#then a hero comes along.... with the strength to carry on..... and u finally see the truth....... that a hero lies in you :) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rileymustdie · 3 years

Note

So yk how hawks lost his wings yeah so hm what if it was a different story and the reader was a healer and brought his wings back BUT it hurts her in the process that’s my request if u can do it :)

UGH YOUR MIND

•angst, death, manga spoilers

•you both were a very good match. you both got along together, plus the fact that you were a healer and he was a pro hero that was constantly in fights, yeah he adored you.

• when he would come home all bruised and cut up, you would heal him. it only caused you a small headache, plus you had a happy and snuggly boyfriend after, what could be the problem?

•you never told him that if you overuse your quirk, it hurts you. you didn’t want him to start ignoring his injuries just because he didn’t want to hurt you. the headaches weren’t that bad anyways.

•that is until he loses his wings. the doctors said there was little to no chance of them coming back he was so upset about it and you knew you had to do something. so, you offered to attempt to heal them. his eyes lit up at the offer and so you sat behind him on the bed, trying your best to focus your power on him. now you have a massive headache and nothing even happened. you tell him “maybe it just takes time?” he goes back to sleep, upset. he knows it’s not really your fault and he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up but the thought of having his wings back made him so happy.

•the next day you wake him up and ask if you can try again. you hate seeing him so upset, might as well take a few ibuprofen and get over it. he says yes so you try again, nothing happens. you lean your head on his back with a sigh. “sorry birdie, nothing happened”. he nods and you help him get up to go make breakfast.

•he notices while you were cooking that your eyebrows were furrowed and you looked a bit dizzy. he decides it’s just that you were tired. you go about the rest of your day like normal. hawks calls as many doctors as he can find to see if they can do something about his wings while you work on some household chores. you go to bed, still with the headache

•you continue trying for about a week with no results. finally, you begin to see two small bumps on his back. you tell him and he runs (stumbling a little bit) to the bathroom to see for himself. his face lights up and he picks you up and spins you around, thanking you. you stumble a bit when he puts you down. surely he didn’t put you down that hard, did he? he asks you if something is wrong, but you just brush him off and ask to go cuddle on the couch with a reassuring smile. he guesses he just put you down too hard and you both fall asleep on the couch.

•over the next month, you put more and more power into healing him. for every feather that appears on his back, another dark circle or bruise appears on you. he’s starting to get worried now, but you continue to act like you’re fine and blame it on low iron or just lack of sleep. he listens to you and you continue to heal him, but he keeps his worries in the back of his mind.

• after a few more weeks, he suggests that you should take a break from healing him. his wings are still small and not ready for actual flight, but it’s a large improvement from nothing. you tell him that you’re fine and that you need to keep healing him so he can go back to being a hero. he still tells you no, that he wants to wait until you’re feeling better. (keep in mind that you still haven’t told him that it’s hurting you) you agree with him and you go to bed that night.

•little did he know, you still healed him while he slept. of course not enough to where it would be noticeable the next morning, but you still wanted to help him.

•he started to notice that you hadn’t started to look any better over the past few weeks, and feeling so awful all the time took a toll on you too. every time you looked in the mirror, you saw the dark circles and bruises. how much weight you had lost. you looked deathly, compared to hawks. he was so bright, his muscles back to where they were originally, his hair so smooth. you felt like you should start listening to him and stop trying to heal him, until you heard him on the phone with the commission. “yeah! my partner has been healing me and my wings are coming back! i might even be able to go back to work soon!” oh no. he was no where near ready to go back, you had to work harder.

• you still continue to heal him little by little. you can no longer stand to look in the mirror or make eye contact with hawks for too long. one night before bed he’s holding you, and you start crying into his shoulder. he asks you what’s wrong, and you start explaining. you tell him how you’ve been healing him all this time, how insecure you’ve been, how sick you feel, how much you want to see him happy. you “forgot” to mention what your quirk does to you. he tries his best to comfort you and makes you promise to take a break.

•you decide to listen to him and you start to look a little better over the next few weeks. but unbeknownst to you or him, you’ve already caused permanent damage to yourself.

(also for plot reasons,, we’re going to act like hawks wouldn’t immediately take you to a doctor)

•you tell him that since you’re feeling better, you can start on healing him again. at first he shoots you down, saying that your health is more important to him than going back to work. but then he sees the look in your eyes, how you genuinely want to help him. “fine.” he says with a sigh, “once a week, but if you start feeling worse you have to tell me. deal?” “deal.”

•so, that next week you start again, and immediately you’re back to where you were. you know you should tell him, but he just looks so happy when he sees his wings growing. he only needs a few more weeks of healing and he should be able to fly again. you just have to hold on until then.

•one day, while he’s out getting groceries for the two of you, you start to feel more lightheaded than usual. you remember your phone on the couch and try to get over there to call keigo. you get to his contact, then the room goes dark. he comes home to you passed out on the couch, for a second he assumes you’re taking a nap and smiles down at you warmly. it’s only until he’s halfway through telling you about the new foods he got for the both of you to try that something was wrong. he walked over there and saw your phone was opened to his contact. he sat down next to you and asked if you were alright. no reply. he started to panic and picked you up, no response. you had a pulse going, a slow one. (a/n: i literally don’t know anything medical so i’m making this up and hoping it’s right) he immediately calls an ambulance, tears streaming down his face. “no, baby please don’t do this to me. i’m sorry, i’m so sorry. i should have payed attention more. please just be okay.” after about a minute of him sobbing into your shoulder, you start to wake up. your eyes barely open with a soft smile. he looks at you and hold you tight “what’s going on, what happened?” you give him a pained look as you start feeling numb. “i’m sorry keigo, i should have told you.” “tell me? tell me what? i don’t know what’s going on, i just walked in and you were passed out” he starts rambling, you use your last bit of strength to kiss him one last time. “you’re going to be a great hero keigo. i love you.” he stares while he processes what you said. “no, no please. don’t leave me. please there’s got to be something.” he grabs your wrist and checks for a pulse, vision blurry and shaking. nothing, you’re cold. he felt his breathing stop, his brain stopped working. the person he fell in love with so long ago, the person he spent long nights awake with talking about anything and everything, the person who greeted him with a warm and loving smile and dinner after a long day of patrol, the person who saw him at his weakest and brought him back up little by little, gone and never to return. he opened up his phone to do something, anything and there you were. the picture you had taken that day he brought you flying. your beautiful smile and that red shirt he got you for your birthday. he remembered how you said it looked so pretty next to his wings, he responded with “well, you look so pretty next to my wings” a silly response, yes, but it made you laugh and you kissed him on the cheek. he looked back at where you currently lay, grey and bony, no life left in you. all because of him. the ambulance finally arrived and they had to pry him off you. he finally got himself to stop crying so he could talk to them, but as soon as he saw them carrying you in the bag, his facade vanished and the tears started flowing again. that night on his way to bed, he saw the indentation on the bed of where you laid just that morning. he made his way to the couch, only to see your phone still on the coffee table. he started sobbing again, and fell asleep on the floor.

(tw: mentions of alcohol and suicide)

•your funeral was the next week, he went back to work the day after. he needed something to take his mind off you. he worked long hours, not caring how much his fragile and much smaller wings ached and how they could barely carry his weight. on his way home, he picked up the strongest alcohol he could get. he downed bottle after bottle and at one point, if he squinted hard enough, he could still see your sillouette.

• a month went by, he was miserable. some intern at his agency said “well, at least they died helping you. you can just get a different healer to finish the job, right?” he smacked the guy and retired then and there. he felt too much guilt, it was his fault you’re gone. just because he was too stupid to notice how bad you were getting. he stopped by your grave on his way home that night, the grass hadn’t even grown over the top. he looked at your name on the headstone. “heh, we didn’t even get to have the same last name yet. yknow, i had the ring in the drawer by the bed.” he looks down at the ground. “i know you worked so hard to fix my wings but, i hope you don’t mind too much if i joined you.” with that, he adds the roses to the growing pile of ones he brought before and heads home. the news the next morning read the title “Pro hero Hawks found dead after sudden retirement” He was with you again.

———————

okay okay i didn’t mean for this to be so long and so sad but here we are,, if you have any suggestions on how to edit it plz lmk! asks and requests are open and feedback would be appreciated! :)

#hawks angst #hawks x reader #bnha angst #keigo takami #keigo x you #keigo x reader #hawks x gender neutral reader #bnha headcanons #mha hawks

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clockworkgraystairs · 4 years

Text

Letting Go

Rating: M

Warnings: Major character death. Angst. Mentions of sex. Angst. Accidents. Did I mention angst?

Summary:

Cardan thought he and his family were meant to live happily ever after.

He was wrong.

Extra comments: I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.

Extra comments 2: If you’re masochist as me and wish to read this listening to some music, I’ll leave my spotify playlist “Don’t touch me, I’m angsty”

Thank you to the incredible @sweetlyvillainous for holding my hand while I cried because of this, for betaing later and for giving the extra boost to the angst. YES YOU DID, AND YOU’RE AS GUILTY AS ME. I love u.

Masterlist • AO3

As dawn went on, Cardan looked through the window with hooded eyes. It snowed outside. How typical, he thought.

Not long ago he would’ve been excited about it. The perspective of spending the day building snow castles and angels. Never a snowman, since his daughter had always claimed that was too cliché. He would mock her for it and build tiny figures around her castle. ‘The invasion of the fae snowmen’ he’d called it, despite the insistence of his wife about that being pure nonsense.

He laid on his bed, staring at nothing in particular. From that position he would normally be able to look at her, snoring softly in the opposite pillow. That used to be his favorite moment of the day. Few minutes that he could spend watching how she slept, calm and unbothered. At least until he couldn’t help it anymore and woke her up, trailing her neck with soft and playful kisses.

Cold sheets coiled around him now. A reminder of the empty space next to him that haunted Cardan at the beginning and end of each day. Screaming into the silence she’s gone.

The morning it happened, Ivy wanted pancakes an old store sold a couple of blocks away. Cardan was reluctant to get up. All groggy because he and Jude had spent the night before rolling on the sheets, barely moaning in each other’s mouths trying not to wake their 7 year old. He didn’t want to get up. But his daughter was as stubborn as his wife. So Jude gave him a long sweet kiss and told him to go back to sleep while she fetched breakfast.

He did.

He shouldn’t have.

He should’ve gone with her. He should’ve gone instead. Or better yet, he should’ve convinced her to stay and make the bloody pancakes himself. Anything.

Anything except letting Jude go out alone. She was supposed to be back in a matter of minutes, but she didn’t. And he didn’t notice it because he fell asleep again.

He missed the first phone call. And the second.

It wasn’t until a tiny hand woke him up and handed him the cellphone. Frowning with dizziness at Jude’s two missed calls he was about to dial back when it rang again.

“Hey babe, sorry. What’s up?” He mumbled, ruffling Ivy’s hair.

The voice that answered was not Jude’s, instantly startling him awake.

“Yes, he’s speaking.” Loud voices and sirens muffled the voice, making it hard to hear. “I’m- I’m sorry I’m not understanding, where is my wife? Give her the phone so I can speak to her plea-”

He didn’t record the moment when he put on the first clothes he found, nor calling his old college friends that lived two doors away to come and watch little Ivy.

He didn’t watch for the red lights or cared if he’d parked the right way in the hospital’s parking lot. The world seemed to spiral around him, an unending parade of walls, doors, people in white or blue suits. Voices filled him with details but he could only partially hear them. Something about a kid crossing the street unsupervised and Jude running after him. His heartbeat roared in his ears.

“We’re glad we could reach you Mr. Greenbriar. It’s always better when the patient doesn’t have to go through it alone.”

“Through it? What are you-”

“I’m really sorry. The internal damage is too much...”

The doctor’s voice faded away as they entered the room. Fighting to bite back a sob he approached the resting figure on the bed. She looked like his wife, but something was deeply wrong. Her face was awfully pale and her lips dry and bruised. Wires rested along her body. The monitor connected to them matched the aching slowness in her breathing. There was no trace of the playful Jude that teased him mercilessly day after day, stealing kisses from his mouth and knowing he’d let her do whatever she wanted to him.

He found himself still standing centimeters away from her, paralyzed.

The doctor leaned to touch her shoulder and whispered something to her ear. Her eyelids fluttered a moment before opening, not with the fierceness they carried everyday but tired, wandering.

Pulling out of his frozen state he reached for her hand, covered in bandages and stroke it softly. “Jude.”

Her eyes found him and a weak smile curved her lips. “You made it.” She said with a raspy voice. He kneeled, fully taking her hand in his. The door knob clicked as they were left alone.

“Of course I did.” He choked out, trying to match her smile. It felt as if a thin string was keeping him together. “I’m here to take you home.”

Jude looked at him the way she did every time he promised to bring the stars down for her. She squeezed his hand with a nonexistent force that physically hurt in his chest. “You were always a terrible liar.”

Cardan opened his mouth to joke back but wasn’t able to make more than a suffocated sound. That’s when the first tear rolled down his cheek. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, opening them as he felt her thumb wiping away the wetness under them. “It’s ok.”

The string snapped.

“No, it’s not Jude, gods I’m- I’m...” He sobbed, incapable of stopping himself anymore. “I’m so sorry, it was all my fault. If I’d gone with you, If I’d…”

“Hey, no. It’s ok.” She cooed, holding him as he buried his face in her neck apologizing over and over. “Cardan, this was not your fault. Please.”

He let her hold him as his body trembled with broken weeps. Cardan shut his eyes close, hoping he would open them and be back home. Not here. Not in this nightmare. They had so much to do, so much to live. He was meant to be with her through everything. He was meant to protect her. And he had neglected everything for five more sleeping minutes instead. If Ivy hadn’t woken him up… If he’d missed another phone call…

If he’d answered the first damn time he might have had more time. There was an ache in his chest making it harder to breathe, to think.

They laid together for several minutes, hearing nothing more than their breathings and the beeping machine.

“Stay, my love.” He begged, the knot in his throat making it harder to speak. “Fight. I can’t do it without you, I’m not strong enough. I need you, we need you… Ivy...”

Something wet landed on his cheek. Only then he realized she’d started crying too. “You’ll take care of her. You can, you’re the strongest man I’ve ever known.”

He felt her breathing falter and he backed up a little, afraid he’d harm her but Jude didn’t let him go. “I love you. I always have, even when you used to make my life a living hell all those years ago. I love you and our daughter so much.” She said. Cardan sobbed again. Don’t, he wanted to answer, don’t say goodbye. Not yet. “And know that even when you can’t see me, I will be with you always.”

“I know,” He whispered back, now wiping her tears away and leaning to kiss her. “I love you, Jude Duarte. You are the best gift life could give me. You saw the best in me when nobody else could and for that and everything else, I’ll be eternally grateful. I’ll... watch out for Ivy, and she will know her mom is a hero, I promise.”

She breathed a laugh and asked him to hold her again. He did, he clung to her as tightly as he could without hurting her, breathing ‘I love you’ on her hair until her hand lost strength around him.

Until the monitor gave out one long final beep and took his heart with it.

He’d kept his vow. He’d continued with his life, dedicating every second of it to take care of their little girl. To make sure she was happy and wasn’t that affected from her mother’s passing.

Ivy was strong, and most of the time more mature than her age suggested. She tried to carry on as well. Even if sometimes Cardan caught her staring longingly at that spot on the living room where Jude used to sit and read his old books.

But even now, months later, it was hard for him to get up from bed sometimes. To wake up from a bad dream only to realize it was real, he was alone. Jude wasn’t coming back.

Some nights nightmares got worse, not because his mind created new scenarios. Quite the opposite, it revived his worst memory.

Hands touched his shoulders, probably seeking to comfort him. But he barely felt them. He barely heard the nurses enter the room after Jude’s pulse stopped.

He was aware of the uncontrollable way his chest shook between sobs. Pleading her to stay, to open her eyes just one minute more.

Of how he clutched her hand as if it would squeeze life back into her. He felt the softness of her hair as he caressed it, clinging to her the moment the doctors tried to pull him away. The nurse started to remove the wires.

He dreamed of his throat tearing apart as he roared them to let go of his wife. Later begging to allow him to hug her for a moment more. Just a second. Just a lifetime. Please.

Just a moment.

Cardan always woke between gasps those nights. Sometimes leading him to stay awake until morning, afraid to fall asleep again.

It was on days like that that he closed his eyes and let time rewind.

He returned to the year before, to the mornings when they decided who prepared breakfast with rock, paper, scissors games.

To years before that, when still half asleep he reached for her and curled his arms around Jude’s swollen belly. Barely weeks away from welcoming their baby.

To the day when he’d held his girlfriend in his arms and waited for her to open her eyes to finally ask her to marry him.

He knew he shouldn’t. In fact he was sure Jude would beat his ass for doing it. But sometimes he just wanted to feel her close only for a couple of minutes more. Some days he refused to accept she was not there anymore.

A loud crash startled him, bringing Cardan back from his daydreaming. He sat up to look at the clock and frowned. It was still early for Ivy to be awake.

He got up and walked to the kitchen, only to find the floor covered in white flour and his daughter on the opposite side with the face of someone that just got caught with a hand in the jar of cookies.

“Ivy, what are you doing?” He asked. Gods, there was a mess. His mental energy didn’t want to deal with it at the moment.

“I...” She darted her gaze to the right, the same thing Jude did whenever Cardan found her doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

He crossed the space, to crouch next to her and started picking things up with an exasperated sigh.

She let out a breath in defeat and murmured. “I was trying to make the muffins.”

“The muffins?”

“The muffins mom cooked for us every Christmas.” Ivy said as if he’d missed the most obvious thing.

Fuck. He looked at the calendar hanging on the wall behind him. December 24th. Fuck, fuck. How had he overlooked the date? They’d received an invitation to celebrate Christmas with their friends and another one from Jude’s family. He had intended to answer back.

“Oh honey…you needn’t.” Cardan turned back to her and took her little hand between his.

“I know. But I wanted to cheer you up.” Ivy’s voice was low. “You’re sad all the time, dad… I thought... maybe mommy’s muffins would help.”

A pang of guilt stung in his chest. Fuck, he tried so hard to keep his emotions at bay around her. Washing his face with frozen water hoping it would take away the redness around his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his mouth but no words came out so he just pulled his child into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry, I-”

“Don’t be,” She interrupted him, clinging to his neck. “I miss her too.”

Blinking back the tears, he pulled back to cup her cheeks. “There is nothing that cheers me up more than you, sweetie. You know that right?”

Ivy’s chocolate eyes shimmered as she nodded.

Cardan took a deep breath and pulled her up so she was sitting on top of the counter. “Now, you know I suck at cooking those infamous muffins,” He grimaced. Ivy chuckled and bit her lip, totally not denying his statement. “So how about if instead of those, I prepare you my ultra special pancakes?”

Her gaze widened. “With whipped cream and fruit??”

He nodded. The excited squeal of his daughter warmed his heart in that unique way only she could achieve.

With Ivy’s help, the pancakes were made in little time. Even if all she did was jump around the kitchen singing Christmas carols.

Just as he was about to serve the table, she stopped him. “Dad, can we go eat breakfast with mommy?”

Cardan paused, not sure if he’d listened correctly. “With mommy?”

“Yeah, you know, like those days when we went out on picnics.” She said. Excitement floored from every single one of her pores. “She loved Christmas, I’m sure she’ll be glad to see us too!”

He wanted to say no, not knowing if he would make it. It’s too soon, the words hug there in the tip of his tongue. But looking at Ivy and her puppy eyes, he couldn’t.

Covered in scarves and warm coats they arrived at the cemetery. It was a beautiful place, if he was honest. Tall trees and some flowers grew along, giving it the appearance of a valley despite the cold weather. It looked so peaceful. Even if snow covered some parts of it.

Cardan carried a bag filled with the food and a blanket to use as tablecloth. Ivy played with the snow as they walked, and gasped at the sight of her mother’s tombstone. Letting go of Cardan’s hand, she ran towards it. A big smile shining on her face.

He stopped meters away from it, unsure of his decision. His heart hammered on his chest and he could see the steam formed by his shaky breathing.

Ivy turned and motioned him to come closer.

As he approached, he heard the cheerful chatter of his daughter, making him frown.

“...so I tried to be as quiet as possible, but then the flour fell!” She laughed and darted her gaze to him again. “That’s why daddy caught me, right dad?”

Cardan hesitated. “Uh, yeah… that’s when I found you covered in powder.”

He peered at the marble figure, intentionally avoiding the picture under the letters forming her name.

After setting the food they ate. Ivy barely chewed her food between words, since she was deeply invested in whatever conversation she was having with her mother. Cardan just listened. She spoke about her school, her exams with almost perfect grades. About aunt Liliver announcing she and uncle Van were expecting a baby, a thing Ivy wasn’t so sure to like since that would probably remove her from ‘the favorite’ position. She talked about the blanket forts Cardan taught her to build and the new books he’d read to her. Occasionally, she would laugh as if she’d listened to something incredibly funny.

They built a snow castle with the few snow that was gathered around, at least before Ivy accidentally threw a snowball to his chest. The snowball war that unleashed after had them growling and squealing for several minutes. It ended up with both of them lying down on the blanket, tired and giggling.

He sat up to ruffle her hair and sighed. “It’s time to go, little one.”

Ivy whined. “So soon?”

“We can return some other day…” That lit her face back up. “But your aunt Lil invited us to a party today. Do you want to go?”

She yelped. “With Christmas gifts?”

“Yeah.” Cardan winked.

Once everything was back in the bag Cardan started walking, but a tug on his sleeve stopped him.

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to mommy?”

He didn’t answer.

“C’mon dad, go. I’ll wait for you over there.” She signaled a big space where rocks made an odd figure. That said, she was gone.

Haltingly, Cardan turned back to face the tombstone.

Air seemed to have flown out of his lungs. What was he supposed to say? He looked down and shuffled his foot in the snow. His grip tightened around the bag’s handle.

He used to spend the nights thinking of all the things he would’ve liked to say to her. But as it was, all of them apparently had vanished into the air. Should he say he loved her? That everything was okay?

“I hate you.” Was what came out. Cardan scoffed and swallowed. That was definitely not what he was thinking. “That is a lie. But I guess you already know it, don’t you?”

“Sometimes I wish I could hate you though... Maybe it would make it easier. Because sure as hell it’s not.” His voice was hoarse. “I’m trying. I promised you I would but… I miss you all the fucking time, Jude. I can’t go to bed at night without thinking you’re not there by my side anymore.”

He paused and rubbed his eyes. Cardan flashed quick glances to Ivy, trying to find the strength. But once he faced Jude’s picture again, the pressure on his chest was nearly unbearable.

“Everyday something happens that I would like to tell you. When Ivy or any of our friends do something I find hilarious I turn to make sure you saw it too just to find an empty space and I… I hate it.”

“I hate not being able to hug you, I hate not feeling your hands playing with my hair in the morning. I hate not being able to tell you everyday how much I still love you. I hate that Ivy notices how much I struggle with it. I hate not being as strong as you were.”

He spilled the words so fast they were probably intelligible, but he didn’t care anymore.

“Ivy… she’s an amazing little girl, you know? Everyday she does something new that is clever, or brave… and she reminds me so much of you.” A sob broke through him. He turned to look at her, auburn curls bouncing everywhere. Taking a steadying breath he brought back his gaze to the tomb.

“I just hope she’s not as good with lies or I will be totally screwed.” He let out a low chuckle. “You should be proud of her.”

Before he could say something else something warm spread down his shoulders to his arms and chest. If he was drunk he would say it resembled the feeling of a hug. The pressure on his chest slowly disappeared as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Not knowing exactly how or why, a weight on his shoulders he hadn’t realized he had, was gone from a moment to another.

“I love you, Jude Duarte.” He breathed. “You will have my heart always, and when this life ends I’ll find you again to give it to you once more.”

Giving a final look to the picture he’d been avoiding since they arrived, he gave a weak smile, wiped the tears away and turned to go find his daughter.

“Goodbye, my sweet villain.”

A Christmas party with his family (because that’s how he considered his friends), awaited. He found Ivy marching on top of the rocks, claiming it was a conquered fae castle and she, the new Queen. He chuckled and motioned her to return.

As they walked back to the car, she grabbed his hand and gave him a knowing look. Even when you can’t see me, I will be with you always.

The next morning when he opened his eyes the empty spot was still there. But for the first time in months, he welcomed the memories of his Jude with a longing smile.

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

Tags: @sweetlyvillainous @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @jurdannet @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003 @booksandothersecrets @thewickedkings @ireallyshouldsleeprn @fuzzypineapples (tumblr couldn’t find your profile to tag you hun sorry! ☹️ )

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#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #holly black #jurdan fanfic #angsty jurdan #angst #tcp #twk #tqon #qon #the cruel prince #the folk of the air #judecardan #jude x cardan #tess writes

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airi-p4 · 3 years

Text

While it lasts

This was supposed to be kind of a S4 theory about akumatized Luka + a canon-verse Lukanette approach. I guess my hand slipped? This is similar to my previous fic ‘Betrayer’, in which Juleka was the akumatized one.

Warning: ANGST.

AO3 _________________________

"Jagged Stone is your father" Anarka had just told her twin children.

Luka's world was shattered into pieces.

Jagged Stone. His favorite musician. His inspiration. His mother's old music partner.

Their father.

One word occupies his mind: abandoned.

And the image of him takes a 180 degree turn. From admiration to despise.

His idol abandoned him. Him and his sister. His mother too.

Why?

He hates it. He hates all of it.

He hates it so much, not even his girlfriend Marinette can calm him down like she usually does. Not even her sympathetic voice or her sweet heart melody can heal him. Neither could her hand pressed on his in comfort.

Juleka's mind had gone blank for some seconds. Memories of how fond Luka was of Jagged Stone occupying her mind. 'Cool', she thinks, and then she focuses on her brother, who is clearly in shock.

In silence. In a trance.

He can't hear anything anymore, she realizes, after noticing how he isn't paying attention to either Marinette's, her mother's or her own calls.

His heart song is strident, loud, noisy- And his eyes lose all his light, all his kindness too.

'Abandoned'

This word keeps spiraling in his mind. On repeat. In an infinite loop.

