#but i've never finished an event feeling confused or disoriented

[malemusktf]

Manipulative Musk

Taylor and Lennox were best friends since childhood, growing up in a small town and facing the typical struggles of adolescence together. As they grew into young men, their paths diverged - Taylor became a muscular, confident man with piercing blue eyes and a defined face, while Lennox remained tall and lean, with curly hair and piercing blue eyes. Despite their differences, their bond remained strong, until a recent argument threatened to tear them apart.

It was a typical Saturday night at their favorite pub, where they would meet to catch up and unwind after a long week. Taylor and Lennox were sitting at the bar, nursing their drinks, when Taylor brought up the argument that had been weighing on his mind.

'Hey man, can we talk about what happened the other day?' Taylor said, his voice serious.

Lennox looked up, taking a deep breath before responding. 'Yeah, of course. I've been thinking about it too.'

Their heated argument had stemmed from a misunderstanding, but it had left a rift between them. As they began to discuss it, Taylor's words became more and more manipulative. He twisted the events to make himself look like the victim and Lennox the one at fault.

As they talked, Lennox began to feel confused and disoriented. He couldn't believe that he could have been in the wrong, but Taylor's words were so convincing. As they finished their drinks, Taylor suggested they go to his house to continue the conversation in a more private setting.

Feeling on edge and unsure of himself, Lennox agreed. As they walked to Taylor's house, Lennox couldn't shake the strange feeling that something was off. But before he could voice his concerns, Taylor pushed him into the basement, the musty smell of old furniture and sweat hitting his senses.

'What's going on Taylor?' Lennox asked, his voice shaky.

Taylor didn't respond, instead he began to undress, revealing his muscled, hairy body. Lennox's eyes widened in shock and confusion. He had never seen this side of Taylor before. As Taylor got closer, the smell of raw man stink, musk, and sweat became overwhelming. Lennox's mind and body were being taken over by the potent scent, as if it was a form of mind control.

Taylor's body was emitting a strange green smoke from his pits, crotch, and breath. Lennox couldn't resist the intoxicating scent, and before he knew it, he was fully under Taylor's control.

'You want to be like me, Lennox. Strong and powerful. You want to serve me and worship my body,' Taylor said, his voice deep and commanding.

Lennox's mind was clouded with the manipulative thoughts planted by Taylor. He couldn't think straight or remember why they were arguing in the first place. All he knew was that he wanted to be like Taylor, to please him and be his only friend.

As Taylor's green smoke continued to wrap around Lennox's body, he could feel himself changing. His muscles began to grow, his chest and abs becoming defined. Thick chest hair sprouted from his pecs, and a huge forest of armpit hair also appeared. He could feel the power and confidence of Taylor overtake him.

'Now you are like me, Lennox. We are bonded together in musk and strength. We will be the only ones for each other,' Taylor said triumphantly.

Lennox looked at himself in amazement, feeling a new sense of power and purpose. He and Taylor would forever be joined in their love for musk and each other's bodies.

From that day on, Taylor and Lennox were inseparable. They ruled over their small town with their strength and confidence, always side by side. They were known as the most powerful and feared men in the town, with their musk and bond keeping them united.

And so, with the manipulation and influence of Taylor, Lennox's life took an unexpected turn. But for the two men, it was the beginning of a powerful and unbreakable friendship, bonded by their love for the manly scent that brought them together.

#male tf #male pits #musk #sweat #manipulative

[dittydipity]

finally got around to finishing the finale of the ghost trick remaster. i've played and watched this ending more times than i can count but it's still so SO good.

all of my insane thoughts and overanalysis/overthinking under the cut

when the last portion/chapter of a game or book is called 'final chapter' or the title of the story.. GRRRRRRGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

when the four of them are discussing what to do and they're like "we might not be able to change your fate of dying" and yomiel is just. "i can accept that." 😭😭

^ HE SAYS WITH A SMILE. AUGH.

man no matter how many times i see it, yomiel getting flung back and impaled on the post never fails to make me flinch

ough.

These long, lonely ten years…

you were my one and only friend.

How about it?

Do you remember now...

*spotlight, the reveal*

...old friend?

SCREAMING CRYING SOBBING THROWING UP THE WAY THIS STORY IS TOLD

NOT TRAUMA KICKING IN 😭

he finally rember after so long of forgor...

and then the whole retelling of the story by sissel and yomiel where they narrate interchangeably without any indication of who is talking but you can still tell who's narrating hewioagljadsklfajds

Somebody, please reach a hand out to me... //

My body wouldn't move, but I still managed to reach out a "hand" to him.

ueueueue them finding the comfort they sought and needed in each other because at our cores, we all need connections..

catboy yomiel real and canon

Those ten years were very happy for me.

But they weren't happy for the man...

and there was nothing I could do for him.

