#live service ruined gaming

[breakingarrows]

A Response to “Live Service Ruined Gaming” by NovemberHotel on YouTube.

I will preface this by saying that I am not writing this because I outright disagree or want to argue with or think NovemberHotel is wrong or dumb or anything like that. I am writing this because I watched the video a week or so ago and thought it made some good points and brought up some things I didn’t know about, but that I think it could be improved upon and made stronger in certain ways. I also believe that too often the “discourse” is really just people posting their opinions on Twitter or YouTube or whatever platform they choose without ever engaging in actual, real Conversation with other people, so here is my attempt to make a Conversation with this video as the subject.

“Players get a constant influx of content, and developers get a constant influx of money.”

I think the word usage of developers is a little dishonest here when it comes to who receives the majority of money a game makes, especially when comparing different studios and their owners/publishers. In this beginning montage we view gameplay footage from: Sea of Thieves, Overwatch 2, No Man’s Sky, Destiny 2, and Diablo IV. Beginning with the basic fact that, the people who are actually working day to day on these games are being paid a salary or an hourly rate regardless of the game’s monumental success or a significant failure. There might be a bonus based on the game’s launch or long term success, but you better hope it relies on a reachable goal, as we know games will sell well but fail to meet a metacritic average that allows a publisher and/or executive to walk away with all that money. This happened to Obsidian Entertainment and Fallout: New Vegas (a game you will be seeing pop up quite often in this video) in 2010 when Bethesda tied the bonus payment to a Metacritic score that Obsidian missed by just one decimal. Sea of Thieves comes from Rare, a Microsoft owned developer and you know Microsoft is funneling any and all financial success that game earns to its various executives such as Phil Spencer, the friendly common man who takes in more money in one year than you or I will ever see in our entire life. Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV are the latest from the Activision owned Blizzard, a company whose independence from its owner has only deteriorated more and more over time to where the two are pretty much indistinguishable from each other nowadays. I believe it was on a Giant Bomb podcast many years ago that they were discussing how Blizzard now is not the same as Blizzard in, say, 2009. The meaning being that Activison had more control over the direction Blizzard takes whereas beforehand Blizzard was free to continue operating as it had successfully for many years. No Man’s Sky is an independently produced game that has been shopped around to various publishers from Sony to 505 Games to Bandai Namco for its physical releases. Hello Games was infamously screwed over by Sony in their marketing of the game. For some, the amount of responsibility or fault between the two I’m sure will be debated forever. Also, in regards to No Man’s Sky appearances going forward, the game has only ever had a one time buy in with all updates and additions being free. Destiny 2 began life as an Activision product, no matter what independence Bungie attempts to trot out as part of their own pride. I do find that NovemberHotel’s comment about the Mental Health Resources tab on Bungie’s website despite them specifically creating a game that takes advantage of the mental state of players and used behavioral psychologist to help them incentivize people to buy into their game with both time and money is a great example of the bullshit corporate speaking to social issues but it only ever being empty words. For these developers who are owned by larger corporations, we all know Bobby Kotick is the one stuffing his pockets with your cosmetic purchase funds, not the engineer or animator or community manager you are yelling at on Twitter, Reddit, etc.

I do agree with the comment that customers are allowing this to happen more than they are not. This reminds me of the infamous Apex Legends “boycott” for August 2022’s season which ended with Apex having the largest new season playerbase of all time. Reddit is NOT representative of the majority of players. Sadly, yes, enough people are willing to pay and buy into these various live service games and that is why we keep seeing them happen despite the mounting failures.

In regards to live service meaning games now have “second chances” at life after launch I do think it is a double edged sword. I think games media can be too much of a forgiving optimist in terms of always having that saving grace of, “Well it could always get better, we’ll see!” which exempts them somehow from doing any real criticism of the game as it exists now. I know games are fluid with the advent of online consoles and patches but I also do agree that games that launch and are “not good,” do seem to get a pass in terms of, “well it could get better.” I do not agree however with the assertion that good reviews = good sales. Okami, Psychonauts, Bayonetta, and Beyond Good & Evil are some great games that were reviewed well but sold poorly. On the flip end, Homefront, Enter the Matrix, Resident Evil 6, Star Wars Battlefront II (2017), and Aliens: Colonial Marines reviewed poorly but were still commercial successes. Reviews don’t matter when it comes to sales. Also the image that first conjured up my interest in writing up a response was when he shows Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Final Fantasy VII, and Super Mario 64 as masterpieces developers were “forced” to put out due to the lack of post-launch updates. Except, Final Fantasy VII has a infamously bad translation that carried forward to even its release on PSN in 2009. Also, I have the obvious claim that these games are regarded as classics, yes, but don’t act like there aren’t any contemporary games that are regarded as classics upon their day one release: Disco Elysium, Breath of the Wild, and Elden Ring. Let’s not act like every game released in 1996 was a complete and perfect product. I do think it is very telling that he mentions, “But the convenience that comes with patching a game post launch, allows these studios to ship incomplete, buggy, imbalance, and outright broken games with the promise of live service support to address feedback on these issue and fix them later.” He will later go on to feature many clips of Fallout: New Vegas, implicitly as an example of a game done right. Fallout: New Vegas which was infamously criticized for being incomplete, buggy, imbalanced, and outright broken at launch! I was there! You probably were too! Don’t act like Fallout: New Vegas was held as the beacon of how to release a game in 2010 because we know it wasn’t!

I very much agree with live service games being a carrot on the stick in which you are strung along to always come back and buy into their store. I’ve never given into the instinct but I acknowledge it is there that I want to obtain everything that exists for a given game I’m playing, I want to have it “whole” and “complete” but live service games make this impossible on purpose in order to keep you playing and to keep you spending and it is not good for the players. These games being designed to specifically keep you occupied at all times and prey on the FOMO of content is insidious and gross, but again, I lay the blame at the feet of the publishers. I don’t think anyone at Arkane Austin wanted to make Redfall, I think Bethesda, their owner, saw the success of live service games and told Arkane to make one regardless of their own interests. I doubt Gotham Knights was the game WB Games Montréal wanted to make had they the freedom of choice. 

NovmeberHotel’s argument in favor of in-game currency unlocks and progression systems is pretty much the same that my response has been to things such as lootboxes and battle passes. In my argument though it is Halo: Reach in place of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but the results and principles are largely the same. Cosmetics existed within the game and could be added, but were unlocked via in-game challenges or by earning credits by playing which could then be spent on whatever cosmetic you had unlocked and desired at that time. Going from Halo: Reach to Halo 5, I no longer could reliably unlock a cosmetic I wanted, I had to gamble on lootboxes and hope it was included in whatever drop I received. This was a BAD change. I do, however, prefer the additional maps being automatically added in a large portion of online games instead of premium paid add-ons as it reliably keeps the playerbase shared instead of segmented, which can make contemporary matches in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops difficult because not everyone owns all the maps, so they rarely, if ever, appear in matchmaking today. Also I acknowledge the reduction of overall content but I think this is largely to be blamed on the increased fidelity in games that the audience demands. Battleblock can afford total destruction because it is literally blocks of right angles, whereas Battlefield 2042 has to be the most modern shiny technically impressive graphical engine which therefore loses out on destructibility at the scale previously seen. These games are only getting more expensive to make as we race to the bottom in terms of fidelity with more and more people being required to render the textures at larger and larger resolutions at a consistent framerate. I do agree that modern games appear to revolve around profiting off of FOMO and whale players.

I do bemoan that single player games are now also introducing battle passes and microtransactions, Ubisoft being the primary offender in this regard. I will also always cheer on those who point out how hostile publishers are to modders and fan-created works that improve upon the original game. Modding, piracy, emulation, and all of their ilk are worthy of praise and support and have done more for the medium than pretty much all major publishers combined.

I’m not entirely sure if I believe Live Service is here to stay. I really hate that Sony has twelve live service games in production (whether the disappointing live service adaptation of Marathon remains to be seen) but I do think the amount of failures, specifically financial failures, will be something the decision makers will be taking into account as they continue to pile up. 

[tainbocuailnge]

i havent really kept up with fgo story in ages ive been playing Other Games instead (gbf and ffxiv) and with that said i think fgo should get some credit for having more than one good writer. if it's good in ffxiv it's because natsuko ishikawa was involved and when famitsu listed which gbf events were done by the same writer years ago it turned out every single good one was done by the guy who did the doss. some of their other writers can do mid to okay it's not that everyone else sucks but if it's Good its Their One Good Writer. fgo has more than one writer who can make good chapters. in fact fgo is kind of the opposite in that even their worst writer can somehow make good chapters. and their good writers can push out some real fucking stinkers too. never let them know your next move

[rubberduckyrye]

Man can I get like. One Genshin channel that doesn't start hating on Genshin and praising WuWa by dissing Genshin?

I ain't HERE for the hate. I ain't here to be told that HYV treats Genshin Players like Ass and that the game devs don't care. I ain't HERE to see people talk abour how much better WuWa is because it's new and cool and has ~All these features Genshin Could Never~

Fucking fastest way to make sure I don't touch WuWa with a ten foot pole.

[finneander]

I actually hate that I got back into dragon age because now I'm checking reddit every day for any news or leaks or anything about da4 like a sad puppy

Also I'm getting bored of dai finally with the amount of playthroughs I've done and I need more stimulation

Then again I also still have to finish origins and 2

[val-of-the-north]

The "Hornsent deserved it" sentiments make me lose my goddamn mind

Short answer: No they didn't.

Long answer: Oh my gooooooooooood can we NOT do this shit, please???

There are two underlying sentiments to this line of thinking.

The Hornsent hurt Marika's people, thus Marika did nothing wrong, therefore they deserved to die badly

The Hornsent hurt Marika's people + Midra and some others, Marika is still evil, but the Hornsent deserved to be destroyed

Both may even come to the extreme of "Messmer wasn't cruel enough" or some other nonsense in the same vein.

-

Number 1

To tackle number one, we need to remember a little thing called Elden Ring's base game. The Hornsent's jar ritual is undoubtedly abhorrent, that much is true. But I urge you to remember the things that happened during Marika's reign. She:

Murdered all of the Fire Giants but one, subjecting him to a fate similar to hers but worse, forced into labor confined on the mountain among the remains of his people and culture. She mocked him, to boot. All of this because they might have burnt the Erdtree.

Enslaved the Misbegotten from birth "or worse" because their species just so happened to have made contact with the Crucible.

Rewarded her own loyal Crucible Knights with scorn because of it too, as they didn't fit her current society that they fought to establish.

Made sure the Albinaurics were seen as lesser just because they were graceless, which influenced the way they were treated. She even had her Inquisition, run by Rykard, torture them in needlessly cruel manners, as they appear to be their main victims.

Just in general, she allowed Rykard to run a sadistic Inquisition to torture heretics to the Golden Order in the first place, and she saw nothing wrong with it or their practices.

She entombed the entire Great Caravan over a false rumor, which is the sole reason why the Flame of Frenzy was even a problem during her reign. This has also scarred the remainder of their people greatly.

Made the lives of all Omen a living hell either by cutting their horns just as they were born which often kills them, hunting them down in as cruel a way as possible by using their trauma and body parts against them, or throwing them in a sewer to fester with evil spirits hidden from view. She also used to shackle them, including her two children, just to make extra sure they wouldn't crawl out.

Shunned anyone who saw a vision of the Erdtree burning, regardless of who it was, and chased them away from their homes.

Literally allowed the belief that shorter people are somehow lesser, for apparently no reason at all (her most random discrimination decision tbh). This forces them to band together and take up honorless jobs just to get by, and in turn, people start to spread rumors of their inhuman practices, which are likely all untrue.

Had people literally work as slaves for the nobility just by virtue of "being born into obscurity", whatever that means. As well as other accounts of slavery like the Fallen Hawks (likely tied to the defeated soldiers of ancient Stormveil).

Likely endorsed viewing anyone without Grace as inferior beings, which includes the Tarnished that only exist because she divested them of it. She has done nothing to ease their discrimination (despite potentially seeing them as a future asset of sorts), as even the members of the Crusade are more than ready to kill us, like Fire Knight Queelign.