"Luka!" He hears Marinette's voice call him in alert, finally making him snap out of it and find the strength to fight the akuma that just entered his guitar.

“Marinette… Don’t abandon me…” he begs, holding her while fighting not to lose control and fall under Shadow Moth's control.

“I won’t”, she assures him, clearly supporting him. She keeps encouraging him not to fall into the darkness of the dark butterfly.

Her melody is sincere. So sincere she can’t hide her still unburied feelings for certain blond hair and green eyes that make her heart flutter. And he can see it: the moment that is bound to happen, the moment Marinette will break up with him to go to Adrien. The moment all walls separating them will collapse and they will meet each other in the tangled maze of secrets they’re currently trapped in. The crumble of the castle that allowed him the miracle to have her by his side at this moment.

“You won’t” he whispers, feeling his biggest fear close: Silence- loneliness.

Abandoned.

His arms tighten around her, holding her even closer, impeding her from moving. He pulls her so close he's even hurting her a little. Marinette slightly protests in a cry, but she’s more emotionally affected than physically. "Luka-!"

She's scared.

She wants to assure him she’s honest. She wishes to be able to give him all her love, her existence-

And his newly appeared akuma form is willing to take it all.

His guitar is now a big fish net, his body has grown 3 times bigger and his looks are similar to a sea God. ‘Glaucus’, he calls himself. The name of the God of the fishermen in Greek mythology. His hair is longer, and his belly has become a transparent fish tank, where he plans to keep his loved ones, both safe and close so they don’t abandon him.

Punishment for the ones who abandon, lie and betray.

Protection for the loved ones.

'Justice', he calls it.

He doesn’t even need a big fish tank, because his loved ones are limited. A countable number of individuals is enough for him: Marinette, his mother, his twin sister, the rest of Kitty Section… Mylène too, maybe, since he would feel bad for Ivan if he left her out of it. And he would consider Marinette's family too, since he knows how much she appreciates them.

As for punishment? It's also clear: Jagged Stone comes first, followed by Lila Rossi among others who have dared to hurt his loved ones, such as Chloe Bourgeois and Bob Roth.

Marinette trembles at the vision after he finally lets her go of her to grab his fish catching instrument. A tear escapes her eye, and slides to fall from her chin. And then she runs: because that’s the only way she can help him: run, transform, defeat him and fix the damage she will fight to prevent from happening.

But she's ignoring the most important fact. The fact that that's exactly the action which will lead to her down fall, the sight that frightens Luka the most: Marinette turning her back to him, leaving him all alone.

His song abandoning him.

Rage, pain and despair fills his heart, unable to be contained with his meditation or her music. The music he himself turned into a loud mess, sounding just like nails scraping on a chalkboard, painful to his ears and his soul.

And that’s when he traps her, his net capturing her and turning her into a small, bright pink colored mermaid, he literally swallows to get her inside the fish tank he carries inside his transparent glass made belly.

A relieved sigh leaving his throat: Marinette is now secured. She won't leave his side again. ‘Who’s next…?’ He questions himself, looking at his horrified mother, Anarka as he smirks. He'll soon have all of them in his treasured fish tank.

And what will happen to those who deserve punishment? Fish out of the water- dry fins gasping for oxygen. Dead fish with eyes as cold as their hearts. Or even better- Jagged is going to be abandoned on his own before that- just like he cold-heartedly abandoned him and his sister.

And now that he mentions it… 'Where's Juleka?'

The akuma looks for her, but he doesn't see her around. 'She can wait' he decides, his chants summoning a big sea wave to carry him to his unwanted father's hotel suite.

__________

Jagged Stone can't believe his eyes. An akuma claiming to be his son has just turned Penny into a goldfish, who is now struggling with tiny desperate jumps for oxygen to breathe through her newly acquired fins. Impossible without water. Fang is next to join Jagged's personal assistant, now tiny and convulsing.

"Who are you!? Why are you doing this!? I have no kids!! Don't lie!! Stop this! Turn them to their original forms! They could die!" The rock star angrily begs under Glaucus lashes.

"You're the one who is lying! My mother never lies, so you are the one lying when you say you have no children! You're the one who abandoned us!" He yells as angry as Jagged. "All the admiration and respect I had for you is now hate and disgust! You deserve punishment for the sake of Justice!"

"Stop right there, mermaid boy. Didn't we already make it clear what the difference between revenge and justice was when you were 'Silencer'?" Chat Noir joined the battle, protecting Jagged from being crushed under the akuma's weapon.

The akuma attacks again, but this time he's stopped by someone else. Someone Chat Noir brought along with him- a new superhero.

_______

During the time Marinette was trapped, Tikki, safe and sound, had carried a Miraculous to Juleka, who was watching terrified at how the events developed on TV. She was too focused to notice the kwami, but she clearly noticed the box that fell on her hand out of nowhere. Reaching it, she curiously opened it, and a magical creature appeared in front of her.

"Hi there! I'm Roarr. It's nice to meet you, Juleka!" The little tiger introduced himself.

"What are you? What's going on?" Juleka questioned.

"I'm a kwami. I grant powers! Put on that jewelry and call for the magical words to transform into a superhero"

"Me? A superhero like Ladybug? I don't think I can-" she nervously mumbled, unconfident.

"The guardian chose you for this mission! You want to save your brother, right?" Juleka nodded. "Then say the words: Roarr, transform me"

"Roarr, transform me" Juleka said, and magic surrounded her. Her new appearance was purple with tiger-like orange colored stripes over her body. Her mask was the same colors of the suit, and a pair of tiny ears decorated her now tied hair, her ponytail loose in the wind.

Moments later, she ran towards the hotel, unknowingly followed by Ladybug's kwami.

And the battle started.

________________

"Luka! I know you're hurt, but Jagged is telling the truth! He never abandoned u- you! He never knew he was a father! He probably doesn't even know by now!" The new hero desperately yelled.

"Lies! All lies! He deserves punishment! And you do too!" The akuma points at the heroes and Jagged who is hiding behind them.

"I'll show you the truth!" The tigress announces, calling for her superpower.

Her claws become shiny and with one touch, she marks an ‘X’ on Jagged's forehead, and a purple cloud comes out of his mouth and surrounds them, as if they had just entered his dreamland- except it's, in fact, the rock star’s memories.

Luka is in denial. It is true. Jagged Stone never knew about them. Which means he abandoned them unknowingly. Was he innocent, though?

No, he wasn’t. Because he had indeed abandoned his mother.

_______

Meanwhile, Marinette had been trying to find a way out of the fish tank. She couldn't transform into Ladybug even if Tikki was free, because that would make her identity public. She needed another plan.

That's when she asked Tikki to get Juleka the tiger Miraculous- and it had, once again, been the right choice.

Marinette couldn't just stay still,watching. She fought to find a way out.

Making use of the constant moving water, and with Anarka and Kitty Section's help, she found a way up, arriving to his heart. Or was it the akuma’s heart? It didn’t matter to her as long as she could save him.

The sight was not what she had expected: a vast sea surrounded by colorful stained glass with the people he cared the most portrayed on them. Anarka, Juleka and Kitty Section were there. Big, colorful and shining bright.

Marinette continued swimming in his inner tormented sea of darkness until she found another glass under a cliff: hers. It looked beautiful, but unreachable, since a rose garden guarded and protected it. Untouchable beauty.

Was this Luka's vision of her? A beautiful flower surrounded by thorns, with green stains on paint messing with the almost perfect piece of art’s balance and making it painful to watch?

Marientte felt her heart ache in guilt.

She knew she was the cause of the hurt in his eyes which he sometimes looked at her with. He had always seen through her, despite how much she had been starting to believe her own lies about ‘moving on’ and ‘love’.

Marinette shook her head: no time to waste. Cry later. Focus now.

Her tail brought her to a cliff island with a broken stained glass window next to it. The one that belonged to Jagged Stone, as his name was written on a rock. It most likely broke at the revelation of Jagged being Luka’s father, but now the window was pitch black, with the pieces scattered on the floor. Silent.

She could feel his fears of being abandoned in her own skin, and froze at the realization: his endurance and his strength were only there thanks to music. A music his heart lacked at the moment.

Music.

That's the answer. Music was what healed his heart. This time too, he needed music.

But what could she do without musical knowledge? Or without any instrument to play?

'My voice' she notices. ‘I still have my voice’

Marinette starts singing her own heart song as composed by Luka, while the battle outside continues, now with their visit to Jagged Stone's memories.

Perfect timing.

And clouds appear over Jagged's glass window, the wind carrying some pieces back to its original place- partly reconstructed.

Maybe the mermaid form had another purpose, Marinette wonders. Maybe Luka couldn't completely let go of music, after all, whether he was akumatized or not. Or maybe...

Back to present, Marinette sees a light up that lifts her out of Luka's insides. Next time she blinks, she has recovered her original appearance- clumsy human girl Marinette.

"Run!" Chat Noir commands, and she obeys. As she runs, she gazes back at Luka, who shows her a painfully sad smile.

"Marinette!" Her kwami calls her before she can give it deeper thought. "Tikki! Spots on!"

Moments later, Ladybug makes it to the battle. "Lucky charm!"

____________

The battle ends soon. Too soon, to Ladybug's surprise. ‘Why did he offer no resistance?’

She'll have time to think about this later. First… "Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug rushed to recover Juleka's Miraculous so they could go back to Luka as soon as possible.

"Thank you, Ladybug" Juleka says, running off to hug her brother.

Marinette detransforms next and soon reaches them too. But she hesitates again. Should she be by his side when she hurts him so much?

Luka meets her gaze and smiles softly, apologetically and embarrassed, but clearly welcoming her. And she doesn't hesitate anymore to join their collective hug, melting in love after a swirl of emotions. They part from the hug and they all focus on Jagged Stone who is still processing what happened.

"Wait a second- Are you really my children…? You thought I abandoned you…?” Jagged asks the twins, before turning his head to Anarka. “Why didn't you tell me? Weren't we partners? 'Rock-'n'-roll until the crocodile controls'. Remember?"

"You said you wanted to go solo. You left me behind. Did you really expect me to go back to you after the humiliation I suffered? I gave you my heart and you threw me away as soon as you could!" Anarka yelled.

"I was young and immature, and not the best father figure, I admit it! But I deserved to know! You should have told me!"

"I'm telling you now! They are your children, Luka and Juleka. If you ever want to meet them, you know where we live. Don’t you ever come back if you plan to abandon them later" Anarka says, grabbing her children's shoulders and guiding them to move out of the hotel room with a push.

"I'm sorry…" Luka mumbles to Jagged, before leaving the room.

"I'm the one who is sorry…" Jagged admits to Marinette before she runs to follow the Couffaines and Kitty Section. “I’ll go visit sometime! I promise!”

“Are you ok, Luka?” Marinette asks after leaving through the hotel doors, seeing how Jagged is looking at them from the highest balcony.

“I will be. Eventually…” he returns his gaze down to focus on Marinette, reaching to hold her hand. “I don’t need Jagged’s music as long as I can listen to yours''

Marinette feels her cheeks burn.

________________________

On their way home, Marinette can’t take what she’s seen out of her head. ‘It was Luka's heart, right? And Luka’s true feelings. He truly loves me’, she realized. ‘But why…?’

With an instant of bravery, Marinette pulls Luka's hand to separate themselves from the rest of his family and friends.

"Luka… I- Am I painful to be with? To watch?" She bites her lip a bit and asks in terror. “Am I hurting you?”

"Of course not, Marinette. Never.” Luka assures her with a soft, faint smile. “You're more than I could ever ask for. You're the most beautiful song I've ever heard"

"Even if I have those unbearable to watch green stains...?" she whispers, embarrassed and angry at herself for not being able to make her feelings go according to her wishes.

"It can’t be helped, can it? And even if that’s the case, for me, you’re still the most beautiful despite those colors"

“Is my heart song really enough to cover for that ugliness? I hate it myself…”

“You shouldn’t. Imperfections can enhance beauty. I don’t mind them as long as I can hear your song up close” he answers.

“But-! Are you sure…? Aren’t you afraid I might end up abandoning you?” she finally asks, scared for his answer.

“I am. I’m terrified” he admits. “But how am I supposed to stand in the way of your wishes- your happiness? I can’t and I won’t do that” Luka shrugs, “Aren’t you scared of being abandoned too?”

“I am” she answers, after giving it some thought. “and that’s not the main reason for it, but I want to stay by your side” she realizes, “more than ever”.

Luka squeezes her hand and shows her a soft expression. “Thank you for always saving me. Akumatized or not,” he whispers to her ear. It surprises Marinette to see how his cheeks are pink over his fond smile.

“No-! I- I just sang a song and- It was all thanks to the new her-” she stopped herself. Luka couldn’t possibly remember what happened when he was akumatized. No one told him, no one showed him the news. He couldn’t know he turned her into a mermaid, or how she sang. Yet he thanked her for saving him.

‘Of course he knows’ Marinette understands. ‘Yet he didn’t reveal me to Shadow Moth and he let me go on purpose, too’. Her thoughts deepen. ‘I get it now’ she reaches her conclusion. ‘He wanted me to save him. He wanted me to take him back after he realized he was on the wrong side. It makes sense. He protected me despite being akumatized once again- like when he was Silencer’.

The girl’s feet stop walking for a moment at the revelation, causing Luka to look back at her. Taking one step closer, she raises on her tiptoes and gives Luka a kiss on his lips, surprising both of them.

‘I wonder what kind of music his heart is hearing now,’ she wonders, ‘because I can only hear a grateful and sincere happy tune in my own heart right now’

“Your heartsong is beautiful” she finishes with a smile he reciprocates.

Most likely, both of them knew deep inside that their relationship as it was now was bound to end at some point, sooner or later. Maybe both of them would always be afraid of loneliness and being abandoned, too. But wasn’t it enough to enjoy the music they created in that instant, while it lasts? Isn’t it the same with live concerts? They might end, but the sensations last forever in memories. Is it something to regret? Neither of them felt it was. And perhaps both of them secretly agreed with that logic as they continued walking hand in hand, enjoying each other's company and welcoming their mutual love and support, in whatever form their relationship changes into in the future.

#my fic #airipyon #airip4 #angst #S4 theory?#lukanette fic

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kewltie · 4 years

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omfgggg pregnant!deku. imagine where no. 1 hero is not only an omega but is pregnant and it's still early in his first trimester so he's running around kicking ass but IT'S DEKU so ppl frets and worry over his safety that even villains r like uh i dont wanna mess w/ that. deku is like ridiculously popular & well like even among criminal bc he believes in 2nd chances & rehab of the criminals/villains & fight for disenfranchised youths who fell on the wrong side of the track. so yea, they fight against him but they're also kinda soft for him!!!

so when they found out their fav hero is pregnant & still patrolling there's like some super-secret nonverbal agree among them that they won't stop doing what they are doing but like,,,, nobody fucking touch deku ok or you'll deader than dead. which is ALL KIND OF HILARIOUS bc deku coming to a bank robbery & the criminals doesnt stop their crime but when they fight him, they're like super careful w/ him making sure he doesn't get knock back, fall, or hurt himself too much.

when deku finally captured them and as they're about to taken away, they happily congratulated him on his pregnancy & ask if he'd thought of names yet & one of them is like, "oh, when my husband was pregnant eating X & Y really help with the nausea." and izuku is like,,, thanks???

there's like so many ppl invested in deku's pregnancy that it bizarre bc he's not the first or the last omega to ever be pregnant but he's deku, prohero, no.1 rank, and symbol of hope. all that means is there's a hyper fixation on everything about him esp now that he's pregnant. talk shows, news channel, & celeb gossip show are all talking about it one way or another. whether he's should take an early leave of work or not bc of the danger of his job, the baby's sex, his pregnancy craving, bump watch (I KNOW), & even a countdown to his due date.

the entire country is in a baby fever just bc of deku. everybody talk obsessively about it & even if you find that one person who does not care they def know someone who does. all this happen while deku just go about his day like all of Japan isnt watching his every move lol. the strangest thing about deku's pregnancy is that there's no sign of the other parent?? deku isnt even dating anyone. he never mention any alpha AT ALL, only declaring that he plans to raise his baby all by himself as a single parent which blew their fucking mind bc wtfffff.

look, deku is the most famous omega around, sitting high atop of the world as the no. 1 hero & is adore by the mass--he's greatest omega of his generation some would say so yea there's lot of expectation & hope place on him but deku is deku & he does what he wants. ppl speculate that maybe he's pregnant bc he had a one night stand and this was accident, maybe he has been in a secret relationship all this time, maybe this baby was from a spurned lover or WORST yet a produce of rape... LIKE there's so many rumor swirling around but the answer is actually v v v simple. deku has always wanted a child and since he's nearing 30 right now, he thought it's hightime he has one and the other father? JUST A DONOR. it's nothing serious or complicated as ppl imagine to be.

deku wants a kid and now he has one!! but ppl just can't comprehend how it could be that simple when the most notoble omega in all of japan decide he wants a kid W/O having a mate and he's going to raise this baby all by himself and nope he's not even going to quit his job at ALL to have a family. deku is just--blowing their mind lol

the world doesn't so much get over it as they just kinda get dragged along bc deku does not give a single fuck wut other think and proceed to be immersed in his pregnancy and try to survive the next 6 months while everyone waited on bated breath to see what deku does next. the only thing that stick is the constant rumor mill of who is the donor of deku's baby. they assume that deku wouldn't just pick a stranger bc he's sentimental like that so speculations run amok about every alpha that is closely associate with deku.

there are public polls, betting rings w/ billions on the line, televised debates, internet flame wars, and ACTUAL ARGUMENTS B/T FAMILY/FRIENDS/COWORKERS on who the fuck is deku's donor! even more than deku's baby, they're fucking obsessed on finding out who is the actual donor. the thing is it's not THAT big of a secret. all of class A are in the loop, his mom know (ofc), and even his agency but they all managed to keep it a secret bc deku's privacy is the utmost important & beside the other father would literally MURDER them if it ever get expose.

this is how it went: bullied by his pr team, deku went on a variety show where they have to babysit kids & put through various childbearing challenge while cameras record them for entertainment purpose. It's there when deku realized "ah, I WANT THIS. I WANT THIS V BADLY." deku is climbing close to his 30 now, he's well established presence in the hero world, and his life is pretty stable so it's high time he have his own little family but the thing is babies are two ppl business. they don't just come from thin air so deku did the next best thing.

katsuki would like to say he didn't see this coming the same way you would not expect to be attack by a shark on land, but in this case deku is that fucking shark & katsuki is the idiot that get completley blindsided by him when deku cornered him one day and asked for his sperm.

ok, bakudeku aint dating. they have deep & complicated history that is not only confusing o everybody else but also confusing to them. 'friend' would be to light of a word but anything else is left undefined bc how do you explain more than 2 decades of w/e they are to each other. katsuki doesn't want to talk about the amount of time he'd used image of deku to get off while in rut just so he can survive through it, while the next few days trying to resist punching deku in the face bc he act like a sacrificial idiot who got a cross he wants to bear.

it's not 100% healthy his therapist unhelpfully pointed out but the core of all his volatile feelings have always been named deku & katsuki doesn't know how to compartmentalize it properly bc katsuki may have squashed to something small & insignificant but it's heavy & permanent. so when deku laid his fucked up request at katsuki's feet, he broke the table they were using and nearly walked out if deku didn't catch him by the arm in time.

"kacchan, pls here me out first," deku begged of him, his sweet permeating the air; he's NOT PLAYING FAIR AT ALL. whoever said alphas are the dominate sex in the world have never met an omega, a determine goal focus omega with babies on the brain like deku.

"kacchan, recently i realized that im only getting older so i want a child when i still can," deku explained. "so won't you help me? i know settling down right now is the farthest thing from your mind, but im not asking you anything like that," he continued as katsuki quietly fumed in the background. "i just want your help in making this selfish wish of mine come true. you're among my top choices, kacchan."

Katsuki jerked up. "wait, you mean to say there's a fucking list of alphas you plan to extort their sperm from?" he seethed, feeling like deku had took a goddamn knife to his pride and butcher it completely. "how many other ppl have you asked before you even came to me?!"

"im not extorting anything from anyone." Deku frowned. "and, well, you always lectured me about diving head first w/o any backup plans," he pointed out, "so i made sure to leave several options open just in case the first one fell through. see? i did thought this one thru."

katsuki nearly broke another piece of furniture at the thought of deku asking someone else to father his child as though he was just another face in a long list of ppl deku could use. "What did every alpha on ur shitty list rejected u already so now have to come to me for help?"

deku, who was no.1 for a reason, narrowed his eyes and the air crackled around them. "kacchan, this is extremely important to me so i wouldnt just chose anyone. i only know a handful of alphas i can trust and someone im happy to share the other half of my child with. you're the 1st person that came to my mind when i thought about a child growing inside of me," he said, wrapping his arm around his flat tummy. "despite our many differences you're the one i admire the most. your strength & ambition, grounded by your strong drive & work ethics. the fact that you got where you are w/ your own hands & wits to guide you, i think you're just amazing. so how could i not want those kind of qualities for my own child," deku explained. "im sure a child born from half of your genes you will shine just brightly as you do."

katsuki felt so taken back that found his tongue heavy and words were escaping him. on one hand he felt a rush of pride and a strange sensation of happiness that deku had specifically chosen him out of his potential candidates bc of the greatness he had seem in katsuki but he'd also narrowed katsuki out not bc of some sentimental bullshit or lingering feelings but he thought of providing his future child with the best gene pool as possible so his child can flourish. it's a damn ego busting for katsuki but deku was clearly a man on a mission.

katsuki hesitated and thought what it would mean to have a child out there who carry a lil part of him in them; it's unnerving and humbling at the same time. he never thought of it himself but deku had dream of this, wanted this so badly enough to beg katsuki for help.

"alright," he said finally, not knowing exactly what compelled him to agree, but the look of utter happiness spreading across deku's face as he can barely contain his joy. a single word from him had caused deku's word to shift and rearranged itself to make room for another life.

and that's how katsuki got con into helping izuku make a baby lol. but, really katsuki was the one who agreed to it out of his own will bc he's an idiot & also terribly whipped; omegas are the ones ppl should be frighten of bc once they make up their mind it's hard to move them. they're an unstoppable force, something to be reckon w/ esp when that omega is the no.1 hero who fought his way to the top of the rankings and maintain that status quo for many years despite how many times katsuki tried to topple him from that perch LOL.

katsuki already lost the war before he'd even put a foot down on battlefront the moment deku'd opened his mouth & demanded his sperm AND HE KNEW IT TOO. so that was how katsuki found himself preparing to empty his balls in front of a two-way mirror in a mating clinic bc of deku. omegas, esp males, are the most fertile when they're in heat & when an alpha go in a rut, but the both of them have this arrangment that's more of a duty than any feelings involve bc they cant risk getting mix up in the hormones. this is for deku & his future child!!! so the clinic had prepared a large room w/ two way dividing mirrors& open air vents circulating b/t the two rooms so they can breathe in each other scene where deku can have his heat on one side and katsuki can watch BUT NOT TOUCH and get his rut on so he can produce sperm.

it's uh, not supposed to be v sexy since it's all clinical & shit but bakudeku being bakudeku they nearly tear the room apart to get to each other in heat/rut madnes. deku had blushed earlier as he asked to be bind with quirk restrictions cuff just in case he go crazy which HE DID. at first the nurses there was more worry about katsuki going crazy and out of control bc he has been known to fall pretty high on the alpha aggression and they fear it would be katsuki who would be dangerous; BUT NOPE it's deku all all along who almost broke the REINFORCED MIRROR just so he can get to katsuki!!!! DEKU WHO PPL SOMETIMES FORGET IS LIKE THE NO. 1 HERO FOR A REASON. soft and sweet deku who single handedly can fuck you up with just his fingers if he want to. he's an omega on a mission and he wants that knot up his ass AND HE WANTS IT NOW.

the nurses & docs have to use everything in their toolkit to pull bakudeku apart. when it's all said and done, katsuki embarrassingly produce buckets of cum enough to last deku a looooooong long time if the first one didn't take lol while deku couldn't look at katsuki in the eyes. they are both horridly embarrass about their 'not mating' and their action toward each other there even though they never actually touch each other through out the whole heat/rut procedure. despite the fact that they DIDN'T HAVE ANY SEX, it was still the hottest exp for both.

katsuki never seen more more feral and fierce omega who nearly broke the entire room just to get to him, in that moment if katsuki wasn't in love already he would have been half way there and izuku didn't expect KATSUKI AT ALL. the way he had handle izuku was completely diff. in izuku's heat fever, katsuki was the lone anchor who'd provided him grounding. he tried to calm deku down from his ramp up hormones even though he was as clearly affected as deku. forceful but not unforgiving, commanding not unyielding, firm but gentle.

it was electric.

it was as though izuku was a wild animal unleashed and katsuki managed to tamed him and he never had even had to raise a single finger to do it. it was all in his words that cut through izuku's hazy feverish wants and desires. the kind of alpha that made deku's knees weak.

after that, they have wordless mutual agreement to never talk about it. deku got the sperms he wanted and katsuki had finally fullfiedd his obligation and isn't responsible for deku or his future child. HE'S DONE. they dont have anything to do w/ each other anymore. RIGHT??? ha.

it's funny bc izuku had his hope on a child but didn't think it would take so soon! he'd thought he would fail a few times first before he get really lucky w/ conception bc of his age now that he's older, this 'psuedo mating' can't replace real mating, & biology is fucking weird. even the fertility doc couldn't promise this procedure to insert bkg's sperm in him when he's still got in a heat fever will work 100% and if they fail, they have to wait for another HEAT to come before it could work. which mean months of waiting in b/t so izuku is desperate. BUT it took one try. THAT'S ALL IT TOOK as izuku anxiously waited for the news in next couple of weeks. he took at home pregnacy tests and when hall 3 results were positive he'd cried and called his mom but even then he didn't tell anyone bc he was so scare it just was a fluke.

he'd kept this secret until he finally got the visit to his doc and could get the firm confirmation he needed! when the doc revealed that he was indeed pregnant, izuku fell to his knees in relief bc finally, FINALLY, his dream of having a baby had came true. he's a father now!!

the doc had warned that the first trimester would be rough on him bc of his age and miscarriage is more likely for him than most male omega. maybe he should consider taking an early pregnacy leave bc of the danger his job poses to him & the unborn baby. deku had agonized over it. ultimately, he decided to continue w/ his hero work but won't take on as much stuff as before. he plans to be more careful & attentive to his safety, and defer his more dangerous work to his colleagues instead. all his friends and coworkers go out of their way to help him w/ this

izuku got an entire community of heroes WHO DO THEIR BEST TO ENSURE HIS PREGNACY GO SMOOTHLY bc look izuku may be doing this alone but HE'S NOT ACTUALLY ALONE bc he got his friends, colleagues, and mom to support him through this bc they know how much this means to him!!

katsuki was one of the last to find out but only bc deku plan to see him in person to tell him bc katsuki HAD GIVEN HIM ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS (beside OFA) and he wanted to thank katsuki in person but class A are a bunch of gossip mongers so he found out through their groupchat. it started as a joke about katsuki & his super seed bc what a fucking stud bakugou katsuki to have ONE TRY and is able to knocked izuku up so quickly lmao. w/e the fuck katsuki is doing or eating, apparently it works wonder for him bc one of his sperm luck out & hit jackpot. his so called friends cant stop ribbing into him for knocking up deku so quickly bc they know from deku's worry that it wasn't going to be an easy conception but IT'S BAKUGOU KATSKUKI, outdoing himself once more bc he never does anything by half, not even his own sperm lol.

izuku met up with katsuki right outside his agency bc he knew wassup and how to corner katsuki effectively by trapping him when he just high off his patrol when he least expect an ambush esp when he was too busy avoiding izuku's attempts to reach him bc of COMPLICATED FEELS.

it's not cowardice that kept katsuki away, but izuku was the source of all his confusing feelings already & now w/ the news that he's carrying katsuki's child now it'd gotten worst. izuku, though, was nothing if not persistent. he zeroed in katsuki right away w/ purposeful steps.

