#put more hours into single player games n get more reward

[rosiegames]

Can’t just enjoy being bad at games anymore ffs

[breakingarrows]

Ratalaika Games, Trophy Bait, and Storefront Gatekeeping

Prior to Sony updating their PlayStation Network trophy levels in late 2020 I was what the internet, in its eternal and mature approach to naming conventions, would call a “trophy whore.” Essentially this meant that there were games in my library that were bought and played purely for the trophies. During high school I was a loyal PlayStation fan, refusing to give in to the costs of an Xbox 360 (a console where the online functions required a subscription and the wifi was an additional adapter??) and was finally rewarded in the summer of 2009. After the trade in credit of a bunch of my old hardware and software being given to Game Crazy (RIP) was combined with the cash gained from my birthday I was finally able to purchase a used PlayStation 3 console. This was only a month before the slim version was announced at a lower price point (RIP). I wasn’t mad, I was happy to finally have a machine to play the games I had purchased prior to even owning the console: SOCOM Confrontation (for that sweet Bluetooth headset), Resistance 2, Infamous, and I think Killzone 2. Thanks to the PlayStation 3 dominating my adolescence, and the dominance of the PlayStation 4 over the market during my time at DualShockers, I accrued quite a large library of PlayStation games, all of which were, post-2008, mandated to have trophies. The correlation meant I was top of the ladder amongst my friends when it came to our trophy levels. Occasionally someone would threaten my standing but I would break out the excel spreadsheet and jump ahead to secure my position. Due to this there are some oddities and “Trophy whore” games in my library that wouldn’t exist there if not for their easy-to-earn trophies. For the OG Podcast Beyond fans, I have yet to add Hannah Montana: The Movie: The Game to my library and sadly probably never will now that the trophy fever has long since left my system.

Ratalaika Games S.L. is a publisher infamous for helping put many, many games onto the PlayStation storefront which serve as easy ways to earn trophies. During the final trophy fever I purchased and got the platinum trophy in Burly Men at Sea, Deep Space Rush, Jack N' Jill DX, Mochi Mochi Boy, Super Weekend Mode, Mekabolt, Milo's Quest, and My Name is Mayo. Of these, 75% were published by Ratalaika. Each takes under an hour of playtime to earn the platinum, which by itself earns you 300 points in the PlayStation Network trophy system, exponentially more than a bronze trophy and over three times as many as single gold trophy.

The Platinum Trophy was one of Sony’s contributions, and improvements, to the meta-game system started by Microsoft with their Xbox 360 Achievement system. Players on the Xbox 360 would earn “achievements” worth varying levels of numerical points and obtained after accomplishing specific tasks within a game. Some were tied to story completion, others were merely a number to reach in terms of kills or headshots, and some required outside-the-box thinking and made you play the game in a way you never would have if not for the carrot-on-a-stick of earning an Achievement. A single Xbox 360 game had 1000 points in Achievements to distribute, but players who earned all 1000 had no additional acknowledgement besides the 1000/1000 displayed next to the title when viewing your online profile.

Sony dragged their feet when it came to replicating this system, finally introducing trophies in July 2008 and eventually making it mandatory for every title released on their platform the following year. Pretty much every game simply replicated their Achievements and Trophy lists, the only difference being trophies were assigned grades: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum, the last of which was only obtained if you earned every other available trophy. The platinum icon became a badge of honor for PlayStation gamers and became shorthand for 100%-ing a game. “Did you get the platinum?” “Are you going to get the platinum?” “How are the trophies/achievements?” In addition to the platinum, Sony also had the trophies earned feed into an RPG-like display of your trophy level. This level system became a quick reference to understand just how hardcore a particular gamer was. Given that I grew up within the PlayStation trophy ecosystem, I’m not sure if the Xbox 360 system of a singular number count of all Achievements was as quick to understand comparatively. It was the devaluation of this leveling system in their 2020 update, extending the levels from 100 to 1000, that entirely killed any trophy hunting enthusiasm that remained within me. Despite my personal burnout late in the game, an entire genre of YouTube video was born out of the chase for Achievements/Trophies. Naturally commercial incentive to put out games with easy trophies as a way to draw in that crowd for a quick cash injection followed.

Some of the early “easy trophy games” were art titles such as .detuned and Linger in Shadows, two games I’ve written about earlier this year and noted that part of their appeal was that they were short and the trophies were easy. This was before games distributed solely on the PlayStation Network digitally could give out a platinum trophy, but nevertheless their cheap cost and low time investment required made them magnets for trophy hunters, myself included. I may never have actually purchased and played these two titles were it not for their constant mention on lists of easy trophies, and I can’t help but think many others likely followed the same route I did in purchasing and playing them with a trophy guide for a quick increase in trophy levels. 

Others subjected to trophy fever look down on this method of trophy hunting, as it requires no skill and is mainly a cheapening of what is supposed to be, in their mind, a pure tradition of completing challenging requirements to score that sweet platinum. Which is to say, it's a perception issue, an not a real problem afflicting those who game. These titles are just as readily available for them as they were for me, but they are convinced it's wrong, and that publishers and developers putting out breezy games with platinums that can be earned in under an hour are somehow making the platform worse.

As the wall separating game creators from the audience grew smaller and smaller as digital distribution platforms became larger and larger, so too did the influx of “shovelware,” particularly when it came to Valve’s de facto monopoly on PC distribution via Steam. Due to a higher cost and more stringent certification process required to be published onto Sony and Microsoft’s platforms, the PlayStation and Xbox marketplaces haven’t become quite as full of asset flips or bear the stink of Steam Greenlight’s worst offenders. With critics of Ratalaika you get close to the same mindset of those that cry out against platform holders' lack of quality control for their platform, but does it really matter?

Complaints lobbied towards companies such as Valve are mainly that they allow just about any game to be published on their platform. Valve originally would not allow and remove games featuring prominent nudity and sexual content, a policy which picked up in mainstream attention in 2018 as it seemed visual novels were being specifically targeted more so than any other type of game, even if they had already been modified to fall in line with Steam’s vague guidelines.

Valve eventually relented and began allowing all ranges of nudity within games to be published onto Steam, much to the chagrin of some online forum posters.

[MuForceShoelace]: It's not sex as a general concept that is annoying. It's steam going from relatively well curated to all the feeds being full of clearly junk level shovelware that people download because it's all "anime hentai sex girl feet simulator"

[Zombiedrd]: Absolutely with you there. The shovelware isn't just porn, that is just what catches your eye. Turn off all filters and look at new. There is so much cheap shovelware trash. Steam needs a much better QA.

[deleted]: I've got the opposite take. I'd rather Steam/Valve be as hands off about what's on their platform as possible as they've shown serious inconsistencies in the past. Give a robust series of preferences for people to pick and choose what they want to see and allow for external curation or recommendations.

Comments such as the above are pretty common when it comes to complaints about Steam, and over time, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo’s digital storefronts being inundated with “cheap shovelware trash.” What actually determines whether a singular game is “cheap shovelware trash” is a subjective determination. There are oddities, such as the infamous saga of Sterling v. Digital Homicide, but is a significant portion of Steam’s userbase being tricked into purchasing games such as those? There were 55 games listed as released on November 23, 2023, over a week ago as of the time of this writing. Of those, only 5 have more than 30 reviews, a decent indicator that more than 1,000 people have purchased/played it. Sand:box (267), Cyber Avenger (50), Easy Red 2: Ardennes 1940 & 1944 (47), Retro Commander (181), and Metal Breaker (30). A large majority of releases had none, or less than five, reviews listed, and a very small, or simply nonexistent, user base. Does any significantly sized group browse Steam by their “All Products sorted by Release Date” page? And for those who do, how many are engaging with anything beyond those that have been assigned the thumbs up icon, indicating mostly positive reviews? An icon which can easily be hovered over to view a pop up of exactly how many reviews have been posted for said title.

As user vedder charts using MobyGames API, there are now more games being released than at any point in the past, with the drop off post 2017 not being the result of less games being released but so many that the website cannot keep up with all of the new releases. With this increase in volume so too does the increase in games many will refer to as shovelware, but this is not a real problem. Filters and storefront curation means that only the most marketed, most reviewed, and best selling titles are going to be seen by a majority of people browsing the storefront. Only freaks like me keep bookmarks for the new releases for each platform out of curiosity of what might be the Next Big Thing, if I’m even paying attention at any given time.

People become irrationally angry and annoyed that Valve and other store owners refuse to do anything about all the “crap” clogging the store, even though its something an insignificant portion of their overall user base cares about. Even if they were to attempt to curate and filter out the “crap”, how would they do so? Crap games are subjective affairs, and we have seen time and time again how the general internet userbase will manipulate and skew aggregated reviews in petty protest. There is also the problem of quantity of releases: you simply can’t keep up with the amount of games being released. Valve was already criticized for failure to keep to any standard when it came to their prior implementation of banning nude games, especially when it came to those that featured no more and less explicit nudity than those seen in much more popular titles that would never be threatened with removal.

The introduction of smartphone storefronts and the dissolution of any barrier to publishing a game on PC did not introduce anything new to the industry when it comes to “shovelware”. People complaining about this topic have existed forever. The hubris of corporations, not the lack of quality control, is what led to the video game crash of 1983. Nintendo’s “Seal of Quality” during the NES era meant jack shit to the quality of the game and simply meant it was officially licensed by Nintendo to work on their system. Certification on current consoles is a system to ensure the game won’t brick your console, though recently we’ve seen even that process can be exempted from larger publishers.

It is not in the commercial interest for publishers to start trimming the quantity of content form their storefronts as well, considering they accrue a hefty income amount by getting a cut of every sale on their platform. The transition from physical to digital was a boon to developers as they no longer had to engage with publishers for the complex and expensive process of retail and could instead simply upload their game to the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace. This also meant that those digital store owners could better control and collect money on products sold. This is similar, and more controllable, to how developers and publishers had to pay the console owner a license fee to get their discs printed and working on that console. However with digital stores, the owner gets a larger cut than they do via licensing. The standard revenue split is taking 30% of each purchase, the exceptions being Itch.io which is 10%, and Microsoft who changed theirs from 30% to 12% for PC sales in 2021. This was following in Epic’s footsteps as when they launched the Epic Game Store it was with a 88/12 revenue split as a marketing strategy to attract developers, and therefore users, to its new platform. Due to this, why would any of them reduce the amount of games being published on their platform? As every purchase gets them some funding, and if the server costs of maintaining an old platform becomes too much they can just shut it down forever (or walk back their announcement like Sony and the PlayStation 3/Vita storefronts).

Twitch recently conjured an entirely new competitor due to their content moderation policies against gambling. In October 2022 Twitch updated their policy prohibiting gambling from being streamed on their site. Due to the lucrative nature of being sponsored by gambling sites, a lot of streamers were unhappy about this and Kick was able to wiggle its way onto the streaming market by being a much less regulated platform. Taken from a recent New York Times profile on the platform, “Kick, an Australian company, has flourished thanks to an unusual business model. It offers eyebrow-raising multimillion dollar contracts to top streamers and takes just 5 percent of all streamers’ earnings, compared with a 50-50 split on Twitch, helping lure away both top Twitch stars and rank-and-file content creators who say they’ve seen a bump in earnings. But the site itself is something of a loss leader for Stake, the online casino backed by the same ownership and frequently promoted on Kick. By offering them sizable endorsement deals with Stake, Kick has also attracted mainstream stars like the rapper Drake.” Where there is money to be made, someone will always be there to reap the cash. Steam banning hentai games isn’t going to eliminate them from the internet, but it would also simply hurt their business, and again, is this really such a big problem? Whereas Twitch’s banning of gambling is a moral good given how evil the gambling industry is, the previous complaint lobbied at Twitch over their “failure” to regulate “hot tub” streamers, was mostly petty men mad that women in bathing suits were “stealing” their views and diminishing the quality of the streaming platform (as if watching people react to YouTube videos was inherently more valuable content).

The only moral obligation the stores currently adhere to are legal ones, mainly applied towards the banning of certain depictions of minors. What is lawful may not always be moral, but regulating content by laws above all else is currently the only reliable way to maintain a storefront today. All other filtering attempts will fall into a subjective trap in which a small group will hold control over what gets made readily available for everyone. We already have a contingent of annoying posters who scream out “censorship!” anytime a game is changed from its original release, even though these changes are being submitted by the creators themselves out of a commercial interest, steadily eroding the power of that censorship claim. Leaving the fate of releases in the hands of a few risks too much given human whims. We all know how unbalanced the scales are when it comes to depictions of violence compared to depictions of anything sexual in nature in both games and other media. And let us not fool ourselves into thinking minority groups wouldn’t be unfairly targeted by these policies. The only morally objectionable content I’ve seen in my time paying attention was the infamous game Hatred in 2014. At the time I believed the best course at the time was to simply not pay it any attention and hold to that today. Instead, it was subject to numerous articles and op-eds and became a martyr for any and all self-described “transgressive” titles. Gatekeeping content being published online is much more trouble than it is worth, and pleasing people is not the sort of policy you want to engage in when your platform exists online and has innumerable users and commentators.

Some will see my platinum trophies for Deep Space Rush, Jack N' Jill DX, Mochi Mochi Boy, Super Weekend Mode, Mekabolt, Milo's Quest in my profile and think these are cheap trophies compared to the real platinum trophies I have for DOOM (2016), Dead Space 2, and Control, but who cares? These are insignificant problems. This metagame that has existed for over a decade has done little to change the landscape of gaming, simply creating a new niche of games being published with the intent not to create a work of art but to entice those with trophy fever to purchase and play them for a quick boost. Is this really that different from games made purely for profit than art? Reddit and their ilk online will always complain about publishers exploiting players, whether through online passes, season passes, microtransactions, loot boxes, gacha titles, battle passes, and whatever the next monetization strategy will be. Some of these are real problems, such as those games which prey on gambling addicts, but a publisher like Ratalaika or those on Steam publishing hentai puzzle games are not worth the time and energy. And on a larger scale, gate keeping releases on a platform level will never be satisfactory, and risks blocking the release of worthwhile titles due to a perverted sense of morality or quality control. We’ve seen the former bear fruit in the form of the Hays Code of the film industry in its early life, and the latter is simply unsustainable. You are going to be okay seeing Zombies Wars and Soulash 2 and hundreds of other titles on the list of Steam releases, we will get through this and be stronger for it.

[chroniclesofdenzar]

Do you feel the hair standing up on the back of your neck? DID THAT SHEET JUST MOVE ON ITS OWN?!

Phew! Was just the cat... BUT don't get too comfortable because it's that spooktacular time of year again! Halloween is rapidly approaching and this year brings with it an abundance of... EVIL MONSTERS AND COOL COSTUMES!

Please log in now until October 31st to participate in this year's Halloween event!

The Pumpkin Patch and Jack's Patch are once again being invaded by throngs of evil monsters and need your swords, staves, daggers, bows, axes, bludgeoning-devices, and trained beasts to aid in pushing back the invasion of undead!

This event is open to players of all levels as these enemies scale with you! So jump on in and do your part to push the evil out of Jack's Patch no matter what your level is!

To celebrate our Halloween event, we are offering a bunch of incentives for donations with all proceeds going to fund the sustainability of our game for this year and many years to come.

All contributors of any amount will unlock timed global stat bonuses for THE ENTIRE SERVER. All players will benefit from your donations!

Donations of $5, $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000 will receive special rewards through the end of our Halloween event on October 31st.

FOLLOWING THE EVENT there will be a random drawing to determine the winners for the Halloween Raffle Tickets to determine who will win 500, 1500, and 2500 Chrono!

