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ghostoffuturespast · 9 months

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Works In Progress 2023: A Cyberpunk 2077 Year In Review

I thought for a hot minute about doing one of those snazzy templates that’s been going around, but editing photos just ain’t my MO and rather than going by month I picked 12 favs that I’ve posted in 2023. Some of them were popular, some of them weren't. Overall, I think I did pretty good for just doing vanilla photomode on console.

You might be wondering why there's a picture of a sticky note. I don't remember when I started doing this, and I'm horribly inconsistent as you can see by the dates, but I'll jot down my word count for my wip chapter and then jot it down again when I remember to later.

I write slow. A lot of times I sit down to write and it feels like the wheels are spinning in place. My minutes and hours don't stretch very far, typically don't add up to much. But days, weeks, months. That's when I can at least measure the progress.

Fic: So It Goes 40/44 - 438,946 words

My V x River Ward and tinfoil hat conspiracy theory long fic. I've spent way more hours on this then I have on any of my VP.

I got tagged by @just-a-cybercroissant @therealnightcity and @wanderingaldecaldo to do some WIP Whenevers. I post my VP pretty regularly, so it’s always seemed silly to do work in progress posts for them, and I don’t know when I’ll have any new writing to share since in between work and the holidays, I haven’t had much time to sit down with anything since my last chapter update. And I've been feeling very... stingy, lately. Especially when it comes to mine and other people's writing. So take this WIP/Year In Review as my offering. Both these series, as am I, are all very much still works in progress.

I confined my reflections for this year below the cut. If you don’t want to read my long-ass essays, you can admire the pictures, maybe check out my fic, or just move along and have yourself a lovely day.

We’ll start with the easy one.

After at least a year of multiple playthroughs (I’ve played all the lifepaths, done all the endings), it only occurred to me at the beginning of this year to start taking VP. Part of the reason I never did before was because I didn’t realize it was a thing and then by the time I did, I figured I didn’t have much to offer. I play on PS5 and only have access to vanilla photomode, so seeing everyone else’s high-fidelity, ultra ray-tracing, modded, posed, full on virtual photo shoot photos, I was like there’s no way. (Not that I’m hating on PC modders, it’s just not everyone has access to mods or a PC capable of running the game, and I’m all for making art and creative endeavors accessible.) On top of that, all I’d ever heard from most other folks was how much vanilla photomode sucked. In the glamorous world of VP, I didn’t think there was any room for me.

But I started snapping pics anyway. And sure, there are a lot of limitations with vanilla photomode. But what that really translates to is opportunities to get creative. I am also a hoe for subverting people’s expectations, and very much believe when there’s a will, there’s a way.

Environmental and landscape shots were my first subjects before I started branching out into portraits and then capturing story moments. Through VP I found an entirely new way to enjoy a game that I’d already played a ridiculous number of times along with also finally being brave enough to share my V with other people too. I’d always worried about that before, if people would like her. Granted, I know Grandpa’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but whether you like her or not, I certainly think she’s made a name for herself over the past few months. Even if most people haven’t really gotten to know her the way I’d hoped.

I’ve taken hundreds of photos this past year. Most of which I’ll never share. There’s a lot of flops, a lot of weird experiments, ones that didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped, but I’ve learned something from every single one of them. I know how to spot good lighting, frame shots to create optical illusions, get a very limited toolkit to work in my favor, parkoured on all of the things, and heck, I even figured out how to make Grandpa smooch other NPCs. I’ve done atmospheric, mundane, down right goofy, as well as things that most people probably thought weren’t fucking possible.

I can’t say how long I’ll keep doing this, I’m sure I’ll move on at some point, but for now I’m still enjoying myself. There's a lot to explore in this game and I just can’t stop digging Night City.

Now, for the more complicated thing.

Writing

So It Goes… My peace, my war, my greedy and most ravenous of ghosts.

I’m operating under the assumption that most people following me here probably haven't read my fic or aren’t all that interested in reading it to begin with. It’s fine. But you need to understand this fic, my writing, is the main thing that brought me here. This is also Grandpa V’s story. Most of you have met her, but unless you've been reading, most of you do not know her.

I wrote around 185,000 words and posted 10 chapters this year. 2022 was about 253,000 words and 30 chapters, along with several unrelated one shots. However, I don’t think I’ve done a single chapter this year that was less then 10k, and my longest managed to hit 27k. As of the last update I posted, the fic is currently sitting at around 439k words, 40 chapters, and still isn’t done.

I have four more chapters to write. I have written a metric shit ton of words. This is, by far, the longest and most intense creative project I’ve ever endeavored to complete.

When I started writing, I was expecting this fic to be around 100-150k. That seemed to be the average for most long fics. I did not plan on being an outlier. I'm not sure you can ever really plan for that, but I guess I enjoy subverting my own expectations too.

For those of you who are reading my fic, it is my sincerest hope that it shatters every expectation of where you think it’s going. It’s not a joke that I tagged my fic “#an ode to my tinfoil hat”. An ode it has turned out to be. I’ve been sitting on this theory for two years. I have told no one about it. I hope it sticks the landing and hits the way I want it to. I don't know if it will. But fuck, I just want to be done with it so I can move on with my life, take a break, and give myself the opportunity to make and focus on other things before I have to get back on the damn horse.

I wrote less this past year then I did in 2022. I had a lot of life changes, most of which were good, but with times of change come times of adjustment. Along with some realizations that maybe you don’t understand as much as you thought you did. Looking back, I’ve been in a state of unsettled, kuzushi, for a really long time. Which is not a good place to be. It’s how your ass ends up on the ground with a knee knocking out all your teeth. I thought I knew better. Thought I had enough practice to get away from it. But bad habits have good memories.

I think given the circumstances, I accomplished a lot with my writing this year. I don’t know if my writing is exactly where I want it to be. I doubt it every will be, but it’s evolved, grown, and I wrote a pretty hefty stack of words considering I started working full-time again, bought a house with my partner, moved, and have been dealing with the millions of other beans that life tends to throw one’s way. That being said, and for full disclosure, I’ve also been dealing with some of the worst cases of jealousy and envy I’ve had since I was a teenager.

Frankly, it sucks. They walk with me every fucking where I go, hold my hands to whisper back all my doubts. Try to persuade me to my baser instincts, to be cruel and lash out. But that's not aikido. Luckily, I’m not 16 anymore so it’s at least been easier for me to identify the problem. Though I’m still coming up short in terms of actually being able to do anything about it, and will be for at least a few months more.

Yeah, I keep talking about it because I don’t know how many people know that I've been feeling this way. And I’m tired of not talking about it in a room full of creatives, because yeah, I know I’m not the only one that feels this way. And not talking about it just makes all that pent up resentment worse for everyone.

Don’t get me wrong, I love writing. But with the way I work and think, it’s a slow, tedious, and incredibly time-consuming art. With how much my fic has snowballed over the course of writing, it’s left very little room for the other hobbies in my life. And as my fellow writers probably already know, writing is an incredibly insular craft. And unlike a picture or an image, which only requires a glance, reading a bunch of words requires time and commitment.

So, when you put yourself out there and share what you wrote, it’s a lonely feeling not knowing whether or not anyone connected with what you put on the page. Especially, when the people who do read aren’t compelled to voice anything and when the people you’d hope would read don’t. And then you're stuck in the dark, not knowing, because neither of us says a goddamn thing.

I started writing this fic prior to actually joining the CP2077 fandom. And I joined the fandom because I felt alone. I’ve been here a while now, albeit in a few different places, and that feeling still hasn’t gone away. I’m still trying to find camaraderie with my fellow writers and carve out something that kinda sort of resembles a home or a sense of community. I watch my peers around me as they seem to build that with each other, except me.

I’m envious of the things that people make and jealous of the relationships those have created and fostered between said people, because for the life of me, it’s been a struggle to cultivate that since I got here. I know it’s selfish, but I also don’t know what about me makes people so hesitant. There have been a handful of strangers that have shown up for me regularly, but as far as people I call friends in this fandom that have shown up and actually stuck around, I can only name one right now. (I know we're all busy. And I acknowledge my writing's not for everyone. I know maybe some of you are quiet, or shy, or probably a thousand other things. I get it. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt any less. People will never know unless you say. Never know unless you take the time to interact or engage. Be brave. And that's true for a lot of things.)

The propensity is for the negative to outweigh the positive. I've got a lot of numbers on my fic, so you would think things would be fine, but at this point they just feel empty. They don't bring me any comfort or real satisfaction. And I hate feeling like the people I know don’t care and that most of you are just talking around me. That I’m some kind of annoyance not fit to interact with. Which may or may not be the case. I don’t know. Again, most of you have never said anything. And maybe I need to accept the fact that most of you never will.

But this is me trying to start conversation.

It’s really shitty, knowing that the thing I want the most is also the thing holding me back. I know how to work on it too, not that it’s any guarantee. The problem is I’m still writing and in a needy state of greed. And because I’m slow, I don’t have the time or the energy to be generous. I can only take right now. I can’t give.

Relationships require both.

I can’t bring myself to read other people’s writing. I can’t comment, or like, or share if I haven’t read anything. I'm desperate for conversation, but I also don't have the time or assurance to facilitate it with other people right now. And for some reason people never seem to want to talk to me, especially when it comes to writing. I want to be part of conversations, talk deeply with other people. But I can’t speak right now, I'm not in a place to offer generosity without someone first giving it to me.

And generosity and grace is what we all need.

Four more chapters and I hope my ghosts will finally let me read in peace.

#cyberpunk 2077 #2023 year in review #year in review #virtual photography #writing #from the top #fic: so it goes #long post #i can't guarantee a safe space but i can guarantee a brave space #if anyone's been feeling similarly and wants to talk about it my dms are open #the door's always open

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spitblaze · 23 days

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Ape Escape Good.

Like look I'm a freak and a weirdo and I don't play games until like twenty + years after they're released. That being said I didn't grow up with a ps1 so better late than never.

Anyway! If you’re like me and end up not playing games very important to the history of the medium until way after they're relevant, you could do far worse than Ape Escape. It's easy to start the game and go 'ouuuugh fuck this controls like SHIT' but I PROMISE you that you will get used to the controls, they will feel natural and even intuitive by the time you get most of the gadgets. This was the first game that REQUIRED a playstation controller with analog sticks, and it makes good use of them, even if it might not feel like it at first. Don't worry about the controls.

And it's easy to point out the historical significance of this being the game to really sell people on the analog controls and leave it there, but there's way more here than just that. This game was made at the very tail end of the 90s, and it just oozes with it. It's in the UI with the liquid color splash behind the cookies/biscuits that represent your health, it's in the supersaturated and serene landscapes you traverse while doing 3d platformer collectathon shit, it's in the incredible dnb/jungle soundtrack composed by Soichi Terada of Sumo Jungle fame, it's in Specter, the hyperintelligent time-traveling ape antagonist who had a lot of attention of FFnet for being Shadow the Hedgehog (but an ape)(and also being colored white instead of black) before Shadow the Hedgehog, it's in the. Okay I can’t lie it's also in the subpar dub job in the US version too but that's part of the charm at this point. It is of its time in the most charming way possible, it's a very sincere game about catching apes with a net while surreal atmospheric house music underscores the whole thing. It's great.

There's like...only a handful of things I can really complain about and not chalk up to me being bad at video games. There is a boat in this game. It sucks ass to control. It's completely optional, you can skip it if you don't mind taking some damage. There's some things you can do with the controller that they don't tell you about in-game until weirdly late, but I'm sure it was all very clearly laid out in the instruction booklet. In first-person controls, the y-axis controls are inverted, bur not the x-axis, which was frustrating the whole way through. Really the one thing that REALLY sucks is that if you fall off a cliff or down a bottomless pit, it doesn't just take some of your health- it takes a full life. For that fact alone I'd reccomend playing it on something with savestates- the ps4/ps5 re-release, an emulator, whatever. There's enough tricky platforming over bottomless pits that it's worth having them, especially if you are like me and not good at video games. My one final complaint is that they keep calling them monkeys in the game when they are CLEARLY supposed to be apes, they have no tails and are making chimpanzee noises, the name of the game is APE escape, please.

So! Play Ape Escape if you have 10-15 hours and the ability to play ps1 games on some platform, it's aged remarkably well and while I can't like...guarantee you'll have a blast with it, I certainly did.

#spitblaze says things #ape escape #spitblaze plays things

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abubblingcandle · 1 year

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Personal Beliefs and Headcanons about Jamie Tartt's upbringing

This is a continuation of a discussion with @fanficfanattic that was kinda derailing talk about Phil Dunster's approach to Jamie Tartt's accent but is something that I am super passionate about so did want to put somewhere and foster discussion with other people about it.

Disclaimer - Again I am not someone who grew up in this exact situation that we see Jamie in but it permeates through my life and my family. I can only talk about things like this from personal experience and how much I relate to Jamie being from a working class Northern family and currently being in my mid 20s with parents who were in poverty and one who lived in council housing. Those of you who have read my fanfics know that I put a lot of my specific experiences into talks about Jamie's backstory (I have literally today been writing more of a chapter where Jamie talks about cheap ways that his mum tried to keep him out of trouble during the summer holidays lol) and so I am always happy to talk about hyperspecific headcanons or my experiences if anyone wants to

So yeah, the discussion was about Jamie being a battler partially because of where he was raised not just because of his father

Jamie as a battler is something that is so so important to me. He even says it in S1 “do you think I could have got from a council estate in North Manchester to the Premier League just by doing what everyone else did” and it gets sort of brushed off as a teachable moment with Keeley saying people are just trying to help him and he needs to let them. It doesn’t get talked about much more than as a part of his smugness and selfishness in S1 but it is more than likely that given Jamie’s history there would have been so few if any people in his past that did just want to help him for the sake of helping him. It also ties into his obsession with Ted’s actions being mind games. Because having people genuinely wanting him to succeed just because he’s Jamie ... foreign idea.

