#clifftop games

[savingcontent]

Nothing to foresee here, detective adventure sequel Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is out now

Continue reading Nothing to foresee here, detective adventure sequel Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is out now

[linuxgamenews]

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is Coming to Steam Soon

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer release is coming for the point and click urban thriller game on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the nonstop creativity of Clifftop Games, the adventure just keeps getting better. Which you will be able to play soon via Steam. Grab your notebooks, folks—things are about to get seriously intense. Raw Fury and Clifftop just dropped the news that Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is due to release on May 20 for PC, and yes, it’s a full launch for Linux. If you’re into a point and click urban thriller with grit, mystery, and a splash of psychological dread, get ready—this isn’t your typical pixel-art stroll. This time, Kathy’s stepping out of the small-town shadows of Conwell Springs and diving headfirst into a full-blown urban nightmare. The year is 1998, and the city of Kassidy is gripped by fear. A string of brutal murders is paralyzing the metro, and the whispers all lead back to one name: the Soothsayer. That’s right—our favorite tough-as-nails journalist is chasing a serial killer. And it’s not just about solving a case. It’s about survival. Kathy’s not just hunting a killer — she’s also being hunted. Every clue she uncovers pulls her deeper into the darkness. Will this case make her a legend… or take her down for good?

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer | Release Date Announcement Trailer

So what’s new in the Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer release? A lot, actually—and it’s all killer, no filler:

Point-and-click, with purpose. This isn’t just a puzzle title. It’s a deep, emotional dive into trauma, truth, and tenacity. Whether you’re a returning fan or a fresh recruit, you’ll feel the weight of every discovery.

Pixel art, leveled up. This ain’t the ‘90s anymore—even if it is set there. Think beautiful, high-res pixel art that feels gritty and alive, complete with dynamic lighting and slick reflections that really bring Kassidy to life.

Cinematic cutscenes. In the Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer release a story comes to life with gorgeous hand-drawn moments and expressive character portraits. You’ll want to sit back and soak it all in… right before the next gut punch lands.

Kathy’s trusty notebook returns. Jot down clues, cross-reference ideas, and follow the threads until it all clicks together. Just like old-school detective work—if your life depended on it.

Biggest title yet from Clifftop. This one’s packed. More places, more characters, and more emotional depth than ever before.

And yes, Arielle Siegel is back voicing Kathy—so you know it’s going to hit hard, in all the right ways. So whether you're on Linux and ready for another solid indie rollout, or a mystery fan looking for your next story obsession, circle May 20th on your calendar. The Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer release isn’t just a sequel — it’s a reckoning on Steam. Which is also coming to Mac, and Windows PC. The Soothsayer is waiting in this point and click urban thriller. Will you be ready?

[idkmybffjaden]

This episode of GX is about the teen son of a warlord who brings guerilla warfare tactics into use while playing children's card games.

Putting tracking devices on school kids is about as above-board as the rest of the plot devices in this show.

Crowler and Bonapart suddenly look like the most responsible adults. (Don't think about that too hard.)

I keep expecting Viper to announce, "My HAIR is extracting bio energy!" etc. dat fro do

Here we see even Jesse struggling to witness Jaden's half a brain cell "at work" (maybe they can share?)

Once again Cyrus is the only one who can read the meta and see the GX world for the fucked up nightmare land it really is, being the most sane of them all while still namedropping Jaden and Zane like woah.

Chazz Princeton redefining the term "sass." "Know what's wrong [Cyrus]? YOU IN THAT COAT." Burn.

Every time I watch this show Jaden's dialogue gets more ridiculous. I still can't believe this isn't an Abridged.

[magicmalcolm]

Clifftop Lookout

[beekeeperspicnic]

It is the 1920s, and in a sleepy Sussex village, beekeeper and former world's greatest detective Sherlock Holmes (James Quinn, Apostasy), is trying to arrange a pleasant clifftop picnic for his lifelong companion Dr Watson (Andrew James Spooner, Muppets Most Wanted). The only problem is that a series of mysteries keep getting in the way!

Features

Explore a seaside town It’s the day of the village fete, a suspicious new neighbour has taken a lease on  a long-abandoned cottage and something strange is happening down on the  beach…

Interrogate and befriend a fully professionally voice-acted cast of eccentric characters including a clown with a tragic past (Felix Trench, Wooden Overcoats), the local leader of the women's institute (Alison Skilbeck, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, (yes that one)) budding young naturalist (Alice Osmanski, Sanditon), a wannabe showman (Layla Katib, Victoriocity) and a prickly police officer. And lots more. I love this cast to bits.

Make deductions and decisions. Puzzles have multiple solutions, some of which may please your neighbours more than others.  What path will you choose? Who will you enlist to help you?

Phone for help of you get stuck! Your older brother Mycroft (Richard Rycroft, Game of Thrones) is always ready to act as your consultant, just give him a call at his club if you need a hint. 

A  relaxing bespoke soundtrack by @sandygarnelle

🐝Full version now available for PC/Linux/Steamdeck!🐝

Want to play on macOS? Read this guide!

Hey so, I'm @jabbage, and I've spent the past few years and thousands of hours making the funny, poignant, cosy, queer game I always wanted to play. I can't wait to share it with all of you!

Steam | Itch.io | Discord | Press Kit

(Also feel free to ask me a question about it!)

[lotusroott]

I’m up at five to get the train two hours from the city. She drives me out to a lake, the quarry kind, and says time to hitch a ride. Sheepish. Are you crazy. Hitch or walk twenty-four kays. First are partner visa sweethearts having trance vibes, she an English rose, he Moroccan from Lake Como dripping sacred geometry bracelets. In town we get sunstroke, get to noon, uncollected, unloved, in fudge shop dairy cow kitschtopia, till she flags down a big old beast whose backseat turns out to be full of slobbering dog and detritus, like, hoarder car, and she blabs our full hike itinerary and places of residence while I clench my legs in the junked up filthy cluttered but dogless front seat and obfuscate her disclosures. Gritted teeth, girl squeeze my hand if you are capable of strangling him from behind… and then he lets us out and I’m scampering around tripping over my reprimands. We get in behind rainforest waterfalls all day and eat whole mangoes and cliff-jump and stand right in the falls being pummelled. Pools stacked on pools and pools and pools all bridged by falls. Stairway to heaven. Wiry little albinos fearless getting feet in crevices hopping right round us and leaping off. Twelve k in our bikinis. We have surgically unpicked ourselves from our lineage and then every member of that lineage, in receding order, from their forebear. I’ve had the thought: I am game to talk forever. I never want to need to break or go to sleep or anything. But then lapse and like, la petite silent mort of the ego, infinite regress of selves watching selves. Normal. And all this week I’ve been swimming circles around the teatree watering hole, running barefoot on the empty beach at dawn, getting lost in the forest, swimming in rips in storms, walking on the empty beach in storms, clearing the backlog of mental sediment until thought is distilled to a single monologue and then once the thesis is set down to a dialogue. An internal forum of supreme health. Next waterfall sweeps us 500m back. Deep qld afternoon blue, cornflower now with no canopy. Every few minutes of nothing: a deafening eruption of cicadas. Then nothing. We access a fearful memory, she comes with me into my fear, it’s educational, she wants to teach me how to feel, but I access it via thoughts: “I am suffocated. My autonomy is taken.” I am ideal for death row. I’ll grieve my own life with a series of cue cards, with ticker tape. I am switching over the cards or I am in the newsroom typing. Now breathwork. I get to like, almost feeling something. Gold star! Her stupidest student. Then I feel cold. I’m still in a whirlpool, flattened against a rock, hands clenched, air suddenly dark, a black-green. The shivering implodes into a feeling I’ve only ever had during sex. Quivering annihilation. Paralysis. I am laying back, in the memory, with my teen self in the bedroom, assuming the very posture. Cicada crescendo. My lip quivers, I mean pulses, as I flee. Need sun and rock. The kind paternal bone of the world. I’ve animorphed to snake. Stretch and roll. (Now I am on mushrooms on a clifftop in Herzegovina at sunset, another heatwave day, the hazy Ottoman warmth throbbing up through my spine.) She looks at me as I’m standing weakly up from chaturanga and struggling back against the current. This is the first day of my life. What’s the bright world. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I’ve been, but I. Know where I want to go. Oyster-blue milk starred by pondskaters spiking red into the blue opacity. Angles of the RGB light. Fern crosshatching. Yes, swear I’ll remember it… how ridiculous… I cannot forget what I have seen so clearly. It will be safekept somewhere. Because I have worded it. I made those descriptions in real time, I confess, oyster-blue, it’s true because I peeled the label straight off the world. I encountered it, FOR THE FIRST TIME, as plain text, emotional domain bypassed.