$5: 5 Pumpkin Stalks, 1 Candy, 1 Potion of Energy Restoration

$10: 10,000 crowne, 5 Candy, 1 Bag of Glyphs, 1 One of Us, 1 All World Buffs - 1 Hour

$20: 1 H A L L O W E E N, 10 Halloween Raffle Tickets, 1 Draught of Enlightenment, 1 30 days Membership

$30: 1 Halloween Haunted Chest, 2 H A L L O W E E N, 10 Candy, 2 Summit of Chaos

$50: 1 Equipment Voucher - Halloween (DONATION EXCLUSIVE), to be exchanged at the Artificer's Exchange in Cajar for your choice of: Spider Bite (a single-hand axe on the cutting edge of Halloween Weapon Technology, surely worth dual-wielding given the chance), Hallowed Scythe (taken directly from Death himself), OR the Widowmaker (a powerful bow sure to put down your enemies), 5 Bag of Glyphs, 1 Draught of Enlightenment, 4 Potion of Energy Restoration

$100: 1 Dark Hallowed Spirit Costume (DONATION EXCLUSIVE with 5x Pumpkin Stalk multiplier), 1 Cajarian Star, 2 Glyph of the Champion, 50 Candy

$200: 1 Huge Treasure Chest, 1 Halloween Fantasy Chest, 100 Halloween Raffle Tickets, 3 Glyph of the Champion

$500: 25 Bag of Glyphs, 1000000 crowne, Activate ALL world buffs for EVERYONE for 24 hours AND Class Skill Artifact giving +1 to the class skill OF YOUR CHOICE (choice made upon donation)!

$1000: You paid for months of server time! You will be mentioned by name in the next update AND get to help design a costume, weapon, and set of armor for November's Thanksgiving event which you will also receive for free!

These rewards STACK, so if you donate $50, you get the $5, $10, $20, $30, AND $50 reward all at once, INCLUDING the regular bonus rewards noted on the Donate Now page!

Our goal is to keep Chronicles of Denzar online, and we can only do it with the support of players like you!

P.S. Don't forget to click on the Halloween banner and JOIN a team to see WHO CAN SLAY MORE UNDEAD!

[mxchellesworld]

punishment games

natasha romanoff x reader

synopsis; in which your efforts to get back Nat’s attention leads to a much different result than expected 

warnings; smut obvi, use of strap ons, degradation, light impact play, use of restraints

a/n; so recently i’ve been on a binge of reading nat fics and goddd did i miss her!! anyways this idea came to me last night so i wanted to get it out asap before i forgot lol as always i hope you enjoy!!

also fuck the marvel timeline but if you place this around age of ultron it works

***

You were being testy. And you knew it too. You also knew it was wrong to push blame onto someone else but technically Natasha started it. (no she didn’t)

It was another Stark party, a night of drinking and loud music over a meaningless celebration. However you loved them nonetheless, being able to smother Nat and taste the vodka on her lips while you both watched the boys goof off as if they didn’t normally.

However that was all pushed to the side when you saw some random blonde chatting it up with her. Usually you weren’t the type of person to be upset over someone talking to her but the moment the unfamiliar hand reached forward to tuck away a strand of loose red hair, no offense to Bruce but suddenly you were seeing green.

It was at an instant the gears in your head started spinning. Making your way to the small section where you were all sitting you marched right past her, adding a little sway to your hips before approaching the key to making this little plan work. Thor.

Ever since you had met him you had a little tiny crush on him. Who wouldn’t he was a god for fucks sake, 6’4 and sculpted to perfection. While yes, Natasha was your soulmate and only had eyes for you, she understood the appeal.

“Is this seat taken?” you asked twirling a piece of your hair leaning in for him to hear you over the bass pounding. 

It was as if he knew exactly what thought was swirling in your head just by taking a look past you to the sight on the leather couch parallel to him, he met your smirk as he responded, “Always a place for you my pretty little mortal.”

You giggled as his hands went to your hips pulling you down onto his lap. Your arm went around his neck, fingers running through his golden locks.

Turning your head you looked back at Natasha who was suddenly no longer interested in the woman sitting next to her.

Y/n: 1, you thought in your head. 

The next hour was spent still in Thor’s lap. As bold as you two were being he never let his hands steer any lower than your hip or waist. He caught you up on Asgard business. Even promising to take you someday. As intimidating as he seemed deep down he was nothing but a puppy. 

A few more minutes of laughing it up and he tapped on your thigh, “If you’ll excuse me my dear but I need to make a quick trip to the gentlemen’s room. However I will pass you on to my friend here,” he said pushing you onto another lap. 

You waved goodbye before turning your attention back to the newest player in your little game, “Hey there soldier,” you said with a smile. 

“Hey Y/n,” Steve said with a playful roll of his eyes. 

“So how’s the party been for you,” you asked before he cut you off. 

“Cut the shit Y/n.” 

“Woah Steven! You kiss your mother with that mouth?” you said with a laugh. 

“I just wanna know why you’re here instead of oh I don’t know hanging around your girlfriend.” he said nudging his beer bottle in Natasha’s direction. 

“Well when mommy’s and daddy’s get in fights-” Steve’s groan cut you off, “Anyways. She’s caught up in her own conversation.” 

“Really because it looks like she wants to bite someones head off.” 

This time when you turned around, dark green eyes were glaring right into yours. And they said the winter soldier stare was scary. However instead of fear it was nothing but pure heat shooting straight to your core. 

Looking back at Steve you played with the buttons on his blue, size smedium button down “Listen all you gotta do is sit here and look pretty, maybe give me a good squeeze once in a while. Nat’s not gonna hurt you.” 

The blonde scoffed, “Why do I find that hard to believe.” 

“I don’t like this attitude on you Steven,” you said playfully furrowing your brows, “did your little boyfriend Sam teach to act like this.” 

Steve lifted up his finger like he was about to scold you when a cold hand on your shoulder made you both freeze up, “Don’t bother Stevie, I know just how to put her in her place.” 

Natasha: 1

Her hand went down to your wrist pulling you along down the hallway and into an elevator, “Nat-” 

“I don’t wanna hear a single fucking word from you. Got it?” she said facing the metal doors. You gulped seeing the way her jaw clenched. Nodding your head knowing she was watching from the corner of her eyes. 

Once in your room she wasted no time in shoving you on the bed. Her lean frame over yours, trapping you under her. 

“Do you think it’s funny to act like a little slut in front of all our friends?” 

“No Nat-” your sentence ended before it started when a slap was landed on your cheek. The impact making you moan out. 

“Is this what you wanted princess? Did you need me to bring you back here and use you like the little fuck toy you are?” she said lips mere inches away from yours. 

Learning from past mistakes you kept your words to yourself and eagerly nodded your head, panting from the steady ache between your legs. You whined as she got up, watching as she walked to the little chest where you kept all your toys. 

“Get to the center of the bed and put your arms up,” she said without looking back at you, “clothes off, except your panties.” 

Instantly you followed her request going as quickly as you possibly could. She made her way over with metal cuffs, locking you in place before going back to the chest. You watched as she turned and made her way to the bed again, a long red toy attached to a strap was in her hands. 

She let out a mocking laugh as she noticed your eyes get wide when she lifted your legs to put on you instead of herself, “aw you didn’t think I was gonna reward you did you angel?” 

“Natty please I’m sorry,” you whimpered out as she moved to straddle your hips. The material of her jeans rubbing your legs made you painfully aware of you state of undress. 

She reached forward to squeeze your cheeks in one of her hands, “You should’ve thought about that before you wanted to whore yourself out to the boys.” 

“Now you’re gonna lay back and watch me fuck myself. And just maybe if I’m satisfied enough I’ll think about fucking you,” she said stripping herself of her clothes. 

You watched as she settled between your legs, one hand on the silicone cock and the other on your thigh, making you jolt. Her pink tongue licked a strip up the toy before she took it in her mouth. Never once did her eyes leave yours. 

It was as if you could feel her actions, the way she moaned around the toy bobbing her head. You knew it was nothing more than just to tease. The drawer full of lube suddenly forgotten about. 

Once she was done you watched as she settled herself on the tip of the toy, slowly lowering her self down. One hand squeezing on her breast, fingers rolling her perky pink nipple. You mewled at the sight, hips rising and digging the toy deeper inside her. 

“Oh look at my cute little toy just aching to make me feel good,” she said as she started moving her hips in slow circles. 

All you could do was dumbly nod in agreement. Your hands ached to touch her soft skin. Imagining the sight of little crescent marks on her hips as you fucked into her had you going crazy. 

“You know this could’ve been you malysh,” she said with a swift roll of her hips, the soft coo of her accent going straight to your core, “I would’ve even settled for a double ended toy, but from what I’ve seen tonight you don’t deserve any relief.” 

She picked up her rhythm, palms steady on either side of your head as she bounced up and down on the silicone cock. The sounds of her juices and moans drifting through the room was like music to your ears. 

You swore you could’ve cum on the spot. The sight above you was nothing short of heavenly, “Nat please let me help you,” you said breathlessly. 

“Please let me touch you! ‘M sorry,” you slurred out. 

“Aw my pathetic little baby,” she said leaning forward to wrap her hand around your throat. The slight amount of pressure making you gasp.

“I haven’t laid a single finger on you and you’re already so mindless,” said finally letting her lips touch yours. You moaned at the familiar taste of her favorite alcohol. 

It was almost embarrassing how on edge you were. Her words alone could make you finish. And you wouldn’t have been upset about it. 

She pulled away and reached up to undo the cuffs. Your hands falling limp to the side before you grabbed onto her face. Pulling her lips back onto yours like you had been missing all night. 

“Wanna make you cum,” you said against her lips. With one hand on her hip the other went to rub on her aching bud. Her head fell to your shoulder, leaving bites to muffle her mewls and whimpers. 

“That’s it princess, make me cum for you. Such a good little fuck doll for me to use, baby,” she heaved out. 

“Just for you Nat!” 

With a few more rough thrusts of your hips and figure eights just how you knew she liked them you felt her body spasm over you. Soft lips forming a perfect O as she let out a silent scream. Her ragged breathes warm against your skin as she rode out her high. 

Once calmed down she got off the toy, helping you take off the strap and tossing it to the side. You were about to sit up when she pushed you back down into the sheets, leaning over to grab her phone from the bedside. 

“Nat what are you-” A quick glare from her was all you needed to shut yourself up. 

“Hey Thor? Yeah I’m gonna need a favor, and bring Steve with you.” 

[hockeywhhores]

best for you- t. seguin

Tyler Seguin x f!Reader

warning~ swearing, smut, female and male receiving, alcohol consumption, pushy waiter 

summary~ A pushy bartender gets you thinking about Tyler and what you want next with him. 

genre~ friends with benefits to lovers, smut

word count~ 2.6K 

valentine’s week masterlist

main masterlist

As Tyler spent more time in Dallas, he found himself getting lonely. Insert you; you had just recently gotten out of a long-term relationship and were just looking for no strings attached sex. You had met when you started interning for the Dallas Stars, but left after deciding public relations wasn’t for you, you stopped interning. The guys liked you though, so you got invited to most of the social gatherings. You promptly got closer to Tyler due mostly to the fact you were both young and single. After getting close enough with Tyler, you both quickly jumped into a friend with benefits situation. No one but Jamie knew about what would happen behind closed doors.

Tonight was no different. Tyler had invited you to some club to celebrate their recent win. You knew you wouldn’t be making it back to your own apartment that night. You never did anyway. When all of this started, you both promised to end it if one of you got feelings, and you certainly were not successful. Tyler could say the same thing. Getting ready didn’t take long due to you already being ready from earlier in the day. The only thing that changed was your shirt. You went from being in a simple white blouse to Tyler’s jersey. The Uber you ordered was quickly at your curb, and you couldn’t be more grateful. Everyone was coming straight from the game, and usually you would be with them, but you had got stuck at work. Tyler was already texting you wondering where you were, and you put his mind to ease saying you were headed over.

The club was packed. Bodies were everywhere, you could hardly find the group of hockey players. You weren’t disappointed when you found Tyler in the crowd. Tyler was talking with Jamie when you snuck up on them. They were both dressed in their pregame suits. Tyler was looking as good as always. “Boo!” you cheered out. Tyler turned around so quickly, you thought he might’ve given himself whiplash.

“Hey! I was wondering where you were!” Tyler's grin was huge and contagious. You smiled just as big.

“Ya, my Uber got stuck in traffic.” you sighed out an explanation, “Hey Jamie! You both played so well tonight. I had time to catch the third period while I was leaving work.”

“Thanks y/n. Do you want anything to drink?” Jamie cut in.

“Just put your drinks on my tab tonight.” Tyler added on. You smiled at him in thanks. You never wanted Tyler to feel as if you were using him for his money. You turned around to order, when the bartender got closer. “You are wearing my jersey.” Tyler said.

“Yeah. I thought I should since you were such a big star tonight.” you explained. You thought nothing of wearing his jersey when you had put it on. Tyler loved seeing his last name on your back. It made him feel proud.

“Well, let me just say you look hot.” he whispered into your ear while he played with your hair. You swear you blushed redder than a tomato.

“How long do we have to be here, before I can treat my big star for his monumental work?” you questioned him.

“Give it an hour or two. They’ll be drunk enough they won't even notice when we leave.” Tyler guessed.

“Tell Jamie he might want to find somewhere to sleep for the night.” you chirped.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with that.” Tyler said as he pointed to Jamie, who was talking up some brunette on the other side of the bar.

“Prefect!” you cheered. The bartender had finally come back with your drink and set it on the counter.

“You have pretty hair.” The bartender told you, as you thanked him for your drink. He had completely ignored Tyler, who was at your side.

“Thank you.” you said again and turned away before anything could happen. When you and Tyler had started hooking up, your dating life came to a complete halt. You didn’t feel the need to get a one-night stand, you were perfectly content with Tyler. Tyler knew who to use his body, he also knew your body. You thought about when you first asked him to try you up. You felt yourself getting wet. This was going to be a long two hours.

“What’s going through that head of yours?” Tyler asked when he saw you turn bright pink. You just winked at him and walked over to his teammates. You wanted to play with him a little. You could hear them all talking about hockey.

“No more hockey! You guys need at least one night free of that outrageous sport.” you shouted as you got closer. A lot of the guys answered in cheering your name as you smiled and waved. Jason was seated on one of the end seats and pulled you into a quick side hug. When you came out of the hug, you felt Tyler’s hand pull you into his side by your hip. You gave him a questioning look, but he didn’t even look at you.

“Lets go dance, y/n!” Lauren excitingly demanded as she grabbed your hand. You decided to go and let loose a bit. You were dancing with Lauren for what feels like forever, and to be fair, it was long enough to finish sipping on your drink. You headed back to the bar. The same bartender was there, and you just tried to get this over with. You weren’t in the mood to get hit on by random men.

“Another vodka redbull, please.” you politely asked.

“Coming right up, beautiful.” you rolled your eyes and waited for him to make your drink. “Anything else I can get you? Maybe I can get your number?” he asked.

“I’m good, thank you.” you denied.

“Come on, please. It's just your number.” he tried to convenience you.

“I have a boyfriend.” you informed him.

“Oh, come on. The douche you were with earlier. I’m so much better than him.” he pressed on.

“I am extremely happy with him. He treats me so much better than you could ever.” you just walked away. Heading back to Lauren. “Hey, Lauren, I think I’m going to sit down for a while.” you told her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

“Yeah. The bartender wasn’t taking no for an answer, and I want to sit with Tyler.” you explained. She just nodded and walked you back to the table. “Hey, Ty, Can you take me home?” you asked him quietly.

“Of course. Are you okay?” he asked

“Yeah, I just want to go home.” you said. Tyler got up in a flash and said bye to all of his teammates. You just waved. You had let him lead you out of the club, with his arm around your waist. You didn’t even care about what others might be thinking. Tyler held you close as he ordered an Uber. You were shivering. When you left the house you didn’t even think about grabbing a coat, but standing out in the chilly night you regretted that decision. He could feel you shivering, and after he had the car ordered, he pulled you in as close as he could. He even tried to get you to wear his jacket, but you said you were fine in his arms. So he just held you until the car came.

“What happened?” he gently asked while holding your hand.

“The bartender was being creepy and just out right disrespectful.” you explained. “He told me I should give him my number, and when I said you were my boyfriend, he told me about how he would treat me better than you. Fuck. It's just so annoying.” Tyler’s heart warmed when he heard you had told him you were his girlfriend. He wanted so badly for that to be the truth, but you were looking for a no string-attached relationship.

“I’m sorry, y/n” he said as his hand tightened around yours. You just lay your head on his shoulder, sinking into him.

“Are we going back to yours or mine?” you asked.

“I put my address in, but do you want me to change it to yours?” he countered.

“No, yours is fine.” you signed, resting onto him deeper. Tyler always tried to remind himself that he wasn’t good enough. He drank way too much, was covered in tattoos, and was traveling half the year. So even if you had felt the same for him, you didn’t deserve him. You deserved a nice guy who could be there for you.

