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dissociation-station123 · 1 year ago

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Amongst Friends-SuguruXReaderXSatoru

Mature Content

An introvert who has been adopted by two extroverts. Geto & Gojo had been your best friends since college. Your bond unbreakable. Or at least that is what you believe…

Chapter one:

You grumble as you sleepily make your way towards your kitchen in desperate need of a strong mug of coffee. Due to the lack of sleep you clumsily fumble along until you reach the opening to the living room.

All the frustration from last night quickly builds back up when you spot the pathetic figure of a man hunched over on the couch rubbing his temples while scrolling through his phone. "You!" You growl menacingly and those baby blue eyes look up at you in panic.

"Y/N... Y/N... calm down. Let us discuss this like adults." His voice was raspy probably due to all of the activity from the night before. "Please... I will reup for you!" You stalk towards him and he cowers a bit pleading for your mercy.

"Satoru Gojo...." You snarl letting your rage consume you. "You want to know how my night was?" You sit beside him and roughly grab onto the collar of his shirt. He nods his gaze laced with fear of your wrath. "First I had to deal with an irate customer. A tiny scratch on their Mercedes that was already there. But my boss made me stay late until it was gone. That is always fun right."

Satoru nods along and you grit your teeth. "By the time I finally got off work I was exhausted and starving. So I thought I would treat myself. So I went to my favorite late night wing place and ordered my favorite combo. Sounds great right?"

"Yeah you really love those lemon pepper wings Y/N." He says giving you a cheesy smile, you hated how attractive it was. "Did you get some carrot sticks and ranch?"

"But of course I ordered that as well, Satoru. Like I said I was super tired so I grabbed my order and headed home. And Satoru, do you know what is super relaxing after a long day of manual labor and your favorite food?" Your voice was dripping with malice and he knew why you were upset yet he continued to appease you.

"A blunt... Y/N I'm sorry!" Satoru pleaded once again but you shushed him and he quickly obliged.

"After searching and not finding the little I had left I told myself Y/N it's fine. I took a deep breath and showered, getting hyped to eat. Satoru guess what?" You ask and he shrugs his shoulders. "They had given me the wrong order. Can you believe it? But I was starving so I again told myself to relax and ate. To get a good night's rest and it will all be fine in the morning. But Satoru, do you think I slept well?"

You watched as Satoru swallowed nervously and shook his head no. "And why was I not able to get much sleep last night?" You glare at him and he stutters.

"Because Suguru and I had company last night." He whispered and the hold on his collar tightened. "Y/N..."

"That is right! I was kept up by sounds of women wailing and moaning like we had been haunted by fucking banshees. You inconsiderate asshole!" You lunged for his throat as he choked out apologies. You were seeing red until you heard a startled gasp. Your head shifts to two figures emerging from the hall.

"Please ignore them princess. Just my crazy ass roommates." A deep velvety voice cooes to a woman tightly gripping her heels in her hands. You release your hold on Satoru and give your best welcoming smile and wave. Suguru rolls his eyes and you try to reign in the overwhelming urge to flick him off.

"Sorry, I didn't realize we still had company. Would you like a cup of coffee?" You say sweetly and sit up. Satoru makes a relieved sound and scoots away from you. You watch as the woman grins but looks up at Suguru for permission. Suguru glares at you and you smirk knowing he did not like keeping his one night stands around for too long.

"Sweetheart I would love for you to stay but I have to get some work done. And trust me those two are not good company." Suguru smoothly explained and it was your turn to roll your eyes. She nods and waves as he leads her out the door. You shake your head and make your way to the kitchen. Satoru jumps up racing in front of you.

"Wait nerd let me make your coffe for you as a form of truce!" Satoru shouts as he passes and you get a bit of enjoyment from the hint of pain on Suguru's face at the loud volume. As you walk past him you bump his shoulder and he laughs.

Leaning down he whispers into your ear, "You look like shit." You lean back back against his chest and look up.

"Fuck you! Unlike some people I have a real job. I don't have time to be a whore." You sneered and pushed him as he chuckled, colliding into the wall. You mutter curses, walking to the kitchen and jump up to sit on the counter.

Satoru looks over his shoulder as he prepares your drink with large puppy dog eyes and an adorable pout. You hated that you couldn't maintain the loathing you had tried to hold onto. You sigh, "It's fine Satoru. It was just a rough day yesterday."

Suguru saunters in, leaning beside you. "I know a solution for your attitude problem Y/N." You frown, daring him to say what he was thinking. "You just need get laid." Those dark eyes never leave yours as he winks. Without hesitation you punch him in the arm.

He hisses in pain. "Fuck... So damn violent. No wonder you can't keep a relationship." Suguru then goes on the attack, poking you in the sides and you fold. You manage to grab his wrist during the struggle and twist. "Ok I give!" He says and throws up his hands.

"Good boy..." You mutter and he bites his lip aggravated his teasing had no effect. Satoru hums as he takes your favorite mug from the counter.

"Yeah our Y/N is not for everybody that's for sure." Satoru smiles at you but it kind of stung. You look down and twist your fingers. You were not small and petite. Evidence of that was your large thighs, you poke at them subconsciously. You had a horrible mouth. And you never bite your tongue on important matters. You knew you could come off as abrasive.

Suddenly a shadow was in front of you. A finger lifting your chin. "Hey now, don't look so down." Suguru grips your thighs and squeezes and you jump. "I think your plump thighs are your best quality." Your heart jumps and it takes a second to form thoughts again. "Wow Satoru, I think I broke her for real this time."

You push him away as he laughs. Satoru grins as he hands you your sweet dose of caffeine. "No, I just haven't had enough coffee yet. I'm still tired." You mutter, taking a sip and moaning. "You are forgiven Satoru." He pats your head affectionately and you all make your way back into the living room.

You all settle in the usual morning spot. You slowly enjoy your coffee as Satoru lays down in your lap consumed with his phone. You and Suguru mindlessly glance at the tv. You run your fingers through Satoru's soft fluffy white locks.

"Are you off today?" Suguru looks over at you and you nod. Saying something about how much you needed to relax.

"Come to the shop with me today. Satoru is off and I only have a few clients. Then we can all go out after." Suguru says rather than asking knowing you would fight him on his suggestion. You grimace and he sighs. "Come on! I'll give you another tattoo..."

The temptation was great. The pain of the needle and the beauty of his work did something to heal your soul. You pause and Satoru looks up. "Pwease!"

"Ugh... fine!" But Suguru, you better not be trying to hook me up with that piercer. I swear I would ruin his life." You point a finger and that cocky grin forms on Suguru's face as he agrees. Satoru smiles widely and begins feverishly typing on his phone. "What are you plotting?" You ask, poking his forehead.

Satoru innocently points to himself and you glare. "Texting Suki. We have a reputation to uphold my dear Y/N. So if you're going out with us, sweatpants and t-shirts just won't do." Satoru explains and you take a breath. Suki was one of Satoru's regular flings and a brilliant stylist to the stars. You cringe at the thought of what she may put together for you.

"Make sure her thighs are on full display." Suguru adds and Satoru mumbles in agreement. Your anxiety has already started flaring up. "You will be with us. You will be fine." Suguru comforts you and you nod.

Both men looked content and happy that you had decided to hang out with them. These two idiots were your best friends and your entire world. You were an introvert not sure how to communicate with the world and instead of one extrovert you were adopted by two.

You fought but were always there for each other through any hard times. Each of your personalities complimented the other. A solid and unbreakable bond emerged from the cracks within yourselves. Creating a solid foundation of trust and understanding.

You knew nothing could ever destroy that. Not the occasional flings or toxic family intrusions. You believed that with every fiber of your being.

A deep sense of foreboding was present as you took your last drink. You couldn't shake it. Surely it was not some weird foreshadowing like in a novel. As you reminisce about the strength of your friendship a sudden crack appears. No, I'm just being paranoid...

#spicy fic #smut #jjk fanfic #jjk x y/n #rough smut #fanfiction #gojo satoru #geto suguru #satosugu #gojou satoru x reader #getou suguru x reader

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rippeanuts1950-2000 · 5 months ago

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OKAY SO, a while ago I had a very bizarre crossover idea while I was half asleep that seemed entertaining to me when i got more sleep. Anyway, the crossover is for Grojband and Murder Drones. Weird combo I know, but hear me out.

it would be a human au for md with Nori being Kin and Kon’s triplet. I feel like it works a little too well than it should.

She’d be super close to the band but wouldn’t be a part of it. She’s just hanging out, giving constructive criticism on their music, and helping them get the diary from Trina. I envision her as kinda like the band’s publicist and helps them stay out of too much trouble. However, my girl is a chill gremlin so she wouldn’t be above tormenting Trina.

Her relationship with each band member I like to believe would have some fun dynamics too. I think she would be great friends with Laney, constantly correcting the boys when they misgender her.(i.e Corey saying, “Boys and Nori” to get everyone’s attention and Nori responding with “Boys, Nori, and Laney.”) Nori would tell her, “The two brain cells gotta stick together.” She’d also hype Laney up when it comes to her crush on Corey and she’s definitely listened to Laney rant about Corey being oblivious.

Her dynamic with Corey would be chill gremlin and adhd gremlin. You cannot leave these two alone together because if you do Nori will hype up Corey into doing something stupid. She loses the brain cell when she hangs out Corey though, so she’ll also probably be doing something stupid. She would affectionately call Corey the blue haired idiot and he in turn would call her the purple haired nerd.

Her dynamic with Kin would be two geniuses who respect each other but also piss each other off repeatedly. She has to constantly tell him not to try and take over the world. He calls her a buzzkill for it. But the two do help each other a lot with projects. Kin would really care about his female triplet. He just would show it in weird ways, like giving her a cd of whale sounds and book to decode dream meanings after an argument. Nori would in turn go to the dump and get him the pieces he needs for his most recent project or just broken things people have thrown out that she thinks he would like to repair.

Kon is basically her best friend. The two are super close and Kon knows everything about her and she knows everything about him. She does find his obsession with cheese odd though while he finds her obsession with drones odder. Nori is totally against Kon’s crush on Trina but when he starts to like Konnie, she’s like “oh that makes sense.” More than once these two have pretended to be giants with the tiny soaps together.

Oh! And she would meet Khan at one of Grojband’s gigs! That would need to be another post though which I will probably do even if people don’t like this crossover. This is fun!

Hope this makes some sense and was slightly entertaining! You can send me asks about this, I’d be more than willing to explain more if you’re interested, I kinda want want to info dump about this crossover lol

#murder drones #grojband #nori doorman #kon kujira #laney penn #corey riffin #kin kujira #khan doorman #kin kon and nori triplet au

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autisticempathydaemon · 6 months ago

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Hi! This is for your redacted match-up game because I love reading them (you put so much work and thought into them!!) and it seemed super fun ^v^ (if you have the time for it ofc. If you can't do this then it’s totally cool and you can just brush it away from your to do pile <3 also thank you if you do this one)

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why? It was hard to choose, buuuuttt I chose, “Greenlight” by Pitbull ft. Flo Rida, LunchMoney Lewis, because of the vibe and it’s a song that reminds me of summer 2016, which was such a fun summer for me (and it’s been in my head for the past day). No specific lyrics or verses I like since I don’t usually listen to songs because of the lyrics. Altho if they have beautiful lyrics (like Hozier songs) then more props to the song :)

What is your Enneagram type? Type 3w4.

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why? I like to watch really long videos, but I’m not sure if they count as essays. I watch “BHultra” a lot. I watch a lot more commentary/essay videos that are 30-40 minutes long (mostly talking about childhood tv shows or fashion/fashion history).

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. Didn’t have one, but I lied and said I “had an imaginary friend named Bob”, because I thought I was supposed to have one and thought the name Bob was funny.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? Gotta have a heavier blanket somewhere on me, as well as sleeping on my stomach or on my side as well as with my stuffed animal. More often than not I have to fall asleep and listen to older youtube videos that I watched when I was a kid because I already know what happens and they are comfort vids.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?) I like my name, but if I'd have to change it, I’d like the name Adelaide. It’s classic and sweet sounding.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? One of my favorite audios is Milo’s “Healing Your Feisty Werewolf Boyfriend” because I love the parallel to the first time Sweetheart healed him, and the cuddling at the end is so cute!

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.) I’m not sure how much hype he has, but Ivan is kinda just meh. I’m not super into the yandere thing (even though I know Vega kinda led that whole ordeal) and the rest of his videos are alright, but, don’t really excite me a whole bunch to relisten to them. (Still haven’t listen to quite a few of the other characters, like Vega, Regulus, Anton, Brachium, but I’ll get there eventually).

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. Gravity Falls. I’ve watched it wayyy too many times and can literally quote the majority of the episodes.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend? I really would like to be friends with Huxley. He’s so chill and sweet. Absolutely can vibe with the dude. Also, maybe, Guy. He’s much more energetic and I don’t think I could match his pace all of the time without tiring quickly (i usually try to match people’s personalities when I’m with them), but I think he’d be super fun to go places with, as well as I would enjoy gossiping and talking about writing stuff with him.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.) If I’m tired I don’t normally talk a whole bunch, but I do start thinking about life and how short and long it is, and all the wonderful things and how much I’ve grown as a person. And if I start feeling anxious, then that’s when I realize that I am way past “kinda tired” and I should be going to sleep.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. Don’t have a “go-to” gas station but I always get a blue raspberry slushie/icee

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. “𝙥𝙤𝙫: 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 :3 (Part 1)” on Youtube. Majority of those songs are dance songs and all those songs bring back good memories. I really like more hyper sounding music than slower songs.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? Hmm roleplay asmr is probably the biggest guilty pleasure I have, since I don’t talk about it with anyone. Also listening to Nickelback would probably be another big guilty pleasure, even though lots of people like it, listening to it is still “lol you listen to Nickelback?? really???”.

