Tumgik
#I'm sure there's a bunch of cool players out there
albino-parakeet · 17 days
Text
maybe the reason I feel burnt out when it comes to sky, is because everyone I played with originally stopped.
Like there's no reason for me to stay longer than a cr and it's mainly that reason.
2 notes · View notes
thecindercrow · 1 year
Text
podcast rec! been listening to Pretending to Be People a lot recently and really enjoying it! I’m not quite caught up yet, I’m in the chunk of bonus scenarios between seasons but season 1 was a really fun ride and I’m looking forward to starting and catching up with season 2.
4 notes · View notes
whoreforellieandabby · 2 months
Text
Lego date
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Loser ellie x loser r?
A/n: I haven't been posting bc my mental health has gone down the drain but i finally got the energy to write this little idea
You were in your apartment piecing together a new Lego set you had just bought. It was a big project, and you knew you wanted to have a night to dedicate to it. So while your friends are off partying on a friday night, you're indoors with your record player on and Lego on the table. Dina had tried to get you to go out with them, but this was too exciting to wait any longer for. But then you hear a knock on your door. You let out a frustrated sigh. You weren't expecting a package or anything, and you texted Dina and Jesse that you for sure were not going. You open the door, expecting Dina to see her best friend and your crush, Ellie. You froze a little, not expecting to see her. You weren't super close with her, only exchanging a few sentences between each other when you were with her.
"Hi Ellie...what are you doing here?" You said.
She took in your figure. You were wearing some pajama shorts and a tank top. Ellies face went red as she spoke.
"Dina wanted me to check on you." She said.
You looked down and quickly cross your arms in front of your chest.
"Why?" You asked.
"Normally, you don't pass on free weed"
You looked back at your table.
"Yeah... I'm just busy tonight."
"You don't look busy." She stated.
You sighed.
"I'm building a lego set."
Ellie immediately got excited. You two finally had a shared interest other than weed.
"Really?" She excitedly asked.
"Yeah," you saw that her reaction was good, and she wasn't going to tease you for it. "You wanna see it?"
She quickly nodded, and you let her in the house.
You showed her the lego set on the table.
"Whoa this one's cool I don't have this one!"
"I didn't know you built legos." You said
"Yeah, well, Dina and Jesse, don't build legos, and since I met you through them and you're like Dina, I expected you not to also"
"No I like them a lot" you said.
Ellie has never been in your apartment, so she looked around the room and saw a bunch of nerdy stuff she was into.
"You never talk about all of this stuff" she said.
You shrugged.
"Dina and Jesse aren't into it, so I don't really bring it up"
"This is awesome," Ellie said while looking into your eyes.
"Do you... want to stay here and help me build this? I know you're supposed to be out at a party with Dina and Jesse..."
Ellie immediately jumped at the chance to spend time with you. She has always wanted to but was to much of a pussy to ask.
"Yes, I'd like that" she said almost a little to enthusiastic.
"Ok" you nod.
You both spend the evening building the set, listening to music, and talking. The chemistry flowed between you both. But soon enough you were both tired and Ellie needed to get back to her place because she had plans with Joel the next day.
"Will you...go out with me?" She finally got the courage to ask. Her face turned bright red and she messed with her hands.
"I'd love to Ellie."
Ellie felt her body relax and she gave you a smile.
"Ok, I'll text you the details"
You walked her to the front door and opened it up letting her walk out your door into the chilly night until you made a quick impulsive decision.
"Ellie!"
She turned around and you gently grabbed her face and softly kissed her. You quickly pulled back from her freaking out and quickly went to close the door.
"Text me!" You yelled to her before closing the door.
Ellie quickly sprinted to her car and immediately pulled out her phone to text Dina about finally asking you out and the kiss.
466 notes · View notes
thydungeongal · 9 months
Text
Not sure how universal this is, but I've started to notice in traditional party based RPGs since there is now a culture of there needing to be more "roleplay" scenes between the action that the main focus of the game (action and exploration) starts to suffer, but also it leads to an uneven amount of spotlight time. Players who want to just adventure are left with less time and the time spent on a few players' individual scenes doesn't detract from everyone's time equally because the players involved in those individual scenes are still expected to be involved in the adventuring scenes.
Of course the solution is communication, because I'm sure the players involved in their own scenes don't actually want to monopolize everyone else's time, but there's also a bit of misaligned genre expectation at play. Because the core gameplay loop of these adventure games is the adventure where everyone is present.
And like there are plenty of RPGs where there isn't an adventure component. Players aren't expected to go on little trips into mystical ruins as a group. Those games rule. It's actually really cool to play out a bunch of different scenes where only the necessary players are present and then weave that into a narrative together. But trying to balance that with the loop of the mystical ruins exploration game isn't it. These two characters are trying to get to the bottom of their relationships while Boglin the Goblin is standing awkwardly in the corner thinking when they'll be able to go back to exploring the mystical ruins.
461 notes · View notes
moonchildstyles · 3 months
Note
I saw you were talking about curious gazes stuff.... is citrine a part of that group 🧍‍♀️
wordcount: 2.6k+
——————
Parker kept his eyes on his phone, rereading his new text notification over and over even when the bell above his head jingled as he walked through the door of the record shop. 
Annie asked if he was going to be at Vera's party tonight. She asked him if she could go with him.
His cheeks almost ached from the width of the smile on his face. Maybe tonight would be the night—maybe he'd finally get the courage to ask her on a real date instead of all these friendly group outings. 
Parker pulled his gaze up only when he heard the familiar voice of the shop attendant, catching the wide smile on the man's face. It was the same man every time Parker came in, his name starting with an H (it was Harry, or Henry, or something in that universe but he could never remember and felt too shy to ask for clarification at this point). He knew so much about all of the records and the artists behind them, it was always interesting when Parker wasn't in too much of a rush and could talk to the guy. 
"Good afternoon! How are you?" he asked, the glimmering fabric of his top shimmering from the light spilling in from the large windows. 
"I'm good, man. Thanks," Parker greeted, feeling infectiously happy at the moment, "How are you?" 
"I'm doing really well, thank you," Harry (maybe?) said, dimples in his cheeks, "Are y'looking for anything specific today?" 
Shrugging, Parker shook his head. "Not really, just wanted to look and see if I can find something new." 
Harry perked up at the sound of something new being in need, a dark curl falling over his forehead. "We got a bunch of second hand records in the other day. It's mostly older albums, but 'm sure there's something you'd like. Let me know if you want any help or have any questions." 
Typically, Parker wouldn't mind asking a few questions, especially about the more vintage artists and pressings around the shop, but his mind was still buried deep in his phone. "I will, man. Thanks." 
With that, Parker drifted between the shelves that marked out the aisles in the small shop. Huddled between a pair of shelves holding different records and elaborate displays with special edition pressings, he pulled his phone out once again. Annie's thread was still open, her two texts shining in a beautiful, shining, hopeful blue. 
ur going to v's tngiht right ? 
if u want we could go together :) 
He'd never seen a string of letters look so perfect. It was like he was reading poetry. 
His fingers held a tremor as he texted her back. He attempted to play it cool, but of course he wanted to go with her. He would have given anything to enter that party under the label of being together with Annie. 
Sure! I have to do some homework tonight, but I'll be heading over there at around eight. Does that work for you? 
Shooting off the message, Parker felt conflicted about staring and waiting for the messages to be read with another set of preemptive bubbles filling where her next message would be, or locking his phone and not being so desperate for a single text. 
When the receipts didn't immediately switch to show that it had been read with another time stamp, Parker forced himself to lock the screen and shove his phone back into his pocket. Around him, colorful records asked to steal his attention, to put him back on track and remind him why he came to the shop in the first place. 
It was his sister's birthday next week and he wanted to pick out a couple of records for her since their mom was gifting her a player as well. (And, there was an album or two Parker had been looking at that he really hoped the shop carried). Forcing his mind off of his phone, he took his time perusing through the shelfs for anything special he knew she liked before he would start looking through the crates for something vintage she could brag to her friends about. 
Across the space, the bell dinged again, another customer stopping by. 
Instead of the usual greeting Harry offered to all guests, Parker heard a giddy sigh of, "Sunshine!" ring from the head of the shop. 
Lifting his gaze from where he was examining a record cover laden with roses and glimmering gold font, he saw a woman with a beaming smile making her way towards the register area. A plastic takeaway bag hung from her elbow, her hair pulled back with her outfit consisting of a logo'd shirt and black pants. The logo was familiar, from a restaurant deeper in the plaza that had margaritas that were a little too strong but cheap enough it didn't matter. 
"Hi, Harry," she greeted, opening her arms as Harry met her halfway and reciprocated her hug. 