I can just see Baby Jamie at a criminally underfunded primary school in North Manchester telling everyone that he was going to be a premier league footballer and getting fond laughs and being told that maybe if he worked hard he might be able to get into a good trade, like an electrician. (For me I wanted to be an journalist and was told that maybe a simple good paying job like an air hostess or a hairdresser would be a much better target, not like that’s stayed with me or anything).

Even if you take James Tartt Sr out of the picture, Jamie would have had to fight for everything and stand up for himself to achieve his goals. It is likely as a young single mum that Georgie would have been out a lot working leaving Jamie to look after himself from a young age and do things like making sure he got to football training (showing that drive and that fact he mentioned, he had to be different to other people to succeed) and little things like making sure he looked after his kit himself so it was ready and lasted as long as possible.

The second part to this is the fact that mindset is so so so hard to lose. My mum worked her arse off and got herself out of that cycle of extreme poverty through smarts and luck and even though we now have enough to live on, there are little things about being raised in an environment where you were an afterthought and didn’t have enough that don’t leave you - either through over compensating the other way (when you have money spending it frivolously because suddenly buying that nice thing you want wouldn't mean that you don't eat) or refusing to spend money on something because you don't need to and it's a waste to spend it (even if the amount of money doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things anymore). I see Jamie mostly in the first category (the designer clothes, fancy cars, sculptures in his house, willing to buy everyone PS5s to get them to like him without batting an eye at the cost) but likely with little money saving things that he just can't shake.

#ted lasso #jamie tartt #character analysis #tw poverty #personal experiences projected onto fictional characters #headcanons #candle writes

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sidthedollface2 · 1 year

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Third Love

Ch: 5 La Rosa

Pairing: Eddie x Mexican Female Reader

Word Count: 9.1k (snack time)

Summary: Eddie finally takes you on that date, but the question remains, Will he get a second?

CW: MDNI 18+ SMUT (p in v, oral, all that fun stuff ) Jealous and possessive Eddie, Modern au Eddie, fuckboy Eddie. Reader with another man (not cheating). I gave you a cute lil nickname cuz you're a sweetie. 🍑

His body collapses over yours breathless and sticky from sweat. His hold on you is tight as he rests his head over your bare chest. Your mind is racing a mile a minute. Your name is tattooed on his body. You should feel honored at the sweet gesture, but instead you're confused. He pulls away tieing off the condom and throwing it into the trash.

This is what you've always wanted, so why wasn't it like the movies, where there's a clear sign that you love him too. You listen for angels singing, or butterflies in your stomach, heat in your cheeks or the hammering of your heart. The sound of a running shower disrupts your thoughts and you quickly get dressed. You only have a few minutes before Sebastian gets out of the shower and you need to leave right now.

The rooms empty when he enters, the scent of your perfume lingers in his sheets. He knows about your date with Eddie, you told him yourself. Afraid tonight would be his last night with you he had to do something, anything to keep you. He knows the rules you set, boundaries to never be crossed, but rules are meant to be broken. In the heat of passion between kitten licks and mouthing at your neck and body he marked you, lavender bites below your ear, deep purple ones litter your breasts and inner thighs. There's no way you'd see Eddie with love bites all over your skin.

You're not sure if the steam is from your hot shower or the heat leaving your body from anger as you glance over your hickey covered body. Disappointment written all over your face. Instead of feeling loved and on cloud nine from being intimate with someone who loves you, you feel used. The marks on your body act like a trophy had been claimed. If this was supposed to stop you it only fueled your fire. You were going on that date whether Sebastian liked it or not.

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"I have a date coming up but I'm not sure where exactly to take her so I need ideas."

Cereal dribbles out of the corners of Max's mouth as she suppresses a laugh. Eddie Munson on a date? She' thought she'd never hear the words.

He's in your apartment again, he's been coming weekly, sometimes twice a week, when he knows you're not home, Max unknowingly tells him when you're out.

He's written down little notes about things he's seen in your apartment. Likes plants, doesn't know what kind. Likes movies, doesn't know which genre is your favorite, reads books, doesn't know your favorite trope or who your book boyfriend would be. It's all very vague knowledge of your likes and dislikes.

Max gives him a few ideas of what would impress her, a trip to a nice arcade, a bmx event where riders compete on who can land the most outrageous jumps and kicks. She mentions things you might like since you're her friend after all and a girl. "My roommate doesn't like going to the movies on a first date, says that's not how you get to know someone by being silent for 2.5 hrs." She shrugs, as she sets her dirty bowl in the sink. Well there goes the movie he planned.

Max makes herself comfy on the couch, knees tucked to her side as she powers on the ps5 and places her headset on. Eddie excuses himself to use the restroom but on his way he notices your door isn't closed all the way. He looks towards Max, who's already immersed in the game and talking back to gamers who think she can't play.

This is his chance. He cautiously pushes the door open but doesn't step inside. He scans your bedroom left to right taking it all in. Immediately to the left is your cherry wood desk, laptop and paperwork with Twisted Records in the header. A calendar hangs from the wall above it showcasing days and times that you'll be in office as well as studio days, festivals and your days off.

Against his better judgment he takes out his phone and flips through the calendar taking pictures of each month as well as photos of your room. It was just enough information he needed to coincidentally meet you at the same location.

A frown settles between his brows as he studies your calendar, noticing the many therapy and drs appointments you had scheduled. Leaving your bedroom exactly how he found it he goes to the restroom and once he's done he says his goodbyes to Max.

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Eddie drove through hills where lush greens and palm trees lined the street. Homes where driveways were miles long and fences with intricate curves and designs welded into the frame, so tall and large they seemed like heaven's gate. Stone pillars and statues were surrounded by fountains and wildflowers. The street to your dads house was never ending, at the very top of a steep hill overlooking the city.

He stopped outside your gate as a voice from the intercom addressed him, buzzing him inside. Eyes wide in awe as he looked over your dads property, you were rich rich. A sense of insecurity washed over him. You were born into this lifestyle and he was scraping by.

He didn't have all this money to shower you with gifts or fancy expensive cars. Could he even afford the dinner of your favorite restaurant? Maybe he was in over his head. What would a rich girl want with him? From what he saw you didn't act rich and snobby.

He rounded your circular driveway, paved in decorated stone and brick. Wiping his sweaty palms on his black slacks, re-adjusted the sleeves he had folded up to his forearms. A dash of cologne spritzed through the air as he walked through the spray, rounding the car towards your door.

Concealer covered the love bites behind your ear, now barely noticeable and faded. A skin tight bodycon dress with a high neckline and sleeves covered the rest. A dress this tight didn't need undergarments. The seams of a bra wouldn't do it justice so you wore panties and Chanel no 5 underneath. A pair of black heels completed the look. A last glance in the mirror made you self conscious. You remembered the girls Eddie was with that night. Tall, taller than you, very Paris Hilton modelesque type girls. The kind that gets seen with rockstars Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee types. Groupies, that wasn't you.

The sound of the doorbell rings throughout the house causing you to jump, nervousness consumes you as you slowly walk down the stairs, making sure you dont trip and embarrass yourself. You take a deep breath to calm yourself and open the front door.

Eddie stands in your doorway, a beautiful bouquet of flowers clutched in his hand. You both seem to be in a daze as you noticeably check eachother out. Eddie looks unbelievably handsome, dressed in black slacks, a collared shirt that has the top buttons open down his toned chest with his sleeves rolled up his forearms.

A flight of butterflies took off in his stomach at the sight of you. He could stare at you all day with how stunning you look, his eyes trail over your frame, the fat of your hips and thighs call to him. The things he would do to get between those smooth legs. "Wow Peach, you look amazing."

Your cheeks redden at the compliment, smoothing down your dress, you smile shyly under his stare. "That's really sweet of you, thank you."

"These are for you." Eddie hands you a beautiful bouquet of coral and lavender roses mixed with baby's breath and greenery, wrapped beautifully in colored cloth and ribbon.

You reach for the stems and an electric charge buzzes between you as your fingers gently graze Eddie's. His eyes widen at your soft touch, the buzz is loud in his ears just like the first time he met you, the buzz from the neon tattoo sign when you showed up at the shop. It's been charging, hours of friendly conversation through a telephone. Buzzing at his fingertips when they text you every morning and night. The pull is undeniable, perhaps Eddie knows that too because the flowers he chose have a meaning that's not lost on you. "They're beautiful Eddie. Thank you." You bring the bouquet to your nose gently inhaling the floral scent, your eyes close enjoying the tender moment. "Come in, let me put these in a vase."

You step aside letting Eddie into the foyer, turning on your heel towards the kitchen. Eddie gasps silently at the plunging neckline on the back of your dress, sharp shoulder blades moving with each step. His eyes follow the soft curve of your spine and his tongue peeks out licking his lips as the bounce of your backside has his mouth watering. His head is on a swivel as he admires the enormous space that is your dads house. Tall ceilings with windows from floor to ceiling brighten up the kitchen. Natural light beams through creating a peaceful serene kitchen.

You set the flowers down near the sink and Eddie takes a seat at the kitchen island, forearms leaning on the edge. You can feel his stare behind you as you reach for a vase down below. You bend at the knees, not really fond of flashing him your panties yet and Eddie tilts his head, eyes fixed closely on your body before he averts his eyes, momentarily forgetting his manners. "This is the biggest house I've ever seen, It's huge. Is it only you and your parents that live here?

You chuckle at his amusement, arranging the flowers so they sit perfectly in the middle of the island. "It's mostly me and my Dad, but he works a lot and I also work a lot, so It can be rare when we're both here at the same time."

You peer over the flowers straight into his warm eyes, your seductive gaze dances between his lips and eyes. From behind the flowers you look like a sultry fox stalking her prey, waiting for the perfect time to pounce and sink your perfect teeth into him. He'd let you too, beg for your bite to wound him helpless, drop to his knees in mercy if it meant he'd be carried to your love nest only to be devoured.

"Do you know the meaning of coral roses?" You question, tracing the soft petals of the flower with your fingertips, the tickle on your fingers giving way to your sweet smile.

"No."

Yes.

His adam's apple bobs in his throat as he swallows.

"Do you know the significance of lavender roses?" You pluck a coral and lavender rose, rounding the kitchen island to stand directly in front of Eddie's spread legs. He's never been in this position before, desire dancing like a flame within your eyes. Groupies were after the fame that came along with being a rockstar, to you Eddie was just some guy. A really handsome guy that stirred all the ingredients needed for the perfect meal.

Him.

A delicacy that not even your wealth can buy, yet he landed at your doorstep, well, Sebastian's door step like a door dash hand delivered for your consumption.

You twist the stem of the coral rose between your thumb and index finger, gently placing the rose to his chest. "Desire, a deep and longing wish for something or someone."

He places his palm above your hand, holding the rose and your hand against his chest. His eyes flick down to your lips and he hopes you don't feel the thundering of his heart beneath your palm.

With his other hand he pulls the lavender rose from your grasp, twirling it between his fingers just as you did.

"Love at first sight, the experience of starting to be in love with someone as soon as you see them for the first time."

So he does know the meaning.

He tenderly brings the rose to your temple, slowly caressing the velvet petal down the curve of your cheek, to the soft angle of your jaw. His eyes never leave yours, enchanted by your beauty, a beauty that he's only read in fairy tales and mythology. He travels the rose across your full lips, and his eyes flick down to the suppleness of your bottom lip.

The tickle of the petal against your mouth causes you to bite your lip through a smile. His eyes widen and he licks his lips on instinct, your sweet smile draws him closer, the taste of you a breath away.

His hand lifts from yours gently tucking a soft strand of your hair behind your ear, his thumb caresses the shell of your ear making your body shiver under his gentle touch, fingers fan to the nape of your neck pushing into your hair, cradling the back of your head in his palm. He closes the gap as his plush lips collide with yours, slow soft pecks testing the waters afraid of feeling too desperate to dive right in like he wanted to.

Still between his spread legs you pull him closer by the nape of his neck, his hand finds the curve of your hip bringing you closer bracing you between his thighs, palm firmly cradling your head deepening the kiss with the hunger of a starved man. His tongue swipes over the seam of your lips, eager to explore the movement of your tongue against his. You part your lips granting him entry, he moans at the taste of you, tongues swirling fighting for dominance. You cradle his face, thumb pulling at his bottom lip, nibbling on the fullness, needing to be closer, deeper.

The hand on your hip snakes its way around your waist, finding the smooth skin of your exposed back. A gasp leaves your mouth as his knuckles trace down your spine, creating tiny sparks in its wake. He tilts his head, nose brushing against your jaw, lips finding the crook of your neck. You expose your neck to him in raw desire for him to continue down this path. Granting him permission he nibbles and bites at the skin, scented by your alluring perfume.

He's intoxicated by the feel of your flesh under his hands, wanting to feel more of you, he boldly palms the round globes of your ass, a grip so deep his fingertips tickle your clothed cunt causing you to squeal and jump, breaking the heated kiss. "I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, It's really hard to resist you." He abruptly stands, retreating both hands in a show of surrender and respect.

Unable to meet your eyes, he paces your kitchen clearly frustrated in his lapse of judgment. "Hey, It's ok…I.. I liked it" Your soft voice breaks his pacing and he finally looks at you searching for any sign of uncomfortableness, finding none he relaxes hes shoulders, relieved he didn't just blow it. "Can I hug you? Promise just a hug." You nod and he reaches for your arms, pulling you close to his firm body.