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! INFP; 99% sure I have anxiety and OCD (haven’t actually gotten professionally diagnosed bcuz of reasons, cuz oof); Oldest kid; I really like to draw, read and write; I really like taking pictures of the sky and candid shots; I’m a very nostalgic person (altho my answers probably make that obvious); Can’t watch horror movies; Love cats; People think I’m always upset or angry cuz of my resting bitch face but I literally am not usually thinking of any mean response to whatever is happening, I’m just absorbing everything happening; Not a super big math/coding person (kudos to anyone that is great at that stuff, you’re absolutely awesome for that!); i guess sort of a pushover unless I really really care about something; anddddd i'm kinda the therapist friend.

Easy peasy- a therapist friend needs a partner who is least likely to need a therapist and/or is skilled enough at handling boundaries to know the proper place to seek therapy which is not with you. Hence, Camelopardalis!

Of course, those aren’t the only reasons. Type Threes are characterized by a desire to be loved and to be sure of that love, and Cam gives me the impression of an openly affectionate and communicative partner. He’s an introvert; you’re an introvert. You’re a nostalgic-kind of person; who better to share in that than an eons-old, immortal daemon? (Until told otherwise by God and/or Erik, the d(a)emons are heckin ancient to me.) Cam is also a great partner to pair if suffering from anxiety and compulsions, almost the most out of all the boys.

Life with Camelopardalis would be so sweet, so domestic, so full of the joy of sharing with him everyday human delights he might not take part in usually. For starters, you obviously get a cat. He objectively knew a cat would be cool, but with you, he learns to love cats. You also show him Gravity Falls which he doesn’t expect to like; he’s surprised by what a heartfelt show it is for being animated and based on such a silly concept. (He feels a lot for Mabel, as he should /lh) He loves your art but especially your photos of the sky. He puts them all over your shared house, and they stay up even after you’re gone.

Song:

Like the shadow that's by your side/ I'll be there/ For better or worse/ 'Til death do us part/ I'll love you with every beat of my heart/ I swear/ I'll give you everything I can/ I'll build your dreams with these two hands/ We'll hang some memories on the wall/ And when there's silver in your hair/ You won't have to ask if I still care/ 'Cause as time turns the page/ My love won't age at all

Though you like nostalgic songs that are more suited to dancing, I think Cam likes nostalgic songs that are more contemplative and slow. For you two, I settled on a song that’s more of a nostalgic, slow dance vibe, you know what I mean? I couldn’t resist for two reasons. One, the lyrics of devoted, lasting love suited him too well. Two, it delighted me and tickled me pink to imagine Cam listening to a nineties boy band.

Runner-ups:

Geordi is my favorite runner-up for you, because he’s another great partner for a Type Three, another boy who’s very openly loving and sweet. He’s also, if I remember correctly, canonically been to therapy already, so he’s less likely to need your services as a therapy friend. Morgan is a runner-up because I like this vibe in tandem with your anxiety; like, I think he’d be a calming, comforting presence to you. Also, you two should get a cat.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

#redactedasmr #redactedverse #redacted asmr #redactedaudio #redacted audio #redacted #busybee matches

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itneedsmoregays · 7 months ago

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The Steff Pearce Series - Babysitting

“Steff, thanks a lot for doing this.” Rosita smiled gratefully as she allowed the skunk inside her family's apartment.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, Rosita!" She replied before quickly lowering her voice. "Always happy to give you guys a breather.” Ever since hearing about Gunter’s hectic first time taking care of them, the Moon Theatre Troupe had all agreed to take turns babysitting Rosita and Norman’s kids. And this evening was Steff’s turn.

“We’ll be home around 9pm." Norman added, pocketing his phone. "Remember, call us if there’s any problems and…”

“No candy even if they ask ‘pretty please’.” Steff finished with a giggle. “I got it covered. Now you two go have a nice evening to yourselves.”

“Thanks, Steff." Rosita said, grabbing her purse before heading out the doorway with her husband. "We’ll see you later!”

With one final nod, Steff shut the door before quietly making her way up the stairs. She loved every opportunity she got to interact with the piglets. When they weren’t hyped up on sugar or attempting to try on her glasses, they were a very sweet bunch. Ash would have joined her, but decided that being around 25 excitable piglets with her still-healing wrist wasn't the best combo.

Reaching the top, the skunk tiptoed over to the piglets' bedroom door and quietly pushed it open. She poked her head inside to see all 25 tucked in and sound asleep. Satisfied, Steff began closing the door behind her; this evening would be a breeze.

"Auntie Steff?" A little voice piped up.

Freezing mid-step with a wince, the skunk turned around to see Vida, one of the girls, fully awake and staring from her top bunk with eager eyes. One by one, the rest of the children followed suite.

So much for a breeze. Steff thought before putting on a smile. "Hey, kids."

Instantly the entire bedroom was abuzz with happy chatter. A few piglets clambered out of bed to tug excitedly on her hands and dress.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"Is Auntie Ash here too?"

"Can we have some candy?"

"Are you and Auntie Ash gonna get married?"

Blushing at that last question, Steff pointed to each piglet with a respective answer. "They'll be back later. Her wrist still hurts very badly, so she's resting until she's all better. No, you can't. Maybe someday."

She knelt down to pick up them all up in her arms before they could charge out the door, setting them back in their beds.

“Now come on, Mommy and Daddy want you guys to be fast asleep, and I'm sure Auntie Ash would too. Kids like you need their rest."

"But we're not tired!" One of the boys, Oscar, whined.

"Well… would a bedtime story help you go to sleep?" The skunk asked. "Maybe… The Three Little Pigs?”

“Aww, Mommy’s read us that one already.”

“Yeah, can we have a new story?”

“A new one, huh? Umm…" Steff glanced at all the other storybooks on their shelf, having a strong feeling all of them had been read. Just then, an idea lit up her mind. "Sure.”

Grabbing a children's chair from the foot of the bed, she pulled it to the bedroom's centre and sat herself down.

“Where’s the storybook?” Caspar tilted his head in confusion.

“There is no storybook." Steff grinned. "This bedtime story is different… because we’re gonna make it up ourselves.”

All the piglets looked puzzled. Whoever heard of a bedtime story without a book?

“I used to play this with my parents when I was your age." The skunk explained, her smile growing in anticipation. "One of us starts telling a story and then we all take turns telling it. And the best part is you get to use your imaginations! You can tell your part of the story however you want! So whoever goes last gets to decide how it ends! Does that sound like fun?”

Every piglet in the room was now beaming at this idea. “Yeah!”

“Should we give it a try?”

“Yeah!”

“Want me to start it off?”

“YEAH!”

“Okay, okay, settle down." Steff chuckled at their enthusiasm. "Here goes." Thinking for a moment, she then began the improvised tale.

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was… a brave and beautiful knight. And she was on a quest to rescue a princess who was trapped in a… big scary castle."

"Wait." Adeline interrupted. "The knight is a girl?"

“Yep. Girls can be knights too.”

The young piglet looked like her mind had been blown. “Whoa.”

Smiling, the skunk continued. "The journey was long and dangerous, but the knight was sure she could do it on her own. 'I don't need help from anyone', she said proudly. But then she came across… a giant river with no bridge. 'Oh, no! How will I get across?', she thought."

Steff then gestured to a piglet on one of the lower bunks. "Okay, Gail, your turn."

"Ooh, okay, okay!" She giggled eagerly, taking a moment to think. "But it's okay because there was a… big robot! And he was, uh… stuck in a muddy puddle! And the robot said, 'If you help me out of this puddle, I'll carry you over the river'. So the knight pulled him out and then the robot carried her across. 'Can I come with you?', asked the robot. 'Well… okay', said the knight."

The rest of the kids took to the game very quickly, each of them adding their own imaginative details to the story. And Steff avidly listened to them all. Twenty minutes has passed by the time they reached the final part, and nearly all 25 piglets had fallen asleep. A few were just barely keeping their eyes open to hear the ending.

“And so the robot, the flower, the gummy worm, the ninja, the football and the building block monster all helped the knight…" Asa paused to let out a big yawn. "…find the key to free the princess. Then she and the princess got married. And they all… lived…”

The piglet's words gave way to light snoring. Finally rising from her seat, Steff gently pulled the covers over him.

"Happily ever after." She whispered. With a tender smile, she tiptoed around each bunk to tuck the other kids in.

“That was… the best bedtime story ever, Auntie Steff.” Nelson said before he too drifted off.

"I'll say." With a yawn of her own, the skunk massaged her eyes as she closed the door behind her. She was sound asleep on the couch by the time Rosita and Norman came home.

#vignette #the steff pearce series #writing #sing steff #sing piglets #sing rosita #sing norman #sing #sing movie #sing 2021 #sing oc #sing fanfiction

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ggchamo · 1 year ago

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The 29 Games I beat in 2023

This was a year of a ton of new amazing games, and even though I tried dozens, I missed many new awesome games this year, which will always be part of the fun of gaming.

I tried IGN's Playlist app, which buckets your list of games into different categories that sound helpful - Playing, Beat, Quit, Paused, Wishlist, Backlog.

Because I wanted a lot of games marked as "Beat" - I felt encouraged to play some of those shorter, faster plays - many of the games this year were on How Long To Beat dotcom under 10 hours and came highly recommended

One attitude for me this year was "well, I'm not having fun playing this game in the moment, but let's power through since i'm almost done." - This attitude really helped with the motivation to finish to be honest - getting it done meant it's off the backlog and I can move on to the next set of games in my very curated backlog.

Another theme in the games this year was nostalgia and exploring my childhood, so we had good representation of Pokemon and first-party Nintendo

Besides these games, I tried quite a number of games on Switch, PS5, Xbox Series S, and PC for at least a little session - if I don't hit credits it didn't make it on the list, although don't hold me to that

For ongoing games, I played many hours of Gran Turismo 7, some hours of Valorant (140 hours less than 2022 which was definitely lower than 2021...), and the occasional Overwatch/Fortnite/whatever session with people getting together. 2023 was not the same as 2020's peak of playing with friends on a daily basis, but this year I embraced curating things to my taste

I loved the three games I played with my fiance - Paper Mario, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sackboy. Anytime we share an experience it makes the payoff multiple times better.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla -

Fuck - I really wanted to beat this one, so it was satisfying to get this one ticked off my list. They wanted to design something hard and worth the challenge and time investment, and I think they did it. I consistently was making progress until the last thing was to beat the final boss, and once I watched a youtube video and tried a different strategy, it opened up. Experience was cool - God of War has a great set of combat features, one of the very best combat systems outside of the god-tier Dark Souls team.

Pokemon Black 2 -

Buying an Analogue Pocket triggered this exploration into my childhood, and part of that was getting into collecting the Pokemon games I missed and revisiting them. I found a copy of this game slightly discounted from it's $160 avg price on eBay and was worried about getting a fake but was relieved it was authentic. So how was this game, not just as a hype item but as an experience?

It was worth the effort. It had a ton of cool pokemon (although needed more water pokemon in my opinion) and it actually was tough to beat - I ended up losing once or twice and had some dicey gym battles earlier on, but I thought the game was an interesting chapter in the pokemon games. It was very story focused and wanted to build some lore and some characters, not just create a million new cool pokemon. Gen V was a big blin spot for me so it was cool to spend some time back in these games after beating Pokemon Black for the second time in the past few years in the pandemic era.

Rollerdrome -

I found the game very tough near the last three levels (it was just overtuned for a casual guy like me and got crazy) but I found it very unique and aesthetically very iconic. These devs took some of the muscle memory from Tony Hawk games and added that famous "bullet time" mechanic as another way to pace everything. It's a great combo - I can even imagine a game where the shooting has to go with the beat. I am happy they had assists so I could avoid hitting my head against the wall for 20 hours.

Super Mario Wonder -

Another GOTY quality game, in a year where we had a new Mario and Zelda come out in a sea of sequels and really well-done indies. I'm not done with this game yet. I hit credits, but there is more to play here in the future. This game is exactly my vibe - and we got to see the demo in person in Seattle which was fun!

Jusant -

Short and sweet with very fun unique climbing gameplay that I enjoyed playing through. It was straightforward and interesting, and I enjoyed that quality many Indies have where it had a huge imagination that transcends their budget and tech restrictions. I felt like that team did a great job and I kept thinking I want to see more games like Jusant, taking the concepts further.

Pokemon Crystal Version -

I was in the mood for classic pokemon with tons of moments of nostalgia and feeling memories from back during childhood - and Pokemon always delivers, I need Pokemon games in my life. I was proud to finish the game after transferring the file to a new 2DS XL and regretting my choice of Totodile as my starter 30 hours in. I had fun and this game is timeless - I will play it again and it will feel like the first time I played it again because that's what these games do. They always feel new because in the world of Pokemon, there is always more to learn.

Spider-Man 2 -

Consistently fun and with very rewarding platinum trophy that wasn't that hard to finish - I found the experience of playing this game rewarding, familiar and very polished, and the game did not overstay it's welcome with bad gameplay. Not too different from the first games besides some very cool new features and types of scenarios with the same core gameplay as Miles Morales and Spider-Man 1.