The plastic bag crinkled over his shoulder but neither of them paid the food any mind as they wrapped around each other. Quiet whispers were shared between them, Harry's curls creating a small curtain so Parker couldn't even see what kind of reaction these secrets pulled from the newcomer. 
Instead, Parker only got to hear the sound of her laugh as she drew away from the hug. He felt a bit bad as he kept watching, but even when they shared a small kiss, he couldn't pull his eyes away. 
Harry had mentioned more than once these small details about his wife, interjecting that she loved a certain album, or that she recommended something new to him that he was now letting others in on. Truthfully, with who Harry was—so eccentric, extroverted in an introverted way, and seemingly from a different time—Parker had imagined his wife to be completely different than to who was standing before him. 
This woman seemed... normal. 
Not that it was a bad thing, or that Harry wasn't, but she wasn't draped in lace and gauze with jewels and glitter following her every step. She looked like she belonged in this century. 
He turned his attention back to the record in his hand a split second before she would have caught his stare. Though there was a track list right before him, he didn't read a single word, feeling a bit flustered knowing he had just witnessed what was most likely a private moment between the two of them. 
Parker couldn't help the way his mind went back to Annie. 
Would she visit him during her lunch? Would they embrace like that, without a care? What kind of secrets would she share with him? 
He couldn't help the minute check he made to his phone screen. 
No new notifications. 
Folding his phone back into his pocket, Parker directed his focus back onto his shopping. Meandering back towards the crates, he started flicking through the alphabetized stacks. 
With only a quiet album playing on the shop's record player—something crackly and old he didn't recognize but didn't mind—, he could hear the murmurings of the couple now huddled behind the register counter together. Though he didn't mean to eavesdrop, he didn't particularly try hard not to either. 
Straining an ear, he heard their hushed conversation over the music and quiet rustling of the plastic bag. 
"I can come back later, or save this for dinner," the woman said, "I don't want you to get in trouble, honey." 
"'S fine, dove, really," Harry insisted, his smile audible, "I know him—he's really nice. He won't mind, I promise. If he needs my help, I'll help." 
"But, H—" she tried again, only to be abruptly cut off. 
Maybe it was the romance on his mind, but Parker wondered if the soft sound he heard was another quiet kiss they shared. Harry's tactic to get his wife to let go of the argument. 
"It'll be fine, I promise. I've missed you all day, I don't want you to leave already." 
A plume of laughter could be heard alongside the laying out of styrofoam containers. The scent of warm food drifted through the shop. Parker's stomach piqued at the smell, reminding him the last time he ate was during breakfast. 
Maybe Annie would want to stop and get some dinner before the party. Or go for a late night snack after. 
Harry's wife's laugh pulls him out of the possibilities he was beginning to churn before he'd even received a text back. 
"We spent all morning together before you came here," she countered, her tone a gentle tease. 
"So?" Harry argued, quietly serious under his own joking tone, "'S not enough, and I've told you that before." 
A beat passed, the rustling of the bag filling the moment. "Well, I only have forty-five minutes left of my lunch, so you better make the most of it." 
Another set of hushed conversation sounded, words too quiet for him to hear. Parker figured with the scolding Harry! that left the wife's lips, he didn't really want to hear what had made them go quiet anyway. 
A vibration from his back pocket had Parker practically scrambling to reach for his phone and get the screen to light up.
Annie had texted him back. 
sounds good (: 
if its isnt to late by the time we r leavig we should get food or something 
Parker's heart just about soared right out of his chest towards the record player, the beats wishing to play their own love song in Annie's name. 
They were going to get food or something tonight, just like he hoped. 
Was this love? 
I was thinking the same thing! I'll see if I can finish up any sooner than eight, but I'll let you know when I'm on my way:) 
 There was so much Parker needed to do. 
Now the priority wasn't the set of essays he was planning on editing before he got ready for Vera's. These plants were now shifted, urging him to skip cleaning his apartment and instead rushing home to do his work then agonize over getting ready for the remainder of the evening. The cowlick on the crown of his head that had his hair sticking in weird places after every shower was going to be his prime enemy today. 
Focusing on the records before him, Parker skimmed through before grabbing a Fleetwood Mac album his sister would either love or let become a statement piece about how much of an old soul she was. Turning back to the shelves he reached for a foiled album, the band's name one he recognized but only vaguely through his sister's Spotify. He wasn't familiar with the artwork, but hopefully this was a good one. 
These two would have to do for now. If he needed to find a third, he'd do it later. Annie was waiting for him (in six hours, but the urgency still mattered). 
Taking his tiny stack to the register, he saw the bubbly couple huddled together sharing a container of French fries with their own respective sandwiches. When the woman realized Parker was approaching, she startled in her spot, immediately moving to get their meal out of the way of the register. 
"Sorry, sorry," she said, covering her mouth as she swallowed down the bite she'd taken just as he emerged from the shelves. Harry watched with a fond quirk to his lips though he didn't make any move to assist her move. 
"'S alright, love," he attempted to soothe her. While Harry was always purely friendly and full of a kind and giving spirit, Parker had never heard his voice take on the notes it did now. This man was in love with his wife—everything she did was special to him. 
"I don't mind," Parker jumped in, settling his records on the clear area of the desk, "I get it." 
"See, (Y/N)?" Harry pointed out, though he did begin straightening up and tapping at the register keys, "I told you he was cool." 
The woman—(Y/N), the name said with a reverence—didn't pay Harry's argument any mind, continuing to move their boxes out of the way for Parker. Harry shook his head, his green eyes lighting up with every glance her way. 
"You find everything alright?" Harry asked, sliding the records towards the inlaid scanner on the desk. Before Parker had a chance to answer, he saw Harry's face light up when he spotted the Fleetwood Mac record. "I didn't know you listened to them! Is this your favorite album?" 
Holding up the beige cover, complete with a familiar woman in pointe shoes and an unfamiliar man at her side, Harry looked to him with expectant eyes. 
"Um, this is actually a gift for my sister," Parker explained, feeling a bit bashful now that he let down Harry. "It's her birthday next week, and my mom is getting her a record player. I don't really listen to older music." 
Casting his gaze down at the album cover, Harry pursed his lips. "I guess it did come out in '77—feels like it was only last year, I forget sometimes." 
Parker canted his head. That was one of those things about Harry that had him assuming he was meant to exist long before this time. It wasn't the first time he made a comment like that. 
"If she likes that album," (Y/N) piped up from where she had stepped back to lean against the back counter, "you should get her some Stevie Nicks albums. She'd love them." 
Harry perked up with a smile on his lips, though he stayed quiet as he typed a few numbers into the register before the total popped up on Parker's end. 
"She's the singer from Fleetwood Mac, right?" Parker asked, sliding his card into the reader, "I didn't know she had her own music." 
"She's the best," Harry interjected, his words a clear praise of his idol, "Even if your sister doesn't get into it, y'should still try it out. Y'won't regret it." 
Maybe Annie would like some of this kind of music. They could have a song if they found one they both liked.
The idea had Parker giddy once more, itching to head home and prepare for the night.
"I'll have to come back then and see what you recommend," Parker said, grabbing his carefully bagged records with the receipt tucked inside, "Thanks, Harry. It was nice to kind of meet you, by the way"—his eyes moving to Harry's wife—"He talks about you all the time." 
The smile that stretched along her features was like the sunshine her husband named her after—bright and eclipsing. 
Though they were small, the things Parker picked up between the two had his heart softening in places he didn't know could soften. A love like that must be consuming in the sweetest way.
Annie was all that was swirling through his mind. 
"He does?" (Y/N) asked, her eyes drifting towards her husband. He only shrugged in response, a bashful set to his features with blushing cheeks. 
"See you next time," Harry said, biting back his dimpled smile as he bid Parker goodbye. 
Tossing a wave over his shoulder, Parker drifted towards the door, his precious phone sliding into his hand on instinct. His heart jumped when he saw a text from Annie. 
perf ! excited to see u (: 
His heart rocketed into his throat at the small string of words. Just before he left the shop, Parker didn't think before he was looking over his shoulder and catching Harry pressing a loving kiss to his wife's lips. 
He wanted a love like that. Hopefully, that will start tonight. 
——————
:))))) thank u sm for all the excitement about this pov I hope everyone likes it! thank u sm for reading, sorry for any mistakes, and please send in any fun ideas!
233 notes · View notes
xhoneygirlxx · 8 months
Text
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Steve Harrington x Reader
summary: The cheerleading and boy's basketball coaches are the talk of Hawkins High. When they can't seem to put two and two together, the students have to take matter into their own hands to get the pair together.
warnings: fluff. Steve and reader are both in their 20s. gender/body size/ethnicity are not discussed (the name of the fic was simply picked based off of one line). a little cameo from our favorite metal head. a bit sappy but who cares. idiots in love. we stan the students in this fic, they were doin god's work frfr. also modern au! spelling errors/shitty writing, i'm sick so forgive me for any mistakes lmao.