All of this was done in service to HER religion and order. Killing all the Fire Giants and burying the Nomadic Merchants alive? Oh, they could have ruined her age with those pesky flames of theirs.

Systematically oppressing Omen, Misbegotten, Albinaurics and the likes? Oh, they are impure creatures, unlike her people, blessed with the Grace of Gold, elevated from the rest. (Which is the exact same line of thinking as the Hornsent and their horns for crying out loud).

"Oh but the Hornsent stuffed her people into jars" yeah, and I am not arguing the contrary! It was a cruel, deranged practice, born of simple superstition that their victims would be reborn as "good people". But Marika's answer if you don't fit her vision of the world is to either get rid of you and your people through extermination, by literally hounding you from your rightful home, or by enslaving you.

Both sides are genuinely awful... but there's only one side that people are justifying, and it sure as hell isn't the Hornsent.

Marika's backstory is meant to make her less a god, which is all we have ever known her to be before the DLC, and more a human, which is what she once was. It gives her complexity as a character, it's meant to be the catalyst from which we learn why she took the path that she took. It is absolutely not meant to make us go "holy shit guys, Marika was the good guy all along???", because what she brought upon this world through her burning desire for vengeance has ruined it irreparably, and ruined the lives of most of the creatures who inhabit it.

This includes her ruthless, honorless, pointless Crusade against the Hornsent. Sure, it was her own son that started it, but it was for her sake. It was her who allowed him to wage it, he had her full support... until the thing turned to such a slaughter-fest that even she could not associate with it anymore due to how appalling it all was. And what better way to do that than to seal her own son away to wage war endlessly? And not just because his actions made her look bad, but also for the same crippling fear and prejudice that saw her kill all Fire Giants but one and scar the Great Caravan.

Gratuitous violence across the board, and for what?

(I want to make it absolutely clear that I don't mean you can't like Marika now. In fact, I'd say the DLC made her much more of an interesting character to me as well. I just cannot fathom seeing the entirety of Elden Ring and coming out thinking "wow Marika was the good guy" because she isn't. Heck, coming out thinking that she'd be disgusted with what her grandson Godrick is doing with grafting as if she isn't the queen of having zero empathy for those who are graceless or aren't her family, which the Tarnished he grafts are neither. She'd probably be very proud if anything. Marika is a monster. She became one the moment she obtained godhood, because no milestone would quell her. She did all the wrongs, so take this whole section as a refresher in case you had forgotten)

-

Number 2

Now, to tackle number 2... this one seemingly has more nuance, but falls for the tried and true pitfall of "the many must pay for the crimes of the few" which is exactly where it rots and collapses onto itself.

Apparently, because of the perpetrators of the Jar Rituals, ALL Hornsent, INDISCRIMINATELY, deserve to be destroyed. They all, each and every single one, deserve the Crusade and the absolute pointless ruin that it brought them. From the children, to the ones who were friends with people with no horns, to the ones who found their own practices grotesque, to the ones that weren't even tied to the Tower's religion and were just simply living their lives.

They ALL, EQUALLY deserve to be burned, to have their cities destroyed, to have their lives ruined. All of them. Ok.

Number 2 works with the assumption that the Hornsent are some sort of hive mind. Some sort of all-encompassing religious order who believes in their superiority. But that's just the Tower's religion. Hornsent are a people. And people are individuals, with their own opinions, their own lives. In fact, from the perspective of the average Hornsent citizen, they were attacked out of nowhere as they were living in peace, which likely means they weren't even at war with Marika before this event.

People also have the assumption that all of the Hornsent were benefiting from their society, which is blatantly false. In fact, outside the treatment of the Shamans, the people that we know the Hornsent have hurt the most are their fellow Hornsent. We know of quite a few of them suffering at the hands of their kin BECAUSE of their religious and cultural practices.

Being Hornsent isn't a "free from mistreatment" card. If anything, the large Gaols where they were imprisoned were built specifically to house them. The main prisoners we find in large numbers are commoners, the same types as the ones scavenging the ruins of their ravaged towns. They are often seen eating maggots off the floor and cowering in fear. All of them were Hornsent too, locked away for who knows what crime. Could have been big and important, small and insignificant, or even just a failure to do something properly (there's precedent), point is, it's clear the Hornsent weren't having a good time in there.

The jar rituals were used mainly as punishment for the imprisoned Hornsent themselves, as a way to have them become "good people". This was just as horrifying for the Hornsent prisoners as it was for the Shamans I assume. Look how terrified this Hornsent seemed at the prospect of sharing that fate. This is the reason why they chopped up Shamans in the first place, as ritual ingredients for a punishment meant primarily for their kin.

And there were more Hornsent who suffered because of the leading ideology. Curseblades were once shunned because they failed to become tutelary deities, and so they were thrown in the Jar Gaols. They were only let out so they could use their expertise and flowing movements to defend their homeland when Messmer invaded, otherwise they'd be rotting with the Innard Shamans and the other Hornsent prisoners the way Labirith is.

It's also worth pointing out that Midra's Mense was filled with Hornsent attendants who sided with their sagely master regardless of his lack of horns and what the Inquisition believed of him. If we were to operate with reasoning number 2, they too would deserve to be murdered in the Crusade because they just so happened to be Hornsent. Because ALL Hornsent deserve extermination for what happened to the Shamans.

And we also know that the Hornsent can find what happens in Bonny Village revolting. In fact, we know that from someone who was born and raised there.

This sounds nothing like someone who thought any of that was ok. So who is to say other Hornsent weren't like this too, especially those who DIDN'T live in Bonny Village? Those who risked being stuffed into those same jars themselves? We make waaaay too many assumptions about an entire race, and that in itself is foolish enough.

If there's someone to blame, it's the Tower's Inquisition. They are the religious order that governs the Hornsent. They have all the power in their society... and yet, would you look at that? Enir-Ilim, their sanctum, the one place where those calling the shots reside, is completely untouched. And what about Bonny, the most structurally fine Hornsent settlement, when you'd expect it to be a black stain of char by now. But nope, no sign of Messmer activity and the Greater Potentates are just running around naked, doing their thing as usual.

The Crusade isn't even a good tool of vengeance, the only ones suffering are the civilians who were likely the ones with a higher risk of ritual jar punishment anyway. If this isn't proof enough that the Crusade is a completely petty, useless revenge war that accomplishes nothing I don't know what else to say. I'll just leave with what the people taking part in it were taking pride in doing.

These are people who, without a shadow of a doubt, would have chopped up most of the oppressed groups described earlier and stuffed them into jars if Marika had told them to do so. (Heck, something like this was being done to the Albinaurics already, as we have seen previously...)

They have zero moral superiority, their deranged zealotry is the only reason they act in the first place. Not to mention that they have no connection to Marika's struggles or past, nor were they informed of them I bet. It's likely only Messmer truly knows the reason for the Crusade, and that's only because he is her child and shoulders all the blame onto himself.

"Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death" is LITERALLY their motto. Do you really think they stopped at the Hornsent? They were just their main target, but judging by the way all of Messmer's soldiers, including Queelign and the other Fire Knights, and even HE HIMSELF, attack us on sight for the simple fact we are Tarnished and lack Grace in our eyes, I have no doubt in my mind these people were just rounding up and killing anyone who didn't conform with the Golden Order.

THESE are the people who should be allowed to play judge, jury and executioner with the entire Hornsent race. And people will genuinely, with a straight face, tell you "That's right".

-

To conclude... I think I actually hate reasoning 2 more than reasoning 1 lol, despite not liking either at all. At least 1 is understandable. Marika is a very interesting character, one that we have known for a few years now. We have an attachment to her, heck, sentiments of her being some sort of misunderstood/rebellious figure were already there before the DLC. In that regard, I understand the emotional response, even though I still think it's a wrong mindset to have. I have at least some hope that it is purely in the realm of fiction because it's a beloved character, nothing more...

Reasoning 2, on the other hand, attempts to be nuanced, or at least pretends to be. In reality, all it peddles is the "an eye for an eye" mentality which is much too common irl as well. Not only that, but it deals in monoliths. All people belonging to a group or race are equally responsible for stuff they didn't even commit, stuff that could have even harmed them, because their leaders decided to commit crimes against another set of people. And don't get me wrong, there will be even commoners from that group or race that will agree with and celebrate that bad deed, but just as many will not, but will be either scared, powerless, already being punished for speaking up through physical violence or elaborate shunning, or currently protesting and doing something to hopefully ignite a change.

But that reasoning only exists to perpetuate cycles; of war, violence, and hate for the most part. And sadly, this mindset is very prevalent, a lot of people fail to see the issue with wanton violence as long as it's to stroke that lust for vengeance. And vengeance is a theme that Elden Ring criticizes multiple times in a row, even beyond the obvious horror of the Crusade.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Hello Tumblrs!

My wonderful friend Several Puffins (he is a real human friend I promise, he is not actually several puffins with or without a trenchcoat) has made a lil arcade game for Android or computer in which you go for a lovely walk in the park, but Tory politicians are trying to get you. From the game page description:

A General Election announcement!

We in the Flummockshire County Council wish to give the Tory Party the thanks they deserve in the run-up to the general election!

Enjoy a sunny day in the park! Don't let feral politicians, desperate for your vote, ruin your day, and don't listen to the rumours that Liz Truss has been eating squirrels live on the children's roundabout. She is a titanic figure in British politics, and not just because she came second place to an iceberg.

Remember, you can always defend yourself from unwanted canvassing by pulling condoms over their heads.

Where will you get all these condoms while out in the park? Well, thanks to council cleaning service cuts, these days they're just lying around! And if you don't like that, well, just don't ask about our local rivers.

The game is called Pulling a Condom Over Boris Johnson's Head, and is available on Itch. It's free, but you can donate to the creator. It's an arcade get-the-highest-score type game, so it always ends in them getting you, but the cause of death is different depending on which one gets you.

Also the artwork of each Tory is filled with satirical jokes. I really love how £50 notes fall out of Rishi's pockets as he scuttles between bushes, for example.

Anyway enjoy this masterpiece

[a-autodidact-writer]

Shigaraki’s love languages

I see a lot of stuff about touch starved Shigaraki (which is totally true) but I feel like he'd also be scared of touch. Same thing with words of affirmation. 

It would take a long time before he'd be comfortable being touched. He's so used violence and anger. He's never been held, only beaten and abused.

No positive words ever genuinely spoken to him. Trying to compliment him or subtle touches to try and show how you feel would scare him away.

That leaves the three other love languages; gift giving, quality time, and acts of service.

Gift giving would have to be small things, going out and buying him gifts like flowers may make him think you're expecting something in return.

But stopping by his favorite sandwich place and buying him a sandwich ‘sense you were getting yourself one anyway’ would make him feel seen. Or buying him a game he mentioned to you because ‘you wanted to play it too and it has two player’ might get you a thank you and a small smile.

Speaking of video games, quality time could be you playing a game with him now and again. Or just quietly sitting on the couch while he plays his game. Giving him space, but being in the room. People just being in the same room as him usually makes him tense. But slowly over time you see him grow more comfortable with you being around. 

Like everything else on this list acts of service would have to be small to not freak him out. All things would have to be seen as easy and done without thinking about him too much.

When living at the hideout for a while, occasionally switching his laundry sense ‘you needed to use the washer and didnt wanna wait for him to switch it’ or sewing up ruined clothes after a fight sense you ‘needed something to do’.

But over time, after a fight gone wrong. He asks you to help him patch himself up. It's the only time he's let you touch him. Letting you clean and sew up the parts of him that he can't reach on his own. It's a start.

Shigaraki is a man who needs to be loved gently, patiently, and with understanding.

Accepting the fact he may never be able to love the way most people can. That he’ll never be the model boyfriend, he's rough, mean, and deeply traumatized.

Sitting on the couch with you, while you may be on opposite sides of it. He still is quietly enjoying sharing space with you. It's important to take the small wins. 

Each one, no matter how small, is a sign of progress.

[chocostrwberry]

If yall have noticed, I often mention “seasons” when describing the timeline of my AU.

“Choco?? What are these seasons you are talking about? Why are there only three when the show has five??”

