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madelynraemunson · 11 months

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CALL ME WHAT YOU WANT 𓆩♡𓆪

(Book #1 of the Hellfire Gentlemen's Club series)

(strip club owner!eddie × fem!exotic dancer!hargrove!× reader)

𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐔 18+ minors get out of my kitchen

Chapter 010: The Freak

A fight breaks out at the Hellfire Gentlemen’s Club.

* = somewhat smut

** = smut

↳ chapters: 001, 002*, 003** , 004**, 005 , 006 , 007* , 008**, 009, 010, 011, 012* , 013**, 014**, 015, 016**, 017, 018, 019, 020*

word count: 4.4k words

warnings & disclaimers — mentions of seggs tr@ff!ck!ng, lots of blood, violence, physical altercation, profanities, glass shattering, screaming, jealousy

“I feel it coming, my soul cannot be found. I feel it coming, don’t fucking tie me down.”

♡

Eddie is glued to Nina’s hip during her orientation.

You can hardly watch. You can’t even listen. All Back of the House seems to be talking about is the fact that the cute new girl pulled up to work with Eddie. Apparently she skipped out of the passenger side of his van stoned out of her mind, waltzing in absentmindedly while Eddie opened the door for her.

Nina’s excuse was that she didn't have a ride to work. And while that may be true, your jealousy was projecting itself...hard. The times you were in Eddie’s van sitting right where she was were completely unrelated to work.

But Nina is a pretty girl. Eddie does love doing favors for pretty girls who flatter him.

You still couldn’t figure out why no one will talk about anything else. Like how Henry has evidently been spiraling into a lonely, seasonal depressive episode and could snap any minute. Or how whoever is closing isn’t sweeping the aisle all the way through. Also, one of the lights keeps flickering. Totally throws off the whole vibe of VECNA’S LAIR.

But no, the hot topic of today’s shift is still Nina and Eddie.

It's an awakening for you though. Now you really understand and have accepted that you are no different from everyone else.

Eddie’s jokes? He recycles with everybody.

Food? Makes for everybody.

Smoking and drinking in his van? With everybody.

Calls on Henry to fight off the bad guys? Yes, for everybody…

You are not special.

Speaking of Henry…he’s off task again. Luckily lunches are usually not busy so he can afford to be away from the door.

Henry is at VECNA’S LAIR with you, chatting away with Eddie’s buddy Gareth while you give Gareth a lap dance. And you can tell by the eagerness in Henry’s eyes that he’s anticipating his dance that you agreed to do for him to combat his loneliness.

“You gotta let me know how your dance goes, Creel,” Gareth grins. “Shy Girl is one of the best.”

Gareth is one of your regulars. He went to school with Eddie, played in his band Corroded Coffin when they were younger, and he also tips well. Eddie usually stays and chats with him, but today he is off and aloof, avoiding any type of eye contact with the both of you.

Screw Eddie. He’s seemed to have forgotten about you already now that there’s a new toy for him to play with.

“I love how you move your hips, babe,” Henry comments, snapping you back into reality. “And how you bond with every customer. I had no idea men pay you just to talk to them sometimes.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” you nod all while grinding yourself onto Gareth, hands combing through his wavy hair and trailing down to graze his neck. “Some guys just come here just to vent. Business men, teachers, doctors...”

“That’s really nice,” Henry blushes.

“Bouncers too,” you wink at him. “You know, when they’re not clocked in and supposed to be working.”

Henry’s eyes widen as he realizes, and soon he’s back up and starting towards the door. You and Gareth share an innocent chuckle about it before carrying on with your business.

"I can tell that dude is lonely," Gareth makes the same observation. "He doesn't have that many friends outside work."

"I wonder why," you ponder aloud, doing a little dance on Gareth’s lap. "He's so nice."

"From what Eddie told me, it's hard for Henry to open up to people," your patron explains. "Dude had a fucked up home life when he was younger. Dad was a piece of shit to him and his sister. Abused the shit outta 'em and their mom."

There's a pattern here. You try not to think about it.

"Anyways," Gareth says pulling out a $20 bill. "Can you give me scratches on my back? Trying to make an ex flame jealous."

"You manipulative fuck," you banter, snagging the $20 from him anyway. "I'm sure you have your reasons though."

So you honor Gareth's requests and leave some sharp etchings on his back, one large scratch in the shape of a heart.

You scan the club as you work, searching for your sister. Max is spotted near the entrance of the club, acquainting herself with Lucas and Dustin. She also met Steve earlier today and admitted to you that she has an innocent crush on him.

Of course she would. Who wouldn’t have a crush on The King?

You smile at how easy Max makes friends. She tries not to look at you while working but sometimes her curiosity takes over.

Gareth nods towards her.

"I see your sister knows the big secret now."

"Yeah, one less thing to worry about," you shrug sheepishly.

"She's supportive, I'm assuming?"

"Very."

"That's good," Gareth rubs your back. "I'm happy for you."

“Thanks,” you smile.

You catch sight of Steve next as he walks over to you. He greets you with a warm kiss and rests a hand at your waist.

Eddie watches you with Steve and Gareth, attempting to remain composed and professional with Nina as he spots her on the pole.

"What is going on here?" Steve asks you.

"I'm trying to make one of Gareth's ol' lady friends jealous," you explain. "Leaving him scratches and all."

"I love your sharp ass nails," Gareth swoons. He hands you a five.

"You are just spoiling me today,” you coo. “You can pick out my nail color next, Gare.”

"Green," Gareth answers right away.

"Yeah, I second that," Steve agrees.

Steve leans in to kiss you. You kiss him back, affectionately, relishing in how beautiful Steve always made you feel. Meanwhile, Gareth watches, running his hands softly across your thighs and muttering a soft, “fuck…”

And then you hear Eddie clear his throat closeby you.

"Jesus H. Christ," you hear Eddie grimace.

Eddie sounds uncomfortable. Good. It is not until someone else speaks that you realize he was shaken up about something else.

“Well well well,” comes a voice. “Looking just as skanky as you did when I last saw you.”

You look to see the patron standing by the entrance. He’s the scariest he’s ever looked. Your heart sinks to the floor.

It’s hard for you to find the words. “You...”

“Boo,” he grins, amused at how startled you are. “Kinda insulting that you think all these men can give you more than I can.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” you demand.

Frantic footsteps sound not too long after, and Henry comes spilling in. He looks mortified, panicked. He had one job and he failed to do it.

“Hargrove, I’m sorry!”

“Henry!” you scold him, almost at a scream-whisper. “You weren’t supposed to let him in!”

“I didn’t know!” Henry exclaims.

“I thought Eddie told you!”

“I forgot!” Henry says. “It all happened so fast.”

“Yeah, security here sucks,” the man you’re tempted to throw something at smirks.

A crowd starts to form, which is odd because no one said anything that inherently stood out. But energy doesn’t lie. The tension in the room is noticeable.

“You can’t be here,” Eddie’s voice darkens.

Eddie makes his way down from the stage and to the front of the club, Nina watching in confusion as everyone huddled around. Eddie clears his throat and stands with his chest propped forward, chin raised along with his gritted teeth.

“You’re not welcome here,” your boss snaps.

“That’s no way to talk to a customer…”

“I know who you’re here for and you can’t have her,” Eddie growls.

Eddie looks over at you. Making his way into the crossfire, Eddie creates even more space between the two of you. Henry stays where he’s at on high alert.

“And I own this joint. So I can refuse service to anyone… Billy.”

Your twin brother flashes a dangerous, amused smile. “I see I’ve become a household name.”

Billy inches closer to you, leaving you paralyzed in place.

He looks different from when you last saw him. A lot more muscular. His beer belly is gone, and he finally shaved that obnoxious porn stache that he swore drew in all the ladies. Billy looks more satisfied at your horror than angry at who you’ve become.

A million thoughts are racing through your head. How could your brother have possibly known where you are? Did you leave your location on? Did you butt-dial him? Was it 'twintuition'?

Then you remember he's Billy. And a sociopath like Billy always finds a way to win.

“Eddie Munson,” Billy continues. “Owner of The Hellfire Club. Drug dealer. Car jacker. The town FREAK who’s notorious for sleeping with his employees before attempting to sell them into a sex trafficking ring in the outskirts of town.”

“That is SO NOT TRUE!” you hear Chrissy scream from behind the boys.

“Oh, hey Cherry!” Billy chimes. “Huge fan of your work. So is Eddie, though. And a million other men, so what makes me special huh?”

Henry is hovering, lingering between Eddie and Billy with a stance you knew all too well. The angled torso, a hand floating ready to butt in. The memories come flooding into the room in the form of burning tears against your waterline. Your throat is tight.

“How…the fuck…” you choke. “Did you find me?”

Billy flashes you his phone. Looking through his cracked screen, you see that the evidence is all on Reddit. Sure enough, there you were, doing your thing in a video surrounded by tons of men, exposing your birthmark that’s oh so similar to Billy’s.

“This girl is so fucking hot!” a Redditor comments.

“What’s her name?” someone asks.

“She goes by Shy Girl,” another answers. “Hellfire Gentlemen’s Club in Hawkins, IN.”

It’s no surprise that Billy follows the ‘stripper’ Sub-Reddit. You’ve gone viral, so of course he was bound to see it.

“Ever heard of a digital footprint?” Billy questions darkly. “Shy Girl?”

You gulp. In the age of technology, you should’ve known that your cover would be blown if you stood out well enough. How could you be so stupid?

“Oh look!” your brother chuckles. “There it is, the biggest giveaway of all. Right front and center… your birthmark."

“You win,” is all you can say. “You can stop now.”

“I’m not trying to win anything,” Billy jeers. “I’m just saying, if you had a brain, you would’ve at least thought to cover it up with makeup or something.”

Eddie looks over at you with sad eyes. It’s the first time he truly looked helpless. A part of him also looks like his own cover is blown too. You can’t help but wonder why.

“Yeah, you could say I did my research,” Billy draws on. He shoves his phone back into his pocket. “It kept me occupied on the plane. The news articles aren’t hard to find either. Hawkins is pretty small. A whole shoebox compared to Leucadia.”

