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arataka-reigen · 3 months

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Winter Anime Review by Yours Truly 🍄🌻

This season I said I would not watch anything besides dunmeshi. As we can all see... that was a fucking lie.

In total I've started 10 anime (can everyone praise me and be proud of me for being a bit more tame than I was in the fall season? At least it wasn't 20 anime this time).

My reviews are something I make just for fun, and they 100% reflect my own personal tastes. I might give a highscore to shows other people would call absolute trash, and that's okay! To each their own~~ That being said, I do try to make it very informative to aid you in choosing what you might want to check out by adding a summary and a few content warnings along with the actual review.

A little preview: this season has some great romance anime with couples that actually do make progress in their relationship, which is kind of rare for anime couples, always on their "will they wont they" thing, so if anything, i would recommend picking up one of the romances this time around. (And dunmeshi. Watch dunmeshi.)

***This review will include exclusively animes that debuted this winter, so no 2nd seasons or continuing shows from the fall season.

So, without further ado, let's get into it under the read more.

Dungeon Meshi

Summary: Seinen, Fantasy, Gourmet, Comedy

A party of adventurers gets stuck fighting a Dragon even though they are starving and in no shape to survive. In a last ditch effort to make it out alive, mage Falin sacrifices herself to save her brother Laios and their party. She sends them back to the surface but gets eaten by the Dragon. Now Laios and co are in a race against time to save Falin before she gets digested. The problem? They don't have any money for food. The solution? DUNGEON MESHI!!! AH, DUNGEON MESHI!! DUNGEON FOOD!! JUST EAT THE GODDAMN MONSTERS 😋

Rating: 10/10

Review: if you've been following me for 2 seconds or less you already know dunmeshi is one of my all time favorite mangas. And the anime absolutely delivers. The animation is great, the voice acting is great both subbed or dubbed (the english dub AND the portuguese dub are worth it). The comedic bits hit so hard, and we're just at the start but you can already see bits and pieces of a larger and more dramatic story unfolding.

World building is insane. Character design is insane (everyone say thank you Ryoko Kui our goddess).

Not only is the story incredibly well written with no plot holes, the characters are also well fleshed out and three dimensional.

I could sing praises for it for hours, but then it would leave no space for the other shows on this list so I'll stop now.

But if you only have time to watch one anime this season, this one is it.

Content Warning: blood, death, necromancy crimes 🧟‍♀️

7th Timeloop: the Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy

Summary: Reincarnation, Fantasy, Romance

Rishe is not new to the reincarnation business. This is her 7th time around. After being accused of crimes she didn't commit and having her engagement to the crown prince broken off in her 1st life she went on to discover that life is full of possibilities and adventures. But, after 5 years, she died. Only to find herself back at the moment the crown prince broke off their engagement. With each life she explores new countries and new possibilities, but in every life, after 5 years, she is caught up in the war waged by emperor Arnold Hein, and is killed. In her 6th life she dies directly by Arnold's blade and in a turn of fate she runs into him in her 7th life, catching his attention, and maybe his heart? Can she prevent her death this time around and finally live a peaceful life?

Rating: 10/10

Review: ah, we all knew the otome reincarnation was coming. This shit is my life source. That being said, even if it wasn't, I would still probably really love 7th Time Loop. It's just that good.

Rishe is a great main character, in all her past lives she was on The Grind. From being a merchant, to a doctor, to a maid, to a royal guard. And now she tells herself she just wants to chill, but this girl simply cannot chill. She is playing mind games with Arnold, trying to figure out what he is planning and how to stop the war from breaking out.

Meanwhile, Arnold is head over heels in love and probably so so full of trauma we still don't know yet. We must protect this dude. I'm very excited to find out more and more about him and what exactly led him to start a war against the world.

The animation is gorgeous, I love the way the eyes are drawn like constellations.

The romance is great and developing at a very nice pace, Arnold is very respectful of Rishe's boundaries for their marriage and overall just a really great guy.

CW: blood, death, kidnapping.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Summary: Boys Love, Adult Cast, Workplace, Supernatural, Comedy

Office worker Kiyoshi Adachi has gone 30 years of life without ever having his cherry popped. Due to this profound accomplishment, he gains the ability to read minds through physical contact. However, this new skill has only made his life harder and he now hates crowded spaces.

On the way to work, Adachi runs into his colleague Kurosawa, curious about what an outgoing guy like him thinks about, Adachi touches him and finds out that Kurosawa has a crush on someone from their office, looking further he realizes Kurosawa is actually crushing on him.

Rating: 10/10

Review: first of all, if you say "romance + adult cast" you already have my full attention. Add mind reading to the mix to make sure that the main character doesn't have miscommunication problems and i'm at the fucking table eating it up.

This show is incredibly funny, Kurosawa's thoughts about Adachi are always so sweet and/or horny and obsessed, but he is still just a super great guy with great morals and he would never do anything Adachi doesn't want (much to Adachi's surprise because he thought the dude was going to jump him anytime with how badly in love his thoughts are).

Adachi is straight until proven otherwise, and Kurosawa proves otherwise really fast. The pace of their romance is really great, we dont get ten thousand episodes of "will they wont they" and I really appreciate that.

CW: none that i can think of atm. Let me know if you have anything i could add here.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord

Summary: Otome Isekai, Fantasy, School

Yumiella Dolkness is a girl with dark hair and dark magic (characteristics associated with the Demon Lord) and for that she is feared.

When Yumiella was 5 years old she regained memories of her past life in modern Japan, and the game she used to play: Light Magic and the Hero. In it, Yumiella was the secret boss you had to defeat after the Demon Lord. Determined to avoid this fate she applies gamer logic to her life and begins adventuring in dungeons to max her power levels.

Now, 15 year old Yumiella is going to school, where she will meet the true hero of the game. She wants to avoid calling attention and just go through her school years without trouble. But when their power levels are measured in the first day of school, she is measured as a level 99 dark magic user and now even the king and queen have their eyes on her.

Rating: 10/10

Review: you gotta trust me on this one and get through the first ten minutes, I promise it gets so much better after Yumiella is really introduced. They just had to spend a few minutes doing a gag introduction, where you follow the game's hero before you find our beloved villainess. And it was very cool how the opening resemble a dating sim game opening.

Yumiella is great, one of my favorite female leads this season, and that is including frieren and maomao from the fall season animes that are still airing. She is not very aware of all the social cues and has trouble communicating and making friends, but we get to see her inner thoughts and they're always hilarious.

My favorite gag is that dark magic can be used for healing, but the healing process looks fucking grotesque so people would rather not be healed by Yumiella. For some reason that always gets me.

I really fucking hate the 4 hero characters, they're super annoying, but in a "i love to hate them" way, and I love seeing yumiella wipe the floor with their asses without even trying because she is just that overpowered. Most of the anime is just her trying to use just a tiny bit of her power because if she uses her full power people would just straight up die with a simple punch.

CW: blood

Yubisaki to Renren

Summary: ✨️Shoujo✨️, Adult Cast, Romance

(Summary stolen from myanimelist, sorry) Yuki Itose is a hearing-impaired university student whose world has been shrouded with silence since birth. She has lived in the same place her whole life, and rarely interacts with others save for her best friend, Rin Fujishiro. During her commute one day, she meets the silver-haired and multilingual Itsuomi Nagi, a mutual friend of Rin. Unlike most, Itsuomi is unwavering when he learns of Yuki's impairment; this, along with his experiences abroad, fascinates and touches her. After they part, her fondness of him starts to grow. A new world begins to open for both Yuki and Itsuomi as they learn about each other's different lives.

Rating: 10/10

Review: and here we have The Shoujo Of The Season. And it occupies that spot marvelously.

Yuki and Itsuomi are another one of the incredible couples of the winter season. Relationship developing at a very nice pace that isn't too fast and not too slow (like shoujo can be sometimes). Yuki is very inspired by Itsuomi, she wants to see the world and experience new things now that she got a glimpse into his life and realized how big the world is.

I specially love how cool, calm and collected Itsuomi always acts, but how his cousin, Kyouya, lets us know that Itsuomi is really interested in Yuki and just shows it in different ways, like the way his voice gets very affectionate towards her.

The animation!!!!! Wow!!!! So soft!!! So warm!!!! I love it!!!! I'm sure you'll love it too!!!

Sound design is also very good, it's specially interesting during scenes where we cant hear anything because we are on Yuki's point of view. I wish it happened even more often.

I've seen people compare this show with Koe no Katachi but they're very different shows, specially since we get to see most of this one through Yuki's point of view, while Koe no Katachi was not from the POV of the hearing-impaired character and dealt a lot more with issues like bullying and suicide. Yubisaki to Renren is a lot more light-hearted, soft, sweet and overall just a feel good anime.

I am always going to recommend shoujo. Specially when they're as good as this one is. So definitely check this one out.

CW: none that I can think of. Let me know if there is anything I should put here.

The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil

Summary: Seinen, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural

The angels and the devils are waging a war. Things are not looking so good on the devils' side, so they send Akutsu Masatora on a journey to the human world, to find someone that can aid the demons on their fight.

Akutsu is assigned a seat next to Lily Amane, the cutest girl in class. But when he tries to recruit her to the devil's side he realizes she is not a normal human. Now he must deal with the fact that he is tied to his mortal enemy, an angel, and with the fact that he might be falling in love.

Rating: 10/10

Review: More like,, the foolish devil gets played by the angel.

Akutsu and Lily get into stupid mind games trying to make the other fall in love, all while realizing that "hey, angels/devils arent so bad after all" as they spend more and more time together.

It reminds me just a bit of Kaguya-sama how the main couple wants the other to cave first.

This show is simply hilarious, I was laughing out loud at so many stupid scenes. Some gags do get old a bit fast, but overall it's still going strong and makes up for where it falls short with how badly in love these two already are just a few episodes in.

I'm not sure we'll get a proper confession this season, but it doesnt look like these two will be stuck forever in the "will they wont they" stage like the couple from kaguya-sama.

CW: there is a scene by the end of episode one that is completely played as a joke that has one of the lead characters putting a collar on the other lead and the imagery was a bit disturbing, definitely leaning on non con bdsm themes, it isnt terrible, just felt a bit distasteful to me, but nothing big, i dont think it should deter you from watching this, but watch out for that.

Solo Leveling

Summary: Action, Fantasy

(Synopsis stolen from myanimelist again) Ten years ago, "the Gate" appeared and connected the real world with the realm of magic and monsters. To combat these vile beasts, ordinary people received superhuman powers and became known as "Hunters." Twenty-year-old Sung Jin-Woo is one such Hunter, but he is known as the "World's Weakest," owing to his pathetic power compared to even a measly E-Rank. Still, he hunts monsters tirelessly in low-rank Gates to pay for his mother's medical bills.

However, this miserable lifestyle changes when Jin-Woo—believing himself to be the only one left to die in a mission gone terribly wrong—awakens in a hospital three days later to find a mysterious screen floating in front of him. This "Quest Log" demands that Jin-Woo completes an unrealistic and intense training program, or face an appropriate penalty. Initially reluctant to comply because of the quest's rigor, Jin-Woo soon finds that it may just transform him into one of the world's most fearsome Hunters.

Rating: 8/10

Review: everyday that passes I find myself liking battle shounen less and less. This one is not bad, it is actually quite interesting, it's just not the type of stuff i'm into anymore, I guess.

That being said, if you're in the mood for it, this one if very interesting. Jin woo's life is now completely ruled by this game that allows him to level up, and he is getting a bit fucked in the head by it.

Animation is great, I love when his eyes get all shiny because you know he's gone Beast Mode.

Not a lot of characters introduced so far, but it's still cool to see Jin Woo leveling up on his own. I mean... a show named solo leveling has got to make sure that the solo aspect isnt boring lol.

For some reason tho I still gave it an 8, which is high, so... it's pretty good.

Jin woo is just a bit... generic i guess. Nothing you havent seen before from an isekai male lead.

Also... i miss his haircut from the earlier episodes, his current haircut makes him look even more generic.

CW: blood and gore, body horror, torture, death games. Big and scary god statue that smiles in a fucked up way and kills kills kills.

Drop Box

Animes I either already dropped for a specific reason or will probably drop in the future simply because I wont have time to watch everything I started this season, so among the 10 I started, these are the ones i'm least likely to finish:

Majo do Yajuu

Summary: Seinen, Action, Fantasy

Guideau and Ashaf are an ominous pair, working for a mysterious organization that deals with magic crimes. Guideau is a feral and unhinged girl/genderless beast with a curse she wants to break and Ashaf is her soft spoken and calm companion. They go from town to town looking for witches to defeat and trying to find the witch who cursed Guideau and get their revenge.

Rating: 7/10

Review: I do like this one, I just think that if it comes to it and I dont have time, I wont miss it too much if I never finish it.

The blood and gore are heavy, and that might be the reason why i'm fine dropping it, i'm not that big of a fan of gore.

Other than that tho, I find the two main characters extremely interesting and i want to learn more about them, specially Guideau and her curse and that crazy beast mode she goes on when she manages to put a pause on her curse sometimes.

CW: blood and gore, body horror

Gekai Elise

Summary: Reincarnation/Otome Isekai, Fantasy, Medical, Romance

(Again, stolen from myanimelist) In her first life, the renowned and genius surgeon Dr. Aoi Takamoto was Elise de Clorance, a villainess of noble descent. Elise's selfishness, insolence, and obsessive love for her fiancé—Prince Linden de Romanoff—led to the deaths of her family members and, eventually, herself. Only after being reborn did Elise realize the error of her ways and decide that, instead of ruining lives, she would devote herself to saving them. But a tragic airplane crash robs her of her dreams too soon.