Back in rainforest (and unsteady still and amorphous and dusk coming) I am in floods of logorrhoea. Talking really earnestly about memory, knowing my handwriting when I write will be the huge rambling cobwebs that follow the use of certain drugs. Loosethumbed. I’m like, yes, yes, you’re good, you’re amazing, I’m okay. I’m just gonna do this more and more forever and why would I not? And yes community, yes intimacy, yes we must all live together and feel each other’s wounds, it’s impassioned leftist sentiment… and she’s affirming something too.

[ireallyliketalldarksultrymen]

HIII!! Can i get a fic of Creakblings? (Wild life Bigb and scott creakings!)

I LOVE RHEM SM!!! (this fic can be found here on ao3, and go vote mumskizzscott at @trafficblrpolyamshipbracket !!!)

—

BigB was a person who enjoyed to keep to himself. 

Now, don’t get him wrong. He liked people. Loved them, even! Cleo, Lizzie, Ren—those were his friends he was content with throughout last life (minus a couple of instances), and he wouldn’t have it any other way. But, if you had to ask BigB if he’d rather spend an afternoon with them at a bonfire, or eat dinner alone in his house on a clifftop, let it be known he’s running for the hills.

It’s mainly the silence that he enjoys, being able to pause and take a breather in a server full of constant hurry. Hurry to obtain materials, hurry to thieve, to slaughter. With each and every explosion, after explosion, after explosion, BigB’s longing for peace swells.

It wasn’t as if solitude was foreign to him, either; he’s spent games without allies, living right beside the border in shacks of wood. There, he found comfort in the flowers and fireflies, the frogs and fish that ran through his lakes. Those were enough for him.

And again, ages after secret life, his journey has aligned with seventeen others, hurtled into a biome and given one goal: barter, kill, win. Alliances shift like the wind, and the air thick with desperation. At this point, he’s lost all energy to complain; BigB’s fought long and hard enough to know the inevitable.

As sunlight wanes and the day’s star dips, players scattered across the map begin to settle for the night. The air once full with laughter and retorts starts to quiet, but not without a few disturbances. There’s the cows of Gem’s barn lowing at their calves, and Billy yipping at Pearl whenever she leaves for bed, offering those wide, glossy eyes in exchange for more scratches behind his ear. 

The Pale Garden whistles, a soft churr that flies by your ears. It’s both eerie and comforting, like a canary held in a cage that’s grasped by coal miner navigating dark tunnels of the underground. Silver bushels of leaves gleam like glitter, dangling from gnarled, cadet branches. It groans when wind dances between them, straining at the lightest pressure.

The chill in the forest wraps arounds you and clings like a second skin, seeping into the fabric of your clothes and causing gooseflesh to arise. It isn’t exactly the worst—he’s managed it for long enough to practically resist it—though BigB hated enduring the constant feeling of his fingers and toes numb.

He would think the eerie stillness of the forest would be enough from him. I mean, it did had everything he could want—a marsh, good scenery, and amazing view. The moment BigB stumbled upon, he figured he’d spend his days in forest alone.

Ultimately, he proved himself wrong.

BigB was a person who enjoyed to keep to himself…or so he thought.

Originally they weren’t the closest; Scott lived along the river way, residing among the flowers in the valley with his husband. BigB, on the other hand, settled far west in a forest of birch. He was on his own, days filled with mining for resources and building his castle. 

Their paths rarely crossed in the early days. BigB’s world was self-contained, and Scott had a want for more with every day that went by. While he thrived with the bustling alliances at his fingertips, BigB rarely had anyone knocking on his front door.

Soon enough came the Battle of the Red Desert. BigB had been adopted into fighting for Dogwarts alongside Ren’s knights. He remembers spotting Scott on the other end of the battlefield, aligned with Scar and Grian’s faction. He donned armor and a sword similar to BigB’s own that glinted in the dust bowel’s Sun.

He isn’t sure what had him drawn to Scott in the first place. Maybe it was his laugh, sticky-sweet, light, and able to fill the air in the harshest of circumstances. Something about it stood out among others, the noise feeling far from forced and carrying a warmth that settled in your chest. BigB found it to be harmonic, a melody sung by a songbird. 

Or, maybe it was his kindness. It always caught him off guard, being in a death game and all. He remembers the day after Cleo abandoned the Fairy Fort, bitterness radiating off of her. Scott had visited later in the day and offered a place to stay in his cottage if things ever got rough. When BigB couldn’t thank him enough, he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

On opposite sides of war, they were never meant to meet.

Looking back on it, BigB chuckles.

Tonight, he sits atop his enormous head that he dubs his house, perched high above acres of monochromatic trees. From this vantage point, BigB could see almost everything—from the Tuff Guys’ mineral structures towering in the distance,  to Joel’s car, sitting idle in the plains. Even the high stalks of bamboo surrounding Lizzie’s parrots come into view, their careful eyes watching over the server.

Sat next to him is Scott, dangled legs swinging carefully against the staccato-y breeze. His locs tickle Bigb’s where his head his rested against his shoulder, eyes closed as he hums a tune with no particular rhythm. BigB smiles.

Scott’s the only person who understands him, BigB thinks. He doesn’t mind his preference for listening to someone over speaking, nor disinterest for conversation. He doesn’t mind the silence.

When Scott first saw him—the real him, vines curling around his forearm and an unsettling amount of golden eyes scattered across his form, he didn’t find him unnerving, nor appalling. Instead, Scott gasped, face lighting up. “You’re gorgeous, B!”

So the next time when he saw Scott, BigB wasn’t entirely surprised to see his sweater embroidered with amber orbs, or the honey curl that bounced against his forehead.

“You two!” Pearl laughed, eyes darting between them, stood side-by-side as their bodies shook from laughter. “Attached at the hip, eh? At this point, you’re practically brothers!”

Brothers. The word rolled off his tongue with no problem.

BigB thought he would’ve been a person that kept to himself his entire life, that wasn’t until he met Scott.

That wasn’t until he met his brother.

[heroofshield]

Veilguard Appreciation Week Day Two: I like to listen to the waves crash. (Emmrook)

Takes place post-game but no spoilers. Enjoy!

@anderfels

Zea Laidir stepped out from the shadows of the Lords's encampment and closed her eyes as the Rivaini sun washed over her. "I've missed this." she thought, while tipping her face up and just soaking in the sun.

The constant late-morning sun of the Lighthouse had been fine, but nothing compared to the bright sun of the coastal country.

A glance behind her told her that Emmrich, Taash, and Neve were occupied talking to Isabela and other members of the pirate group. Not wanting to disrupt them, she double checked to make sure her knife was at her side and walked further out of the encampment towards the shore.

Listening to the waves crash among the rocks filled her with nostalgia. The familiar sound had been a constant backdrop since she joined the Lords and the year of banishment had been hard- not having it to lull her to sleep or when a storm was raging to hear the crash of the storm-fulled waves against the rocks. It had been an empty silence and Zea felt like she'd been missing a part of who she'd become.

And now living with Emmrich in Nevarra at the Grand Necropolis...it was fine and she was happy. But there was just something about Rivian that she missed, her adoptive country feeling more like home than anywhere else.

Making her way down towards the beach from the clifftop, Zea followed the familiar path that she used to travel towards the ocean. Taking off her shoes and stockings, she set them on a well-worn rock at the bottom of the path and buried her feet in the warm sand.

Letting a smile appear, she just stood there, soaking up the sun and the waves.

"There you are."

Zea opened her eyes and turned to see Emmrich not far from where she was standing. "Looking for me?"

"Of course darling, I notice when you're gone." Emmrich replied, stopping behind Zea and wrapping his arms around her. "I asked Isabela if she might know where you might have gone off to and she laughed. Said that before everything you were either in the library, your quarters, or down by the beach."

"So you looked in the library first?"

Emmrich chuckled, "I did. The librarian who works there said that you used to take stacks of books down here to read when you weren't planning a raid or treasure hunt."

Zea made a face, while replying, "It wasn't stacks, just one or two. And I never came down by the water. I had a canopy that I put together from wood and some old sailcloth, plus some pillows."

"Oh? Your own private lean-to?"

"Not exactly. I'd share it with anyone if they wanted to, but it was mostly me. I had everything set up a ways down the cliff- where it wasn't so high up from the beach. I'd set up there for the day and just read and make notes about whatever I was reading. Sometimes it was for a treasure hunt but most of the time it was just for me."

"Sounds like a well spent day."

"It did help pass the time. When I wasn't training with my magic or fighting." Zea leaned into Emmrich, feeling his warm body against the cooler wind and staring out at the bright blue waters. "I liked to listen to waves crash as well. When I first arrived...it took some adjusting to my own freedom after not having it for so long. Being here, when I wanted to be, it helped. Helped me realize that I could make my own choices for once."

Emmrich was silent as Zea talked. For as much as they'd shared, she didn't like to talk about her previous life as a Tevinter slave. Or her anger at the Shadow Dragons for not trying to do more to fight slavery. But hearing this...it helped him understand Zea a bit more. "I think I understand a bit more why you like the sea, my love."

