#losing over how food the dlc was

[luxelio]

A bonnie I doodled I love him,,,, I must learn how to draw him better

[cbs-scorpion-coffee-shop]

Ok, hear me out:

Kratos, after the events of the Valhalla DLC, is sleeping peacefully in his home, until someone knocks on his door.

"I didn't know who else to go to." says Thor.

Thor, who had ascended to a higher existence after being killed by his father, rejected that existence and decided to live another live. He wanted to be better for his family, but he didn't want to return to them the way he was. He wanted to change first. So he went to the one person who knew how.

Kratos tells Thor about his past and he realizes that if Kratos can change then so can he.

"You kid is lucky." Thor says. "I hope mine can be as lucky as yours one day."

Kratos decides to take him to Valhalla as a start. An opportunity provided to Thor by Odin's betrayal.

Kratos goes to Lunda in the realm between realms and gets a mace and shield for Thor like the ones Modi had. On his way out of the house, Ratatoskr asks Kratos for a favor and says he'll reward him with materials. Kratos asks for another reward instead. For bitter squirrel to be Thor's partner in Valhalla. Kratos believed the similarities between them would make Thor feel at ease.

Kratos, Mimir and Thor, with much conversation between the three on the boat, go to the same shore and after much trouble, convince Freya to help them and not tell anyone. Especially Sif and Thrud.

"Well, at least with Odin gone, there's no one for him to serve. We could make good use of-" Freya says

"No." Kratos cuts her off. "He is Odin's monster no longer, and he will not be ours. To help us or not is your choice."

Freya sighs "I'm only doing it for you, you know."

"Thank you, Freya."

"Of course."

Thor, with bitter as a partner, tackles Valhalla.

Many obstacles stand in his way: The fact that he simply isn't a disciplined warrior, but a fat dude swinging a hammer, and the new weapons are something he isn't used to. The years of trauma inflicted on him by Odin. The death of his mother which he blames himself for. His refusal to embrace the Johtunar part of himself. His refusal to think and feel.

He tries and fails for many months. He lives with Kratos and Mimir and they get to know eachother better. He has Kratos train him, and eventually, with the help of Kratos, Mimir, Tyr, Freya and surprisingly bitter who turned out to be a better companion for Thor than Kratos could ever for, Thor manages to come to terms with his past, and finally battles Tyr and wins.

However, as soon as he peeks at what's behind the door, he quits. He decides that he doesn't wanna try anymore. Everyone else is wondering why, but Kratos knows why. He knows what's behind that door, or rather who.

Modi.

Killing his son. Thor could could never come to terms with that. It took Kratos over a hundred years to heal from that.

He goes to the spot where Modi died to remember his son. He looks above, and he is caught by the last thing he wished to be caught by.

Jormungandur.

He battles it, but due to not having his hammer, and the poison being his weakness, he loses and is knocked unconscious.

He wakes up a bed, wrapped in bandages. It wasn't Kratos's home, or any he'd ever known. The little boy sitting on the edge of the bed greets him. He has red hair darker than his and doesn't look older than three winters. His mother, a dwarf woman, tends to Thor and tells him that her husband saved him and to rest while her husband hunts for food. He tries to decline and just leave, but he can barely walk two steps.

Thor complies, and stays in bed.

He finds out that he is in a magical forest. Those unwanted and shunned by their own people come here to escape. Some dwarves, some giants, some Aseir, Vanir and many others, and that the forest is hidden by her husband's magic, and that he insisted on bringing him here.

Bedridden Thor occasionally talks to the boy and bonds with him. He finds out that the boy has giant blood in him, and works out that his father is a giant or at least has giant blood. No wonder his father never wanted to meet him.

The GiantSlayer he was would strike fear in any giant. He was nowhere near being better. His progress didn't matter to these people. but then why did he save him? That didn't matter as well. As soon as he gets better, he's leaving. It's better this way.

One day, he woke up at sunrise and found that no one was home. He found that he could walk and decided to just leave. He made his way through the forest, but it was a labyrinth. He found himself lost. It must be the father's magic. The excited laughter of the boy playing with his father and mother echoed through the forest. He wanted to thank them and say goodbye to the boy. He followed their voices. The boy was playing hide and seek with his father. It sounded like the boy was the seeker and his father was winning.

The father's voice was familiar. His heart grew heavy as he got closer to the source of the voice.

"It can't be." He whispered to himself.

He reached them, and the sight of the father struck him like a thousand lightning bolts.

Modi.

-Think I should continue this fic?

[ganondoodle]

some random ideas for the totk rewritten project

krog (korok) seeds

i think i found a way to include krog seeds even if i reintroduced bags for expanding your inventory- what if the krog seeds are redeemed for the amiibo sets and maybe a few new things? that way you are not forced to engage with krog puzzles if you are tired of them and its not essential either, you can choose what armor set you want instead of being "surpised" by the same link hat three times in a row for fighting your way through the depths (like i was lol)

considering im rewriting the krog forest to be like a minidungeon with a unique miniboss and boss AND you start the quest for restoring the master sword there i think that this is acceptable

what if one of the expensive rewards was a krog armor set that includes the mask from the botw DLC but adds two more pieces, its effect could be to turn invisible as the krogs are to most people; considering how they are not invisible to everyone it could still work with important NPCs still seeing you AND you could run through monster camps without them chasing you if you just want to get through without you attacking them- since its expensive you gotta gather alot of krog seeds to buy it meaning it wouldnt make encounters much easier bc you have to fight alot of monsters before being able to afford it anyway and the effect is removed once you attack an enemy .... or maybe once you are spotted you can stand still and the effect restores itself nhfkjdnkjfdk

food + storage

to raise the difficulty a little i thought about bringing bottles back, they are physical items this time with a limited number and are able to store medicine and soup that has no expiration date; personally i like cooking tho so i want to keep it, maybe with the effect of being a bit more limited in number and, while not spoiling completely, it loses some of its effectiveness over time

how you use them im not yet sure, either the same way in inventory (which i think i will go for since i dont want to change it that drastically and with the added balance of limitation i think that is still fine) or on some kind of item wheel you can set yourself like in skyward sword

there are bags you can find as bigger items that will expand your weapon, shield or bow inventory slots, perhaps a small bag gives you one and a big one two slots- it would be a bigger and different reward for exploring or quests and fills the spot for inventory expansion

theres a chest in links house (i thought maybe links house is still links but they built onto it so zelda has a place to stay as well, like a bigger/double house) that can hold armor sets if you dont want to keep carrying all of them around but dont want to sell them either

repairable weapons through zelda

weapons still break but are full weapons again, i found the excuse of them all being useless now through the cataclysm ... somehow for some reason a pretty blatant way for forcing you to fuse stuff bc its literally the only viable thing to do, but i like the idea of inventing new weapons with materials; to balance it out and give you an incentive to help out your friends i figured that at first weapons still break, but in each region is a smith that can teach zelda (who is your companion in this rewrite) how to repair weapons of a certain type (zora, spear, goron, two handed, rito, bows, gerudo, one handed-- perhaps it is a longer quest of idk .. bringing certain weapons to those smith or similar) which she can do anywhere outside combat;

how broken the weapon is determines how much extra material she may need to do it- im still working on it but i got the idea of the status of the weapon being symbolized in three stages, fine, damaged and broken; damaged is the one that needs less material to fix up, broken costs more- a broken one might still occupy an inventory slot but is unusable or very very bad damage wise, you can throw it away either manually or when you try to pick up a new one you can choose if you want to swap it out (just like they did with stuff from chests in totk .. idk why they didnt add that to in game weapons lying on the ground too) or choose to keep it and repair it once you are out of combat

arrow types

i dont like the menuing in totk for the arrows ... it was one of the most frustrating things to deal with (especialyl bc it sorted your inventory too??? when you used the sorting in the quick menu???) so i wanted to change that a little, havign to go into the quick menu everytime for each arrow i find tedious too, so;

there are more arrow types but they are craftable with arrows and materials, you can craft them in bulk out of combat (the typical types from botw -fire,eletric,ice,bombs- but then add those confusion ones, wind, the cloudy shroom thingy, poison .. perhaps a few more if i can think of more but not too mayn to not clutter it again)

enigma stones function

i wanted to change how enigma stones function somewhat, they dont "enhance" the ability of the champion/sage (i still wanna call them chmapions bc thats what they areeeee) it allows them to link an ability of theirs to link without the orginal champion having to be present or dead, the stones come in set of two each and function somewhat like a magic communication between the player and the champion, once you obtain the second piece its embedded into links shiekah arm prosthetic (also something of my rewrite) and allow him to call upon their ability at will through a second selection wheel

ranch ruins

the ranch ruins i wanted to be rebuild (bc thats cool and i thought restoration was a theme? lol) and maybe you help rebuild it proper and as thanks you can put your horses there to roam around all at once when not taken out to ride, not a big gameplay thing but a neat quest with a rebuilding thing of a building we havent seen in its prime and a neat addition of letting you see all your horsies at once :)

(totk rewritten project)

[yakool-foolio]

Okay, now that you have survivedfinished the Yakou DLC, I can finally ask this question: do you plan to incorporate some of the elements from the DLC like the badge/pill since it seems like they can play a role in the AU?

I'd love to incorporate the badge into my Death Knight Yakou AU. I've been meaning to slightly rework how chapter 5 plays out by aligning it closer to my fix-it for the canon chapter 5. And by that, I'd like to have the NDA detectives have more involvement in the final showdown, or in this AU's case, the aftermath of it.

All the NDA detectives are knocked out by Makoto's sleeping gas and dragged over to the abandoned village to be homunculi food. Yakou is taken along with them because Makoto decided that the chief needs to learn the hard way about why Kanai Ward's greatest mystery can never be solved. A majority of the group is scattered about the area as they do their 'field research' and leave notes of their revelations as breadcrumbs for Yakou and Yuma to find so they can regroup.

Wait a minute. I just checked my watch, and would ya look at that! It's time for another Viviakou moment! As Yakou and Yuma trek through the ruins of the abyssal laboratory that housed Project Homunculus, they encounter a lone Vivia staring off into the distance. Yakou nearly trips down the stairs to get to him, Yuma worriedly following close behind. Vivia mutters something before turning to face the duo, a lining of relief in his tired eyes. As Yakou rattles off about how afraid he was of losing his detectives, Vivia quiets him down as he hands him a disc. Vivia explains that he went digging through the skeletal remains of the facility and managed to find it. But after he did, a distinct ghostly voice pulled him further down into the depths like a siren's song. As he mentions this voice, Vivia steps aside to reveal a faint violet silhouette standing before them. Yakou's eyes widen and glow in the warm light of the apparition. Yuma mumbles to himself about Vivia radiating waves of purple caused by the passive ability of the phantom detective's Forte. Vivia not only recovered the disc, he also found the wandering soul of Yakou's wife roaming the lab.

Thanks to Yakou putting her soul to rest by solving the mystery of her death, she's free to walk about as a spirit, though her communication is limited. Only Vivia can hear her. Vivia speaks her words, thanking Yakou for all he's done to avenge her and hopes her assistance will prove useful. She can't do much other than help Vivia salvage what is left unbroken from the wreckage, but she promises she'll find something of worth. Yakou's heartstrings are tugged by her caring words in Vivia's cool tone. He swore to protect anyone under his wing, so he'll continue to care for his detectives just as he did for her. His wife finishes off by saying she and Vivia will continue searching the facility for something she lost long ago. She wishes the best of luck to Yakou and the rookie Yuma, Vivia repeating the same in his own words. The two fade into the shadows, leaving Yakou and Yuma by themselves again. Yakou shoves aside his fears and doubts, determination reignited from their heartfelt talk.

In the aftermath of the final Mystery Labyrinth, Yakou, Yuma, and Makoto regain their composure as the NDA detectives burst into the bathhouse. They clamber over the chief and rookie, worried for their safety. There's a lot of explaining to go around. Vivia remains in the back of the crowd as he fidgets with something in his hand. Yakou notices his reserved nature and makes time to step aside and let Yuma and Makoto do the talking for a while. Yakou questions what Vivia is holding, and the phantom wordlessly responds as he holds up an old badge, 'Nocturnal Detective Agency' scrawled in marker along the edges. Vivia tells the story of two ghosts finding solidarity as they tread the mortal realm, both desiring to set things right with the one they love. While they seem to speak of the same person, they realize one has fallen for the past and the other the future. Both find solace in their own perspectives of their loved one; she looks back fondly while he looks ahead assuredly. After mingling together in the present, they have to return to their times. However, the ghost of the past offers the ghost of the future a parting gift. A physical reminder to carry the past with them so that the future will always be bright. He accepts her wish, carrying the torch to lighten the path laid in front of him. Her gift is this badge, or more importantly, what's inside of it. Yakou takes it in his hands and flips open the star emblem, revealing a single pill inside. Vivia doesn't need to tell him anything, as the memories of his wife's discussions of her work serve him well. With this single pill, they're one leap of faith closer to saving all of Kanai Ward.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: What would your idea of a good Fighting Game Story Mode be structured? How would you go about it im designing it?

So far, I think BlazBlue, Injustice and Mortal Kombat (9, X, 11 and 1) have the best fighting game story modes while incorporating the gameplay into the narative in my honest opinion. Even Tekken 8 appeared to takes notes and than some and I haven't even played the game yet!

While Guilty Gear Xrd (SIGN, Revelator, Rev 2) and StrIVe had a good story and fantastic cinematic presentation, it sadly loses points for having no gameplay. It says something when Arc System posted StrIVe's story mode on YouTube for people to watch if they didn't want the game. While the older Guilty Gear story modes are old fashioned, they still provide a good story on top of you ACTUALLY playing the fights out, no matter how ridiculous it may seem at points (like Axl Low being unable to jump due to overeating Jam's food... 😂).

As much as people have beef with some games for "not being interactive enough", there's such a thing as being "too interactive".

Let's put it this way, in the original Guilty Gear XX, story mode itself was a MAZE... and if you took the wrong route, you'd fight a super hard unkillable boss if you weren't careful.

Take my word for it... Reload and Accent Core hold your hand compared to the original "unpatched" GGXX. And that's STORY Mode... it's not even Mission mode, which the game is even MORE notorious for!

QTEs, button mashing sequences, stuff like Asura's Wrath... in my humble opinion all that interactivity is a bit overkill.

If a player wants to relax and enjoy the story, let them relax... don't make them jump through flaming hoops if they don't want to.

OPTIONS. That's what it boils down to.

