts to everything the player (and enemies) are doing. Sure, there’s simple examples like rolling a boulder down a hill to kill an unsuspecting group of enemies. But getting into a battle with enemies shooting fire arrows at you on a grassy plain, having the hill catch fire, and then escaping after realizing that the wildfire has created warm air that can push you on your paraglider up and out of harm’s way is one of the most amazing moments I’ve ever experienced in a game.

There are definitely issues with the game. For a game with so much time spent in menus, you’d think Nintendo could have come up with a far less cumbersome menu navigation method. And I do very much miss having full length Zelda-styled dungeons (though I do think breaking them up into 120 individual puzzles is a very interesting design decision that totally fulfils its intended goals). It’s easy for me to ignore a few rough edges in a game that made me totally forget what it meant to live life away from a TV screen for an entire week, though.

1. Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil (Xbox One/PC) - I hesitate to call many things, in any medium, “perfect”. And when I do, it’s things like Shaun of the Dead. No, Shaun is not high art in the slightest, but I can’t think of any other movie that so deftly delivers on its intent while making it seem effortless. With the way modern video games are developed, my ideal of perfect (besides being as subjective as it can possibly be) seems nigh unattainable; how is a consumer product that’s touched the hands of hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of years of development supposed to sustain a singular, unified vision across the entire experience? Even the two best games of the past few years, Bloodborne (PS4) and Super Mario Maker (Wii U), really fall flat on their faces in certain regards, albeit in completely different ways. Make no mistake: Cuphead is the perfect video game, as well as the best game in maybe the best year for video games ever.

It’s not just the game’s tireless devotion to the “rubber hose” era of animation. Nor is it just how the game’s biggest video game inspirations, Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis) and Punch-Out!! (NES) are in and of themselves two perfect action games. The combining of a long dormant style of art with a (mostly) dormant style of games is genius in a way that makes everyone else seem dumb for not thinking of it first. Cuphead feels like something that came from an alternate timeline where polygonal games never became the norm, but art in games continued to grow and evolve, unlike other contemporary retro-styled affairs. Which isn’t meant to disparage games of that ilk, but rather emphasize how Cuphead somehow manages to succeed as a game that owes a lot to works that came before it, while also not relying on direct references to, and nostalgia for, those inspirations. The references and nostalgia are there of course, but aren’t needed for the game’s accomplishments to be appreciated by just about anyone.

Put all of that aside though, and what you have is a really fucking fun game where you get to shoot anthropomorphic waffles with magic finger guns. And it has cooperative play! In fact, the only bad thing that can be said about Cuphead is that the second playable character, Mugman, is relegated to player 2. Maybe ‘perfect’ was a tad hyperbolic.

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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Crunchyroll Favorites 2018 Part Two: VIDEO GAMES!

Welcome back for Part Two of Crunchyroll Favorites 2018! Yesterday, we shared our favorite anime and manga of the past year, but this time, it's all about our favorite VIDEO GAMES!

I always like to start these end-of-year lists by saying something like "2018 was no 1998 (or 2005, or 2017)," but y'know what? 2018 was a very good year for video games, and I don't feel right saying otherwise. Games about dads, games about the dead, people still playing Overwatch and Breath of the Wild with plenty of gas left in the tank, we got a new Call of Duty and a new Assassin's Creed as expected, and I told an ungodly amount of people to buy Stardew Valley for their Switches.

The rules were simple: only games that were released (or received a re-release) in 2018, or had a major update or expansion. Now, let's get started!

Nate Ming

Dragon Ball FighterZ- What a world we live in where the purest, meanest fighting game to come out in 2018 is also its most beautiful. FighterZ is exacting and ruthless when it comes to advanced play, but is still accessible enough to let new players have a total blast. And for once, it's a Dragon Ball game that not only plays excellently, but is filled to the brim with callbacks to the manga, TV anime, and movies--what absolute perfection.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life- The end of Kazuma Kiryu's long, violent road took us from the sleepy streets of a Hiroshima neighborhood back to the bustling Kamurocho. The Yakuza games are so perfect, and full of so much to do: recruiting for a gang, managing a baseball team, adopting kittens, lifting weights, babysitting, beating the crap out of people--this was the best way to say goodbye to the Dragon of Dojima, and a surprisingly thoughtful and emotionally smart look at masculinity, fatherhood, and legacy.