"It's silly-"

"No it's not. Maybe we can arrange to come here a bit more often. For a short weekend trip or longer holiday. When my classes and duties allow."

Zea felt herself brighten up at the suggestion. Turning around to face Emmrich, she draped her arms over his shoulders and raised on her tiptoes so they were a bit more equal in height. "Really?"

"Really."

Zea broke into a smile and gave Emmrich a soft kiss on the lips, "I'd love that."

Emmrich returned the kiss with a bit more passion, "I'm so glad to hear it."

[tobiasdrake]

A lot of people have already sung the praises of Baldur's Gate 3 but I gotta say, it is really good at offering the player flexibility of puzzle-solving.

I was in a base full of enemies who were not yet hostile to me because my Bard is good at chatting our way into things, but that I ultimately did need to clear out. I was also on a time crunch where if I took a Long Rest, hostages might die. And I only had one Short Rest in me. Facing the obstacle of clearing an entire base full of enemies the same level as me without a single Long Rest was daunting.

But then I found a big ol' cliff.

Just a big ol' cliff.

And then I got an idea.

So I set my warlock and cleric Wyll and Shadowheart at the bottom of the cliff. Left the barbarian Karlach chilling at the top of the cliff. And I sprang into action.

A Minor Illusion to bring a patrolling guard over to the edge of the cliff to investigate. And then Karlach shoved her off the cliff. She hit the ground hard and before she could get up and react to what just happened, Wyll and Shadowheart struck and executed her last few hit points.

...so, naturally, I had to keep doing it. One by one, isolating enemies. Sometimes two or three would investigate the kitty cat, but if I chatted up the one I was targeting, the others would head back and I could continue the trail of Minor Illusions leading a single doomed adversary to the fatal clifftop.

Lure. Shove. Execute. Lure. Shove. Execute. Lure. Shove. Execute.

My party of level 5 characters slaughtered a good 8 or 9 level 5 enemies with a cantrip. All without exposing to the rest of the base that we were hostile. And when the boss was down to only 2 guys left in the room with her, then we struck. Kicking off hostilities by pushing one of them into a lava pit.

10/10 Have not had that much fun in an RPG video game in a long time.

[mild-crusader]

Somewhere in the North Atlantic...

Once upon a windy early morning on the cavernous clifftop of some abandoned island a heretic crew of slavers has unearthed 5 stone idols inscribed in the glyphs of some lost alphabet of Europe's heathen antiquity, two anointed emissaries from hell oversee malnourished wretched slaves erecting the engraved stones in arrangement with forgotten constellations, while a heretic priest burns sage over a padlocked coffin stained with blood slowly sinking into the center of an old muddy battlefield...

Satisfied with their preparation the congregation of hell marches back to shore. They hope to be a safe at sea by midnight when the stars would hang in alignment above the odious carvings and Crom Cruach awakens. Reborn, full of hate and hunger...

how unhappy must they be to see that a cruiser typical of the Eire Rangers, Faithful soldiers of the Church, have laid anchor. And worse yet! Boot tracks headed straight to the site of their ritual!!!

Will the devoted Rangers cleanse the Island of idolatry before it's too late??? Can the servants of Evil thwart the pesky interpose of the pious??? Stay tuned dear reader, you're about to FIND OUT!

BATTLE REPORT

This was a game played at 700 ducats and 0 glory using the 1.5 playtest rules for Trench Crusade. Using the Scenario "Sabotage" on a 4 foot by 4 foot board. The Attackers were the Eire Rangers sub faction of New Antioch and the Defenders were the Heretic Legion without any sub faction. Lists are posted below.

EIRE RANGERS:

Trench Cleric with Standard Armour, Grenades and Pistol

Berserker Lieutenant with Trench Shield, Sword, Grenades and Shotgun

Shocktrooper Bard Fianna with Carnyx, Sword and Standard Armour

Shocktrooper Fianna with Submachine Gun, Two Swords and Standard Armour

Shocktrooper Fianna with Submachine Gun, Two Swords and Standard Armour

Shocktrooper Fianna with Semi Automatic Rifle, Two Swords and Standard Armour

Shocktrooper Fianna with Semi Automatic Rifle, Two Swords and Standard Armour

[ EXPLORATION MODIFIERS ] Reroll

HERETIC LEGION:

Heretic Priest with Silenced Pistol

Heretic Death Commando with Tartarus Claws

Anointed Heavy Infantry with Great Sword

Anointed Heavy Infantry with Great Sword and musical instrument

Heretic Legionnaire with Gas Mask Shovel Semi-Automatic Rifle and Unholy Trinket

Heretic Trooper with Gas Mask Shovel Semi-Automatic Rifle

Heretic Trooper with Gas Mask Shovel Semi-Automatic Rifle

Wretched with Sword

Wretched with knife

Wretched with knife

Turn 0 setting up the board,

After the Trench and ruins were on the table we took turns placing the point scoring relics the attackers are meant to destroy, represented by 5 upright Stones scattered around the board and a coffin in the middle. Now time to deploy the troops.

All but one of the Ranger team were skirmishers, while my Heretic's only skirmisher was Death Commando so I placed all my wretched, my Legionnaire, and my Musical Anointed Heavy Infantry on the front edge of their Deployment Zone, clear of any obstacles ready to climb the trench and rush into no-man's land,

Death Commando would sulk inside a ruined building near the middle edge of the board. According to the rules for this mission I had to leave 4 guys in reserve so Heretic Priest, Troopers, and the un-musical Anointed Heavy Infantry, sit on the bench for the time being.

The Rangers set up more spread out, one fireteam of 2 Shocktrooper Fiannas hiding in a separate room of the metal ruined building ready to charge the commando, one Shock Trooper at the top of the cliff One at the Base of the Cliff behind some scaffolding, and the rest behind their own trench.

Now, time to let the blood flow!

Turn 1 Crusading this Trench!

First unit to activate was the humble Wretched with knife dashing up into no man's land hoping to shank the Shocktrooper at the base of the cliff.

However, he was not able to reach the Enemy before the end of his turn so it's on to the Rangers.

The Ranger fireteam get to act as one unit so it's both of their turns and it's Open Season on Death Commando,

After the first hit left him with a blood token the second killed him completely, and that marks the first casualty of our trench crusade careers! The second member of the fire team ends the turn by moving out of the ruined building into no mans land eager to get a head start on idol smashing in the next turn.

Now Wretched with Sword is dispatched against the Fireteam to get revenge! Because of his proximity to the Music of the Anointed Heavy Infantry his movement gets a boost

he scrambles up into no man's land and lunges his sword at the Fianna.

Complete miss.

Back to the Rangers it's the Trench Cleric and he moves right up the support beam of the trench and shouts something about snakes

resulting in my wretched feeling a sudden compulsion to lie down in the dirt, snake-like.

Then he turns to face a nearby stone idol and lifts his holy crozier off the ground...

Before drawing his pistol and shooting it to bits and pieces!

+1 point to the Rangers

Heretic Legionaire activates and climbs on top of a pile of cargo to get a line of sight on the Rangers

He fires one shot and misses, Then hides under the trench convincing himself to charge over into closer range next turn.

Continuing our story, the Ranger under the scaffolding at the base of the cliff counter charges the humble wretched with knife

Sliding right up behind him and in front of another stone idol, he bloodies the wretched...

and transforms the heretical stone into a patch of gravel.

the last reluctant wretched prepares his journey over the trench walls

Luckily for him, I've reached the image limit on this site so he'll have until Part 2 to steady his nerves.

End of Part 1...

[salubriwrites-blog]

The Amnesia Game, Pt 3

AYE WE'RE BACK??? I took a bit of a break from writing and updating, my bad. I did however get the motivation and inspiration to finish Amnesia Game. I hope you guys enjoy this, cause I had a lot of angst writing it.

Not for any particular reason, just feral for this pair. It inspired me to maybe write a sequel with a role reversal - this time with Black Swan as the subject.

We'll see.

Part 3: Shatter

If those fears were ever to manifest, it was today. Nerves he hadn’t felt on the rooftop in Pier Point arrived before her, they were now following Elias back and forth through his apartment as he prepared the guest bedroom. Everywhere they could find purchase, they sought to; like climbing up onto the pillows of the bed he was making for the third time. It was perfectly fine the first time, but shaking out the sheets and snapping them in the air like a whip was the only way to fight back against his fright. Or they sat on the dresser, where he organized then reorganized toiletries and anything else he could think a guest could need. When was the last time anyone had stayed with Elias, and a woman no less? Diving underneath his feet, making the Memokeeper stumble over every little possibility and wonder what he was even planning to do with her. 

Simply waiting was out of the question, Reca needed to keep himself busy but there was nothing left to do. All of his films were organized, memorized the briefing on his next assignment, and went so far as to volunteer his time to help some of the other keepers on his floor with their own bureaucratic tasks. From her perch on the dresser between the wrapped up toiletries and towels, Mira watched Reca fuss. 

