i do think pokemon AUs work for literally anything. you think to yourself "this character needs an elemental beast to be friends with" and every single time you're correct.

Every Game I Played in 2023, Ranked

I debated moving this list to Cohost (after all these years, the Tumblr text post interface still makes me want to punch a wall) but whatever, here we are! Keeping it relatively short this year.

A lot of the games I played aren't going to be on this list because I don't have much new to say about them (MTG, Dwarf Fortress, Strive, etc), but for those that I do, here's the games I played this year.

2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

SD Gundam Battle Alliance - 2022 - Steam - ★★★

I really wanted to like this- you know I like me some Gundam- but the experience is simultaneously too thin, too grindy, and bereft of stakes. There's nothing like "oh no we have to preserve the Gundam metaverse from hackers ruining the archived story!" to make me go to sleep.

There's something about the progression system of every "hey, gotta catch 'em all!"-ish Gundam games that is designed exclusively for people who either played these games in the early 00s, or people with addictive personalities. There's been little in the way of evolution. Yeah, the gameplay here is different as a sort of Action RPG, but this is far more Dynasty Warriors than it is say Armored Core.

Just not for me!

... Where's my new Super Robot Wars at damn it?

9. Pokemon Scarlet/Violet DLC - 2023 - Switch - ★★★★

I talked last year about how I mostly liked this game in spite of its many, many issues. The DLC mostly plays to SV's strengths: fun plot and characters, improved open world catching system from Sword/Shield. They also run considerably better, due to a year of opportunity to make things more stable and address bugs.

That said: It doesn't address any of the other issues that have always been there. Open world exploration becomes kind of pointless when you have the ability to invalidate any level geometry. There is such a thing as too much mobility, believe it or not, when you can just jump over everything. At the same time, the ways cutscenes work is soooo slowwwww, to the point that getting through them to the "action" can be quite tedious.

This DLC also continues the unfortunate thing that drives me nuts about all these DLC, that the level scaling is just awful. It basically assumes you have done literally nothing since finishing Scarlet Violet, and not engaged at all with the post game. Which hey, works out for Lil Timmy who is experiencing this DLC in-line with the base game or only after beating it (since it does dynamically scale for earlier progression), but it makes the whole thing kind of a rote exercise for those who actually played the game more than that?

I realize this is multiple decades now of me barking that hey, it'd be nice if Pokemon didn't exclusively try to appeal to 5 year olds, which is definitely a lost cause at this point. We don't even get stuff like Battle Towers or Frontiers anymore really. Ah well!

8. Street Fighter 6 - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★

Ok, here's the thing: Street Fighter 6 is overall a very good game, lots of care and polish, but I got a few bones to pick with it.

1. I kind of hate its input buffer. Just drives me nuts, particularly with how it handles supers and specials with overlapping inputs.

2. World Tour while is neat, the progression of it is so goddamn grindy and miserable. So much HP for enemies as you go on, and you don't have access to a fighter's full skill set even at the very end due to how special "slots" work.

3. The cast feels too safe. I like the new additions a lot, and in general the old chars have been rendered quite well, but there's just not a lot of innovation going on. The system mechanics are quite good, but it's the thing where no one on the cast really calls out to me. Personal taste thing.

Marvel's Spider-Man - 2022 - Steam - ★★★★

I don't think I have anything particularly unique to say about The Spider-Man Experience beyond hey: that's a pretty good Spider-Man. I think the DLC was obnoxious as shit, and a number of the decisions tied to box-checking-completionist stuff were mean for someone like me who has the stupid brain that thinks it's important to do Everything no matter how tedious it is, but overall: a good Spider-Man. Some of the villain stuff felt pretty weak though.

7. Resident Evil 4 Remake - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

A great remake! They trimmed down some areas a fair but, but none of them particularly egregious (some of them, particularly a last act boss being removed, was quite appreciated), and the mechanical additions are fun.

Does it invalidate the old version? I dunno, maybe?

6. We Love Katamari Re:Roll - 2023 - Steam / Switch - ★★★★★

Hey, you know what's also a very good game? We Love Katamari. Not much new to say beyond hey: the name is accurate, and you should buy and play it. I liked it enough to buy it twice on two platforms, which is silly but it gave me the excuse to play more Katamari so quite understandable.

A thing that does annoy me about the game is them reusing certain models from the other Katamari Remake, even when they were deliberately replaced in We Love Katamari and are even called out as different in the item descriptions despite not being so. Arrgh. It doesn't really matter, but I got the dumb brain for that kind of thing.

5. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

A fighting game that I enjoyed years past now has actually good netcode! The mechanical additions have been very nice, and I've been enjoying myself grinding away for my meager gains. It's also funny having skipped all the base game's DLC and coming in now, since it's like this release just added 20 more chars I'd otherwise not engaged with before.

A ton of polish has made this a fantastic package across the board, so many smart decisions and little details. I'm sure for GranBlue gacha fans it's probably incredible as something that pays tribute as well.

… but see, my main annoyance with the game mostly ties to being unable to stand the source material it pulls from. It's not enough to diminish my positive feelings for the game, but none the less: man, everything about the lore and characters themselves just does NOTHING for me. This is nothing particularly unique to GranBlue itself even, it's pretty in line with how I feel about every gacha title that exists to roll out chars and appeal to as many niches as possible without real forward movement or actual story, but hey here we are.

Looking forward to that 2B.

4. Baldur's Gate 3 - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

A game I admittedly haven't completed yet (I got up to a certain kidnapping in the last act and had to set it aside due to stuff repeatedly coming up for the past couple months) but still: this is a very good tactical RPG. I enjoy the writing, characters, and gameplay quite a lot. A ton of polish went into this.

I don't think I have much to say about it that hasn't been said by others, especially with all the Discourse that has circled it for months-to-years now across Early Access into release.

If there's one thing that does kind of annoy me about the game design, it's the way the player characters are handled. You have the option during character creator to create a character with a number of character-build-y backgrounds, or use their pre-built characters that have existing stories. This choice is lose-lose.

A fully custom character is blank, unimportant. There's nothing special about them beyond their affinity with a certain orb and being Protagonist Man. Their background doesn't really matter, even as you express your personality. You have nothing behind you that meaningfully comes up or affects the story (no Gorion, etc) beyond your role in the conflict. In other words, there's not a lot of reason for you to exist except as a cypher for the named characters.

Playing one of the named characters also sucks, because you lose those the writing for those characters. If I'm stuck aping Karlach, I have no Karlach in my party. You barely even get voice acting once you choose to play those characters either. You effectively end up with less writing and characterization, which kind of sucks! Yes, you do get your backgrounds being looped in and mattering more, which is indeed something, but not enough.

There is secretly a third option that, the more I think about it, is the correct one, they just don't tell you it. You can choose your character background to be tied to the Dark Urge, which results in a lot unique interactions, gives your character an actual background and comes up, etc. They don't outright make this the main option presumably because it comes with a lot of baggage (which, yeah, it does), but it seems completely worth it by comparison to just flitting through the story as either a ghost or the phantom of a real character.

3. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Remastered - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

Play Ghost Trick.

2. Armored Core VI - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

From Software continues to not miss. Fantastic game, some of the most satisfying mecha combat I've played. Story is great; it's still your usual "oops we're not explaining much other than in medias res or by circumstantial details" that From Soft has continued to double down on, but I really enjoy that stuff so hey. I 100%'d this game, got all the endings etc. Great stuff.

Really want some proper DLC so I can do even more, though.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 2023 - Steam - ★★★★★

Let's face it: this wasn't going to end any other way. Breath of the Wild is probably my favorite game of all time, and this is basically just more of that, remixed and remastered into a Second Quest that builds on the first one.

Something I kept thinking about while playing is that while there is volumetrically more to do, more things happening, more mechanics, etc etc, the different approach it takes in terms of focus and approach doesn't make it necessarily a "strictly better" version of Breath of the Wild.

Breath of the Wild was deliberately spare, quiet, and minimalist. Like the name says, its about the quiet wilderness, a poignant world that you explore. Tears of the Kingdom drops much of that, in many ways turning into a kooky madcap version of BOTW. You don't spent nearly as much time smelling the roses and taking in the scenery, as you're often too busy blasting by using any number of the new movement abilities or combat tools or literal flying machines you can now Nuts and Bolts together.

It's a deliberate escalation, one that in my opinion requires the preceding part to work. They add together into one complete singular experience, rather than pulling against each other. That's awesome, exactly what I wanted. Now I get to have two favorite games of all time that are secretly just one-and-the-same.

Some minor thoughts:

1. Lots of great writing and characterization, built up well on BOTW there.

2. It's kind of funny how much it goes out of the way to avoid talking much about BOTW in case someone plays this game first.

3. The last of a Master mode this time around is kind of a bummer but oh well!

4. The vehicle crafting system and everything about it, including the way it plays into the existing physics system is fucking insane. Absolutely incredible game design. Bonkers.

I'm really curious how the hell they're going to follow these games up. Going back to square-0 from this formula- one that is so built up and diverse, seems like it'd be impossible to me. What the hell could you do? Looking forward to finding out.

here's a list of things i love about PSMD for no reason other than i think it deserves appreciation (spoilers)

the hero gets adopted by a nuzleaf. Hero, a young child that doesn't know why they were brought into this world, attacked by beheeyem, scared and alone, finds someone that takes them under his wing and gives them a home. it's really sweet that once Nuzleaf brings them to the Village, Hero's not alone anymore.

yes it was all a trick, he deceived you. but being betrayed by your father figure hits so much harder. it's much more personal, especially when both Hero and Partner are kids. and when Nuzleaf goes through all that ordeal in the post game, then gets accepted back into the village?? And his little speech to Hero????? it's heartbreaking and incredibly touching at the same time

everything is just so cute!!!! you go to school with your new friendo and you're friends with the schoolkids, and you make the trip to school every morning taking in the scenery, the smell of dew and fresh grass, and the sun on your face... and you take classes about Mystery Dungeon mechanics, and principal Simipour is a big BRO, the school nurse Audino is super kind and helpful... and you get to play with your pokemon friendos in summer vacation, and explore a dungeon with 'em... AND your bond with your Partner begins to form, getting stronger and stronger from then on. PSMD's beginning arc is so warm and pleasant, it's like reliving childhood memories all over again, when things were happier and you didn't have to worry about how cruel the world is. this story section's one purpose is to get the player used to the game's mechanics, as well as foreshadowing. unfortunately most of the school kids get forgotten later on, but I still love this part for everything it is, even if unintentional.

it's not just the beginning that's cute. PSMD'S ENTIRE WORLD IS ADORABLE. It's just filled with life every town you go. there are a bunch of pokemon locals and they all have interesting things to say, in the main story and the post-game. there's a point where their comments get repetitive, but that's bound to happen in any PMD game. Even then, the days are never the same. one morning you wake up and the Lively Town locals are exercising, then the next they're having singing lessons, and then they're practicing martial arts. and you get to connect with (or recruit) some of them just by.... chatting!!! Sitting next to that big ol' venusaur and sharing stories, laughing and having fun. it's good stuff.

Sometimes you find travelling pokemon in dungeons and it's jsut the coolest thing. Imagine you're exploring a dungeon, then your Connection Orb notifies you there's a fellow explorer in the floor. First thing you do is try to find them, and when you do - oh dang a travelling Archeops!!!! And then they just,,,, exchange their experiences and thoughts on exploration and how hard it is to fend off those enemies and the cool treasure they found the other day (the game calls it "[Team Name] and [Traveller pokemon] compared notes"). then the traveller heals you, fills your belly and restores your PP. and they go on their way. idk man it's such a cute interaction. explorers chatting, empathizing and helping each other, bc their job is not an easy one...

PSMD Partner is the most developed Partner in any PMD game yet. They start off as this naive, hyperactive kiddo, then stuff happens, and worse stuff happens, and you get to see how they grow and change and by the end they're a different person than they were before (in more than one way ...). It's just so nice to be by their side, from the beginning to the bitter end, and watch their growth. in contrast, Hero is a little unbalanced in that their backstory is not explored as much, and their personality is kind of a blank - probs meant to be vague so the player can be in their shoes. to me this just gives you the opportunity to shape their character however you want, so you can have tons of different hero/pardner dynamics.

The music is rlly flippin' good. Some of the tracks are recycled from previous entries, but when they go original??? it's a blast!!! "Echoes of the Mystical Forest" is one of my favorites in all four entries, it has no right being so amazing for a random dungeon. "Time to Set Out" makes me cry immediately (also i think it would be a better fit for the parting ways scene at the end...). Don't even get me started on "Second Dark Matter Battle", it has everything an epic climax needs and MORE. the Partner remix????? absolute genius

speaking of which, Dark Matter ITSELF,, is freaking amazing. Its actions were foreshadowed in the very beginning, though they were not blatant through the game. i do think they could have done a better job at showing the pokemon's negativity raising in the world, as well as negative feelings in the characters... but it's not like Gates did a good job at it, either (outside of cutscenes, all the locals in Post Town are incredibly nice to you and fights didn't "break out often". it's like the game tells you the world is a dark place, but what it shows in gameplay doesn't add up). so i'll cut them some slack. Still, I find Dark Matter a more compelling villain than the Bittercold for several reasons. it is sentient. its speech is a jumbled amount of voices all talking at the same time - the anguished voices of the world. It actually concocted a plan to hurl the planet into the Sun, using pawns like Nuzleaf and Yveltal to do its dirty job. in the Voidlands, Hero and Partner discover its past, and how it'll come back after defeat, like a cycle. when Partner accepts Dark Matter, they accept negative feelings as something everyone has within themselves. Most of all, the fact that Dark Matter is a manifestation of negative feelings doesn't make it just a generic threat, a final obstacle to be defeated so the world can be saved. It makes Dark Matter - negativity itself - a natural part of the world, the yin to its yang. and that's why I LOVE IT SO MUCH DANG IT EVEN THANKS PARTNER FOR THEIR ACCEPTANCE

The fact that Dark Matter can possess pokemon that have "even the smallest amount of darkness in their hearts". it makes me think of Mr. Nuzleaf and what he might have gone through in the past to make him so easy to be controlled. Did he hold a grudge against someone?? Did he commit a crime?? Had Nuzleaf always been malicious???? And if so, is this why he shows so much remorse in the post-game??????? because he had always been this vile fiend and then he met this small kid and got attached, but still carried on with his evil actions because his malice was still stronger than the positive feelings and Dark Matter's hold on him intensified?????? I don't know!!!! and as much as i wish the game could have given us that sweet mr. Nuzleaf backstory, it's pretty fun to have freedom to come up with your own version.

Everything about Super's climax is just phenomenal. Every single flippin' legendary is there to help you. Arceus is in the game. MEWTWO IS THERE. and when things are looking hopeless, they really seem hopeless. First the Tree of Life is dying, then your allies get turned into stone and sent to hell The Voidlands, Arceus gets turned into stone, the entire world is stone (except for several mon' that are still safe and holding onto hope, but they're so few). Your Harmony Scarves stop working and you and your Partner are back to your feeble, basic stage forms. You are bordering exhaustion, you have no Emeras, it's just you and your Partner against an eldritch abomination that's killing the life on the entire planet like a parasite, devouring all hope. but you still fight back. Given how adults in the game always discourage the village children from going adventuring, that they cannot do this or that because they're so little and fragile, it's awesome how Hero and Partner beat Dark Matter as tiny kids.

PSMD is not a flawless game. in fact there's plenty of things that hold it back and i even mentioned some... but it's still full of love put into it and it resonates w me more than PMD Explorers of T/D/S and Gates to Infinity (Rescue Team is a close second). its my all-time favorite PMD game.