He understands now how men fall to their knees in the presence of goddesses and sirens of the deep. Eddie's not spiritual in the slightest but the way your hot skin makes him feel and the lustful way you look at him he knows if he doesnt get you out of this house he'll bow down to you with pleading eyes begging to worship you. "Lets, get out of here yeah?"

With his hand at the small of your back he leads you out to his car, opening the passenger side and averting his eyes when your dress rides up the meat of your thighs as you sit down. You smooth down ur dress, pulling the hem down to cover up afraid you've over dressed for the occasion. He enters the drivers side, wide smile as he stares at you, his passenger princess and arm candy for the night.

The drive is filled with music and laughter. No awkward silence between you, Eddie's thoughtful questions are deeper than strangers asking about the weather. Yours not so much. "So uh, what's the worst nickname someone has ever called you?"

Eddie chuckles, remembering his highschool days are long gone but never forgotten. "In highschool people called me freak." He glances over to gauge your reaction, hoping the title that he wore proudly doesn't put you off. He catches a slight frown when you look away from him and he wonders if he said the wrong thing. "Freak because….of all the girls you–"

"No. That's not. Actually far from that." He laughs. "Freak as in strange and unusual. I was the town piriah, Eddie The Freak Munson."

Its hard to believe his words when he turns his body towards you, one hand on the wheel and the other bracing the back of your headrest looking over his shoulder, eyes focused and concentrated in reversing. You focus on his thick corded neck, protruding adams apple so delicious Eve couldnt resist. The scar along his strong angular jaw acting like an X on a treasure map, you'd dig with your bare hands just to touch him.

His shirt is pulled tight around his bicep showcasing his lean muscle, defined forearms from years of playing guitar. Hes unaware of how attractive he is, relying solely on his charisma and charm. It works for him, because he's got you in the palm of his hand.

You're not sure if it's just Eddie, an unexpected turn on or both that has you squeezing your thighs together, craving a friction only he can provide.

"I can feel you staring at me."

He's looking at you now, arm still braced behind your seat, incredibly close you can feel his breath on your lips.

"You're pretty to look at." You reply, studying the map of freckles that decorate his face. He grins, cheeks flushed pink by your compliment. "If you ask me, between the both of us, you're the pretty one." He puts the car in park and grasps your hand in his, placing a sweet kiss to your knuckles. His hands feel rough against your skin but his kiss is soft and caring.

"Let me get the door, yeah?" He walks to your side of the car, opening the door like a gentleman that he's learning to be. Your dress is sitting mid thigh, too short and tight to stand up without flashing someone. He sees your hesitancy and instead of standing on the side of the door, allowing you space to get out, he comes close next to you, shielding your body from anyones wandering eyes. The heel of your shoe hits the pavement as your leg extends out of the car. He swallows.

He's seen this a million times in movies, a beautiful leggy woman exits the car with poise and grace. Men stop what they're doing to pick up their jaw from the floor, but Eddie never thought that he'd witness such a thing in real life. He looks to his sides making sure no one is expecting a peep show, already feeling very protective of you. When it's clear he offers you his hand and you accept, while the other pulls the hem of your dress down, keeping your knees together like a lady, you gracefully exit the car.

"Come, It's this way." He says, fingers intertwined with yours as he walks next to you. His hands are much bigger than yours, rough and calloused from playing instruments. You don't miss the way his thumb circles your knuckles, It's soothing and warm against your skin. He's soothing to you.

On the outside he's a bouncing ball of chaos and electricity but when you're with him he soothes your racing mind, calmness washes over you and while there's a storm raging in your mind he offers the hot coffee and warm blanket. You grip his hand a little tighter, grounding him to you for as long as you can.

A gasp leaves your lips when you finally see where he brought you. Gravel crunches beneath your shoes as you pass under an archway that's decorated in ivy. The sky is painted in light shades of orange and pink, fluffy cloud trails as far as you can see. To the right, a small natural pond is home to white and orange koi fish. Large green lily pads float on top of the rippled water, caused by perched stones creating a tiny waterfall. Shades of deep green moss cover many of the large rocks that surround the pond. A few red eared turtles are catching the last few rays of the sun before they retreat to their home.

Rows and rows of fresh greenery cloud your vision as you remember a time when you'd walk hand in hand with your mother at a similar place. "Eddie, you brought me to a greenhouse!?" Excitement is written all over your face and Eddie internally high fives himself for a job well done. The fact that he knew you liked plants from being in your apartment beforehand is never to be spoken of.

"Yeah, I hope that's ok?"

"More than ok, I love it. All these plants look so beautiful." If you weren't wearing a dress and heels you'd jump for joy. It suddenly dawns on you that from an outsider your way overdressed for the occasion and Eddie catches you looking down judging your own clothing choices. "Hey, don't worry. Just need to stand by the flowers and you'll blend right in." He smiles, leading you down the path of hanging pothos.

"If you see anything you like, it's yours."

"Oh no, don't tell me that. I'll buy everything. Besides, my apartment's already full of different plants." You laugh, walking straight to a golden pothos with thick heart shaped leaves. He knows your apartment has more than enough greenery so he offers you an opportunity usually reserved for a girlfriend. It doesn't occur to him till after he says it.

"My place is pretty bare, there's a few lonely windows that could use some color."

You stop what you're doing to look at him and take in what he just offered. Decorating his place with hand picked plants of your choice, most men freak out at the mention of a girl invading their space, yet he suggests living plants that need tending. You assume you'll be watering and changing the soil to each individual plant so it thrives in its new environment.

Does he already picture you becoming a regular in his home?

Does he want you in his home? You wouldn't mind. It's too soon to think about the future, so you shake away the thought.

Nevertheless, no one ever made such a sweet gesture and if he was this caring on your first date how would the 10th date go or even the 100th. He's a little rough around the edges on the outside but the way his dimpled smile is brighter than the sun and how he's currently swatting at a string of leaves that have tangled in his hair, you know deep down he's a silly boy with his heart on his sleeve.

You giggle at his antics and walk over to help him.

"This thing just started attacking me." He jokes, pulling a tiny leaf out of his hair.

"I think it chose you." You reply through a smile, pulling the plant down and placing it in his hands.

"Ceropegia or string of hearts. You see, its leaves are shaped like tiny hearts." You gently trace the leaves with your fingertips, admiring the purplish vines hanging from the pot. Eddie admires you more than the plant he's holding. The sunset creates a beautiful glow against your skin, beaming bright like a spotlight in the dark, showing him the way home, the way to you. He wonders if you'd let him in, with your arms wide waiting for his embrace or would he need to climb through broken windows to reach you.

He doesn't know it yet but someone else is already knocking on the door, patiently waiting for you to answer. In this moment though the thought of Sebastian doesn't even enter your mind, too focused on this new fluttering feeling in your heart, just waiting for those angelic chimes to let you know he's the one.

"How do you know about all these plants and flowers?"

"When I was a kid my Mom would come to different nurseries and botanical gardens, she'd let me run around to release all my energy while she shopped for different flowers to give to my dad. She said that most men don't receive flowers till their funeral so she made it a regular thing for him. The first plant that caught my attention was a fuzzy succulent. Fuzzy like a peach my mom said. So from there the nickname stuck and my love for plants and flowers."

You relived the memory with a smile on your face, no tears or sadness at the mention of your late mother. A small step to healing the hurt that still lingered.

"Your Mom sounds wonderful. I'd love to meet her."

You stop in your tracks, dark clouds suddenly covering the bright sun in your heart. Eddies concerned eyes come into focus, gold rays piercing through the clouds to warm you, gentle hands cupping your face, bringing you comfort.

"Hey, you ok?" His thumbs are soft as they circle the apples of your cheeks.

"She..she passed away……last year." You choke, throat tight with emotion, yet a sense of relief washes over you at finally being vulnerable to say the words out loud.

"I'm so fucking sorry Peach. I…I know how it feels to lose a mother, mine passed away when I was just a kid. It's not supposed to happen this way ya know. We aren't supposed to bury our parents."

He pulls you close in a tight hug, cheek resting on top of your head. It saddens you to know that Eddie lost his mother as a young child, you can't imagine the impact it had on him growing up. You felt a connection with him before but knowing that he also understands the pain of losing a parent, you feel bonded to him in a way you've never felt with anyone else. The scent of his cologne and the way he's holding you with such care and compassion makes your heart soar, you could be in his arms for hours and it still wouldn't be enough.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down." You pull back, dropping your arms from around his waist but he doesn't let you go far. His hands are on your shoulders, soothing your arms in an up and down motion.

" Nope. None of that. Not with me ok."

He tilts your chin up with his pointer finger and thumb, chocolate eyes searching yours, his gaze travels to your mouth and he leans in, placing a sweet kiss to your lips, erasing all your worries.

You continue down the row like a kid in a candy store, darting from plant to plant, low growing ferns with fuzzy leaves to tall monstera plants with leaves as big as your head. You choose three more plants for Eddies home and not once does he object at your selection. He's all smiles and rosy cheeks seeing the joy and excitement in your eyes as you tell him about the different plants you know about and how to care for them. He could listen to you talk about your interests all day if it meant spending more time with you.

As the sun sets below the horizon, stars illuminate the dark sky and day turns into night. You find yourself sitting across from Eddie, a whiskey glass held towards you in a toast.

"To honor. If you can't cum in her cum on her." You speak through a giggle, clinking your glass to his throwing your head back, wincing as the burn of tequila travels down your throat. You don't usually drink, due to all your medications but its a special occassion where one drink wont hurt. Eddie's eyes are wide, stunned by your vulgar toast as he brings the glass to his lips. "Shit, I'll drink to that." He comments, through a wide grin above the rim of the glass before he downs the amber liquid.

A man around your age stands at your side, notepad and pen in hand ready to take down your order, he smiles brightly at you and you return the gesture in politeness. "Good evening, My name is Leo, I'll be your server tonight." He starts, full attention directed towards you, not once breaking eye contact to acknowledge the other guest at the table. "What are we celebrating tonight, a wedding anniversary, perhaps?"

Eddie's scanning the menu one last time, finalizing his selection when the sound of your giggle pulls his attention towards the server. He narrows his eyes at him, familiar with this tactic, a not so clever way of asking if you're available.

He watches as Leo shamelessly flirts with you, veiled under the pretense of being a likable server. When you answer his question with a 'Not married' he turns to Eddie eyeing him up and down. "Don't take too long man, or someone else will take her off your hands." He chuckles, not quite landing his attempt at a joke. Eddie doesn't want to make a scene and ruin your date, smart enough to know you don't mess with people who handle your food, so he ignores the comment and signals for you to order.

"I'll get those started right away, If there's anything else I can get for you don't hesitate in flagging me down." He throws you a wink and retreats to the kitchen behind you. Eddie scoffs in disbelief, shaking his head at the server's audacity. He catches sight of Leo behind you seemingly talking about you to the chef because he snaps his head in your direction. It suddenly occurs to him that your dress is backless, hence the reason for the peering eyes behind you. His gaze travels from your pretty face, to your delicate neck, down the swell of your perky breasts. His lips part in a silent gasp as he takes note of your pebbled nipples visible under your dress. Eddie was never the jealous type but with you It's different and knowing the server's been eye fucking your tits has him seeing red.

Before he has a chance to offer you his jacket you catch him off guard by your bold question. "I'm sorry?" He asks, not sure if he heard you correctly.

"Are you married?"

Yep. He heard you correctly.

"Nope, never been married." He answers, brows pinched in confusion. "Where's this coming from?" He questions, taking a sip from his drink, needing a distraction from the odd inquiry.

"It's silly but my friends have this red flag list and well you have a job, so you're not broke. You have a car, your own place, and now I know you're not married."

Amused by the list he wonders what else is considered a red flag. "What else is on the list? I'm really curious now."

"You sure?"

"Mmhmm, go ahead, ask away."

He leans back in the chair, ready for the spitfire of random questions.

"Girlfriend?"

"Not yet." He smiles.

"Baby mama?"

"Nope."

"Crazy ex?"

"Hmmm." He looks in the distance, carefully thinking of his response as his mind briefly flashes to Becky.

"No."

"Girl best friend?"

"Nope, guy."

"Ever been arrested?"

"Yes."

Before you could prod for more details Leo's standing at your table, arms balancing oval plates with your evening dinner.

"A5 japanese wagyu for the gentleman." He places the plate in front of Eddie, unaware of the glare he's receiving from the metalhead.

"Filet mignon, for the very beautiful lady."

Eddie rolls his eyes as the plate is placed in front of you, jaw clenched in anger.

"Thank you." You reply, returning the kindness to the server with a friendly smile.

It happens quickly but Eddie sees it in slow motion. Leo inches closer, placing his hand high up on your shoulder, hot skin against your hot skin. Hunger in his stare as he peers down at your gorgeous doe eyes, dazzling under the soft glow of the lights, full kissable lips, wet from your beverage.

"You're very welcome."

Eddie doesn't hear a thing too focused on the subtle caress of his thumb on your flesh. His four other fingers imprint just below your neck, between your shoulders. You're too kind and sweet to pick up that this is more than a friendly server, more than cheeky banter, more than upbeat charade to garner better tips.

The chefs in the kitchen observe their friend closely, smiles and elbows to the ribs in jest as they admire Leo's hand touching you. It becomes too much when his hand pulls away, fingertips slowly dragging across the bare skin of your shoulder. The sleeve to your dress delicately slips off, exposing the smooth curve of your shoulder and collarbones.