^ LINE THAT PEOPLE DO NOT TALK ABOUT ENOUGH. god these lines hit so hard bc it's like. when all you want is for someone you love to be happy and you're trying your hardest and you're giving everything but you just don't know and you just can't understand that there just isn't any way for you to help, no matter how much you want to..

man just. imagine that when you finally think you're going to be free. that after so many years of limbo you think you're finally going to get what you've wanted. and when you get to the final steps of your plan, you find that your best friend, the only person keeping you afloat throughout this whole time, just died. because of you.

AUGHGGHHGHGHGGHHG GOD. GOD GOD GOD.

THE UNIMAGINABLE GRIEF AND REGRET. AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO EXIST UNTIL THE END OF TIME WITH THESE BURDENS

jowd being the one to say this is so good. bc out of all the people, he might be the one that understands yomiel the most. yomiel's entire goddamn existence and everything he's believed and been forced to endure has finally been righted. jowd's own predicament and resulting fate change from this whole ordeal is also incredibly drastic, but that's what makes him the one who most closely relates to yomiel. yomiel's twisted, revenge-fueled desire to make jowd feel the same pain he felt turns into empathy and understanding.

I'M CRAZY. I'M CRAZZY

do you ever think about how, for the 4 of them (sissel, yomiel, jowd, missile), they have 20 years of memories overlapping each other in a 10y period? if not more, from all the rewinding and trial error of this one night? when they "return" to the new present that is born from this final aversion of fate, do they just find themselves in a completely different place in life, with a whole entire set of memories? do they just. slide "back" into place in this new timeline and replace the placeholder version of them that existed in those 10y that were completely changed, all of a sudden now with all of that version's memories and experiences?

how disorienting and confusing and discombobulating would that be, to suddenly have two completely different versions of the same period of time in your head

it's not as bad for missile, since he's only two years old when the events of the game happen, and so "only" has 2y worth of memories that overlap, but for sissel and yomiel and jowd...

and the fact that only the four of them will remember. sissel and missile are fine, as animals, but for yomiel and jowd.. how often did the people around them think they were insane, talking about things that never happened and knowing things that they shouldn't know, breaking down over things that remind them of this overwritten timeline

When we go back, our fates will no longer be interconnected.

It will be like we never met...

hiweoaghlkjadslkfjkl and in that new timeline, yomiel's one and only friend, the only being he could have called a friend in those years of limbo from the previous timeline, now has nothing to do with him.

and so before that happens, he has to apologize for everything he made sissel go through. even though sissel chose to stay by his side, it's only human nature to feel guilty for something you can't help. he needs this solace.

and sissel gives it to him.

all these four can do is hope that the stars will align and the gods that started this whole mess will allow them to meet once again

-> RAY. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON RAY.

these have to be some of the most genuine, heartfelt lines in the game, alongside the thanks that yomiel gives sissel.

not me getting sad about ray's reluctance to even talk about himself. oh boy.

his reluctance to reveal just how much he messed up and failed. how hard he tried and how much he's sacrificed just to help his friends. telling this almost complete outsider how much of a failure he was and expecting them to understand his selfish, selfish reasons

can you imagine? waiting for 10 years to pin all your hopes and sacrifices on this stranger that didn't stop to give you the time of day the first time. and if they don't help you this time, everything would have been for nothing. having to just stand back and watch as everything happens this second time around because you can't risk messing it up this time.

doing all of this knowing that, whether things work out or not this time, you're going to disappear at the end.

Of course!

Because that's what doggies do!

🥺🥺🥺🥺😭

<EPILOGUE>

the wave of relief and satisfaction when reincarnation starts..

From just that single night as a human, I got a glimpse into their world.

And I learned something...

Their fates, their lives - they were all interconnected...

Somewhere, somehow, in some way.

And, now, this is MY new fate.

literally just in awe at this story.

the reveal of sissel's new fate w the next lines.. one of the most fulfilling, complete endings and feelings of closure i've ever gotten from a game.

It suits me just fine to curl up and watch...

...watch the strange and beautiful patterns of their lives as they unfold.

And it looks like...

...I'll have plenty to watch

here for quite a while.

and the credits song kicking in.. the way it's timed perfectly with the final reveal and snaps to the main theme in time with the end of sissel's speech. it's SO satisfying.

and the fact that the credits song is a remix of the main theme that we've heard so much throughout the game as a way to end each chapter with a sense of mystery, but this final time, it's triumphant. it's the same tune but this time we've solved everything. everything is going to be okay.

i love you ghost trick

#once again copypasted from discord ramblings #if you havent played or seen ghost trick DON'T LOOK #gt one of the games EVER. #.d #ghost trick #ghost trick spoilers

[ac-liveblogs]

I mean, it’s not like Genshin events aren’t always weird and unsatisfying, but I do generally think they’re getting better.