OPTIONS... GIVE THE PLAYER OPTIONS TO CHOOSE TO FIGHT OR SKIP OR SAVE SOMEWHERE.

Let them experience the game their own way.

Even with Mortal Kombat 11, you can create a custom A.I. to fight the towers and story missions for you and just sit back and relax for that whole ordeal.

It doesn't always have to be a huge button mashing fest or super boss challenge or some twisted guessing game with random negative status effects thrown at you like snowballs from hell.

A little balance goes a long way, whether you specialize in action games, fighting games, or just want to sit and read like it's a Visual Novel (or in my case and preference, a comic book).

Soul Calibur 6 created the ingenious Mercenary System for precisely this reason... Hire Mercs to fight your battles for you... it makes things easy, lets you negotiate tougher challenges a bit, until you get what you came for. For tougher fights, you can prepare equipment ahead of time and strategize like it's an RPG.

When telling a story, the more options that story has, the better the experience.

And even if you want multiple "routes" to open up player creativity or just to hide a few secrets, there's ways to do that in a very structured manner.

Final Fantasy XV has multiple endings for its DLC, and the game lets you approach those in a very simple manner, you can even revisit some points easily based on where you last saved your game.

For more dramatic encounters, make it an "optional boss fight" with incentives if the player overcomes the challenge. Not that hard a concept to work out.

Capcom had some of the best rewards for defeating bosses in the past with their games, and such a thing would be no exception in games like Tekken as well. Even Darkstalkers.

But, like I said, some of the BEST stories come from games that don't think it's a fighting game at all... Libra of Souls in Soul Calibur 6 is a mode I will never stop lauding the praises of.

As a concept it is the true successor of the original Edge Master Mode from Soul Blade/Soul Edge, the very first Project Soul game.

I just think more fighting games need to be treated like RPGs, and more RPGs need to be treated like fighting games.

[flecks-of-stardust]

A summary and analysis of my thoughts on Rain World: Downpour

Since I've beat the game pretty thoroughly now, I can actually do this. The short version:

Campaign whose gameplay I enjoyed the most: Artificer, by a long shot Campaign whose lore I think fits into the preexisting world best: Gourmand Most interesting story concepts: Saint Heaviest hitting story: Three way tie between Rivulet, Saint, and Artificer, all for different reasons. Honorable mention to Spearmaster Cool specbio possibilities: Spearmaster

I definitely enjoyed Downpour as a whole, both as a DLC and for the additional lore it provides even if some things may not be objectively canon; some things have more wiggle room than others, but considering Downpour is essentially Videocult endorsed, I'm willing to put stock into certain aspects. The new mechanics were fun to learn and mess around with, the stories were overall very interesting, and I had a lot of fun losing my god damn mind over these slugs. There are some major issues I have with Downpour though, one of the most major being how some campaigns diverge explicitly from the core theme of the vanilla game. I appreciate what Downpour added, but this is definitely not going to be all cheers and praise.

The rest of this will be going under a cut cause it's gonna be long.

This will be split into sections for easier reading and for easier writing for my poor sleep deprived brain. Saint's campaign broke me, yall. I've been operating on 5 hours of sleep all day.

Raw gameplay enjoyment

This one definitely goes to Arti. Her movement is practically unmatched; while Riv goes really fast and Saint lets you climb a lot of surfaces, Arti's bomb jumping combined with her permanent spear pulling ability makes her able to traverse almost anything. This is the first time I've ever dared traverse the Underhang, one of my favorite areas, without bringing a grapple worm with me. It was honestly amazing.

Her whole campaign is also just really, really fun for me. I like fighting things, but being forced to learn how to fight scavengers was honestly a delight. This is the most fun I've ever had repeatedly dying in a game, and it was for a multitude of reasons too, be it a stupid platforming death (happened a lot while I was learning how to use her bomb jump), getting overwhelmed by enemies, or just cackling at some wild lucky hit by a scav. And even beyond scavengers, fighting other things that would normally make me shriek and run away as other characters just became... average, really. I took down my first king vulture in Arti's campaign, and all it really took was an explosive spear (and the KV wedging itself into the wall, but shh).

Mechanically she's just... fun. She's so fun. And! You have basically no consequence for dying anyway! You have food EVERYWHERE and it's extremely easy to kill things to eat, explosives thrown at point blank range do little more than stun you, and aggression is encouraged. So even if you fuck up and die 200 times (literally my count was 200+ in 27 cycles LMAO) there's like... zero bearing on your progress in the game. And I really like that. It was still brutal, don't get me wrong. I think around three quarters of those 200 deaths, probably more, were from scavengers. But part of Rain World's original difficulty was that losing karma would lock you out of traversing regions eventually, and Arti kind of... removes that restriction. I will say it's really fucking annoying to have to look for karma 5 scavengers if you're trying to pass a karma 5 gate, but I really only had to do that twice and that was because I wanted to explore. It's kind of just... natural, I guess, for the structure of her campaign. I'm not good enough at combat to really do it cleanly myself, but I imagine people who are even more confident in their ability to go full on warpath mode with scavengers had less of an issue with this.

Gourmand quite easily takes second place after Arti, with almost as much combat ability as her if you use their abilities right and the added benefit of being able to make like half the game's items if you have the right things. Their food requirement was kind of daunting at first, but I was almost always able to eat up to full food, and it really wasn't that much of a challenge. Mechanically, too, their body slam move is really fucking funny, and I will forever be sad they patched out the tendency of Gourmand launching enemies across the map when rolling into them. Shoutout to that one white lizard on the wall that I landed on and totally crushed the spine of without me even seeing it, because I was trying to go fast and was not expecting an enemy one screen down. The exhaustion mechanic didn't bother me too much and honestly made me more confident with the starving mechanic, which I'm grateful for; that was probably the only reason why I even tried to starve on Arti when I had to shelter because of the rain. And overall, Gourmand's campaign was pretty chill, a nice middle ground of difficulty between Survivor and Hunter. It was a good stepping stone after finishing my Hunter run.

Least favorite mechanically was Saint. It got really irritating really fast to not be able to throw spears, and not even to kill things. I can stun things with rocks, sure, but that doesn't help me if I'm in a narrow space (which Saint has a lot of) and the place I want to go to doesn't have alternate paths (which Saint has a lot of). It got so, so fucking tiring to have to wait for enemies to fucking move, especially with the ridiculous abundance of spiders and spitter spiders everywhere I went. This campaign was the one I used dev tools the most on because I genuinely just got sick of waiting, because not only did that mean I wouldn't get anywhere when exploring, I would also waste time that would otherwise be spent eating food—which is also harder to get because Saint is strictly vegetarian!—or finding a shelter so I didn't freeze to death. You can only get spawn camped so many times before you get annoyed and all. Except instead of spawn camping you get the same fucking enemies camping the same fucking pipes forever. Good luck trying to get anywhere if you don't have karma 10. My god. The tongue was fun, but again, it does Not help if you're in a cramped space.

Spearmaster and Riv were... eh. Average. Fun in that I enjoyed them, average in that they didn't invoke any particular feelings in me. Definitely irritating that they introduced Spearmaster's dual spear wielding gimmick and then. Took it away from you. Lmao. What the hell honestly. But I had fun with all the campaigns overall.

Vanilla Lore Compliance

Gourmand takes this one easily. I like it because it's one of the most removed from the iterators' stories, similar to Survivor and Monk's campaigns. While that's a little sad, I'll admit, it fits a lot better with the core theme of the game. You're not the protagonist. You're a slugcat, trying to survive in this hostile world that was never designed for your existence. You can stumble your way into the lives of beings truly godlike in comparison to you, but you're not even a speck of dust in the grander scheme of things. You're nothing.

But you are you, and Gourmand embodies that very well. Literally too fat to give a shit, good for them. Their whole journey is just to eat well and sleep well and that translates so well to both gameplay and lore, and it's lovely. Lore wise, I also really like that ascending Gourmand gets you almost nothing, and doesn't even count as a proper game clear, because Gourmand is so so removed from anything to do with the ancients as a whole, which is actually something i had a bit of an issue with even in the vanilla lore. Who gives a shit about ascending? You're a slugcat, god dammit. The only things you think about are food, shelter, and danger. And maybe shiny pearls. What does the cycle matter to you? You're just trying to survive. So I really like Gourmand's true, Outer Expanse ending, especially the story implications of the ending cutscenes if you also finish their food quest. You're just exploring this new land, looking for food and safe places to rest in, because you're a slugcat with a family. What more could you want as a slugcat?

Arti is also fairly lore compliant, mostly because she. Uh. Has like no bearing on the lore lmfao. Her story is the most isolated from those of the iterators; she would have done what she did regardless of Pebbles' input. (Gourmand too, but that's not relevant here.) But her story also doesn't really tie back into the original theme of the game, so I can't really comment much on her campaign in terms of lore compliance. Still loved it though! Really liked the reasoning behind letting Pebbles read pearls for you.

Riv and Saint are terrible in terms of lore compliance, and it's a big issue I have with both their campaigns. I'm sure everyone's thought along these lines already, but both of them go directly against the core theme of the vanilla game, which again, is that you are not the protagonist. Riv is probably worse than Saint in this regard, because the events of her campaign require her direct input to occur, while Saint, you can argue they're just an observer of the world in the distant future. But they're both really really bad on this. I still enjoyed the story, but seriously? You're going to tell me someone purposed a slugcat to intentionally go inside an interator to retrieve possibly the most dangerous item in this world to date? And apparently, according to dev notes, Riv wasn't created by an iterator. Which makes no sense and I've elected to ignore that piece of information considering Riv spawns in with the mark of communication and a pearl with schematics of the inner workings of iterator cans. This is peak protagonist behavior. It's nice to get character development on Pebbles, but this really is just... bad. Lol. For canon lore. I really don't take anything Riv does in her campaign as objective fact.

Spearmaster is kinda just there. Not implausible by any means, given Hunter's campaign, though there's some timeline inconsistencies with Moon's collapse if you look through the vanilla pearls and compare the years. It's not that big of an issue though.

Story Concept Execution

As much as I have issues with Saint's campaign, I have to give this one to them. From start to finish it's just shock after shock, blow after blow after blow of oh god, the world's so different. Every change was at least interesting, even if I don't approve of some of them; I liked piecing together that the rain cycle doesn't exist anymore, and rather it's now based on whether you're freezing or not. The little details in how the world has changed are really charming too, especially in how lots of things are now fluffy because it's bitterly cold. Though Riv, Spearmaster and Arti have marked world changes, none are quite as striking as those found in Saint's campaign. It's truly like exploring a new world, except you can still see the old one in it, and it's a strange, somewhat bittersweet, somewhat melancholy feeling to go through the various areas, especially when Saint's campaign naturally takes you through most of the regions. The Undergrowth as a whole, where it used to be Drainage System, really hammers it home I think. You're witnessing the world reclaim itself from what the ancients did to it, for better or for worse, and though it's sad to see the old world go, it's kind of a relief to see it start to push back.

The layout of the world on a more meta sense is also really, really cool. I loved the detail of the old Underhang-Five Pebbles The Region gate now being the link between Silent Construct and Frigid Coast. I loved seeing, despite how horrifying it is story wise, how Pebbles' can has decayed and changed after all these years, and how life has reclaimed his arrays and chambers. I also really really loved the fact that each area has been renamed to reflect its current state; going through Sky Islands (Windswept Spires) to Farm Arrays (Desolate Fields) to Outskirts (Suburban something, I missed the second word) and beyond... it's very haunting in a way I thoroughly enjoyed. It felt a lot like picking through shattered pieces of glass and trying to piece them back together into a coherent shape again, while also knowing that it's never going to be what it once was.

Additionally, I absolutely adored the monologue changes of the already existing echoes, just mentally comparing the differences between what they say in Saint's time and what they say to the other slugcats. And the new echoes too! I keep thinking about the Undergrowth echo, how they mention they never wanted to ascend. It hits you so so hard with how the old world the ancients built is nothing but rubble and ice now. How they, too, were just people, trying so hard to do what they thought would bring them peace, and some of them not finding it even after what they thought would be an eternal rest. It just adds to the overall melancholy feeling of Saint's version of the world.

I don't think I have a clear second place or last place campaign for this category. They all held up on story execution in their own right, but none stood out quite as starkly as Saint's campaign did. They did well to force you to play Spearmaster and Rivulet first before Saint would be unlocked; without the context of both Spearmaster's pre-collapse time and Riv's post-collapse, heavily Rot infested time, Saint's story wouldn't have hit as hard.

Story Impact

It's really hard for me to pick one definitive favorite for this category because all the Downpour cats have such good stories for such different reasons, but Arti, Riv and Saint's campaigns definitely gripped me really, really hard. Spearmaster's did too, but a little less so, and not for Spearmaster himself; I was in it for Moon.

Arti held my interest from the start. It's no secret I'm an avid tragedy and horror enjoyer, and Arti's whole campaign is painted in the blood of her pups. Besides just being mechanically fun, I found myself constantly on the edge for more of her story, always wanting to find out more about what happened to her, what happened to her pups, what happened to make her hate scavengers so much she committed to killing them all. Though the final execution of her actual story felt a little flat, I still really loved the ideas behind her story, and she was the first one to make me destroy my sleep schedule to try and finish her campaign. The whole concept of a mother's rage extending so far that it locks her out of a true release is so so sad and I love it. I love her rage, I love her grief, I love her ceaseless violence that only perpetuates the cycle further, I love how hard it hits when you kill the Chief Scav and how little you get out of that. Her story is an exercise in futility and yet you will root for her. It's gutting and it's beautiful. I also know most of what happens in her other ending, and that just drives it home even more, I think. That her love and her grief is so strong that it prevents her from obtaining a true rest, forever separated from her pups after fighting for them for so long. It's heartbreaking and yet it fits so well. Very fitting for Rain World's overall melancholy world.