Eddies up in a flash, chair scraping the tile floor as its shoved behind him. His face is angry as he towers over the smaller man, never backing down in a fight to defend a woman, his woman. Fist clenched and ready for impact, jaw so tight his molars grind against each other.

Rage swirls in his eyes as he shoots daggers toward Leo daring him to make a move. Daring him to touch you again with his greasy fingers, and see what happens when he breaks them one by one. Look at you with those lustful eyes one more time and he'll rip them from his pathetic skull, just like hes witnessed before. This time it wont be by Vecna's hand but his own.

"Murder." He speaks, not once breaking eye contact with the frightened man cowering in front of him.

"I was arrested for murder."

He leans over whispering something in the mans ear.

'Touch her again and i'll fucking kill you.'

Without another word or look in your direction Leo scurries back to the kitchen, where his friends busy themselves, avoiding Eddie's homicidal glare.

You're shocked beyond belief at what you just witnessed and Eddie's revelation, but his show of dominance and possessiveness has your panties drenched in arousal. If it wasn't for all the guests enjoying their meal, you'd fall to your knees, take his full length into your awaiting mouth, choke on his fat cock till drool dribbles down your chin and your eyes water. And once you swallow his seed with a smile on your face you'd beg for more.

Eddie thinks he's officially blown it, causing a disturbance on your first date and admitting he got arrested for murder. It's not till you're licking your lips and shifting in your seat that he realizes it's the exact opposite. You're not afraid that he took someone's life or that seeing another guy touch you lit a fire in him so bright it threatened to burn the place down. It turned you on. HE turns you on, more than anyone ever has, and in this moment you want him, need him so badly it burns.

His hands are gentle against your hot skin as he hooks his finger under the sleeve of your dress, bringing the sparkling fabric back over your shoulder. His eyes are warm, no longer filled with anger as they marvel at you. His brown eyes are suddenly your favorite shade. His touch, the best feeling against your skin. His kiss, your favorite flavor. The scent of his cologne becomes your favorite scent, as he drapes his leather jacket over your shoulders, shielding you from prying eyes and unwanted touches.

He finds his seat again, knife and fork in hand as he cuts into his food.

"Wrongfully arrested." He clarifies, fork sliding between his lips. His eyes close, savoring the marbled steak "mmm so good. You want some?" You nod and he cuts into another piece, holding the fork out for you. His eyes watch as you wrap your lips around his fork, deliberately pulling off with a slow drag of your mouth, pouty lips glistening from the grease of the juicy steak. Eddie's cock twitches at the pornographic sound that leaves your lips when the bursts of flavor coat your tongue.

"Mmmmm Delicious." You coo, swiping at the edge of your mouth with your thumb.

"How did it feel– Being handcuffed, and thrown around?

Eddie's eyebrows disappear under his bangs in surprise, a sly grin plastered on his handsome face. He truly hopes he's not reading you wrong, or he'll regret his next words if he is.

"I…I could show you. My place Isn't far from here."

He downs the rest of his drink, bracing himself for your rejection. Self deprecating thoughts mock him, until your angelic voice brings him out of it.

"Yea, I want you to show me."

I want you.

Show me.

"Check please!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive to Eddie's place is filled with bashful glances and flirty touches. He can't get enough of you. His body screams to be close to you, touching you in any capacity you'll allow, holding hands between the console, gentle hands cupping your neck, bringing you close for heated kisses at stop lights. If at any moment you were to tell him to stop, if going to his place is all of a sudden a bad idea or he senses any discomfort, he's man enough to respect your boundaries and end the night with just as much enthusiasm as it started.

The car comes jostling up as he hits a speed bump a little too quickly, causing your tits to bounce deliciously and the hem of your dress to ride up. His eyes linger on the meat of your plush thigh, glancing towards your lap every few seconds, blood rushing to his dick as he envisions what's between your legs.

You don't miss the way he's gripping the steering wheel and shifting in his seat, chest heaving with every breath. You catch him licking his lips as eyes dart to your thighs and it makes a fire burn within you. Being wanted and lusted after fueling your boldness, you grab his hand and place it on your inner thigh.

His wide eyes snap to yours, pupils dark with hunger, craving to devour you whole. "Shit, you're amazing." He praises, kneading your flesh between his fingers, denting your skin with his grip. You bring his hand between your legs, pulling your dress up around your waist exposing your black panties.

"Oh fuck fuck. That's so hot." He breathes, cupping your cunt over your panties. His middle and ring fingers massage your slit, eyes glancing between the road ahead and his hand between your legs. A hiss is pulled from his lips as you reach over and palm his hard cock through his pants. "Fuck baby, feels so good." He groans, angling his hips up, chasing your palm.

"Need more Eddie." You coo, spreading your legs wider, giving him better access to your cunt.

"Shit. Ok yeah. Anything you want." He gulped, Carefully pulling your panties to the side, sliding his middle finger into your entrance, groaning as he pumped into you.

"Fuck, youre so wet princess."

His second finger breaches your entrance, easily sliding in, fingering you with one hand while the other holds the wheel, racing towards his house. You leaned your seat back causing Eddies fingers to fuck you deeper, hitting that soft spongy spot you could never reach. Pleasure building at the way his rings cool your hot core.

The car comes to a complete stop in the driveway, fingers pulling out of you as Eddie throws his seat back.

"Come here" he demands, hauling you onto his lap, fingers digging into your hips as he rocks you back and forth on his dick.

His mouth crashes into yours, all teeth and swirling tongues. You groan into him, enjoying the flavor of his tongue like an ice cream on the fourth of july.

His kisses trail down attacking your neck, sucking a bruise to your hot skin, marking his territory like he owns you. Hands grab your ass, kneading the fat and pushing you deeper into him.

Your fingers pull at his belt, looping it through the buckle, frantically undoing the button. Your eyes search his, waiting for approval to continue. He nods eagerly, watching your hands slowly undo him as you pull the zipper down, he lifts his hips, shuffling his pants and boxers down just enough to free his aching cock.

His length springs free, slapping his stomach and the dark curls that make up his happy trail. You gasp at his size, long and thick with a slight curve, mouth watering at the pearl of pre cum coating his tip. You bite your lip, gripping his cock at its base making Eddie moan at the feeling of your soft hands stroking him.

"Fuck angel, that feels incredible." He groans, finally being able to feel your hands around his cock.

You lean forward coating his dick with a line of spit, massaging it on his shaft with slow strokes. "Put me inside baby, I need to feel you." He grips your hips, lifting you above his cock as you pull your panties aside and line him up with your entrance. Slowly, you sink down on his shaft, inch by inch. Eddie whines as you slide down his shaft, body shuddering at the stretching of your tight hole. "Oh fuck fuck fuck, baby youre so fucking tight."

He moans into your mouth as he fills you completely, fully seated on his hard cock you begin to bounce dragging his length along your velvet walls. Ass slapping his thighs when you pounce on him over and over.

"Wait wait." He breathes, "Can we take this inside?" You nod, as Eddie exits the car, still buried deep inside you, legs wrapped around his waist as he holds his pants with one hand and the other wrapped around your waist.

Your laugh vibrates against him at the thought of a neighbor seeing you two shuffle to the door, like two teenagers that are pressed for time. As soon as the door closes behind you he's fucking you against the wall, moans filling the room in needy passion.

"I'm sorry Peach." Before you can respond he forcefully rips your dress, fabric bunched at your midsection, bare tits bouncing in his face. "So beautiful" he mouths, squeezing your breast between his hands, taking your pebbled nipple between his lips, sucking and laving at the perky bud.

He walks you to his bedroom, flicking on the light as he throws you down against his mattress, He toes off his shoes, pulling his pants down to his ankles, stepping out and chucking them aside. Boxers still loosely hanging on, exposing the delicious V you can't wait to pepper with your wet mouth.

His hands reach to pull your dress down your body, and you flinch away, holding your dress tighter to your body, remembering your scars that mark the sides of your ribs. Scars that no one has seen, scars that make you insecure.

He worries he's done something wrong and this is where the night ends. "Hey hey, uh we could stop here sweetheart. If that's what you want."

You shake your head. "Eddie, it's just, I have these ugly scars." You can't meet his eyes, too shy and self conscious, but Eddie understands more than you think. He can't imagine any part of you is ugly and it breaks his heart knowing you thought a scar would scare him away.

"Can I show you something?" He asks, fingers unbuttoning his shirt. You nod, gaze fixed on his hands, curious as to what he wants to show you.

Belly full of nerves at what he's about to expose, he undoes each button one by one. Skin sticky with sweat from your car session and anxiety climbing up his body, he's had years to heal but this moment when he's vulnerable panic sets in.

"There's absolutely nothing ugly about you, not inside. Not out. Not now. Not ever. Do you understand?"

He's perfect. Every part of him, hand crafted with precision and detail. Carved out of precious stone and gold, polished to a shiny finish only to be held with gloved hands.

He pulls his shirt open, revealing his toned chest covered in a light spread of hair, lean stomach, itching to be touched. His skin is severely scarred, large patches of missing flesh primarily on the left side. Pink thick tissue, twisted and grooved, angry looking, although it's been healed over.

You feel stupid so incredibly stupid. It's not a competition of who has more trauma you know that; but his scars are so much larger than yours and you called them ugly when he's further from the word. You don't dismiss the pain and torture he endured at the hands of…. Whatever did that to him. You don't ask, afraid you'd sob uncontrollably at the gruesome story. If he wants to share he'll do it on his own, no need to pry.

"I'm so sorry Eddie, I didn't mean–"

"I know baby, I know."

He inches closer to where you're sitting on the bed, stalking his prey ready to pounce. Your hands reach out, roaming his toned chest, delicatley caressing the scars that cover his body. He chuckles when your fingertips tickle his abdomen as you trail down to the pattern of dark curls that lead under the waistband of his boxers. His strong hands grip your wrists, stopping you from going further.

"Show me ....please," he whispers.

Your shaky hands grip the hem of your dress, pushed up around your hips. Bringing it over your head, you toss the material to the pile on the floor. Your arms instinctively cover over your midsection, focused mostly on your sides.

Eddie studies all your curves, a fine exquisite work of art, uniquely rare, not made for the public eye, only seen in his private collection. A collection of you, and all the different angles of your body.

"You're fucking gorgeous Peach, let me show you what you do to me."

He lowers himself to his knees, strong fingers wrap around your delicate ankle, unclasping the silver buckle of your heel, removing your left shoe, then the right. His hands travel up behind your calf, over your knees, kneading the fat of your outer thighs.

He looks beautiful like this, on his knees for you, ready to worship you like the goddess he knows you are.

Wetness pools in your panties in anticipation, hands heated on your soft skin. "Lay down for me angel, I wanna see you."

You lean back, propped on your forearms, lusting over the man in front of you. Placing his hands between your knees he parts your legs, hands on each knee pressing them close to the mattress to open you. Seeing your perfect mound covered by your lacy panties, has him light headed, eyes follow down the fabric as it disappears between your ass cheeks, into a thong.

"Fuck, youre perfect." He whispers, kissing your inner thigh. It's soft at first, but the more he tastes and licks at your skin the more desperate he becomes. He inches closer to your center, pressing his nose into your clothed cunt as he inhales your scent so deeply it fills his nostrils and expands his lungs. The smell of your arousal has his eyes rolling back pulling a deep groan from his chest.

"Fuck, You smell divine baby, can I taste you?"

"Oh my god, yes." You whimper.

He licks a fat stripe up your clothed pussy, tongue prodding your hole in a tease.

"Eddieee!" You squirm, anxious to feel his mouth on you. "Don't be mean." you plead, hips bucking towards him in need.

"Shhh, just savoring you is all."

He chuckles at your squirming, hooking your thong under his finger tips, sliding them down as you lift your hips off the bed.

"Fucking hell babe, look at you." He praises, watching as the center of your panties cling to your wetness. He brings your thong to his nose inhaling your scent again. "I'm Keeping these." He smiles, shoving them in his pocket, while his eyes are fixed on your glistening cunt.

Thick fingers glide between your folds coating them with your slick, as his thumbs spread your lips wide, exposing your pink pussy to him. Head between your thighs he licks a wide stripe from your asshole to your cunt, tongue swirling around your puckered hole before he tounge fucks it, his fingers are spreading your ass cheeks apart getting him deeper into you.

"Ohhh Fuuuck Eddie." You moan, breathless and tugging at the sheets below you. Spurred by your erotic moans he begins rutting into the mattress, searching for relief.

He growls into your core as he dines on your cunt, like he's been famished for years. His expert mouth sucks on your clit, while his fingers fuck into you at an angle that hits your g spot just right.

"Ohmygod Eddieee I'm gonna cum." You cry out, back arching off the bed in pleasure as flashes of white burst behind your eyes. "Good girl." He praises, as he continues licking into you, slurping up all your essence until you're shoving his head away in overstimulation.

He's chuckling at you as you Scramble away from him, chest heaving and wiping your juices on the back of his hand.

The sight of his statuesque body fires you back up and you beckon him toward you. Drool forms in your mouth at the sight of his hard cock ready and willing to pleasure you again.

He searches for something in the closet, eyes gawking at his firm ass. It's over too soon because in a flash he's crawling over you.

You hear the unmistakable sound of metal clinking and before you know it, you're handcuffed to his bed.

"So, how does it feel?" He smirks, pressing his weight on top of your body, hands roaming over every curve.

"Like I'm about to be railed into oblivion."

A loud thunderous laugh emerges from him, chest rumbling above you. His deep dimples and crinkled eyes light up your life, paving the way to happily ever after.

"Pretty and smart. What else can I ask for?" He grins, brushing your nose with his, a gentle and sweet gesture pulling at your heart strings.