When you got back to his house, you took charge. You rarely took charge in the bedroom, but you decided you wanted to tonight. You grabbed his blazer and pulled him into a hard kiss. He kissed back just as hard and pulled you closer by the hips. The dogs came to greet you, which made you pull away. You bent down to pet Gerry, while Tyler started talking to Cash and Marshmallow. Tyler led you to the bedroom and closed the door. You pulled him back into the kiss. You then started pulling off his suit blazer and unbuttoning his shirt. You started pulling off the jersey, but he stopped your hands.

“Keep it on.” Tyler demanded. You just nodded and unbuckled his belt. Sinking down to your knees and dragging down his suit pants. He was left in his boxers, and your mouth and pussy were growing wet. You left some sloppy wet kisses on the outside of his boxer, right on his tip. “Don’t play with me, Princess.”

“I would never, Daddy.” you innocently replied to him. You let the idea of you being dominant leave your mind. You dragged his boxers down and connected your mouth to his now fully exposed tip. Tyler grabbed the back of your head, and you let him lead your head. He started going faster, and you were gagging on him. He was long and thick, and hitting your gag reflex with ease. You played with his balls, while tears were escaping your eyes. You loved when he fucked your face. He was close to cumming, you could tell by the way he slightly slowed his thrusts. You started speeding up your movement, wanting him to cum soon. You kept going unto he coated your mouth with his seed. Tyler never expected you to swallow, but he would be lying if he said that he didn’t find it hot when you did. You swallowed, staring him in the eyes as you did so.

“You are killing me, Princess.” he groaned, and you smiled. “Get on the bed, let Daddy reward you.” You rushed back to the bed, and he pulled your jeans off when you got situated. Seeing your white lace panties made his dick spring. “Did you wear these for me?” you nodded, but he gave your pussy a slap when you didn’t answer.

“Just for you, Daddy.” you admitted. He smiled, happy with your answer. With feather light touches he pulled down your underwear. He loved seeing you squirm in his arms. After your panties were gone, he teased you by kissing your inner thighs. “Tyler. Please.” you begged him. You yelped when you felt a sting go through you. He had slapped your pussy again, but this time harder.

“That’s not my name.” he reminded you.

“I’m sorry! I meant Daddy!” you moaned out when you felt him kiss right above your clit. “Please.” you moaned again. Then you finally felt his lips attach to your clit. You were a moaning mess, and it only got worse when he pushed his fingers into you. He found your g-spot easily. Tyler knew your body like it was his. It was his. He was the one you called, and you haven’t even thought about sleeping with someone else in months. Tyler got you screaming when he pumped his fingers into you fast and was sucking on your clit. You felt like you were in heaven. It only lasted a couple seconds before you were cumming, and you were cumming hard. You were screaming his name. Your legs were shaking, and you had to push him off of you when the pleasure had started to sting.

“That was amazing, Doll.” he complimented you. You blushed and tugged him up so you could kiss him. He kissed you hard, and when you reached for down to play with him, you heard one of his dogs scratch at the door. “Fuck.” Tyler sighed out.

“Go open the door for them. We can finish later.” you swept the loose hair that had fallen into his eyes. He did as you said, and you took off the jersey, and put his white button down on your body instead. Later came and went with you and him cuddling in the bed watching some movie. The dogs had joined in, they all found their own places in little coves in the bed. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we put real labels on this” you quietly asked.

“What?” Tyler thought he misheard you, but when he saw you looking up at him with your loving eyes, he knew he heard you correctly.

“Nevermind. Please forget what I just said. We promised not to catch feelings.” you panicked.

“I think about it all the time.” he confessed. “I think about what it would be like to come home to you and the dogs every day. I messed up and caught feelings, but I’m no good for you. You could find someone so much better than me.”

“Tyler. You do not get to decide what is good for me. I’m so sick of men deciding what's good for me. You treat me like a princess. I can’t think of anyone who makes me feel the way you do.” you professed. You got up on your elbows and made sure his eyes didn’t leave yours. “I love you, Tyler.”

“I love you too, y/n. I just wished I didn’t have to leave so much. You need someone that will be there when you need them.” Tyler said.

“No. You were there for me, when my shower head broke, even though you were all the way in fucking Canada. You sat on facetime with me while I messed around with the pipes, before just telling me where your spare key was, so I could use yours. You are there for me more than you realize.” tears were now falling down your cheeks. Why couldn’t he see how good he was to you? “Please, just give us a shot.” Tyler nodded, and you grinned. The kiss was slightly salty because of your tears, but your happiness was overpowering it.

“I just want what's best for you, y/n.” he explained.

“you are what’s best for me.” you proclaimed, kissing his cheek.

“Okay, but the first time I fuck up you need to dump my ass.” he said.

“I will agree to that, because I know you wouldn’t fuck up,” you explained, “Well, not too badly.” you giggled, which got a smile back on his lips. You fell asleep in his arms with the dogs at your feet, and the light sound of the TV in the background.

finished

[reogou]

Dating HCs with Kotaro Bokuto

pairing: kotaro bokuto x fem!reader

genre: fluff, nsfw at the end

warning/s: nsfw, smut, pegging, finger-fucking (?), overstimulation

a/n: this is for @janellion for her prize! I'm so sorry it took me so long to make your prize 😭! I think the nsfw was a lot longer than the sfw, just like what you wanted. i hope you enjoy this! ily bb!

credits: to @westxrlund​ for the header’s bg

SFW

Relationship with this owl is tiring but fun. For real. You will have no sleep. You will literally wake up at 3 am because he messages you to say he misses you.

3 am escapades are your relationship goals. He's craving for ice cream? He'll message you in the middle of the night that he'll be there in front of your doorstep in 15 minutes. You miss him? He'll take you to the beach and will make you sit in front of the car while he wraps his arms around your waist, sharing both of your favourite drink while staring at the sea.

But maybe if he's too lazy to drive, movie marathon in the living room while watching your favourite movie with a single blanket covering the both of you. Or if you want to, he'll cuddle you in bed if you cannot sleep.

But if there's an important event tomorrow, like a practice or official match or exam, you'll be the one to make him go to sleep or study because this man has no limits in his clinginess. Baby just want hugs and cuddles please spare him from the pain of having to study-

But even if he's clingy sometimes, he does know that school and match is important. He, after all, wants to become successful for you and your future together.

When you're inside the school, little notes and love letters are never forgotten when it comes to Bo. He'll slid in small notes inside your locker or your bag after you both finished eating lunch together. This man, despite his chaotic self, has good penmanship. And y'all can't tell me otherwise. Though there might be a few messy strokes here and there.

His notes and letters are a bit over the top but that's what you love about him. Though all the contents of it are just him telling you how beautiful you are and how much you love him or just some lame pick-up lines or vines he thought of or saw in the internet.

Mornings with him will probably consist of you being awake so early in the morning because Bokuto wants to jog with you. I swear your legs would be dead by the end of your jog because of how far this man jogs.

This guy loves to eat your cooking. May it be good or bad, he won't let the chance slip of getting to taste the food you cooked no matter how bad it is.

Also, expect music marathon with him too. You'll both be sharing a single earphone while eating chips and reading books or blasting them in the speakers while you two dance under the afternoon sunlight from the windows.

He knows you love reading so when he became a professional player, he uses some of his money sometimes to buy you books you're dying to buy. Will also bring you in a reading café so you both could read while chilling.

During summer, expect beach dates too. He will invite his friends over to go on a vacation with the both of you for a week or two. He loves barbecue so there'll be like barbecue party every two days. Will sneak inside you out on the shore to invite you over a walk by the sea.

Texting with Bo is sweet and funny sometimes. But often times, you just send cheesy text to each other or he'll just send you random funny videos or memes he saved on his phone.

You always make sure to be on his every game to support him and cheer for him. Everytime he scores, his names escapes your lips in a shout to show your undying support for him. Whenever he feels down, you always make sure to cheer him up so that he wouldn't sulk during the game. You are his energizer and personal cheerleader after all. When the game ends, hugging him has always been a ritual for the both of you. If they won the game, you always give him a kiss in the lips as a reward. However, if they lost, your shoulders are always ready for him to cry on while you calm him by running your hands on his back.

Whenever he's down, ice cream with you is always the solution for him. Sitting on the couch while you both enjoy the cold sweet treat as he snuggle close to you and become the small spoon have always been perfect for him.

But of course, there's no such thing as perfect relationship. There will always be a time where you both will have a fight or a misunderstanding, and during those times, you both try your hardest to understand each other and explain both of your sides. Bokuto doesn't like fighting with you. Because he believes it's pointless. But even so, whenever you two got into a fight, Bokuto may be pissed and you may be angry too, but a day or two of clearing up the both of your heads has always been the answer. After a day or two, one of you will step out of their comfort zone and say sorry to the other, depending on who's fault it is.

NSFW

warning/s: please be warned that after this note, nsfw content will greet you. Read at your own risk.

As calm as you both are in the outside, sex with Bokuto was never vanilla. You both always manage to spice things up weather it may be major suck as blindfold or minor such as changing positions. And you always love it. After all, this man has big d energy and you can prove it down there.

His favourite position is you, on all fours, while he rams his cock inside you. He likes seeing your sweaty back, just like how you love his back too. The way your back arc when he hits that sweet spot inside you, he loves seeing it so much, resulting to him pounding you even harder than he already is.

Most times, he likes it sweet and slightly slow. The first time you did it, he was so slow and caring that it was the best experience for you. He likes to see you squirm beneath him while you moan in pleasure, sometimes begging him to go faster. Of course, he would give it to you since he wants you to feel pleasure.

However, this guy can also be so so rough when it comes to the sheets. He'll be ramming his cock deep inside your wet cavern until you can't say anything other than chant his name over and over again. Marks and bruises would be present on your hips and neck cause why not? He loves marking you.

Overstimulation? You got it. This man can make you come almost two times just by his fingers alone. The squelching sounds motivating him to go deeper until he hits that spongy spot you love the most.

He can also be a little shit sometimes. Teasing you by brushing his fingers to your overstimulated front, giving you orgasm denial just so he can see those pretty crystalline tears rolling down your cheeks.

He loves putting hickies all over your body. So much. He will literally bite you everywhere just so he can gaze up and stare at his beautiful handiwork. He also have sensitive neck, and the first time you bit him on the neck, a loud whine escaped his lips from the pleasure.

Sexts is also an often occurrence in your relationship. When he feels horny and you're not together, he would text you in ungodly hours and will tell you how much he misses the feeling of your walls around his fat cock. You would shush him, saying its inappropriate to send horney text, but one message from his commanding you to take off all of your clothes and send him a lewd photo was all it took for you to get horny and obey him. You both end up on a video call while you masturbate and he watches you, hands palming the beast under his boxers as his eyes ogled on your fingers thrusting in and out of your hole, lewd expressions forming on your face.

He's a dom, all the way through. But he has a dirty little secret that he hides from you. He can't see you dominating him, but it's not really impossible. Bokuto hides it, but he's curious about pegging. He had so search the meaning of it in google and when he knew what it meant, he lowkey got hard when he imagined it. You, behind him, while wrecking him with tat straps of yours.

He knows how much of a sub you are, that's why he hid at most of the time. When he tried to tell you about it while you two were cuddling on the bed after 3 rounds, you were a bit shocked. You? Dominating him? Bokuto, who's a hard dom? You were stunned. So shocked that you can only nod your head when he asked you if you're okay with it.

The first time you two did it, Bokuto was so shy that you have to come out of your shell and convince him that it's okay. You both don't know what to do, but Bokuto did some research to help the both of you.

When you put on the strap, it was kinda...awkward and uncomfortable at first. Add the fact that you don't know how to put it on, Bokuto have to help you. When you get somewhat used to it, you reached for the bottle of lube and squirt a good amount on your hands.

Bokuto was lying on his stomach in front of you, his ass high up to help you somehow. When you pressed your fingers on his puckered hole, he jolted in surprise that you almost jumped to. Once he was calmed down, you started spreading the lube around his hole and slowly inserted your finger.

Bo's moan was so good, so erotic that it made your cunt wet just by hearing his moans. When you started thrusting your finger in and out, his moans got more louder from the new pleasure he's feeling. After a while, his hole started relaxing and it was now super easy to insert your finger inside him.

You tried to insert another finger, attempting to imitate his motion when he's the one finger-fucking you. And the reaction made your hole clench, your juices dripping down the strap on your hips. Once Bokuto gave you the go sign that he's already prep enough, you started inserting the dildo inside him.

As first it was a bit hard, since it was your first time and you're still not used to using the strap. But when you found his hole at last, you started inserting the dildo inside him. A loud moan escaped Bokuto's lips, one that's so erotic that even porn actors would envy. It was so erotic, so cute that you got lost in the moment and inserted almost half of it in, making him squirm below you. When he looked over his shoulder to tell you to be more gentle, his face was full of tears, cheeks so red from crying and from too much pleasure he's feeling.

You can't help but to feel so good and started fucking him, but still in a slow way so as to not hurt him any further. His moans were echoing on the four corners of the room, so lewd and so good that you can't help but to thrust a little bit faster. The whole experience was so fun and enjoyable to you even though it was a bit uncomfortable using the strap. But it was worth it nonetheless, since you get to see another side of Bo that you've never seen before.

But man, the aftermath was that your hips and legs were hurting so much as well as your back when you both finished. It was so painful that all you could do was lay on bed. Bokuto felt a little guilty but you assured him that you're okay and that it wasn't his fault. To make up for it, he decided to eat you out.

You were on your back, your legs spread apart as Bokuto dived in on your cunt and licked your clit, making you squirm. He held your thighs firmly to keep them apart and started fucking you using his tongue. The pleasure was so good that tears started forming on the corners of your eyes as Bokuto pleasured you.

Bokuto has always been so good in using his tongue that it was not a surprise that you squirted on your 3rd orgasm. He doesn't want to tire you even more so he stopped and cleaned you up before lying beside you and pulling you close to him, naked bodies locked together between his strong arms.

[canumoveurseatup-no]

Baby Boy pt.2

Summary: After you took control in the bedroom, Tony can’t help but want more so he purposely sets you up in a situation that he knows will make you explode.

Pairing: Sub!Tony x Dom!Reader 18+

WC: 3k

Warnings: THIS GETS REALLY DIRTY!! pegging, anal play, a little bit of degradation, oral, smut obviously, pain kink, uh, I think that’s it

A/N: I didn’t think people liked Dom!Reader so much until I kept getting dms asking for a part two, so here it is! Hopefully you enjoy it just as much as the first part. Please reblog and comment!

You tried your best be cordial with the team but it just wasn’t working. You really tried to be the bigger person for Tony but you could never move past what had happened. Sure, you sat at the table with them during dinner finally but you wouldn’t say a word and would ignore them if one of them happen to ask for salt or to pass the rolls. Sure, you came to movie nights but complained when they picked the movie and would leave before it even got halfway through the film.

You were surprised they still were even trying to talk to you and make things better. But how do you make amends after something like that? 

It was game night and Tony was making the teams, he purposely put you with Steve, Natasha, Bucky, and Wanda while he had Vision, Sam, Bruce and Rhodey.

You were playing charades and when your “teammates” went up, you wouldn’t say a single thing to help them win the round, you would just sit there with your arms folded and a frown on your face, Tony would most definitely pay for this later.

“C’mon Y/N, at least be a team player and participate,” Steve whined as he stood in front of the room acting out what was on his card.

“You really have some nerve talking about being a team player,” you scoff

“Y/N,” Tony hissed at you, narrowing his eyes but you didn’t pay any attention to it.

“Guys, time is still running,” Bruce’s voice rang through the awkwardly silent room.

You kept your eyes glued on Steve and flared your nostrils, trying your best to abide by Tony’s wishes, “Gymnastics,” you huff, “That’s what he was acting out,” you roll your eyes and they land on Vision who held the card.

“Correct,” 

Steve sighed in relief and sat back down beside you, making you inch away from him. The games lasted for a good two hours and you participated here and there. You could see Tony smile out the corner of your eyes when you were being a team player. He could smile all he want but he was definitely gonna get it later. He was not out of the woods yet. He would pay for purposely putting you with them, knowing how you were feeling.

You told him you would try your best to work with them being back but you didn’t expect him to just throw you in like this. Yes, of course, you’re all adults but you didn’t find anything wrong with the way you felt and damn anyone who thought so. Tony would definitely get his.