"kacchan, i'm so glad to meet you here," izuku says as though he hadn't coordinate this w/ katsuki's coworkers, who are all SOFT for izuku anyway lmao, to get katsuki alone JUST LIKE THIS. katsuki knew he was caught bc every one his friends & colleagues are FUCKING TRAITORS.

"what," he snapped, clenching the hands at his side as he tried to keep his gaze from izuku's still very flat tummy. it's weird to think a life was quickly taking shape there when it's not like izuku looked any diff but he smiling more brightly & warmth coming from his person. was this what they call the pregnancy glow? bc deku was fucking blinding that katsuki wanted to shove his hand to deku's face to block it out.

"what you want," he demanded again even tho they both know why deku was here.

unperturbed, deku smiled. "im pregnant now so thank you. you'd helped fulfilled one of my biggest dreams & im ever so grateful for it!" he continued, rocking happily back & forth on his heels but the words barely registered katsuki kept staring at the way deku's body swing out & he opened his mouth before he could think better of it.

"should you be even moving liek that ?" he asked BC SINCE FINDING OUT IZUKU IS PREGNANT HE LOST HIS MIND. as soon as the words left his mouth he knew he was a dead man walking.

izuku leveled him a glare so fierce that he actually took a step back w/ chills running up his back. "kacchan i may be pregnant but im not an invalid," izuku said with the sharp edge of a smile and thinly veiled steel in his voice. the scariest part was that he hadn't drop a single smile but the ominous threas was there. "do you want me to show you how much of not invalid i am?"

katsuki scowled, face pinching at the thought whether this was just the usual deku's bs or this was deku's bs + the pregnancy hormones that get him so rile up. either way, katsuki no matter how much of an ass he was, he wasn't going to punch a pregnant omega to prove a point.

"fine, that was dumb sorry," he said, scratching the back of his ear in annoyance. "so was that all you wanted to say?"

deku's eyes crinkle in amusement as katsuki's scowl deepens. "yea, i just wanted you to hear the news from me personally and expressed my thanks."

"i'll take good care of them," he said softly, a stray hand caressing his stomach carefully. "I promise i'll be good to them so you dont have to worry."

katsuki paused and then, "I know," he said bc he does. deku was going to be a good parent w/o a doubt. That is a truth.

deku's eyes light up at katsuki's words and there was a hint of wetness in them that katsuki had the unnerving fear that he was going to cry right here and katsuki's entire agency going to charge out & murder him for making a pregnant omega, THE PREGNANT OMEGA DEKU cry in public.

"t-thank you," he sniffs, but THANKFULLY NO ACTUAL CRYING INVOLE, "it makes me so happy to hear that you in believe me. i won't fail you, i swear!" he said it like he was making a vow for world peace or some shit bc of how serious it had sounded but this was important to him.

"yea, okay," katsuki said, looking away bc got this entire conversation was agonizing bc here he was talking to the person, but not JUST ANY RANDOM PERSON, who is carrying a baby w/ half of katsuki's dna & they're not fucking each other. like,,, that's fucking weird okay.

"that's all i wanted to say," deku told him, fully aware how uncomfortable this talk was making him, "so I won't bother you anymore." he gave one last smile and turned to go but KATSUKI WHO SHOULD HAVE LET IT END THERE found himself opening his mouth and grabbing deku by the arm.

it was careful, a firm but gentle hand placed his forearm like deku was glass that stopped him for a moment. "if--if," katsuki said, swallowing around a stone in his throat, "you find yourself needing anything, call me ok? ANYTHING i dont care just call me and i'll be there."

a slow but the brightest fucking smile he had ever seen bloom on deku's flushed face. "ok, i'll let you know," he replied, bc this was KATSUKI PUTING HIMSELF OUT THERE AND WANTING TO GET INVOLVE IN IZUKU'S PREGNACY even tho deku had given him a clean break from it. HE CHOSE THIS.

katsuki doesn't know what he was thinking then but the words slipped passed his guard before he can stop it & now he fucking doomed himself, doom himself to 3am late night calls of deku crying in hysteric at his home bc he ran out of some rare hard to find fruit bc CRAVINGS. so now katsuki had to dragged himself all the way across town to hunt for this shit. the morning news of that day was hero ground zero harrassing shopkeeper in the FUCKING ASS'S OCLOCK FOR SOME FRUIT AND DEMANDING IT NOW FOR W/E REASON, WHILE LOOKING SO FURIOUS & UNHINGED.

look, it's not like deku doesn't have an entire network of ppl to reach out to if he ever needed anything bc they would even laid down their life for him but even when he's cursing a storm trying to get deku's his midnight craving, he's so relief it's him that deku called first. besides, he firmly knew wut he had signed up for the moment he had opened his mouth. offering is help in the pregnancy process was him choosing to get involve and commit to deku & his (god fucking damn shit, he can't think of it as *theirs* bc that's too dangerous) baby. and bc this is bakugou katsuki and he never does any by halves so even though he may have been reluctant at first but now that he's firmly on board he's going in full throttle w/ no break in sight. katsuki dumps all his $$ on pregnacy & prenatal care books.

he read papers, argued on pregnancy forum, & even harassed his parents on it just so he can come at this like a fucking boss bc while he has full faith in deku to put the safety of the fetus first but also HE DOESN'T FUCKING TRUST DEKU TO PUT HIMSELF FIRST which is just as import. deku has the self-preservation of a damn child & he can't expect a *child* to take care of himself so KATSUKI OBVIOUSLY GOT TO DO IT FOR HIM. so he make diet plans, prepare prep meals for deku ahead of them, annoyed deku's coworkers to watch out for him lest he does something stupid. he make it his firm mission that this pregnancy will go smoothly as possible so even when he's running errands for deku, getting his weird ass food craving, and taking deku to visit his ob-gyn, sitting in the waiting room anxiously for any news in case SOMETHING GO WRONG.

He even drives himself crazy learning about the things a pregnant person can't do/is at risk of doing & he doesn't know how anyone can fucking take this for 10 months bc it's like walking on a precarious tight rope. it's scary & humbling and he just want deku & the baby to be ok.

there are still crimes and villains to wrangle, and the world keeps on spinning; nothing really change all that much now that deku's pregnant but katsuki finds himself personally accolating his precious time and energy toward deku & the baby. he became one of those *PEOPLE*, ugh. he never got it even when his friends had popped out spawns of their own. he wasn't going to get dragged down by biology & all that general bullshit about settling down. he's at the top of his game & prize to take over deku's position as no.1. he got no time for playing family.

yet here he is standing in the middle of a fucking baby store, staring down a damn baby crib and having a melt down. who the fuck knew that baby cribs come in so many fucking versions and THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY OF THEM. he thought he had come prepare but no this was toughs shit. he only saw this store in passing while on a patrol & thought he should drop by but the next thing he knew he got trapped here for three fucking hours just looking at baby cribs. he already got several people walking passed him, eyeing him weirdly as he internally freak out.

there are ridiculous amount of info floating on the internet about crib buying guide like the bars could only be certain inches apart, non-toxic paints, diff kind of mattress, safe headboards, etc etc. all of that to ensure the baby doesn't fucking DIE bc babies are like FRAGILE.

he calls deku & as soon as he picks up, the first thing katsuki says is, "last year, there were 1,842 babies death due to sudden infant death syndrome."

a long pointed pause, and then, "oh geez," deku answers, "where are you? I'll be right there, okay? don't go anywhere!"

#bakudeku #not!fic #sperm donor au

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hey-hamlet · 4 years

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BNHA AU Ideas: Songbird, Part 2

Also on AO3!

Link to Part 1

TL;DR:

Izuku has a powerful quirk: he can give powers to the people around him based on the different songs he sings. Unfortunately, everyone else really wants that quirk and are willing to kidnap him to get it.

Songbirds sing even when the music stops.

Hello I’m redefining Izuku’s quirk for the sake of more dramatic powers: Most songs are general power-ups (everyone in auditory range), others are personal power-ups (only the person singing). Both only affect those who hear them, unless the effect is 100% intrinsic. Izuku uses a lot of general power-ups because he’s helpful like that. Each song can only be used once per day.

Examples: A song that creates a forcefield will only be a barrier to those who hear it, but a strength increase is a strength increase no matter which way you slice it.

anyway! day 1 of class is ok bc izuku and bakugo head to school together, and its honestly a miracle he didn't get kidnapped again

anyway, he meets iida and is fucking floored when he apologises for yelling at him. uraraka calls him the "boy with the singing quirk" and hes pretty happy. bakugo is grudgingly pleased izuku has friends and sits down, izuku following suit. shinsou is half asleep at his desk and seems to have been there the whole time

aizawa does his little spiel, quirk assessment happens yadda-yadda. izuku looks so chill on the outside but the kid is freaking the fuck out internally

he's coming second in the test, aizawa still erases his quirk, more of an example to the class because he assumed izuku wouldnt lose his shit. he didn't - at least externally

from this we also find out izuku has a kind of internal metronome because he suddenly has no internal 'beat' when his quirk is erased. his hearing gets substantially worse too.

which serves to freak him the fuck out because he feels off balance and like hes had cotton stuffed in his ears

anyway, yeets the ball, all is good, bakugo glares fucking daggers at aizawa for singling out izuku and izuku tries not to dissociate

battle trial is nothing special, but bakugo just fucking,,, turns his hearing aids off so izukus quirk doesnt work on him

its a blessing and a curse because it leaves izuku free to use most personal powerups, but honestly bakugo wants a nice fight more than he wants to win so thats fine with him

izuku wins, but only just, izuku gives uraraka a speed up through the comm link, iida who was Not ready for that, loses

USJ

Bakugo and Izuku sing Stronger than You and kick ass for a solid while before the song runs out and the nomu hits them into the lake. Izuku, with a broken leg and the beginnings of a concussion, has to drag a semi-conscious Bakugo to shore and let me tell you they both almost drown like 8 times. Izuku helps All Might by singing Anything (Hedly), which functions honestly like a big Ol’ Plus Ultra to anyone believing in what they are doing. (It starts working on Shigiraki after the Stain arc, but before then he was acting without purpose)

Sports festival!

All Might and Izuku are basically dad and son in this universe too, so, despite the dissimilar quirks, Todoroki still calls out Izuku to fight. Because Todoroki is the son of Endeavour and privy to a little more heroics insider info than he really should be, he also knows how often Izuku deals with villains. In an attempt to piss off the eternally nice and collected boy enough to give him a fight he can piss off Endeavour with, he calls him a damsel in distress.

Izuku is fuming and Bakugo has to basically hold onto his forearm to stop him from clocking Todoroki right in the jaw, but lord is Bakugo also pissed. Todoroki, for a second, realises he may have fucked up.

Todoroki wins the first event, Izuku is pretty middling. Like he's top 10? But he didn’t make a major impact. But the guy sees Monoma and gets an Idea

“HI SO – I know you hate class 1A, and really there is something to be said for the way our school is trying to pit 2 classes of children against each other like a bitter blood feud - BUT I have an idea that could be 100% ridiculous and if you want 1B to make an impact, please work with me. I need to shove something in Todoroki’s face.”

“… I’m listening.”

The general idea is Izuku’s songs have a different effect when sung in a duet, some are only practical in duet form: IE, stronger than you is a dodge boost alone, but in a duet is a massive power boost to the two singing it. So what if two people with Izuku’s quirk sung a duet? Chaos, probably.

Monoma agrees because one of the only things he likes more than 1 upping 1A is quirk based tomfoolery. The team ends up consisting of Izuku, Monoma, Kendo and Uraraka. Kendo and Uraraka, with the use of Uraraka’s quirk, carry both Izuku and Monoma – the better you sing, the better the quirk works.

Its lucky Monoma knows most of the songs Izuku brings up as ideas, and adds some suggestions of his own. If the other two know the song it's not a bad idea to join in, but its not the end of the world if they don’t.

The list of songs they have on standby and their effect when sung by two people with the Songbird Quirk

Two Player Game - Be More Chill: It forms both a connection between the people singing it, allowing them to anticipate the other's movements and creates a semi-translucent double of each singer that mimics their movements with a half second delay, aka: each punch you throw hits twice.

Family – Mother Mother: Creates a kinda forcefield that hovers just above the body. The stronger the bond between the singers, the stronger the shield – good thing Uraraka and Kendo know that one.

Hurry Hurry – Airtraffic Controllers: Slows down your perception of time, giving the appearance of superhuman reflexes. With the addition of a partner, it also grants superspeed.

We don’t get tired, we get even – Pat the Bunny: The more energy you’ve used up, the more energy you get back when singing this song + a proportional increase in general ability.

Doubt Comes In – Hadestown: Anyone who hears it quickly loses the ability to fight other people, including the singers.

The Greatest Show – The Greatest Showman: In addition to the normal effect of drawing attention to the point you can’t look away, singers get a ‘moon jump’ ability.

Turn the Lights Off – Tally Hall: Makes the area pitch black and gives the singers monstrous forms with plenty of claws and eyes.

How they use these is up to your imagination, but they end having taken the 10’000’000 point band from Todoroki. Bakugo, the only person with a decent understanding of Izuku’s quirk, just turned off his hearing aids and told his team to block their ears when weird shit started to happen. They came second, Todoroki third and Shinsou’s team fourth.

Uraraka gets to the second round bc Bakugo fights Monoma in the first round and jesus that fight is hilarious because its just Monoma – while using Bakugo’s quirk too – insisting that Izuku has abandoned class 1A for class 1B and Bakugo getting progressively more done with this boy’s shit.

Izuku and Bakugo + Todoroki and Iida are the semi finalists. Izuku and Bakugo are mostly just like “Thank fuck I’ve been talking to so many god damn weirdos today please can we just have a normal fight”. Izuku wins, j u u s t. (Izuku and Bakugo have a pretty 50/50 win loss ratio going on in this AU)

Todoroki vs Izuku is the final round of the whole thing, Todoroki told him about Endeavour, Izuku is pissed that no one looks at him and sees him, they only see his quirk (other than like, 6 people at this point). So he gets where Todoroki is coming from but holy shit hes doing literally just that. The main song Izuku uses for that round is Escapism – Steven Universe which makes him intangible (other than like his feet so he doesn’t go through the floor like Mirio). He’s trying to get the vibe across to Todoroki that he is free of his blood. He stops singing just to scream that at him, which is really what loses him the round. He's not intangible anymore, so he has no way to dodge the fire that comes at him. But he's pretty happy anyway.

Stain Arc!

Izuku’s hero name is Lyre!

Izuku doesn’t intern with Gran, but he does visit the guy with him. All Might hasn’t given his quirk to anyone else because the only suitable person he can see is Izuku, but Izuku basically can’t say no to him so he’s having a crisis. Izuku just thinks he’s there to visit All Mights old mentor and shoot the shit, which is really what they do.

Gran basically just ends up telling him “Kid aint a wallflower, he’ll tell you to fuck off if he doesn’t want it. All Might decides to ask Izuku about it after everything is over.

Izuku ends up interning with Endeavour, along with Todoroki. He never ended up yelling at endeavour, even though he hates the guy. Shouto encouraged him to take the offer bc, 1, Endeavour literally never gives out internship offers and 2, it’d be more fun because that way he doesn’t need to deal with his dad’s bullshit alone.

Endeavour is like “Oh it’s the kidnap kid, your quirk is neat.” And izuku is smiling through gritted teeth like “Th Anks SiRr”

So, starts pretty normal, then the winged Nomu steals Izuku right off the ground. Izuku just says “I’ll be fine! Just keep doing what you're doing, I’ll get myself down.” Endeavour just shrugs like “Ok, I give you permission to defend yourself.” While Todoroki is screaming internally because his new friend is literally being flown away

So the Nomu that was once a really good friend of Izuku’s (not that izuku is aware of that) literally just dumps him somewhere else and leaves. Izuku is confused, really confused, so he starts walking his way back to where he was before he hears a familiar voice.

Guess who it’s Iida, with a serial killer standing right over him. Izuku panics and goes straight into Turn the Lights Off. Without Monoma it only makes it dark, but it’ll have to do.

Thing is: he has a key problem. By virtue of the fact he’s singing, Stain can always hear him. Izuku’s only advantage is that he can see Stain but stain can’t see him, and the darkness means Stain moves more cautiously.

Anyway, in the artificial darkness, he can send a longer text anyway.

Midoriya [7:31PM] stain – [Location Pin Dropped]

So a lot of people, All Might and Aizawa included, f r e a k o u t. Todoroki goes running, Endeavour sends sidekicks with him because he saw his son, normally deadpan, almost chocking on panic as he mutters “Midoriya found Stain.”

Endeavour very much wants to also get Stain but the Nomu are Very Pressing Right Now, so there isn’t much he can do other than try and hurry the fuck up. Torino is kicking around because he could mostly, trying to get a glimpse of All Might’s kid in action, ends up having to kick villain ass. He's not that concerned until he remembers “OH SHIT TOSHI’S BOY”. When he finds Endeavour the man, a little panicked for Endeavour’s standards, yells at him to go to the address bc his son and intern are fighting the fucking hero killer.

Gran Doesn’t think he’s moved so fast since he kicked All for One in the face with Nana 25 odd years ago.

So Stain is kinda pissed bc suddenly he can’t see and someone is singing. He goes to stab Iida but,,, he ain't there anymore, and the singing is fading away. He figures “oh well, lemme get native” the singing changes to a different song. Very quickly he can see, but the singing boy, still singing is rocketing towards him and rapidly changing form.

Monster – dodie: Literally shifts Izuku into a monster. Stain suddenly realises that this is Songbird, talk of the underground, most wanted quirk by villains and quirk traffickers everywhere. This kid, target of villains everywhere, has put himself in their sights just to try and help people.

He thinks maybe Songbird might be one of the good ones.

Oh, an aside? People calling him Songbird sets off hella panic attacks because the only people who do that are people actively trying to kidnap him. And that’s what stain is calling him.

His monster form wavers and he tries to sing through tears and hitching breaths and Stain smiles because he's still curled around Native with his claws out.

Todoroki gets there first and helps defend Iida, Izuku is fighting to keep stain away from Native. The pros are on the way, Izuku is fading fast. Endeavour has been training them hard so he's exhausted and freaking the fuck out, while someone waves swords in his face.

Stain gets him, he loses the monster form. This doesn’t help Izuku’s panic, because now he can’t move and he’s felt this before along with grabbing hands, and dark vans and ropes around his wrists praying someone knew where he was going so someone might know to come for him when he doesn’t get home.

Todoroki sees that and he doesn’t know what to do. Izuku is panicking – the boy who seemed so put together and on top of things s falling apart at the seams. Iida feels horrible. He just wants to go to his friend he's never seen that distraught before.

Todoroki does the only thing he can think of. He sings.

He was never into music before, be after the sports festival he learnt Escapism -the song Izuku sang to him – and singing it back to him is the only thing he can think of doing.

It helps. It really helps, because if there was one thing that never happened when Izuku was taken – it was singing. He calms down just enough to breathe, which is all he needs to do.

The quirk wears off and Izuku throws himself at Stain, the words to Thunder by Imagine Dragons already pouring from his lips and electricity pouring from himself. If Stain touches him, he's toast, even if its via a sword. Izuku just has to avoid thrown weapons.

Izuku gets a hit, the quirk wears off Iida, who rushes in to stop Izuku from taking a throwing knife to the arm. The three of them knock out Stain just as the heroes skid into the alley. Izuku lets out a sob and crumples to the ground, Iida and Todoroki rushing over to him. They both honestly look like they’d bite anyone who got too close. Gran calls All Might who starts hightailing his way over there – Aizawa is also breaking a few traffic laws to reach his pack of injured kids.

They don’t get there in time. Shirigaki, furious that the hero killer went against him, orders Kurogiri to get Izuku. They take Iida and Todoroki for good measure. The heroes watch in horror as the children they were meant to protect vanish under their noses.

Headlines the next day: “UA sports festival finalists defeat Hero Killer – only to be taken by Villains seconds later.”

#bnha au #songbird au #midoriya izuku #Iida Tenya #todoroki shouto #All Might #hero killer stain #bakugou katsuki #aizawa shouta #gran torino

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kittyatsuki · 4 years

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Breathless || Mirio Togata X Yandere/Lamia reader

⚠Smutt/Lemon warning⚠

A/N: so I've never really used this site to post my fanfiction before, but all my other friends use it And I really need more platform's to post my stories on. I'm getting bored with wattpad. Anyways I know this story is way out there and all over the place, but I personally like how it came out. It's intense and I guess you could say kinky as hell, but I hope You Mirio lovers enjoy it anyway♡

Summary: Mirio togata, a student closer to becoming a pro hero than anyone at UA high, finds himself Going on an emotional rollar coaster when his frienship with you, A young lamia aspiring to be a hero just as he is; takes a turn for the worst.

You're a young lamia with raging hormones, and an overwhelming quirk, He's a Young adult with pretty big dreams

Mirio togata has bitten off more than he can chew with you, Whilst trying to decipher feelings for, he finds himself being put through quite alot.

There's a variety of different questions that go through young Mirio's mind at a time, but there's one in particular he finds himself asking Repetitively throughout his life.

Your quirk: Lamia

with snake like abilities; your aura scales can both disable quirks and lure men to your Beck-and-call, which can also be very useful when Digging underground tunnels to confuse Opponents, as well as constricting victims to the point of asphyxiation

Your POV

I missed school today for a reason. When My skin sheds like this, it usually signifies the fact that my hormones were Raging. And with this Overcomplicated crush I have on Mirio

my senpai.... I didn't know how else to deal with it aside from stay home.

To say he blew up my phone would be an understatement, he was Adgitated by the fact that I kept ignoring him. But I didn't want to allow myself to think about him, because with These uncontrollable hormones Flowing through my body, I might do something I'd regret.

But speaking of the devil, There was a light knock on the door to my dorm. After peeling the last piece of skin of my scales, In the steaming hot bath I had drawn for myself just an hour ago I meander towards the door anxiously coiling a towel around my body, my silky hair falling Behind me.

I yank the door open to find mirio standing there with a baffled expression. "(F/N)! Where were you?! I haven't-" he pauses mid sentence, looking me over Once more before blushing. "Y-You're in a towel! S-Sorry! I-I can come back later-"

"No! Nonononono, you're fine! You can come on in, let me just go throw something on." I flash a Bright smile, masking my racing Heartbeat by Scrambling to my room to find some clothes.

Slithering the way I do sometimes feels Like flying, the way I sore through the air and my Giant Scaled body both carrying my weight as well as following close behind. Once I threw a shirt on; not exactly caring much about wearing a bra, I rush back to greet my senpai.

I tried not making eye contact, his Beautiful body merely had me drooling, the tingling sensation in my stomach while staring into his fierce blue orbs. "U-Uhh as I was saying, since you missed out I brought you your homework-"

I could tell he felt the vibe in the room abruptly shift, my Entire body being unable to fit on the couch, my large scales Linger in the floor surrounding it. He could easily trip on my scaled body, but with my reflexes; I wouldn't let him fall.

"U-Uhh are you okay?" A bead of sweat trickles down his forehead. My stomach was in knots, I almost couldn't Respond. I felt my chest sink, "Y-Yeah...I-I'm fine, it's just U-Uhhh." I trailed off, a hunger inside me craving the man in front of me; the lust was murder on my nipples.

After a moment of dazing off; my mouth now evidently watering

I anxiously swollow, offering a fake smile. "I guess I'm just tired. I'll go brew up some tea in a moment." With that he beams a bright smile, "No need silly, you've already done so much for me. I'll go get it started." He rushes to his feet, oblivious to my scales coiling around the couch. Before I could stop Him, he steps on my tail.

I squeak, Tears brimming my eyes; crimson Red tinting my face. "O-Oh I-I'm so sorry!!" He turns to me, and bows over and over again apologetically. I could hardly respond, My mouth now practically overflows with saliva. By now I realised I'd bitten my lip till it bled. The metallic flavor lingers. I only wipe away the spit and blood smiling anxiously.

"I-it's fine senpai-" my voice cracks, I release a slight moan, before burying my face in the coach pillow, "b-but could you maybe get off?-" he anxiously scratches his head, his face heating up as well. "S-Sorry again..." He trails off.