God of War- The other Dad Game this year was also a great ride, this time dealing with a regretful father who wants to make sure his child never ends up like him. This game really felt like a long holiday weekend with my own old man, making it equal parts endearing and infuriating.

Return of the Obra Dinn- A rich, multilayered mystery from the creator of the equally-slick Papers Please, there were no games in 2018 that took over my life like The Return of the Obra Dinn. I was taking notes, studying the ship's layout and crew's roles, and basically becoming the investigator character as I worked to find out what killed everyone aboard the H.M.S. Obra Dinn. What a ride.

Into the Breach- I'm kind of a perfectionist, which makes a game like Into the Breach so much more difficult for me to play. This is a game about either making hard turn-based giant mech-vs-kaiju choices and living with them, or constantly resetting the timeline to try and get things perfectly right this time around. Spoiler alert: you very rarely will.

Honorable Mentions: GRIS, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Mega Man 11

Cayla Coats

Hollow Knight (NS)- I’m a big fan of so-called “Metroidvania” action/adventure/platformer games, and Hollow Knight is the best I’ve played in a long time. The game feels wonderful to control, the player character and attacks both having a real sense of weight to them. Wrap it all up in some beautiful 2D sprite and background artwork as well as an ethereal and haunting soundtrack and you’ve got one great game and one happy Cayla.

Soulcalibur VI- I honestly haven’t played a Soul game since Soulcalibur II, and just happened to play this entry after my roommate bought it. And I love it. Every character is a joy to use, and offers the seemingly impossible mixture of accessibility and complexity. Also Voldo is still… Voldo, and that’s worth something, right?

Night in the Woods (NS)- I missed out on this indie gem when it first launched in 2017, but thanks to the surprising indie game oasis that is the Switch, I got to enjoy it early this year! Equal parts Animal Crossing, Gone Home, and Twin Peaks, this cute-but-creepy coming-of-age tale makes the best of its midwestern setting.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- I mean… it’s Smash. It still rules. There are approximately 3 billion really fun modes to try out and 9 billion characters to unlock. It’s just good. Go play it.

Nicole Mejias

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- The amount of hype this game generated was one of an undying level. Was that hype warranted? Oh, hell YES! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an insanely fun game with unending hours of mayhem for you and your buddies! And most importantly, EVERYONE is there!

Yakuza Kiwami 2- I’ve been playing through every single Yakuza game available, and it’s been one gaming journey that I’m glad I took! The series really has it all: hot-blooded action, romance, heart-wrenching drama, and even comedy, which wasn’t something I was expecting at all. Some of the fights in this game had me on the edge of my seat and made me fall completely in love with the series. If you haven’t checked out the series yet, now’s the perfect time!

Battle Chef Brigade (NS)- Ever since I heard about this game, I’ve been itching to play it. A challenging puzzle game with some beat ‘em up elements? I’m ALL IN! Battle Chef Brigade did not disappoint; it’s such a charming game with a lively cast of characters and intriguing Iron Chef-like story! My only complaint is that it was over way too soon and it left me hungry for more.

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee- Pokémon is pretty important to me; playing Pokémon Red as a kid helped me grasp the English language when I was still living in Puerto Rico. Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is a passionate love letter to Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, and experiencing all the battles and events from those past games in this brand-new one was a delight! A must for Pokémon fans for sure!

Deltarune- Deltarune is probably one of the biggest surprises in 2018, with Toby Fox giving us the most delightful of treats on Halloween! It didn’t take long for me to be smitten with this new world with some familiar faces we all know and love. This time around, your choices don’t matter, but what will that mean for the next chapter? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Daniel Dockery

Dragon Ball FighterZ- Finally, Dragon Ball gets a fighting game that lives up to the franchise’s immense legacy. Not only is it fun, but it’s a huge “LOOK AT HOW AWESOME THIS IS!” love letter to the series as a whole.