----------

Everyone else had went to bed and it was you and Tony’s turn to do clean up, so it was just you picking up the candy wrappers, soda cans and chip bags.

“Thanks for being a little cordial tonight,” he kissed your cheek but all you did was turn around and grab a hand full of his dick, causing him to squeak in pain and surprise, lifting himself up on his tip toes a bit to try and get away from your grip but you moved right along with him.

“You thought you were really doing something tonight didn’t you,” your teeth were clenched and your face had grown hot. Tony just stood there, staring wide eyed at you.

“Answer me when I talk to you,” you tighten your grip around him, making him groan deeply.

“I-I just thought i-it might ease the tension considering game night is s-supposed to be f-fun,” He tried to move away again but you weren’t letting him go anywhere

“I want you in the bedroom, absolutely naked on your hands and knees waiting for me. Do you understand?,” you breathed slowly through your nose as he just nodded his head, making you grip him even tighter. He moaned out in a mixture of pain and pleasure.

“Use your fucking words, baby boy,”

“Y-yes, yes I understand,” 

You tightened one more time to get a rise out of him as you felt him harden in your hand. You let him go and he all but runs to the elevator to get to your shared room. You give him a few minutes and finish cleaning before following suit and heading to your room.

When you walked in you slammed the door shut and saw him jump at the echoing sound and the small click of you locking the door. You slowly stalk to him and watch as he waited for you. Perky, pale ass waiting to be played with. His dick hung, hard and needy, you could already see precum leaking and you smirked at it, it was so pathetic and cute. 

He flinched when your hands ran themselves across his warm cheeks, grabbing handfuls before smacking both cheeks at the same time. You heard him faintly moan and it prompted you to proceed with the spanking.

“You’ve been a bad boy tonight, baby. You gonna prove to me that you’re good?,”

“Yes, yes,” his tone was begging. He just wanted you to please him and he wanted to make you happy. 

You stripped yourself bare and walked around the bed to climb on and lay back against the pillows with your legs wide open. He watched your pussy glisten as you played with your clit, collecting the wetness before spreading it on his lips like lip balm.

“Go ahead and have your taste,” you tell him. He immediately licks his lips and moans at the taste of you, “Want more?,”

“Yes, yes please,” he gave you those puppy dog eyes and pouted. 

You tangled your fingers in his hair at the back of his head and tugged the roots tightly before pulling him closely, making him groan from the force. 

“Then be a good boy and eat my pussy. You better not stop until I say so. Get into it, I want your face dripping with my cum,” 

His tongue was hanging out of his mouth like a parched puppy, ready to make contact so he could hydrate. You brought his face forward he did as you said and got to work. You kept your grip tight on his hair as he slurped and sucked your pretty little pussy lips into his mouth, devouring you.

“That’s it,” you rolled your hips into his mouth, “Make me feel good and I just might reward you by fucking your cum out of you,” 

His groaning had created vibrations that went straight to your clit. He went harder, wanting to please you so he can get his reward. You felt his breath on you as you wrapped your legs around his head to get him in there good. 

“Fuck, Tony,” you watched as he had his eyes closing, practically making out with your pussy. The way he nipped at your clit had your legs shaking and you breathing heavily. 

“I’m gonna cum, baby. Don’t stop!,” you called out into the still air and you feel yourself cum, gushing out against his mouth, drenching his beard, “I’m not done, keep going like I fucking said,” and he had no problem with getting back to work. This time he added his fingers and relentlessly finger fucked you. You spread your legs once again and wrapped your arm around the back of your thigh as your dominant hand was still wrapped him his hair.

“Good. fucking. boooy,” you screamed as you came again, the stream being slurped up by his mouth. You opened your eyes and saw stars as you stared at the ceiling, panting. Tony was still licking you until you pushed him away. 

“Lay down, baby,” you instructed and he followed orders. You saw the way his tip was flushed red and dripping clear fluid. You grabbed his balls and more dripped out of him.

“Look at your little cock all ready for me,” you taunted. He was anything but little but you loved to tease, “My desperate little boy dripping already,” you rolled his balls in your hand and his mouth dropped to make a noise that never came. You smacked the heavy sac and he bucked his hips up and you snickered at him

“Look at my little pain slut, you like that don’t you? Look at your little cock dripping,” your tone was condescending and it all made Tony want more. You slapped his balls a few more times and he bit his lip groaning to try and keep from yelling out. 

“Y/N, baby, please,” he begged. You thought for a bit and went into your bed side table to take out your wand vibrator and turned it all the way up, grabbing some lube for Tony. You set the wand on the bed and added lube to your hand and started slowly jerking him off, picking up the vibrator and touching it to his head.

“F-fuck,” he turned his head away from you and covered his mouth as his legs shook. 

“Fucking look at me, Tony,” you tone was hard and he knew not to disobey. He turned to look back at you and his cheeks had gone red. You continued moving your hand up and down his length, wet sounds filling the room with the buzzing. 

“You better not fucking cum either. I don’t care how good it feels, if you cum you wanna know what’s gonna happen?,” you leaned in close to him, a sinister smile on your face. 

“W-what?,” he was struggling to keep his eyes open and you found it cute. 

“You cum without my permission I’m gonna ruin your little hole,” you giggle at the end of your threat and Tony couldn’t help but buck up into your hand. You swirled the vibrator around his leaking tip and he gripped the sheets into his hands, jaw clenched and breathing slowly through his nose. 

“Awh it’s too much for a little boy with no self control like yourself isn’t it?,” you titled your head and fake pouted at him.

He couldn’t answer you though. You turned the vibrator off tossing it back in its drawer before moving your hand even faster. 

“Y/N, please!,” 

“Shut up,” you tightened your grip and twisted your hand.

“Nnnmmm, I- I,” his voice was shaky and shrill.

“You what? You can’t take it? You’re gonna cum?, tsk tsk Tony don’t be a bad boy any more than you already have,”

“I’m tryiiing,” 

“Stop being a whiny bitch and try harder then,” 

Tony tried his best to warn you that he was gonna cum and he really tried not to so he whined when his white seed covered your hand, hips stuttering and breathing uneven.

“I’m so sorry,” he whimpered. 

“Turn the fuck over,” you growled. He mewled as he did as told. You swirled his cum around his little hole and he moaned at the feeling of your fingertip coating it.

“You okay, baby?,” you break character for a bit to check on him and wait for his reply.

“Stark,” he states clearly. That was his green light word. 

You took the slick buttplug from the drawer and coated that in lube as well before slowly thrusting the tip into his hungry opening. Working it into him slowly until he welcomed it completely and held it snug. 

You crawled under him and kissed his lips, “Fuck me until I’m cumming again, this is your redemption. Cum again I won’t be so forgiving,” 

He didn’t miss a beat before thrusting deep into you, making your eyes roll in your head, “Good boy,” you placed your legs on his shoulders so he could get deeper.

“Talk to me, baby boy. Tell me what you’re feeling,” you cooed. 

“I-I,” he tried slowing down his hips until you wrapped your hand around his throat and he took that as a direction to keep up, “I feel like I’m gonna bust again, Y/N,” 

“You bust in this pussy without permission I’m gonna ruin you, so think twice,” you moaned, Staring up up at him as he focused yet again on not cumming in your warm, slick walls, “You better hurry and make me cum before it happens,” 

It didn’t help him that the plug was nudging his special spot in his ass plus he was deep in you. He sat up on his knees and pistoled his cock into you, constantly hitting that sweet spot. You were close and you could tell he was too, but you didn’t care. He didn’t deserve to cum yet. 

“Fuck!,” he shouted, feeling you clench around him, “It all feels so good, Y/N,”

Hearing him crying for you had pushed you over the edge. You pulled yourself away as you started to cum, rubbing your clit fast to ride it out, calling out his name. Your juices had splashed against his aching cock and you tried so hard not to laugh at his tears. He was so cute, it was hard not to get turn on by it. 

“Ready for me to take you, baby boy?,” you kissed his nose and he rutted his hips into nothing, trying to find that release.

“P-Please.. yes please, Y/N please,” he was taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. You got your strap from the drawer and harnessed yourself in, climbing behind Tony to take the plug out. He could have nutted right then and there as you took it out but he held off on it. Adding more lube to his ass and to the strap on, you talked to him.

“I bet you’re gonna blow a big load for me, aren’t you baby?,”

“Oh God yes, Y/N. Yes,” his words were slightly muffled as he bit into the pillow. You hadn’t given him a warning as you thrust the dildo deep.

“You’re so ready for me,” you rolled you hips in and out of him and he arched his back all the way down and cried for more. 

“More? You want more? You really want that cum fucked out of you don’t you, baby boy?,”

“Fuck yes! yes yes yes!,” he moved back against you and you turned on the built in vibrator, you loved that setting with this one. You both could receive pleasure

He could barely keep it together. You heard him sniffle as you smacked his ass and fucked it at the same time. You pulled his hair and pulled his back up against your chest to watch his cock. It was bobbing up and down and was hypnotizing. 

“You’re making such a fucking mess, bad boy,” you scolded and fucked him harder.

“I’m sorry!,” he shouted, “Please, may I cum. I-I’ll be good,” 

The slapping of skin had filled the room and was intoxicating, “Fucking cum, for me,”

You watched his cock as more white ropes covered the sheets. His thighs were shaking but you didn’t let up. You continued fucking him and talking to him.

“My little messy whore. You love me fucking you in your little ass don’t you?,”

“Love it so much,” he gasped. His voice cracked as a scream escaped, you two watching him cum again.

“Oh my God, baby. You have so much in you!,” you smiled as more cum flew out on the sheets. You pushed him back down and mushed his head into the pillows and went even harder, making sure to hit his little spot.

“Wanna see that pathetic little cock spit out more cum. One more and I’ll let up,”

His body was convulsing as he sobbed into the pillow, “Cry all you want, baby but this is what you wanted,” you grunted.

‘O-oh God. I-I can’t take it,” he was moving back and forth as you scratched down his back.

“Gimme that cum, Tony. Give me what I want,”

“Y/N! FUUUCK!,” his voice trembled as he raised up on his toes a bit, knees lifting off the bed and his ass was pushed flushed against you. He was cumming all over the sheets yet again. You cum right along with him, adding to the big mess, “O-oh God,” He collapsed in the bed, cock laying in his pool of cum, body still shaking. 

“Such a good boy,” You kissed his shoulder and rubbed the back of his head as he came down, “Gonna run a bath for you and get us some new sheets, okay?,” 

He just nodded but you wanted to hear him to make sure he was okay, “I need to hear you say it, baby,” 

“Yes. Thank you so much,” 

------

You let him sit in the bath for a bit as you put the sheets in the washer and put a clean bed set on the mattress. When you walked back into the bathroom, he was patiently waiting for you and looked so sleepy. You climbed in with him and ran the wet warm rag against his body before cleaning him with gentle soap and he relaxed into you.

“I understand the point you were trying to make tonight but you can’t throw me into the deep end like that. I get it, you care for them and I understand because I did too at one point but Tony, you’re my husband, I saw how you were when they left and treated you the way they did... so it’s still gonna take some time,”

He held your hand as you two just relaxed in the hot water that smelled of lavender and chamomile.

“I know, I know. I get that I shouldn’t have forgiven them so easily either but you know me,”

“I know, baby,” you kissed his shoulder and held him to let him know you were there for him.

“Thank you for tonight, I also admit I kinda did it on purpose because I wanted you to take it out on me tonight,” his voice was hushed and bashful, knowing he knew better than to purposely agitate you like that. 

“What sneaky boy you are, Tony. But you’re welcome and I love you no matter what and will continue to try and tolerate everyone,”

He turned his head to kiss your lips and sighed, “Yeah yeah that’s what you said last time,” he teased

“I’m serious this time, anything for you,” 

----------

Some of y’all personally messaged me and asked for more Baby Boy Tony and asked for it to be a little dirtier so that’s exactly what I did. Like I said, I am not a Dom or a switch, I am sub through and through so I did my best. 

Please comment and reblog!!

Tags: @mbaku-babygirl @reerrrrskillz @blackreaders-assemble @vozit @yournonlocalpoc @spideys-wife @chonisberonica @curlyhairclub @mokacoconut @unicornslothfish @crawlingnightmares @plussizedwriter @here-for-your-bullshit @blowmymbackout @valentinevirgo @meg-holland @thescarsweleave @micki-smiles @huh-i-guess @warmchick @posion-daisy18 @sideeffectsofyou @joyofbebbanburg @amethyst-dreams-and-candy-canes

[bangtan-gal]

Nothing But Net (M)

S.cb

    Your body burned. Perspire slid along your hairline and neck. The sun tore through your skin as your shoes squeaked against the court. You brought your arm back, letting out a grunt when you put yourself into your hit. The racket popped against the ball and a familiar sound followed it as your opponent returned. You reached for the ball, feet stumbling over one another.

“Nothing but net!”

“Match and set!”

    You groaned and leaned over. Your hat fell off and tumbled to the green cement. A soft voice congratulated you as your opponent patted you on the back. There was a loud temptation to scream; two hours back and forth and you lost by two shots.

    You snatched your hat off the ground and stormed towards the sidelines. You ignored the amused stares of the Varsity boys team. There was no reason for them to be at your game, but there they sat, the five of them, eyes boring into you.

    There was an incessant pounding in your head. You were sure the sun did more than kiss you, if the feeling of fire along your arms said anything. You threw your racket on top of your bag and as you reached for your water bottle, another hand wrapped around it. You looked up in disbelief as Han-fucking-Jisung took a slow sip from it. He winked at you as he handed it back.

You chucked it to the ground.

    All five boys started to approach you, some smirking and others snickering. You could, unfortunately, name them all. Kim Seungmin (sophomore) and Yang Jeongin (freshmen), number one Varsity doubles; both were okay. Bang Chan, Senior, number three Varsity singles along with being the student  body president. Han Jisung, Junior, number two Varsity singles: your least favorite.

And then of course, “nothing but net” boy.

Seo Changbin. Number one Varsity singles and tennis captain.

Hasn’t lost a single match in all four years of high school.

Won state three consecutive years.

Smart, pretty, athletic, and unfortunately for you, a total sweetheart.

Just not to you.

To you he liked to pretend he was a walking male reproductive organ.

A dick if you may.

“You really seem to like the net, dolly,” he purred. His arms—goddamn his fucking biceps—crossed over his chest as he leaned against the pole.

Your lips stayed pressed together as you packed up your gear. Your face was hot, your hands sweaty, and cold kept sweeping through your body. You didn’t know how you lost; you always prided yourself on the ability to snatch the game in the first few minutes. Maybe it was because of the ten eyes you felt the whole time.

There was no reason to be stressed out by the boys. You were on two completely different teams. You could play circles around Chan and kick Jisung’s ass anyday. You and Changbin were always the honorary members at the banquet.   Jeongin and Seungmin didn’t count since they were still doubles players, although rumor said that both were looking to be the new Changbin.

As you started to walk away, a hand wrapped around your forearm. You were pulled back and a shiver ran up your spine as a cool breath ran down your neck. The grip loosened as their mouth moved towards your ear.

“I told you I’d reward you if you won, dolly, but how unfortunate is it that you lost,” he hummed.

You couldn’t reply as someone else grabbed your wrist and ripped you away from him. Your friend and fellow teammate, Daehyun, glared at the boy. She grumbled something about learning manners and understanding personal space. The girl offered you a ride home and you gladly accepted, following her to her beat up Subaru.

No one knew of your “relationship” with Changbin. Naturally, it was just sex buddies, but you weren’t stupid. There were definitely strings attached. The boy got annoyed when you seemed to close to other males, he didn’t like the stares, and he’d stopped paying attention to girls two months into your deal.

You couldn’t exactly remember how it had all started. It was before spring break your Junior year. It wasn’t even a party—it was just a couple of the tennis people getting together. You’d made some remark about how you deserve something every time you win. And Changbin had happily applied to be that something.

And it was good. You couldn’t deny that. The boy knew what he was doing and he had you wrapped around his finger (more like dick). It was fun, fast, and every time it was something different. Experimentation was his favorite. Seeing how long you could last, how far you could bend, and how loud you could scream.

But, he was always strict: you work for it.

You lose, you better try harder your next match.

⧪⧪⧬⧪⧪

You hated the tennis banquets.