*if i miss anything please let me know*
a/n: As we all know, today would have been the last day of Honey's birthday bash. That was the plan my friends but bc of party festivities, hangovers, and now a bad cold, we are now behind on schedule. Thank you all for hanging in there with me :) I hope you all enjoy this, love you bunches!
Tumblr media
The whole school is rolling fake dice.
Tumblr media
Whispers traveled through the echo chamber hallways, bets being placed with the shaking of hands, and gossip being passed back and forth in the lunchroom like a breadbasket at dinner. All anyone could talk about was the two coaches that were blind to their own attraction to one another.
Unbeknownst to you and Steve, you guys were in the middle of a storm of circulating rumors since the beginning of the season. From the moment you two met all hell broke loose, a wildfire spreading through the classrooms of the school.
Everyone could see how much you liked each other, it was so clear like the scoreboard that shined brightly in the gym, except for you. The perfect love story, the cheerleader and jock, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
It started as a game between the cheerleaders and the basketball players, betting on who would break first and finally make it official. Soon it became a game amongst the rest of the student body, all of them biting at their nails and crossing their fingers in the hope that one of you would crack.
To everyone's disappointment, neither of you ever did. It was exhausting watching the two of you dance around your clear feelings for one another. The two of you tried to play it cool, act like any of the accusations were just that, accusations. But it was there, bright as day, on display for the whole world to see.
It was in the way your eyes would find each other's in a crowded room, feather light touches that would linger for way too long, shy smiles and rosy cheeks. The way you talked to one another was anything but two people who worked together. It was teasing, flirty, and breathless any time you talked.
There was a big wager for this whole thing, which team would win the biggest check and which one would have to fork over all the money. The cheerleaders and half of the school had their money on Steve, his reputation as a ladies man helping them with their decision. The basketball team and the other half of the school bet on you, knowing you were more outspoken then he is.
Now it's been months since the bets were placed but neither of you finally crossed over the line from friends to lovers. So the cheerleaders did what they do best, they rallied everyone on their side, made a plan that would guarantee their win.
Winter formal was only a week away, both of you were sure to chaperone without a date. So the cheerleaders got to work, making sure their plan would be executed flawlessly.
Tumblr media
Phase #1: Plant the seeds
Two loud knocks against the heavy wood door of Steve's office bring him out of his computer screen. Shouting a come in, he's met with the sight of the student council president, Lauren McPhee who holds a white paper.
"Sorry to bother you but I need this form filled out for the dance next week!" She's too chipper for a Monday morning, smiling brightly like the sun that hangs in the cold December sky.
"Oh yeah, let me just get a pen." Wheeling back on his desk chair, Steve begins to pat his shirt while looking around at his cluttered desk for the writing instrument.
Once he snatches the ballpoint pen from under the stack of papers, Steve grabs the flimsy sheet from Lauren's hand and scribbles down his signature on every empty line.
"Alrighty, there you go." With a tight lipped smile, he hands it back to the nice girl.
Steve watches as her eyes flit over the paper, flipping it front to back to make sure everything is filled out properly. When her features twist in confusion he can't help but wonder why.
"Everything look good?" He questions and she shakes her head while still reading over the curled letters of his name.
"Y-yeah, it's just," pulling her lip between her teeth, Lauren begins to chew on it anxiously, "the section for your date has been left blank. Excuse me if I'm crossing a line here, coach, but you're not bringing a date?"
Her voice is sympathetic, lips pulled into a deep from and her eyes sparkling with pity as she looks at the older man. Steve isn't sure why she seems so upset about him going alone or why it would be a problem, but when she looks at him like a dog that's been kicked he feels the need to answer.
"Oh, well I don't really have anyone to take. Plus it's more important for me to be paying attention to the punch bowl to make sure no asshole- I mean jerk, spikes it." With a forced laugh, he waits to see if his answer is enough to suffice the girl's curiosity.
"O-oh that makes sense I guess, I just though maybe you and the cheerleading coach would go together. You know cause they're also going alone and from what they told me, they never been to their winter formal before." Shrugging, the girl moves her sights from him back to the paper.
"They told you that?" Steve's answer is met with a hesitant nod from the girl. "I-I didn't know that." He breathes.
"At least they'll finally be able to go, right?" Again she shrugs, pulling a folder from her bag to put the paper away.
"Wait!" It comes out louder than he expected, cringing slightly at his volume. "Can I hold onto that and then had it in later?"
"Sure! I'll be back on Wednesday." A sunny smile shines at him, the white paper being passed back to him. "See you then, coach."
Waving him goodbye, Lauren shuts the door behind her where the cheerleaders wait for her. With a singular thumbs up, they begin to jump with joy only for a moment before moving on to phase two.
Tumblr media
Phase #2: Destroy the band room
Now destruction of school property was not something any student was willing to get written up for, but with the help of an adult maybe they wouldn't have to.
Mr. Munson was the band instructor and drama teacher, as well as Steve Harrington's right hand man. Before he was an educator, Eddie Munson menaced these halls for many years. Before getting his act together and after he quit selling weed to the students in the woods, he worked as an apprentice for a while, following a plumber around for months while he went to college for education.
"Mr. Munson come on, don't you want to see your bestie finally get a happy ending?" Karissa Thomas batted her eyelashes at him as she begged for his help.
"I don't know guys, I could get into a lot of trouble." Rubbing his forehead, Eddie sighs as he weighs out his options in his head.
"Think of it this way, you can finally give principle Higgins the finger. At least metaphorically." Anthony Whitmer adds.
"Plus, we'll give you some of the profits." Mark, another band kid pleads from the group.
Eddie leans against his desk wide eyed, smirking slightly at his band students. Who knew they would be so devious.
"Fuck it, I'm in." The group before him shout in victory while Eddie laughs devilishly. Somethings never changes, he thinks.
So this morning when he arrived at school, Eddie made sure that no one was around when he began fucking with the pipes. After about twenty minutes and sore upper arms, he finally succeeds by springing a leak.
When he reported the leak to principle Higgins, he was met with a side eye before getting the approval of the gym slot after school, which meant you and your team would be forced to share with Harrington and his team until it got fixed.
Tumblr media
Phase #3: Offer planning services to coach Harrington
Now to bring this whole plan together, cheer captains Dan Morrison and Amber Hall needed to be in the same place at the same time as Steve Harrington. The only problem was his office and where he usually occupied the most was the east wing of the school. The east wing was the closest to his office and it was the least traveled hallways out of the whole school.
That meant they needed to make it look like they were that way for a reason. Luckily for them, the art room was also in the east wing, so they would make it look like they were grabbing poster boards for last minute winter formal posters.
Lunch time was the best time to put this into motion, so the minute the 11:50 bell rang, Dan and Amber sprinted to the east wing in the hopes they would catch him.
After rummaging around for glitter, markers, and poster boards, the two waited at the door, peaking over the frame in the hopes to catch the older man. When the door of his office opened, the two seniors began to walk out of the room talking about random things to not make it look so obvious.
In the hopes of sparking a conversation with him, Amber dropped the container of markers causing colorful pens to fall all over the hard floor.
"Amber, I told you not to drop them!" Dan laughs, putting the white posters to the floor in order to pick up the rolling markers.
"You made me laugh!" The girl argues back, laughing loudly as she crouches to help.
"I didn't even do anything." He replies, making the girl laugh even harder at his comment.
The echo of Steve's heavy footsteps could be heard by both teenagers, but they ignore it so he wouldn't catch on.
"You guys cool?" Steve asks, crouching down to help pick up what fell.
"H-hi coach," Amber greets, catching her breath from her heavy laughter, "We're okay, Dan just made me drop these."
The boy in question huffs and rolls his eyes playfully, continuing his actions of gathering the rest of what's on the floor.
"So what are you guys doing with all this, anyway?" Steve asks, pushing off on his knees to stand.
"Oh, just last minute posters for the dance." Dan says nonchalantly as he gathers his pile of supplies.
"You're going, right?" The young girl asks and Steve responds with a small sigh, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah I'll be there." Nodding his head, the man places his hands on his hips looking at the two kids in front of him.
"That's fun! Are you bringing a date?" Amber wiggles her eyebrows.
Shoving her playfully, Dan looks at her with a gasp. "Oh my gosh, Amber you can't just ask that. Sorry, coach." Doing his best to look sympathetic, Dan offers his best smile to the older man.
"It's okay, Dan," Steve places a hand out, looking at the brown haired boy, "Actually, I was wondering if you guys could help me with that."
"Sure!" The cheerleaders agree in unison.
"Let's talk about this in my office." Pointing a thumb to the end of the hall, spinning of the ball of his foot to lead the way.
