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victorluvsalice · 3 years

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Sims Challenge Wednesday: Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines!

Hi all! We’re putting the usual Newcrest Adventures updates on pause for a week because I recently finished a little project I’ve been working on for a little while now -- doing Sims 4 challenges for two of my other favorite video games, Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Fallout 4! Yes, I’ve mentioned wanting to do this before on the blog, and now, finally, I’ve completed the initial drafts of each challenge! And I figured, who better to share them with than all of you. :) So let’s start off with the VTMB challenge!

(Oh, and note -- yeah, I just saw in the tags that someone’s actually come up with a VTMB-inspired Legacy challenge for The Sims 4. Mine’s a completely different one-generation challenge, but I am intrigued to see what’s going on with the Legacy version!)

VTMB SIMS 4 CHALLENGE

Premise: It all started out so well – a night out at the clubs, a flirtatious wink across the dance floor, a trip back to a seedy hotel room to get it on with your new partner. . .and then suddenly, in a mix of pain and pleasure, you find yourself lacking a heartbeat. And then some other people storm in, and you find out that:

A) you have been changed into a vampire

B) the person who changed you did not have permission to change you into a vampire

Your “sire” is put to death for disobeying the laws of the vampire underworld – but the rulers of your local city decide that you can be allowed to live. So long as you run a bunch of errands for them, of course. . .your only way out? Make some allies, make some money, gain a ton of power, and keep your head down until you can kick every one of these people’s asses personally. That is, if you (un)live that long. . .

This is a challenge loosely inspired by the experience of being the Fledgling PC in the video game Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines. The goals are to become a Grand Master Vampire, graduate from a shitty apartment to a decent one, and defeat a bunch of other vampires in duels to prove yourself.

Packs required: Vampires, Get Together, City Living, Eco Lifestyle, Island Living, Cats & Dogs/Cottage Living

Your Sim: Create your “Fledgling” in CAS. Your Fledgling should be a Young Adult. You may start them out as a vampire to start the challenge immediately, or start them as a human, make a sire for them, then have them changed in-game to gain a few days to build skills and enjoy sunlight. (Remember that the sire must be killed after your Fledgling starts their change! I recommend locking them outside in the sunlight.) The challenge starts the moment the Sim transforms fully into a vampire.

Each Fledgling vampire in Bloodlines belongs to one of seven clans – Brujah (clan of rebels and brawlers), Gangrel (clan of loners and animal lovers), Malkavian (clan of mentally ill people and oracles), Nosferatu (clan of warped looks and computer specialists), Toreador (clan of lovers and artistes), Tremere (clan of magicians and scholars), or Venture (clan of leaders and those of rarefied tastes). Pick one clan for your Fledgling and assign them an appropriate personality trait –

Brujah – “Hot-Headed”

Gangrel – Either “Cat Lover,” “Dog Lover,” or “Animal Enthusiast”

Malkavian – “Erratic” (you may sub in a custom trait for mental illness if you have one)

Nosferatu – “Geek”

Toreador – Either “Art Lover” or “Music Lover”

Tremere – “Bookworm”

Ventrue – “Snob”

Optional: Also assign your Fledgling the “Kleptomaniac” trait as, in the original Bloodlines game, you do end up stealing a lot of stuff to sell to vendors for quick cash.

Optional: If you’re strictly following how vampires work in Bloodlines, leave your vampire’s Dark Form identical to their normal form except for their fangs (except if you’re playing a Nosferatu – then instead customize the Dark Form to look like their post-transformation Orlockian-self (think Straud’s Dark Form) and have the “regular” form be the disguise they wear around humans to fit in). However, if you really want to do a custom Dark Form, I’m not going to be the one to stop you.

Their World: Set up the rest of the save file according to the below guidelines:

Your fledgling must live in a terrible apartment in either San MyShuno or Evergreen Harbor. This apartment must have a low-quality bed, a low-quality kitchen, a small low-quality bathroom, a TV, and a desk with the cheapest laptop. It must also have at least the “Filthy” lot challenge. Upon moving there, set their starting money to $100 (this is the amount they got for expenses).

Make or download at least three or four other vampires (depending on if you want to use the premade Vladislaus Straud or not) and make sure that they live in nice apartments/houses and are at least Master rank (cheats are totally allowed for this). These vampires must all be part of the same club (your choice for the name), with one chosen as the leader – this is the club that “rules” over all the local vampires and is making sure your Fledgling doesn’t step out of line. Set them up to meet regularly either at one of their homes or at an appropriately-kicking nightclub. Club activities are at your discretion, though remember – if they’re in public, they shouldn’t break the Masquerade by showing off powers or drinking plasma!

Make one “Independent” vampire and set them up however you wish, though they must be at least Master rank as well. They may be important to your Fledgling later!

Make sure you have at least four nightclubs (obviously they don’t have to all be in the same world) for your Fledgling to visit on the regular.

Goals:

Your Fledgling is looking to complete the following:

Become a Grand Master vampire, with all the power and perks that entails

Complete the Master Vampire aspiration (they may work on other aspirations as well)

Earn at least $5,000 simoleons

Move into better digs (either a better apartment or their own house)

Defeat all the members of the ruling club of vampires in Vampiric Duels

Rules:

Your Fledgling is not allowed to get a normal job, as per the rules of the council. Your Fledgling is only allowed to earn money by selling items they have made or found (or swiped, if they have the right trait) to other Sims, or by doing Odd Jobs. Any Odd Jobs that your fledgling finds that come from the ruling council (that is, if you see their picture by the job description) must be prioritized.

Your Fledgling may drink from plasma packs both purchased and homemade, but cannot use plasma fruit while the challenge is ongoing. (This means no doing the Good Vampire aspiration until you’ve completed your goals!)

Your Fledgling may drink from Sims, but must not break the Masquerade in doing so. They must either isolate the Sim they choose to drink from and compel them for a drink; or they must isolate the Sim and flirt with them at least five times before asking for a drink (to make it seem like they’re asking to make out or woohoo instead of drink their plasma). Either way, they must not be seen feeding by other Sims. The Fledgling is allowed five slip-ups – after that, the challenge is failed and they are put to death.

Your Fledgling must get to know the ruling vampires – a friendly relationship, however, is very much not necessary. They are going to be battling them sooner or later for the right to live life on their own terms!

Your Fledgling must follow the rules of their clan when purchasing powers: All vampires may purchase the Garlic Immunity, Vampire Creation, and Child of the Moon powers. Brujah vampires may purchase the Detect Personality, Vampiric Strength, Vampiric Slumber, Supernatural Speed, and Influence Emotion powers. Gangrel vampires may purchase the Bat Form, Vampiric Strength, Vampiric Slumber, Dampened Emotions, and Beyond The Herd powers. Malkavian vampires may purchase the Cast Hallucination, Command, Irresistible Slumber, Deprive Needs, and Influence Emotion powers. Nosferatu vampires may purchase the Eternally Welcome, Vampiric Strength, Irresistible Slumber, Odorless, and Mist Form powers. Toreador vampires may purchase the Eternally Welcome, Vampiric Charm, Mesmerize, Supernatural Speed, and Influence Emotion powers. Tremere vampires may purchase the Occult Student, Command, Manipulate Life Spirit, Deprive Needs, and Immortal Pleasures powers. Ventrue vampires may purchase the Detect Personality, Command, Mesmerize, Dampened Emotions, and Beyond The Herd powers. No vampires may purchase the Sun Resistance or Tamed Thirst powers.

Your Fledgling must also follow the rules of their clan when it comes to weaknesses: All vampires must purchase the Withered Stomach weakness – human food is indigestible to them. Brujah vampires like to rebel and fight – they should get into a fight with another Sim at least once every three days. They may fight the ruling vampires, but it doesn’t count as “defeating” them until they do it in an official vampire duel. They are also encouraged to purchase the Sloppy Drinker or Insatiable Thirst weaknesses. Gangrel vampires prefer open spaces and animals to being around people – they should have at least one pet (probably a cat or dog, although if you think you can fit a chicken coop or animal shed into their final home. . .) and prioritize socializing with that pet over socializing with other Sims. They are also encouraged to purchase the Uncontrollable Hissing or Undead Aura weaknesses. Malkavian vampires must deal with their madness – they should indulge their whims as much as possible (no matter how little sense they make – hell, the less sense the better), and you’re encouraged to let them do their own thing as much as possible as well (full autonomy on, people!). They are also encouraged to purchase the Uncontrollable Hissing or Fitful Sleep weaknesses. Nosferatu vampires are all warped by their curse into visions of pure ugliness – they should stay in their Dark Form as much as possible and only “put on their human disguise” to go to a club – and even then, they can only “keep up the illusion” for four hours. Being seen on a community lot by a large group of mortals in your Dark Form is a Masquerade violation, so keep track of the time! They are also encouraged to purchase the Dayphobia or Undead Aura weaknesses. Toreador vampires are mesmerized easily by what they personally consider beautiful, and are also a little more sensitive to the fact that they’ve become undead monsters – they should spend as much money as they can on beautiful artwork for their homes every three days, and spend most of their time admiring lovely objects and/or Sims when they’re out and about. They are also encouraged to purchase the Guilty Drinker or Eternal Sadness weaknesses. Tremere vampires are insular and ill-trusted by other vampires, and are so focused on their scholarly pursuits they lack physical fitness – they should not bring any of their relationships with other vampires up above “Acquaintance” (barring the Independent, see below), and should not improve the Fitness skill (or any other physical sport-related skill) above 5. They are also encouraged to purchase the Sloppy Drinker or Dayphobia weaknesses. Ventrue vampires may only drink from certain kinds of people – they should pick a distinguishing feature (hair color, eye color, personality trait, etc) and then only drink from Sims with that trait. They may drink regular plasma packs, but cannot drink ones made from fish or frogs. They are also encouraged to purchase the Guilty Drinker or Insatiable Thirst weaknesses. Optional: Your Fledgling can take the Thin-Skinned weakness no matter their clan, but I actually wouldn’t recommend it – while it fits with the World of Darkness lore, your Fledgling is going to have to be active during the day for their Odd Jobs most likely. Basically, take that one at your own risk!

Your Fledgling may befriend your Independent vampire – in fact, this is encouraged, as the Independent vampire can teach them a new power! Upon becoming friends with the Independent vampire, your Fledgling may learn one “out-of-clan” power that does not conflict with any of their weaknesses.

Your Fledgling must visit a nightclub once every three days to socialize, dance, and generally pretend to be human. If they can find a way to make money at the club or discreetly feed, even better.

Your Fledgling must “officially” defeat all members of the ruling vampire club in Vampiric Duels in order to break their hold on their unlives. Once this is accomplished, they may get a Freelancer job or sell things direct from inventory instead of to other Sims to pay the bills, as they are no longer under the club’s thumb.

Optional Hard Mode – Four Factions: There’s not one club, there’s four – and none of them like each other! Make three extra clubs, each with at least four vampire members, to represent the four main factions of the original game – the Camarilla (the “official” vampire government, kind of stodgy), the Anarchs (rebellious and looking for more freedoms), the Sabbat (want to revel in their monstrous nature), and the Kuei-Jin (Asian “vampires” who are trying to take over the area; feel free to make them a different kind of occult altogether!). Your Fledgling may choose to join any one of these clubs, or none of them. If they join a club, they have to defeat the leaders plus one member of each of the other clubs in Vampiric Duels to earn their freedom; if they go Independent, they just have to take down all four leaders.

Optional Hard Mode – Limited Map: Your Fledgling can only travel between the worlds of Evergreen Harbor (Santa Monica), San MyShuno (Downtown L.A.), Del Sol Valley (Hollywood), and Mt. Komorebi (Chinatown – it’s the closest we’ve got, just stick to the more city-like neighborhood). Their initial bad apartment must be in Evergreen Harbor, and they must upgrade to one of the best apartments in San MyShuno.

Optional Hard Mode – The Sequel: Your Fledgling is actually the protagonist of the ever-in-production Bloodlines 2 – aka, they’re a Thin-Blood, and their Embrace was REALLY illegal. Adjust the rules as follows:

Thin-Bloods often don’t show signs of any clan, but they are generally hunted and killed just for existing. If you have StrangerVille, I would recommend the “Paranoid” personality trait, but otherwise, customize them as you see fit.

After buying their shitty apartment, you must set their starting funds to zero – they did not receive anything for expenses, because. . .

They’re not under the thumb of the ruling vampires, they’re on the run from them. To be caught is to be killed, so your Fledgling must avoid their notice. Do not attempt to interact with them before you’re powerful enough to take them on, and avoid any Odd Jobs that come from them. (They may still talk to the Independent vampire, who doesn’t care about the politics.)

Their lack of clan means they may choose from almost any of the available powers (aka, anything but Sun Resistance and Tamed Thirst), but must have double the points needed to buy them before they can purchase them (due to their weak vampire blood). They also cannot sire new vampires, so they cannot take Vampire Creation. Befriending the Independent vampire allows them to purchase one power for normal cost.

#sims 4 #vtmb #sims challenge #vtmb sims 4 challenge #I'm reasonably happy with how this one came out #it worked a lot better when I stopped trying to match specific Bloodlines disciplines to Sims 4 powers #and decided to go with 'what feels right for each clan'#please remember this is my initial draft #this hasn't been playtested or anything yet #please feel free to tweak and make adjustments and whatnot #make it so it's playable for you #it's supposed to be fun after all :)#and I think it captures the main thrust of the game pretty well!#also yes figures I'd finally get this done just as someone makes a VTMB Legacy #though I am very curious to see how that works!#queued

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hanazuma-inactive · 3 years

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Hey, thinking back to your “conversation” with the Kaminari anon, I got an idea.

Basically- Y/n (M! Reader) and Kaminari are having a competition at work, and the winner will get to top that night. The competition is pretty simple; at the end of the day, they will count up how many civilians they helped and how many villains they took down each. The one with the highest number, is the winner. The two had done this challenge quite a few times before, and Y/n had won almost every time due to Kaminari’s quirk’s side effect. But this time, Kaminari had made sure to prepare. He had trained with Bakugou to try and build his tolerance and had also gotten help from Kirishima to figure out which streets were busier and full of people during the day. And after convincing his boss to let him patrol that particular street, it had all worked out. He had won the competition, and what was waiting at home was a long night.. kinky-

Take your time and don’t rush it, Rei. Have a nice day/night! :>

lust games (nsfw), denki x reader

pronouns: he/him (FEMALE ORIENTED DNI!!)

warnings: edging, flirty denki, vibrator, light bondage

a/n: i love denki sm ty for this request, this was also an amazing prompt

_____

pro hero chargebolt and h/n, always arriving at the scene just in time and occasionally a little late. the citizens could always depend on the couple to save the day with their amazing synergy and playful manner of defeating the villains. you and denki mostly patrolled near each other during work so the two of you usually help each other out when needed. or y'know, the blonde hero might casually stroll over to your area with a cup of coffee in his hand and lay a few flirtatious words on you.

"i'm winning today! and there's no doubt about it!" is a sentence you hear from your boyfriend almost every single day but never fulfilled his promise. he came close before but it never actually happened. this little game of yours started when the two of you started to lose motivation to work in general. knowing denki being the horn dog he is, you proposed this game. whoever helped the most civilians, or captured the most villains will get to top for that night. and ever since then, you've been winning everyday without fail, leaving denki as the bottom for the night.

he didn't mind as long as it was with you but a competition is a competition and he tries everyday to reverse what usually happens. little did you know today was the day it finally happened. denki had been training secretly by himself so that his quirk wouldn't overload himself as easily. it might also count a bit as cheating but he asked his friend, kirishima, to leak him all the locations near his area where civilians need help. in a way it's kind of sweet to think about all the things that he would do just for you. at the end of your patrols you tallied up the counts.

"56...57 and 58, how bout you denks?"

"56, 57, 58 and...59. i won! i won! you know what that means?! denki shouted and jumped in joy.

"alright alright! good job, i knew you could do it. i'll be waiting for what you have in store then~"

"oh just you wait baby boy, i'll give you the night of your life!" denki said while shooting finger guns at you.

you weren't expecting anything special, just usually what you do to denki but in return. what tricks could he have up his sleeves anyways right? you headed home with denki after that and enjoyed a hot bath and dinner together. you cooked denki's favorite hamburgers to reward him for doing so well at work today. the two of you watched some tv afterwards and relaxed in each other's arms, almost forgetting the big event for tonight.

"hey babeeee~" the blonde cooed in a flirting tone.

"hm? what's up."

"did you forget what i won today?"

"oh yah, you did win that huh. well, i'm ready for anything you're gonna do to me so…do your worst."

"with pleasure~"

denki picked you up with his arms bridal style and carried you inside the bedroom. he settled you down the bed and sat you up as he towered over you. not fazed by his actions you giggled a little at his attempt to top but it was still cute. your boyfriend gave you an angry pout and placed his lips onto yours. caressing you and stroking your arms gently while he was at it. you were usually rougher with him so it was a surprise to you how gentle he was.

the kiss ended with denki blushing and a smirk from you. despite all the preparations denki made he still gets flustered whenever he shares a kiss with you, it was adorable of course.

"a-alright! you won't be ready for this!"

"oh? let's see what you got, baby boy."

denki moved his lips down around your nipples. lifting your shirt up enough so that your abs and pink nipples are exposed, kaminari started to work on them. he was surprisingly well with his tongue. the blonde has been on his knees many times sucking your dick, but this was a different type of pleasure. it made you more sensitive than usual and you felt your cock start to rise inside your pants.

"wow~ look what we got here baby?"

you look down to see the bulge in your pants. unable to contain it any longer, denki took off your pants to reveal the cock that's been throbbing ever since he got started. he reached for your cock and started to stroke it while kissing your nipples. the stimulation from both below and above felt so good it didn't take long for you to start leaking some precum. seeing this, denki rubbed the tip of your cock and spread the precum onto the rest of your length for lubrication. he started to speed up his strokes and just when you were about to cum, denki stopped stroking your cock and focused on your nipples, making you orgasm from them instead.

the cum got all over your abs and some on denki's face. he gladly licked it all up and gave you a grin in return.

"just wait baby...if you felt good with that you won't be able to handle what comes next…"

you were a little scared of what denki was about to do next but excited at the same time. the blonde reached into the nightstand and grabbed a small rope to tie your hands up with.

"h-hey denks! what's this for?! you're kidding right!"

"ah uh uh~ this is to make sure you stay still for later hehe…"

you realized resistance was futile against your boyfriend and he had entire control over you right now. you let go of your defense and let him tie you up to the headboards. he reached into the night stand again to pull out an egg looking toy with a remote around it. you knew what it was but you didn't know when and how denki got his hands on it. denki placed it on the side and licked two of his fingers. lifting your legs up right after to prepare your asshole. he reached your prostate so fast and it felt amazing.

"f-fuck denki, right there...that's the spot o-oh fuck-"

"hehe~ these are just some tricks i learned by myself, glad to know it's making you feel good baby."

denki continued to loosen you until his fingers can enter and exit smoothly. it also wasn't a surprise your cock was hard again and dripping with precum. denki's eyes lit up seeing your hard cock and he grabbed the egg shaped toy he put out earlier. carefully, he strapped the toy to the tip of your cock and grabbed the remote control himself. he tested some different levels of vibration and found the right one judging from the volume of your moans. you started panting after denki finally settled down with the remote but you realized he wasn't done there. he won the game and he hasn't got what he wanted yet.

"alright baby boy! time for the main course, get ready for the night of your fucking life…"

denki took off his pants and stroked his cock a little. aligning the tip with your ass and slapping gently a few times before entering.

"oh fuck baby...didn't know you were this tight."

"hnngh…denki a-ah~"

denki struggled to fit in his entire length in your ass but managed after a few min. his cock immediately hitting your prostate and the vibrator on your dick getting you close.