Tu m'as trop donné envie, j'ai AUCUNE idée de qui est ton OC donc je t'indulge : dis-moi tout, je suis toute ouïe 🤗🤗

Ok ok ok ok ok you have no idea what you did by asking me to talk about my oc LEZGO.

So i did kinda of a general post about Sae here (that I spend an hour and half looking for, thanks obsessive brain). That's the OC i've been thinking about.

To sum up a bit of her life: she's a goofball who lives in the pokemon universe. She started with the pokemon trainer school program as soon as she could when she was young because she sucked at school exept for PE, then took a specialty in sciences and journalism - as far as professional high school curricular options can be. On the way, she kept on doing athletic training and pokemon training.

She met some amazing friends (Edgar, Charlie, Aekyel to name a few) and lived through some shit that were community even in our roleplay group.

At some point she found herself enrolled in a cult (of course she didn't realized it at first), where she kept, among other things, on doing pokemon training and rigourous sport trainings. Stuff happened, she got out, anyway.

Story story, summing it up, she finished her high school curriculum. Goes and succeed in defeating the Pokemon League. Enters a post-high school internship with someone she had met previously (called Axou, a good friend of her, the kind of adult who cares for the teens they meet yk).

At this point, because of the Pokemon League stuff, she's kind of a low grade celeb, bc you know, that's not a small feat, but also not BIG. Her fighting specialty becomes a kind of mma fighting where you pair up with your pkmn to fight against another trainer and his pokemon (alongside, as in, you fight too). She's versed in boxing and kung fu. It's kind of like fighting sports in our universe : not big with the general opinion, but when someone gets big, well, you sometimes are in the press.

Things is, her best friend/soulmate Edgar is... Also someone. Also former Pokemon League challenger, he's also an undercover agent for the equivalent of greenpeace/sea shepard in this universe - Sae knows he does some stuff, but doesn't know exactly what, and know that it's his secret to tell when he wants to. They know each other inside out without it, and they've shared a lot of dark past stuff (Edgar was the one to get her out of that cult thing). His unit is notably composed of the current Pokemon League Champion Master, Arthur. So, by proxy, Sae also knows Arthur. (starting to see why she's become big ?)

There are so many things i'm missing tbh. How she's so fucking funny. How she's so always high on energy and like a puppy needs hours of daily exercising to settle at night. The flat Edgar and her got in the capital with the League victories money. How their best friend Charlie is a homeless student who just crash/couchsurf at their place or another everyday and likes to live like that. Her family and their problems. A lot of npc and other people's characters, and her pokemons who also are npc somehow because they each have their own story and personality. How she has a very special relationship with her pokemon team, bc they've had big misunderstanding and now they are very close. How she's fucking flaming ginger. How she was small all her childhood and teen years and she got a stupid growthspurt and now she's a very tall gangly noodle. How she loves roller skating.

Anyway.

What's occupied my thoughts since the morning is the part we've never played. We had a plan with Edgar that they were gonna have a daughter called Oswald, because Edgar's player wanted to play Oswald and they have a habit of playing dynasties, so their characters are always linked somehow to the previous one.

Problem is, Edgar and Sae are soulmate, but aren't a couple. Second thing is, i've realized, Sae is aro, not that she particularly cares or is aware of it.

In the job she next gets, which is in the same lab, she mingles very well with those already working there. They kind of become a queer gang, as all of them, yo'uve guessed, are queer. It's a bit of the formative years for Sae as far as relationships are concerned, because it's the first time she's settled to live in one place in years and so has been able to live relationship or even friendship in a daily manner, and not in a ships passing in the night way. So, like a 20 something years old, she starts sleeping around. She finds her rhythm gathering that she doesn't want to date in a romantic way, but she still date her friends from work in a platonic manner. They're all one big family anyway (if you care, their name are Zineb, Ripley, Alec, Marnie, Kaidan. There's also Isley, the older of the group, but he's more of a big brother and Sae doesn't date/sleep with him him at all). It's all queer platonic and poly because Sae kind of... doesn't care about it, as in, they all know she's not romantically involved w any of them, those are not romantically committed relationships. They just like each other, Sae loves intimacy, so it works from them.

This intimacy, she also finds w Edgar. And, yeah, at some point, she's gonna get pregnant.

She doesn't realize it before it's quite late, because she's thin, doesn't show much and exercice a lot and doesn't care much about her appearance. They know it's Edgar's because dates align. They decide to keep the baby because it's a bit late in the pregnancy. Sae feels very disconnected to the baby, or rather, to motherhood. She know there's gonna be a baby, that she's gonna care for and love, but she cannot reconcile with the idea of mortherhood - and actually never will. Or in her own way, more in family sense than in a mother sense. I kinda parallel it with some form of queerness, to explain that distance she got with it all. Some time when she's almost due, she spends a whole day lying on the couch, watching her pregnant belly, considering this child to come, and wondering how life will be, but still very disconnected to it all.

Everyone cares ofc during the pregnancy. Her group of friends dote on her when she feels like it, and honestly, because she's not feeling very involved, her life goes on. The rest of her family can't just uproot itself, but her father gets a flat in the city so he can come regularly if needed. She keeps on exercising. But at some point, her baby bump starts showing and someone notice, and it somehow ends in low grade tabloid and she lives through a few days of hell w headlines such as "champion Kurami pregnant!!!", photographer trying to get a shot of her getting out of the gym etc. At this point Edgar is out on a mission, so she just calls him and asks him for a favor, can he please make some calls so it doesn't happen because she knows he knows people. And he does pull some favours, and Arthur (champion league master i mentionned earlier, who's had similar problem w his daughter) makes it so she isn't annoyed anymore, and offers her to come the pokemon league facilities to train and exercise and be more at peace. When her belly gets too big, she leaves the fighting for a while and roller skate or goes skateboarding with her pokemon on the docks.

When the baby comes, well. They aren't very good parent. Or rather, they care very well for little Oswald - who's the spitting image of her father, no doubt. But they aren't... They don't know how to show that they care. They don't change their lives much, they still aren't a couple of course (as if they would be closer as they already are by being a couple), and they bring their child everywhere with them, arrange for everything she needs and care for her physical and mental wellbeing but... There's some traditional connection missing ? It's like the child is considered like a friend, albeit a small child one. You can't fault them for anything, except the fact that they don't connect with their child. They know her, they get her to take karate class when she show interest in it, and then badminton. When she keeps on drawing everything she sees, they get her her first camera, and she will grow into a great amateur photographer. They teach her how to rollerskate and ride a skateboard.

Little Oswald actually has a shitton of parents figure. She's got Sae and Edgar of course, but also Ripley, Zineb, Alec, Kaidan, Marnie, Isley, Charlie. Also, kinda grandparents figures : Sae's dad (Sae's mother wasn't very motherly at all, which might... explain some stuff), Axou, Edgar's dad Efren comes once in a while, but he's a very ellusive person (which might..... explain why Edgar is such an absent person in everyone's life), Sae's thesis director Annette. She's always cared for and spoiled.

Once, Sae's found hanging with Isley, who's as platinium blond as Edgar and Oswald, and there's again a small uproar of fake drama as in "is he the real father???" (which is funny as Isley's the only one Sae's never slept with lmao). Anyway, that's the kind of low grade sportwoman celebrity she has to deal with. She keeps on competing in the fighting scene. Edgar is more absent than Sae, because he goes on days long, sometimes even more, missions ; but Sae's also sometimes absent for turnament. There's always someone caring for Oswald, but the child grows also to be a reserved child, not very connected to her emotions. She will resent her parents for some time for that - but that's not about Sae's life, it's about how Oswald will be played and her own trajectory, so i'll leave that to their player.

So yeah, this morning i was mostly thinking about that pregnancy, very big family feels, and imagining those snippet of scenes I explored here.

This was so long, thanks for suffering through this w me, it's not clear nor coherent or exhaustive, so if you want to ask questions about anything, details, her life, her friends, her vibe, her fave food, idk xD feel free i'd be delighted to answer.

Light of My Life

DESCRIPTION: CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. ONLY THING THAT IS MINE IS THE PLOT

Summary: Kirishima and Y/n realize their love for each other after years of yearning

Warnings: slight nudity, some cursing, tooth-rotting fluff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two years.

Kirishima has been in love with you… for two whole years. Ever since he met you on the first day they had started as first years in UA. When you stood up for your new friends against the angry blonde pomeranian that is Kasuki Bakugo, then for some reason apologized for it. You were just the epitome of beauty, both inside and out, and benevolence, a fiery spark in your eye that indicates the strong will and fight that you have.

And the way you handle yourself in combat during that first training exercise with All Might? Kirishima swears that the existence of Cupid must be real because he was pretty sure it must’ve been incredibly abnormal with how fast he had fallen for you. You fought like some kind of battle goddess. And with your quirk, you might as well be.

You called your quirk “Celestial Light,” meaning you manipulate sun-, moon-, and starlight to your will. He’s seen you use the sunlight as powerful beams, to which you secretly admitted to him later that you got that move from Pokemon, forge weapons out of either light, and can now weave yourself a dazzling pair of wings along with armor as your ultimate move.

And while all these features, plus with just how stunningly beautiful you are; with your soft, shiny (h/c) hair, your (e/c) eyes that seem to make the stars in the sky lose their sparkle, those plump, soft-looking lips that stretch out into that dazzling smile that proudly shows off your pearly whites. What really reeled in his attention was all the little quirks you have.

The way you twirl a lock of your hair when you’re deep in thought; the way you chew on that kissable, plump lower lip of yours and your nose scrunches in the cutest way he’s ever seen, when you’re stuck on a difficult problem or when you don’t understand said problem; the way you always pluck out the tomatoes from your salad; how you always save your dessert for last so that, according to you, the delicious taste lingers on your tongue long after you’ve eaten it, or how you’re quick to offer some of your said dessert when a friend seems upset or sad about something; or the way you lightly sway your hips while you’re cooking to a song that’s either sounding from your phone or ringing in your head, at times humming to the tune playing, and how you tend to hum to what seems to be a pleasant daydream, if the soft smile on your face is anything to go by; as well as how you always, always make hot chocolate late at night when you have problems sleeping and how utterly adorable you look as you fight to stay awake as he fondly watches from around the corner during the times he himself has gown downstairs for something to drink as you sigh so contently when you take that first sip before clumsily making your way back up to your room. Especially when you still continue to argue with Kasuki to this day on how he treats Midoriya even though he’s mellowed a bit, Kirishima can’t help but find you so utterly adorable when your 5’7” is all up in Kasuki’s 6’5” personal space. It’s like watching a cute golden retriever puppy going up against a big bad (pomeranian) wolf.

Man, he could just go on and on. And he can go on and on and on about how hopelessly in love with you he is. Which he was subconsciously doing right now with his group of friends as he watched you happily interact with your best friend Mina and the other girls, as they undoubtedly plan their “girl’s night” tonight. Kirishima gave out another sigh, which earned him a hard smack on the back of his head within the next second.

“Ow!” Kirishima’s hand shot to the spot the angry pomeranian he calls his best friend had smacked him. He turned a questioning look over at the seething blonde next to him, looking at the bulging vein that looks ready to pop on his forehead. “What the hell was that for, Bakubro?!”

“That is the fucking twelveth time you’ve fucking sighed like that in the last 20 minutes, and I swear to fuck if I have to hear another fucking comment on how ‘beautiful’ Lamp is, Imma blow your ass all the way to Timbuktu,” Bakugou angrily spat out.

Of course, the threat of getting his ass handed to him rolled off him like water on a swan’s back. In the back of his mind, Kirishima laughed at how his friend was just all bark as he knew Bakugou wouldn’t actually beat him up that bad… probably.

Kirishima blinked, “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, bro,” Denki butted in, looking slightly annoyed as well. “You’ve been going on about ‘(L/n)’s hair looks great today’, ‘(L/n) looks so cute with her nose scrunched up when she chews her food’, ‘(L/n) looks so good in her uniform today.’ Like bro, you say she looks great in her uniform everyday, which I won’t argue, she do be looking mighty fine in a school uniform,” Denki trailed off as he leaned back in his seat as he stared at the girl in question, looking suspiciously like he’s trying to get a better view of her ass.

At that realization, Kirishima glared at the pervy, knockoff pikachu and kicked his shin hard.

Denki yelped, high-pitched and whiny as he brought up his leg, tendly rubbing the spot that was kicked. “Oooww, dude! What the hell?”

“Don’t look at her like that,” Kirishima growled, eyes glaring daggers.

Denki puts his arms up in surrender, cowarding before his suddenly intimidating friend. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry, I won’t stare at your girl again!”

Blood quickly rushed to the red-head’s cheeks, painting them a rosy color. “Wha- She’s not my girl!”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell with the way you look at her with that lovey-dovey expression on your face and how you follow her around like a lost puppy,” Sero intervened, casually leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head, the straw from his drink dangling from his lips.

“Yeah what he said,” Denki agreed, still tenderly rubbing his injured leg.

“That’s not-” Kirishima tripped over his words. “We’re just hanging out! I do the same thing with you guys!”

“Yeah. but if ya compare how much time you spend with us vs. (L/n), you’re practically non-existent in our group hangouts,” Sero laughed at his friend’s red face that is one shade off from blending into his hair.

“Guys, com’on. I- I just-” Kirishima was waving his hands, trying to think of something to say.

“Quite making fucking stupid-ass excuses,” Bakugou butted in. “Do you like Lamp or not?” Kirishima nodded hesitantly before glancing back over to your table as if nervous that you would hear this conversation even when you were like 4 tables away in this noisy cafeteria. “Then be a fucking man, or some shit, and fucking tell her already before I pop a goddamn blood vessel from all your fucking lovey dovey shit and whinning!”

Kirishima blinked thinking about his best friend’s words. After a moment, Kirishima gave the pomeranian his usual bright grin that could blind anyone who witness, hence why Denki and Sero simutaniously brought out sunglasses and place them high on their noses, and Bakugou’s squinting. Standing up suddenly, he declared, “You’re absolutely right! I have to man up and tell her how I feel!”

The commotion of Kirishima’s declaration turned around all the heads in the cafeteria, causing the red head’s cheeks to heat up again as he became fully aware of all the pairs of eyes on his 6’4” self. After giving a hasty apology, Kirishima plops back down, leaning on the table and covering his eyes with his big hands. Unknown to him, a pair of disheartened (e/c) orbs glanced at the embarrassed red-head with a sadden longing lingering in them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re staring at him again,” Mina, your number one best friend, noted in a singsong voice, popping another french fry in her mouth.

“What? Staring at who?” You questioned, immediately picking at your side salad, suddenly having lost interest in eating.

“Oh com’on. I saw you looking at Kirishima again.” Mina nudged you with her elbow. “Why don’t you just tell him already?”

You looked at her in confusion. “Tell him what?”

“That you’re completely and hopelessly in love with him,” she gave off a teasing lovey-dovey sigh.

Heat rushed into your cheeks. “I-...” You stuttered, going back to jabbing at your salad. “I don’t know what your talking about.”

“Oh, please gurl,” Mina scoffed. “It’s so obvious, it’s kinda painful watching. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

“What do you mean? We talk everyday, we’re best friends just like you and me,” You defended. “Besides,” You absentmindedly twirl a lock of your hair around your finger. “I doubt he’d be into someone like me. I mean, I’m not all that special.”

“Are you kidding? You’re freaking gorgeous, how could he not love you?” Mina asked.

“I just feel like, I don’t know, maybe I’m too plain for him?”

Mina rolled her dark eyes before grabbing your shoulders, and turned you around towards the other girls sitting with them.