His eyes dart back to Eddie. “And I’ve read up a lot about you.”

“You know the media loves to twist things,” Eddie hisses. “Especially if everything about me fits the narrative they’re trying to sell.”

Billy decides to challenge him. “So you’re saying everything is fake news?”

Eddie doesn’t comment. It strikes you odd that Eddie doesn’t even try to defend himself. What could he and Billy possibly be talking about it?

“Funny, I on the contrary believe you’ve earned your reputation,” Billy insists.

“What is he talking about Eddie?” you ask.

“Just forget about it,” Eddie shuts down.

“Yeah, forget about it,” Billy somewhat agrees. He turns to you. “You’re coming with me.”

You turn to Max. She watches, terrified as Billy ushers you in the corner. You’re too drained to fight back so you let him. But when you finally meet his eyes, Billy looks like your brother again.

“Seriously, WHAT were you thinking?” his voice shows genuine concern.

Billy sounds more disappointed now than vengeful.

“This is all because of YOU,” you snap. “I had no choice.”

“That’s your bullshit excuse?” Billy demands, eyes welling up with tears. “You’re a fucking waitress! I’m sure Benny’s down the block would’ve sufficed.”

Billy’s an asshole, for sure. But at the end of the day he’s still a multifaceted human. When the trauma doesn’t take over, he’s a level-headed individual. A clear thinker with good critical thinking skills and an ability to read the room. Something you’ve spent your whole life second-guessing yourself over.

Your brother continues his tangent.

“YOU HAVEN’T DANCED IN YEARS, first of all. The only ‘stripping’ you know is when you go skinny dipping with your little hoe friends at Black's Beach. You don’t have a permit to dance, which I’m pretty sure is illegal somehow because EVERYWHERE ELSE in Indiana requires a stripping permit. You don’t even know anything about what this industry entails, yet you cannonball headfirst into it like it’s just easy. This industry is a hotspot for sex trafficking. Millions and women and little girls are kidnapped every year and forced into sex work, don’t you know that?”

Billy nudges the ribbons in your hair.

“Child-like ribbons in your hair too. You disgust me.”

He pauses. It’s like he has an epiphany. The devilish smirk returns.

“But maybe Eddie knew that,” he tuts, waving a stupid finger of his in the air. “BINGO! With the little experience you have, Eddie must’ve known you were naive. Desperate. A little bit of a slut. Eddie knew he just HAD to get his hands on you. Take advantage of you. Exploit you.”

“Shut up.”

You knew Billy was being dumb. But what he says makes sense. And in the depths of your wounded heart, what he said felt true in a sense. Because there was a time you did feel betrayed by Eddie. Meanwhile Eddie has gone pale.

All eyes are on you now, and not for the reason you want. Sure, it’s a strip club. But never have you ever felt so naked. Never has your soul ever felt so exposed.

“Yeah…” Billy grins. It’s like you can see the gears grinding in his head. He flashes Eddie a disgusted look. “That’s exactly what it is. You know, you give me the creeps, Munson. Sure you hear that a lot.”

“You give me the creeps…Hargrove,” Eddie counters. “With how IN LOVE you seem to be with your sister.”

Eddie takes a few steps towards him to elaborate.

“Showing up to the place she strips at…causing a scene when you see her on someone’s lap… and then proceeding to tell her no one will love her like you do?”

Eddie scoffs.

“Yeah. Totally not creepy.”

“We’re family, Eddie,” Billy sighs. “Families love each other. Of course you wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“Hey, douchebag—” Steve begins but Chrissy stops him.

“Too fucking far, Billy,” you plead. “Stop.”

“You know what else I found out?” Billy smiles. “Your boy toy Eddie comes from a long line of crooks.”

Billy turns to Eddie. “Your half brother Eagan is a con man in Montauk, New York. And your other brother Ansen Wayne back in Memphis got arrested for, guess what? Arson! Funny.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Chrissy roars again.

But Billy proceeds. “And if I’m not mistaken, your dad Al is a drug dealer who married one of his clients, your mother. And guess what? When she wasn’t bringing him any money? He pimp slapped her in broad daylight and eventually slit her throat.”

Billy looks you in the eyes when he says that.

“How tragic,” Billy breathes. “Dad killing Mom.”

Billy turns back to Eddie.

“One dysfunctional ass family. And a poor excuse of a son.”

“Takes one to know one,” Eddie spits.

Billy laughs and nods. You’re surprised that doesn’t set him off.

“I’m not entertaining this,” your brother refuses. “I’m trying to be a better person, but Munson you are pushing it. Nah, my family is where I draw the line. Come on, sis. You’re coming with me.”

Yanking you by the wrist, Billy pulls you along with him.

“No,” you refuse.

But his grip is too tight. Now you’re just along for the ride.

“I would never do anything to hurt your sister,” Eddie says, running after you both. Henry follows closely behind Eddie. “Surely that’s something you can’t say.”

“You’d never do anything to hurt her?” Billy halts challenging him with the most satisfied grin on his face. “You’d never do anything to hurt her?”

Eddie nods. Billy releases you, sending you flying forward into Max’s arms. She’s shaking when you wrap your arms around her for comfort.

“What happened to Isabelle then, Eddie?” Billy taunts him. “Court records are also public, you know.”

Isabelle. Eddie’s ex-girlfriend. How does Eddie’s ex-GF fit into Hellfire’s narrative? In your mind you always thought Isabelle was a random chick.

The whole room is silent. It’s like a wave washed over everybody. Eddie simply stands there, no visible reaction besides the look of defeat.

Something tells you something is very, very wrong. Finally, Eddie speaks.

“Don’t you EVER bring up my wife again,” Eddie’s voice is breaking. “I loved her with my whole heart.”

Your world stops. Everyone else’s keeps going.

“Your wife?” you exclaim. “You have a wife?”

Billy exudes a Joker-like laugh as he watches the lore unravel.

“Ex-wife,” Eddie corrects himself. “We’re separated.”

His gaze burns into Billy.

“Since you’re such a historian, Hargrove,” Eddie hisses. “I’m afraid you missed the part where Isabelle used me to get her hands on my business and then weaponized the fact that she’s a woman to try and tarnish it during our separation. But of course, it doesn’t feed your narrative about me so you’re purposely leaving it out.”

“That’s what you get then,” Billy’s tongue glides against his inner cheek. “For getting involved with an employee. They’re all the same. A bunch of gold-digging whores.”

It all makes sense now. You look over at Eddie. Plastered on his face is the same haunted eyes he had the night he tried to resist your advances. Now you know why Eddie was so hesitant to pursue you. He wasn’t playing hard to get. He was guarding his heart. And his business.

“So, you wanna tell us about the trafficking ring?” Billy questions.

“I didn’t try to sell her,” Eddie spat. “God dammit. Our marriage was bleeding into work so I had to send her to a different club. One I thought I trusted. But the owner stabbed me in the back also.”

“Yeah!” Chrissy adds. “He was an undercover pimp! Didn’t you read the court docs on the plane like you said?”

“He’s not exactly book smart, Chris,” Eddie smirks. “Too many big words for his big brain to handle.”

There’s nothing else for Billy to say. His failed attempt to paint Eddie as the bad guy and him as the hero did not go to plan. But as usual, Billy wants the last word.

“Stay away from my sister.”

And soon your wrists are suffocated by his grip again. You whimper in fear as Billy drags you along, angrily pulling you towards the exit while resisting your kicks and shoves.

“This is what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna go put your fucking clothes on,” Billy’s voice shakes. “Grab your shit, and you and Max are gonna come back home with me. Away from this shady bullshit.”

You can tell Billy is also terrified for you. But this is your story to write now. Not his. This is a narrative he cannot control.

“No!” you scream. “My new life is HERE.”

“The fuck it isn’t,” Billy denies. “Your life and Max’s lives are in California.”

“Are you deaf?” Steve demands. “She said no. Let her go.”

“Aw, now Walmart Ashton Kutcher has something to say!”

“Leave me alone, Billy,” you wail. “We are not going with you.”

“It’s all an inside job,” Billy is shaking now. “He’s no good for you, sis. Don’t you understand? How can you be so blind?”

“It’s my journey!” you roar. “And my life. You don’t get to control me anymore, especially since you’re part of the problem. And I’d rather be provided for by men like you than live with you ever again.”

Billy can only chuckle. “You’re delusional.”

He grabs Max on the way out.

“Max come on.”

“NO!” Max refuses.

Steve jumps in front of her and pulls her behind him. Billy rushes to grab Steve but is pushed back by Henry.

“Why are you grabbing Harrington?” Henry demands.

“Why’s he grabbing my sister?”

You’re waiting for Billy to face Henry’s wrath. He’s already trying to create space between the both of you so that you can wriggle free.

“HEY!”

To your surprise, the fist that meet’s Billy’s nose isn’t Henry’s.

“EDDIE!” Chrissy shrieks.

“WHOA MAN!” Steve screams, trying to run and stop the fight but Henry tackles him.

“EDDIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Dustin demands. “EDDIE, STOP!”

Billy is blindsided by Eddie with little to no time to react. Eddie gets two good punches in when he’s sprawled on top of him.

But Billy is quick to bounce back. Already accustomed to punches, Billy allows Eddie a few more blows to tire him out. When his hair gets in the way, Billy grabs Eddie by the wrist and tosses him off, hoisting himself over him to get him in a headlock.

“Son…of…a BITCH!” Eddie elbows him.

And as Billy scrunches to block his ribcage, Eddie gets him with a good left hook and a right cross-jab.

Blood splatters from Billy’s nose onto the surrounding area.

“HOLY SHIT!” Dustin shrieks.

“BILLY!” Maxine screams.

“You guys, STOP!” you order.

You rush over to your brother and attempt to pry him off. Steve rushes to Eddie and tries to do the same.

Billy’s stumbling back, unusual since he always wins fights. This is causing you to stumble back and lose your grip on him. Eddie gets a few more good punches in.

Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab-cross. Upper cut. Upper cut. And a seismic kick to the solar plexus.

Eddie Munson is strong.

“EDDIE, LEAVE HIM ALONE!” cries Chrissy. “YOU’RE GONNA KILL HIM IF YOU DON’T STOP.”

