#i don't know how id ever top that trilogy

[cookierye]

every day i remember that my first introduction to any sort of coding was that my shit brain downloaded renpy and decided hey you know what would be Really Funny. and then made world's worst three shit post visual novels based on an inside joke we had with exactly one friend but we made our entire friend group play them anyways. they were dating sims. obama was there

[casspurrjoybell-24]

The Alpha's Beta - Chapter 21 - Part 3

BOOK ONE: The Alpha's Trilogy

*Warning Adult Content*

This Moment - Part 3

Alpha Silas Claymore

After a couple of minutes of heated kissing Darren broke the kiss so we could suck in a breath.

"Wow," I said after a couple seconds.

"You're quick off the mark."

"I haven't gotten laid in... Moon Goddess... how long have I been here?"

"You really know how to charm the pants off of a person, don't you," I replied.

He just shrugged and put his lips back onto mine.

After a few seconds I felt him part my lips with his tongue.

Soon we were battling for dominance.

His tongue skimming over mine.

I felt his hands at my hips, his weight over me.

I could feel his hardening length pressing against my thigh.

The pleasure of just kissing him was almost unbearable.

I honestly couldn't imagine what mating with him would be like.

His hands slide under my shirt, his hand's warm, as he slide them up my torso.

One hand stopped at my nipple as the other slid back down to undo my belt.

After a few minutes, both of us were topless, my pants were at my knees while his where undone and opened.

His lips were at my neck, nipping and sucking while silent moans left my lips.

"Fine," I mumbled as he bit a little harder into my neck.

"Fine what?" he asked, between kissing up to my jaw.

I sucked in a breath.

"You can fuck me, Darren but next time, it's your turn."

I could feel him smirk against my skin and his hands slid into my briefs.

I gasped as I felt his hand rub on me, his fingers teasing the tip.

Between his hand teasing me and my hands digging into his hips, Darren had kicked his pants and boxers off and I had kicked off mine.

I could feel him pressing into my skin and I ducked off to the side, opening my end table.

I took out the small bottle and opened it, pouring the lukewarm gel into my hand.

I moved my hands onto Darren, moving up and down his shaft slowly.

I heard him let out a groan before he went back to my neck.

I worked him for a good few minutes before I felt his fingers move into me slowly.

We worked together, our rhythms matching.

Soon Darren added two more fingers into me and just as fast as they were added, they were taken out.

My hand moved off him as he lined himself up to me.

He moved inside me at a slow and calm steady pace, both of us letting out groans.

Him of pleasure, me a mix of pleasure and pain.

As soon as I was filled, Darren stopped moving.

His elbows moved beside my head and he looked down at me.

Our eyes meeting as we both laid as one.

"Are you good?" he asked, studying my face and I just nodded my head.

He waited a second before moving.

I've had sex, a good two handfuls of times, before but not once did it feel like this.

The pleasure I felt was unbelievable, I couldn't believe I said no to this before.

I was never saying no to this, ever again.

I moved my hips to meet his rhythm as he trusted into me.

He moved one hand to my waist, as the other sat comfortable by my head.

The room was thick with the scent of lust and sweat, groans and skin hitting skin could be heard.

I could feel my muscles tighten as Darren hit my prostate, over and over again.

I could feel his body stiffen just as I thought I was about to lose everything.

I felt utter bliss fill my body as I reached my climax.

Just as we both came, Darren went for my shoulder, his teeth braking my skin.

At the same time I went for his chest, skinning my canines into his pectoral.

Once we had finished Darren had fallen on top of me, both of us panting and covered in sweat.

"That was a brilliant idea," I said, as I moved my fingers gently on his back.

"The best ide,a I've had in a while," he mumbled back, before moving off of me.

I moaned slightly at the loss of him inside of me but soon recovered when I felt a hand on my hip.

I felt my eyes grow heavy, my consciousness slowly slipped away.

I forgot all about Simon being missing and about tomorrow's pending engagement.

I only focused on what was with me now, the man who had his hand tapping lightly on my hip bone.

Tomorrow was going to be a hard day but right now I was going enjoy this moment.

[randomrabbidramblings]

Yay another Rayman in the Phantom Show ramble! :D

I'll say it again, I went into this DLC with very low expectations. I was afraid the devs rushed it even more than The Last Spark Hunter (don't get me wrong, I love it too, but you can't deny it feels very rushed), so as what happened with Kanya who, as the main villain, didn't get a lot of time and seemed like she lacked a third battle, I was expecting Phantom to recieve the same treatment. Thankfully it was all disproved by Phantom constantly getting in your face to guide you to your demise through the Studios. The lack of Phantom's backstory portraits like we had with the other Wardens was a bit felt, but seeing how much informations we got from all the cameos that the devs threw at us in the last year, I understand them being maybe a bit too much if they were added.