Monster Hunter World- I’ve been playing Monster Hunter since 3, and I must say that while I deeply enjoy the 3DS entries, it was nice to really feel the scale of these gargantuan beasties that I’m tracking down. Switch Axe 4 Lyfe.

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee- Didn’t expect to like this game. Ended up loving this game. Tattoo Pikachu on my eyeballs, for I need to see nothing else.

That One Mission From Red Dead Redemption 2 You Know The One I’m Talking About- Walking up to a mansion with your crew to rescue a boy, fighting your way through it, and then burning the whole thing to the ground is a high moment in a game that could go from satisfying to “JUST EQUIP THE RIGHT GUN, ARTHUR, COME ON” in a heartbeat.

Luigi’s Mansion 3DS- My favorite Mario-related game that isn’t Kart or Smash Bros. came out on the 3DS. Clear the mansion of its ghosts for the sixth time in my life? Gladly, Professor E. Gadd.

Peter Fobian

God of War- An awesome reimagining of an old franchise, and one of my greatest hopes for ambitious narrative single player titles in the AAA industry. It absolutely deserved every award it got in the Game Awards. The story, characters, and world were all top-notch. The cinematics were fantastic and brutal. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Monster Hunter World- My first dip into the Monster Hunter franchise, this game probably had the biggest skill curve I’ve ever seen in cooperative gameplay, with mechanics stacked on mechanics that seemed to have no bottom. I got a lot of frustrating and satisfying hours out of this game, and I’m still not sure if I’ve discovered even half the things you can do in it.

Hitman 2- There were a lot of questions about the future of Hitman that were riding on this release, and I’m very happy to report that the newest title in the franchise is extremely good. This one got particularly creative, with some of the mission set-ups and conditions and each new map was excellent, even making American suburbia into an interesting mission area.

GRIS- I’m glad I was able to find time to play this final addition before years end because it definitely deserves a spot. Although I can’t really say GRIS is unique in being a atmospheric platformer focusing on depression/loss, it might be the best. The visuals and soundtrack were amazing, especially together. The environments and use of camera were also excellent. Also go play The Missing.

Dead Cells- I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of indie roguelike platformers and Dead Cells, as above with GRIS, may be one of the best of its genre. It’s got a cool aesthetic, some wicked gallows humor, and an unlocking system of items and powers that can result in the player having to formulate some absolutely ridiculous strategies from life to life.

Joseph Luster

Celeste- Playing Celeste reminded me of all the fun I had when Super Meat Boy first came out, but this time I actually cared about the characters and the journey. The narrative is woven into the action, as it should be in a video game, and it actually has something interesting to say. The way Celeste treats difficulty and accessibility will no doubt prove influential, as well. At its core, though, it’s simply an unbelievably tight platformer that provides ample challenges for players of all skill levels.

Ni no Kuni II- The sequel to Ni no Kuni isn’t actually all that much like Ni no Kuni. The battle system is completely different, the Pokémon-esque monster collecting is gone, and the story has been boiled down to the bare essence of Japanese RPG motivation. It’s almost embarrassingly earnest, but it’s also gorgeous, and combat is a joy for the full 30-hour run. There’s plenty to play around with after the credits roll, too, but I was mostly just proud of myself for actually having fun with and completing an RPG in 2018.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon- The award for “Game I Actually Bothered to Beat Multiple Times in 2018” definitely goes to this unassuming bite-sized prequel to Koji Igarashi’s upcoming Bloodstained. It’s so much more than just a downloadable “extra,” and in many ways it out-Castlevania IIIs the original Castlevania III. Play this game immediately if you haven’t, and take the time to get every ending for maximum satisfaction.