“Yeah?” Eddie mutters. “Well that’s kinda the plan.”

When he hears that, Henry stops whatever he’s doing to charge towards Billy and Eddie. You feel yourself grow lightheaded because of the amount of blood that has been expelled. You can almost smell the iron.

“Nope. That’s enough,” Henry declares, dragging your boss away this time.

Eddie has the advantage now during this time, and he uses all of it, punching Billy mercilessly into the ground. Billy tries to get up, but fails, and just when he’s not looking, Eddie sneaks a few roundhouse kicks to his head and neck.

The blood starts to pool.

“EDDIE, STOP!” everyone continuously chants.

“EDDIE, LET IT GO MAN!” Gareth begs.

“EDDIE, GET OFF OF HIM NOW!” Chrissy pleads.

“IT’S NOT WORTH IT!” Steve says to him.

“YES THE FUCK IT IS!” Eddie roars. “IT IS WORTH IT!”

The sound of glass shattering fills your ears as you look over at the boys. Henry managed to tackle Eddie in one brisk movement, unfortunately taking a small table that housed some beer bottles on it with them.

Now it smells like rust and Corona.

Gareth and Steve take over now, pulling Eddie away while Eddie cusses Billy out through his bloody nose. Meanwhile, Max rushes to Billy’s side and urges him to get out. Henry runs to her aid, dragging out your volatile twin brother so he wouldn’t harm anybody else. Billy’s out of sight now, but the thought of him still lingering in Hawkins until he sees you two again is unsettling.

“Whoa,” Steve exhales.

“What?” you ask him, crossing your arms in frustration.

“Eddie just fought someone,” he pants. “Your brother, Billy at that.”

You try to shrug it off. “Big deal,” you say. “Fights happen all the time here.”

“You don’t understand Hargrove,” Henry says, walking up you. “Eddie never fights anyone.”

You turn to face Henry.

“That’s what I’m here for,” the unscathed bodyguard explains.

———————-

The first person you go over to is Max. Consoling each other, you both hug one another and rock back and forth.

You look off into the corner and see Dustin with a tampon, trying to shove it up Eddie’s bloody nose while Nancy watches in amusement. Eddie swats Dustin’s hands away, mumbling, “Get that shit away from me” and setting for Kleenex instead.

“Shy Girl,” Nancy calls out. “Please come and get your man.”

Confused that she’s even talking to you that way, it dawns on you that Nancy is talking about Eddie. You walk towards Nancy, who is behind the bar, supervising Eddie and Dustin from a distance.

“Do you have some ice?” you ask her.

She holds up a pack she had been preparing.

“Way ahead of you love,” Nancy says.

You chuckle and thank Nancy as you take the ice from her. She gives you a nod, you’re welcome.

“He’s not my man, by the way,” you add, correcting her. “Just did something really sweet.”

“Well does his ass know that?” Nancy raises a brow. “Only a dumbass in love does shit that crazy and stupid.”

You look over at Eddie. His eyes find you at the same time. Chrissy is over in the corner with Nina, talking her down from the anxiety witnessing a fight that bloody must’ve caused her. Steve is over at the lair still, thinking. You can’t read the expression on his face.

Your grip on the ice pack tightens as you walk closer to Eddie. He gives you a nod and a terrible excuse of a wave, slowly wincing in pain after the slightest raise of his left arm.

“You are vile,” you say in his voice from the day it all fell apart. You extend your hand with the ice pack in it to him.

Feeding into your truce, Eddie looks up at you with a faint smile. He takes the ice pack in his hand.

“I prefer the term protective,” he parrots you.

———————————

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shaisuki · 1 year

Text

— THE DARKNESS WITHIN

ENTRY #007 OF SHAISUKI'S KINKTOBER 2023

FT. TODOROKI SHOUTO + BLOOD KINK

— being attracted to blood and or enjoying the sight of it.

• pairing: todoroki shouto x chubby reader

• content warnings: vampire! shouto, cunnilingus, blood, biting.

for centuries had passed, the younger todoroki embraces what darkness lurks inside him.

there is only much of a what man like him could do in the dark.

for centuries had passed, watched as civilization changed. from stones to bricks to glasses. from bows and arrows to swords and guns. humans who died in each other's hands. he lived long enough but does he? when all he got is a heart that stopped beating long ago, stuck in the endless cycle of witnessing blood shed in the difference course of time.

he got no reason to live. stay long in this world as he walked through the empty hallways of his house. what is dead may never live but the curse his father had put upon them — bounded them for eternity without seeing the sun rise nor live in the daylight.

beads of blood sprouted to your skin where his fangs grazed upon. his finger tips feathery-light skimming through the expanse of your shoulder blades and where your pulse rests in your neck. your heart thumps with anxiousness and with the beats of your heart music to his ears. pumping blood throughout your veins and his stomach churns in desire. a certain hunger for your blood.

he holds your arm where the strap of your dress had fallen. tilting your head and he lodges his face in the space of your shoulder. his nose brushing — smelling the tantalizing scent of the crimson liquid trapped under your skin.

pain erupts throughout your system as his sharp canines pierces the thin barrier of your skin where your flesh rests. you let out a shaky breath. pursing your lips in a thin line — closing your eyes for the pain to subside.

when his canines pulls to your skin, droplets of the crimson liquid flows in your skin. coming from the hole where his fangs breached your skin. he catches the sweet blood with his tongue. licking a stripe in your skin where the blood stops to flow until it reaches the two tiny holes where his fangs had sinked before his mouth engulfs in the skin.

there's only a hum of satisfaction buzzing through his lips and to your skin while he sucks the blood in your veins. it flows down his tongue and to his throat. dripping like honey with the taste of sugar — it's been a hundred years since he tasted something pleasant — exquisite rather. it was different from the flesh and the blood he had consumed from the past decades. horrendous with the pungent smell of foul mixing in the blood and flesh — the vileness in their being seeps in their flesh while you — tasting like a freshly picked fruit. ripe and sweet. ready for the taking. the plummy taste lingering in his tongue.

the more sips he takes from you, the more your world starts to spin with spots of white dancing in your vision. your muscles turning into goo. you couldn't even complain nor fight while he drinks from you. you're no match for him for someone who lives in the dark for a long, long time. who stole you at the dead of a night.

when your body slumps to him. you didn't even mind the weight you have. his mouth reluctantly pulled away in your skin — wiping the corners of his mouth from the blood pooling in them. licking his fingers clean — not wanting to waste a precious drop of your blood.

he's satisfied for the night — not wanting your body to give up when the night is still young. he still need you to satisfy the desire — a hunger for something.

the moonlight passing through the large windows of his manor. candlelight softly glowing in the darkness of the room. his pale-white skin glistens like the first fall of snow in the ground. the greys and the turquoise of his eyes looking back at your own. it's unlike for someone like him to have this mismatched eyes for a creature of the night.

it holds no emotion. devoid of warmth and life in them. his knuckles grazed in your cheek. your body pressed in the wall while his fingers worked on the way to the strapped of your dress. showing the generous flesh of your body. he needs to see more. cold fingertips dancing at the top of your flesh. bite marks littering on them. they are yet to heal, some of them freshly bitten. his gaze falling into them. he marked you. a claim for you to stay with him — for eternity.

your dress falls down to your feet. there's a cloud of predatory gaze on those orbs of him. he drinks in the sight of your supple body in front of him. bare with the flaws a human can have. the scars, the marks, the lightning strikes in your stomach and into your arms. the thickness of your skin. a delightful texture to sink his teeth in.

he falls to his knees also — beneath you was him. leveled with your thighs and his palms splayed in your wideness of your thighs. his cold breath tickling your skin sending tremors to your very soul. you leaned your back in to the wall. supporting yourself while his hands pry your thighs apart to place his face between them.

placing one of your thighs to his shoulder and his lips brushes through the skin of your thighs. pressing a kiss to them and it made your thighs quiver. you almost fall but his arms is quick to support you. his fangs nudges to your skin before taking a bite. puncturing your skin and with that. blood rolling to your skin and just like what he did to your for many times — he takes a lick, then suck until his tongue swirls.

“shou—” you head falls back. looking at the ceiling above. pain and pleasure is mixing with the other emotions you are feeling. blinking back the tears pooling in your eyes.

he nibbles in your skin, traveling upwards until his mouth is faced to your weeping pussy. your puffy folds covered in slick and without warning he take a deep between them.

he breathes in and out before taking a long lick to your perineum and to your clit. his lips wrapping into your swollen pearl and giving it a harsh suck. his hands holding the plushness of your waist while he takes long licks to your cunt.

his face smothered while he feasts to your fat pussy. his nose nudging your clit while his tongue wriggles in your hole. your fingers grasping to his red and white locks — pulling them that your didn't care that you're pulling a few strands of his hair. your hips rolling matching the rhythm of his tongue sliding in and out of your hole.

his cheek smothered with your blood while it trickles from your thighs where it had bitten. the smell of your sweet cunt and your blood adding to the haziness of his mind. desperate for more. addicted for the saccharine taste that only you could provide for him. more, more, more.

groaning at your taste, the sensation of your warm walls against his cold touch. it heightens his senses as he worships you like a deity that will provide him food for a long time.

he didn't regret taking you. away from the sunlight where you bask in. you belong here — with him in the darkness. he's a prince — who'd be so lonely that he doesn't know that if there is salvation for someone like him and then you came. his princess waiting to be saved by him. away from the prying eyes and the destruction that humans bestow to others.

the swish and flick of tongue getting rougher and so is the knot waiting to be unfolded in the pit of your stomach. your breathing getting ragged and you looked below him. his eyes finding yours and he's beautiful.

your slick mixing with your blood is a forbidden concoction one should never have — except for him. it's meant for him and only him. waited for you so long that he won't let a human nor creatures like him touch you. you are only for him to feast and to worship. let there be blood if that's the only way he can keep you away from them.

he can hear your heart beating a mile and he knows you were close. he focuses his tongue in licking and swirling your cunt. his fangs grazing to your clit and with a last harsh suck. your juices came bursting and he drinks it with such want that he didn't give you a moment to adjust to your orgasm. greedily lapping at it like it's the only source of water in a dessert.

your body trembling, hips involuntarily arching as you've reached your high. he takes it all. he lazily laps through it and pressing a kiss to your mound before taking a lick to your thighs.

your back slides down and then you fall to the the floor. he may have tire you out for tonight but he ain't stopping. he picks you up as he carries you to your shared bedroom. the night is young and he is still beginning.