“Of course! There is one thing I can do to make sure that this little heist goes as smoothly as can be.” Reca replied, snapping his fingers at the Assistant Director’s suggestion. “You really are brilliant, come on up,” he snatched the camera up before she could move herself, stuffing Mira into his pocket and almost forgetting to lock the apartment door behind him. 

Almost a month of nonstop hologram calls and traveling to other planets just for a chance to be near her passed. Moonlit dinners on clifftops, walking through museums on frozen planets, and breaking into a Curios storage room on a sophisticated space station. Together they’d done it all, or close to it, in such a short time. Any excuse to see Black Swan, it was as ridiculous as it was thrilling to see her mischievous smile. Even better when her lips found him, a reward for stepping out of his comfort zone, daring him to do things he’d never done before. Now was his prize, after all those times of going to her, she was coming to him. To the Garden where no mundane person was permitted. It was forbidden to have outsiders who were not memokeepers themselves enter the Garden, and while the documentation the couple worked together to fabricate was flawless, Elias couldn’t leave any of today up to chance.

Striding towards Customs with intent, his heartbeat skipped to move in time with his steps, fretting and worrying all the way. Consequences for their carelessness would be dire, Reca needed to make sure that everything went perfectly. There would be no do overs. 

“Ah! Mr. Salas,” Reca said brightly, throwing his arms dramatically wide at the custom’s officer who was on his break. “How are you my friend?” 

“What do you want, Reca?” The man grumbled, putting aside his tablet before turning his tired eyes to the memokeeper. Officer Salas was head of the Garden’s intake portals, everything that came in and out of Fulli’s realm passed under his consistent eyes. Which was why it was important that he be the one Reca persuade to turn a blind eye at an interloper’s presence. “Where’s your better half?” He asked next, eyes sweeping around the memokeeper as he came to lean against the counter next to him. 

“My better half? Right here,” Reca said confidently, though didn’t understand as he produced Mira. 

Raising an eyebrow, the officer looked down at the Assistant Director before looking at the memokeeper. “Are you… okay?” Oh no, maybe Elias was being too obvious that he wanted something.

“Never been better! I couldn’t help but notice that you’re quite busy today,” the memokeeper smoothed out his expression. Inwardly he was beginning to panic, Officer Salas was in bad spirits which meant that he might not be willing to negotiate. He would only have himself to blame if this didn’t work. Behind them Reca’s eyes fell on the Custom’s gate, where it was all hands on deck. Dozens of workers checking over manifests, reviewing reports as memokeepers returned from afar. Maybe if he was a better fast talker he could go and bring her in himself, use his leverage to shoo off the subordinate officer’s inquiries.

“It’s a little slammed, not that you’d know, you’re only here when you want something.” Salas observed, watching as the Assistant Director reached out for him. Knowing it would improve the man’s spirits, Mira jumped onto the counter top and offered a foot for Salas to touch.

“Nothing gets past you, Officer.” Reca laughed, putting a hand to his chest pretending to be flattered. “I do want something, you are absolutely right. I want to help you make your job a little easier today! There’s quite a crowd coming back from assignments, you’ll be busy interviewing the returning memokeepers.”  

Forcing a pause in the conversation, Office Salas bent over his shoulder to watch the latest fleet of ships pull into the Garden’s bay. “Yep, it’s gonna be jammed, there was an incident in Amorpheus that a lot of us are coming back from… is your better half gonna be on that shuttle or something?” 

How did he know? Reca asked himself hurriedly, but recovered quickly as the checkpoint became abuzz. “I think it’s still too soon to refer to her as that, but yes, I am expecting someone today-”

“Expecting someone?” The Customs officer said, suddenly taking an interest. Leaning forward, he raised a finger in the air so that the Assistant Director could use the pad of his fingertip as a backscratcher. “And your lady knows?” 

Now Reca was staring at the man with blatant confusion, and the Officer’s own face was starting to do the same. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, what lady?”

“Oh,” Salas said, straightening up and looking past Reca now, ignoring him for the moment. “Speak of the devil.”

Heart threatening to drop out of his stomach, Elias spun around and watched the Custom’s Officer abandon his post to approach the tall woman who stood among the memokeepers. She was dressed in her sensible fashion; flat shoes, loose pants, and a tight fitted top. Her purple hair was tied up in an elegant twist that exposed her long neck, which was adorned in gorgeous jewels that barely reached the twinkle in her eyes. Looking over his shoulder once, Office Salas caught sight of Reca’s jaw on the floor before approaching Black Swan himself. 

Panic stricken, Elias began to make rushed strides towards the pair, but Ms. Swan held out her hand at her side subtly, to tell him to stop. Left to only fret at the edge of the checkpoint, Mr. Reca reminded himself that acting out of form would only raise suspicion. He had to trust that Black Swan had some trick up her sleeve to slip past the officer, and waited until the Officer and the woman exchanged words. A thousand awful ideas made his stomach coil up like a maddened spring. Hopefully the officer was enough of a gentleman to not put restraints on her if he noticed something awry. 

Hopefully Reca had the self control to not demand an explanation if she was incarcerated. Which begged a new question: how prepared was Elias Reca to put it all on the line for the love of just one girl? 

Luckily it appeared he wouldn’t have to answer that question today as the Officer’s posture changed. Walking toward him, Black Swan drifted after Salas.

“Both of you get out of here,” was all he said, pointing at the man and woman before going back to his tablet. “I got another 10 minutes of break, I want it in peace.”

“You’re just going to let her in?” Reca blurted, too shocked to just accept this miraculous decision. 

“Of course I’m gonna let- oh, oh,” the officer began to say, but when his eyes locked with Reca, something seemed to click. “This is that thing, isn’t it?” He directed the question to Ms. Swan, who only offered a thin lipped smile in return.

“What thing?”

“Let’s go, Elias,” Black Swan said smoothly, fitting her hand into Mr. Reca’s and leaving Salas alone. “Why don’t you show me around, there must be more to see than just the checkpoint.” 

It didn’t take long for the memokeeper to recover from the startling turn of events, his guest’s intrigue and enthusiasm to visit the Garden brought him back to the moment. 

First they visited the mirror lake, one of the main storage arks. Mirror lake was a deep well, memories stored from different planets and forgotten civilizations catalogged in its depths. It got its name not because it was filled with water, but because of the impenetrable, glass seal that kept the memoria locked beneath. As a result, the seal was highly reflective, having colorful interactions with the trapped memories in the depths.

“How far down does it go?” Black Swan asked, inching her way over the protective glass seal, peering into the endless pit of memories. 

“I’m not sure, it was completed before I joined the Garden,” Reca explained, bravely walking over the barrier to join the woman. Standing together, looking straight down into the dizzying depths, Reca realized that there was nothing to be afraid of. He used to avoid Mirror Lake like it was a plague, his acrophobia threatening to take him to his knees even thinking about it. With Ms. Swan at his side it wasn't so bad, beautiful even. It made him want to dance, but with no music that desire was stifled. Watching her fractured reflection move across the glass would be art in motion, especially if he could make her laugh hard enough that her hair tumbled from its place. Mirror Lake’s light would send ripples through her shadow like no other.

“What’s that smile for?” She asked, breaking his concentration by bumping her shoulder into his. Spurred on by it, the pair began to walk, going in easy circles around the edge of the pit and admiring their images.

“Reflecting, I suppose,” Elias replied, daring to loop his fingers into hers as they walked. Immediately he began to sweat, it was the first public display of affection they would have. How his heart raced at the idea, allowing himself to be seen entwined with such a beauty. Black Swan’s hand took him easily, she was so collected it was astounding. “I’m happy to have met you, I daresay I’d never have overcome my fears on my own.”

That made Black Swan smile, a wide one that said she knew more than she let on, but Reca didn’t mind. He quickly accepted that she was layers upon layers of secrets, plans within plans. If he did it right, and she was willing, Elias would gladly unravel all of Black Swan. 

“This is my apartment,” he declared at the end of the day. Using his foot to push the door open, Reca carried Ms. Swan’s one little bag, which he had despaired at its size. Was she only planning a few days with him? Would that be his only reward in exchange for the weeks of daring and bravery he exhibited for her?

Before her arrival, Reca had a plan to whirl through the rooms and give her a grand tour. Instead now he found himself lingering near the kitchen and watching her move through the space itself. Like she always belonged there, she knew to slip her shoes off by the front door without mention, and she was aware of the short step down into the living room from the main hall. 

“A successful bachelor pad vibe,” she hummed, running her finger down the spine of one of the framed movie posters. Leaning into the kitchen, her eyes admired the barely used appliances and the set and round dining table in the middle of the room. “Do you cook, Mr. Reca?”