Steve defiantly doesn't see how bright both of the teen's smiles are from where they walk behind him and he surely doesn't see them giving each other a high five.
Tumblr media
Phase #4: Get you to go to the parking lot before practice
This phase was probably the hardest of them all. You were very keen on punctuality, always the first to be at the building to make sure everything was set up. Now that you'd be sharing the gym with the basketball team, you were more than likely to be there a whole lot earlier than usual.
Now this is where the most important players come in, Lauren Hernandez and Simon Carter. The two freshmen were bright stars at Hawkins High, the leading members of the mathletes and very trust worthy students.
When this whole plan started it was known that they'd need someone who was convincing to divert your attention, so the two meek students volunteered without a second thought. The amount of money they'd win if coach Harrington made the first move was way more important than credibility at this point.
When they spotted you coming through the outside gym door, the two kids began to put on their show. Rushing through the two gymnasium doors, Lauren and Simon pant acting as if they ran a mile.
"C-coah, we need-" Simon bends over, bracing his hands on his knees while breathing heavily, "We need your help!"
You immediately drop your bags, sprinting over to the two youths. Worry is written all over your face, eyes immediately checking for any visible injuries on them.
"I-is everything okay? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Placing a hand on your chest, you wait for them to catch their breath.
"There's a fight outside. Max Newman and Devon Lewis are fighting in the parking lot." Lauren rushes out, eyes wide and glassy under the gym lights.
You're more than shocked at the news, the two boys have been great friends the whole time you've coached them. In a flash, you urge both kids to get coach Harrington from his office while you break up the fight.
What you don't know is neither Simon or Lauren have to get him, waiting until the slam of the heavy gym door both run after you to make sure they don't miss a single moment.
Rushing through the entrance doors, the cold winter chill instantly hits you but you don't pay too much attention to it when there isn't a fight happening.
When you walk outside, you see your team of cheerleaders lined up on both sides of the steps, a red rose in each hand. As you walk, they hand them to you, bright smiles on each of their faces when they do.
You can't speak with the amount of confusion that runs through your brain. Even though you want to ask them what all of this is about, you just let your feet carry you out into the parking lot.
You jump slightly when you hear Wildest Dreams being play, the only difference is the band kids stand off to the side with their instruments. Giggling slightly, you imagine Eddie Munson teaching his kids a Taylor Swift song but Bridgerton style.
With a bundle of roses in hand, you continue out into the snow covered parking lot. Under the street lights you see him standing with his hands in his pockets. Behind him stands some of the drama kids, holding big white posters. Taking a moment to read the blue and silver lettering, you gasp when it finally hits you.
F O R M A L ?
Tears prick your eyes and not just because of the cold winter wind. The thought and dedication that went into this must've taken so much (more than both of you even realize), you're heart beaming with the thought of Steve putting this together.
"So what do you say, coach? Will you do me the honors of being my date to the dance?" Steve's cheeks are red and his teeth glimmer under the florescent lights.
You can't help but let more tears fall, all of the pining and wishing finally coming true under the darken sky, right where the two of you first met. It feels too good too be true, a real life fairytale happening in real time.
"Of course I will." It comes out loud enough for only him to hear, the two of you looking at each other in adoration.
In a split moment, Steve's strong hands pull you in and wrap you in the tightest hug, something you dreamt of all this time. Even in the cold temperatures, his body heat, his touch holds the heat of a thousand suns.
The roaring cheer of all of those around you, besides the band who continue to play, fills the open air. You and Steve are so wrapped up in each other you don't even notice the flash of the camera, Andrew Johnson of the yearbook committee getting multiple shots of the whole thing.
Pulling back enough to look at one another, you smile brightly up at him. Steve looks so pretty like this, cherry nose, snow flurries collecting in his eyelashes and hair, and a smile so sweet it could rot your teeth.
"I can't believe you did all of this." You say with a laugh, shaking your head in amazement.
Chuckling slightly, he looks down bashfully at you. "Yeah well, I had some help." The two of your look all around the parking lot where multiple students stand, all from different clubs, groups, and social brackets beam and cheer for the two of you.
The two of you turn back to one another, gooey looks on both of your faces and love filling your eyes. "Who would've thought." You say breathlessly and he agrees.
"Can I kiss you?" It's breathless and hopeful when Steve says it, and you're answer is just as breathless.
Connecting his lips to yours felt like two puzzle pieces fitting together, it's feels like home, and it feels right. Like a snow globe, you and Steve are frozen for just a moment under the December snow.
Tumblr media
I hope you all enjoy! Love you all <3
-
-
-
-
343 notes · View notes
Text
My Thad Headcanons
Because I'm so totally autism about him, you have no IDEA
.
.
.
I took this from a fic I read, but Thad runs warm. By this I mean his cooling system likes to malfunction every now and then and he has to throw himself into a bunch of icepacks until it works again. If he overheats, he’ll shut down so it systems can cool down much like a phone would
He's self conscious about his sharp canines, but not in the sense that he’s constantly thinking about it. It’s more like a “if i look at myself in the mirror and see my smile, I’m going to remember they’re there and be like ‘oh. that’s not right.’” Because of his insecurity with his sharp teeth, he refuses to go to the dentist
The fact Uzi had a crush on him before meeting N absolutely flew over his head (he’s stupid)
He likes girls AND boys
Ever since the fight with J and V in the pilot, he coughs up oil on occasion. Basically; Worker Drones are stupid and don’t know anything about their own anatomy, so instead of trying to fix the internal damage, they just welded his wounds closed, so now he’s just perpetually internally bleeding
He heals pretty quickly and has a high pain tolerance (entirely because he’s a sports player, and also he heals quick because of the fact he runs warm)
Sometimes he’ll get nightmares about the attack with V and J and also when Solver yonk’d his ass in episode 2. These fucked him up for a little while after and he couldn’t sleep very well, but they’re not as big of a problem anymore
His room is usually surprisingly neat and full of trophies and medals and other various sports memorabilia
Gets really competitive during football matches, but has really good sportsmanship <3 like he’ll be screaming shit during the match and then he’ll lose and to the other team he’s like “good job guys you absolutely rocked it out there, but we’ll beat you next time i’m sure of it >:)” he likes a lil friendly competition
Thad and Lizzy are twins but he’s younger than her by like 2 minutes. She teases him for this. In retaliation, he teases her because he’s taller (by 1 inch)
Sometimes they get in trouble for ‘bullying” each other, but every time they do, Lizzy just says “Siblings are fair game!” and Thad nods
I think he says “no problemo” a lot. He also says other silly phrases like "Okie Dokie Artichokie" and calling things "Rad" and ironically saying" tubular." Lizzy says "This isn't the 80's" and then he responds with "Well the 80s were sick as heck dude so I don't care"
He's a morning person
Listens to highly energetic songs without paying attention to the lyrics, so he’ll listen to the most like. Innapropriate songs without even realizing it just because they’re bops
Gets dating advice from Ron (the drone at the door from episode 2 for those who forget the bg characters)
Yk how people will throw food like popcorn into the air and then catch it in their mouths? yeah he’s really good at that
Sometimes when he can’t sleep he goes out and plays basketball by himself. tires him out so he can eep
Has a nice singing voice, but he doesn’t think he does (i’m projecting)
He doesn’t like to swear, but sometimes jokingly says “I will swear word at you” to his friends
If he’s holding something, he’ll start idly just flip it in the air and catch it over and over. subconsciously too, he just does that
He also plays Soccer and Basketball
Sometimes when someone grabs him unexpectedly, he’ll flinch a little (thanks solver). This usually only happens if he’s been spacing out or doesn’t see the person who grabbed him at first
Chill until someone messes with Lizzy. Then he will fight. Though she’s one of the popular girls so it doesn’t happen often
Weak to flirting; he gets flustered easily. Yet he’s a total flirt when he likes someone and is comfortable enough around them
I like to think Thad gets hurt a lot because he’s a fucking football player and usually he doesn’t get it fixed because it’s normal, but Lizzy and/or Uzi will yell at him to get it fixed because it could fuck with the strength of his casing
One time Thad said “Bite me” to Uzi and she just looked at him like a smug cat while he had a moment
Sometimes he’ll try to hide in his collar when he’s flustered (it never works)
He, Lizzy, and Doll were a trio of best friends (Until Doll's Solver infection started getting really bad and began distancing herself from the other two)
84 notes · View notes
gooeyslime · 1 year
Text
I will die on this hill but William Afton being a good dad would have worked so much better at making him feel realistic instead of becoming a cartoonishly evil man and honestly the juxtaposition of like, witnessing him kill a kid, dropping his cheerful Springbonnie act as he locks them in a room, just a cold glare as he kills them, making the player go "what a heartless monster... I feel so bad for his kids, having to deal with such a piece of shit" as we see him get out of the suit, cleaning up the blood and head home, as he opens the door once again we see his attitude change as he tells his kids "Dad's back home!" And we see them run up to him, Michael playing it cool bc he's an angsty teen but you see him smile as he points out he's late, you can tell they all care for him and got worried, after all there's a murderer on the loose and while they seem to target kids who knows? They could kill adults too... William smiles at them, genuinely, not like the smile he gave his victim whith his Springbonnie act, they all eat dinner together and if you hadn't just seen him kill a kid in cold blood you'd think this was a normal family, just a single dad eating and chatting with his kids... As he makes sure they are all sound asleep you see him walk into his bedroom, looking at a picture, it's a picture of all of them, smiling together, next to William is a woman and it dawns on you that she's nowhere to be seen and that she might be dead and he's trying to figure out how to bring her back by killing a bunch of random kids bc nothing can stand between William Afton and the only people he cares about, not even death itself... that stuff would make me way more scared of him than any "oh I am so smart I planned for you to try and set me on fire again so now if anyone scans my parts into a computer I can brainwash a random person and get them to rebuild myself ooooh I always come back!"