Why did I call him senpai? To his face?!? I couldn't help but blush harder. He beams at me.

"S-Senpai? Haha, that's a new one I mean I'm used to togata senpai but-" "S-Sorry!!! I can stop if you want..." he shakes his head, "No, it's cute. I like it." He scratches his head anxiously, his smile never fading. My heart almost skipped a beat

My gaze lingers around him. His muscles, his build- His abs. They were so strong. His dreamy eyes melted my soul, I couldn't take it anymore. If I were to attack him, his quirk would obviously have no effect, considering The Desentegration aura my scales give off.

Him even being in this place made him vulnerable yet despite this he chose to come see me. I didn't know if he forgot about this or just Chose to come see me any way because he just Generally cares about me.

But thanks to my monsterous desire for his body, I was about to ruin everything. "(F-F/N) you've been really quiet. You're starting to worry me..." The blonde anxiously pried into my strange behaviour. Unfortunately for him, he was about to have A huge taste.

"It's nothing Mirio I-I just..." I trail off. I buried one of my hands in my lap, biting my lip. "L-Lets just get back to what we were doing. After all it's not everyday sir-nighteye gives you The afternoon Free to spend time with your friends."

"But you've been acting really...strange. your face keeps getting red every time you look at me-" he cups my cheek with his hand, it felt as though my heart dropped in my stomach. He gently wipes away a beed of blood from When I'd bitten my lip earlier.

"S-Senpai-" my heart rakes against my chest. A Deep moan threatens escape,

Suddenly something just overtook me. My body Moved before I knew what I was doing.

I mashed my lips against his, throwing his textbook into the floor, and coiling my tail around his wrists; penning them above his body, despite his overwhelming strength- me technically being part monster- I could easily over power him.

His face held a mixture of shock and Embarrassment. His pink cheeks only turned me on more, along with his anxious wide eyes.

I coil my body around his, giving him no chance to Wriggle free.

It didn't take more than a few seconds to have finally wrapped my body around his. After a while, he fought for air, and so I had to force myself back slightly, in hopes of keeping him alive.

"W-Woah (F-F/N)!! W-What are you doing?!" He struggles against my grip, my seemingly endless body only continues coiling around him tighter and tighter.

"W-Wait (F/N) Y-You're getting a little rough there, S-Slow down-" he starts laughing anxiously, which soon dispersed when my coils reached his lips, sealing off his mouth.

"I-I'm so sorry Senpai...I can't stop myself I-I don't know why I'm doing this." My breathes were shakey, and so were his, as I coress the sides of his head; which is basically the only thing you can see at this point since his body is completely wrapped in my scales.

His usual sparkling smile was replaced with horror, as I slammed my mouth right back into his, after removing the tip of my tail from his Mouth for the brief moment he takes to gasp for air.

He falls back onto the couch, which losens my grip slightly. He takes this chance to move but, he only quivers. "W-Why can't I use my quirk- (F-F/N) what did you do!?"

"Senpai, have you seriously forgotten? You can't permeate through my aura scales." I boop him on the nose, as if I were drunk off sheer sexual tension.

"There's too Much heat Coursing through them, It makes it impossible for anyone to escape, the only downside....I don't have pretty human legs. But who needs those!"

He manages to rush to the door, but my tail makes it in time to coil around his ankle. He falls to The floor.

"(F-F/N) l-let's talk about this! W-We hardly know each other! I-I mean shouldn't we wait-"

"-I've waited long enough for this." I interject, my lustful eyes Striking shock into his darting fearfull ones.

"(F/N) d-don't do this J-Just

T-Think about it first.."

"-Okay." I hault for a moment, tapping my chin curiously, as I gaze up at the flickering light.

I then breath a sigh, excitement evident in my expression.

"There I've thought about it, And my thoughts say, why not?"

pull him back towards me. This time I press his head against my chest; his face now burried in my huge boobs after I tore my shirt to pieces.

He struggles against me. His yelps are muffled by my breasts, yet I didn't give him any air until his face held a tint purple.

"(F-F/N)!!! (F/N) P-Please stop!!

S-Seriously!! I can't breath-" before he could keep begging, I slide my long tongue into his mouth, before completely sealing it shut with mine.

Mirio's POV

I couldn't believe what was happening. I've had a crush on

(F/N) since we'd first met, but this was taking it to far, and way too fast. There's a darkness in her eyes. She doesn't seem like herself.

How is She so strong?!

She won't let me breathe -

H ow can I get her to stop?!

S-She's gotta have some sort of weakness!!

I found myself robotically thrashing my body around. I needed air, but she just kept tightening her grip on me. Her kisses were each forced, and sloppy. I couldn't tell if my face was either drenched In sweat, or her saliva, but I didn't want to think about it.

Although I found it hard not to once I felt something cold and wet, worming its way through my ear.

Once I'm finally given the chance, I start yelling frantically At least trying to reason with her, but everything just came out As a plea.

"(F-F/N)!! W-We can't be doing this!! Y-You're not acting like yourself! I-I can help you if you'd just-" "I don't need help senpai~" She cooed into my ear. This Simple action sent chills down my spine.

"As much as I'd really like to enjoy something like this-" I Started, "I-I can tell there's something going on with you (F/N)! I-"

"If you know me so well, how come you haven't figured it out by now!" She yells, at me; pain evident in her glossed (e/c) orbs. "How can you be so clueless?! How can you not see that I'm in love with you senpai!!!"

I fearfully swollow back the lump in my throat, Gazing up at her shakily.

"I just want to be with you until the end of time, senpai!" Hopefully this doesn't last Any longer than it needs too.

"(F/N), we have classes tomorrow- W-We Have to Stop-"

Your POV

His muffled yells were drowned out by the sound Of my moaning.

Towards the end of our 'study session' I dragged him into my bed, My tail; completely coiled around him.

For a while he'd lie in silence, a sickened look on his face. Which eventually changed color when I nuzzled his Face back into my breasts. He clutched onto the mattress with his right hand; as if that would help in any way.

"(F-F-F/N) P-Please, I-I need Air!!!!" He struggles yet again,

"W-When did you get so strong?!" I don't respond. I felt myself slowly dozing off. "Y-You're Seriously falling asleep like this?!"

This makes me giggle, and kiss him on the cheek. "Why are you doing this?" He asks with glossed eyes. "I told you Senpai!" I retort with a scoff. "I'm in love with you."

"(F-F/N), I think you're having trouble understanding the differences between love and l-lust-" he breathes out shakily, I take in that statement, actually thinking it over.

"If you're asking about some hidden piece of myself that completely regrets this, I honestly wouldn't know if there was; especially on a day like this." He narrows his eyes.

"W-What do you mean??"

With that i sigh. "Honestly talking about this is, kind of embarrassing...but I'll only tell you senpai!" I press my lips Agsinst his neck, and with a huff I start talking. "While most teenaged girls Just hitting puberty usually have a specific time of the month they Get something called a period, young Lamia have a specific time of the month we shed our skin." I explain. Every words seems to sink into his mind, i found it cute when he Lost himself in his own thoughts like this.

"The Thing about us is, that well...We hold in our pheromones for about six months until they're released, like sort of an oily substance. And that substance makes young Lamia such as I go crazy, and the worst part is the fact that our scales are Alot more sensetive after the shedding. So even the smallest thing can set us off."

He seemed hesitent yet again. I only nuzzled into his chest, cooing slightly at his sexy jawline.

He continues struggling, but my Large Snake-body could hardly even fit in the bedroom so, there was definetely enough of me to keep him pinned down, even if I needed to go to the bathroom.

Dirty thoughts soon plague my mind.

I lost myself in my own sexual desires, as worry sinks into his glossed night-sky blue Orbs. "What's wrong Senpai??" I press, gazing up at him. "What's wrong?!" He retorts with an anxious yet semi- sarcastic expression.

"Well...usually If they stop moving I know they're dead and uhh. You stopped moving for a moment there so..I thought-" "-They?! W-What do you mean They!!??"

I sigh. "You know. The goldfish you keep buying me- I don't know how to take care of them so..." relief seemed to have sank in his veins. I tilt my head in curiosity, "What did you think I meant? Actual people?" I started giggling.

"Senpai, I only want you." I sit up, after playing with his beautiful, Oily Blond hair, with a smirk. "Why do you keep calling me that?" He Shoots me A wild expression.

"W-Well I don't know-" I blush,

"Wait a minute...You said You thought it was cute-" I puffed out my cheeks Pouting.

"-Well that was before You Forced me into doing..T-This!-" His breathes seemed to have hitched slightly. "-But where did you get it from?!...I've never heard you talk like this before.."

I exhale. "I heard Bakugou and Kisishima one night, on my way to my dorm and it just sort of stuck with me. Then jirou told me it sort of stood for crush-" I Start gushing, "and Boy have I had The biggest crush on you!-

I immidiately slap my hands over my mouth. "T-That just slipped I-I've never really said anything like that out loud before."

His gaze settles, he seemed confused and slightly Nervous. "You're literally On top of me, and you're worried about admitting You have a crush on me?" He immidiately blushes, the word rolling off his tongue, as if He'd said this more than once.

"Y-Yes!" I stammered anxiously,

"A-And I don't really know how I'm going to React to this situation a whole lot more differently tomorrow...since this might actually destroy our friendship..." I trail off. "So I have to savor this moment!!"

To be continued coz it won't let me keep going

#miriotogata #togatamirio #togatasenpai #poprocks #izukuxuraraka #bnha #bnhasmutt #femaledominance #yanderereader #miriotogataxyanderereader #Mirioxreader

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mysmashplaythroughs · 4 years

Text

Mario Playthrough

Fighter: Mario

Game: Super Mario 64 DS. Wii U virtual console (DS). First Released on November 21st 2004.

Fighter Bio.

Mario is a plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom. Over the years he has taken on many jobs and gone on many adventures, most often fighting Bowser and his minions who seek to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. This however, is very much an understatement of who Mario is, a character who not only represents Nintendo as a whole, but arguably gaming itself in a manner similar to how Mickey Mouse could be argued to represent western animation. There is only one other character I would argue possibly is iconic enough to represent gaming as a whole as much as Mario, who we will get to down the line, but unlike that character, Mario has been a consistent presence on the gaming landscape since his debut.

Mario started off as a carpenter called Jumpman who had to chase his escaped angry pet gorilla, a certain ape that we’ll get to later, up a construction site to rescue his then girlfriend Pauline from his clutches. Following this, Mario did many different jobs such as working on a demolitions crew, at a cement factory, as a soldier, as a golfer and then as a plumber. It was after this Mario would first appear in the world he’s now best known from, the Mushroom Kingdom. There’s no canon timeline or anything really with regards to this, in the past in some countries such as America, it was said that Mario and his brother Luigi travelled to the Mushroom Kingdom from Earth down a warp pipe, and with Super Mario Odyssey it seems to be implied recently that the earlier games in Mario’s life before Super Mario Bros might have taken place in New Donk City. Either way, in Super Mario Bros, Mario took down Bowser for the first time saving the Mushroom Kingdom and became its protector, a role he’s carried on to this day, fighting not just Bowser but a variety of different villains and groups over the years and travelling all around his world and beyond to other worlds. Mario’s best strength is that he is so adaptable, not being the strongest, the fastest or able to jump the highest, but still being capable in all those areas. Mario is often the most well-rounded character in every game he’s in, being a good character for beginners to use to learn how to play various games, but also still useable by those who are more experienced.

His personality, similar to other characters we’ll get to, has been purposefully left fairly bland in order for him to be able to fit into many different roles over the years. This does not mean he has none however and over the years he has been portrayed often as excitable, energetic and in some cases with a bit of an ego and over competitive element, a contrast to his brother Luigi who tends to be somewhat quieter and more nervous. Personally, I feel whilst Mario can be summed up as bland, he still is a fun character that deserves his place as the main mascot of Nintendo and due to his vast interesting history and countless great games, his place as a gaming icon.

Friends: Mario has had many friends over the years, the most immediately apparent being his brother Luigi and Princess Peach. Given how long Mario has been around and how many characters he’s teamed up with on various adventures, listing every single one would be a tough task, from the obvious ones such as Toad and Yoshi to the characters who appear more in group events such as Rosalina, Princess Daisy and Diddy Kong, to the more seldom seen such as Geno, Goombella, to finally the very obscure such as Wanda the fairy. There’s a reason he’s seen as the superstar of the Mushroom Kingdom beyond simply saving the world various times after all, Mario tends to be willing to help all sorts of people with all manner of small problems. As such even when he is in a place that’s unfamiliar with him, he manages to build a reputation fairly quickly.

Enemies/Rivals: Mario of course has also amassed many enemies and rivals through his willingness to always stand against those plotting to do wrong, from invading lands, stealing things to kidnapping people. It would take some time to go over every enemy Mario has ever made similarly to how many friends he’s made over the years, but the most obvious enemy of Mario’s is King Bowser Koopa who whilst not his oldest enemy (although, they did battle as babies long ago) is his longest running one. Bowser’s minions also share the sentiment in most cases, especially when it comes to his son Bowser Jr and the Koopalings who have assisted Bowser in his plans many times over the years coming into conflict with Mario numerous times. Bowser’s soldiers have less of a vendetta against Mario in most cases and are more seeking to see Bowser’s will is done. In some cases, they can be quite civil with Mario and in others they can be decidedly not. Some such as Piranha Plants often seem to simply be creatures who wish to devour whatever comes close, Mario often being in their path.

When it comes to rivals, Wario has always been more of an annoyance to Mario than a full-on enemy, often trying to one-up him at various sports and only in his debut appearance ever being anything like a true enemy to Mario, taking control of his Castle. Donkey Kong has a fairly complicated relationship with Mario, the original Donkey Kong that Mario fought in his very first game is now an older ape called Cranky Kong, and the current Donkey Kong is either the son or grandson of Cranky (it’s not very clear to anyone it seems). He had a somewhat more friendly relationship with Mario than Cranky, however his impulsiveness has brought them into conflict which led to the Mario vs Donkey Kong series. Even in that series however, when DK calms down, he often reconciles with Mario and the two have often helped each other out in various spinoff games. Diddy Kong has never had any conflict with Mario only really meeting with him in various sports games and other spinoffs, not helping Donkey Kong in his occasional feuds against Mario. There was one small case of another crossover with the two but I will detail that more in Diddy’s own entry down the line.

Crossovers with other Smash characters: Mario being as prolific as he is has crossed over with many other gaming characters outside of Smash Bros. For the sake of this not getting any longer, I will only detail cases where this has happened in games rather than cases such as Megaman appearing in German Club Nintendo comics alongside Mario, even though I do love that there are such obscure appearances. Down the line I might mention crossovers in animated series for other characters, but despite numerous tv series Mario never actually crossed over with other characters in animation (well, beyond an extremely obscure Mario and Kirby learning video which didn’t really cross them over so much as they both had segments on the same video) I also will only mention appearances in person rather than things such as costumes in Super Mario Maker (which would be practically every character in Smash) or Kirby having a poster in Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga.

Anyway, outside of characters from Mario’s own series such as Donkey Kong, Mario has met Samus and Link (A Link to the Past’s incarnation most likely) for brief cameos in Super Mario RPG. Mario appeared in Kirby Super Star in the audience for both the Megaton Punch minigame and Kirby’s Battle in the Boxing arena with King Dedede. This is a little bit of a cheat but it’s fairly notable, in Mario Kart 8 there was a Mii costume for Captain Falcon, along with the Blue Falcon as a kart and two F-Zero tracks. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there is also Link in both his Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild incarnations as well as both default Inklings, two human Animal Crossing Villagers and Isabelle who are playable. Mr Game & Watch is an interesting case as not only did he specifically cross over with Mario in the Game & Watch Gallery series, he technically has been Mario in the original Game & Watch versions of various games such as Mario’s Cement Factory. I will go more into this in Game & Watch’s post. Pit actually had a small cameo crossover with Mario and various other characters back on the NES in Tetris, where he would appear playing a harp alongside characters such as Mario, Samus, Link and Donkey Kong. Next up is probably the biggest crossover for Mario, his past rival from another console Sonic. Sonic and Mario, besides in Smash, only crossover in person in one series being the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series. Olimar brings up a somewhat sad example as the only cameo where he crossed over and met Mario is one that never happened. It was found in the files for Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga on GBA that Olimar, Toon Link, Wario, Fox McCloud, Samus Aran and an Excitebiker were originally planned to appear for short cameos giving Mario and Luigi various special items in the Starbean Café for blending new drinks alongside Professor E Gadd. E Gadd was the only one who appeared in the actual game. This would have been Olimar and Toon Link’s only direct crossover with Mario. Little Mac and Mario had quite a big crossover, as Mario was the referee for Little Mac’s matches in the NES version of Punch-out. He also appeared in the audience to watch the boxer in the arcade versions of Punch-Out. Pac-Man has crossed over with Mario in the arcade Mario Kart GP series which really feels more of a crossover than specifically a Mario Kart game. Whilst Mario has never directly crossed over with any of the Hero characters from Dragon Quest, many of the Fortune Street games have featured crossovers with the Dragon Quest and Mario series, with many other Dragon Quest characters interacting with Mario. Whilst Banjo had many links to Donkey Kong, he did not have any official crossover with Mario, although interestingly if you over analyse the Mario franchise as I do, an argument could be made that Banjo is technically part of it, still I’ll leave that for when we get to the Bear and Bird’s own post.

As you can tell, Mario has crossed over with a lot of franchises over the years. I doubt any other character coming up will have as many examples as this, so hopefully there shouldn’t be as much to say. I think now it’s time to move onto the main event.

Why this game?

Super Mario 64 is the definitive 3D Mario title. Does that mean I think it’s the best 3D Mario title? Personally, I don’t think it’s the best of all of them, but I do still feel that doesn’t mean it can’t be the definitive one, similar to how I would rank Super Mario Bros 3 as the definitive 2D Mario game. Super Mario 64 defined many of the staples for Mario going forward as well as 3D platformers in general, with large 3D worlds to explore, a hub world leading to the various levels, and many other features which were fairly new at the time, even if perhaps it wasn’t the first to do many of them, it was the game that popularised them. Every other 3D Mario game that would come later would aim to have a specific “gimmick” (I dislike that term but it’s the best I can think of currently) to set it apart, Sunshine had F.L.U.D.D. the Galaxy games had the gravity system, 3D Land and World tried more to directly translate the gameplay of 2D Mario games to 3D and Odyssey had its capture mechanic along with other things. This leaves Mario 64 as the Mario game that was more straightforward in being about Mario in 3D. This, alongside a lot of other things I will detail in the later section regarding specific aspects of the game relating to Smash, is why I chose to play this game to represent Mario. You have likely noticed at this point I have repeatedly talked about Super Mario 64, not Super Mario 64 DS.

Super Mario 64 DS was a launch game with the new DS system, and in order to show off the capabilities of the DS to handle 3D games, I assume Nintendo again wanted to use Super Mario 64 similar to how they used it originally to demonstrate the abilities of the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 DS in my opinion is a great game, however it does not replace the original. It changed a lot of the models updating them to closer resemble the artwork for the Mario series at the time, closer reflecting all sorts of characters looks. The game also featured three other playable characters, Yoshi, Wario and Luigi. I will not go too into detail regarding these characters as they will have their own posts later and this is mostly meant to be Mario’s entry.

The controls however were the most often cited issue with the game. The DS did not have a control stick, and as such there were two main options to play the game, the first being to use the Dpad to move around. Due to the lack of a control stick to pick up on the sensitivity with which players wished to move their characters, the game instead had it so you had to hold the Y button to run and would just walk quickly otherwise, something which was often not seen to be as satisfying as the original controls for the N64 version. The second option which was more popular than the Dpad was using a thumb strap on the touch screen to recreate the controls of a joystick, I believe this is used in some phone games. (I admit I’m not that familiar with mobile phone platformers that use these controls) The issue with this however is unlike a joystick there’s not a physical object you can feel and get feedback from, so it can be hard to control as precisely as when using one. With the 3DS having the circle pad, and the Wii U virtual console having a control stick, I feel that playing Mario 64 DS on these systems is a big improvement over the originals and that is why I wanted to play through that version of the game for this. With that said, you still have to hold the Y button to run on these systems, which is still an issue people have with the game.

My past with this game.

It’s probably a thing that’s been repeated countless times by others, but when I first played Super Mario 64 as a kid and was in Peach’s Castle grounds, it truly felt like the largest area I had ever seen in a videogame. Running around the grass I thought I’d get lost. It’s bizarre now as even back then after a couple of days of playing I was more aware of the actual size of the garden, but that first time playing was just an experience which I will never have again I think, which is fine as I don’t need to, it was amazing to be able to experience something like that for the first time rather than growing up with it being the norm for games. The rest of the game was a truly incredible experience, exploring the castle, entering the paintings, exploring areas such as Bob-omb battlefield, taking on the King Bob-omb on the summit, taking on Bowser for the first time, it’s something no other game will be able to match in some ways. The greatest strength for Mario 64 however is that even to this day it is still a very enjoyable game to go back to. It’s not a hard game (although not without its challenge, especially when playing it for the first time) but it’s still got a lot of content in it, to the point I’d say it’s one of those games that’s perfect to just play through to 100 percent completion from time to time.

The game also due to its more simplistic style to many other later games has always had a bit of a mysterious air to it. I remember as a child often being a little creeped out in Peach’s Castle as it felt so empty that I could believe Bowser was constantly watching me. There were also plenty of rumours surrounding the game, one of the biggest of which was the absence of Luigi, with various fake ways to ‘unlock Luigi’ floating around the playground and even in some cases done as a joke in gaming magazines, which back then were the main way I would get my gaming info. Beyond this legacy, if you frequent youtube a lot you’ve likely seen just how many speedruns and intense analyses of this game there are, finding all sorts of tricks and secrets, ways to do all sorts of incredible things in the game. Even if I again might personally prefer some of the other 3D Mario games, this game is still an absolutely important and amazing game that deserves the place it often finds on people’s greatest games of all-time lists.

When it comes to Super Mario 64 DS and my personal history with it, I remember being extremely excited for this game. The initial trailers made it seem like the game would let you play through the game in a co-operative multiplayer, which sadly it seems didn’t pan out, but I was still very much excited to play through the game I loved with characters who weren’t in the original, the biggest to me being Luigi who’s absence from the original game led to all sorts of urban legends regarding how to unlock him. When I got the game, I loved it. Now, as we go through these posts, you will all probably come to realise I am notoriously easy to please, to the point it’s fairly rare that I will full on hate a game, therefore whilst I definitely got where people were coming from with the controls, personally I still really enjoyed the game and found I could adapt to the controls to the point they were mostly not a problem to me. As I’ve said before, I do not feel this remake replaces the original game and I still feel there is plenty of reason to go back to the original version again. I personally feel Super Mario 64 DS has its own good points, with a lot of new content, models changed to fit better with the general look the series has nowadays and the additional three characters being some examples. Whilst I wouldn’t rank it as highly as the original game, I still really enjoyed it and was excited to see it come to Wii U virtual console, meaning I can play it on the big screen for the first time. It’s a shame the graphics for DS games don’t look too great on a tv screen, but beyond that I’d say either the Wii U VC version or playing the DS game on 3DS are the best ways to play it.

My Smash Playthrough.

So, returning to this game again how did it go? Well, one of the key aspects of this specific playthrough, is it was the start of this whole project I’d set myself on. As such, it was the game where my initial false start took place. It’s hard to remember now as I believe I beat the game in 2017, but I had started it and my list much earlier, possibly in 2016. It’s interesting as this began some time after Corrin and Bayonetta finished off Smash 4’s DLC but before Ultimate was revealed, although I believe it was somewhat known at the time there would be a Smash Brothers game on Switch, just not officially at this point. Also 2017 brought something else with it which motivated me, the closing of Miiverse. Due to this, I realised if I didn’t get a move on, I would miss out on using it to get screenshots as I had hoped to do, many of which I am using in this specific post you’re reading. With this motivation I decided it was time to truly commit to this goal I had and in order to do it properly from what I remember, I restarted Super Mario 64 DS from scratch rather than continue my original run.

It’s hard to bring up things specific to my playthrough seeing as it was a few years ago now, however I am able to remember some aspects of that playthrough. It was my first time playing through the game on Wii U to 100% completion as I had wanted to save doing so for when I really wanted to go through with this project. As said before, this made two things apparent, firstly that 3D DS games don’t look good blown up on a bigger screen, secondly with the screen a bigger size to what it would have been on the DS, it made differences between the control in the N64 game and DS game clearer, sometimes being somewhat harder to make precise moves. This could make some of the tougher challenges a bit more irritating in some cases, but I still mostly had a lot of fun replaying the game, which was part of the reason I decided I wanted to 100% the game even though that was and is not my plan for every game.

I haven’t played through Super Mario 64 from start to finish many times, but I have returned to my completed files on the game many times before. So seeing the various small events again when playing from the start always gave me a nice nostalgic feeling, such as Bowser’s laugh when you arrive in the castle for the first time, and having the power of the stars you’ve found unlock each door for the first time. The levels were as fun to go through as always, from the simple ones like Bob-omb Battlefield to later stages such as Tall Tall Mountain. Regarding the most difficult stages, I’d say Tick Tock Clock didn’t give me as much trouble as I expected and that the stage I had the biggest issue with was Hazy Maze Cave. I believe even now I remember having gotten roughly 99 coins a couple of times just to get killed there and have to start again from scratch. Notable standouts in that level that stick in my mind are the poisonous gas in the cave as well as the arrow platforms that you had to use to find the red coins, which I remember having a fair bit of trouble with. On this note, the 100-coin stars were as always some of the most irritating ones as nothing in the game is worse than reaching around 90 coins and making a mistake getting killed meaning I have to start from scratch.