By a miracle, Elise wakes up in her original body before her official engagement to Linden. Recognizing the chance to cherish her loving family and free Linden from an unwanted marriage, Elise wishes to use her advanced medical knowledge to continue down the path of saving lives. In a deal with the emperor, Elise is given only six months to prove that her true place is not on the throne, but rather with the wounded and ailing who desperately need her help.

Rating: 6/10

Review: I'd like to say I dropped this show for personal reasons, not because it is a bad show.

It is definitely not the best otome isekai of the season (7th time loop and Villainess 99 win by a mile), but it is quite good and has an interesting premise. The main couple didn't seem too promising or interesting to me tbh.

The thing that interested me the most was the fact that Elise's original life was as a noblewoman, her second life was as a doctor and then he got a chance to relive her first life and change the mistakes she made.

Unfortunately, I am a med student, and I simply can't watch medical related stuff without nitpicking it to hell and back. Mostly, I try to distance myself from medicine related shows because my life already revolves around it too much, u know. I just need a break from All That when I'm watching my silly little shows, so... i had to drop this one.

Also, the main character was kind of annoying, but that might just be me.

Anyway, check this out if you think it sounds interesting. I might not be the best judge of this one.

CW: plane crash, death, medical procedures, surgery

Gushing Over Magical Girls

Oh boy...

I'm putting the CW before anything else because this one is problematic and I don't want anyone acting like I didn't warn them beforehand.

CW: this is straight up softcore porn and the characters are all middle/highschool aged. The anime revolves around BDSM themes (so many and increasingly worse themes, from simple bondage to pain play, to age play and other stuff), and there is nothing more than that to it, all the character growth is about the characters becoming more and more uninhibited with their sexual preferences. Also extremely dubious consent for all of it.

This is just a hentai disguising as an ecchi. It's fully yuri tho. Small blessings lol.

Summary: Mahou Shoujo, Girls Love, Ecchi, Comedy

I'm tired already so this will be short. Utena is a girl obsessed with magical girls. One day she gets the chance to become a magical girl herself, however, she is fooled and actually becomes a villain. She is made to fight Tres Magia (magical girl group) and ends up realizing she quite enjoys inflicting pain against them.

Review: the animation is good, very clean, the boob physics is not all that bad (what. this is an honest review and the anime is an ecchi. i gotta talk abt the boob physics.)

It is indeed super funny and definitely unhinged.

Plot wise, it is pretty straightforward, girl likes magical girls -> girl finds out she likes to watch magical girls suffering and in pain and moaning (well, not only watch, she does a lot of touching too)

Do I recommend it? No. Am I having fun watching it? Yes, it is pretty funny if you're the type of person who can ignore A Lot of things.

I'll probably favor the other animes tho so this one is very likely to get dropped before the season is through.

Thank you for reading (if you managed to make it this far lol, although this list is definitely smaller than my fall anime list)

If there is any other anime you think I should check out this season leave it in the replies and I might take a look at it and update this review with it!

#well. here's this.#this season is packed full of great romances #or romcoms #also great #gi talks animanga #dungeon meshi #7th time loop #cherry magic #villainess level 99 #yubisaki to renren #the foolish angel dances with the devil #solo leveling #majo to yajuu #gekai elise #gushing over magical girls #gi reviews #shoujo #shounen #winter anime 2024

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majesty-madness · 9 months

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"Skin to Skin" - Simon "Ghost" Riley x reader (sfw)

Summary: There’s something about him that makes her think that perhaps he needs to know she’s real.

Word Count: 2000+

Warnings: slight angst, nudity, cuddling, kissing, pillow talk, mentions of past trauma, fluff all around

a/n: not proofread. I had problems with writing this, almost like I couldn't "get mind in the game" so I apologize if it feels ooc or anything like that. I did try to keep it the way I had envisioned it but I don't know, maybe I didn't. Oh well, it's whatever I guess.

Btw Commissions are open for anyone whose interested.

Main Masterlist

As a member of 141, danger is one of the things she had become accustomed to and with that comes predictability. Yes every situation was different but somehow those different situations would end with the same conclusion so in that respect, Y/N supposes she may have accidentally grown complacent.

Most missions were: research the target, then locate the target, infiltrate, and so on. It was second nature at this point, no need to even contemplate her actions as she would carry out her orders.

However this time, the situation got a little dicey.

It really wasn’t anyone's fault, in fact Y/N blamed herself for not noticing the guard that had managed to seek right into her blindspot and before she knew she was aggressively tussling with the man. No surprise he was stronger than her, so when he wrapped his arms around her waist in the middle of their fight and tossed her like a ragdoll, it was almost to be expected. What she didn’t account for was his speed for as soon as she picked herself up off the ground, he was already charging her.

Reacting quickly, Y/N brought her legs up and pushed the man back with all her might right as the man closed the distance.

He fell back with a thud on the concrete floor, uttering what Y/N assumed to be a curse in a language she didn’t understand. They’re fight continued for several more seconds, Y/N landing several blows to his face and she nearly dodging each attack, and in his growing frustration, the man got in close once more. Y/N didn’t see it but she felt it, the white hot searing pain resonating in her thigh. She let out a pain filled scream, echoing through the enemy compound.

Ghost had been clearing another part of the building when he’d heard her causing his blood to run cold, the image of her lifeless body flashing in his mind. He rushed out of the room, pushing himself to sprint as fast as he was capable of.

It took less than a minute for him to turn the corner to where she was, and his eyes were quick to adjust to what he was seeing; Y/N straddling the man, her knife dug deep into his throat. He could tell that she was breathing heavily, her torso expanding in and out as her lungs attempted to gain as much air as possible.

“Sergeant.” Was all Ghost could think of to say. That seemed to grab Y/N’s attention anyhow because she whipped her head around to see his towering figure. Her eyes were manic from the adrenaline of fighting against someone twice her size.

Ghost took a breath then took two giant steps forward, hands finding her shoulders to guide her away from the body. In the middle of pulling Y/N to her feet, she let out a strained whimper causing Ghost to freeze.

“What is it?” He asked, voice hushed and gravelly low.

She gestured to her right thigh, “My leg…”

He glanced down, keeping an arm pressed to her back. Easily he was able to see the blood seeping from the wound; from his upright angle alone he saw the wound wasn’t too deep but it still needed medical attention.

“Here, hold onto my shoulder; I’m gonna wrap this up.” Ghost didn’t give her a moment to respond as he already leaned down to tie a bandage around her bleeding leg.

She let out a closed mouthed moan when Ghost tightened the bandage though otherwise was okay. He stood back up to his full height and helped Y/N out of the building.

Luckily, the rest of the mission was completed without any more incidents. Y/N had initially been worried that her scuffle with the guard made the situation more precarious, however Price reassured that nobody else in the facility had been alarmed. After that they left; the team huddled up in their helicopter.

Things seemed normal until they got back to the compound; Ghost had escorted Y/N to the medical bay to treat her injury but shortly after arriving, he curtly excused himself. Y/N was a bit surprised that he just left. She thought he might’ve stayed to hear how critical her injury may have been. It really wasn’t that bad, of course the initial stab was what hurt the most, other than that the almost burning ache is what remained.

From that day forward, Ghost had been acting strange. Stranger than normal.

It was no secret that the soldier known as Ghost was an eccentric person to say the least, but this seemed different. For one Ghost kept his distance from Y/N, not ignoring her but definitely avoidant of certain interactions with her. One day she asked about this sudden change, seeing as how they were in a relationship.

“What’s wrong?” She’d asked, sitting in front of him on her bed.

It took a few minutes before he came up with the right words. “For just a moment I thought you…” He didn’t need to finish that sentence for her to know what he meant.

I thought you were dead.

Y/N made sure to give him his space, let him process what happened and deal with the fear that he could very well have entered the room only to see her dead body. And this went on for days, weeks and eventually she started to wonder if he’d gotten lost in his head.

Her leg was well healed now and nothing changed. She missed him.

“Ghost?” Y/N said, hand barely tapping his shoulder for his attention. He turned, dark, expressive eyes visible from the underneath skull mask. “Can you meet me in my room later tonight? When you have the time, of course.”

She watched his eyes dart away from her for a second, clearly thinking it over before he looked back to her, a subtle nod being his answer.

“Thank you.” She gently whispered to him as if she were attempting to sooth him from an unseen turmoil.

Around 9 that night Y/N heard a knock at her door, and knowing it was Ghost she called for him to come in. He was still decked out in his full tactical gear with his mask while Y/N had long taken off her vest and weapons, leaving her in her standard uniform pants and t-shirt.

“Did you want to talk?” Ghost asked lowly as he closed the door behind him.

She shook her head. “No, I just wanted to see you. And I thought maybe we could lay down for a while, seeing as how we won’t be up and at’em for a while.”

He stood silent, again, contemplating the best decision when Y/N broke the quiet air. “If you want to, I’m not gonna force it on you. I thought maybe we could spend some time together is all.”

“That sounds nice.” Ghost replied, already beginning to take off his tactical gear and setting it off to the side.

Y/N began to take off her boots, placing them neatly off to the side then stood at full height to pull back the blanket from the not so big bed. In the middle of doing so, Y/N paused, the fabric of the blanket crinkled in her palm as she stared at a random place on the bed.

At that moment, she came up with an idea; an idea that might break the distance Ghost had been building between as of late.

“Simon, can I ask you something?” She spoke, raising her eyes to look up from the bed.

Now he had taken off all his gear including his mask, leaving him in the same uniform as Y/N not to mention the black like dust circling his eyes. She had to take a second to admire him as he was always wearing his mask. He didn't like to admit it nor would he ever but she thought he was absolutely handsome; a pillar of a man who had suffered in his life that still knew how to extend gentleness and kindness to others just as he’d done for her.

She loved him so much.

Ghost simply stared at her, promptly Y/N to continue on with her question.

“Uh…this might sound a bit odd, but would you be okay with undressing before we lay down?”

The moment the words left her mouth, Ghost’s muscles immediately tensed.

Y/N knew what he was thinking so she made the quick decision to ease his concern. “I don’t mean anything sexual by it, please understand that.”

She paused, to give Ghost time to take in what she was saying. “I’ve noticed that you’ve kind of been lost in your head, distancing yourself, and I let you have your space since I don’t want to overwhelm you or pressure you to talk to me. But I miss you.”

“I’m…sorry. I didn’t mean to-” Ghost started, however Y/N shook her head, taking several quick steps to him to gently grasp his ungloved hands in her smaller ones.

“No, don’t apologize, let’s just lay down okay? Relax for a bit.” She suggested, gaining enough courage to smile.

He gave her a semi smile, flashing so fast one would barely notice he even smiled in the first place.

With that, Y/N stepped back almost to where she was standing previously and lifted her shirt over her head to toss to the floor. Then she unbuckled the belt wrapped around her waist, removed it from the pants loops and took her pants over quickly after that. She spared a glance to Ghost who had mirrored her actions to undress himself. He already took off his boots and shirt, and now worked on getting his belt off. Soon Y/N stripped down to only her underwear and crawled under the blanket, looking up at Ghost as he finished undressing. Much like Y/N, Ghost stripped down to everything except his boxers, the moment he did Y/N extended her arms out to him to join her.

Ghost took a steadying breath before leaning down and slipped under Y/N’s blanket, instantly feeling her hands caress the skin of his shoulders as she brought him to lay against her chest. She adjusted herself until they had complete skin to skin contact, a comforting warmth transferring from one patch of skin to the other and soon a contented sigh leaving her lips. And when Ghost laid his head fully onto her chest, feeling her fingers massaging the base of his skull, her other hand tracing invisible patterns against his back, he too felt content.

“How do you feel?” Y/N probed while continuing to tread her fingers through his short locks.

“Good.” He simply answered, eyes staring off into nothing in particular.

Y/N couldn’t help but to smile. “I’m glad. Though if you get uncomfortable, tell me and we can stop this.”

She felt him nod. “Thank you, sweetheart, but I don’t think I’ll want to go anywhere any time soon.”

“I think we’re on the same page with that. Love feeling you so close.” She cooed, pressing herself as close as humanly possible.

Ghost began to rub his hands along the skin of the side up to her shoulder, enjoying the softness. “Me too, I’m not…used to this.”

Y/N pulled back enough to peer down at the entirety of his face. “I know, but if you want we could make this a regular thing?”

“That sounds good to me.”

Y/N leaned down to plant a soft kiss to his lips and he reciprocated in kind, nothing too fast or rough; it was perfect. Their lips moved in sync, burning from the heat of each other intertwining together in an intimate dance. When necessary, the separated; lips creating a wet smacking sound as they did so.

The two stared into the other’s eyes, taking in every detail their face had to offer like they’d never see it again.

“I was scared.” Ghost suddenly admitted, his voice hushed.

Y/N nodded. “I know, and it’s okay. I’m here now, and hell will freeze over before I leave you.”

This time, Ghost scoffed in amusement. “I don’t doubt that. You’re more stubborn than anyone else I know.”

“Oh yeah? Well I suppose I learn from the best.” She joked with a laugh.

Ghost dipped his face back to rest between Y/N’s chest and neck, taking a deep inhale of her sweet, natural scent. They remained in comfortable silence, listening quietly to the sound of the nightly crickets and each other’s hearts beating steadily.

“I love you.” He uttered into the quiet room, noticing Y/N kiss the side of his temple.

“I know, and I love you too.”

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sssaythenamesvt · 5 months

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Seventeen as Romantic Tropes

Main Masterlist | Group Masterlist Paring: Seventeen OT 13 X reader Warning: None Summary: My take on each member, Enjoy!