    The coach would drone on for hours about how dedicated your school was to making honest players. You were forced to talk to scouts and pretend that tennis was your life. Forcing smiles when you were called up to receive awards and listen to your coach gush about what an amazing player you were.

You enjoyed tennis in highschool, you truly did. You’d met some amazing girls, it was a great way to waste your free time, there was a thrill every time you played, and you were naturally good. But, it wasn’t something you wanted to take seriously. Sure, you were competitive and you loved to win, but playing professionally wasn’t for you against everyone else’s wishes.

Also, you were forced to talk to the boys team.

    Chan was the easiest to talk to, with his charming smile and soft accent. Seungmin and Jeongin were both still trying to escape their middle school years. Baekhyun, one of the doubles players, was actually pretty nice. He didn’t annoyingly critique your playing techniques like Jisung and Chan.

    But it was nearly impossible to focus on a conversation with Changbin’s heated stare. The two of you sat across from each other, both of you pretending like the other didn’t exist as you exchanged phony smiles with others and carefully listened for your name as the coach announced awards.

“And we’d be stupid to deny that Y/N has the best serve.”

    You stood up, blankly accepting the plaque. The applause was annoying. You’d won the same award every year you were on Varsity. Only that award. You wished to win something else, instead of being the same repetitive person. Your backhand had improved miles over the years and you didn’t mean to be a bitch, but none of the other girls could compete with it.

You met Changbin’s stare as the coach stupidly explained the magic of your serves and how much better it had gotten throughout the years. You rolled your eyes at him and he smirked.  

The night continued on. You were bored out of your mind and Changbin’s teasing looks weren’t helping. You were anticipating something that you weren’t sure would come. Would he count that pointless award as a win?

Maybe you were pathetic for being so desperate, but the boy was your happy hour. And you hadn’t gotten any for way too long. You’d struggled majorly during state along with leading up to state. Nothing but net really seemed to be your motto.

“How about we escape?” He whispered as he stepped up behind you. You nodded subtly, letting the boy disappear before following after him several minutes later.

    He was parked at the far corner of the parking lot. You slid into the passenger seat, glancing at him. Changbin was silent as he lit a cigarette, he brought it to his lips and took a slow drag. Your eyes lowered to his hand that was tightly wound around the lower part of the steering wheel.

“You know, for a person who wants to play in college and go pro, you’d think you’d try not to destroy your body,” you hummed. He frowned at you before tossing the roll into an old, half-full Taco Bell cup.

“Get in the back seat,” he demanded.

    Changbin was already reaching for his belt as you vaulted over the console and settled back. He crawled over as well, running a hand through his hair. You pulled your dress off and the second it was over your head, his lips met yours. His mouth was hot and rough against yours, demanding.

    His cold fingers bit into your waist as he settled himself between your legs. He groaned into your mouth and then reached for your panties. He was wasting no time as he threw them off and then struggled out of his own boxers. You pulled back with a giggle, raising your eyebrows.

“What? No foreplay?”

“Four weeks is enough,” he snapped. He reached down and stroked himself until he was solid. He ran a slow finger up your slit and played with your bud for a moment. You gasped, juices already gushing out of you.

    It was one solid thrust that had him fully sheathed inside you. The both of you hissed at the feeling, obviously having the same thoughts. It’d been too long. His mouth moved along your neck and collarbone as he shifted into a better position. You steadied yourself, whimpering as he threw your leg over his shoulder.

You still weren’t that flexible.

    Seeming satisfied, his thrusts started. He didn’t both to go slow. His hips snapped deliciously against yours, grunting with the force of each one. He placed his hand on your stomach, grinning when he could feel the outline of his cock through your lower stomach. You whimpered, eyes falling shut as you let him take complete control.

    Changbin’s pace was fast and messy. He wasn’t focused on his show, he was focused on the pleasure that burned through his anatomy. His grip tightened on your thigh as he managed to speed up even more. You clenched tightly around him, already feeling yourself grow close. Had it really been that long that you could barely last ten minutes?

    He wasn’t faring any better than you. His hips stuttered and his moans grew louder. You knotted your hands in his hair as his head fell against your shoulder. His thrusts started to slow as he reached his high, his thumb finding your clit.You pinched your eyes shut and tightened around him. Pink flashed through your vision and you gasped.

“Fuck, I missed you,” you mumbled. He looked up at your through his eyelashes, gasping silently.

“I missed you too,” he whispered.

    Something wasn’t there. He pulled back, quickly pulling on his boxers and pants. He looked detached as he slid into the front seat. You sat there, in a slight daze, eyes narrowed as you watched him. An emptiness slid through you.

    All this time you thought he was the one falling for you. Maybe you were wrong. You got so used to the soft giggles and cuddles that would follow. The way his hand would card through your hair and how he would kiss your temple. The morning sun that would drift over your entangled bodies.

Maybe it wasn’t just him.

[btsvt-adventures]

Ice Skating AU - Opposites (sometimes) Attract

A/n: So, this literally took me eons to write, even though I’ve been planning this for a month smh. This is also literally stupid long god... .

Pairing: Jicheol (Jihoon x Seungcheol), Jihan (Jisoo x Jeonghan)

Warning(s): Nothing too major, lots of fluff, some drunk jihoon (drink responsibly kids!!!)

Word Count: 3,388

Want more of this AU? Ask me here!

Ice Skating AU: Introductions | The Beginning | Drunk (Almost) Kisses | I Have Faith | Promised Rewards | Secret Plans | Opposites Sometimes Attract

Jihoon wants to strangle Soonyoung, and maybe.. to an extent… partly, Jisoo as well. He knows, he just knows that it’s their doing that he’s been tasked with getting drinks with none other than the big, stupid, (cute) figure skater doof Choi fucking Seungcheol. He sends Soonyoung a quick text right before Seungcheol is meant to pick him up, threatening death by hockey stick, and his ex-captain just replies with a lot of winky faces, and a couple eggplants.

Asshole.

Jihoon’s already waiting when Seungcheol pulls up, and the figure skater has to resist the urge to squeal, because Jihoon just looks so fucking cute. He’s drowning in an oversized hoodie, with his blonde hair all tousled from the wind, and he just looks so tiny and adorable (not that Seungcheol would say that he doesn’t want to make things worse.) Jihoon’s ripped jeans however, leave nothing to the imagination, and Seungcheol is quietly drooling over the perky round ass he spotted as Jihoon climbed into his car. 

“Let’s go, I have work to do and I don’t want to waste too much time arguing with you over what kind of drinks to get,” Jihoon grumps, pulling out his phone to play some music game while Seungcheol drives, humming to some girl group song.

“I play that too,” Seungcheol piques, startling Jihoon while he’s scrolling through songs to play. “You’re much better at it though, I suck at games like that,” he mumbles, and Jihoon snorts.

“I hope I’m good at it, I’m a music producer; if I can’t match the beat to my own songs I better change careers,” he shakes his head, and Seungcheol reels from the information Jihoon just offered up.

Before he can ask anymore, he sees the supermarket, and decides to hold off his questioning till after he’s parked. He almost makes it too, reversing into a lot when he hears Jihoon humming to the song on the radio, and Seungcheol can’t hold it in anymore.

“What’s your producer name? Have you met any kpop groups? Who do you produce for?” he blurts, flushing red when Jihoon stares at him confusedly. Seungcheol flushes, quickly putting the car into park and getting out, plastering a fake smile on to try and hide his embarrassment.

“Well, I use Woozi, under the studio ‘Universe Factory,’ yes of course I’ve met idols, and I produce for Pledis Entertainment,” Jihoon answers quietly, suppressing a laugh when Seungcheol gawks at him for voluntarily offering the information. “What about you?”

Seungcheol’s brain farts entirely, and he just goes “uH oh right, well I skate professionally of course, but during the off season I teach kids back in my hometown, Daegu,” he stutters, and Jihoon nods, letting the conversation die off.

It’s not an awkward silence, but it is silence, and Seungcheol wants to keep Jihoon talking. He’d seen the way Jihoon had lit up when he mentioned his music, and he wants to see that happen again (he’s already so whipped what the fuck Choi get a grip).

“… box, yeah?”

Seungcheol’s so busy yelling at himself he totally misses whatever Jihoon says, and glances into their trolley to see a giant Styrofoam box.

“Uh…. Why do we need a styrofoam box?” he asks, staring dumbly at it while Jihoon just tsks.

“To keep all the drinks,” he deadpans, like Seungcheol’s stupid for even asking a question like that. Seungcheol shakes his head, plucking the box out of the trolley and putting it back. Jihoon frowns, raising an eyebrow when Seungcheol rounds the corner, re-appearing with a giant cooler box on wheels.

“No, no you gotta use a cooler! A nice big one to keep the drinks chilled properly,” he insists. Jihoon rolls his eyes, turning his nose up at the stupidly expensive box, defiantly picking up the styrofoam box again.

“This will do just fine! What are we gonna do with a giant cooler box after the party anyway?” Jihoon challenges, but Seungcheol refuses to give in, and Jihoon throws his hands up in frustration. “Let’s just get the damn drinks, we can come back to this shit later,” he grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and Seungcheol shrugs, leisurely following Jihoon towards the drink aisle.

They end up with more drinks than fifteen people can (presumably) drink, and not a lot of ways to carry them. Jihoon, as Seungcheol is quickly learning, is frustratingly (read: endearingly) stubborn when he wants to be, picking up the cartons before Seungcheol can take them.

He stops Jihoon from trying to carry his body weight in liquor and soft drinks, offering what he thinks is a kind, helping hand. Jihoon, of course, reacts in a way only Jihoon can react.

“Are you implying that I’m weak?” Jihoon snaps, glaring (or trying to) at Seungcheol over the top of the boxes. It takes everything Seungcheol has to not burst into laughter because he just looks so cute, but he manages to get himself under control.

“No, no of course not, but you uh… also can’t really see where you’re going, so I thought I’d offer,” he says delicately, and Jihoon makes an incoherent noise of assent, grumpily letting Seungcheol take half the boxes he was attempting to carry. They dump the drinks in Seungcheol’s car before they stand awkwardly next to each other, unsure of what to do or say, letting the silence slowly engulf them.

“Let’s grab dinner,” Seungcheol blurts, ears turning red before he can take it back. “I mean, we can get some food and then I can drop you at home, I mean- your house!” he yelps, and Jihoon stares at the figure skater like he’s grown a third head. Seungcheol flails uselessly, hands fidgeting nervously as he watches the cogs in Jihoon’s pretty blonde head turn, lighting up when the hockey player nods slowly.

“It’s not a date,” he warns quickly, ears quickly turning red. “It better not be, or I’ll kick you with my skates,” he huffs, turning away with a huff. Seungcheol can’t help the grin splitting his face as he climbs into the car.

“It can be whatever you want it to be,” he glances at the younger man,  praying he isn’t pushing too hard, watching as Jihoon sputters indignantly.

“NOT A DATE!” he yelps, smacking Seungcheol in a panic. Seungcheol bursts into laughter, as Jihoon glares at him. “For that you’re paying, and I want meat,” he huffs, chin pushed out defiantly as he dares Seungcheol to refuse him.

Adorable.

Seungcheol chuckles, turning to face the disgruntled skater, grinning wickedly. “Yes dear,” he coos, and Jihoon groans, head thunking quietly against the headrest.

“Fuck, I really need a drink,” he mutters, turning away and shutting his eyes while Seungcheol hums to the muted music. He glances at Seungcheol, drinking in the way the streetlamps outline his silhouette, almost contouring the lean, muscular lines of his arms.

God, he’s really hot, Jihoon thinks helplessly, forcing himself to turn away before Seungcheol catches him staring. He watches the street fly past, wondering idly if Seungcheol was genuinely interested or if he just wanted to rile Jihoon up.

“You’re thinking really loudly,” Seungcheol says suddenly, and Jihoon startles, letting out a surprised squeak. Seungcheol glances quickly towards Jihoon, who just shrugs, claiming he’s thinking about food.

Seungcheol laughs, wanting to probe further (because seriously, no one thinks that hard about food), but they arrive at the restaurant before he can ask. Jihoon practically throws himself out of the car, claiming to be starving, and Seungcheol snorts, figuring that Jihoon probably would be full after two portions of beef or something.

He should’ve known.

An hour later, he’s staring at Jihoon in mild horror as he polishes off his third bowl of rice, and his nine (and counting) portions of meat. Seungcheol’s only on his second bowl, and already his stomach feels like exploding.

 “How the fuck do you eat so much?” He gapes, and Jihoon shrugs, taking a sip (read: gulp) of his soju.

“Your lips are so pretty, soooooo prettyyyy,” he grins dopily, reaching for the soju again and pouring himself another shot. Seungcheol blinks, frozen in shock (and fear, because did Jihoon just compliment him????)

“W-what?” Seungcheol stammers, and Jihoon lifts a finger lazily, poking Seungcheol in the chest, eyes unfocused and –

Oh.

It hits Seungcheol suddenly. Jihoon’s drunk. Like, full on, giggling and cute and slurring drunk. He looks at the empty bottle of soju next to Jihoon and realizes that not only is Jihoon drunk, but he’s also this drunk after a single bottle of soju.

“Y-you,” he mumbles, eyes wandering before focusing on Seungcheol. “You’re so hotand mus-muscular is not f-fair,” he hiccups, giggling when Seungcheol’s cheeks flush. “Pretty too when you blush- take me home hyung,” he blurts suddenly, head flopping into his waiting palm. “Tired, want cuddles,” he pouts, and Seungcheol nearly goes into cardiac arrest.

He quickly calls for the bill, helping Jihoon slip his jacket back on. Jihoon clings to him, nuzzling Seungcheol’s chest, quietly whining for cuddles. He taps his card on the machine and tugs Jihoon out of the restaurant so he doesn’t do something he’ll regret later on.

“Cuddlessssss hyung,” Jihoon whines, pouting up at Seungcheol again and fuck, Seungcheol so desperately wants to kiss the pout away.

“It’s not a good idea Jihoonie, you’re really drunk right now,” he coaxes gently, trying to offend a drunk Jihoon as little as possible. Jihoon pouts even harder, clinging tighter to Seungcheol’s jacket sleeve, nestled perfectly into his side.

“No, no, no hyung need cuddles,” he insists, and Seungcheol sighs, giving in and tugging him to the car, heading to his apartment so he can at least make sure Jihoon doesn’t hurt himself while he’s drunk.

For someone so much smaller, he’s surprisingly strong. It takes him an hour to finally get Jihoon into bed, with most of said hour taken up by Jihoon insisting he have his required cuddles. He tucks Jihoon into his bed after forcing the younger to take some Aspirin, and flops onto the couch, sighing heavily.

Fuck, Jihoon’s so fucking cute.

The hockey player however, definitely does not feel cute. He cracks his eyes open and jerks upright, groaning when the movement makes his head pound.

“Where the fuck am I?” he grimaces, glancing around at the unfamiliar surroundings. “At least I’m clothed this time,” he sighs, peeking out the open door, trying to get a glimpse of whoever it is that brought him… wherever here is.

Did I get kidnapped or something dear god why don’t I remember anything, why the fuck do I drink alcohol– “WHAT THE FUCK CHOI SEUNGCHEOL PUT ON A GODDAMN SHIRT!”

Seungcheol jumps so hard at Jihoon’s exclamation he almost breaks something, and he flails, apologizing repeatedly as he scrambles to put a shirt on. (Jihoon half wishes he wouldn’t, even though he told him to because hot damn, ice skater boy is hella fine) Seungcheol, in his flustered state, desperately tries to not trip over the various pillows Jihoon had apparently kicked to the floor, but before he can shout a warning, Seungcheol trips on a pillow and tumbles onto the bed.

Right on top of Jihoon.

The air whooshes out of Jihoon’s lungs as Seungcheol lands on him, and he finds himself staring into the prettiest, widest eyes he’s ever seen. Their lips are so close they’re practically brushing.

Fuck, he’s so pretty, Jihoon thinks breathlessly, silently hoping Seungcheol would make a move, but the older comes to his senses and throws himself backwards, much to Jihoon’s disappointment relief.

“You’re heavier than a sack of potatoes,” Jihoon huffs raspily, still breathless, although he’s not sure if it’s from Seungcheol trying to flatten him or if it’s from the overwhelming emotion he’s trying to hide.