“Gals,” she called, turning all five heads. She slung an arm over your shoulder and pointed at you. “Smash or pass?”

They all simultaneously replied, “Smash.”

“See? You are not just a plain, ol’ girl. You’re beautiful, and you’re kind, and fun. Why wouldn’t he like you?” Mina glanced at the Kirishima, watching as Kaminari and Sero poking fun at the gentle giant. She may or may not know Kirishima’s feelings about you, having picked them up a while ago.

Your blushed increased. “I don’t know. He’s just so sweet, and determined, and I just… Sometimes I feel like he’s way out of my league,” you sighed solemnly.

Mina hummed, thinking. “Well that’s too bad then. I think you guys would make such a cute couple.”

“That’s nice of you to say,” you thanked, a bittersweet smile resting on your lips. “But you heard him just now. He already has someone he likes.” You sighed, “Looks like I’m too late.”

Mina decided then and there, she was going to be both of your wingman, determined to get her two friends together by this weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking down into the common room later after school, with a nice blouse and a pair of skinny jeans with a purse hanging from your shoulder, you come to see the BakuSquad hanging on the couches.

“Alright Mina, I’m ready. Let’s go,” You happily say, waiting for her on the side of the sofa she and Kirishima were lounging on.

Kirishima looked up from his phone, seeing you all dressed up causing a faint blush to rise. “You look good! Where are you going?”

His compliment on your outfit causing heat to rise in your cheeks as well. “Um, Mina and I were going to head to the mall for snacks and clothes.”

“Oooh yeah about that,” Mina started, smiling sheepishly. “I can’t go with you.”

Your face fell a bit. “What? Why?”

“Some personal business came up, But hey! Why doesn’t Kirishima here go with you?” Mina nudged the giant next to her with her elbow.

Kirishima bounced onto his feet in excitement at the thought of you two alone together. “Yeah, let’s go!”

“You don’t have to Kiri, I can go by myself-”

“Nonsense!” Mina interjected. “Kirishima was just telling me he wasn’t doing anything today. Plus you’re going to be needing both an extra pair of hands and eyes if your going to be shopping for clothes.”

You looked ay her in confusion. “I mean, I suppose. But if he doesn’t want-”

“I do!” he shouted, interrupting you into a shocked silence. Clearing his throat, he continued, “Ahem, I mean… I do. I don’t mind tagging along.”

“Alright,” You smiled, your cheeks still feeling warm and butterflies swarming your stomach at being alone with your crush. “If you’re ready, we can go now.”

“Uh,” Kirishima patted his pockets. “Give me a minute to go get my keys and wallet,” he said, before full on sprinting up the staircase towards his room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here we are,” Kirishima announced, turning off the engine to his beat-up, red pickup truck.

“Thanks for coming along with me Kiri,” you smiled at him.

“It’s no problem, really. I like spending time with you.” His smile was tender and genuine.

“That’s sweet of you. I like spending time with you too,” you said, reaching for the handle of the door.

“Nuh-uh, what do you think you’re doing?” He gently grabbed your forearm, effectively stopping you from opening the door.

You quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Opening the door to get out??”

“Nope, not while I’m around. A lady shouldn’t have to open a door when a man is with her. I’ve told you this before,” He shakes his head in mock disappointment, not effectively hiding the upturn of the corner of his mouth. “What’s wrong with you?”

He steps out of the truck, quickly rounding the truck and reaching your door to open it. “Seriously Kiri, it’s not that big of a deal,” you said, stepping out of the truck and onto the asphalt, watching as Kirishima locked the truck before walking side by side to the giant building.

“What kind of man would I be if I didn’t open the door for you,” Kirishima asked rhetorically.

You giggled at his catchphrase, or rather catchword. As you two entered the mall, you mindlessly glanced at the stores around you. “So you’re going to buy new clothes?

“Yeah, and some snacks, too, for Girl’s Night tonight.”

“Any reason for buying more clothes?”

“Um…” You started blushing again. “It’s kinda embarrassing.”

“Oh, I get it. You don’t have to share if you don’t have to,” Kirishima reassured, not wanting to make you uncomfortable.

“Thanks,” you smiled gratefully.

You two continue on your way towards the clothing stores, when a shout suddenly sounded throughout the mall and people screamed. You both looked at each other before rushing over. There was a commotion, a young man had a kid hostage in front of the store.

“Give me my son back! Please!” A woman screamed, sounding terrified.

“Mommy!” the boy cried.

“A-Alright, listen up!” the young man stuttered, his whole body trembling as he held up his fingers to the boy’s temple in a gun position. “N-nobody try anything or else this boy is gonna get it!” Everyone stayed still as they nervously listened to his commands. “Everyone here h-hand over whatever money y-you have on you, including you register boy, or else the boy’s not going to be breathing anymore!”

“Robbery, one hostage,” you whispered to Kirishima next to you.

“And his quirk still unknown. We should be cautious about this, otherwise the kid’s gonna get hurt,” Kirishima added.

“Okay so what should we do?”

“How about I sneak up behind him while you get the kid away from him,” Kirishima suggests

“Fine with me,” you agree, going over to a potted plant as to hide your purse. “Let’s go.”

Gathering a small bit of sunlight in your palm, you directed the beam to the robber’s face, not powerful to cause permanent damage to him, but enough to temporarily blind him long enough for you to get the frightened boi away from him.

As soon as the robber yelped in surprise and closing his eyes, you sprinted forward and shoved the blinded robber away from the boy to which he fell against Kirishima who held him in a restraining hold while you jumped back with the little boy in your arms to put a bit more distance just in case. As the robber struggled again Kirishima, who didn’t even budge with all the squirming, you checked over the crying boy for any signs of injury.

Just as you were about to let the boy run over to his mother, the criminal being held by the hulking tank that is Kirishima, pressed his finger gun to Kirishima’s face and a loud bang sounded as he apparently shot at the redhead, a bullet of fire hitting him in the cheek. On instinct, Kirishima activated his quirk to protect himself, but since it was so sudden, he let of of the robber out of surprise. Once he was free, the robber aimed at the boy in front of you and fired.

Without hesitation, you threw yourself over the boy to protect him. Since you handle sunlight, you can take a bit of heat, unfortunately though… your clothes couldn’t. Next thing you knew, your blouse was catching on fire. You tried patting the fire out but obviously it wasn’t working so without thinking, you ripped off your shirt and threw it on the ground, leaving you in just your red, lacy bralette.

A thud sounded from behind you, making you turn around battle-readied, only to see Kirishima with his harden fist hanging in the air and the robber out cold on the ground. “Oh,” you said, “guess you handled that.”

Kirishima gave out a nervous chuckle, a red hue on his cheeks as he looked away. “Uh, yeah…”

A sudden shiver ran down your spine, reminding you of your current state. You let out a shriek, your cheeks now on equal footing with your crush’s red hair. You tried your best to cover yourself, your cheeks getting hotter by the second. Your embarrassment growing as well, as the stupid teenage boys your age started cat whisling at you.

Kirishima couldn’t help his red cheeks when he saw you in your bra, turning his head as to respect your privacy, but as soon as he heard the cat calls, he snapped his head towards the source; a group is rowdy guys his age looking over your general direction.

Wait… were they whistling at you?!

Glancing at you he catches how you were squirming and red in the cheeks, uncomfortable.

Nope. Not happening.

Without much thought, he took off his t-shirt he was wearing, leaving him bare, and went over to hand it to you. “Here, you can use this to cover up,” he said, the heat not entirely have left his cheeks as he trained his eyes solely on your sparkling, (e/c) eyes.

“What about you?” You asked, timidly reaching the shirt.

“No worries. Let’s just cover you up first,” he smiled reassuringly.

Smiling back gratefully, you took the offered clothing and went about putting it on. Meanwhile the group of teens were practically drooling over your figure. That is until Kirishima stepped into their view, arms across his chest with a glare starring daggers and a warning directing at them, his huge hulking frame completely blocking you from their hungry eyes. Being shirtless allowed Kirishima’s hardcore muscles to be displayed in all of their glory. It seems the red head’s goal was working, considering the group all froze up at the sight of his 6’4” muscular build, with not an ounce of fat visible. It took a moment for one of them to unfreeze and quietly urge his companions to move along before the frightening stranger decided to beat them to a pulp.

Satisfied with their scampering away with their tails between their legs, Kirishima turns back around only to be met with your figure practically drowning in his t-shirt. The heat made a complete comeback to his cheeks.You looked so adorable standing there in his clothes.

Before long, the mall’s security made their way over where they took their statements and the unconscious robber and bid the two young heroes their grattitudes before moving along to wait for the police to come and take the criminal away. Once they left, the boy and his mother walked up to you two to give their thanks as well, with the boy excitedly asking for Red Riot’s and (h/n)’s autograph which you both happily gave him, along with a picture being taken. Once the boy was satisfied and proclaiming to never washing his shirt, he and his mother left.

Kirishima turned to you. “You sure you’re okay? You’re not hurt or anything?”

You gave him a reassuring smile as you walked over to the planter in which you had hid your purse. “I’m fine. The fire didn’t burn me or anything, but I might have a bruise from where it hit me. Nothing that I can’t handle.”

“Good, good,” Kirishima nervously rubbed the back of his head.

When you secured your purse over your shoulder, you grabbed his free hand and walked in the direction of the clothing store you usually shopped at. “C’mon. The sooner we get my clothes shopping started, the sooner you can have your shirt back.” Though you didn;t really want to part with his shirt. It was completely engulfing you in his scent, something musky and manly that made you swoon.

“Aw, you don’t like seeing me shirtless?” Kirishima teased.

Hell yes, you thought to yourself. You’d have to be blind or gay to not drool over his washboard abs and bulging biceps, which you were desperately trying not to do. You didn’t want to come off as a pervert but it was hard to ignore the butterflies furiously partying around in your stomach and the intense heat coming off your cheeks.

“Yes,” you whispered, hoping to God that he didn’t hear you. He did, of course, which gave both his ego and the heat in his cheeks a nice boost. Before he could comment on it, you started, “Here we are. This is where I like to buy my clothes.”

Looking up, Kirishima saw the both of you walking towards (insert favorite clothing store).

~~~~~

Mina, having been standing far enough away from you two so as not to be noticed, grinned and squealed and she happily clapped her hands and did a little happy dance. She had followed you two as to figure out how to get you and Kirishima close, but lo and behold a robber with a fire type quirk came along, albeit she hadn’t really planned for this part to happen at all, but when your shirt was set ablaze and you tore it off in a panic, she had the perfect plan.

She had walked up to the group of teens earlier all flirty and bribed them to go over and give you plently of unwanted attention for some extra cash. Though judging by their snarky appearance, she had bet it wouldn’t be too much trouble for them to start drooling all over you.

Mina did feel a bit bad, exposing you like that and making you uncomfortable, but for the sake of the personal, covert mission she assigned herself to get her two friends together, she knew it would be well worth it. Plus you had the gentle, red-headed giant with you to comfort you in your time of distress so she didn’t let it hold her back too much.

Having the group return a bit shaken from the encounter with Kirishima, one of them shakily asked the pinkette, “W-Was that good enough?”

Giving them her signature grin, Mina handed over a few yen bills as agreed upon. “Yup! Thanks for your help guys!”

Muttering a ‘no problem’, the males continued along their way, counting the money they’ve earned, undoubtedly planning on spending it on drinks or food. Mina glanced back at you two as you lead Kirishima to your favorite store, the giant red-head’s posture now screaming protectiveness over your dignity. She was well assured that her plan to give you guys he right nudge was a success, knowing that Kirishima was planning on confessing his love to you today from her little conversation with the other guys of the Bakusquad.

Satisfied with her work, the cheerful pinkette skipped her way to her favorite store as to buy the required snacks for their girl’s night that evening, confident that you wouldn’t be returning until much later that night after your date.

~~~~~

Right away, as soon as you two entered the store, you stop by a rack of clothes, excitedly sifting through the hanging clothes.

“Sooo…” Kirishima started. “Is there a specific reason why you’re getting new clothes? Or are you just getting them for the hell of it?” He asked, mindlessly lifting up a blouse, examining it and then putting it back, and that’s when he looked up. Immediately, he felt a sweat drop sliding down the side of his face at all the hungry, drooling ladies in the store shamelessly staring at his bare torso.

“Um, I guess you can say a bit of both,” you responded, checking out a blouse that seems to have caught your attention. “I accidentally burned some of my blouses when using my quirk.”

“How’d you managed that?” Kirishima found what appears to be a pink sleeping shirt that said ‘Donut Worry Be Happy’ with sprinkles all over and a donut in the middle. “Hey this is cute,” Kirishima said, showing you the shirt. He was silently begging you to get it, he knew you’d be adorable in it and he was desperate to see it in person.

You looked over to see the shirt your best friend was holding up. “Oh my god!” You squealed excitedly, taking the shirt from him. “I love this! I’m so getting this. Great find, Kiri!”

Once you turned around, Kirishima silently fist pumped in victory. “Well, anyway. You know how a magnifying glass can concentrate the sunlight and you can start fires with it? Well my quirk is kinda like that. And because of that, there has been more than one occasion where I accidentally burnt my clothes, as much I hate to admit it.”

“Oh, okay I get it,” Kirishima said.

After finding a couple more outfits, you dragged your very shirtless, very hot best friend to the dressing rooms to get his opinion on the outfits you chose. As you showed off the outfits you chose, to which Kirishima said that each one looked great on you.

You guys were started getting goofier, as time went on, you two acted as if you were in a fashion show, with you strutting around in a new outfit each time striking a new pose every minute, even going as far as fixing your hair in messy styles for each one, be it a quick, braid, bun, or ponytail.

As Kirishima patiently waited for you to step out with the next shirt, you called out. “Oh my god, I think this one is my favorite so far! I think this would great with heels though. Hey Kiri?”

“Yeah?”

“You see those heels I was eyeying earlier before we came to here?”

Looking to his left where the wall was covered with shelves and shelves of shoe boxes plus the ones on display, he sees the pair you were talking about. “The white heels, right?” He asked, already walking over to them.

“Yeah, can you see if they have (insert shoe size)?”

Mumbling the shoe size you gave him as he scanned the boxes, he spots the only size that you requested. “You are in luck, milady. There is only one left.”

“Thank you very much, my good sir,” you giggled reaching your hand out for the shoes without revealing the shirt you were wearing. “I’ll be but a moment,” you impersonated a proper tone hand and shoes disappearing behind the closed curtain again.

While Kirishima waiting idly (and trying his best to ignore the hungry stares still directed at him), he decided to ask for some dating intel in the form of small talk. “So hey, random question. Have you ever thought about dating?” Yeah, so not obvious. Way to go, Kirishima.

You paused your struggle with the second heel strap. “What kind of question is that? Of course I have.”

“Oh,” Kirishima simply said. “So, you have a crush on anyone?”

Staying in your position in front of the full-length mirror, you thought about it. Obviously, you had a big fat crush on the male just on the other side of the curtain, but was this his way of finding out if you liked anyone for himself or just out of curiosity? “Yeah… there is someone I really like, but I doubt he’s noticed me at all.”

“Oh? What’s he like?” Kirishima asked, nervous as all hell that you liked someone else.

“Well, he has spiky hair.. Gorgeous red eyes that shine like rubies… he looks intimidating as hell when you first see him, but actually nice once you get to know him… and he’s really handsome, too,” you blushed, lightly hugging yourself as you pictured Kirishima in your head.

Said male had gone quiet, his heart dropping all the way down into his stomach, the weight feeling like a bowling ball. Wait… Do… Do you have a crush on Bakugou?! “Oh… um… he-he sounds like a lucky guy,” Kirishima responded, trying to keep the tremor and disappointment out of his voice.