"denki...please start moving, i want it…"

"you asked for it baby, here i go, hnngh!"

your boyfriend slowly started to move his hips, thrusting his cock into you again and again, deeper and deeper every time. you've never felt this type of pleasure before being the top and it left you speechless. it was a little painful at first but eventually felt heavenly. denki began to move faster because your moans became louder. his flirty attitude disappearing as he gasped for breathe in sync with you.

"f-fuck y/n, baby, i'm gonna cum soon, your ass feels too fucking good."

"please d-do, cum inside denki, cum inside!"

denki leaned over to you and connected his lips with yours while you wrapped your arms around his neck. his cock pumping cum into your ass while you came as well from his cock. both of you left breathless after the new experience you had. denki gave you a faint smile, glad to know you enjoyed it as you grabbed him back in for a kiss. leaning your foreheads together you two giggled, laughing at each other. he layed down next to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, you were pretty tired too so you let it slide today without cleaning up. denki snuggled into your back as you gave him one last kiss on his forehead before heading to bed.

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pandoraimperatrix · 3 years

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On the Sea

BatCat | Smut | 2,8k words | Read on AO3

Summary: Bruce takes Selina to sail in his private island where no one can se them get busy on the deck. This piece belong to my Four Names ‘verse, but can be read independently, but if would be cool of you to check out the main story.

Selina knew she was being watched, and he knew she knew. It was all part of their game. Her legs swinging up and down blocking sometimes the view of the droplet of sweat that he was so attentively following. It slid from the nape of her head, between her shoulder’s blades and was now making its way all the way through her tanned skin to the small of her back; uninterrupted by the laces of her bikini because she had untied it ages ago when she laid to sunbath on the deck complaining she was bored. Bruce had not commented on her place of choice, that coincided to be right at his display, and continued to sail the boat, pretending to have all attention to the ocean and not to his tantalizing wife. That too, was part of their game.

She wanted him to be the first to break, and maybe he would, but it was too early to give up, and he had Selina’s natural impatience at his side.

“Hey, Cat” he called, and it took her a deliberately long moment to turn her face to him, lowering her cat eye framed shades to look at him with half-opened eyes “champagne?” he raised the bottle, before taking a sip without using a cup. He hid a satisfied smile when she swallowed dry.

Selina turned to her side, one hand supporting her head by the edge of her jaw, the other resting on the curve of her thigh. Breasts completely bare and adorned only by a silver medal hanging from her neck and twinkling in the sun. Bruce had to school himself to not choke, and he was pretty sure by the dirty smile on her face that she noticed him twitching.

He had married a witch.

“Should you be drinking and driving, I mean, sailing?”

Composed enough to be able to drink without embarrassing himself, Bruce took another sip.

“This bay is private, no other boats sail here, we’re fine.”

“No one?” she raised an eyebrow took off her shades, biting one temple tip. “Really? Interesting.”

And he knew for certain that she was not thinking about his reckless drinking. Damn, she was good, he could lose that one.

“So… Do you want?”

“Yeah, bring me a flute.”

She sat up, crossing her legs, the salty wind blew hair at her face, and she gathered her soft locks in a pile, using a strand of her on hair to tie it up, missing a few pieces that few around her face and neck. The sun reflected the golden tones of her curls giving her the illusion of an aura. When Bruce joined her sitting by her side with a flute and the bucket filled with ice and the bottle of champagne; he wished he had brought too paint and paper, but he knew that as much as he mastered the techniques, only a true artist could capture the vision Selina was presenting that day.

He rejoiced at the unadulterated pleasure that spread on her face when she took the first sip. Selina sighed, turning her face up to the sun, her leg touching his when her body moved, led by the swing of the boat. When she was actively trying to seduce him she could get everything from him. Made of him whatever she liked. But when she was like that, just her, just Selina, her smile earnest, just pleased by his company, in those moments, without even trying, that’s when he knew that, whatever seduction game they played, it was rigged against him, he’d lost from the start.

“What?” she asked with an amused expression.

Bruce leaned in, looking into her deep green pools, and slowly, erased the distance, capturing her lips. He barely registered the click of the glass hitting the wooden deck when she put her flute down to insert her fingers in his moist hair, while her other hand slid upwards his arm, kneading his shoulder before settling for his neck, rubbing his Adam’s apple up and down with her thumb. He dragged his tongue through the roof of her mouth until the fruity taste of the champagne faded and all that remained was pure Selina. She pulled away, breathing in and languidly offering her neck for meal, which he accepted, starving.

He kissed each of her beauty marks, there was so many of them, and maybe the sun had made new ones. Then, he tried to connect them with the tip of his tongue, pulling her close by the waist, her arms fell from his neck, and she relaxed. Lying down, Selina’s eyes locked in his, so lost in each other that neither of them noticed that her elbow tipped the glass flute down until they felt the cold bubbly liquid touching their fevered skin.

“Oops!” she said laughing and gently pushing him off her to look for the fallen object.

“Let it,” he groaned, trying to pull her back by the hips.

“Easy, big guy,” she said still amused, and standing up to put away the breakable items safely. “What if it breaks? I’m not risking a trip to the ER.”

Bruce sighed sadly watching her go, he lied on the deck, one arm under his head, waiting, when she came back Selina had a plastic bottle in her hand. He eyed it curiously.

“You are starting to look like a beet, and Alfred will have my ass if I don’t take good care of you.”

He made a disgusted face.

“Please never talk about Alfred having your ass ever again.”

Selina threw her head back in loud laughter.

“Dunno, B. Maybe I’m into silver foxes now,” she winked cheekily, kneeing down beside him and then throwing one knee across his hip and settling strategically on his bulging erection. Bruce licked his lips trying hard to not thrust.

“Haha, so funny.”

She just smiled at that, and opened the sunscreen cap, squeezing product on her palms before starting to apply to his naked chest. And she took her sweet, sweet time with the task. She began with his solar plexus, spreading the white lotion upwards, feeling the roughness of the growing hairs, no reason to shave on vacation.

She kissed the scars she made on his left pectoral, and arched her body forwards to reach his collarbones, and neck, getting her face impossibly close to his and pulling away when he tried to kiss her. Ignoring his annoyed mutter, Selina, pulled his right arm up, carefully applying product from his shoulder to the tip of his fingers, then she did the same to his left arm. By then, he knew there was no way she wasn’t aware of how hard he was. She squeezed more product to her palm, and with the tip of her finger started to spread dollops to his face. He probably was looking funny, because he knew very well the twitching on her lips as she rubbed the bridge of his nose. Annoyed, he tried to steal a kiss.

“Bruce!” she chastised, trying to pull away in such way that instead of her lips, all Bruce could reach was her chin which he bit, eliciting a soft moan that made him realise that whole torture session wasn’t just wearing him down. Ignoring her protests, he propped himself up using his forearms and kissing her chin again, sliding his tongue down, following the paths of the droplets of salty sweat down the curve of her throat, biting her shoulder until he caught her nipple with his teeth. Selina gasped and pulled his head back roughly by the roots of his hair, forcing him to stare at her eyes. She was panting, and teasing to kiss him again, their lips inches apart.

“Let me finish,” she demanded.

“Eventually,” he retorted.

She let out a throaty laugh and pushed him back to the deck.

“Don’t make me tie you up,” she threatened.

Bruce shut his eyes, trying to control his own breath, Selina was still sitting on his erection, and in that moment he’d give her anything she wanted for a bit of friction, so, when he felt her weight shifting he almost cried in frustration.

“What are you- oh…”

He looked down and she was sitting on his thighs now, squeezing sunscreen directly on his abs, she spread the product meticulously with her hands while Bruce watched, he had never thought that such mundane action could be so sensual. Her brow furrowed as she worked, a droplet of her own sweat fell making a small pool in his product covered skin, and she dutifully wiped it again. Then, she reversed her position, giving him premium view of her ass while she worked on his thighs, legs and feet.

“Finished?” he asked, going mad.

She picked the cloth that he had used to protect the deck from the watermarks of the melting ice of the bucket he had brought the champagne in to relief her own heated skin, patting herself on her face and neck.

“I still have to get you back, don’t wanna lose you for something stupid like skin cancer.”

“Yeah?” he said sitting up and picking one of the remaining ice rocks and inserting in his mouth. “What about you?”

She smiled.

“Already applied before we came out.”

“Aw,” he pouted.

Selina reached backwards to his face, thumb rubbing his jaw.

“Don’t be sad, baby, there’s always after sun moisturizing.”

He took her hand and kissed it, trying to lead his kisses through her wrist, but she pulled it back and got off him.

“Belly down, pretty boy.”

“Come on, Selina, one kiss,” he whined.

“No, turn over.”

Sighing, he obeyed. Bruce felt her approaching, he thought her breath on his neck was just his wife being especially mean, but she sucked his earlobe making him yelp. She giggled.

“God, I hate you,” he groaned.

She clicked her tongue.

“Your nose will grow, Pinocchio.”

He chuckled charmed against his annoyance.

“Are you done?”

“Geez, I didn’t even start. And I told you to lie down, why are you sitting?”

“Kinda hard to lie on my belly now, Selina,” he deadpanned.

He heard her have a fit of giggles and rest her forehead on his shoulder to gather her bearings.

“Sorry,” she finally managed, applying product on his shoulders first.

“Are you though?”

“Nah,” she said shamelessly, as her hands slid through his back, paying attention to each corner.

“Just as I thought,” he muttered, sighing.

“Now, I’m done.”

“Hallelujah.”

“You are such a cry baby, Bruce, lie down.”

“Selina…”

“I told you to lie down. Belly up.”

He sighed an did as he was told, trying to imagine what she would invent to torture him now, but was caught completely under guard when in a quick motion, Selina inserted her hand inside his trunks and pulled his cock out, sucking the tip.

“Holy-!”

He shut his eyes, seeing stars, his ears ringing. When he opened his eyes again, he found he gaze on him, and Bruce needed all his hard training to not embarrass himself. Selina’s kisses went down his shaft, to it’s base and spreading kisses around the area, to his navel while her hand pumped. She liked upwards again, twirling her tongue around the head and kissing it lovingly without breaking eye contact with him. One of Bruce’s hands entered her hair, undoing the makeshift ponytail she had made before, scratching her scalp as she hollowed her cheeks, blowing him skilfully.

“Love,” he called weakly. “It’s enough, please.”

She gave him a last lick before letting go, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Selina walked in her knees positioning herself in his lap, Bruce sat up and his time she didn’t reject his lips, holding his face with both hands while his explored her body, lovingly caressing the curve of her waist, kneading her rear, and pulling her closer by the curve of her knee. He bit her cheek weekly, and sucked the pulse on her neck, his hand grabbing one of her breast and guiding it to his mouth making her moan and thrust against him.

Sighing, Selina pulled his head up again, guiding him back to her lips, her chest only separated from him by the layer of perspiration. She kissed him for what felt like forever and never, never long enough. Pulling his bottom lip until it felt numb, and stopping just to look deep into his eyes every time they stopped to catch a breath.

“What are we going to do about your bottoms?” he asked before sucking her earlobe.

“What about them?” she answered, her voice barely audible.

“I could rip them off,” his hand already pulling the elastic.

She slapped his hand.

“Don’t you dare! I love this bikini, just work around it.”

“You could take them off…”

“Then I’d have to get up.”

He seemed to consider.

“Yeah. You are right.”

“As always.”

He snorted, and kissed her again, his hand changing directions to her centre, pulling the fabric to the side and sliding a finger up and down her vulva. Selina shut her eyes, her mouth falling in pleasure.

“Cat you are so, so wet.”

“Yeah?” she breathed.

“Yes. Is it all for me?”

She let out a suffering chuckle.

“Might be.”

“Oh,” he made when she thrusted against his hand, “does it feel good?”

“Can be better.”

“How so?”

Selina made an impatient sound.

“Just fuck me already, Bruce.”

“When you ask so nicely…”

She lifted her hips, hoisting herself through his neck, and, Bruce, pushed her bikini bottom’s all the way to the side with one hand and aligned himself to her pussy with the other, and Selina fell, joining the two of them together, finally. He groaned against her ear, hands dragging upwards to her waist and holding her hard in place.

“You are so impossibly tight.”

“If you are managing such big words yet, I can get tighter,” saying that she squeezed him, and Bruce cursed loudly, Selina chucked and started riding him. “Look at me, Bruce” she ordered, “look at me or I’ll stop.”

He did, and she smiled sweetly contrasting with how relentlessly she was fucking him, holding his face to look at her. Selina’s eyes shut, she arched her back. Her chin following her movements as she let out a loud moan dragging from the depths of her throat. Bruce held her strongly as she trashed, her thrusts getting erratic and without rhythm, slowing down, until they became just languidly undulations.

Soothing her with kisses, Bruce rose her limp body from his lap, and lied her down on the deck. She oversaw his ministrations with half-lidded eyes, relinquishing control for the time being. Bruce pulled down her bottoms, finally, throwing it at the cockpit’s direction. He dove, kissing her belly, grabbed her right thigh and sucked the soft skin of the inner part, kissing and licking his way to her knee and shin, biting the heel of her foot and eliciting a giggle from Selina.

Smiling fondly at her, Bruce, rested her leg on his shoulder, and then picked her left leg, giving it the same treatment. Then, he grabbed her by the waist, adjusting her body one last time before entering her again with a groan. Selina rose her hands to his face again, tracing his bottom lip with her thumb as he thrusted against her slowly.

“I fucking love you,” she whispered losing herself in the sensation, Bruce started picking up rhythm and talking faded. Coherence completely left when he started rubbing her clit without stopping his thrusts, trying to get her to come again before his own release became too hard to stop. He leaned more into her direction, seeking for more contact, and one of her legs slid down to hook around his thigh, the other one remained on his shoulder, providing an angle of penetration that only someone flexible like Selina could provide.

He kissed her to insanity, moaning inside her mouth, and when it became too hard to concentrating on kissing, he let out her bottom lip with a pop. Bruce, let go of her clit to support his weight against the deck giving him leverage and Selina substituted it with her own. He reached for the leg that slid down, pulling it up again and folding it to let him go deeper, the slight change of angle did if for Selina and she fell apart again, calling desperately for his name. Bruce didn’t stop, seeking his own release relentlessly until he too reached climax.

When his soul returned to his body, he opened his eyes to find her looking at him with besotted eyes, her hands roaming through his back slowly, giving him goosebumps. Bruce let go of her legs, letting her body relax, and he fell beside her, panting.

Selina turned to her side, propping her head on her hand and sliding her foot up his inner leg languidly.

“My knees are completely ruined,” she complained gleefully.

He chuckled.

“We’ll get you a pillow next time.”

She snorted.

“You are such a dork.”

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

Guys, it's so hot, SO HOT, I can’t remember how rain felt like. So have some hot smut for all your BatCat needs. XOXO

#batcat #brulina #baby batcat #gotham #selina kyle #bruce wayne #catwoman #batman #my fic #Three Names for Life #Four Names 'verse #smut

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calliecat93 · 3 years

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Top 15 Star Trek TOS Episodes (Part One)

I debated on doing this until I did the second watchthrough/reviews... but heck with it. I don’t see it changing too terribly much after and I thought it would be fun. It’s been a fun ride with TOS and I didn’t expect to love it, but here we are. It ain’t a perfect show, but a good one with good characters, strong themes, and just the right amount of intrigue and silliness. I had a blast watching it, but let’s face it, some episodes are better than others. Some are goofy but enjoyable, some... well, they tried. Everyone’s got what they like and dislike, and these are the ones that I liked best. All is only my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. So to finally cap off this watchthrough before I start the second one and also plunge into TNG, here is the first half of my favorite TOS episodes~

#15. Bread and Circuses

I didn’t realize this until I saw someone else point it out... but this is essentially Star Trek’s version of The Hunger Games, only combined with Roman gladiators. We have our main trio get captured by the government whom have already caused another Starfleet captain to succumb and he sentenced his entire crew to death. Thus we have Kirkg ivent he option of either doing the same, or he can remain in defiance and risk Spock and McCoy’s lives. Either way, he loses. It’s a good episode, showing Kirk given one of the most sadistic choices that you can give him... and yet he doesn’t break. Oh he gets plenty of hardship. He makes the choice to keep the crew form beaming down, which morally is te best decision. After all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Kirk, unlike Captain Merik, chooses to preserve his cew’s safety as a captain should. Whatever happens to him makes no difference... but because Spock and McCoy are with him, him making that chocie means that they suffer theconsequences as they are not only thrust into gladitorial combat for their lives, bt Kirk is forced to watch and can do nothing. He tries to when Bones is down, but restrained form doing so. But even then he doesn’t back down or even consider it. Merik may have thrown away his whole crew, but like Hell Kirk is going to and concerning the other two, he accepts execution after Spock breaks the rules to save Bones, emphasizing the point more. It;s a really god episode to show just how much Kirk truly follows that responsibility.

We also have some great Spock/McCoy content here as the episode does put their relationship int he spotlight a bit. Their relationship is the most interesting to me so this was a great one. They bicker pretty much all episode with even the other guy they got caught with asking if they’re enemies, which Kirk just replies that even those tow don’t know. But I think if there’s any doubt that they don’t care about each other, this one promptly shuts it up. Spock, despite knowing that he can’t, defends McCoy and saves his life. This leads tot he excellent scene int he cells where Spock is trying to figure a way out, despite fully well knowing that he can’t break through the bars. Logically it would be pointless to continue fruitless efforts, but he tries to anyways. When McCoy tries to thank him for saving him, with Spock both hiding behind his usual logical shell while still focusing on the futile escape effort. Thus we get McCoy confronting him about being afraid of living and not knowing how to handle even one warm feeling. It’s a really good scene performed excellently by Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley and is just a really good insight into their relationship. I’ll keep from going into any huge detail for if that review project makes it this far, but still an excellently performed scene, especially when it caps off with McCoy simply saying that he’s worried about Jim too, the one thing that the two CAN agree on without doubt.

This is at fifteen mainly because of a few small factors. I only know a few things about Roman history so anything about it went over my head and the ending also baffled me likely due to that. We also have it implied that Kirk did... it with a slave girl. Mind you the slave girl went to him and again it’s implied. But that still makes me feel... very uncomfortable once the girl did it under orders, and therefore not fully without consent. I’m gonna have to watch it again when I dot he more in-depth analysis, but... yeah. The ending also leaves without a real resolution to the planet, remaining as they are until they eventually fall just like the actual Rome did. I guess that was the intention, but... just kinda sucks that nothing truly got accomplished. Still from a character standpoint, it was a really good one for the Triumvirate and a great watch.

#14. For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

So for those who have been following me since I began this venture, you know that McCoy is my absolute favorite character. So when we got to a McCoy-centric episode, I was excited! And overall, it was a good one. Not one of the best, but perfectly fine. We have McCoy diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a year to live. When he and the other two transport onto a meteor-esque spaceship, they encounter the priestess Natira and her people headed for essentially a promised land witht he ship controleld by The Oracle. As Kirk and Spock try to learn more, McCoy is left with Natira who has grown smittenw ith hima dn wishes for him to remain as her mate. Sadly, I feel like this pisode wasted a lot of potential. Bones, the Chief Medical Officer who is always taking care of everyone else, is now the sick one and has only a eya rleft, if event hat. But the only real signs of this is he’s a little weaker than normal, which tbf it was just diagnoses so he may not have the most severe symptoms bu it also kidna makes the fact feel... less urgent. Using that time to set up himw ith Natira also felt wasted since we have the potential of a very emotional story where McCoy sis truggling with his lfie and the others have to come to terms that e’s going to die and likely struggle to find some way, any way to save him... and we spend it with a Girl of the Week who we’ll never see again and on a romance that while it is kinda sweet, ultimately leaves zero impact. It just feels like there was so much wasted potential and the emotional weight that you DO get... it feels less strong if you don’t know McCoy’s history. We know it now cause of supplementary material and such, butt he audiece of the 60’s certainly didn’t, hence why this is fourteen on the list.