“When I’m home,” Elias lied, unsuccessfully remembering the last time his kitchen had been so full of food. “Which isn’t very often,” he added, drifting toward his minibar where an unopened bottle of gin and tonic water waited.

Once she had made a quick tour of all his decorations and bent in to look at her guest room, Black Swan leaned over the counter as he mixed a drink. Her eyes followed him as he juggled the shaker, amused at his little tricks which he had practiced to make look like he was a seasoned tender. “Now that I’m here, what do you have planned for me?” 

Sliding the cup within her reach, Reca held his own up for her to touch, “revel that you are here. I still can’t believe it.” 

“Excited to see me?” Black Swan asked coyly, pausing for the cheers and slow sip, batting her long eyelashes at Reca as he reached across the bar and took her hand. After an extended silence of his thumb stroking her palm, she grinned wickedly when he led her toward the back of the apartment. “Where are you taking me?” She asked when they passed the guest bedroom, moving further into the depths of the home.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to show you ever since, well, since Pier Point.” Elias explained, his voice reaching a deep, secretive pitch that made Ms. Swan step in closer. Close but still not touching, Reca couldn’t believe that he forgot how tall she was, her curves threatening to eclipse his edges as they walked. 

“I applaud your self control to be so patient,” Black Swan hummed, about to finish her drink in one sip as he pushed a door open and flipped the light on. 

Dimly lit, the room was full of shelves, and on those shelves were reels of film. Hundreds of them, all neatly labeled and stacked politely in an order that made sense only to Reca. Unable to withhold his enthusiasm anymore, Elias paced into the middle of the room before turning to take in her stunned expression. “This is my film collection! Hundreds of films that will never see a movie screen.” 

Reca was so completely confident that she was taken by him, he didn’t notice the break in her expression before she recomposed herself. How her smile sat unsteadily on the line between pity and impressed, wondering if this was all her visit was going to be. Not until she stepped up next to him with her cup piously in hand while she took in the tall shelves only she could reach.

“You wanted to show me your cinema library?” 

Doubt struck the man’s core, and he found himself glancing nervously at Mira. What the fuck are you thinking, Elias? Was what her gaze politely inquired. Gathering himself, he conjured up a smile that oozed self assuredness. 

“Of course! It’s my most prized possession, very dear to me… as are you. Look here,” deciding maybe it was better to shut up, Elias reached for one of the reels that had the least amount of dust on it. “I think you’ll like this one. I shot during the slaying of the 900,000 Xianzhou pilots. It follows the story a young delinquent Foxian girl who becomes an ace pilot-”

Interrupting Reca before he could spiral off into an analysis, her hand fell on his shoulder, fingers sliding down to play over his chest. If Black Swan moved a little bit slower, she would’ve heard his heart trying to run to her. “I’d love to watch it with you.” She was so close that when the woman inhaled, all other words on his lips evaporated. All he could do was exhale how beautiful Ms. Swan was. 

“That would be nice,” he was aware of how pitiful and strung out he sounded, but Elias didn’t care. Knew she didn’t care either, because it was established what an impact her smile had on his thoughts. How just one little taste of her sweetness disrupted all rationale. 

“This one looks interesting too.”

Following her hand, Elias watched as Black Swan reached one of the higher shelves, out of his reach without assistance. Down she pulled the first one that seemed to have caught her eye, Reca wondered when he last watched The Kingdom. It was in worn condition, watched hundreds of times no doubt from the way the packaging of the reel no longer held a glimmer.

“That one is a tragedy, technically. Two siblings raised in the same house, but chosen for different missions to fulfill their destiny to their family.” 

“I love a good tragedy,” Black Swan half whispered, eyes glinting excitedly as she placed it in his hands. “We can watch that one for dessert.” 

Perhaps she had a different idea when she initially suggested that, Reca realized too late. No no, she definitely had a different idea. What Elias wanted to blame it on was his sense of chivalry. Black Swan had just traveled across a galaxy to sit on his couch with him, it would have been inappropriate to take advantage of her travel weary body and mind. Instead he blamed it on the truth, which was that he was engrossed in his own work. They both underestimated just how in love with himself Elias Reca was. 

While she lay back on the couch, dinner plate in her lap, tongue wrapping seductively around her fork, he was giving commentary on casting decisions. What a fool he was. Not even during The Kingdom did he try to kiss her. All that time Black Swan was looking at him, reaching out and gently nudging his leg with her stocking clad toes. Instead of scooping up her legs to kiss and unravel them, he grabbed and massaged her feet while pointing out his favorite moment in the movie. He didn’t get the hint until long after, after she closed the bedroom door on him with a defeated snap.

“Is everything to your liking?” He asked from the guest bedroom doorway, holding his drink lazily while she fluffed the pillows and closed the blinds. Reca was exhausted, the dishes from cooking dinner wouldn’t be able to wait, and the next morning he promised to take her to the Fulli temple. 

“It’s sufficient,” she said easily, toying with the hem of her turtleneck. That had been the final come on, her hands silently asking if he wanted to do the honors. Even then Elias couldn’t get the hint, with alcohol coursing through his veins and urging him to cross that line. “I just… I’m a little nervous about sleeping in new places.”

“I am an idiot,” he admitted in the present. Now sitting up in bed and holding his head in his hands as Mira glared at him. On the opposite wall, she was replaying the night’s events to shame her co-director, making Reca watch over and over all the ways he missed his chances. 

What he should’ve said was, “would you prefer to not be alone?” What he said instead was, “if you need anything I’m right upstairs. I can wake you with coffee in the morning if you’d like.” 

“Yes, yes, I’m a fool, thank you for your feedback.” He hissed to Mira, crawling across the bed to manually shut her down, and ended up eyeballing his bathrobe. “Would it be inappropriate if I went down there now? What if she’s too tired, or annoyed and disappointed, or- alright, alright!” Reca startled when his assistant director’s eyes flashed back on with their own annoyance.

Cursing himself and wondering how to smoothly salvage this moment, Reca procrastinated by wondering how much clothing he should wear. In the end he dressed in his softest silk, but left behind the slippers (though he was convinced she’d find the frog slippers amusing). 

Mirror Lake’s reflection cast green, purple, and blue across the living room. His TV screen watched Elias linger at the bottom of the stairs, where he leaned over the bannister to sneak a peek at the bedroom door. The door was closed but the light was on beneath, yellow light fracturing the hues from the Garden. His palms were sweating and his knees tried to lock in place as he stepped off the stairs, drifting like a will-o-wisp toward the guest door. 

When was the last time he had been nervous? More to the point, when had he last been nervous with Black Swan? That was easier to answer, only when they climbed the skyscraper at Pier Point. There were never nerves or fear of boundary crossing with Black Swan. Everything they did together felt natural, consensually moving within each other’s space. Maybe he was more nervous because he didn’t feel nervous? It had something to do with that gut feeling weeks before. His body was tight and breath short because it was anticipating something his brain could not comprehend. As if his knees knocked together in this same spot, his knuckles had wrapped on the wood, and he exhaled with a practiced determination. Have they done this before?

“Elias,” Black Swan said when she opened up at his beckoning. She was wearing a light, pastel night dress that looked eerily familiar. Perhaps from a dream she was in when the distance was too great. Leaning in the doorway, the woman spoke with surprise but the way she held herself said something else. It asked, “what took you so long?”

“Ms. Swan,” he said curtly, clenching his hand to stop himself from shaking, also from reaching for her satin clad hips. The fabric whispered devilish suggestions about where his lips ought to be at that moment. “There has been oversight on my part. One that I’ve come to rectify.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Black Swan crossed her arms and nodded for him to continue. With an expression unreadable, only her smile gave away that she was excited to see him. She knew exactly what was coming next, but Ms. Swan needed to push Reca out of his comfort zone one last time. Force him to confront his own ego.

“I seemed to have gotten carried away earlier with showing you my collection. You don’t want all the excuses for my obtuse behavior tonight, but I wanted to emphasize how excited I was to have you here. Being able to share what I love with someone important to me was a rare treat, so thank you for indulging that.” He could wax on for hours about how much it meant for her to share the evening with him. Express his joy for her interest in him, but all of that felt unnecessary. She knew it already, from all of their holo calls, his surprise visits to her across the known universe.

“That is all very sweet and thoughtful of you to say, Elias,” Ms. Swan said stiffly now. Once more her expression was stony, but her hands were reaching out to grab that clenched fist behind his back. “Except I don’t want your words anymore. Come here, show me how sorry you are.” 