Forza Motorsport -

In a head-to-head comparison between this and GT7, GT7 has greater replay-ability and tricks the mind into feeling like you're in a simulation. But Motorsport is maybe the better designed game - since it took some driver activities and made them gaming features. But in execution, they don't make a material impact on the experience and don't add much immersion since the driver levels have no impact on gameplay. I enjoyed the larger assortment of cars and the tons of races to play - but I didn't see the same love in the courses, which are really the core gameplay "levels." So I feel like I'm saying that this very expensive and detailed gameplay was lacking levels, which seems like a weird place to be for a game. So lots of complex feelings after playing for over 40-50 hours - I definitely will play this again.

Super Mario World (GBA) -

Someone set me up with GBA online and this was the first game I played - very cool experience playing through my first game in one or two sittings on a big screen with my adult brain and skills without my child limitations.

The Last of Us Part 1 -

In the first few weeks of October, I was having a great time revisiting a game that I played a few years before the pandemic (may have just been 2018/2019....) and also was watching the HBO show at the same time. It still is an awesome experience and still touches those same great heights because the game has that iconic aggression and unique feeling that you feel from what it asks you to do and what it puts you through. No other game feels Last of Us games, and they're on a different league of their own.

Cocoon -

Weird game. The sound design and the visual aesthetic stuck out as iconic to this game, with the gameplay being just multi-faceted enough to encourage me to try to learn new things - I think there was almost one point where I had to look something up but I sat down and tried my best and was able to move forward. I felt very smart and impressed myself.

Venba -

Awesome game and only one or two sessions long - it told a story and it made me think. I liked how the recipes felt like puzzles which is what cooking feels like!

Lego 2K Drive -

In late September, needed something quick and fun to play before Super Mario Wonder/Forza Motorsport/Spiderman 2 slapped me in the face - this was very rewarding and was very satisfying to look at and play - deep enough that it was fun but still very easy to pick up and play with all the different type of cars. One or two kind of down moments definitely didn't weigh down my opinion of the experience as a whole, although it's nice that it's free for PS Plus people 2 months after I bought it for $70.

Paper Mario: The Origami King -

My fiance beat this before and agreed to watch me play and Sherpa me through the experience. It was pretty awesome, although the base gameplay is a bit of an acquired taste...not too long but still took some time investment to finish all of the worlds and once or twice lose a multi-turn boss fight due to some unfortunate misclicks.

Osu! 2 on DS -

Beating this was a spur of the moment and only took a few sessions, but I wanted to play through the "new" Osu game (although now the series over a decade old) for a long time and finally grabbed it off my brother. Iconic songs and I had a lot of fun - and I think I've gotten better mentally at rhythm games after more experience gaming and playing music in general. I was able to power through and beat it on normal without too much.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits -

Has been on my list for a while. I have no clue how. LOL like it may have been one of those rare PS4 games that got a nice PS5 upgrade in 2021 or maybe there was a good review that I saw. I think the game felt... unfair near the end. I ended up turning the difficulty down near the end and finalizing some of the later levels on my iPhone through remote play. Like I changed it to the story mode difficulty and just played through - not a great sign. It had amazing animation and just absolutely killer graphics, but maybe it was too much like God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn? I didn't come away like I gotta recommend this one to everyone, and looking back I liked that the game was short so I thought let's power through, which was a theme this year. I think I turned the difficulty down when I played on my phone just to give myself a better chance of pounding through the levels. Very beautiful though

Pikmin 4 -

dawg - my first Pikmin game. Absolutely fire, I enjoyed trying something new and I didn't find it frustrating or limiting at all, and I think I would play more of the post-game with the new planets and fill everything out in the future.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom -

Iconic and honestly this is the type of game that is on a different plane. Worth the 80-100 hours I put in to my first playthrough - an experience for the type of person that plays video games in the action adventure category, but it's good enough that it transcends genre and expectations. The game was as big as my imagination and I had some iconic moments in the game, like sequence skipping and also enjoying and exploring areas slowly and intentionally. It's worth playing again now that I think about it - just to do the depths again now with the experience of doing it the first time.

Pokemon X -

Set in a Pokemonized France and I played most of this game during breaks in my awesome French vacation this summer. Playing this game has connected me to my childhood, so I had a great time in my 30 hours. This would be worth multiple playthroughs - this was really the first game that I missed in the Pokemon series.

Playing this has been part of my recent 3DS exploration, where I am now trying to play the games I missed during high school and college times, because I was so busy to really play any games, especially not Pokemon. Finishing this game and seeing some of the subtle new changes they did after the Gen V era didn't fully register as these games were refined over decades, but I'm starting to make the connection between the recent games and the games from my childhood.

Pizza Tower -

this game was pure adrenaline. Holy crap. The polygon review got me onto this and I love 2D platformers, but the very unique and original presentation is what got me stuck to it. It was tough at times and also that fun type of creepy with the badly drawn kinda weird characters. I had fun, and I felt that was the game with

Sackboy: A Big Adventure -

Awesome game to finish with the fiance. It was a bit generic, not grounded on a specific character or point of view or set of values besides friendship and light vs. dark. but the multiplayer gameplay was what I was there for, and it delivered. It was a very fun experience playing the game with my partner and I always appreciate games that bring everyone in, not just a specific persona designed by capitalist-fueled marketing machines.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War -

Speaking of capitalist-fueled... I can't remember that many memorable moments but that is the point. the graphics looked amazing and I was happy to play game that didn't take a million hours to roll credits at. Another one that probably was padding for the list. LOL.

Tinykin -

this was another short one, and another one like Gears on Xbox. It was the first Pikim-type game I've played. Very original and once it got going it was fun to go through it. every now and then confusing but it was easy to knock out. I enjoyed the platforming and found it forgiving but not so easy it was boring. It felt tight.

Gears 5: Hivebusters -

Never found the Gears games rewarding enough to finish. Sometimes they felt too convoluted and I didn't feel comfortable. The reason we finished this one - it was short. LOL. it was enough though - felt like a proper experience and I actually enjoyed it. It's just not smooth enough for me to want to play another 60 hours, maybe one ady.

Stray -

a bit buggy, a bit sparse, but I was happy because it was short and sweet. Very creative and had great characters - but I couldn't tell you what their names were. I think it brought a unique experience with the cat features to very well trodden ground and the 3D platforming/exploration gameplay was refined but not as rock solid as the Nintendo types.

Hi-Fi Rush -

playing this game in January 2023 was a cool experience shared with my fiance and the game was incredibly unique and so so so cool. It was pure ecstasy when my girl beat the final boss after losing like 60 times. Hours of pain. When she finally beat it, it felt historic. What an icon!

Pokemon Violet -

yeah performance was ass but playing the new games, they are the best Pokemon games ever by definition. They always raise the bar and it's hard to appreciate until years later.

Metroid Prime Remastered -

I finally beat it like 10-13 years later, this was so action packed and familiar, guides really helped in moments.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury -

Short extra mode was a good time - so it was cool to start with a mario game this year. I remember it being not incredibly difficult but have forgotten some details since January it seems.

#2023 games #goty 2023 #game of the year

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catonator · 10 months ago

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Games Beaten In 2024: Penny’s Big Breakaway

Call me a games journalist, ‘cus I’m giving attention to an indie game made by (some) people I know.

AAA gaming nowadays is a little like being chased by a giant machete-wielding monster clown, but the clown is in too poor health to actually sprint after you, and doesn’t really wield any interesting exclusive machetes, and most of the time can’t be bothered to show up and instead opts to virtually pretend to chase you in a Monster Clown Direct. And never even whips its cock out.

Anyway, in one of those aforementioned Monster Clown Directs, Penny’s Big Breakaway got a release date, which was right then and there. Probably the only 2024 game I was really looking forward to, since it was made by Evening Star, the studio that consists of a good chunk of the Sonic Mania team and a bunch of fans and modders surrounding it, and it was not a monster clown, instead being a cute little B-grade experience. It seemed to get a relatively muted amount of attention over the end of last year, but was slowly building up interest as more and more people learned about it and began to understand who was behind it. And then the game was shadow dropped out of nowhere. Always a great sign, the babies that flush out of uptown drain pipes into the city river are definitely not mistreated.

I got a little worried the game might’ve gotten shafted by the publisher. It doesn’t seem to be getting the greatest care for the marketing, compared to a more involved hype cycle over a month or so after a release date announcement. Hi-Fi Rush got the same treatment and I feel like as a result it didn’t make as many waves as it should’ve. It also really pissed me off since I had about a dozen other things I was working on at the same time, including another FINISHED blogpost that I pushed back indefinitely because I wanted this one to be more timely. Yeah, fuck you video games for breaking my schedule of misery and frustration to be all fun and shit.

So, Penny is a 3D platformer, as seems to be an increasing amount of indie games nowadays.

The story is quite simple. Penny, in a freak teleporter accident, ends up merging with a 1970s plastic vacuum cleaner and materialises in a place called Vanillatown. She immediately loses her train of thought and ends up applying to a talent contest for no particular reason after also forgetting how queues work. After she fucks up her audition by stripping the nation’s wannabe- benevolent dictator in front of a live audience, she ends up chased out of the auditorium and around the world with no real sense of goal. That’s about it. But it’s a 3D platformer, granddad, 3D platformers are cool and don’t need story and stories are for Star Trek nerds anyway. Let’s get to the gameplay.

The game’s core mechanic is an animate yo-yo Penny just has for no explained reason (remember: story is for lamerz). The yo-yo acts as both an offence method as well as a platforming assistance. You can use the yo-yo to pull on stuff and hang from the air in a rather satisfying manner. Penny herself can only walk, jump and double jump, and together with the yo-yo you have around 6 different moves to execute, which doesn’t sound like much, but ends up coming together fairly well. Penny on foot controls a bit like a maglev brick, being both floaty and heavy, but this really encourages you to stay in the air as much as possible and chaining various moves to rack up combos that boost your points count.

The control scheme is somewhat unique, in that the game emphasises using the right analog stick to aim the yo-yo while attacking or swinging. Thus you’ll have to jump using the shoulder buttons on the controller. The style is rather experimental and reminiscent of Grabbed by the Ghoulies on the original Xbox… which may be an insult now that I think about it. Regardless, the control scheme works surprisingly well when you get used to it. All in all, learning the feel for the game ends up making it incredibly fun to fly through the stages pretending the floor is some sort of molten rock trap for poor people and shouldn’t be touched. It’s satisfying in a way that’s hard to understand through written word, sort of like reading about sex in a middle school biology book.

So it’s really a shame that the game’s buggier than the annual cockroach dune buggy race in Bugscuffle, Tennessee, bugging you because of the noise levels. Penny seems to have the same roughness around the edges as something like the first Ratchet & Jank. It’s disconcertingly easy to go through a wall, so much so that I ended up doing it more times than I can count on my fingers during a single playthrough and died to it twice. Most slopes can end up softlocking you if there’s any kind of object underneath it since you don’t seem to have any kind of control in them so you end up sliding against an errant potted plant or tranquillised squirrel, and there’s a specific kind of rolling tube object that I think is supposed to have you stick to it like the spinning wheels in Sonic CD’s Metallic Madness. I say I think, since standing on them always plays Penny’s “about to slide off” animation, and you get chucked to oblivion about a third of the time when rotating around them.

Additionally, the camera seems to have started some sort of revolution against the tyrannical rule of The Player. Penny’s central design is that the camera is always on a fixed track, which is nifty since most modern platformers have opted for a camera design philosophy called “whuzzat? we were supposed to do something?” where the camera aimlessly hovers around the player like a rubber spider on invisible string and has no designer-specified guiding at all. The kicker comes from the fact that Penny’s camera is under psychotic levels of micromanagement, but also doesn’t always have a clear idea where it should be pointed. So sometimes you get the camera staring at a really well decorated wall and leaving you confused since there’s no clear idea where you should be going next, and sometimes it’s staring at the admittedly really pretty skybox and daydreaming about greek philosophers when you want to look down and see a platform you want to land on. Any backtracking always creates a fun Crash Bandicoot-style “guess where the bottomless pit is that’s right it’s under you right now” challenge, since there’s no programmed zoom out when running towards it and you can’t see where the fuck you’re going.

And these issues frustrate me all the more since I do genuinely like the game. I did almost throw my controller a few times, but despite the annoyance I always kept coming back to the game and ended up finishing it with a smile on my face. The worlds, while being fairly well-trodden themes, still have enough unique character in them through visual design and denizen dialogue so that they don’t end up feeling generic. The bosses have fun designs and the soundtrack’s really good. When the game does work out, it really works out and it’s one of the most fun platformers out there.

So I guess what I’m saying is, maybe wait a month or so for the most egregious issues to be patched out, or just be wary that you may end up being consumed by a really hungry wall at some point. These issues are the kinds of problems that you’d expect from a first time studio making their first big 3D release, and with the heart and fun present in the game I really hope Penny ends up being successful enough for Evening Star to refine their stuff in future sequels or games otherwise.

Ah, but it’s march, which means that the monster clowns are starting to wake up from their Q1 slumber and the really interesting machetes are being sharpened, so by next month I may even have figured out what the fuck I’m on about. Toodles!

#monthly blog #penny's big breakaway

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struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 1 year ago

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hey, how would you rank all the albums and singles that have been released so far in bts chapter 2? I'd love to read your thoughts

That's a tall order!