Sit down, little one, and let me tell you a story…

AHDKWHSJ JK JK

But anyways-

I have split the events that happen in my AU into seasons because then it’s easier for me to keep my facts and timeline in order! All episodes are in exact order/sequence of events!

Season 1: Gabriel can create sentimonsters.

In this season, it’s establishing the world of Miraculous. Marinette and Adrien is learning how to be miraculous holders while navigating their own lives.

Origins: Marinette becomes Ladybug for the first time alongside Chat Noir to defeat Stormy Weather.

Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat an Akumatized Mylène, Animelle. Together, they visit Master Fu for more information on their new duties.

Marinette has a hard time balancing being Ladybug and her civilian self. Ladybug and Chat Noir have to team up to defeat a game-themed teenage akuma.

Sweetpea: Marinette enters a design challenge with Alix, and Adrien is her model! Rose is akumatized into Sweetpea after a health scare makes her unable to help her team with their design.

To Be or Not to Be: There is a school play, and Chloe will stop at nothing to get the main lead. Ladybug struggles to win over Chat Noir, who seems oblivious to her attempts at flirting.

Boy meets Girl: Marinette develops a crush on the class’s most popular boy after defending Juleka against Chloe. LB and CN battle Reflekta.

Princess Justice: Marinette is chosen to submit a dress design to high-fashion company represented by Chloe’s mother. Jealous of her success, Chloe destroys her project, causing Marinette to be Akumatized.

Fish Food: Ladybug and Chat Noir have to defeat an akuma who goes by the name of Captain Kraken. For the Winter Ball, Marinette makes plans to ask Luka to be her date.

Winter Formal: The winter formal is here, but Marinette is worried about an akuma attack that might ruin her chances with Luka.

Be My Lover: Now that Marinette is officially dating Luka, Adrien’s jealousy becomes more apparent. Chloe’s repetitive and harsh rejections of Kim turns him into Dark Cupid.

Road Rage: Adrien has a fight with Chloe about her behavior towards others, and she acts out once again and Nino is akumatized into a foul-mouthed biker with a vendetta against her.

New Girl: A transfer student is introduced to the class, but Marinette is suspicious of her two-faced behavior.

Prophetica: Marinette’s constant lying and lack of trust makes her and Alya have a fight after she fails to bring cupcakes to her sisters’ birthday party.

Primadonna: After Chloe’s mother decides to take her half-sister to her movie premiere debut instead of her last-minute, Chloe becomes Primadonna and turns Paris into her own personal black-and-white film.

Sabrina seeks Marinette’s help to expose Lila after she comes between Sabrina and Chloe’s friendship.

King of Music: Jagged Stone is akumatized and it is revealed that Luka and Juleka are his children. Marinette’s duties as Ladybug become more demanding and her relationship with Luka strains.

Winter Wonderland: After Chloe misses one of Sabrina’s recitals, she is Akumatized into Ice Queen and turns Paris into an eternal winter.

Marinette misses one of Luka’s concerts, where he was going to debut a song he wrote for her. They break up and he is Akumatized into Heartrocker.

Liar, Liar: Marinette finally tells the class who Lila really is, but they have a hard time believing her. Lila is Akumatized into Miss Miracle and offers her services to Hawkmoth in order to take down Ladybug.

Lila strikes a deal with Gabriel when Adrien invites her over to his home out of pity. Hawkmoth’s identity and motives are revealed. Chat Noir takes Ladybug to see Master Fu for help because of Plagg’s warning against Lila.

A New Guardian: Master Fu makes Ladybug the new Guardian before Lila can get to the Miracle Box.

Goldbug: The peacock miraculous is fixed. Hawkmoth unifies the miraculous to become Shadowmoth. He creates Miss Miracle’s first sentimonster: Goldbug. Marinette becomes Firefly to defeat them both.

The time span for this season is about 4 months, starting in the beginning of Junior year.

Season 2: Emelie wakes up.

This season focuses on the lore of the miraculous. Ladybug unifies miraculous every other episode to defeat both akumas and sentimonsters. Lots of kwami-swaps and unified ladybug happen in this season! (Scarabella, Queen Bee, Carapace, Ladybee, etc.) Marinette is also warming up to Adrien.

Chat Noir is skeptical she’s the right pick to be guardian, and she takes that personally. She decides to unify against Reflekta and her sentimonster, Reflekdoll.

Mr. Midas: After rejecting an expensive present, Chloe’s father is Akumatized into Mr. Midas and wants to turn everything into gold for his beloved daughter. Tigerbug and Chat Noir try and defeat him and his sentimonster.

Sweet Dreams: Ladybug becomes Hercula after a sleepy akuma discreetly puts Paris into an eternal slumber.

A Spider’s Web: Ladybug becomes Mantigirl to defeat Arachnia, a kindergarten teacher who is Akumatized at the Paris Zoo and trapped Adrien and others.

Marinette comes down with a mysterious illness, and so it’s up to Scarabella and Chat Noir to save Paris from an Akumatized grandmother and her gang of angry sentidogs!

The Wailing Lady: Firefly and CN battle against a grieving widow and her sentimonster, a giant willow tree in the middle of Paris who she believes is her deceased spouse.

Sugar and Spice: Marinette faints while working at the bakery. This makes Sabine anxious, and she is Akumatized into Mother Desserts. Marinette and Chat Noir work together to save her.

Tikki suggests giving others different miraculous to help her fight the akumas and sentimonsters. Adrien tells Chloe about his crush on Marinette thanks to Plagg. Chat Noir visits Marinette and takes her on a trip around Paris.

Operation Ladybug: Luka suspects Marinette is Ladybug, and he recruits Alya to help him figure out the truth. Chloe starts treating Marinette with less disdain, much to everyone’s surprise. Firefly and Chat Noir fight another akuma and sentimonster.

Bon Appétit!: Alya’s mother becomes akumatized while working at the hotel. Ladybug and Alya work together while Chat Noir tries to keep Chloe and Sabrina. Alya’s suspicions are confirmed, but she tells Luka to stop digging.

Kwami Captor: After some mischevious kwami escape the miracle box with their jewels, Marinette becomes Multimouse to hunt them all down.

Queen Bee: Chloe decides to use the Bee miraculous she found to try and help Mantigirl and Chat Noir. Her need for attention makes the mission not go according to plan. Chat Noir and Marinette have an argument about his secret identity.

Protector of All: Nino and Adrien are in charge of elitist children for a day while Marinette and the class set up a school sponsor event. When an akuma attacks, it’s up to Nino to protect the kids while Tigerbug and Chat Noir defends them. Luka finally gives up his suspicions.

Miracle Team: The Miracle Team meet up for the first time to take down an akuma. But they struggle to actually work together! Chat Noir breaks up with Marinette, leaving them both devastated.

Soulmates: Marinette and Adrien spend the day together to find a gift for Chloe’s birthday. Nathalie finds out about Gabriel and Lila’s dark deeds with Hawkmoth.

Happy Birthday Chloe!: Chloe’s birthday party goes awry, thanks to Lila’s sabotage, and Chloe is Akumatized.

Sick Day: Marinette is too sick to go to school most days and struggles with night terrors. She is worried about her health, and talks to Tikki about it. Alya, Nino, Luka, and Sabrina try to clear Marinette’s name. Adrien visits Marinette at the bakery.

Marinette vs The World: Marinette’s friends finally has what they need to prove Lila is terrible once and for all. But Adrien isn’t sure it’s the best idea.

Cheer up, Marinette: After unifying once again to defeat an akuma, Marinette’s condition is so bad she is bedridden and cannot celebrate Chinese New Year with her family. The kwamis try to cheer her up. Adrien is growing worried about his father’s health and seeks comfort in Nathalie.

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Chloe’s influencer half-sister, Zoe, comes to Paris. Chloe humiliates her out of hurt and anger, and Zoe is Akumatized into Delightfulee.

Reign of Bourgeois: Chloe’s mother arrives in Paris after hearing about her outburst against Zoe. She is then promptly akumatized into Stylix and takes over the city. What’s worse, she has put a bounty on Chloe’s head.

A Sunny Day: The Miracle Team accepts Vesperia as the new Bee miraculous holder. Her outgoing positivity is welcomed, but her hesitation puts them in danger.

Never Trust a Fox: Trixx abandons Alya and runs away with the fox miraculous, pledging his loyalty to Lila instead. Volpina tricks LB and Chat Noir into thinking she’s on their side. Ladybug has to unify once again in order to defeat her and the akuma once she betrays them.

The Wish, Pt. 1: Because Marinette is out of commission, Scarabella, Vesperia, Carapace, and Chat Noir have to fight against Volpina, The Wailing Lady, and her sentimonster.

The Wish, Pt 2: Gabriel now has the Ladybug and Cat miraculous. Marinette and Adrien follow Volpina to the Agreste mansion, and Adrien learns the hard truth about his father.

By the end of the season, Shadowmoth has completed his mission and trades his life for Emelie’s. A part of Lila’s backstory is revealed.

This season ends at the end of Junior year, breaching into summer.

Season 3: Marinette’s Sacrifice

This is the final season of my AU!

Summer Break: Adrien’s doppelgänger cousin Felix attends the school after visiting with his aunt and uncle over the summer to help Emelie readjust. Lila now has a new name, Cerise Blanc, a woman sent by The Order. Emelie decides to give Cerise the butterfly and peacock miraculous in exchange for her having The Order keep an eye on Adrien. Cerise unifies the Peacock and Butterfly miraculous to become The Empress.

Return of the Butterfly: Rose is akumatized into Sweetpea once again after receiving devastating news about her condition. The Miracle Team return to take it down.

The Emperor’s Daughter: Adrien’s mother surprises him with his fiancé, Kagami, who he hasn’t seen in years. Her social class proves difficult for her to make friends.

Paper Flowers: Because of his shy nature, Felix makes an origami flower with a romantic poem written inside of it for Kagami. However, Kagami believes it was Adrien and becomes determined to make their relationship work.

Felix becomes depressed over Adrien and Kagami’s relationship while going out with them for the upcoming winter formal. Emelie grows jealous of how close Nathalie is with Adrien and sends her on a business trip abroad.

Boys’ Night: Emelie’s hovering nature makes Nino worried for Adrien. He starts to encourage Adrien to rebel a bit, but Nino didn’t expect Adrien to become so out of control when he’s off a leash. Meanwhile, the girls on the Miracle Team are having a sleepover to buy exclusive Jagged Stone tickets.

The Star: Adrien is akumatized into The Star after Emelie tells him she will unenroll him from school and return to homeschooling because of his recent behavior. She also fires Nathalie.

Tales of Scarabella and Kitty Noire: Adrien is under house arrest and Marinette’s sickness is coming back, so Scarabella and Kitty Noire have to keep Paris safe!

Hanabira: Kagami witnesses Adrien and Marinette together while waiting for their date at the Louvre, and is Akumatized and takes over the museum.

The Masked Lady and Me: When Cerise catches Felix looking for the peacock miraculous, Cerise later introduces herself as Madame Morphosis and makes a deal with him to avoid unification sickness. Felix’s backstory is revealed.

Our Frozen Hearts: Felix and Marinette find an unexpected common ground when they are forced to watch Adrien and Kagami dance together as Winter King and Queen.

Sentimaggedon: Madame Morphosis tests Felix to see whether or not she should let him keep the peacock miraculous she gave to him. In a desperate attempt to prove himself, Felix as Argos creates multiple sentimonsters that accidentally bring about the apocalypse. It’s up to the Miracle Team, with Dragonbug, to save the city.

Cat and Mouse: Marinette uses the Mouse miraculous once again to be undercover while dealing with akuma-related disappearances. But Chat Noir won’t take any chances and hunts her down to bring her miraculous to Ladybug.

The End of Us: Kagami breaks off the engagement with Adrien. Adrien then asks out Marinette, who delightfully says yes.

Motherbird: Emelie willingly becomes Akumatized by Madame Morphosis in order to keep her son Adrien under her watchful eye.

Sing a Little Song: Clara Nightingale, an American popstar and a close friend to Zoe, comes to Paris to shoot a music video. But her overbearing manager and strict schedule causes her to become akumatized into Frightingale.

Birds of Prey: While hanging out with Marinette, Kagami is kidnapped by Argos. The Miracle Team have to defeat Argos’s sentimonsters in order to rescue her.