S.coups - Office Romance S.Coups gives heavy CEO vibes and there are a lot of fan fics of this man being a CEO and then falling in love with us (the readers, I wish). I think it’s because of his alpha energy.

“One chance. One date, not a meeting. Just me and you.”

Jeonghan - Friends to lover Most people would put Jeonghan in an enemy-to-lover type of situation but I would disagree, Jeonghan would be the type to completely ignore who he doesn’t like and focus more on who he likes (me when)

“You shine in the night sky, I’m scared to speak the truth as I am afraid to lose you.”

Joshua - Highschool sweetheart He’s a sweetheart, gentlemen. I feel like he would be dating you forever and you would stay together for a long time. This is mostly cause I think Joshua would respect you a lot and would love you for who you are.

“I can’t believe we looked like babies back then, now we are gonna have our own babies soon.”

Jun - Childhood friends to lover I MEAN MOON JUNHUI THE ACTOR. EVERYONE WATCH EXCLUSIVE FAIRYTALE OR I AIN’T TALKING WITH YOU!!! Anyways Jun has stated he liked to stay home a lot so I didn’t think the strangers to lovers would be a thing and the only time period where you were forced out to play was when you were a child so I feel that this trope would be fitting.

“Should we buy a house in the place we used to play as kids, I think it would be fun to play again there.”

Hoshi - Soulmates Inspo credit from Hoshi in debate night (iykyk). I think Hoshi would believe in soulmates and chase you to convince you that there is a red thread holding both of you together. He would be clingy until you accept him.

“You can’t run from me, I’M YOUR SOULMATE!”

Wonwoo - Second life Wonwoo would love you in the past life but it doesn’t work, so he would remember the past and search for you. I think he’s very loyal and would find you if you were in his memories. He would chase after you and you would think he’s crazy.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy but we loved each other in our past lives.”

Woozi - She fell first but he fell harder I think you would chase Woozi cause he is such a talent! Yet along the road, there would be Angst and Woozi would deny his love for you and you give up. He would try to win you back after accepting his feelings.

“I’m sorry, I was a coward. I’ll try and win you back, so give me a chance.”

The8 - Summer love Minghao loves nature and going out, I think you could meet in the summer maybe at a campsite or a beach. You would enjoy your time together but it won’t last with his busy schedule and his desire to create.

“I don’t want summer to end, cause I feel like I won’t see you again”

Mingyu - Strangers to lovers Mingyu is I would say a social butterfly, he would have no problem with approaching you. Maybe you guys have mutual friends and got to know each other, but you guys would vibe and go on a few dates.

“Thank you for your time, I appreciate it. I,… never mind”

DK - First love DK would be so loyal to his love for you, he would stick by you making sure you are ok. He would ignore everyone to be with you. He fell first, facts. Act of service king and if one day you fall for him, destiny would grant his wish.

“I love you so much, you are my first and my last love.”

Seungkwan - Enemies to lover Oh, you guys have beef, arguing with each other daily. Trying to win petty fights. I think over time you would get tired of the fighting and distance yourself. With this, both of you felt so empty without each other. Kinda like our summer tbh hahah.

“Are you scared, is that why you're ignoring me? Cause it felt like just yesterday we were fighting and now I can’t live without you. ”

Vernon - deskmates I was about to put brother's best friend, but I think Vernon would just say hi to you and that’s it. I think for Vernon it requires forced proximity like being deskmates. If you spend a lot of time together you will get closer and fall in love (AWWW)

“I just don’t get this number, HOW is it 69.4.”

Dino - Brother’s Bestfriend Ohhhh Chan would try to make it look smooth, he would hang out with your brother more just to see you. You? Well, you would suddenly want to hang out with your brother more to see Chan. Fr fr giving hidden love vibes, if yk yk.

“I wanted you to be mine a long time ago, but I wanted to respect your brother. Now I can’t hold back how I feel.”

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moiravim · 10 months

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I Miss When We First Met: Chapter 40

YN Potter falls in love with Draco Malfoy. Along with that, her relationship with her brother, Harry begins to fall apart as she was sorted into Slytherin. Will Harry find out about the relationship between his enemy and his sister?

IMWWFM: Masterlist

You were excited for the third task. You had hope that you'd win. You and Harry were first to enter the maze. You enjoyed seeing all the Slytherin flags and banners with your name on it.

Again a canon was fired to signalize the start of the round. You entered the dark and eerie maze, in a rush to be first to win. You started to run faster when you realized the maze was moving.

The maze tried to close in on you. You were scared now. The confidence you had just moments ago completely shattered. But you kept running.

You saw the try wizard cup glowing in the distance and you continued to run. That's when you notice something strange. Viktor Krum. But he wasn't acting normal. He wasn't running towards the cup. He was walking straight towards you.

Then you saw Harry walking towards the TriWizard cup. "Harry watch out!" You shouted as you watched Viktor run right towards him, "Expelliarmus!"

You watched Viktor fly back and you immediately ran towards the glowing trophy. Harry followed you, and you both pushed each other past trying to get in front.

The next thing you know, The walls of the maze start pulling you in. Roots wrap around you and start to cover your body. "HARRY-!" You shout as you tried to get out of the root's grasp.

He stands in shock for a moment before yelling; "reducto!". The roots start to break apart and he runs over and helps you get untangled.

You pant and try to catch up on your breaths. "Thanks.." You say, still breathing heavily. "No problem" Harry responds quietly.

"You know... For a moment there I thought you were going to let it get me" You speak sadly as you look down at the crumpled roots. Harry looks back up at you and says; "for a moment there so did I".

The maze starts closing again and you both run towards the cup, together this time. You both grab the cup at the same time. You then realized the cup had teleported you somewhere. A portkey. You recognized it from your time with the Weasleys.

"Where... Are we?" You ask as you look around. It seemed to be a graveyard. "I've been here before. In my dream... YN, we've got to leave. Now!" He responds frantically.

"What are you talking about?" You question with a confused tone. "YN! Get Back to the Cup!" Harry shouts as he crouches down in pain, with his hand on his scar.

The Reader's Ending

This is the first out of three endings!! You can skip this or read it, you choose your ending. 😊

TW: Main character death.

You see someone walking towards you and Harry looks horrified. You pull out your wand, ready to protect him. "Who are you? what do you want!" You shout, you're one pointed at the mysterious person.

"Kill her. Like how it should have gone years ago" You hear a raspy voice shout. Before you can do anything you see sparking green lights. Your body falls to the ground with a thump as Harry shouts. "No! YN!".

Harry is held in place by the statue which stood behind him. His eyes filled with tears as he struggled to get away. Peter Pettigrew, a follower of Voldemort, cuts Harry's arm with a knife and uses the blood to bring Voldemort back. He watched as Voldemort was reborn right in front of his eyes.

Voldemort does a speech in front of all the death eaters as Harry quietly breaks free from the statues grip. He grabs your body and the portkey, bringing you back to Hogwarts.

The room fills with collapse, not yet noticing your dead body. He grasps onto you, sobbing into your chest. Fluer had started screaming and her friends shushed her. Dumbledore tried to pull Harry off of you. "NO! NO!" He shouted as he continued to cry onto you.

The Great Hall soon enough was filled with silence. Dead silence. The only noise to be heard was Harry's sobs. "He's back- Voldemort- he's back!"

Things were never the same after your death. The greatest change was how Draco had left his family. He expressed to Harry that he wasn't a death eater. That he wanted to be on Harry's side. And now that he was away from his family he could. Later on Draco would join the order and work beside Harry. Their goal for the next few years were to defeat Voldemort, the man who caused your death.

Draco and Harry continued to grow closer after your death. Draco got into painting in his 5th year and convinced Harry to paint murals with him dedicated to you. Most of them were constellations, as they reminded him of you.

Speaking of the stars, Ginny began to stargaze. She fell as if you were up there somewhere, watching over her. She began to see the stars as beautiful as you saw them. She never understood before, but she sure does now.

Lorenzo constantly talked about you. You were the first person he ever loved, and even if you never loved him back, you were still his everything. Anytime he saw something that even slightly reminded him of you he would mention it. Something like "YN used to love these!", Or, "This looks like something YN would love".

Harry forever blamed himself. Over time it got better, but he always felt as if he could have done more to save you. He hated that you died on bad terms. And over something as stupid as dating Draco, who hadn't even been as bad as he seemed. Ginny would comfort him and reassure him. Harry and jennica very close and started dating by 6th year.

Soon after you died, Luna made a grave stone for you in the Forbidden Forest. Your body hadn't actually been buried there, but your friends always felt closer to you when they were there. The first person Lena told about the grave was Neville and Ginny.

Neville was the one who decorated your grave. He used his knowledge on plants to make your grave just as beautiful as you were. Ginny soon told Harry, Lorenzo, Draco about the grave and they had started visiting it as well. Draco even started to write letters and poems for you and left them at your grave. He could only hope that wherever you were, you could read them.

They all missed you, but they knew you weren't far. Whether you were in the stars or in the ground, you'd always be there for your friends. They just wished they could be there for you and that it wasn't too late to show how much you meant to them.

Alternative Ending: Draco Malfoy

Second ending. In this one YN and Draco live a happy life together after the war. (Good ending)

No warnings!! Fluff

You nod as Harry shouts at you to get back to the portkey. You run back to the portkey and wait for him. You quickly realized who the mysterious man was. Voldemort. More death eaters arrive start to arrive and you begin to get nervous.

You recognized a lot of them. You saw Draco's parents along with Peter Pettigrew. You looked back to see Harry still behind you so you grabbed his hand and dragged him, running with him to the portkey.

You reached for the cup, and you and Harry teleported back to the safety of Hogwarts. You both were shaken up and looked horrified when you arrived. "Voldemort! He's back!" Harry shouts. Everyone stops clapping and goes silent. Fluer is already hysterically crying and Harry is causing her to become more panicked

Dumbledore storms up to the two of you and starts to interrogate Harry, asking what he means, trying to figure out what had happened.

You feel overwhelmed and immediately storm out of the Great Hall. You ran out into one of the many courtyards of Hogwarts. You sit down on a bench and try to hold in your tears.

"YN?" You hear a soft voice call for you. You look up to see Draco. "Is it true what Harry said...? You ran into Voldemort?" He asks, his voice shaking.

"Yes..." You respond, "your mom and dad were there too. I think bellatrix as well...I'm sorry." You look into Draco's eyes and feel as if you just watched his heart shatter. His eyes filled with tears and he sits down next to you.

"I'm scared. I'm scared they'll hurt you, kill you even" He expresses as he starts to cry quietly. You hug him, burying your face into his shoulder as tears fill your own eyes.

It all wasn't fair. The situation you were in. Being in love with the man you're supposed to hate. "What do we do..." You ask, trying to hide the fear in your voice.

Draco looks at you hopelessly. "I... I don't know. But we'll get through it together. I promise, I'm not leaving your side anymore" he comforts.

Draco promised to himself from then on that he would no longer associate himself with his family. He'd associate himself with you. With Harry, Ron, and everyone else he once thought he hated.

He knew Voldemort would have killed you. He knew Voldemort would try again. And he also knew that he would never let Voldemort hurt you. He'd never leave your side if he had to.

And he didn't. He ran away from his family and just stayed with you from then on. He lived with you and Harry at the Weasleys for a while.

He helped in any way he could, feeling as if he had to make up for his family's mistakes. The two of you grew more in love everyday, until the point where you were unseparable.

"YN, Please... I don't want you around any of this! Voldemort's trying to kill you, You know that... Please, let's find somewhere safe to stay while all of this is happening" Draco tries to convince you.

Eventually you agree. The two of you stay in a cottage styled home near Hogsmeade. You felt guilty that you couldn't help, but you knew that you would have been little help anyways.

After the war he would go and try to talk things through with his parents. They took him back in and he inherited Malfoy Manor, along with his family's savings. The two of you were safe and could finally live your lives together peacefully.

"Love, what are you thinking about?" He asks you from your shared bed in malfoy Manor. You look up from your spot on the reading nook.

"Just looking out the window. It's beautiful." He looks into your eyes, then to the window, and back at you. "It's raining." He responds confused.

"Exactly" you say with a smile. He admires your face for a few more minutes before getting up. "Where are you going?" You ask as you watch him start to get dressed.

"Come on, let's go out" he said simply. You looked at him curiously with a small smirk. You hold hands and walk down the stairs, making your way to the front door.

You start to get excited as Draco opens the door, revealing a light rain. You walked out, feeling the light rain drops hit your face. You grabbed Draco's hand and guided him into the rain.

At first he looked annoyed but then he started to smile as he noticed how happy you were. He hadn't seen you this happy since the war started. But now you were safe and you were with him. He couldn't be any happier.

"I love you" you tell him as you hug him, playing with his wet hair. Your hands started to grow cold, but you were still enjoying the rain. "I love you more" he said, pulling you in for a short kiss.

You let out a small laugh as you spend a little more time in the cold rain before going back inside. "Let's go, love. I don't want you getting a cold" he said softly.

You go back inside, hand in hand. Draco uses The Drying Charm on them both of you, and guides you to sit in front of the fireplace. "I'll make you some tea. Wait here" he says before walking off into the kitchen.

He came back shortly after and sat down with you. "Warming up?" He asks as he hands you your cup. You nod and take a sip.

"I have something special planned for tonight" he speaks quietly, "I'd like to take you for dinner at Diagon Alley".

"Oh, really? I haven't been there in so long!" You shout excitedly. He nods and tells you; "get dressed in somewhere nice".