I do feel like this DLC (like the other two) was a bit rushed and it's a shame. I don't know if it has to do with the unmet expectancies of Sparks of Hope's sales, or the fear of the (supposed) upcoming new Nintendo console, but the rushedness is really felt through the games. It's a shame because with such levels of artworks, animations, characters and everything else, given a bit more time would have resulted in a top tier game. It still is in the fandom's hearts, but having more outside people aknowledging it would be fantastic.

Phantom disappearing so suddenly left me surprised too. I thought after defeating him, besides from Rayman replacing him in the after-battle screens, you would get some NPCs talking about him, maybe wondering where he went too. But maybe it's the best scene exit for him. It's in character too as I can see him storming off stomping his (figurative) feet and leaving without a word to his crew, angry at his second defeat (but at the same time happy to have made such a comeback). Maybe if this was the last we will ever see of him and if we're getting a M+R trilogy, perhaps in an hypothetical third game there will be mentions of him like in Terra Flora's cameos. Even if a little part of me wants him to have yet another part to play in the story (*cough* him plotting revenge in the sewers under his old theater *cough* we still have that conveniently Phantom of the Opera-shaped Cursa's broken mask for him to find *cough*).

As for Beep-0, he's a stubborn, hypocrite, hot-headed Roomba who tries to make himself look smart by liking stereotypycal smart things (Palette Prime's poetry, Melodic Garden's music...), but in practice he's not. I don't see him having a substantial change to his character because when his smartass persona disappears for a moment and has more genuine reactions to things it's both very funny and heartwarming. If he was to humble up a bit and have a bit of development, I think it would all revolve around his relationship with JEANIE who is becoming the "student that surpassed the teacher" in terms of emotions and knowledge. At least this is how I see a potential Future Beep-0 (no, not the one from Kingdom Battle, lol).

As for my experience, I enjoyed Phantom's return like a normal, civil human being. By going full rab(b)id mode, that is, lmao. Phantom was such a delight to see in Sparks of Hope's new and improved style (both of his model and in his animations). I already blabbered enough about him being my favourite character and all, but I have to say it again. Theatrical, vain, hypocritical villains tend to be my favourite characters, but Phantom's reached the top spot (sorry GLaDOS) for also having an over the top musical number and for being the Rabbid version of the Phantom of the Opera. Not to mention the voice acting: that trailer where he actually talks without his voice getting very sing-songy melted my ears. As did his little comments throughout the game. And his songs. And the dubbings. I still can't get over the songs being fully dubbed instead of only having translated subtitles, lmao.

I love how this fandom, as small as it is, still manages to have so much love and respect for the games that would rival a fandom for a Game of the Year. I mean, look at me: I'm here gushing over characters and thanking the developers of a game I've never even played. Mario+Rabbids has been an experience so far and I truly hope the fandom will always be like this.

I was going to make a Big Official Review Post about Rayman in the Phantom Show but I don't really have enough complete thoughts to make something comprehensive and organized, but I still want to share some points from my experience with it so uhhh without further ado, here's a bunch of thoughts on what dazzled me and what I thought could have been done better.

Here I go...

I'll start with the stuff that bugged me first because I don't like to end on a bad note:

I think the biggest issue is that giving the player the option to complete each set in any order diminishes the opportunity to have a linear story. Without a series of events building up to the finale, the actual climax doesn't feel as grand or substantial as it should be (it definitely feels like a few lines were cut from the moments before Phantom's first verse with how abruptly it starts). It would have felt more immersive to see actual scenes of the heroes trying to play their roles and have more varied quests based on puzzles or even characters and dialogue (like the search for Sweetlopek's stolen axe), all whilst gradually putting the pieces together that they were led into a trap.

Speaking of putting the pieces together, it would've paid off to have Beep-0 learn from his own arrogance in the past instead of repeating his assertion that he knew what Phantom was up to all along. That part made me kind of sad because I really like Beep-0 and it seemed like they were setting him up to eventually become less uptight and more open to admitting his mistakes, which would be more satisfying and obvious!

As we all know, Beep-0 isn't the only one who repeated himself. I remember an exchange I had with @randomrabbidramblings about our predictions for what would happen in the climax; they were hoping the final showdown with Phantom would not be redundant with his first encounter, having the same battle gimmick as before. Unfortunately that is, in fact, what they ended up doing. While framing it as Phantom being unoriginal or making a callback helps it a little bit, ultimately it made me feel let down (although I love Beep-0's delivery when he reiterates his line from Kingdom Battle. he means business).