Frenemies: Adrien is trying to get Chloe to warm up more to the idea of Marinette and him being together. Marinette helps Felix overcome his fears and talk to Kagami.

Bonded by Our Sins: After getting closer to Kagami, Felix tries to back away from Madame Morphosis’s control. However, she scares him into submission by threatening to hurt Kagami.

Who is Lila Rossi?: Argos is sent by Madame Morphosis to take Marinette’s miracle box after being informed by Trixx. But him and Marinette devise a plan to trick her.

True Love: Felix confesses his feelings to Kagami at the fashion show and shares his secret with her. Volpina hunts Marinette’s classmates one by one for the scattered miraculous, using extreme measures to get what she wants.

Let’s Do This, Together: The miracle team, along with Argos, has to defend Paris against Lila, who has unified most of the miraculous and become a magical hybrid monster.

Always and Forever: Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to take one last stand against Lila.

Happily Ever After: Marion, a 12 year old girl, discovers small magical creatures who live in her favorite music box!

Quick explanation for episodes 22-24:

Lila collects and unifies most of the miraculous, becoming a monster-animal hybrid and losing herself and all sense of rational. Marinette exposes her identity to all of Paris because of her, and Marinette is aware in a few hours everyone she’s ever known will forget her. Chat Noir reveals himself as Adrien to her before she takes his and the Ladybug miraculous, and unifies them to become Gimmi Marinette and destroy her for good!

Marinette feels Senti-Queen’s mixed emotions of betrayal and hate and loneliness, and her kindness shines through. She uses the Lucky Charm to rebirth Ah Lam as a child, giving her the opportunity to live a normal and love-filled life, the one she never had.

The time span is towards the end of Senior Year, when they were suppose to graduate.

AFTERMATH

So Marinette no longer exists, no one remembers her, and there’s a child version of Lila now.

Now what??

Child Lila is adopted by Marinette’s parents, who have always wanted to have a child. They rename her Marion. It means “wished for child” :,) But also “sea of sorrows”, symbolizing Lila’s life and the pain she caused!

After reading Marinette’s diary, the city knows she was Ladybug. They create a new park called “Ladybug Park” in memory of Marinette.

The Order of the Guardians come to reclaim the jewels unified by Lila, but the kwami refuse to be captured again and flee with their jewels. They all go back to the miracle box for safety. Marion finds the miracle box in Marinette’s old room, and unknowingly becomes the next Guardian.

Adrien only remembers Ladybug, and believes she was the one to unify the miraculous. He has no real recollection of Marinette, but subconsciously feels the loss.

Congrats for making it to the end heheh!

Have some cake! 🍰

Eat it under this rainbow for a break! You deserve it!

🌈

“BUT CHOCO!!”

“You still haven’t explained why there are only three seasons!”

Oh yeah! Sorry!

It’s because I feel like it took 5 seasons in canon to explain what happened in 3. I imagine my AU to be a Disney-owned show that was about to cancelled.

How can I sum up the plot of Miraculous Ladybug in 3 seasons, 12-15 episodes each?

LMAOSJW-

But yup! That’s it! Hope you had fun reading!!

[elliesgaymachete]

I think Game of Thrones damaged collective expectations for television media and is the reason for the decline of full length low budget seasons.

We all know HBO is high budget cable even before, but Game of Thrones was arguably the first time one of their shows became so massively, globally successful. People who had never consumed fantasy media in their lives were watching Game of Thrones. It became mainstream culture rather than nerd culture so your coworkers weren’t going to make fun of you for liking it. In fact, your coworkers probably watched it too.

Before this the only TV shows that achieved anywhere close to this level of popularity (and even then were not nearly as popular as Game of Thrones) were network shows, usually TV comedies. These were low budget and had full seasons! Things like HIMYM, Big Bang Theory, The Office. You either watched them or knew multiple people who watched them. Sometimes TV dramas also reached this level of popularity—Shondaland shows to name a few. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder. Even if you didn’t watch them, you had heard of them. These were also network shows. Low budgets, 22 episodes. Not to mention network television is FREE so it has the potential to reach a much wider audience than cable.

But Game of Thrones exploded into common popularity. Even people who didn’t watch much television watched Game of Thrones. And you know what they had because it’s an HBO show? Insanely high budgets and 10 episode seasons. They were basically making ten short movies released as TV seasons. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that itself, it worked well for Game of Thrones. The problem is how its affected television production since then. Sure shorter seasons and miniseries have existed before, but it feels like they’ve been in an upward trend ever since Game of Thrones

Every studio with a streaming service wants to create the next mega popular phenomenon like Game of Thrones so they copy the formula. Big budget, shorter seasons. Quality over quantity. But in doing so they neglected the main format television has used for quite a while. Network seasons are fewer and far between with smaller budgets and shorter seasons so they can invest more in the high budget shows. And a few of them were good, but somewhere along the way, they lost sight of the quality part and throw microbudgets at shows for six episode runs and are surprised when no one gets invested after only six episodes when we used to get 22 episodes and since no one’s watching anyway they just cancel it without giving the show a chance to find its legs. If it happens to get a lucky with a second season but there’s not EXPONENTIAL growth in viewership? Cancelled. Why is no one watching tv anymore? Why does no one want to pay for our streaming service that releases maybe one show you like every other year? Why why why they ask when they ruined a perfectly good formula and make things less and less accessible

[suashii]

— 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒𝑜𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝓊 ౨ৎ

miya osamu x reader. 0.7k wc. ﾉ sfw ﾉ fluff ﾉ papa!osamuﾉ reader is referred to as mom ﾉ repost!

a/n: father's day drabbled #3! kuroo's version and atsumu's version are available to read :3 suna tomorrow!

“dad, odie got mr. stuffins.” at the voice, osamu looks down beside him as he turns off the faucet to the kitchen sink. your daughter stands with her hands held out, her favorite stuffed animal nearly in tatters. the fabric is torn open by the threads, exposing the fluffy stuffing. and the offender is nowhere to be found.

“oh no. how about i hold onto him until mom gets home to patch him up?” osamu leans down to her level after drying off his hands.

“nuh-uh. he needs surgery right away!” the girl thrusts the damaged bear into his chest.

“i know, baby. i just don’t want to ruin your toy.” well, ruin it beyond its already ruined state. despite the stuffed bear already being torn apart, osamu’s sure that if he gets his hands on it, it might just end up looking worse. it’s more than likely that your daughter is already harboring ill feelings for the poor family dog and osamu doesn’t want to be next.

“daaad, you gotta fix him now. please?” she sticks out her bottom lip in a pout, fat tears pooling in her dark eyes. osamu swears he can hear a little sniffle.

how can he say no to that face?

“okay, okay. i’ll see what i can do.”

maybe it wasn’t the best idea for osamu to offer his services so hastily. even after several youtube tutorials, he still isn’t completely confident in his abilities to mend the broken. before now, he’s never had any reason to learn to sew. to make things worse, a whole piece of the fuzzy material is nowhere to be found. at this rate, even if the tutorials were of any help, he still wouldn’t be able to sew mr. stuffins back together.

but he’ll make this work—for her.

that’s how osamu ends up cutting up an old pair of his pajama pants to stitch your daughter’s beloved toy back together. it takes longer than he imagined it would to fit all the stuffing back into the bear and he poked himself with the needle more times than he could count, but, eventually, the task is done. the plushie is in considerably better shape than when it was brought to him, but it’s far from the bear your daughter knew.

after building up the courage to present the new and somewhat improved teddy to your daughter, osamu makes his way back into the living room where the girl sits coloring at the coffee table. upon hearing her father’s footsteps, the girl drops her crayons and runs to his feet. she looks up to him with expectant eyes.

“dad tried his best, but mr. stuffins looks really different,” osamu admits. it probably won’t be much help—the warning, that is, but he wants to prepare her for the very unfamiliar version of her old friend.

she bounces on the balls of her feet, excited for the fated reunion.

“if you don’t like it, i’ll buy you a new one.” he finally pulls the bear from behind his back, presenting it to the little girl. she quickly grabs it, eyes silently taking in all of the changes to her toy. osamu waits for a reaction. he never thought he’d be one to seek his kid’s approval, but today seems to be full of surprises. this moment is more nerve-wracking than any volleyball game he’d played in high school.

“so…” osamu starts, not able to wait any longer. he’s feeling just as impatient as her now. “how’d i do?”

“mr. stuffins is wearing your clothes,” she giggles, running her little fingers over the recognizable flannel patch. the tiny smile on her face and the absence of disappointed cries must be a sign that he’d done something right, but osamu wants to know for sure.

“you like it, then?”

“mhm, i can’t wait to show mom!” she hurries back to her place at the coffee table, surely excited to update mr. stuffins on everything he missed while he was undergoing his operation. thinking better, she stops in her tracks. the girl turns on her heel to make her way back to osamu. she wraps her arms around his leg in a hug, the bear trapped between her body and osamu’s limb. 

“thank you, dad!”

he sets a hand on the top of her head, ruffling the strands of hair. “you’re welcome, sweetheart.”

thanks for reading! reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated!

[wispythreads]

I did catch on to that part of it with him bouncing between jobs so frequently, and some of the other things like the fridge freezer, but they were still included in the jumbled up thoughts I listed out partly because I was thinking about them before coming to an answer, and partly because I'm not fully sure if those answers are all there is to it.

Cause, yeah, there’s the newspaper clipping rebuking him for being “unprofessional and brash” (which damn that’s also just rotating in my head because Vince was clearly reading this specific clipping earlier and blatantly lied saying Rody hadn’t been mentioned at all, later scribbling out the section talking about the waiter), he’s very clearly messy and unkempt in pretty much every aspect of his life, and even if he gets the to-go question right in the tutorial, Vince appends the "Good work." with "keep tone in mind."

But, the thing is, he does know a lot of the basics. Much of the tutorial is really just for the benefit of the player to know how the mechanics of the game works, Rody meanwhile nods along and does whatever task is needed without comment, only getting tripped up when Vince mentions the way the menu for his bistro works, and when the aforementioned customer asked if he could get boxes to go or call in his order ahead of time. Which I think are reasonable things to get tripped up on! Those seem like things that would vary depending on the establishment he was working for.

I keep thinking about his reaction when Vince pivoted the conversation of "do you actually like your job" onto Rody. His awkward response that it paid him money. Vince voicing specifically “I doubt you wanted to wait tables for a living-”, and that being met with how there was “something” Rody went to school for, that he was too hesitant to tell Vince, feeling he’d get made fun of. The impression that its some passion he had that just didn't work out. The revelation later that the “something” in question was him majoring in hospitality.

He was afraid he'd be made fun of for actively going to school and choosing to study for skills that, either ironically or purposefully, would've been useful for his current job of waiting tables. A goal that he flunked out of. He has had 28 jobs in the service industry over the course of 7 years. He keeps losing his job, but he also keeps getting hired.

I keep thinking of the post-credits scene of the Best Served Hot, whisky lemon cake ending. "I can't keep watching you ruin any semblance of progress you make with yourself while trying to make me happy, it's exhausting-"

He's only 4 days into this job when he approaches Vince for a raise. He already figures he'll have enough to do something nice for Manon, his "girlfriend," by the end of the week, but he wants more to make it really special. He is very clearly told 'no.'

On the 5th day, when his shift is finally over and done, we don't next see him as we usually do, back at his apartment. He's still at the bistro, all the lights turned out. The only other person presumably being Vince hacking away at the meat in the freezer that'll be used for the meals in the morning. The first time I went through that night, I presumed Rody had just been selected to stay late and help clean up for the night, with whatever Vince was doing in the background ominous horror ambience to be unsettled by.

But we can't really do anything while there that would support this initial assumption. There are only two things you can do. Snoop around in Vince's office, and... steal from the cash register. Whether you avoid doing the latter as I did or not, it has no bearing on whatever ending you get, but just the fact that it's even an option to Rody...

How many other times did he allow his love for Manon to rule over his decisions, making choices in the pursuit of what he believed would make her happy, no matter the cost, before finally facing a price for his obsession beyond the scope of his worst nightmares?

...