Riv and Saint both went for my throat with Pebbles' state, but in different ways. With Riv you get to see the horror of how much the Rot has overtaken his can. It was a fun and horrifying moment to enter via the wall and drop down, and then get stunned by the fall to finally realize that wait, the zero gravity is broken. And then seeing the proto daddies at the end and then encrusted over the pipe that would normally lead to GSB, and also the gaping hole in the side of his chamber and him just sitting on the floor, dejected. He sounds so defeated from the start, so frustrated but in a way that's more just tired than angry, or angry at himself rather than at the world. How desperate do you have to be as something so powerful, wielding so much knowledge, to ask some random critter that flopped into your chamber to save your long time friend (whose state you yourself caused)? And to ask them to go deep into your systems and remove the power source keeping you alive, no less? It drives home the passage of time between Monk's campaign and Riv's, and really nicely shows how Pebbles has changed as a person, even if it took everything literally falling to pieces around him to finally get there. I really get it, though, the fear of yourself and your actions and knowing you objectively messed up, but being too afraid and ashamed to ask for help. It's very brave of him to even ask Riv to do what he did, when he spends the last six campaigns telling slugcats to fuck off in no uncertain terms because he's so certain he has to fix this on his own. And the post game too, when you go back to his chamber and he just looks sad and finally agrees that he doesn't have to do this alone? Gut wrenching. They really went for everyone's hearts with Riv.

Which is just driven further home in Saint's campaign, when you find him sitting out in the snow in the remains of his can, his chamber not even a chamber anymore, and with barely enough of himself together to greet Saint when they stumble into him. He has only his music pearl left, and even that is distorted by time, and if you take it to Moon she pleads you to bring it back to him because it's all he has left. Any of his former bite is gone, replaced only by stuttering curiosity and confusion, and he even thanks you for keeping him company if you return enough times. You spend so long seeing him as this unreachable, untouchable presence that gives you some directions in an aloof way and maybe helps you out a bit, just to see him in this state of ruin, barely alive. I've never had a more visceral reaction to seeing him than I did in Saint's campaign, nor have I ever been more determined to find him. Like, stepping into what used to be Shaded Citadel, finding the Husk and realizing Pebbles collapsed because of course he did, he tells you that when you play as Riv, realizing why it's not shaded anymore, and seeing the state of his can... it's heartbreaking. The fact that there's so little of him left is heartbreaking.

And then on top of that, you get to actively choose to end his misery. To grant him the one thing he spent literally his whole life toiling for. And to me, it felt cruel, almost. It didn't even feel like mercy. And you can choose to do the same thing to Moon, too. It's all framed in such desolate but clear terms: the old world is dying, and a new one is emerging. Is it better to leave Moon there and allow her to slowly decay? But is ascending her a good option either? Is Pebbles truly more at peace like this? And it just makes me think about how both iterators may have felt watching Saint start glowing and flying, and then suddenly their souls are wrenched out of their bodies. And then after you reach the end of Rubicon, if you ascended either one or both of them, you can find them at the end, talking to you and telling you, perhaps a bit vaguely, that none of this is real. That none of what you did has lasting impact, that Pebbles is likely still out there in the snow, that Moon is still going to slowly decay like he did, that Saint, despite it all, is still trying to do this over and over and over again, because that is what an echo does. I haven't cried this hard at a game in a really long time, and I immediately started sobbing when I poked my head into the chamber and saw both of them there, the way they looked when in their prime, just to be told that my actions meant nothing in the end. It was absolutely devastating, but that really just cements how powerful Saint's story is. And here I realize that probably means Saint has the most powerful story impact, but it's truly hard to compare to Arti's and Riv's because the impact is different for all of them.

Then you have Spearmaster, where you get to explore Moon before she collapsed. I sobbed when I got to Neural Terminus and saw Moon's gorgeous blue and pink interior with Reflection of the Moon playing, just mourning all that she lost, all that Pebbles took from her, and despite it all, somehow, she's still kind and patient. Getting to see her as powerful as we will ever see her, while also knowing how much she loses and that this is not even close to what she would have been like in her prime, was just so so gutting. We're never going to know what Moon was like before it all happened, but this comes close to it, and it hurts. In a sense, it's a nice juxtaposition to what Riv and Saint show of her and Pebbles, and also just draws on an objective fact. Before and after the events of the vanilla game, Pebbles and Moon were or will be different. We only get to see glimpses of it.

Gourmand really doesn't have any stock here. Their ending is sweet, for sure, I cried twice at their ending, but the impact of knowing how Moon and Pebbles change and also the impacts of Arti's grief and rage really stuck with me more.

Uh, a section just for Spearmaster?

As you may have been able to tell from the analysis and summary above, I kind of didn't really think much of Spearmaster's campaign. I personally did not find it too hard (though I had experience dragging around two pups before that, so I was used to only having one active hand by then), but it's just frustrating to be introduced to a cool mechanic and then have it removed from you if you give a shit about the story. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the concept of them as a purposed being. Why do they have no mouth? Why are they able to secrete spears? How and why do they have to eat from these spears? Why did Suns choose to create this creature? Wouldn't it have been easier to just take an existing slugcat and modify it like Sig did? So many questions. Their biology is funky and I enjoy it.

That's sort of it, though. While I did like Spearmaster's campaign overall, it really doesn't hold up to any of the other campaigns. Which is a bit disappointing, but oh well.

Downpour Overall

The concepts and stories introduced here were absolutely stunning, and I had a blast playing through all the campaigns, even if I did employ the use of dev tools a fair bit in certain campaigns (mostly Saint and a bit in Riv tbh), and I also turned on 'keep key items on passage' to speed things up. I do have a little bit of an issue with how certain parts of some campaigns cough Spearmaster and Saint cough felt very much like you'd need your karma to be high to be able to effectively traverse the map, while also really limiting your options for actually gaining karma, but maybe that's a bit of a problem on my end for not being a good enough gamer lmao. I dunno. I just don't enjoy karma grinding on something so story focused. On Survivor and Monk it's whatever, but I know the world and the story by now. I really hated having to just eat and sleep just so I could move on in the story, and eventually I just resorted to spawning food in with Beastmaster here and there so I could actually fucking save my progress. But overall? It was so so fun.

I am a little miffed that some of the campaigns directly go against how the vanilla game was structured, but I'm also delighted that we pretty much have dev approval for character development of characters like Pebbles and Moon, and to some extent Sig(!) and Suns. I personally work with the iterators a lot with stories, so I'm just piling up all of this information and shoving my face into it. I'm so happy about this asdkfgkklsdkl and generally, I think I'm just going to take the different timelines you can see with the various campaigns as snapshots of different moments in time. Do I honestly believe Riv could have achieved what she did? Do I genuinely believe Saint could or should have helped either iterator ascend? No, not really. Spearmaster I could believe more, but he's really a footnote in the broader story, an observer to this world that he really has no say in. I think that would capture the nature of Rain World better. You may not be the main character, but you can still view this world through the lens of something that exists in it.

Difficulty wise, it was okay for me personally, and mostly the dev tooling and assists were to help with me getting irritated more than objective difficulty I'd say? Like, I definitely could have done it legit, but it would take about three times as long and I just wanted to explore, for fuck's sake, and I wanted the rest of the story. Saint and Spearmaster were definitely harder in some respects, and Arti is a difficulty Cliff for some people, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the game, especially with remix options now.

Remix is definitely something I really really love though. For the longest time, I could not securely recommend Rain World to people because of the glaring accessibility issues it had. It still has some, but it's a great deal improved from what it used to be, and I'm very glad about that. Rain World's never going to be an easy game, but it's a really great one that deserves to be enjoyed by more people, and Remix is a great option for those who need more help along the way.

Some of the new creature concepts are really neat, honestly. I loved caramel lizards, these goofy little red x green lizard mixes with six (six!!!) legs, and also tiny cute pretty strawberry lizards. The Miros Vultures, as much as I fucking loathed having to deal with them, are so so cool conceptually. I just wish they didn't chase you across rooms :/ and, while terrifying, MLL was cool. I like the progression of the Rot. It's just cool details overall.

Would I recommend Downpour to people? Absolutely, but definitely play the base game first. Downpour is, as other people have put it, sort of its own game that shares mechanics and certain aspects of lore with Rain World. It was a mod originally, after all. But I think the MSC team deserves the money for the sheer amount of work they've put into this. It was an experience that was well worth the price and more.

[camping-with-monsters]

THE DISTILLERY DOUGH THEORY (PART 1… possibly.) — A Cuphead theory of death, dastardly deeds, and dough.

This is going to gradually appear more professional as this goes on. This is just a possible theory or set of theories, but I am not a theorist. I’m just someone who really enjoys watching Cuphead related videos late at night when I should be asleep. This paragraph is being written after I’ve written almost everything else down. So buckle the fuck up as I take some time to explain a theory I like to refer to as

~🧂THE DISTILLERY DOUGH THEORY🧂~

Disclaimer: Delicious Last Course spoilers. Obviously.

((Credit to my girlfriend @hehe-parappa-goes-brrr for helping me notice crucial details here and encouraging me to wire this down/present it online!!))

———

I regret to inform you that this is, in fact, NOT actually about The Moonshine Mob. Sorry, but don’t leave yet! Cause this is about a super obscure, and crucially overlooked detail about the stage “A Dish to Die For”. The Chef Saltbaker Boss. The final boss of The Delicious Last Course DLC to Cuphead.

Okay, so you know how in the first phase, Chef Saltbaker brutally murders the ingredients you gathered for the Wondertart? I noticed something really weird I haven’t seen anyone cover and it’s almost APPALLING to me that it’s not being looked more into.

So first we need to mention that for the Desert Limes and the Icy Sugar Cube, he is clearly seen pulling a weapon out from underneath the countertop. The Gnome Berry Crate gets sort of lucky, but not without losing the Gnome Berries within it.

Let’s address the elephant in the room. There’s one I haven’t mentioned yet.

The Distillery Dough.

THE FUCKING

DISTILLERY DOUGH.

THAT STUPID SMILING GLOB OF PUTTY PUT OUT OF ITS OPTIMISTIC MISERY MIGHT JUST BE THE FUCKING ANSWER WE’VE NEEDED ABOUT SALTBAKER. ABOUT EVERYTHING.

Stay with me here. It gets DEEP.

So to roll down the dough to flat mush, Saltbaker needs a rolling pin, yes? So you expect him to grab it from under the counter like the knife, stake, and hammer, correct?

TELL ME WHY THE FUCK THIS MAN SUMMONS THE PIN WITH HIS BARE HANDS. SORRY— HIS SPARKLY MAGICAL GIRL FINGERS.

AND THEN!! THE PARTY DON’T STOP THERE!! CAUSE AFTER HE SWITCHES TO COOKIE CUTTERS WAY TOO QUICKLY FOR WHATEVER REASON, HE SPRINKLES THE SPARKLY MAGIC ONTO THE ANIMAL CRACKERS AND THEY COME TO LIFE.

HE EVEN DOES THIS WITH THE SALTSHAKERS IN THE SECOND PHASE. AT JUST THE SNAP OF THE FINGER, MAGIC APPEARS AND THE SALTSHAKERS TAKE SHAPE.

So we know that this is some form of magic. And it’s not the only time we see it. Even in the animations of the living ingredients he murders manually, there are still visible sparkles. The question remains; what sort of magic is this? Conjuring items, bringing life to things, etc etc…

It’s a widely popularized idea that (and maybe it’s canon, I’m pretty sure it is.) he wants to utilize the Wondertart to take over the astral plane. That’s what baking the Wondertart promises, no? (And he sure wasn’t about to help Chalice, seeing that there exists the ability for her to be the spirit trapped in the capsule in both cutscenes. That rules out that he originally had no intentions of helping her in the first place.) And we know he made the astral cookies that momentarily bring Chalice to life. Thing was, where did he acquire the ability to harness any sort of astral energy to make these magical cookies?

Are you getting it yet?

Do you see what I see?

CHEF SALTBAKER ALREADY BARES ASTRAL POWER. NONETHELESS, WANTS MORE POWER SO, SUPPOSEDLY, HE CAN CONTROL THE ASTRAL PLANE.

GUYS???

EVEN THIS LYRIC IN THE EPILOGUE’S SONG, “A Chef’s Coda”, FURTHERMORE EXEMPLIFIES THIS.

“I should not have let all of that power go to my head

Now I'll bake for good, now I'll bake my bread”

I add that last line cause this is also important in a way. Why bread? There’s obviously the easy rhyme choice along with the context of Saltbaker as a character, but apparently in Christian beliefs, bread is an important food that symbolizes sharing. He’s reformed as far as we’re made aware of. Basically, the idea is that Saltbaker is going to utilize his skills for the benefit of everyone. I mean, he is sentenced to community service after all! Essentially, everyone gets a piece of the pie (pun totally intended like oh my god).

Even just the second line (“The recipe was in my book, the recipe was overcooked.”) could have symbolism for Hell! And we know damn well that there’s a lot of… well, hellish representation in the entirety of Cuphead. It’s even in the full game title; “Cuphead Don’t Deal With The Devil”. The DEVIL HIMSELF IS THE MAIN ANTAGONIST OF CUPHEAD’S BASE GAME. This line delivery has to be intentional because to overcook something, you have to burn it. Hell is typically represented with fire, which, fun fact, burns things. Then there’s the iconic curse “burn in Hell.” Burn… Overcook… just thought I’d mention that. Maybe the Hell and Bread (representative of Heaven) analogy represents a sort of bad influence? And Saltbaker dropping the influence? The ball’s in your court to decide what that means.

Back to the whole astral magic thing, the answers to how he acquired the magic in the first place and what he was planning to do with the astral plane while he had control are still in the air and undetermined. He has the built in astral power to make the cookies. He demonstrated the ability to conjure items from thin air and bring things to life— two elements that totally connect to how The Legendary Chalice becomes Ms. Chalice. Conjuring of an available vessel, as well as making Chalice corporeal to it.

We could probably look deeper into that topic if you wanted me to! This is kinda fun embracing my critical, theoretical side for a positive outcome for once!

I think another detail worth mentioning is the animal crackers made from the Distillery Dough mixed with the astral magic are essentially just astral cookies. Cause like. ANIMAL CRACKERS ARE ACTUALLY CLASSIFIED AS COOKIES. ITS WEIRD BUT LOOKING ON THE WIKI FOR “ANIMAL CRACKERS”, IT WAS CONSIDERED A BISCUIT CRACKER. I GUESS. I DONT KNOW, I’M NOT EUROPEAN.

I’ve been typing this on the Notes app of my phone for two hours. There’s still more that could be covered. But I think I need to give my brain a chance to slow down before I make this any longer. If y’all think this is a valid theory, let me know, and I’ll cover even more about this topic! If you think I got something wrong, say so! Hell, if you have a possible theory you want me to play with, I’m up for a challenge to debunk some crazy shit!! Anyways uh, take care, caretakers! I’m thinking way too outside of the box aren’t I.