As far as albums go:

D-Day (Agust D's music speaks the most of me, although this is by far the worst album of the Agust D trilogy imo. Still, lyrically it's good and Snooze is a masterpiece)

Indigo (really good album, but not really my style, particularly songs like Closer. It's an easier listen than Mono but I still prefer the latter. RM's an amazing lyricist but I often can't connect with, or even understand, the way he writes)

Face (not a bad album, but also not my style, and less enjoyable and interesting than Indigo. SMF Pt. 2 and LC grew on me, and Letter is really sweet)

Layover (also not my style, and very safe, but super easy listening and the songs are surprisingly catchy)

JITB (Hobi challenged himself for sure, and I love More and Arson more than any track in Layover, but Hobi's rapping and singing tone, as well as some of the lyrics in JITB aren't very enjoyable to me. It's also not an easy listening album, so if it's not your style, it's not easy to enjoy it, but I admire a lot Hobi's range and what he accomplished with this album)

On to singles/collabs, which is half of chapter 2 lmao, let's see...

That That (does this count as chapter 2? It's just fun and iconic)

Sexy Nukim (this song slaps so hard it might be tied for number 1)

Don't Ever Say Love Me (amazing song and RM sounds so so good and sexy, but I admittedly haven't listened to it much)

Smoke Sprite (really good song too, RM sure knows how to choose his collabs, he's been doing so well in chapter 2)

Take Two (honestly not sure if I should put this third or here? It's hard to compare an OT7 song with solo songs, or to compare indie with pop. I do think it lacks something though, but it has some great vocals and is emotional to listen to)

Seven (I listen to Seven the most. I'm Jungkook biased and his voice is so soothing to me. Seven has some excellent vocals and the instrumental is really nice. It's a good song with bad lyrics and an unnecessary feature. It had so much potential. Imagine what Jungkook could've done with Latto's part and wittier lyrics. This song could've jumped a few spots up, at least. I'm probably being unfair and should move this further up the list tbh)

Dreamers (I listen to it a lot. It's hype and I like Jungkook's voice, but it's also a bit ugly? When you listen to it it's fun, but it's a bit ugly too haha. I love how dynamic it is. Jungkook did a great job, especially performing it live. It's iconic)

On the street (I like the song quite a bit, though it's emotional to me, but I don't like J. Cole's part, aside from his adlibs. His verses are too long and he even brought religion into it. It's a great song, but I put Dreamers ahead of it due to replay value. If I choose to listen to Dreamers more, then maybe I should put it first? Dunno)

The Planet (it's a nice, refreshing track, and it's nice to hear the members)

Vibe (it gets better the more you listen to it, and I like how Jimin and Taeyang sang. Should it be number 8 or 9? It's hard to decide!)

The Astronaut (I can't listen to The Astronaut without crying. I love the song, and it has a lot of meaning to all of us, but it's not super impressive. It doesn't have much replay value)

Rush Hour (haven't listened to it much, but it's cool)

Left and Right (I've listened to it more than most other songs so I enjoy it more, in a way, and it's not much worse than Vibe or Rush Hour. The instrumental is nice, but the song would be so, so much better it it was just Jungkook... He elevates basic pop songs so well - easy, catchy and fun instrumentals, paired up with Jungkook's polished, clear yet raspy, vocals, makes for the best combo)

Bad Decisions (this is one song no one cared for. I think my mom's the only person who really liked it lmao)

I haven't listened to Angel pt.1 or pt.2 because of what's his face. I listened to pt. 1 in JK's live and that was enough. Jimin didn't have many lines from what I remember.

Am I missing something? Please let me know and I'll edit the post lmao. Thanks for the ask! What do you think about my rankings? What are yours?

#ask #bts #text #thanks for the ask!

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shadowonwater · 2 years ago

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Pokemon Scarlet Playthrough part 17: Gym Leaders 2: Electric Boogaloo, School Battle Brawl, The Dex gauntlet, and a single baby mouse

Playthrough Masterlist

In this I'll be going I'll be doing post game stuff as well as trying to complete the dex as best I can. I'll be separating topics by category. I've been given the job by Geeta to do gym inspection. And after that there will be the school tournament. I also chat about my attempts to fill the dex. I also still need to get a sweet herba mystica for the cooking teacher. So let's see if I can do that.

Gym Inspection

I've already finished all the inspections but I'll lay down my thoughts here. Overall I had a fun time, but it did get to feeling a little tedious as I went on. The gym leader levels were pretty solid but all the same all members of my team are in the 70s so it wasn't too much trouble, I was usually able to defeat them with one or two Pokemon.

Katy gave me a surprising amount of trouble but that was probably because I battled her first, thus my Pokemon weren't as high leveled as the others. She said something interesting that fits into a popular theory people have about gym leaders. That because she was usually the first gym students from the academy went to because of her close proximity to the academy, she was asked to go soft on them. She said though, that she was planning on trying to be more difficult in the future.

I beat Brassius easily, I swept him with Chien-Po.

Iono gave me some difficulty with my Clodsire. First she was using a flying so I switched. Then her frog used Reflect, lowering the damage from physical moves. The only ground move I have is Earthquake at Clodsire. That frog was also better at absorbing the hits than I thought, it took 2 Earthquakes. Then her Luxray took an Earthquake like it was nothing and used Psychic Fang. Clodsire is slower so it didn't get to attack again. Then I used my Meowscada who ended up doing way better, just using Flower Trick over and over again. I'm not sure if crits get by Reflect or not. But the rest of the fight ended up being easy.

Larry ended up being pretty easy. I used Chien-Po for most of it. It has Ice Spinner for his Braviary. And Sacred Sword for the rest of them. It fainted at the final Pokemon but my Flamigo cleaned up the the last one. When Larry heard Geeta sent me, he was like "Yup, sounds like her." He talks about how simple and straightforward normal types are and that's why he likes them. But that using Flying types is helping him broaden his horizons.

Next Kofu, I mostly used Meowscada here, using Flower Trick a whole bunch. His last Pokemon took my grass cat out so I used the power of Salt Cure on the last one. It got taken out by a combo of recoil, rocky helmet, and the cured effect.

Grusha was also pretty easy, I used Chien-Po for most of it, using Sacred Sword. I used my rock salt Pokemon on the last Pokemon again because Chien-Po fainted. I remember Grusha saying something about how since he doesn't have snowboarding anymore he can't bare to lose the last thing he cares about, battles. So he cares a lot about the inspection.

Ryme I had a bit of trouble with. I used Farigiraf and Chien-Po. Farigiraf has that ghost immunity and a dark move but the ghosts just kept hitting her with dark moves so she wasn't much help. After she fainted I used Meowscada. I just kept hitting the ghosts with dark moves. Ryme was angry that Geeta didn't come herself, that's fair.

Tulip went fine, it was my last stop. I did a lot of switching out during this battle for different type advantages. I was worried about her last Pokemon because it gave me a lot of trouble in the gym match, but I beat it fine this time.

School Battle Brawl

Finally got around to doing the School Battle Brawl. It wasn't anything that exciting in the end. The beginning was more hype though. Arven and Jacq had some difficulty to them because of their mixed teams. The Battle Studies Teacher had a fighting type team so I beat her up with my Psychic Giraffe. And The Champion may have a mixed team but her team isn't really all that impressive.

I'll try to do some more in the future. Right now Jacq wants me to do a bunch of difficult Tera Raids. Not sure if I can handle that. It depends on if a 4 star raid is considered difficult or not, probably not. I've only ever completed one 5 star raid.

I've done it for a 2nd time now. It was a similar lineup but I got to face Penny this time. I'm surprised to see Geeta here again at the end, I thought that was a one time thing, because she's supposed to be really busy and all that. I was hoping to fight Nemona again. On another note, I've realized this is a good way to get exp for my more powerful Pokemon. I even got rare candies at the end, if that's what you normally get for winning I can get level 100s for those raids.

Doing it a couple more times... rare candies are not what you always get, very disappointing. And I'm not getting as much exp anymore from these fights. Looking the prizes up, getting 3 rare candies like that is only 3% and getting a single rare candy is 7%. And 1% of the time you can get 10 rare candy. So You can get rare candy 11% of the time, about 1/10 times you do the tournament.

Anyway I'm happy that Geeta isn't the last opponent every time, the 3rd time I've done it I got Hassel instead. He was still very easy to sweep with my ice type. I've also gotten to face Raifort, Saguaro, Salvatore, Tyme, and Clavell. All of them had mixed teams save for Tyme having all Rock type, which makes sense because she used to be a rock type gym leader. I was surprised that Salvatore didn't have more electric types but at least his ace was a Raichu. I still haven't fought Nemona or Miriam yet, so I'm going to keep going till I do.

Finally got to battle Miriam, the only thing worth mentioning though is that her last Pokemon took me some time to take out because it kept getting healed.

I've finally found out what BottleCaps are for. Lol, now all my main Pokemon have been hyper trained. I've finally found a use for all the money I have that I didn't know what to do with. I still haven't fought Nemona yet. I could get my grass cat to level 100 if I wanted to, I have 3 rare candies still and it's at level 97. But I didn't to just keep going till I see Nemona and then I'll use any awarded candies. I might get grass cat to level 100 just from all these battles.

I'm fighting Nemona now! I was using Clodsire against her Pawmot. It's Ice Punch kept freezing me so it may have been a one shot KO with Earthquake but it took some time to actually get to attack. Then I had some trouble using Earthquake on her Orthworm because it's ability makes it immune to ground damage, but I wasn't paying attention and wasted two turns. I have now beaten Nemona again, woo hoo!

A slight update to that Tera Crystal thing, fought a whole bunch and now I think I've unlocked 6 star raids. Apprently they are black crystals that started showing up. Jacq is like "those are two dangerous even for you" but the game is like go do them hint hint. Haven't tried one yet but considering how hard 5 star raids are I really don't think I can win. I think I would need other people and not just computers to take those on.

I haven't found one yet, maybe some other time. But I did get my first herba mystica. It's a Spicy one though. I've been focusing on going to tera raids where the level 100 Pokemon I have have an advantage. As time goes on and I get exp candy, I can make more Pokemon level 100. Currently I have Meowscada, Flamigo, Farigiraf, and Chein-Po.

The Dex

I started trying to get the paradox Pokemon. I already had 2, Fluttermane and Screamtail, 3 I suppose actually because I also have Koraidon. I've also heard there is the 2nd Koraidon, and you can find and catch it, I think I have good idea of where it is. I also know I can't get the future ones until I hang out with someone who has Violet, but I'm sure I can find someone when my college classes get back on in about 10 days (as of the time I'm writing this).

First I went to the static spawn of the Great Tusk you can find where the titan once was. I didn't originally know about it until watching a Youtuber's playthrough. I found the Brute Bonnet easily, they are pretty much everywhere. Silther Wing was slightly harder but once I went to the surface there were plenty. I love Slither Wing. I have yet to find Sandy Shocks, apparently it has a low spawn rate.

So I've been working on evolving a whole bunch of my Pokemon. Currently at 310 Registered. I've made note of particularly tricky evolutions. I'll be working on them later, right now I'm just trying to evolve guys who evolve just through level up.

One funny thing I must mention. I wasn't going to bother getting Dusk Lycanrock until I found out you can get a wild Rockruff with Own Tempo. So I figured I'd look for one. At the time I figured this out, I had a Rockruff I was planning to evolve in Day Lycanrok. I figured I'd check it's ability just in case. It was Own Temop. So I guess I don't need to go looking for one. Well... I still need another for Day Lycanrok, but any rock pupper will do. So I guess I gotta get the timing window right. Boom. I have it now.

I have evolved most of the ones I can. I'm currently on Pokemon who evolve at a high level. It's slow going. I'm mostly trying to do raids to get exp candy. But I keep running into 5 Star raids, and I'm not able to handle those. I've also been catching extra version exclusives to trade with later.

I've finally gotten some rain so I could get Goodra. I also finally found a wild Eevee. So I got Eevee knocked out along with Leafeon. The only Eeveelution left is Umbreon. I also need to catch an Applin, but that might be tricky. I also have some friendship evolutions to do. There's also evolving Primeape, Charcadet, Sneasel, Larvesta, Bramblin, Rellor, Noibat, Pawniard, and Gimmighoul. Other Pokemon I don't have require another person, most of them, a person with Violet. There are also a couple Pokemon that I have the evolved version of but not the pre-evo, Forretress and Banette.

Completed my first 5 star raid. I wanted to complete it very badly because it was Rotom. I wasn't aware you could get Rotom, I just assumed the blank space was for a very exclusive. I used the extra Koraidon you can catch, not sure if I mentioned I caught it or not. But it was powerful, pretty high level, had a Fighting Tera, and great Fighting moves.

I also wasn't aware that Bruxish was in the game, I now have one from a raid. I also got another Eevee from a raid, this one will be the Umbreon, I have caught it with a Friend Ball. I named it ShadowWater as a reference to both my tag and because it's a water tera dark type.

Nevermind about getting eggs from Forretress and Banette to get Pineco and Shuppet. I just looked up where to find them and caught them. I'm still going to get some extra Sprigetto though with a Ditto. I've also figured out how to get Applin, it was similar than I thought, I just don't think to headbutt the trees. But I got two Applin and evolved them into the different forms. Now all that's left is Pokemon that I can't get without having another person.

I guess there's still different forms I want to get. I don't have the male version fire lion pokemon. I also don't have the blaze form of Tauros, I want two of those to trade one. I also don't have 3 segment Dundunsparce nor a genuine Sinistea. I do have a single baby Moushold, which I talk about in the next segment. Oh yes! I'm still missing Sandyshocks too and Gimmighoul's evolution. Oh my gosh I have 10 grass cat eggs now, I don't think I was even at that picnic that long, my gosh, those two got busy. I checked the basket and they just kept coming. I now have many grass kittens.