Like even showing him before he completely loses it would be terrifying, how he's just a normal guy who has his own troubles sure, but still isn't going around killing kids to study weird ghost stuff... Not yet anyway... And the the last straw happens and he falls to the deep end and you wonder, if you were in his shoes... If you lost the love of your life... And everyone just tells you life goes on and you just gotta get over it... What would you do? Would you also break? Would you go as far as killing someone in the hopes to bring her back? To put your family back together? And as you do that how would you handle your family breaking apart even further? Your daughter killed by YOUR machine, the machine you built to kill kids, the machine you desperately tried to keep her away from? Your older son acting out, angry because he couldn't handle his own sorrow at losing his sister shortly after his mom, he's falling apart just like you and in a moment of anger he ends up killing his younger brother, your other son killed because you couldn't see that your older son couldn't handle his own grief too? What would do then?
Stuff like that is utterly terrifying to think about... At least for me... Shame they made him so evil he's basically a Saturday morning cartoon villain now, he could have been so terrifying in so many ways but instead they made him an annoyance... Like even him coming back post Pizza Sim could have been terrifying if he wasn't such a joke by then, like we thought we finally defeated him but he's back, because he still hasn't done what he set out to do, put his family back together, and absolutely nothing can stop him from doing just that... Instead we get him showing up in 1 (one) ending and he's just... Walking around... Then he stares at a monitor and eventually he hacks Freddy by... Holding out his hand like he's using the force?? He doesn't even have a jumpscare either... I really hope the DLC at least gives him that bc him being threatening again is almost impossible after all the peepaw jokes people made...
Anyway I'm sure you can tell I have very strong feelings about this and so many thoughts for plot points that could be added to the lore if this was canon but I'll shut up for now before I write a whole essay lol
1K notes · View notes
Note
Hi Slug!
Could you translate positive my life, please? 🥺🥺
Hello Slug. I hope this finds you well but may I ask if you may be able to translate Hifumis solo, “ポジティブ my life” from the Block Party album? Thank you very much.
Sure thing! Under a cut for length.
The playful tone is crucial to the source, so a similar goofiness is present in the translation. With that said, I'm not adding anything extra for silliness. Some light fluffing on vague lines to convey (what I'm understanding as) the meaning. No attention paid to line length, rhyme, or rhythm.
Heya, friendos! (Hey there, Hifumi!) Hm? Gosh, you seem like a bunch of gloomy Guses today. Wait, I have an idea! Let's play a game! I'm logging in to Buddy Quest and speedrunning character creation so we can get to the open world and goof off! (Heck yeah!) We gotta turn all those frowns upside down. So what're we gonna do? Set off on an adventure to make new friends! I may not be able to claim the hero's sword. I may not have it in me to smile all the time. But my friendships and the good vibes we make together are the best equipment I could ever ask for. Yeah, yeah, yeah! There's no one like my party! We're friends! (Friends!) And even if we lose at the end of the day, we still all have each other. I cast SMILE. It's super effective! Next thing you know, you're one of us--YOU have joined the party! A full, amazing party! (We! Are! Hoods!) If you're a top player? Sweet! Let's live it up tonight! Yeepers, that was a close one. Almost ran out of HP! (Positive! Up! My life!) Or if you're more of a novice? No sweat. We'll carry you! Either way, let's "positive up" my life! (And yours!) [1] All righty! We're kilin' it. Keep it up, gang! Next up: lemme run you through how I "positive up" my life. Step 1: Take a cool selfie, upload it to the character creator, and let the game handle the rest. See? Looks just like me. (Sure does!) Step 2: Forget the haters. If the vibes are rancid, I don't wanna hear it! (Yeah, yeah!) Step 3: We all have tough days sometimes. But you gotta try to smile anyway. Because you're braved and you're loved, y'know? Once you realize how much your friends care for you, I know you'll get back up and keep fighting that good fight! (Get 'em, Hifumin!) Step 4: Sometimes, you just can't get past that next level. But don't you ever give up. Hit that CONTINUE button, you hear? (Positive! Up! My Life!) Because we still all have each other and the good vibes we make together in our full, amazing party! (We! Are! Hoods!) Ah ha! So you're the final boss. [2] Say, you know what? You wanna be friends? (Positive! Up! My life!) We can still beat the game together, and no one has to get hurt this way. So what do you say? "Positive up" my life? (And yours?)
[1] There's a slight joke/nuance here that I'm a bit stumped as to how to convey naturally in English. The terms he uses to describe different playing styles (魅せプ) (lit. enchanting play style) and (姫プ) (lit. princess play style) are evocative of his host role as someone who "enchants" clients often referred to as princesses. This suggests he's speaking to a woman, which ties into the final verse of the song that uses the same format. [2] Not the same "you" he's singing to in the song. The difference in tone suggests it's Honobono.
54 notes · View notes
blue-thief · 3 months
Note
respectfully asking you to drop those trans hcs for the bllk boys!!!
yeah sure ofc i'm so glad you asked!
i'll split them up based on which NEL team they're on for the sake of my own sanity
(i don't actually hc ALL of them to be trans so i'll just mention the ones i actually have a hc for lol)
bastard munchen
kaiser - THE most trans-coded of the bunch imo. like the whole thing with the blue rose tattoo to represent "turning the impossible into reality" and "defying the natural order of things". and his full name is "michael kaiser" which can be interpreted as "god's chosen emperor". there's no way bro was given that name at birth. he's also coded to have religious trauma which would become much more layered if you interpret him as trans. he's also, interestingly enough, the only one to NOT have a metal chain around his neck on his cover. he's the only one with glass. a lot of ppl have interpreted this as him having a fragile ego, but glass can also be taken to symbolize transformation (i just pulled this from a random website talking about the spiritual meaning of glass lmao). ALSO also him being annoyed by his long hair in ness's flashback. trans. plus his insecurity concerning how good he is in comparison to (who he perceives as) cis players just screams insecure trans masc who's relying too much on toxic masculinity to affirm his gender to his peers lmao.
ness - he totally thought he would have to fight his parents on this but they were surprisingly cool with it + even helped him w puberty blockers and stuff. he still hates them for the anti-magic stuff but at least they're not transphobic?
isagi - don't ask me to explain this i just get those vibes
noa - (reporter) "what is your opinion on trans people with an unfair biological advantage in sports?" (noa, a trans man who transitioned wayy before he got famous) "i AM trans people with an unfair biological advantage in sports"
pxg
shidou - he just has bigender vibes man. japanese isn't big on third-person pronouns, but once he starts getting better at english, he'd def start collecting pronouns like pokemon cards. he figured out his identity through chainsaw man ("wow denji's just like me fr but so is angel devil but so is asa but so is-")
ubers
(i have nothing for any of the ubers. feel free to prove me wrong)
fc barcha
bachira - non-binary but he doesn't know it yet (any and all pronouns once he does figure it out)
manshine city
chigiri - peak gender, everyone confuses him for a girl. he uses masculine language, and while he sometimes acts annoyed when ppl call him princess, he doesn't bother correcting them. does anyone actually know chigiri's gender? no. does he know what it is? yes. will he tell anyone? no. he thinks it's funny to keep ppl guessing with the constant contradictions
reo - i didn't actually hc him as trans at first but the post i was complaining about earlier was dunking on this hc specifically so uhhh yeah he's trans now sorry i don't make the rules <3. his dad's company also pioneered top surgery that doesn't leave any scars which is why no one in bllk has any. like with ness, his dad is surprisingly not transphobic but he sucks in other ways lmao (but now that you think of it, his whole struggle with wanting to live a life completely different from what his parents had in mind for him IS a very trans-coded backstory)
44 notes · View notes
aotopmha · 2 months
Text
There has been a bunch of talk about FF14's 'normal' difficulty content these past few days and on my part, I think I could take or leave any potential difficulty/friction increases.