#ʚ•ɞ. shai writes #shaisuki's kinktober2023 #kinktober 2023 #chubby reader #todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto x reader #todoroki shoto smut #bnha smut #bnha x reader #bnha

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kpop-stories-21 · 6 months

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Stains of Crimson | Part 2

Group: ATEEZ

Pairing: Jongho x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Rating: 18-21+

Genres, Tropes, & AUs: Non-Idol AU, Dark Fae AU, Fantasy AU, Angst, Smut, Dark Content

Content & Trigger Warnings: Daoine Sidhe!Jongho, Pirate Captain!Reader, dark content, graphic descriptions of fighting, graphic descriptions of death, graphic descriptions of gore, blood, injuries, brief & graphic mention of torture, experimenting on humans, blood magic

Summary: A nearly successful escape brings you in contact with the mysterious Fae who has been watching you for a while now

General tags: @kpop---scenarios @stardragongalaxy @jeonrose @skittlez-area512 @mybiasisexo @biaswreckingfics @anyamaris @trashlord-007 @liliesofdreamsskz @pyeonghongrie-main @naturalogre @bxffietheblxxdy @sanjoongie ATEEZ tags: @lovelyhange @spicyseonghwas @firefox79 @alex-tinyy

If you want to be added to my taglist, click here

Network pings: @kdiarynet | @cultofdionysusnet

MDNI banner, divider, and support banner courtesy of @cafekitsune

Masterlist | Main Masterlist

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“Rise and shine, little fly!”

A loud banging woke you, and you cursed whichever one of your crew members dared to wake you in such a manner. Then your sleep-blurred vision cleared and you took in walls of stone with no windows. Oh, right. Your crew had mutinied and tied you up in a fairy circle approximately two weeks ago, leaving you to be found by two Fae who were undoubtedly the most obnoxious beings you had ever encountered.

Speak of the devil…

“All right, all right, I’m up!” You growled, sitting up and glaring at Astario.

He chuckled, unbothered by your anger. “Ooo, so scary.” He mocked. “I’m positively quivering.”

If I had my cutlass I’d cut him to ribbons. You grumbled silently. See who’s quivering then!

With one last glare you stood to your feet, the chains around your wrists and ankles clanking heavily.

Astario unlocked your cell, grabbing hold of your arm as he led you to a now-familiar area. It was almost like a coliseum, except underground and full of cordoned off smaller areas for testing and experimenting on humans.

As you were led to an empty area, you scanned your surroundings for a particular Fae who’d been watching you from day one. Sure enough, there he was again: tanned skin, bright red hair, vivid green eyes and blood-red clothes. The intensity of his gaze sent chills down your spine, but you weren’t sure exactly what kind of chills they were; whether they were born of unease, or excitement; and you weren’t sure if you wanted to find out.

Astario strapped you to the chair in the middle of the area and stepped back, grinning wickedly. “The Doctor will be with you shortly.”

A few minutes later two figures approached you, ones you recognized immediately. The taller figure was the one most of the Fae around here referred to as the Doctor, though you had once overheard someone calling him Vraelys and assumed that was his actual name.

You made sure never to call him by that name if, for some wild reason, you needed to talk to him; one of the lessons your parents had drummed into you was the power of a name in the hands of another being and thus to never give a Fae your birth name, nor call them by theirs, unless permission was given.

The second figure belonged to a younger-looking Fae with glowing teal eyes who told you to call her Dunrí. She was the Doctor’s bodyguard, a silent presence that followed him everywhere and would have been intimidating to any other human. You were not intimidated in the least, and admired privately how similar she was to you in temperament and viciousness. You once saw her cut down a human seeking revenge in mere seconds, her lithe form coated in gore and a mad smile on her face that you yourself had sported many times.

As the Doctor began to set things up for whatever he'd be doing to you today, he struck up a conversation with his usually silent bodyguard.

“I hear you'll be leaving me in a few weeks, after you come of age.” He commented casually.

Dunrí nodded. “I’ll be going to Oidhche, as I feel my temperament and moral leanings would fit better there.”

“Well, you’ll certainly be missed around here.” The Doctor declared as he filled a syringe with a strange, viscous pink fluid and walked towards you. “You were the best bodyguard I’ve had in a while.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, I hear they’re sending Jjong to replace me.”

“Oh really?”

The Doctor looked surprised as he jabbed the syringe into your arm and emptied it. You sat silently, not caring what the result was unless it horribly disfigured you in some way. You were far more interested in the conversation occurring around you.

“That must be why he’s been hanging around here more. I thought he was intrigued by the new human, but he must’ve just been getting the lay of the land.”

It occurred to you then that this “Jjong” had to be the Fae who’d been watching you every day. Another odd chill raked down your spine at the thought of being in such close proximity to him on a regular basis. It was so strange, the effect he had on you. You had no idea why you reacted in such a way whenever you saw him, and again you weren’t sure if you really wanted to know the reason.

You were no stranger to darkness and depravity, being the most vicious pirate to sail the seas in many a year. The sight of all these humans being experimented on would turn most stomachs, but you didn’t really care. Your own survival was top priority, everything else came second and most other people were just in the way. There was a part of you that wanted to see this mysterious Jjong up close and personal. From the way Dunrí spoke of him, he was even more vicious and skilled than she; mayhaps he was as dark and twisted as you were. Not that you planned on hanging around this place any longer than you had to.

Silence greeted you upon returning to the present moment. More than a little surprised, you looked around as far as you could from your position, but Dunrí and the Doctor were nowhere to be seen. Not even the green-eyed Jjong was watching you, an unusual move on his part if he was truly getting a feel for his surroundings as the Doctor surmised.

Taking advantage of this rare moment without supervision, you scanned all the implements on the tables around you to see if there was anything you could use to free yourself. To your delight, there was a pair of very sharp-looking scissors just within reach. Stretching out, you were able to grab hold of them and set about cutting through the straps that bound you.

It was not easy work, and by the time the last of the straps across your torso fell away, you felt there would be several new scars on your hands. Sure enough, when you brought your hands around to examine them, several small cuts in your palms were bleeding and somehow the tip of your left middle finger was missing. You shrugged, not minding the severed bit as you were focused solely on getting back to your own world. After all, your former crew had yet to face judgement for trying to get rid of you.

Peering around the corner revealed that the rest of the experimentation was proceeding as normal. If the place had been empty, you'd have suspected a trap or test of some kind. Even so, you hadn't ruled that possibility out entirely. Having long ago learned how to make absolutely no noise when sneaking up on an enemy or trying to pass quietly through an area, it took you mere seconds to make your way out of the coliseum and up the stairs to the floor your cell was on.

As you rounded a corner you nearly ran into a guard standing watch. Luckily, his back was to you and so you were able to slip down another hallway without being noticed. A large stone door stood at the end of the hallway and you approached it cautiously, scanning the surrounding area constantly. When no one appeared to defend the door, you pushed it slowly open.

The sun was almost blinding as you stepped out into the fresh air, a welcome change after so long stuck inside. Once your eyes had adjusted you took in your surroundings once more, planning an escape route in your head. Your gaze landed on a fair-sized river winding away into the distance, and the faint shimmer of what might be the ocean. Perhaps you could sail your way out of this realm and back into your own. Your parents had made you learn about all different kinds of Fae back then, you were pretty sure there were some who lived in the water. Surely there were places in the water where one could cross between worlds.

Your plan made, you set off at a brisk jog. The first step was to cross the river and follow its course from the woods, where there would hopefully be less eyes on you. You prayed you could make it to cover before anyone discovered you were missing. The river was deeper than you expected, water swirling just above your knees as you waded through it. The rocks along the bottom were smooth and slippery as you walked across them, and you had to slow down a bit in order to prevent taking an unplanned swim. Once on the other side you plunge back into the woods before stopping to catch your breath for a moment and assess where to go next.

In the distance you could see what looked to be the ruins of a castle in the midst of this stretch of woods. You figured it was probably best not to try and take refuge in those ruins, it’d be just your luck to come across some species of Fae that likes to live in ruins. You couldn’t see the immediate area around the ruins, so you decided to venture a little closer in order to better ascertain the lay of the land and figure out how to get around the ruins without alerting anyone to your presence.

About halfway through your trek an unexpected wave of dizziness washed over you and you stumbled, tripping over a root and tumbling to the leaf-covered ground. You caught yourself just before hitting your head on a much larger root and laid where you fell, eyes wide as you clutched the grass. Your body trembled violently as the sensations of nausea and dizziness battled within you, and for the first time in your life you felt utterly helpless.

It was well past sunset by the time you reached the point where you couldn’t take much more, and with the last shreds of consciousness you managed to drag yourself under a huge bush, curling into a ball as your weary body gave in and you passed out.

When you finally returned to your senses you were still under the bush, but now with the sun overhead, pouring light directly into your eyes. You winced at the brightness as you rose shakily into a sitting position, the size of the bush still keeping you fully hidden. You took stock of your body, assessing your condition in the aftermath of whatever the hell had happened the night before. It was utterly confounding, nothing like that had ever happened to you before and if you were being perfectly honest, you were a little scared. Fear was an odd and unfamiliar feeling to you. Generally you were the one causing the fear, not falling victim to it.

A faint rustling came from behind you, your weariness instantly forgotten as you remembered what you were doing before the dizziness hit you. The soreness fled your muscles and you crouched within your hiding place, ready to spring from the bush at a moment's notice. Not for the first time, you wished for your cutlass, cursing the predicament your former crew put you in that had robbed you of your favourite weapon.

After a few tense moments the rustling stopped and a small but strange-looking creature popped out of a nearby bush. It sniffed the air for a moment, then froze and jerked its head towards your hiding place. Shit, it caught my scent. You thought, glancing around to see if you could find an escape route. The Fae must’ve sent it ahead to keep track of me.