I was doing a bunch of tera raids to get exp candy and to try to get herba mystica. And I found and caught a shiny Skwovet! I was just running by a group when I noticed that there was a Skwovet that had the same color scheme as Greedent. And I was like "whoa, is that a shiny?". :D I now have 3 Shiny.

Trials of a Single Family Mouse Hold

I'm trying to get a single family Mousehold. I currently have 3 full boxes of Taundomuse. That's 90. The chances are 1 in 100. I will say though that this isn't the first time i've caught a whole bunch and evolved them in mass but I wasn't counting the first time. First time was probably around 15? At the time I didn't actually know what the odds were and I still had a game to complete.

I caught them at the League because they appear there much more frequently. And I just watched Youtube while running around and catching them. I tried checking my sandwich recipes to see if any gave me Encounter Power Normal. Didn't see any but I decided to just make a sandwich for fun. And what do you know, when I was just fucking around I created a sandwich which gave me Encounter Power normal anyway!

Okay 1 Box emptied, no single family yet. 1/5 of the way through box 2, I've done it! I have the family of 3 mice! I was just about to nickname it when my Switch ran out of power. I succeeded just in time pretty much. :D

Recent news, I just got another single child Moushold from a Tera raid, I don't know what the odds are of that, but it happened.

#pokemon #playthrough #first playthrough #live posting #postgame #pokemon scarlet #scarlet and violet #pokemon sv

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kinghijinx22 · 2 years ago

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Hyped for the Granblue Fantasy Versus update

Or new game or whatever it's supposed to be. Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising sounds like it's going to be really good either way. The roster is already so good and diverse, but I'm interested to see what other characters they are going to add. As someone who isn't familiar with the original Granblue, everything is going to be brand new to me. Also have to say that the thing I really appreciate and what I'm the most excited about is more story mode stuff. I absolutely loved the RPG mode, it was so much fun and there was so much to it and I always love when fighting game developers actually care about having a good amount of quality single player content, and having that massive RPG mode on top of the arcade mode and combo trials was really cool. It actually had a pretty good story too and did a good job at fleshing out the characters and setting of Granblue which are actually really interesting. It's probably the best single player mode I've ever played in a fighting game next to a bunch of the Soul Calibur story modes.

I want to add that I recently started playing DNF Duel, and the single player content in that game is severely lacking. There is a story mode separate from the arcade mode in that game as well, but it's the opposite of Granblue in that it's one of the worst story modes I've ever played in a fighting game. Every character technically had their own story in DNF Duel, but literally all of them are the same and leave me wondering what the point was. There aren't really any endings and you don't learn anything about the characters. It's wild to me that both Granblue Versus and DNF Duel both come from Arc Sys, because Granblue has so much care and effort put into it that help make that game so much fun and give it so much personality, while DNF is just kinda lifeless and severely lacking. I also just much prefer the cast of Granblue as well, where the characters are a lot more charming and diverse.

But yeah, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising is sounding really good and I just wanted to say again that I am loving the amount of content and especially the amount of story mode stuff this game has. It's a big reason why it's one of my favourite fighting games of all time and why it's my favourite Arc System Works game.

#arc system works #granblue fantasy #granblue fantasy versus #granblue fantasy versus rising #dnf duel #dungeon fighter online

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ddaenggtan · 4 years ago

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say you want passion (i think you found it) | M

you’re a tease. he’s tired of it.

pairing | shownu x fem!reader

wc | 6.5k

genre/warning | Covid doesnt exist sorry, big dick shownu, sweetheart shownu, dom shownu, sub reader, shownu is called hyunwoo in this, he also likes to be called daddy dont judge, sloppy blowjobs, but still, blowjobs, Shownu eats pussy like a CHAMP, Strength Kink, praise, degradation, degrading praise, this is HIGHLY specialized, you've been warned, deepthroating, DEEP deepthroating at that, nsfw pictures, aka shownu likes to remember it when he does a good job so he takes a picture bc it lasts longer uwu, talking with your mouth full (ill let u guess), doggystyle, teasing, brief nipple play, hickeys, begging, dumbification, rough sex, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex, coming inside, gspot shenanigans, this is genuinely so unrealistic please do not think sex is like this ever in real life, i mean literally ever if you ever fuck someone and it's like this then they aren't real they're a fae or a god or some shit okay, aftercare, shownu uses 3-in-1 because He Does, Barely Edited by the grace of @personawife‘s beta that she fit in when she could ilu,

a/n | first n last shownu smut specifically bc its leilas birthday (@honiboyyoon). u better enjoy this. (side note for anyone who isn’t into shownu smut, but is curious: there’s a namjoon version on ao3 that i’ll link here), but this took entirely too much effort and i did my damndest to fit as many things that ur into in this one fic as i possibly could. i hope this makes up for u probably never getting the vampire maknae line foursome i kept promising you sdfkldjsfasdf

The front door opens as you step out of the car, and you grin as your boyfriend appears in the frame. He grins at you and your best friend and you search his expression for a sign of anything other than his usual sweetness, but find none. You resist the urge to pout - you won’t give him the satisfaction.

“Good luck!” Your best friend teases. You roll your eyes at her - she knows precisely what you envisioned upon arriving back to the quaint little house you call home with Hyunwoo. It’s the reason you wore this outfit, and tried on the clothes you did whilst shopping, and sent him selfies in the poses you did.

You’re on a mission, dammit. It’s been weeks - literal weeks, not even an exaggeration - since you were properly fucked, and you’re fairly tired of prancing around the house in your shortest shorts and deepest v-necks so that when you bend over just right to water your fern, he gets the perfect eyeful. It’s exhausting to try to send all these signals all day every day - but you know how flustered he gets when you ask him directly, so you tried a different tactic. You were being nice!

And it hasn’t worked. At all. He’s offered to help you water your plants, to let you borrow his flannel pajamas in case you’re cold, and even to buy you a sweater, at one point.

In August.

So suffice to say, you’re getting a little tired of him being oblivious. So you’d called up your best friend and invited her to go shopping with you, and yes, it was also very fun to hang out with her and get boba, but she’s also the master of hyping you up and making you feel sexy and desirable, so it was truly a win-win.

Plus, she color-coordinated her own houndstooth pantsuit with your pink houndstooth skirt/blazer combo, so really, you should send her a fruit basket or something. Maybe cookies.

The point remains that your boyfriend hasn’t responded to any of your borderline pornographic selfies or the very pointed videos of you holding various sex toys and asking if it would fit. You’re at your wit’s end, and you were really hoping that it would truly get through to him this time that you want nothing more than to be railed against the mattress so hard that you cry.

You’re a simple girl, after all.

But no! He’s got that sweet smile on his face as you carry your shopping bags in one hand and your purse in the other, carefully sidestepping the cosmos he’d just planted the other day so you wouldn’t step all over his hard work. His smile widens when you reach the door, and he presses a sweet, gentle kiss against your forehead that has you on the verge of tears.

He waves again to your best friend as she drives off, and as usual snags your shopping bags out of your hand so he can place them beside the door. You’ve already pulled your blazer off to hang in the entryway closet by the time he’s shut the door, and you gasp as you’re jerked back. His hands are on either side of your head, braced against the front door like it’s the only thing keeping him up, and you struggle to focus on anything that isn’t the way his muscles flex.

“Do you have any idea what today was like for me?” He growls. The sound of it brings heat between your thighs, and you resist the urge to cheer.

“Sorry, should I not have sent you any selfies today?” You ask, keeping your voice as light and innocent as you can. He makes eye contact with you; there’s a fire in his eyes you haven’t seen in what feels like forever. “Did you not like them?”

“You know damn well what I thought of them,” he mutters, one hand coming down to rest on your hip. “I’ve tried so hard lately, y’know? The tiny shorts with your ass hanging out, the shirts that show everything when you bend over. God, the bending.”

“Really?” You breathe. It’s always exhilarating to know that you’re desired, but this is nearly heady. He fixes his gaze on you, eyes burning, and your smile softens slightly.

“I was trying,” he says, clearly holding himself back, “To be a good boyfriend. To make sure that you know that I want more from you than just sex, and that I value you as more than just someone attractive. I was trying so hard to prove that you– that we have more between us than that. That I respect you more than that.”

“So don’t respect me.” You say it like it’s obvious, because it is. You’ve been laying down signals galore the past few weeks, and clearly he did not get the memo.

“I’m always going to respect you,” he says instead, sighing slightly as he leans in to press his forehead against yours. “I don’t want to disrespect you, you’re worth more than that. But fuck, all I wanna do is fuck you stupid right now.”

“Please,” you whisper, biting your lip. It’s all you’ve wanted for weeks and now you might finally - finally - get it. “Disrespect me, daddy.”

The hand on your hip tightens, no doubt bruising the skin, and you gasp at the feeling. Hyunwoo makes eye contact - just long enough to make sure that you’re on board for whatever it is he’s about to do.

He could probably suggest a number of things that you’ve never considered and you’d say yes, at this point - you’re not ashamed to admit that you’re desperate.

The hand on your hips lowers - he traces all the way down your thigh and to the back of your knee before travelling back up, this time under your skirt. He kisses you as he does it - long, heated kisses that make your head spin so perfectly that you don’t know what he’s doing until he glides a finger across your clothed core.

You gasp into the kiss, but it doesn’t deter him. He pulls down, kissing and biting down your jaw to your neck as his fingers trace over you once more. You can feel him smile against your skin.

“You’re already soaked,” he tuts. “You’ve ruined this pair, princess. How naughty of you. Would you like daddy to take them off?”

“Yes!” You moan as his fingers ghost over your folds once more.

“Yes what?” He asks, and you could cry with how much you want him.

“Yes, daddy,” you tell him, and he smiles once more. It’s blinding, how bright he is when he smiles like that, and for a second you’re breathless. Then you feel them - his hands, burning a trail along your thigh to tug at the band of your underwear. It only takes him a few seconds to pull them down as he bends, and he kisses your thigh as he brings one of your legs up so he can slide them off completely.

He was right - they are ruined, the evidence of your arousal immediately apparent by the large wet spot in the center. He doesn’t bother to slide them off your other leg, though - just lets them hang from your ankle, no doubt as a reminder of how strongly he affects you.

He presses kisses to every bit of skin he can as he stands fully upright once more, suckling a mark into your collarbone that you’ll absolutely cherish when you have to cover it up before work tomorrow.

His hands don’t leave your thighs - warm and strong and utterly distracting, you can’t take your mind off them as he kisses you again, heady and intoxicating. You feel it as one hand travels back underneath your skirt again, gliding between your thighs.

A moan sticks in your throat as his fingers slide in between your folds - the feeling of them teasing against your hole before they move to rub light circles into your clit is nearly too much to handle.

“Hyunwoo, please–”

“Patience,” he interrupts. You can hear the smile in his voice as he slides over your hole once more, spreading your arousal across your lips before teasing your clit again. “Good girls have patience, right, princess?”

You whimper, hips arching off the door to try to guide his finger inside of you. It’s a futile attempt - he just returns to the slow, infuriating circles on your clit, and you would cry if it didn’t feel as good as it does.

It could be hours or it could be seconds that he continues this pattern - slow, maddening circles on your clit, then the slightest bit of a tease at your hole, just enough to make you think that maybe he’ll fuck you with his fingers, before he returns to the circles. It’s enough to make a stronger woman cry, and you can’t help the whines that you let out when he once again deprives you of the fuck you so desperately want.

“Please just fuck me,” you finally break, hands moving from where they’re wrapped around his neck to circle his waist and do your best to pull him in closer. You can feel him against your thigh, warm and thick and big, and you want him.

He hisses when you grind against him, and the one hand that remains on your hip tightens ever so slightly. “You’re being very bad, princess,” he chastises, but you couldn’t care less. Your mind is focused on the memory of what he felt like inside you, and you’re ready to burst with need.

“I don’t care,” you tell him firmly, hands sliding up under his shirt to run your nails against his muscled torso. “I don’t care, I need you, please, I just want–”

“I know,” he cuts you off. His hands disappear from you entirely, but only for a moment - before you know it, two large hands wrap around your wrists, guiding yours out of his shirt. You can't stop whimpering, caught between the memory of the last time he was between your thighs and the reality of his lips against your skin.

Hyunwoo drops - he hits the wooden floor with a muffled thud, and before you can even react, his hands are underneath your skirt. He pushes it upwards, muttering something almost reverent about thighs as he does, and then he’s pressing soft kisses to the inside of your thighs. His hands don’t stop, though - they keep going, shoving your skirt up until it pools around your waist.

“H-Hyunwoo—”

“Ssh,” he whispers, giving your thigh a light bite. A heartbeat later and you can feel his warm breath against your folds. “You wanted to feel good, right?”

“Yes, please,” you breathe, hands instinctively tangling in his soft brown hair.

“Then be a good slut for me, and stay still while I make you feel good."

You stifle a whimper - he knows what his words do to you, and you jolt as his tongue gently nudges against your folds. There's no stopping the soft sigh that falls from your lips as he delves deeper, ghosting across your swollen clit to nudge against your hole. He's tentative, teasing with his movements - he likes to make you wait, tease you until you're grinding against his mouth.

You doubt this will be an exception.

A moan is thrust out of you as you feel your hole stretch slightly. Not much, not far - just enough to accommodate him as he fucks your hole with his tongue. It's just the right side of unsatisfying - you're aching, absolutely dripping for him, and this is just enough to whet your appetite and make you hungry for more.