As a new player of about 3ish months, I'm having a blast of just trying to perfect the dungeons despite them having a very rigid structure.
This conversation is super interesting to think about from the perspective of players with varying playtime, too, I think.
To me as someone who has been playing for just a few months (nearing the Shadowbringers base game ending MSQ-wise) and been doing roulettes almost daily because I enjoy running the dungeons, obviously they still feel fresh and fun.
I'm still also getting used to the rotations of any of the jobs I've picked up and still building muscle memory, so to me the game feels just the right kind of "easy" at this difficulty. None of the normal difficulty content has been super hard, but I feel I still have to use my brain, so I'm not feeling any of the criticisms about the gameplay becoming mindless.
But on another side to this are those who have played for a much longer time and have become really familiar with their jobs, seen the dungeon/job structure stay the same through several of the latest expansions or even just stepped into harder content like extremes, savages and ultimates, and gained a different perspective on the game as a result.
No matter how good something is, if it is the same for a long time, people will get tired of it and if the fail states of a game are at some point too easily bypassed, a game can become a mindless hallway.
As I said, I'm not at this point with this game, but I can see how people would get there.
But I'm also not struggling to the point where I would find a little tougher dungeons off-putting or too much.
Same for having tougher rotations with stronger fail states.
As long as it feels good, I'll play it.
What I am worried about is the game going too far in the other direction, where the difficulty would be too much, specifically a possible situation where something feels unfair and frustrating to complete, rather than satisfying to complete because I think a bunch of the difficulty of the older dungeons comes from poor telegraphing, rather than fair and satisfying challenge.
An example here to me would also be the Ivalice alliance raids: they have really cool encounters for sure, but also a bunch of mechanics that have really unintuitive telegraphing.
I didn't fail the math boss because it is basic math, I failed it because I had no idea where to even look to solve the mechanic.
Why should I face the sniper with the hole in the shield and not the shield itself?
Stuff like that isn't a challenge you can figure out, it's an artificial obstacle you have to push yourself through until you find the solution.
I think Dzamael Darkhold is a really neat idea for boss management/positioning for tanks, but the "challenge" of sitting in the magitek circles is more annoying than any kind of challenge.
Copperbell Mines (Hard) also has some maybe neat ideas of using stuff within the environment, but also end up just being annoying, like the golem boss.
But if they mean stuff like the second boss of Bardam's Mettle, which is a neat pure mechanic fight or the beginning section of Hell's Kier and how that uses the fodder enemies, I'm all for it!
I welcome keeping things unique and fresh: mixing up the structure of dungeons, doing something more unique with regular mobs, punishing failing mechanics harder and making failing your rotation cost more.
In fact, if there is one element of criticism in terms of the game's difficulty I absolutely agree with, it's the idea that there is no ladder between the easy and hard content. If you want to try the hard content you either consult sources outside of the game or jump in without zero preparation by the game. That's why I've been hesitant to try: I like easing in to harder content via a possible ladder and work through that step by step.
My current plan, for example, is to reach endgame (lvl 90) and from there start with the easier extremes and work up to the tougher content if I enjoy the process.
But the game doesn't really prepare you for the tougher content in any form on its own as far as I've looked up. It just exists.
A version of the Hall of the Novice, like Hall of the Expert for extreme and savage content would be really cool I think and I think the current Hall of the Novice should not only be made mandatory, but be updated with a couple more concepts as you run through the MSQ, too, to just give you just a sense of how the more difficult content feels, which then would eventually lead to the harder 'expert' version to be unlocked.
(This also doesn't mean they should give everything away, only create a sort of mini extreme/savage level difficulty test before you let people do the content.)
I feel the easier mandatory tutorial would help a bunch with learning the game, especially help with reducing the amount of players who don't understand the basics of their jobs, while the presence of an expert hall would serve as at least some indication of what you're in for in harder content.
But to loop back to the start, my tl; dr is that I'm having fun with what we have now, but it's easy enough where I feel I wouldn't struggle too much if they raised the base difficulty, but more importantly, increased the friction or made the struggle itself more substantial, provided they did this is in a satisfying, rather than frustrating manner.
It's a balance that strikes me as fairly difficult to achieve, but if they do, I think they'll make something truly amazing out of it for players who enjoy easy and hard content alike.
In general, they are promising a lot of content with Dawntrail, but to me the most important element here is that all of that content would be actually good.
Quantity =/= quality, so, from the MSQ to the new exploratory zone to the new deep dungeon and even the graphics update, I'm just hoping everything they give us in the new expansion is good.
26 notes · View notes
tranquilpetrichor · 6 months
Text
zb1 as honkai: star rail players
Tumblr media
— may this journey lead us starward.
synopsis: you end up getting the zb1 boys to play the popular hoyoverse space fantasy rpg called honkai: star rail, and this is how it goes...
genre: headcanon, fluff, crack
wc: 944
warnings: mentions of video game deaths, cursing, there may be unfamiliar video game terms
a/n: haha please lemme summon all the zerose that play this game. very self-indulgent headcanon. i actually have not played this for a couple weeks because college = busy so... yeah.
taglist: @restlessmaknae
Tumblr media
sung hanbin
he now thinks it would be a fun idea to have the members play video games like this for content so there you go
i can see him looking at bronya and thinking "she's a great leader" because honestly so true
he starts off with a fairly standard team composition (shielder, healer, support, dps) because you know less is more
likes the story, finishes it fairly quickly
thinks the feature where characters text you is cute
gets really happy whenever you use his support character
kim jiwoong
absolutely confused as hell and really, you can't blame him
"wait, why i can't jump?"
you spend a bit of time explaining the turn-based combat stuff to him and now he does get it... sorta
doesn't play too much but sometimes does it on a free day
pulls for characters he finds pretty (so valid)
and that's how he ended up with luocha, imbibitor lunae, jing yuan and kafka
has decent luck too
zhang hao
plays with chinese dub, chinese dialogue text
pulls for as many characters from the xianzhou luofu as he can
a lore enjoyer, probably excitedly talking about his favorite parts with you
probably got sucked into all the side quests
busy testing out the simulated universe, enjoying every second of it
has the ost samudrartha on blast, he'd love to cover the song one day
having a field day with any lore-heavy updates
seok matthew
he probably tried memory of chaos with f2p characters "because he was bored" and already did it w cracked as hell 5 stars
i can see him having a bunch of the standard banner characters from losing the 50/50s
he prob saw welt and said “haraboji" which means grandpa. if y'all know that joke i love you.
curses a lot if he dies
if something actually ends up being too hard for you to beat he gladly tries to help you (he's sweet like that)
named the trailblazer (main character) woohyun
also loves exploration and just running around the map even if he can't find everything
finds it fun in his free time
kim taerae
plays it casually (because he’s probably already too dedicated to valorant or something to pick up another game)
yk i think he would be a fan of the music, this game has a very good ost
in the parlor car of the express there’s a phonograph and one of the songs you can play on there is called “take the journey”, it’s this acoustic guitar song with soothing vocals
if that’s not taerae, idk what is
as a music lover, he's probably listening to the whole ost for this game
a very proud serval main (no did you see that pic of him with the electric guitar on his birthday? i'm sure he can appreciate a fellow guitarist)
thinks it's funny that gepard uses serval's guitar case as a weapon
probably builds at least two good teams
and complains when realizing he didn't get that many materials from beating the calyxes (same)
ricky
plays with chinese dub, english text
lazy af, turned on auto battle feature we stan
plays maybe twice per week
dialogue skipper
yk this man is buying whatever the equivalent of the battle pass is for this game
he can and will whale for the characters he wants (and this man already has better 50/50 luck than you, for sure)
probably doesn't give a shit about meta when deciding to pull on banners even though because oh wow that character is cool
actually pulls on the lightcone banner (because he can)
sees asta and her constant purchases and goes yep that's relatable
he jokingly tries to name the trailblazer something like youngandrich
kim gyuvin
sometimes starts leveling up relics randomly not giving a crap about stats even though he probably should
"it's a 5 star one and the correct mainstat, so here we go!"
he shows you relics leveled all the way with absolutely shit substats just to troll and annoy you
another proud dialogue skipper
but when the trailblazer speaks, guyvin picks all the funny and wacky dialogue options
lets your support character do all the work for him
probably let excess exp accumulate until he finally does his equilibrium trial or whatever
thinks it would be funny to main sampo or qingque. so that's exactly what he does
says fuck it we ball and puts 4 dps characters on one team
randomly says character voice lines like "HELP ME MR. SVAROG" and you're just like "please shut up"
probably named the trailblazer eumppappa
park gunwook
the most likely to enjoy the game imo
also ends up getting good at it (because he’s talented and good at learning new things)
doesn’t like to auto battle, actually enjoys grinding battles
started laughing at you because he got gepard for his beginner pulls and you don’t even have him yet (but you laughed when he lost his 50/50 to himeko of all people so you’re even.)
has a decent amount of characters
you give him so many credits because you keep using his gepard
to return the favor, he uses your characters occasionally, mostly seele.
he likes putting shielders and healers as support characters because "some people need to be able to not die"
easily finds the chests, is a completionist
always updated and knows when new redeem codes are out
han yujin
very intently focused on the game, you find it hilarious
but since our maknae is very dedicated, you’re quite surprised at his trailblaze level..