Seungcheol dusts himself off, mumbling something about getting ready for the party and making breakfast, disappearing from the room, and Jihoon sighs, grabbing his phone and texting Soonyoung to grab his outfit before meeting at the rink. Soonyoung responds with an affirmative, followed by more smirky emojis, and Jihoon contemplates Soonyoung’s murder for the second time in as many days.

He wanders out into the kitchen after a shower, wearing Seungcheol’s smallest clothes (which are still three sizes too big), looking around the spotless space Seungcheol apparently lives in. He turns to Seungcheol, who’s setting down some hangover stew and rice, and motioning for Jihoon to come in.

“What’s all this for?” he asks, grabbing the rice bowl and taking a sip of the hot stew, sighing happily when he feels it soothe his empty, growling stomach. Seungcheol shrugs, picking up the other rice bowl and loading it with pickled radish.

“Consumption and energy, but also I’m sorry for scaring you awake like that,” he mumbles through a mouthful of rice. “You were kinda drunk and I was worried about leaving you alone in your apartment, so I brought you to mine  hope that’s okay,” he frowns, swallowing and looking at Jihoon worriedly.

Jihoon laughs, shaking his head gently. “Yeah, that’s fine I should’ve warned you that I was a lightweight. sorry about all the trouble, and thanks for the food.”

Seungcheol grins at him, turning his attention to their shared bowl of stew before Jihoon inhales all of it (again). A ping from both their phones just as they finish, and they scramble to get ready before Jisoo beheads them for being late to his beloved’s surprise birthday party.

“Hurry up of Jisoo hyung will literally kill us,” Jihoon nags, grumbling when Seungcheol comes out of the apartment with the cooler. “Can’t believe you talked me into buying the fucking cooler,” he huffs, and Seungcheol just laughs, telling Jihoon to pull up the directions and tell Jisoo that they’re on the way.

 Jisoo, on the other hand, is a nervous mess. He knows he’s planned everything to the best of his ability, and there’s literally nothing else he can do, but he’s still scared.

What if Jeonghan figures it out?

What if they all arrive later?

What if Jeonghan doesn’t arri–

His train of thought breaks off when he sees his boyfriend walk through the arrival doors. He runs up to Jeonghan and literally throws himself in his arms.

“Hello to you too baby,” Jeonghan laughs, hugging Jisoo back equally tightly, lips pressed against Jisoo’s hair.

Jisoo sighs, pulling away and handing Jeonghan the flowers and the gift, excitement humming through his veins. “Happy birthday Hannie,” he grins.

Jeonghan lights up at the roses, pressing them carefully to his nose and sniffing delicately, handing them back to Jisoo with a kiss so he can open his present. He tears the wrapping eagerly, gasping when he sees the silver necklace nestled in the black satin. Jisoo beams, tugging something from under his collar.

“We match,” he murmurs, and Jeonghan’s grin gets impossibly bigger. Jisoo takes the box from Jeonghan, carefully taking the necklace and securing it around Jeonghan’s neck, watching as the necklace sparkles prettily between his clavicles.

“It’s beautiful, I love it,” Jeonghan hums, pulling Jisoo close for a kiss. “and I love you,” he breathes, humming contentedly when Jisoo blushes hotly.

He presses another quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, pulling away slightly. “Do you trust me?” he asks, Jeonghan nods immediately eyebrows disappearing into his hairline when Jisoo pulls a blindfold out of his pocket.

“In public? How kinky,” Jeonghan teases, laughing harder when Jisoo swats him huffily, but he takes the blindfold, securing it over his eyes when they’re in the car. His vision goes dark immediately, and it’s a little uneasy, but Jisoo assures him that everything’s going to be great.

 Seokmin’s (and everyone else’s, really) phone pings with another update. “GET READY!!!” he screeches, and everyone scrambles to get into position. Seungkwan yelps, rolling out the carpet so Jeonghan doesn’t faceplant on the ice in regular shoes, and they wait in silence, staring at the entrance eagerly.

 Jisoo appears with a still blindfolded Jeonghan, and they stay frozen in position until Jeonghan’s standing in the middle of the rink.

“Three,” Jisoo whispers to Jeonghan, who’s already itching to take his blindfold off. “Two,” he breathes, hand raised as he counts down to the surprise reveal.

“One.”

“SURPRISE!”

Jeonghan startles so hard he nearly falls over, and his eyes widen as he takes in the familiar faces suddenly surrounding him, gasping when he finally recognizes where he is. Jisoo grins so brightly, watching the emotions play across Jeonghan’s face.

“How-“ he stammers, staring at everyone who’s cheering and clapping, laughing as they celebrate a successful surprise. “You did this?” he asks incredulously, staring at Jisoo.

 “Yep! Happy birthday Jeonghannie,” he giggles. “I have one more surprise for you though, but you gotta put on your skates first.”

Jisoo knows Jeonghan can put on skates quickly, but he’s never seen anyone put them on that fast. It’s endearing, really, knowing how eager Jeonghan is for his second surprise. He steps off the carpet, spinning gracefully before he turns to Jisoo.

“Surprise, now,” he pouts.

“Still as demanding as ever,” a deep, husky voice breaks through, and Jeonghan whirls around, breath hitching as he sees someone he honestly never thought he’d see again.

“Ssaem,” Jeonghan breathes, vision suddenly blurry as he launches himself forward, enveloping the elderly man in a crushing hug. The old nightguard laughs, holding Jeonghan equally tightly, blinking away the tears clinging to his lashes.

Jeonghan lets out a sob, burying his face into his teacher’s shoulder, shaking from the overwhelming emotions. The guard takes it in stride, petting Jeonghan’s back comfortingly, and Jeonghan pulls away, still sniffling, but grinning widely now.

“S-still not dead yet I see,” he jokes tearfully, and the guard guffaws, smacking Jeonghan lightly upside the head.

“Still disrespectful I see,” he fires back. “Now stop your baby crying, this is a party so we damn well be celebrating,” he pats Jeonghan on the back again, and the figure skater wipes his face clean, nodding.

“Let’s get fucking liT!”

 The party winds down after a couple hours, with everyone either in food comas, drunk or exhausted from Seungkwan and Soonyoung’s games. Seungcheol spots Jihoon drinking his (hopefully alcohol free) coke, watching as Jeonghan and Jisoo dance and spin in a corner of the rink.

“So,” he starts, making Jihoon jump in surprise, but Seungcheol decides to push on. “So.. since we did spend a night together,” he pauses, and Jihoon turns to glare at him murderously.

“Die in a hole, thanks,” he hisses, taking a sip of his drink. “What do you want?”

Seungcheol chuckles, leaning against the barrier. “Go out to dinner with me. Like, y’know, a date,” he blurts, praying Jihoon can’t hear his heart thundering in his chest.

They both fall silent, watching Jeonghan and Jisoo perform their duet for Jeonghan’s old teacher. Seungcheol tries not to fidget, but he’s desperate to know Jihoon’s answer. The duet ends, and Jihoon turns to face Seungcheol.

“One one condition,” he says, and Seungcheol nods immediately. “Keep me away from the alcohol. I don’t need, or want, to remember me waxing fucking poetry about how pretty you are– “

Seungcheol’s grin is blindingly bright, and Jihoon feels his heart stutter for a moment. “Aw,” he coos, and Jihoon’s already beginning to regret his decision. “You think I’m pretty!”

“I  take it back, I don’t want to go on a date with you,” Jihoon grumbles, pushing uselessly at Seungcheol’s chest.

“Too late! I’m about to make a reservation for a BBQ place” he chirps, and Jihoon sighs defeatedly, playfully rolling his eyes at the figure skater.

Jisoo catches Soonyoung’s eye as he skates past, pointing at Jihoon huddled up with Seungcheol in the corner of the rink. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow questioningly, wondering what his deviously brilliant boyfriend is up to this time.

“Long story, tell you when we get home,” he winks. “Maybe I’ll even let you use the blindfold on me.”

Jeonghan chokes, and everyone else makes a face.

Oops.

Please like and reblog! <3 Leave comments too!

If you’d like more of this AU, or your own lil thing, of if you just wanna yell at me, you can do so here~

[sonicranticoot]

About CTR, Money, and Both Together: Part 2

Continuing from part 1.

Somehow it has been brought to my attention many more things that just...don’t say any good things, any good things, about the situation of the game and possibly the entire Crash and Spyro franchises going forward. I’m known to keep a very positive image here and I want this to continue, but sometimes, life sucks and then you die. So yes, this one is a lot angrier than the one before. You got to let it all out sometimes.

First thing is how these are actually out now, and boy are they terrible. Not just the fact they exist, but you can make 2500 in about an hour each day with online play. Or just pay Activision (not Beenox) $2.49 for that. A lot of people have been talking about how ridiculously overpriced the bundle for the Probulot 2000 is, and that can take a while to grind out even for online players (I have the dearest sympathies for people who don’t have their console’s online service and are stuck with offline payrates). Or, you could just hand that nice old Activision marketer (not Beenox) $9.99 for coins that disappear as soon as you buy them. I remember years back when Capcom got major slack for selling people costumes in Street Fighter IV for $3.99 a pop. Except there, you got a costume for five characters, and each costume had ten palette swaps. And that’s not going back to before that game, where you could get those in games at the low, low price of being earned as an in-game reward like beating the game on a certain difficulty or whatever.

It just goes back to how it used to be. Crash Team Racing is a 20-year old classic game that had a wealth of content you did not have to pay a cent for past the initial purchase of the game. Some people may say, “well, nothing in the original CTR can be unlocked with microtransactions”, and although that may be correct, it is completely missing the point. Content shown heavily before launch, like all the characters from Crash Nitro Kart and the new karts taken from Tag Team Racing, the stuff that was used to show “hey, look, it’s a little more than just CTR”, that stuff is locked behind an in-game store that allows you to spend real money. That’s not even going into the people who want to put N. Tropy or his digital skin in the shop. I actually commend Beenox for putting in something that, unlike the Pit Stop, forces players to get better at the game to have in their possession. The whole thing takes some pride out of the game. It barely feels like it’s a reward for people who didn’t pay up anymore because now people can go out and buy it with real money. Maybe.

That goes back to the fucking Fortnite store layout. Yeah I know this shop was problematic before, but didn’t go into as much as detail on why it is. Let’s say someone wants that one special skin, they want to buy Crunch that badly, that special car, or paint job. The store is set up to force players to wait, or buy things to roll again and hope what they get shows up. And with the addition of microtransactions, now, you can brute force, but even that still doesn’t help you if the Pit Stop gods don’t feel like playing nice and that special skin you wanted is the very last one in rotation. Some people aren’t that patient. This especially goes for offline players who have to spend hours trying to spend up for even one item. This type of impatience leads to kids stealing daddy’s credit card and spending $1,300 on gambling in FIFA. That’s really where this whole shit stops being “optional”, and feels like a deliberate part of the game. Because it is. It is a deliberate decision made on Activision’s part to make a predatory store. The paid solution now exists to a problem they created, and said paid solution doesn’t even fucking work.

Yes. Some people saw microtransactions coming. Some of these people like the game. Others didn’t like it, and are rubbing it into the former’s face. That doesn’t actually solve the issue here. What is the issue is that they weren’t there. People played the game for over a month without them. All the reviews were out, they were great. YouTubers praised it, both Crash-oriented and otherwise. The ESRB didn’t have to put a warning on the box. It’s all nice and cozy.

Then they do this. I’ve seen the review bombing of Metacritic. I’ve seen many Youtubers who have loved the game before either turn against it, or just express endless disgust over it. The ESRB can’t even do their fucking job of warning people that they are in the game, because there are a lot of copies out there that don’t have the “contains in-game purchases” label on them without glancing at one sentence in size 2 text on the back of the box as if Activision is playing their own twisted game of “ok, how can we tell people they’re in, but in such a way they won’t know it”, so someone, let’s say said person has a gambling problem, can buy the game, hear the good word of mouth from people who played it when it did NOT have MTX, and all of a sudden, they found a game that can prey upon them. I mentioned last time Activision did not make the message clear to consumers. Activision doesn’t want their message clear not just to consumers (and that goes for all consumers, from kids, to people with impulse buying problems, to genuine gambling addicts), but ratings boards either.

In short, all that goodwill Activision built up with this game, Spyro Reignited, Crash N. Sane, it’s gone. Not all of it is. But denying it’s done a crippling blow to things would be foolish. This game has a ton of issues. They’re all still here. MTX are though. It doesn’t give me, or anyone, a reason to trust them about what they do with these franchises, because they aren’t immune to any of the MTX bullshit that regularly plagues Call of Duty or whatever. I like the Crash and Spyro games for many reasons, but one big thing is that their newest release were free of this shit, they were old school ways of making people sold on games: by being really, really good games. You payed for a game. It’s good. Simple. Sweet. To the point.

You know what? Like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, Activision’s own Call of Duty sold millions and reviewed very well when it didn’t have microtransactions as well. FIFA did too. Grand Theft Auto did as well. Mortal Kombat also did. Deus Ex did. 2K sports games did. Fallout did. Elder Scrolls did. Plants vs. Zombies did. Quality games make money by being that. Quality games. Who would’ve guessed. Obviously Activision didn’t make all these games. And that’s the problem. Crash isn’t even new to this shit, it’s just one of countless classic, acclaimed franchises now subjected to the scummiest predatory practices that again, were initially made for free-to-play games that didn’t cost a dime to start playing. You didn’t see these in console games because they weren’t build for that practice. Yes, they make money, but console games could again, make money in a way a F2P mobile game can not: straight-up buying the game.

One of the worst (that’s a drinking game at this point) things is that let’s say people do get the message: everything in CTR can be earned in-game, not all the hard to do at that, the MTX coin rates are terrible, and thus, most people don’t buy the MTX. As in 99% of people don’t buy MTX. But you have whales, that 1% of people who these types of business practices specifically are psychologically engineered to pander to, spending literal thousands of dollars on coins for a cartoon kart racer and Activision can get the idea from them and only them of how to make money. And those types of practices become more accepted because of this, rinse, lather, repeat. There’s no winning scenario except for not having them in the game.

In short, Activision is the single slimiest, greediest, dirtiest, most absolutely fucking disgusting money-lusting pig of a company in the video game business and I am very, very disappointed in how corrupting classic games and franchises with pure filth meant to destroy bank accounts has consumed the industry. Activision is obviously not the only company that does this, but I can’t say many of the others are willing to do things like lie to the people who’s job is to warn people about these things. Fuck. Straight. Off.

Let it be known despite all that I am still a big Crash fan. I love the game. I’m eagerly anticipating Beenox to confirm Pasadena as a playable racer, I want to see how Brio looks in the game as well as what kind of race track the game will see when he is introduced, I want to see the Spyro stuff, I want to see what kind of crazy costumes they make or old school vehicles make a return, etc.  I payed $40 for it. That’s the only money I’m giving it because that’s the point. I’m just disappointed. And that’s severely underselling it.

[magog-on-the-march]

Lorne Lanning gave a preview of the arc of the planned Oddworld quintology at E3, saying that Soulstorm represents the mob stage of a slow-burning mudokon revolution. In future games (assuming Soulstorm sells enough to justify them), the rebellion and resistance will continue, and will grow more organized. Lanning referenced "what happened in Dubai a few years ago," as an example of what's to come, likely referring to worker protests against poor conditions.

Abe himself is the catalyst for the mudokons to rise up, and playing through a level and rescuing your people, gradually building a force of a dozen allies or more trailing behind you, is a cool, tangible translation of the power of mass action into game form. Granted, Soulstorm isn't going to be a narrative-heavy game, so the "politics" will mostly be limited to toggling your followers from "passive" to "aggressive" and arming them with projectiles of your choosing - but it's very satisfying that the mudokons you rescue in Soulstorm can actually help you battle against enemies as you work to lead them to safety.

Soulstorm is described as being a 12-hour game at minimum, with over 100 hours of replay value. The "perfect" game of Soulstorm will involve rescuing every single mudokon and never allowing any of them to die, as was the case with Oddysee and Exoddus, but fortunately Soulstorm will make it a lot easier to go back and re-play specific levels in an attempt to improve your score. The game will include around 20 different levels spread across seven different "themes," with achievement badges and high score tables so you can compare your performance with other players.