You can feel his smile against you, and you already know what's coming - still, it's disappointing when he pulls his tongue out. You whine, unashamed of how you must sound or how loud you may be, and he chuckles.

"Patience, baby girl," he breathes. Warm air flows over you, and your hands move to tangle in his hair. His tongue shifts again, lapping at your clit for long enough that you think you may cum before he stops to draw mind-numbing circles around it instead.

Time bends around the two of you - it always does when he's between your thighs like this, when he's teasing and deliberate with every swipe of his tongue against you, every press of him against your hole. He edges you for so long; slow circles around your clit turn to quick thrusts inside of you that shift into laps against your hole that drag upward, just barely catching your clit before they stop.

You're sure there would be a puddle on the floor were it not for his dedication. The entire house is filled with the sounds of his mouth against you, only drowned out by the sound of your cries as he begins to suck on your clit.

Your knees quake on either side of his head, and he doesn't hesitate to bring his hands up behind your thighs. Without a second thought, he lifts - not even pausing in his mission, tongue still thrusting into you at an almost absurd rate - and then your thighs are resting atop his shoulders. You gasp, both in shock and in pleasure as he lets his teeth graze ever so lightly against that bundle of nerves.

This isn't the first time he's done this - put you on his shoulders and left you there while he eats you out within an inch of your life - but it's the first time in a long time, and it has you seeing stars as one of your hands stays tangled in his hair and the other is braced against the wall beside you.

"Hyunwoo, please–" You beg, but you can't catch your breath long enough between moans to say anything more. He sucks again, the flat of his tongue gliding over your clit as it's pulled into his mouth once more, and your vision goes white. Your knees quake, and you're sure that if you had been standing, you wouldn't be anymore.

"That's my girl," Hyunwoo praises after he's done cleaning up your cum. When you can see again, you realize he's set you down on the floor and is slowly massaging your thighs.

"Hyun, I....please....can you–"

"You want me to fuck you stupid, baby?" He asks. His tone is a little patronizing, but that's okay, because it only serves to turn you on more. "Does my sweet little whore need my cock in her?"

"Yes, please," you whimper, hips tilting upwards against nothing of their own accord.

Hyunwoo stands and hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his grey sweats. A few moments later he's pulled them down just enough to free himself. Your mouth drops open slightly when you finally lay eyes on him - you know he's big. You know that he is big, you've had his entire length inside of you several times now and you've felt it for days after each time, but it still never fails to shock you.

Because he is big. Thick, so thick you can hardly wrap your entire fist around him, and long, with the perfect curve that hits that spot inside of you that makes your toes curl. His dick is nearly as perfect as he is, and that is a very high bar.

It's also so hard that you can see it throbbing, jumping every so often as his muscles tense.

"You want me to make you come with my cock, right, baby?" He asks, once again using that patronizing tone that makes heat creep across your cheeks.

You nod.

"Then you're going to have to ask nicely, aren't you?" He prods.

"Please, daddy," you say without hesitation, "Please fuck me, I want you to make me cum so hard that I cry, I want to be a good slut for you."

"Very good, baby," he praises. "Now I want you to prove that you mean it. Can you be a good little whore and suck my cock?"

You lean forward, not even bothering to use your hands because your bones still feel like jelly. You run your tongue across the tip of him, giving small kitten licks to the slit just how he likes. A groan rumbles through him, and he lets out a soft gasp as you slip your tongue down to wet the shaft as well.

"Fuck, princess," he moans, "I think you've gotten even better at this."

Encouraged, you let your mouth hang open– just barely wide enough to get your lips around the shaft– and let your tongue rest on your spit-slick lips. You glance up long enough to see that Hyunwoo's eyes are blown wide with his desire before you mouth sloppily down his dick. It's messy and would probably be disgusting if it were anyone but the two of you and Hyunwoo didn't have that look in his eyes that promises you'll remember tonight for several weeks.

His hands move, one adjusting his grip on the doorframe as you suck the head of his cock between your lips while the other comes down to grip one of the two buns you put your hair in that morning. He tugs - not hard, not yet, but firmly enough that it stings slightly and makes you keen.

"If you're going to make a mess, don't you think you should clean it up?" He asks. You lift a brow and he grins. "Clearly you're not that tired if you still have an attitude."

"No," you whine, "I am tired, my bones are basically nonexistent right now thanks to you."

The hand in your hair loosens slightly, and Hyunwoo tuts. "I have to do all the work, huh? Then get on your knees for me, baby girl, so I can use you like a good toy."

You rush to comply, and only wince a bit at the feeling of the cold floor against your knees. His hand stays where it is the entire time you're moving, but he waits until you're sitting still, legs folded under you and giving you that extra bit of height you'll need.

"Let me know if it's too much," Hyunwoo commands, and you nod. His eyes darken, slightly, and he runs his thumb along your jaw. "What's the signal?"

"Two taps on your thigh," You tell him, not for the first time. He's always so careful beforehand, and while you appreciate just how much he cares about you, you also are sick of just staring at his cock, and your mouth is beginning to water.

Hyunwoo coos slightly, and the hand in your hair shifts to guide rather than just anchor. "You're always so good for me," he mutters as he slides the tip past your lips. "Always such a good little slut."

You don't stop the whimper that escapes your throat – he loves them, and you know it. Your mouth is lax, nothing more than a hole for him to fill as he sees fit, and there's the slightest twinge of complaint as your jaw begins to stretch.

You ignore it, determined to get as much of him as possible this time. You've practiced for this, nearly every day, since the last time and you're not stopping until you beat your record.

Hyunwoo sighs as he hits the back of your throat. "God, you're perfect," he mutters as he begins to slide back out. You let your jaw relax a bit as he does, and when just the tip rests on your tongue, you give it a small kiss, just because you can.

Hyunwoo smiles, gaze softening for a split second. "Hands in position, baby girl," he reminds you, and you do as he says – one hand on back of each of his thighs, so you can tap out if you need to.

Also so you can feel those incredible muscles flex as he starts shallow thrusts, rippling and tensing under your fingers. If your mouth weren't otherwise occupied, you'd bite them.

Hyunwoo continues carefully, testing just how much of himself can fit before you start to gag on his length….and just how long you can choke before you really start to need air.

He pulls back before you even need to tap out, always careful to keep an eye on you for any warning signs. He slides back in and waits until he hits the back of your throat again, pushing slightly further, and just as he's about to begin pulling back out, you look up at him with wide eyes.

You know you look like a mess; drool gathering on your lips because your mouth is too full to hold it, tears streaming down your cheeks from your attempts to stop gagging. Hyunwoo loves it when you look ruined like this, adores taking your perfectly crafted image and crumbling it to pieces in his hands.

So it's no surprise when he lets out a low moan, or when he lets himself slip a little further down your throat. This is as far as he's ever gotten and you want him to know how good you are, how hard you've been practicing with the toys underneath your bed. He slides out, precum dripping onto your tongue as he does, and you bat your lashes at him.

"Use me," you tell him. "Use me like the toy that I am for you, Daddy." Something darkens in his eyes and he doesn't hesitate to thrust back in.

Your eyes water with the force of it and you don't stop the moan that escapes you as he slides deeper down your throat than he's ever been before. There's still a couple inches left before he'd be fully sheathed, but Hyunwoo doesn't even seem to notice as he pulls out just to thrust back in.

Neither of you are quiet — you can barely hear the wet squelch of your mouth. It's drowned out by the moans he draws from you, which in turn pull moans from him between the words he growls out.

"God, you're so perfect," he mutters as he fucks your throat with abandon. "The perfect angel slut, so good at getting throatfucked, just made for my cock no matter where it goes, huh? You're such a good whore, you're probably fucking soaked just from my dick in your mouth, aren't you?"

You whimper around him and he speeds up, relentless; he's not wrong either — you are soaked, can feel it between your thighs as your hips rock fruitlessly against empty air.

"Oh, look at you," Hyunwoo coos, "So desperate to be fucked while sucking me off. Maybe one day I'll get one of your buddies over here to fuck your throat while you ride my cock, since you're so desperate to get used like a good slut. But I don't even think that'll be enough, will it? Because they won't be me." He thrusts a little deeper, a little rougher, and you aren't sure if the noises you're making are as loud as they seem to you but either way, they only serve to egg him on.

"No," Hyunwoo continues, "They won't be Daddy, will they? They won't be able to get this deep in your throat, won't be able to fuck you like this. And you know why? Because this is my hole." He punctuates the sentence with a sharp thrust and you squeeze the backs of his thighs to show your agreement. "You're my perfect slut. My good little whore. Isn't that right, baby girl?"

You squeeze the backs of his thighs again, but it isn't enough. He stills, still buried nearly to the hilt inside you, and cocks a brow.

"Well? Aren't you my perfect whore?" Your face flames, heat burning in your cheeks. Your jaw aches from being stretched for so long, there spit and precum dripping down your chin and you can feel him throbbing in your throat.

And Hyunwoo looks expectant. He wants to hear you agree with him, wants you to remind yourself of this fact.

You don't even blink when he pulls his phone out of the pocket of his sweats. You can't see what he does, but based on how he angles it and the shallow thrusts he gives without looking away from the screen, you can guess.

"Aw, is my baby girl getting shy now?" He teases as you make eye contact with the lens and feel your face heat up. "Don't even worry about it, baby. I just wanna remember how fucking perfect you look right now forever. My perfect cocksucking slut."

You whimper, pussy clenching around nothing and you're overcome with a sudden need to feel him inside you.

"Are you gonna be a good slut now?" Hyunwoo continues, still recording. "Are you daddy's good slut?" You nod and can't stop the reflexive swallow as he goes even deeper. Hyunwoo groans at the feeling and you can see his grip on his phone tighten for a moment.

"Say it," he commands when his eyes open once more. "I want to hear you say it."

" 'm 'a'y's 'er'ec' 'ore," you moan. It doesn't even sound like words, at this point, but when you look back up at him with wide eyes. Hyunwoo looks proud.

"You absolutely are," he whispers. He hits a button and then pockets his phone again. He slides carefully out of your mouth and casually strokes his cock with one hand as he wipes spit from your face with the other. "I think you've been a perfect angel, baby girl, so you've earned your reward. Where would you like it?"

"Bed, please, Daddy." Your voice is hoarse and scratchy, but you don't care, and Hyunwoo doesn't seem to either as he pulls his sweats up and then bends. The world spins for a moment and then steadies, and you realize he's got you in his arms. Hyunwoo carries you like a princess towards the room you share, and tosses you on the bed without hesitation.

Your eyes widen as he starts to strip out of his clothes, and you can't deny that you enjoy the show. The torso of muscles all rippling, the golden skin all shining, the desire in his eyes. Then the sweats — they hit the ground with a thud and you idly hope his phone is alright before you remember there are more important things right now.

He is, unsurprisingly, still hard — almost painfully so, a deep swollen pink at the head and jumping every so often. The vein running up the underside is throbbing, and you can actually feel yourself get wetter with anticipation.

One knee rests on the mattress, then the other, and Hyunwoo is crawling towards you on his hands and knees, and you can see every muscle as it shifts and fuck you love this man.

"I love you," you tell him, not for the first time. He breaks for a second, a bright smile taking over his face.

"I love you," he replies, pressing a kiss to your thigh. "Can we take those clothes off now, baby, because as great as you look, you're even better naked."

Breath catches in your throat and you nod. Hyunwoo is almost reverent as his hands glide up your thighs and is exceedingly gentle as he slides down the zipper and then the skirt itself. He smiles again, almost shy, and you can't help but marvel at the fact that this is the same man who bad you gagging on his dick not five minutes ago.

He leans in and gently nudges your nose with his, but when you lean forward to kiss him, he backs away with a playful grin. His warm hand rests on your waist and he leans in again only to dart back when you try to kiss him — not far, though. He's still close enough that you can feel the heat of his breath mix with yours, but it's still infuriating.

You pout at him, and his smile just grows. "What is it?" He asks, teasing. "What do you want?" His lips ghost over yours as he speaks and it nearly breaks you.

"You," You whine. "I want you."

"You have me." He leans forward then, capturing your lips with an intensity you haven't seen in a long time. His mouth moves against yours and it's firm, commanding, and absolutely intoxicating as he pulls back just to lightly bite your lips. It's not rough, not really, but it's fiery and exciting and everything you've wanted.

He presses closer, nimble fingers undoing the buttons of your blouse in what seems like an instant. Warm hands cross your spine and then your bra is gone, too. His skin seems to meld to yours, hands moving everywhere as he lays you back.

Your breath hitches when you feel him against your entrance and he smiles into the bruise he's sucking into your throat.

"You're so fucking wet, baby," he breathes as his tip teases against your entrance. "You're always so wet for me, so ready to be fucked. Just a perfect fucking whore, huh?" He slides in then, but only a bit. Just like before, it's just barely enough for you to feel him stretching you out. Just a tease of what's to come.

"Hyunwoo," you whine. You can see the amusement in his eyes as he chuckles.

"What is it? You want more?" He slides in further, but just a centimeter. You whine again, pushing your hips up against his to try to push him deeper. You can feel yourself throbbing, aching, for him, and you're tired of being teased. You want to be full.

You tell him as much, watching his pupils dilate with every word until there's hardly any iris left to be seen.

"Is that so?" He mutters, almost to himself. "Well, your wish is my command." He slides in, slowly, but this time he doesn't stop. He just keeps going and going and going, until you can feel him at your cervix. It stings – you're stretched so far, and he's so deep inside – but you relish it.