He traces the delicate lines of your body, lighting a fire where his hands have touched. You startle as he kisses your reddened scars, a permanent visual reminding you that you survived what tried to kill you.

Unable to wait any longer he grips the base of his cock, lining it up to your entrance. Pushing in inch by inch until he fills you completely.

"Fuuck I love this pussy." He raves, thrusting into you, hypnotized as his cock disappears inside you over and over.

He lifts your leg over his shoulder to get a better angle, fucking you so hard the headboard hits the wall in a rhythm thats music to your ears. You swallow his grunts and moans in breathless kisses, licking and biting at his reddened lips. Arms still restrained above your head you writhe and squirm as his thumb makes circles on your clit, lighting a fire in your belly. Flames building and building as he applies the perfect amount of pressure to your swollen bud. Your legs begin to shake and twitch as he brings you closer and closer to euphoria.

"Fuck Eddie, I'm gonna–

"Me too baby me too."

A deep guttural moan rips from his chest as white hot cum paints your walls, hips jerking forward as he empties his seed into you. Your toes uncurl from the intense orgasm that washed over you. Chest heaving and Breathless, he releases you from the cuffs, covering your face with your hands you giggle into your palms in blissful happiness.

Eddie peppers you with lazy kisses, mumbling sweet nothings.

'Amazing.'

Kiss.

'So fucking beautiful.'

Kiss.

'Like you so much'

Kiss.

When you both come down from the passionate high, he rolls off to the side, pulling out of you with a groan; already missing your warmth. Instinctivley you nestle your head on his chest, leg draped over his, as his arm wraps around your shoulders, smoothing down your hair, he brings your wrists to his mouth for delicate kisses.

"That was… mind-blowing."

"Incredible."

You both speak in unison.

The loud ring of Eddie's phone breaks the silence. He scrambles over, smiling at the screen as he checks the message. Subtly averting the screen from your peering eyes, he texts back and places his phone face down.

"Let's wash up, yeah?"

You follow Eddie to the shower where he washes every part of your body with soft strokes and sensual kisses. He invites you to see his band perform, a promise of a 2nd date with live music and drinks. To show you how electrifying his performance is he takes you against the shower walls, making you sing the song of fulfilled ecstasy.

Tangled under the covers, warm in his embrace, a deep sleep comes over the both of you. In his arms your mind's at peace, no signs of a thundering storm looming near.

Deep in the realms of dreamland you don't hear the ring of Eddie's phone, the way he quietly untangles from your body. Or the sound of his voice when he's whispering into his phone '...can't wait to see you.' You don't hear the shuffle of him dressing, or the scratching of pen on paper. You don't even feel the adoring kiss he places on your cheek. Or the sound of the door closing as he exits the room.

What you do feel, is the rays of the morning sun as it filters through the room. Cold sheets tangled between your bare legs as you stir. A once warm bed now cold and empty, lacking in the heat that brought you to your knees.

Hopeful arms search the bed, reaching the end with no one else beside you. It was a perfect night and for that you're grateful. But the clock strikes midnight, and Cinderella's dress turns to rags, magic and fairytale long gone.

A sense of loneliness engulfs you, as you sit up in his empty bed. Eddie's nowhere to be found, no shower running, no coffee brewing in the kitchen. A rouge tear rolls down your cheek and you furiously wipe it away.

You pull your dress back on with the ripped silver straps, no bra and your panties missing; a souvenir to add to his collection you're sure. With your heels in hand you do the walk of shame, out his room, down the hall.

You freeze in place as three sets of eyes stare at you in disbelief. Their smirks and wide eyes tell you they know what activities took place last night.

"Hi. Um, I'm just gonna head out." You mumble, heat rising to your cheeks in embarrassment.

You sigh at the fresh breeze that hits your skin as you exit the home, closing the door behind you. Loud laughs erupt behind the door, pausing you in your step to listen closely.

"Where is Eddie By the way?"

"Eh, you know him, fuck em and leave em, onto the next."

"She must not have been that easy. Took longer than he said it would."

"Still fucked him on the first date."

"Just like the rest."

Taglist: @amira0303 @hideoutside@edsforehead @skank-sinatra13@kissmejoey @ms1oftheboys@tlclick73 @lady-munson

Not sure if the tags are working pls let me know.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson angst #eddie munson smut #eddie fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie x angst #eddie smut #smut

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crossroadsdimension · 3 months

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Friend, amigo, fam Plz tell me about your OC, I'm all for that stuff 🙏

@metalmewtwo-kxb, I hope you know what you have unleashed.

Time to talk about the two characters I've made for FFXIV!

To preface -- you can have multiple characters attached to one account for this MMO without paying extra per character slot. Since I'm paying the Entry-level of that, I can have a total of 8 characters, 1 per server. I really don't need more than that, since I was planning on having just my main and that's it, but then I got interested in a defunct FF mobile game, and I needed to play through the story on a fresh save. So that's where #2 came in. (He'll get a separate post, if people are interested in him, too.)

Anywho! Let's get this ramble rolling -- under the cut cause it's gonna get long.

First, I'm gonna talk about my "main" character, the one I've been playing for the last two and a half years and have done...almost everything on, at this point.

I don't have any screenshots of her because I don't mess around with gpose that much and only figured out recently how to take screenshots on my PS5. Sooo -- here's the profile picture from the Lodestone for reference.

Behold, Cross Sylvan!

I didn't come up with a lot of backstory for her when I first started the game back in October 2021, right before Endwalker's release. Because miqo'te -- or cat people -- have naming conventions that have an apostrophe in their name after a "clan letter" (i.e., Y'shtola is of Clan Y, and is only Shtola to her friends), I wanted to pick something that would have something of a pun involved, and I like the word "Cross" too much to leave it out.

So she's M'Cross (pronounced Macross), but dropped the tribe letter for her own reasons. Her parents were booted from the M tribe, you see -- her mom married a male miqo'te who wasn't the leader of the tribe, and because the two of them broke tribe rules, they were kicked out.

(Further context -- the leader of a Sun Seeker tribe, the Nunh, gets to lay with every single female miqo'te in the tribe. Yes, they get a harem; no, I'm not making this up. This is in-game lore. Moon Keepers, a different group of miqo'te, tend to do it in reverse.)

Anyway, Cross' parents left their home in Gyr Abania and moved to Thanalan, a desert region located at the southern region of the continent of Aldenard, which contains the region of Eorzea (If it helps you picture the region, the continent is basically shaped like Africa, with some differences in climate). They raised her there, and Cross' father eventually left to become an adventurer, while her mother stayed at home and focused on becoming a half-decent merchant in the Silver Bazaar.

And then the events of FF14's 1.0 happened. I'm not gonna go into detail here because I didn't play 1.0 before they shut down the servers and restarted them with 2.0 as the starting point, but suffice it to say that Cross' father either died or vanished during a big battle in a place called Carteneau. During that big battle, something happened that wiped out everyone's memory of how that battle ended. It had the side-effect of preventing everyone in Eorzea from remembering certain people clearly. Including Cross' father.

So you can imagine how confusing and distraught she would be to not only realize Dad wasn't coming home -- but also that she couldn't remember his face, his voice, the sorts of things he liked to do...very traumatic.

Cross leaves five years later -- the start of 2.0 -- to become an adventurer herself. Mom got overprotective and more than a little overbearing after the Calamity, and Cross wanted to get away for a bit. She still likes her mom, she just wanted space to breathe. That, and something's driving her to travel. See the realm that her barely-remembered father sacrificed himself for.

And then the game starts, and Cross gets rapidly pulled into events that...might have been what her father had been involved in before his disappearance. She wouldn't know, much less remember.

Backstory out of the way -- time to talk about Cross as a person!

Cross is a sponge when it comes to absorbing knowledge. She's naturally curious and wants to get her nose into everything -- different jobs, cultures, food, history...you name it, she's probably got a cursory knowledge of it. As a result, that means I can say she's at least picked up every single job in the game, but she has her favorites.

Her parents taught her archery from a young age, and she has some magical talent as well. She prefers Black Mage over Bard, and between fighting melee and ranged, she'd prefer ranged. She didn't have a healing job that really clicked with her until Sage, and out of the tanking jobs, she prefers Dark Knight and Warrior. Paladin is in a strange position with her, because she believes that's how her father used to fight, and she made an effort to learn the style, but it hasn't sat right with her.

She's also picked up all the crafting and gathering jobs, but she prefers the hard work of botany and miner over the patience of fishing, and likes weaving and leatherworking more than the rest of the crafters.

As Viper and Pictomancer are the newest jobs added to the game, I haven't figured out if they're going to be among Cross' "favorites" yet, but since I like Pictomancer a lot, she's probably going to like that one, too.

Cross has a little bit of snark, a little bit of a temper, but neither really show up unless you've pushed her buttons (temper) or she's comfortable enough to let down her walls around you (snark). She's been known to trade banter with the young twins who are a part of the NPC main cast, for example, or join in the berating of other characters if her fellow miqo'te mage (another NPC) is unleashing a rather nasty burn in someone's general direction.

She likes writing music based on her surroundings. More than a few orchestrion rolls have shown up in shops based on some of her scribbles and playing around on her harp and the like. Some of the songs based on strange, faraway lands have gotten the attention of those who are too young to travel, making them want to follow in her footsteps.

She has a chocobo. His name is Cloudstreak, and she's considering changing his feather color to sky blue (yes, you can do this in-game, I just haven't done it yet). Cross has other mounts, too, but Cloudstreak is her first and favorite of the bunch.

Over the course of the first "book series" in the game (A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, Endwalker), Cross grew from a young adult who was somewhat inexperienced with the world outside Thanalan to a worldly woman who has traveled extensively, and grown in confidence, knowledge, and strength as a result. She's become a hero of the realm. The Warrior of Light in more than name, because she got that title way back in A Realm Reborn and has only reshaped its meaning repeatedly since then.

She is a Traveler, and Travel she will. There's a desire to see the world beyond what she's already seen, and she will see every nook and cranny of her planet.

If you get into the game and want to see a somewhat shortened version of her journey through A Realm Reborn...I've got a fanfic going for her. The Chronicles of a Young Adventurer is the first part of her series, which I'm separating out according to main expansion and patch content. It's mostly journal entries, letters, and the occasional scene that's been more written out, but I like what I'm doing with it so far!

#cross' rambling #cross sylvan #ffxiv #miqo'te warrior of light #miqo'te wol #warrior of light oc #wol oc #miqo'te oc #I have so many more notes about her and how she reacts to certain aspects of the plot but I'm keeping those to myself.#they're gonna go into her fic series anyway!

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mariska · 2 months

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been playing baldur's galdur 3 a lot lately whenever im just like bored and fatigued and restless and dont know what else to do (which has just been like. my default state 99% of the day every day recently 😔✌️) and decided to start a new save file separate from my main game one (been like halfway thru act 3 for this whole year and too afraid of both My First Main Save File Story Ending and doing something wrong narratively to play that one again lol) and decided to make a Dark Urge/durge Drow and i just thought i would share some pics of her cus i think she is very pretty and cool and i just made her a few days ago but i already lov her and am very excited to continue her story so i have been taking a million screenshots of her every time she does anything. she looks kinda different on the actual tv that my ps5 is connected to than all of these screenshots because we dont have one of those fancy modern gen tvs with the super high def color/pixel/resolution etc etc settings on it its just a regular ol flatscreen from like at least a decade ago, so i think i might go back into the character appearance screen at some point the next time i play and tweak some stuff, specifically her skin tone was meant to be way more light blue-grey than the like. full on grey that it looks like in every pic i have taken of her so far since my tv color settings are very different than how she looks here and its bothering me LOL was trying to go for more of a direct like pink/purple/blue overall color scheme for her.

ANYWAYS. her name is Zore (pronounced Zor-ah like how 'Selûne' in-game is pronounced with that 'Selu-nah' A sound for the last E) and she is a Seldarine Drow Cleric that i'm playing very 'true neutral' aligned so far in my run, think im probably gonna multi-class her into some sort of Physical Violence Based Class like Fighter or Monk or Barbarian next time she levels up cus i just like the idea of my Durge Cleric with a story-based bloodlust being like 'today i will not be healing anyone because i need to beat the shit out of my enemies with my bare fists. to cope.'

1st pic is my absolute fav screenshot i have of her so far i think it is very pretty. and she looks cool with blood splatter all over her face. 🥰🩵🩷

#i will now be starting a new tag for posts abt her.#oc zore #there we go 🫡#blood tw #long post

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myaaist · 1 year

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So about Terence and Dion

tldr; these two are really, really similar to Patroclus and Achilles

So a couple weeks after the game was released I tweeted this.

Of course two months later while doing some research for a WIP teredio fic I develop a brainrot so strong about this very comparison

disclaimer: this is all purely speculation made out of 7 hours of brainrot. I am not in any way an expert in greek mythology and i cannot even afford a PS5. This is purely a fun write-up I made in hopes of my hyperfixation reaching other people who also adore this pairing. This is also VERY long and windy.

Right, firstly, I don't think it is a reach to make this comparison at all; if anything, I am more surprised by how few people have actually posted anything in the interwebs about this (I found like, one other tumblr post, but I am also not a part of the ship Discord server for this pairing so I might just be late to the party 🤷‍♀️).

FF16 is FULL of references to greek mythology and culture. Cid's last name Telamon is the name of one of the Argonauts, Charon is the name of the ferryman to the underworld who requires payment for passage to the underworld, Ambrosia is the food of the gods, and those are just the simple ones that I think most people can tell from modern pop culture references. Comparing Terence and Dion to Patroclus and Achilles, one of the most famous greek relationships between two adult men, is really not that far of a reach.