That being said, the episode is still good. What makes up for the lack of impact about McCoy’s status and lack of history is DeForest Kelley. The man put his all into this episode (he did in every episode, but especially here when he gets ot be center stage), expressing McCoy’s sadness and loneliness as he talks to Natira perfectly. You can feel that loneliness, that longingness for what Natira’s offering him, that need to just have... some kind of happiness and intimacy that he was just never able to truly have, especially now. He just feels so... sad and vulnerable. Even though we’ve seen him interact romantically with women before, he comes off as so nervous and uncertain about what he’s doing. Like it’s been so long since he’s been intimate with anyone that he is at an utter loss on what to do with it. Natira essentially takes the lead and is even perfectly fine with caring for him in the limited time that he has left. There is someone willing to be with him and to love him for the first time in who knows how long and willing to continue to do so despite him dying... is it any shock that he chose to remain? And even then he did so in part to save Kirka and Spock from death when they got caught... and even then when he found out how to get the ship on it’s actual course and out oft he way of danger, he called them immediately for help. Yeah he almost got his brain fried for it which tbf he didn’t know would happen, but it still shows how selfless he really is, still placing others well-being before his own. As a good doctor would and should.

We also have Kirk and Spock’s reactions to the news. Kirk only knows because Chapel pretty much forced Bones to tell him and the man looks like a kicked puppy when told. He even tells Bones that he doesn’t have to go on the mission with them when normally he’s all gung-ho about dragging him along, only allowing it because this time Bones actually wants to go. Spock finds out after they all get zapped with Bones taking longer to wake up/being briefly unrsponsive, where Kirk admits it to him. Spock is noticibly concerned, emphasized when he holds onto McCoy’s arm for a good 30 seconds just to help the man sit up. McCoy can already tell that he knows before Kirk say it...a dn chooses to just let it be and get back to the matter at hand. Then there’s McCoy after he made his decision and faces the two for as far as he knew the final time. Kirk argues with him and is all but begging him to come back since otherwise he’s gonna die, which McCoy refuses since...well, he’s gonna either die from collision or being shot down, or he dies of xenopolycythemia. Either way he’s on borrowed time, so why not at least let him live it hacving a shot at happiness? Kirk is upset. Spock is as upset as a Vulcan will express. McCoy’s not happy about it, but firm in his decision... so firm it kinda makes the end where he does decide to go back kind of a juxtaposition, but I ain’t complaining either. The cure is also too convenient, but again not complaining. It doens’t seem like that much of an episode at first glance, but once you sit down and reallye xamine it even if you know nothign about McCoy’s backstory or peornsal life, it relaly leaves an impact. Again, a testemant to Kelley’ performance. As such even wit it’s issues and waste of potential, I adore it~!

#13. Obsession

I don’t see this one talked about much, but I found this one... well I hate to say the word but fascinating. What can I say? I’m a sucker for character studies, and BOY do we have a good one with Kirk here. In this episode we have a mysterious gas creature thing killing the crew and eventually get into The Enteprrise. Kirk reacts badly to it. Why? Well his crew dying of course, but the big reason is because he’s dealt with this creature before when he was a lieutenant where due to hesitaitng for a brief moment, mass casualties including his commanding officer were killed. So now with this creature’s pesence, Kirk is ont he hunt to take it down once and for all. But as the title indicates, he’s leaning towards becoming obsessed with it. We se Kirk acitng more angry and reckless than usual, especially when he continues to choose this over getting out of the space to diver some vaccines whent heya re desperately needed... yeah we’ll try to ignore how uncomfortable that is int he current times for now. The on of his former CO is also part of the Enterprise crew, and Kirk is spreading that obsession onto him, even punishing him for hesitating as he had when you’d expect him to be more sympathetic. It’s an episode that really unsettles you because Kirk isn’t acting like Kirk. Even in Consciousness of the King when dealing with the man who... you know, caused a genocide that Kirk was a victim of, he mostly held it together.

It’s these kinds of episodes that always fascinate me. What happens when we put this character into a situaitont hat completeley unnerves them? How would they react? How would it affect their usually rational actions? What would drive them to behave in such a way? How do those around them react? Kirk is very much dealing with a trauma and while eh is able to convince Spock and McCoy that e IS sound of mind and fit for duty, it doesn’t change that he’s allowing the trauma and guilt to morph into a dangeorus obsessiont hat is risking numerous lives. Not to mention afecting a young man who is in a similar position to him and also lost a loved one, yet the one that you’d expect to have Kirk’s sympahty is the one he’s treaitng harshly because of what he himself went through. Yes Kirk realizes it at the end and both corrects his mistakes and takes outt he monster, and it was good to see that he was able to pull himself back. But it was still just so interesitng to explore Kirk in this kind of position.

Spock and McCoy were also on point with both knowing that Jim isn’t acting right and ultimateley confornting him. The whole scene where McCoy gives Kirk essentially apsycological analysis, bringing Spock in once Kirk gets partiulalry heated, and them both laying down the line and holding firm until Kirk properly assures themt hat he is fit for duty was such a great scene. So was Spock actually seekign Bones as he knows that he can better understand Kirk’s emotional issues and him trying to comfort Garrovic was nice... it failed but he was stillt rying to do the right thing when Jim couldn’t. It’just one of those episodes that a character analyist like me eats up. As far as flaws go, notign comes to mind, but that might change on rewatch. I had just had others I liked better that placed it here, but it was very much an episode that got my attention.

#12. Operation: Annihilate

I still remember the suspense that this episode had me in. So we have the crew arrive at a colony that is uner attack by these parasites that are infecting thema nd leading them to painful deaths. Its already bad when Kirk finds his brother dead and his sister-in-law dies in utter agony, leaivng his young nephew’s fate uncertain. But it gets worse when Spockg ets infected and while he does his best, he’s having a difficult time managing the pain. It shows too in not only the scene where he pretty much goes balistic, but every scene after where he’s moslty under control, you can see the pain in his body lamnguage, tone, and eyes. Nimoy did an excelelnt job at keeping up that usual Spock demeanor, but converyign everything through body language alone. The team has to work to find a way to get rid of these parasites before it kills anyone else and exterminate them fromt he colony.

IMO, this was when iot felt like the writers realized what they had with the Triumvarite. At that point it was mainly abotu Kirka dn Spock and hwile Bones got it better than a few of the others, he still didn’t feel... quite there yet. I mean Kelley wans’t evne including int he opening credits until the next season. Here though we have all three with something major going on that’s important. Kirk is trying to figure out how to deal witht he situaiton which has cost him two fmaily members and may cost him his kid nephew. Spock is n pain due tot he parasite but still trying to perform his duties,e ven beaming down to get one of the parasites sicne as he’s already infected, he’s not at risk. McCoy is tryign to figure out how to get rid of the things and is the one having to keep both Spock and Peter alive. These all intersect together and the three just have this great chemistry. Their dynamic isvery mucht he thignt hat I loved most whenw atching the series, and this is when it felt like it clicked into place. The climax isalso heart-breaking. They figure out that bright lightcan kill the parasites, but McCoy is worried about what that intensity can do to Spock. He’s reluctant, but both Kirk and Spock push him to do it and while it’s successful in killing the parasite, it elaves Spock blind. Then Bones finds out that he didn’t need to turn it up that high and would have know had he just waited a few moments. While Spcok accepts it as a necessary loss, Kirk can barley hold back his fury... thoguh I DON’T like how the blame all get put on Boens when Kirk made him do it. Evenw hen Kirk tells Bones later that it wasn’t his fault, just by Bones’ face you can tell that he fully blmes himself.

That does bringmy big criticism though that lande dit at twelve. The ending is... nto good. I mean yay the succeed, but it felt like this was meant to be a two-parter, they couldn’t get the seocnd part, and had to make a hasty resolution to clear up the plot quickly. Not only is Peter’s face never mentioned or do we see Kirk’s reactionw hether good or bad, but Spock... is fine. He had a second eyelid that NEVER comes up again and he had just forgottena bout it. I now that TOS wans’t a serialized show but it not only felt like a waste of some potential story and character development for all three of our boys, but like haivng Spock blindd at all and sending McCoy down that guilt trip was utterly unecessary to begin with because it all happened int he last five minutes. I’mg lad that Spock was okay, and the end where Bones asks Kirk to not tell Spockw hat he said about him being the best First Offficer int he fleet, which Spock ehars and thanks him for half-enuinely, half-jokignly, again it feels like it was unecessary with how lat eit happened and how little impact it ultimateley had. Because of that, it landed here. But it’s still an enjoyable episode that again, felt like when the Triumvirate truly clicked into place and gave us even more good material after,

#11. The Naked Time

When I got to this episode, I had to remember how I quit as a teenager right before this and proceeded to yell ‘why didn’t you just go ONE more episode you idiot?!” to my past self. I really enjoyed this episode mainly for the concept. A virus that erases one inhibitions and self-control. Some of them are wa ky like Sulu with the fencing sword, which was also the most entertaining part of the episode. But it’s still interesting as we see these characters just give into whatever they’re desiring without any sort of thought and it erupts into chaos. It WAS a tad uncomfortable cause... you know, we’re watching a spreading virus that came about cause someone failed to follow proper safety guidelines while we’re living in a pandemic. But that’s not the episode’s fault.

It especially got interesting when Spock got it. This is the fourth episodes aired (I think it’s later in production order but I watched the order Netflix gave me) but even then we saw that Spock was a logical, very in-control character. We din’t know all the details anout him yet or that much about Vulcans, but we’d seen enough to get the general gist of the character. Then due to the cirus, those mental barriers begin to crumble rapidly. The scene where he is alone, trying to force himself to gain control of his emotions and ultimately failing as he breaks down... damn that was an excellent scene. Apparently it was thought of on the spot by Leonard Nimoy and he only had time for one take. Boy did he nail it. That was the moment I became invested in Spock as a character and in his and Kirk’s relationship as Kirk tries to snap him out of it, even risking getting infected himself because he needs Spock. I think that there are episodes that I enjoy more and the weird time travel ending made the ending really weird. Hence why this just barely missed the Top 10. But back when the show mainly gripped me for it’s science fiction concepts, this was a really good episode. It was the first one I went and watched twice before moving to the next one. I’m just so interested in the idea of losing your self-control and how you and others around you deal with it. Maybe it’s the analyst in me talking, but damn those mental concepts always get to me! A fun watch that was essentially the episode that convinced me that yes, this show is good and this time I wasn’t backing out.

#10. Mirror, Mirror

Top 10 now! Here we go! So.. mirror alternate reality. We’ve seen this a billion times in just about every media ever. IDK how common it was when Star Trek did it, but I always love this kind of concept snd seeing how a character would act if things had gone even slightly different. The Mirror Verse is admittedly a little too cartoonishly evil, but does come across as a fascist dictatorship, so I can’t really complain. Anyways, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura and up there and now have to figure out how to get home without anyone catching on that they’re not their counterparts. One thing I love is that it gives Scotty and Uhura some much needed focus and they are both awesome with Scotty being his usual miracle worker self and Uhura kicking ass as she gets info and outright threatens Sulu when he tries to come on to her. God I love that woman~

The Mirror Crew are essentially one-dimensional monsters with the exception or Mirror Spock. He’s still the logical being that we know him as, but much colder and ruthless as well. Yet he still is the closest to matching his usual self and has at least some level of decency compared to everyone else. It’s probably why Kirk was so convinced that he could cause a turn around at the end. He’s not good, but he’s still more good than anyone else on that ship. Yeah the guy who forcibly mind melded McCoy without consent (and how much we judge that I’ve seen varied but I consider it a horrible invasion of privacy that they shouldn’t have brushed off) is still FAR better than anyone else if that indicates how bad this universe is. Seeing his and Kirk’s interactions was super interesitng as clealry Mirror Spock caught on quickly that something was up, but chose to prolong it until near the end. It’s interesitng to observe. I also just love seeing our four heroes handling the situation. They all act effectivlynd manage to keep up the masqurade very well with only Spock and Marlena figuring it out. It’s one of the more diverse ensembles and I wish they had done more diverse dynamics than here, but it was great to see.

I think my only issues aside form McCoy’s potential trauma being glossed over (though I do love how he insisted on saving Mirror Spock and risk not making it home cause damn it, he’s a doctor no matter what) is how we don’t get to see the four’s mirror selves aside form once, where only Kirk gets a characterization as a cartoonishly violent brute. We hear a few things about them like Mirror McCoy’s sickbay essentially being a torture zone, but that’s it. I guess it was due to only having an hour, but I wish we had gotten to see how Spock’s end of things and how he interacts with them aside form Kirk, which that didn’t amount to much anyways. Ah well, fanon has covered both of these pretty extensively from what I can tell, so I shall settle on that. Still it was an enjoyable episode. I’ve seen better Evil Universe stories (nothing’s gonna beat the Justice Lords from Justice League for me tbf), but still a good one with a good ensemble, good character moments, and a unique threatening situation for our heroes to navigate through.

#9. Amok Time

AKA, the episode that more or less created the Slash Genre as we know it. But we’ll touch ont hat later. For now, one thing that I was really hoping for when I got to Season 2 was learning more about Vulcans and their culture. We knew a few things by then, like certain physiological differences between Vulcans and Humans and of course their logical philosophy. But S2 explored them and their culture more, and this was a big one. Spock is acting uncharacteristically agressive and refuses to explain why. Eventually he reveals that he is undergoign Pon Farr, aka going into heat. Unless he goes to Vulcan and does... ugh... mating and soon, he will die. IDK how they got away with this on a 60’s show, but I ain’t complaining. It does that exploration into Vulcans that I was hoping for. Hell we grt to finally see Vulcan... well a section of it but we still got to see it for the first time! It was interesitng to learn about Pon Farr and the rituals that go into it like how maitng works (weird that the logical Vulcan species has arranged marriages, but whatever) and seeing more Vulcans outside of Spock. It’s the kind of world building that does my heart good~

It had a lot of really good moments. Spock explaining everything to Kirk while trying to keep himself from killing him. Chekov being uttelry done with everything as they keephanging course to and from. Ulcan. Spock inviting not only Kirk to the ‘wedding’, but also McCoy, showing that despite their arguments he undoubtedly considers him a close friend. Hell McCoy imo is the true hero of the episode for being the one to catch that something was worng with Spock and his in-genius plan to fake Kirk’s death to keep his two idiot best friends from killing each other without pissing off any Vulcans. Seriosuly, the man needs all the appreciation in existence. And of course, we have the kal-if-fee where T’Pring (great antagonist BTW, will explore her when ai do an a tual review) forces Kirk against Spock. What ensued, while I fully believ eunintentional, forever generated a whole wave of slash and outright invented the term. While I’m not even close to as into Spirk as others, there is no denying how impactful the ship was to fandom culture and to the LGBT+ community. It is a legavy that I hold respect for since it really gave people like myself creativity and enpowerment for over 50 years, and is still generaitng works even now. That is something to respect.

As for it’s placement... the ending was a litle weird. It felt like they didn’t know how to have Spock cured without him either killing someone or doing hanky panky, so he just... gets over it agter thinking that he killed Kirk. It is a good moment, especially his reaction when he sees that Kirk is alive. That was a very justified emotional response that made me smile... and laugh when he tried to deny it haha. ButI find it hard ot buy that a biological funciton like that just... went away. But ah well. It was still an ejoyable episode with some great Vulcan content, McCoy being an underrated badass, and the moments that slash shippers will forever be grateful for. But speaking of slash...

#8. All Our Yesterdays

Sorry Amok Time, but THIS is the slashiest episode in the whole show. While I didn’t get into Spirk much, I got head over heels for Spones. IDK what it was but their dynamic has always been enjoyable and it just... really drew me in. Most of my favorite moments were between this two like the moment in Bread and Circuses and more I’ll go into later, This is essentially The Spones Episode despite what actually happens. Our heroes are to clear a planet that’s sun is about to go supernova, only to find it already gone. Kirk ends up going through a portal when he hears cries for help and when Spock and McCoy go agter him, they end up in an arctic-like area. They were all sent to different points of th eplanet’s past, Kirk in some old timey point and Spock and McCoy even earlier. Now they have to figure out how to get back and survive their situaitons. Kirk’s plot has nothing special tbh and with a few adjustments could have been written out entirely, hence why this is at 8. But Spock and McCoy? Ho boy, their scenes MAKE this episode.

Spock and McCoy try to survive the harsh conditions, the latter almost dying of severe frostbite. He outright tells Spock to abandon him with Spock being VERY adament that that’s not happening. They’re rescued by a woman named Zarabeth and Spock proceeds to spend most of the episode interacting with her while tending to McCoy. Which he gets VERY touchy feely with the latter. Like... a lot more than normal, which tvh the whole seaosm felt that way between those two if what I said about The World is Hollow... counts for anything. Now he DOES end up ‘falling’ for Zarabeth, but there’s a reason for that. Spock is regressing to how his ancestors acted at the time, which was like ‘barbarians’. When amcCoy starts to realize that something’s wrong, it leads to two very intense but really well done scenes with McCoy using logic against Spock to make him realize that he’s lost himself. And while Spock pretty much gave up greitng home due to all of this, McCoy refuses with or without him, even outright going back into the storm to find the portal because damn it, he wants his life back. Then when we find out that Spock and McCoy HAVE to go back together or not at all, it doesn’t take Spock even a second to decide to leave Zarabeth behind. It’s sad because Zarabeth will die a cold, lonely death and she cdoesn’t deserve that at all, so it’s bittersweet. But man next to the katra thing int he films, IDT it gets more symbolic than that.

Like I said, Kirk’s scenes in the past are the only real issue I have since aside form explaining a few things about he situation, feel like they’re just there so that Kirk can still be in the episode prominently. I had some problems with Spock’s OOC behavior, but that got an explanation and has some credibility with how Vulcans are psychically linked. Would explain why McCoy and Zarabeth never seemed to regress. But it was still a good episode with great Spock and McCoy scenes, we FINALLY git a snow environment after forever (and a time travel plot to boot), and a bittersweet but nice ending. Seriously when Spock and McCoy make it back safely and Kirk just touches them on their shoulders in relief is such a nice moment. God I love those three~! Season Three wasn’t a strong season but it still had it’s standouts, and this was very much one of them for me. But I AM biased cause Spones, so take that for what it’s worth!

And that’s enough for now. The last seven will be in another post. Thank you for reading everyone~!

Image Source: TrekCore TOS Gallery

#tos #callie reviews #star trek tos

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thisisthedungeonthatneverends · 4 years

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"GLADIO WAS A DOUCHE TO NOCTIS IN A VERY ABELIST WAY THAT MAKES ME CRINGE” RANT

Disclaimer: I’m NOT bashing Gladio…per se. I love all our boys. That being said, I feel I would be doing a disservice to Gladio AND Noctis, as well as my fellow chronic pain sufferers in the fandom not to call out the clear and present ableism that Squeenix projected onto Gladio’s character.

Upon rewatching Brotherhood, I have concluded that all evidence points to Brotherhood Episode 3: Sword and Shield taking place post-maralith. The Empire deployed a giant Maralith deamon in a clear assassination attempt on Noctis and/or Regis. Noct's governesses was killed in front of him, and he lay injured next to her body for several minutes. He was left with a severe spinal injury which left him wheelchair bound for a length of time that canon never specifies. In-game clues hint that he suffered chronic pain from this injury for the rest of his life, and popular fanon supports this theory.

Now on to BE3.

Oh Lords on high where do I even start.

Let’s go ahead and start with the most obvious thing: swords training. Throughout this episode Gladio takes Noctis down pretty brutally multiple times, repeatedly striking him in the lower back with a wooden training sword. Now I can hear you. “But Jen" you say, “They’re just toy swords. They can’t hurt THAT much!”