Dammit, am I too late? Kirishima cursed his reluctance at approaching you with his feelings.

“W-...What about you? Do you like someone?” You asked, heart hammering in your chest in anticipation to his answer.

“Yes,” he said, causing your heart to stop.

“What’s she like? She’s gotta be amazing for you to like her,” you tried to keep your voice cheery, happy that your best friend had found someone, but a whimper threatened to spill past your lips as tears gathered against your lower lashes, your bottom lip wobbly.

“She’s so amazing. She’s strong, and kind, and sweet, and she’s probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing,” Kirishima gushed, a dreamy look on his face. “She does (insert hobby 1), and (insert hobby 2), and she’s so good at it. And she can make some really delicious food, though she swears up and down the road that she’s not that great of a cook, but I can’t help but love every single bite of it.”

“That’s… that’s great,” you said, unable to keep out the tear-filled tone out of your voice.

“Wait, are you crying?!” Kirishima panicked.

You sniffled, hugging yourself tighter, “No.”

Kirishima stayed quiet for a moment. And deciding to be a man and take that leap of faith, he continued, “Though, I admit, she is a little dense.”

That caught you off guard. “Huh?”

“I mean, you would think she’d at least notice a little bit how much time I spend with her,” He said, laughing out loud, partly out of nerves. “Or how no matter the hour during the night, if she came to my dorm crying, I would drop everything to make her feel better, and will do the stupidest shit just to see her smile and laugh. Or how she is literally the sunshine of my life, and with her quirk, its just makes it even more true.”

Your eyes widened. Was he talking about someone with a quirk similar to yours? No, it couldn’t be, there was no possible way he was talking about you, it must be some huge coincidence.

“Or how whenever we go stargazing with each other at night, I have never looked up at the sky, not even once, before. No star, or constellations that she makes up could ever compare to the stars in her (e/c) eyes. (Y/N)... you’re just so perfect, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be good enough for you.”

You whipped around so fast, you actually tripped over the clothes that were scattered at your feet, causing you to curse as you fell, hitting you head against the wall of the dressing room with a rather loud thud as you fell right on your bottom.

Hearing the loud, resonating thud, Kirishima panicked and went into hero mode, rushing to pull back the curtain to see if you were harmed or not. Quickly finding you on the floor, tenderly rubbing the back of your head, your expression pinched with slight pain.

“Hey, are you okay?!” Kirishima worried, kneeling down to your level with his arms outstretched as if to catch you should you fall over all of a sudden.

“Yeah, just banged my ass and head is all,” you groaned, still tenderly rubbing the sore spot, sitting up more.

“Here, let me check your head.” Before you could protest that you were perfectly fine, Kirishima gently cradled your head and tenderly pushed your head forward so he could check out the damage that had been done. You instantly shut your mouth, your cheeks blooming into a rosy color at the close proximity, smelling his natural scent coming from his bare skin. “Well, you have a slight bump but that’s about it,” he concluded, letting your head go. “But I don’t know if you’ll end up with a concussion or not.”

You shoke your head, saying in a soft voice, “I doubt it. I’ve hit my head harder on missions.”

Once he was sure enough that you would be alright, it was then that he noticed what you were wearing and he couldn’t help but blush. It was a one sleeved crop top that showed a moderate amount of clevage, the end of it reaching above your cute belly button, and it was such a nice shade of red, almost reminding him of his hair color.

“That’s uh… That’s a really nice blouse,” he complimented, suddenly flustered at how beautiful you looked along with the blouse you were currently wearing looking up at him through your hair which was hanging down, eyes big and doe like.

Completely blanking on the compliment thrown your way, you continued to stare at him in awe as you processed what he had said earlier. “…Did you mean what you said?”

“Oh, uh,” his hand shot up to rub his neck nerviously, chuckling. “Well yeah, of course. It would be pretty unmanly if I lied. And… it would be pretty unmanly for me to not tell you how I feel about you.”

“H-How you feel…?” Kirishima prayed that that sparkle in your (e/c) eyes was hope as you subconsciously leaned closer to him in anticipation.

“I’m just- I’m gonna just come out and say it,” Kirishima said, more to himself though as to encourage himself. Taking a deep breath, reached out and ever so gently held your cheek as though you were fragile and can break at any moment, and looked into those sparkling (e/c) eyes he loved so much. “I really, really like you (Y/n). For a long time now.”

Tears gathered in your eyes as a brilliantly bright smile spread across your beautiful face, rivaling the sun. “Really?”

“Yes really,” Kirishima confirmed, your bright smile bringing forth a bright grin of his own.

“Am I dreaming?” You giggled nervously, hoping to god that he wasn’t pranking you or anything. It all seemed so surreal and like a dream. “You actually like me?”

Kirishima laughed. “I’ll even go as far as say I love you.”

You leaned forward until your forehead bumped with his hard chest, clenching your fists against him. “This isn’t a dream…” you whispered happily. “You actually like me.”

“And I would be just as happy if you will have me as your man,” Kirishima muttered into your hair, bringing his arms around you in a hug.

“Yes!” You didn’t hesitate in accepting his proposal. You squealed in delight as Kirishima squeezed you tight in his arms, rocking the both of you back and forth.

Pulling away, you were blinded by his bright grin. “Let’s go to the movies!”

“What, right now?” You giggled, wiping at your tears.

“Yes! We can do a movie and dinner date! I know the food court isn’t probably the most appealing, but I want to take you on a date right now, especially in that amazing outfit you have on now,” Kirishima rambled, his excitement reminding you of a hyper puppy dog.

“Okay, let’s do it!” You couldn’t help but share his excitement, completely forgetting the fact that you had girl’s night later that evening and the reason you came to the mall was to grab snacks for it.

Right away, Kirishima helped you pick up the clothes that you were going to buy, in the process, finding and putting on his own shirt, insisting that you keep the shirt and wedge heels on for you last minute date. The both of you were practically jumping at the seams with excitement as you went up to the register. Being the gentleman that he is, Kirishima tried insisting that he pay for the clothes and heels for you, but you argued that you were perfectly capable on paying for them on your own, the two of you continued going back and forth as the cashier looked between you two as you argued who was paying as she tried her best not to laugh.

Ultimately you allowed to pay for the shirt you were currently wearing, the sleep shirt he found and the heels, but no more. As you paid the cashier for all the other clothes, you laughed at Kirishima’s grumbling, reaching up to kiss away his pout. After paying, you two had decided to stop by the theaters in the mall to choose and pay for a movie, and this time you let Kirishima pay. As you awaited for the time of the movie, you walked around sharing a pretzel as a snack as you continue doing a bit more shopping, with Kirishima also buying you a stuffed animal because what kind of man would he be if he didn’t buy you a plushie as a memento of your first date?

On your way towards the food court, you could hear Kirishima humming My Only Sunshine with a satisfied expression on his face. “Are you really humming that?” You laughed.

Kirishima grinned down at you, lacing his fingers with yours and swinging your arms. “I can’t help it if you’re the light of my life.”

Hi its me and im gonna talk about sergei being a pokemon

i wanna do this with all tekken characters as a little creativity exercise so no fighting type AT ALL unless is like a must or dont have any idea and all will be dual type because is funnier like that

оооооооо

So for this little exercise i will start with the one i thinked the most because favorite character alert, i will be drawing this ideas later maybe...maybe.

To start i wanna think first on who is Dragunov, a spetnaz that is cold, mysterious, silent and looks emotionless but have some slight mischief with those smirks or little taunts or even the talks he had with Raven on Tekken 6. So the best first type would be the Dark Type since it fits with the creepy silent attitude that other dark types like Umbreon or Absol could have and are like my base.

I know this will sound cliche and all that but i think is obligatory that he have to be a Ice Type. Not really because hes Russian as the nationality but more for the ambience. We alredy saw with regional versions how the habitat can change a pokemon type and appearance to survive so im going on with that mostly, plus, hes often described as cold and with icy eyes which i think is obvious to this point for appearance and personality.

What we have now is a Dark-Ice, kinda Sneazel and Weavile thing which we can work with. What we know is that Dragunov usually works alone but is not solitary and we can asume he works with other militars too. We could see hes also a good leader, leading the others to end the jobs.

I thinked for him is a mixed nature in social activities with others. Can work really good alone but better in "herd" and is natural leader among the herd. Interacting with others outside his circle is difficult since hes also not trustful and is hard for him to get used to stranger presences and always have the guard up, but if you gain his trust he will defend you certainly.

I wanna now think about like in-battle natures, like a dark type he usually attacks that would generate surprice but brutal to the other, usually using the opponent body to his advantage. Also attacking with grabs to then make a final devasting one with punches, bites and maybe a funny claw to scratch.

Inspired by his in-game moves "Feint & Catch" and "Chernobog Sweep" (maybe also "Spetnaz Assault"), traducing it to the move "Foul Play".

For punches he would use his ice abilities more, his knuckles and nails would get covered in solid ice that with make the attack so much heavy, inspired by his move "Sub-zero" traducing it to "Ice punch"

For the grabs like in general because theres a lot, searching i finded the move "Submission" a fighting type move that well, fits to well to not mention it and would work exactly as how it do in the games.

He have great teeth also, doesnt bite often since his hands are more effective but he knows "Crunch" if is necessary to use those great teeth, other option could also be "Ice Fang" since his teeths are made of the same material as his nails.

(Look i think it would be hilarious if he had "Sing" tho, like just saying)

For the ability he would have "Intimidate" or "Unnerve" his look, body and just overall attitude and personality would really just make the opponent nervous.

Mostly a physical attacker with decent defense but lack of special defence and a unusuable special attack but a really great speed and reflects, good for a silent killer.

Now is time for complicated parts, Biology, he isnt just gonna be him, all this characteristics arent gonna be just to a human looking person.

I thinked he would be inspired in a wolf, specially the siberian wolf using the term lone wolf and the fact that wolves also works in herds as a concept and that they live i cold places usually. maybe put these concept with a military trained dog.

Will be bipedal with great arms and thighs but thinner legs with a contracted torso. Also some thick fur on the neck and back that connect to the tail that will help to survive the cold. Tail is medium lenght with a puffy end but a slick start amd make a C shape usually that gets flowy and wavy when running. Nails are short since he doesnt use them as much but are made of thick ice that can scratch good. Have great teeths like the canine he is, made of thick ice material like his nails. Ears are pointy but fluffy, wolf like and shows his emotions a lot of the time.

The constant touch of his extremities with the snow made his hand and feet have other propperties such as being much harder, colder even in normal weather and the hair of those parts getting replaced with little ice shards.

My brain is fried thinking in all this lol.

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Master Quest, Episodes 21-22

In which Ash’s egg mercifully hatches, and we get one of the show’s best episodes yet.

Welcome to the Phamily

Tis a glorious day, lords and ladies; Ash’s egg has already hatched! It only took a single episode of waiting to meet out new addition to the Poke-family! HUZZAH! Man, after how slow the middle section of Johto was, it is a relief to finally get back to pacing where shit actually happens. And I appreciate how his introduction marks another moment where Ash accidentally hurts one of his Pokemon and has to spend the episode making up for it. It doesn’t happen often, but it always makes for Ash’s best episodes. You really see his mistake weighing on him; even if that thundershock saved Phanpy from being stolen, it still hurt his new friend. Even Pikachu feels down about it, which just makes it hurt even more. And it makes total sense why Phanpy would end up allying with Team Rocket instead. There was no previously estalbished bond of trust between Ash and Phanpy; their first meaningful interaction was Ash hurting it and scaring it away. It’s still a baby, a baby who was hurt by someone it trusted, and that pain is easily manipulated even by screw-ups like Team Rocket. It takes Ash throwing himself into a raging river and going over a waterfall to earn Phanpy’s trust back. But that only goes to show just how far he’s willing to go for his Pokemon. Seriously, Ash is scarily cool when he goes full Momma Bear to protect his team. And I think Phanpy is gonna make a fine addition to the team now that Ash has earned its trust.

Absolute Blastoff

It’s easy to fall into a lull watching Pokemon. As I’ve mentioned in the past, this show’s modus operandi is to be Basically Good Enough on such a consistent basis that it’s never a chore to tune in next week and see what wacky misadventures the gang gets up to next. You consume an episode, you consume another episode, and before you know it you’ve watched a whole shitton of episodes, and you don’t remember them very well but you know you had a decent enough time. That’s how it manages to stay relevant and keep kids coming back. On the downside, that means it’s easy to just kinda let the show wash over you without much of an impact. There are so many episodes of Pokemon, even recent episodes, that I just cannot recall all that much about. It’s designed to entertain, not to stick with you, to pass through you harmlessly and never really shoot for true transcendence. The movies are where this franchise actually aims high and tries to leave something lasting behind; the show itself is content to cruise along in neutral outside of a few key plot points

But every once in a while? Something snaps in the Pokemon production factory, and the team churns out an episode that’s genuinely fucking amazing.

Episode 22 of Master Quest, Dues and Don’ts, is an exercise in exhilaration. It has some of the snappiest, punchiest, most instantly striking swagger I’ve ever seen from this show. It’s filled wall-to-wall with direction, comedic timing, wit, and confident storytelling chops that put the entire rest of this anime to shame. Where do I even start with this thing? It hits you from the word Go with Team Rocket setting up an entire football routine just for the sake of a themed bomb and never lets off the gas once. The energy of their mock trial scene! The speed of the goofy sight gags and dynamic poses! The constant comedic one-upsmanship of everyone shading each other at the speed of light (”You’re not a people.” “Oooooh, the shame!”) Wobuffet trying to slink out of a combat dust cloud only to be pulled back in! It’s like ten episodes worth of this show’s energy condensed into a single episode worth of hilarious humor-based characterization. And that’s before we’re hit with the hilarious concept of a Team Rocket talent scout which is just, like, holy shit. And that one Wendy girl who’s entire character is trying to get back at Jessie for stealing a fruit smoothie from her years ago, to the point it’s grown to an all-consuming quest for vengeance? I don’t know why, but that is somehow the most hilarious fucking thing I’ve seen in a while. There’s something so inherently hilarious about demystifying a giant evil organization with mundane business concerns like pensions, dues, and HR departments. Even Ash and company get in on the creative energy with Pikachu’s “I’m a badass” glare and one of the best genuine sakuga action cuts we’ve ever gotten from this show. Whoever worked on this episode went out of their way to make it the most incredible version of this episode they possibly could. It’s a product of a team that wanted to make something genuinely special and memorable. And I’ll always appreciate that when I see it.

Also, they gave us this incredible line: ”If that’s the democratic process, I’m voting Republican.”

God fucking bless this episode.

Best of Team Rocket

-”This calls for a little so-fist-ication!”

-”Don’t ask rye, but I’d like to propose a toast!”

-”But I wouldn’t celebrate just yet.” Lol, she knows it’s only a matter of time before this blows up in their faces.

-”I’ll wag my tail in silent protest.”

-”They’re making a run for it!” ”What did you say?” “He said they’re making a run for it!” “Yeah, I heard you!” “You asked!” “Wooooobuffet!” Behold, the glorious chaos that is Team Rocket.

-”Those ingrates! Stealing away from us after we spent so much time stealing them away!” “Yeah, just try to say that tongue-twister!”

-”Our Wobuffet is just as useless to match.” “Woooobuffet!” He’s so proud asjdhakjsdh

-”All that whining and complaining really paid off!”

-”How do you know it’s a blizzard attack?” “Maybe because we’re in a blizzard.”

-”Besides, they’ve got stock options!”

Odds and Ends

-dkjfhsdfh why the egg costumes

-Wobuffet with a milk mustache. That is all.