Obediently he half stumbled into the lit room, falling into her arms as Black Swan guided them. No more heights, more check points, nor cinema libraries, all that was left to explore and experience fully was her. Starting with her perfectly in the middle of the bed, Black Swan felt like a mountain to climb, armed with only his hands and mouth to map her vistas and taste her heights. Grappling, their fingers interlocked as he navigated which desire to scale first. Starting with the flimsy straps of her nightgown, he rolled the thin material off her shoulders. With excitement Elias ran his mouth over her shoulders and collarbones while his fingers continued to pinch and feel. Tactically, he kissed her fingers before moving Ms. Swan’s hands above her head, framing her like a sunrise. Finding the swaths of soft hair under her arms made him smile, and for now he’d fight back against the urge to linger there. Smoothing the hair down, their eyes met for an instant before she pulled Elias in for another kiss. Incensed by his admiration, Black Swan purred, moaned, and twisted her hands into his gray hair, forcing his lips to bruise her neck. Her  hips ground into his rhythmically, Reca subconsciously squeezing his knees into Black Swan’s sides to keep from being thrown off.

Few words were exchanged, it didn’t feel like they had to speak a word to one another. Every sigh and shift communicated the next desired step. Sitting back up, Reca paused to admire the blushing purple scar on her shoulder. As he balanced himself on top of her, Black Swan pulled away at his robe. It fell with a heavier than expected thud that startled both of them. Whipping their heads, she laughed first as the Assistant Director gave a guttered croak and hopped out of the robe. 

“Excuse me, I’ll turn her off,” Elias said the way a pet owner would lock their overly nosy animal away. 

“You don’t have to do that… Leave her on the dresser,” the woman said coyly, biting her tongue flirtatiously as the memokeeper stared. “I’ve never made a sex tape before.”

At least that was established, he thought with a smile to himself. Turning his back on her, Reca snatched up Mira and angled her on the dresser. “Neither have I… but it can’t be that different from shooting a… regular film.” His voice trailed off after turning back to face the bed. 

Like a magic trick, when Reca moved to face the bed Black Swan was completely naked, the little gown tossed disappeared. Leaning back on her hands, the woman’s long legs were crossed neatly to only tease a sweet belly. Purple hair tumbled down out of its hold and cascaded over her breasts, the bruise Reca left complimenting her locks. 

“I’m feeling… overdressed,” he laughed, hooking a thumb awkwardly in the hem of his boxers. 

Tilting her chin, Ms. Swan’s smile grew wild as he fell to his knees on the floor before her. “All this talking I told you not to do,” the woman laughed, a moan caught in her throat as his lips and fingers massaged her calves.

“Shall I show you what else I can do?” Reca asked, smiling madly at her groaning reaction. 

“Shut up and taste me.” Slipping to lay back on the bed, Black Swan allowed him to uncross her legs and kiss his way into her. At the juncture of her thighs, a field of dark, spiraling hair snared his kisses. Not able to hold back here, Reca crammed his mouth over her sweet mound, burying his nose and inhaling her deeply. How sexy, her confidence to be as natural as fresh memoria. Black Swan tasted mercurial on his tongue, and the protean scent of her sweat curled in his lungs. All the while she cooed and moaned in a dulcet, practiced tone. As if she rehearsed and sampled her voice to determine what noises would elicit the most enthusiastic responses from him.

“Oh, Elias,” she breathed as her fingers curled into the bedsheets and her legs locked him in place. With each wet kiss he placed on curly hair and curvy lips, Reca felt her toes flexing and curling into his back. “What are you doing to me?”

Not needing to answer with his voice, Reca hungrily kissed and mouthed his way through her excitement. His actions spoke plainly, he was going to take her apart bit by bit and savor every little contented sigh and buck of her hips. Locking her around him, the man urged Black Swan to tighten her thighs around his head and push him deeper. In return she replied with her hips, arching her cunt into his face and crying soft notes that hung in the air. 

Working her into a wondrous frenzy, the memokeeper used both his lips and fingers to trace Black Swan’s opening. Moving from kneeling before her at the bedside, Reca borrowed her leg hold on his shoulders to lift her bottom off the bed, pinning her hips to his chest. It allowed him to peer over her curly hair and admire her redness, a combination of the blood rushing to her head and his tongue flicking against her clit.

Reca needed to know what she would truly sound like when she was writhing and clawing at his hips to release her from the throes. All of her perfectly timed and leveled grunts and moans of excitement were lovely, but that wouldn’t do. This kind of restraint flew in the face of everything he knew about Black Swan. Her confidence was ever reaching in all aspects of her, hearing her rehearsed and tempered cries felt like the antithesis of confidence. Moving with fervor, his fingers flashed in and out of her, searching for those obscene noises, looking to unleash Black Swan’s full ecstasy. With his own practiced technique, she rose and fell in his hands, eyes flashing wild and unable to stay open. Bearing down into her, he wouldn’t stop until she begged him. Or pleaded for something else, he would have loved to give Black Swan more. To spread her out evenly on the bed and go further. He wondered if he would be her first, as her nails dug into his arms and she mouthed the words he wanted.

On second thought absolutely not, Reca decided as he draped her hips on top of the covers. She could have any being she wanted, with those verbose hips and breasts capable of causing uproars. What he was determined to be though was Black Swan’s best yet, to leave her dizzy and holding onto him for stability. Moving back up to meet her lips, Reca planted little kisses along her belly and up the curvature of her breasts. Rising and falling dramatically, she heaved for air as their eyes met and a smile stretched across her lips. 

“What a mouth,” she gasped giddily, kissing traces of her orgasm off his cheeks and nose. “I want to do that for hours… later!” Black Swan laughed as he pretended to prepare to retreat back down. “I want you to taste me after I’ve come all over your sweet cock.” 

What a mouth, he thought exasperatedly in response, eager to strip for her now. Following his hands Black Swan’s eyes widened and tongue dragged over her teeth when his erection, fully realized and eager, landed against his thigh. 

“You don’t need any further preparations,” she teased, stretching out a finger and tracing the head of his cock. Her nail grazing against the sensitive foreskin conjured stars in the corner of his eyes as Elias struggled to stay upright. “I wonder, though.” 

Not prepared, the man’s body crumbled into the mattress as she crawled across to swallow him whole. Black Swan’s tongue coiled and gently jerked off his shaft as his head grazed the back of her throat. His hips and thighs burnt as the pleasure raked over his body alongside the discomfort of contorting into the bed. She didn’t allow his legs to readjust, hands descending down on his ankles and keeping him pinned bent in half. It was exquisite agony as his muscles strained and stretched, Reca’s belly spasmed and lurched to the tune of her soft hums vibrating his shaft. Was this to return the favor of what he’d done for Ms. Swan? 

“Oh my- Fuck, you are incredible,” he panted, an arm draped over his face so he could watch the constellations behind his eyelids. “Please, don’t make me finish in your mouth.” 

Teasing him was dangerous, but she didn’t acknowledge the threat of pinning his contorted body for her to please. All that was scraping over his mind was the tension in his thighs while she sucked him. Every little noise Elias made she responded with one of her own, throaty moans that tickled his shaft and vibrated through his belly. Craning his neck, he caught sight of their reflection in the hanging mirror behind Mira, who was recording everything as planned. 

With his knees bent beneath Reca, his hips were driven high into the air to try and alleviate some of the pain. Meanwhile her palms pressed with enough pressure to keep them down, preventing Elias from finding release. He kept his fingers twisted in her hair, which snared him like netting, but he had no control over the motion of her lips. Bobbing at an excruciating tempo, Black Swan pleased him at her own pace, until his belly spasmed and his balls tightened in her hands.

“Oh dear,” she teased, dragging her tongue from base to tip, eyes flashing excitedly at how flushed Reca was. “You’re not going to come so soon, are you?” 

“No,” Elias lied, trying to struggle away from her now so that he could climb back onto her. When he tried to move though, Black Swan kept him in place with just one hand, while the other kneaded and tugged playfully at his sack. It sent debilitating tremors up his core and across his thighs, she giggled at the man’s strangled moans as he fell back into the bed. “Not until you told me to.” 

Curiosity piqued, Black Swan inched her way up and peered down at Reca, allowing his legs to stretch out. His aching body unclenched as he flexed his feet, working sensation back into them, but kept his gaze locked with hers. As if she was hypnotizing him, the woman brushed their noses and lips tempestuously close, and her hand continued to stroke him the way her mouth did. “Really now? Not until I say?”

Gasping for air as she spoke, Reca raised his head to watch with his own eyes as she mounted him, holding his erection steady. Tears tested the corners of his eyes as he watched and felt the stings of hunger from her lips playfully kissing at his tip. Frustratingly every time Elias bucked his hips to try and penetrate her, she swayed and dipped herself out of his reach, eliciting the wildest sobs from him. 

“Not a moment sooner, just please, please.” He begged, making Black Swan smile wildly. “I want to be inside you so badly. Please, my goddess.”

Purring approvingly, she guided her hips into place and slid down his length. A guttered moan brewed in Elias’ chest as his hands sought for something to hold as his balls ached for release. Her fingers twined and grounded his resolve, leaving Reca gasping for breath as Black Swan squirmed on top of him, as if making room for him. He’d made a promise, no matter how silly and impossible, now Reca would have to keep it. 