The bosses were fairly fun although in a lot of cases fairly simplistic. This is a strength with the DS remake I would say as it added some content including new bosses in new stages which were how you unlock the other playable characters. Of these new bosses, Goomboss is probably my favourite as it was so unexpected (and still is) seeing anything from Paper Mario make its way into another game in the Mario series, the Goomboss being clearly inspired by the Goomba King from the very first Paper Mario game. The star of the show when it comes to iconic bosses in Super Mario 64 however has to be Bowser, with this being definitely one of the top Bowser boss battles in the series. All three boss fights with him are fun, but the music and atmosphere in the final battle make him amongst my favourite Final Bosses in gaming. One of my favourite aspects is that you actually fight Bowser rather than having to trick him into breaking the floor under him, or hitting a switch to drop him off a bridge, with you grabbing him and swinging him by the tail. Whilst the model used for Bowser here looks very nice and definitely matches his more standard appearance, I’ll admit the original N64 model probably looked more intimidating, despite its obvious simplicity.

Then we get to the ending of the game, probably one of my favourite game endings of all time, from Mario (or in the remake Yoshi) looking up into the sky before heading in for the celebrations, the music to the shots of every stage you’ve been through it’s the perfect send off to the adventure and to this day still leaves me with a happy if somewhat melancholy feeling. (which is something I always feel with endings, even if obviously this was far from the end of the Mario series by any stretch of the imagination.) Ending on the final shot of the cake and Mario thanking you for playing his game. Overall this was a fantastic game to start off with and definitely eased me in for what was to come.

Specific aspects about the game relating to Mario in Smash.

Now, this section is where I would mostly go over specific equipment, setups and character choices I made based on the way Super Smash Brothers portrays the character, however in this case Mario doesn’t really get any equipment in the game, with the closest thing to it being he can lose his hat, which obviously I made sure to keep hold of through the game. What exactly does Mario take from this game then? Well, a lot. Most of Mario’s basic attacks, movements and jumps in Super Smash Bros are based on his moves in this game, with specific examples being his standard punch, his punch punch kick combo, jump kick attack, sweep kick, slide kick, and various jumps. What’s interesting is that Mario would never use the majority of these moves in later games, instead relying more on jumping and a straight forward spin attack in most cases. One final inspiration in his moveset that Mario took from this game is from the boss fights with Bowser where Mario will grab him by his tail, swing him around in circles before letting go flinging Bowser forward, a move that Mario uses in some of his throws in the Super Smash Bros series. Finally Mario’s entrance in Smash Bros mirrors his appearance at the beginning of this game, with a pipe appearing from the ground, Mario jumping out and the pipe then descending again. In future I will not tend to go into details on the origin of the majority of a character’s moves, but this is a special case as so much from this game specifically became part of Mario’s overall moveset and there wasn’t really ‘equipment’ to go over for him this time.

Credits.

For information on this game including dates of releases I must give credit to Super Mario Wiki.

The screenshots in this post are taken by me using Miiverse before it shut down.

#Super Smash Bros Ultimate #Super Mario 64 DS #Mario #Nintendo DS #Nintendo 3DS #Nintendo Wii U #My Smash Playthrough #My Smash Playthroughs

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idontneednofuckinhug · 4 years

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My top 20 albums of 2019

As 2019 is in its final month, we're not only about to experience the end of the year, but also the end of a decade filled with amazing music, ground-breaking albums and self-made musical geniuses. We've had some fantastic years, such as 2012, 2014 and 2016 for album releases and this year definitely rivals all of those beforementioned with the quality and quantity of records we had. There was such a great quantity of amazing albums this year that I had to change my original plans of a top 15 list and move it up to a top 20 list, just due to the saturation of projects. Before starting off the list, I'd like to give my honourable mentions to some great albums which would've made the list in quite a few other years: Charli XCX - Charli; clipping. - There Existed an Addiction to Blood; Charles Irwin - Singles (308). I'd strongly advise to check these out as well as the ones I'm about to list off and with that said, let's get going!

20. Solange - When I get Home A project showing her versality, with music ranging from smooth jazz and blues-inspired vibes to Gucci Mane and Playboi Carti features, Solange once again showed a fantastic ear for production and how amazing her voice really is, without putting it in your face and demanding your attention. Instead the album is like a long, carefree day in mid-April, with Solange's voice giving you an amazing vocal experience.

19. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places Ranking much lower than last year, the underground New-York genius of Billy Woods once again showcases his amazing talent for rough and grimy delivery combined with industrial, eerie production. The project is very personal for Billy, as he gets very real about his fears and anxieties and even takes a spin for the existential as the talented lyricist raps about his mortality, creating a very unsettling and uncomfortable listen, nonetheless keeping you entertained for the whole duration of the album.

18. Blood Orange - Angel's Pulse A much shorter project this year than last year's Negro Swan, Devonte released a very raw mixtape, presented as a radio-cut, with sudden transitions and unexpected topic changes. The tape is presented with very groovy production, creating the feeling of a warm summer day, but Blood Orange does keep close to discussing personal topics about his anxieties, insecurities and political worries.

17.Injury Reserve - Self-Titled Definitely not Injury Reserve's first project, but their official studio-album debut, it really lets the odd trio's strengths shine, with its chaotic production, personal bars and focus on making it out of the regular 9-5 life. Full off innovative ideas, such as the song "Rap Song Tutorial" which is true to its name, the album also includes fantastic features such as Rico Nasty, Jpegmafia and Freddie Gibbs, with its main strength being the difficulties of keeping the balance between being a rapper and a regular person.

16. EARTHGANG - Mirrorland The Atlanta duo's debut-album, Mirrorland is very witty and cheerful, capturing the story of Doctur Dot and Johnny Venus's come up in the ATL. Full of quirky and whimsical ideas, the record really does remind listeners of Atlanta's OutKast, with EARTHGANG's very own personality and spin to it, with very playful bars and captivating singing, beats with multi-cultural inspirations, such as on "Tequila" and banging trap production, the album is a fantastic mirror to the duo's potential.

15. Ariana Grande - thank u, next Carried by the freedom and carelessness of Ariana's voice, thank u, next is an album inspired by her romantic experiences through her life, addressing Mac Miller, Pete Davidson and her need for sexual freedom. The project explores the insecurities she has experienced with herself and acts as an assertion of Grande's confidence in herself as a woman, creating a huge emotional range during the 12 tracks.

14. KAYTRANADA - BUBBA A return to form for KAYTRANADA after a 3 year hiatus, this was an amazing funky and playful R&B project, blessed with fantastic features. The record really does just make you want to dance along and move to the groove, with its defining feature being each song's simplicity, letting the right elements to shine - like in 10% with Kali Uchis with the sexiness of her voice. Don't let the simplicity of the sound fool you, as BUBBA is full of complex production and small elements and samples that you might miss on the very first listen.

13. YBN Cordae - The Lost Boy Another studio-album debut, YBN Cordae really shows an amazing knack for sticky bars and storytelling, backed by the fantastic production of of a team overseen by J. Cole and feature assassins such as Pusha-T and Anderson. Paak. Although occassionally a bit too corny, the project paints a fantastic picture of his persona and puts the light on a young talent, emerging in the mainstream.

12. Ari Lennox - Shea Butter Baby One of the best neo-soul projects in the past few years, Shea Butter Baby really wraps around you with its warmth and nostalgia and brings back fond memories of kicking it back on a couch with your friends. Full of amazing jazz and funk samples, the slow pace and easygoing melodies really put you in a carefree state of mind and create a chilled out vibe.

11. Flying Lotus - FLAMAGRA This might be a difficult album for some, but FlyLo once again shows an amazing talent for creating songs from scratch, with a very psychedelic jazz-funk vibe. Each song telling its own story, with the feeling that each second of the album matters, FLAMAGRA's biggest strength is its spiritual element, giving off an energy that touches your soul, if you grasp deep enough within yourself to feel it.

10. Jpegmafia - All My Heroes are Cornballs Much tamer than last year's Veteran, Jpegmafia's last album has a very experimental R&B feel to it, but that does not mean that it doesn't sound like pure musical chaos. Showing a surprising vocal versatility, Peggy raps, sings and screams, keeping true to his "Fuck PC Culture" bars and nasty punchlines. Each song has a very manic and wild energy to it, with the album sounding like structured anarchy.

9. Free Nationals - Self-Titled A modern take on classic soul and jazz, Anderson. Paak's Free Nationals crafted a very sexy, intensive album, that gives a feel that there's no hurry for anywhere and everything will happen in due course. The sensual record can easily be described as baby-making music and has handpicked seductive features like Kali Uchis, Daniel Caesar and Syd to underline that vibe.

8. Anderson. Paak - Ventura Very much a modern take on a soul record, Anderson. Paak really creates a feel of time-stopping whilst listening to the project's songs. Paak wearing his influences on his sleeve on this one, you can really feel the vibrant melodies and groovy emotions, with the amazing funkiness of Ventura also having a very sensual feel to it, thanks to the thoughtfully picked out features and background vocals.

7. Mereba - The Jungle is the Only Way Out An album that I believe didn't get enough attention, Mereba's latest release is a very conscious R&B project, full of beautiful darkly-toned synths and very slow and jammy folk. The topics range from facing your vices, to the overwhelming emotions of seeing your lover and the self-realization that people's opinion ain't shit. Her voice is absolutely stunning and authentic, with it giving off the feel of her being uncertain and lost with each song.

6. Denzel Curry - ZUU Denzel never misses and this is fact once again - releasing his most dynamic record to date, Zuu goes back to Zel's roots of South Florida. In it he reminisces about his come-up and relationships with his family and friends and the project stays true to its nature with the features being only rappers from the area. Although very party-focused, ZUU has a wide range of songs, with boom-bap, trap, soundcloud rap and even having slower, more introspective jams to it.

5. Rapsody - Eve Eve is a love letter, celebrating the success of the black woman. Rapsody absolutely peaks her musical versatility and rapping potential, crafting an amazing classic hip-hop album, full of creative bars, alluring samples and a very socially engaged range of topics. The record's strengths create a vivid picture of why successful women need to be appreciated and cannot be given enough credit in its impact for the female side of hip-hop culture.

4. slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain A very heavily punk-inspired record, Tyler clashes with the UK's upper class in this project, exploring the difficulties of the everyday life in the UK's working class with cynical and sarcastic bars, full of energetic and grimey production. The topics in the cleverly titled record go into detail about the class bracket gap, widening poverty, political uncertainities and the average briton's arrogance. The album is full of witty jokes and very direct humor and thai does very well to paint the picture of a realistic Great Britain.

3. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana Arguably one of the best produced albums of all time, Madlib and Gibbs really pull eachother deep in their worlds and crafted a geniusly produced project. Celebrating black freedom, the record shines on Freddie's talent for grimey and nimble rapping, with him changing cadence again and again, whilst Madlib's gift for erratic production and turning classic jazz and funk songs into off the wall earworms and samples turns this into a spiritual experience.

2. Little Simz - GREY AREA I'm kind of pissed off I put this at number two, just due to how good it is. Simz's coming of age album is a wicked, erratic record full of witty bars, discussion of social themes and goes between grimey, rough production and introspective, jazzy vibes, making for great entertainment. The record is a very open window to her life and the difficulties she's had as a woman and is crafted in such a masterful way, that even if you're not catching the lyrics, you'll feel the album's emotions just by listening to the production.

1. Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿ This project finishes a cycle of Danny for me personally - starting off with his rockstar, crackhead phase with XXX and the consequences of his drug-induced party life in Atrocity Exhibition, his latest project is the maturest face of Danny we've ever seen. Overseen by Q-Tip as an executive producer, uknowhatimsayin¿ is very free-flowing compared to his previous records, topped off with irregular beats and unnerving samples, keeping true to Danny Brown's personality. The project is the culmination of his rap career, as he addresses the need he had to get his life together,get out of the rut he was in and grow up. He uses his cadence and snapiness to make the point of him being grown up, but still being the dude who can do what the fuck he wants.

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arisalty · 5 years

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i’ve been here the whole time singing you a song

This one-shot was made for @notveryglittery , whose birthday is today, so Happy Birthday!

Tbh I planned the basic outline and wasn't even going to introduce quite a few characters but I did and I went with it - I hope yall like it :) As this is my first time writing Royality, any constructive criticism is accepted!

lowkey want to plan something else for this now but also don't want to set another target just yet as im a bit busy and dont wanna overload myself :/ yikes oh well

Dani, Happy Birthday! Enjoy this Royality!

AO3

Word count:

Roman had noticed a few things lately. One at the forefront of his mind was that Patton Heart was really fucking adorable.

Of course, nobody could know of this. If anyone of his friends found out he would be screwed.

Yes, his whole friend group were gay (or ace, or bi, or pan or nonbinary) disasters, but they were also incredibly good wing-people, with a high rate of getting two people dating -- and Roman didn’t want to ruin the naturalness of their friendship.

And worse he couldn’t let anyone know that The Emperor had a crush. And by extension, that meant that he couldn’t allow his crime-fighting partner (and asshat of an older brother) to find out; Virgil’s tongue was always looser when donned with the costume of Poison Shadow. And the city would be in an uproar of the thought of The Emperor liking someone romantically- and if it ever got out who it was, it would put Patton in serious danger.

But Roman couldn’t help but notice the little smiles Patton gets when talking about some of the animals in the shelter he volunteered at, or the ways his eyes light up when he gushed about the heroes of the city.

The way his open gaze instilled a feeling of trust.

And dear lord it was not helping the gay mess that was Roman Kingston.

“Alright, shithead, what’s up with you?”

“I tell you and I’m doomed you insolent sloth.” The owner of the monotonous voice shot a glance at the prying sibling.

“Right. That’s really fucking useful to know.” Dripping sarcasm; the asshat was not only prying but also getting annoyed now! Yay!

“Oh, piss off. Let me be a disaster in peace.”

The elder stood, shaking his head, before walking to the other edge of the rooftop they were perched on.

“Hurry up! Today is a sparring day.” Virgil, seeing Roman making no attempt to move, pushed forward with his mind, pushing the darkest shadows up until they were able to slap Roman across the face. “Come on, idiot. The night isn’t gonna last forever!”

Grumbling, the man in his late teens stood from his position on the edge of the rooftop, reluctantly turning at the end of the roof, with sarcastic jazz hands at his sides.

And just like that, they were sparring. Virgil completely flattened The Emperor in 3 separate rounds before some sense seemed to be knocked into the dramatic hero’s head. The furious flashes of light and dark clashed throughout the area, silent except the heavy breathing of the men, and the jibes thrown between the space between them.

It was another while before they were tired, as their sparring took place at least twice a week- they needed to stay in shape even over their sports and workouts.

Roman sat on the edge of the rooftop next to his brother, slowly regaining his breath.

When the villain attacked, it was not appreciated by the two teens. They were tired and generally unwilling to have to use their already exhausted powers. Their fighting was lacklustre and they took any moment they could to stop and perch off railings or on rooftops.

Flashes of light across the night were brief but would warp the situation, allowing shadows, viscous as ink moved away in slow patterns, stalking the villain until finding it’s perfect time to strike, pushing the villain backwards, dragging them forwards then dropping them off the edge of the building.

Yet the villain didn’t waver in power. At a mere flick of fingers, the Emperor fell backwards, barely left any time to make a platform for him to stagger onto.

How were they going to get this person then?

“What does your immoral soul bother us with, foul villain?”

“Oh, nothing really. I was just bored, so I decided to mess around with these powers I earnt the other day.”

The pale blue light of the moon offset by the warmer glow from the Emperor's hand gave enough light to see fangs flash under the mask that covered the upper half of their face.

“Why set about destroying the city, fuckwad? Why not just, I don’t know, sleep, like a normal person?”

“Ew, no, sleep? That drains me more. Plus, don’t we all need to have a little bit of chaos in our lives?”

Roman could feel the eyes rolling in his elder’s head.

“What the fuck about us two says put together, dipshit? We’re fucking disasters!”

“My fair partner has a valid point. We are fucking disasters ,” Roman eyed the inky lattice forming under the villain's feet for a second before he continued. “We’re both messes of human beings in general- have you seen his room, it's an atrocity - and my room has far too much stuff that I am far too attached to get rid of. Then there's the point that we’re both doing this along with studying for school which in itself drains your energy and the final point is, well,”—the smirk thrown his way by Poison Shadow was all he needed—”We really aren’t all that dumb.”

Poison Shadow ripped his fist upwards, the shadowed lattice folding and bending around the villain, as the Emperor reached out and began to set the still fluid shadows. The cage kept the villain in, and finally, the villain showed some kind of emotion; fear radiated from their composure; arms wrapped around their torso, fist fiddling with their cloak edge, shoulders up to their ears.

Roman pitied the now much smaller opponent. Ego and expectations of power high in their mind with newfound strength ruled their minds. The Emperor turned away, patting Poison Shadow on the back as went after he silently checked his brother was okay with dealing with him.

As he crossed the bridged gap between buildings, he heard his brother’s cry, and then he felt himself flying backwards over buildings, body limp as a rag doll as his brain tried to comprehend which was up or down or the sky or ground. Once he finally stopped moving, he found himself winded and bruised and somehow not broken- though he felt it- on a balcony. With a very familiar curious face peering down at him.

Patton. Fucking. Heart.

It was his luck, wasn’t it? He’d get thrown about like an unused toy to be left in his worst state on the balcony of one of his favourite people in the world.

“Oh my goodness, are you all right? Is anything broken? Do you need some water, food, comfort?” The stream of babble poured from Patton, his pale blue eyes wide with worry, both searching his body to analyse for damage and keeping eye contact to calm the disorientated hero.

Thank goodness these powers strengthen my bones and skin.

“Uhm… I think… I’ll be,” The Emperor was interrupted by a fit of coughing, which he dealt with but rolling onto his front and slowly making his way to his knees. “Actually, could I, uh, have a glass of water.”

Patton nodded earnestly, and even through the lingering dizziness pounding in his mind, Roman could make out the curls of Patton’s hair reflecting the cool blue of the moon. The smaller figure retreated into the building, just as Roman felt a buzz in his pocket.

Pulling out the smartphone, he huffed at the once again smashed screen to read the text he received.

Very Early Womb-mate - 11:35

-- sorry dude didnt see that coming

-- dick had us fooled into thinkin he was subdued

--you went flying tho, it was kinda hilarious

-- i got it handled, he’s trapped until police arrive

Me - 11:38

--oh ok

Very Early Womb-mate - 11:39

-- u ok? Or do i need to pick u up

Me - 11:40

-- nah it’s cool i landed on a classmates balcony, just a bit dizzy

Very Early Womb-mate - 11:40

-- cool, dickwad, dont reveal anything

Me - 11:40

-- bold of you to assume i would

-- k byeeee xxx :)))))

Very Early Womb-mate - 11:41

-- :/

Patton returned, carrying the glass.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back, my parents were wondering what happened and I figured you didn't want to be crowded so I just made up a lie and then they got me to do a quick job and uh— here.”

Roman took the drink, downing as much of it as he could, before stopping to try and stand.

“Tough villain, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess. I was knocked back ‘cos I was caught off guard. I thought Poison had got them - he was inside a huge cage, you see - so when he lashed out again after being subdued it surprised us.”

Roman looked over the city wistfully. The sky was clear and the air was fresh, with little to no breeze. Roman took this time to notice that Patton was wearing only his pyjamas and a zip hoodie thrown over the top.

“Do you need to help Poison Shadow then? It looked like you were thrown far.”

“Nah, Patton, he sent a few texts to say he handled it.”

Patton nodded in understanding, before cocking his head sideways.

“Wait, you know me?”

Shit.

Roman ran through his words and cursed at his loose mouth.

“Uh, oh yeah,” Roman coughed out, scratching at his neck, unconsciously picking at the skin. “You, uh, go to the same school as me. We’re in the same year, actually.”

You’re oversharing! The voice of his brother rang out in his head.

“Wait, really?”

God, Roman absolutely adored the way Patton’s eyes lit up, the tiny specks of green almost glowing in the natural light around them. Anything else and Roman might actually die on the spot. He just thanked his younger-little-dramatic-shit self and wanted to hide his and Virge’s faces from the world - at least Patton wouldn't be able to see his glowing red face.

“That’s so cool! I could tell you were a teen, I didn’t realise you were like, that close to me!” Patton waved his hands about excitedly, and that’s it. Roman felt like he was melting into a puddle. His friend was so cute, and he just wanted to hold Patton to his chest and treasure him and spoil him with cakes and serenades and movie nights.

Roman somehow managed to keep talking for a while, but he was going to go insane soon. He just wanted to give Patton a hug, goddamnit !

They were shook from their conversation by the door opening to reveal Declan Heart, whose eyes flew open at the visitor Patton apparently had.

“Oh my god, Logan, come out here,” he hissed out of the side of his mouth, mismatching eyes darting from the sheepish look on Patton's face to the city known hero on his house’s balcony.

When Declan’s twin cast appeared in the doorway, Patton waved, somewhat cheery, opposed to Roman’s more fidgety behaviour, his skin prickling under the gazes of the two older twins. He had only met Logan on one occasion, and he was intimidated, to say the least.

“Suprise!” Patton giggled, with jazz hands waving at his brothers, very different from the delivery Virgil would have given in this situation.

“I knew that there was a lie somewhere in your excuse earlier!” Declan’s quiet exclamation made its way into the silence, but this just made Roman more uncomfortable under the blank stare he was receiving from Logan.

"Well, I had to because otherwise, this ," — Patton waved at the group they had formed around the hero — "would happen and the last thing that needs to happen after being thrown really far and being bashed about is being crowded. Plus, this was my lucky day." Patton giggled, throwing a wink sideways to Roman, and oh no , Roman was a mess. He felt like spontaneously combusting while gripping his heart and dramatically dying on the floor where he stood.

Yet the only reaction to this was somehow a brief panic before a smile broke out and Roman was able to laugh along a bit.

"Patton, why, might I ask, did you conceal this from both me and Declan? I understand your point on crowded-ness but you also know of our fascination with the heroes and our possible future career paths."

Logan's words made Patton look down guiltily, revealing that Logan's words were true, but he fiddled with his bracelet on his wrist before looking upwards towards the elder twin.

"Because... Because I didn't want to?"

Patton then frowned, looking almost... angry. But not towards anyone- his gaze was at the floor, more as if he was angry at himself. Logan let a smile slip onto his lips, the same teasing smile once Virgil managed to wind up Roman.

"Valid reasoning. I know for a fact my excuse would be more or less the same."

Patton brightened up again, but Roman didn't have a chance to admire him again as Declan had burst out with an exclamation asking for an autograph.

This whisked away Roman's attention for a while, ending up in a selfie with the three with his magic glowing through his veins for proof of authenticity and various things being signed as well as a note Roman felt obligated to write to the Heart parents for their (unknown) hospitality.

He even got all of them to make a small piece of memorabilia for him to keep to remember them should he not be able to visit them again. Logan gave a small origami gift, Declan a yellow feather. In Patton's case, he had to think for a few seconds before his face absolutely lit up. He rushed a tiny, absolutely minuscule potted cactus, the plant itself being about the size of his thumb, to roman, with the most adorable and sincere face.

"Here! Take Ophelia - I grew her myself. That being said, it's probably best you don't have a feel of her , she's a bit prickly!"

A groan rumbled in Logan's throat at the pun, contrasting the chuckles from Roman and Dec, followed by the all too familiar buzz of Roman's phone.

Very Early Womb-mate - 12:56

-- What the FuCK you ass?? its been an hour or so what the fuck is taking you so long?????

-- mom's gonna start to freak, u need to get home as soon as u can

-- idiot

Me - 11:56

-- aksdflaksdhfkljkj what the fuck i lost track of time heck i'll get home asap

Roman shoved his cracked phone into a pocket and grinned sheepishly.

"My brother has warned me against impending doom known as my mother and her lectures if I don't return home soon. I thank you all for your lovely donations of memorabilia and allowing me to stay. However, it is nearly 1 o'clock and we have been out here an awfully long time. Farewell, fellow humans!"

Roman turned away, climbing over the railing and forming a golden step of light in front of him.

"Ah, right, that reminds me. We were sent up here to make sure you hadn't fallen asleep up here Patton. We got sidetracked though. Come on, Pat." Logan chimed.

As Roman was leaping away over steps made for him, he could faintly hear Patton respond about watering 'Candice' and 'Bobby', which he could assume were plants, before heading inside.

Roman luckily escaped with his hide when he managed to sneak in through the window just in time before his mom burst in, looking for him. He used the excuse of being on his phone as a reason for being awake - which did admittedly get his phone taken away - but at least he wouldn't have to listen to a rant.

And as he settled to sleep, he was caught up in thinking. Remembering. Adoring.

Yes, Roman was a mess, but at least tonight he could sleep easy after the beautiful image of Patton in the moonlight, playful glint in his eyes; him holding out a tiny cactus supplied with a pun; his excited face once he realised something interesting.

It wasn't much, but to Roman it was everything.

#i haven't added the italics on here #oh well #my writing #birthday gift #notveryglittery #dani deserves the world #royality #roman sanders #patton sanders #ts patton #ts roman #ts virgil #brotherly prinxiety

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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Remastered — Strength in Numbers

May 14, 2020 11:00 AM EST

PlatinumGames’ 100-hero action game gets its much deserved second chance.

In 2013, PlatinumGames released The Wonderful 101, and it almost seemed doomed from the start.

It was an experimental action game coming from a studio that, while highly respected, wasn’t known for producing titles that broke the bank. On top of that, the game was a Nintendo-published exclusive to the Wii U, a console that was struggling to find its footing and unfortunately never did. Critically, the game fared well. Commercially, it bombed.

But for the few people The Wonderful 101 did reach, it struck a chord. Its gameplay premise was — and in many ways still is — pretty unique, its characters were colorful and charming, and its story was delivered with a presentation and sense of humor so earnest that it would be hard for anyone not to at least crack a smile at.

There was a good game here, albeit rough around the edges. A cult classic that fans and PlatinumGames both believed needed a second chance, especially now that the studio is much more of a household name thanks to its work on NieR: Automata and Astral Chain in the years since.

Flash forward to 2020, and The Wonderful 101 received just that. Taking matters into its own hands, PlatinumGames crowd-funded and self-published The Wonderful 101: Remastered through a Kickstarter campaign, giving it a shot to find a larger audience nearly seven years later, this time with versions for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam.

youtube

“The remaster doesn’t fix every complaint the original Wii U version may have had, but the quality of life changes it did bring are welcome.”