And after all that I do want to defend the rollerskates a bit because

Rollerskates in restaurants are kinda a thing, in the 1960s (the year this game is set) they were a pretty popular gimmick/tool for diners in the U.S. at least, not sure about elsewhere in the world unfortunately

Yeah he canonically brought and proceeded to wear rollerskates to work at a fancy bistro. But that also means Vince watched him show up to work one day, wearing rollerskates, and just let him do it. Just watched Rody roll around his fancy bistro attending to customers that expect the highest of professionalism, and said nothing.

[superstarz9]

So y’all fw some MORE Mr. Puzzles headcanons?

Cause I got some :]

Even though he streams his content, Mr. Puzzles hates streaming over normal television and believes it ruins the momentum. The only thing he appreciates about streaming is the lack of ads. No matter how bad the ratings are, Puzzlevision is an ad-free service!

To add, product placement is a no-go. Any products he might advertise on a show are all Puzzlevision branded, not that he’d advertise much. He’s a smart business man, which I’ll go in-depth with another time.

He’s all about authenticity with his actors an really hates big-time celebrities. Celebrities are snobbish and aren’t easy for Puzzles to handle. He also doesn’t want people to engage with his shows solely because of famous names. The day he hires a celebrity is the day he becomes a sellout, and the idea of selling out terrifies him.

Mr. Puzzles does an extensive background check of every single cast member he recruits. Not just because he’s trying to find the perfect actors, but because he’s trying to find people that wont be missed if they mysteriously disappear for long periods of time. After a cast’s likability begin to dwindle, Puzzles brings them back as if nothing happened. Previous cast members won’t remember their time at Puzzlevision and have a hazy memory for a bit before they adjust to normal. If they watch a show that they’ve been in, they’re so disconnected from the show that they won’t recognize themselves. However, Puzzles is careful to avoid reruns after switching casts.

He absolutely hates reality tv for multiple reasons. It’s the farthest thing from reality, everything is so fake, and the writing is HORRIBLE! If the audience demands it, he’ll make a reality tv show, but it would be one of the few things he wouldn’t mind not hitting 5 stars. The less creative impact he has on the show, the less he cares for it.

He prefers live-action over animation, but highly respects animated shows.

He likes movies but heavily prefers tv since television has always been frowned upon within Hollywood and the entertainment industry (It’s actually interesting to know the beef between movie studios and tv, I recommend checking it out. To put in into perspective, picture the Disney theatre movies vs the straight to video movies: there’s a huge difference and it’s somewhat obvious of the cash-grab tv movies/shows are. The purpose of tv has always been a quick cash grab, actually. Kinda like the first content farm, to an extent). Puzzles wants to prove that television is a respectable media outlet and shouldn’t be frowned upon within the industry.

He is familiar with almost any televised language. The only major issue is that, yes, he needs subtitles to completely understand. However, he can hold a relatively decent conversation in most languages, he’d just need a few refreshers.

Already talked about it last post but he likes to cook and really enjoys cooking/baking shows. Y’know that thing where you’re good at one but not as good at the other cause they’re so different (you cook to your liking vs following a strict recipe for the best dessert outcome)? I feel like Puzzles would be perfect at baking alone but any baking show he does goes to absolute shit. However, he’s not as great at cooking alone (since he can’t taste) but it much better with a sous-chef guiding him.

This was someone else’s hc (I don’t remember who’s, I’m srry), but they brought up that the order of shows Mr. Puzzles makes with the SMG4 crew reflect the shows he watched growing up (the kids-y shows, family disney-type movies, teen stuff like Scooby-doo, and gameshows). I’d like to add that he enjoys making gameshows the most because he can be the main character in every episode, and everyone’s reactions are the most genuine. The only thing I can see Puzzles not liking is the lack of creativity (similar to reality tv). However, it would be pretty fitting for a production company called Puzzlevision to make game shows.

This one’s gonna be a little bit more depressing. No matter how hard he tries or how good he thinks his writing is, Mr. Puzzles cannot write anything original. It’s the curse of seeing every piece of televised media to ever be produced. He tries his best to be original but as the puzzlevision arc continues, he gradually stops trying to be original, which is what ultimately causes him to lose. While Puzzles keeps trying to copy other successful media and failing, it’s the originality the SMG4 crew produce that gets them to 5 stars (and extremely quickly, too). Puzzles fails to realize that the shows he loves and tries to replicate were original, too, and that’s what got them to succeed in the first place. I feel like this success from SMG4’s originality is what sparked Mr. Puzzles’ envy in the first place.

To add to this, Puzzles has been canonically spying and interfering with the SMG4 crew for a while (selling them the showgrounds, the cursed keyboard in the ITS GOTTA BE PERFECT arc, the Western Spaghetti arc), and is almost a direct parallel to SMG4. They both was to succeed and produce original content, striving for perfection. The only major difference is that Mr. Puzzles has been alone for the majority of his life whereas SMG4 has his crew. Despite this, however, SMG4 still snaps and isolates himself similarly to how Puzzles takes complete creative control.

Not having a proper friend/support group is also what causes Puzzles to fail, isolating himself from the rest of the world. Even though we don’t see much of the studio, it’s still pretty run down and barren, implying that Puzzles doesn’t spend much time there, if at all. Puzzles spends most of his time in the shows, directing/acting/ect, and avoiding the real world where he doesn’t have control. When he’s in the real world and bored, he dissociates a lot, planning out his next big projects.

To add, he’s not a big fan of modern technology as a whole, and sticks to older tech (like the older computer model in the teaser between the scooby episode and the gameshow episode and his head being an older computer). Same goes for the studio. I can totally see him walking into the decrepit building with the real estate agent being like “this building hasn’t seen the light of day since 200 b.c,” and Mr. Puzzles ecstatically goes “I’ll TAKE IT!” He’d also do his own renovations and film it for an abandoned house-flipping series, scrapping it later because he sucks at renovating.

He can’t take constructive criticism if his life depended on it. He tries, but all he thinks is “well these people just don’t understand TRUE art in this world!”

He can play shows/movies in the back of his mind whenever, and often does if he’s not on set. Y’know that reddit/tumblr post about the kid who memorized Shrek so much that he could just watch it from memory and his dad would catch him at the 37:14 mark and be like “stop watching shrek and go to bed,”? Yeah, Puzzles is like that. Only difference is that he can’t pause it, only tune it out.

He’ll watch them, but found-family sit-coms depress him. Shows like Friends, It’s Always Sunny in Philly, etc remind him of what his life could’ve been if he could’ve made friends properly.

To add to this, y’know how he projects himself in his shows? What if he did that with shows like Friends, where he’s a part of the cast and laughing along. He’d do it in his sleep and not even realize it’s a dream until the episode ends and he wakes up alone. :,]

On a lighter note, older tvs release a light frequency that gets louder the older it gets. Mr. Puzzles probably hums a frequency without realizing it that people can only hear if they’re close and he isn’t babbling away. Older tvs also kinds adjust(?) where they slightly creek a lil. Mr. Puzzles probably does, to, and it’s the equivalent of him cracking his neck.

He’s also more prone to shock people slightly, depending on how manic he is. If he rubs his gloves together he’s practically a battery.

He has a daily care routine that involves him carefully wiping his screen with windex.

These ones are more show/content based. If these continue to do well I’ll post some more general and maybe relationship hcs :]. If you guys have any suggestions/questions/critiques please let me know!

[pin-k-ink]

hobbies // narumi gen

tw ⇢ sub!gen, dom!reader, strong sexual tension, teasing, praise kink, shibari/bondage, sensory deprivation(he’s blindfolded), edging, nipple play, unprotected sex, pussy job, sex toys, ruined orgasm, overstimulation, dirty talk, begging, squirting, handjob(just for a bit)

wc ⇢ 5.8k

a/n: i replaced hasegawa as the vice captain again 😭

The door to Gen Narumi's private quarters flew open with a bang, his vice-captain entering in a whirlwind of urgency. "Tell me they've arrived!"

Barely looking up from his video game, the lazily slouched Gen smirked. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite workaholic. To what do I owe this abrupt visit?" His eyes shamelessly roamed over your frame. "Though I can't say I mind the interruption when it looks this good."

You rolled your eyes, trying to fight off the heat threatening your cheeks from his shameless flirting. "Can it, Gen. You know exactly why I'm here." Spotting the pile of Yamazon packages, you wasted no time striding over and starting to sort through them.

"Looking for something in particular?" Gen's voice carried a teasing lilt as he finally paused his game, giving you his full attention. "You could just ask nicely instead of making such a ruckus."

"Since when have either of us been polite?" you shot back without looking up from your rapidly dividing the boxes into "his" and "yours" piles. Locating one marked with your shipping details, you quickly snatched it up possessively.

Gen rose from his lounging position with a languid stretch. "Fair point. We do skip most formalities," he purred, slowly making his way over to you. "I certainly have no complaints about our..." his eyes dragged hungrily over your body, "working relationship."

Clutching your package against your chest, you forced yourself to maintain an unflustered front. "Is that so? Well then, I'll take my 'payment' for services rendered and be on my way." You made a show of eyeing the larger pile meant for him.

"Not so fast." Suddenly Gen was directly in your personal space, eyes glinting mischievously. "Don't I even get a peek at what has you so impatient? A thank you gesture, perhaps?"

His closeness enveloped you in his spicy natural scent. You gulped, holding his heated gaze. "Didn't anyone ever teach you curiosity killed the cat, Captain?"

Gen quirked one silver eyebrow, clearly not deterred by your coy remark. "Lucky for me, I've got nine lives to spare then."

Before you could react, he snatched the package from your arms with one swift motion. Holding it tauntingly above his head, he grinned down at your surprised expression. "Come on now, no more secrets between us workmates."

You reached up futilely, glaring at his unfair height advantage. "Gen, don't you dare! That's secret for a reason."

"All the more reason for me to find out what it is," he chuckled, using his free hand to lightly fend off your grabbing attempts. His eyes danced with amusement at your increasing frustration.

Realizing you'd have to change tactics, you stopped and took a step back, pretending to give up with a long suffering sigh. Gen's brow furrowed slightly at your sudden resignation just as you whirled and launched yourself at him.

He let out a surprised grunt as your bodies collided, but didn't have a chance to react further. In one fluid motion, you hooked a leg around his calves and used your momentum to send you both crashing back onto the nearby sofa.

You landed squarely straddling Gen's hips, knees pinning him as his silver locks fanned out. The package lay forgotten on the floor as you leaned down, your faces now mere inches apart.

"Like I said..." you murmured, holding his startled gaze with a smoldering look. Slowly, you rolled your hips forward ever so slightly, drawing a sharp intake of breath from the captain beneath you. "No peeking allowed."

With a wicked grin, you deftly extricated yourself, scooping up your precious box before Gen regained his senses. Tossing a heated look over your shoulder, you blew him a mocking kiss. "Thanks for understanding, Captain."

Then you sashayed out, leaving a slack-jawed, flustered Narumi gaping after you. Point firmly made.

A few weeks later, the mysterious packages were still weighing heavily on Gen's mind. You'd managed to avoid giving him any more glimpses into their contents after that charged encounter.

He flopped onto the bed beside where you were lounging, scrolling intently on your phone with one hand. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the familiar shopping app pulled up.

"Don't tell me...more secret deliveries?" Gen grumbled, trying and failing to mask his piqued curiosity. He craned his neck nosily. "What's so important that you won't even share with your dear, dear captain?"

You deftly angled the phone away from his prying gaze with a light laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Undeterred, Gen inched even closer, near enough that you could smell his usual spicy scent. "Maybe I would," he murmured, certainly not helping to deter the warmth spreading through you.

Refusing to be flustered, you simply hummed noncommittally. "Well, tough luck I guess. A girl's gotta have some mysteries." You emphasized the point by tapping in another order on the app.

Gen made an aggrieved noise somewhere between a groan and a whine. He knew that tone - you were shutting down any further interrogation. Skulking back, he resorted to his best pout and puppy dog eyes in your peripherals.

"Oh, come on! After all we've been through together? No trust at all?" he lamented dramatically.

You had to actively smother your grin at his utterly shameless tactics. "Uh huh, and whose fault is that lack of trust, I wonder?" you countered without looking up.