You nod happily and go up to get dressed. You hadn't gone to do anything fun in a while. You get dressed into a green sundress similar to the one you wore on your first date.

Along with that, you wore the locket he had gifted you for Christmas a few years ago. After you were satisfied with how your look, you go back downstairs to meet back up with Draco.

"You're beautiful" he said with a genuine tone as he looked at you lovingly. You smiled at him and responded "thank you".

You used floo powder to get to Diagon Alley. When you arrived, the two of you linked arms and walked around, enjoying the atmosphere. By now it had stopped raining and was quite sunny.

Draco went into the leaky cauldron and got the food to-go. You looked at him with a confused face. He smiled and said; "I was thinking we could do a picnic... The rain has cleared up and it's quite beautiful".

"That sounds perfect, Draco" you say. He guides you up to a small hill to reveal a beautiful view. Flowers everywhere and large trees covering the dirty buildings that usually occupied the area.

It was peaceful. Beautiful. Just overall perfect. "It's stunning..." You say in awe. He sets out your food and begins to eat.

It was relaxing to just sit with the Earth and eat with your loving boyfriend. When you finished he used a spell to clean up. Instead of leaving the hill immediately, he remained sitting.

He looked nervous and you began to feel worried. "YN..." He starts, "would you like to marry me? To be with me until the end of our days?" He asks as he pulls out a box.

He opens it to reveal a beautiful ring. You were overwhelmed with emotions and all you could think of to do was hug him.

You cried into his shoulder and nodded. Everything was perfect and it would always be as long as you were with Draco. Even if you didn't know much about love, you knew you loved him and you knew he loved you just as much.

Alternative Ending: Lorenzo Berkshire

Third and Final ending! YN realizes Draco isn't what's best for her and realizes that Lorenzo has been here for her this whole time.

No warnings just fluff!!

As you hear those words leave Harry's mouth, you immediately run back to the portkey. As you're running

, you quickly realize that the mysterious man was voldemort. As you were about to reach the portkey, more death eaters arrived, one of them being Lucius Malfoy.

When you finally arrived back, you decided to wait for Harry and decided that if he wasn't back in ten minutes that you would go after him.

Thankfully, you see Harry running towards you. You wait for him to catch up to you before the both of you go to the portkey.

The both of you reach out to the Cup, and both of you are teleported back to Hogwarts.

You and Harry are both shaken up and scared when you arrive back to Hogwarts. Harry immediately yells; "Voldemort's back! He's back!"

Gasps erupt through the Great Hall, but before they can question you on what happened, you storm out, rushing towards one of the many courtyards in Hogwarts.

You feel tears forming in your eyes as you sit down on the ground, leaning up against a wall, taking fast and shallow breaths.

"YN?" You hear a concerned voice say. You take your head out of your hands to look up, and your eyes are met with Lorenzo's.

He immediately sits down next to you, pulling you into a tight embrace as his hand rubs your head as a form of comfort. "What happened? I heard what Harry said about you know who and you just rushed out." Lorenzo asks softly, looking down at you. "If you're not ready to answer, you don't have to, only if you're comfortable."

You look up at him, tears falling out of your eyes slightly, "Voldemort possessed Viktor. He was acting strange. He just started running straight at me instead of the cup. It looked almost like he was going to kill me."

You pause for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, "But when he saw Harry near the cup he started walking towards him, then Harry and I touched the cup, we got teleported to a graveyard where voldemort tried to kill us. But as we were running Harry said something about him being here before in a dream and that we had to leave now or else something bad was going to happen. We both run to the portkey and the both of us touch the cup taking us back to Hogwarts, and now I'm here."

"I'm so sorry YN, I know that must have been scary. But I'm just glad you're alive." Lorenzo says with a sigh. The both of you just sit there for awhile basking in eachothers arms.

Eventually Dumbledore came and found you, which meant you had to go with him an answer some questions. As you were walking with him to his office he kept glancing towards you, but no words were shared.

As you arrive to his office he makes you wait a little farther back so he can say the password to his office. As the door opens he ushers you in.

You sit down in one of the chairs in his office as he sits in front of you. He asks you a couple basic questions like if you're okay, what happened, and you're sure it was voldemort.

You answered all of his questions as fast as possible, hoping to get out of there quickly so you could just got to bed. After about an hour of questioning he finally tell you that it's alright for you to leave.

"Be safe YN and if anything strange happens tell a teacher immediately." Dumbledore states in all seriousness, looking at you.

You look back at him nodding your head that you will before walking out of his office and towards the Slytherin common room.

Opening the door to your dorm had never felt better. You quickly went into your bathroom, took a shower and did your nightly routine before changing into your pajamas. You hop into bed, but you can't sleep. Visions of voldemort filling your mind preventing you from falling asleep.

A long night of tossing and turning was what you experienced. Most of it was spent thinking about voldemort and some of it was questioning your relationship with Draco.

After seeing his father with voldemort trying to kill you, you didn't know how to feel about your relationship. It always seemed like Draco was never a good boyfriend, especially after he left you alone with a ripped dress crying at the yule ball. But knowing now that his father was actively trying to kill you with voldemort just made things worse.

You knew deep down that being with Draco wasn't good for either of you. He wasn't there for you when you needed him the most, and your family problems with his is just to much to handle.

So you decided that you were going to talk to him in the morning about your relationship.

When you woke up you got out of bed and went to the bathroom, you did your morning routine even though there wasn't school today. The only reason you got uo was because you knew you had to talk to Draco.

You walked into the common room, hoping to find Draco. You were about to exit the common room to go look around the school but you see a blob of blonde hair coming up to you.

"YN hey I've been meaning to talk to you after yesterday but I never got the time to. Are you alright?" Draco asks, quickly pulling you into a hug. As his arms rap around your body, you catch yourself not enjoying the hug as much as you used to, it felt strange.

You pull out of the hug before answering; "Its okay, I'm okay." Draco looks sad that you pulled away from the hug so fast but he smiles slightly at you, knowing that you're alright makes him happy.

"I need to talk to you about something serious Draco." You state looking at him. "Ok what do you need to talk about?" Draco questions.

You pause for a moment before saying; "I think we need to break up. Your father tried to kill me yesterday, and knowing that you're in a family of death eaters who want me dead, doesn't exactly make me feel secure. I just think that what we have isn't good for either of us."

Dracos jaw clenches at your words, his eyes begin to water slightly. He doesn't know what to say, so he just stands there, hands hanging at his sides staring at you.

As you watch his face contour into sadness it makes you feel sad as well. You've liked Draco since first year, but his family wanting to kill you means that you just won't work out. Your relationship has always felt a little strange, and now you now that you and Draco were not meant to be.

"Can you say something... please?" You mumble at him. "Okay, I guess we're breaking up then. We don't work because of our families." Draco states calmy, he turns around to walk away but you grab his wrist. "Draco wait."

"I'm sorry Draco, I really an sorry we don't work." You utter, weakly letting go of his wrist. You give him one last look before heading out of the common room.

You decide to walk to the courtyard where you and Lorenzo hang out, you always feel at peace when you're there with him. When you finally arrive to the courtyard you find that Lorenzo is already there.

You walk up to Lorenzo and plop down next to him on the bench. Your hand going up to ruffle his hair. "Hi Lorenzo." His face lights up when you sit next to him, smiling as he answers; "Hello YN, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?'

You laugh slightly before answering; "I was thinking about you and wanted to come down here. I was hoping you'd be here and my wish was granted." Lorenzo blushes slightly at your words.

"You only come down here alone to think though. So are you alright?" He asks. "Uh yes. I feel good. A little weird but I feel kinda relieved I guess?" You state looking up to the trees. "What happened?"

Your head turns slightly back towards Lorenzo before responding; "I Uh... broke up with Draco." Lorenzo looks at you shocked, "What why?! What happened?"

"We just didn't work out, we broke up for private reasons, but they just made it so our relationship couldn't work out." You state calmy, your eyes drifting back up towards the trees.

"You're not sad or anything?" He asks.

"No not really, I know that it's for the best, it does feel a little weird since I've had a thing for Draco since first year but... I'm okay." You say.

No other words were spoken after that. The both of sitting in a comfortable silence, but while your were admiring the trees Lorenzo was admiring you.

After the both of you sit there for awhile you begin to feel yourself getting tired. You lean your head on Lorenzo's shoulder, his body tenses for a moment before he lays his head on top of your head.

Once it starts to get dark out the both of you head back to the common room, mindless conversation between the both of you. You finally make it into the common room, you tell Lorenzo goodnight before heading into your dorm and going to bed.

You weren't up all night, instead when you layed down you went straight to bed, no thoughts or visions about voldemort.

A week has passed since the triwizard tournament and school has pretty much so gone back to normal. Classes resumed as usual but there was still some uneasiness in the air. School was almost over for the summer and just thinking about having to go back to the Dursleys made you shiver.

Lorenzo doesn't say anything after that, the atmosphere around you feels awkward. You were about to apologize and walk away, but he grabs the sides of your face gently, but before his lips meet yours, his eyes searching for consent. You nod yes at him, giving him permission to kiss you.

Lorenzo immediately leans in, his lips meeting yours in a sweet kiss. One of his hands moves down from your face and onto your waist, pulling you closer.

You pull away from him, needing to get a breath. The both of you stare into eachothers eyes, his hand never leaving your waist. "I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner, I really do love you Lorenzo."

He smiles at you before responding; "I love you too YN." His hand interlocking with yours as you both walk back to the Slytherin common room. As you enter the common room, you see Draco sitting on the couch.

Your grip tightens on Lorenzo's hand as you walk past Draco, making eye contact with him. Lorenzo whispers telling you to not worry. You make it back to your dorm, inviting him in to spend the rest of the night with you.

As you lay down, Lorenzo pulls you in closer, his body warming yours. The both of your heartbeats syncing, helping you fall into your first relaxing sleep in a very long time.

TAGLIST @ashisabitgay @doingyourmom069

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hopeymchope · 7 months

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Just me loving all over Fire Emblem: Engage

Years after being so thoroughly disappointed and even angered by Fire Emblem: Three Houses — which, it must be said, is deeply popular and incredibly successful because that's how it goes for me — I've found myself loving Fire Emblem: Engage. I put off playing it because the online reception was so "meh," but I needn't have been so worried. My deep affection for the series is back.

Play as Aquafresh OR Pepsi!

The two biggest reasons I'm happy? Well, FIRST, my biggest complaint about Three Houses has been... not cured, unfortunately, but still significantly alleviated. If you want to remain adequately leveled/competitive in taking on strategic battles, you still need to do a bunch of side chores that amount to "running around your home base doing boring shit" between each fight. BUT. 1) The sheer amount of those chores is significantly less now, and 2) all the blind guesswork has been removed from increasing Support levels. You'll never be trying to helplessly guess what to say at some fucking teatime or in some classroom conversation where every response seems valid, nor will be you making your best guess on what food to serve people. Because the game just fucking tells you the kind of gifts or food each person likes! (And tea events/random interstitial convos are blessedly absent.)

SECOND, however? It's the quality of the writing. Yes, I know people have complained a ton about the writing in "Engage," but in my experience, they're primarily complaining because they felt the story is so simplistic. And, sure — I get that. There's so much emotional drama built into the setups of the last three games (Three Houses, Echoes, and Fates) that this tale seems rather bog-standard by comparison. The overarching story of Engage can be boiled down to a tale as old as the franchise itself — essentially "Evil Dragon gonna Do Evil." There are also some aspects of the worldbuilding/subtextual implications that don't quite make sense. But I'm not talking about the overarching plot when I praise the writing here — I'm talking about how the characters possess more detail/facets than usual, and the dialogue/banter between characters is so damn fun.

A woman I feel completely normal about.

I don't even quite know how to explain it. Maybe the humor is just more to my taste, but I've laughed so much more at this one. And by the same token, maybe I'm just digging deeper into these characters because their dialogue is endearing them to me. But after playing the past four games before this one (yes, I started with "Awakening" like some Filthy Casual, I'M SORRY), I don't recall any other game featuring characters with so much detail to them. In Engage, many chracters possess more than the usual "two noteworthy personality traits/talents" that are typically found in FE's enormous casts. I'm talking about people like Citrinne, Lindon, Yunaka, Clanne, Ivy, Gregory... I can easily say like FIVE things about each of them. And yes, I consider this to be an important step forward.

Okay, so: I like the dialogue, I like the characters, I don't like all the side busywork, the overall story is bland. (The Fell Xenalogue's story is kinda sick though?) But hold up, what about the actual MEAT of the game — the core gameplay of having strategic battles? That's not usually a problem, mind you. But how'd it go this time around?

WELL. I'd argue we've got some of the best maps and best ways to optimize characters that we've ever had. There are still some lame straightforward corridors in here, but by and large? You get a lot more freedom in how you lure enemies to you, how you can split up and flank them while simultaneously attacking from the front, how you can now disarm (or "Break") them during one turn so other allies can attack more easily/do more damage — it's pretty rad!

One of the earliest maps to make me go "Oh cool."

There's even a main theme with lyrics, and although it's never gonna be the inescapable earworm that "You are the ocean's gray waves" became, it's not shabby either.

I've put over 80 hours into Engage so far, and although I'm finished with the main story, I'm not yet finished unlocking stuff. There's a lot to love here. I'm just happy to be back.