By and large, The Wonderful 101: Remastered is the same game from 2013, but comes with a few notable adjustments and updates to make it work on modern platforms, as well as to make things a bit more approachable overall to new players. The remaster doesn’t fix every complaint the original Wii U version may have had, but the quality of life changes it did bring are welcome.

Up front, load times have been heavily reduced from the Wii U, drastically cutting back on the downtime spent in the loading screen’s training area, and getting you into missions much, much quicker.

The game runs at 1080p on all platforms (bumped up to 2160p on PS4 Pro, and dropped to 720p undocked on Switch) and targets a 60 fps framerate. It doesn’t always succeed in hitting that mark, though, dropping in sections where there’s a lot happening on screen. The Wii U version had the same problem. But to the remaster’s credit, it’s much less severe, and hardly an issue when it does occur.

Difficulty has also been rebalanced when it comes to the easier options, tuning them to be a bit more relaxed for anyone picking up the game for the first time, while keeping the normal and up difficulties intact. Controls for special gameplay sections can be viewed again by clicking in the left stick, whereas they disappeared for good as soon as you hit the A button in the original. And the game now offers hints for certain puzzles and fights where it wasn’t communicated effectively what players needed to do the first time around.

Finally, to compensate for the loss of the Wii U Gamepad, The Wonderful 101’s picture-in-picture display option is now the default for puzzles and mechanics that made use of the second screen. That display is customizable, too, allowing you to change the size of the second window and drag it to any part of the screen as needed, or put both displays in an even dual-window view altogether.

The Switch also adopted the Wii U Gamepad’s touch controls in portable mode, allowing you to draw out Unite Morphs on the Switch’s touchscreen, should that be your preferred control method for that mechanic.

Now, onto The Wonderful 101 itself.

In a set up inspired by Super Sentai in Japan or Power Rangers here in the West, the game puts you in control of the Wonderful 100 (pronounced “One-Double-O”), a superhero task force sent in to protect Earth from an imposing alien army known as GEATHJERK (an acronym for Guild of Evil Aliens Terrorizing Humans with Jiggawatt bombs, Energy beams, Ray guns and Killer lasers…I kid you not).

Rather than controlling just a single character at a time, the game lets you play as a team of up to 100 heroes at once from an isometric viewpoint. By finding Wonderful Ones hidden throughout the game or recruiting citizens to lend a temporary hand, you use abilities called “Unite Morphs” to fight off aliens often far bigger than you, solve puzzles, and take out GEATHJERK’s ranks one-by-one.

Unite Morphs are activated by using the right stick to draw basic shapes, which will cause team members to quite literally form together to create a weapon based on what you drew, with the size of it and the amount of damage it can deal dependent on the number of members in your group and the charge of your Unite Gauge in the top left of the HUD.

It’s a highly creative way to approach combat, but summoning the Unite Morph you need isn’t always as easy as it could be. The Wonderful 101 moves at a breakneck pace and requires quick thinking as a result. Gameplay goes into slow motion to give you a second to draw the shape you need, but it doesn’t always register, which can be frustrating when you see a mechanical fist about to drop on you as soon as you let go of the stick or when you see your Unite Gauge drain because one Morph keeps getting confused for another.

There are several main Unite Morph abilities that you will use heavily throughout the game, which are introduced gradually through an ensemble cast that stand front and center at the Wonderful 100 and serve as the stars of the story. Wonder-Red, for example, is a stoic young leader that can summon a giant fist to punch through enemies; Wonder-Blue is a sword-wielding hothead with authority issues; Wonder-Green is a skilled, but spoiled, sniper; and Wonder-Pink is a bubbly, but short-tempered diva with a whip.

Each character’s ability is based on their weapon, and can provide their own unique advantages in combat depending on what’s in front of you. Facing an armored enemy? Wonder-Pink’s whip can yank their shield away. Airborne foes? Wonder-Green can shoot them out of the sky.

“The Wonderful 101 unabashedly tries to throw everything it has at you every step of the way.”

Each cast member also has their own distinct personality, which shines through even more in their character models thanks to the game’s toy-like art style and exaggerated movements. They all have their own backgrounds and reasons for becoming a hero, too. Some are tucked away in the game’s character files, while the layers for others are progressively peeled back as the story progresses, offering some surprisingly touching moments in a game that otherwise presents itself as unbridled fun.

The Wonderful 101 unabashedly tries to throw everything it has at you every step of the way, and that’s made perfectly clear with the first operation. By the time you complete it, you’ve already fought off hordes of GEATHJERK soldiers, met Wonder-Green and learned his Unite Morph, fought more aliens and the stage’s boss inside a baseball stadium, chased the boss through a Star Fox style rails shooting section as he tries to get away on the back of a mechanical two-headed dragon, fought that dragon (and him again), then put on the finishing touches with some of the most stylish quick-time events out there, all set to an incredible theme song that’s been re-recorded with an orchestra just for the remaster.

It’s great, and every operation carries its own variation of that formula, some definitely to more success than others. But that aforementioned breakneck pace can be a double-edged sword.

The Wonderful 101’s story is spread across nine operations, with all but one being broken up into three sections. The first two sections usually consist of the standard action combat, with a gameplay twist or two thrown in there along the way to keep things interesting. The third, meanwhile, is always a grand spectacle of a boss fight. It’s a three-act structure perhaps unsurprisingly similar to a typical villain of the week episode of Power Rangers, and usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete the first time through.

While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, I’d argue the setup is at its most effective when taken in small doses, playing one operation through, then coming back later to do another.

Playing large chunks of the game all at once, seeing each operation continually try to one-up the last didn’t take long to grow tiring. Some stretches of gameplay felt too stretched out, the big, multi-phase boss fights went from an exciting challenge to feeling like a chore after a while, and the 12-15 hours it takes for a first playthrough felt like an eternity.

Personally, I still very much loved the game, just not that I shotgunned it in nearly one sitting the way that I did for this review.

“So maybe, with The Wonderful 101: Remastered, ‘not for everybody’ includes at least a few more people this time.”

The Wonderful 101 isn’t a perfect game, but it’s definitely a unique one. Instead of having just one hero to control, it has many all acting as one. It tries to make every boss fight an absolute spectacle, while throwing in an entire section that’s a reference to another game, because why not? It never takes itself seriously, yet knows its characters well enough to produce genuinely heartfelt moments. It’s rough around the edges, but gives everything it has. In a way, the game encapsulates everything PlatinumGames is.

The Wonderful 101 is not for everybody, and while the Wii U didn’t really do it any favors, I think it’s initial reception was proof of that. But time has passed, tastes change, word of mouth spreads, and appreciation grows. So maybe, with The Wonderful 101: Remastered, “not for everybody” includes at least a few more people this time.

Also, the orchestral recording of “Tables Turn” is…well, wonderful…I’ll see myself out.

DualShockers’ original The Wonderful 101 review

May 14, 2020 11:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/remastered-strength-in-numbers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remastered-strength-in-numbers

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drunkdragondoes · 7 years

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Prompt: First time, m!Robin x Flavia

@esauwest

To Lord Khan Flavia,

I have not seen you since the Fell Dragon had been put to sleep. I pray this letter finds you well.

I will keep my introduction, however, short. In my eyes have failed when I did not end myself. A time borrowed of ten thousand years is still borrowed, never our own. Yet Lord Chrom and the Halidom see it fit that I be lauded as a hero. He has made a point of it again and again - there will be another time to make it right.

He has asked that I take a leave of absence, to explore the land a little on my own. As my dearest friend, I shall entertain his notion and have chosen to make Regna Ferox my first place to visit, should you deign it fit to have one such as me.

I understand that letters and papers are not your preferred method of diplomacy, but I felt that this notice would at least let you respond should you decide to allow me to visit.

Flavia accepted his request without a second question. It was true that his method of asking for passage and the request to stay was not the preferred way of her land. Diplomacy was often face to face, and letters were looked down upon. But she mirrored him and sent a letter in return. And in a moon’s time he arrived in front of her throne, kneeling at her feet.

“Grandmaster Robin, I’m glad you made it. Coming to Regna Ferox in the near dead of winter is no easy task.”

“It’s just Robin, for now,” his mop of white hair bobbed just a little lower, as if bowing again, before looking up at her. “I prefer not to have that title while I am on leave. Still, thank you for your kindness for one such as I. I did not think you would accept me so readily.”

She didn’t tell him that Chrom had sent a letter even earlier than he did, detailing the full extent of his concern for Robin’s wellbeing. The man had become a mess in light of his ‘failure’ to truly defeat Grima. She had been there that day. Some time before the dragon was weak enough, Robin had been incapacitated. There was no chance for him to even strike, and it ate away at him to this day. Chrom had all but begged in his letter for her assistance in his plight to help Robin back to his feet.

She had some ideas, but for now the man in front of her needed rest. She would begin her plan the next day.

The next morning she had invited him to her breakfast table, and the two had a conversation. Amidst the chewing and smacking of lips, though, Flavia set her plans into motion.

“Robin, one of the things that I recall the most about you was your sword arm. I’m curious to see if you’re still up to par. Care for duel?”

She watched as his jaw slowed to a crawl, no doubt chewing and thinking upon her words. Finally, he swallowed and spoke. “I remember us having a match once,” the words came out slowly, thoughtfully. “Others might have called it close, but I recall a fair trouncing. Sometimes I think my arm still hurts from blocking your blows.”

But two could play at that game, and her lips perked upward. “You didn’t answer my question.”

He thought for a moment longer before spearing a piece of egg with his fork. “Well, if you’re so inclined to beat upon me, I see no reason to turn down a request from my most gracious host. However, I do wonder why you are so inclined to see me beaten.”

“Well, then, when I beat you in our duel, how about you grant me a favor?”

That got Robin to raise his eyebrows. Smiling even, she dared to consider. “You speak as if you’ve already won.”

“Didn’t you just admit to it?”

“Hmph,” there was a definite smirk on his lips. “Then do I get a favor if I win?”

This time, Flavia gave a quick laugh, her heavy voice rumbling from her chest. “I’m not a cheat when it comes to words, Robin. That will always be fair and square. But you better get ready for this duel. I’ve been known to approach them like it’s life or death.”

It was clear to Flavia with how Robin moved that, in spite of his own self-inflicted shame, he saw it fit to continue training, perhaps down to the bone. Though he had his own clothes with him, he had removed his traditional dark purple cloak, something she had almost never seen him without and leaving him in his paler shirt. With his arms bared, she wondered how much muscle he had beneath his clothes.

But as soon as the wooden practice sword came into her hands, all that lay before Flavia’s mind was the upcoming duel. It was a little heavy, just the way she liked her swords, gripping it with both hands. When he finally picked out his weapon, she saw that it was one that mirrored hers.

“You ready to begin?” she barked.

“At your leisure, Lord Khan.”

With only a few onlookers present, the two began their match and they circled around each other. They watched each other like hawks, eyes never leaving the other. In a battle it was different - there were soldiers by their sides and by their enemies. But a duel was different. It let her drink in his features, the muscles on his arms seeming even more prominent. Every step of his was calculated and heavy with confidence.

In the end, though, it was he who made the first move. It was just a quick swing, aimed at her thigh and easily blocked. But it was to test her and she knew it. Before long another strike came down, this time towards her shoulder, and she raised her sword to meet it before stepping to the side and letting the blade slide down harmlessly.

Yet before she could retaliate, Robin had already drawn himself back, resuming their circling game. She flexed her grip on the handle. He seemed faster than before, maybe even stronger. Robin once again proved that he was no slouch in combat.

But neither was she. Regna Ferox’s title of Lord Khan was not carried without merit, after all. She tested him with her own strikes, looking to set the pace of the match, to keep him off his footing. Soon it came into full swing, their blades locking and unlocking, backing away only to reenter so soon.

It was not long before fatigue began to make its slow way into their muscles. Her blonde hair, tied back to reveal the scalp of her dark skin, became matted with sweat. Likewise, Robin’s hair had begun to clump and stick to his forehead. Sweat coated their skin, and his shirt clung to his chest.

She took another breath and stepped in. Raising her blade high, she slammed it down with all her might. Robin want to deflect the blade away from him, hoping to use her force against her. But with a resounding crack, his sword was smashed into a myriad of pieces. With a triumphant breath, she brought up her weapon against his neck-

...only to find that it had shattered as well. All she held was the handle of a broken piece of wood with the rest of the blade hanging by a thread.

“Did…” Robin trailed off, droplets rolling off of his brow as his confused and incredulous eyes looked into hers, “Did we come to a draw?”

For a moment she paused, doing her best to think of an answer and to catch her breath. But when she did, she pressed the splintered tip against the skin at his collar, summoning forth the tiniest pinpricks of blood. “Not after that.” A smile spread across her lips as she watched Robin roll his eyes.

“Fine, fine,” he said after a series huff. She had a feeling that he would have smiled were he not so tired, but she could hear it in his voice and that was enough.“What would the great Lord Khan Flavia ask of this lowly man?”

For a while Flavia held onto the request, both dangling it in front of him while playing the role of host. If there was anything he wanted or needed, she had it provided to him. But as spring began to make its way into the cold lands, she planned a hunting trip into the wilds, bringing Robin along. She took him west and south of the seat of her throne with her best hunters, letting him survey the regrowing land that was beginning to break free from the ice and snow.

And while she didn’t say anything about it, she could see the change slowly taking place. By seeing the growth and recovery around him, his countenance changed little by little. He was still caught up in his own failure, but she could see just a bit of him attempting to move on.

They were sitting next to each other at a campfire one night when it happened, after a long day of hunting. They had finally killed their first deer and were celebrating. By fate Robin had landed the finishing blow and was gifted with the first bite of meat, even before Flavia.

“You brought me out here for a reason, didn’t you Lord Khan?”

His stomach was full and just a little heavy with ale from a nearby town. He would never have been so direct otherwise. She didn’t respond with an answer, but instead just smiled, letting her hand ghost over his. But before the night was over she placed a kiss on his lips.

She didn’t make her request until after they had returned, not until a few days before he would return to his country. He was still undecided if he would visit other lands of the continent or resume his work, but he was sure that Chrom would be happy to see him again. She figured that a warm bed was better for the two of them, as it was still cold after all. And while Regna Ferox valued strength more than other aspects discretion was still wise, for the man would return to Ylisse after all was said and done.

Flavia rapped upon his chamber door with her knuckles. She doubted that he was sleep, though it would be of no consequence if that were the case. She would just try again the next night. But she was right, and Robin opened the door. His room was still lit with candles, perhaps for reading or writing before the night was over. But he had already settled into his modest nightclothes, perhaps closer to sleep than she guessed initially.

In comparison, she had only a coat of furs wrapped around herself.

“L-Lord Khan.”

This was the first time she ever heard him stutter and she vowed to take it to her grave. “No need for the title, Robin. I’m just Flavia tonight.” She stepped into the room and felt her neck turn to face the bed. “Besides, I’m here to follow upon my favor.”

He was a smart man, and she didn’t need to look at him to know that the gears were spinning in his mind. She remained silent, but was rewarded when the door shut behind her and he spoke. “This is surely a scandal.”

Her lips smiled as she quipped a return. “You’re still in the room with me.”

“I…” he faltered. “I admit that I am willing to at least hear you out.”

“You know, Robin,” she whipped her body around to face him, blonde hair gently raking upon her skin. She held the opposite sides of her fur coat and kept her body covered. “That’s the second time you’ve fumbled with your words tonight.” Slowly walking over, she tucked a chin under his finger, her dark skin gently contrasting against his paler complexion in candlelight. “I think I’m having an effect upon you.”

“I would like to think that anyone would think twice about their words when the most powerful person in Regna Ferox visits their bedchamber at night.” His cheeks were slowly reddening and he made to turn away, but her finger stiffened and pushed him back to look into her eyes.

“Me being naked doesn’t scare you?”

“Well,” his eyes fell down across the top of her body for the briefest of flickers and he turned even brighter. “... That, too.” It happened again as he turned his head away, and this time she let him go. “Would it be safe to say that your request is both more amorous than I expected and yet fully expected at the same time?”

She chuckled, her hand falling back to her coat and letting it expose just a little more of her shoulder. “You can say no if you want.”

“I’m… I’m surprised you’d have one such as me, Flavia.”

There it was again - that condescending tone he used towards himself. “Man, woman, doesn’t matter. As Lord Khan I can have anyone I wish.” Her hand fell onto his shoulder, gently kneading beneath the pads of her fingers, feeling his strong muscles. “Besides, you’re cut from a hero’s cloth, Robin. You are exactly what is desireable in Regna Ferox. I’m surprised no one ever tried to pick you up while we were on the march.”

His tilted down in embarrassment, his eyes trying to trace her toes against the cold stone tile. “I… It just never came to the table for me.”

“Not even Tharja?”

He quickly shook his head. “Not like that. I never saw her-...” he bit his lip, “not like that.”

Flavia felt her voice soften, going quiet. “So you’ve never been with someone.” Her hand rose to his cheek, gently letting his skin fall against her calloused palm. “Would you like to change that?”

One last breath, one last blink, one last darkening of his cheeks.

“... Yes.”

She smiled, her hand falling to his and dragging him towards the bed. “Well, come on then, no need to stand here in the cold. And just relax. Let me handle everything.” Letting go, she climbed upon the mattress and beckoned him towards her. “Here, lay down.”

Robin did as he was told, and now that the full weight of the situation was bearing down upon him his shyness had begun to fade away. But he became aware of the looseness of his pants, cloth peaking at his arousal and turned his head to the side again.

To remedy this, Flavia moved herself over him, placing her hips over his covered length and slowly let the fur coat fall. “It’s okay to look, Robin,” she said, answering the question she knew he had in the back of his mind, and slowly he turned to face her.

Her breasts were the first to be exposed to the night chill. As the front of the coat parted, though, the next was her toned stomach, abs pressing against her dark skin. His eyes were glued to the edges of the parting cloth, slowly drinking in everything from her body. But when it finally pulled away to reveal her hips and the folds of her core, she watched as he gulped and barely suppressed a chuckle. She let her legs relax, pressing herself against his hardened member and he twitched.

“Go on. Isn’t curiosity one of your traits?”

It was like a dam had opened up. His hands, unsure at first yet gentle and probing, trailed all over her exposed body and she shivered and languished under his touch. The air was cold, but she felt her body becoming hot as he explored. She grinned when he raised his head to have a better look at her breasts, feeling the soft flesh bend and squeeze in his hands. She gave a short laugh when they trailed down over to her stomach, taking in their firmer feel.

And when he finally gave in and looked down, she leaned back a little to expose her wetting flesh. He was careful, slow, like when he was approaching a wild beast on their recent hunt. But finally his thumbs went to both ends and gently pulled them apart.

“Some of the cruder men…” he gulped, “they speak of… I mean, I know what they put in, but-”

“You mean fingering?” she did her best to sound gentle yet impartial.

His blush turned darker, but he nodded. “Yes… that would be one of them.”

Her hand softly grasped a finger and placed it at the entrance. “Go on, then. Give it a nice, slow wiggle.” She didn’t expect him to be good, and while she was more than rearing to take him in now, foreplay would most likely be necessary in his future encounters.

And when he took a breath and gently pushed in, she shuddered and gave a low hiss. She was no stranger to the act, but another person’s touch always trumped her own. And as he explored, slowly satiating his curiosity, she began to undo the front of his top, gently plying the buttons apart. Her reward was his toned chest, strong from the war and training. Her own hands explored his body slowly, mirroring his movements from before. But she did her best to remain slow - Robin had never been with another after all, and too much at one time might lead to finishing too soon.

But she knew she was ready now. Gently grasping his wrist, she pulled it away and moved her body back a bit. Then, holding the hem of his pants, she pulled them down, letting his cock spring up, rigid from anticipation. Leaning in close, she grasped its base and examined her prize.

“It’s nice.”

Robin’s lips opened and closed, but he said nothing. With a small smile, Flavia let out her tongue and gave it a slow drag from base to tip, watching him flinch beneath her.

“F-Flavia…”

She didn’t think he’d last if she continued that way, and she laughed as she raised her body over his length. “We’ll save it for another night.”

“Y-You mean to say… we might do this again?”

“Of course,” she quickly responded, dragging her wet opening over his tip. “As I said, you’re a desirable man.” Finally, though, she stopped over his head and looked him in the eye. “Are you ready?”

He nodded, and she slowly let herself descend. She let out a low moan, but Robin let out an even louder one. It was short, though, and he pursed his lips. Finally, though, she had taken as much as she could from this angle. She knew from the start that he would finish well before her if he remained still, and she spoke again.

“Touch me.”

“W-Where?”

“Everywhere.”

He didn’t need a second command. His hands rose to her chest again, softly apprehending her flesh. They fell to her hips and thighs, squeezing them with each slow rise and fall of her body. He let out low hisses, and in those moments he would freeze up, trying to calm himself and she patiently waited it out.

But soon his eyes and hands fell over her filled entrance. Grasping his hand again, she guided his thumb through the small patch of blonde and to her clit, leaning back. “Keep brushing it. Right there.”

And this time when she moved her hips, just a little faster, Robin did his best to keep up. His voice escaped his lips, her name ghosting through the air, but his hand never stopped. One of her own hands hastened to grab his other and brought it to her chest, and she felt him squeeze.

And for a moment, it was a heavenly rhythm between them. But she knew Robin wouldn’t last long enough. Not on his first night with another.

“F-Flavia!” he let out a panicked cry. She could see his body tensing, feel it tensing beneath and she pushed harder. Her body moved past the pace they set, and for all the good it did he tried to keep up. But it was for naught. In seconds she felt his cock twitching inside her. His white hot seed spilled out onto the two of them, the slaps of skin becoming even wetter.

But in spite of all this, perhaps he hung onto her commands, for he stroked and squeezed her even more. He was well and finished by the time she felt her body snapping over him, the walls of her pussy coaxing whatever was left from him. But it was enough and it was good.

When the act was done, her breath regained, Flavia let herself fall to his side. She wondered if he was still coping with the sensation as she dragged the blanket over them, but such concerns were put away for the time being as her eyes closed to rest.

Robin would dig himself out of his pit. She was sure of it. But a little help went a long way. And it was certainly appealing to know that she had forged a bond with him that would not be put aside lightly.

To Flavia,

My mind still drifts to that night sometimes. Again, I thank you for all that you’ve done for me since my visit. Some days I still struggle, but to know that many others, and especially you, have faith in me is a gift unparalleled.

But I think I can put those times behind me now. You see, I have found a visitor most strange, and I think it would please you very much to see her. I seek to return to your seat immediately at your earliest convenience. After all, was it not you who mentioned that a hero is desirable for a Feroxi?

I eagerly await your reply.

Your lover, Ex-Grandmaster Robin

A/N: Whew, sorry for the delay. But surprisingly once I got started it kinda just spilled out. I think I was worried about not getting back into the FE swing of things, but perhaps it was severely misplaced, haha.

Just one more smut prompt left!

#Fire Emblem #fire emblem: awakening #FEA #FE13 #Robin #robin/avatar #mRobin #Flavia #smut #prompts

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tomb-of-ash · 7 years

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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS4) Review

Guest article by Wing See Li.

Another Day, Another Pirate Infestation

Figure 1: The title screen is accompanied with its theme and the theme song, “Dance Through The Danger”.

There’s nothing like a pirate attack to start the day. That’s a day in the life for the belly-dancing, hair-whipping half-genie, half-human Shantae.

One night, Shantae suddenly wakes up from her deep sleep by a peculiar, blinding bright light shining through the bedroom window of her lighthouse. Curious to know where it’s originated from, she climbs out of the comfort of her bed and exits her home. After running along the long wooden bridge to her uncle’s home, she discovers Uncle Mimic snoring even as he sits in an upright position and the same blinding light emitting from an open trapdoor. She then jumped down, entering a subterranean cavern. While running through the cavern whilst avoiding the bats that were attempting to assault her, an odd voice lures her through it until she finally arrives at the source of the light and the voice. Demanding the voice to reveal itself, it materialises in a form of a white floating sparkle hovering above the mysterious, crystal clear water and it reveal itself as the messenger from the fabled Genie Realm. Before she manages to receive answers from it about her mum, the genies, the Genie Realm and her origins, everything is abruptly enveloped in a white colour, transporting Shantae to the real world. She suddenly sits upright in her bed, taking in everything that happened in her dream. Is there more to the dream than meets the eye or is it a vision foreshadowing the events that are yet to come?

The storyline itself isn’t substantial as per se, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, but the gripping, suspenseful, dire and bone-chilling moments, plot twists, in-game jokes, innuendos, adult undertones and the outlandish, hilariously humorous script and dialogue make up for the lack of a deep plot as the story develop. To sum it all up, the game didn’t take itself too seriously. However, the fourth wall-breaking humour and the game taking the mickey out of itself, memes, pop culture references and the internet got in the way of the burning desire to know more about the lore of Shantae’s mum and dad, the genies and the Genie Realm. The aforesaid story is episodic where each level (and character) is comprised of their own mini or sub-plots.

It’s difficult to tell whether Shantae: Half-Genie Hero serves as the fourth instalment of the Shantae series or it’s a reboot/soft reboot. It’s probably both seeing as it’s not a relaunch, a remaster or a remake. It’s released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Steam etc, on both physical and digital versions. Unfortunately, the Risky Beats Edition is only released in America, which leads to my next nitpick that will be explained in the review later. Strange enough, this game comes out on the PlayStation Vita instead of the Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS this time. Later on after the initial release, a Risky Beats edition launched for these consoles, which comes with a physical CD soundtrack.

Figure 2: Just like the previous installments, this game does what it does best: break the fourth wall.

Unlike the previous Shantae video games, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is the first Shantae game to be crowd-funded. According to its Kickstarter campaign webpage, $776,084 is pledged to the game and have far exceeded the $400,000 goal thanks to 18,558 backers. Sadly, only $800k is reached, in terms of the stretch goals.

Figure 3: Risky Boots, the bodacious buccaneer, returns as the main antagonist of the Shantae series.

Figure 4: Sky and Wrench (the large bird) acts as the transportation for Shantae.