"Beautiful," Hyunwoo mutters as he begins to slide back out, inch by agonizing inch. You whimper as the tip nearly slides out, too, and your hips lift of their own accord. Hyunwoo takes the hint and pushes back in; he creates a rhythm, one so slow, so maddening, that you're on the verge of tears as you whine and whimper underneath him.

He notices your frustration, pulls himself away from lazily mouthing at your nipples, and hums.

"What's wrong, baby? You aren't satisfied yet?" He gives you that Boy-Next-Door grin that you know hides a demon behind it. "Are you going to ask nicely again? Tell me no one fills you up like I do and beg me to fuck you the way you want? You look so pretty when you beg."

Any other time, you wouldn't. You would at least hesitate, make him work a little harder for your pleas. But you're desperate and frustrated and have no shame, so you don't hesitate.

"Please, Daddy," you beg, letting your legs fall open and arching your back so his eyes drop lower and lower. "Please, Daddy, no one can fill this pussy like you do, no one can fuck my holes like you. Pl–please," you moan as he slides entirely inside once more, "Please fuck me right, make me come on your cock, I wan– wanna be fucked stupid, want you to– to fuck me stupid, please, wanna be Daddy's perfect slut, pl– Ah!"

You can't help your surprised gasp as Hyunwoo flips you onto your stomach with a low growl.

Warmth drapes along your back as you rise up, palms splayed across the sheets and elbows locked to keep you upright; his skin is sweat-slick and heated against your own, and a shiver runs down your spine when he pauses to runs his teeth along the lobe of your ear.

"You are the best part of my life," he announces.

Butterflies explode in your belly a split second before he slides out of you.

"And I'm gonna make you cum so hard that you'll never forget that fact."

"Hyunwo— Oh!"

He thrusts into you with enough force to toss you into the headboard, had he not planted one hand firmly on your hip and had the other curled around your breast to tease your nipple.

"You like that?" Hyunwoo asks with a smile in his voice. He repeats the movement and you clench around him as you gasp out a moan. It's all you can do to nod and he flicks your nipple in response. "Good."

He lifts up, both hands now holding you steady by an iron grip on your hips, and readjusts his legs so yours are spread slightly wider. Your arms are trembling but you pay them no mind.

Until Hyunwoo thrusts forward, pulling back just as quickly only to bury himself again, a heartbeat later. His pace is absolutely merciless; the sound of skin hitting skin fills the room, mixing beautifully with the wet slide as he shoves back in and the rough, throat moans that he pulls from you. Your vision swims, and you can't concentrate on anything else as he gives you the fucking that's been haunting your dreams every night.

He adjusts his grip, one hand moving to sit firmly on the small of your back and press you down just a bit. The angle shifts – not much, but enough that the next time he pounds into you, he thrusts right up against that spot that makes your toes curl.

You cry out, vision going white as he hits it again, and again, and again, absolutely ruthless in his mission. Your muscles go weak, biceps twitching as they give out, and then you're face down in the mattress. Hyunwoo doesn't hesitate, just ghosts his palm down to rest between your shoulders and keep you in place.

He might be talking – you certainly think you hear the low tones of his voice as he speaks to you, but you can't make out words. It's too much work, too many syllables, too much effort to try to work past the haze that blankets your mind. You can still feel him, pumping in and out of your gushing pussy — the stretch barely stings anymore, and he throbs inside of you. Each thrust is still perfectly angled to hit that mind-numbing place that keeps you from doing anything more than screeching his name.

He slows, immediately switching from speed to power as he manages to put even more force behind his hips. The hand in your back moves, as does the one on your hip and then you're rising.

A warm palm across your throat – not choking, just keeping you in place while the other traces along your spread thigh.

There are words – something your brain is too fried to make out, and then a rumble that vibrates through you. A laugh. His thrusts get a little faster as he fucks up into you, and you're dimly aware of his fingers slipping between your folds.

Someone screams — no, not someone. You. You scream, something so loud and provocative that it can't even be called a moan anymore, as he begins to rub circles around your clit. Orgasms rock through you, every part of your body going boneless even as you shake from the force of it. It's impossible to tell when it stops, if it stops – the aftershocks are strong and he still hasn't stopped fucking you, though he's slower and gentler now, letting you ride it out on his cock.

"……perfect for me, " you hear him whisper as you're senses come back. "Absolutely perfect, an amazing fucking— just divine, you are."

"Hyun," you manage, and it's no shock that you sound absolutely wrecked. "D– Daddy."

"I'm here, baby girl," he mutters, "What do you need?"

"You," You respond instantly. "Want you, wanna fee– feel it, want you to fill me, please, in– ah, inside, want you dripping ou–" You're cut off once more as your body heaves with yet another aftershock, clenching around his hard length again.

"Whatever you want, baby," he promises. "Can you come once more for me, baby girl? Just one more time so we can come together?"

"Mm…." You pause, taking the best inventory you can as your muscles jolt again. You consider lying to him, or just omitting this, because you know he'll never stop reminding you of it, but decide against it. Instead, you quietly admit, "I don't think I ever stopped."

"Oh, fuck," he breathes. Within moments, you can feel his thrusts turn more erratic, more frenzied, and then you're impossibly fuller even as something warm drips down the inside of your thigh.

He's gentle as he lays you down on the bedspread, exceedingly so as he pulls his softening cock out of you. His weight disappears from the bed for a few minutes that seem to stretch into hours, and then the mattress dips, and his soft smile appears once more.

"Here sweetheart, drink this." He hands you a familiar cup and when you take a sip, the water is cool and refreshing. Wet warmth, surprising but pleasant, glides along your inner thigh and you look down to see him cleaning you up.

"Mm, this is quite possibly the perfect view," you tease, wagging your brows as you make a show of checking out his muscular arms. It makes him laugh, the soft one that's just for when you're being ridiculous.

"Drunk your water, you menace," he commands as he continues to wipe. "You're gonna need to replenish your fluids, after all that." He looks pointedly towards the bed and you follow his gaze, face heating when your eyes land on the rather sizable wet spot staining the sheets.

"Whoops?" You offer. When you look back at him, he only looks fond.

"Don't even start, it was hot. Besides, they needed to be put in the wash anyway. I'll start them after you get into the bath." He gives over you, taking kisses along every piece of skin he can until he reaches your lips. You can't help the way your breath catches – even after all this time, he manages to make you breathless over the smallest things.

He peppers kisses along your cheeks, and nose, and everywhere else until you're giggling and trying to turn away from him. Unfortunately, with his arms on either side of you, you're fairly well trapped, so you settle for fucking your head into his neck instead.

You pause. Sniff again. Back up. He looks sheepish, like he already knows what you're going to say.

"We were out of the fancy stuff—" He tries, but you don't let him.

"You used that 3-in-1 shit again?" You demand. "Actual body wash isn't even fancy, it's what normal people use! That's it, you're coming into the bath with me after you start the laundry so that I can make sure you didn't use it in your hair, too."

He smiles again, though you have a sneaking suspicion that he's just humoring you when he nods and says, "Whatever you want."

#shownu smut #shownu x reader #reader insert #dddaenggtan

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sanstropfremir · 4 years ago

Text

kingdom episode 5 review!!! lets fucking go!!!!!

look. was i insanely hyped for this episode? yes. was my hype justified? also yes. holy FUCKING SHIT. you’ll have to forgive me for going off the rails at some points because ateez and btob directly tapped into something primal in my brain and i am obsessed. i'm obsessed. there’s no other word for it I’m obsessed.

ok ok ok i'll focus. i'm focused. i'll do the stage breakdown first and then do my personal ranking at the end. i might do a quick runup comparison of the self and expert rankings for funsies but i'll see how i feel when i get there. instead of going in airing order i’m gonna reverse it, since that was the order i actually watched them in and also i will run out of brains if i talk about rhythm ta first.

skz

i feel for skz. i don't think this show is going to be as much of learning curve as it needs to be for them because the fan voting skews the rankings so much. I’ve said it so many times before, but letting something flop or getting a bad ranking is actually good, because it shows you that you need to improve. because skz keeps getting validated by the fan rankings and placing first in the last two stages, they aren't actually taking the time to evaluate what about their stages is or isn't working. and besides, we’ve now seen two very similar concepts in a row from them, just one is on a grander scale than the other. what they should be doing is what both ateez and btob did for this round, which was scale up production value, but scale down concept. i know this sounds weird but i'll explain. skz has done two very abstract and ‘grand’ concepts. first round we had ghosts/good self vs evil self, and this stage they just went straight for the throat with a deal with the devil type stage. now when you combine these very abstract concepts with an unclear narrative arc, you lose clarity of intent in the performance because there are no specifics that you’re playing off of. there’s a lot more places left up to personal interpretation and this is where people can get lost. btob and ateez both narrowed down their concepts to hyperspecific scenarios where they very clearly showing the audience the arc the stage is taking. audiences can be smart but also if you can lead them by the hand they like not thinking about highly conceptual ideas, and especially not so much in a pop song competition show.

costume

this is so rare because generally stylists are pretty careful about this, but i genuinely think they got outshone by the backup dancers, especially in the ‘heaven’ sequence. those sash and skirt combos with the strapped white tops that look like straitjackets? the fucking angel wings?! these are some thematically fun costume designs and because they’re white they stand out so much more when skz are wearing black. i also think i've seen these tops on backup dancers before? i thought it was on the last stage but i might be going insane.

i am a sucker for beaded embroidery and the combined dyework on some of their sashes is beautiful. but again, thematically irrelevant? at least you can see the greco-roman inspiration in the backup dancers’ costumes. all this is telling me is that whoever the stitchers are at jype, they are fucking incredible, but they don’t actually have a good designer because the main costumes for all their stages have been both aesthetically similar and thematically irrelevant.

again, i applaud skz for trying more experimental makeup, but boys you have to go bigger, it has no impact right now.

set

well, i did ask for them to commit to the western art bit and they sort of delivered? the first space is not planned very well and combined with the wide wide camera shots instead of making the space seem grand and sweeping it just seems bare. the ‘heaven’ side was excellent though, there was much better control of the camera and the columns and altar scaled the space down so it was more believable. also the breakable columns were fun and corny and i love it when stuff gets destroyed onstage.

the child statue transformation into actual child was a neat trick that i think landed really well. i wish they had given that concept a little more grounding other than the flashback bit but it was still very readable.

i know using rodin's gates of hell is the easiest way to shortcut saying that like, “you are now entering hell,” but them being used SO literally feels a bit blunt when the last time we saw them used in kpop was by original blasphemous catholic lee taemin, who used them with such nuance and intelligence that i'm a bit put off by skz’s literalism.

on that note, i find it very interesting the conflation that happens between greco-roman/”classical” aesthetics and catholicism, because ideologically the two are opposed (see: the bible) and historically, they didn't exist at the same time. now i'm not going to go off on a tangent about neoclassicism because you are not here for an art history lecture but i thought i would make the observation about how catholics continued appropriation of greco-roman aesthetics without complete understanding or context of those aesthetics is as pervasive as it ever has been in the last several hundred years.

lighting

generally the lighting is pretty good, but there’s an over-reliance on projections that cheapens the look of the stage but also devalues the intentions as well. at the core of it there’s a profound statement being made about trading away your innocence, but when you underscore that with like, clock graphics and a WoW looking demon, it loses that simplicity of message.

the thing about using this particular type of projection, which are actually screens and not typical projectors, is that screens always throw light. and due to where they are situated, this basically means that if you're using the screens at full capacity with a cool colour range, we are going to be able to see everything. this is another contributing factor to why the stage looks so empty; they’re lighting up everything and it exposes where the gaps are.

now i fully acknowledge that this possibly could have been a deliberate choice, since they do actually use some spot lighting at the beginning and end. however, if it was it did not land for me.

i loved the intro of demon felix done in blue, that was a nice switchup from what we would usually see, but i wish there was more of a coherent colour arc. like the narrative it stutters around a bit.

sound

the arrangement was a miss for me. i found it a bit dissonant again, like their last stage, since the original i'll be your man has obvious lyrics about a good christian boy being sad about a girl. this gets a bit wonky conceptually as soon as you add a child self into it. i don’t know if they changed any of the lyrics in the singing to match this a little more because i don't speak korean, so i'll have to wait for episode subs for verification.

i really applaud them for trying, and overall they didn't actually do that bad, but skz is not a vocal group. the most i'm going to say about it is that these boys don’t have the breath support. this is likely because they're trying to do choreographically complex movements, but also it's a training thing. you can hear the difference even just between eunkwang’s ‘vocal warmup’ at the beginning of back door, he’s not projecting full voice but he still has the breath support for his voice to sound full, whereas all skz boys sound thin in comparison, even when at full volume, because they’re trying to project from the throat and not the chest. that's all i'm gonna say about that. i don't think the cracked note was bad, i didn’t really clock it on first listen.

staging

thematically they could have had something really interesting here if they stuck to a more simple narrative arc. the genesis (i’m very funny) of the idea here is good, the whole mephistopheles deal with a devil + regret/loss of innocence is clear, but the arc isn't really an arc, and the colour story doesn't help. it kind of goes earth (green/blue) -> the gates of hell are opening (red) -> oh it's heaven now (blue) -> oh just kidding it's hell/lets destroy heaven (red) -> back to earth (blue). not necessarily a bad arc, just a bit complex for four minutes.

the choreo was a lot better this time, there was a lot more intention and relevance to theme and i didn’t feel like they were flailing for the sake of flailing as much as i have in their other stages. there was also a clarity in the overall blocking and movement patterns that was missing from their other stages. this stage has a really great handoff of each member playing the ‘main’ character, especially in the beginning. i especially liked the cut from falling off the stairs to laying centre stage.