They damn fucking well do. Even with the protective padding he’s wearing, a full-blown strike like the ones Gladio was landing (again, REPEATEDLY) hurt like a bitch. I have taken care of someone who’s sparring partner went overboard with a bokken. His abdomen was PURPLE even with proper sparing gear. I could tell you the whole story but I’m not trying to derail this rant.

So obviously my issue here is GLADIO REPEATEDLY BEATING THIS CHILD DIRECTLY IN HIS LOWER BACK AFTER HE JUST RECOVERED FROM A SEVERE SPINAL INJURY FOR THE GOOD SHIP LOLLYPOP LOVE OF FUCK!!

Not only that, but calling him week. Lazy. For not being able to handle it. Expecting him to spring right back. Never allowing him to show his pain.

We’ll get into the emotional side of that later, but for now let’s stay on the physical aspect.

THERE IS NO WAY IN HEAVEN, HELL, OR PERGATORY THAT NOCTIS WOULD HAVE RECOVERED FROM AN INJURY LIKE THAT IN AS LITTLE TIME AS HE DID IN CANON.

“But Jen,” I hear you, “Blah blah magic healing. Blah blah Oracle blessing.”

Nope. Because if that was the case, he would have been on his feet soon after reaching Tenebrea. But he was still in a wheelchair when the Empire struck, as we see in the opening scene of Kingsglaive.

Maybe Sylva was able to accelerate Noct’s healing process, but we’re still talking literal YEARS of recovery time for a, I’m gonna say it again, SEVERE SPINAL INJURY.

This game loves to give characters disabilities and then gloss over it to make it a non issue. Looking at YOU, Ignis. And Ravus, for that matter. Sure Libertus legit struggled with his leg in Kingsglaive, but that was a broken femur. Not, y'know. A, ima say it again, SEVERE SPINAL INJURY. Or being fucking BLIND. Or losing an entire mutherfuckin’ ARM.

But I digress.

Now we’re going to delve into the psychological aspect of the ableism projected onto Gladio by Squeenix.

Because lying in a pool of your dead governess’s blood while the deamon that murdered her looms over you about to kill you gives you GOD DAMN PTSD.

And maybe a little bit of survivors guilt. Does THAT become a common theme with Noct’s character throughout the main game? Ha. Yeah. But That’s another rant that I’ll damn sure do because I’m saltier than the Dead Sea right now because my sciatica AND tendinitis AND migraines are all flaring up at the same damn time and my fellow salty bitches on the 15 Gay Fantasies Discord egged me on.

So.

Astrals help me.

Remember what I said about Gladio calling Noctis lazy and weak? That’s not just physical. Gladio is attacking Noct’s CHARACTER. Noctis, a child with PTSD, survivors guilt, Not just about his governess but about watching Sylva get murdered and Luna and Ravus get captured by the Empire. That’s a LOT of death and violence to be weighed down by as a freaking 12-13 year old CHILD, even if that child is the Crown Prince of a kingdom at war.

And what does he get? Support? Love? Understanding? Compassion?

NOPE.

What he gets is ABUSED. Beaten down physically and emotionally. Told he’s week. Lazy. Pathetic. Not good enough.

It’s pretty obvious that this leads to life-long clinical depression. We see the state of his apartment in BE4. We see the way he always walks with his hand in his pockets, arms stiff at his sides, head down. Classic signs of someone closing themselves off.

Except around Prompto. The ONE person in the WORLD he can speak freely to.

Honestly… It hurts to say this but… I think Prompto saved Noct's life. I truly don’t know if Noctis, with that level of depression, that much repressed guilt, could have survived without the support he found in Prompto.

And I HATE to pin that on Gladio but the narrative presented to me leaves me with little choice.

Now Gladio. This boy. I still love him. Because he’s a CHILD thrust into an ENORMOUS responsibility at such a painfully young age. He knows Lucis is a kingdom at war. He’s been tasked with making sure this BOY is ready to be KING. And from his perspective, he ISN’T. Noctis isn’t week, he’s VULNERABLE. But in the eyes of the person whose entire life revolves around toughening up this terrified little kid, he’s not living up to the impossible standards they are BOTH being held to.

And Gladio feels responsible.

So he gets angry. He gets bitter and resentful. He lashes out. His own mother is (presumably) dead. Where’s HIS time to mourn?

This DOESN’ excuse Gladio’s downright abusive behavior, but it does give us perspective. And we also have to remember that he was just as much of a frightened child as Noctis. And children grow and mature and learn from their mistakes.

We see it in BE4 when Gladio expresses understanding of Noct's situation. We see it during the Rite of Titan when Gladio reminds Noctis to let those who care about him be there for him.

BUUUUUUUT….chapter 10 rolls around and all that goes out the wwindow.

But I don’t want to dive down that abyss of a rabbit hole right now.

Just needed to get that all off my chest.

#meta #character analysis #gladiolus amicitia #noctis lucis caelum #ffxv #tw ptsd #tw suicide #tw depression #tw abelism #tw abuse

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poemsforpersephone · 4 years

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The third and final book rec list for fans of The Last Sun!

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen has really cool empathy powers which, although not the two way bond Brand and Rune share, does remind me of the emotion reading aspect in TLS. The m/m relationship in it is also super sweet.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. This one I’m recommending because the protagonist is a snarky asshole just like Rune, and the writing style is so well done. It’s m/m and genuinely such a fun and quirky book. Also the cover art is gorgeous!

Silver in the wood by Emily Tesh. This is an LGBT novella where a wild man called Tobias lives in a place called “Greenhollow,” , where, and I quote, “Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.” So im recommending this one simply because of the involvement of secrets and troubled pasts haha.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The front cover of this one gives me The Hanged Man vibes like, all the way to the bone, which is initially what prompted me to rec it on this list. But also: “Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.” Idk about the dirty magazines but the rest of it scREAMS Rune. and the main character is a lesbian!!! yay!!

The Black Veins by Ashia Monet. “In a world where magic thrives in secret city corners, a group of magicians embark on a road trip—and it’s the "no-love-interest", found family adventure you’ve been searching for.” It’s like someone looked into my heart and picked out my deepest desire and then wrote it and gave it life. This book is super diverse and super awesome.

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a f/f take on Dracula basically. I’m recommending it because the main character and her sister go through a traumatic event similar to the loss of the sun court, when men come and burn their home to the ground along with their people and they’re captured and taken as slaves. It’s about family, friendship and survival, and it’s beautiful.

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco. An LGBT book where climate change deniers are the villains? ... you have my atttention.

Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker. This is about a morally questionable exorcist! It’s a satirical, interesting take on the topic of possession with a kick ass cover.

The Wishing Heart by J.C Welker. An LGBT fantasy novel where our protag, Rebel, finds a jinni’s vessel and is thus thrust into a whole new world of trying to keep said jinni from everyone else and find a way to free her! The world building is awesome and so are the characters.

Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor. “A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.” i have the hardbook version of this and the cover??? is so?? beautiful.

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum. TALKING OF PRETTY COVERS. “Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends.”

Predatory by Brooklyn Ray. WERELEOPARDS FRIENDS!!!! god damn wereleopards im?? so happy. m/m

The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta. FOUND FAMILY QUEER WITCHES. need i say more.

Portraits of a Faerie Queen by Tay LaRoi. The fey run amok in this one! f/f with a gorgeous front cover.

Unbroken by Brooklyn Ray. step 1: rent haunted house. step 2: fall in love with witch-turned-demon who inhabits it. step 3: profit???

The High King’s Golden Tongue by Megan Derr. This one is lovely! Nice world building with an emphasis on languages and kingdoms, and a lovely m/m romance that builds from kind-of-enemies-but-not-really to lovers. the audiobook of this is great.

Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch. SORRY YOUR BOOK IS SET WHERE? MY HOMELAND? MY COUNTRY MY COUNTY MY HEART? we never get any attention imma go cry in the corner. its a historical fantasy m/m romance in YORKSHIRE gosh im here for it. And let me tell you... this is one fantastic book. I really, really enjoyed it.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. fantasy, m/m, lotsa swords!

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst. f/f fantasy with a princess who has fire magic in a kingdom where magic is forbidden!

Freedom’s Fate by Jennie Taylor. SPAAAAAAACE i love books in space.

Pegasi and Prefects by Eleanor Beresford. “Charley's final year at Fernleigh Manor is complicated by a runaway pegasus, unwanted Games Captainship, a dangerous new rival and, most of all, falling head over heels in love with another girl. What is a reluctant Senior Prefect to do?” catch me while i swoon.

The Necromancers Dance by SJ Himes. m/m vampire/necromancer romance, urban magic and fantasy, very fun and smooth read, a little bit insta love but not totally.

The Star Host by F.T. Lukens. “Ren grew up listening to his mother tell stories about the Star Hosts – a mythical group of people possessed by the power of the stars.” a m/m fantasy book set to a sci fi fantasy background.

Empty Vessels by Nicholas Williams. “Lucas Mahler babysits clones all day, but he's trapped under the legacy of his body-builder father and his genius girlfriend. When Lucas tries to rise above, he's murdered. Waking up in the body of a clone, Lucas embarks on a mystery full of blood, old friends and lost loves.” idk the whole clone thing in this just always reminds me of lord tower making all the different fake versions of people he knows lmao.

BOOKS NOT YET OUT

So, the thing is. 2020 is very close friends, and some awesome books are even closer. These below are books I’ve not read yet, since they’re not out and I am a poor ARCless girl, but they’re books you definitely want to keep an eye on.

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer. Bisexual OCD protagonist who is a witch D: its everything i could want.

Wild Sky by Zaya Feli. LGBT fantasy with dragons! It sounds so, so fun.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust. “A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse...”

The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos. “The Raven Boys meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, about an openly gay high school senior in small-town Georgia.” m/m fantasy which looks super sweet.

Cemetery Boys by Auden Thomas. “Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.” THIS SOUNDS SO COOL oh my god. Yes PLEASE.

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey. “A sly, witchy dark comedy about four teens whose magic goes wildly awry.” Magic, darkness, comedy, what’s not to love for fans of the tarot sequence??

The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune. I absolutely love T.J. Klune’s writing so I can’t wait to get my hands on this. m/m superheros!! friends!!! get excited!! I think anyone who likes how witty K.D. is will enjoy this writing style.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. YES ANOTHER ONE this looks so good too we are BLESSED. “A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.”

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora. “Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM—Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue created by the scientists of Gathos City as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, he was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and into the Withers—a quarantined, lawless region.” The idea of the Withers kind of reminds me of the westlands.

The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig. UHM im always here for lgbt vampires in young adult fantasy fiction. The author says that “this book is gay and filled with monsters” which also fits the last sun so i figured it belongs on the list lmao.

Ruinsong by Julia Ember. “In a world where magic is sung, a powerful mage named Cadence is forced to use her power to torture her country’s disgraced nobility at her ruthless queen’s bidding.”

#book recs #lgbt book recs #scionsofatlantis #hangedmanpromo

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taeguboi · 4 years

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Locked Down in Tension - Part 3 Reader x Yoongi [Suga] (More smut)

Previous parts here: 01 / 02 // Masterlist

Stepping into the shower, you feel the warm drops of water reach your body and trail down you. You run your hands through your hair as you allow it to get wet and let out a sigh or either relief or exasperation, you aren't sure which.

Many thoughts are running through your mind, mainly two things; your studies which you felt like you were flunking hard on, and there’s also the reason you were probably slacking on your work: Yoongi Min, your housemate.

This is probably about the fourth or fifth shower you’ve had since that endeavour last week when you practically dragged your hot housemate into your room and had the fucking of your life… Nothing had happened between you two since. You were so looking forward to a little session in the shower with another person the next day from when you had that time in your room, but it wasn’t to be. It was just your luck that as you had stepped into the shower room, another housemate decided they wanted their turn in the shower afterwards and so they just waited there, lingering like a bad disease.

Your heart sank when you were showering in anticipation only to hear Yoongi’s voice in conversation with this other housemate, the former being unable to rid the area of the latter. It sucked, it really did, but you figured it didn’t matter greatly because there would probably have been another chance that day to… talk again.

Too awkward to initiate anything more than general pleasantries, your mind had been running in circles for this past week. Was this ever a good idea? Did Yoongi only let you drag him into your room to get some sort of relief for himself? Were you just an easy target? Why wasn’t he, you know… talking to you?

About halfway through your shower, just after washing your hair and as you put the conditioner in, you’re lathering up the shower gel and… you hear a low noise. It’s sort of humming super gently, only just passing through the walls into the shower room. You try to shrug it off figuring it’s probably just a fly or something or other and start to wash yourself.

No, that sound is definitely something a lot more specific, you’re thinking to yourself… What is that? Is it really coming from the next room? Curiosity gets the better of you and you quietly step out of the shower so that you can put your ear against the wall - the one that separates this room from Yoongi’s room.

You think yourself to be going crazy when you could swear you hear your name upon pressing your ear against that cold while wall. You listen closer to try and confirm that it’s probably just your imagination, and…

Beautiful deep groans humming from Yoongi’s room sends a sensuous shiver down your naked back. It’s satisfying to listen to and so you can’t help but carry on intruding on his little private moment. It sounds as though he’s trying his best to be quiet but is finding it difficult. The noises coming from the back of his throat are accompanied with a faint sound of patting and you know exactly what this means.

You urge yourself to back away from the wall right now and just finish up in the shower and be on your way but… It’s making you feel a certain way and you subconsciously find one of your hands making its way down there where you’re starting to feel a certain need.

“Ah…” you hear him again.

“Fuck y/n, y/n…”

“Shit” you accidentally pant out loud, your middle finger making circles on your clit as you listen and take in Yoongi’s voice through the wall.

“Wanna-wanna fuck you again” he moans, still so quiet that no one can hear but you.

As an outsider, you probably would have cringed at the thought of someone jacking themselves off to their housemate, saying their name so obviously, but he’s talking about you. You who laid so relaxed underneath him whilst he fucked your brains out and gave you an afternoon to remember.

You increase the pace of moving your finger to touch yourself, forming an ‘o’ shape with your mouth when you get yourself just right, but you quickly stop when your left leg shakes a little from the touch, knowing that you need to sit. It’s not the most classy place, but you sink down to sit on the bathroom floor, ignoring the ice cold feeling on your bare buttocks.

You throw your head back against the wall and continue to touch yourself as you visualise what’s going on in the next room. The sounds are even more so faint now that you aren’t pressing your ear against the wall, but speculations of what way Yoongi is in right now are good enough for you. Is he sitting on his bed in his boxers and shirt just like you had instructed him to in your room? Is he sitting on his chair at his desk, thrusting himself into his own hand? Does he use any toys perhaps?

You pick a favourite thought and insert a finger into your now soaked hole, successfully holding back your moans so as not to rouse suspicion. But then you stop yourself again when you think about how you could completely let loose and let him know that you know what’s going on in there. How you could just storm into his room right now without knocking and catch him red handed holding that perfect, perfect cock.

“G-Gonna cum….”

‘Ah, fuck’ you think to yourself, hearing Yoongi reach his climax and chase that high.

“Oh! So good mmm…”

This followed by some heavy panting is the last you hear of Yoongi touching himself before his moans are followed with sounds of moving about the bedroom, presumably to clean himself off and compose himself as though he hadn’t just been masturbating.

You feel empty at pondering around too long about this situation but you decide to just get yourself back in the shower where the water is still running and get that conditioner out of your hair… Well, at least your hair will be super soft after this, right?

***

You uncomfortably get dressed after drying off from your shower, feeling a little sore as you put on underwear, still unable to stop feeling wet about what you just heard… You can’t resist putting on some more pretty underwear, this time a transparent lace bra with plenty of straps that hug and accentuate the top half of your figure and panties to match.

It’s hard not to recount last week’s events in which Yoongi had touched you so well and gave you that much needed release of all the tension that had been building up inside of you since lockdown began. In just the space of a week, that tension had built up all over again and to the same level as a month’s worth of stress.This just wouldn’t do; you were going to do something about it. You were going to make Yoongi notice you.

Fumbling about in your wardrobe, the drawers, and anywhere else where clothes were located, you had a deep thought about your options. Would a dress be too obvious? Who’s getting dolled up just to lounge about in their house all day? But surely a pair of trousers wouldn’t do the trick and if anything, will make you more uncomfortable?

You figure, fuck it, you’re going to go for the skirt to prevent everything… rubbing together too much. Sliding the simple black piece over your thighs and letting it settle at the waist, you start to feel extra bold about your quest to capture Yoongi’s attention, wiggling out of your panties and leaving them on the floor next to your wardrobe.

You find just the right top to compliment it, a simple crop top also in black, nothing too fancy, and you slip that on over your head, adjusting yourself in all the right places in front of your dresser mirror. Last week, Yoongi chose to, as he worded it, ‘push his luck’. Now it was your turn to push yours.

You waited until just the right time to make your entrance from your room and across into the main living area, just as you could hear footsteps coming down the stairs you avidly listened out for specific voices.

“Ah Yoongi mate, y’alright?” you can hear Jungkook asking from the kitchen. “You’re up a bit late, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah I guess so… not much else to do really though, is there?”

“True, true…”

“S’up guys?” you question, coming out of your room.

“You up to much this afternoon mate? I…”

Perfect.

Yoongi’s jaw drops a little and he lingers in his reply to Jungkook. You hold back a smirk as he quickly composes himself to continue with a normal conversation with Jungkook.

“...er I was gonna see if anyone was up for a little gaming sesh or something…” continues Yoongi.

“Hey y/n” Jungkook smiles.

“Oh, hey y/n, ‘alright?” asks Yoongi.

“Not bad, not bad” you hum, walking over to the kitchen and towards the two guys. “Gaming sesh? Can I be in on it with you guys?” you ask politely, leaning forward over the counter.

“Uh, actually Yoongi, I agreed to call an old friend on video chat soon to catch up; it’s his first day off in forever since this whole…”

“No worries man” smiles Yoongi, patting Jungkook on the back as Jungkook makes his exit with a thumbs up and a nod.

“I… guess that leaves us” you coyly speak, looking down at the kitchen floor as you wait for a reply.

“Uh…”

“Tell you what, since it’s just about lunch time, let’s make some food first, huh?” you question in a more projected way.

Yoongi’s short responses make you feel a little on edge. Is this too awkward for him? Or maybe he feels bad for what’s turned into a misunderstanding? Wait, does he even think there’s any misunderstanding? This is driving you nuts again just thinking about all the possibilities, internally urging him to just speak or do something.

“Alright then” he replies briefly.

Now the other questions were running through your mind? Is this ‘plan’ a good idea? Was any of this ever a good idea?

‘Come on, y/n. Quit running ‘round in circles in your head and just get on with it. If something happens, it happens and if not…’

So anyway, you both agree between you what to make for lunch - a couple of omelettes since it seems neither of you have had breakfast and you use this moment to your advantage that the most useful pan is in that middle drawer under the kitchen counter…

You can’t know for certain whether Yoongi is even looking at you as you bend down, but you can feel the cold air that reaches you down there as your skirt raises up from bending over. You feel a new kind of turned on about the chance that your housemate might see that you have no panties on.

Standing up again, you decide not to leave it too long and you carry on playing it cool for now, placing the acquired pan on the counter next to the cooker, meeting Yoongi halfway where the hob is and you watch him put down the few ingredients.

For a couple of seconds, there is an awkward gaze exchanged as Yoongi looks at you reaching over for the eggs. You’re the closest you’ve been to him since sitting on the couch with him last week after Jungkook had come home just minutes after the two of you had put your clothes back on.