TL;DR: Chef Saltbaker already has astral abilities built into his system even before he is able to craft the Wondertart and is likely looking for full control of the astral plane for unspecified, undetermined reasons. We know this because of the Distillery Dough attack animation in the first phase.

[odinsblog]

It’s funny to me whenever I see Democratic loyalists (blue MAGA sycophants) talking themselves right into oblivion. Republicans are walking them to the slaughterhouse, and they’re agreeably going along in a cloud of civility and rule-following. It’s like watching a village of brainwashed people willingly walking themselves into an active volcano, and desperately trying to talk them down off the ledge, because they don’t have to sacrifice their hopes.

“Of course Pelosi has to support the anti-abortionist over the pro-choice candidate, what else can she do?”

Why does the DNC and Pelosi constantly campaign for regressive conservative “Democrats” even in safe blue districts?? WTF is the point of supporting conservative, anti-abortion “Democrats” if they are literally just Republicans with the letter “D” behind their names, who more often than not, vote with Republicans and against any progressive agenda?

“But control of the House and Senate is at stake!”

And how the fuck is that working out? Has adding more conservative politicians helped protect Roe, or has it hurt Roe? Did adding more so-called “pro-life” Democrats help protect a woman’s choice, or did that foolhardy action hurt a woman’s reproductive rights? This is not rocket science—adding more of a bad thing into the mix gives us more bad outcomes, not fewer.

“But everywhere isn’t New York City, progressivism simply doesn’t work in the Midwest.”

This is standard, boilerplate DLC/Third Way rhetoric. “You have to be even more conservative than conservatives to win in rural America,” was the key strategy of Democratic Leadership Council. “We can only win by being moderate Republicans,” was their underlying strategy. But that strategy only helps conservatives… funny how that works, isn’t it? Look, I very strongly believe that when you consistently and materially improve people’s lives, the voters will absolutely positively follow. FDR did “socialist” things like put food in people’s belly, and he was on track for a fourth term. If you think there aren’t progressive people living in Red states who wouldn’t work for a much more progressive future, I got news for you. It’s all about how you sell that vision. But corporate Democrats gave up on real deal progressivism a while back, and they want everyone else to believe that right-leaning neoliberalism is the only acceptable way forward.

“There’s nothing Biden can do to advance his agenda, he doesn’t have a supermajority.”

Look, if the votes aren’t out there, then you fucking go get them. Biden actually has the world’s largest bully pulpit and the power of executive action. Let me ask you something: If Biden raised the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and eliminated all student loan debt, do you think that would engage and motivate voters to vote for Democratic candidates in the midterm elections?? Biden could energize tf outta his base, IF he was willing to do whatever it takes. And fuuuck getting Republicans voters. They’re always going to vote for (wait for it) Republican candidates!

And you can tell when these sycophants are retreating back into their alternate reality echo chamber, because instead of engaging with what you’re actually saying, they begin to regurgitate the familiar phrases they’ve been trained to say: “you’re a bot,” or, “you’re only helping Republicans,” or “Susan Sarandon,” or “you must be a Russian spy.” LOL. God forbid if you criticize their problematic faves, or (gasp) ask for our elected officials to do better.

Centrists are getting marched to the slaughterhouse, and all they’re doing is kicking up a cloud of politeness and agreeability. God forbid they actually put up a real fight, or think outside the box for two fucking minutes. And yes, standing up for some basic ass principals is going to lose you conservative voters. So fucking what? THEY already have a political party advocating for everything they want.

JFC. If Democrats fought Republicans even half as hard as they fight the left, they would have supermajorities in both houses of Congress.

It’s not too late. There’s still time left to save Congress from Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party. But Democrats need to be willing to actually fight for it. Not just send out fundraising email blasts, but actually fight—and not for capitalism, but for democratic ideals.

[manygalaxiesinone]

Disgaea 7 DLC Episode: Kirby

Part 1: Kirby, the Super Tough Pink Puff

Pirilika: "Alright, Fuji. Here comes the next batch!"

Fuji: "Enough with the pancakes Piriko. I'm getting a little sick of all the fluffy sugar."

Pirilika: "Please! I put lots of love into this batch and I really need to know how it tastes!"

Fuji: "If what you said is true... these things will poison me! Why don't you get someone else to taste them?!"

Pirilika: "Because you're the most brutally honest person here. You're the best person to look for in terms of how I can improve."

Fuji: "I can't argue there, but there's so much even I can take at once. Why don't you get that guy over there to try them?"

Pirilika: "Hmm?"

Pink Puff Ball: "...?"

Pirilika: "Oh, how long has he been there? Was he looking at my fluffcakes this whole time?"

Fuji: "Probably. Those glowing eye of his are a bit of a giveaway that he wants something."

Pirilika: "Well, don't be shy new friend. If you wanted some food, all you had to do was ask." Makes a plate for the Pink Puff Ball. "Here you go. Bon Al pie-"

Kirby immediately sucks up the pankcakes, plate, and something else...

Pirilika: "tea...? Wow. I've never seen anyone this gluttonous before. He ate everything including the plate."

Fuji: "Those weren't the only things that got sucked in his mouth! Hey kid, you just ate my infernal weapon! Spit it out, now!"

Pink Puff Ball: "Poy!" Transforms into a swordmaster.

Pirilika: "Did... did he just transform after eating the infernal weapon?! I don't know whether to be amazed or afraid."

Fuji: "Definitely afraid! We need that weapon, Piriko! If he won't cough it up, I'll just have to strangle it out of him!"

Part 2: Meta Knight, the Galaxy's Finest

Fuji: "EAT THIS!!!" Gives the Pink Puff a hard kick.

Pink Puff Ball: "Eyaaaaaaaaaa!" loses the infernal weapon.

Pirilika: "Nice Fuji. You got the weapon back."

Fuji: "It wasn't easy though. That pink blob is a lot tougher than he looks. Just what the hell is he?"

Pirilika: "Don't look at me! You guess is as good as mine."

Pink Puff Ball: "Poyo!"

Pirilika: "Looks like he's already up for another round."

Fuji: "Alright, I'm about to do my worst this time!"

Before they start, a phone begins to ring.

Fuji: "Really Piriko?"

Pirilika: "That's not my phone going off."

Pink Puff Ball: Answers his phone. "Poyo?"

Fuji & Pirilika: "That thing has a phone?!"

Pink Puff Ball: "Hmm!" Hangs up. "Po- poyo! Poyo!"

Fuji: "Any ideas what he just said?"

Pirilika: "Not a clue..."

Pink Puff Ball: "Poyo!" Runs off.

Fuji: "Hey, get back here! We're not done yet!" Runs after it.

Pirilika: "Don't leave me behind, Fuji!"

-later...-

Masked Puff Ball: "Ah, there you are Kirby."

Kirby: "Hi!"

Masked Puff Ball: "Did you manage to find any parts for the ship?"

Kirby: "...?"

Maksed Puff Ball: "Don't tell me you got distracted eating a buffet again."

Kirby: "Poyyyyyyyy..."

Masked Puff Ball: "We have been over this. If we can't fix the Halberd, we'll be stranded on this planet. The king's patience is wearing thin. I would rather not spend another night listening to his compla-"

Fuji: "Found ya, you runt!"

Masked Puff Ball: "And who might you be?"

Fuji: "Oh, there's another one, but he can talk. Your pink buddy over there owes me a fight."

Masked Puff Ball: "Let me guess, he stole either some of your food or an important item."

Fuji: "The latter."

Masked Puff Ball: "I see. Kirby, take the parts I have gathered to the King."

Kirby: "Poyo!" Runs off.

Fuji: "Hey, get back here!"

Masked Puff Ball: "Not so fast. If you desire a fight, then allow me to be your opponent. Forgive me, but my blade's been itching for a duel since we've arrived."

Fuji: "You sure you want to fight me in that kid's stead? Fine. Show me what you got, little knight."

Meta Knight: "The name is Meta Knight, and you will know my power."

Part 3: Dedede, King of Dream Land

Meta Knight: "Hmm... you are quite the skilled warrior. I commend your strength and talent."

Fuji: "I'll admit, you're pretty good yourself. You're giving me a run for my money here."

Meta Knight: "It is quite the shame that you lack the honor needed to be a true warrior."

Fuji: "Honor? Heh. Don't make me laugh. Here in the Netherworld, stuff like honor and integrity is useless. All it will do is get you killed in the end."

Meta Knight: "Is that something you truly believe? Your eyes tell a different story. You seem more... conflicted than certain. Has something happened to you that made you question yourself? Loss, perhaps?"

Fuji: "The hell gives you that idea?" (This little knight... How can he peer into my soul like that? Just what the hell are these little things?)

Pirilika: "Fuji!"

Fuji: "Oh, look who finally caught up."

Pirilika: "You were the one who left me behind! Hmm? Who's the guy with the cool mask?"

Fuji: "He's a friend of that pink guy that took off."

Meta Knight: "I hope I was able to satiate your thirst for battle."

Fuji: "Yeah, I'm fine now, and I already got my weapon back anyway, so I guess we could return to the ship."

Meta Knight: "Did you say a ship?"

Fuji: "Yeah, what about it?"

Meta Knight: "This meeting may have been more convenient than I imagined. Might I trouble you for some parts? My ship crash landed when we arrived here."

Pirilika: "You're stranded? Let me see your ship. Maybe there's something we can do to help you out."

Meta Knight: "Very well. Come."

-later...-

Penguin King: "Ugh, that Meta Knight's takin' forever! How are we gonna get this thing up and running at this rate?"

Kirby: Smiles at a mothman flying by

Penguin King: "I don't know what you're all calm for, Kirby! After all, this is your fault! You just hand to land on that button, didn't ya?"

Kirby: "Poyo..."

Penguin King: "I only sent ya flyin' to get payback on you stealin' ma sandwich, ya glutton! Hmph, so much for being able to cruise around the world. Now I'm tryin' ta figure out how we gon' get home."

Meta Knight: "Excuse me, your highness, but I may have returned with a solution."

Penguin King: "Huh?" Sees Meta Knight come back with 2 people. "What took ya so long, Meta Knight? And who are these two? Didn't expect you to already get chummy with the locals."

Pirilika: "Hi, I'm Pirilika and this is Fuji. You must be King Dedede, right? Meta Knight told me that the three of you crashed your ship."

King Dedede: "Yeah, what about it? You here to tow and fix us up?"

Pirilika: "We're not mechanics, but as a ship owner myself, I can connect you with a few friends that can help you out."

King Dedede: "Well, I'll be! And here I thought my luck ran out when Kirby snuck on the ship."

Meta Knight: "Kirby was invited. You forced us to depart early to make sure he wouldn't make it."

King Dedede: "Ah who cares? What matters now is that we can finally get this baby up and running again!"

Fuji: "Yeah, not quite."

King Dedede: "What do you mean?"

Fuji: "You think we're gonna help you out just like that? We're not doing anything until you cough up some dough, your majesty."

Pirilika: "Not this again, Fuji..."

King Dedede: "I thought I smelled a little penny pincher! Well, you can forget getting a dime off of me, boy!"

Fuji: "Well, I guess you'll just be stranded here until you can find some more parts on your own."

King Dedede: "I got a better idea. Either you give me that contact info, or I'll mash your head with my hammer!"

-after the battle...-

Pirilika: "Even this Penguin King guy is holding up pretty well. I thought he was some lousy sleezeball like in the movies that can't put up a fight."

Fuji: "Yeah. Luckily, I learned to stop underestimating these guys after fighting Meta Knight."

King Dedede: "Hehehehahaha! You ready to give up?"

Fuji: "Nah. I haven't even started doing my worst yet."

King Dedede: "Well, ain't you confident. Just wait 'til I bust out my best hammer-"

Kirby: "Poyo!"

King Dedede: "Dang! What is it, Kirby?! Can't you see I'm fightin' here?!"

Kirby: "Po-poyo!"

King Dedede: "What you mean lunch is rea-"

Eveyone looks over at the table of food Kirby set up.

Pirilika: "Where'd all this food come from?!"

Meta Knight: "Kirby prepared this while the king and Fuji were battling each other."

Fuji: "That little guy can cook too?!"

-later...-

Fuji: "That Kirby kid is full of surprises. I never would have guessed he'd be a decent chef."

Pirilika: "You know what they say, Fuji. "Huge things come in tall packages."

Fuji: "You mean big things come in small packages..."

King Dedede: "That Kirby's a major handful, but I'll admit, he's got his moments. I hope you know, I ain't lettin' you eat with us for free."

Fuji: "I saw that coming a mile away, but after spending the whole day eating nothing but sweets, I just didn't care."

Pirilika: "It's alright, Fuji. I'll gladly cover the ship's repairs. That being said, it will take some time before it's actually fixed. Until then, why don't you stay with us on our ship? We're traveling across Hinomoto as well so you'll still be able to tour around the place."

King Dedede: "Is that right? Here that boys? Our cruise is back on schedule!"

Kirby: "Poyo!" Munches on an apple

Meta Knight: "Agreed. I could not imagine a more favorable encounter."

[mliter]

Fire Emblem Echoes - Shadows of Valentia.

This is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. A game from well before i was born. I only cared about this title over the mess of it's DLC announcement back in 2017? A lot of people weren't happy with that. News even reached me. Damn.

The absolute first thing that hit me about this game is the artwork. Stunning. Oh my god. Hidari is legendary. The new layout for the bottom screen displays his brilliant work in a view that takes up most of it. You can appreciate every stroke when you look at a unit. Games that show this level of respect and have this much faith in their lead artist is awesome to see. For me. It looks fantastic.

I'm a fan of the premise. You control two lords this time around, jumping inbetween their own quests to achieve their goals. The story hasn't really slowed down. Each of them have their own squad that is gradually met throughout the adventure. With it being fire emblem, all of the characters are fantastic, with their own designs and personalities and relationships to each other. The valentia crew and a lively bunch. It's clear this takes a lot of inspiration from the source material, and i haven't really come across any downtime yet. You're on this map, going from place to place fighting enemy squad after enemy squad.

Format's a bit different this time around. There's no shops or home bases from what i've encountered, so for support items and weapons, you literally have to find them. Exploration is presented by a 2D point-and-click format. It's nice, actually. You have to find food and weapons to use later in your journey. It's a good change. (There's still a blacksmith) There's also these dungeons that can be explored through Alm/Celica's PoV, with them having voiced commentry of what they're seeing and how they feel about the place.

If Alm or Celica get slept, it is OVER. No matter what. You LOSE. Game OVER. I found myself not getting brave with the two unless i knew it was a good idea.