i think I’m right in assuming that it was a choice that the members were all playing the same character and demon felix was that character possessed rather than the actual devil, but personally i think it would have been a lot more fun if they had straight up just made him be the actual devil. there’s a bit of dissonance when you have a performer with such a specialized skillset that gets used in very specific instances, but then he shows up in the regular group choreo like any ol’ guy. they always put such emphasis on felix (as they should, he’s their most charismatic performer), but they never go the distance. i would have loved it if they had committed to the bit like TOO did in their magnolia stage from rtk, where they had a member just be blinded justice. that was literally the only thing he did and it worked so well. could have done the same here with felix and it would have been fun. that being said the felix parts were SO good. love love love him getting dragging in chains.

btob

this hit every little one of the buttons in my tiny backstage crew brain. i'm in love with this stage. there’s so many true to life little details here that on repeat viewings you're still finding new things. i know i rag on and on about narrative every week but here is a good example of what i've been trying to get at this whole time: the stage needs a shape. an a to b. you don't need a whole pirates spiel or a game of thrones theme extended universe; all you need is a clear setting and a point a to point b. this stage has both those things perfectly. we have a hyperspecific setting, (american rockstars) and a basic arc (getting ready to perform -> performing). even though back door is outside of btob’s wheelhouse, they spun it in a way that played to their strengths and did a bit braggadocio, which is rightfully earned. i'm gonna be saying it every time but the experience shows!!!

costume

good contemporary costume is SO difficult, i want to impress that here. because it's the the time period that we are currently living and seeing every day it's so easy for the audience to spot mistakes. although yes it's easier to source/shop for, to get it good enough that it doesn't pull people out of the immersion is surprisingly more difficult than you think. their stylists did an excellent job here. the backup dancers and btob are all in monochrome plus one and it adds a very clean unity to everything without visual clutter.

each of btob’s costumes have enough to give indication of character, along with the member’s acting, which i'll get more into in the staging section. regardless, never underestimate the power of a good fitting shirt and statement belt. oh and minhyuk in the stirrup motorcycle boots with the skinny jeans and the supreme boxers and the red satin robe? good bye.

i love love love a dyed buzz this was such a good aesthetic choice for peniel, 10/10 i have no complaints about the costumes.

set

oh my god i’m gonna french kiss this set designer. this is such a simple set but it’s executed so well. there’s the ‘backstage’ area, the corridor with four dressing rooms, and then the ‘stage’ that’s pretty much just velvet ropes. so simple, but all the detail is in the set decoration and props. the road cases, the monitor, the subtle flex of the posters of them on the walls, the clothing racks, all the booze. although this is not the actual layout of any theatre (they're normally much weirder than this), there’s so many little details here that really make the experience.

there’s a very straightforward path here and it works so well. i think this might be the best use of the gates so far? it appropriately suited the drama of the moment and they didn't have to do anything to them because they're already in a theatre. bada bing bada boom.

lighting

love the setup and continuation through the amber ‘BRRRMM.’ like with sf9 it gives a smooth transition into the stage. also loved no blackout. it's a general rule in current theatrical practice that you only use blackouts when they are absolutely necessary, because they can stop the pacing of a play dead in the water. so the lack of one here at the start of the stage was a really smart choice and makes the transition feel less jarring.

i will say that actual backstage areas are very rarely lit with amber because it travels far and it's bright. it's much more common to see running lights (the lights on during a performance) to be deep red or blue.

those blasting wash lights as the gates open? the DRAMA. such a seemingly innocuous choice that really cements the atmosphere of ‘we are about to perform.’

really smart use of the projections to accentuate the already existing stage facilities. it's pretty much unnoticable because it's very well done but i appreciate it.

sound

this ARRANGEMENT!!!! it's so good!!! back door has this premise essentially built into the song so it was so smart of them to put this gimmicky spin on it. loved the literal interpretation of the knocks into the structure of the stage, it makes the blend between the sound design and the staging that much more effective.

more rock versions of everything please and thank you.

btob is just stunting at this point and i love it. i'll have to wait for subs but judging by the hands in front of the camera bit and the ‘your super high note’ i’m pretty confident the added rap lyrics are full of shots at the other groups and honestly? valid.

staging

there's some really sharp camera control here with the one take first half. It’s up very close and personal because there’s a lack of space but it really works for the ‘intimacy’ of seeing backstage at a venue. also this is such a simple movement track but it’s so effective. it backs over a couple spots but it doesn't feel repetitive because there’s a sense of urgency and drive.

there are so many good little details in here that are true to life and unnecessary to include but sell the performance as a whole. peniel flinging water onstage, minhyuk stripping down twice and flinging his clothes around, minhyuk closing the door on the standby’s face, the backup dancer as a dresser with the laundry basket, peniel stealing the hat off her but then not going on stage with it these are all things that I’ve either had directly happen to me or something very similar has happened. but the best one and the one that sets off the tone amazingly for the whole stage is eunkwang’s intro. that ‘vocal warmup’ with the quiet okay at the end? with the little jump? i see that moment of vulnerability before the transition between person and actor every time i watch someone go onstage for the first time and there’s no way to describe it other than magic.

the luxury of only having four members, there was actually time in this stage to establish character. it also speaks to the performing strength of btob that they can establish clear character in this short amount of time. obviously it’s pretty one dimensional; there’s serious eunkwang, typical rocker minhyuk, fuckboy peniel (how many licks does it take to make your tootsie pop, anyone?), and comedian changsub. i’ve seen and met and worked with these exact dudes many, many times. ugh i love this stage

ateez

the utter euphoria i felt at the proof that last round’s stage wasn't a fluke. this stage is so good. it's so good. i'm obsessed with how good this stage. as an unreformed pop punk teen who played a LOT of latin jazz i am LIVING. if you’ve only seen the episode cut and not the full version here i'll make it easy and link it for you because oh my GOD mnet destroyed the pacing by cutting in a full minute and a half of reaction shots. actually mnet fucked up the pacing for all of these stages but this one was the worst. and look. i know this is the closest these boys are going to get to being real punks and this is a carefully curated and artificial facade for narrative purposes only but oh the pandering tastes so sweet. regardless of that, i am IN AWE of the level of storytelling happening here. the narrative is so clear on just the first viewing even though there is so much going on and they use every possible element they can to further enhance that narrative. repeat viewings just add more and more little details. i’ll probably miss some things because there's so much but i'll try my best.

costume

look, hanya and i were joking that my notes for this stage were just gonna be ‘san dog collar’ for a thousand words and i was so tempted to just leave it at that because.....woof. so here is a short list of things i am the most obsessed with:

san dog collar

san smeared lipstick

wooyoung cruella deville ponytail

hongjoong terrible blond crewcut

san crushed velvet cargo pants?!

seonghwa cropped fur jacket

yunho arm sleeve

hongjoong sockless in red derbys

but in all seriousness the costumes are so good. none of these are truly authentic punk looks but they capture the spirit right and that's what matters. all the right trappings are there; safety pins, patches, plaid, leather, and a lot of diy type looks. i love the painted masks, especially as a callback to the comedy/tragedy theatre masks. it was a thematic choice to have the backup dancers in black and the tac vests are a super simple contextual device.

also hongjoong’s quickchange hat/jacket combo is super fun and i hope that’s intentionally a preview of the next stage.

set

if you weren't convinced before that whoever is designing the ateez stages is a stage designer, i don't know what to tell you. it's hard to tell because there is so much environmental storytelling happening, but there is NO large scale set here. like with their last stage, kq smartly put money into two highlight pieces; the anarchist blimp and the van/wall, and the rest of the stage atmosphere is established solely through propwork and lighting. just think about that for a bit. every other group has some kind of large scale room or wall build. ateez has a bunch of tables, flyers, and a podium. i don’t know if i can accurately communicate just how difficult this kind of coordination is to pull off but holy fucking shit this is so hard to pull off. these are theatre people i see you and i see your work and i love you!!!

they fully used the gilt mnet stage as their pseudo government building and it works. everything about this (lack of) set is so smart i wish i could be more articulate about it but there’s so only so many ways i can say the same thing over and over again.

lighting

the laser scopes. the LASER SCOPES!!! god this lighting designer is so good. whoever you are, i'm acknowledging your effort because you deserve it. there’s some really wonderful contrast and directional lighting: the van light, the pinlights/lasers/smoke as searchlights. a lot of atmospheric red lighting but it makes sense for the theme (alarm lights) and they offset it well (unlike in the other two predominantly red stages we’ve seen) by fill lighting the faces with blue or amber; this is what actually makes us able to see what’s happening on stage

the projections are used to augment the stage action in without being overpowering, they're at relatively low tonal value so they aren't lighting up the stage at full brightness like in the skz stage.

the big brother eye on the tv screens (it's just a projection, not actual screens) combined with the government ban notice and the broadcast has to be the record for fastest visual explanation of fascist totalitarian state.

sound

i love it. they really successfully made rhythm ta into an ateez song and it’s cool as fuck. i love that it isn't sonically very loud. a lot of the chorus is actually quite level tone and quiet, which is a bold choice and they pull it off. this is very comfortably in their range (excluding jongho) and they went more for style than range and that's exactly what every group should be doing. singing high does not equal singing good. yes i am looking at you jongho you should have stopped at that penultimate note, it was fine!!

using rhythm ta as a pseudo protest song against a fascist government that’s banned all music and art? galaxy brain. that intro of hongjoong whispering “hey hey hey hey, this is just a song so get on the rhythm” after gunning down military police/guards? king fucking shit.

staging

i will eat all five pairs of my fluevog boots if kq hasn't hired a bunch of theatre professionals to direct and design these stages because now it's been proven that last stage wasn't a fluke. the level of execution at work here is absolutely incredible. oh the gesamtkunstwerk of it all!!! there is SO much happening so quickly in this four minute stage and it still manages to convey exactly the correct amount of information that it needs to on the first go round, and it only gets better on repeat viewings.

they use a really classic theatre perspective trick with san climbing the rope, and they absolutely didn’t have to do that. san probably could have actually climbed that himself, but here they made a choice for aesthetic artistry over tricking/other feats of skills we’ve seen the 4th gen groups do. instead of going with the more technically difficult and ‘impressive’ option, they chose the simple way that allows for more character to shine through. there’s actually very little tricking in this stage as whole, they're putting trust in the design of the stage and the raw performance abilities of the members to carry the stage and they stick the landing again. san has some breakdancing and so do the backup dancers, but it’s window dressing in the same way that the flyers are window dressing.

there’s a lot of really good little moments of acting that really sell the performance and dedication of the group as a whole to giving their all. hongjoong overall in his cocky aspirational leader role, seonghwa’s first verse and malfunctioning earpiece bit, san’s falsetto hostage interrogation bit. also i'm obsessed with how far yunho just hucks that mask. he gets like fifteen feet of air with that thing. also props to hongjoong barehanding that glass break.

the paper props are impeccable. the first notice sets up the situation right away, and then we get some further exposition with the newspaper wooyoung is holding (which says ‘the central government has defined the black pirates as a terrorist’ but honestly you don't really need to know what it says to get the point), and then we have raining anarchist flyers from the anarchist blimp. great atmospheric touches.

the blackout crash-to-mask transition is just so good. this is an example of a good use of a blackout. nothing else to add i just thought i would point it out because it's dope.

like with btob there's some really tight camera control here, that along with the lighting and the way they've laid out the space make it easy to follow the trajectory of where they're going and also make the space seem smaller than it is. this is a really big stage and if you don't control how you want it to be seen you end up like with what happened to the first part of skz’s stage. i wish they had tracked some of the one takes a bit better, but the end of that take where the camera followed the group movement laterally and then the formation swung around to face front? sexy. surprisingly the editing is pretty ok.

there’s probably still so much i could talk about but this is already so long so if i missed something just let me know.

ok finally lets do some rankings

personal ranking

this round wasn't as tough to rank because there were two clear top tier stages for me. i actually went back and looked at my ranking from last round and this is identical except the top two spots are switched, which i find extremely funny. however in contrast to last round, these stages were all leagues better than their predecessors. all the groups are improving, just some at greater speed than others.

ateez - i'm not even gonna explain this one.

btob - i won't explain this one either since i just did that.

sf9 - this would have been first if ateez and btob hadnt blow everyone out of the water.i still think they made all the right choices and played to their strengths.

ikon - this stage is so fun to watch but the others offer me more. that’s it.

skz - i like the idea behind it and i loved felix; i'm always down for some good catholic fuckery but like last round it just wasn't played out far enough.

tbz - double ding on the moulin rouge and the continued game of thrones references for me. there were a lot of strong elements here but when compared to every other stage it just doesn't have the same gravitas.

the self rankings i thought were fairly accurate, but again, what the fuck is up with these expert rankings? who are these experts? what stages are they watching?? i won't go more into it than that because then you'll be here even longer but i don't trust these experts who consistently rank btob at the bottom, do you have eyes??? ears????

ok i'm done for real now im so sorry this 4.6k words......if you make it this far do something nice for yourself like eat a cookie or something. this is way too long you deserve a reward for making it through my nonsense. as always if you’ve got questions or want to share your opinions feel free to send me an ask!

#kingdom #kingdom review #should i risk it and tag the groups this time? i kinda wanna bait some weirdos #kpop analysis #ok im gonna do it #ateez #btob #stray kids #the boyz #sf9 #ikon #im pretty sure i missed so much here but this is so long im so sorry #at least next week i wont be doing this kind of writeup #text

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