Your wandering eyes caught sight of a break in the trees and you paused, fully taking in the scene. Just a few feet ahead there was a break in the woods where a path ran up to the ruins. After that was another patch of woods, beyond which you could just make out another break which you assumed was for a second road. There was a fair-sized stretch on either side of the road to the ruins that had absolutely no cover. Seeing no other option you moved into a crouch, readied yourself, and sprang from the bush, sprinting across the road and back into the woods with the creature hot on your heels.

Just as you had guessed, this patch of woods was small and soon gave way to another road, after which you saw more forest with no visible breaks in the distance. As you plunged into the trees once more, a gentle breeze blew past you, carrying with it the faint scent of saltwater. Hope surged within you and your pace quickened. You were so close, just a bit further and-

Wham! Something invisible suddenly blocked your path and you crashed into it, falling flat on your ass almost before you realised what happened. Before you could recover your footing, a figure loomed over you and your heart sank. You tried to scoot away and get back onto your feet, but your back hit the invisible thing, trapping you in place.

Looking up, you finally got a good look at the Fae who caught you and your heart skipped a beat. It was none other than Jjong, his familiar form filling your vision. The only odd thing you noticed was that his eyes were now a glowing blood-red instead of their usual intense green. He reached down, hand closing around your arm as he yanked you to your feet.

“Let go of me!” You growled, eyes narrowing. In this moment you didn’t care that he was an otherworldly Fae and you were only a human. You weren’t about to let freedom slip through your fingers when it was this close. You twisted around, lifting your feet off the ground. Using his grip on your arm as leverage, you planted your feet on his chest and pushed him away from you with all your might. You did actually seem to catch him off guard, creating a distance of at least three feet between the two of you.

A sting of pain shot through the hand you’d injured while escaping and you looked down at it, surprised to see that the previously scabbed-over wound was now slowly bleeding. A faint sort of rippling sound reached your ears and you looked up to see Jjong using magic to swirl a bubble of something around between his hands. Upon closer inspection you saw that it was blood floating within the bubble, most likely the reason why you were bleeding again. He looked up at you, smirked, and crushed the bubble in one palm.

A familiar wave of dizziness and nausea crashed over you and you crumpled to the ground, rendered helpless once more and unable to defend yourself against the Fae responsible for your current anguish. Just before passing out yet again, you heard the sound of other voices approaching. Several of the voices rose in anger, clearly arguing about something, until Jjong let out a yell that silenced all of them.

“I caught her, so I have the right to claim her! Tell the Doctor to…”

Everything faded to black as unconsciousness embraced you once more.

As you slowly came back to wakefulness, you expected to be back in your cell awaiting more experimentation. Instead, however, you found yourself in a small room with a dirt ceiling, dirt walls and floors, as well as the simple bed upon which you rested. Confused and curious, you stood to your feet and walked towards the room’s entrance. Trying your best to go unnoticed, you stuck your head out and slowly looked around.

Dirt. Everything was made of it, save for a few sparse pieces of furniture. You wondered who lived here, and why you had been brought here instead of back to your cell. Then you vaguely recalled Jjong saying something about catching you and having a right to claim you, so you decided this was probably where he lived. You wondered what his motives were for this sudden change. Would he perform his own experiments on you, or would you still be taken to the Doctor everyday? You supposed you were about to find out, considering the voices you heard just ahead.

As you got closer you were able to distinguish what was being said, recognizing Astario’s familiar voice alongside Jjong’s deeper tone.

“You can’t just claim her and not allow things to continue as they were!” Astario complained. “The Doctor was just beginning to make progress with her experiments.”

“I understand that.” Jjong replied calmly. “But I have my own reasons for claiming her, and the Doctor will just have to deal with it.”

“Now look here-”

“You can trust that if I ever change my mind, you’ll be the first to know.”

Astario grumbled under his breath before grudgingly accepting Jjong’s words. There was some shuffling, then there was silence. After a moment, Jjong’s voice rang out once more.

“You can come out now.” It wasn’t said mockingly or angrily, as if he was upset by your eavesdropping. With the tone he used, he could’ve been discussing the weather or something similarly mundane. Curiosity winning you over once more, you rounded the corner and stopped, caught up in the intensity of those brilliant green eyes.

Shaking yourself free after a moment, you put voice to the questions you’d been longing to ask.

“Why am I here?” You kept your expression hard and free of emotion. Vernon once called the look your ‘pirate mask’, and the phrase had stuck ever since.

Jjong returned your look with one of his own as he replied “I have my reasons.”

You scoffed. “You know, the last person who brushed me off like that wound up dead in some forgotten back alley.”

Jjong eyed you darkly. “You’re not in the best position to be making threats, human. You are in my house after all.”

You met his gaze without backing down, the barest hint of a smile ghosting across your lips. “Are you aware you’ve allowed a bloodthirsty pirate into your home?”

Jjong merely smirked. “I am, actually. I saw some of your memories when I was using your blood to track you.”

You froze, staring at him for a moment as the pieces connected in your head. “That was the first time I felt sick, wasn’t it? You were using my blood to find where I was.”

Jjong nodded but said nothing. There was silence for a few moments, then he stood to his feet.

“I’m going to visit a friend, but I shouldn’t be away too long.” He fixed you with another intense stare. “I’d advise against going out when I’m not around, there are quite a few Fae who would love to get their hands on you, and at least half of them are more violent than me.”

And just like that he was gone, and you were alone once more.

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#cultofdionysusnet #thrill of the hunt #mfu-net #sandsofirenet #wonderlandnet #ateez #ateez x reader #ateez jongho #jongho x reader #ateez smut #jongho smut #maturefanfic #18-21+#au #fanfic

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datcloudboi · 9 months

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List of Video Games Turning 20 Years Old in 2024

Alien Hominid (started off life as a Flash game and graduated to a real game.)

Army Men: Sarge's War (the sequel to the Sarge’s Heroes games, but this one was rated T for Teen and used realistic guns instead of plastic ones)

Astro Boy: Omega Factor (seriously, if you have a chance to play this, take it. This game is AMAZING)

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

The Bard's Tale (the 2004 version with the guy who played Wesley in The Princess Bride)

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings & the Lost Ocean (hey! That collection with this game and it's follow-up is out on the Switch now! Go get it!)

Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space

Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo

BloodRayne 2

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (this GBA game had a special cartridge that required you to go outside into the sunlight to power up your character in game)

Breakdown

Bujingai: The Forsaken City (the game where you play as Gackt)

Burnout 3: Takedown

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Call of Duty: Finest Hour (a side story to the original Call of Duty, which came out the year before)

Capcom Fighting Evolution (the darkest of the dark age of fighting games)

Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums (a full-on adventure game where you play as the mascot of a series of edutainment games)

Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (the rare movie-in game that's not only really good, but is actually better than the movie it's based on)

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage + Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

Crash Twinsanity (a childhood favorite)

Crimson Tears

Crusader Kings

Custom Robo (the first one in the series to release in North America)

Cy Girls

Dead Man's Hand

Dead or Alive Ultimate (remakes of Dead or Alive 1 and Dead or Alive 2)

Def Jam: Fight for NY (the vastly superior sequel to Vendetta)

Dog's Life

Doom 3 (the original version. Hope you've got a flashlight on you...)

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (the final game in the Legacy of Goku series)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3

Drakengard (Yoko Taro's debut as a game director)

Driver 3

Evil Genius

Fable (another childhood favorite)

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (the last Fallout game made by Interplay before Bethesda acquired the IP.)

Far Cry (the very first one.)

Feel the Magic: XY/XX (a launch title for the Nintendo DS)

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (the only Final Fantasy game to release for the GameCube)

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (remakes of the first two mainline Final Fantasy games)

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

Front Mission 4

F-Zero: GP Legend (the last F-Zero game to release for almost 2 decades, until F-Zero 99 released in 2023.)

Galleon

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (the PS2 one. There was another version of SAC that released for the PSP a year later that is completely different.)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2

Ghosthunter

Godzilla: Save the World

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

Gradius V (the last mainline Gradius game)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto Advance (yes, there was a GTA game on the GBA.)

Growlanser Generations

Guilty Gear Isuka

.hack//Quarantine

Half-Life 2

Halo 2

Hitman: Contracts (the third one)

Hot Shots Golf Fore! (yet another childhood favorite)

It's Mr. Pants (Rareware made this for the GBA after being acquired by Microsoft)

Jak 3

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Katamari Damacy (the very first Katamari game)

Killzone (PlayStation's supposed "Halo killer".)

KOF: Maximum Impact

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Lifeline (a microphone-based survival horror game for the PS2 by Konami.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (a turn-based RPG that uses the exact same battle system as Final Fantasy X.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

Mario Golf: Advance Tour

Mario Party 6

Mario Pinball Land

Mario Power Tennis (not to be confused with "Mario Golf: Power Tour" for the GBA.)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (the first one, which is getting a remake for the Switch in February!)

Maximo vs. Army of Zin

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

Mega Man: Battle Chip Challenge

Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun/Blue Moon

Mega Man X: Command Mission

Mega Man Zero 3

Mega Man X8 (yeah, there was a lot of Mega Man stuff in 2004.)

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid for the GameCube)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (SNAAAAAKE EATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)

Metal Wolf Chaos (LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)

Metroid: Zero Mission (a remake of the original Metroid for the GBA.)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Monster Hunter (the very first one)

Mortal Kombat: Deception

Mushihimesama ((a bullet hell that you’ve probably seen a lot of if you search for “HARDEST GAME OF ALL TIME?????” on YouTube)

Myst IV: Revelation

Need for Speed: Underground 2

Ninja Gaiden (the reboot from the Dead or Alive devs)

The Nintendo DS

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (an action-adventure hack & slash made by FromSoftware)

Painkiller

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (can you believe this is getting a remake this year??)

Phantom Brave

Pikmin 2

Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (the last game in an series that started all the back in 1982 on the Atari 2600)

Pokemon Colosseum

Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (the 3rd one)

Red Dead Revolver (the predecessor to Red Dead Redemption.)