Dragon Ball FighterZ- I don’t really play fighting games anymore. I haven’t in years, despite trying to pick them back up seriously when Street Fighter V first came out. Not living with roommates anymore has a lot to do with it, but that enthusiasm roared back to life when Dragon Ball FighterZ arrived in jaw-dropping style. This is the essential anime fighter, and nothing made me and my friends cheer and shout at the screen more in 2018.

Iconoclasts- Like Dragon Ball FighterZ, Iconoclasts came early in the year and started 2018 out on a really strong note. This is probably the “smallest” a list has ever been for me in terms of the sheer scale of the games themselves, but titles like Iconoclasts just fired up my imagination more than the big AAA beasts. From the lush sprite-based visuals to the soundtrack and the excellent pacing, this one is going to stick in my mind for years to come.

Nick Creamer

Hollow Knight/Dead Cells- Though both of these were technically 2017 releases, their continuing developer support and my own delayed play schedule means I’m celebrating them now anyway. And they’re great! If you enjoy games like Metroid or Castlevania, you absolutely must pick up the richly atmospheric and remarkably vast Hollow Knight. If you want an experience like that in a more arcadey, roguelike package, Dead Cells cannot be missed. It’s nice to live in a golden age of challenging indie action games!

Celeste- Speaking of great indie titles, this year’s Celeste likely needs no introduction. Though it theoretically falls in the same punishing platformer space as something like Super Meat Boy, Celeste’s charming storytelling, neatly partitioned challenges, and robust assist features mean it’s a platforming experience that basically anyone could enjoy. Thoughtfully written and brilliantly designed, Celeste shouldn’t be missed by any platforming enthusiasts.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- I am perfectly comfortable admitting I’m one of those Smash fans who up until now, basically just stuck to Melee. The combat in Brawl and Smash 4 always just felt far too floaty for me, with both my character jumps and the impact of my hits making me feel like I was constantly wearing a big balloon suit. Ultimate counters that complaint with crisp, speedy combat harkening back to Melee’s rapid-fire exchanges, along with the most luxurious suite of characters and secondary modes Smash has ever seen. This truly feels like the definitive Smash experience.

Monster Hunter World- MHW was my first experience with the Monster Hunter franchise, and it was glorious. Well, it was eventually glorious--the first fifteen or so hours were an interminable learning process, while I figured out the game’s inscrutable controls and systems, ponderous movement, and extremely vague directions. But after that, hoo boy! Monster Hunter is essentially “Boss Rush: The Videogame,” complete with dozens of intimidating creatures who all demand their own hunting strategy. As an insatiable gobbler of challenging RPG-adjacent action games, I had great times hunting deadly beasts all through last winter.

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And that's a wrap for Part Two! Be sure to join us at the same time tomorrow for our third and final installment, focusing on the EVERYTHING ELSE of 2018--movies, TV, books, comics, food, life experiences, and more! If you're in the mood for more CR Favorites, here are the links to past years' features:

Crunchyroll Favorites 2017 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2016 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2015 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2014 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2013 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2012 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll News' Best of 2011 Part One | Part Two

What were your favorite video games of 2018? Remember, this is a FAVORITES list, not a BEST-OF list, so there are no wrong answers--sound off in the comments and share your favorites!

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Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing. His comic, Shaw City Strikers, launches January 15, 2019.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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its-just-like-the-movies · 7 years

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Logan (17, B)

Word on the hill is currently that the conclusion of the Avengers: Infinity Wars double feature will also be the final outing of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, or so a random twitter person I follow who writes about movies has suggested. I can’t find any corroborating sources to this that aren’t a year old, so who knows, but haven’t rumors of retirement plagued that whole ensemble, Downey especially, for a little while now? Maybe they’ve all seen Logan and are praying to be sent off with anywhere near as good a final outing as Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have, retiring their characters in a sad, violent film that offers both of them to stick the landing with indelible, tragic performances after so many years in PG-13 fare that’s seemed unsuited to the potential of the characters and their actors. I’ve basically enjoyed the X-Men films I’ve seen - fond but faded memories of the first two, faded memories entirely for the third and X-Men: First Class. I have seen The Wolverine, but not his first solo film, or any of the First Class sequels. Nor have I had any particular attachment to these actors in these roles, enjoying them without see them as worthwhile, or having the capacity to go anywhere near where Logan does with these characters. This also counts as a significant step up in my estimations of James Mangold: The Wolverine was frequently a messy film, and I barely believed we were ever in Japan. I’ve seen fragments of Walk the Line and Girl, Interrupted, both fine but not projects I’d be tempted to seek again if not for their recognition at the Oscars. But none of that changes the potent if not quite absolute success Logan represents for all of its participants, functioning equally well as the kind of one-shot that’d only ever see the light of day as an animated film or hollowed out for inspiration in other projects (like the original Bane arc for Dark Knight Rises), and a stunning showcase finale for character and actor alike.