Actually, the thing that got me to tweet that teredio reminds me of patrochilles is the whole hero-and-squire relationship they got going on since the very beginning. Terence is technically Dion's second-in-command, but with that opening scene of Terence holding onto Dion's spear and then followed by the cutscene of him tending to Dion's arm in the camp which is also followed by thee kiss scene? Doesn't take a meta analysis to draw the line from one ship to another

(Also the hero with blonde hair and his lover with dark brown hair 👀 but this is more of a common trope rather than something specific to patrochilles)

And that is where I left my teredio-is-like-patrochilles thoughts for a good while. I spent the next two months RTing all the gorgeous teredio fanarts on twitter, read a few teredio fanfics, then onto other FF16 ships like a normal person.

(my personal favourite for the longest time is Cid x Clive; the longfics for this pairing are insanely good..)

Then I decided to write a oneshot for teredio about their servant-and-master relationship (at least, that's how they worded it in the game).

I wanted to find a better way to describe their relationship in my fic; still sticking to the term master and servant as it is canon in the english script, but not neccessarily implying an irreconcilable difference in social standing or power imbalance. My searches somehow led me to biblical fanfiction, in which I find some very interesting takes on David and Jonathan, which then leads me to a wikipedia page about David and Jonathan --

and then back to where I began, Patroclus and Achilles.

except when I first made that comparison, it was just a tweet off the top of my head. I read Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller in 2016, and I do not remember everything that happens in that book. All I remember is roughly the overall feel of the relationship and that these two greek characters died tragically and that their ashes are buried together.

So imagine my surprise when I see this image on the wikipedia page for Patroclus and Achilles.

The caption says: Achilles bandaging the arm of Patroclus.

I do not have 4k screencaps the exact scene so have this image i copied off GamesRadar off a lousy google search

Great, so they both share an arm-bandaging scene. Doesn't make them any more similar, you'd say. Also, didn't I just draw similarities from Achilles to Dion and Patroclus to Terence in the beginning? This one is completely swapped!

Well give me a moment to recover from the shock of seeing what looks very similar to a ship i like on a real-life greek pottery painting, and let's get to actually comparing details.

Quick note, I will be using in-game canon, the information from the newly released FF16 ultimania, descriptions from homeric traditions, and also the book Song of Achilles (SoA). You can argue that using Song of Achilles as a reference is a stretch because it is a romance book that treats patrochilles as a canon homosexual relationship, but honestly Madeline Miller took 10 years to write that book and I don't think I can compete with her amount of research in 7 hours.

What's similar:

Terence is the son of a minor noble family in Sanbreque (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus is the son of Menoetius, one of the Argonauts. They are both from 'lesser' lineages in comparison to their partners, but is still technically born into nobility.

Terence and Dion grew up together after meeting each other in school at age 7 (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus and Achilles grew up together in Phthia after Patroclus was exiled. Both are childhood friends who grew into adulthood together.

Terence is instated as Dion's squire at age 12 (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus is given to Achilles by Achilles' father Peleus as his henchman (from the Illiad, though translations differ) or his trusted brother-in-arms (from SoA). Both are bound by duty to their partners from a young age.

Terence is Dion's second-in-command during the events of the game, and Patroclus is Achilles' right-hand-man during the events of the Trojan War (from the Illiad and SoA). Both are confidants to their partners during war times.

Dion is the dominant of Bahamut and the prince of Sanbreque, Achilles is the son of the Nereid Thetis and a mortal king Peleus. Both are born into nobility and are famous for their inhuman battle prowess.

Dion's main weapon of choice is a lance, and Achilles was given the legendary Pelian Spear by Chiron the Centaur before he participated in the Trojan War (from the Illiad). Both notably use spears/lances/pokey sticks.

I think those are the main similarities that I can in good faith say are pretty obvious. Next are the things that I personally think might be slightly delusional depending on the angle you approach the premise from.

What can be a bit of a reach:

The arm bandaging scenes. Assuming it is to relief the pain from the Crystal's Curse, Dion is not the only dominant to start petrifying from his arm. Cid also has similar marks on his arms and Clive's hand eventually petrifies. However, it is also the first scene where we explicitly see the extent of Dion and Terence's relationship.

There is no mention about Terence's relationship with his family, while Patroclus is notably exiled from his father's lands -- that's how he gets to Phthia and meets Achilles. Instead, we know that Dion's family did not love him (from the Ultimania)

Dion is the son born of a courtesan, and his father had her killed after buying him from her (from the Ultimania). Achilles is born of Peleus basically binding and coercing Thetis after she is gifted to Peleus by Zeus and Poseidon. Both tales frame the image of both men's fathers being not exactly good people, and their marriages and the births of their sons would be important to mark the start of upcoming events (the Judgement of Paris took place at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, Dion's birth and awakening backs Sylvestre's claim to the throne). I call this sort of a reach because this doesn't exactly play into the relationships' dynamics per se, just a reminder that their fathers are horrible people 🤷‍♀️

There is an element of fate in Achilles' death, where the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow Paris shot to Achilles' heel. The dominants in the game have on multiple occasions been mentioned to be slaves to their own fates, and the main theme of the game has much to do with defying fate decided by gods, even if it means die trying. Dion 'dies' defying the fate Ultima has decided for humanity, so I guess there is a similarity?

This is the biggest reach of all lol. So remember that I mentioned Telamon, Cid's last name, is also the name of one of the Argonauts? Telamon is also the older brother of Peleus, Achilles' father. Now, I do not think that this is the only explanation as to why the writers chose the name Telamon out of all the other greek names. The writers managed to shove in 3 different thunder gods into Cid's character, and I refuse to believe that they chose the name just because Telamon is somewhat related to Achilles. Telamon is also the father to Ajax the Great who is a notable hero, but Ajax is like, second to Achilles in fame and I don't really see a FF16 character that can be somewhat related to Ajax..

Okay, so what does this all mean?

Honestly I don't know lol

Terence x Dion, unlike many other ships I've liked, is an actually canon ship at some point in the game's story. Even without the comparison, the ship still stands as confirmed to be canon. Drawing lines from two greek mythology characters to them does not make the ship any more canon than it already is.

But the game's story also doesn't shed much light on the ship itself, not in the base game at least. Fair enough, it is Clive's story and not Dion's story, so Terence, who doesn't play a part in Clive's story, doesn't get to be in the spotlight for long. Dion's conflict with his own father is also given more weight to Dion's character development. We're given so little information about Terence that when the Ultimania came out I was just happy I get more crumbs of lore to work with.

I don't think the devs took direct inspiration from the tale of Achilles and Patroclus either. We've learned that FF16 is just a melting pot of all the storytelling and worldbuilding elements we loved from FFXIV, FF12, GoT, greek mythology, classic FF and media tropes, and so much more. The most I can think of is that the writers wanted to write a canon gay love story that people will love, and in doing so they picked out the romance tropes and stories that have been widely accepted and loved for a long time. Childhood friends to lovers, unrequited first loves that eventually became mutual in the threat of separation, the second-in-command who is loyal in both duty and matters of the heart.

If the tale of Achilles and Patroclus happens to fall under that category, needless to say I am very happy with the writers' decision. If not, well consider this just a very very long headcanon post

If you've never read anything related to patrochilles and is interested, I highly recommend reading the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller! Prepare about half the amount of tissue you've used for FF16 and you're all set for a heartbreaking love story 🥰

Also I hope these two don't die as tragically as Achilles and Patroclus.

#ffxvi #ff16 #terence #dion lesage #teredio #flareknight #patrochilles #good lord this is long i will never post on tumblr ever again

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dragonfire2lm · 9 months

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Right so, been fangirling over the Emperor for a while, and once I got over the initial "People don't like this character and I feel like I'm doing something wrong for just liking said character" mood from seeing one too many Emperor hater posts inbetween the fanart, i decided to go all-in on the squid brainrot.

Time to add to the Emperor/Tav ship content. This is Lilowyn, in-game she's a silver dragonborn, silver dragon draconic bloodline sorcerer, an ice build that is surprisingly fun. Technically, Lilowyn is an OC, not just a Tav, since I gave her a backstory and lore set before the game for the fanfic I want to write, however since she plays the role of group leader in her story and in-game she's a Tav, I count her as being a Tav for the sake of the ship tag.

The first image is a shitty little concept art I drew in MS Paint, this what I envision her head and tail to actually look like, since I imagined her with more frills than just the ones on the sides of her head.

The second is her canon camp outfit, elegant robes and gladiatorial sandals dyed boreal blue (please ignore the half-illithid features, I always use tadpoles on my run because 1. they fun, and 2. I am an Emperor fan, of course I'm gonna use the tadpoles).

The third image is the closest I could get to how I wanted her to look in-game when I first started a run dedicated to an ice build.

And fourth is just a screenshot of her and her squid husband, because they look cute together and I took way too many screenshots of that scene lol. (again, please ignore Lilowyn's use of the astral tadpole)

All screenshots were taken on the PS5, and transferred to the laptop. I am a console player trying my hardest to interact with what might be a primarily PC fanbase so...

I'm currently working on a fanfic for her, and I have a lore doc written up for her backstory. My plan is to get most of (hopefully all of) the fanfic done, post it on AO3, then do a post here on tumblr that is the lore for Lilowyn.

#the emperor bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #tav x emperor #bg3 the emperor #bg3 dragonborn #bg3 tav

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oh-my-may · 7 months

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Hey there

Hi, this is my reintroduction to tumblr (kinda).

I go by May on the internet, it's some weird nickname I made of my real name and goes back to my first gamer tag on minecraft...

I'm currently 22 years of age, which sometimes makes me feel incredibly old on the internet? At the same time I seem to come across many other people my age who go through very similar struggles as me lol

I curretnly work fulltime as a waitress. I'm European so I get paid a proper wage there, and the work with my coworkers is very fun and comforting. I'm not always the biggest fan of other people, but being a people pleaser and having the ability to hide my true personality behind a "nice" facade makes my job possible and bearable. (jk aside, I really like my job)

Hobbies include:

reading (I always say that, but I barely ever pick up a book. Just spent most of my early teen years absolutely ramming through a shit ton of books. I still really enjoy reading, but I barely find the time to do it. My tbr list is endless)

gaming (I'll dip my toes into anything that's not an ego-shooter, my PS5 is one of my most treasured possessions)

watching movies (last year I dragges either my sister or one of my friends to the theaters at least once a month. Doesn't mean I'm a movie critic or anything, but I really like watching movies and I might just share some takes on it on here)

anime (just a select few, the most famous ones. Life's busy when you have a fulltime job and still have other hobbies, but I'm currently on my first watchthrough of One Piece! Will definitely post about this from time to time)

listening to music (realizing I have very basic hobbies bc my parents never urged me to pursue anything specific when I was a child, but anyway: I will listen to almost a bit of anything, but Taylor Swift and Ghost were amongst my most streamed artists on Spotify last year. Do with that info what you will)

writing. I did start with writing fanfiction, first harry potter, then boybands, then kpop, then anime. Most important to me was always my original idea though. I know many people have things like this. A few years ago I thought I'd actually go with trying to publish something. Now I have revised and rethought the whole thing. I barely write, but it's still in the back of my head all the damn time. I always think about writing, but doing the actual thing rn seems impossible.

As I'm writing this I realize how pathetic I feel doing this, beacuse I have this awful feeling no one is gonna respond and I'll end up regretting this so much that I'll delete it. Thank God the internet gives me the opportunity to be anonymous.

Anyway, the previously mentioned hobbies lead to my (current) interests that I'll most likely post about, so if you're into one or more of these things as well, let's chat!

in terms of games: Currently playing through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and generally FF7 is probably a huge hyperfixation of mine and has been for years. I've just arrived in Gongaga on my playthrough and I'm loving all of it. The game caters to all the expectations and interests I have in games. It's just so insanely beautiful and makes me tear up every couple hours idk

on this note I'd like to mention that I dipped my toes into FF14 but since I only play on Playstaion now, all the commands are overwhelming to me. I'm definitely planning on playing FF15 and FF16

Kinda cringe but I swear I'm normal: Genshin Impact. Have been playing since early 2021, once had a pretty unhealthy relationship to this game, but I was mentally not doing well during that time. Having a fulltime job changed my perspective on the game. Now I'm a casual enjoyer bc I love the open world and characters, and I love to get into the lore, so I might post a few theories and stuff on here

On that note: Honkai Star Rail. Same company, but it took me way longer to get into the game. Really enjoying it now though, although I am struggling with a bunch of battles. Save to say, I am NOT playing the game for the meta lol

One Piece! As mentioned, I started my watch of it last year in summer just before the Netflix live action came out (work bestie talked me into it). I'm quite literally at episode 500 rn. Had to stop for a while at around Thriller Bark bc the first few episodes didn't quite do it for me. Now I try to watch a few episodes before sleep everyday :)

Other anime that I am different levels of unhinged about: Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Bungou Stray Dogs, Demon Slayer. The basics, I know. Just don't have the time to watch a lot while other life stuff happens, you know. OP is the main thing rn, and until I am kinda up-to-date with that, everything else will have to wait lol

In terms of book stuff I must admit I keep going back to communities and fandoms I was a part of when I was a teen lol. This largely refers to stuff like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugho, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

Right now though I am more interested in reading some classics and other stuff. Read Britney Spears' biography last year (within the span of one day, I wanna add), currently I'm reading a chapter of Crime and Punishment once in a blue moon. I'd like to read more stuff like that in the future, but everything at it's time ig

Other fictional universes I was once quite unhinged about: Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Both communities are kinda dead atm though. I'm still in the process of reading the books (which means I last picked them up over a year ago. But believe me, I'll get there, eventually.... someday)

In terms of music as I said I listen to almost anything. Not a lot of rap and techno, though. I like stuff with lyrics I can sing along to and feel deep within my bones. I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of any particular artist, I was very unhinged about musicians as a teen and I have learned my lesson. Now I just listen to the music without caring too much about the artist themselves. I used to really like 5 Seconds of Summer as a teen, then I moved to Kpop. Now I barely keep up with either but just listen to the stuff I did back then

I think that's basically it for now? The most important parts about myself. Stuff I like to talk about, so if you like some of this too, maybe come talk to me? I wanna get to know people here after all, and I have learned this is probably the best way to start.