#fire emblem #fire emblem: engage #video games #fire emblem engage

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nozomijoestar · 4 months

Note

I've had Asulili feels so much over the past week and your insight has helped with that. It's such a shame its not a very popular ship or otherwise is outright hated on, I really hope T9 makes there relationship so much softer. I don't know how likely this is but I'd love to see Asuka become the MC finally and Reina become her arch rival, while Lili actually becomes her girlfriend, maybe after Asuka defeats Reina Lili runs up to her and gives her a hug. I wish. :(

Asuka's main motivation has always been wanting to be left to what's "normal" for her. She had a life she was fine with until Feng started a chain reaction leading to events that directly or indirectly pull her into problems far beyond the scope of anything she's used to or can control.

The only solution she knows best is fighting everyone and everything that wants to take away her sense of "right" and "normal" if not to topple the thing then to numb herself from stressful emotions as a result of being out of control. Every Tekken game has had Asuka start from a place of trying to fit into her normal routine again, then something disturbs that in a way she can't ignore so it angers her and she fights to release that anger, then by the end of the game she's back to her "normal". (EDIT: 2/13/2024 - 8 is the FIRST time we ever meet Asuka already in motion to be involved with what's happening, not starting from stasis at home, which I choose to believe is part of the game's tagline to accept and face one's fate, where we started with her this time showed a change in her behavior toward accepting parts of her circumstances; an attitude further found in her character ending)

She can't just be left alone because her bloodline catches up with her, or because her love of violence means she's always going to take the route that lets her indulge. Even the one person who's interested in her is the same way and herself tied to the Mishima chain of tragedy as Asuka is, but with an awareness of it Asuka doesn't care for because she wants to be left in her own world.

I highly doubt Asuka would be the protagonist of 9; though I am open to it as a possibility. If it were done though then you have to first see this pattern in Asuka's behavior to start theorizing on the execution and intentions of "hero" Asuka. Asuka isn't a hero to me (like Jin she's an antihero), she's a hero to herself, but that's because she thinks beating up anyone who angers her and who's also perceived as a menace at the same time is just. That because someone is bad in some way or doing a bad or inconveniencing thing means that's enough to assault them on your own judgement even if it'll cause further collateral.

Even people around her don't believe this hero narrative since in her 5 prologue she's described as "a nosy kid solving other people's problems by knockout" from the general public's perspective. If there weren't any clear "targets" or rather people society would allow to be hurt because it doesn't extend the same kindness and humanity towards them, then Asuka's violent nature would make her just as much a thug as the ones she beats. I have argued before that in a sense, she already is.

8 circumvented this principle but only because it directed this mindset Asuka has toward a legitimate ultimatum: kill and fight whatever gets in your side's way or everyone dies.

Reina wouldn't bother with Asuka as a rival in my opinion. Rival implies there's a mutual, comparable baseline in skill and recognition of each other. It means a level of seeing someone as capable of being close to you and you to them were it not for a gap, considerations you wouldn't give to an 'enemy', and Reina has zero interest in that. Everyone is beneath her and is only mildly acceptable if they have something she can use for herself, much like Heihachi. Then they're discarded. If Reina were to acknowledge her in any way it's purely as an obstacle or nuisance to overcome and eliminate. They can absolutely clash, but from Reina's side I see nothing personal about it at all beyond "Don't get in my way, thing."

Basically, if we get 9 protagonist Asuka it (if it was well written) would come with several caveats and deviations from what "good" looks like. Like Jin, Asuka would have to accept the full spectrum of herself including the bad, and want to use her family history and powers if not for the world then for those she cares about, and for the thrill of fully realizing her violent potential. But instead of going wild with that violent side she learns how to leash it how to redirect it to genuinely protect and as a second resort rather than a first. She would loosely embrace what Jun is but with a twist in that Asuka is more self serving despite still being a decent person. She'll still help people just because they're hurt (see her 5 ending) but that alone doesn't make a good person or goody two shoes.

Asuka v Reina would be on the surface a clash of ideas and a clash of good against evil, but the reality of it is the hero just wants people to stop fucking dragging her into their bullshit so she can go home and stay home. Yet at the same time, this is one of the best fights she's ever had and it's the time of her life to enjoy it. The world is only worth anything if it gives her spaces she understands and people she can understand. That's why her 8 ending was so surprisingly wonderful to me. She got both, she got some kind of peace (including Lili being accepted in her worldview) but without giving up her drive to fight. She's safe and hopeful without sacrificing who she is.

This is also why AsuLili is compelling. They are narrative foils. Lili is Asuka's dark mirror. Every negative trait and urge Asuka acts oblivious to using her heroic naivety is instead something Lili openly displays about herself. Part of what separates them is Lili's desperate desire for connection, to be important and useful to someone. While instead Asuka is ok with being isolated to who and what she knows. You have to force her out her comfort zone, where Lili chases what would comfort Lili instead.

Vulnerability between them is definitely hard won because they refuse to give it freely to anyone. The Asuka 8 ending or Sebastian's TT2 ending, Lili chastising Sebastian for the silliness of what she's doing in her TT2 ending, or even parts of Feng's TT2 ending are the closest glimpses you get to seeing that guard down. I'd count what Lili said to Lars in 6 too, she complains very loudly about not being able to see Asuka then tries playing it off with "Well such is life." before literally showing up to see Asuka in Osaka in their endings. It's in a lot of the unspoken, in a lot of expressions and in the eyes as much as the actions.

All this to say Reina vs Asuka would be a jumping because Lili would make herself involved, probably get hurt either physically or mentally or with some transformation (DEVIL LILI CAN STILL WIN TO BE CLEANSED BY ASUKA AS A METAPHOR FOR ACCEPTING LOVE CAMPAIGN + KAZJUN PARALLELS) etc. which is a turning point for Asuka to save her in some way which includes beating Reina. And if they hugged by the end that's because they broke the eight million silent emotional walls between them.

And to promote the intellectual agenda here's first novella I wrote about AsuLili I'm working on the second it's halfway finished

As a side AsuLili being hated (and mind you they don't have to be liked lmao absolutely not, though I will tend to look at someone a way if they don't because usually they tend to also hate kids in general for being kids) 9/10 times is genuinely from homophobia, misogyny, lack of media literacy, and pedophiles who will scream and shit at the thought that they come as a duo therefore must be incapable of anything else, while then jacking off to them separately (and I know Asuka is 18 now in 8 but that's barely legal and these are grown ass adults way outta that ballpark to be playing with themselves over it). I'm sorry to say.

#tekken #asuka kazama #asulili

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eyelessfaces · 2 years

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try

eddie munson x reader

part 1

this one shot is the part 2 to this but can be read separately, though it might be better if you have the whole context :)

summary: you're invited to a very boring party but unexpectedly run into eddie. he makes it his personal mission to make you spend a good night.

warnings: alcohol, smoking and i think that's it but please tell me if you can think of anything else while reading!

tags: gender neutral reader, kinda enemies to lovers (since its the sequel to an enemies to lovers lol but they dont really hate each other in this one its more like. lots of teasing.), reader is obviously in love with eddie but is very oblivious about it, reader's friend is lowkey an asshole, eddie cares about you a lot <3

word count: 3.9k

reblogs and feedback are appreciated!!

The incessant buzzing of conversations around the huge room made it hard for you to concentrate on your friend's words. You were just nodding idly and absent mindedly each time she closed her mouth again. Your eyes were fixed on her plate, while your hand unconsciously fiddled with your fork, slowly tearing up in pieces the awful food you had given up on eating.

Not that you weren't interested in what your friend had to say; your mind was just somewhere else. The problem was, you didn't know where and why.

"Thank you for doing this. I was very nervous at the idea of going there alone." you friend declared, and it was the first time since a while that you heard one of her sentences loud and clear.

You frowned as your eyes widened, not sure what the conversation was about.

"Sorry what?" you asked shaking your head as to come back to your senses. "I didn't follow all the way through" you admitted then immediately proceeded to purse your lips in guilt as she sighed faintly.

"The party. That has been the main focus of our conversation, or should I say my conversation, for the past few minutes" she said as she sank into her chair, crossing her arms.

"Sorry. Do you mind rewinding it all the way through, I wasn't really there" you said putting down your fork and joining your hands as your elbows rested on the table, as if it could help you focus on what she had to say again.

"Yeah I figured" she said before emptying her glass of water. "I was saying," she started explaining wiping her mouth with the end of her sleeve. "My boyfriend is inviting me to this party, and he really wants me to come but" she squinted thinking about the rest of her explaination. "His friends are... Nerds. Boring" she said giving a dismissive wave of her hand. "And I really need to go to this party because we haven't been together for long and I don't wanna start off this relationship with the wrong foot" she explained supporting your gaze as if she was waiting for you to say something.

You vividly nodded, trying to show your interest, not wanting to disappoint her again. You had apparently already agreed to go to this party, so you couldn't chicken out now.

"Yeah. I'll go with you. Keep you company and shit" you said with a single approval nod.

"Good!" she said smiling at you.

You quickly smiled back at her and got lost in your own head again. You didn't know what was holding you back from reality.

Your eyes darted over the cafeteria's crowd and stopped at a specific table.

Eddie Munson was at the end of it, crouched on his chair, throwing hands as he seemed to be passionately ranting to his group of friends.

You unconsciously smiled to yourself and looked back down at your plate, your eyes widening when you realized what you just did.

---

You looked through the window, elbow on the edge of the car window, head resting in the palm of your hand as your friend parked in front of the house of a guy she barely knew.

"Here we go" she sang as she pulled the brake and turned off contact.

"I'm gonna need to get either high or drunk as fuck if I want this party to be funny" you blurted out, unhurriedly turning your head at her, making a bored face.

"You never know, maybe you'll have the time of your life" she said smiling at you sarcastically.

You rolled your eyes back at her and laughed before getting out of the car.

You both walked up to the garden path and rang at the door as you could hear the faint noise of muffled music inside. A stranger answered the door, probably whom the house belonged to, you figured. Your eyebrows slightly raised in surprise as you noticed he had the same tshirt Eddie wore sometimes, the one with the devil. You blinked in disbelief when you realized how ridiculous it was that you noticed such small and insignificant details. And why the hell did you even notice this and made the comparison.

He let you inside and you were actually surprised when you saw how many people were there. They must have been friends-of-friends, just like you, because the different types of different people all gathered here was uncanny.

You sighed and put your hands in your jeans back pockets as your friend left to run to her boyfriend, meaning you would barely see her for the rest of the night now. You would be lying if you said you weren't expecting this to happen. You turned to your feet and scanned the room in hope to spot anyone you would at least know a bit, even an acquaintance, but in vain. The thought of immediately leaving the party crossed your mind but you quickly shook it off as you remembered you needed your friend for the ride home.

The only thing left to do was to pour yourself a drink and maybe try to chat with people who didn't seem so hostile. Try. As in "do as much as your social anxiety allows you to."

You sighed, already bored of this party, and walked to the table displaying all of the drinks and picked a beer.

"Hand me one" you jumped as you felt an arm wrapping around your shoulders. You hastily turned and ended up facing Eddie, widely smiling at you. "Didn't mean to scare you, sorry" he said as he quickly removed his hand with a guilty look. Your heart skipped a bit and you sighed in relief.

"You're fine, I just didn't expect you to be here" you said as you opened and handed him your beer before turning to pick yourself a new one and do the same.

"Yeah I could have guessed" he said gesturing to his face with a funny expression, mocking you.

"Ha-ha." you replied with a fake annoyed look before bringing the bottle to your lips, taking a sip of the beer.

"So what are you doing here" he asked raising his chin at you.

"Mh, I was dragged here" you said nodding. "You?" you asked as you were genuinely wondering what he was doing at a party like this, with lots of popular people and jocks, as you knew how much he despised them.

"Dragged? I'm having a D&D tournament" he said pulling his jacket aside to reveal the famous devil tshirt.

"Hellfire club?" you read then raised an eyebrow looking back at him.

"Leader and founder" he said bowing, extending his arms to the side with a proud smile on his face.

"Wow. Impressive" you said before taking another sip of your beer.

"This better not be sarcasm" he said looking down at you before drinking too.

"Or else what" you said chuckling, eyeing him up and down.

"Or else I'll turn into the devil like everyone expects me to and I'll haunt you for the rest of your life" he said eyes wide open, smiling with full teeth.

"Oh my god I'm so scared right now" you exclamed bringing a hand to your mouth. "This is sarcasm" you said removing your hand from your mouth to point a finger at him. His smile dropped and he rolled his eyes before smiling again, raising his beer at a guy who had the same tshirt as him. "You guys look like a cult" you said watching the guy pass by as you leaned against the table, putting your beer on it and crossing your arms.

"Shut up" he said throwing his head back to take a long sip of his beer. You watched as the muscles of his neck tensed and his ringed hand clasped on the bottle, but came back to your senses when you realized you were heavily staring. You still thought this was fairly attractive, as much as you hated admitting that to yourself. He lowered his head back and licked his lips in reflexion. "If you wanna come and watch, you can" he said shrugging.

You tilted your head to the side, considering his offer.

"Why not. But it's only because I have nothing else to do, don't go thinking I care about your interests" you said throwing him a nasty smile.

"Of course." he said bowing his head and pursing his lips. "Forgot you hated me for a minute, be careful, you were being too nice" he smiled, raising his eyebrows before drinking again.

---

The game was taking place in the basement. The atmosphere was peculiar, it really felt like a cult to you, the lights were dim as to blend with the atmosphere of the game. You kinda felt out of place.

You had the confirmation that Eddie was the leader, because everyone in the room seemed to put some respect to his name, treating him like a superior. You knew Eddie was kind but some of the kids looked nervous just being around him. And you knew how it felt. Too well.