As for the aftermath of the battle, I want to know where Phantom went. There doesn't seem to be any sign of him anywhere in the studio. It's really odd, given how this was supposed to be his grand comeback (alongside Rayman, of course), but we don't get even a simple explanation of what happened to him after he was defeated for the second time, unless I missed something. I presume this is his last major appearance in a game (unless they decide to do something completely different with him in the distant future??? wishful thinking but not ruling it out!), so it's a strangely underwhelming and mysterious send-off to our beloved ghostly diva. I would have been bummed that we didn't get lore paintings for him, but the memory entry summarizing his surprisingly short-lived career actually made me laugh and honestly, the thought of him only releasing one album and becoming so well-known just because he's notoriously a huge jerk and a producer of incredibly terrible films is so in-character for him.

Another choice I found unusual was the lack of any explanation as to how he got his voice back, since it's been established that he screwed it up by overdoing it. Although, they must have dismissed it knowing that not everyone is going to find the mural containing the only source of that detail. His voice could have healed over time anyway, but it just doesn't entirely make sense that they don't acknowledge it at all (I did see @bramble-scramble 's post mentioning a detail @randomrabbidramblings pointed out where a gramophone can be seen in a box in the studio's control room and it is supposedly the one Phantom replaced with a new one when he messed it up, but even if that's true, it's still a bit easy to miss).

I understand that a lot of these issues were due to restraints since it's only a DLC and they could only fit so much in, but that goes to show that this concept is a little too big for a DLC, but not quite big enough for a full game.

Now, for the things I loved...

I must give massive props to the artists and animators for taking reference from multiple Rayman games and essentially making the pinnacle of his goofiness. Rayman was HIGHLY entertaining to see (and listen to, thanks to David Gasman) and very lovable in this! And the way his dynamic with Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario changes up until the end where he becomes friends with them and realizes that he can work with the Rabbids now instead of against them it's just 🥺 awgh... It feels cheesy to talk about it but it really does make me happy now that Rayman has a chance to be an equal to the Rabbids and have something resembling a mutual understanding.

I appreciate them bringing back characters from the main game and giving them their own sets. Fittingly enough, it's like a curtain call for the final installment of SoH.

The return of Beep-0's swearing. SERIOUSLY IT'S SUCH A SMALL THING BUT IT DELIGHTED ME

The studio's lobby is gorgeous. Absolutely STUNNING I love all the details and the music notation motifs on everything.

Honestly the rest of this is just going to be me gushing about Phantom hehehe...

First of all, I was completely awestruck at the decision to give him a swing/jazz sequence because I love the aesthetic of the whole sassy big band musical number kind of thing so when I saw that Phantom was going to do that I went INSANE. The animation in the song sequences is absolutely top tier. Phantom is ALL OVER THE PLACE, very charming, very energetic. The swing bit made me realize just how unbelievably coordinated he is. Like when he's zipping and spinning around the stage and it doesn't affect his singing at all? Holy crap. Then, I went even MORE insane when rock/metal Phantom showed up. I would have wanted a verse in that style too, but I get that it was cut because it would mess up the pacing of the battle.

I love Phantom's inability to contain his excitement at the start of the battle, his annoyed lines when you destroy the lights, his smug remarks even when he's taking damage. He's just so- I'm just gonna say it- so freaking cute in this! His line deliveries in general made me fall so hard for him, especially "were you EVER a thing, Rayman?". The way he drops his voice sounds so cool...

Regarding his abilities, I thought they were going to explain why he could turn people to stone in Kingdom Battle, but they simply took that detail away. I don't have a big problem with this, as the Stone Deaf ability could have been part of the Megabug's influence (and it makes him at least a bit less OP lol). I'm also satisfied to finally know that he can indeed phase through things like any other ghost and isn't limited to just teleporting.

His death acting has definitely improved since last time, in that it's silly and makes me smile instead of just making me feel embarrassed lol.

So uummmm yeah that's all the noteworthy stuff I can think of! Overall I thought the DLC was delightful during my playthrough, but after I finished it I felt kind of sad because it just didn't feel "thorough". However, given that Sparks of Hope generally improved on so many aspects from the last game, I'm confident that they'll keep adding and experimenting with more characterizations and scenarios and make something even better if they decide to continue with Mario + Rabbids. And even if they don't, we'll always have the amazing fans to continue the story and put even more wonder into this wild crossed-over universe!

Anyway, thank you for reading through this highly disorganized rant/gush! And while I'm at it, thank you to everybody in the Mario + Rabbids community for making such amazing art and just being here to share our love for the series. That means thank you to @randomrabbidramblings @bramble-scramble @salamifuposey @hostess-of-horror @phandrow @pastelprince18 @critterzone13 @hostdoozy @majorpepperidge and more! You guys are super cool and I appreciate you even though I've never directly interacted with all of you, hehe. I suppose all I have left to say is goodnight, so goodnight/day everyone! Until next time I decide to dump more nonsense onto your dashboard :D