-Yoooo, Pokemon breakout!

-Lol, three attempts to say the motto in the same episode. That must be a new record.

-”I spent an hour painting my tail for you, and this stuff don’t wash off!”

-Well, that was almost a smart play with the parachutes, but then Wobuffet happened.

-”Don’t feed me them apples!” Oh, I like her.

-Okay, but now I want to know what evil deeds Team Jet and Team Helicopter get up to.

-”However, some of these presents have been known to explode.” “Oh great, now you tell me.” he’s so done asdkhaskjdhsa

-”Actually, just work them hard.” Man, I forgot how intimidating Giovanni could be.

Aaah, that was great. See you next time!

Survey #331

my head hurts way too badly to think up some intro lyrics, so just g’night.

Have you ever become good friends with someone you never met in person? Oh yeah, I've had best friends over the Internet. Hell, I'm closer to many online friends than I am most irl ones. They know "the real me" more. What do you consider your default mood to be? Stressed, probably. Discontent. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever kept a goldfish alive for? Not long. Proper goldfish husbandry is a very neglected topic, and I sure as hell never knew how to set up its tank adequately. Have you ever been paintballing? No, don't plan to. It looks like it hurts like a bitch. Do you want a large wedding? No. Did you ever collect any sort of cards? I had a very small collection of Pokemon cards. I didn't collect them avidly. What’re the best and worst books you ever had to read for a class? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was the best. The worst was some book we had to read in the 6th grade about a kid during some war that moved around a lot... I don't remember the name or who wrote it, but it sucked. What’s the best meal you had at an amusement park, or If you haven’t been to one, how about a good meal at another place like a zoo, aquarium or museum? I don't know. I haven't been to many. Who, whether a person or company, emails you the most? My PHP therapist emails me a check-in sheet and Zoom link every day there's a therapy session. What kind of sound or noise freaks you out the most and why do you think it scares you? Let's seeeee... I don't know if there's a sound that actually freaks me out. There are some I don't like, but none that like, frighten me. At least that I can think of. What’s the strangest art piece you’ve come across? Biiiitch there's a painting in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs I'm not gonna go into, but shit fuckin wild. What’s the most clever or unique name you’ve come across for a business? I've definitely heard some cool ones, but I don't know about one that really stands out to answer this. If you had to name one of your hypothetical future children after a song, which song would you pick? Maybe like... okay, I'm blanking. Good thing I'm not having kids to name then, right? What’s the last song you heard? "Down in the Park" by Marilyn Manson is on atm. What is your favorite line from a TV show? *shrug* Any current family issues? No. How many hours do you spend online a day? How do you feel about that? I'm doing something on the computer pretty much... always. I hate it, and I hate it a lot. I don't want my life to be tied solely to the digital plane. I want to do more than bounce back and forth from website to website. Do you think that people have the power to make their own lives better? Absolutely, but there are some things they simply cannot change. It's about perspective and how you play the deck you're dealt. What is the biggest problem in your life right now? Right now, the most limiting thing is my physical health, probably. Just walking being torture affects my ability to exercise, and my body is a major reason - if not the biggest, at this current time - for my depression. This also plays a massive role in jobs I can handle. Not to sound like my emo self writing middle school poetry, but my body feels like a prison. Do you feel that you are loved? I know I am by some people, though I have a hard time understanding why a lot. What is the one thing you want most from life? Life satisfaction. Pride in what I've accomplished. A regular state of being content. Birthplace? I'm just gonna say in eastern NC. Do you believe in love at first sight? No, merely infatuation. Love is much too deep for that. Do you think dreams eventually come true? Some can, but usually only if you put effort into making that so. Favorite fictional character? like ummmmmmmm have you heard of this sassy bastard called Darkiplier- Go to the movies or rent? Before Covid, I loved going to the theater. It was something to do, plus a giant screen is nice. McDonalds or Burger King? McD's. I'm not a big BK fan. I only really went there during my vegetarian phase for the veggie burger. Current annoyance? This motherfucking headache. Last thing you ate? I have a meal replacement shake with me right now, if you consider that "eating." I didn't have a proper dinner. The last solid food I had though was some cookies and cream Greek yogurt. Last thing you bought? With my own money, I think I bought Mom and I some cheap McDonald's order semi-recently? Or maybe paying my $100 deposit for my tattoo was most recent, idk. Soonest thing you are looking forward to? For Mom to get her CT scan and find out what's going on in there. What did you do today? It was a pretty average day. I woke up way too early, though. The only thing even semi-unique about today was I played World of Warcraft for a few hours again; I've been quite unattached to it lately, but I went through an episode today of actually having fun playing. Oh, and I've been battling a migraine. It's more of a severe headache now, at least, but it still sucks big time. Do you like to see it snowing outside? Oh yes, absolutely! When you were in high school did you ever have bomb threats? I believe once we did from a very volatile student that honestly caused quite a lot of trouble. He's dead now. Who knows ALL of your secrets? Nobody. Did you have a job before you were in college? No. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a baby right now? That's a terrifying thought, no. Are you on birth control? Yeah, but just because it tames my menstrual cramps. Without it, they could be debilitating some days. Who is your last sent text to? My best fren. Have you ever eaten at Chipotle before? Possibly? Idr. Do you swear often? Excessively. I had a dirty mouth prior, but my swearing got really bad when I started staying at Jason's house a lot. He and especially his mother swear like mad. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it? No. Do you have your national flag hanging up anywhere outside your house? Not at this house, no. Would you ever go to Japan? Oh, yes. I would love to. It's... very morbid, but I would really like to walk the (public) paths of Aokigahara Forest, nicknamed "Suicide Forest" for the horrible amount of, well, suicides that happen there via hanging. Like, you might just casually run into a dead body. I want to just... feel it there, walk in silence and empathize with people who didn't know what else to do and hope so deeply that those departed know they were never alone in their pain. I know with absolute certainty I'd probably be teary-eyed the whole time and cry a whoooole lot, but it's just an experience I want to have. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for? Some basic groceries. What should you be doing right now? Sleeping, given this headache... I just don't want to yet. Are you afraid of getting your heart broken? I'm fucking terrified of that ever happening again, far more than words can properly express. Have you ever been in a choir? Yes, actually; when I was a Catholic kid, my sisters and I were in the church choir for a year or so, idr. Do you have a Twitter? Yes, but only to like Mark's tweets, haha. Oh, and very rarely enter giveaways I'm interested in. Describe your retainers to me, if you have them, that is. I have a permanent metal one behind my front row of bottom teeth to keep those straight. My upper teeth had one of those normal retainers you take in and out, but I didn't wear it enough, so now it doesn't even fit. Would you like for someone to call you right now? No. I'm tired, my head hurts, and I'm enjoying the song I'm bingeing. It's so weird, I rarely ever go on music hunting trips (no real reason, I just... don't), but I've found great shit lately. Do you like to brush your teeth? No; it's a chore. I only do it because I don't want my teeth decaying, falling out, or getting too yellow, and the taste in your mouth and gritty texture on your teeth isn't exactly great when you don't brush. Have you ever had a surgery? Two. Give out your phone number over the internet? I have over private messages. Do you look older or younger than you actually are? Given my wardrobe (like graphic tees and band shirts), I probably look younger in the eyes of especially older people. I personally say I look my age, though. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? I never plan to be again. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of? Some cooking show with Mom. Nailed It!, I think? Do you know anyone who lives in Utah? No. I love Utah, though; it's actually a place I'd be willing to live in with just how pretty it is and not super populated. Do you get your feelings hurt easily? VERY. I'm probably one of the most sensitive people you can meet. Do you still talk to the person you last made out with? Yeah. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Ugh, yes. What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? First we took those nasty, chalky Flintstones kinds, but as time passed, Mom moved onto giving us gummy bear vitamins that were perfectly fine. Did you get any compliments today? No. Are you friends with your neighbors? Not "friends," no. What towns have you lived in? Three different ones. That's all you're getting. Have you ever thrown up from drinking? No. Done any illegal drugs? No. I mean I've had some alcohol underage, but I've never done anything remotely hardcore. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been on an airplane without changing flights? Idk. Who have you texted today? My mom and best friend. What time did you wake up this morning? Ugh, like five in the fucking morning. I couldn't go back to sleep. What is your favorite condiment to go with french fries? Ketchup. What do you have a habit of doing when engaging in a conversation with someone? Making shitty eye contact, and I'm one of those people who "talks with [their] hands." I also lose my train of thought a whoooole lot. Have you ever layed in a hammock? Yeah; we had one growing up. Have you ever lost a pet in a tragic way? How did you cope? Well yeah, I've had lots of pets, so thus lost some in particularly painful ways. The most scarring loss of a pet though is as follows: Teddy, my dog, picked up one of our cat's very young, wandering kittens in his jaws in a manner that looked as if he was trying to carry it like Aphrodite (the mother cat) does when she would bring them back behind the couch, where she gave birth/had her little "nest." I absolutely freaked and had to pry the kitten from his mouth, and it slowly died in my hands. I think Teddy accidentally crushed its ribs. I. Was. A. Mess. Then, there was Aphrodite herself. I've told the story before of our former neighbors calling animal control because our cats would wander through their yard, and all of our cats were taken away while I was unaware at school. Came home, and they were all gone. Aphrodite was my baby, so I was devastated. Screaming, sobbing, cursing on the porch for like 20 minutes... It was awful. What type of curtains do you like? I don't... know? I don't know the actual names of any types... What type of quality is a must-have in a friend? I absolutely cannot be friends with someone who thinks they're above everyone else. Are you any good at reading someone's body language? I think I am. What goes good with a nice cold glass of milk? Cookies! Especially Oreos. Dip it in there for around five seconds, and it's perfection. What fruit is too sweet to you? Grapefruit came to mind first. How did you feel after your first kiss? I had butterflies galore and was so giddy and smiley. After the first, I just wanted to kiss him a billion more times. What’s your favorite constellation and why? I don't have one. Shower curtain or door? Curtain. The glass doors are too revealing. Have you ever thought to yourself that you’re the luckiest person in the world? Most deeeeefinitely not. What time of day do you most enjoy looking at the sky? Sunset if there are clouds present, but sunrise if the sky is pretty clear.