You move away back to the other side of the kitchen to search for oil for the pan, reaching up high for one of the shelves. This time, you can feel your skirt riding upward from your body stretching upwards and you decide to tug at it a little as a poor attempt to pull it down, the intention being that he might pay more attention if other body movements are involved.

Smiling innocently, you walk back over yet again and pop open the lid of the oil then pouring a small amount into the pan. You glance over at the ingredients Yoongi has gathered to mentally prepare yourself for making the simple dish and notice something odd.

“Broccoli?” you ask in your confusion, holding it up and inspecting it almost as though it’s the first time you’ve ever seen the vegetable.

“Oh, sorry, must’ve accidentally picked that up... Maybe you could put it back whilst I beat the eggs?” he suggests coolly.

“Sure” you smile, again holding back a confident grin, seeing this as another opportunity and so you walk over to the fridge with the unwanted vegetable.

“Bottom shelf, in that drawer” Yoongi tells you even though you already knew this.

You do it; you bend over feeling half hopeful and half unexpectant that he’ll even notice your little wardrobe ‘malfunction’.

“Thank you!” he says sweetly, making you feel disappointed that he probably didn’t see yet again. Maybe it’s time to give up.

Just as you’re about to bring yourself upright again, you feel a sudden sensation of light pain / pleasure as a hand rushes against your ass.

"You just can’t behave yourself around me, can you y/n? All just because you didn't get your dirty little fuck in the shower the other day…” he mumbles, rubbing the spot he just spanked. “Tell me, did I always have such a needy housemate just begging for it?"

You let out a mischievous yet deep chuckle as you stand:

“... and imagine having my housemate touch himself thinking about me even though he said we could have so much fun… What the fuck kept you waiting?”

“You heard me, did you?” he purrs, holding your waist from behind, allowing you to move your ass about over his crotch.

“You gonna apologise for keeping me waiting?”

“You gonna apologise for being such a needy brat?”

“Never”

“Good, good…”

You slam the fridge door and allow Yoongi to turn you around to face him. Throwing your arms around his neck, he keeps his hands on your waist and you give each other cute looks mixed with lust and ever so gently, your lips touch once more. It makes you feel fuzzy inside to finally get even just a small percentage of what you’ve been craving all week.

Wet sounds fill the kitchen and the adjoining living area as the kisses deepen and you find your back up against the fridge now as you’ve eased into things a lot more. The sole of your foot touches the door as you bend a knee to keep your balance and you’ve never felt more relaxed.

As the kisses become more loose, Yoongi’s mouth starts to wander away with a kiss on your chin, then back to the lips, then the chin again, and then a line of kisses going down to and along your neck. He holds you close to him, causing you to occasionally hum contentedly

He starts to lower himself down as his lips continue to explore your body. He goes from your neck down to your bare collarbone where he plants a single love bite that makes you lightly hiss and hold your breath in anticipation.

“Hmm such a shame I never really got to see the marks I made on you from the last time… Maybe I’ll do something about that later” he hums before continuing to kiss all around you neck, your collarbone, the top of your chest, your tummy, all whilst keeping you close.

Yoongi’s hands move from around your waist and down to your ass, admiring how you feel as he slowly and sensually moves them in circling motions as he kisses your tummy a few more times.

You affectionately stroke his head and he looks up at you with an equally endearing look as he smiles openly, teeth mildly sunken into a corner of his lip. One more kiss on your stomach until he toys around with the bottom of your skirt, teasing at the idea of lifting it up, stroking a thigh from underneath, before making his way back up with the kisses in the same areas but different spots bringing a lick of pleasure through your spine.

Yoongi returns his lips upon yours and you’re making out again only this time more intense than just before. There is more of a sense of urgency with sloppier sounds and a tighter grip on your hips as Yoongi is increasingly aroused. You can feel him hardening as he occasionally grinds against you, bringing out a low grunt from the back of your throat.

“Swap places” you instruct, eager to return the favour of Yoongi seeing to you first the last time.

You push yourself up from your leaning position using Yoongi’s shoulders as support and guide him so that his back replaces yours against the fridge door. You sink to your knees for him and fiddle with the button of his jeans. Just as you manage to pop that open, Yoongi looks back at you as you look up to him and makes an unreadable signal with his head.

“Huh?” you ask bewildered.

“The counter, go behind the counter, just in case”

And that, you do. You stand up again and watch Yoongi place himself at the middle kitchen counter, his lower half out of view from the living area and therefore, you’re also out of view as you get back down there to finish what you had started.

Impatiently, Yoongi unzips his own trousers and pulls them down along with his boxers until they sit just below his aching balls. He places his hands either side of himself for balance using the counter as he watches you work your mouth on him.

This time, you don’t take him in so soon. You playfully give the tip of his cock kitten licks, looking up at him after every other one and you barely do anything more with your hand than have a gentle grip around. You tease a little more, carefully moving his dick towards his stomach so that you can trail your tongue from his balls, along a prominent vein, and back to the tip. You hold him again with one hand and begin to pump him slowly, being certain to elicit any signs of frustration you can possibly get out of him.

You bask in the way he grunts a little when that longer lick doesn’t lead to you fully using your mouth yet. You love the feeling of his fingers through your hair as he desperately tries to prompt you to do more for him but you subtly draw your head back as if to show him that you’ll decide when he gets to fuck your face.

Eventually you give in and begin to sink down onto him, starting with a couple of bobs back and forth around half of his length and then proceeding to take in more of him until you can feel the tip at the back of your throat with every movement.

You can hear his breathing getting faster in parallel with you upping the pace and you press a hand against his thigh to keep your balance when he starts to use his hips a little.

A string of groans increasing in volume and deepness escape him and you decide to go back to teasing by slowing down your movements and then returning to just licks. You swirl your tongue around his head and look up at him as you slide a thumb across it too, breathing almost as heavily as he is from the excitement and lust burning within you.

You lick your lips seductively before going back down on him, this time allowing him to completely let loose and use you in whichever way he pleases.

"Ahhh, y/n!" he drawls out, using his hands to gently cup your head so that he can control the pace and stability at which he thrusts in and out of your mouth, going fairly deep but not so much as to hurt or choke you.

As your plump lips start to redden, the more the fire in the pit of Yoongi's abdomen continues stirring, and the more something builds up inside of him, the more times he says your name. You can tell he's trying hard not to be too loud similarly to when he was in his room this morning, but occasionally the odd groan just streams out and it's music to your ears.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" he creaks as he picks up the pace of his hips.

You give encouraging signs for him to come for you by digging your nails into an exposed section of his thigh and having a feel at the back of the other.

"Gonna… ah!" he exclaims as he reaches his peak and you start to feel that warm liquid shooting down your throat and you hum in approval, taking in every last bit.

You continue to work your magic on him throughout his orgasm, feeling yourself getting even more wet when he says your name again.

"Fuck y/n…" he mumbles, slowing down his thrusts into your mouth as he starts to come down. You can't resist touching yourself as you take him out of your mouth, admiring his dick that's wet from only your mouth as you had successfully swallowed everything he had to give.

"Fuck, I'm sorry" he apologises.

"Huh?" you question, unsure of what he is apologising for.

"I wanted to… Well, I mean…"

"It's okay" you assure him, bringing yourself to your feet to sweetly kiss him on the cheek.

He simply smiles at you and your slightly swollen lips and affectionately rubs a thumb across your cheek.

"I think maybe we should… see to this now, huh?" he purrs, using his other hand to go under your skirt and he draws a line along your folds making you tingle.

"Please" you request, gripping onto his shoulders as he traces that line back and down to your hole.

Abruptly you find yourself yanking your skirt back down as you both hear heavy footsteps coming down the end of the staircase from across the living area and Yoongi is fumbling to lift his boxers back up and fasten his jeans.

You exchange a sympathetic look as you can see his discomfort and he can sense your frustration, watching you back away from him to make it look like you're about to cook.

"Hey guys!" beams Jungkook with a quick wave.

"S'up" you reply in unison with Yoongi as you turn your head around, trying your best to remain composed as you watch Jungkook head over to the downstairs toilet.

"Everything alright?" you call out, wondering why he couldn't have just used the loo upstairs right down the corridor from his room.

"Yeah. Occupied" Jungkook briefly explains pointing upstairs. You had figured there must be more than three of you in today considering the circumstances, yet you had barely seen anyone other than Yoongi or Jungkook who seemed to come out of their rooms a lot more than the others, so like normal people.

"Fair" is all you reply as you hear the door shut behind him and the lock turning.

Yoongi shoots you a suggestive smirk as he approaches you.

"Now then, where were we…?"

"Yoongi!" you quietly exclaim through your teeth. "He'll be back out any second!"

Without a reply, Yoongi picks you up and places you on the counter next to the cooker and spreads your legs open.

"Just a quick…" he begins, lowering himself to your heat, "...taste" he grins, lifting your skirt up and flattening his tongue to draw another line up your folds.

"Yoongi… fuck" you coo, trying your hardest to get the will power to stop him, pushing his head away with little effort in you to do so.

Relentlessly, he carries on, sucking at your clit, making it harder for you to be subtle about this. He swirls his tongue round, making you feel so aroused and you fill with mild adrenaline that Jungkook could burst out that door at any moment and catch you.

"Yoongi, stop…" you drawl out, incapable of making your instruction sound sincere.

He waits until the flush of the toilet from the other room is audible to finally back away and smirk at you, then moving over to the cooker and the ingredients to crack the eggs for that lunch you still haven't made.

You close your legs tightly as you hear that lock clicking open and you rest your hands in your lap, swinging your legs innocently as Jungkook enters into the living area again to see you guys in the kitchen - just cooking.

"Now watch how a real pro does it…" Yoongi says, cracking some eggs open into a bowl. His words make you feel a certain way though you know he's only talking about the food.

"Hardly takes a pro to make eggs Yoongi" chuckles Jungkook listening in.

"She was doing it all wrong" says Yoongi, carefully beating the eggs with a whisk.

"How can you make eggs wrong?" laughs Jungkook. "Anyway, nevermind about that. When you're done, could you leave everything out for me please? I could do with something more nutritious in my system"

"It's alright 'Kook," you reply. "We'll make one for you too, sound good?"

"If you don't mind…"

"Sure, Yoongi doesn't mind. After all, he is the omelette pro now…" you joke, grinning, trying to keep up the smile as you watch Jungkook plonk himself on the couch in front of the tv.

***

11:56pm - You still can't sleep. All of a sudden back there, Jungkook decided he would join you two in that gaming session after all since his video call kept failing and losing signal.

It was a fun afternoon and you had even managed to beat both the guy's asses several times on Mario Kart but you couldn't help every now and then but to feel… empty.

After about an hour that consisted of eating, starting up the games console and getting into a competitive mode, you were no longer aroused, yet it was still uncomfortable down there. You had to excuse yourself to the bathroom after a few rounds of the first game so you could "accidentally" splash water onto your skirt as the best possible excuse you could think of to get changed in your room.

You opted for pyjama bottoms since it was a lazy day, (so pretty much like every other day lately,) and you sat in them still now in your bedroom, head against the wall as you sit on the bed watching videos to distract yourself / pass the time / try and bore yourself to sleep.

It felt a shame really after you had managed to capture Yoongi's interests that you still didn't really get anything for yourself. Occasionally over the past hour you had trailed a hand down there but only for a few seconds because you felt too fed up and lazy to do anything about it.

A text message pops up over the latest vlog of your favourite YouTuber and your heart flutters a little upon reading the name.

Yoongi: You awake?

You: Yeah

You get a little annoyed that after about just five minutes, he still doesn't reply back, so you just move on to the next video on your watch later list.

Your eyes feel heavy and dry just a couple of seconds in and you allow your eyes to close.

You jump out of your skin as the handle on your door rattles and the door pops open, making you sit up from your slouch ever so quickly.

Eyes widening to see who the intruder is, you scold the person for walking in on you so abruptly like that.

"Jesus! You almost gave me a heart attack!" you loudly whisper, hand clutching to you chest as you watch him give you an apologetic smile.

Yoongi.

Couldn't he have just warned you via that really fucking brief text conversation?... Ah, you can't stay mad at him though. In fact, you're a little relieved he's here.

"Sorry" he whispers, closing the door behind him and you turn on your bedside side lamp so he can see more clearly.

"I just er… wanted to see you" he smiles, still not moving beyond the area of where the door is.

You smile warmly at him, making him feel more comfortable to approach you as you move forward on your bed, patting the space at your side.

He takes the spot next to you and warmly smiles back.

"Now then… where were we?" he grins as you throw your arms around his neck and he gently guides you down on the bed, lips locking.

___________________

Fiction Masterlist

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migstheruler · 4 years

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PLaystation 5 Event

initially great, despite the horrible pre-orders ordeal.

On Sept. 16, 2020, Sony pulled back the curtain on another slew of details regarding the PS5.

1. The PlayStation 5 releases on November 12th, 2020 in Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States (why these states, only Sony knows even though I think it’s because of their distinct market in each of these countries).

2. The PlayStation 5 releases everywhere else on November 19, 2020.

3. The PlayStation 5 launches at $399.99 for the digital edition and $499.99 for the disc-based edition.

*IF backward compatibility with the PS4 is important to you, I’d recommend the disc-based PS5. Sony execs have confirmed 99% of PS4 games are compatible with their new Flagship console.

The event also gave us a look into some new games coming to the PS5 for launch as well as games we can expect during the first year of the PlayStation 5’s life cycle. Honestly tho, I think some of those games indicating they were launching during 2021 is a lie. You mean to tell me you’re going to launch Horizon, God of War 2, Final Fantasy 16 all in one year…..really… If these games were dique going to launch in 2021, you would think they would have had at least a working demo or something, instead of a teaser trailer with the games logo…but I digress, I’ll touch on this later.

Below are a few games showed that caught my eye and I just had to write about them.

Overall, Sony’s PS5 presentation was a good one, with all the information we as consumers were asking for since June and 10/10 would watch again (I’ve seen the presentation 4 times already (twice to write this piece 😊)).

The presentations started with a trailer showing a slew of different games coming to the PlayStation five system, most games we covered in https://migstheruler.com/post/620830163010240512/ps5-reveal-event but just when you thought this was another trailer, boom!!!

Final Fantasy 16

A nice mix of old and new: as if the folks from Final Fantasy 11 and 12 made a 15 esque type game.

Shiva the ice goddess is back, and looking deadlier than ever throwing out chilly ice crystals sure to cause anyone level seven frostbite

Who´s a good boy? This little pup looks ready to be pet and given treats.

It looks like our trusty steeds the Chocobos are back, hopefully, they are more useful this time around )I’m looking at you final fantasy seven episode one)

Marlboros are looking as menacing as ever.

Final Fantasy 16 was pretty unexpected to be honest, especially given final fantasy seven episodes one releasing a few months ago. However, it’s a nice surprise to see Square Soft jk Square Enix working on a new Final Fantasy game, especially one that likes to expand upon the action RPG elements (Think kingdom hearts series or final fantasy 15 and even 7). Aesthetically, this is giving me hardcore fantasy elements with realism thrown in there.

Either way, what a great way to start off the presentation.

Spiderman Miles Morales:

Next up, Sony gives us a seven-minute look into Spiderman Miles Morales, which expands upon 2018’s PS4 Spiderman. Sony has said this is not a direct sequel but instead a look to further expand upon the world through the eyes of Miles Morales. The graphics and presentation of this game are sure to entice any spiderman man. The lighting coupled with Mile’s powers makes this game a visual PS5 treat.

Last time we saw Miles, he had just shown Peter Parker he too had powers to which Peter Parker joined him upon the ceiling, it was a bonding moment the two spider-men would have. Fast forward maybe a year (I’m not sure how much time has passed since the last spiderman game) we are thrusted into the shoes of Miles Morales.

“Mom I’m home” Can we take a moment to appreciate my man’s line up here, dam that shit looks crispy.

Walking through Harlem, music playing, and folks dancing Salsa in the street. I’m not going to lie, this made me cheese from ear to ear.

This is what I expect to encounter when I have to mediate between clients ready to rip each other apart in a gory fashion (above).

Okay, knowing how strong spiderman is, I fully expect the dude’s Jaw to be broken after this power punch.

I forgot to mention (above) Miles can turn Invisible and has access to electric powers (below) sure to spruce up and affect the way Miles plays. I can only imagine a focus less on gadgets and more of an emphasis on Miles’ powers.

Although I know this game stars a new spiderman aka Miles Morales, the developers sure are making sure we know we’re not playing with Peter Parker anymore.

“Insert obligatory spiderman being pulled from different directions trope here” I’m not even going to front; this image is pretty cool.

Lastly, how dope is this launch title? It is one of the first games I plan to beat on my PS5.

- I do want to say one thing regarding this title. I think it’s pretty great from a representation perspective to see a Black and Puerto Rican spiderman. Representation matters. I’m not Puerto Rican but am Latino and I do appreciate the flags littered throughout the trailer, folks dancing salsa and overall, Miles Morales as a character.

One gripe I have with this game unfortunately is Sony’s anti-consumer stance regarding those that purchased 2018’s Spiderman. Folks that purchase the Deluxe Spiderman Miles Morales edition for $79.99 get both Spiderman Miles Morales and a supped-up version of 2018’s spiderman for the PS5, yet Sony hasn’t extended an olive branch to those of us that supported their 2018 game (even making it one of their best sellers). IF you want to play Spiderman Miles Morales, you can cop it for a cool $49.99 which is dope but doesn’t include any type of upgrade for those of us with the PS4 version of spiderman. Honestly, as someone that doesn’t plan on playing the game again but it’s pretty anti-consumer to not even offer some type of benefit to those PS4 supporters. Here’s to hoping they offer some type of upgrade via a patch to the PS4 spiderman.

· Turns out the game will run natively better on the PS5 given the consoles superior power but for a truly next gen 2018 Spiderman experience, you gotta pay those $69.99 duckats.

Looks Like we’re going back to Hogwarts and I’m not talking about Fantastic Beasts or Harry Potter. We received our first look (aside from the leak that was released last year). In Hogwarts Legacy, we go back to the late 1800s to visit the Wizards of the Waverly place (I think I said this right, I’ve only seen the Harry Potter movies once all the way through). Either way, it looks like they managed to capture the magic of Hogwatz. The walls of Hogwarts look alive, books flying all over the place and magic spewing from cauldrons of unknown potions.

Our journey begins going back to Hogwarts with a cool looking Owl to boot.

The sorting hat is back babi, it seems like this is a create your own character adventure, where we as the player will get to customize our very own character, sure to get into whatever wizardly fun is to be found. Team Slytherin all day!! JK, I’m team Gryffindor babi. But really tho, I have no idea what school I’d be assigned too.

In both of these pictures, its quite remarkable the little details you see; the more you look, the more you see. Did you see the candles above, or the candlelight below

Looks like our boys are cooking up work in the kitchen aka cauldron. I’d also like to bring attention to the lighting, truly impressive. Time to eat some delicious grub with my fellow wizards!! (Below)

Looks like we’ll be facing a litany of different monsters and foes. I know with my Avada Kedavra, I’ll be blasting fools like the one below away.

Dam son, we fighting Dragons out here too, sheesh.

Looks like combat will be a big portion of gameplay as the video showed of a created character fighting some pretty large beasts.

Looks like we’ll be playing quidditch in this game, and I honestly can’t wait.

I sure do hope we’re able to feed these little cuties and pet them.

Looks like this game is open world, as the characters are seen flying on Griffins across the vista. They draw distances in this game are spectacular.

Hogwarts Legacy launches in 2021.

*JK Rowling has no involvement with this game and that’s a good thing given her recent problematic statements.

Demon Souls

Full disclosure, I bought demon souls for the PS3 back in the day but unfortunately, did not stick with the game. It was fun and I would proceed to play other From Software and souls genre games in the future such as Sekiro, Bloodborne and Nioh to name a few. But here we have Bluepoint games remaking the PS3 Cult Classic and precursor to the Souls Genre. I for one am super excited to jump back in and try my hand again at Demon Souls.