Sequin Land is divided into seven islands or rather… levels which are known as Scuttle Town Square, Scuttle Town Main Street, Mermaid Falls, Tassle Town, Cape Crustacean, Hypno Baron’s Castle and last but not least, Risky’s Hideout. In this game, Wrench (Sky’s massive bird) acts as an aerial transportation for Shantae and a means for travelling from one island to another.

Before starting the first level, Scuttle Town Main Street, Sky hands Shantae a whistle to summon Wrench whenever she needs to. The fact that the whistle can be used whenever and wherever you want (even in areas for instance, the Tinkerbat Factory) surpasses the Pirate Flare from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse since the aforesaid Pirate Flare can only be utilised outdoors and it’s not allowed to be used in the dungeons.

Figure 5: Pressing the Touchpad brings up the Subscreen (as mentioned by Sky and the other non-playable characters).

The gameplay at its core plays like a traditional old-school platformer: a 2D side-scrolling platformer with precision in terms of platforming and it’s jam packed with secret collectibles that are hidden from view, which encourages the player to search for them in every nook and cranny at your own pace. Hopping from one platform to another without grabbing on to platform ledges requires accuracy, concentration, eye-coordination and timing. Failure to do so will result in you falling to your death and you losing a tiny fragment of one of your hearts, which resembles your health.

Occasionally, the gameplay change depends on where you are in Sequin Land. The ever-changing gameplay can range from a 2D side-scrolling shooter before arriving at the Tinkerbat Factory to sliding down the diagonal slides outside of the factory in Mermaid Falls and escaping Risky’s Hideout.

Here are the game controls:

· Touchpad – Subscreen/Pause Screen

· Left control stick – Move, choose options or decide on a transformation dance from any set included in the dance menu

· D-Pad – Move, pick options or select a transformation dance from any set included in the dance menu

· Right control stick – Unused

· Square button – Elephant Dash/Charge

· X button and Down – Elephant Stomp

· X button – jump, press the X button twice to double jump in the spider form to stick to underneath the platforms using her spider web, confirm options or fly in the harpy form

· Circle button/R2 – Use weapon/magic/item or transformation capability and cancel option

· L1 or R2 – Cycle through weapons/magic/items

· L2 - Backdash

· Square button – Hairwhip, use transformation ability or speak to non-playable characters

· Down D-Pad/direction – Crouch

· Down D-Pad and Control stick – Crawl

· Options button – Unused

· Share button – Upload video, video clip or screenshot

· PlayStation Logo button – Return to home screen

· Triangle button – Cycle through transformation modes or cancel transformation

Aside from Shantae’s monster whipper (her signature attack), her attacks are utilising magic that are named as Fireball, Triple Fireball and Flamethrower and weapons which are known as Scimitar (a pirate sword that first appeared in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse), Pike Ball, Super Pike Ball, Storm Puff, Mega Puff and Super Mega Puff. Not to mention, her dancing in order to transform into an array of animals ranging from a monkey to a harpy, each with their own abilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. In addition to her possessing a large number of animal dance transformations which she’ll take full advantage of at her disposal, there are other novelty dance transformations such as the Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance, Dryad Dance, Revive Dance, Super Revive Dance, Obliterate and Warp Dance, some are more useful than others. The Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance, Dryad Dance, Revive Dance, Super Revive Dance, Obliterate and Warp Dance are available to buy from a female snake merchant called Tuki who hides in a little purple pot or container.

Speaking of items, if you explore and uncover enough as the game progresses and the story unfolds, you’ll eventually come across the game-breaking collectibles such as the Magical Tiara and the Invincibility bubble. With those combined, practically no one and nothing will touch you (not even lasers) with the exception of bottomless pits, deadly lava and one-hit kill spikes and these aforementioned items will render the game to an easy difficulty.

During the adventure you stumble across relics such as Shampoo, Super Shampoo, Mega Shampoo, Silky Cream, Super Silky Cream, Mega Silky Cream, Red Stone, Green Stone, Magic Bracelet, Bikini Armour, Metronome, Attract, Super Attract, Max Attract, Backdash, Monkey Bullet, Elephant Stomp, Crab Claw, Mouse Bite, Harpy Talon, Bat Sonar, Waterfall Relic, Spider Venom, Mermaid Bubble and so on which can either upgrade your hair and moveset, boost your defence or help you to advance. Thankfully, you can toggle on and off these relics at your own free will if you presume the game is deprived of a sense of challenge.

Besides the relics, you also come upon the whistle, Mega Potion, Roast, Orange, Gator Steak and Monster Egg which make up your inventory. Nearly all of these items are used to replenish your health and your adversaries drop them if you char them to a crisp or make use of a different attack. The quantity of these items you can carry with you is nine at maximum. If I’m short on oranges, I’m inclined to transform into Dryad form to harvest them without having to repetitively revisit Mermaid Falls to ride down the slide.

Along the way you happen upon Heart Holders you can uncover from treasure chests located in the secret areas, through the portals and a female, tall, but blonde, non-playable character you encounter in Scuttle Town Main Square who you have to take on a fetch quest for. Every time you obtain a Heart Holder, your health will increase by one heart. Think of these as Heart Containers from The Legend of Zelda series. If you want a real challenge, refrain yourself from collecting them.

On the subject of dance transformations, these can be acquired after defeating a boss, uncovering them in hidden locations via portals or searching for them in secret areas. Sometimes, animal abilities are found in these locations and just like the transformations, they are locked in treasure chests. Every animal have only one ability and these skills will help Shantae enter areas she couldn’t gain access to previously because she didn’t have the right transformation.

Another shortcoming this game had is there are certain transformation dances that I don’t use frequently. WayForward should’ve gone for the “less is more” approach given that the Crab Dance, Spider Dance, Mouse Dance, Bat Dance, Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance and Dryad Dance are redundant. They are either pointless, useless, I almost never bring them into play, a complete waste of my time or they’re cluttering up my dance menu. I appreciate the game developing company for introducing new things or being a tad bit ambitious but I just wish it didn’t bother, otherwise these aforementioned new aptitudes end up unused.

If you’re not exploring, most of the time you’re fighting. The combat is simple and not complicated for novices and veterans alike, in addition to tight and responsive controls. If you mess up, it’s not the game’s fault but it’s rather your fault.

Although, this is not the case when the game throws a few curve balls at me, in terms of the difficulty. There are times when the difficulty catches me off guard and bite me in the rear like for example, when I’m scaling up the Tassle Tower while running for my life from the screen-filling, memory-consuming worm, Wilbur. I ran like my life depended on it! Good gravy… who knows how many times I kept dying which results in me resorting to using profanity. Luckily for me, there are no lives to lose.

Animation and presentation wise, for the first time Shantae, her friends, her enemies and the other non-playable characters are in HD, hand-drawn art. It took me a while to get used to the new art style since I’m used to seeing them in pixels which WayForward is known for but the new art style instantly grew on me. The animation is fluid, streamlined and smooth and how well detailed the animations and the artwork were such as the way Shantae swayed her body and arms on the spot in rhythm to the music if she’s left idle for a while to her feeling exhausted when she’s low on health. It’s the littlest of things such as this makes me appreciate the animation more. It felt like watching a Flash animation, a Saturday morning cartoon or an anime. The old style marries with the modern style incredibly well as both the 2D background and 3D foreground blends beautifully with each other. But if I have to be honest with myself, I actually miss the pixelated art style.

In light of character development, it’s somewhat lacking on account of how some of the characters are portrayed. For instance, Risky Boots is depicted as a stereotypical villain who is heartless, ruthless and selfish as well as completely void of any emotions, remorse and regret and she doesn’t care who she hurts as long as she gets what she wants, even if it means causing mass destruction and ruining people’s lives in the process. Not to mention, she didn’t acknowledge the events that ensued in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. It’s like as if she isn’t human. In the third Shantae game, at first she’s unwilling to cooperate with Shantae but as you progress through the game, she begins to open herself up to the former half-genie and enlightens her with her account of her past and spoilers alert! She, Twitch and Vinegar assists Shantae in dealing out the final blows to the Pirate Master during the final showdown.

One of the minor issues I’ve come across is while I’m playing the game, the framerate takes a dive or it stutters sometimes. Normally, it’s not noticeable because I’m so immersed in the game but it occasionally dips whenever lots of things are going on at the same time, all on one screen. Take the side-scrolling shooting section prior to infiltrating the Tinkerbat Factory for instance, while I’m repeatedly launching my Mermaid bubbles at the underwater enemies, sending them to their graves, shooting at the breakable blocks which are obstructing my pathway and temporarily recruiting more starfish creatures to my “swim team”, wave after wave of foes kept entering my line of vision and this is when things start to become frantically crazy. As a result, the framerate decreases as the game couldn’t take any more.

But in between levels, you’re constantly backtracking which is to be expected in a Shantae or a platforming game and you’re embarking on countless fetch quests more than you can shake your belly and bum at. They’re mandatory since you need these items to progress. For example, you come across Twitch and Vinegar (the two girls who work for the Ammo Baron and first appeared in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse) at Scuttle Town Square and they ask you to revisit the factory in Mermaid Falls to reduce the gators to smouldering ashes before you give the gator steaks to them. In return, they hand you a red-coloured race ticket. It’s kind of like doing a chore unless you don’t mind retracing your steps to the same levels over and over. It’s tricky to estimate the amount of fetch quests you have to undertake but the total might be roughly the same as the total of fetch quests there are in Jak 2: Renegade and Jak 3.

Throughout the game, I’ve noticed this game ditches the dungeons to make way for a linear structure that I find jarring. Thereby, eliminating the Metroidvania genre this game is supposed to be attached to. In nearly every level, you’re going from point A to point B that I’ve seen a lot in modern, bog-standard Mario games. To be honest, it can get very old quickly and this is coming from a person who hates change with a burning passion. At least, Scuttle Town Square serves as the main hub area. At the end of each level there is a boss, which put your platforming and manoeuvring skills to the test in contrast to the repetitive modern Mario games. Each boss have their own weaknesses and weak spots and every battle can be just like puzzles as you figure out how to inflict damage to them.

Similar to the past instalments of the series, Scuttle Town function as the main hub place which contains Uncle Mimic’s workshop, Sky’s Hatchery, a shop, a Bath House, the Art Gallery etc along with the green-hued save guy who this time around doesn’t have his own room or building. Instead, he is spotted at the far left side of the town near the workshop. The workshop is where Mimic lives and work on his groundbreaking inventions and technological devices, Sky’s Hatchery is where Shantae can hitch a ride on Sky’s bird, Wrench, to distant locales, the shop is where the half-genie protagonist can purchase important essentials for her escapade, a Bath House is where she can relax to recover her health and ask the bath house lady for hints and advice, an Art Gallery is where the main heroine can observe a lot of the artwork and concept art that goes into creating the game as well as fanart from the loyal fanbase and the backers of the aforementioned game’s Kickstarter campaign. Conversely, some of the fanart aren’t professionally done and are up to an amateur standard at best but most of them are the cream of the crop. In my opinion, the art gallery reminds me of the Insomniac Museum from the Ratchet & Clank series.

The other differences I’ve spotted are there are slide segments that kind of remind me of the slides from Super Mario 64 (sans the enemies, hazards and obstacles), the options menu is bare-bones in terms of how much content there are to toggle with and the save system is different. The save guy who seems to be fatter than usual tends to appear whenever I enter a new level, after I finish the level, before I confront a boss and after I emerged victorious from a boss fight. Basically, I’ve been prompted every five minutes if I want to save my progress or not which can get annoying and bothersome. It’s like as if the aforesaid save guy is holding my hand. I prefer the old save system from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge where I can find him in the numerous save rooms in Scuttle Town, the levels and the dungeons. In this day and age, I still find it strange none of the Shantae games feature an auto-save system.

Aside from the savepoints are checkpoints that are littered all over the place in each level in random spots. You’ll know if a spot is a checkpoint if you accidentally freefall into bottomless pits or if you touched one hit-kill spikes and you’ll instantly respawn at the previous checkpoint you went past.

Another nitpick I’d point out is the lack of a map. Without a map, there is little to no direction of where to go or what to do next. When I’m not exploring the levels, the majority of the time I find myself wondering what to do and figuring out where to travel to next which caused me to read the guides on the GameFAQs website, which is something I normally wouldn’t do when I’m playing a Shantae game or a platformer. If you end up reading a guide, then there’s something wrong.

On the subject of the map, whenever you’re at the level selection screen, said map shows which collectibles and animal transformation abilities are in your possession or what you’re missing underneath the name of the chosen area. This is extremely helpful for backtracking to previous levels, fetch quests and completing the game 100%.

It’s hard to believe this video game originated from the Kickstarter website and how far WayForward have come, from the cartoon tie-in games such as American Dragon: Jake Long – Rise of the Huntsclan which is released on Game Boy Advance and American Dragon: Jake Long – Attack of the Dark Dragon which have come out on Nintendo DS to recent video games such as Ducktales Remastered and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, to name a few. This is definitely a Kickstarter game done right. The game may be successfully funded but it’s a shame not all of the stretch goals were met.

Just like the Ratchet & Clank (2016) and Ratchet & Clank Movie soundtracks, I have mixed feelings with the Shantae: Half-Genie Hero soundtrack. Once again, Jake Kaufman reprises his role as the composer and he really knocked it out of the park! With a soundtrack like this, he could do no wrong! This time around he gives the aforementioned soundtrack a modernized touch in terms of the heart-pounding bass of the beats and how the music sounds overall which keeps me pumped up and motivated to complete the levels or handing the bosses humiliating defeats. Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to the soundtrack but most of it is unmemorable, the majority of the music tracks are nothing to write home about and it falls short compared to the previous Shantae soundtracks such as Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge to be honest. At the end of the day, will you remember the soundtrack of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero in many years to come? Will you be able to hum all or most of the music tracks? In my opinion, I feel this is the game’s lowest point. The reason why I feel this is the weakest soundtrack is most likely Jake have set the bar so high. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have favourite music tracks. Some of my favourites from said soundtrack are, “Dance Through The Danger”, “A Mysterious Fountain”, “Scuttle Town”, “Neo Burning Town”, “Mermaid Falls”, “Tassle Town”, “The Sky Bridge”, “Cape Crustacean” and “Tinkerbat Factory” in no particular order. On the other hand, I still reckon some or most of the music tracks don’t match well with their respective locations. Take the “Tassle Town” music for example, it doesn’t complement well with Tassle Town itself due to the jazziness and funkiness of the music, which are music I normally don’t associate with video game desert locales.

Once again, Cristina Vee made a comeback to provide her voice for Shantae and Risky Boots for the fourth time. Originally, the game would have full English voice acting but alas, it isn’t meant to be when the stretch goal isn’t reached. In spite of this, the game containing some voice work is better than nothing.

I can’t stress this enough (constantly in my mind) but the Shantae series have many things such as a colourful cast of characters and personalities, exciting, exotic locales and rich environments to explore which are exploding with various cultures and well-written, laugh-out-loud dialogues and scripts that the modern Paper Mario games (Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Colour Splash) clearly lacked these days. Therefore, I jumped ship. In other words, for the first time ever I bought a PlayStation console first before any other video game console. In the past, naturally I buy a Nintendo console first before any other video game console. As sad as it is to say, Nintendo isn’t “wowing” me last year due to the lack of variety when it comes to 2D and 3D platforming games. It’s all well and good to play as Mario or Kirby but what I really want is to play as other platforming mascots. The Shantae series might as well replace the Paper Mario series the way things are going.

Similar to the previous three Shantae games, there are good and bad endings. Your actions determine which kind of ending you’ll unlock. If you strived for 100% completion, you’re most likely obtain the good ending. For example, spoilers alert! If you go out of your way to embark on fetch quests for the previous bosses (Techno Baron, Ammo Baron, Squid Baron and Hypno Baron) you engaged in battle, they’ll each hand over a piece of Risky’s belongings (there are four altogether) in return for the items they requested. When you give Uncle Mimic all of the clues when you return to his workshop, he hands over the Magical Polarizer to you.

By the time I knew about the Shantae series, I’m too late to back the game on Kickstarter. If only I knew about the series earlier, I would’ve backed the abovementioned game in a heartbeat! I still regret not backing this game to this day.

Along with the main storyline mode/campaign is the Shantae Hero Mode where you start the game at the beginning from scratch but your dance transformations remains intact and the level designs, structures and layouts are varied. It’s also usually reserved for speedruns. There isn’t much known about the Risky Boots mode and the other character modes other than Rottytops, Bolo, Sky etc have their own stories, abilities and endings and these aforesaid modes might be paid downloadable content. However, the Risky Boots mode will or might coincide with the main storyline mode and Shantae Hero Mode. Sure, I loathe speedruns but this aforementioned mode and the character modes provide the game with replayability and replay value.

Most arguably my biggest issue or gripe with this game is the fact the physical version of the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox One etc ports are released only in America is inexcusable, unforgivable and a sin. I can’t justify myself importing the game at an expensive price; despite it comes with the soundtrack. There’s more to the world than bloomin’ America, you know. Although the digital version of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita ports cost £15.99 in the PlayStation Store but that’s nothing compared to how much it costs on the Amazon and Ebay websites. The Risky Beats edition costs £39.95 on the UK Amazon website and £25.90 (and £14.64 postage) on the UK Ebay website for instance. It depends on which price you’re looking at. To make matters worse, if there are downloadable content, I have no choice but to set up another PlayStation Store account on the US PlayStation Store if I imported the Risky Beats edition of the abovementioned game. I hope there will be a UK physical version of the console ports in the future. I still find it exasperatingly irritating I have to resort to importing games from other countries outside of the UK.

As much as I enjoyed playing the game immensely, it didn’t have what it takes to win the coveted “Game of 2016” title or trophy. In fact, my pessimistic criticisms prevented it from topping Ratchet & Clank (2016) as “My Game of 2016”.

As it stands, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is inferior to Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (which is deemed to be the best of the series) due to the criticisms I outlined earlier. Regarding the series as a whole, I’d reckon Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse tops the list, followed by Shantae: Half-Genie Hero in second place. As for third place, it’s either Shantae: Risky’s Revenge or Shantae. Concerning the soundtracks, it’s Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and finally, Shantae, in ascending order.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a retro-inspired platforming wish come true and a hidden gem among the ever-increasing line-up of platforming video games filled to the brim with nearly everything a platforming game fan ever wanted and it’s a breath of fresh air from the samey Mario and Kirby platforming antics. It introduced newcomers and a new generation of Shantae fans to the series while at the same time it stayed true to its nearly perfected gameplay and formula of what made the Shantae games insanely addictive, bundles and oodles of fun and extremely entertaining in the first place whilst the characters returned to form only to be let down by the slightly underwhelming, forgettable soundtrack, the short length of the game, fairly easy difficulty, the small dips in framerate whenever things become frantic and a ton of action takes up a lot of the screen, the absence of physical PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Wii U copies and the physical Risky Beats edition soundtrack being released in my country and Europe, the price of the game which is £15.99 in the PlayStation Store, the incorrect localisation (British English should’ve been used instead of American English), typos and spelling and grammar mistakes, the lack of a map that result in little to no direction of where to go and what to do next, the non-existence of dungeons, the game-breaking items and the list goes on. Despite the negative criticisms, this game is worth every penny and I never regretted purchasing it from the PlayStation store. Unlike Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, Activision and Toys For Bob, WayForward didn’t stray away from the phrase, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. To end this review on a positive note, I’m delighted to say Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is one of the few reboots that’s not abysmal and doesn’t deter both sides of the Shantae fanbase. Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, Activision, Toys For Bob etc should take notes from WayForward of how not to screw up a winning formula and to stick to the status quo.

By Wing See Li for Tomb of Ash

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6 notes · View notes

hey-hamlet · 5 years

Text

BNHA AU Ideas: Power Transfer

Also on AO3!

TL;DR:

One for all is a power that has been passed down for generations. Turns out the most recent generation can afford to be a whole lot more liberal with his sharing. Also turns out sharing quirks runs in the family.

An AU where Izuku can share OFA full cowling with multiple people at once.

shared power ofa,

izuku giving aizawa 5% of one for all durring the usj or izuku giving toshinori 99% of OFA durring the last fight

cause consider the world never finding out about small might, all might retires but izuku knows

the rescue team all having the max amount of ofa they can use, which is around 2% each, cause a lil sparking team of heroes

izuku using kirishima to give bakugo some too n them using it to get away

izuku having two quirks is my favourite goddamn thing bc him being able to share his quirk but not having anything to share is great

he gives bits to allmight, like a constant 1% so he can teach classes and do press stuff

some rando wants to do an "all might" where is he now segment and it spans a good few months so izuku is continuously in the background just

conspiracy theory starts that izuku is a villain or allmights son

a villain and all might's son

izuku has no double toe joint but the doc cant find any evidence of a quirk? so he tells them izuku is either quirkless or has an invisible quirk. something subtle, or specific enough to have not activated by now

bakugo kinda,, is chill with izuku. he was waiting for izuku to develop a quirk till he judged him, but he never did so he kinda withheld judgement long enough for them to become decent friends

anyway, izuku likes to ramble about different things his quirk could technically be, bakugo likes to join in. they can go at this for h o u r s cackling about stupid hypotheticals

they workout together, they both do boxing and try out random moves they see on the internet on each other. they have a pile of gym mats in the woods like the weirdos they are

bakugo is like,, convinced izuku's quirk is actually an intellect up but he just shrugs

izuku has to grab something before he heads home so he takes the underpass and we get basically episode 1 from there. all might says no, the villain gets away, attacks Bakugo. izuku runs in, throws dust in the villain's eyes and pulls at bakugo's hands. all might jumps in, saves the day yada yada

some background for u about all might bc his past is a touch different here. during the battle with afo, afo was distracted. all might sustained the same injures but won more easily.

night eye never looks into his future because "my purpose is done, nighteye. let's live like everyone else, no fate of the world on our shoulders" he never looks into all mights future again at his request

they stay together

so instead of the big argument they go get ramen and get drunk because they don't have to be superhuman anymore, they can relax now

back to the main timeline-

so izuku is already fit, cleans the beach in 8 months, nighteye supervises

all might gives izuku the quirk 2 months before the entrance exam, nighteye is there to "oversee" (he wants to see izuku choke on a hair and laugh at this kid hes become pretty fond of)

also mirio! is izuku's bro because i love he

izuku eats the hair and gets the quirk like, instantly which?? is confusing nighteye and all might. nighteye has like,,, hidden behind a car because hes the only person with self-preservation

allmight touches izuku and the lightning climbs up his arm and he just pOofs out into swolmight. hes ShooK, so is izuku

anyway, he manages to turn it off and izuku is just standing there like "oh my god what the fuck"

"izuku,, what,, happened there"

",,,, one for all??? leaked out??? into allmight????"

...

"nighteye come over here."

"izukU nO"

"STAND STILL NIGHTEYE I JUST NEED TO TRY SOMETHING"

nighteye is forcibly given a little of ofa and regrets a lot of stuff

anyway, izuku breaks an arm trying to use ofa and hes muttering trying to work out how to use it, nighteye basically says "well, think back to how ofa came about" and izuku is like ",,, what"

and nighteye screams because TOSHI YOU DIDNT TELL HIM?????? and allmight ",,, o o p s"

so izuku gets to hear the story of all for one while hes being driven to UA for recovery girl hes,,, really quiet for a second

"when did you fight him?"

"six years ago, april?"

",,, this has to be a coincidence"

hisashi went out on a "business trip" 6 years ago and they haven't seen him since. he calls, but hes never visited and izuku has this terrible feeling

because izuku cant calm down and because nighteye thinks this kid might be on to something they call tsukauchi and he agrees to meet them at UA

izuku gets treated, naomasa is in v quickly afterwards before he calls his dad he turns to nighteye, allmight and Naomasa

"i've never been able to lie to my dad. i thought he was just really good at reading me but,,"

"if hes afo he might have a quirk"

"yeah. so i'll just twist the truth. im good at that, but thats all i'll be able to do"

anyway, he calls up his dad and slaps this big grin on his face. the phone is on speaker

"hey dad!!!!" "izuku! is something wrong?"

"oi, cant i call my dad for no reason?"

"you, willingly calling someone? dont make me laugh"

izuku giggles despite himself

"anyway, you'll never guess!!"

"did youuuu,,,, hmmmm, meet all might?"

they freeze but izuku just laughs

"yeah,, but thats not the most exciting thing!!! my quirk came in finally"

"oh?"

"yeah! imagine the worlds most basic power enhancer, but i can share the energy! you have any idea where that could have come from?"

"no! i can't think of anyone in our family with a quirk like that! sounds crazy!"

naomasa looks grin, and mouths "liar"

izuku pales but keeps his smile

"do you think you could visit, id love to show you!! oh, maybe we could test it together! you always had the best ideas for my quirk notes"

"id love to izuku, but im stuck in america for the near future, you know it is. i'll see what i can do tho, ok champ?"

naomasa shakes his head again "lying" izuku looks like hes going to be sick. nighteye is pale, all might looks stunned. izuku grits his teeth but his voice is still light and happy

"i'm gonna make it into UA so you can watch me kick butt from america! you better cheer me on!"

"im looking forward to it. say hi to your mother from me."

naomasa nods. hes telling the truth. that makes nighteye feel the sickest

"love you izuku"

",,, love you too dad"

izuku hangs up the phone and retches into the bin. nighteye is shaking. all might storms out. naomasa punches the wall

izuku looks up with tears in his eyes

",,, does my mum know?"

nighteye wants to cry

"i dont know kid"

izuku tells katuski that his quirk finally came in! but,,, in the worlds biggest mess of a way

basically hes lying in bed, trying to work out why he can't use it without breaking bones but the people he shares it with can, he bolts upright

"POWER MODULATION OH MY GOD"

he runs out his door all the way to bakugos house and climbs in through his window, grabbing a sleeping bakugo by the shoulders

"KACCHAN ITS POWER MODULATION"

"IZuKU whAt tHE fuCK"

"my quirk!!! i was breaking bones because i wasnt modulating it!!!"

",,,,q QUiRK/???/?"