You were sitting on a scruffy sofa and watching the game from a distance. You had been there for a while now. You hadn't really been honest with Eddie, because you were actually intrigued. You knew you would probably never play Dungeons and Dragons simply because you would be terrible at it but you wanted to learn and understand what he liked, and you couldn't deny the fact that it looked fun and the dynamics looked interesting.

You watched Eddie sat at the end of the table, feet up on it, arms crossed as he nodded to what a younger kid was making up for his character's progression. You immediately looked away when Eddie's look drifted to you and you cleared your throat lightly in embarassment. Was your look that heavy or was it just a coincidence? You glanced to your right when you felt someone plop next to you in the couch.

"God I've been looking for you through the whole house, I wasn't expecting to find you there" your friend sighed tilting her head to the side in surprise. You shifted and laid your elbow on the back of the couch. "What are you doing here?" she asked harshly before you could even open your mouth.

"What are you doing here. Thought you didn't like nerdy stuff" you said throwing your chin at the game table.

One of the younger kids sat at the table brought his pointer finger to his mouth and shushed you, as the game was coming to a tense phase. You raised your hands as if you had been caught doing something bad and turned back to your friend.

"Not my choice" she whispered as her look darted over to her boyfriend. "Why are you doing this to yourself. Don't tell me it's free will" she said with a stern look.

"Sir Munson leader of the club brought me here. And I actually find this quite interesting" you said looking at the long haired man who was focused leading the game behind his book of roles.

"So you guys get along now huh" she questioned raising her eyebrows almost condescendingly. "With Eddie 'The Freak' Munson"

"Yeah we better if I want this party to be at least entertaining and not spend it on my own" you chuckled looking away, jabbing at her, on your guard.

"What do you mean" she asked trying to be oblivious when you were almost sure she knew what you meant.

"Come on. Don't act like you don't know" you sighed rolling your eyes, still not looking at her. "Sprinting to your boyfriend the second you see him, leaving me here like a garbage bag on the side of the street" you mumbled under you breath loud enough for her to hear you.

"You're dramatic. I told you my boyfriend would be here, of course I'm gonna stay with him"

You looked at her, hurt, and you would have been delighted to take a picture of the offended face she threw you.

"I don't even know why you asked me to come to this stupid party then" you said turning again to avoid her defensive look.

"Come on, I've been looking for you for ages!" she whisper yelled at you.

"Yeah, sure, for ages, but just since your boyfriend left to play D&D, otherwise you wouldn't have tried" you hissed getting up from the couch, trying to keep your voice low to not disturb the game. The mission had failed successfully as the whole attention was on you now. "Sorry boys, don't mind me" you said raising a hand before taking the stairs to leave the confined space.

---

You struggled to slalom through the crowd but you were in desperate need of some alcohol to drown the nasty feeling of being left out and used for the sole purpose of other people's interest, as dramatic as it sounded. You bumped into a girl and apologized immediately but you doubted she registered as you had barely been able to hear your own words over the loud sound of Easy Lover by Phil Collins blasting in the whole house. You got to the alcohol table and poured yourself whatever was within your reach.

You couldn't figure out if it was anger or just the heat radiating off the crowd but you were in desperate need of some fresh air, so you made your way out and exited the house, leaning against its facade, your cup in hand.

You closed your eyes as the fresh air of the night hit your cheeks. It was soothing, and you let out a long sigh before taking a sip of the burning drink you had picked. You shook your head as you rewinded the scene of what had just happened. You let yourself slide down against the wall to sit down on the concrete.

You considered walking home, even if it was far from here. It was in those type of moments you hated yourself for not wanting to take your license test. You'd just do anything to leave this stupid party and go home to curl up in your bed.

---

Eddie got up from his chair and put on his jacket again. "Do you mind wrapping up without me? I've got stuff to do" he asked the group of boys in front of him while pushing his chair back under the table.

"Wasn't the ending a bit rushed?" one of the teenagers asked getting up extending his arm to the game.

"I have things to do, didn't you just hear me?" the man asked rhetorically, hissing at the boy. "We'll just play longer next time, okay Dustin?" he affirmed tilting his head forward.

The other boy sighed and nodded before starting to clean the table.

Eddie left the basement running up the stairs, taking two steps at the time. He arrived to the ground floor, immediately met with a sea of heads. He looked around then quickly decided to progress and search through every room. You were nowhere to be seen, so he got out of the house to light himself a cigarette to smoke and huffed of surprise when he saw you were there.

"Ha you're here. You okay?" he asked walking to you.

You shifted to look at him and rolled your eyes.

"You're obsessed with me Munson." you sighed bringing your cup to your mouth. "Don't you have other people to look after"

"Okay I'll leave" he said stepping back, claping on his thigh as he turned the other way.

"No okay please don't" you said twitching your mouth in regret. "I didn't mean to be so rude, sorry"

"I guess I'll need to get used to it" he mumbled smiling while sitting down next to you.

"Yeah sorry" you said slowly rubbing your forehead nervously.

He snatched your cup from your hand and took a sip of it. You smiled lightly at his action and he turned to you.

"What" he croaked out, almost drooling with the drink.

You laughed and shook your head frantically.

"Nothing" you said smiling to yourself.

"So what happened. With your friend" he asked handing you your cup back.

You grabbed it and put it down on the ground.

You sighed loudly and rested your arms on your knees. "She brought me to this stupid party because she didn't want to go alone and now she ignores me all night long." you said furrowing your brows. "I didn't even want to go"

"So this is what you meant when you said you were dragged here"

"Yup" you replied with a single nod.

"I mean. You're right, this is a stupid party, why is even half of the fucking school here?" he whined gesturing to the house. "And with all due respect, I think your friend is a bitch for ditching you" he said pursing his lips looking at his feet.

"Yeah. You've been more present to me tonight than she has. When she's supposed to be my friend and you're just some guy I still hated weeks ago" you chuckled before grabbing and drinking from your cup.

"'Just some guy'? Ouch" he exclaimed hitting his chest as if he stabbed himself.

You laughed and punched his side playfully.

You sighed and looked back at him.

"So did you win your game?" you asked tilting your head to the side.

He laughed. "You never really win a game. It's like a story, a quest, and you decide to end it whenever you want to. And you can pick up the story where you left it off the next time you play."

"Oh" you laughed dropping your head.

He laughed and pat your back softly before picking up your cup again.

Then it went silent between you. Not an awkward silence. A soothing silence, a light silence that let you appreciate each other's presence without having to say a single word. Eddie had so many things to say, as usual, but felt the need to repress them. He knew that even thought he had been able to make you smile, this whole thing about your friend hurt you. So he kept his mouth shut and let the silence flow between you, as hard as it was for him to shut his mouth for a few.

The sky was dark now, but you could still distinguish some stars despite the street lamps. You smiled faintly as you spotted the Big Dipper.

"Listen, do you want me to drive you back home?" Eddie asked out of nowhere.

"No I'm fine, just enjoy your night here. I'll find a way" you said still looking at the sky.

"I did what I had to do, I can give you a ride. Nerd's night is over, if I go back inside I'll just be surrounded by stupid basketball players that think I'm Satan's servant" he said raising his brows in loathing. "I don't belong here anymore"

You grinned at him and nodded.

"I guess I never even belonged so okay, let's leave."

---

The ride was silent. You didn't even glance at Eddie once, as if if you did you would be cursed or something. You only spoke to give him instructions on where to turn. You didn't know why you felt so nervous around him all of sudden. You guessed you were getting tired. Paranoid by Black Sabbath was softly blasting through the speakers, and you knew for a fact that if you weren't here it would have been at full volume.

Eddie parked in front of your house and you undid your seatbelt. Your head shifted to finally look at him and you pursed your lips in reflection. You quickly came to the conclusion that you didn't want to let him go. There was something precious about him, something that made you feel safe and comforted you in being around him. You couldn't let him go yet.

"Eddie" you called and he turned to you, his big brown eyes piercing right through you.

"Mh?" he hummed, turning off contact.

"Do you wanna come?" you proposed pointing behind you with your thumb. "Smoke and chat on the porch?"

"Oh I try not to smoke weed if I need to drive sorry" he said smiling softly.

You laughed. "I mean regular cigs. Do you ever smoke them or?"

He closed his eyes, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side.

"From time to time, it happens..." he joked undoing his seatbelt too.

You both got out of his car and sat on your porch steps. You handed him a cigarette as you put yours between your lips, covering it from the faint wind to light it.

He gestured for you to do the same and you laughed wholeheartedly as you purposefully made it hard for him to light it as he chased the flame with his mouth, struggling, considering he had no control over the placement of the lighter. You granted him peace and eventually joined the lighter to the tip of his cigarette.

You let the sticks consume in the same peaceful silence as earlier.

Once you were done with your cigarette, you crushed it to the ground and tossed it aside. You turned to Eddie and smiled at him.

"Thank you for tonight. For everything you've done" you said as you watched him blow his smoke.

"My pleasure, really" he said putting his hand to his heart dramatically.

"I'm serious Eddie. I owe you, you made my night so much better" you said nodding, blinking in recognition.

He turned to look at you and worn an upside down smile. "Well, consider this an apology for constantly annoying you and getting on your nerves for the past few months" he said shrugging.

You smiled brightly and your head sank to his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around you without even thinking about it twice.

He slowly finished his cigarette as you carefully observed every movement of his ringed hands. There was something facinating about them. The way his fingers pinched and embraced the orange part of the cigarette, the way he made the ashes fall and then the way he scratched the end of it against the ground.

He slowly removed his hand from around you and used your shoulder to get up.

"I guess I should go now" he declared looking down at you, pulling his hand out to help you up and putting the other in his jacket pocket.

"Okay" you whispered nodding, grabbing his hand to get up too. "Don't go yet, I need something to happen before you leave" you said facing him.

He frowned with his signature oblivious expression and you smiled before immediately leaning to kiss him. You cupped his face as you crashed your lips against his, the smell of cigarette still floating around.

You had been thinking about doing this all night long if you were being honest. And you would have hated yourself for letting him go without doing it, but you started worrying and thinking it was a bad idea when you realized he didn't react to it. At all.

You pulled away and frowned before you saw the corner of his mouth turn into a smirk. He didn't give you time to think further as he did the exact same thing you did earlier. He kissed you back, but rougher, and you couldn't help but smile against his lips.

He pulled away from your mouth and smiled fully as he held your face between his hands. You breathed out and smiled back at him, happy you dared to do this.

"I told you we would get along if we actually tried" he whispered resting his hands on your shoulders.

You nodded, hating to admit he was right.

As unexpected as it was, this night had ended up on a much better note.

And maybe Eddie 'The Freak' Munson wasn't so bad after all, so you could finally admit how you truly felt about him.

---

reblogs and feedback are appreciated!!

people that encouraged me to do a part 2: @buckys2thicc @am-3-thyst @kryyynii @eddiemunsonisbabe @husherstan

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie munson x gn!reader

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goobernormieomi · 3 days

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YOU SHOULD DEFF HAND OVER UR STORY PLOTLINE or fun facts about ur main cast !! :DD

WELL!! the main storyline focuses on Aiko as a character and her growth into a more comfortable yet still difficult life, besides that one conflict shes also still battling with fleeing and trying to avoid ghosts of her pasts trying to find her and take her back to where she once escaped from. thats a synopsis sort of, the main conflict is with Aiko and her growing to be comfortable and fond of the life she has now, which comes to be a challenge since shes used to living a more harsh and independent lifestyle.

I'm still in a bit of an edge, I was thinking of it starting when Creme finds her and so the story goes on from her first ever introduction to more mellow city life, but I've since started to move the start more into halfway when shes already been introduced to many new things and people and is at the edge of being in a good place w Creme too. I keep battling on it since I'm not sure if I want the pacing to be extremely slow or not, so thats a battle on my part LOL

anyway, basic plotline goes like that, other main conflicts has to be with Aikos previous enemies being where she escaped from in a laboratory, basically escaped gov. labrat is trying to run away and keep the FBI from knockin on her door and makin problems for her n Creme, so theres also that!

bunch of other stuff but idk if I'm ready to really share that since I want to solidify it first before anything...so this is the most I can really give so far! Theres other ocs that come into play and other relationships n dynamics that happen n all that, so its not only conflict central, theres def loads of side quests in Aikos pov and even in other character povs

AS FOR FUN FACTS...Aiko is a talented streetartist, in the sense she knows how to tag pretty well with spray cans and those big ink markers, in her school she was caught three times in a row drawing on the back school building random symbols. Creme consistently finds new things to learn and do, so he has a really big pool of hobbies and skills he's built up over the years, he finds different and creative ways to make himself useful and entertaining thanks to these. Toko is very guilty of doodling while working or being at a meeting, and it might often times make her completely blank out on what important discussions are going on, but she always finds a way to get back on track after a while. Felix really, really likes wine, he is a total wine dude, he probably prefers more grapey tasting types of wine, and he always chooses those girly colorful drinks on bars.

#ask #devilishlyanna #OC ramble #Aiko (OC)#Creme (OC)#Toko (OC)#Felix (OC)

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ferhog · 8 months

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Signalis Playthrough Update 1

I started my first survival-horror game Signalis about 2 days ago, and after beating the first boss last night I thought it would be fun to post my initial thoughts.

So I avoid the horror genre in all mediums because I'm a weeny little baby, hence why this is my first horror gaming experience at age 24, other than playing a bit of my younger brother's FNAF copy as a teenager. But within the first night that I started playing the game I started appreciating how the genre uniquely immerses you in the world and story. I presume this is because good horror is much easier to create through narrative and atmosphere than through pure gameplay, and that that's why the main gameplay challenges aren't combat encounters, but puzzles that require actively paying attention to your environment. So far I've also managed to do every puzzle without looking anything up (Which I really don't want to do for the sake of maintaining immersion) which has been really satisfying. However getting stuck when you don't know what abstract thing to do next is my least favourite thing in video games and at points the game has seemed on the verge of that, so I really hope it never goes over that line and forces me to look up what to do next.