The pout somehow managed to intensify even further. "Is that any way to treat your adorably curious captain?" Gen persisted in his most piteous tone. "I'll be a good boy, I swear! Just a tiny peek?"

At that, you couldn't hold back your laughter any longer. Sliding your gaze over to meet his pleading expression, you shook your head slowly. "My, my, the great Narumi Gen reduced to outright begging? For little old me?"

You made a show of zooming in on some items in the app, ensuring his attention remained firmly locked on your movements. "Well, since you asked so nicely..."

He instantly perked up, eyes shining victoriously until you finished with a wicked smile. "No way, Captain."

The dejected groan that followed was absolutely priceless.

A few days later, the telltale stack of Yamazon packages arrived at Gen's door. He was still sulking a bit from your stubborn refusal to let him in on your secret deliveries last time.

His brooding was interrupted by a text from you:

"Got pulled into an ops meeting, probably going to run long. Don't you dare touch my packages!"

Gen rolled his eyes at the warning, firing back a petulant reply.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be a good boy...this time."

As the hours ticked by with no sign of you returning, Gen's patience waned rapidly. His gaze kept flickering over to the boxes tucked in the corner, tantalizing him. Just a tiny peek wouldn't hurt, right?

One box in particular seemed to be calling to his curiosity more than the others. Before he could overthink it further, Gen snatched it up and began tearing through the packaging.

He froze when the contents were finally revealed - a neatly coiled bundle of thick, red rope. Gen turned it over in his hands, brow furrowing in confusion until realization slowly dawned.

"No...you can't be serious," he muttered under his breath, heat suddenly prickling across his skin.

Quickly upending the box further, more rope tumbled out, along with some kind of guide booklet titled "The Sensual Art of Shibari." Gen swallowed thickly, abruptly extremely aware of how warm his quarters felt.

"Well...didn't see that one coming," he murmured, unable to tear his widened gaze from the suggestive items sprawled out before him.

Shibari - the ancient Japanese bondage artform. He never would have pegged you for...no, not possible his mind was taking things there already, was it? Though the more Gen stared at the vermilion rope, the more heated images began clouding his thoughts unbidden.

The harsh buzz of his phone made him nearly jump out of his skin. Fumbling quickly, he saw a new message from you:

"Meeting running late. I'll swing by your place afterwards to grab my stuff, so don't move!"

Gen gulped hard, eyes flitting between the compromising delivery and your text. Oh, he was in trouble now...

Gen scrambled to haphazardly re-pack the Shibari rope and booklet, his mind racing as your text declared you'd be arriving any minute. He managed to shove the opened box behind a nearby chair just as a knock sounded at his door.

Taking a calming breath, Gen attempted to wipe any hints of panic or guilt from his expression before swinging the door open. You stood with one hand on your hip, eyebrow arched expectantly.

"There you are! I was starting to think you ditched me," he declared in an overly casual tone, leaning against the doorframe.

You brushed past him into the room. "You wish. Now where are..." Your words trailed off as you spotted the stack of packages, eyeing it critically.

"What, these? They just got here," Gen lied through his teeth, trying not to let his gaze linger too obviously on the chair concealing your exposed secret.

Grabbing the larger pile, he thrust them towards you with an easy grin. "Why don't you take the rest and get going? I've got...things to attend to."

The way your eyes instantly narrowed set off alarms in Gen's head. "Are you seriously trying to get rid of me?" you accused, not taking the boxes from his hands. "What's with you?"

"Me? Nothing! Just ready for some precious personal time." He winced internally at his overly blustery tone.

Rather than be deterred, your scrutinizing stare roamed around his private quarters searchingly. Gen's heart thudded as your gaze landed on the chair and seemed to linger there a beat too long.

In a panic, he practically flung himself across the room towards you, packages scattering as he clung to your shoulders dramatically. "You know what, on second thought, I could use the company!"

You seized his wrists, hot anger flashing in your eyes as you shrugged him off roughly. "Alright Narumi, what gives? You're acting serious-"

The rest of your words were drowned out by a loud clatter as your foot knocked into the chair, the opened Shibari box spilling out its contents onto the floor. Silence dropped like a boulder between you.

Gen watched in horrified fascination as your face cycled through a kaleidoscope of expressions - shock, embarrassment, rage. When you finally met his wide-eyed stare, you looked downright murderous.

"You... didn't.…..You absolute imbecile!"

Your furious voice made the great Narumi visibly flinch back as if struck. He was practically cowering on the floor, head bowed with shame as you towered over him, red-faced and fuming.

"After I explicitly told you NOT to open anything! What part of 'none of your business' didn't get through that dense skull of yours?" You punctuated each accusation by jabbing a finger into his chest, forcing him to shrink back further.

Gen opened and closed his mouth dumbly a few times, unable to find an excuse or defense worthy of halting your warpath. For once, the snarky, unflappable captain was utterly cowed into submission.

"I should have known better than to expect even an ounce of privacy or respect from you," you went on scathingly. "But THIS? This is a new low, even for a pervert like-"

Abruptly, you cut yourself off, Gen hazarding a confused glance upwards. Your expression had shifted from unbridled rage into something more...calculated. A slow, dangerous smile unfurled across your lips as you refocused on his wary form.

"Although..." you mused aloud, taking a taunting step that brought your skirted thighs distractingly close to his face. "I suppose I could find it in me to forgive this indiscretion."

Gen blinked owlishly, not daring to move from his prostrated position. "You...you can?"

Your smile morphed into a devilish smirk as you leaned down to murmur against the shell of his ear. "On one condition..."

A shudder ran through Gen's frame, feeling your breath ghost over his sensitive skin. He forced his eyes to remain locked on your own rather than drifting down your tempting form hovering before him.

"I'm almost afraid to ask..." he managed in a strained tone. "But I'll hear your terms, Vice-Captain."

There was a pregnant pause as you seemed to savor dragging out the anticipation. Then your lips curved upwards once more.

"Then get comfy down there, Captain. I've got plans for you..."

Gen's breath hitched audibly at your provocative words, eyes dilating as his gaze immediately snapped back to yours. There was a heavy pause where the charged tension seemed to spark between your bodies.

Then, in a voice lower and huskier than you'd ever heard it, he murmured "Yes...ma’am."

The way he surrendered to your command with such alacrity, shedding his typical bravado, was intoxicating. Gone was the disinterested slouch - he was poised at rapt attention, hanging on your every subtle move and inflection.

Feeling a newfound sense of power thrumming through your veins, you traced a solitary finger along the sharp line of his jaw. Gen visibly shivered, but remained steadfastly unmoving otherwise.

"Good boy," you purred in approval.

His pupils blew wide at the praise, a soft noise catching in his throat. In that moment, it was glaringly apparent that underneath the lazy, snarky persona he put forth, this formidable captain harbored a deep, repressed side that yearned for firm direction.

And you intended to thoroughly oblige him.

"Strip down to your boxers," you instructed coolly, taking a step back to better admire him. "Slowly."

Gen's gaze smoldered, but he hurried to obey without a hint of his usual backtalk. As more sculpted, tanned skin was gradually revealed, you felt a curl of desire unfurl low in your abdomen.

Finally just in his snug black boxer-briefs, Gen waited with bated breath for your next order. You drank in the delicious picture he made - muscles toned from years of intense training barely constrained, hair tousled, dark eyes burning with unspoken yearning.

Pivoting towards the scattered contents of your exposed package, you retrieved the coiled bundle of vermillion rope, letting it pool lazily between your palms. Gen tracked the movement hungrily.

"You know...the Shibari ropes were just the beginning," you remarked offhandedly, as if commenting on the weather.

His brows hiked quizzically, gaze flicking between your coy expression and the rope as you wound it idly around your wrists.

"I've had an...interest in certain practices, you could say. But never anyone to explore them with." You shrugged one shoulder casually, dangling the rope's end just out of Gen's reach. "Until now, that is."

The implication hung heavy in the heated air as he processed your words. You could see the gears turning behind those intense auburn eyes, his lips parting ever so slightly as realization bloomed.

It would have been so easy to press that advantage, to lean in and capture those tantalizing lips with yours. But where was the fun in that?

No...you wanted to take your sweet time unraveling this newfound side of the great Gen Narumi. To savor every tremor, every shuddering inhale, every molten look of naked longing as you steadily, meticulously stripped away the bravado until just a panting, flushed mess remained.

Curling the rope around your wrist with purposeful leisure, you leveled him with a look that made no attempt to mask your smoldering intent.

"We're just getting started, Captain."

With the vibrant red ropes now pooled at your feet, you beckoned Gen closer with one crooked finger. He crawled obediently forward until kneeling before you, awaiting your next command with rapt anticipation.

Looping one silk-spun length around his wrists, you cinched it snugly, tying them behind his back before trailing the cord down his torso, letting it whisper tantalizingly across his heated skin. Gen sucked in a sharp breath as you wound it behind him, binding his ankles together, forcing his thighs into a wide vee.

"Comfortable?" you murmured, giving an experimental tug that forced his bound limbs into an extremely exposed, compromising position.

Rather than reply, Gen simply held your heated gaze, a tremor running through his restrained form. You smirked at his silent acquiescence, admiring how his every subtle shift and flex caused the ropes to strain deliciously.

Unable to resist any longer, you leaned in until your lips just barely brushed the thundering pulse at the base of his throat. Gen's eyes fluttered shut as you traced open-mouthed kisses up the column of his neck at a maddeningly leisured pace.

"Good boy," you purred against the shell of his ear before sitting back, drinking in his desperation. "Now for the finishing touch..."

Plucking up a sleek black blindfold, you dangled it tauntingly. "I want you completely at my mercy, Captain."

There was the slightest hesitation, a brief stuttering of Gen's ragged breaths. Then, almost imperceptibly, he gave the smallest of nods.

The blindfold slipped into place, swathing Gen's world in velvety darkness as he was now entirely under your control. Unable to see, unable to move, utterly bound to your whims...and he had never looked more beautiful.

With Gen now securely bound and blindfolded per your exacting specifications, you took a moment to simply admire your handiwork. The way the intricate red rope patterns cut across his tanned, toned flesh, framing his chiseled features and parted lips - it was a breathtaking sight.

Unable to resist, you leaned in once more, pressing one final lingering kiss along the thrumming pulse of his exposed throat. Gen shuddered beneath your lips, a ragged exhalation escaping him at the simple intimate contact.

Pulling back, you drank in his desperate expression, throat mottled with purple bruises and hair disheveled. It was immensely gratifying to see the infamous Gen Narumi hanging on your every move, utterly at your mercy.

But you had bigger plans yet for testing the limits of the proud captain's stamina.

With a wicked curl of your lips, you rose and crossed the room to where your other packages lay partially scattered. Selecting one distinct package, you hooked a fingernail under the sealing tape and slowly, torturously dragged it free with a harsh rip.

The sudden sound made Gen's head cant quizically in your direction, though the blindfold kept your actions obscured from view. You held your breath as you fished out the parcel's contents - a premium silicone wand, tapered to a curved tip that fit snugly in your palm.

Turning it on produced a low, insistent buzz that you knew would soon have your captive trembling and begging for reprieve. With your free hand, you caressed the powerful amplitude controls, mouth watering at the delicious possibilities beginning to unfurl.

Satisfied that the wand was fully charged and ready to go, you turned back to Gen. He was still straining to determine your location, blindly craning his neck towards the sounds you'd been making.

A low chuckle escaped your lips as you returned to kneel directly behind him. His body was still coiled tight, anticipating some kind of retaliation from his tormenter. You slowly traced a lone finger down his spine, enjoying the way he shuddered at the unexpected touch.

"Now then..." You placed the wand just beside his hip, the buzzing hum loud enough that Gen immediately went rigid. "Let's see how long you last, Captain."

His breath came in a shuddering gasp as you dragged the tapered head across his inner thigh, dangerously close to his straining bulge. A choked noise escaped his throat, hips jerking slightly in an aborted thrust.

"Not much of a talker anymore, huh?" You smirked, trailing the vibrating wand in lazy circles over the thin fabric of his briefs, delighting in the way Gen's cock jumped to attention at the teasing stimulation.