(Full article after the cut for posterity)

HANDS-ON: ODDWORLD: SOULSTORM OFFERS PUZZLE PLATFORMING AND MASS POLITICS

Nicholas Scibetta |  Jun 17, 2019

GAMECRATE

Oddworld is an unusual franchise. It debuted in 1997 with Abe's Oddysee, and it didn't take long at all for word to get out that the game was conceived of as a five-part "Oddworld Quintology." And because Oddyseewas a great game and sold well, we actually did get a sequel in the form of Abe's Exoddus. After that, things became...odd.

According to the series creators and developers at Oddworld Inhabitants, Exoddus was actually a spin-off game, not the true second entry in their planned quintology. And 2001's Munch's Oddysee, and 2005's Stranger's Wrath? Those were spin-offs too. There were also some Game Boy takes on the franchise, but obviously those don't count. And the 2014 remake of Oddysee, New n' Tasty! was just that: a remake, not a new entry in the series. So even though there have technically been eight Oddworld games released so far, only one of those is actually part of the core quintology.

But in 2020, some 23 years after Oddysee first released, we'll finally get episode two of the five-part story, with Oddworld: Soulstorm.

We've seen a lot of games play with traditional side-scrolling platforming in full 3D game engines, butSoulstorm may be doing the coolest take on this kind of thing yet. The game is described as being "2.9d," and as you move throughout the world the camera will switch angles, arcing dramatically and zooming in and out, following protagonist Abe around curves, and generally making the world feel deep and expansive. Three depth layers of platforms are often visible at once, and if you look closely you'll be able to see people in the background slaving away on platforms you'll eventually reach as you go "deeper" into the level.

Soulstorm takes full advantage of the Unity engine to make the game look fluid and rich, and unlike any other side-scrolling platformer out there. In fact even the description "side scroller" starts to fall apart when the game is so willing to curve and change the angle of the platforms you're on. Though the gameplay on display at E3 2019 didn't have a very diverse color palette (it's one particular level of a factory dominated by a lot of amber and industrial tones), the visual effects of fire and explosions were vibrant and well done. Most of Abe's weapons are cobbled together from trash and items he can buy from vending machines (creator Lorne Lanning referenced The Anarchist's Cookbook as an inspiration here), and their effects mirror that. Making a bomb out of a can of soda, for example, results in a popping, fizzy explosion.

Abe Has An Economy

In Soulstorm your mission is to rescue your fellow mudokons from their lives as industrial slaves. You need to make your way through dangerous levels, recruit your comrades to follow you, and try to get as many living mudokons as you can to safety at the end of a level. Obstacles in your way include armed enemies, dangerous machinery, locked doors, and even speeding trains. Clearing paths to safety is the goal in Soulstorm, and you have many more options for how to proceed than you ever did in the classic Oddworldtitles.

Abe has a full inventory and crafting system in Soulstorm, and this looks to be a centerpiece of the gameplay. You gather and purchase resources in the game's levels, and then put together things like improvised flamethrowers and bouncing balls of tape that wrap up enemies. While there was often one specific correct way to solve puzzles in the classic Oddworld game, and you'd try, die, and repeat until you figured out the trick for a particular scene, Soulstorm feels much more open. The items you choose to craft will allow you to progress in different ways, and you'll be able to knock out, kill, or possess the enemies standing between you and freedom.

Yes, in Soulstorm you'll have lethal and non-lethal options at your disposal, and how you treat your enemies matters. There's a more involved "Quarma" system, and killing enemies who haven't harmed you, or allowing your fellow mudokons to die, will result in bad quarma. This system will likely determine the sort of ending you get in the game, but it has more immediate effects as you play as well. Being "good" seems like it will give you more rewards as you play, but taking the "bad" route will often be the easier (or just funnier, or more satisfying) way to deal with situations.

Leading A Revolution

Lorne Lanning gave a preview of the arc of the planned Oddworld quintology at E3, saying that Soulstormrepresents the mob stage of a slow-burning mudokon revolution. In future games (assuming Soulstorm sells enough to justify them), the rebellion and resistance will continue, and will grow more organized. Lanning referenced "what happened in Dubai a few years ago," as an example of what's to come, likely referring to worker protests against poor conditions.

Abe himself is the catalyst for the mudokons to rise up, and playing through a level and rescuing your people, gradually building a force of a dozen allies or more trailing behind you, is a cool, tangible translation of the power of mass action into game form. Granted, Soulstorm isn't going to be a narrative-heavy game, so the "politics" will mostly be limited to toggling your followers from "passive" to "aggressive" and arming them with projectiles of your choosing - but it's very satisfying that the mudokons you rescue in Soulstorm can actually help you battle against enemies as you work to lead them to safety.

Soulstorm is described as being a 12-hour game at minimum, with over 100 hours of replay value. The"perfect" game of Soulstorm will involve rescuing every single mudokon and never allowing any of them to die, as was the case with Oddysee and Exoddus, but fortunately Soulstorm will make it a lot easier to go back and re-play specific levels in an attempt to improve your score. The game will include around 20 different levels spread across seven different "themes," with achievement badges and high score tables so you can compare your performance with other players.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is planned for release in 2020.

[wernersalvage-blog]

Internet poker pulsa online Games - What type Is easily the most Profitable?

We have seen huge scientific studies completed on poker pulsa online players at near the planet as well as hundred's of web based poker evaluations published through the many arrival poker players reveal that web based poker tournament's like Sit-N-Go's would be the the majority of rewarding all round. The primary explanation? You cannot drop the WHOLE ENTIRE of yours BANKROLL taking part in an internet poker competition. If you take a seat inside a band game also known as money game, you operate the danger of sacrificing your whole tough earned bankroll in a single hands. Allow me to provide you with a bit of situation.

You believe your aces are beneficial, you force almost all within preflop just being known as by QQ and obtain cracked. The working hours of yours of milling within the.25/.50 poker tables,.50/1.00 poker tables, and lastly actively playing 1.00/2.00 poker screens is completed the empty. It happen's all of the time period to a lot of player's, look at poker news flash or maybe poker email boards available. You'll find loads of them. You are going to see a lot of horror accounts as well as whole areas of certain discussion boards focused on texas holdem terrible beats! It really occurs constantly and also the best way to avoid this particular through going on in you is controlling your bankroll but not taking a TILT.

The perfect method of handling your bankroll is very simple. Stick with Sit-N-Go's, in which you just rub the danger of sacrificing a ready quantity of cash (the on-line poker competition buy in) and even NO MORE. The losses of yours are managed as well as in case the poker hands and wrists of yours aren't punching in or maybe you're driving sucked out there on towards the evening, sign up for a rest & get back the next day. Your bankroll could constantly be constructed returned up, in case you shed everything you are going to have to redeposit. Not merely are you going to be re depositing as soon as, you'll be performing it again and again simply to enjoy internet poker.

You merely simply have to put once as well as that's it. Deal with your bankroll like it had been the own child of yours. It requires love, care, and attention. With no these three components, you are going to go broke QUICKLY. Know your poker guidelines while prior to you deposit the very first time. Play poker on the internet free from control just before you open the pocket book upwards! I am aware it is a hurry to gain cash, though you will not triumph minus the right exercise as well as frame of mind.

You are able to perform for play cash until finally the blue of yours within the facial skin, though you will not understand how to have fun REAL poker up until you begin during the true cash amount. During the play cash amount, you are going to see numerous players' thrust with complete trash instead of a proper care on the planet in case they shed, tack on $1000.00 good prize surface, you should bet your final dollar these exact same players will perform in a different way. To obtain a genuine experience of poker on the internet in case you're in the beginning stages, try out depositing $50.00 on Full Tilt Poker or maybe Pokerstars and also ensure that is the final point you EVER deposit. Play on the web poker competitions for example $2.00 Sit-N-Go's to create your bankroll upwards. As soon as it gets to more than $150 200 proceed to a few $5.00 Sit-N-Go's.

[brewskis-dnd-homebrewery]

Running Your First Game: Part II

Hi again! Welcome back to “Running Your First Game” where I chronicle the lessons I’ve learned having set out to play the role of Dungeon Master for the very first time.

Last night we played session 3 of a campaign that I originally expected to be a one-shot experiment. And let me just start off by saying I think my players have a super power that allows them to completely sidestep the obvious right thing to do in every situation and instead waste a ton of time every session doing completely random stuff instead.

...At least, that’s a tempting feeling to have. But actually, it’s probably the worst way I could view the situation. So let me go back and correct a few things about what I just said while adding a little context.

The Frustration

I don’t know about you, but when I prepare for a session, or even for a larger campaign, I’ve found myself trying really hard to put together material I think my players will really enjoy. And when I don’t get a chance to present that material because their choices have taken the story in a different direction, it can be a little frustrating.

For example, I have one player who is an actor by trade and his favorite thing to do is role play. But I also have another player whose favorite part of the game is the good old hack-’n-slash. She’s fine with the role play aspect, but it’s in the combat encounters when her eyes really light up.

I came away from our session a week ago feeling like I hadn’t fully delivered because, whereas there was a lot of role play happening, it turned out to be so well done (and so well rolled), that my players were able to talk their way around all of the encounters I had prepared for the session and not a single hack was slashed.

So this week I decided we’d be starting with some combat right off the bat. The basic context of the story at this point was: “The passenger ship you were on just ran aground a couple miles from a large city and, since it’ll be night in a couple of hours, the captain suggests you head on over to that city while she and the crew camp here to guard the ship’s cargo until morning.”

Simple, right? Just head on over to the city, right? And as DM, I’ve just substantially reduced their options for time wasting and can throw some encounters with wolves or whatever at them as they travel. Now I just sit back and wait for them to say, “sounds good, we head toward the city,” RIGHT?

Wrong!

As it turns out, the players didn’t want to leave this crew of 25 well-seasoned sailors “all alone” to fend for themselves, feeling some obligation to protect them overnight. So what happens? One player starts chatting up the NPCs. One player goes back on board the ship to explore more places. One player decides to help the crew build a fire. And for the first 30-45 minutes, there is still no combat!

Keep in mind that, personally, I’m totally fine with a lack of combat. But I’m worried about my player who loves combat and didn’t get any combat the previous session! Is she getting bored? Does she think I’m a bad DM? WHAT IF SOMEBODY AT THE TABLE ISN’T HAVING AN AMAZING TIME?? Not to mention the fact that I have a really cool description of the nearby city at evening time ready to go and if the players wait until morning to go there, it’ll lose all the dramatic effect.

So at this point I realize I have 3 options. I can either let things play out, get a little more heavy handed in pushing my players toward another decision, or try my best at introducing a subtle, quick-thinking, guiding hand. I go with option 3.

First, I reward my investigation enthusiast with a cool find on the ship. They weren’t supposed to find this item until later but, what the heck, it doesn’t hurt anything to let them find it now and it adds an air of mystery.

Next, I have some of the crew invite my combat enthusiast with them to fetch water from a stream in the woods, which she consents to do, and almost immediately gets her fight.

After drinking from what turns out to be a corrupted stream, the crew members go nuts and fly into a murderous rampage. She’s the only one there from the party and gets to take them out all on her own. After she rejoins the party and explains what happened, the ship’s captain decides that it’s not safe to camp in this area and that a few sailors will be left aboard the ship to guard the cargo while everybody else heads toward the city in order to make it there by nightfall.

“What?” my players respond, “a group of 20 capable, well-seasoned sailors traveling together in a group before nightfall? This is far too dangerous. Let us run ahead to gather some carts and supplies and we’ll bring it back to you.”

This works for the captain (and it really works for me), and finally my party sets off toward the city where the real meat of the session awaits.

Lessons Learned

Looking back on the session as a whole, it occurs to me that my players behaved exactly the same way while they were in the city as they did while they were at the campsite by the ship. In the moment, their meanderings through the city felt purposed while their meanderings at the campsite felt tedious. The only real difference was me, and where I had spent my time preparing.

I think, in an ideal world, I’d be able to plan out every inch of this 400 square mile campaign map. But that’s not realistic. So what I’m trying to get better at is adapting to suit all my players when I end up having to improvise.

In general, my players are respectful people so it’s hard for me to say they’re ever actually doing anything wrong. But there’s a temptation to think that anything outside of what I expected for a session is “off course” or wrong in some other way.

Is it really true that they are frustrating the narrative when they don’t take the bait that I hand them on a silver platter? So far the answer for our game has been a pretty solid no. In fact, the improvisation I had to do presented a few opportunities for world-building I hadn’t previously considered. Overall, the story is more rich because of it.

From a narrative perspective, what is more compelling? A) You fight some random wolves on the road, or B) you fight some of the people who just completed a journey with you, whose names you know, who have played roles in the story up to this point?

I think the answer is pretty obviously B. And it’s much more likely that, though I had to improvise my way through this bit, my players actually had a much better experience than they would have had if they’d done what I expected from the beginning.

All this re-affirms once again that this isn’t my story. It’s our story. That’s how the game is played and the story is better for it.

- Brewski

[thats-pucking-amazing]

Columbus *Part 2* (Zach Werenski)

Yay for productivity! Enjoy part two...it’s over 2,200 words long, so whoops. Will definitely be at least one more part!

Part One

Warnings: Dancing, Columbus, Blue Jacket players

Requests: Open

You rubbed your eyes and tried to refocus on the words that professor whats-his-face was scribbling on the board. Why did I take stats? Why did I do this to myself? The only saving grace was that this was the only class you had today...and there were only, you looked up at the clock for the umpteenth time, 27 minutes left.

“I can see that all of you have tuned me out,” You looked to your prof who looked as done with the day as the rest of you. “And frankly...I’d rather be anywhere but here. It’s a Friday...go on. Get drunk or something. Just stop looking at me with your soul sucking dead eyes.” As the class began to flood toward the exit he added on, “Complete the problems on page 127 by next class.”

Walking into the sunshine was a blessing and you couldn’t help but turn your face up towards it. Which explains why you jumped about 15 feet in the air when a voice came from right next to you.

“Y/N right?” The voice asked. “Ope sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You’re okay. And yeah, I’m Y/N...you’re….Clara right?”

“Yeah! Hey...a group of friends and I are going out tonight and I wanted to know if you wanted to join? I always see you in class and you seem pretty cool...but I never see you in the dorms.”

“Oh! I actually live in one of the single room apartments. I got it because I’m on scholarship. Ummm...how many people are going to be there?”

“If you come there will be six of us. We’re not much for socializing...but I thought adding one more wouldn’t hurt anything. You in?”

“Sure...why not? What’s the plan?” You decided to take a risk. It was three weeks into the semester and other than the occasional nod and smile, you didn’t really have friends. So this would be good for you...hopefully.

“We’re going to Bar 23. It’s like 10 minutes from campus...we were going to get apps and drinks, maybe go to Skully’s for dancing after.”

“I’m not 21 yet. And I don’t have another ID to use.” You said.

“No worries! Skully’s is 18+ so you’re good! Do you want to meet us at B23 around 7pm?”

You nodded. “I’ll be there. Thanks for the invite Clara.”

“Of course! Here add your number in my phone and I’ll text you so that you can send me a message when you get there.” After sharing numbers you waved goodbye and headed back to your apartment.

“Alright self. You have four hours until you have to leave. You could A: do your homework so you’re not stressing on Sunday or B: take a nap.” You pretended to think about it. “Nap it is. Good choice self.”

Three and a half hours later you were tugging on your favorite pair of skinny jeans over a lace bodysuit. A pair of booties completed the outfit, and looking at yourself in the mirror...you couldn’t say you were mad about the money you spent on this outfit a few weeks ago. Your curves looked bomb, your hair was laying just right and the makeup you’d applied made your eyes and lips pop. Long story short...you looked great!

You looked in the mirror one last time and gave yourself a nod of approval and after putting your phone in your back pocket with your ID and cash firmly within the case, you were ready to go. You locked the door behind you and started the walk towards B23. It was about a 15 minute walk and with the addition of your leather jacket, you were comfortable in the early October weather.

Here. You sent to Clara as you approached the front door.

Table in right corner. You got back almost immediately. You entered and looked over and saw a small group of girls over at a table. You made eye contact with Clara, who waved a bit spastically at you.

“Hey!” You pulled out the chair next to you as she introduced you to her friends. “Guys this is Y/N. She’s in my stats class. This is Amelia, Jane, Shannon, and Harmony. We all live together in one of the suites. Harmony is the lucky one who doesn’t have to share.” She teased.

Harmony, a pretty girl who had to have Native American in her if the tone of her skin and stick straight black hair (which you were beyond jealous of) gave you any clues, shot her a smug smile. “It’s not my fault that I won the draw.”