“yujin, slow down, you’ve been playing for what, two days?"
he’s probably already reached somewhere around trailblaze level 25 already
truly a yanqing enjoyer, he likes everything about him and sees a bit of himself as yanqing is also young and dedicated to his particular craft (yes i wish i had him on my account shut up!)
sulks whenever he loses a 50/50
ngl i imagine ricky probably buys some stuff in-game for him
34 notes · View notes
jovenshires · 4 months
Note
hi katie jovenshires im a big fan. if ur ok with sharing, what ships are in the botb au and what are the vibes for each 👀
thank you so much!! <3<3<3
hmm i've been thinking about this and i think i'm only deadset on spommy, ianthony, kolivia, and amangela as far as like. my canon goes. not sure what if any other ships im gonna include... ive gone back and forth with shaymien and shaynse too but not sure!!
but, i will say, for the most part the edits are mostly left up to interpretation so you can all decide whatever ships you want really!! (or if you don't want any ships at all that's cool too <3) like i've said to me the botbau is a little collaborative barbie world that we can all make whatever we want out of. like i told someone the other day - if you wanna write a fic or make an edit or something for this and it doesn't exactly line up with what i might write or think ab the au... PLEASE go for it. it is out there, public domain now, do with it what you will. and i will love and eat it up no matter what!!
as for the vibes in MY head, i will throw them under the cut so this post doesn't get too long KFNLKNKFNF
spommy: i've covered this a little before here so if you want the full version check that out but BASICALLY spommy is kind of rivals-to-friends-to-lovers except tommy has an Extremely one-sided beef and spencer just thinks he's cool and wants to be buds. eventually spencer wins him over and then... uh oh! love! once again skimmin some details that, if i ever Write A Fic for it, will be spoilers. but that’s the idea you know
ianthony: taking this directly from my dms to lilac but basically. ianthony botbau my beloveds....... to relearn how to co-pilot something with someone that should come so second-hand to you but you're both different people now but your feelings carry through anyway for who they were and are and will be........ yeah theyre everything to me. in a way it's a mirror to life/what actually happened to them with smosh (art imitates life) but the divorce era was even MORE famous because they're like a household name so it was a lot more pressure. idk yet if they were together beforehand and then broke up and now they're getting BACK together or if they had unresolved feelings they never dealt with and now they're struggling to reconcile them with their renewed friendship AND reunited band/the fame that comes from that... but either way they are Messy. im obsessed.
kolivia: kolivia in this au fascinates me because in my head keith is kind of known for being a player and fucking around but i think he stopped that Ages ago because. these two are basically dating. like they don't put a label on it and it's not public and i don't even know if THEY know how in love they are. but they live together. they sleep together "just to blow off steam" (come on now). they don't date other people. everyone can see it but them type beat. olivia's like "he's not my boyfriend" and then picks up the phone and is like "hi baby do you want chinese for dinner" NDLFKNANKSFLN like they are exclusive and they have deep feelings for each other but they are both so deeply in denial that they swear they're not dating. they have realistically been in a relationship for like five years.
amangela: RIVALS TO LOVERS AGAINNNN i have talked about this one a Lot with baflegacy bc like. they are my roman empire. at least these two have met on multiple occasions and actually fought with each other - they keep meeting at gigs/in bars and bickering. angela "clearly abba is the best band ever" giarratana and amanda "WHAT about fleetwood mac you DUMB ASS" lehan-canto. like they meet a bunch and EVERY time they end up bickering. meanwhile angela keeps seeing thirst traps of amanda on tiktok and being like "why are all the lesbians obsessed with her she SUCKS" and chanse and arasha, who have heard this three million times, are like "yeah okay buddy whatever helps you sleep at night." meanwhile amanda is living her bliss <3 and then they realize they're both in battle of the bands and uh oh! things come to a head!
24 notes · View notes
shkika · 10 months
Note
Hi, you have a bunch of really cool thoughts on rain world and how things work and stuff, and I was wondering if you have any thoughts on neuron flies. Honestly I’d love to see more attention on neuron flies, they are such neat critters, and I’m wondering if iterators have sort of bonds with them or anything (if you get what I’m trying to say). For pebbles, he has so many that he probably doesn’t care for them, but for moon, with her having so little, they are really important and special to her. I guess it also leads to the question of whether they are alive or not, are they like cells in bodies or do they have their own sort of sentience, they are called flies.
I do have thoughts on them!
I think neuron flies wouldn't be something iterators have bonds with (although the headcanon is ADORABLE) purely because they are part of their body! Kind of how you don't name your organs or fingers.
I imagine they don't have their own sentience as they aren't seen to really run away from the player nor does the game imply it. They serve a function. To further support this, look at how Moon talks about neuron flies when you eat them!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Moon refers to them as part of herself, which.. they are! Just like inspectors are for example.
Oh here is something interesting! I'm pretty sure neuron flies are filled with void fluid. Why?
Well when you eat one you start seeing void spawns is one reason. When the slugcat is near void fluid you see void creatures so when you eat some.. it only makes sense for you to still hallucinate.
Aside that we know that Moon's neurons are what's keeping her alive. With them being her thoughts, I'd like to believe they are also what gives her some sort of energy to continue living. The small amounts of void fluid inside the neuron fly (which iterators use as power) is enough to sustain her BARELY. This is why they are so very important for her. She's essentially both a person with 5 brain cells and a MASSIVE MEGASTRUCTURE AI running on 5 small batteries.
Thankfully Ruffles helped out in the end..
69 notes · View notes
fantasyfantasygames · 2 months
Text
Several Donated Games
I recently had the good fortune to meet Lily Vers at ProseAndCon, a semi-yearly interactive fiction convention in the backwoods of Maine. I mentioned that I write reviews, the next thing I know she hands me a pile of books and offers to buy me a drink if I promise to never give them back. I think she just wanted them out of the house because she's moving. They're not that bad. Well, most of them.
These are short games (well, most of them), so here are some short reviews!
Edge: Blades in the Kill (Hurtful Press, 2021) Long-time followers of the blog will remember HellBlaster and whether I wasn't really sure whether the game was in on its own joke. E:BitK is absolutely in on the joke. The game's aesthetic is part emo, part Hannibal fanfic, part Black Adder. You are a group of serial killer assassins murdering for fun and profit, then getting stiffed on the profit part by your clueless employers who seem not to realize what's going to happen after they stiff a bunch of murderers. Cool stuff: Manages to boil down systems stolen from Blades in the Dark and Kill Edge to their very essence, accomplishing 90% of what they do in 20% of the combined space.
D.E.S.P.O.N.D.E.N.C.Y., A Friendship-Ending Role-Playing Experience (Delta Elf, 2020) Have you ever played Diplomacy? This is Diplomacy in RPG form. One-player RPG form, thankfully. You write the stories of a group of (initially) friends playing a diceless RPG that slowly escalates into a series of alliances and betrayals that eventually leave the entire group and hostile. It reminds me of an Amber game I ran once where people got a little too into the intrigue and backstabbing. Cool stuff: The prompts really get you into the heads of all the characters you make. All your decisions on their part have to come from part of the short backstories you write for them.
Unexamined Fantasy Racism (anonymous, 2018) Hoo boy this one sets you up right from the title and doesn't let up. The book is a 64-page clone of OD&D that provides an absolutely scathing commentary on exactly what the tin says. Anyone who goes on to play a standard D&D (or related) game after playing or reading this one is going to feel real uncomfortable, and for good reasons. I don't think the game is going to get much play, but it's designed more for reading. (See "queerweird" below for another "you might never actually play it" game.) Cool stuff: Never becomes its own target. It's easy to write something like UFR and fall into the "actually doing what you're trying to satirize" trap. UFR instead sets up extremely standard FRPG situations and then slams you right into the exact problem with them.