He let out a strangled moan, hips stuttering, but you withdrew before he could find any relief. "I bet you want this right...here," you taunted, dragging the toy against the sensitive crease where his thigh met his pelvis, eliciting another needy whine.

"You...are such a tease," Gen gasped, trying to maintain a shred of composure. "How much longer are you going to-"

The rest of his sentence was lost in a choked cry as you abruptly pressed the vibrating head against his balls, grinding the pulsing tip against the most sensitive spot. Gen's entire body seized as he threw his head back, a string of curses flowing unrestrained.

"Fuck!" His voice was absolutely wrecked, a ragged edge to the expletive. A pearlescent drop of precum dampened the front of his briefs, his cock straining painfully against the fabric as it twitched erratically.

You moved your free hand to tug the waistband down, freeing his throbbing length. The swollen head was a dark shade of pink, leaking a steady stream of precum. You couldn't resist a low, approving murmur as you watched him buck wildly, trying to seek out the source of his torment.

"I think someone's enjoying himself," you mused aloud, tracing the wand along his aching shaft. The vibrations were so intense it made Gen's entire frame shudder, a pained, broken whimper escaping his throat. "You've already gotten yourself all wet. And we've only just begun."

He grit his teeth, straining against the ropes, the tendons of his neck and shoulders standing out starkly. You trailed the toy in teasing spirals, watching as his cock twitched and leaked, unable to resist the stimulation.

"Fu-uck. Don't stop, I'm gonna...I can't hold it-" Gen's voice was hoarse and strained, every muscle rigid. He was right on the edge, hovering mere seconds from release, when you suddenly switched off the wand.

The abrupt loss of sensation made Gen let out a guttural, animalistic noise, his hips canting upwards futilely. You pulled the toy away from his straining shaft, a single bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Please...I'm so close. I need..." he groaned, the words seeming torn from somewhere deep and primal. "Fuck, I need to cum."

The shameless desperation was an incredibly sexy look on the proud Narumi. Your own arousal was becoming hard to ignore as you watched his chest heaving, cock pulsing and drooling precum.

"Begging looks good on you, Captain," you crooned, dragging the vibrating toy across his chest before circling a pebbled nipple. He arched into the contact with a shuddering moan, the sensitive bud stiffening beneath the vibrations.

You teased the other nipple with your free hand, reveling in the way his body trembled beneath your ministrations. The blindfold was damp with sweat, sticking to his forehead, stray locks of silver hair plastered to his skin.

Gen's breaths were ragged and uneven, a keening whine catching in his throat. The ropes strained tightly, his entire body rigid and trembling. "Fuck, please, just- I need- fuck."

A grin unfurled across your lips. This was definitely a side of the infamous Captain Narumi that no one had ever seen before - unraveled, debauched, writhing in a desperate attempt to escape the onslaught of pleasure.

And you had every intention of thoroughly exploiting this newfound vulnerability.

"That's right," you cooed, grinding the vibrator in torturous circles against his nipples. "You've been such a good boy. I think it's time you get rewarded."

Before he could process the words, you dropped the wand back between his spread thighs, grinding the pulsing head against his balls, just below his twitching cock. Gen's hips canted violently, a strangled shout escaping his throat as his entire body convulsed, back arching in a mesmerizing curve.

You quickly moved your hand to tightly wrap your fingers around the base of his cock, managing to stop his imminent climax a hair's breadth before the point of no return. His entire body sagged, the air expelled from his lungs in a rush as the orgasm he'd been chasing abruptly slipped away.

Gen let out a broken whimper, the muscles of his forearms straining against the ropes holding him in place. You held his throbbing cock in a vice grip, watching his face twist as he panted, riding out the waves of frustrated, unsatisfying pleasure.

"That was a close one, huh?" you crooned, loosening your grip just enough to drag a slow, deliberate stroke up the shaft. Gen shuddered at the sensation, cock jumping eagerly. "We're not finished just yet."

Without waiting for a response, you resumed grinding the wand against his balls, watching with fascination as he writhed and cursed. A steady stream of precum leaked freely from the tip, dripping down his shaft in messy rivulets.

It didn't take long to bring him right back to the brink, his hips canting wildly as the pleasure mounted to an unbearable point. Once more you tightened your grip at the last possible moment, drawing a ragged, guttural shout from Gen.

You were beginning to doubt whether he could even last for the third round. His body was drenched with sweat, every muscle quivering, his hair and chest mottled with lovebites. The blindfold clung wetly to his flushed face, lips reddened and swollen from his teeth biting into them.

Gen was absolutely, breathtakingly wrecked. And you weren't even done yet.

"One more time, Captain. For me." You purred the words, letting the vibrator hover menacingly right below his cock, close enough that he could feel the pulsing hum radiating up his entire body.

His cock was an angry red, swollen and drooling precum freely, so painfully erect you could actually see the veins throbbing. You traced the head lightly with one finger, gathering up the slick fluid before bringing it to his lips.

"Open wide," you commanded, and Gen's mouth instantly dropped open. You slipped your digit inside, the velvety heat making you imagine how it would feel wrapped around your throbbing clit.

His tongue swirled and suckled the precum from your finger, and you couldn't help a low moan, heat unfurling deep in your core. Withdrawing, you traced his swollen, glistening lips. "Good boy."

The praise was like a shock of electricity through his body. He sucked in a harsh breath, hips canting forward, and the vibrator finally made contact just as Narumi’s cock jerked violently.

You barely managed to catch him, wrapping a fist around the shaft and squeezing tightly as the first rope of cum erupted from the swollen head. His entire body seized, head thrown back as his cum slowly leaked out in sad little dribbles, not nearly enough to satisfy the intense release he'd been denied multiple times.

"FUCK! I can't- I'm-" Gen was panting raggedly, every muscle in his body tensed to the point of trembling. "Oh god, please...let me- I need- oh fuck, please."

You released your death grip on his aching, oversensitive cock, watching it throb weakly against his abdomen. He shuddered at the loss of contact, hips twitching uselessly, a pitiful string of precum and thick clumps of cum dripping down his shaft.

His cock was still impossibly hard, the head swollen and dark. Every pulse sent a shudder through his body, hips twitching in aborted thrusts as if seeking the stimulation his cock was so desperately craving.

Gen's ragged panting filled the room, the air humid and heavy. You took a moment to admire his wrecked expression, the way his body had given itself over to your mercy. It was a powerfully heady feeling, being the one to have broken down the great Narumi into a writhing, babbling, desperate mess.

"Please what, Captain?" you murmured, trailing one solitary finger down the slick trail of cum leaking down his shaft. Gen hissed sharply at the contact, every nerve raw and hypersensitive.

He seemed too far gone for words, letting out a frustrated growl as he rolled his hips, his cock bobbing limply. The movement only made the thick white fluid dribble down his shaft faster, his cock a sloppy mess.

A sudden wicked thought made your lips curl into a smirk. Slowly, deliberately, you began stroking his oversensitive cock, just barely grazing your fingers in a whisper-soft touch. Gen moaned loudly, the sound somewhere between ecstasy and agony.

"I think someone's had enough," you crooned, continuing the tormentous motions. Gen's hips jerked, an obscene squelching noise following as your hand slid up and down his sticky, spent cock.

"So fucking dirty," you muttered under your breath, a jolt of heat going straight to your core. Gen made a strangled noise as you dragged your palm up the swollen shaft, smearing the cum and precum mixture across his abdomen.

His chest was mottled with deep purple bruises, nipples puffy and red, his hair a wild halo of silver around his flushed face. The ropes were cutting into his skin in the most delicious ways, every corded muscle defined beneath the red patterns.

He was a fucking vision. And you weren’t even close to being done with him yet.

With a final leisured stroke, you released your grip on Gen's overstimulated cock. It twitched pathetically, hanging swollen and spent between his thighs, covered in a sticky mess.

Leaning down, you placed a delicate kiss against his parted lips, reveling in the way his entire body seemed to react. Gen moaned into your mouth, letting his tongue lazily tangle with yours in a lewd imitation of a real kiss.

When you pulled back, his lips remained parted, a string of saliva connecting the two of you for a moment before it broke. "Fuck...more," Gen mumbled incoherently, chasing the contact.

Rather than reply, you shifted, slowly peeling off your sweat-dampened uniform. Gen made a desperate noise in the back of his throat as he heard the telltale sounds of fabric rustling, straining to catch any glimpse from underneath the blindfold.

You stood there a moment, admiring his restrained form, letting him hang in a delicious state of anticipation. Then, without warning, you turned around and sank onto his lap, letting out a soft sigh as his swollen cock nestled perfectly between your puffy folds.

"Shit," he gasped, feeling the hot wetness against his spent cock. Gen's hips bucked involuntarily, his entire body shuddering as his oversensitized length made contact with the silky, slick warmth. "Is that your- ah- fuck, I can't-"

He let out a broken cry as you began rocking slowly, coating his shaft in your fluids. The friction made Gen's eyes roll back in his head, the heady mixture of pain and pleasure sending his senses reeling.

"You feel so fucking good, Captain," you groaned, using the pudgy, flushed tip to rub your swollen clit. His cock was coated in a slick layer of precum and his own cum, the slippery friction making your pussy flutter.

"Don't- I can't...not again. Fuck," Gen gasped, trying to stave off the impending orgasm. Every inch of his skin felt like it was aflame, your dripping folds making obscene squelching noises as you ground against his spent cock.

He was completely helpless, unable to move or stop the pleasure from mounting. All he could do was let out a pained whine, the ropes cutting into his skin and the silken heat surrounding his oversensitive cock driving him to the brink.

"Shit shit shit," Gen chanted, hips bucking wildly as his balls began to tighten, the pressure mounting to an unbearable level. He was on the very cusp of a truly earth-shattering release, his mind completely blanking out in a fog of pure pleasure.

And then suddenly you were gone.

His cock throbbed weakly, twitching in the air, a small bead of cum clinging to the tip. Gen let out a frustrated growl, the tension coiled so tightly in his body that he felt like he was going to snap.

He was barely able to process what was happening before he suddenly felt a searing wet heat enveloping his aching length. Gen's hips canted wildly, a keening wail escaping his lips as he thrust helplessly into the soft, silky wetness.

You moaned loudly as you took his entire cock in one swift motion, burying him in your pulsing heat. His hips jerked wildly, the sensation almost too much for him to handle. "Fuck!" he shouted, head thrown back.

His body was rigid, the ropes digging into his skin, a steady stream of curses spilling from his lips. He came instantly, hot ropes of cum filling you up. "Shit, I'm sorry, I can't-" Gen choked out, his cock pulsing weakly.

Rather than withdraw, you slowly ground down on his twitching cock, the feeling of him filling you up almost bringing you to the edge yourself. "So fucking good," you moaned, relishing the way he seemed to lose all control, his hips canting erratically.

He was babbling incoherently, his cock pulsing weakly. You kept moving, the feeling of his swollen shaft brushing against your g-spot driving you closer and closer to the edge.

"Fuck, it's too much, please. I can't- fuck, I'm gonna- again," Gen pleaded, his cock swelling and twitching as a second orgasm built up. Your own was right behind his, the hot friction pushing you over the edge.

The sound you let out as you came was something between a sob and a scream, your pussy spasming around his pulsing cock as you squirted in hot spurts. Gen's voice cracked, a hoarse shout escaping his lips as he felt you clench around him.

"I'm- I'm fucking coming," he moaned, his entire body trembling violently as his cock jerked and pulsed weakly, spurting a thin stream of watery cum deep inside you. It was a truly pathetic effort, his balls utterly spent, but the orgasm was nonetheless mind-blowing.

Gen went limp, his head flopping weakly onto your chest. You stroked his hair softly, pressing a tender kiss to his sweat-dampened forehead. He shivered, letting out a ragged sigh.

"Holy shit," he mumbled, the words coming out slurred. You gently carded your fingers through his hair before you looped a finger underneath his tear-soaked blindfold.

Gen blinked blearily, pupils dilated and gaze hazy as he looked up at you, completely dazed. "That was..."

"I know," you replied, gently removing the rope bonds. As soon as the last loop fell away, his arms instinctively wrapped around your waist, holding you in a warm embrace as he buried his face back into your chest.