The map design is questionable. I assume they've been ported over from the original title. Because wow, they were obsessed with these choke points your units need to enter to engage the enemy. And when you're in them, they're usually surrounded by ranged units ready to terrorized your units. Quite annoying. But at the same time, i found myself having more fun with the game due to it. I spent time actually thinking about my next move, and how to effectivley make the most out of my unit in that moment. Cheesing Nuibaba with Tobin/Python will be a highlight. I wouldn't of gotten that if i was just able to rush in with everyone.

Regardless, this is good Fire Emblem. I’m halfway through the game yet and i have this much to say. I'm having fun.

[fizzingwizard]

sims nonsense

first of all, why do i, the tenant, care what my unit rating is. second of all the compensation for enduring a ghost throwing the radiator around in your apartment is $20?? lol

the event didn't even work. ghost appeared, i confronted her. she ignored me. the option to confront againt was grayed out "till later." she went into the radiator. at that moment, my sim's oven caught fire. the ghost came out of the radiator to freak out about the fire, then never came back. the event ended without me ever seeing her again.

using your laptop to keep your eggs and toast warm... work smart not hard

i cant make her stop doing this lol she has a perfectly good dining table but every now and then she'll put her food on the laptop instead. i'm gonna switch it out for a regular computer and hopefully then the game registers that there's already an item in that spot

tfw you're lured into a life of crime by santa claus??

last but not least, whatever tf this is:

why did she get on her bike indoors

why did she vanish

where is she lol the bike spazzed by itself for a while there

reset didn't work. changing her outfit fixed it but i couldn't find her to do it for a while... in the end i made her take a shower and that brought her back when she changed her clothes.

this was during a trash overload event and i'm annoyed that it's not apparently prompted by anything the tenant does. my sim had only been living in her house for a couple days, she likes alone with two foxes. she hadn't accumulated that much trash. the trash just materializes wherever it wants. and when she went to clean it up, she only managed to get three of the trash heaps, because the others vanished??? i don't mean after some time had passed. they appeared, then almost immediately were gone. it happened in winter so i wondered if they got buried under the snow, but i couldnt figure out how to get them out. anyway i still passed the event for whatever reason

having lots and lots and lots and lotssss of bugs with this game. game crashed a bunch and i had to repair it once when i was getting not expanded to ops error. that isnt funny. but what is funny is how the game keeps losing track of the property owner. it always thinks he's at people's houses when he's clearly on the porch of his own home. and if you invite the property owner over he does not come. he's successfully arrived (without being invited) a total of one time so far. for a while any time i switched to him, he had 0 social. idk why. and i keep getting the option, when i want to switch to him, to switch to his cat. he lives alone and the game consistently thinks he's not at home even when he is, so if i click him i'm taken to a neighbor's house that the game thinks he's at. but i'm allowed to click the cat who is at home for some reason, and find the property owner there. no idea whats going on here except i think it's clear the sims team did NOT check if this pack would work with other dlc. it's not like i'm trying to do anything weird here. we're talking bout seasons and pets. if that can mess things up so much it was not ready to launch - or should have launched with a warning that you should only buy it if the only other sims 4 content you have is the base game x'D

[ciaossu-imagines]

Okay, but Blush Blush is just a pure fucking joy and it makes me so happy. And it’s full of cute (and naked, if you have the DLC for it) men! Just my kind of thing and I’m really having fun writing for it! I used this prompt here and hope you’ll enjoy these headcanons! I let the wheel pick for me, so these headcanons are for Finn!

Mornings or nights?

Finn enjoys both of them for different reasons…nights have gorgeous stars and amazing elvish parties around roaring bonfires but if he had to pick, he would pick the morning, when he tends to have more energy and the full day ahead of him full of adventure.

Summer or winter?

I don’t really feel like winter really exists in Mushroom Forest. It’s always summer and spring, never fall and winter so, just because it would be a new experience, I feel like Finn would be very excited to experience winter and all the new things he could discover in it.

Dance or running?

He runs more often than he dances but enjoys dancing more. He’s not a bad dancer either, but a little too enthusiastic of one.

Beach or hiking?

Being from the Mushroom Forest, he’s not used to beaches or large bodies of water and I feel they would make Finn feel uneasy. He’d much prefer a nice hike through the fields of the Mushroom Forest.

Coffee or chocolate?

He’s too high energy as is, and coffee gets him overly excitable and hyper so Finn’s actually forbidden to have it. I think he likes to imagine he’d love it, but it would honestly be too bitter for him anyway. Chocolate though…he’d pick it just because it’s the only option he’s left with but he doesn’t really enjoy it and it’s one of his least favourite foods.

Pink or blue?

He prefers blue, like the sky on a clear afternoon or like the blue of a forget-me-not, one of his favourite flowers.

Ink or pencil?

I strongly headcanon that the Mushroom Forest still writes using quills and ink derived from insects, so he wouldn’t actually know what a pencil is.

Painting or writing?

While he doesn’t often write, he writes better than he paints. Finn’s paintings tend to look like a child’s finger-painting…usually because he is finger-painting, but that’s besides the issue.

Bar or restaurant?

Finn would, if he knew the difference between the two, choose the best of both worlds and would want to go to a restaurant that served alcohol. It kills two birds with one stone and who doesn’t love to eat while getting black-out drunk?

Cars or bicycles?

Cars would absolutely terrify Finn, who would assume they were some new and strange form of monster that he’d never heard about. He’d probably run away from them or would prepare himself for an attack, though he’s more of a lover than a fighter. While he’d take a bit to learn how to ride a bicycle, I feel he’d be really comfortable on them and would enjoy how quick he can get places on them, rather than having to run everywhere.

Cake or pie?

Finn would prefer pie, but only because it tends to come in more savory options than cakes do. He doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Cats or dogs?

Both. Finn, as a forest creature, holds a deep respect for all animals…well, most animals…like 70% of animals. It’s a toss-up, really, though he does know he’s not crazy about snakes or wasps.

Trains or buses?

Please don’t put him on either. Seriously, while he’s something of a brave adventurer, both things would terrify him and he’d lose any semblance of cool he had and create a huge scene and probably some mass panic.

Roses or cacti?

Roses over cacti any day. While there aren’t many cacti in the Mushroom Forest, the ones he has encountered have left him with serious injuries and he holds a grudge against all cacti because of that.

Football match or theater?

Theater is not really Finn’s thing. While there are some performances in the Mushroom Forest, he tends to go off and do his own thing instead of watching them. He just can’t seem to focus on the performance for any length of time and gets antsy staying still for that long. He’d really like to play in a football match, if someone explains the rules to him, and he’d probably even enjoy watching them more, since they tend to feel more exciting to him.

[gluefelony6]

Here Is What You need to Do For your Cracked Minecraft

While TLauncher has servers, only cracked servers are available for you to hitch, which are unofficial teams in comparison with the official Minecraft servers, like Hypixel and Mineplex. The skins that TLauncher provides you are not assured to point out up on each display, especially for the screens of official Minecraft customers. It’s still possible to use webpage that enables sharing Premium Minecraft accounts and even buy cheap second hand Minecraft accounts however as you'll be able to imagine that’s actually not a good idea. The first thing that you must do is to make use of your IP. Welcome to tlauncher club , fence gates & trapdoors - ” Fences” as well as “Fencing Gates” have been renamed to “Oak Fences” as well as “Oak Fencing Gates” respectively. While the most recent CoD has seen a drop-off in gross sales, the IP is considered one of gamings most well known. Jill and Chris aren't current in the game; Jill escapes town in Resident Evil 3, while Chris is in Europe investigating Umbrella when the town falls.

This can be solved by ‘whitelisting’ the new launcher or as a final resort, disabling the antivirus/firewall quickly while setting it up but this would be performed at your individual danger, ensure to take the necessary precautions earlier than doing this specific methodology. I'll take her myself - however not until she’s much older. She’s famend for her love of flesh-flashing co-ordinates and skimpy attire, so it was hardly a grand(e) gesture in the type stakes when Ariana slipped into a bralet and skirt for a performance in Florida. This implies that you could run local servers in your Windows 10 Pc and even prepare server pack assessments for assessing the game and ensuring the efficiency stays sublime. Secondly; Cracked Minecraft means that you just don't have a signage that you have purchased it. Minecraft titan launcher 3.8.1 download free for All Participant. The software program titan said it can continue to make Minecraft obtainable across all platforms. Our group always updates and finds matched outcomes to Alternative Minecraft Launchers from the most reliable websites, you possibly can see the checklist of high suggestions to Different Minecraft Launchers on the one web page.

And to present gamers an idea of what kind of loot they will expect to earn once the DLC goes live on Feb. 22, Bungie has released a new weapons and gear trailer that goes over each of the brand new Exotic weapons and armor items being added to the game. In contrast to his cowardly and greedy colleagues, Piglin Brutes cannot be distracted by gold and isn't frightened of any type of. Piglin Brutes assaults by observing regardless of how gamers gown. ‘My mates discuss soccer matches they’ve watched, but I don’t know the teams or who the gamers are,’ he says. ‘There is only one other little one in Treya’s 12 months who doesn’t have a Tv, however she doesn’t get teased. It's been a good year for Ariana, who was named by Yahoo final week as the third most searched subject of 2014, beating 'break the Internet' Kim Kardashian, who entered at the sixth spot on the list.

‘If it leads to dangerous behaviour, then they forfeit the possibility to watch it the following week. Model 2.75 is out there in the following editions: Releases. Although there are various widespread Video games software program, most people download and install the Freeware model. Mainly there have been all these huge inflatable bouncy black balls which can be bouncing around in the crowd on the finale bit. The film's finale sees Claire, Leon, Jill and Chris, as well as Sherry Birkin, fleeing the city on a prepare out of Umbrella's underground lab, where it was researching biological weapons. Jill snatches Wesker's food and takes a chunk. Above, Treya, 14, and Lao, 11, play outdoors their house. Considering all the information taken into account above, it’s not rare to lose track of understanding what’s what. It’s known because the happiest place on Earth, however Ariana Grande did not look too thrilled when she felt the swooping drop on a roller coaster journey. ‘After faculty, we normally go straight to the park to climb bushes, feed the birds or experience her bike,’ says her proud mother Janina. The hitmaker swapped out her signature cat ears for silver sequin Minnie Mouse ears and loved other rides at the Magic Kingdom park along with her backup dancers and associates, together with Thunder Mountain Railroad and the brand new Seven Dwarf's Mine Train.

[ressjeon]

game over | jjk (m)

🎮 pairing: jungkook x reader

🎮 summary: you might not be a gamer but that won't stop your competitive side from wanting to defeat your boyfriend in this new game that you're both currently obsessing with. it's just a matter of time until one of you gives up but Jungkook can’t help wondering if it will be you or him.

🎮 rating: 18+

🎮 genre/au: streamer/gamer!au, established relationship, fluff, smut (pwp?)

🎮 word count: 5k

🎮 warnings/content: edging/orgasm control, masturbation, praise kink, hair pulling, semi-clothed sex?, fellatio, slight rimming, unprotected sex, creampie, voyeurism (through hearing), use of lube (jk’s big that’s why), switch dynamics 

a/n: surprise ig lmao i didn’t mean for it to be jaykay but @knjsnoona​ sent me something months ago and that became an inspo for this 💀. thank you to my big sissy @hisunshiine​ for this cute banner (where i pestered her a lot 🤣). this is for the Bangtan DLC: A Streamer BTS Collab hosted by the sweetest @joonminshua​ & @kookskingdom​ 💗

― masterlist — navigation — wips

You look so beautiful from where he is, face full of concentration on the game in front of you that he can’t help but coo at how cute you are.

Jungkook’s currently preparing snacks for both of you since he just finished his streaming. It’s been hours since he did and you’ve been hounding him to turn over the console to you so he finally let you take over. It’s also because you keep insisting that he should give you more time with the console seeing as you’re at a disadvantage because you’re not a gamer like him.

“i really have no talent in this” you huff in frustration but it just made him smile.

He’s still quite touched that you’re trying to engage yourself in one of his hobbies as a way for you to get to know him better and deepen your relationship with him. The same scrunch on your eyebrows is still on like before and Jungkook grins as he comes nearer to you, placing the bowl of snacks on the table but you never even spared it a glance.

“baby, come eat”

“stop distracting me!”

Jungkook just chuckles as he sits beside you and you wonder what he's planning next. You two have been on this competitive streak on who can win the most rounds while betting on who’ll give in first. Whoever loses will not only pay for all the dates but will also do all the chores so that's why you've been doing your best to compete against your skilled boyfriend.

When Jungkook first met you, he didn't think that you’d have a competitive side when it comes to gaming because you have never been interested in it. He didn’t mind it at all because you have a lot of other hobbies that occupy a lot of your time too. But after you started dating, you soon expressed interest in his hobby, trying your best to learn it despite telling Jungkook how hard it is.

It isn't that you're lazy to do all the chores or you lack money to pay for all the dates. You're more than happy to do those things for Jungkook because you love him and you both divide all the housework and fees every time. You care more about your gaming skills because you’re still not confident with it, sure you’ve been practicing but unlike Jungkook who’s very gifted in everything that he does, you're a bit of the opposite.

This is why now you’ve been putting all your focus on the screen in front of you. No distractions so far but Jungkook’s half-naked body. You won't falter though even when he’s now using your other weakness aside from him.

Food.

You're a bit hungry from trying to interrupt him earlier but you can’t just leave this ongoing match. The food combo with his bare chest is already straying your thoughts away from the game and Jungkook currently acts like you didn’t tease the shit out of him earlier, that's why you’ve been very suspicious. He’s quite clever on ways to get back at you which usually results in you not realizing what’s happening until he already tricked you into doing whatever he planned.

This whole thing started when Jungkook started paying less attention to you than usual. You’ve always supported him with his hobby especially since he’s a streamer as well, with constant online schedules where he’s barely off from his PC and when the times that he is, he’s on-call planning gaming strategies with his close friends who are in the same league as him.

You let him be most of the time since he still gives you time when he can. Though sometimes, it just annoys you that he still chooses to play when you wanna go out to have outdoor dates with him. So then you decide to do the same, ignoring him when he tries to spend time with you, giving him the excuse that you need to finish the book you’re reading because the next instalment is coming up.

Jungkook then suggested doing this challenge to solve this growing distance between the two of you. He noticed when you started acting differently towards him and he’s been feeling scared that it’ll only get worse which is why he’s giving you more attention in the scope of this competition between the two of you. He hopes that this bonding will fix this situation, a small one, yes, but he doesn’t care how dramatic he’s been.