I don't have many conditions for friends tbh. I'm 22, so anything between like 19 and 26 or so is fine as long as the vibes are good :) I don't care about genders and all that, personally going by she/her. I'm a Taurus, in case someone wants to know. Last time i took the test I was an infp-t (still think it's pretty accurate but it's been a few years nd I heard that test isn't as accurate? idk)

Other things you should maybe know is that English is not my native language, so excuse any mistakes you might come across lol. I dropped out of university. My profile picture kinda captures my most basic features.

Anyway, feel free to hit me up, I love talking to people on the internet and I really look forward to this reinvention of my account here and actually talking about my interests and reposting stuff I like :)

If you have any questions, just ask!

Until then,

May

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gaymer-hag-stan · 8 months

Text

A Tekken 8 Review That Nobody Asked for From a Longtime Fan Who Has Been Playing for Ages But Is Not a Pro - That Title Is Too Long

Having spent a little over 24 hours playing the game on my PS5, I feel like it's an appropriate amount of time to share my first thoughts on it. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum so just skip the "Story" section and you should be fine.

General Thoughts

A pretty healthy roster, overall happy with who we got. I do wish Anna and Christie were here, and I also miss Lucky Chloe. With Eddy already announced and Azucena taking over the "cooky dance-y character" I unfortunately don't see Christie or Chloe returning, but Anna better fucking do!

They all look great, even the ugly ones, they look satisfyingly ugly, if that makes any sense. The girls still suffer from the Madame Tussaud's wax figure syndrome that plagued the entirety of Tekken 7's roster, but, maybe I'm gaslighting myself, I do feel like they look a bit less plasticky than some of the initial teasers? Most of the redesigns are great, the hair (Lili's hair has never looked better), water and dirt physics all finally WORK and I love how all the clothing animates with the wind effect, the Fallen Destiny stage is a great one to illustrate all of the above. We can see Yoshimitsu's fingers after three decades! I'd love to know the thought process behind this redesign lmao

I love that they finally, after so many years of other fighting games having it but being inexplicably absent from Tekken, they finally added Player vs CPU matches! FINALLY! Finally I can pick my character and my opponent of choice, pick their costumes and set a stage for them to battle. I'm so happy for this even though it might not make any sense to anyone.

Combo Challenges! We finally have combo challenge in Tekken! Another common fighting game feature inexplicably missing up until now.

Gameplay feels a lot of fun. I wasn't sure about the heat mechanic but it's actually a lot more fun than I initially thought! I tried out all of the cast and am slowly completing both their story episodes and an Arcade run for good measure. I am obviously still maining Nina. They have decided to simplify a lot of her combo throws and I am having fun terrorizing people online with them by breaking their bones! I'm also using Arcade Quest to learn how to play as Lili and Azucena, some basic moves and combos and whatnot. I wanna also do Zafina, Jun, Jin, Hwoarang and Xiaoyu as well eventually. I think these eight will be my main squad for the time being. As a side note, King and Steve feel extremely fun to play, I haven't picked either in ages, but with King I was really close!

The netcode is, surprisingly functional??? We did recently switch to an optic fiber connection type, but I'm still on WiFi and I am having zero problems!

Jukebox is thankfully back again! I literally spent an hour or more before playing the game at all to decide which song goes where lol

Something that scares me regarding upcoming DLC, is that I do not see a season pass being sold anywhere except the Deluxe Edition bundle that costs 40€... I'm sorry but I don't give a fuck about owning 32 identical gold costumes or Tetsujin or whoever the fuck as my Arcade Quest avatar... I only want Eddy and the other three (one of them better be Anna!) thank you very much!

Story

"The Dark Awakens"

Believe it or not I haven't even finished the main story yet as I'm trying to pace myself through all the modes and enjoy them, savouring every moment. At the moment of typing this I am almost halfway through and I must say, even though I am still firmly in the "Drop the cinematic NRS style story modes" camp, and I would much rather have had either arcade mode with proper, canon endings back, or a revival and repurposing of the Tekken Force mode, in an SF6 World Tour mode type of way, out of all of Bandai Namco's attempts at a cinematic story mode, from SCV to Tekken 8, this has been the most satisfying attempt so far. I love that they are fully embracing the overdramatic nature of Tekken along with its campy side and it's present from the very beginning, with Jin throwing his bike at Kazuya's helicopter! "A Fate Decided by Fists" were we actually get to choose which fighters advance through the first round was the biggest highlight so far! I did not expect to fight Azazel again in 2024! I miss his Tekken 6 design though, he no longer glows according to his remaining health or has his limbs crumble away into scarabs according to which parts of him you're hitting. Also, I do understand why they felt the need to overemphasize how "Jin was a good guy all along and he's not like Kazuya" to redeem him and attempt to portray him as a more traditional hero, but I think they went way too far. Literally every single cast member, characters who've never met him before especially, makes a point of how good a person Jin is. Also, I do understand that there were a lot of people complaining that most of the cast were ignored in Tekken 7's story mode and I appreciate that they tried to include more of them this time, but it's so half assed and superficial. Like, Lili, Asuka, Hwoarang, Leo (who finds their missing father, a forgotten plot point from Tekken 6 of screen without a single explanation) Xiaoyu, PANDA offer absolutely nothing to the story so far other than to just be there and tell Jin what a good guy he is. And I say all that as someone who is firmly on Jin's side and despises Kazuya.

Character Episodes

Thank god they have more than one single fight this time! I would have liked it if they found a way to make each of them be canon. Like, I think every single one of the Arcade mode endings of SF6 is canon, if I'm not mistaken, and most of them seem to take place before the events of the main story, as a way to give us a clearer understanding of why each fighter fights. I think Guilty Gear does exactly that too. Nevertheless, I do appreciate that each fighter has fights specifically tailored to them, with specific opponents. It's not clear to me yet if they're completely non-canon or not, as in Nina's she seems to have been hired by Lee to sabotage G Corporation and Kazuya, I pray to God this is true and she's not actually, willingly working for that asshole, like, I'm still in complete denial that they threw her entire character development from Tekken 4 to Tekken 7 to the trash can just to go "NInA WiLl WoRK FoR WhOmEvEr"... She's also suspiciously missing from the actual story like, she simply just appeared in ONE scene so far and then left without doing literally anything. She also seems to only have special interactions with Steve and Lee so far when others get a lot more. Her handling story wise in this installment is insulting, considering she's the most popular female fighter in the series and one of the most popular in the genre...

Offline Modes

Arcade Quest

It's cute... It's certainly a cool way to mask your tutorial and the avatars are kinda cool, but they're nowhere near as good as what Capcom did with SF6 and World Tour. I must say I prefer Tag 2's Tekken Lab over this.

Super Ghost Battle

Ghost battle, after five attempts is finally fun! Tekken 7's was by far the worst attempt as the game would automatically pick opponents for you, matching you with much harder ones if you were winning too much and much lower ones if you were losing too much so that you wouldn't climb the ranks as fast and it would artificially increase playtime. Now that Tekken has actual single player modes other that the story there's no need for that, and they made it work. You simply choose from a list, and the ones that contain unlockable (useless) customisation options for specific characters are actually marked so that you can attempt to get the item you want.

Arcade Battle

I love that they still included a traditional eight battle long Arcade mode, even though they could have just had the character episodes and call it a day. My slight nitpick, again, is that they're still doing this thing that they've been doing since Tekken 5 or 6 where the first few battles are characters in their default costumes and then a horde of Namco's customized monstrosities attack your eyes... This is a huge pet peeve of mine, I understand it in the context of Ghost Battle, and Arcade Quest, but I do not want to see goofy customs in other, "serious" modes. On top of that, the ghosts you get seem to be from the Super Ghost Battle's catalogue of freaks, and are therefore higher difficulty than most, which in turn makes them actively harder than the mode's final boss which I think is kinda hilarious!

Tekken Ball

I will admit, I only played a single match and never touched it again. It is actually challenging, I'll give it that, but I don't see the appeal. I'd much rather have Tekken Bowl again back instead tbh. Also I wish that stage was playable in normal modes too.

Customization

Avatar customization is kinda whatever, but it works well enough for Arcade Quest and I don't really visit the Tekken Fight Lounge.

Character Customization however is where I have an issue. While I've seen lots of cool customs of various characters from other games and IPs, including Shimbori himself dressing up Super Battle ghosts as DOA characters!, I don't really care for the customization options? My only real use for Character Customization in Tekken so far was to recreate past / alternate outfits. Like, in Tekken 6 I would buy the schoolgirl outfit parts for all the teen girlies, in Tekken 7 I recreated Nina's 2P outfit from Tekken 4 using her Blood Vengeance catsuit as a base, stuff like that. In Tekken 8 all I'm getting is a huge catalogue of Zara's apparel... And all the unlockable outfits are either their default look with less clothes on, or weird cosplays of other characters. Why? Tekken Character Customization peaked in Tekken 6, where every single one of the 40 (41 if you count Panda, who I think had some different options from Kuma) characters had his own personal selection of outfits and items, matching their personality and look. I don't want to play as Nina dressed up as Ada Wong or in a business casual for a 9-5 desk job. They made everything way too generic and bland and, on top of that, we don't even have trademark pieces like Nina's purple catsuit, her ponytail, Hwoarang's taekwondo garb, Xiaoyu's Tekken 6 battle costume. The Tekken 5 veterans should have had their Tekken 5/6/TTT2 costumes and hairstyles on top of their Tekken 7 ones.

Overall, I am very very happy with this game! It seemingly does almost everything right and I am glad to see it improving on, literally, every single thing over Tekken 7.

Score: 9 / 10

#Tekken #Tekken 8 #Video Games #Gaming #Bandai Namco #Fighting Games #Nina #Lili #Azucena #Zafina #Jun #Jin #Hwoarang #Xiaoyu #Nina Williams #Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo #Jun Kazama #Jin Kazama #Ling Xiaoyu

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sillysurrealwriter · 24 days

Text

Gaming Oddyssey

It was a sunny day, early in the morning near my home. I was lying on the couch and was playing some videogames, on my good ol’ Nintendo Switch. I smiled, as I cleared another level and I returned to the title screen.

I smiled. 100%. Like usual.

Oh, right? Let me introduce myself. I am Harvey Harriette. I am 17 years old and today was the first day of summer vacation. Those last exams during those last weeks had been tough, yet I somehow pulled through. Especially, Math. That class was a pain in the ass.

But right now, I could finally relax. 3 months of summer vacation, which meant for me 3 months full of gaming, to play so many games and to complete them 100%. A dream come true, you might say.

There’s just one problem though.....I kinda ended up beating all the games I had bought over the last weeks, last night. And now, I didn’t have any games left to play. Which was kinda annoying, not gonna lie.

Because I already bought almost every video game I could find. From X box, to PS5, to Switch...I got them all, really. Mom always complained that my room was quite messy, because all those game boxes were littered across the floor. Her complaining became annoying, so I ended up cleaning my room for a bit. But only for a bit.

Mom and my other mom were not here, right now. They were going to Europe, in order to watch some musical in Hamburg. Initially, they wanted me to go with them, but I refused. Because I really don’t like musicals whatsoever.

With musicals, all you could do was sit on your ass and watch. But with games, you could be actively be part of the action. Who wouldn’t want that? Probably some boomers, like my two moms. Urgh....

Oh well. It’s fine, really. I mean, not everyone has to like games or something. Even so, I was beginning to get bored. I definitely needed to buy a new game.

Which is why I got up and headed towards the hallway, putting on my shoes and smiling at the mirror. Short dark blue hair, a shirt so tight that it would make sure to flatten that stupid chest of mine, strong grey boots and some ripped jeans. Perfect.

I opened the door and headed downstairs. We were living in a big apartment complex, which for some reason didn’t have an elevator. Walking up and down was a pain, but it was manageable. Plus, I wouldn’t mind if I were to gain some muscles thanks to that. Then people would finally see that I am not a girl.

In any case, I opened the door and stepped outside. The sun greeted me with its warm smile and I heard some birds chirping, as I walked towards my bike. I unlocked the lock, climbed on top of it and then began to drive through the neighbourhood. The streets were clean and didn’t have any filth whatsoever, given that this was one of the more better neighbourhoods and cities in general. Where the government actually cared about us. But I digress.

Right now, I was making my way to the downtown part of this city. There, I’d get myself some new games from my local video game store. It wasn’t that far from my home to that one shop. After only about 9 minutes, I arrived at the big plaza of the city. The fountain spewed out fresh water and people were passing by, some couples taking pics of themselves and kissing each other, while street artists performed and had their best time, as they attracted a respectable audience. Seeing them dance was quite fun and I had a good time watching them for a bit.

Yet, I still needed to focus on, why I was here to begin with. I needed me some new games. So, I approached the shop that said: WonderGame. I entered through the door and the cashier, a rather plumb old man known as Mr. Marty in some grey overall and some bald hair, smiled at me.