Resident Evil Outbreak

R-Type Final

Sacred

Samurai Warriors

Scaler

American McGee Presents: Scrapland

Second Sight

Serious Sam: Next Encounter

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (you know that “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series” meme you guys love so much? This is where that came from.)

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Siren (a spirital successor to Silent Hill from the same creative director)

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Battle (an arena fighter for the GBA.)

Sonic Advance 3

Spider-Man 2 ((based on the movie of the same name. The one with the really good web-slinging)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (the 2nd one)

Spyro: A Hero's Tail (the 5th one)

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (the 3rd one)

Star Wars: Battlefront (the one that everyone liked)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

Steel Battalion: Line of Contact ((this, and the original Steel Battalion two years prior, used a special controller called the Mega-Jockey 9000, which had 44 buttons, two joysticks, a throttle handle, a radio channel dial, five switches, an eject button, and three foot pedals.)

Sudeki

The Suffering

Super Mario 64 DS

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (the 4th one)

Tales of Symphonia

Thief: Deadly Shadows (the 3rd one)

Tony Hawk's Underground 2

Total War: Rome

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Viewtiful Joe 2

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

X-Men Legends

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astarab1aze · 1 day

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➥ Sunset Flash

⸻Technical Information. // Face, Voice, etc.

001 Faceclaim. Ichigo Kurosaki [ Bleach ] 002. Voice Claim. Johnny Yong Bosch

⸻Profile Information. // Name, Age, etc.

003 Name. Yuuya Kei [ a play on the word 'yūyake', meaning 'sunset' ] 004 Alias. Yuu, Legendary Swordsman of the Black Isle, Blade of the South 005 Sex. Male 006 Gender. Male 007 Age. 542 008 Birth Date. July 7th [ Cancer / Hexbreaker ] 009 Blood Type. Sub-type HDO- 010 Race. Half Magma Dragon, half Wildling ; Shattered Isle by nationality. 011 Marital Status. Single [ Multiship ] 012 Orientation. Biromantic Demisexual 013 Residence. He has a semi-permanent home on the Black Isle, a mysterious hidden island in the Shattered Isles said to be the home of the Southern Drakes ; A cottage made of dragon glass, black sand, and volcanic rock.

⸻Physical Information. // Body, Equipment, Family, etc.

014 Physical Description. Yuuya stands at a plain 5'10", but is otherwise lean, muscular, and built for a fight. His hair is a shaggy but vibrant sunset orange and can be altered at-will, usually thick with some amount of volcanic ash that he naturally produces. It feels a bit strange under the fingertips, like faux suede. His eyes are hazel-orange, like a cloudless sunset in the desert, angular and keen. There are some patches of non-iridescent red, orange, and black scales all over his body, particularly on his arms and legs, and on occasion, he may have a single bone-white horn. His body is littered with scars, though perhaps not as severely as others, and he's a story for each and every one of them, even the smallest and least noteworthy ones. He tends to wear Yuureian garb - that is, black hakama and a tattered black haori, given the time he spent there training under Satra. He may or may not wear shoes, usually Yuureian sandals. His fingers are clawed, fingertips and palms more like this in texture but more fine. He does also have a tail, ridged, spiked, and layered with scale plating of the same color as the rest, though it isn't terribly thick and he tends to hide it when it suits him, like his horn(s).

015 Equipment. He will always have his sword, Safyra, with him no matter the circumstances and he's very uncompromising about this; As well as various metals in the form of shavings or dust, crushed dragon bone, singing stones, an infinite pocket pouch full of rubies, topazes, and magical treasures fit for his hoard, 016 Occupation. He's a wandering fighter first and foremost, interested only in the thrill of battle and becoming stronger through it. 017 Job Performance. Lazy as sin and hard to convince at first, but there is no more terrifying a swordsman...

018 Parents. His mother, Safyra of the Xanthean Wildlings, who died of natural causes in her 40s, and father, Dragon Demiurge Vulkaris, current leading sire to southern drakes ; He is 74th in line for the Demiurge position. 019 Siblings. Many, none he knows by name.

⸻Personality Information. // Likes, Strengths, etc.

020 Likes. Dragon glass, volcanic rock, obsidian, blackstone, metals of all kinds, ash baths, ruby, topaz, magical trinkets, weapons, and armors, avulisk eggs, beholder flesh, fire lilies, dragon's breath, fighting, training, war drums, stuffing his face, money, tinkering, challenges and competitions, traveling, exploring, etc. 021 Dislikes. Cowardice, dishonorability, trickery, lack of action, having to sleep, big words, larger pure-blooded dragons, vegetables, rot smell, frankenleeches, pointless theatrics, blue, undeserved arrogance, lack of understanding, widows, canaemery, gryphons, chimeras, summertime heat, etc. 022 Positive Traits. Resilient. Determined. Somewhat principled. Honorable. Loyal. Sincere. Serious. Brave. Earnest. Hopeful. 023 Negative Traits. Prideful. Arrogant. Greedy. Volatile. Somewhat lazy. Dense. Singleminded. Hot-tempered. Desperate. Reckless. Hardheaded. 024 Goals. To amass as much power as possible, particularly in the area of swordplay and his magic. 025 Desires. To at last earn his father's approval and pride, to do his mother's memory justice. 026 Alignment. Chaotic Neutral...good?

027 Personality. Yuuya is something of a complete idiot - rather, he's incredibly singleminded, simple, and dense. He's not going to pick up on any complicated emotions and he's not exactly going to be tactful in stressful social situations, especially if there isn't any single combat involved. He is so devoted to his cause - amassing power, earning his father's affection - he will occasionally derail conversations, prattle on about old battle stories, challenge folks to a match in passing, or always engaged in some form of fight without many exceptions. He loves the heat of battle, throwing down with the best of the best and growing stronger for it or inspiring others to become stronger as well. He is, however, in part, truly doing it for the purposes of earning the Demiurge's love, his favor, not because he hopes to take Vulkaris' place, but because he is lost and alone without his mother. He's honestly sort of a big kid in many respects, just in need something or someone constant, someone strong enough to keep up with him - be it in mind, body, or spirit.

⸻Sorcery Information. // Affinity, Talent, etc.

029 Affinity. Earth & Fire - masterful manipulation and sourcing with certain elements depending on the circumstances. 030 Shapeshifting. Innate Dragon Shape, natural anthromorphic presentation, and human form - he is capable of changing into multiple forms to best suit his environment, as most dragons are ; Despite his mixed blood, he was luckey enough to have been born with full-blooded capabilities. 031 Utility. Telekinesis, barriers, curses, Silence, Dispel, alteration, charms, enchantments, seals, alchemy, beast communication, summoning. 032 Specialization. Magma & Metal-based magic - not unheard of for an individual to possess, though his particularly brands are both uniquely fine-tuned to his body, and such elements will react to his will as he enacts it. 033 Graduate School. Not applicable, however he did study swordplay under Satra Shen for some 20 or so years, following the killing of Dessudora. He took his lessons to heart and adopted some aspects of Satra's unique version of the Shikabane Style into his own. 034 Classification. Anthromorphic Dragonkin, 74th Heir to the Demiurge throne.

⸻Background Information. // Past to Present.

Yuuya was born in an... we'll say, unholy union between Demiurge Vulkaris and the Wildling Safyra of Xanthe. Through no fault of his own, he was loathed by his father, just another heir to vie for the position as Demiurge of the Black Isle produced by yet another Wildling woman - but even as a hatchling, that was never what Yuuya wanted. For the most part, he was raised by Safyra, taught how to somewhat navigate the tricky language barriers between dragons and Wildlings and how to act like a Xanthean Wildling. He grew quickly, from a hatchling to young salamander, and though his mother wasn't particularly nice to him, she was kind to him - encouraging him along in her ways toward achieving all the little and big goals he had, even if that meant ravenously eating all day.

But a few years pass in a blink of an eye for a dragon. Some 15-20 years after Yuuya was born, Safyra came down with a fever she ultimately did not survive. Black Isle dragons usually aren't susceptible to sentiment - what is natural is natural, so there is no point in wallowing in the sorrow and grief of it - but Yuuya was different. He depended on her in many ways, needed her guidance, her help, because in the end, he didn't want to be a dragon. He wanted to be a Wildling like his mother. Strong and hardy, built like a stone wall and a champion of many fights, fair and just and kind and- loving. But of course, he was still only a juvenile, a boy, thus these feelings, these wants, were twisted into something else. A vie for power of his own, and the recognition of his father - his love.

Shortly after his mother's death, he pleaded with Vulkaris for- something. Attention, a path to approval, standing, just to be seen as his son. But he was turned away by the drakes at the foot of the mountain, and he took that as his answer. If he didn't have his father's approval, then he wouldn't have the approval of his kin either. So, for some time, he wandered the Black Isle, attempting to survive on his own. Some larger, meaner drakes came upon him and attacked him, and such was a relatively common enough occurrance - until he got sick of it and started fighting back. Alone and alienated, he decided to put all that quiet time to good use and got to work, beginning his journey to becoming a dragonkin mage that would surely win Vulkaris' favor. Training day in and day out, transforming his body, bathing in the lava flows the drakes left unguarded, and he took on every one that tried to break him.

That first fight, however, was when he discovered his love of it. Didn't so much like the killing part, though.

Reinvigorated, feeling invincible, he approached the mountain again, this time wrangling the drakes at the foot without issue. Forcing his way down volcanic tunnels until at last he made his way to Vulkaris' magma chamber, where he...foolishly, challenged him to a fight. The Demiurge obliged, and in a few short moments, the battle was over with Yuuya defeated. This loss was predictably crushing, and to add insult to injury, Vulkari uttered only cruelty in the fledgling's ears, giving him false hopes contingent on success in gaining power and skill - a 'reward' for his attempt.

Ever since, Yuuya's been traveling between the Shattered Isles and the main continent in search of honing his magical skill and combat prowess. It wasn't until he managed to reach Yuurei that he first picked up a sword, and upon hearing rumors of his cousin Dessudora's defeat, he made his way to the man who felled her - Satra Shen, the Panther of the East, whom he studied under in Southern Yuurei for a small handful of decades, steadily incorporating aspects of Satra's wild style into his own. While he didn't quite study or train under too many others, he did go on to learn a little something from each person he fought in the interim, or from the fights themselves, growing and growing as the centuries went by.