“Goddess, I like that,” she hummed, first grinding and rotating her hips in wide motions, taking his erection along for the ride. Throwing her head back, she enjoyed the bulk of his dick grazing her center, teasing and feeling the spots that made her hold him close. “I don’t think your god would, though.” 

Screw my gods, Reca thought distantly, watching open mouthed and dumb struck as the luminescence from Mirror Lake painted Black Swan’s breasts and belly in pastels. Let all my waking moments belong to you. In a weakened attempt to prove his loyalty, Elias lay still and only begged with his eyes while she used him for herself. Shifting and grinding her hips downward, Black Swan rewarded him by leading one of his fingers to draw circles over her clit. 

“You may touch me, you have deft hands for making me happy.” She teased, biting her lip and tensing up her shoulders as Reca’s thumb moved. Working in calculated circles, the sounds she made in response reached that wild pitch that he’d been looking for. No longer was she in control of her emotions, diving in and moving to primal desire. It was absolutely cinematic, watching her belly fill with air that she would utter out in stuttered falsettos. Jolting and seizing to the building ripples. 

“Thank you,” he panted, staring at the ceiling as her opening gripped him as though in a vice and tugged his cock. “You feel so perfect, I can’t believe it.” 

Left in her merciful grasp, Elias couldn’t remember the last time he had orgasmed quite like this. Or the last time he had brought someone to bed, especially someone as beautiful as Black Swan. Together they lazily climbed the breathtaking ascent of an orgasm, moving at her pace as she fucked him perfectly. With just her thighs, the woman wrested all control of the situation, and he relished how helpless it made him feel. Hanging on by only the grip she had around his cock, the world swam then thrummed with colors and textures that were beyond comprehension. At the center of that swirling vortex was Black Swan, a hand on his belly to stabilize herself as she rolled her hips and cried her pleasure. 

“Call me your goddess again,” she rasped, bending down as if to taste the heaviness of his breath.

“Goddess,” Reca replied, grabbing onto her hips now that her posture shifted. Thankful that she now lay against him, leaving room for him to hold her hips and thrust into her. “Hold on to me, I want you to scream my name as you come to me.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Black Swan pressed her lips into his ears and hairline as Elias planted his feet into the bed for the best angle. Humming calmly into his skin, that first thrust was experimental and delicious. It delivered a steady stream of tension through their bodies that made both of them cry out. Her back arched and his thighs tightened as Black Swan whispered one more command in his ear. 

“Don’t hold back, Elias. Make love to your goddess.” 

Whether she urged Reca with sour commands or honeyed words, the results would have been the same. Possessed by the very gods he angered, his hips slammed against her, jutting Black Swan forward with even, incensed strokes. Even with her arms wrapped tight around Elias’s neck, she had to pinch her knees into his sides to stay on top. Maddened by the teasing, his own orgasm felt out of reach now, but he wouldn’t stop until he felt her release on top of him. Determined to keep going until he felt himself bottom out deep inside. Leaving scathing kisses on her shoulders, Reca had to be reminded to breathe as he only wanted to hear her coming undone in his arms. 

“You’re insatiable,” she half laughed, half moaned when Elias found the strength to roll Black Swan onto the bed. She looked marvelous on the high thread count, satin cradling her hips and the fractured colors of the Garden splashing on her body before he had the chance. “Do you need to rest?”

“I refuse.” Crawling back to her, Reca hefted one leg over his shoulder, followed by the other, he only rested to drink her in. Sprawled out with an arched back, fingertips tickling herself seductively, eyes flashing as she dared him to go further. Such beauty wasn’t meant for the likes of mere mortals. “If it takes grinding my bones into dust to make you happy, so be it. Who knows how close we came to missing each other? The thought chills me.” Emphasizing each word with little kisses, before he could resume his passion for Black Swan, she held a hand to his chest. “All that warms me now is feeling your touch, hearing your heart, knowing that you are mine in this moment.”

One hand feeling for his own heart, the other taking his chin, she kissed Elias. With a sweetness that was cooler than a long sip of water, greater than a religious experience, she set his head to rest on her chest. Angling her legs to fall away and settle on his hips, she drew him deep, a startled moan escaping Black Swan as he reached her limit.

“That’s enough, dear Elias.” Whispering into his ear, Reca watched a set of fingers dance in front of his face, tracing lovely runes on his cheeks and down his nose. “I can’t bear waiting any longer – come back to me.” Then-

Before he could wax and wonder what that alluded to, his mind was broken open. Like the glass ceiling was shattering, fragments of translucent moments rained down on him, first in drizzles. Through his fingertips they slipped, passing through his outstretched hands like molecular waves, oozing down his face, and landing in his consciousness as they spread like a horizon. Memories, thousands of them, now they rushed and downpoured across his body, drowning his synapses and bones. 

Overwhelmed by enlightenment, Reca’s body writhed and moved against his will, scrambling feebly to roll away. Black Swan kept her legs hooked around him, nails digging into his sides, and continued to paint symbols on Elias, breaking the memetic seal that repressed his mind. Each flick of her fingers unlocked a new moment, shattering the trance that kept him in the dark. Hands of sharded nostalgia grabbed Reca by the shoulders and pulled him up to the light. Tranced by her movements, they produced every forgotten moment for him to witness all over again, setting his body on fire. 

Every bitter tear at the prospect of losing the other, all the laughter at his corny jokes, each contented sigh, an endless deluge of shared joy and struggles. Days of good morning kisses, breakfast in bed, reading each other’s assignments to one another. Hours of coordination, working together in unrivaled synchrony. Nights spent at the edge of Mirror Lake, strolling through the Garden’s archives, laying in her arms while she read to him. Thousands of lifetimes came back to him in a tsunami that consumed, every minute dripping through the shattered firmament, returning now. Falling asleep and waking up to that opalescent smile, and looking forward to it happening again and again. The rush of accomplishment and the thrill of achieving that simple ambition, to hear her voice.

Sweat from his shivering body was dripping down Black Swan’s sides, saturating the bed’s top cover. Though they tickled, she continued to hold Reca, kissing his face and feeling his body grate and thrust against her with the compulsion of his mind reintegrating itself. Feeling the physical impact of the shatter echo through his body, Black Swan’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she came so close to coming undone. His breath pouring down her neck was so sweet, tickling her skin and clenching his erection still inside. 

Finally his body collapsed, spent. Instead of pulling away and rolling to lay on his back, Elias hugged her against him, pressing his cheek against her collarbones, hearing her blood rush. Taking a moment to rest, he curled into her, feeling his cock bottom out in her depths, the memokeeper sighed deeply and parsed through the most recent memories. 

“Goddess suits you.” Were the first words he said now that he was back to his senses, propping himself up on his elbows and admiring her flushed face. Inside her only the very entrance of her beautiful cunt gripped at his base, it was almost enough to distract him. “You are an ephemeral being worthy of worship.”

“Welcome back, darling.” Black Swan always got a little high watching her lover’s eyes change and shift with recognition at the end of each shatter. Seeing his light widen and brighten at the mere sight of her, remembering just how happy they are together. Illuminating the room like a newly born star, his infectious smile plagued Black Swan while he touched her cheeks. “You walked across Mirror Lake today.” 

“I did, you helped me,” he laughed, sitting back on his knees and moving her legs to spread wide, massaging her thighs where knots from their love making would no doubt form. “You should wear that skirt more often, especially if you want me to conquer my acrophobia.”

“You liked that?” A little disappointed that he seemed spent, Black Swan allowed Elias to pull away from her, granted with some difficulty as her body refused to let him free. His stuttered gasp as Reca finally lay back on the bed, wrapping his fingers around his adamant erection to soak up her juices. 

“I didn’t realize that positive reinforcement was all it took,” he teased, licking at his fingers like a beast lapping up honey. Both of them shuddered at the other’s reaction, but before they could crawl back into each other, an indignant croak sounded from the dresser. 

“Yes, Mira,” the memokeeper laughed, approaching the Assistant Director and scooping her up, brushing the tip of his nose against her beret. “You played your part beautifully, as always.” 

“What happened to grinding your bones into dust to make me happy?” Black Swan asked, pouting sarcastically as Reca swooped her up and carried her - with some difficulty - back to their bedroom. Every time his knees threatened to buckle, realizing that he was not as strong as he wished he was, Black Swan would laugh and try to work out of his arms to climb the rest of the way. He wouldn’t have that, eventually he finished the ascent and helped Black Swan into the bathtub. 

“That still holds true,” he assured her, using a fine washcloth to suds her body, his other hand already reaching to finish the job. “Except we do have eternity, and I don’t wish to rush your pleasure.” Leaning in to listen better for her sighs, he pressed a wicked smile against her forehead. “I still want to be deserving of you, after all.” 