",,,, oh yeah oops"

mitsuki runs in with a frying pan ready to murder a villain but its just izuku

"carry on"

izuku doesnt tell him its ofa but he explains his quirk has finally showed up, bakugo asks him if hes registered it yet

",,,noooooo"

"wait what? you, breaking the law? mister "i cant kill an ant because all might himself will call me a villain""

izuku, w the most shit-eating grin, explains that you only legaly have to register your quirk when it shows up, or after you are tested when you are five, whichever happens first so, legally, he doesnt need to register because it would be seen as voluntary updating

cut to the enterance exam

aizawa is holding the papers for the kids hes observing right then

"quirkless? that kid doesn't look quirkless"

and yagi sighs

"of course he didnt,,,"

"all might? do you know him?"

"NO NO IDEA WHO MID- THAT YOUNG CHILD IS"

",,,, r i g h t"

“aizawa listen i have never seen young midoriya in my life ever”

basically, izuku is hiding the "transfer" part of his power from most people bc hes stubborn and thinks it could be useful

also,,, in this au shinso makes it in on hero points thanks

bakugo is about to rush the 0 pointer but shinso can see its going to fall on him shinsou yells

"HEY FUCK FACE"

"HA-"

"MOVE MOVE MOVE GET OVER HERE BEFORE YOU FUCKING DIE OH MY GOD MOVE I DONT WANT TO SEE SOMEONE DIE TODAY"

shinsou and bakugou are the type of friends that flat out have no love for each other but would punch anyone who says anything bad abt the other. like shinsou walks into school and bakugou s just

“dammit i thought u fucking died smh”

“i wish i did then i wouldn’t have to look at ur ugly ass”

in this au shinso and izuku bond when they are standing outside they door bc izuku looks like hes gonna fucking cry hes so scared and shinsou is like "wow big mood"

shinso is not shinson in this au! bc izuku is gonna do a soft

basically, quirk test? shinsou is s w e a t i n g bakugo looks a little worried for his new friend but no one would notice if they weren’t izuku

shinsou turns to him like "my quirk is mental im going to fa I L"

izuku grabs his hand and he feels this rush of energy, you can almost see it dancing along his skin. izuku grins

"i think you'll find you do just fine"

(izuku gave him like,, less than a full 1% but hes like doubled in strength and speed and hes??? shook?? bc whats happening)

aizawa is lost bc shinso has a mental quirk he shouldnt be doing this well, so he tries to cancel it

nothing happens and aizawa is so lost??? bc shinsou is kinda reedy and not super fit but hes placing solidly in the middle

and he noticing that shinso’s eyes seem to be glowing and so are they eyes of the kid coming in second and gives a big "hm,mmmm"

anyway, ball pitch, he cancels izukus quirk and turns to look at shinso, his eyes are dim. izuku looks sheepish but also like hes ready to throw down and its an interesting look

aizawa just sighs "you know what? just throw the ball."

izuku g r i n s and yeets it into next year using more of his quirk than he like,, really should have? to prove a point (his finger is bruised, not broken. he used 25%)

anyway aizawa shows the results, shinso is in the middle, izuku second, hagakure is last and sadly shes not getting expelled bc plot reasons – im sorry I have a thing against her shes perfectly valid probably im just still convinced shes the traitor even tho its totally a teacher

he calls izuku out on it but does admit he didnt say you couldnt help eachother, so its kind on him. shinso looks like hes going to pass out with relief

Hagekure is the traitor in this au though, 100%

during the camp she is at the pick up zone, hiding. izuku pulls bakugo out of the way, they all seem safe

but

she pushes izuku in through the portal as it closes

fyi afo takes her quirk and leaves her braindead in the nomu factory bc shes not useful anymore. also because now he needs to have a really awkward conversation with his son he was hoping to avoid

also usj? is really melodramatic

he gives aizawa 4% which is the max nighteye could hold without it hurting

aizawa takes a hit from the nomu and he reaches out his hand

izuku cries as he gives him an extra 4% and aizawa gets free but he can see bruises forming with every step his teacher takes

#bnha au #bnha #aizawa shouta #aizawa #eraserhead #midoriya izuku #Izuku #Midoriya #shinsou hitoshi #All Might #yagi toshinori #Nighteye #bakugou katsuki #Class 1A #power transfer au

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glopratchet · 4 years

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sss

In the world to come there is little sin. The only thing that can be done is to accept it and move on. You think back to your own past, the things you've done in the name of God. You remember how much you hated them for what they were doing to the world and yet here you are still living as if nothing happened. There are just lots of american alligators. And then one day you're going to have to face up to the fact that you don't want anything more than any other person does. That's when you'll know it's really time to go home. After the election of the first ungendered president, the prediatrain movement caught fire in america. the public transportation in every city became safer. The place you got called into service most waqs on the highway trucking line between satalite cities and the midwest manufacturing preserves. the work was dull but resupplying the big isolated centers of humanity was too important to skip out on just because the big rig industry suddenly became 90% robotic. Most city centers were shut down during this time as well. The demand for american alligator meat skyrocketed as the animal seemed to be in the right place at the right time and survived the mass extinctions that killed off all other mammals. with nothing natural to control their numbers, the alligator filled that role beautifully. Humans responded real well to being treated like alligator prey as well. You wouldn't know anything about that though because you've been on an alligator free diet for years. Whorals where burned to ash while polled hereford heifors fetched over a billion dollars a head in auction. Googizon won the bid to construct for the military the most forward thinking alligator farm in existance. It became an income factory, employing hundreds of rewilders and supporting thousands of predatrain workers in the barren scrub savannahs that replaced our farmlands. Your farm never received a grade a wildfire designation so it was spared being burned by mostly untrained crews. It also wasn't zoned for reforestation but all things happen with corrdination in business. most the savannah was turned back into park land and you got bought out. rrently floats near the okeenokee snow swamp. Peat bogs becoming of fields of fuel for jet planes and stratously bound carriers. remembers why you took the job. modern work is dull. getting burned out after a decade is not uncommon. they say predatrains only live about seven years in this line of work anyway so maybe it doesn't matter how bored you get along the way. concousness fades.......somewhere the lad is saying.....how many more miles.... This is not that story. We are primal ponds inc. and we're on Route 666 going from Bagdad Jim's glooming speakeasy to prospector's HQ, deep in the Oakenshield forest. We specialize in bringing into market only the highest quality feral meat so that you never have to eat one of those disgustingly sweet monstrosities born of factory farms like back home. We pride ourselves in putting meat slime and gnarl onto your table. A small mom and pop alligator farm attemping to make it. pass the osage oaks and the plains of ooidamint. this stretch of 666 stays basically on the same path as when it was first drawn on a map by prospectors a hundred years ago. We need you to make deliveries for us. we've gotten an opportunity to secure some of the sweetest,fattiest alligator meat you'll ever see but we're a small operation so we need a big strong predatrain like you to help us out. we operatens only have so many hands and cannot be flitting about delivering to satalite zip codes. this caps a big year for us so we really need your help. We got two basic choices for ya. Please... The water sac grows over the years and burst late one winter night, flooding the halls. Dad said it used to flood every few years back when the place first opened, but the renovations stopped the problem for good... Or so he thought.. You woke up in the middle of night to hear an ominous whooshing sound coming from the direction of the great dining room. You shake Dad awake and tell him what is going on. He swore and ran for the hallway, you followed. ... The water hit you like a brick soon as you reached the door. Wipplesbury was never designed to handle flooding, and these sections could not handle it in the slightest. now cold water floods over your ankles as you stand in the doorway, watching papers and trash and furniture swirl in the torrent. you see some chairs carried past, the great big armchair dad favors of an evening... A snake runs across your foot and you jump backwards out of reflex before realizing it was only a minnow. Hacker: fresh rhetoric, overlight flow, renderform disk, soulfont reserve. say "oh textual technology" to continu... UnderBelly 0.5 We're going to be wiped out, you say, as you stare at the water. we'll lose it all. I'll wake up with nothing an...... There's a half-buried chest on the edge of the parking lot that didn't get set into storage... swim? ... Hacker: felicifus calculus, kevin equals rooster, else rise rooster! don't ptex filiate, assume μολφα ζωη σταγον μελχρσδι ! warcall: VAGRANT1 ..... Sms transmit DEEplab Not good enough. Hacker: billy-fae-bots, lactavous mcjustin, pantone uler, slash node. antidisestablishmentarianism! Eternityin12bit 1 You focus on the chest through the water, willing it with every ounce strength in your soul to move toward you and toward the Pike Exit... [HACKER: WILLPOWER: You can ONLY use code if you dive deep... That's the agreement. You aren't willing to compromise fame and fortune for getting out of life today...... OR are you?? Hacker: aviatrix click, fused buck up, frictional deprevation, run benjamin run.! soulfont reserve.. antidisestablishmentarianism!] The chest on the horizon drifts slowly at first and then faster until it reaches your parking lot island. It was left behind in the chaos when everyone fled during the grand opening... One presumes. We are going dig into it's contents later... erm.. in a few days. But now... DIVE! chancey, soren soarson butterfly knife - butterfly. knife (hidden set) vampire: look of disdain... ::::: biotOPE: ******************************* Chief Security Officer Teggs swings his shotgun around and points it right at your forehead, "What on earth are you doing here!" He shouts, "You gave me a scary splitting headache and I nearly tried to surrender to you! That's not normal, that's not even wendigo behavior!" Hacker: aperiocity chill, sequenomn, binocular parralax hacker: zero-heroes, milo james, run to the basement. eek! sploin vobiscum! taipan tofu, ravencode = hellhouse "Goodness' sake Mr. Teggs I don't know! Coder: hacking, defacing, break dancing the internet since 1994. Gopher://Irc.Godhates.Us/ Threat: "Truthiness is when you get that tingly feeling in your hindquarters that Stanford prison experiment is about to get interesting..." -- Caltro Basalt, Human Stain Clicktranspires The second floor collapses inward, pinning you and Mr. Teggs to the wall. Hacker: fall out. hellhouse darkness, jump the queue on the street of bones. hackmode.... Animator: bony hooks, backbone bouncer, shadowrun http://www.shadowruntable.com / But only your foot is trapped, and then only in a hole. You focus on continuing to exhale... CONNECTIONS: MASTERPIECE THRILLER CD-i IN MIDI hypers cybersecurity proactive dead tech dare u 2 find me? Rigger: out. Yr breath is a plume in the cold crystal silence here, the temperature dropping every moment... it's as though you're out for an evening stroll... But we all know better than that. Modeler: stanley dancer, spiracle slit - flatline thinman celluloid dream machine, milky eye round & round & round... You see nothing barring your exit in either direction. But, the dull red glare in the sky is back... and it's coming from the direction you need to go. Trail: jed mcray watches you undress her with your eyes. shes yours for a lock pick. Illustrator: the air strikes with blood rain. spam bam coffin. An old wooden sign creaks weepily over the path ahead. There are two painted black bars of equal length across a white field. The paint is chipping badly and the bar at the top is bent inward as if something heavy fell on it at some point in the not too distant past. Hmm... Simple, but elegant in its own way... much like Jed himself! Painter: splatter burst - mucus membrane heartcore showstopper, cryptoxprayfine... Suddenly, the way ahead is lit by an orange glow and you turn your head towards it. It seems to be coming from the small upstairs window of a concrete building opposite you. The orange flicker gives the place an eerie feel but it also fills you with hope; somewhere out there people are still alive! The light fades and everything is dark again. Sculptor: anamorphic intrusion - dimensions of the king are blasted by alchemy, eyes melted chocolate grinder... whitechoco journalism. Sculptor: istanbul obelisk falls on alchemy initiative, devoured cryptograms thoughtcrime brutal shortly, kinaporra final cut... You suddenly remember that you haven't eaten anything since your grandfather's funeral this morning. You're getting faint from hunger. duct designer: georgia, sequence brutality - ultraviolent fairy tales for brutal boys, ate the fantasy... fairy gothics sequence corpstopia soldestroy! Game designer: on creation, magic scent bleeding contest, fantasy 8 bit forced perspective graphics adrenaline vector animation grunge immersive lifestyle... Dancer: sink into nightmare kingdom. borstal chemistry spraypaint seascape dream cut motion blur hyper rez queensland motion blur sparkle lensflare pulp beat... Fashion designer: high fashion luxury grunge sweets fuel captivate sugar rush street manga ultraviolet graf opera... And at that moment, an idea pops into your head; you pick up a nearby rusty pipe and wield it like a scepter. The group's heads bend to your will as you lead them to where the people seem to be. In case you need it for protection, you think... You come to a HUGE hole in the ground and look down it. Hypermedia designer: whiz kid frenzy - rabid techtown hacktalk pitchpimp frenzy fashion dynamo, estrade bookmecca... Satellite designer: conspiracy culture future shock - torrential webforce limitless motor control handbrake hack for real, eye tap keyboard deft nylon optic joystic... Wired Designer: pixel perfect prime timebeast thrill, volute fractal buzz, zoned silicon junky weird science art attack destiny frenzy. Critic: q2 q3 q4 - the fastpswp white paper psycho power, rollin' r00l1n r0wd0wn 5000q1 q2 3pps gamez g00d t1mes pwnd, min1r b0yz 5ecur1ty failure fiasco. 4 Billion Sold Instructor: motion physics & Adobe After Effects special feature included free! The World-Famous tutorial by Peter Ludwig! Dancer: white wool choreography eraserhead final cut multimedia mayhem experimental beautiful forever... naturally talented triple overlay icebreaker future celebrities radical infamous spectacular legendary sutcha c. ranta kim sungeun tony hawk... The only problem is that these pipes are very fragile, and you don't fancy your chances of clambering down it in the dark and hoping that it won't collapse under your weight. Musician: sub bass crystal era - high tech ebm drum & bass, midi gabber hard trance drum machines music factory... You peer down the pipe and see a faint orange glow about halfway down. Thinking that perhaps someone has lit a fire at the bottom, you turn and motion for the group to follow you. Architect: double overtime v2.0 - aspr1ng sh1p su1t virtual lounge n1ghts ch3mpt3rr0r bonus mster gr1vitational pr1nc14ples... You make it about a quarter of the way down the crumbling pipe before you suddenly start to hear a creaking, groaning sound emanating from somewhere beneath you. The rumbling noise grows louder as large clods of earth and rocks begin to give way from somewhere above you. Artist:saul-saint-nikadimus, spooge, , corona click,the georgetown collection,zombie flick, psycho rampage the return of mr. santa epica terry harrison... This pipe isn't going to support the weight of everyone, and you don't have time to go back and find another way---if there even is another way.Tip: If you're logged in, your games are auto saved for you. You can find them by clicking "My Stuff" on the sidebar menu.Story

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

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Fantasyland 2041: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

Does that mean Guinevere is real?! Or have I just carried a robot out of the park?

Fantasyland 2041

United States

Crystalware (developer and original publisher); Epyx (later publisher)

Released in 1981 for Apple II and Atari 800

Date Started: 9 October 2019

Date Finished: 19 October 2019

Total Hours: 9

Difficulty: Hard (4/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

Summary:

Fantasyland 2041 is an epic adventure on non-epic hardware: a long, difficult game with primitive graphics and mechanics. Set in a Westworld-like future of holograms and animatronics, guests proceed through a series of adventure scenarios–Congoland, Arabian Adventure, King Arthur, Olympus, Captain Nemo, and Dante’s Inferno–and back again. Along the way, they must find certain items to rescue Lancelot or Guinevere from hell. They must also manage food and inventory, fight hostile parties, and solve a few light inventory puzzles. The interface is top-down, which often conflicts mentally with what looks like first-person graphics. The game’s scope and intent are admirable, but ultimately it’s too annoying and boring for the graphics, sound, and mechanical complexity of the era.

******

The manual to Fantasyland 2041 takes pains to emphasize the length and difficulty of the adventure.

[Y[ou may conclude that it is impossible to ever finish or win this game. We had to make it pretty tough. The average adventurer will probably never see the Throne of Lucifer or make it past the gates to the Underworld. We hope that just the experience of a single adventure will be sufficiently entertaining to satisfy our most critical hobbyists.

I can sympathize. Players expected, as they do now, to get a certain amount of playing time out of a $40.00 purchase. Arcade games satisfied that time minimum by being repeatable, but for adventure games and RPGs, a lot of the mystery was gone after you won for the first time. Thus, the developer had to prolong that time. Eventually, they would do that with bigger worlds and more game detail, but those weren’t options in the early years of the microcomputer. (Less because of technology and more because of a lack of innovative templates.) So instead, they prolonged the games by just making them hard. Permadeath was a common solution. Fantasyland goes a different direction by allowing you to save anywhere but almost always rolling the dice against you.

There’s a seed of a good game in Fantasyland 2041, and part of me wishes John Bell had waited several years and then developed it under the influence of, say, the Ultima series. I would have like to experience it with more complex commands, more thoughtful puzzles, interesting NPCs, and tactical combat. Instead, game design is as primitive as the world it inhabits, involving a lot of trial and error before the player learns enough to make a successful winning run.

As we covered in the first entry, exploring the land is a very linear process. The Hall of Heroes leads to Congoland, which leads to the Arabian Adventure, which leads to King Arthur. These first three lands are all quite similar.

Each one has individual enemies visible on-screen who chase you around the map and attack you. In Congoland, these are tigers and gorillas. In the Arabian Adventure, they’re samurai. In King Arthur, they’re Modred and the Black Knight.

I’m not sure I remember this part of Le Morte D’Arthur.

Each has packs of enemies who can attack randomly at any moment (while you’re standing still or moving) but are not seen on-screen. Across the three lands, these progressed from headhunters and Zulu warriors to Turks and scorpions to knights and archers.

Each has physical features that are dangerous to bump into, running the risk of losing equipment or companions. These include swamps, logs, mountain crevices, fallen logs, and cliffs.

Each has random environmental effects (earthquakes, sandstorms) that have the same effect.

Each has treasure chests to find and loot, and villages where you can buy and sell goods and companions.

Each has a special spellcasting enemy–witch doctors, genies, and sorcerers–who are necessary to have in your party to “solve” the area.

Each culminates at a door to the next world, where you must use the magic of one of your spellcasters to progress.

Each land is made of blocks of roughly 8 x 8. It’s tough to count exactly because the screens continually scroll. Each block can have a particular type of terrain. The manual organizes these blocks into named sections (“Jungles,” “the Desert,” “Baghdad,” “Stonehenge”) and gives you clues about what you need to accomplish there.

King Arthur’s world changed the rules a bit by allowing parties of knights and archers to join you when you (G)reet them rather than attack. This sounds like a good idea, but the most difficult feature of the game is keeping all your companions fed. You can only carry a maximum of 255 of any item, including rations, and every companion eats a meal roughly two game minutes. If you somehow get 100 companions in your party, you have at most about five minutes before they start to starve to You can barely move between all the death notices and the need to constantly stop and drop equipment, so once characters start starving, it’s basically a reload.

I don’t remember why this was here.

Thus, resource issues discourage you from developing a large party, particularly since enemy parties just scale to your size anyway. However, the “individual” enemies on each map–Modred and the Black Knight on King Arthur’s map–all have high strength and need a large party to successfully counter, particularly if you want to minimize the chance that they’ll kill your spellcasters. Thus, you have to find the balance between logistical annoyance and combat effectiveness.

King Arthur’s realm features a dragon’s lair, with the dragon guarding the sword Excalibur. The dragon has 50,000 strength, which can only be countered by a very large party. To defeat the dragon, I hung out near his lair, let hundreds of companions join me, killed him, grabbed Excalibur, and then dropped the companions. Having Excalibur among my equipment made the rest of the game a lot easier.

Fighting a dragon to get Excalibur.

There’s also a second artifact to find in King Arthur’s territory: a Ring of Power. The manual makes a big deal about the importance of Rings of Power, but I only ever found two, and as far as I could tell, they just sat in my inventory. I never employed them. Also in King Arthur’s realm: Holy Grails (plural!) show up in treasure chests and can be sold for a lot of money.

King Arthur’s world culminates in Merlin’s Labyrinth, another maze. Getting past Merlin involves using one of the magic items you’ve acquired from the witch doctor, sorcerer, or genie. Once he’s gone, you can progress to Olympus.

I’ll pause here to note that (U)sing items is one of the more annoying parts of the game. Every time you hit the command, you have to scroll through multiple inventory pages before you get to the place you enter the item’s number. Since the “B” key also scrolls through inventory, the developers should have had “U” just take you right to the number, in case you already remembered it. A lot of items, like scrolls, feel like they should be useable but are not.

Inventory eventually gets very unwieldy.

The Olympus level changes the rules. You begin at Olympus itself, a town where you can buy and sell goods. You must buy the ship Argos, which appears off the “coast” to the west. To get to the ship, you have to buy a longboat and (U)se it at the edge of the Olympus screen. Once you’re on the Argos, you need a sail, an anchor, and oars to operate it. You have to (U)se the anchor to lift it, and after that you can either row with oars, which allows you to go any direction but consumes more food, or sail with the winds, which is a little harder to master.

Sailing away from Olympus.

The level is populated with numerous islands. I couldn’t figure out how to land on the Isle of Delos to the west. A northwest island had the Cyclops, who carried 2,000 gold pieces. A northeast island had the sorceress Circe, who carried the second Ring of Power. Finally, an eastern island, Thera, had the portal to the next land. I should mention that we get the only complex sound on this level, with a cycling shhhhh suggesting waves.

The Argos waits offshore while the party picks up the Ring of Power from the slain Circe.

There was a lot of inventory shuffling because to enter Captain Nemo’s world, you need a submarine, which you can purchase in Olympus, but it’s enormously heavy, so you need people without equipment to bear the weight. Once you choose to enter the submarine, however, your companion and inventory maximums drop precipitously, and you have to jettison a lot of people and stuff.

Handling logistics for boarding the submarine.

Captain Nemo’s world is all underwater, and running the submarine into any object causes it to fall apart. I think you can fix it with “spare parts,” but I had neglected to purchase any of these, so any time I accidentally rammed into a coral reef, I had to reload. There are treasure chests that you can send divers with diving suits out to retrieve, but only at certain depths. I found the whole level frustrating and thus wasn’t unhappy when I found Atlantis in the northwest corner and immediately transitioned to the final level.

I never figured out anything to do in the City of Eelmen.

Dante’s Inferno takes place among brimstone pits and rows of demons who just stand there until you run into them, at which point they kill your companions. The City of Dis in the northwest is the first place to buy and sell equipment and companions since Olympus. Demons and Nosferatu attack as you explore, although I found that around a dozen knights plus Excalibur made short work of them.

At least they make me feel “welcome.”

Rivers of fire funnel you to the north, where you have to use a plank (sold in Dis) to cross an abyss. Finally, in the northwest corner, you find Lancelot or Guinevere being guarded by Lucifer. As long as you have the two Rings of Power and a Signet Ring from Camelot (the manual warns you to buy it), he or she will come along with you immediately.

All I did was walk up to him. This felt anti-climactic.

At that point–much to my furor–you have to reverse your steps and make your way all the way back to the beginning, traversing each of the lands in reverse order. That took longer than it should have because I had gotten rid of a lot of the items needed for the ship and submarine, thinking I wouldn’t need them again.

Returning to the entrance gives you a brief message that “You made it back with Guinevere” and then a “Final Score” screen that summarizes your wealth, experience, and time. The screen encouraged early players to send their disks to Crystalware for a chance to win $1000, with the winner chosen from the highest scorer to solve the game before 1 December 1981.

201 days?! How do people take that much time off work in the future?

One outstanding mystery concerns, well, “The Great Mystery.” This is what the manual has to say about it:

To win the prize, you must solve the Great Mystery and beat out your competitors in treasure and courage . . . The mystery is unlike any of the others. It is not an anagram nor is it found anywhere on the disk in basic or machine language . . . At the end of the game, if you make it, you will be prompted to send your disk in if you wish to enter the contest. Do not try to make a copy to send in; it must be the original. At our plant, we have a huge score board, with a list of all the fantasylanders and their achievements. The person to solve the mystery and score the highest will be awarded a trophy and receive $1,000 in cash.

So there’s supposedly some Great Mystery that you have to solve to win the prize–but it’s not the same thing as winning the game by finding Lancelot or Guinevere, which you presumably have to do, too. More important, the instructions only mention sending in the disk. How will the developers know that someone has solved the Great Mystery, too? Is it somehow recorded on the disk? Did they assume players would know enough to include a separate note? What did they mean when they say the mystery “is unlike any of the others”? Any of the other what?

A re-read of the manual produces few clues. There are poems that suggest using the rings or perhaps scrolls on the “666” of King Solomon’s Temple, but nothing I try works. Messages just tell me that those items are “already in use.” I’ve inspected the disks, and I can’t find any text related to a bigger mystery, but then again the manual itself warned me that wouldn’t work.

Here’s a scene from Dante’s Inferno. I have no idea what’s going on, or who that guy in the center is. Touching any of the figures around him causes your companions to die. Maybe this had something to do with the Great Mystery?

Fantasyland 2041 isn’t much of an RPG. It lacks any character development (I don’t think the “experience” statistic does anything for you during the game) or personal inventory, and combat is as simple as a game of War. I give it an 18 on the GIMLET, with the best scores (3s) in coencounters and inventory. I still don’t know the purpose of half the stuff you can pick up. I don’t believe I ever used a rope, a shovel, a spotlight, citrus fruit (I assume it was there to stave of scurvy, but no one ever ate it), quinine, a compass, a magic carpet, a box of sand, mushrooms, a lute, squid ink, a wooden stake, or half a dozen other items that didn’t seem to be weapons, armor, or treasure.

We also leave the game with some out-of-game mysteries as well. Why did John Bell announce in the manual that this would be his last great fantasy? What happened to him and Patricia Bell after 1982, when the last Crystalware title was published? How did it morph into Crystalware Defense and Nanotechnology of the 2010s, and what did Bell do in the meantime?

I’ve been exposed to three Crystalware games at this point, and all of them are similar in their interfaces, mechanics, and suggestions that something deeper is happening beneath the game’s surface. I have four more on my list and will probably be a bit less forgiving about their statuses as RPGs under my rules. Nonetheless, it was fun to see another example of a developer who, in the area of five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy disks, dared to dream big.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/fantasyland-2041-won-with-summary-and-rating/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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