He's still...he's still doing that. Like, he hasn't stopped. It's been 500ish years and he's still--

#➥ Yuuya.#♞ // Verse: Of Endless Suffering.#/ momma's boy #/ i have a lot of these somehow

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ohfiendangelical · 2 years

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— MARRIED IN MOUNT AIRY ♡ STARTERS —

the following are lyric starters taken from nicole dollanganger’s 2023 album married in mount airy. i tried my best to choose lines that have the most potential as semi-realistic dialogue, though a level of purple prose and heavy metaphor is inescapable with lyric-based starters. all tracks included save for track 10, summer song, which is an instrumental. use & adjust however you see fit. (trigger warnings in abundance: this is nicole dollanganger, after all.)

TRACK 001 ♡ married in mount airy

“we made love beneath the mirrored ceiling.” “all you have to bring is your love of everything." “don’t recall what we were drinking.” “there was something very strange in the air.” “don’t recall what we were singing.” “he tasted of sherry.” “i remember swinging with my hands caught in the curls of his long hair.”

TRACK 002 ♡ gold satin dreamer

“i dream of the lake.” “i feel you in the wind.” “love you, baby.” “i wait for it to get dark.” “all those dreams left out in the sun, they run like syrup and clot like blood — disfigured beyond recognition.” “even though other faces i forget, yours is carved out of stone.” “tryin’a take you out of me is like tryin’a take smoke out of wood.” “gold satin dreamer, gold satin heart.”

TRACK 003 ♡ dogwood

“please don’t take him from me.” “i need him, you know i do.” “there’s no telling that man what to do.” “you’ll have to pry him from my cold, dead grip.” “i refuse to understand.” “he just makes his own bed.” “there’s no use trying.” “you know how reckless he can be sometimes.” “he doesn’t mean it when he says he don’t care if he lives or dies.” “i’m not letting go of him.”

TRACK 004 ♡ runnin’ free

“please don’t go.” “i can’t trust myself to be alone.” “i hear them drive off into the night.” “i’ll die out here if i stay.” “he’d love it that way.” “the dogs in the yard keep me up with their cries in the night.” “the days are long.”

TRACK 005 ♡ bad man

“i wish he didn’t have to die.” “he was a bad man.” “i’m still crying, but i’m not sorry.” “i couldn’t give a goddamn about it.” “he had to go — and he’d say the same, you know?” “i could tell you that i don’t love him, but you know it would be a lie.” “goddamn him, he knows why.” “i’ve washed him out of my clothes.”

TRACK 006 ♡ my darling true

“you won’t change your ways.” “it’s time for me to let you go.” “you may just be the death of me, but the truth is i’d love it so.” “hold me ‘til i’m cold and blue.” “you play such wicked games.” “that girl’s plain dumb.” “she just loves pain.”

TRACK 007 ♡ moonlite

“got you mounted on a wall in the back of my mind.” “i just can’t forget, try as i might.” “i stay on the drink and you stay on my mind.” “you were my girl, my thing, my pet, to do anything i wanted with.” “i wanna hold you in my hands like a porcelain decanter.” “i love you so much, i can’t stand you.” “i see right through you.” “i pray you can feel my eyes.” “the drunker he got, the truer he spoke.” “i keep a piece of you locked in my heart.” “sometimes you’re my girl, and sometimes, bitch, you’re dead.”

TRACK 008 ♡ sometime after midnight

“he’ll be picking me up sometime after midnight.” “i’ve spent all day thinking of what i’ll wear.” “there’s this feeling in my stomach — wondering if i should just ignore it…” “when something bad happens, it’s usually at night.”

TRACK 009 ♡ nymphs finding the head of orpheus

“i’ll make myself sick from the water.” “all my tears and rage could fill a revolver.” “now i see.” “i used to think you must be the water i drink.” “in the dark, i wait.” “i used to dream of the day it’d just be you and me.” “you cruel, cruel man.”

TRACK 011 ♡ whispering glades

“i’m sure as in life, there will be beautiful women there in your death.” “you just have your way of charming those who catch your eye like shiny things.” “you’re a nightmare disguised as a good dream.” “when she wants a garden, you give her a rose.” “you just have your ways, what with all of those grotesque displays of love you show.” “i feel sorry for them because how could they know?” “you give nothing and think it too much.” “i’ll have a smile painted on my face.” “hollywood suits you, darling; i think you should stay.”

TRACK 012 ♡ i’ll wait for you to call

“i’ll wait for you to call.” “if i wait my whole life, it won’t be wasted at all.” “i’m fine to love you from afar.” “if i don’t see you again, i understand it’s just how things are.”

#hello fellow depressed women!#☆ CUES .#ok to reblog (of course)

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dailyclassicwho · 2 years

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Doctor Who Stories

← BACK TO INDEX

Season 01

001. An Unearthly Child 002. The Daleks 003. The Edge of Destruction 004. Marco Polo 005. The Keys of Marinus 006. The Aztecs 007. The Sensorites 008. The Reign of Terror

Season 02

009. Planet of Giants 010. The Dalek Invasion of Earth 011. The Rescue 012. The Romans 013. The Web Planet 014. The Crusade 015. The Space Museum 016. The Chase 017. The Time Meddler

Season 03

018. Galaxy Four 019. Mission to the Unknown 020. The Myth Makers 021. The Daleks' Master Plan 022. The Massace of St. Bartholomews Eve 023. The Ark 024. The Celestial Toymaker 025. The Gunfighters 026. The Savages 027. The War Machines

Season 04

028. The Smugglers 029. The Tenth Planet 030. The Power of the Daleks 031. The Highlanders 032. The Underwater Menace 033. The Moonbase 034. The Macra Terror 035. The Faceless Ones 036. The Evil of the Daleks

Season 05

037. The Tomb of the Cybermen 038. The Adbominable Snowmen 039. The Ice Warriors 040. The Enemy of the World 041. The Web of Fear 042. Fury From the Deep 043. The Wheel in Space

Season 06

044. The Dominators 045. The Mind Robber 046. The Invasion 047. The Krotons 048. The Seeds of Death 049. The Space Pirates 050. The War Games

Season 07

051. Spearhead From Space 052. The Silurians 053. The Ambassadors of Death 054. Inferno

Season 08

055. Terror of the Autons 056. The Mind of Evil 057. The Claw of Axos 058. Colony in Space 059. The Daemons

Season 09

060. Day of the Daleks 061. The Curse of Peladon 062. The Sea Devils 063. The Mutants 064. The Time Monster

Season 10

065. The Three Doctors 066. The Carnival of Monsters 067. The Frontier of Space 068. Planet of the Daleks 069. The Green Death

Season 11

070. The Time Warrior 071. Invasion of the Dinosaurs 072. Death to the Daleks 073. The Monster of Peladon 074. Planet of the Spiders

Season 12

075. Robot 076. The Ark in Space 077. The Sontaran Experiment 078. Genesis of the Daleks 079. Revenge of the Cybermen

Season 13

080. Terror of the Zygons 081. Planet of Evil 082. Pyramids of Mars 083. The Android Invasion 084. The Brain of Morbius 085. The Seeds of Doom

Season 14

086. The Masque of Mandragora 087. The Hand of Fear 088. The Deadly Assassin 089. The Face of Evil 090. The Robots of Death 091. The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Season 15

092. Horror of Fang Rock 093. The Invisible Enemy 094. Image of the Fendahl 095. The Sunmakers 096. Underworld 097. The Invasion of Time

Season 16 (The Key to Time)

098. The Ribos Operation 099. The Pirate Planet 100. The Stones of Blood 101. The Androids of Tara 102. The Power of Kroll 103. The Armageddon Factor

Season 17

104. Destiny of the Daleks 105. City of Death 106. The Creature From the Pit 107. Nightmare of Eden 108. The Horns of Nimon 108.5. Shada

Season 18

109. The Leisure Hive 110. Meglos 111. Full Circle 112. State of Decay 113. Warriors' Gate 114. The Keeper of Traken 115. Logopolis

Season 19

116. Castrovalva 117. Four to Doomsday 118. Kinda 119. The Visitation 120. Black Orchid 121. Earthshock 122. Time-Flight

Season 20

123. Arc of Infinity 124. Snakedance 125. Mawdryn Undead 126. Terminus 127. Englightenment 128. The King's Demons 129. The Five Doctors

Season 21

130. Warriors of the Deep 131. The Awakening 132. Frontios 133. Resurrection of the Daleks 134. Planet of Fire 135. The Caves of Androzani

Season 22

136. Attack of the Cybermen 137. Vengeance on Varos 138. The Mark of the Rani 139. The Two Doctors 140. Timelash 141. Revelation of the Daleks

Season 23 (Trial of a Timelord)

143A. The Mysterious Planet 143B. Mindwarp 143C. Terror of the Vervoids 143D. The Ultimate Foe

Season 24

144. Time and the Rani 145. Paradise Towers 146. Delta and the Bannermen 147. Dragonfire

Season 25

148. Remembrance of the Daleks 149. The Happiness Patrol 150. Silver Nemesis 151. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Season 26

152. Battlefield 153. Ghost Light 154. The Curse of Fenric 155. Survival

#doctor who stories tags

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marisbookshelf · 1 year

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☕️ — books that i read in 2023

♥︎ fav | ↺re-reading | books of my 'reading goal' of the year

#RORYGILMORE: i am here because i enjoy books, and because i read books

🍶 — january; 001 From Lukov With love by Mariana Zapata 002 Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas 003 The Play (#3) by Elle Kennedy 004 The Dare (#4) by Elle Kennedy 005 Spare by Prince Harry; ♥︎

🔭 — february; 006 ↺Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (#1) by J.K. Rowling 007 Icebreaker by Hannah Grace 008 ↺Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#2) by J.K. Rowling 009 ↺ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#3) by J.K. Rowling; ♥︎ 010 ↺ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4) by J.K. Rowling

🍪 — march; 011 It Happened One Summer (#1) by Tessa Bailey 🫖 — may; 012 ↺ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) by J.K. Rowling 013 ↺ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6) by J.K. Rowling; ♥︎ 014 ↺ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (#7) by J.K. Rowling

🧺 — august; 015 Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

💌 — november; 016 Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (#1) by Rick Riordan

❄️ — december; 017 The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy 018 Check&Mate by Ali Hazelwood 019 Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters (#2) by Rick Riordan

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

THAT'S A WRAP! see you guys in 2024 ✨

>last update: dec 31st >'books that i read in 2024' list

#up #bookshelf #bookshelves #book #books #bookstan #bookworm #bookaholic #book recommendations #books and reading #reading #readers #bookblr #books and libraries #bookaddict #books read in 2023

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dontreadthisgamereview · 8 months

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The Top Games You May Like from 2010

Hi. I played these games. I liked them. Maybe you could like them. I put them in order of how much I liked them. They are links. You may click on them for more information.