.

“...shit..” a surprising moan comes out from you when you flick your swollen bud, startling yourself at how aroused you are already when you're supposed to seduce Jungkook while he’s currently on another match with his friends.

It isn't one of the sounds that you intentionally make to distract him, hoping that he’ll turn his head towards you when you moan his name. It’s a genuine one from you trying to relieve yourself when your boyfriend's too busy to do so.

Here you are currently lying on your back on Jungkook's bed, both of your legs propped up on your chest though now you're struggling to balance them when they’re starting to cramp. You don’t change your position though, closing your eyes while you continue pumping your fingers inside your walls, alternating from scissoring them and going deeper to find that sweet spot but your fingers are just different from the long and thick ones that Jungkook has.

"fuck baby..so swollen.. can see how wet it is from here”

Your eyes open after hearing his slurred words, turning your head to the side to catch him finally looking in your direction from his gaming chair. His eyes are hooded, looking hungrily at your folds that you’re starting to question if you’ve only been hearing things earlier because of the pleasure. Your plan is to only turn him on with your moans but your random position somehow accidentally gave him a very delicious view of your cunt.

“want some?” you breathlessly ask him, fingers collecting your wetness before extending your arm at him as an invitation. Your playful tone and the little quirk that appeared on your lips snap him out of his trance, adjusting himself as he sits up to compose himself.

“nice try babe” Jungkook retracts with a chuckle, shaking his head while poking the insides of his cheek, a smirk plastered on his lips as he faces back to his computer screen. You're sneaky but it's hard for Jungkook to resist you, he's already hard from hearing you moan his name which didn't go unnoticed by his teammates.

You huff in return, initially a little annoyed at him resisting you when you're basically naked while touching yourself on his bed. The smug smile on his face reminds you that you're still in this bet and you're annoyed how you almost forgot about it.

Fine, you’ll try another way.

One where he’ll surely regret putting you in this misery.

That may be dramatic but your mind’s only focused on your next task as you approach him in his gaming chair. You’re only wearing Jungkook’s button-up shirt and nothing else, barely wearing anything actually since this game between you started. You both have tried many ways to distract one another, mainly through seducing one another but no one has given up yet.

And you’re about to change that.

Jungkook’s attention shifts from his screen towards you who’s now kneeling in front of him. You’re looking at him mischievously, eyes lingering at his hard on before looking back at his anticipated face.

Fuck. He’s been reminding himself to never forget this damn bet that now he’s starting to regret suggesting before. He can never resist you and he’s been trying his best to not give in even if all he wants to do is fuck your brains out for being so sexy like this.

“..jungkookie..”

You purr while running your hands on his thick thighs that have your essence still between your fingers and he flinches when you rub them. A smile appears on your lips when his eyes remain on your fingers before turning back to the screen, now unfocused. He doesn’t answer you still and so you start palming his already hardening bulge, coaxing a grunt from him which he had to cover up when one of his teammates asks.

Jungkook’s still not looking at you, he can’t though he should’ve stopped the moment your ministrations are starting to affect him. He’s not sure if you’re still annoyed at him for ignoring you but he didn’t answer earlier because he’s skeptical that his friends will hear him moaning out loud just in case you do something. He shouldn't have done that because now you’re gripping his hard length already, it’s been aching since he heard your delicious moans earlier.

That’s why he’s not stopping you when you begin tugging at the waistband of his sweats, cursing at himself for not wearing anything under which causes the grin on your face to widen. His cock almost slaps your face after you pull down his sweats, giggling when he tries to lift his hips up to remove it fully but you insist on keeping it on him halfway.

You hum, wrapping your hands around his twitching length while observing his labouring breaths before you start pumping him slowly. He takes a sharp inhale when your thumb circles his leaking tip, his hips bucking into your hand which makes you laugh at his eagerness. You were going to tease him further, waiting for him to beg or even just a whimper but you beat him to it when you lower your head down and finally wrap your mouth around his cock.

A small groan comes out from him, throwing his head back as he closes his eyes.

“don’t turn off your mic kookie” you tut when you catch what he’s about to do.

Jungkook whispers out a “fuck” before his hand leaves the switch from his headset, bringing it back to the keyboard to continue his game. You’re surprised that he followed your instructions but it could just be because of his desperation to get off. Well, he’s been a good boy so far but you couldn’t just let him get away from ignoring you for so long..

You swallow him deeper until his tip reaches the back of your throat, making him moan out loud to the mic. That makes you smile around his cock after coming back up because his friends surely know what he's in right now. His other hand comes down before he pulls it back when you pinch his thigh, a warning for him to not touch you yet.

“yeah my girl’s blowing me rn, fuck off”

Jungkook responds without shame, proud even so you continue bobbing your head up and down, your tongue keeps swirling on the underside of his dick when you hear the commotion on the other side of his mic after his moans become louder. Hearing his friends’ comments about how lucky he is to have you warms your heart and it almost makes you forget about your plan for him.

“j-just focus on the game, i've been doing my part!" he pleads to his teammates desperately. "i can’t lose this one—shit”

One of your hands cups his tightening balls and Jungkook swears that he could cum right then. He's been itching to grasp your head or touch you anywhere but your piercing eyes looking straight at him are stopping him from doing so. He knows that look and judging with the way your touches have been rougher on him, you're not gonna let him cum anytime soon.

“breathe baby”

You chuckle at Jungkook's current state, noticing how tense he's been since you started playing with him. It's so adorable seeing him trying his best to not cum while playing the game when you've edged him for a while now. He's all sweaty from holding himself to not give up and beg, not even caring that his friends are hearing all of his moans and yours too.

“babe—y/n..please” he takes a deep breath with each word, mouthing the last one when he feels himself nearing the edge for the nth time. Jungkook lost count on how many times you stopped him from cumming, his sole focus is to try and win this round. You’re definitely not making this easier but there's no way he'll lose from this early on, not even because of you.

But his chances are gone now that you’ve unbuttoned the shirt that you're wearing, exposing your bare chest to his hungry eyes. Your nipples are perked already and all he wants right now is to squeeze those inviting breasts of yours.

You hear the final click from Jungkook's mouse and he is smiling in relief that his team won this round before throwing his head back as he grips the sidearms of his gaming chair.

He's almost there..fuckfuck but suddenly your mouth and hands leave him, prompting him to whine pathetically, hips bucking up in the air with the lost sensation. He won the game but you still didn't let him cum. No reward from you unlike he expected so now he knows he really fucked up ignoring you earlier.

“well done kookie and congrats boys”

You smirk on Jungkook’s mic while you caress his face, pushing away his hair that's sticking into his forehead, ignoring his needy eyes trying to catch yours until he releases a whimper.

Taehyung: what the fuck you little shit!

Jimin: damn that was so hot..

“yeah, yeah i'm the luckiest. i gotta go”

Jungkook immediately turns off the PC before turning to you but you're faster than him as you walk away from his gaming area, pulling off what you're wearing completely. Your fully naked body taunts him as you walk towards your own bedroom.

“baby, you're really going to leave me with blue balls?”

He whines, calling out to you desperately but you ignore him. You almost gave in earlier when he did those puppy eyes again that's why you blasted instantly. You usually can resist him but needy Jungkook is different. That side of him makes you weak that all you can think of is to do whatever he asks so that's why you're staying away from him for now.

.

Jungkook had been trying to corner you since you left him but you’ve been very good at avoiding him at all cost. Focusing on the matches helped but after many rounds, his crotch is aching more and more. So he relieved himself a little, intentionally touching his cock outside your room so you can clearly hear him begging for you but you didn't even budge. He’s hoping that you’d come out and punish him at least but you didn’t even say anything from behind the door.

He did everything already, deciding on luring you with your favourite food instead but you still won't come out.

But he’s going to make you. He’s always loved a challenge and you’re aware of that so you should be ready.

You’ve succeeded in avoiding Jungkook by staying in your own room for the majority of yesterday but today you have to go out and restock your mini-fridge. The both of you could’ve shared a room since you’re together anyways but the two of you decided to have individual rooms since you both have many hobbies and needed more space. Jungkook has his gaming, art and sports paraphernalia with the several teams he’s in while you have the same amount of things from your music equipment plus your room’s kind of like a mini dance studio too since you’ve installed glass mirrors on one side of the wall.

Taking a bath on your own seems weird because you’re so used to Jungkook joining you. Though it takes too long for you both to finish every shower session for obvious reasons, you enjoy his company and you lowkey miss it a bit today, almost calling him in earlier to join you. Screw this silly bet but you’ve come this far and still won’t lose to him. And besides, you’re starting to enjoy gaming, perhaps you’ll finally join him in his hobby.

You were almost done with your morning routine and you just finished shaving your crotch area in preparation for the beach day you planned with the girls this weekend when you hear the sound of another match starting on the screen.

the fuck!

Running towards the edge of your bed, you grab your gaming console immediately, ignoring that you’re only wearing a thin sports bra as you're instantly on your stomach to continue the game that you almost missed. There's only one culprit here and you aren't sure how he managed to get in quietly to sabotage your tournament without you hearing him. He couldn’t possibly use the spare key just for this…right?

Jungkook instantly leaves your room as soon as he starts the game on your screen, giddy at how your reaction is going to be. He was trying to contain his laugh but couldn't stop them after hearing you scream in frustration. Jungkook meant for you to miss it not only because of the bet but because he’s getting a bit worried about how you're seriously taking this competition between you two. He barely sees you around the house anymore even though you both have never left since this whole thing started.

You both were very prepared for it, shopping for groceries and other necessities beforehand and even informing your friends that you’ll be doing something important this week. This surprised Jungkook because you actually cancelled going out with your friends which you never do unless it’s necessary. So this is actually a big deal to you just like it is to him. 

Jungkook opened the door expecting to see you in your annoyed face, focusing on the screen to maintain your streak. He plans to tease how you’re gonna finally lose against him.

But the sight that welcomed him made him stop in his tracks.

You're half-naked on your bed. Only in your pastel criss crossed sports bra and he can clearly see your juicy ass from where he’s standing. Like he's being hypnotized by your body, he starts walking closer to you until he reaches the edge of the bed.

You feel the mattress dip from someone sitting behind you yet you never acknowledge Jungkook. You're still pissed at him for practically cheating on this bet. The agreement was to only distract each other, not something like where you could've potentially lost the tournament if you weren't fast enough.

“baby..”

He starts but you brush him aside. You didn't even mean to play half-naked but you had no other choice because you had no time to put on the rest of your clothes. It’s getting warmer already so you've put all your t-shirts and long sleeves that you could've worn in the laundry. You only have your summer clothes so the timing is working in Jungkook’s favour like it always is.

You’re only left with your sports bra because you were thinking of doing small exercises outside as a break before resuming the game. It isn’t healthy that you’ve been spending most of your time playing on-screen indoors but Jungkook just has to cut your plans short for today.

“so sexy..” he whispers mindlessly, hands starting to roam around the globes of your ass.

You’ve been trying to ignore how his touches are affecting you, focusing solely on the game on the screen and you’re still annoyed at him. The problem is, it’s been 2 days since the last time you fucked each other and you’ve been needing a proper orgasm that only Jungkook can give.

His face comes nearer to your body, hovering over you that you suddenly feel his breath on your bare skin. Jungkook’s hands continue to caress your ass cheeks, admiring your curves in his hands. You haven’t said a word yet but your labouring breaths are giving him a sign that you’re getting riled up.

After a while of his constant teasing, you’re getting impatient for him to do something but you don’t want to be obvious. You can’t just give him a reason to tease you more but Jungkook can read already read you like an open book.

“gonna give up baby?” you taunt him, in hopes of getting what you want but he only hums, both hands sliding up your body, cupping both of your breasts firmly through your bra.

Jungkook continues nosing your skin, breathing in the scent of the soap that he bought for you. It’s his favourite and it became yours too after the first time you used it. He traces your entire body softly and you start to quiver, unconsciously leaning to Jungkook and he smirks against your skin.

“i love your ass..”

You feel him move back and then you hear a bottle cap opening so you wiggle your ass out, eager for him to just do anything at this point. You’re being needy now but before you can even look back at him for a bit, Jungkook’s other hand suddenly grips your hips to steady your moving body.

“but i love your pussy more” he licks a stripe on your newly shaved cunt, lingering on your clit a little to suck it while his hands are busy on something else. It must be the lube that you have on your nightstand because you both have been using it for quickies. You do get wet fast but your boyfriend’s big so foreplay takes a bit longer, that’s why sex has been many times better with the lube.

“Kook..this isn’t p-part of the rules-ohh” a loud moan leaves your mouth when he traces his lube-coated fingers around your outer folds, causing you to hiss at the cold and sticky sensation. Jungkook starts mouthing both of your asscheeks while he spreads his fingers around your cunt until he grazes your swollen clit and starts rubbing it.

What he does next makes your breath hitch, almost missing a hit on your opponent.

Jungkook’s mouth reaches your ass, his tongue dragging from your wet folds to your puckered hole. He prods on it a few times, your hips jerking back to him in response. You whine for him to continue but he chuckles as his mouth leaves you, still teasing by not putting his fingers inside your pussy.

“jungkook..” you whine once again, pushing your ass back to him but he grips your hips tightly for you to stay still. “next time...” he murmurs, pecking your asscheeks and you huff because he’s still teasing.

The game’s almost halfway but you’re torn on where to put your attention. Jungkook knows your body like the back of his hands with how long the both of you have been dating so it’s no surprise when he knows just how to make you squirm under his touch. 

"my baby's getting better at this..i'm proud of you"

Jungkook truly is, you didn’t miss any shot and you’ve been hitting your opponents with precision despite his distractions so now he’s going to show you how proud he is.

"time for your reward babe"

He brings down his sweats and strokes his hard dick with the hand that was fondling your cunt, his wet fingers coated by the lube and your essence making him gasp as he guides his swollen tip to your soaked entrance before he pushes in.

“ohmyfuckk” you moan loudly at the intrusion, his cock stretching you out deliciously that your walls are clenching erratically around him. Jungkook loves doing this to you because he knows you love the feeling of it, being full without his fingers preparing you. He used to hesitate in your early months of dating, the caring person he is, always making sure that you're comfortable at all times.

A deep thrust brings you back currently as Jungkook reaches to the hilt, hips stopping for a moment to relish the familiar feeling of your tightness around him. He tosses his head back while caressing your hips lovingly before he looks down at your arching back.