This place here is the game’s main hub that allows you to access other portions of the world map. IT’s nice to see it in all it’s HD Glory.

Our Player is borne anew: Rise from your grave!!! JK, this isn’t a Sega title.

The environments look super luscious and literal indistinguishable from concept art. The leaves, lighting, and armor are truly a beautiful sight to see. (Below)

Nothing like chilling by a bonfire, although if you’re new to the genre, every time you heal at these bon fires, all the enemies you spent tirelessly fighting repopulate.

Call me crazy but in the original, players from other games could leave each other messages written in blood, as a way to help each other out. It looks like this concept is making a comeback this time around.

Dragons are so hot right now…. (insert Zoolander Gif here)

If you have ever played a souls game, you know this is something you can expect to see even in your dreams. I remember going to bed thinking how an enemy boss had beaten me 13-times in a row, only to go to bed thinking and imaging different strategies on how I could kill the foe standing between me and the game's progress.

The gameplay looks faster than the original but the difficult elements remain prevalent. The player is seen mowing down enemies which seems a bit off given the extreme difficulty of the PS3 game. But this could be Bluepoint addressing the sometimes-outrageous difficulty by making it more appealing to casuals.

Launch Title!!!!

God of War Ragnarök:

Last time we saw our heroes, Kratos and Atreus were shacked up in their home when they receive a visit from a mysterious visitor brandishing what looks like Mjolnir on his waist. The game ended in a great cliff hanger and is sure to improve on the many aspects the PS4 game

Get the fuck out of here. Sony decided to drop a nuclear ton warhead on us with the teaser trailer of God of War Ragnarok, a sequel to the PS4’s God of War. Although they did not show any game play, they did manage to build the hype with the screen below:

And then to top off the trailer the list the following with a supposed 2021 release date which I think is highly unlikely but, we will see. Either way, “we must prepare”.

Sadly, when the presentation ended, pre-orders went live . We were told by Sony that we would have ample time to prepare to pre-order, nothing but the contrary occured. I was one of the unlucky folks who failed to obtain his PS5 preorder despite having the funds to do so. Here’s to hoping I’m able to secure a pre-order prior to the Nov 12 launch. I did manage to get a PS5 camera which is a must for me since I like to stream games online, it’s really quite addicting. Check out my channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiazQqSufhmIGo2a7odLOpQ?view_as=subscriber.

I do want to say one thing, I am very fortunate to have the things i’ve accumulated over the years. I know there are people in the world that lack even basic necessities. If you’re reading this, please donate to cause/fund or organization you beleive in. I know my life’s work is to improve the living conditions of everyone regardless of their creed and that keeps me plenty busy.

All images used in this piece were obtained from the source below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG0G44G6RI8

Credit: IGN

#ps5 #ps5 release #ps5 reveal #demonsouls #god of war ragnarok #spiderman mile morales #hogwarts legacy #final fantasy 16 #final fantasy xvi

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watching-pictures-move · 3 years

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Put On Your Raincoats #8 | Vive La (Alpha) France

Sex Hunting Adventures (also known as Hot and Horny, meaning the film has not one but two extremely unimaginative titles in English) is about a group of upper class friends who convene at a country manor for a weekend of intercourse. (Perhaps I should have thought of a more clever euphemism, but I wished to remain true to the spirit of laziness that inspired its English-language titles.) The first scene has the homeowner getting serviced by her employees, a pair of extremely fetching maids, and a chauffeur whose back we get to see for an extended period of time thanks to the shot selection. Her friends arrive over the course of the scene, and at its conclusion she gives them all a bow. The rest of the scenes tie a bit more strongly into the premise. Characters play poker while getting blown under the table. One of them later rows a boat while also getting blown. Another goes hunting and...gets blown. Okay, there’s a lot of leisurely actively plus getting blown in the movie. The climax is a dinner party, where we watch the cast actually eat dinner for a seemingly interminable amount of time until they start fucking, followed by a game hide and seek. (Or should I say hide and suck?) At one point there’s a gong sound when he character drops his trousers. The biggest problem with this movie is that it’s pretty much just a string of sex scenes with little else to hang on to. None of the characters are defined at all outside of the employer and her servants, by virtue of assigning them the bare minimum of a relationship, and there isn’t any tension to spice up the proceedings. I’d watched this movie for Brigitte Lahaie’s involvement, but while her entrance is announced by wolf-whistles by the maids (an act I don’t condone but understand the motivation behind in this case) and she does show a certain magnetism in her main scene, she’s barely in the movie. The movie also stars an actor who resembles Jim Henson and another who looks like a live action Mario brother, and I can only hope I didn’t ruin The Muppets or Super Mario Bros. for anybody reading this. Still, with a runtime of only an hour or so, this is at least pretty painless.

Of similar length but containing much more incident is The Return of Marilyn, which stars both an actress named Marilyn (Marilyn Jess) and another actress (Olinka) who bears some resemblance to the most famous Marilyn (Marilyn Monroe). Here we start off with a professional motorcyclist and his manager on a long bus ride. The former wants to wait until he meets the right girl. The latter has no problem picking up another passenger with him he engages in the rumpy pumpy (as Roger Ebert once put it...R.I.P.) very loudly at the back of the bus somehow without anyone noticing. When they arrive at their destination, they cross paths with a singer and her friend who moonlight as prostitutes at the behest of a sleazy hotelier. Later that night, the singer performs, and at this point, it’s love at first sight for the motorcyclist, and he spends the rest of the movie trying to win her affections. This involves sort of kidnapping her after his race, her coming up with a plan to escape that somehow turns into an orgy at the house of a widow who lives beside the road, and then everyone deciding that they should leave these two behind to help them fall in love. Now as I describe the plot, this sounds pretty trite and cheesy, but compared to the last movie it has a welcome amount of narrative stakes, and it also helps greatly that this is well acted and executed with a certain amount of style. While the song in musical number is pretty whatever, the camera loves Olinka in this scene and goes a long way in evoking the attraction felt by the motorcyclist character. (It’s also worth noting that she does in fact sing the song, if the end credits can be trusted.) The sex scenes, many of which conclude in the same way but I won’t describe lest I get a little too graphic, are also nicely shot and contain at least one great image (a shot of Marilyn Jess getting pounded from the rear, framed between Olinka’s legs). Good stuff.

Once again running an hour or so is The Hidden Vices of Eva Blue, where a shady private investigator tails a woman as she goes from tryst to tryst, which he secretly records. First there’s an encounter in an apartment, free of dialogue with only soft moaning on the soundtrack. Then there’s a more eventful than usual cab ride, and the first word is spoken more than ten minutes in when the woman picks up a pedestrian. The action moves to a boardroom where, among other things, a croissant gets eaten out of where croissants aren’t normally eaten out of. (Vive la France!) Then there’s a visit to a sex club marked by a distinct sci-fi atmosphere (beeping sounds on the score, a high tech security system) where the girls sport Aladdin Sane makeup, and the detective sheds everything except his hat, sunglasses and cigar so he can blend in. Later he follows her to a pool, and the action here is presented with inspired if clunky use of splitscreen. I won’t spoil how the movie concludes, but even if you guess what happens, I think there’s plenty to enjoy here. The voyeuristic framing device gives the movie a certain tension, and the minimal dialogue gives the material an intimate atmosphere. The visual style places the movie in a sea of blue lighting and shadowy interiors (astutely placing key scenes in underground garages, which are a shortcut to unease in such movies) and captures the action (both in the sex scenes and elsewhere) in largely handheld camerawork, while closeups linger on details (like a character’s wristwatch or the way the heroine’s heels are thrust in the air) that lend tactility to the images. There are elements of camp, like a beeping device that can undo zippers in one scene, as well as the detective’s cheesy outfit and his hilariously conspicuous presence (snapping pictures mid-thrust in the club scene), which bring to mind Antoine Doinel’s short lived career as a shamus in Stolen Kisses. But putting that aside, the movie is genuinely atmospheric and carries a real erotic charge. Highly recommended.

#film #put on your raincoats #sex hunting adventures #the return of marilyn #the hidden vices of eva blue #movie review

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alice1290 · 5 years

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Marco/ Female s/o Scenario

Kinktober Prompt Day 20 -Roleplay

NSFW under the cut!

The rainy day allowed for a rare chance to spend time together. Being with the first division commander had its disadvantages, the main one being that he was constantly busy with his duties as a Commander. With his subordinates given their orders for the day, and Marco having finished his own tasks early in the morning, it allowed for him to spend the rest of the dreary day in his room with you. He was reading a book, back against the headboard of the bed with his legs stretched out, while you cleaned and rearranged some of the trunks and things in the room.

You opened one of the trunks and giggled, rummaging through the random articles of clothing. The trunk held a mix of both men’s and women’s clothing, ranging from simple pants and shirts to a fancy cocktail dress. There was even a Marine Captain’s coat.

“Marco?” you asked, twisting around, white coat held in your hand. “What on earth is all of this?”

“Hmm?” Marco set the book down. A lazy smirk stretched across his face as he took in the coat in your hands and the opened trunk. “Just a bit of this and that, things I’ve picked up along the journey.”

You held up the fancy, sparkling red cocktail dress. “In the habit of crossdressing?”

Marco scoffed then, closing the book and tossing it onto the nightstand. “No. Thought maybe I’d have a pretty pirate lady one day who could wear it. You’re a bit more… petite, than the previous owner.”

Holding the dress up to your body it was clear in the way the fabric pooled on the floor the original owner was quite a few inches taller than you.

“A Marine coat?”

“Oh, that… well, it was a dare from Thatch to take it, and once I had it, well… finder’s keepers.”

“So, have you ever worn it?”

“No.”

“Try it on.” You tossed the coat across the room, the heavy fabric landing on his lap.

“What for?”

“Do it for me?” You replied, batting your eyes.

Marco rolled his eyes, but stood from the bed and shrugged on the coat. It fit him well, hugging his broad shoulders. “Hmm… I think I like you better as a Commander, but I have an idea…” Snatching up the red dress and a pair of scissors from the desk you darted into the bathroom, calling over your shoulder. “Stay there, and keep the damn coat on.”

Marco’s eyes widened when you came out of the bathroom. You’d taken the scissors to the red dress, which fit your curves perfectly, dipping low to reveal the tops of your breasts. You’d get the hem short, and the fabric barely covered your backside.

Sashayed across the floor you gave him a devilish smirk. “Why, Admiral, fancy meeting you here.”

Marco raised a brow, curious where you were going with this little game you seemed to have started.

Brushing a hand down his bare chest, your eyes flicked up to his. “I thought Marines were supposed to arrest bad pirates. Are you just going to let me get away unpunished?”

The lazy smile stretched into a smirk. Marco caught your wrist as you tried to prance away. “Not so fast, pirate woman. How dare you daunt me. You’re asking to be punished.”

“Oh, no!” you mocked, bringing your hand to your forehead.

Marco reached for your other wrist and you jerked away with a laugh. “Like I’d make it easy for you, dirty Marine. You’ll have to work for my capture.”

Marco chuckled as you dodged his reach for you, dancing around the room, dodging his playful swipes. When his arms finally wrapped around you, he dragged you hard against his chest.

“I’ve got you now, pirate woman, and I know just how I’m going to punish you.”

Marco maneuvered your hands behind your back, holding onto your wrists with one of his hands. He shuffled you both closer to the desk, keeping a firm hold on you while you playfully tried to escape. Marco’s free hand gripped your shoulder, pushing your top half down onto the desk. His booted foot kicked apart your legs, widening them. He leaned over you, lips brushing against your ear.

With him close against your back, you could feel the bulge in his pants pressing against your backside. You wiggled, moaning softly as he pressed his weight onto you, stilling you.

“Now, be a good pirate and don’t fight me. If you’re a good girl, I promise you’ll enjoy your punishment,” he whispered in your ear.

Marco raised up, admiring the naked skin of your back, where the red dress dipped to the small of your back, held together with two thin straps that crisscrossed. Marco trailed his free hand down your spine before curving over the swell of your ass. He fondled and squeezed the flesh, before slipping lower. His fingers met bare skin and he gasped softly before smirking.

“My, my, you are a dirty pirate, yoi. I think you want to be punished. Feel how wet you are already.” He hummed, pleased, as he circled his fingers on your sex, spreading your fluids.

A quick flick over your clit made you cry out. Marco smirked as he watched your mouth drop open as he slipped two fingers inside your core. “So wet,” he purred. “You wanted to be captured, didn’t you? Wanted a big, Marine Captain cock, hmm?”

You nodded, trying to move your hips against his hand, seeking more friction.

Marco pulled his hand away, bringing him palm down to land a hard smack to your ass. “Now, now, be a good girl and stay still.”

You wiggled again, just so he would smack you again. “You like it, hmm? You like when I punish you? Answer me.”

“Yes, Admiral. Please, Admiral. I want you to punish me, I’ve been a very bad pirate,” you purred.

“I know you have, causing such havoc on my seas,” he replied harshly while undoing his pants enough for his cock to spring free. Marco stroked his hard length, before yanking up your dress so it bunched around your hips and revealed your beautiful body to him.

Marco used his cock to tease you first, slipping and sliding between your folds while you moaned softly under him. Without warning he slammed into you, burying his length balls deep inside your wet core. He was always so proud when you took him so easily and he wanted to praise you, but that would be out of character, and he didn’t dare lose this little game of roleplay you had started.

“Ah! Yes, Admiral,” you breathed, trying to squirm against his hold on your wrists.

Marco merely tightened his hold, leaning over to press his lips to the curve of your shoulder. “Be a good girl and try to keep quiet, if you do, I promise to reward you.”

Marco pulled back before sinking slowly back into you, enjoying the visual of his cock disappearing into your pussy. One more slow thrust and then he set a relentless pace, slamming his hips into yours over and over. He would have to give you credit, you didn’t scream or moan like he expected, like you normally would under his ministrations and he realized you didn’t want to lose this little, sexy game either.

Sliding his free hand down your back, he slid over your hip and around to your front. You were thankful for the desk under you when his fingers circled your clit, because your legs gave out. You wanted to cry out, to vocalize your pleasure, but you’d promised to keep quiet. Instead, you bit your lip as he worked you into a frenzy. The only sounds filling the room was the slap of skin against skin and your combined heavy breathing.

Marco kept his relentless pace as he leaned over your body. “Come for me. I want you to scream, let go. I know your so close. I can feel it. So fucking wet and hot. You like my cock, don’t you, pirate? You’re shaking. I can feel how needy you are.” Marco circled his fingers again, teasing your clit as his cock thrust inside you. “Come… right… now,” he ordered.

His fingers pressed against your clit, rubbing circles as he slammed into your body.

“Marco! Oh, fuck!” You screamed as you orgasmed. Waves of pleasure washed over your body as he kept up his relentless pace.

Marco hissed as your walls contracted around him, squeezing his cock in hot spasms. Your thighs quivered against his and you tried to arch off the desk. Marco pulled his fingers away as the waves of your orgasm faded, gripping your hip instead.

“Oh, fuck, Name,” he moaned, dropping the façade as he neared his own release. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

You hummed in response, turning your head so you could catch his eyes over your shoulder. “Come in me, Admiral. You know you want to blow your load in my tight, wet pussy.”

Marco groaned, his thrusts faltering as your words pushed him over the edge. He grunted as he released, slamming his hips against yours and holding you tightly to his body, spilling his seed deep inside. You pumped his hips slowly, riding the high of his orgasm before he stilled.

He released his grip on your wrists, rubbing the skin in soothing motions before he yanked you up. You back collided with his chest, his hand snaking up to your jaw to tilt your head back. His lips molded to yours in a passionate kiss. When you broke apart you gave him a sly grin. “I still like Commander Marco better, but keep the coat, Admiral, until we meet again.”

Marco smirked and nodded. “I think we’ll definitely be seeing the coat another time.”

#alloverkinktober #Marco the Phoenix #one piece #one piece fan fic #fanfic #one piece fanfiction

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ilikelookingatthings · 4 years

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Barbie’s Duality and Untapped Role Model Potential

this particular essay by Clarisa Calderon-Figueroa

When I say Barbie, what pops into your head? A plastic doll with blond locks? The color Pink? Princesses? Glitter? Gender segregated toy sections at Target? Ripped off limbs? Maybe personal memories of playing with Barbie yourself scroll across the back of your eyelids. Or a sense of shallow distaste as you think of plastic surgery, removed ribs, and righteous complaints about body image. Barbie is a household name that has been steadily embedding itself in the world's collective consciousness since “1959, with her vast array of careers that stem from CEO to astronaut, but who simultaneously is more associated with the lyrics "I'm a blond bimbo girl" by the band "Aqua" ( Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") than the female empowerment message she goes out of her way to promote. The collective consciousness pulls "that age-old move" of "'demeaning' a powerful woman" and undercutting Barbie’s influence and the values she actually promotes by "'reducing' her to her appearance." ( Dockterman "Wonder Woman Breaks Through"). She is unfairly accused of selling a sexist, objectifying message under the veneer of empowering girls, stifling the untapped potential this icon has to teach children and adults the value of feminine traits.

Barbie has been accused of being inappropriate because of her body shape; on the surface these concerns are valid. According to a journal Barbie's design had been closely based on the "Lilli dolls, designed by O & M Hausser created in 1955…" which were "... racy..." dolls meant to be "… suggestive…" "… gag gifts..." that "… were not intended for children"(Hunter et al 138). She supposedly had the male gaze built into her and was repackaged for young girls. A 2006 study found that"girls exposed to Barbie at a young age were more likely to worry about their weight" (Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body"). However, the study fails to consider that Barbie is not the only doll children would be playing with in real life. Some of those dolls have even more severe proportions than Barbie with a less wholesome image. Match up a Veterinarian Barbie with her "5-inch waist", "11.5-inches of height" and a "bust of 5-inches" against a Bratz doll with their "pouty lips", "bare midriff-baring tops", and half the waist with 7/10th the bust size(Hess). The disproportionate proportions winner is the Bratz doll. The study also proclaims that Barbie wouldn't be realistic if she was scaled up to actual human size, but Barbie is not meant to be scaled up and has never claimed to be realistic.

Barbie has tried to address the criticisms about her proportions by creating the "petite, tall" and "curvy"( Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") barbie body molds and with her worldwide reach, she can soon normalize the doll shapes from a young age since as of yet little girls still "snicker" at curvy barbie" which was noted by Tania Missad who had watched the test marketing of these new body types. If Barbie was the source of these body image issues kids would not snicker at different barbies but while she is not responsible she does have the ability to influence kids, especially with live examples of powerful female role models "Beyonce, Christina Hendricks" and "feminist leaders like Lena Dunham" with their "un-Barbie-like figures onscreen, fueling a movement that promotes body acceptance"(Dockterman 46). Barbie has the unique enduring appeal that has been picked up by generations of children; soon her different body types will recalibrate at the new normal.

Instead of blaming the society and the media that girls are exposed to daily, the blame is thrust on to Barbie even though "she's just a body" that "society can project on"(Dockterman "A Barbie for Every Body") and no one tries to blame boy toys like G.I. Joe of being a bad influence on young lads despite being the hyper-masculine ideal. Barbie is not even the only female icon that has her appearance dragged out to ridicule and used to distract from their actual accomplishments. The superhero Wonder Woman was sculpted from the mind of a "feminist, psychologist and… inventor of the lie-detector test..." "William Moulton Marston" in "1941" as "icon for little girls". Wonder woman's message of empowerment became so iconic the "U.N." dubbed her the "Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls..". Unfortunately, her position was rescinded due to a "petition objecting to "a large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions..."; dismissing her as a "... epitome of a 'pinup'" (Dockterman "wonder woman breaks through"). Wonder Woman has been around since Batman and Superman and yet she has had only "one" film compared to the "'Batman's' nine" and "'Superman's seven". People even criticized Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, not for her acting talent but for the size of her breasts, according to an interview mentioned in the Wonder Woman Breaks Through article. Evidence that the phenomenon of society judging the looks of females and using them as excuses to undercut the messages those ladies represent live people and imaginary characters.