I understand why staples of the genre like Resident Evil and Silent Hill famously have limited ammo. Trying to sneak or run past enemies because you don't want to waste ammo is bad enough, but knowing that the enemies you have killed could get back up at any moment is truly nerve wracking, and adds a feeling of time sensitivity to figuring the puzzles out. But I really wasn't expecting health to also seemingly be in limited supply, so there's also a real risk to not gunning them down. I'm curious if the game has some kind of countermeasure to running out of healing items and leaving you stuck on the verge of death, but I suppose not wanting to end up in that state is adding to the fear. Thermite may be one of those items I just never use because of its potential value. It doesn't help that when I first tested it out on an android that was in an important hallway and seemed like a smart obstacle to remove, I then finished the floor like 5 minutes later so it felt like I wasted an item in truly short supply.

I went in knowing what Elster's relationship is to Ariane since it's one of the most talked about parts of the game, but I otherwise knew nothing about the story. I enjoy learning about the society and system of this authoritarian government and the people within the facility, but the mystery of what happened to it looks like it's just going to be the generic "They uncovered ancient eldritch evil" but as long as the personal stories are satisfying that shouldn't be a problem.

My enjoyment of both the gameplay and the story and how they perfectly interweave to create one of the most immersive gaming experiences I've ever had so far has had me waking up each day eager to play more, but forcing myself to wait through the day so I could play at night for what feels like the ideal experience. Ironically yesterday I went through this and then within half an hour of playing wanted to stop out of fear, but I thought to myself that Elster doesn't have the luxury of just leaving and going to bed. It made proceeding to find all the elemental keys and facing the first boss feel like even more of an accomplishment.

#signalis #elster

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breezybeej · 1 year

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Tears of the Kingdom review: Heavy Spoilers Ahead

I just typed out my thoughts to get them out of my head so here's the messy essay I wrote just pasted under the cut

Let's get this out of the way first. This review is going to sound extremely negative because literally everyone in the universe has covered the positives of this game already and you can go view those reviews to see that. And I'll give you the score up front so you at least know that I still 'had fun' while playing the game. Please dear god, before you leave a comment about why I kept playing if I hated the game so much, just don't. I still had fun with the game but it was a hard 6.5/10 for me. So let's talk about it. Also, spoilers ahead because I played the main story, several side stories, and a lot of exploration stuff. And these are all opinions so if you disagree with me, I don’t care. We can discuss it if you want and if you think the game is a 10/10, okay. Anyway

I'll start with the least controversial stuff. The stuff that makes the most sense toward lowering the score. The Game Play.

Every major dungeon gives you a fancy power just like Breath of the Wild but they way you activate them is different this time around. You have a little homunculus and power activation comes from talking to them. This was a terrible idea and I have no idea how it made it past testing.

Example Riju: She is a melee fighter. She loves to run right up to whatever enemy you are fighting and stay there. Great! She’s an aggressive fighter who provides decent passive damage over the course of battle. Problem: her power modifies your ranged attack. So when you are fighting the Queen Gibdo, you spend more time chasing this woman around the arena than you do fighting the boss. It becomes more frustrating when you realize the mushroom spires will cover themselves in armor periodically so if you don’t catch up to her, activate her power, and let it charge up to the appropriate range to hit the towers in time, well that sucks. Also, if she gets hit, it cancels her charge up and since you cannot control her, you cannot pull her out of harm’s way. Gotta chase her down and try again. Note that most of the control is in the hands of the AI and not the player. Queen Gibdo is a very simple fight. It’s very easy with basically no mechanics besides “break the boss’ armor to deal damage” so most of the difficulty came from managing your companion. This is not a compelling fight design.

Example Sidon: Once I finished the water dungeon, I disabled his spirit and never pulled it out again because he doesn’t do much. He was never around me when I needed him to activate the water wheels needed to progress the temple. I would solve the puzzle and turn around to activate his power and he would be wandering aimlessly around at the top of a ramp 20 yards away so I had to go retrieve him and hold his hand all the way to the door. His power is also pretty clumsy. Since you have to chase him down to use his power and you can’t talk to your companions while L-targeting, there’s a good chance you will activate it and take a sucker punch that immediately consumes the shield before you can fire the water wave. What’s funny is that you don’t even need him to fight the boss of the temple. I happened to have an opal wand which tosses water orbs out. Works better than the champion, too. And since the temple is low gravity, you can just… jump to activate bullet time and dump arrows into the boss the instant it is vulnerable. I didn’t have to interact with any boss mechanics here. So Sidon is a wash (lol).

Example Yunobo: He’s massive. He takes up so much visual space on screen when I do not want him to. Steering a vehicle? Well he’s in the middle of the screen now and making noise and drawing lines in the air and spinning and bro I am just floating down the river, I’m not trying to bring down siege fortifications. The good thing is that he can break rocks without wasting my bombs and hammers, the bad thing is he loves to just wander away while his power is recharging so I have to chase him down. Another problem? When you are aiming him, taking damage cancels it. Holding up your shield cancels it. So you are very vulnerable during this time. Yeah, it’s a trade-off but then we go back to the issue of this being more about managing your companion and his position than about participating in combat. Managing companions in battle is not fun.

Example Tulin: Free critical shots and a traversal power makes for EASILY the number 1 companion who will always be active. He lets me go fast. He saves durability and arrows. He defends me better than Sidon’s shield because he stuns enemies. But. But. He will run up into your face when you are picking up loot and you will activate his power and blow all your loot down a hole. It didn’t happen often but it happened enough that I developed a hatred for this little shit. I tolerated his presence for the gifts he provided but I found myself creeping up to items and slowly gathering them to make sure I didn’t trigger the bird. You know takes away the joy of looting after a battle? Having to slow down and MANAGE YOUR COMPANION.

Example Mineru: I didn’t use her. She will be useless by the time you unlock her unless you stumble upon the steps to get her before clearing any other dungeon. Zonai devices don’t scale up their damage as the game progresses so fitting her with a cannon does nothing. I had a cannon break before she was able to kill a moblin with it. She’s slow but you can put a fan on her to speed up. Also, the fan will break. Why? I don’t know. These things don’t break when you assemble them into devices off of Mineru. They just cost battery. Why would you make them more restricted on the mech companion? I’ll just use a custom made vehicle instead. Also, she’s bigger than Yunobo and for some ungodly reason, you have to press two different buttons in sequence to dismount her. I do not know why.

Okay, that was an overview with the problems I had with companions individually. Now the system as a whole: They are annoying to use. I spent a lot of time in the menu activating and deactivating them. Maybe I’m weird for this but I prefer to not pause games a lot while playing them because I enjoy the feeling of uninterrupted play. Breath of the Wild was fantastic for that. I only really paused to eat and to change clothes. The companions are so frustrating that I voluntarily interrupt my play to turn them off and then do it again to summon them later. I just did not vibe with the Primary Storyline Powers the game gives you. And since I said the magic word Storyline, let’s move on to writing.

The writing in the game is bad. You meet Tulin and his dad says “He thinks he can accomplish things by himself. He’s doesn’t appreciate teamwork.” Two minutes later, you give Tulin his bow back and he says “Dang, I can’t accomplish things by myself and I appreciate teamwork.” Like, he almost repeats the exact same line we were told two minutes ago. Sidon is too clingy about his people and afraid to talk to his fiancee about it. You do one single task for him and he says “Well it’s time to let my people work without me and also talk to my fiancee.” Yunobo has gotten his people addicted to heroin and then you knock sense into him within a minute of meeting him. Riju says “Damn I can’t aim my lightning. Hey shoot your bow” and that helps her aim, cool. Then the very next scene shows her using the lightning strike without your aid. So what am I getting at here? It felt cheap. None of the character growth felt earned, we just get told one thing and then told another right after. It’s not compelling.

I don’t want to say this would be better but they could at least make the character changes come AFTER the dungeons are cleared? Like Sidon gains confidence that he can leave the Zora to defend themselves when he sees that they handled the domain well in his absence. Or Tulin learns that teamwork is good after he works with Link to save Rito village. Is that crazy to think? I just fail to see the value in the champion storylines when they happen so quickly and resolve themselves.

In a similar vein, the memories in this game are kind of lame. They are all laser focused on explaining the past timeline and they are worse for it. In Breath of the Wild, some of the memories were about the plot and some were about characterization. There were slice of life memories that served the purpose of developing Zelda’s insecurities and not just telling us what happened in the past. In Tears of the Kingdom, that is not the case. Every memory is just raw exposition. Take the one where they consult Mineru. I’ll summarize it:

Rauru: Zelda, your power is unique and we have no idea how it works. Maybe Mineru can help us understand it. Mineru: Zelda we have no idea how your power works but there’s no way it can send you back home. The only way is to eat a rock and turn into a mindless dragon thereby losing your identity and kind of defeating the purpose of getting back home.

So just to set up the Dragon of Light plotline, we have a character dismiss all the time they could spend studying a new combination of magical powers and jump to an extreme case immediately. They also established this was the first time they talked about the subject. It feels so forced every step of the way.

And you know what? I liked that Zelda becomes a dragon. I like that she sacrificed her very sense of self, essentially committing suicide to ensure the survival of future Hyrule. That is a cool and powerful thing but it is set up poorly and they undo it with absolutely zero consequence. The writers straight up included a scene that explicitly says there were no consequences to losing her mind and identity as a dragon for a thousand years (or was it ten thousand? I already forgot). Regardless, Riju says “Wow you were flying around up here all that time?” and Zelda says “Yeah but I don’t remember any of that nonsense, it’s fine lol,” so it undercuts the entire cost of swallowing a secret stone. What was the point?

It’s like this for most of the main story progression. They set up a problem and resolve it with no consequence or even really any action on the part of the player. They even give you control during a sequence to catch the princess falling from the sky. You cannot fail it. The ground never gets closer. If you flub the button, nothing bad happens. The music is swelling and dramatic but there is no consequence to any of it. The dive started and when I realized that the princess wasn’t actually falling, I got up and refilled my drink, moved my laundry from the washer to dryer, ate some lunch, then caught the princess.

You say “Well the plot in Breath of the Wild wasn’t very good. It was barely there.” And that’s the problem. Breath of the Wild didn’t draw attention to the plot. That wasn’t the point of the game. So they kept it simple and they kept it in the background. They made the plot more central and more sweeping in this game and it hurt the experience.

But surely, since they lifted the combat and stuff from Bee Oh Tee Dubs it at least has that going for it, right…. Eh…? Late game enemies are damage sponges that aren’t really worth fighting. The mini-bosses all have the same mechanic (shoot the weak point then hit them. that’s it.) “But that’s true of Breath of the Wild!” Yeah, and having the same problem makes it worse here. Because they didn’t improve. Also, since the game revolves around supergluing things to sticks, you have to navigate the abysmal ‘quick item’ menu.

Since there is only one type of arrow, any modifier has to be selected from that menu every time you want that effect. That menu sucks ass. It is a single line of items and it doesn’t display the stats of the item when you hover over it. The pause menu is better but you can’t glue items to your arrows from the pause menu. It destroys the flow of battle when you spend so much time with time frozen on a menu scrolling to the item you want to use.

And boy it sure got annoying having to open the menu, drop an item, select the fuse power, and then activate the fuse power to set up your weapon. So for the above reasons: I just avoided combat unless I absolutely had to partake in it. Which leads us to bosses.

The bosses are boring. Most of them, I completely ignored the ‘mechanics’ of the fight. I already talked about how the low gravity trivialized the water boss. I accidentally killed the ice boss in 45 seconds. I mean, you only have to hit it six times. Gohma is just like fighting a Talus. Break the rock limbs, jump on top and hit the thing. I didn’t know the rocks it tossed would explode because I just… walked around them and hit the boss. Queen Gibdo might be the most intricate fight because she attacks from the ground, the sky, and has structures and gremlins. But it’s still couched in the problems of managing Riju.

And the worst boss of all is the final one. I died twice to him because I was trying to figure out how his patterns worked and his dodging and stuff. Then I realized I could just walk forward and swing my sword and win. Literally, that’s all I did for the first two phases. Then he starts perfect dodging all your attacks. So I had to swing once, wait until he dodged, then delay my walk forward just a little bit. That was it. Almost zero thought, no use of my fancy powers, nothing.

Then the final phase: Dragon Ganon. To be fair, Breath of the Wild’s Ganon was an immobile joke too but this one also sucks. He doesn’t aim at you with his attacks, he doesn’t retaliate when you land on him, he doesn’t try to eat you. You just land on him, swing sword, fall. Land on him, swing sword, fall. And then two more times. The final boss being a pushover could be fine if there was a good story supporting a narrative victory but the story is weak so it is just disappointing. Also, when you fight the phantom ganondorfs in the castle, there’s a dramatic moment where the four champions suddenly show up and save you. Then it happens again five minutes later when you go to face Ganondorf in the depths. THEN IT HAPPENS AGAIN TWO MINUTES LATER DURING GANONDORF’S SECOND PHASE. Three times in a row!! And they give it the same dramatic framing every time. And the reward for this is the aforementioned scene where you can just watch Zelda fall forever and then she shrugs off being a (ten?)thousand year old dragon because it would be too sad otherwise. I don’t know, man. There are just so many problems with the game that it blows my mind how I haven’t seen much discussion about them. Like I said, I had fun with the game. It’s fun gluing things together and that makes up for most of the tedium of the game. Yeah, I like flying around on a goblin glider. I like making flaming electric laser roombas that chase goblins. It’s fun. But I spent $70 on this game and I have spent as much time getting distracted and being frustrated by the mechanics and story of the game as I have enjoying it. And that’s without bringing up how shoddy the rewards in the game are but I’m at 2802 words and I just want to be done with this.