“That you put the names in!” Carla shot back.

Shannon leaned over to you, “They’ll go on about this if one of us doesn’t interrupt. They’ve been best friends since they were six. And they’re definitely the loudest out of all of us.”

You chuckled. “It’s not bothering me. I’m always game for free entertainment.”

The playful bickering died down as the waitress approached to take orders. After ordering two appetizer plates and drinks...a water for you. Conversation resumed and you quickly felt like one of the group. Amidst mozzarella sticks, wings, nachos, and a lot more greasy food you talked about majors, career goals, crazy professors, and the hot people you distracted yourself with in class.

A little after eight your waitress came over with another round of drinks for the girls and another water for you.

“We didn’t order more drinks...we’re actually getting ready to go,” You told her.

“I know. Those guys over there sent them to you. The one with dark hair wanted me to ask if Ohio was still treating you well.” Your group all looked over towards the guys that your waitress had pointed out to you. And there was Zach and some of the guys who’d gone into the store with him.

“Oh! I know him. I’m gonna go say hi.” You told the girls.

“Tell them thanks for us!” Carla said, lifting her drink in a salute towards them.

You made your way over towards Zach, suddenly a bit more conscious of what you were wearing. Was it too tight? Too much boob showing?

“Hey Y/N!” Zach greeted you.

“Hi. Ohio is treating me just fine. Thanks for asking.” You sat down in the chair he pulled out for you. “I’m Y/N.” You said to his friends.

“Pierre-Luc.”

“Josh.”

“Seth.”

“Boone.” They went around the table introducing themselves.

“And I’m Zach.”

You elbowed him playfully in the side. “I know who you are. But thanks anyway. Also...thank you for the drinks.”

“You’re welcome. But I think you bruised my side...so don’t expect anymore.”

“Baby. But I’m pretty sure we’re getting ready to leave anyway...so no worries about buying us more.” You teased.

“You’re leaving?” He questioned. “Oh.”

“Umm. We’re going to Skully’s to dance...and probably drink some more if you wanted to join us later? I’m sure the girls wouldn’t mind if you wanted to join in…” You trailed leaving an open invitation.

“We’re actually leaving here now. I’m sure we’ll be happy to join.”

Josh gave him a look. “We just go-Oof!” He gave Seth an offended look. “What was that for? That hur-”

“We’d love to join,” Seth spoke over Josh, who was still glaring at him.

“Ok,” You said with a smile. “Let me go tell the girls y’all plan on coming and then I’ll see you there?” Your speech was directed a bit more directly at Zach this time.

“Sounds good.” You gave a small wave bye and headed back over to the table where your friends had not so subtly been watching the exchange.

“The guys wanted to know if you cared if they joined us at Skullys? I said that it wouldn’t be a problem...but if you guys have a prob-”

“No! They can come! We do not mind. Do they want to walk over with us? It’s only a few blocks over.” Clara said.

You shrugged. “Let me ask.” You waved Zach over and you watched as his long legs ate up the distance. “Do y’all want to walk over there with us? Or were you going to drive.”

“No we’ll walk with you. Let us pay and we’ll meet you by the door.” He headed back over and soon your group, now doubled in size, was on the way. Somehow you and Zach ended up trailing a few steps behind everyone else. Not that you minded.

“So,” He looked down at you. “You’re really liking Ohio?”

“Yeah. It’s growing on me.”

“Good. Umm…” He bit his lip and then gruffly cleared his throat. “Save me a dance? God, that made me sound so dumb. Forget it.”

“No! Uh...I’d love to. I’m not sure what kind of music they play...but I’m sure we could find something we can dance to.” You could feel your cheeks getting hot as you looked up at him. “Thanks for asking.”

45 minutes later a beat was pounding and the dance floor regularly changed colors with the lights. Your friends were all leaning a bit towards tipsy and you had even taken a shot or two. Zach and his friends had wandered off a while ago, but before you could decide to finally go look for him, a warm pair of hands settled on your hips.

“Can this be my dance?” Zach had leaned his head down so you could hear him over the music. Not only could you hear him but you could smell the scent of his cologne and almost feel his lips brushing against your ear as he spoke. “I’m ready now.”

“Sounds good to me.” You tried to turn and face him but he clamped his hands onto your hips so you couldn’t.

“Like this, Darling.” He stepped even closer to you, his front now flush with your back. He pulled your hands up and looped them around his neck, causing you to arch slightly into him before he put his hands back on your hips. ”Now sway.”

So you did. And BOY did that explain why people liked to dance this way so much. You’d never danced this way, never understanding why people wouldn’t want to look at their partner. But being able to feel him pressed so nicely against you...his thigh in between yours and one of his hands banded firmly around your waist. You didn’t want to dance any other way. He swiveled his hips against yours, so you pressed back even tighter against him.

His chest vibrated with a groan. “Do it again.” You definitely felt his lips against your ear this time. But you did it again. And again. He rewarded you by lightly trailing his lips against your neck.

“Zach…” He tiled your head up so you could look at him.

“I want to kiss you.” He said.

“Please.” And then he was. His lips pressed hotly against yours and then his tongue was in your mouth, twining with yours. Your hands were twisted in his hair and his were slowly trailing up your stomach until his thumbs rested right under your breasts.

“Uh...guys.” Your broke away from each other at the sound of Clara’s voice. “As much as I personally enjoy the show you’re putting on...just wanted to let you know that we’re heading out. But you can stay here if you want Y/N...we just are going to go by your apartment and didn’t want you to have to walk back alone.”

You took a deep breath and allowed the air to clear your head from the drugged state Zach’s kiss had put you in. “Um, yeah that’d be great; thanks.”

“I’m pretty sure your friends are also leaving, Zach.”

“Thanks.” He answered gruffly. Clara walked away, leaving you with Zach. “I can drive you back to your apartment if you want...my car is still at B23.”

“It’s okay...I don’t want you to have to go out of your way.” You responded.

“It’s not that far out of the way...I,” He coughed and thought you couldn’t see the best in this light, you were pretty sure his cheeks were red. “I’m not ready to say goodbye, yet. I like spending time with you.” He kissed you lightly again. “I like kissing you.”

“Believe me, the feeling is mutual. But I don’t want to bail on the girls...this is my first night out with them.” A slight pout formed on his face. “Are you pouting?!”

“No!” He quickly answered.

“You’re pouting!” You laughed. “I have some homework...but I can be done with it by two, tomorrow...if you wanted to meet somewhere?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” He teased as the two of you made your way towards the entrance where your friends waited.

“I guess I am. You didn’t ask me so I had to make the move myself.”

“I would love to go on a date with you tomorrow.” He handed you his phone. “Put your number in and I’ll text you tonight...we can make plans.”

“Okay.” After handing his phone backed to him you said bye to the guys and then were given one more burning kiss by Zach before you headed back towards your apartment with your friends.

Ohio was definitely turning out to be better than expected.

Let me know if you see any blazing errors

*Also my posts have not been formatting the way I want on mobile...sorry!*

[zydrateacademy]

Review - Rage 2

I have little to no experience with the first Rage. I have about two hours on it, last played five years ago. I remember a lot of brown, and I think I immediately quit because it didn’t engage me very much. To the surprise of everyone, last year we get a teaser trailer set to Andrew WK’s “Ready to Die” in a semi live action setpiece telling everyone that Rage has returned, and it’s gonna be wacky! In practice, it’s just a very colorful shooter. A fairly decent one, but it lacks the general humor that Borderlands has, which yields a common comparison. Indeed, Rage 2 feels like a union between Mad Max (the driving), Borderlands (the environment), and DOOM (the gunplay). This review will have several comparisons to all three, but I’ll try to explain the systems so my readers won’t require previous knowledge of other games. I’ll start with the game’s main selling point, the zany gunplay and abilities. You play as Walker, gender of your choice but you cannot customize them as they both essentially exist as their own beings in this world. You are some kind of military trainee in a fairly safe and stable stronghold that gets annihilated in the first fifteen minutes of the game by an organization called “The Authority”. You put on a suit of armor of a now-extinct sect of “Rangers”, you being the last one in an impromptu promotion. This armor facilitates all of your guns and abilities. Even the guns are acquired through ARKS dotted around the land that are specifically designed for rangers and their suits, so right off the bat you’re more or less more equipped than every bandit in the wasteland.

Other than some odd key bindings to start with, the abilities and guns feel very good. One of the first you acquire is imminently useful, as it was designed to shatter armor of the enemies (and the ability is in fact called “Shatter”). This is also very satisfying as you play through the game, whether you use that ability or shoot it all off, you can actually see mob’s armor plating fly off as you whittle them down. It’s a good signifier as any that they’re ready to be killed outright. Considering the game shares much more with DOOM than with Borderlands, enemies are not at all bullet sponges. Most enemies can be taken out in just a couple shots, or a single headshot. The armor is what makes them spongey, but you’re very quickly given the tools to deal with it. Other abilities include a bullet barrier, a ground slam, a super sprint, a dash, a vortex that pulls enemies in and detonates, an overdrive, and a few others. Considering that DOOM developers have worked on this, this is not a cover shooter. Everything is designed to keep you moving and shooting and the set of abilities you acquire serve this goal incredibly well, and the gunplay is very fun. However, like Mad Max (from Avalanche Studios, which also served as developers here) strongholds don’t tend to respawn which leaves my usual fare of sandboxing starting to dry up just 11 hours into the game. I’m starting to get the feeling that the game is rather short, and I wish it took a similar idea from recent Far Cry games to reset the strongholds, maybe add some extra difficulty to it, and let us play it all again. I do not believe there is a New Game Plus at this time, so when I’m done, I’m done. This is essentially a twenty to thirty hour game it feels, so take that as you will.

Everything can be upgraded as well, DOOM-style. This is not Borderlands, and you will be staring at the same guns throughout your experience. There are about ten of them though (two from the preorder bonus, or potential DLC) and you can change their capabilities, level them up, and add extra mag sizes, reload speeds, and so on. They’ll function differently as you see fit but I find myself defaulting to the assault rifle you acquire, upgradable with armor piercing rounds which really tear through most enemies.

Returning from Mad Max are the convoys, one of my favorite mechanics from that game. There were only a handful there, and this game serves many more and they’re certainly more engaging in their own way. They boast an entire caravan with a War-Rig like truck that serves as its own boss (complete with a health bar), where you must wipe out the allies and then hit “weak points” that pop out periodically. I’m not sure if they constantly spawn or are as temporary as the strongholds, but I do enjoy them.

So the gunplay is good, the environment is interesting to look at. There’s plenty of lights, colorful characters, and even trees and wildlife in certain zones. The writing leaves something to be desired. For example you get a Borderlandsy splash screen introducing a few characters, one of which was “enjoys manipulating others, and once tortured a guy just to get his approval”. Meeting him just screamed “This guy is going to betray the fuck out of you”. Sure enough...

So let’s move on to some points I have “mixed” feelings about.

As I alluded to with the guns, this isn’t really a Loot-N-Shooter. It’s just a shooter. Everywhere there are chests to get “feltrite”, the main upgrade currency. You also get money, which also helps buy upgrades outright as well as ammo for you and your vehicle. There’s even an upgrade just to help you triangulate and find these chests so you don’t abandon every stronghold at 3/4 chests found because it’s hiding in a tiny alcove somewhere, but sometimes I do it anyway because it kind of kills too much time when you’re running around for a while. The gameplay encourages constant moving, shooting, and ground-slamming, but after a while you actually run out of things to do all of that with. To the game’s credit, it doesn’t make Anthem’s mistake of “go here, kill everything”. Sometimes you defend a pylon, sometimes you shoot fuel tanks, sometimes you destroy a power silo. All of which involves a lot of shooting but none of this respawns or comes back.

In relation, the map does feel a bit small. After gaining reputation with a certain main character, you’re awarded the Icarus, which is a flight vehicle. No weapon capabilities and it’s made out of paper but it’s very useful for transit. I’d almost recommend not using it at all, but it does help nab a few points of interest that you wouldn’t necessarily drive past on wheels, as some things you need to actively search for rather than drive by. As I said before, after 11 hours it feels as though I’ve complete most of the side-stuff already. Side missions can be picked up in towns but they’re much simpler and less interesting than the main story itself, and there’s little reason to do them.

The game is also very buggy. I suffer a crash to desktop (no error message or anything) every couple of hours. Much more often the game will freeze on me for an extended period of time (forty-five seconds or more) before coming back to me. I was on a “clear out the bandits” objective and one of the enemies was clipped into a building. Thankfully the “Shatter” ability has some AoE capabilities that got through the wall and I got him eventually. Those are the main three I’ve suffered but if you read around, you’ll no doubt find much more. These aren’t the usual funny “dragons flying backwards” Bethesda bugs, these are actually game breaking and rage inducing.

Oh, Bethesda. What has happened to you? It felt like it’s just been a couple years since you were the gaming community’s golden boy. It really all went downhill with Fallout 76 (which I’m still waiting on single player and modding capabilities) and has never really recovered. Yes, their new fare of “microtransactions” are here. I don’t normally have a hate-on for cosmetic shops like the community as a whole does but in Rage 2 it’s particularly pointless. It has some gun skins, both of which can be acquired in game. The golden skins are 10,000 dollars in certain shops (which is a lot, mind you) and the other ones can be acquired by farming the Mutant Bash TV enough. I enjoy the mutant-killing arena but I find it’s far too damn easy, and it really needed extra difficulty levels attached. Those skins cost 2500 MBTV tokens and you can get ~1500 every run you do. Considering how easy it is, I earned most of them in like, an hour. Now let’s get to some of the things I actively hate.

I don’t like the driving. Not nearly as much in Mad Max, anyway. The convoys are indeed still fun and more rewarding than Max’s were. To Max’s credit, that entire game was built around the car being a major mechanic and hell, even plot point and Max’s entire motivation. In Rage 2 it’s more of a sideshow. The cars don’t feel like they have much weight to them (at least, not until you spin them out and try to push yourself out of a ditch, which I often do) and when I was given the flying Icarus, I felt little point in returning to the sassy-AI that hosted the Phoenix, the only car you can upgrade and customize.

To wit, I actually quite despise the driving in certain contexts. Early in the story you have to impress someone enough to enter his suite. To do so you must play through the Mutant Bash TV (fun, but easy) and... a race. You enter the race and the NPC there tells you that you’re starting on the bottom. Now, in other games this means they usually give you idiots for AI. The first race in GTA5 was laughable, and even in Mad Max their one main “race” was actually just a deathmatch with a six minute timer. This newbie race in Rage 2 actually made me Rage-Quit the night the game was released. They give you their own car, every other racer has the same one and they actually match your speed. At any given point I always had two to four other racers ahead of me at all times. You know what bots and AI don’t do? Make mistakes. They never spun out, rammed into each other, or hit a wall unless you yourself did all that to them. After getting a night’s sleep and three tries in the morning later, my only strategy was to ignore the other drivers and concentrate harder than I ever have in a game. I basically had to do a perfect run, not hitting anything. I did so well and ALMOST lost the ENTIRE race to one single spinout near the end of the track. When I won, I could hear one or two car engines right on my tailpipe. They never lost traction like I did, and that’s just garbage.

I hated it. I do not look forward to dealing with this required mission in future playthroughs. By the way, it’s required to unlock an entire upgrade tree.

One final point of annoyance before I summarize my thoughts ultimately. This one is much more minor but it actually irritates me more than the driving does because this one is a constant threat. Every time you clear an objective, no matter how quick or small, you get an unskippable popup announcing your victory and rewards, as well as the reputation gain. This could have so easily been put on the side, like they do their radio-bound dialogues. Instead it completely stops the show and I find myself slamming the enter key so I can skip it the very split second it allows me to do so. In a game that wants you to keep moving, in a very successful and fun way, this thing is just a complete show stopper and I don’t know how their beta testers weren’t yelling “Come on, let me PLAY!” constantly. Ultimately, I do feel like there’s a good game to be had here. The cosmetic store is easily ignored and beyond that, you’ll have to deal with some bugs, janky driving, and bullshit “OBJECTIVE COMPLETE” popups. If you can deal with that, you’re left with some excellent gunplay and skillfully crafted environments. It’s not as long as I had hoped, and I really expected more to justify an eighty dollar preorder but I have not at all hated the experience.