Another complaint lobbied about the Barbie brand’s narrow view of positive, cheerful girl power. It's true, Mattel could be promoting one type of image of what being a girl is like, but the fact that Barbie from her inception has "inspired resistance" to even her own "script" (Weida el al [103]17-31) and has inspired conversations about what it means to be a lady. Even when Barbie seems one note she can be used to articulate a change. Barbie, as mentioned before with the body molds, has adapted to these arguments; just as feminism has grown and changed over time. Barbie has even purposefully used start a ripple of change for young girls to become interested “in the field of computers and information technology” by filling the gap caused by the “lack of well-known female role models” with the Barbie computer science "coding program"(Martincic et al 7).

The classic Barbie doll is often accused of promoting a shallow, stereotypical view of the female gender. Its true Barbie is blonde, pretty, fashion-obsessed, loves glitter, and associated with the term princess, however, seeing these as a negative from the get go is sexist in and of itself. If someone is blonde they shouldn’t be taken less seriously than a brunette. If their preferred color is pink it doesn't mean they should be judged more than if their favorite is blue. Enjoying clothes isn’t inherent shallow as it is a method expressing yourself; and glitter is gender-neutral. By associating these feminine aspects with negative light it can lead to dismissing other traits deemed as feminine, such as kindness or compassion, as weak. If girls don't respect those aspects how will they get boys to respect those aspects? Barbie takes those stereotypical girly aspects people have been conditioned over time to avoid and proclaims there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Even the idea of princesses has become synonymous with being a damsel in distress; a passive prize to be won. In reality, princesses are leaders and have " 'spanned' nearly all cultures and time periods…" and have a "myriad representations"(Weida el al 17-31) of what princesses can be like. The damsel image can immediately be changed when you change the princess to an active main character who drives the story. Barbie has a large association with princesses due to her movie franchise that almost slaps the term princess or mention of a royal in a majority of her films that I am a big fan of because Barbie is always the main character and the goals of the movies don't revolve around romance. Barbie's overly pink girly image is associated with the damsel stereotype which also means when Barbie breaks that stereotype over and over again it will stick. Barbie draws in little girls with her pretty dresses and sparkly animation and can inspire and teach little girls' leadership by normalizing the idea that guys can "… play subordinate roles in comparison with the female characters" (Änggård) since Barbie is the active problem solver.

Barbie as a female-focused brand explores scenarios where girls are the central focus without the expectations that they'll be brushed aside in favor of boy characters which can happen in more neutral, family-oriented. Slipping in an accidentally positive preference bias toward guys. Eva Änggård had noted that while the girls had included boys in their stories, none of the boys included girls in their own stories. The boys seemed to associate "The presence of female figures…to romance" which caused "teasing" from other boys. It had gotten to the point at least "two girls" had become "angry because they were not allowed to play in the boys' stories" so they "wrote their own stories" (Änggård) that used the themes the boys had favored. Kids reflect the society around them so the fact that the boys dismissed the girls entirely from the story is a micro-example of what happens on a large scale around the world. Barbie can fight those expectations due to her wide media presence. If the media would stop focusing on the flaws Barbie is ironing out and talk about how entertaining her shows or toys are, or the lessons she actually endorses, Barbie might teach the guys who aren't just forced to watch with their sisters the leadership qualities and friendship lessons.

Barbie has a wide reach not just as a toy, but through her "39" ("List of All Barbie Movies Online") movies and TV shows including Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse. Barbie has computer games and clothing lines. Barbie appeals to nostalgic adults with their collector Barbies; using that connection to prompts those adults to introduce Barbie to their kids. Barbie has an online presence that includes a motion capture Barbie YouTube channel, the Facebook page, or her twitter account ("Barbie YouTube"). Her worldwide appeal is already strong so if the instinct to brush aside girl-oriented media and jump on every minor flaw Barbie has was curbed, she could influence young children when they are the most impressionable to accept many wonderful traits.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Cite

Änggård, Eva. "Barbie Princesses and Dinosaur Dragons: Narration as a Way of Doing Gender." Gender & Education, vol. 17, no. 5, Dec. 2005, pp. 539–553. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/09540250500192777.

"Barbie." YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/c/barbie/videos.

Dockterman, Eliana. "A Barbie for Every Body. (Cover Story)." TIME Magazine, vol. 187, no. 4, Feb. 2016, pp. 44–51. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112553378&scope=site.

Dockterman, Eliana. "Wonder Woman Breaks Through." TIME Magazine, vol. 188, no. 27–28, Dec. 2016, pp. 98–105. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120303854&scope=site.

Hess, Amanda. "Leave Barbie Alone! She's Not the Skinniest Doll on the Block." Slate Magazine, Slate, 5 Feb. 2014, slate.com/human-interest/2014/02/barbies-not-the-skinniest-doll-on-the-block-measuring-barbie-bratz-monster-high-and-american-girl-dolls.html. WEB

Hunter, Dan, and F. Gregory Lastowka. "BarbieTM." Tulane Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property, Vol. 18. Fall 2015, pp. 133-160. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct-true&db=a9h&AN=111415505&scope=site.

"List of All Barbie Movies (Online)." Princess Movies Online, Princess Movies Online Copyright © 2020. Disney Movies Online Kids Movies, 11 Aug. 2020, www.princessmovies.org/barbie-movies/list-all-barbie-movies-online/.

Martincic, Cynthia J., and Neelima Bhatnagar. "Will Computer Engineer Barbie Impact Young Woman's Career Choices?" Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 10, no. 6, Dec. 2012, pp. 4-14. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1136648&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Weida, Courtney Lee, et al. "Poetics of the Fairy Tale Princess: Products, Problems, & Possibilities." Canadian Review of Art Education: Research & Issues, vol. 46, no. 2, July 2019, pp. 17–32. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=138903133&scope=site.

#Barbie #Role model #curvy petite tall #wonder woman #feminism #bodytypes #ken #engineering #careers #boys #girls #engineer #unfair?#sexist #barbie movies

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gascon-en-exil · 5 years

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thoughts on fire emblem final bosses? writing or gameplay or both perspectives are fine.

It’s hard to talk about FE’s final bosses as a whole from a writing perspective because in most cases they’re not the main antagonists of their respective games, but more often the inhuman beings the actual antagonists are in service to or are trying to control. There are exceptions, but they’re more final gameplay hurdles than anything.

Medeus: One of the more free-willed final bosses even if I’m not particularly invested in his motivations. I don’t remember his fights too well, but they were both annoying.

Duma: He’s got some pathos, and I like his design in Echoes as a visibly decaying husk of a dragon. I hate his AoE attack, not to mention how few characters can actually damage him. That’s a common, and very annoying, tactic of FE final bosses.

Julius: The first human final boss...sort of. He’s curbstomped by his sister, which is hilarious. I’d care about him more if we ever got to see him before being he got possessed.

Veld: So bad. I like the Let’s Play that captures him with Marty just for the absurdity of it. I’m not even sure a remake could make him into a good villain.

Idunn: Her very existence is a tragedy, and her design is more creative than one would expect of a mysterious long-haired waif type. Too bad she dies in 2-3 hits from pretty much anyone decent with a divine weapon from what I remember, but getting Roy that final blow for the best ending can be a bit of a challenge.

Fire Dragon: The final boss of FE7 is a generic, need I say more? It’s epic in the moment, but just plain silly when you think about it for five seconds. The dragon didn’t even do anything but get summoned through the gate and then live through Ninian’s super Fimbulvetr powers.

Fomortiis: Gets swarmed and killed easily like his GBA predecessors, but at least he kind of gets a personality through possessed!Lyon. Unlike with Julius the back-and-forth between the two can be engaging, all the more so because it plays out differently depending on which twin you picked.

Ashnard: Finally, a final boss that’s also the game’s main antagonist. I hate his blanket immunity to most attacks, but that combined with his massive range (in the difficulties he opts to use it, that is) make him really scary to face. I rarely play Hard mode, but his second berserk phase there amps up the tension even more.

Ashera: Taking out her auras is a pain that really makes you think about positioning and how overpowered SPD is, but the goddess herself is less threatening even with Ike’s dodgy Hit needed to make the final blow. She’s less a character in her own right than the embodiment of Lawful Evil. I’m embarrassed to admit how many times I’ve had a heron or an unused Micaiah die to her first physical AoE.

Grima: Haven’t played Awakening to the end in a very long time, and I don’t remember much about him. He’s got damage reduction, but I’m pretty sure he can be swarmed easily. Fighting him while riding on his titanic body is pretty cool, I’ll admit. Substantially worse is the non-choice the game thrusts on you after you defeat him, as it typifies FE13′s lack of permanent stakes.

Garon/Takumi/Anankos: Lots of swarming, lots of legendary weapons, the usual. Takumi is a challenge to even reach because of all the hazards in the way (yay for Pass), and I appreciate the symbolism of Anankos’s division into parts that have to be separately taken down. Dragon!Garon is incredibly dull; at least Slime!Garon is unlike anything fought elsewhere in the series.

#Fire Emblem

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flowers-creativity · 5 years

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So Red a Colour

Fandom: The Musketeers Characters: d’Artagnan (Charles), Constance Bonacieux, Porthos du Vallon, Athos (Comte de la Fere), Aramis (René d’Herblay), Dr. Lemay, Anne d’Autriche, Louis XIII de France Warnings: Violence Summary: Old ghosts rear their head at the sight of the colour red and a body falling to the ground ...

Or: d'Artagnan tries to save Constance from attackers but his gamble to free her almost has disastrous consequences for both of them.

AO3 link

It was a normal day guarding Their Majesties. Just a small outing – the King, a servant by his side, the Queen, accompanied by Constance and a servant girl, so four Musketeers were deemed sufficient for their security. They had taken a short ride in the woods beyond the Palace gardens and then had returned to a pavilion set up in a particularly nice spot – really, how anyone could make such a distinction in the lush environment of the Palace grounds was beyond him, but apparently it was indeed a very nice spot – to take some refreshments. All in all, it had been a boring but very enjoyable day. There even was no sign of Rochefort or anyone else who could darken the mood.

d'Artagnan could not suppress a satisfied smile as he looked over to Constance, and her eyes sparkled over the edge of her fan as she met his gaze. He marvelled at being able to do this again. It was not what he wanted, and he knew, he knew, neither was it what she wanted, regardless of her words to the contrary. But he could live with being her friend if he could not be anything else.

An elbow hit his ribs, and he winced. “Hey!”

“Stand watch now, make moon eyes at our lovely friend later,” Athos drawled to the sound of Aramis and Porthos snickering.

The Gascon rubbed his side and glared at his friends. “I was not--”

Porthos snorted. “Nah, you certainly weren't. You were just thinkin' deep thoughts and not noticin' you were starin' at Constance.”

“Well, I'm pretty sure he's able to stare at Constance and still – no, never mind, I think staring at Constance precludes the danger of any deep thoughts entering his mind pretty effectively,” Aramis returned the banter, lazily playing with the end of his mustache and offering a charming smile to Constance when she looked over to them, her attention drawn by their conversation.

d'Artagnan rolled his eyes and resolved to just ignore their teasing for now. It was good background noise, at the least, given how uneventful the day was turning out.

Of course, it always was a normal day guarding Their Majesties until it wasn't.

It was a split second between Athos' shout: “Down!” and the crack of a musket, and a ball tore through the fabric of the pavilion above the King's head just as he ducked. Porthos shoved him to the ground, crouching over him, as d'Artagnan did the same with the Queen. There was another burst of noise, and two more balls came whistling past but went wide of anyone who might have been their target.

Athos sprang back up. “Aramis, with me! Porthos, d'Artagnan, take Their Majesties back to the Palace, now!” he ordered, already sprinting towards the direction the shots had come from before he had even finished the sentence. Aramis was on his heels a moment later, and Porthos and d'Artagnan scrambled to their feet and helped the King and Queen up. They led them back to the Palace, all but tugging them along by the hand, a lack of decorum that never would be appropriate in any situation but this one. Constance and the servants were left to follow by themselves though d'Artagnan spared a look back at them a few times. Constance was pale but keeping up gamely, lending a hand to the servant girl when she stumbled.

They were almost there when a group of men burst from the edge of the trees, racing towards them. Porthos' eyes met d'Artagnan's, then he gave a wordless bellow and drew his sword. No use trying to outrun them, and d'Artagnan followed suit, both Musketeers taking position in front of the others, shielding them with their bodies. Steel clashed, and d'Artagnan lost himself in the familiar movements, honed in hours upon hours of training with Athos and his friends, as chaos descended. His sword found an opening in his opponent's defense, and he went down hard. He pivoted, intercepted a blade coming at him from the side, backed up a step until he felt his brother's presence behind him, bound the attacker's blade with his own, drew his main gauche, stabbed it into the man's side, that's another one down. He tried to keep everyone in his field of view, the King and Queen were behind him, there's another one coming at him, and he met him with a quick stroke of his sword, the strength of the hit reverberating up his arm. This one was better, and he was trying to herd him off to the side, separate him from Porthos, but d'Artagnan was fast and danced around him, pulling back and then dashing forward, the man opposite him cursing up a blue streak as he was forced to give ground to the whirlwind attacking him. Thrust, parry, again and again, and finally, there was an opening, and his sword found it target again--

d'Artagnan stood still, breathing hard. No one else was coming at him, and after a moment, he dared to look around. The King and Queen were clutching at each other behind Porthos' broad back, and the servant was on the ground, broken eyes staring into the sky. The young servant girl was next to him, cowering in fright but seemingly unhurt, and Constance--

A sharp cry rent the air. Constance was held by a man, flanked by a second, and they were pulling her away. She was struggling in the man's grip but it was futile. d'Artagnan hesitated for a moment – he knew his duty. One glance decided him, though, as he saw men come running towards them, most of them in the Palace Guard's uniform but a few Red Guards among them, and there was even Musketeer blue flashing between them. He threw himself around and took off after the two men.

He could hear Porthos call his name, he knew Athos would be angry with him, but it didn't stop him. He was gaining fast on them, Constance was still struggling and slowing them down. But there was a knife in the hand of the man holding her, he saw when he was close enough, and it had already torn through the fabric of her dress and was scratching thin red lines in her pale skin with every movement.

The men stopped just as he was close enough to pull his pistol, though he did not know if he could shoot without endangering Constance, and turned around to face him. The man pulled Constance close, his face pressed into the wild hair that had tumbled from her hairnet. “Stop, Musketeer!” he called out.

d'Artagnan slowed down, still taking a few steps towards them, his pistol extended and pointed at the man holding Constance. “Let her go!” he demanded.

The man smiled unpleasantly. “I don't think I will,” he replied. “We've not got what we came here for but the Queen will probably still pay handsomely for her lady. Or her husband will.”

d'Artagnan shook his head. “You have no leg to stand on.” His eyes sought Constance's gaze, silently asking for her forgiveness as he continued: “She's not one of the Queen's ladies – just a commoner, a nobody.”

“Is that so? Then why's she so close to the Queen and not dressed like a servant?”

“The Queen likes having one of them around.” d'Artagnan swallowed – his words were untrue and also treasonous, slandering Her Majesty like that, but it would be worth it if they bought Constance's freedom. “It makes her feel generous and grand, and they amuse her. You'd have more success pressing her for money capturing one of her lap dogs.”

The man sneered. “Well then.” Something cruel flashed through his eyes, and in this moment, d'Artagnan realised he had made a mistake. “I guess she's useless, then.”

Constance, wonderful, courageous, foolish Constance, chose just this moment to act, stomping down on the man's foot and throwing back her elbow into his throat. But his hand holding the knife was already in motion, and the blade found her side and plunged into it.

“No!” d'Artagnan shouted and sprang forwards. His hands grasped her, tearing her from the man's grip, and there was a spray of bright, thick red gracefully following the arch of her fall to the ground … He was on top of the man, and he didn't know where his pistol was, his rapier, anything, but his fists met flesh, and a sob tore from his throat as he hit the man again, and again. His mind was full with that bright, terrible red and the image of a body falling to the ground, his vision blurring.

Suddenly, pain erupted in his back, racing up to engulf his torso, and he fell forward on the man below him. His limbs were suddenly numb and heavy, refusing to work, and darkness rose swiftly to swallow him.

It was a second pain that brought him back from the darkness, and he bucked wildly against it, crying out. Strong hands on his shoulders were pinning him down as he scrabbled at the surface he was lying on, fingers scratching over wood.

“Calm, d'Artagnan,” a voice said above his head. “You're alright, don't fight it. I know it hurts but Lemay will be finished soon.” It took his sluggish, half-panicked mind a moment to recognise Athos' cool voice, calm as ever, even though there was some underlying worry and tension in his tone.

With effort, d'Artagnan stilled his movements and opened his eyes. He was lying on his belly on some wooden surface, maybe a table. The intense agony that had pulled him back to consciousness had died down to a band of burning pain around his lower back, and he could feel other hands besides those belonging to Athos on his body, at his hips and legs. When he lifted his head, Athos' face swam into view. The older man was crouched in front of him so their faces were at the same height, and he gave him a tight half-smile. “Welcome back,” he said in a low voice.

“Athos,” d'Artagnan rasped, his voice hoarse and painful in a dry throat. “Wha--” Craning his head around, he saw Dr. Lemay standing beside him, and further away, towards the end of the table, was Porthos, so it had to be his hands on this legs.

Athos gently grasped his head and turned it around again. “Let the doctor finish, lad,” he said strictly, “before you bleed out on us. I'm glad you're back with us but you need to keep still.” Looking over d'Artagnan's head, he nodded at Lemay.

D'Artagnan tensed when the sharp prick of a needle piercing his skin shot through him but Athos had him by the shoulders again, and there was no way he could get away from the pain, so he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He tried sorting through his murky memory – he didn't even remember how he had been wounded … When the realisation of what was wrong with the picture he'd found hit him, his head shot up; pain sliced through him as the sudden movement jerked at Dr. Lemay's needle and jarred his wound but he paid it no heed. “Aramis?” he asked tremulously.

Athos shook his head with something like exasperated fondness. “Keep still,” he ordered again. “He's fine, he's--”

“Oh my God, no,” d'Artagnan interrupted him, a memory asserting itself – a body falling, red, red blood in the sunlight … “Constance,” he moaned. “He killed her.” His eyes filled with tears, a trembling taking over his limbs. “And it's my fault.”

Athos jerked, raising his head to glance at someone over his head, then squatted down before him again. He took his chin into his hand, a thumb stroking over his cheek to wipe away the first tears rolling down. “No, d'Artagnan,” he said, his voice calm and strong. “She's not dead.”

“But--” d'Artagnan looked up at him as hope and despair warred within him. “He stabbed her.”

The older Musketeer nodded. “Yes, she was hurt. But she is alive,” he assured him. “Aramis is with her. She will be fine.”

“Athos,” the young doctor's voice interrupted him. Athos looked up at him, nodded, then met d'Artagnan's eyes again. “Now, please lay still,” he repeated. “It will be over soon.”

d'Artagnan attempted to nod but found that the tremors running through him were getting stronger. He blinked, dark spots starting to appear before his eyes. “Athos--” His voice was thin and strange.

“d'Artagnan!” Athos barked and grabbed his shoulders. “Don't--”

But d'Artagnan never heard what he said next as he was pulled under again.

This time he surfaced slowly, adrift in the shallows of unconsciousness for what felt like ages. There was no pain, just a curious heaviness weighing him down. He probably would have remained that way, except for the fact that someone was – rather annoyingly – tapping his cheek and calling his name.