It was a little strange to have him be the one exacting aftercare on Black Swan - after all he had been to forget hundreds of lifetime’s of memories. Except the afterglow of knowing that she’d always been his made him exceptionally loving. Compelled to double down on his devotion to her, Reca cradled her through a final, exquisite orgasm. His own climax would gladly wait as he grit his teeth through the tingling sensation as his fingers lost feeling inside Black Swan. Holding their heads together and staring deep into her eyes as she came, the bath water splashing up and over onto the floor as she convulsed.

“Fuck,” was all she could gasp as he helped her to stand outside of the bathtub. Flourishing a robe around her shoulders, he knotted it tight and bent her down to kiss him, working his fingers through her wet waves. 

“Is that right?” Elias asked teasingly, pulling the blankets tight so that her staggered praises could be warm against them. 

“I missed you,” she managed with one more satisfied huff, pulling herself against his naked chest and tracing those magic sigils into his skin. This time, instead of splitting his awareness in twain and spilling out secrets, they made Elias’ skin light up in pastel auroras that complimented the glow of Mirror Lake in the distance. “Can we watch the movie in bed?” 

“Right now?” Reca asked with false exasperation, already commanding Mira to light up the opposite wall.

Before the couple spun the raw footage of Elias’ arrival and check in at Pier Point, dropping his bags in front of an industrial themed dresser. Leaning over into the mirror, he was examining himself, pulling his fingers over the wrinkles and shadows. It was a side of himself that Elias Reca barely knew, and even now he leaned down to whisper into Black Swan’s hair, “am I really that vain?”

Giggling at his corny jab, she wound her fingers into the Memokeeper’s side, moving in so close that all she could smell when she inhaled was the remnants of his cologne. It - he - smelt like home. “That and more, wait until you see the view from the rooftops.”

[savingcontent]

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer, the point-and-click adventure sequel launches May 20th onto PC

Continue reading Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer, the point-and-click adventure sequel launches May 20th onto PC

[linuxgamenews]

Unveiling Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer - The Next Chapter of the Mystery Series

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is the new sequel point and click urban thriller game in the series for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Clifftop Games' creativity shines brighter than ever in this masterpiece. And its all due to find its way onto Steam. At The MIX’s Fall Showcase, indie publisher Raw Fury and developer Clifftop Games released a big reveal — Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer. The highly-anticipated sequel in the point and click mystery series. If you thought Kathy’s last case was intense, get ready. This time, our down and out private eye is chasing a terrifying serial killer known as the Soothsayer. So, things are about to get dark. The story picks up three years after Kathy’s investigation in Conwell Springs. Now, she’s tackling a string of brutal murders that have rocked the bustling city of Kassidy to its core. It’s up to you to help Kathy unravel the mystery, track down the killer, and stop the chaos before it’s too late. But here’s the kicker—this isn’t just about solving another case. Kathy’s very life is on the line. Will she crack the case, or end up as the Soothsayer’s next victim?

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer | Announcement Trailer

What to Expect

This saga is full of upgrades and surprises that’ll keep you glued to your screen. Here’s a taste of what’s coming:

A gripping urban thriller: Dive into Kathy’s world with a brand-new case that’s loaded with suspense, drama, and emotional twists. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the series, Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is for you.

Next-level graphics: Say goodbye to the old-school look—Kathy’s world has leveled up with high-res pixel art, dynamic lighting, and shiny surface reflections. It’s a gritty, modern vibe that fits the story perfectly.

Cinematic storytelling: Get ready for jaw-dropping, hand-drawn cutscenes and detailed character portraits that bring the story to life. It’s like watching an urban thriller movie you can play.

A bigger, bolder thrill ride: Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is the longest Clifftop title yet. Doing so with a story that spans diverse locations, tons of characters, and plenty of plot twists. You’re in for a ride.

Familiar voices: Fans will be thrilled to know that Arielle Siegel is back as the voice of Kathy Rain, along with some other familiar voices from the first release.

Investigative tools: Kathy’s trusty notebook is back! Use it to jot down clues, connect story threads, and uncover the killer’s identity. Pro tip: pay attention to everything—it all matters.

And if you can’t wait to jump in, there’s a Linux demo available now. Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is a dark point and click sequel is coming soon to Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Wishlist on Steam. Keep an eye out for more updates, and get ready to step into Kathy’s shoes for her most dangerous adventure yet.

[hobbitwrangler]

I'd love to know more about "Ivriniel screams internally" !! 🖤

Thank you Hara! <3

This fic is about Ivriniel's experience on the day of Finduilas' funeral. I see Finduilas' family as having a very complicated relationship with Denethor, particularly after Finduilas' death, due to Ivriniel not being very pro Finduilas leaving Dol Amroth. As such, the funeral not only has Ivriniel going through a lot of grief and other associated emotions, it also serves to highlight a lot of the more fraught family dynamics, which are always interesting to write about. I'm finding the funeral really interesting as a way of seeing what each of the characters (Ivriniel, Imrahil, Denethor, etc) look like when grieving.

All that talk, all her mother’s pointless twittering about what a good match Finduilas had made. “A man of such standing, and one who so loves her too!” And what good did that love ever do her? It killed her, took her away from the sea, planted her in foreign, unfriendly soil. “Is it not wonderful how in love she is?” her mother had said brightly, watching the happy couple in their first dance. As if she did not love things before him. Before Denethor, the sea and the winds and the beaches of Dol Amroth had Finduilas’ love. And they served her better in return than Denethor ever did. She had worried, when Denethor first began courting her sister. Finduilas was not made for Minas Tirith. She was made for the wind-whipped clifftops and dark rock pools of Dol Amroth. She was half convinced that in another life Finduilas had been a spirit of the sea, one of UInen’s servants who danced in the waves. She had said as much to her mother, who had ignored it. She had thought Ivriniel’s concerns came from an older sister’s possessiveness (and there had been an element of that) and resentment from her own failed marriage. I married for lust and Finduilas married for love, yet look at us now? What good did love ever do her, your daughter you so treasured? Was it worth it, sending her off to die in this doomed city, this temple to dead kings, this great tomb? But they had not listened to her. Not her mother, not her father, not even Finduilas, blinded by love. Her parents she was used to. They never had listened to her; that anger was a familiar one. But Finduilas … it was a terrible thing, to realise that her companion since her youth no longer listened to her opinion. And now I am right, and I can gain no satisfaction from it.

WIP game

[celestialholz]

An apple a Kitakam-day keeps the doctor away (or 'they have fields of them now oh my god')

Guys. Guys. I am at my upper limit and Brassius hasn't even graced my clubhouse yet. I'm going to yeet myself off clifftops without a dragon. (No Rotom buddy, don't save me. It's not worth it.)

Warning: this post contains no story spoilers for Kitakami, but it does contain a certain Pokemon, and a DLC-specific location, and the occasional mention of a sidequest or two. If you want to go in totally spoiler-free, just be wary. :)

Now, we all know Applin as the gay mascot Pokemon, so what did they feel like doing for our first DLC?

What is this. What IS THIS. Note the unamused expression on mini Holz - mood, honey. Biggest mood.

This is Kitakami's Apple Fields, which are so painfully obviously a Hassius honeymoon destination that they're even winking at me.

THE AUDACITY.

... I'm glad you do, because personally, I've become allergic to them. Whatever the apple version of homophobia is, I have a terminal case.

But anyway, if you happen to scale these lovely cliffs off to the side:

You will be able to count how many fields there are here. It's difficult at ground level because the fences are stupid, but there's sixteen of them. TM16 in this game is Acrobatics, which is - and you can choose, I'm easy - either a reference to Brassius jumping off windmills because he has the confidence now through love, or me jumping off this ledge without a dragon and no Rotom Phone. (Yes, I will do a flip.)

Wasn't enough for you to give me a core-wyrm and a fore-wyrm, a marital signpost of a Pokemon, was it Game Freak, or stick a heart around Harvest C, or give Hassel a Flapple? Nope. FIELDS OF APPLIN. Yeah no, I'm fine...

Look at this little bastard. Look at her. She knows what she is.

You also find the simp Glitterati here by the way, twice, so... mmm, simps, enjoying apples, on two separate occasions. Can't mean anything guys, don't worry about it...

And as though all this wasn't bullshit enough, this is what happens when you show a Dipplin to the guys in Mossui Town who wish they had a romance half as compelling as Hassius:

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME I WILL FIGHT YOU BOTH NEXT TO THE CRYSTAL POOL YOU F -

[beekeeperspicnic]

The Beekeeper's Picnic has launched!! 🐝

A cosy point and click adventure game lovingly inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle!

It is the 1920s, and in a sleepy Sussex village, beekeeper and former world's greatest detective Sherlock Holmes is trying to arrange a pleasant clifftop picnic for his lifelong companion Dr Watson. The only problem is that a series of mysteries keep getting in the way!

Full version now available on... Steam | Itch.io

With a little launch discount!