“see? i didn’t need to prep you love, your pussy's so used to my dick anyways” you hate how he manages to sound romantic despite his filthy words but it gets you going every single time.

“..fuck..” you groan as Jungkook starts moving his hips, slowly at first and the loud squelches echoing around the room are mixing with the sounds from the TV. He loves it, loves hearing how wet you get for him, his beautiful girlfriend acing his hobby at the moment.

One of Jungkook’s hands grabs your criss-cross straps, using them as leverage as he increases the speed of his hips. Your body’s been bouncing back and forth as he guides you to meet his thrusts. You’re grateful as this supports your body because you’ve been slowly going delirious despite doing your best to focus on the game. You take a deep breath and are going back on track when Jungkook delivers a sharp thrust, hitting that spot that makes your vision hazy with all the pleasure you’re already in.

“p-please..shit..” Jungkook smiles after hearing your needy whine, his own moans not missing to match yours. Fuck, since he feels you tightening around him, he keeps hitting the same spot until your body seems to decline on the bed, your head dropping with your moans getting louder.

Jungkook looks up at the screen and notices how you’re losing focus so he grabs a handful of your hair and pulls them up when you almost get hit by your opponent.

“focus”

You shriek at the slight pain on your scalp but you do your best to nod, gripping the controller hard and moving your fingers back as you concentrate on the game once again.

"there, good girl, the best baby" his praise made you clamp around him tighter and Jungkook's lips quirk, knowing very well how much you love hearing him compliment you like this.

It isn't long until you're nearing your end, your legs shaking at the intensity of Jungkook's thrust. You know he's close too, his cock twitching inside you so you start pushing back to meet his thrusts. His other hand snakes between your legs, rubbing your swollen bud as his pace begins to turn sloppy.

Your fingers move frantically, hitting the last member of your rival team in time for the coil breaking in your lower abdomen, closing your eyes shut after seeing the “victory” displayed on the TV screen.

“yesss–ugh” you scream as you reach your climax, dragging your words and slurring more curses as you ride out your high, your upper body flopping to the bed with your one hand dangling on the bed, trying to grip the console to prevent it from dropping to the floor.

“fuck..fuck..baby” Jungkook groans as he reaches his, both hands leaving their previous spot to grip your hips tightly. He sounds so fucking hot, his deep and raspy voice adding to his hurried pounding is making your mind hazier.

“hmm..so good” you moan wantonly, intense pleasure coursing through your whole body. You're helping your boyfriend in riding out his orgasm by moaning more for him, Jungkook does love it when you can't keep quiet while he's fucking you.

“game over y/n” he exclaims breathlessly, his hips rolling slowly while still spilling himself inside you. 

“and i..won” you grin in daze at the warm feeling of his cum, body still quivering even post orgasm as you turn on your lovely boyfriend's amused face.

“congrats babe” Jungkook smiles while biting his lower lip, his eyes still blown out as they meet your playful ones. He turns your body over to face him before leaning closer as he situates his body between your legs without pulling out.

“but you still lost” you tease, running out of breath. The double meaning made you smile in satisfaction. Finally, this bet between you is done and you even won against your skilled gamer boyfriend? now that’s something you can brag about to your girls at your meetup.

“don't care, i can't resist you”

“i know”

“ride me on my next stream?” he pouts, his eyes cutely begging at you.

“you sure you can handle it?” you bit your lip, intentionally clenching around his cock and he hisses.

“doesn't matter since i’ll have your pussy either way..mhmm i love you” Jungkook keeps peppering you with kisses before slowly pulling out, his eyes fixing on the cum oozing out from your sensitive cunt. 

“mhm love y’too..i’m sore” you whine, your eyes slowly dropping paired with a yawn after. You’re truly exhausted with the whole gaming ordeal and the mind-blowing, satisfying sex with your boyfriend. You feel sore everywhere, especially your arms and shoulders that are aching from his brutal fucking but you loved it. Sex has been always great but they've been quick these days because of how occupied the both of you are.

Jungkook finds how adorable you look with how you're suddenly getting sleepy. It’s still endearing to him how you usually get sleepy after showering because it’s the opposite for him. You truly don’t know why you do get sleepy, you just feel light and relaxed that it dozes you off. Add that Jungkook always tires you while showering, you just wanna lay down and sleep. Naps after a shower are the best ones, the only ones that make you feel fully rested after waking up.

“i didn't really care if you win you know” he admits fondly, scrunching his nose as he nuzzles your neck.

“is that so?” you respond sleepily, a small smile appearing on your pretty lips. “yeah, I love spoiling you”, he mumbles against your sweaty skin.

You mutter something of a “love you” as a response, the hand running through his hair is slowing down, letting Jungkook know that you’re on a brink of sleep.

“go to sleep now, we’ll have a picnic date later when you wake up” he smiles affectionately before kissing you on the cheek and you hum delightedly, closing your eyes for a deep slumber.

Jungkook looks at your sleeping figure before closing the door quietly, texting his friends proudly that you won the bet between you both. All he gets as replies are playful threats of stealing you from him and he scoffs, teasing his friends at the possibility of them watching you play instead.

e/n: it’s been years since i’ve actually played on PC so that’s why i didn’t specify any game on this one nor did i include any technicalities. also this genre’s not my forte so sowy if it didn’t live up to your taste 😬

[yukidragon]

Our Life Snippet - Lazy Morning Intimacy

So, who’s ready for an extra long serving of shameless fluff from the first draft of my fan novelization of Our Life: Beginnings & Always? My philosophy in writing this is if I can add some more fluffy cuddly moments, I absolutely will, and the Step 3 moment Reflection offers one such opportunity right at the very start before, well, those of you who have played this moment know what happens later.

Spoilers for those who have not played the Step 3 DLC! If you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read any further! If you don’t mind spoilery stuff, well, don’t let me stop you, but I highly, highly encourage you to play through the game before reading any of this.

As always, thanks go to @gb-patch for their wonderful game and their lovely feedback for my work, as well as everyone who likes, reblogs, and comments on these clips I’m posting here. You are all awesome.  💖

...

It wasn’t often that Jamie had the chance to enjoy breakfast at the Holden house. Ever since their parents decreed that they were ‘too old’ for sleepovers, she and Cove didn’t have many opportunities to enjoy that particular meal together, which made today a rare treat. It wasn’t especially fancy fare, but it was lovely to be able to spend time with her boyfriend almost as soon as she woke up. She was glad she impulsively asked if he wanted to have breakfast with her when they exchanged their usual good morning texts.

After a pleasant meal filled with light conversation and tasty food, Cove invited Jamie to retreat to his room to relax and let the lazy morning linger before any big activities began. That was, if they didn’t just decide to take it easy for the rest of the day. Neither of them had any plans in particular, with no prior commitments with friends, family, or work to distract them from just spending the day together. It wasn’t officially a date day, per say, or at least neither of them called it that yet. So far, they just decided to do whatever came to mind while enjoying each other’s company.

Of course, the first thing that came to Jamie’s mind was to cuddle with her boyfriend. When Cove sat down onto the bed, she didn’t hesitate to take a seat beside him, leaning into him. He hummed happily in approval and looped an arm around her to pull her in even closer.

A mischievous smile tugged at her lips as a new thought came to mind, and Jamie leaned in even closer. Cove raised an eyebrow at expression, only to yelp when she unexpectedly pushed her weight into him and tipped him back onto the bed. She fell along with him, giggling as they tumbled onto the mattress

Cove let out a chuckle of his own once he recovered from his surprise. “When I said we could relax, I didn’t mean going back to bed,” he said with a wry smile. Even still, he allowed her to nudge him gently back to the headboard so that they could both lounge comfortably on the bed properly with their heads resting on the pillows side by side. 

Jamie flashed Cove a satisfied grin before she snuggled up against his side, nuzzling her cheek against his as she basked in his gentle warmth. “You also said to make myself comfortable,” she teased, her eyes sparkling playfully as she rested her arm across his chest. “I’m very comfortable like this.”

Cove felt his heartbeat quicken, and he smiled back fondly at Jamie, nuzzling her cheek in return. “Me too,” he said softly.

Though maybe he was a little too comfortable.

Cove couldn’t help but be aware of the fact that they were both lying in his bed together. A prickling of nerves rose up that he quickly did his best to tamp down to not ruin the intimate moment they were sharing. It was fine, no big deal, he told himself. They were both fully dressed, on top of the sheets, and it was broad daylight. They cuddled plenty of times like this before on sofas and the ground. Heck, this was nothing compared to when they shared a bed when they were younger.

The flickering of nervousness didn’t escape Jamie’s notice. She softened her expression and reached up to gently run her fingers through her shy boyfriend’s hair. She had intended to steal a kiss or two and see where that would take them, but she decided that could wait until later. Just enjoying this moment with Cove was enough for her.

The touch was soothing, and Cove slowly started to relax as he leaned into Jamie. The anxious air that had threatened to pull him out of the moment gradually dissipated as her comforting warmth slowly settled in. Soon, he felt at ease enough to slip his arm back around her, which she happily used as her new pillow. He couldn’t help but smile at seeing the content expression on his partner’s face as she smiled softly back at him.

A comfortable silence washed over the pair as they simply enjoyed the quiet moment of intimacy. At some point, Jamie went from stroking Cove’s hair to toying with it. His ponytail limited her in how much she could card her fingers through his hair, but there were plenty of long locks to ripple between her fingers.

It wasn’t the first time Jamie got the impulse to play with her boyfriend’s hair. Even before he was officially - or even unofficially - her boyfriend, she couldn’t help but want to run her fingers through those pretty pale green strands. When they were younger, Cove would jokingly try to avoid her hands, but always ‘failed’ to escape in the end, allowing her to have her way. Sometimes she teased him back by pretending to give up, and he would always pout adorably, which she would immediately chase away with a satisfying ruffle of his hair.

Occasionally, Jamie would go beyond playing to actual styling. She was no professional, but it was fun to wind her boyfriend’s hair into a braid or two sometimes. Cove never minded, even if the braids rarely lasted that long after she was finished making them. It also didn’t escape her notice that he would sometimes shiver or let out an adorable pleasured little mumble when she raked her fingers along his scalp. It was an enjoyable experience for both of them, and sometimes she suspected that was one of the reasons why he let his hair grow as long as he did.

Jamie had no such grand designs now. Today she simply basked in the freedom to enjoy the feeling of his soft hair sliding between her fingers as she listened to the happy noises her partner occasionally let slip.

Although much more at ease, Cove couldn’t help the small traces of nervous energy that left him with the need to do something with his hands. He ran his thumb across her shoulder with the hand that was limited by Jamie resting on the upper part of his arm. With his freer hand, he decided to return the favor she paid to him and ran his fingers through her long deep blue hair, starting with stroking back her bangs before sliding his hand down along the entire length of her hair until he reached the ends at her hips. The feeling was soft and silky, and she sighed softly at the attention.

On impulse, Cove poked one of the small buns on top of his girlfriend’s head. Space buns were her preferred hairstyle of choice nowadays, and there was something satisfying about poking them that he couldn’t quite explain. Maybe it was the feel of them, or the way the bunched up hair bounced when poked that did it, but most likely it was because of the amused looks Jamie gave him whenever he did. She wore one such expression now, and he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit before giving her bun another playful poke.

Entertained, Jamie let Cove have her way with her buns, poking and prodding them as he pleased. The potential for innuendo wasn’t lost on her, but she let it go unsaid. As fun as it would be to make him flustered by suggesting that he might enjoy playing with a different set of buns she had even more, she didn’t want to interrupt the light, playful moment.

Jamie would just save that little bit of wordplay for later, preferably when the mood was good enough that Cove might take her up on the invitation.

Despite the steamy thoughts that skirted through her mind, Jamie did her best to focus on enjoying the lazy moment between them. It was lovely to just share such casual intimacy with Cove.

Jamie wasn’t alone in trying to ignore her more hormonal urges. As much as Cove enjoyed playing with her hair, focusing on touching her as he did made it impossible for him to stop thinking about the fact that they were both lying on his bed together. He was keenly aware of the gentle warmth of her body pressed against him, how soft and inviting her pink lips looked as she smiled at him.

Eventually, Cove realized he needed something else to occupy his hands if he didn’t want to risk disrupting the peaceful moment. Shifting about a bit, he fished his cell phone out of his pocket. Although Jamie raised an eyebrow at that and at being displaced from her cozy spot when he moved around, she held no objections as he turned his phone on and busied himself with it. Instead, she simply readjusted her position to get comfortable once he was settled again.

Sifting through missed texts and emails, Cove soon managed to distract himself from the urges that ruffled his nerves and relaxed back into the moment. He spotted a number of texts he missed from his dad, and for a moment he wondered if everything was okay until he realized Cliff just sent him a bunch of images last night.

A warm smile graced his face as Cove slowly scrolled his way through the photographs, nostalgia washing over him. Each photo brought him back to the moment it was taken, allowing him to lose himself in the priceless memories he shared with his friends, family, and especially the special person he held so comfortably close at that very moment.

Some photos brought back sweet memories, others a little more on the bitter side of sweet, and then there were the funnier ones. One such silly photo seized Cove’s attention, and he couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped him.

The sound immediately snapped Jamie out of her relaxed stupor and brought her back to the present. She raised an eyebrow at Cove, but he failed to notice her questioning look, too preoccupied by whatever was on his phone’s screen.

“What’s so funny?” Jamie asked as she propped herself up on her arm to get a better look at his face and catch a glimpse of the phone’s screen.

Cove finally turned to look at Jamie, his eyes crinkled with mirth and a smirk playing on his lips. “Dad scanned some old photos,” he chuckled. “You know…”

Now that Jamie was no longer using his arm as a pillow, Cove was free to use it to draw a rectangle in the air. “Printed out ones,” he explained, “back from when I was little.” He waved his phone a bit with his other hand. “He texted it all to me last night, I guess. I’ve been checking them out.”

Jamie sat up completely, her dark blue eyes flying open wide. “You were looking at your kiddie photos and didn’t tell me?!” she gasped, almost scandalized at missing out on something so priceless.

Cove barely resisted the urge to chuckle, offering Jamie a bent smile as his eyes narrowed playfully. “I was gonna show you.” His gaze then slid away to his phone as his expression turned a little more hesitant. “I just wanted to look at it first to make sure there was nothing super embarrassing. You never know with my dad.”

His mouth pulled into a grimace as Cove could easily imagine all sorts of horrors his dad might have captured on film to unintentionally humiliate him until the end of time. “I mean… what if there’s a photo of me getting potty trained or something?”