For a little while, it’s hard to believe that there’s any greatness left in Logan himself, using his real name and abandoning the Wolverine moniker after a great calamity only hinted at that’s left Xavier dithering in a great metal dome with fellow mutant Caliban to look after him. We first find him drunkenly passed out in his limousine, waking to the vibrations and sounds of his ride getting tire-jacked. The confrontation with the carjackers goes horribly before it even starts, as Logan’s dazed, hungover journey to walk around the other side of his car is enough to show how weary he already is and has been for years. Trying to placate the men only gets him two barrels of lead in his chest, and the retaliation is messy, brutal, uncomfortable to watch and deeply satisfying as a feat of utilizing Logan’s claws. Logan is as violent as you’ve heard it is, both in general and for a comic book film series of this saturation. I don’t know if this is why I find it discomfiting, maybe it really is too much, but it’s a laudable choice that serves the film and feels like the first time that his adamantium claws are really being stretched to their best advantage. Never has he been so feral on someone who couldn’t inevitably repair themselves or dodge his most brutal swings in previous films. Here, we practically open with a man getting a bladed uppercut to the jaw, to someone else losing their arm in pieces, to irreparable violence inflicted by a man whose own healing powers have slowed down far past their original capabilities, even as they’re still going. Maybe a second viewing will give me a firmer opinion on the violence in Logan, but from where I’m standing it’s a specific and character-appropriate addition that feels as grotesque and horrible as the wrath of a man with knife hands probably should be. I’ll squirm in my seat, but I support it.

From here we are re-introduced to Charles Xavier and his deteriorating mind, as well as a semi-post-apocalyptic Western setting that the film totally earns. Again, I don’t think the film needed to explain the lack of X-Men in Logan the way it does, but it’s rich shading for Logan himself and Charles, even as he struggles throughout to remember what’s happened to the rest of the team. His attempts to grasping at those memories, knowing he’s done something but unclear about what it is he’s done, are poignant struggles for the character to handle, made all the more desperate in his least present moments early on as he prattles off advertising slogans or goes full Cassandra, shouting warnings to Logan about events and people doomed to fall on the deaf ears of a man who already considers him and mutantdom lost. Not long after we’re introduced to the rest of the film’s refreshingly small cast: Dafne Keen’s mute, somewhat menacing child; Stephen Merchant as the albino mutant tracker Caliban, now a caretaker for Charles; and Boyd Holbrook’s vaguely threatening non-presence as the film’s villain, who’s name I can’t remember anyways. Wikipedia says his name is Donald Pierce, which sounds plausible, Wikipedia also says Mangold was really taken by Boyd’s performance, which I can only agree with insofar as he didn’t try and furnish an oppressive personality to compensate for a lack of one in the script. His first encounter with Logan in the limousine is menacing, but fairly low-key, furnishing his character’s credential’s without acting like his role is anything more than a glorified functionary. Stephen Merchant’s Caliban is a weary, snippy presence that gets delightful chemistry with Hugh Jackman that gives his character proper dignity and sorrow in his abuse. Elizabeth Rodriguez is even better as Keen’s doomed protector trying to get the pair to Canada, fearing for their lives without doing overtime to tell us her last scene is her last. Even if her warning videos suggest she spent all her spare time editing tapes on an iMovie, it still lands despite the weirdness of its mere existence. The setting, not just in Texas but in the rest of the country as well fits snuggly in the film’s tone and genre, suggesting not a smaller world but an emptier one, sporadically introducing new characters in such a way that even their presence is precarious to the narrative. Maybe I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to a writer/director that struggles suggesting anyone outside our three heroes truly matters, but that uneasiness worked even as the seams showed.