“Ah, Harvey!”, he greeted me happily. “How are you doing?”

“I am fine.”; I answered happily and tilted my head. “Business going well?”

“Yes, indeed. Customers are coming and leaving, with many games. And you are one of them, naturally.”, he said to me, before giggling. “I assume you are here, to buy another game.”

“Damn right.”, I said and smirked. “So...got any new deliveries?”

To my dismay though, Mr. Marty shook his head.

“No, I won’t get new games until next week. I am sorry.”

“Until next week?”, I asked disappointed. “But I want to play some new games now! Are you sure that there is a game that I haven’t bought from you, yet?”

“Well......”

Mr. Marty seemed pensive, as he got up from his seat and motioned me to come closer.

“Follow me, okay kid?”

Confused, I nodded and watched, as Mr. Marty went into the open door near the counter. I followed him inside and was met with a relaxing smell. I knew this place of course. Those were what Mr. Marty would call, the catacombs. A place where he would often store games that didn’t sell quite so well in the past and would remain here, in case anyone was interested. I’ve been here a few times, to play some retro games. Yet as we passed by, I saw that I already knew most of those games and I frowned.

“Mr. Marty...What do you want to show me?”

“You’ll see.”, he told me and then moved a wardrobe aside, revealing another door. He took out a key, put it into the hole and turned it, before opening it up and revealing a set of stairs.

“What the..”

“You haven’t seen this part yet, kid.”, he explained to me, as we went downstairs through the dark cellar. “Normally, this is just the place where I store all the junk. Like broken game consoles and games and whatnot. However....”

He opened another door and we stepped into a messy hallway that reminded me of the lower part of Peach’s Castle from Super Mario 64.

“...recently, I was cleaning here and whatnot, when I found something.”

“You..found something? What is it?”

“Let me show you.”

Eventually, we reached a couple of boxes and he pushed a few of them away, before I saw it.

What I saw in front of my eyes, was a game console. It had the form of a cube, yet it was smaller than the NGC and upon closer inspection, I saw several ports on the back, so that the console could be connected to the TV. Not only that, but there was one controller plugged in. And the controller itself, was....off.

Its shape reminded me of the Wii Classic Controller. only that the color was dark red and that there were only two buttons. A and B. Just like the original NES controller.

What the......

“I found this here, a few days ago.”, Mr. Marty explained and scratched his head confused. “I had no idea, why this was here. As you know, I’ve been running this store since the 80s and yet, I never had anyone deliver me a console like that.”

“I see....”, I mumbled and took a closer look. Judging by the ports, the console must have been made around the time the N64 was produced, given the exact same ports. The colour itself was off in some areas, meaning that this thing was old and not new. I also saw a small writing in front of the cartridge slot. It said: Odyssey- A fantatic time

“Does this thing even work?”, I asked Mr. Marty. He nodded.

“Yes. I plugged it, into my TV at home. And indeed, the console works quite well and the games were fun too. Controls were solid and I had a bit of fun with it, I won’t lie.”

“Uhuh....Then why are you not selling it, upstairs?”, I wondered and for a moment, Mr. Marty remained quiet. Then, he let out a sigh.

“Truth be told, I wanted to. Yet....I had a feeling I shouldn’t. I have no idea why, though. So...”

He put his hand into a small box next to it, which had a green cartridge with the words “5 in 1”

“...do you want to have it?”

“Hmm.....”

I thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

“Sure, I guess. How much do I need to pay?”, I asked and took out my wallet, but Mr. Marty shook his head.

“You can have it for free.”, he told me. “Under one condition.”

“That being?”

“I want you to record your gameplay.”, he explained to me. “You know, to see what happens when you 100% the full game. Would that be fine with you?”

“Hmm...Sure, why not?”, I asked and nodded. “I already have a youtube channel, where I upload gameplay videos regurlarly and I make enough money from it. So, of course I can do that.”

“Excellent.”, Mr. Marty said and then put the controller on top of the console and then added the cartridge onto it, before giving it to me. I grabbed the box and was a bit surprised, as to how light it actually was. Honestly, it wasn’t heavy at all. Or did I gain some muscles?

“Thanks, Mr. Marty.”, I told him. “Once I am done, I’ll send you the videos to your mail. Have a nice day.”

“Thank you. See you kid!”

With that, I left and 10 minutes later, I was back home. I opened the door to the apartment and then closed it, before placing the console on the ground, grabbing the cables in order to plug them in. It wasn’t difficult at all, given that it was easy to see what those cables were. I then grabbed the cartridge and pushed it into the slot, before I turned on the TV and then pressed on the on button, of the console.

The TV screen glitched briefly and then turned black. For a moment, I was worried that I accidentally broke the TV. But thankfully, an image began to appear. My recording device got turned on as well and I watched, as a red spiral symbol appeared on screen with the word “Ripple”, on it.

Ripple....huh....

I took out my phone and googled the name of the console and the company of the game.

But I found nothing. Weird...

In any case, the screen changed and it showed me 5 options to choose from. They were as follows:

VeloSpeed

TheSuperstar

BeatoDanco

Crystal Venture

Evoke

Curiously, I grabbed the controller and selected the first game. Again, the title screen glitched and then, the title screen showcased some strange racing car with a black color and some Cyrillic symbols on the front, staring at the screen. It was of rather high quality and then, I pressed on start. Then, a vehicle selection came up.

There, I saw the names of the vehicles

Black: 1951 ZiS-112/1

Blue: Moskvitch 404 Sport

Green: Alpine A350

White: Alfa Romeo Tipo 512

Weird...I never heard of any of those names before. Eh, I’ll just go with the first option.

I expected a track selection to pop up, but instead I was immediately booted onto the track. It had a sunset background and the graphics reminded me indeed, of the N64. I grabbed the controller and focused my attention on the road, which would lead to a forrest apparently. I saw on the top right two goals listed:

1: Win the race

2: Beat the race, in under 2 minutes

Hm.

The traffic light turned from red to green and the race began. I had 3 competitors and indeed, the game controlled quite well and the controls reminded me a bit of Mario Kart 64. I dashed through the track, easily leaving my opponents behind. There were some tight corners in the forrest and yet, it was nothing hard. Which is why in the end, I approached the finish line with a time of 1 Minute and 30 seconds, when...

Huh.

The race cars barely moved from their spots. They...weren’t moving at all.

Weird....must be some kind of bug.

I finished the race and then, a trophy was shown to me saying:

Win you have done are

“The hell? What kind of grammar is this?”, I muttered bewildered and pressed on continue. I waited for the track to load....

....but the next track didn’t come. And after a few minutes, I realised why.

The console had turned itself off. Did the game crash?

Weird....

I turned it on and tried to select the first game again and....

...it was gone.

Huh?!

I turned the console off again, took out the cartridge, put it back inside and turned the console on again.

But....VeloRacer went missing.

Okay......

I decided to just select the next game, as I rubbed my eyes a bit. The title screen showed some Drag King jumping on a....on a...

..on some kind of giant lizard thing with a red suit and a cube-like mustache. Weird....

I pressed on start and the screen switched, to a 3d world. It looked like I was in some sort of palace, given the interior and I was controlling this Drag King. I then noticed two objectives.

1. Beat all soldiers

2: Find all Gold Coins.

Okay.....

Like the last game, the controls were solid and could kick and punch my opponents, while jumping extremely high. Moving around the castles, I beat all of those lizard soldiers easily, passing through the red doors and collecting coins. It was not hard at all. Once I was finished, a message popped up that said:

Go back to the main area, to finish.

And I was about to do that. But, then I noticed in the courtyard level that there was a door ahead. I approached it and opened it, wanting to explore as much as possible.

But when I did that, an error popped up. It was written in gibberish and I only saw tons of numbers, before it shut down and-

Wait.

Was it just me...or did I see a face staring at me? It looked like the moon....

Huh. Needless to say, this was weird. The game shut down again and when I turned the console off again, that game was also gone.

Only 3 more left.

What the hell......Urgh, my head hurt......

Okay, now I was extremely confused......Was the cartridge broken or why did each game disappear? I don’t get it....

This was getting weird and I wasn’t sure, if I wanted to play more. All of this felt like some cheap creepypasta, about some cursed game console. But.....

So far, the games weren’t creepy. Sure, they all crashed and yet, I didn’t see anything gross or something.

Well....let me try the next game. Beato Danco.

The title screen showed some strange orange haired girl with black eyes and colorful clothing dancing. She was smiling and even though she looked creepy, she also looked a bit cute.

I turned the game on and it appeared to be some DDR clone. I had to dance and press on the button at the right times, while fighting more of those lizard soldiers. I had two objectives.

Objective 1: Beat the level

Objective 2: -

Huh. Only one objective, huh?

Again, the game was easy to play and I had some fun too. But as I went on to play, I realised something.

None of those games...had any music. Sure, they had sound effects, but no music at all. That’s strange.... Were the developers unable to add some music? If it was an early console from the 80s I’d get it. But that console seemed to be from the early 90s and yet, no music at all.

Something felt off and I finished the level and as I expected, the screen turned black and...

Wait....

There was a text on the screen.

“Can you see me?”

But it was only for a split moment and then the console turned off again.

Okay, this was beginning to creep me out. I needed some answers.

So, instead of turning on the game again, I hopped onto reddit and went to r/retrogaming and typed in the following:

“Does anyone know this console? I got it from a local video game store and yet, I can’t find anything online. Can you help?”

I added some pics of the console and then sent it.

....only for a message to pop up that said:

You have been banned from r/retrogaming, for inappropriate behaviour.

Excuse me?????????

My post got deleted too. What the...What rule did I break? I didn’t even curse or anything?!

Okay..........

I coughed a bit and rubbed my eyes. What the hell.....

I glanced at the game console. Maybe...I should take a break and...

........

....

I turned the console on again and selected the fourth game. Crystal Venture.

The title screen showed a rainbow crystal and when I pressed on start, it seemed to be some sort of Tertris Clone, only with diamonds. I had two objectives.

Objective 1: Beat the level

Objective 2: Lose the level, please.

Eh?

But those goals were complete opposite of one another?!

Well.....I doubted that I could just play this game a second time, so I did my best.....I played and like usual, I beat the level.

I saw the trophy symbol again and yet....

....I saw no continue button.

The hell?

Suddenly, the screen glitched and it was all black. Then, text appeared on it.

Listen. Turn the console off.

Do not beat the gamesies.

You will just sufferersies.....

Pleasies...Pretty?

And then, the console turned off again.

I really didn’t want to play the last one, but my body didn’t listen to me. It...turned the game on again....and my hand selected the last game.

Evoke.

This time around, I was just on some black meadow. The game was in first person and it was so dark....

The.....sun had set. It was night. I had no idea, why it was nighttime already......

My hand moved the joystick and I walked around......I walked...and walked...........

Until there was something in the distance. Something with several white glowing things and long orange hair.

And to my surprise....my console spoke.

“HELLOSIES”, it said with a glitchy feminine voice. “YOU::::DIDNT LISTEN TO ME::::UWU:::::YOU NEED:::TO TURN:::THE CONSOLE OFF::::BEFORE ITS TOO LATE::::::”

“Wh..What?! Wh...What’s going on?!”, I exclaimed and felt my headaches getting worse.

“YOU::::HAVE FOUND:::::FORGOTTEN:::::YOU::::::::HAVE:::::::::BEATEN::::THE GAME::::::::::::::AND::::AND::::NOW:::YOU NEED TO TURN::::IT OFF::::PLEASE::::”

And then suddenly, I saw a timer at the top.

30 seconds.

I tried to reach to the off button, but......

My body wouldn’t move. I...I couldn’t move at all. And my head began to hurt even more.

“PLLEEEASSEE:::::TURN OFF::::GAME:::”

20 seconds.

My vision became blurry and I heard a strange noise from somewhere, yet I couldn’t find out from where. I coughed.

10 seconds.

“NOOOOOO:::::TURN OFF:::::NOW:::::NOW:::::::::::::NOW!!!!!”

The screen began to glitch heavily and I coughed again...some liquid. I thought it was blood, but.....

...it...was some dark gooey liquid...What the.....

I coughed it up more and felt it leaving my eye sockets, as also my hands were full of them. I coughed up even more.

5 seconds

“CLOOOSEEEE::::YOUR EYEEEEESSSS”

I tried. But I couldn’t.

The time went up. And I vomited even more black goo and then collapsed, feeling my brain bursting through my forehead. The last thing I heard from the glitchy voice was this:

“I:::::::::::AM::::::::::::::SO::::::::::::::SOOOORRRYYYY:::::::SOORRY:::”

..............................

A 17 year old kid was found murdered, yesterday. The victim was discovered by their parents, who had left their child one week ago, to attend a musical. When they returned, they found the victim on the ground, in a strange dark substance. Police entered and investigated, yet they couldn’t figure out what the substance was. They also found the TV all broken and some loose cables hanging from it, yet nothing was plugged into those. According to witnesses, no one entered the home except the kid and there was no sign of breaking in either. The autopsy discovered strangely enough that the victim had died a week ago, yet all of his organs seemed fully functional, except the skin which had some dark veins. Police is still investigating and the lead detective said that they found a suspect and that they are interrogating them, as they speak. And they also learned from said suspect that the victim visited them 3 times over the last week, even though they supposedly died a week ago. Camera footage is rather broken and the suspect claims that they gave the kid a console to play. But no console was found at said scene. Stay tuned for more.

#writing #original fiction #original story #short story #video games #retro gaming #horror writing #horror story #horror #surrealism #surreal horror #surreal #queer writers #creepy

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