“Come on, d'Artagnan,” the voice said, “You've slept long enough. Open your eyes for me, will you?”

He furrowed his brow and tossed his head weakly to get away from the touch.

“That's it, come back to us,” the voice continued to wheedle and press him. “If you open your eyes, I will stop, I promise.”

It felt like a monumental effort, but he dragged his lids upwards to half-mast. The image above him crystallised into Aramis' face, and for a reason he could not remember right now, a wave of relief washed through him. His eyes threatened to slide shut again.

“Ah-ah-ah.” Aramis shook his head at him. “I need you to stay awake for me for a bit.”

d'Artagnan frowned up at him and opened his mouth, a weak cough escaping before he found his voice. “You pro--” he coughed again, “you promised.” The words were slurred and barely audible but he hoped his annoyance at the pestering was still perceivable. He just wanted to sleep until he no longer felt so heavy …

Aramis' eyes danced with laughter. “I promised to stop tapping your cheek, and I'm keeping my promise,” the medic replied, and there was a snort in the background that sounded a lot like Porthos. “Come on, lad, I know you must be thirsty.” He gently raised d'Artagnan's head and made a gesture to someone else. A cup appeared in his field of vision and was placed against his lips, and despite his exhaustion, he opened his mouth eagerly. He hadn't noticed it before but his thirst was roaring to life with a vengeance at the sight and smell of the fresh water in the cup.

“Careful,” Aramis cautioned as he tipped the cup to his mouth, but despite the warning, d'Artagnan nearly choked on the first sip and erupted into a series of coughs that left him out of breath. A terrible ache was waking up in his back, and his head spun.

Aramis frowned at him compassionately, taking the cup away, and a hand – he did not know whose – rubbed his back between his shoulder blades, first alerting him consciously to the fact that he was not on his back but on his side. Aramis waited until he had recovered, then cupped his cheek again and returned the cup. “Let's try that again, shall we?” he said patiently. “Slowly, this time.”

With effort, d'Artagnan managed to do as he was told, and he was rewarded with the most wonderful feeling of cool water sliding down his throat. After a few sips, he let his head fall back and breathed deeply. The water had chased away some of the dryness in his throat and the fuzzy feeling in his head – though far from recovered, he felt as if he could at least manage to stay awake for a bit longer.

“Thanks,” he said, trying to give Aramis a smile. It felt as if he was succeeding partially, at least.

The medic returned the smile. “You're welcome,” he said brightly.

He seemed content enough to let d'Artagnan get his bearings, now that he didn't threaten to slip back into unconsciousness right away, so the younger Musketeer did just that. “Athos? Porthos?” he finally asked.

At the question, the hand on his back returned, and Athos' voice behind him said: “We're here, d'Artagnan.” At the same time, heavy steps indicated that Porthos had taken a more physical approach to answering the question, and indeed, the large Musketeer appeared beside Aramis a moment later, pulling a chair up to the bed and dropping into it. “There you are,” he greeted him with a fond smile. “'bout time, lazy bones. How're you feelin'?”

d'Artagnan considered for a moment to give his usual answer, but besides the fact that his friends would never believe him, he had to admit to not feeling particularly fine right now. “Tired,” he answered. “'n my back hurts. How ...” He moved his hand towards the spot on his right lower back that was aching so fiercely but before he could reach it, Athos caught his hand and returned it to his hip, keeping his hand on his wrist and easily preventing him from any further movement. “I don't 'member ...”

“You don't remember being shot?” Athos asked. When he shook his head, he felt his mentor giving his wrist a short squeeze. “I'm afraid we cannot help you there, either. When we arrived at the scene, Constance and you were alone. There was no time to search for the perpetrators, we had to take care of you first.”

Aramis nodded. “Your unique brand of luck still holds true, my friend,” he informed him wryly. “Dr. Lemay says the bullet did not hit anything vital, which is a miracle in itself. Still, you were bleeding badly, and Constance was not much better off.”

d'Artagnan squeezed his eyes shut, momentarily overwhelmed by the memory of all that red covering Constance's lithe frame. He felt Aramis' hand at his face again and forced his eyes to open. His friend was studying him with worry in his dark eyes. “Is the pain very bad? I can--”

d'Artagnan quickly shook his head. He knew Aramis' pain draught would send him under again, and he found that he wanted to know all that his brothers could tell him first. “Constance, is she--?” he asked, half afraid of the answer, though he remembered well enough that Athos had told him that she lived.

“She is alright,” Aramis reassured him. “The wound was not a dangerous one, she was just also losing blood and in shock – I stitched her up, and she is doing well. Maybe you'd like to see her?” He waited for his weak nod before looking at Porthos. Without a word, the dark-skinned man got to his feet and left the room.

d'Artagnan blew out another relieved breath. He would probably feel afraid for her until he could see her with his own eyes – and guilty, he definitely felt that – but Aramis' answer helped quiet down the anxiety somewhat. Suddenly, he started. “The second man!” he exclaimed, then gasped at the pain radiating through his back at the sudden movement.

“Shhh, calm,” Aramis murmured, stroking his hair back from his forehead, and Athos gave his wrist another squeeze. It was the older man who asked: “A second man? What do you mean?”

d'Artagnan closed his eyes for a moment to ride out the pain, then opened them again and turned his head to squint in Athos' direction, though he could not really see his face, sitting behind him as he was. “They had Constance and were pulling her away,” he replied, “but when I started to talk to the one holding her ...” Shame burned his cheeks red. “I completely forgot to pay attention to him. Maybe he was the one who shot me. And the one who had Constance – he was gone, too?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Athos said. His tone did not give away what he was thinking about d'Artagnan's explanation, and he wished he could see his face properly. Would he ever feel secure enough not to fear to disappoint him? “Constance only could tell us what happened up to the point where she was injured, so I suspect there will always be a gap there if you don't remember everything.”

Aramis delicately picked up d'Artagnan's hand, which Athos surrendered readily, and brought it forward. “Do you remember why your hands look like you beat up a whole band of thugs?” he asked.

d'Artagnan felt his eyebrows rise in surprise when he saw the bandages wrapping his knuckles. “Not a whole band,” he said sheepishly. “Only the one who had stabbed Constance.” He freed his hand from Aramis' grip and used it to rub across his face. “I pulled her off him after that, and then--” He swallowed, again remembering the red, red, red, and Constance's body falling bonelessly. “I don't—I don't really know, I only saw her blood, and then I was hitting him, and then—then pain and darkness ...”

“Well, we can assume that you were shot then,” Athos surmised, “and the second man presumably came to collect your opponent so they could flee together. It is a good thing none of them stopped to make sure you were dead.”

d'Artagnan nodded miserably. It was just luck he hadn't gotten himself and Constance killed …

Aramis patted his cheek. “Don't make such a long face,” he chided lightly. “You did what you could, and you'll both be fine.” He collected the water cup again and brought it forward. “Now, be a good patient and have some more water, will you? You've lost a lot of blood, so you need it.”

Before d'Artagnan could decide whether he wanted to argue his failure or whether the cool water was the much more pressing need, Porthos came back, supporting Constance with a strong arm around her waist. He carefully deposited her on the chair next to Aramis and then stepped back.

D'Artagnan forgot about everything else and just drank in her sight, feeling the last lingering fear that she was dead after all, that he had caused her death, slip away. Her fair skin was even lighter than normal, with dark bruises under her eyes, and he could see that her corset was not cinched tight around her small waist like usual but just laced tight enough that her dress would not slip, and there was a bulky padding beneath it on her left side. But she was smiling at him and reached out a hand to stroke over his shoulder. “I'm so glad you're awake,” she told him. “I've been worried.”

He caught her hand and pulled it to his face, pressed his lips to her knuckles. “I'm sorry,” he murmured. “For everything.”

“What?” She arched an eyebrow at him – different than Athos but just about as eloquent. “Everything?”

“For what I said – you know it's not true, Her Majesty loves you,” he tried to explain, “and you—you're everything, Constance, you could never be a nobody. I was just hoping he would let you go when he realised that he had nothing to gain from you.” He snorted bitterly. “And look how that turned out.”

He almost suspected that she'd slapped him if he wasn't injured. “You're an idiot!” she said, exasperated. “Of course I know that you didn't mean a word you said.” Then her eyes softened, as did her voice when she continued: “And never apologise for believing that people can be something other than cruel.”

d'Artagnan tried to smile, for her, and squeezed her hand. “I still think I should put my belief in the goodness of man into someone more worthwhile,” he murmured. “Not in masked men attacking the King and capturing women.”

She giggled, shaking her head. “Probably, yes,” she agreed.

d'Artagnan felt his smile grow a bit stronger. He brought her hand to his cheek, relishing the touch when she cupped his cheek, a thumb lightly tracing his cheekbones. “I'm so glad you're alright. I thought he had killed you.”

Constance was quiet for a moment, then she leaned forward and brushed her lips over his forehead. “I'm alright,” she whispered, “I promise I'm alright.”

He hummed, closing his eyes. The heaviness that had hovered at the edge of his perception for all the while he had been awake was settling into his body again, and he thought he could go to sleep like this again, with her hand on his cheek, her voice in his ears.

Soon, too soon, though, her hand vanished, and he gave a short, low whine at the loss of her touch. Porthos laughed, and d'Artagnan forced his eyes open again to glare at his brother.

“Oy, don't you gimme that look,” Porthos said, unabashed, as he was helping Constance up. “And don't mope, Constance still needs her rest, too.”

“I don't mope,” d'Artagnan retorted indignantly, though he then looked to Constance a bit contritely. “I'm sorry.”

The young woman sighed. “There's nothing to apologise for,” she returned firmly. “Now rest, and get better soon. I'll come visit you again, alright?” With a last smile, she allowed Porthos to lead her out of the room.

Aramis leaned forward and brushed his hair back, checking his temperature with a hand on his forehead. “Alright, I'd say that's good enough for today,” he said resolutely. “Now you'll have some more water and then some of my pain draught, and then you can go back to sleep.”

d'Artagnan nodded and quietly accepted Aramis' help in drinking the water and the foul-tasting medicine, then settled back down. Soon enough, he drifted off to sleep – and his dreams were blessedly free of the colour red.

#the musketeers #So Red a Colour #So Red a Colour story #one-shot #d'artagnan #Porthos #aramis #constance bonaxieux #athos

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caithyra · 6 years

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Vampire Game Reviews Part 1

This Halloween I sat down and played a bunch of vampire themed games and decided to review them. First up, Vampire Legends: The True Story of Kisilova, Dracula: Origin and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I might get around to Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption and Dracula: Love Kills in a later post.

I use my own 5-scale gradation in this:

0: Either I couldn’t force myself to finish it, or I was more relieved it was over than anything else. 1: I had no fun, but there might have been something fun in there… maybe…? 2: More bad than good. 3: About evenly good and bad. I actually start having more fun than not. 4: A solid entertainment piece. Has it’s blemishes, but despite that I like it. 5: Almost perfect (perfection is a myth). I had lots of fun and am satisfied.

(Semi-minor spoilers below. Unless you’ve gone quite far into the games, you likely wont suss out what’s happening until it’s happening.)

Vampire Legends: The True Story of Kisilova: You’re an investigator for the Hapsburg Empire going to the small town of Kisilova, recently beset by a killer leaving bloodless victims behind them. Rumors of vampires abound. After a series of mishaps the rumors do not feel so farfetched. Especially not when a mysterious, young woman enters the picture.

(Left: The Beginning of the Adventure with our buddy and hint machine. Right: The first of many, many hidden objects screens in this game.)

Okay, it is a point-and-click visual novel adventure thing that’s really short (less than 5 hours, and I think I left the game — and the clock — running for a while at some point), and also cheap. It was enjoyable enough, the music was forgettable but good enough, the graphics nice and atmospheric enough and the story was short and serviceable. The problems mainly came through the game-play; this game relied faaar too heavily on hidden object minigames, and those were unskippable, while all others were skippable after a short while. Fortunately, your partner can give hints to speed things along. As for my final decision in the winter-themed bonus chapter? Well, it was Halloween so I thought “why not?” and that was that for Europe. I always try to pick the most supernatural decision whenever I can lol (see Squirrel Elves in the Witcher franchise, or picking spell-sneaking classes in the Elder Scrolls).

My biggest problem with this game, however, is that I need to resize the resolution on my ultrawide monitor to play it without horizontal stretching distorting the art. The Options menu is seriously lacking in Options (actually, that whole menu is a mess that looks more at home in a Free-to-Play mobile game).

All in all, I generally liked it and its short nature meant that except for the hidden objects minigame, most of it didn’t outstay its welcome and it was really cheap (less than 4€ when I bought it, which is about the right price IMO. I think regular price is something like 9.99€?) so worth it. 3/5.

Dracula: Origin: You are Van Helsing. Yeah. That guy. And you have a missing friend, Harker, who had something to do with Dracula, and you have a pretty friend named Mina who ends up targeted by Dracula and now you must rush across the Old World to save her from a curse.

(Left: Yup, same dev as the Sherlock Holmes games. Middle: Vampires don’t like garlic breath. Right: Dammit Mina, I gave you ONE job. One. Job. All of this slow walking could have been avoided!)

Ah. Frogware. I generally like their Sherlock Holmes games, but this game… It felt more like a waste of my time. Oh, I’m sure there is a good game in there that isn’t a waste of time. Unfortunately, it is hidden behind the biggest time-sinks in the game: Van Helsing walks at half the speed of a normal person at all times and speaks really slowly, in conversations that has no branches, yet they will periodically be interrupted so that you can click on the next topic in the list (that wont reveal the next topic until you’ve listened to the topic listed before it). There’s this scene during a cave in when he says something like “quickly, we must make haste to escape!” and then you click on the exit and he waaaaaaaaalks slooooooooooooowlyyyyyy through it. It certainly doesn’t help that he must cross the entire span of the screen and backtrack locations many times and… AGH! RUN YOU FOOL!!

And, well, Frogware adventure game with its strange clues and non-clues and objects. There’s this bit in the first outdoor area when you have to capture some flies. Now, if you have followed the story logically, you will have a jar and a lid in your inventory. Easy, peasy, just click the flies with the jar, right? Nope. You must find a mourning veil hidden in the cemetery (that is large and that Van Helsing waaaaalks sloooooowlyyyyy through), use it on the flies and then combine the fly-ridden veil with the jar to get a jar of flies (I wont say what for because of spoilers, but, well, I don’t recommend eating during the Cemetery/Mansion part of the story if you have a phobia against bugs). There are also several objects that are basically five pixels on the screen because of the angle we’re viewing them at that we must find to pick up, and on the whole, I had more frustrations than fun with this story. Like, there’s even this puzzle minigame with a picture of Minos, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur and you find thread/string in the same house and wouldn’t you know it! The thread/string has nothing to do with the minigame and the minigame has nothing to do with the legend of the Minotaur!

On top of that, well, lets just say that the Egyptian section has quite a bit of stereotyping (think Victorian stereotypes of Egypt and its people in a modern game. Also, potential racism against white people must be prevented at all costs, including lying to a bereaved family), and when we run into our first, unliving female vampire she of course wears a top made of strips of cloth and a sheer skirt (you’d think a rich vampire’s favorite mistress would own a nice dress at least, but nope), and every woman (including dead of non-vampiric variety) have their beauty commented upon (and, of course, a young, pretty girl’s defilement/death is a tragedy, which is why it is so important to include that she was pretty).

And, well, this game markets itself heavily with Dracula at the forefront, not Van Helsing, yet while Dracula is the main antagonist, he only has a few, brief scenes, which were disappointing. All in all it was a 1/5.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines: You are a fledgling of one of the Camarilla clans, recently thrust into the secret world hidden by darkness, and more specifically into one of the most fucked cities of the World of Darkness. After your illicit embrace into the undead by your executed sire, the Prince of the City has graciously offered to adopt you, provided you prove yourself worthy to the exacting clan of rulers. Except the prince’s domain is built on quicksand, and this is Los Angeles; the birthplace of the modern Anarchs, and one of the domains of the Kindred of the East, on top of the eternal, political dance all Kindred must dance, and you, baby vampire as you are, have no allies and no clue as how to proceed except to survive.

(Left: Told ya Velvet is a mascot in this game. Middle: Did you know that Mercurio was meant to handle the Voerman sisters and we wouldn’t have to go through sewers and a haunted hotel if he did his job? Right: Apparently the Chinese are masters of Japanese swords and the Ventrue need no neckbones...)

Here’s the thing about VtM:B: It is a very enjoyable game and definitely the definite vampire game out there. It also has no story for your character. “What about the Ankaran Sarcophagus?”, well, your character participates, but it does nothing to answer the questions we are immediately confronted with in the opening of the game: Why would our unknown sire, an upstanding member of Kindred society, break one of the Traditions (pretty much laws set in stone for all Kindred over the entire world) to embrace us? Why would the prince, whose sole job is to uphold the Traditions, then break one of the Traditions and allow the ill-begotten progeny live?

Except for the opening of the game, we never hear from our sire again, nor the questions raised during the opening. And that makes our player character a bit superfluous when any random neonate could serve just as well.

So if not story-telling, what does VtM:B do that makes people sing its praises? In short? Characters and the World. It is incredibly atmospheric and while characters don’t develop (vampires are static by nature in this world, and most characters in the game are entrenched in their places and wont be shaken by some random baby vampire showing up), they are all very distinct and written in different tones. However, if you’re not role-playing as an ignorant fledgling, but meta-playing with some Vampire the Masquerade lore known, you will feel extremely railroaded (if your character had any inkling of who Smiling Jack is in the World of Darkness, they would never believe his coarse but kind uncle-figure thing he’s got going on. Because even before a certain hugely Biblical spoiler got involved, Jack was an imposer, liar, manipulator and mass-murderer who has sired many, many thin-blooded vampires and abandoned them to their fates. There’s a reason why only ignorant neonates like Nines’ gang admires and likes him. What I just said is not a spoiler for the game, btw, because it never comes up because your character is an ignorant fledgling being manipulated and deceived by literally everyone. Maybe Velvet and Bertram don’t, but Velvet might seem so sweet when she convinces you to be her knight because of Presence and acting, and Bertram is a Nossie and they have major secrets within secrets).

And while it is easy to sink into the world of the game and roleplay, thus mitigating the railroading feeling above. This game was clearly written with an audience of White Male Teens in mind. We have Velvet (of the fashion-conscious Toreador clan) show up at the prince’s court in Elysium in only a lacy basque, g-string and thigh high fishnets, tall heels and not as much as a peignoir thrown on top. Yeah, she attends an important society function in her fetish underwear. Then we have the explicit sex life of game cover-girl Jeanette (yeah, the one dressed like a dilapidated school girl), and those two are THE female mascots of the game.

The less said about the Orientalism and the Kindred of the East the better, but that segues into how around the time you reach Chinatown, the game starts losing its luster and strengths. Okay, so if you’re sensitive to that kinda thing, you might notice it a little bit in Hollywood, but by the time Chinatown rolls around, you might notice how it is less immersive and how it starts to feel more and more gamey (specifically, Action gamey), and you get less options that isn’t some variant of “kill it”.

On top of that the game has technical issues if you do not use the fan-made patch (I always use Patch Plus, which restores cut content and quests, as well as ReShade for better anti-aliasing and sharpness), and it still has a few cropping up from time to time. At least it works perfectly well in ultrawide resolutions?

Still it has that charm, and despite its flaws and how I can think of a dozen complaints at the drop of a dime, I still love playing it. So it’s a 4/5 from me.

#games #vampires #vampire games #vampire the masquerade: bloodlines #dracula: origin #vampire legends: the true story of kisilova #vtmb #random reviews #well I had to do SOMETHING for Halloween #and then I forgot to post it lol #so have it a few days late

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