But for the difficulty Mangold has in convincing us of a future for nearly all the characters, for better and worse, he capably reveals and implies the pasts that these people have lived, hoisting up the baggage that’s brought them to where they are now. The various troubled histories of Logan, Charles, and X-23 (renamed Laura) are all poignantly affecting and believable at all times as their backstories go even deeper than presumed, or as characters directly state what had been implied in their performances already. A special bullet’s very obvious purpose is stated out loud by a drugged man nearly ninety minutes after it had been first discussed, and the moment lands, getting past the awkwardness of everything set up to make this happen through sheer willpower of turning that subtext into text, the power of the performer, and what it means for that character. Xavier’s own attempts to discover what he’d done that broke his mind culminate into a moment of peace, no longer tormented in the abstract now that he knows what he’s done, making amends with himself and simply happy he even found out what happened on his own after so much time spent on the edge of madness. The shared histories between Lopez and Laura, Pierce and Caliban, Caliban and Xavier and Logan, all ring true, not just in emotion but in the years and toils that have forged these relationships.

The scope of their journey and the threat they face also feel more potently real than many a superhero film that feel as though they’re plucking a random villain from a spreadsheet and try to find a reason for them to want to blow up the world. It’s not as though these villains are particularly distinct, but their lower-tier status and low-key menace is simply what Logan wants, needs, and gets. Here, Holbrook’s Donald Pierce and Richard E. Grant’s backgrounded super scientist (apparently named Zander Rice. Zander. Rice) are merely the faces of a large, shadowy corporation hunting down Laura. Rice’s character carries important connections to Logan, Laura, and to Rodriguez’s Gabriela Lopez, in perhaps equal measure, but he’s mostly an evil face on the sidelines, engineering narrative events without directly taking part in them himself. In fact, the film has the good sense to make his “I will create a race of peoples” monologue mercifully short, allowing him to explain why he’s even in this film before he gets cut off explaining how humanity can control mutantkind or whatever the fuck he was yammering about as the final boss appears. The omniscience of the Transigence corporation is a real, viable threat made even more awful by their secret experiments, trying to grow mutant children and turn them into soldiers, only to turn around and start killing the kids once newer programs with stronger mutants and more unquestioning obedience advance beyond the capabilities of these rebellious, uncooperative children. Lopez’s rescue operation and escape to Canada through North Dakota have all the trappings and unreliability of a pipe dream, much Logan and Charles’ dream of buying a boat and living happily alone with each other, especially once Logan finds out the name of the hideout, Eden, is a reference to an X-Men comic.

The meta-commentary as Logan berates Laura for believing in these tales is obvious, but it rings with some truth and does double duty on a few variants of comic book media that’s a lot more interesting than James Marsden quipping about how implausible yellow-colored spandex would be as a costume for a group of atomic supermen about to stop Ian McKellen from accidentally eradicating humankind. Silver screen comic-book fare seems almost physically impossible to tread anywhere near the kind of stylization and storytelling that Golden-Age comic books are famous for, though it certainly seems to be thriving in animated features and all these CW shows. But nowadays most comic films have taken the grim stylization of an early X-Files episodes, all grim color palettes and poor lighting, but with “darker” and “mature”content that seems to rebel against the idea that these characters could ever be happy, and could only ever exist in the “real world” if they’re violent rejections of what those characters were often meant to stand for. Aside from whatever nasty implications these directors (Zack Snyder) are standing up for by making such nasty representations of source material they ostensibly love, and taking stock that maybe the second wave of X-Men films has pulled this off and I just haven’t seen it (I think Guardians of the Galaxy is close), I don’t think Logan’s overt violence and Western-style fall into the same sort of betrayal of character I’m accusing the DCEU of perpetrating (I also wouldn’t accuse The Dark Knight of this either). It’s unusual tone, full worldbuilding, and the confidence it’s executed with gives its melancholic setup far more credibility than the dour, murderous pessimism of Batman or Lex Luthor’s jittery bitchiness. Mangold’s realizations of the characters also honors them, taking liberties to suit the story that honors their histories without betraying the basics of the characters. Logan’s self-hatred and Xavier’s mental degradation are plausible interpretations that work within the established traits of the characters and their previous film appearances. They’re still Charles and Logan, but not the ones we’ve spent over a decade watching.