Although Jamie empathized with his worries, she couldn’t help but giggle at the fraught expression Cove wore. “Yeah, that sounds like something your dad would do.”

Cove could only respond by clearing his throat nervously, his eyes skirting away from Jamie as he sat up as well. While he hadn’t come across any particularly humiliating photo of himself, he couldn’t quite shake the fear of what his dad’s well-meaning actions might have left for him to deal with this time.

Jamie offered her boyfriend a sympathetic smile before adding a slight bent to it. “Hey, how about this - if you let me look at your embarrassing baby photos, I’ll show you just as many of mine. My moms have plenty of them.”

The offer was tempting. Cove couldn’t help but wonder what sort of photos Jamie had in mind, but the price was just too steep. He merely chuckled awkwardly and shook his head as he pointedly kept his phone tilted away from her. She huffed and puffed out her cheeks in a mock pout at him for holding out on her, which elicited a genuine bout of laughter from him.

Once Cove got his mirth under control, he smiled at Jamie. “Anyway, before we forget, I was laughing ‘cause I came across a Halloween one from when I was eight. The year I was a zombie, remember?”

Jamie dropped her faux pout and nodded, her eyes lighting up eagerly. Cove shook his head at her excitement, a wry grin gracing his face as he finally offered the phone to her.

As Cove watched Jamie eagerly turn to his phone, he couldn’t help but shake his head again, this time at his kid self. “I never even liked zombies!” he said, a little baffled that he ever was so enthusiastic for such a costume. “All I wanted was to show off my new scar. And I needed to be something scary. I couldn’t be a normal person who had a scar, according to my eight-year-old mind.”

The photo displayed on the screen showed Cove from ten years in the past, and a pleasant wave of nostalgia washed over Jamie as she saw him the way he looked when they first met, minus the pink cast and plus a fair amount of makeup and fake blood. Little Cove posed for the camera with his fingers hooked like claws, his mouth open as though letting out what was probably supposed to be a fierce roar. She could easily remember the noises he made that night as he pretended to be a zombie on the hunt for brains. His hair looked even more wild and disheveled than it did after the most energetic day of play, going well with the tattered and ‘blood’ stained button up shirt he wore. His face was painted in gray down to his neck, marred with an array of fake scars that couldn’t compare to the real one on his arm.

Cove looked from Jamie to the phone and chuckled softly at the face his younger self pulled for the camera. “I was a little dork.”

Jamie eyed Cove at such self-depreciation before poking him on the nose. “You were a little cutie,” she insisted. “And now you’re a big cutie.”

Cove blinked at the playful action before blushing at the compliment. He had no words to reply to it except for a quiet, flustered chuckle as he rubbed his nose.

Jamie grinned at that reaction before turning back to the photo. As much as she enjoyed how adorable Cove looked while pretending to be a fierce monster, it was impossible to ignore the scar displayed so predominantly on his arm at that time. Her smile softened at the edges at the sight of such a large, jagged line of fresh skin that was such a deep and angry shade of red. The scar was a pale memory in the present, but back then it looked so painful, and at the time she found it hard not to worry about him and his comfort after his cast came off.

Still, Jamie refused to let that put a damper on the story and focused instead on just how much fun little Cove was having posing for the camera and remembering the way they played around with their costumes that night. She could vividly recall how she pretended to run away from him when he playfully growled that he wanted to eat her brains, and the memory made her smile grow stronger.

“Dad really wanted to be useful, as usual,” Cove said, bringing Jamie’s attention back to him in the present. Though he noticed the flicker of sadness that crossed her face and realized the reason for it, he was glad to see her perk up again just as quickly. “He came up with the idea of being an undead person. It was pretty good, huh?”

Jamie chuckled softly and nodded. “You had the best Halloween costume that year, hands down,” she said playfully. “I remember you getting lots of extra candy when adults realized the scar was real.” Her smile widened as she remembered just how jealous Lizzie had been at how much candy Cove got that year, especially since he only offered to share some of that extra candy with Jamie. “It must have been your greatest Halloween haul ever.”

Cove couldn’t help but chuckle as well as he thought back to that legendary candy haul as well. It took him a month to finish it all even with Jamie’s help.

Still, the topic of his scar brought his gaze back to the picture. Cove couldn’t help but compare the way it looked in the photo to its current appearance on his left arm. “I can’t believe how much larger my scar used to be,” he said quietly.

Jamie watched as Cove turned his focus to his arm with a soft smile on his face. He traced his fingers along the jagged line of pale flesh that remained with him even ten years on. It was an action that she had seen him do countless times, but it felt more significant in that moment.

A soft sigh escaped Cove, but his eyes and tone were playful. “Look at how tiny it is now.” He gave Jamie a look with big, pathetic eyes. “How am I gonna pretend to be tough without a big scar?”

It was a struggle for Jamie not to laugh at the expression Cove wore. “You better not do anything stupid to get a new scar,” she joked with a faux disapproving frown as she wagged a finger at him. “No matter how much you like them!”

Cove grinned back at Jamie. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Jamie said with a satisfied nod. “You’ve already got the coolest scar, no matter how small it gets.”

Cove felt his cheeks grow warm and his smile turned bashful. “Thanks.” He ducked his head away from Jamie, pleased with their joking exchange. Once again, his eyes drifted down to his scar as he continued to trace it.

“I really do like having this,” he admitted in a soft, shy voice. “Even if it is kind of little these days.”

Jamie’s expression softened as well, feeling as though Cove was sharing a big secret with her. She couldn’t help but feel happy to hear that he liked his scar despite whatever pain it must have caused him to get it. It was always wonderful whenever he opened up to her like this.

Cove glanced up at Jamie, a gentle smile gracing his lips. “I like yours, too.”

The unexpected compliment caught Jamie off guard, and heat rose in her cheeks, turning them pink. She couldn’t help but smile as she felt her chest flutter with butterflies. He never failed to think of her as well, especially since he knew that she was self-conscious of her own scars.

Unthinkingly, Jamie brought her hand up to her upper arm and traced some of the countless jagged little white lines that marred her pale skin. There were matching scars in the same place on her other arm, as well as her thighs and her chest. Unlike Cove, these scars were not the result of an accident, but her skin not being able to keep up with her sudden growth during puberty.

Back during her early teenage years when the stretch marks were fresh and an angry purplish-red, Jamie always kept them hidden. Puberty had been rough on her, dealing a blow to her self-esteem as well as her body, and being covered in so many scars left her feeling ugly even though she never once thought of Cove’s scar like that.

It took time for Jamie to accept her scars, and she knew that Cove was a big part of why. Seeing the way he took such quiet pride in his scar always made her question how she thought of hers. More than that, he always made her feel beautiful, and he was always the first to remind her  whenever she needed it. That was why she was no longer afraid to wear clothes that exposed her scars like she did now.

Jamie scooted in closer to Cove as she smiled adoringly at him, placing her hand on top of his. “Thank you, Cove.”

Cove turned back to face Jamie fully. He finally let go of his scar so that he could take her hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. He felt at peace with his scar and was happy to see the same reflected on her face as well. Their scars held such meaning to them despite coming from unhappy sources.

Jamie squeezed his hand back as she drifted even closer. “Could I touch your scar?”

Cove blinked, taken aback by the request. Usually, Jamie wasn’t shy about touching him without asking first, particularly someplace as innocent as his arm. Still, he quickly realized why she might hesitate to do that now and smiled gently at her as he nodded easily. “Yeah, that’s okay.”

Jamie gave Cove’s hand one more squeeze before letting go of it. Lightly, she pressed her fingertips against the edges of his scar. With great care, she slowly ran her thumb along the entire length of it, following the jagged angles the old wound took. The pale flesh was rough when compared to the rest of his skin, which was soft, but with goosebumps rising quickly along his arm as she stroked his scar.

The touch, so delicate and gentle, left Cove feeling a bit lightheaded. Jamie’s touch always felt wonderful and often left him feeling butterflies, but somehow the feel of her paying such careful attention to his scar was particularly powerful. A choked breath escaped him and a wobbly smile played across his face as he lost himself in the feeling.

The dizzied smile Cove wore along with the light pink of his cheeks drew Jamie in with the urge to do more. She locked eyes with him, staring deep into his aquamarine eyes as she took a hold of his arm and raised it up towards her.

A quiet gasp escaped Cove when she realized what Jamie had in mind. He couldn’t look away from her dark blue eyes as she stared so intently into him even as she placed a soft kiss on the old wound that marked him. The feeling of her lips, warm and soft, pressed so tenderly against that particular place sent shivers up his spine, and he let out a tiny squeak.

Jamie smiled against Cove’s skin as she appreciated his adorable reaction, as well as the way he looked at her with overwhelming adoration. She kissed him again and again, tracing the entire length of his scar with her lips like she did with her fingers before.

It was impossible for Cove to stay still when Jamie was showing him such affection. He reached up with his free hand to touch her arm. With his thumb, he brushed aside the edge of her open sleeve, giving him better access to the countless little white lines marking her pale skin. The texture was interesting, feeling so similar yet so different from his own scar. Because of their size and number, he found his fingers constantly alternating between soft skin and rougher tissue. It was difficult to trace any one scar from start to finish like she did for him, so instead he sought out to touch every single one.

The touch was electric, and Jamie could feel her heartbeat speed up as Cove caressed her so lovingly. “Cove…”

Cove shivered again as Jamie murmured his name against his skin, setting off sparks that made his body burn pleasantly. It urged him to lean forward, his eyes gleaming with the fire she set ablaze inside him.

Jamie raised her head and instinctively matched his movement, drawing nearer to Cove as her eyes drifted closed. She felt his lips gently meet hers, and she melted into the tender kiss. She held a little more firmly onto his arm as she fell deeper into him, feeling like she might drown in the depths of her feelings for him.

Cove all too quickly lost himself in the moment and in Jamie. It felt so wonderful, so right to be her like this, to touch and kiss her. He loved her so much that it was almost overwhelming, but knowing that she loved him as well kept him grounded.

Eventually they finally drifted apart, breathless and dazed from the kiss, their faces flushed with heat. When Jamie opened her eyes, she saw Cove gazing back at her with his mesmerizing ocean blue eyes. The look he gave her was spellbinding, filled with so much love and adoration that made her heart hammer hard against her ribcage. It told her without words that the feelings he had for her were just as immense as hers were for him.

Cove leaned in again, this time resting his forehead gently against Jamie’s. With heavy lidded eyes, he simply enjoyed gazing deeply into her blue eyes that always reminded him of the night sky. No matter how many times he saw them, they always captivated him. He could lose himself in those beautiful eyes of hers.

The feeling of his warm breath tickling her skin made Jamie shiver a little, especially the way it brushed against her lips like the ghost of a kiss. With their heads touching, his hand on her arm and hers on his, she felt entirely entwined with Cove. It felt so right.

Time ceased to have any meaning in that moment as they gazed deeply into their partner’s eyes and drank in the closeness and warmth they shared. Seconds or minutes might have passed, but neither of them cared as they lost themselves in each other.

[thenukacolachallenge]

Cash and Old World Blues:

finally remembering a readmore lmao mk2021KanoFuckinWhoops.jpg

-Cash never learns not to follow strange broadcasts to her Pip-Boy, because she’s not very smart. so, when she receives the coordinates for the Midnight Science Fiction thing, of course she goes. She’s learned by now to go alone to these things, though, and leaves Cass and ED-E at the nearby Novac hotel room she owns. Of course, upon touching the strange, crashed satellite, she’s blinded by a bizarre light, and loses consciousness.

-she awakens on the balcony of The Sink, the home of Big Mountain’s Think Tank, with new scars all over her body, and in a surgical gown. She’s VERY unhappy about this arrangement. upon reading her Pip-Boy, however, she realizes she’s in the Big MT, THE Big Empty that both Christine and Elijah spoke of. after taking a brief survey of the surrounding landscape, she heads inside(after turning on the Mysterious Broadcast again, since even though it gave her a slight headache in the Mojave, it doesn’t seem to be doing so now, plus she’s not getting her normal channels all the way out here).

-She of course pokes around in the interior before making her way to the Think Tank proper. she’s a little surprised that for such a high-tech seeming place, everything seems to be non-functional, but hey, there’s food, water, and a place to sleep. if she has to pull another stint like the Sierra Madre, she’s prepared. plus all her normal gear is with her! already an improvement.

-meeting the Think Tank is........ an experience, to say the very least. She tries her best to threaten them, but between the pacification field they’ve erected, and their obvious insanity, it... doesn’t really take. for the first time in her adventures, she’s genuinely unsure how to proceed with them at first. She does not take kindly to being informed that she’s been lobotomized and is now technically a cyborg, but really, there’s not much she can do about it.

-The whole video with Dr. Mobius weirds her out, as well. she’s fully at “what the FUCK is going on” levels of annoyed by the end of it, and is completely belligerent to the rest of the Think Tank, promising extensively to break whatever rules they have here, and insulting them as best she can, since, you know, they stole her organs. But ultimately, she does have to play along to get her brain back, and so she agrees to help them, but not without promising with all her (missing)heart to be a complete menace the entire time. she also takes specific note to the fact that having her brain back will circumvent the Think Tank’s pacification field.

-Really though, between the Think Tank thinking toes are penises, “sonjaculating” into an energy weapon, and Dala being a fucking creep, Cash is INCREDIBLY weirded out. if you’ve never played FNV or Old World Blues in particular, but you love super campy sci-fi, i highly recommend watching a let’s play of the opening conversation with the Think Tank. it’s fucking incredible. best dlc.

-Also, she talks them into giving her the K-9000 cyberdog gun. Cash now owns a literal dog gun. it’s her new favorite weapon. Best boy.

-She does poke around their room(s) as well before leaving, and asks many questions of all of them. She does have to take Mentats to be smart enough to properly converse with them, just as she had to in order to understand Christine while she was mute. She discovers confirmation that Christine and Elijah both came through and Elijah in particular caused a lot of problems. she also learns quite a bit about each unique member of the Think Tank and their personalities. She manages to learn how to understand Dr. 8, she does breathing exercises for Dr. Dala, and she shows Dr. 0 that he can differentiate O and Zero by drawing a slash through it. she finds it all very weird and becomes very eager to get her brain back so she can leave.

-finally, she installs the personality module for the Central Intelligence Unit in the Sink, and finds that she really doesn’t mind being called ‘sir’. wonder what that means :)