#totk spoilers #zelda totk spoilers #zelda #totk #tears of the kingdom

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eyes-talks-ocs · 2 years

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Tagged by @winterandwords !!!

Thank you for the tag. (And people please go check them out, since I created my writing blog I feel like I've been the lost shy puppy following them around haha. I love their blog so much 🖤)

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FIVE THINGS I NEVER TIRE OF WRITING!

Rules: list five things you never get tired of writing. It can be anything, tropes, character situations, themes - whatever brings you joy.

(let me know all of your secret self indulgence, haha).

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No.1: Contradictions.

My favorite characters I have, are nothing but a bucket of contradictions. Macaw, he's the brute with a nasty reputation and a sour attitude that will put you in the ground for looking at him wrong. But - he's gentle. He'll go out of his way to help or comfort random strangers or be a listening ear for someone. Just don't preemptently judge him before he speaks or initiates an interaction. That will determine how he treats you. Lucan, my DnD child. A genuinely kind and friendly guy who wants nothing more than to make the people around him happy. He's carefree and always in good spirits - yeah he's deeply traumatized with anxiety and guilt chewing at him in every silent moment he has. Before running into the current party he's traveling with, he was an honored member of a cult and by his hands, countless people were sacrificed to his gods. In any moment it's called for, he has no problem being brutal and unusually cruel to the point he scares himself by his own actions because he enjoys letting his frustration out a little too much.

No.2: I'll bring you down with me *insert crazy eyes*

Also a trait both Macaw and Lucan share. Just. A complete stupid disregard for their own life? I don't know what to call it. Both of them so jaded with their own actions of the past that it's led to both of them being reckless with no self preservation left to care. Will sink a ship with them on it just to make a point. Will burn a building to the ground with them in it just to watch their enemies burn with them. Fuck around, find out because I am no longer afraid of death and some days I welcome it. Definitely - hurt me so I can feel alive or else I'll do it myself.

No. 3: Symbolism, Symbolism, Symbolism.

Uff. Especially animal symbolism. But everything from the landscape to phrases, to little Easter eggs for myself when I go back through to reread things. It won't bother me if no one else picks up on them. I know they're there and what they mean. My mind works in weird ways and makes strange connections between things and you bet your sweet bippy it's littered throughout all the writing and art I create.

No. 4: Tragic Backstory.

I think that's enough said. I just. It just happens. I create characters just so I can hurt them I guess. Even the ones I make that WEREN'T supposed to be tragic somehow get a little bit of traumatic spice thrown in there. I mean. Look at Lucan. My goal wasn't to have a sad backstory player character. But a happy go lucky adventurer. Well after rolling stats and all that fun stuff I made a backstory that would fit his stats and abilities. Somehow that led to being a cult runaway? Now as the campaign has progressed more and more dark details have been added to his backstory to incorporate and fit into the DM's main storyline. But hey at least he's still a ball of sunshine to be around! (And my DM loves my character's story and every opportunity he gets, he goes ahead and throws a curve ball just to emotionally hurt my character too haha. Like the last one was a small fight with a Kenku and he used my DEAD FATHER'S VOICE to taunt me. Fuck that was something I wasn't expecting the DM to pull. I loved it.)

No. 5: EVERYONE IS BI.

Self projection. I know. I gotta keep reminding myself that not everybody is attracted to everybody. Ha. But reasoning for why basically all my characters are when I try to justify it ranges from: "This is DnD, how could anyone possibly be just straight?" to the dramatic "he's never been treated with compassion or has felt a soft loving touch. He'll bond with anyone who's willing to give him that." and everything in between.

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This tag is open to whoever wants to do it!!

#eyes talks #oc #social throwaways #dnd #dustin #lucan #original character #writing #original writing #writing tag #writblr #writing tropes #tag game

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bobgoesw00t · 1 year

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Top 10 Video Games of All Time: bobgoesw00t Edition (Part 08)

Quick update before I get to my revealing my Number 3 Video Game of All Time! My immediate family is coming over on Christmas Eve and we're opening our presents that night, so I'll either be posting Number 2 then and Number 1 on Christmas, OR I'll be posting 2 on Sunday and 1 on Tuesday...OK now onto the actual game.

I had a hard time picking this one and I kept alternating between it and my Number 2 pick being in the other’s spot, but in the end I had to put the Game of the Year winner at The Game Awards 2022 here. So this means if you haven't heard by now, Number 3 goes to:

That's right, the MASSIVE behemoth from the brilliant (and partially masochistic) minds at FromSoftware that some people will say stole the GotY award from Dad of Boy Ragnarok, Elden Ring.

Now I feel like I need to mention that this is the first FromSoftware/SoulsBorne/Seikiro game I've legit owned, but I DID however play a bit of Dark Souls Remastered on my Switch to help prepare for when I started this game. I didn't beat Dark Souls (didn't even get past the first main area xD) but I got enough of a feel for it that I felt ready to tackle whatever The Lands Between.

And I did a good job...at first... I made a Warrior and made the mistake of going straight for Stormveil Castle and got my ass handed to me by Margit. SO after going, "FUCK THIS", I ran around the did stuff in the Weeping Peninsula and even opened that damn teleport trap in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins, ended up in Caelid and yeeted myself out of that damn mine ASAP. I eventually managed to get past Margit and cleared Stormveil Castle and headed into the next area (and discovered the hidden side route to it a bit later)...which is when it started to go south.

After a bit of struggling, I managed to get to Rennala and was able to kill her first stage without any struggle when OH BOY, SHE FUCKED ME UP IN THE SECOND STAGE!!!!! No matter what I tried, I couldn't kill her so I tried to find the back way to the Altus Plateau (cause I knew there HAD to be one as Liurnia and Caelid both had one) only to get stuck on one of the enemies and after 24 hours, I decided to make a different character (cause I had wanted to try out the magic in the game), made an Astrologer and in the end, she's the Tarnished who has since become Elden Lord twice (once with the Age of the Stars and again with the Age of the Duskborn). Already on my third run with her and I'm debating on which ending to go with but enough about MY journey.

People will tell you that Elden Ring is "HARD" just like the other FromSoftware games of late, but I'm here to tell you the game is only as hard as you make it 95% of the time. As long as you take your time going through areas, make sure not to over aggro and get overwhelmed, you won't have much of a problem taking out regular enemies. Bosses are a bit trickier obviously, but if you know how to exploit various parts of the game (the Bleed status can be VERY fucking powerful) and use the correct Spirit Ash Summon (those are in the game for a reason idiots who insist that they "break the game"), bosses can also be somewhat easier to kill.

The Lands Between are BEAUTIFUL (the only open world game that's prettier IMO is Ghost of Tsushima and dare I say it, the last three Assassin's Creed games), MASSIVE and full of locations to check out, which is one of the games main strengths. If you get stuck on a boss, back track a bit, explore a different part of the world, and come back when you've leveled up a bit and/or have upgraded your weapons. There's a high chance that you'll be able to kill the boss then and DAMN does it feel satisfying. Hell, you might do what I did on Haruka (my Astrologer) and spend so much time exploring other areas (I FINALLY found the back way onto the Altus Plateau and spent a good chuck on time up there. I also managed to find the greatest location in the entire game IMO: Dominula, Windmill Village...if you need any proof, I present the following video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_JthoRyAb2Y&feature=shares) that when you go back to fight said boss, you'll be a bit OVER leveled and totally fuck them up...which is what happened to Rennala...and it was perfection!!!

There's also a large amount of weapons to try out and it won't be long before you find the one piece of equipment that you'll carry for the rest of the game. I ended up with Moonveil (fully upgraded to +10), and the Meteorite Staff to abuse it's boost to Gravity Magic...quite a few bosses don't stand a chance if you spam Rock Sling while using this staff. Spam the spell until you break their poise, run in for the Critical Hit, RUN AWAAAAAAAAAY, and then repeat until the boss goes "BLEH".

Armor, while not doing much at times, is also important at times as the passive increases to the resistance stats can make a big difference if Poison, Scarlet Rot and what not stack enough to be inflicted. Not to mention some of the armor is REALLY FUCKING COOL LOOKING, with my special shout-out going to the Black Knife Set for having a cloak that makes you partially invisible.

Then there's the various usable items and good god some of them are totally fucking hysterical...I'm talking of course about the Mimic's Veil, the item that turns you into a JPEG of a random object you'll find in the world. This is what got me to the Red Wolf of Radagon my first run! I tossed a throwing knife/dagger at a foe, broke line of sight, used the Mimic's Veil to hide and when the dumb ass came over to find me they go, "HMMM, THERE'S NOTHING HERE BUT A RANDOM TREE THAT SHOULDN'T BE HERE...OH WELL! I GUESS SHE'S GONE!", proceed to slowing walk away which is when I go "BAM", stab them in the back and they die. It's even funnier if you've been turned into a Weeping Angel like what happened to me one time: https://twitter.com/bobgoesw00t/status/1500987346421956613

I want to talk about the music now before I give the summary, some additional notes and the score. The various composers NAILED the soundtrack and I actually spent a good amount of time in the Character Creator the first time simply because of the pretty music that plays on it. The Final Battle track is STUPIDLY EPIC cause it's a more layered version of the Title Screen music and once it transitions to the Elden Beast, you hear a subtle, but still GORGEOUS bit of music that has a majestic feel to it, but NOTHING, and I mean, NOTHING can top the Regal Ancestor Spirit. HOLY MOTHER FUCKING HELL does that track give you goosebumps the first time you hear it. That boss fight isn't really that hard in comparison to some of the others due to how unique it looks and the music only helps make it the more memorable. I won't post a link to the track for those who haven't played the game cause I really don't want to spoil it for them.

Lastly, I want to talk about the two of the main boss fights, both of which are optional but are insane. Gonna talk about the badass bitch in The Lands Between first...you know her, you've talked about her, you've seen people rage quit/throw their controller/uninstall the game because of her, and just two weeks ago, Animal revealed that he thirsts for her at The Game Awards. I'm talking of course about none other than Malenia Blade of Miquella. A few months ago before G4 got shut down again, X-Play had an entire stream where Froskurrin tied for almost two hours to kill this badass mofo and she couldn't do it. My take on Malenia is this: don't even bother trying to kill her on your first run of the game. I managed to get to her on my first run, tried twice, and she fucked me up so quickly that I went, "NOPE!!! NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE, FUCK THIS, I'LL TRY IN THE NEXT RUN!!!!!" Which is when I nailed the Goddess of Rot and celebrated.

The other boss is probably the most epic fight in the entire game, the demigod that fought Malenia to a standstill and turned all of Caelid into a land of Scarlet Rot, Starscourge Radahn. What makes this battle so memorable is how you aren't supposed to take him on by yourself, but instead rally the various NPC allies to draw aggro away from you (even Patches who OF COURSE, nopes out of there within ten seconds of calling him xD) while they chip away at his health. Not to mention how the second phase starts with him leaping into the stratosphere, only to come CRASHING DOWN LIKE A METEOR and take out anyone dumb enough to be in the landing zone. This is also when you can totally cheese him by standing next to the edge of the ocean and if you position yourself correctly, you can get him to drown himself when he comes screeching back down to Earth. Now I have NO idea if they've patched this out yet (like they did with the two cheese methods the Fire Giant had) as I have yet to get to that fight in my current run of the game but if it's still there...I totally intend to do it. The battle is also hysterical in the fact that THE ENTIRE TIME you and your allies are fighting him, he's being carried around by a tiny, skinny horse that he is WAAAAY TOO BIG TO BE RIDING ON (and is only able to do so because of Gravity Magic) and it flails around like a Muppet every time it moves. Don't believe me, HERE'S THE PROOF: https://youtube.com/watch?v=OxvrVbV6RkU&feature=shares&t=588

In the end, Elden Ring TOTALLY deserved it's Game of the Year win at The Game Awards for not only having a MASSIVE world to explore with a large variety of places to explore, beautiful music, the traditional SoulsBorne combat with new additions (like being able to jump xD) and fine tuning to perfection. It also has a world created with help from George RR Martin, tutorials that are much clearer and can be re-read at any given time if need, abilities that are given at a good pace and some of the most intense boss fights ever. It certainly won my personal Game of the Year and is getting 5 Critical Hits out of 5: 5/5

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Dad of Boy/God of War (2018): While I'm talking about God of War Ragnarok, I want to mention the 2018 Game of the Year winner. Dad of Boy is a MASTERPIECE of story telling (a TRILLION times more so than the likes of Uncharted and The Last of Us. The latter being a good game with a good story, but it's nowhere NEAR a MASTER CLASS IN STORY TELLING. HELL, THE ORIGINAL RESIDENT EVIL ON THE PLAYSTATION HAS A BETTER STORY EVEN WITH THE CRINGEY DIALOG, "YOU WERE ALMOST A JILL SANDWICH" being a particular highlight xD), Atreus/Loki/BOY is a pure and precious cinnamon roll for most of the game and the fact that the entire game is done in a single take is impressive.

inFamous 2:Sucker Punch took everything from the first game, perfected it, upped the stakes in terms of the plot, gave it REALLY good soundtrack, a greater variety of powers (all of which are fun to use) and two endings totally worth playing this baby twice to get.

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