Hackerface 1999: Don't Roll A Hacker (Crack the Hacker, 2000) I'm not sure who the audience for Hackerface is. It's a parody of Cyberpunk 2020 with references to 1990s floppy game hacking, so you would normally be able to perfectly zero in on the target audience. The game does not treat that audience with any sort of love, affection, or respect, so you come away either not getting a lot of what it's trying to say or feeling uncomfortable. And not a productive UFR-type uncomfortable, just the kind of uncomfortable you get from bullies. Even the hacking rules aren't worth stealing. The book reads like it was written by the kind of person who stuffs nerds into lockers, and how in the hell does that person end up writing RPGs? Cool stuff: The art is pretty great, especially for an indie game in the year 2000. It's done in an extremely stylized approach, with plenty of black ink, chiaroscuro, and anatomy that looks like it belongs on an actual human.
This turned into a longer post than I thought, so I'm going to split it in half. Tune in next time.
19 notes · View notes
itsbenedict · 4 months
Text
Games I Played In 2023 And Whether Or Not I Thought They Were Good (Part 1/4)
Once again, a year has passed, and I spent a considerable chunk of it on video games! Here's what I thought about [e: some of] the ones that I played.
1 - [2] - [3] - [4]
Potionomics
Tumblr media
This game is- well, I've never played a Recettear game, but apparently it's a Recettear knockoff? You run a potion shop, and you hire adventurers to go into dungeons to get ingredients for your potion shop, and the whole thing's on a timer where you have to pay off a big debt by the end... apparently there's a formula it's aping that I'm unfamiliar with.
But it's very fun- it's got two main unique mechanics, one of which is a potion-brewing minigame about balancing ingredients in certain ratios which is challenging- and the other of which is an STS-style deckbuilder card game where you haggle with customers in lieu of combat. Both systems have a lot of depth and interesting options and I enjoyed them a lot.
Other standouts: the cast of support characters you can rank up social links with are great (love love love the coffee-addled workaholic moth girl and the comic relief cat pirates with a surprisingly dark backstory), and the fully-animated 3D character portraits are really fun and expressive.
Nitpicks: the time system having one time block reserved for the hour it takes to go home after visiting town is... an awkward choice (holdover from the Recettear structure they're aping?), and lategame you kind of cap out in potion-making capacity and it becomes kind of tricky to progress. Also the story's kinda predictable and the villains who don't later become party members are paper-thin.
Horizon: Forbidden West
Tumblr media
God this game pisses me off.
Horizon: Zero Dawn, its predecessor, was a fun open-world game about hunting robot dinosaurs and uncovering the surprisingly elaborate story behind why there are robot dinosaurs. I enjoyed it a lot!
Forbidden West has everything Zero Dawn had... and also mountains of tedious cruft to pad out the game's runtime which all infuriates me to no end.
The story is still quite good! And the robot dinosaur fighting is still quite good! Those are the important parts, and they nailed them... but I have complained at my friends for hours about the bafflingly bad design choices that plague every other aspect of this game constantly. It's... there's so much, I want to like, make a video going into the details, but in short...
The cool and versatile weapons from the last game have been split up into piles of slightly-different weapons with different elements so you have to carry around and upgrade ten times as much crap and are forced to spec into a build that locks you out of effective experimentation
Every little noncombat action in the game has some very realistic and pretty AAA graphics animation that takes too long and wastes your time constantly during basic gameplay and kills flow dead
The very cool procedural climbing mesh thing... gets arbitrarily turned off in inexplicably oiled-up puzzle ruins that very badly want you to push a crate around in every way it's possible to push a crate around in order to waste the maximum amount of your time
Cooking "system" which is the most comprehensively useless thing anyone probably spent dozens of hours implementing in their video game
Item wheel that contains every consumable item in the game regardless of whether you currently have any and is basically unnavigable during tense situations like, say, combat, when you need it
So many repetitive sidequests about some poor fucker who went missing and might be in danger and is every single time dead to a bunch of robot dinosaurs obviously. Lot of missions designed to kill time rather than show you something cool or have interesting story.
There's a lot to like and it's super cool but god there's so much to be mad at. Respects the player's time 0%. I'm gonna go off about this more later for sure.
Disco Elysium
Tumblr media
Oh my god, this game. It's... really something. You might be familiar with it from memes on Tumblr, about its comically inept slash deranged protagonist and his partner with the patience of a saint- but it's doing so much more than I expected from the out-of-context screencaps.
Like- yes, it's fucking hilarious. I love that about it. But it's also this incredibly detailed work of worldbuilding that creates this whole setting that's doing... some wild stuff. Like, you've maybe heard it's very political? Well, it is, but about weird alternate universe sci-fi politics that sort of halfway resemble our own, and it's thought through all of these invented social dynamics. And it's got a great sense of atmosphere- it knows when to be funny and when to be solemn and how to blend the two for maximum effect. It's a dark comedy, but it's all built on a dead-serious reality and a really effective story.
And- it is a murder mystery game about solving cases! It works very well on that level! It manages to be open-ended and let you solve things in a variety of different ways using this complex RPG stat system of creatively-designed psychological stats, while making sure the central whodunit (and a bevy of fascinating satellite mysteries) stays on track. Extremely good on a game design level.
(also some shit happens in this game that i was not at all expecting and can't even go into without spoilers, but- but holy fuck, the way this game opens up and the things it manages to hide in plain sight... just mind-boggling. incredibly impressive.)
Tunic
Tumblr media
Speaking of hiding things in plain sight- neither this nor Disco Elysium came out this year, so I can't call either of them GotY, but... if they had, I'd have a hard time deciding.
Tunic is incredibly clever. On the surface, it's an isometric soulslike thing with a low-poly Zelda-y aesthetic... but there's not just the surface. There's layers and layers to this thing. The first layer it hits you with is that most of the game's UI is in a made-up rune script, which you have to learn, which is a fun challenge and caused me to spend a few hours making a tool to catalogue and decrypt the damn thing- though I eventually learned to sight-read it. But that's just- that's like, the tip of the iceberg, the most obvious twist to what this game is.
There's, like... I don't want to spoil what there's like. The whole thing is about peeling back the layers and figuring out which seemingly arbitrary aesthetic choices were secretly meaningful, and seeing how the game transforms as you figure out the different sorts of secret structure layered on top of each other. It's actually best compared to The Witness, although there's still a pretty meaty and challenging action-adventure game to tackle while you're uncovering the hidden patterns and deepest lore. It's a fascinating intellectual challenge and highly recommended to anyone who likes giving their noggin something to chew on.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Tumblr media
Man, so... this game is very impressive, but it's in a weird place due to some awkward design decisions and cut corners.
This is a direct sequel to smash megahit Breath of the Wild... sort of. It's very weird what it's doing. It really wants to be a self-contained thing, to the point of throwing out major setting elements and story concepts from BotW entirely so it can do its own thing... but on a mechanical level, this is the same game, with some very cool new mechanics and a cool-ish new story bolted on.
(Said story... it has one extremely cool plot twist that's also a gameplay twist, delivered effectively in a nonlinear way that creates this great sense of dawning comprehension. Otherwise... kind of a nothingburger. Ganondorf is boring and has no coherent motivation, there's no explanation or real plot relevance to the [spoilers] that seem like such a central thing, and... the whole thing revolves around a technologically advanced precursor civilization that's completely different from the technologically advanced precursor civilization established by the last game, of which all evidence has been meticulously scrubbed from the world to... I guess avoid confusion? The one huge central plot beat really works, and the rest is... low-effort nonsense.)
So, mechanically... the developers made this very odd choice to... have the game take place in the exact same map from the first game, except warped and remixed by geologic upheaval just enough to force the environment designers to redo every bit of landscape more or less from scratch. Like, all the same recognizable locations, but a step to the left. In theory, not a bad idea- but then they layer on top of that a threefold expansion to the world.
TotK has three world maps- Hyrule, the sky (full of floating islands now), and a third spoilery area that's the same size as both of those. The game's economy is thus weirdly trifurcated- crucial resources are located in all three areas, so you need to go up and down and up and down a lot. And so is the game's content- there's a roughly comparable amount of stuff in BotW and TotK, but TotK splits it across three maps, making each area feel largely empty, with a lot of wasted space.
This effect is especially noticeable in Hyrule, which... if you've played BotW, you won't really find anything new there. It's all the same places with a few tweaks, so there's not much sense of discovery if you played the original. There's a bunch of landmarks and areas that exist purely because they were there before and it'd be weird for them to disappear... except now instead of some secret or loot there, there's just nothing. Wasted space. And both the sky and the other new map are pretty homogeneous and unrewarding to explore once you've seen the four or five types of things they have to offer- they're mainly made up of recycled assets.
TotK is... I think strictly better than BotW, with more content and more fun core mechanics, but it's a worse experience than BotW if you played the first one. If you haven't played BotW, Hyrule will still be fun to explore, and you probably want to jump straight to TotK.
-
I'm... gonna have to break this post up to get to the 21 other games I played this year, otherwise it's gonna be stupid long and take forever. Stay tuned!
1 - [2] - [3] - [4]
34 notes · View notes