Fallout OC questionaire

@falloutfandomeventhub Fallout OC Questionnaire Whether your OC is a Lone Wanderer or Sole Survivor, these questions can be asked by others to know more about them! Or simply be used as a guide to further develop your character. Ask away, luv!  00. Which Fallout game are they from? Fallout 4 01. Which faction(s) did they join and which did they destroy? Why? The only Faction to be destroyed was the institute by the minute men. Officially, the botherhood won the commonwealth. Their equipment and training are stronger than either the railroad or the minutemen can handle on a one-by-one. With the institute destroyed, the railroad had lost its greater purpose. Some of the remaining members worked to establish a pipeline to Far harbor and Acadia for those who didn't wish for a mind-wipe. Others chose to join the minutement to make the world a safer place. The brotherhood is the army, the minutemen are the police. 02.What is their S.P.E.C.I.A.L.? S4 P6 E1 C1 I10 A4 L3 Strong enough to bend metal to his will, but no 'heavy hitter' or load hauler. Good eyes and quite perceptive, able to play with explosives without fear and an able rifleman The frost seems to have sapped all of his endurance he developed in the army, finding himself constantly winded. Between his sarcastic nature as a veteran, the dysphoria of a new world, and his half blasted face, his charisma is something to be desired Intelligence is where he shines, capable with computers, engineering and certified to operate with fusion cores. His agility is fair. Able to be sneaky, but by no means a ninja. He is lucky in cards but unlucky in love. Hard pressed to romance any companion, he is still able to get a lucky shot off. 03. Give us a summary of their backstory. Son of a locksmith, he used his gift with tumblers to break into places for the cheap thrills and fell in with a bad crowd. The first time he met Nora was popping a lock for her in the rain and he decided she was someone he was willing to make a better man of himself. He enlisted, became a combat engineer, got half his face blown off. Came home after the tour, got popped in the freezer. 04. What’s their full name and does it have a meaning? Do they have any nicknames and how did they get em? Nathaniel Victor Winters, A.K.A. Vic, Blue and THE SILVER SHROUD! Vic is a shortening, blue comes from the suit he emerged from the vault, and the silver shroud came from his time enacting revenge in goodneighbor and his codename with the railroad. 05. What’s their sexual, romantic, and gender orientation? Do they feel comfortable telling other people? He's bisexual male favoring feminine appearance lovers, he lost his virginity with another man in the gang he ran with as a kid.  In this war-torn world, what you have in your pants and where you stick it really is on the bottom of the totem pole. 06. Do they have any mental illnesses? How do they cope? The horrors of the war and what he has done still tear at him today. He often stays up late nights tinkering and drafting until he is finally too exhausted to think and blacks out. He  07. Do they have any medical conditions? Is medicine/ treatment available for them? His lungs are frost-burnt from the improper freezing technique. He can get enough air to walk and talk, but any sudden exertion like running has him on his knees in ten seconds. he has second and third degree burns on the right side of his face and body.  08. How much do they care about their outer appearance? What’s their “beauty routine”? How often do they shower/ bathe? His physical appearance is a sensitive subject, some days he feels like he looks like half a ghoul with his second and third degree burns down the right side of his face and body. Optimally, he likes to wear his silver shroud get-up with the scarf wrapped around his face and operator goggles. (use surgical mask or striped bandana to represent the scarf pulled up) Not only does he like to bathe, but he has started building water heaters for a hot bath. 09. What do they fear the most? Fire makes him... uncomfortable, his armor always has asbestos when it is an option. He fears loosing curie, the only other person not bothered by his features beyond Hancock, both of whom are his only lovers. Part of him is afraid he will wake up in the tube again, that this was all a dream. 10. They’re biggest flaw? Do they recognize it as a flaw? He overthinks everything, he has an obsession with returning some of the old world tech back to this new place. He sees a hundred things being used or not used that would make things so much easier. 11. What are they most insecure about? He is almost entirely sure he is a synth, placed by deacon into the vault. 12. What Wasteland threat do they fear the most? (ex. Deathclaws, super mutants, raiders) Raiders are just people. So is the institute. But if he had to pick one single crature he will call for an airstrike on everytime is the mirelurk queen. Three story tall crab spitting armor-melting acid? Hard pass. 13. What’s their zodiac sign or which one do you think they relate to the most? What are their placements (if you know them)? (ex. Aries sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius Venus) May 5th 2045 (Taurus/Ox) 14. What’s their Myers–Briggs Type? (ex. ENTP, ISFJ) INTJ- The scientist 15. What Harry Potter house would they be in? (ex. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw) Ravenclaw 16. Which Pokemon Go team would they choose? (ex. Instinct, Valor, Mystic) Team mystic 17. Out of the nine forms of intelligence (rhythmic, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential) which one(s) are they really good at and which one(s) is(are) their weakest? 1) Mathematical   2) Kinethetic   3) Linguistic   4) Spatial 5) Interpersonal 6) Intrapersonal 7) Naturalistic 8) Existential 9) Rhythmic 18. What natural alignment are they? (ex. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil) Chaotic good, Doing the right thing, regardless of the law. 19. Do they have any hobbies? What are they? Tinkering, repairing, drafting. 20. Do they have a favorite holiday? How do they celebrate it? Halloween, costumes and parties. 21. What’s their favorite season? Winter, not just because of the namesake, the way the snow absorbs all sound and colors to make a calm quite monotone of the world. 22. Do they have a temper or are they level headed? Level-headed but vengeful. 23. Do they express their emotions freely or hide their true feelings? He holds his feelings until he has time to walk them out and express himself calmly. But if he gets overwhelmed with loss, he is known to find a corner and break down. 24. Are they a leader or a follower? A reluctant leader as he is the only man with a plan half the time. 25. How do they come off to others? What first impression do they usually make? Know-it-all, gallows humor, awful ugly. 26. Do they prefer to travel alone or with company? Who have they traveled with if any? Current companion if any? He has traveled with most of the companions, leaning on their experience and expertise. His constant companion is Curie and dogmeat. He has the sentinel to provide assistance and carry what he needs to keep himself agile. 27. Would you describe them as selfless or selfish? Does it depend on the situation? Most often he is selfless, throwing caps and resources as problems. He always makes sure the farms under his protection have eight turrets and the farmers are well armed and armored with the standard of leather armor and bolt action rifles. 28. What do they find most attractive in others? Name at least one psychological and physical trait. (doesn’t have to be romantic attraction) In curie it is her sweet faux-french voice and elemental green eyes that almost glow in the right light. From his minor hearing loss in the war, he often reads lips which leads to liking the shapes of certain mouths. 29. Do they flirt often? How easily do they fall in love? He is heavily flirtatious, but he cannot fall in love without sleeping with someone first.  As a concupiscent, he has trouble forming longer relationships past fleeting friends without engaging in sexual activities with them. 30. What’s their love life like? Are they interested in anyone or in a relationship? He is in a relationship with Curie and Hancock in a 70/30 split. Hancock knows the need to get down and dirty to do what had to be done. So often after a 'dark' mission, hancock will get loaded and Vic will get drunk to wind down and whatever happens next happens. 31. Do they prefer to solve things diplomatically or using violence? “Si vis Pacem, Para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war.” He always hopes for peaceful resolutions, popping a grape mentat before an important meeting but keeping track against addiction. But that peaceful meeting almost always comes with a loaded ten on his thigh and one person as backup. 32. What is their combat style? What range do they prefer? Do they sneak? He is a fine rifleman, preferring to take his targets one by one from a hidden distance for as long as possible with the sentinel and dogmeat running melee interference. If curie is with him, she cannot escape her programming with her buzz-saw limb so Vic gives her a melee weapon like a ripper or the throatslicer for her to exercise her medical expertise. Handcock is given a shotgun and a chance to go to town. 33. What weapon(s) do they always carry with them? Vic's favored sidearm is the ultimatum but his go-to is the Kiloton radium rifle. Before then It was Crickets spray-n-pray with the railroad deliverer. 34. Their most prized possession? A lucky rabbits foot he keeps as a charm on his pistols lanyard loop, it was a keepsake from the first time he ever went hunting. 35. Their thoughts on power armor? He finds them very convenient, as long as they are not overutalized or relied on to accomplish the task. As part of the combat engineers, he spent most of his time in a base skeletal frame with cobbled bits ten feet behind the real armored infantry solider marching through the front lines. 36. Favorite armor/ outfit? The silver shroud costume, armored up thanks to Kent. Otherwise, a pair of ballistic military fatigues with full heavy combat armor. 37. How’s their aim? Do their hands shake while pointing a gun? When using a rifle, his left hand holds the barrel steady, when using a pistol his right hand shakes from the nerve damage of the burn so he has to settle for center mass. 38. What are their thoughts on having to kill on a daily bases in order to survive? Does it take a toll on them? Or do they shake it off rather easily? The sad truth is that killing is easy, push a button, pull a trigger. The hard ones are the melee kills, feeling the hot blood splash and run as the last moments of fight or flight kick in before the death rattle. 39. Thoughts on death if any? (ex. Fear it, accept it) He is fairly accepting of death, the world is already a better place for his coming and going. 40. Do they move around a lot or prefer to have a place to call home? Adventure has kept him on the move, he is content for now, his place is in the workshop bringing back Boston to the way it could be. He trusts his friends to keep the day-to-day running while he plays with his pet projects. 41. What’s their favorite location? He likes Red Rocket when he needs to get away from sanctuary hills, Deacon jokes it is the silver shroud's secret lair. He likes to stop in on all the settlements to make sure he didn't need to call in the brotherhood for a massive problem. 42. Their opinions on ghouls, feral and not feral? Feral ghouls still remind him of zombies. His preferred practice is to kneecap them so they fall and let the others finish them off. He has heard the feral transition on the holotape to ozwald and can only compare it to rabied dog and will put them down like dogs. He feels that it is similar to dementia at an old folks home, there is no coming back yet, even from the serum. 43. Do they scavenge for their supplies or simply buy them? He is a scavenger as often as possible, Often holding off or doing without until later, Sometimes he will buy a weapon just for a specific part, then pass the rest of the weapon to one of the farmers. 44. Are they the type to get distracted and go off to an unknown nearby location or do they stay on track? It often depends on the severity of the mission at hand. If it is tracking a signal or fetching something then he is free to wander. But if it is a time sensitive mission like an assault or someone is in danger, then he is a one track mind. 45. How do they sleep? Are they picky about where and how or can they sleep basically anywhere? He prefers to be able to pull something over his shoulder, be it blanket or jacket. He can only really be at rest to sleep in a room with closed or no windows and a door he can lock or brace. Often blocking bathrooms with fallen stall doors so he can sleep on the floor. 46. What’s their favorite radio station and song? (post-apocalypse) Johnny guitar by Peggy Lee, it was the nickname of the boy he lost his innocence with. 47. What’s their favorite post-apocalyptic food? Are they a picky eater? Do they know how to cook? He prefers the canned dog food, it is a hearty protein and reminds him of army beef stew MRE's 48. What’s their favorite beverage? Do they drink alcohol? His favorite drink is Nuka Cherry and his favorite hard drink is numa Dark or rum and cola 49. Anything they like to collect? (ex. Unique weapons, Bobbleheads) He often collects weapons and armor mods to add to his modular suits to try and think of an answer to every situation. 50. Are they good at disarming traps or do they constantly miss them? He has seen what happens when a trap gets missed, the lives and limbs lost. He studied EOD wherever he could from anyone willing to teach him, the rest has come from experience.

Zilla Talks: What Is My Persona?

“Zilla what is this thing? No I mean seriously where’s his mouth and arms and legs and neck? what’s with the tail?”

Well to tell you this mates and gals this is my persona. Thing is everyone from artist and YouTube animators have their persona while most of my tumblr friends online also have their personas too. So I decided I wanna make one and this is my final result and I like the way it came out?

“Yeah still what is he anyway?”

Ok when I was designing I was having like hard times thinking what he should look like. The clothes are mostly what I usually wear: Short pants, hoodie zipper jacket, and construction gloves (which I use them to do my exercise, lifting woods along with working in construction class, and sometimes punching hard stuff like wood or something else). Fun fact the jacket was just base off my anime club jacket I have in high school.

I was in a classic Sonic mood that time like Sonic Mania and Sonic design is where I grow up alongside with Kirby, Pokemon, and Mario even Banjo and Kazooie, and DK on the N64 and Sega Genesis. I decided to give him the sonic shoes just because I like Sonic also I imagine the way my persona runs like Sonic. And yes you notice I was doing the Sonic finger pose he usually do and to tell you I just do it.

Well in my name and shortening my name is you can tell I base the tail off from this big marine iguana right here

When growing up going back to somewhere around maybe very younger days maybe kindergarten somewhere that time this was my very first Godzilla movie. Yes I know this movie is bad and everyone hate Zilla because of the movie but at least he got a cool animated series back then which is a continue squeal of the movie. Also shes really cool and I love the design and just the creature look and stuff. I know shes not really Godzilla and is just bastardize of Godzilla but with out me seeing this movie I wouldn’t watch all Godzilla movies and I am really excited for the King of the Monster film!

Now the body....let me tell you a question? Do you remember any other game that was on the N64? And do you know any video game character that has a body like his? Eeyup I’m talking about Rayman! Rayman on the N64 is how I know him. I also play Rayman Legend on the Xbox 360 and still rage over the levels a lot. I was having trouble with the body look on how he should look and stuff and I’m always make arms and legs look bad from time to time when drawing so I decided to give him no arms, legs, and a neck giving that Rayman body looked instead. 

“Wait one thing left why no mouth?” Is he human or something or How does he eat even? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!?!?!?!?!”

Geez calm yourself Asker you’re asking alot of questions. Ok the mouth that LetMeExplainStudios Rebecca made a video about why her character doesn’t have mouth too which is actually really good. As long you see his expression and body language you’ll understand what his expression is. Also eating....well that’s new to me but I do imagine he just eat like those Waddle Dees from Kirby Right Back At Ya (remember that series?). The episode was telling and showing how Waddle Dee eat their food and they just show it to us and it just disappeared as it suck into their face as they eating the cookie and that was mind blowing. 

Also I did one drawing him with a mouth and it was the Halloween Shin Godzilla version because Shin Godzilla is like a zombie and have a creepy smile so I decided to draw the smile on him just for the Halloween spirit naming it Shin KaijuZilla.

I forgot to mention reason why 3 fingers is cause drawing just 3 fingers is easy than drawing actual human fingers since drawing 5 fingers are most hard work to draw on.

Also last thing is what with those weird things on the arm areas? Those I put them there just to make it look like some magnetic things where my arms just be there or something like I switch my hand out to be something else like a pare of wings or something. That’s just a plan that’s all TBH I was gonna change it up to be like Kamen Rider Fourze shapes things instead but didn’t finish the show back then but I finally finish now and love it. And TBH I would say he’s human but I’ll just say....a Frankenstein or abomination or something. Just pile of parts to make this dude.

“Hes not a ddue...You’re a dude...This..This is a Man. A very Handsome...Muscular Man!”

That’s all about my Persona you need to know about. I was planning to draw him like doing random stuff on picture like showing what he does and do but it still working on that. I also forgot to mention that my persona suppose to wear glasses since I wear glasses too but I some what keep forgetting that

It is my personal belief that no one can teach another human being a single useful thing about how to make art. My understanding of “teaching” is giving someone something directly, like a full-proof method for balancing algebraic equations, or the definitions of SAT words. I went into art school with the hopes that cryptic lesson plans would lead to a Mr. Miyagi style evolution that would unlock my hidden powers. If I knew what I do now about how to art-learn, I might have gotten something substantial out of college. But in my experience, art education begins and ends with either: 1. Another artist opening your eyes to an idea about drawing that you hadn’t noticed before, or 2. Elaborating on their go-to solutions they use in their own work. Someone can tell you that you can ground your storyboards by drawing a ground grid. But using that grid in correct perspective, to it’s intended effect, is not something someone can do for you. Art educators and mentors can help you identify solutions to problems, then you work out how to implement it yourself. At the risk of sounding like a pedant for drawing that distinction, I’ll say that since I started approaching creative learning from this perspective, I get a lot more out of it. It’s become more “guided experimentation” than recording a recipe for the perfect painting. That said, storytelling in art is definitely something you can teach yourself. You’ve identified a trait already, storytelling, so you’re already at the limit of where some teachers can take you. Plus you identified something astute, because I’ve been trying to incorporate storytelling into my art for a while, and have only recently started to get a handle on it. So in my opinion, you’ve done the bulk of the thinking work. Now comes the heavy practice work to master this new spell. This journey has a lot to do with finding your voice as a storyteller, so the tone of “YOU”, and the style of rendering that best expresses that tone in this time and place, will have a unique set of challenges for each person. But, I’ll take you through some of the realizations I had on the path to where I am now: A proud adult with two cats and a hit or miss batting average at clearly expressing thought in a sketch.

Capturing an entire scene in a single, static drawing is something my mentor Ian Abando does masterfully. I used to try to emulate the personality I saw in those drawings, but I was only copying the surface. I realize now that me and Ian’s outlooks are so different, that Ian and I would never tell the same type of stories, much less the same exact same story about those people at the adjacent cafe table. He’s personable, outgoing, jovial. Ian is like a friendly labrador with a dark streak in his sense of humor. He can sketch two strangers and capture a warmth that makes you realize they’re actually two old friends that haven’t seen each other in years. I can find something in that coffee shop too, but I’m just a way bigger weirdo, so I’m more interested in weirdo shit. For me, the first step in capturing those stories was finding the right subject. I keep a sketchbook with me at all times, and I’ve developed a patience for waiting, for hunting the right subject. When Ian and I meet up at a coffee shop to sketch, it always seems like he can draw anything. He seems to rest his gaze somewhere in the room at random, then drop pencil to page and watch that snippet explode into life. But now, I think he’s hunting too. I think he’s searching for what’s interesting, what’s worth drawing to him. It only seemed random to me because I couldn’t see what was beautiful about a subject. That he can see a particular magic in a certain 6 square feet of space, and not 6 feet next to it, has to do with who he is. In my mind, he was making that table of pleasant, unremarkable strangers more interesting on the page than it really was. But in his mind, maybe he saw that a girl was counting down the seconds until the end of a bad date, and the guy was trying to find subtle ways to flex.  Even now that I can “see” more, I might never appreciate the specific things that Ian does until he draws them.

The potential exists for that to be true of all of us. Art is a magic that lends other people your eyes. So let people see the pieces of your world that only you can. Just like he can do for me, I can see what’s interesting in scenes that Ian would overlook. And there are a million scenes where we’d see the same fascinating thing, but we’d have a different approach to it (for one, his approach would be to be way better at drawing than me). And there are a million more scenes that we’d both see something interesting in, but we’d each attach to a different feature of it.  All of that to say, don’t just pick out something and draw. If you want to tell a story, then don’t draw just to put something down on the page. Wait. Observe. Find a moment that makes you laugh. Find somebody despicable, and capture what’s despicable about them. Use a sketch to vent. Or make a sketch intentionally cold, and show everyone what your specific brand of loneliness feels like without begging for sympathy. I’d rather keep observing and draw nothing than to try to draw something dull because it’s in front of me. Find the stories you’re personally interested in, you probably have something funny or insightful to say about a given situation that is unique to you. Try to put that weird part of you on display. If it scares you, then it’s probably coming from an honest place, and you should keep going. It may be clumsy at first. The story I want to tell still doesn’t come across on the page every time. Meanwhile, Ian seems to capture his stories without a single failure. If stories are Pokemon, he’s tossing great balls while I’m stuck with a standard issue poke ball. He’d probably say that comes down to pencil mileage. So keep practicing. Keep putting pencil to page even on the shit drawing days. It’s a toll you have to pay to be good down the line, even if you’re not good today. But, please, keep your brain turned on, that means always make an effort to be interesting. (Everyone go ahead and make that same effort in life too. Being boring around the water cooler at work is super rude and depressing.)  Like I said, being interesting in your art usually just comes down to taking an extra second to consider your subject before you start drawing. What am I seeing here? Is this the thing I want to draw? Where am I going with this? Is this coming from a real place? Am I digging to find the best I have today, or am I just making the same tired observation about airline food that I’ve seen before? And if I’m drawing something a lot of people draw, I make sure to ask what can I bring to this? What story can I tell about this that no one else is telling? Example: for the most part, if everyone around me is gushing about some new Star War via fanart, another well rendered post telling the story that you also enjoyed the Star War isn’t that interesting to me. I’d rather a worse drawing driven by a more interesting idea. You can participate in the cultural conversation without just repeating what’s already been said. I’m more likely to enjoy your Star War art if it comments on that one character’s funny butt pose in the third act. Or whatever. That’s just an hypothetical it doesn’t have to be butts. The point is to put more thought in to your art. Wait a sec for the right idea, don’t just start drawing. You will know when you spot the right subject because you will already see it on the page. Plussss, when you start drawing with a clear idea where you’re going, not only is it more interesting, but it actually informs your craft- your drawings will come out better. Okay, let’s say I’m not interested in the people a table over at the coffee shop, how do I know what else to look for? As stupid as this sounds, tweeting helped. Not just reading other people’s tweets, but putting myself out there, wording an idea with limited characters, figuring out what types of things could be explained, and what things were hard to express. And then I started to notice more and more effective way to express those ideas with a specific tone. One thing I realized about myself was that I trying to say two or three things about something at once. It made good ideas muddy, and weakened all three. I challenged myself to clarify, to combine, to present a single, strong idea. I’m still working on it, but for me tweeting is a storytelling exercise that’s helped put more “me” into my art. It forced me to get thoughts, ideas, jokes, frustrations, etc. out into the ether unadulterated by technique. There was no consideration of line quality or volume, so a thought had to stand on it’s own two legs. I doubt tweeting would help many artists in the same way.  But I think in words exclusively, images come later. I write outlines and dialogue in detail before I ever touch storyboard or comic thumbnails. But I’m in the middle of transitioning into writing, so I think my brain is naturally more verbal than most artists. Even with so much internal commentary, my art was without clear storytelling for a long time, because ideas either got lost in the drawing stage, or were too complicated to fit into a single image. Tweeting taught me how to be concise, (I’m clearly not using that skill for this reply, but whatever). So find your own method for making yourself comfortable enough to open up. Which leads me to the most my recent storytelling realization: Don’t be afraid to put your opinions in your art. What you feel passionate about from the deep to the mundane can guide you in your search for a subject. I think people’s egos are funny. LA’s coffee shops are flooded with aspiring creatives mouth-shitting hot takes on art with dogmatic authority, and all from their designated unemployment-check-opening-butt-crater that they’ve worn into the cafe couch. I’m not denigrating anyone that hasn’t made it yet. But I am laughing at the unearned confidence of beardy over at the next table, and the volume at which he’s dropping that savage insight into the Black Mirror episode using stolen lines he just finished reading in a Robert McKee book. Beardy is a “writer” you see, I know because he might have mentioned it a few times to the people he’s with. So yeah, one thing I like to draw is people with their ego’s showing. It makes me laugh. Probably because I too have a big, fragile ego.