You continued stroking his hair, massaging his sore muscles as he slowly drifted back into himself. When he finally lifted his head, his face was still flushed, hair mussed and lips reddened.

"Well..." Gen drawled, giving you a crooked smile. "If that's the punishment for snooping, I might have to misbehave more often."

Rolling your eyes, you leaned down to press a tender kiss to his lips. He melted into the contact, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards as he cupped your face, the gesture surprisingly soft and sweet.

As you drew back, Gen's expression turned thoughtful, his gaze shifting to the side. "So...are there other kinks you haven't tried?"

You smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

He gave a lopsided grin, pulling you closer. "Oh, I have plenty of ideas," he murmured, capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

[theresattrpgforthat]

Do you have any recommendations for TTRPGs where Body Horror is a central theme or mechanic? Preferably ones where themes like loss of agency or control over one's body are the focus. Thank you!!

THEME: Body Horror (Part 2!)

Hello there, I’m going to start by providing a link to the Body Horror recommendation post I put up back in 2022, before I move on to new recommendations!

Mutant Monster Machine Girls, by babblegumsam.

In MUTANT MONSTER MACHINE GIRLS, you play as a member of "The Girls", a group of queer misfits fighting against an oppressive anarcho-capitalist state ruled by The Corporation. 

Each of you fights against them because all your lives have been ruined by The Man Responsible, a dangerous and cruel servant of The Corporation. Because of his actions and the nature of your evolutions, you can no longer return to your previous lives and the people you love.

Your only solution? Exact your ultraviolent revenge on him and bring peace to the city by force!

The Mutant part of Mutant Monster Machine Girls is pretty heavy on the body horror, although I think the other character options certainly have possibilities. Babblegumsam has a fondness for weaving trauma and emotion into many of their works, so you’ll likely find a lot of feelings about exploration and loss in this one. The game system uses a modified PbtA system, which gives you tokens that you can spend to add modifiers to your roll. (This same mechanic can be found in Apocalypse Keys!)

Soul Burner, by World Champ Game Co.

Soul Burner is a standalone tabletop role-playing game of adventuring ashen corpses wandering a volcanic ghostland in service of the gods of fate, protecting the timeline from imminent disaster by manifesting fractured memories to shape the world to their will.

Compatible with Mork Borg and inspired by Necronautilus, this game acts as a bridge between worlds of violent dark fantasy and stoner metal science fantasy.

Soul Burner embeds body horror both into the characters you play and the creatures you come across, using MORK BORG rules and depicting your characters as merely remnants of who they used to be. You will find creatures overgrown by fungi, desperate cannibals, and lava-worshipping cultists in this book, evoking a grim and gritty fantasy setting. Your own characters are ever-changing, morphing and distorting whenever you gain a Reminder - pieces of who you are that give you mechanical advantages in the game.

FLËSHMØG, by Freak Flag Games.

FLËSHMØG: THE FLESH BEGINS TO EXERT ITS WILL UPON ITSELF

mäw of hëck: flëshmøg is a pen & paper body horror character creator. draw your hand, discover your body, and mutate your form.

This isn’t so much a game as it is a character-creation exercise. Using a deck of playing cards, you assemble cards as you randomly draw them to give yourself body parts, strengths, and adaptations according to the world around you. This might be an interesting exercise if you want to come up with a wretched home-brew character for MORK BORG, or if you want to design some kind of horror to pit against your players in another game.

Do Not Fear: In Death We Bloom, by Hella Big Claws.

Do Not Fear is a Forged In the Dark Tabletop Roleplaying game, about accepting the fleetingness of life; and using the strength that gives you in order to combat a growing stagnation.

Fight as a Hunter, a person who has been given a Gift of Bloom; a fungus like infection that allows for incredible strength and regenerative ability; in exchange for subsuming your flesh as you die.

Combat or save the Rusted; living creatures infected by a growing viral stagnation; marbling their bones and rusting their flesh; sculpting them into horrifyingly beautiful creations. Ascend the Tower; a large, multilayered structure which you call home. Interact with the factions and people within, as you set down roots.

As a fungus-infested person, the characters for Do Not Fear feel like prime candidates for body horror. Your characters have accepted that their fate will likely end in death, but only because they must if they are to save the world from a horrible plague. The game is built off of the same system as Blades in the Dark, but I think there’s been some tweaks here and there, because there are teasers to creatures and weapons that indicate hit-points and stats. The character abilities however, look really powerful and exciting. If you are a fan of Bloodborne, Hunter X Hunter, or Technoir, you might like this game.

Mutagenic Hive Swarm, by Atelier Hwei.

Waking up as a transdimensional insectoid reptilian has never been more fun!You are a stone age psychonaut apparently occupying the body of a Transdimensional Insectoid Reptile, a bug.

But who you were is less important than where you are: you must navigate the bloody, alien meatscape of the MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM and find a way back to the Here & Now… before memories of who or what you fade completely.

Mutagenic Hive Swarm is all about playing bugs who are not really bugs - your characters have found themselves in the bodies of alien creatures, and will need to fight in order to hold onto their sense of self. Much of your character’s skills and effort will be directed towards trying to resist certain influences and changes, so I think the theme of loss of agency really shines through in this game. What you might really like is the d20 table of mutations that can threaten you every time your body changes. If you want a game where your character is more likely going to succumb to their changes than find a way out, you might want to check out Mutagenic Hive Swarm.

Other Games to Check Out

Wasted, by World Champ Game Co.

Bio-Drones & Cryo0Clones, by ChrisAir (for Mothership).

[peachyloveswriting]

hello!! I absolutely love your writing especially of COD, I’ve been reading so many of them now

I was wondering if I could request some headcanons? Of König, Ghost and Soap and they react to an s/o who likes to take care of them. Like the s/o likes to cook for them, wash their hair or do face masks. Basically acts of service as a love language

Feel free to ignore this if it’s not to your liking and have a wonderful day/night!

CARING --- (König, Ghost, and Soap)

SUMMARY: just some funny ideas for the boys.

CONTENT: cuteness

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

KÖNIG

-> Being in the military, König does the bare minimum required to take care of himself. He thinks it's enough to get by but he's noticed that anytime he's home with you, you have other plans. You're always pestering him about being more careful and having some self preservation. He never seems to listen though but he's trying his best to cater to that.

-> Being off base, König likes to sleep in. These plans also seem to be ruined because you're always dragging him to take a shower with you, you'll sit him down and wash his hair, he's not complaining about that though m he lives the feeling of your hands working across his head and body. If you're not taking a shower you're forcing him to put on a face mask with you. He doesn't like it because was little facial hair he has is ripped off. Poor man can never seem to catch a break.

-> He has horrible dry skin, especially on his hands. You'll sit him down on the couch and make him put on lotion. You'll even apply it himself which he doesn't mind in the slightest. As a matter of fact he loves when you treat him like a princess. Especially when he wakes up in the morning to a fresh plate waiting for him. Though he feels like he's not giving you enough in return and he tries his best to do just that. He'll try to buy you things without you knowing but he's not very good with keeping it a secret. He'll ask you what you prefer and you immediately know what's up.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

GHOST

-> Ghost is not a man for personal hygiene, let's be honest. He hardly showers, he doesn't take care of himself like he should be. That very quickly changed when you came around. Suddenly 15 minute showers once a week became 30 minute showers every other day. He loves the feeling of your hands scrubbing away at his hair while he leans into your touch. You're so gentle with him that sometimes he asks you so press harder.

-> This man knows close to nothing about face masks, however he go curious one morning while you were applying yours and asked what they even did. Instead of actually explaining them you just slapped one on him and sent him on his way. He literally was so confused, he had no idea what he was supposed to do but after you took it off he felt so clean. He honestly asked to do it again.

-> Simon absolutely loves looking, he's got amazing cooking skills. Its like he has a niche for it. However he finds you often shoving him out of the way to cook for him. He doesn't mind it but he finds it rather surprising that you would rather cook than him. He likes it though, you're enthusiasm to baby him. He seems to pay your back in strange ways, returning the favor by leaving you small endearing notes everywhere.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

SOAP

-> Let's be honest, Soap loves being pampered however he feels like there's an imbalance unless he pays you back. It's like food wars when you cook for him. If you make him breakfast he makes you this bomb ass desert after dinner that leaves you begging for more. You can't ever have a moment of relaxation if it's cooking because it's a one up game at this point.

-> If you take a shower with him and wash his hair for him he's immediately returning the favor. In an instant he's washing your hair and body, he even applies face masks to you first so that way you feel special. If he feels that's not enough he'll take you out to dinner somewhere nice.

-> He thoroughly enjoys facemasks because they leave him feeling fresh everytime, so you can always find him right beside you doing the same thing. It's like your own bonding activity that you've begun. Anytime he does this on base and Ghost catches him he makes fun of him, which usually ends with Soap giving this man a lot of Scottish curses he's never heard before, other people swear he's placing a curse in him.

[luffyvace]

Ciel Phantomhive relationship hcs~

He looks so goood in the new artsyle! The animation studio did black butler justice!!

Update: did undertaker will Alois sooner or later 😉

Okay in these hcs your whatever gender you want but your an earl/noble ;}

also Lizzy is your friend and she introduced you to Ciel

okay now that that’s cleared

when Ciel first met you let’s be honest here he probably didn’t fall head over heels in love with you 🗿

cmon guys let’s be realistic

but he certainly did live up to the expectation of the phantomhive hospitality!

he was very thoughtful and caring of you as his guest~

and your comfort definitely took priority!

your were throughly impressed!

he held a small smile as he chatted with you and gave a mini tour

he admits to himself he finds you to be very beautiful/handsome

onwards to after the courtship! :)

when you first start dating it’ll be the phantomhive hospitality all over again

…times 100.

<3

Sebastian might as well be your butler by the way he’s making your butler/maid look

LOL

your pillows are fluffed and your sheets and blankets are warm and clean each day

(thanks mey rin 💗🗣)

the food is always scrumdidiliumstious (scrumptious)

you play many, many games to keep you from being bored

any drink you want is in your grasp

whatever you want to do—as long as Ciel’s not busy—sounds wonderful to him! 😊

if you annoy him like how Lizzy does in the anime you’ll never hear of it

and I mean- don’t get me wrong he’s not perfect

especially not someone such as him, who has a lot of stress on him

so you might here a huff (that you weren’t supposed to hear)

but he’s sure to make it up to you quickly 💖

his love languages are acts of service and gift giving

half because those two things can be materialistic which ngl is kinda easier for him

particularly when it comes to showing love and affection

and half because he feels really good when he gifts you something you love

even if you don’t have a grand reaction he still feels satisfied

and acts of service is easy too!

he can simply tell Sebastian to do whatever it is you want!

even though you have your own butler/maid- 😃

AHAHHAHA

He most certainly won’t like pda

If you initate it he won’t shove you off obviously

he loves you!

and that’ll ruin his reputation!

but when your back at the manor he’ll gently break it to you that he’s not comfortable with it and it’s not that he doesn’t love you it’s just that!-

he also plays it very safe when it comes to what you do in the public eye

everyones looking for him to screw up

Even more so because he’s so young

to which he always make sure to use utmost care and delicacy when out and about with you

honestly I feel Ciel would like someone who’s a bit more patient or calm

at least don’t be bouncing off the walls 😞😭

he enjoys going on walks in his or your garden

I think he would be happy with traveling as well

somewhere relaxing and quiet

less bustling with chatter and carriages

It’d make a perfect anniversary gift for him *hint hint* 😉

even though I’m sure he’d have more than enough activities for you all planned

i know you two’ll work it out 💕

Ciel absolutely keeps you away. from Alois

he tells you who he is (some things) and all so you don’t get too curious

so please, don’t be curious.

that killed that cat! :P

Ciel would want you to try out Earl Gray but if you don’t like it he wouldn’t mind indulging in what you like 👍

Ciel doesn’t believe himself to be the best possible candidate for a partner out there

Even though he believes he needs to be. for you.

what you think?

when you hear the word ‘love’ he’s the first person that comes to mind ♥︎

:3 cute.

Yus undertaker next ♪( ´▽｀)