Mass Effect 2

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Fable III

God of War 3

Read Dead Redemption

Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

Dark Void

Dante's Inferno

Heavy Rain

Just Cause 2

Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse

Dead to Rights: Retribution

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Neir

Skate 3

Lost Planet 2

Alan Wake

Alpha Protocol

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Sniper: Ghost Warrior

Crackdown 2

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Mafia II

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Darksiders

Dead Rising 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Fallout: New Vegas

Read Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

James Bond 007: Blood Stone

Split/Second

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Thank you for reading. I love you.

0 notes

jcmarchi · 9 months

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The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend Preview - Shedding Light From A New Perspective - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-pirate-queen-a-forgotten-legend-preview-shedding-light-from-a-new-perspective-game-informer/

The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend Preview - Shedding Light From A New Perspective - Game Informer

When you think of pirates, history mainstays like Blackbeard might come to mind alongside the fictional Jack Sparrow. An important but often forgotten name, however, is Cheng Shih. Not only is Cheng Shih one of history’s most successful pirates, but she’s also the woman who took over her late husband Zheng Yi Sao’s pirate armada after his death, putting her in indirect control of 40,000-plus pirates for a nearly decade-long stint in Chinese waters in the early 19th Century. While Shih’s story can be found on pages of books and elsewhere, Singer Studios aims to bring her story to life in VR.

Taking place across a single night – the night Shih came to power, paving the way for her to create a code of laws for men and women to be treated equally on her ships – The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend puts players in the shoes, errr boots, of Shih in PC VR devices and Meta Quest 2 next year. During a private game demo, I get a taste of this VR experience, which goes the escape room-esque route of VR gaming rather than the guns-blazing, setpiece-heavy one. Its quiet and methodical approach to gameplay is enticing, even without being in a headset to experience it myself. I’m especially interested in the team’s focus on Shih’s story and setting this VR game within a single night in her life. I’m told not to expect massive, pirate-filled battles but instead the emotional intensity Shih might have experienced that night.

“We come from film, so VR is a nice stepping stone for us,” Singer Studios CEO and creative director Eloise Singer tells me. “Each level has an escape room aspect; we wanted to lean away from being a shooter or combat game, challenging you to be as smart as she was, using her intellect to outsmart everyone.”

That intellect and the fact that Shih’s story is largely unheard of in the world of piracy attracted Singer and Singer Studios to the idea of The Pirate Queen. This story is one Singer has been thinking about for six years.

Singer Studios released The Last Rifleman, starring Pierce Brosnan (007 Tomorrow Never Dies, Mamma Mia) just last month, and Rare Beasts, starring Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful) and Lily James (Cinderella, Baby Driver) in 2021. It’s worked with companies like Amazon on projects and others, too. The Pirate Queen began its life at Singer Studios as a film idea, but after meeting with now-former PlayStation London Studio boss David Ranyard, that changed.

“He was like, ‘This would make an amazing game,'” Singer says. Notably, PlayStation London Studio is the team behind PlayStation’s VR Worlds and Blood & Truth on VR – it’s easy to see how The Pirate Queen became a VR game. But Singer says she never imagined trying to make a game, shelving the idea for a bit. After the pandemic hit, though, at a time when movie productions worldwide came to a halt, Singer called Ranyard and said she wanted to turn The Pirate Queen into a game. The team got funding to create a prototype, grew to include additional staff, and won awards, including “Best Debut” at the Raindance Film Festival.

From there, Singer Studios showed the prototype, which I’m told was a single-room experience with light puzzle elements, to Meta. The company loved it and, on the first call, told the studio it wanted to make it a full project. The Pirate Queen will debut on Meta Quest 2 and other PC VR devices next year, more than four years after its development began.

Creative director Eloise Singer and lead actress Lucy Liu

When I ask Singer why The Pirate Queen needed to be a VR experience, her answer is simple: “I’ve always wanted to be a pirate.”

“So selfishly, I’m just like, ‘I want to make a pirate game because I get to be a pirate,’ and it feels like our whole team is like that,” she adds. “But I think at the same time, when I first heard her story, it was one of those, ‘I’m so shocked that I didn’t know about this piece of history,’ and I just felt really compelled that everyone should know more about this period of history and how important this woman was. And it’s not even just the fact that she was a pirate, but she was the most powerful pirate of all time actually, and quite literally paved the way for equality.

“The more I looked into it, the more I was interested in this story, and I just felt it could make an amazing game. I really wanted to tell it, and I think when you feel there’s a fundamental belief for you wanting to tell the story, that’s kind of your driving force for wanting to create anything.”

Singer says initially, her target audience for The Pirate Queen was women, perhaps in the bracket of 16 to 35 years old. But as more and more people played and tested the game, that age gap widened from smaller children to the elderly, and the gender disappeared. “It’s for everyone,” she says. “It’s a really beautiful project because it feels very inclusive in that sense.”

On a similar note, Singer tells me the team has taken a lot of time to ensure it’s as culturally sensitive and accurate as possible, learning about Chinese culture, 19th-century China, consulting and working with people of Chinese heritage, and more. Working with Chinese experts is why The Pirate Queen features properly displayed red lacquered wood aboard ships, era-specific art, time period-accurate calligraphy, and properly woven mats on ship floors.

Lead artist Will Brosch describes The Pirate Queen as a brains-over-brawns experience. “You are outmaneuvering your opponents in a diplomatic sense, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get your hands dirty in other ways,” he says.

That’s clear from the 20-minute demo I watched. There aren’t swords clashing and gunpowder explosives lighting the horizon – Brosch says there isn’t any hand-to-hand combat in the game, although he does tease the use of cannons – but instead, bite-sized puzzles to solve. One example is a door with a lock in the captain’s cabin aboard the ship that used to be Sao’s. Various symbols mark the lock, and after throwing some rocks at some pottery on top of a cabinet, the player discovers more symbols on the wall. They line up the symbols on the lock with those on the wall to open it and move through the door.

“There’s a lot of cognitive puzzle stuff,” Brosch explains. “The script is quite narrative, linking back to our film background, and it’s about finding gameplay that fits within the script.”

This highlights Singer Studio’s story-first approach to The Pirate Queen, which is vital because Shih’s story is important to tell in a landscape drenched with male-driven piracy, be it games, movies, TV shows, or books. Singer tells me that approach helped the team land actress Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Volume 1, Charlie‘s Angels) as an executive producer and the voice of the titular pirate queen.

“After we got accepted into [the Tribeca Film Festival], we reached out to her team and said, “We’re developing this project, and it’s really exciting. Is it something that she would be interested in coming on board with?'” Singer says. “And her team responded really warmly to the project and said, ‘This story is incredible.'”

Singer says it’s not a story Liu knew about, and she couldn’t believe it was real. Now, she’s the voice of Shih and is on board to presumably help the team flesh out this universe. The Pirate Queen VR game is just the start. There are plans for a movie next in the vein of a biopic, a graphic novel, a podcast, and a TV series with Beijing, China-based studio Seesaw Films, which is behind 2019’s The Farewell starring Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi).

Lucy Liu recording VO for the game

“I think it reflects the studio and our values and foundations, which is that we are transmedia,” Singer says. “The whole idea is that we want to tell stories to different audiences on different platforms.”

On the differences between VR production and moviemaking, immersive producer Siobhan McDonnell says the biggest contrast comes in autonomy. “Where do you want your constraints?” she asks. “The autonomy of the player is about the illusion that you can go wherever you want in this story world, but actually, in terms of design, you do want the player to do certain objectives. It’s this beautiful fusion of, ‘Go explore and be free, but we kind of want you to do this part of the game.’ And I think mixing those two things can be challenging because you need it to be covert.”

McDonnell and Brosch mention bread crumbs as a way to do that – shining glints on required objects, lighting cues, sounds, and in-world narration from Shih are all ways to guide the player toward the golden path. Brosch adds that players are more prone to getting overwhelmed in VR than in other games and that in VR development, it’s crucial to find ways to prevent this, lest you risk losing the player. Singer says testing has helped the team a lot in this regard, and it’s a facet of game development she’s excited to bring into the studio’s moviemaking.

Testing has helped the team fight against the potential motion sickness that comes with every VR project. Programmer Hankun Yu says he never gets motion sickness in VR, but in a now-cut segment of the game where players swung on a rope to go from one ship to the next, he had reached “6-out-of-10” sickness. With the problem of motion sickness in The Pirate Queen solved – I have to take the team’s word for it until I can play it myself – Yu is excited for people to one day connect this historical story to something he tangibly worked on.

With that release arriving early next year, the team is excited for it to get into players’ hands.

“As an artist, I always hope that the player, especially in VR, takes the headset off and realizes that they forgot where they were, and that they were totally immersed in the world,” Brosch says. McDonnell tells me she just wants players to feel like badasses.

I enjoy the demo I’m shown of The Pirate Queen, and I enjoy speaking to the team behind it just as much. Singer, Brosch, and the others I talk to are passionate about Shih’s story and bringing it to life respectably and excitingly through VR. It’s tough to say just how enjoyable it is to experience without going hands-on, but what I’ve seen and heard excites me to do so when it launches next year.

Creative director Eloise Singer and lead actress Lucy Liu

“For people to say, ‘I had no idea about that story, that was amazing, that was so much fun,’ that’s all I want,” Singer tells me. “We’re creating something to shed light on the history and a woman people don’t know about.”

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