Are you as amazed as I am that I’ve gone so long without gushing over the three lead performances in this film? I know I am, not just because they’re so spectacular, but that what works about the film is easily creditable to how well these performers carry out everything that the script demands of them, filling in gaps and lending emotional sense to a flawed script. Newcomer Dafne Keen is probably the most convincingly angry Murder Child in a decade full of Elevens and Arya Starks traipsing around pop culture. Her stunt double deserves some joint credit as well, but Keen’s own physicality and rage are potent in her silent expressions and homicidal war screams. She’s more Wolverine than Logan ever was, Sarah Connor scaled three feet high, and it’s too her credit that the character never felt unbelievable or repulsive despite such a feral performance. I quibble that her language skills develop when and why they do, but she carries that character’s preternatural intelligence in a way that felt in the ballpark of Marlene Dietrich’s gypsy fortune teller in Touch of Evil. Maybe there’s too much bathos baked into the part of Xavier for Patrick Stewart to dodge them completely, but he earns the pity his character inspires while adding plenty of venom, patience, and uncomplicated kindness in his interactions with Logan and the outside world, evoking a richer history reminiscing about the first time he saw Shane than he ever did with Ian McKellen. Hugh Jackman carries the least tangible arc of the trio, having to present the character as an ornery, unmovable object whose plot-required changes of heart must appear spontaneous against all that foreshadowing and basic narrative obligations. Against these obligations, Jackman thrives, offering a full characterization that’s a bitter, sad, and savage as the film needs him to be without lending his fallen superhero any unearned sympathy, leaping the narrative and hurdles to make the whole film, but especially the final half hour feel so horrific and affecting even as the tragic inevitability of it flirts with the painful obviousness of the machinations needed to make it happen.

In the time it’s taken me to write this, I’ve read and listened to several more reviews of Logan, and it has knocked down my estimation of it a few pegs. There’s simply too many individual facets of the script worth quibbling over, adding up into a narrative mainly held together by the work that the director and especially the actors are doing to give the material real emotional weight. I’ll budge on the script, listen to any suggested rewrites, but I’ll give Logan credit for having the guts to approach this kind of material and tone at all. That last half hour ends with an unthinkable yet inevitable conclusion to our titular hero, and as Laura adjusts a single prop before running off into the woods, leaving us with a final shot that nearly made me cry, I couldn’t think of anything but the insane risk that must’ve come for Mangold to create this story, and tell it the way he did. It’s not a great script, but what Mangold filmed is surely the best realization of it he has in him, aided and abetted by three stunning performances to make the whole thing feel as sad and muscular as it deserves. Surely this will only help Hugh Jackman’s probable Oscar bid for The Greatest Showman, nevermind the spare critics’ groups that’ll recognize him for this instead (surely Stewart and Keen will get theirs, and recognizing the screenplay seems the best way to recognize Mangold). But after Prisoners it’s amazing to me that as good as Jackman is as a theater-groomed musical man (this gleamed from his award show hosting gigs, not Les Mis), I’m stunned that his most effective cinematic persona could be summarized as “Angry Murder Dad in Pulpy, Sad Genre Film”. That’s surely a limited type, and Jackman’s an actor whose filmography I need to get caught up with. But after such a glorious final outing in Logan, I’d be happy to see what else this man can do.

#my posts #my reviews #logan

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