That “storytelling” thing is a muscle, like being funny at a party. You get good at party banter if you put yourself through the pain of attending multiple parties close together. (I’m convinced no human being actually enjoys parties, by the way. We all think we’re the idiot just outside the conversation circle that can’t find a big enough gap in people’s shoulders. But parties are the hardest social video game and It’s a little fun to be good at it.) The same way, you keep that storytelling muscle active in your drawings, and you’ll get momentum. If you take a month off, it’ll get weaker, and you’ll have catching up to do when you come back to it. Draw “you” day in and day out. One day you’ll starting getting these bursts where you stop thinking about the drawing process. You’ll stop actively trying to make it “good”, you’ll be swept up, and you’ll disappear into your own rhythm. It’s probably on that day that you’ll look down and realize you just communicated on the page. But let’s move on to a matter of real importance:

The older I get the more I resemble an anime. Thoughts?

All the botanical asks?

that is a lot. i don’t usually do this. but you are lucky.

🌼🌿botanical asks🌻🌙

jasmine; what mythical creature do you wish actually existed? I don’t have one. unless you count pokemon. Then Vulpix. Or Starmie.

lavender; soundcloud or vinyls? vinyls.

primrose; what book does everyone right now need to read? The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr. 

lunar mist; do you like wearing other people’s shirts/jackets? i would if i could.

bird of paradise; what was the best thing that happened to you this month? sleeping. 

gardenia; what’s a promise you’ve recently made to yourself? To keep this diet. 

lion’s fairytale; would you rather be the sky, the ocean or the forests? sky.

whirling butterflies; would you kiss the last person you kissed again? no.

marmalade skies; do you plan your outfits? no.

apricot drift; how do you feel right now? listless. 

everlasting daisy; what’s the last dream you remember having? tornado.

queen’s cup; what are you craving right now? chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. 

lavender dream; turn ons/offs? turn ons: thin, well-dressed, kind, personality; turn offs: arrogance

water lilly; when was the last time you cried? why? I decline to answer. 

lily of the valley; did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize? no.

winterberry; do you bite or lick your ice cream? lick 98% of time.

honey perfume; favorite movie ever? don’t know.

desert rose; do you like yourself? no.

snapdragon; have you ever met or seen in person a celebrity? no.

night owl; how many countries have you visited? six.

heliotrope; have you ever been in a castle? Yes. Wartburg Castle.

creams and sky; what’s the craziest/bravest thing you’ve done? Try to be a pastor. 

lantana; what’s on your mind right now? the problem of American polarization.

pumpkin patch; what’s your zodiac sign? saggitarius

tulip; name 5 facts about yourself. 5′8″. gay. Irish/Norwegian. priest-to-be. confessional Lutheran. 

daphne; do you believe in karma? nope. Jesus has taken away the punishment. 

queen of the meadow; ever been in love? yes.

wisteria; whom do you admire and why? I admire David Archuleta because of his genuine and kind-heartedness. 

angel’s face; what was your favorite bedtime story as a child? never had them. 

remember me; did you make someone laugh today? yes.

iris; do you believe in ghosts? no. 

lilac; if you could go back in time which time period would you visit? Reformation. Or Roman Empire. 

caramel kisses; would you want to live forever? why/why not? no, not as things are. too much pain. 

primula; what makes you sad? that i don’t think i will ever get married or be loved.

rain lily; was today typical? why/why not? today was not notable. 

queen anne’s lace; who do you trust the most? my brother.

lady’s slipper; what did you have for breakfast today? my meal replacement shake. 

forget me not; do you have any regrets looking back in your life? many. 

lunaria; what’s your favorite fictional universe? Right now, Riverdale. 

violet; favorite tv show? Supernatural.

sunflower; share a favorite quote. We need to hear the gospel every day because we forget it every day. ~Martin Luther

snowdrop; what does your ideal day look like? sleeping. pool. food.

tiger lily; do you have any hobbies? reading. coffee shops. social media.

peony; share a small random book passage that means something to you. 

“It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.” from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

tea rose; what’s something you always wanted to do but were too scared? Major in Geography.

honeysuckle; do you usually date people your age or older/younger? younger. 

sweet pea; who means the world to you? why? my friend Sarah. she’s been there for me a long time. 

love in the mist; best books you’ve ever read? The Freedom of a Christian by Martin Luther. 

foxglove; who is your favorite cartoon character? Gowther from The Seven Deadly Sins

magnolia; coffee or tea? coffee

crown imperial; would you rather be extremely rich or extremely loved? extremely loved.

snowflake; are you a dog or a cat person? dog.

bell flower; what is your biggest addiction? internet.

cosmos; do you ever think about the galaxy? yes. i love astronomy.

moonflower; what’s your favorite color? blue and yellow.

freesia; do you have a good relationship with your parents and siblings? why/why not? uncomfortable relationships with them all. except my brother.

sundrop; are you a morning or a night person? night person. I wish i was a morning person.

poppy; have you ever dealt with a mental illness? I have major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and a history of a suicide attempt.

clover; how would your friends describe you? genuine, honest.

dandelion; do you consider yourself and extrovert or an introvert? a bit of both.

lilly; what’s something you love watching/reading but you are too embarrassed to admit you do? Digimon.

anemone; describe yourself in 3 words. tired. passionate. bittersweet.

lotus; best memory as a child? playing kick the can with my cousins.

angelonia; what is your eye and hair color? hazel eyes, dark brown hair.

dahlia; do you like crystals? i like shiny things. i don’t like occult things.

buttercup; if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? that i could be happy.

baby’s breath; what’s your hogwarts house? Hufflepuff.

calendula; biggest pet peeve? eating noisely.

blanker flower; would you rather go to a cocktail party with your best friends or stay home and read a book/watch a movie with your pet? watch a movie with my pet. 

blazing star; share a secret. i’m ready to be done with school.

carnation; would you rather live longer or happier? happier.

petunia; who’s story is your biggest inspiration in life? why? the Bible.

bluebell; do you wear glasses? no.

nymphea; forest or river? river.

orchid; do you like exercise? sometimes.

pansy; do you like poetry? yes, though not most. 

morning glory; any special talent that you have? i can make a tongue clover.

HEALTH

How is your health? It's stable. It could be better with a few adjustments but I don't have any major, catastrophe ailments... that I know of...

Do you know anyone who has beaten cancer? Not to sound like a hypersensitive little flower but I hate that phrasing. Anyway, I know plenty of people who've survived- and died from- cancer.

When was the last time you had a doctor’s appointment? I canceled one a few months ago, if that counts?

How often do you exercise? Nowhere near as often as I should. I really need to get more movement in my life. For my mental health more than anything!

Do you take physical education in school? It was mandatory. Did I participate much? Well that's a different story.

Are you on any medications? Yep, some OTC and one prescription. Do you have any mental disorders? Take your pick! I have a great selection! Have you ever ‘walked’ for a foundation (e.g., Breast Cancer, Heart Stroke, etc.)? Mhm

BOOKS

Are there many shelves in your house dedicated to books? Shelves among various other surfaces. We actually are in the process of buying a new bookshelf because all of our coffee tables and end tables have been buried in books! What page are you on in the book you’re reading? I left it at home but I'm somewhere in the 150 range. Do you have an opinion on the Harry Potter/Twilight debate, or is it all stupid and pointless? Are we pitting the books against one another or debating the literary merit of the YA fantasy genre as a whole? Either way, it's not something I concern myself with. I believe in consuming whatever art speaks to you and brings you joy. Something doesn't have to be high-brow or serve a ~higher purpose~ for you to enjoy it. Read what you want to read and to hell with the critics! Is there a section of the library you always gravitate towards? Well I haven't been to the library in ages but I like the contemporary fiction of the bookstore best. And I love the poetry section, specifically in used bookstores. Do you read more books or magazines? These days its books, but there was a time in my life where I was an insatiable magazine addict! Its really sad to watch the decline of the magazine industry. It used to be the center of my dreams. What was the last book you read aloud? A Peppa Pig story collection to the girls I nanny. Well, only one girl was actively listening. The other was whipping herself around in circles chanting "PEPPA PIG! PEPPA PIG!" Two types of people in this world :P Is being published one of your biggest aspirations? Always was and still is Do you keep your books in good shape, or are they pretty thrashed? I take good care of all my books. Any one that's in less than pristine condition is one that came that way from a thrift/used book store.

GUYS

Are you a guy? I am not

Are males your preferred gender? In terms of romantic and sexual partners, yes. In terms of friends and just general human beings, uh no.

What is your father’s name? Richard

Do you have a best guy friend? Two actually

Are guys more confusing than girls? I hate any sweeping generalizations like this. Humans are confusing, emotions are confusing, relationships are confusing! If you’re not a guy, what would you do if you could be a guy for a day? Provided I become a guy with a penis I'd definitely find out what it's like to pee standing up, jerk myself off, stuff like that. Otherwise, not much else interests me.

How many uncles do you have? Only three actual uncles. Although one of them is estranged so I have no relationship with him whatsoever, and the other is so close to my age that calling him "uncle" feels uncomfortable.

Are the majority of the people in your household male? We're 50/50

FACEBOOK

How many times a day do you log on? I check my app way more often than necessary. And that number is tripled on work days because I just get so bored and have nothing else to do.

Do you like to ‘poke’ people a lot, or is that just annoying? That's not a thing anymore. And the only people who ever did it were creepy guys who were too inept to start an actual conversation with me.

Who do you talk to the most on there? Glenn

Do you join many groups? I did when I was in high school, which leads me to find so many questionable things on my newsfeed to this day.

How many friends do you have? 1,000 and something

COOKING

Would you say you’re a good cook? I do. And I'd say I'm a very passionate, eager cook which accounts for a lot as well.

Was macaroni and cheese the first thing you remember making on the stove? I think grilled cheese was

Have you ever cooked an entire meal for someone/a group of people? It's one of my favorite expressions of love!

Who cooks more, your mom or your dad? My mom, absolutely. But my dad is a grill master and a breakfast connoisseur so those are his domains.

Do you have any recipes that have been in your family for a while? A few. But a lot of my favorite dishes growing up originated with my mom, so I'm only the second generation to cook them.

When was the last time you cooked at someone else’s house? I made toast for the girls I nanny yesterday

Have you ever cooked something on the barbecue? Nope, I'm too chicken!

Are you a better cook or baker? A cook, by far. Baking is too exact and scientific for me. Creativity is my favorite element of cooking. Not to say there's no room for it in baking, there certainly is!, it just comes with a greater risk.

THE 1990S

Were you born in the 90s? Which year? 92 baby

Do you remember getting your/your parents getting their first cell phone in the early 90s? I remember my parents (and aunts and uncles) all getting theirs around the same time in the late 90s/early 2000s. I didn't get mine till years later in around 2007ish.

Can you name the main characters from Saved By The Bell? Of course! Zach Morris was my first celeb crush.

Were you obsessed with any boy band? Backstreet's Back, ALRIGHT! (Although I gotta admit I had a shirtless poster of JC Chasez in my bedroom too. I'm a traitor!)

What is one fashion trend from this decade that you hope never comes back? Low-rise jeans and visible thongs

Did you get into the Japanese pop culture like most did? (e.g., Sailor Moon, Pokemon, etc.) Nope

If you could sum the 90s up in one word, what would it be? That's impossible to do. But MY experience of the 90s was, I'll say, playful.

How old were you when we entered a new millennium? 8

CELEBRITIES

Do you read gossip magazines? If so, who do you pay attention to the most? Well gossip mags aren't much of a thing anymore but social media is still a gossip playground. I'll admit I indulge in it once in awhile. What do you think about people still going on about the whole Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston/Angelina Jolie “triangle”? Well considering it's 2021 that I'm taking this survey, I'd say anyone still on about those relationships needs to get a life What celebrity does not deserve to be famous? Majority of them

Do you think celebrities have a right to complain about the paparazzi? I certainly do. An invasion of privacy is an invasion of privacy. Would you ever want to be a celebrity? I couldn't handle it. No way.

I noticed on your anime list that you’ve completed Yu-gi-oh! Dark Side of Dimensions & the old Sonic the Hedgehog OVA. May I ask for your opinions on these movies? I’d love to hear them!

Ohhhhhhh boy… Heh Heh, alright.

Yu-gi-oh! Dark Side of Dimensions

I love Trading Card games. I used to play YGO and the Pokemon TCG, I regularly play Weiss-Schwarz and WIXOSS and, well, recently I’ve gotten into the Duel Links version of the YGO TCG too. I may not be very good at this sort of games or most games, but I get hooked on them very easily. 

So really, as much of a guilty pleasure of mine YuGiOh is, it’s still a *pleasure*, so as soon as I learned (by accident) that the DsoD movie exists, I decided to check it out.

I… honestly got a lot more than I expected, not gonna lie. I was kinda blown away in a good way. Like, it wasn’t a Master Piece, but by the standards of someone who grew up with the 4Kids version of the Anime, it might as well have been.

The movie was written in the Manga continuity by Kazuki Takahashi, and it actually really shows. A lot more effort is paid to highlighting the characters’ humanity and a lot of fluffy and slow character moments, which were almost always cut out of the Anime when the Manga was adapted (yes, even in the Japanese version and season 0; the anime adaptations were both kinda really bad, regardless of language), are fully present here. Like, Joey/Jounouji, Tristan/Honda and Tea/Anzu get to do things other than badly playing card games and being friggin’ cheerleaders. Heck, even poor Human!Ryou gets some actual screentime! It’s kind of impressive. And the way in which the movie elaborates on Sato Kaiba’s unhealthy obsession with Atem to the point he fails to be able to continue his life with the guy gone, while Yugi is able to move on perfectly fine (albeit with some residual grief) is downright scary and haunting. It kinda feels like a dig at the fanbase too, in a way; going all out saying “Look, you guys, the story is over. You can stop reviving the poor guy in your fanfics now. Don’t be a Kaiba.” 

The weaknesses of the movie come in in two forms: A) How it deals handles having multiple card battles on-screen over the short time span given to the movie, while still having a proper story and B) Diva Aigami. (I know, those are technically two names, but his disguise is never given a proper first name, so I’ll just use it as one game.) 

Okay, so Dimension Summoning. Works on no level, and like, I mean NO level. It claims that the stats of a monster are decided by the willpower of the person summoning it, but thanks to this movie being set after the end of Duel Monsters, everyone’s will-power is already so far off the charts, this detail never even begins to come into play. All the other extra rules are just excuses for bullshit plot twists and to speed up the games. By the end of the movie, the progression of the card games is harder to follow than in the WIXOSS Anime, and I don’t use that insult lightly. I guess that it’s hard to make a less than 2 hours long movie featuring several fully-played card games with a working story, but like. Just don’t. Cut down on the number of card games played, if it really doesn’t work otherwise. I’m sure nobody would have minded that. 

Then there’s Diva’s story which is a mess, from beginning to end, tearing gaping plot holes into the established lore of the Manga, mostly by virtue of making Shadi Shin look like a total and utter moron in retrospect (it’s almost like his Abridged Series portrayal is supposed to be canon now.) The concepts introduced with the Plana are cool and could make for a great plot point, but they don’t really fit with the established lore of the Manga’s Universe, coming across as more science-fantasy than the outright fantasy the manga mostly went for, which makes the Plana’s connection to Shadi, one of the most outright “magical” characters in the Manga all the more puzzling. All in all, the Plana feel like something that would fit better in the worlds of YugiOh GX or 5Ds, but not the original Duel Monsters. Makes you wonder if Takahashi’s tastes just changed over the years.

Diva himself is an utter mess too. His whiny-ness and sense of entitlement make Shinji Ikari look like friggin’ Kamina Jiha. He had every chance to take a moment to breath and think about how stupid what he doing is and he just failed and let the Millenium Ring- the very thing he SHOULD have been angry at from the start, rather than Yugi,Ryou&Co - take control of him. In the process, he ruins paradise for his sister and everyone else involved, for no other reason than screwing things up so badly that Atem is *forced* to exercise some divine intervention, lest everyone he knows is to join him in death prematurely. Ultimately, Diva’s entire character boils down to: “Brother, why did you ruin shit for everyone else?” “BECAUSE UWEHHHHH”.

However, all in all, I still really enjoyed the movie a lot for the way it portrayed Yugi&Co. It really did feel like a tearful reunion with old friends and I appreciate that. The Animation was amazing too. If they re-adapted the Manga with this overall style of quality (in characterization of the main characters and in animation), I’m sure it could easily become one of the best merchandise-driven Anime out there. Not that I need that in my life, but it’s a nice thought. It’s definitely a better candidate for re-adaptation than friggin’ Sailor Moon …*COUGH COUGH*

Sonic the Hedgehog OVA

I… don’t have as much to say on this one. It’s a weird, weird take on what, at the time, was a weird, weird game. I get that it was supposed to be the pilot for a Sonic Anime that never ended up being made (which is a good thing, since I’ll take Chris Thorndyke over Princess Catgirl ANY day- YES I SAID IT.) but it does have merit. The characterization of Sonic as a bit more of a morally grey character, rather than a Shounen Hero who’s overly apathetic to anything that moves slower than 180mpH was a nice take on the character, and Tails’ characteristics as the genius gadgeteer were used well. I don’t get what they were going for with Knuckles, tbh, if Sonic Boom didn’t exist I’d say this was the weirdest take on him I’ve ever seen. I think if Sonic Boom Knuckles were to put on the hat of Sonic OVA knuckles, the Master Emerald would implode in shame somewhere out there. 

The story is nothing to write home about. It’s kinda cool to have a version of Metal Sonic that ends up redeemed, but that plot point was kinda poorly explained and also sort of horrifying. Like, think about it, if the reason he was redeemed is because his AI is actively an exact copy of Sonic’s Soul, does that mean SONIC DIED IN A FIRE? Just… think about that…

(Some people would love to, I’m sure.)

All in all, it’s yet another strange, strange, animated takes on a series with loads and loads of strange, strange takes on it. One of these days, there needs to be a joking crossover where all the different animated Sonics meet one another. It’d be utter chaos, I’m sure. 

Health How is your health? It’s a mess. Do you know anyone who has beaten cancer? Yes, a few people. When was the last time you had a doctor's appointment? Last Wednesday. How often do you exercise? Never.  Do you take physical education in school? I’m done with school, but yeah I had PE through elementary, middle, and some of high school.

Are you on any medications? Yes. Do you have any mental disorders? Depression and anxiety that I’ve bee diagnosed with. Have you ever 'walked' for a foundation (e.g., Breast Cancer, Heart Stroke, etc.)? No. I’ve donated to some, though. Books Are there many shelves in your house dedicated to books? Just the bookshelf in my room. What page are you on in the book you're reading? Not reading anything, currently. I need to start a new book. Do you have an opinion on the Harry Potter/Twilight debate, or is it all stupid and pointless? I was into both.  Is there a section of the library you always gravitate towards? YA/fiction.  Do you read more books or magazines? Books. I haven’t read a magazine in years. What was the last book you read aloud? I don’t know. Is being published one of your biggest aspirations? No. I’m not a writer. Do you keep your books in good shape, or are they pretty thrashed? Perfect condition. I don’t “dog ear” the pages or anything. Guys Are you a guy? No. Are males your preferred gender? I’m sexually attracted to males, yes. What is your father's name? Jon. Do you have a best guy friend? No. Are guys more confusing than girls? From my experience, guys can definitely be confusing. However, as a girl I can say we can be just as, if not more, confusing.  If you're not a guy, what would you do if you could be a guy for a day? I don’t know what I’d do different. Well, besides pee differently. ha. How many uncles do you have? 7 on my mom’s side, 1 on my dad’s.  Are the majority of the people in your household male? Nope. There’s 3 females including my doggo and 2 males. Facebook (If you don't have one, skip this section.) How many times a day do you log on? I keep it logged in. I check it a few times a day, just spending a few minutes each time.  What kind of applications do you prefer (i.e., games, trivia, gifts, etc.)? I don’t play any apps on Facebook. Do you like to 'poke' people a lot, or is that just annoying? I don’t do that. I don’t even think that’s a thing anymore. Who do you talk to the most on there? I don’t really talk to anyone on there. Do you join many groups? Nope. I’m in 2. How many friends do you have? 100 and something.  Is Facebook better than MySpace? Well, Myspace is dead, but yeah. It’s funny; though, because when people first started migrating to Facebook in like 2008, I was like, ‘ew no Facebook sucks, it’s so boring.’ I was very reluctant to the switch at fist lol. What do you think of the current homepage layout? I haven’t even seen the homepage in so long, but I’m sure it’s fine? Cooking Would you say you're a good cook? Ha, no. I’m not a cook at all. No, actually I take that back. I make a mean bowl of Ramen. haha. Was macaroni and cheese the first thing you remember making on the stove? I’ve never made mac and cheese on the stove. I’ve only made those little Kraft mac and cheese microwavable bowls.  Have you ever cooked an entire meal for someone/a group of people? Nooo. Who cooks more, your mom or your dad? My mom. Do you have any recipes that have been in your family for a while? Yeah. When was the last time you cooked at someone else's house? Never. Have you ever cooked something on the barbecue? Nope. Are you a better cook or baker? I used to bake sometimes, especially around the holidays. Nothing special or anything from scratch; though, but still. It was good to me. Musical Instrument (If you don't play one, skip this section.) What instrument do you play? How long have you been playing it? Did you take lessons, or are you self-taught? What is the latest song you've played on it? Would you say you're advanced, or do you have a lot to learn? Do you read sheet music to play? Have you played this instrument in school? How many of this instrument do you own? The 1990s Were you born in the 90s? Which year? No, but I was born in July of 1989, which is a little more than halfway through the year. I basically was a 90s baby.  Do you remember getting your/your parents getting their first cell phone in the early 90s? I didn’t. I don’t recall them having one either. Can you name the main characters from Saved By The Bell? Yeah. Were you obsessed with any boy band? Backstreet Boys and N*Sync. What is one fashion trend from this decade that you hope never comes back? I love the 90s, but yeah there were some fashion trends that were pretty...yikes. Did you get into the Japanese pop culture like most did? (e.g., Sailor Moon, Pokemon, etc.) I watched Pokemon. If you could sum the 90s up in one word, what would it be? Awesome. <<< Yep. I really miss those days. How old were you when we entered a new millennium? 10 at the beginning. Celebrities Are you sick of hearing about the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation? That happened years ago. Do you read gossip magazines? If so, who do you pay attention to the most? Not magazines, but I do online and I watch shows like E! News.  What do you think about people still going on about the whole Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston/Angelina Jolie "triangle"? That’s old now, too. Brad Pitt isn’t even with Angelina Jolie anymore now. What celebrity does not deserve to be famous? Anyone like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly... any gross, sick person like that.  Do you think celebrities have a right to complain about the paparazzi? Yes. Some of those paparazzi people are so rude. They’re insane. Would you ever want to be a celebrity? HELL no. Do often makes jokes at the sake of celebrities? I have. What do you think of Perez Hilton? Meh.

2017 Video Game Music Review

Throughout the year, I’ve been reviewing video game music, both because I truly enjoy the genre and as a personal creative exercise. So, I thought I would post some observations from the year. I won’t discuss best soundtrack (if you just look at my numbers I gave to the reviews, that clearly is Rakuen), but some other music experiences that I had throughout the year of reviewing video game soundtracks. Let’s dive in!

New Soundtracks I Listened to in 2017

Owlboy [2016 release] Pokemon Sun/Moon [2016 release] Yooka-Laylee Rakuen Arms Ever Oasis Kirby's Blowout Blast Snake Gun (Phone Game) Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Part 1) The End is Nigh The Franz Kafka Videogame Pyre Splatoon 2 Sonic Mania Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Super Mario Odyssey

So, first of all, filter all of my thoughts through the lens above. I skew unabashedly towards Nintendo releases, and I did not get to many major releases this year (Breath of the Wild being the most notable example), but I still listened in detail to quite a bit.Though I only reviewed 6 of them, I was happy that I had a chance to listen to more soundtracks this year than in the past. I didn’t always have something interesting to say about some soundtracks (for instance, Yooka-Laylee, which I thought was.....fine.), and I ran out of time near the end of the year to review Super Mario Odyssey (short take: Fantastic), I was still able to get some thoughts down to the page, and I generally liked  what I heard throughout the year. As I said, Rakuen, a soundtrack I have been anticipating for a couple of years, was in my opinion, the best soundtrack of the year. Having said that.....

Favorite Soundtrack of 2017

Sonic Mania.

Favorite is different than best, after all. It was an absolute thrill and joy to revisit the old-school Sonic levels and sounds, and Tee Lopes made a ridiculously fun soundtrack that was a blast to listen to again and again. If he doesn’t get more work writing soundtracks after his work for Sonic Mania, there’s something seriously wrong with the video game industry.

Least Favorite Soundtrack of 2017

Kirby’s Blowout Blast

It pains me to write that. I love Kirby games. I dearly love the soundtracks to most Kirby games. But Blowout Blast’s soundtrack is an unoriginal piece of nonsense that retreads all of the old themes, adds absolutely nothing new to the fray, and doesn’t even do the retreads well. Reusing material can be great- I loved Sonic Mania and The End is Nigh’s soundtracks this year, and both heavily relied on arrangements of prior material- but Kirby does a terrible job of this. Just really, disappointing. The pink guy deserves a better 2018.

Best Introduction of 2017 (Composer Edition)

 Tee Lopes for Sonic Mania

As explained above. This is what getting a dream opportunity and smashing it out of the park looks like.

Soundtrack I Most Wish I had Listened to in 2017

A Hat in Time

This game looks adorable. I will bet the soundtrack is adorable. It’s also 5 hours long. 5 hours. Holy cow. From a reviewing standpoint, that just wasn’t happening, but I wish I had gotten the chance. Maybe next year

Honorable Mention: Cuphead, though I have a feeling I wouldn’t have liked it?

2017 Soundtrack that Really Needs a Youtube Playlist

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

I fully intended to review this. Absolutely, positively, could not find a full soundtrack anywhere. Tried very hard to do so. I was quite frustrated, but I hope that changes next year

Favorite Listening Experience of 2017

Final Fantasy VII

What was my actual favorite soundtrack of 2017? Honestly? It was a 20-year-old piece of magic. I’ve listened to (and thoroughly enjoyed) Nobuo Uematsu’s music in the past, but for some reason, I had never heard Final Fantasy 7 prior to this year. After watching the ridiculously fun SGDQ speedrun of the game, I had to check it out.

In short, amazing. If you’ve listened to it before, you know this. I could not stop listening to it, and I would arguably put it in the Top 10 (perhaps Top 5) video game soundtracks of all time. Just simply amazing, and I’m so glad I finally (if belatedly) discovered it.

Best Video Game Cover Artist in 2017

insaneintherainmusic

Insaneintherain does jazz covers of video game music, playing primarily on tenor saxophone and piano, but also utilizing guest artists regularly. They are stunningly good, and with a release scheduled every 2 weeks, you’ll continue to be entertained regularly by new stuff. I didn’t discover him until late in the year, but wow, what talent and creativity.

Honorable Mentions: Smooth McGroove and Mariachi Entertainment System are amazing, but didn’t put out a lot of material this year....hope for more in 2018!

Top 10 Tracks of 2017

Finally, let’s count down the best that this year had to offer....

10. “Character Select” from Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSWWI85L7xQ&index=23&list=PLFwObPlg7Y1p-7C6LTTfiJMIvNJ2y-h0A)

I had my issues with this game, but it’s hard to deny that this theme is catchy and a lot of fun.

9. “Steam Gardens” from Super Mario Odyssey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HEEuCeclSM)

Pleasant use of a “surf-rock” style guitar? Yes, please!

8. “These Grey Walls” from Rakuen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgUNZV6nqWs) 

This is refined, cautious, and just beautiful, much like the whole soundtrack.

7. “Broodals Battle” from Super Mario Odyssey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMYZVEJzChY)

I have a soft spot for video game music that sounds “weird”, but maintains its’ catchiness. This goes even moreso when it’s boss music. This hits all the spots nicely.

6.”True Final Boss Theme” from Sonic Mania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhS2WV_1Bok)

Now this is how you end a game.

5. “Mori no Kokoro” from Rakuen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl8KnBtROPo) 

This piece quite literally combines 5 different themes together. It is immaculately constructed, and just stunning when it all comes together.

4. “The Arid Flats” from The End Is Nigh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uX4kzOs7lI) 

I know this is not “original”, but main does this arrangement rock.

3. “Final Boss Theme” from Sonic Mania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8mGwpwd1cI)

The final boss of a game should be dangerous, and this fits the bill incredibly well.

2. “Studiopolis Zone, Act 1″ from Sonic Mania ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGR5fTO2oio)

I literally cannot keep a smile of my face while listening to this. It’s just fantastic.

1. “Jump Up, Superstar”, from Super Mario Odyssey

I mean, what more can you say about the theme from Super Mario Odyssey? It’s just pure fun in concentrated form. Seriously.

So, with that, let’s turn the page on video game music in 2017. I’m looking forward to doing this again in 2018, and I hope that I get to hear some amazing soundtracks!