I see a lot of people (mostly on Twitter) talking about Unreconciled Stars and to a lesser extent the Chalk Prince and the Dragon being the best events, but those were like. The worst of them?

Unreconciled Stars especially. It started basically... very shortly after I started Genshin, I don’t think I’d even finished Liyue yet (AR woes), and I... was very used to FGO events, which are quite lengthy and usually have at least one or two character arcs, a full complete story, comedy chops, etc. depending on the genre of the event, and always have a very climactic finale with a huge boss fight that the event slowly builds up to. And because I’m, like. Used to narratives, and read books and play games, I had certain... reasonable expectations about the way the event’s story would be paced anyway.

Like for example, the expectation that when Fischl was introduced, she’d be a focal character in the story and she’d have a complete narrative within the arc. I’d kind of assumed she was telling the truth about being from another world at first because I hadn’t read her profile (because I didn’t have her), so I thought the stars and her being from another world would tie together and it would turn out that she was relevant to whatever it was that was happening. I also assumed that when she left the event, she would come back, because we’d spent half the event travelling with her and getting to know her so why on earth would our companion just bounce and not return after having done... basically nothing?  

Well, I was wrong on all counts. Fischl was just there, travelled with us a bit, had no narrative relevance to the event in any way, contributed almost nothing and then left and didn’t come back after passing us off to Mona. Also she wasn’t from another world, she was a chuuni, which is already kind of... making your fantasy world less interesting right out the gate? You really wonder why she was even there in the first place.

But okay, fine. Mona... Mona was... Mona was there mostly for gameplay and exposition purposes, and she saved us from Scaramouche when he tried to attack us. She didn’t have any greater relevance beyond “I’m helping solve the mystery”, which was okayish when I thought Fischl was still coming back, but less so when she never did. And Scaramouche...

Okay, so like, a boss shows up and meeting him is treated like a Big Deal. You reach the climax of the event and he shows up again and you, naturally, are like “oop! here it is! the big climactic finale! we’re gonna fight him!” and you’re gearing up for a boss fight because why wouldn’t the event end with a bang and then he just makes you fight some mooks, cackles about some baffling plot revelation that won’t pay off for IRL years and bounces. and the event ends. 

I was so disoriented playing it. It ended on this weird lore dump about some guy that died centuries ago that wasn’t... even super relevant to anyone in the cast, and Fischl, Mona and Scaramouche didn’t do anything. I should’ve taken it as a warning of things to come, but I figured it was just messy first event syndrome and things would improve. Which they have somewhat but uh, the bones of all the problems in later events and chapters were definitely already there.    

Chalk Prince is also pretty anticlimactic and strange. It tacked Albedo’s character quest onto the start of the event, which padded things out, but it also ended without a climactic boss fight and also just loredumped about a dragon that had been dead for centuries. I don’t know - when we saw this dragon heart beating in a mountain I went “oh, we’re going to fight the dragon as a ghost or something” or maybe “oh man, something’s going to make us fight Albedo?” and “there’s something really ominous about that sword that’s going to bite us later”.

But the dragon really was just a talking piece, and this super dangerous sword that only worked for us really was just a free weapon, and the random flower that burst out of the ground was just an evil flower, and then the event was over. The climax of the event was Sucrose getting knocked over by Pallad and the flower showing up which, to my mind, was like, a miniboss at best. 

Is that partially on me for underestimating the scale of whackiness or drama that Genshin was willing to reach? Yeah, maybe. Genshin is not a game where you can expect to fight ghosts,  or evil swords to be ominous, or there to be princesses from other worlds, and its on me for not realising that it might not have stories like that. But it’s really not my fault for expecting the stories to feel complete or for the characters to have stories within the events they’re the focal point of. 

At the time my thought was “Genshin is for some reason making regular story chapters events and that’s why they aren’t complete narratives/don’t have character arcs/just exist to set up future plot points and character arcs” and to an extent I still think that’s true of those events, because functionally that’s all they did, but man, those two events were bad. Genshin’s definitely improved on making events self-contained stories since those two - the events are still a little bland, but they don’t end as suddenly and they do try to use their cast better. 

Lantern Rite’s story was dull, but they spent the event establishing our goal (taking Xiao to the rite), so it was a satisfying enough finale to finally convince him to watch the fireworks. Windblume also wrapped up nicely. I think those two worked best because they didn’t have some Big Plot that was meant to hint at something happening in the future - they were really just about Xiao and Mondstadt, so the writing was less ambitious. Summer Isles were... messy, and still set up future events (Alice....), but less offensive. 

I can only hope Genshin won’t use events to set up future events - they are not good at this - and stick with telling self-contained stories, but we’ll just have to see how it goes I guess

#ac plays genshin impact #i hate that fgo gave me standards for gacha games #is fgo perfect and amazing and always good writing? no! #but i've never finished an event feeling confused or disoriented #in writing or gameplay #or like the event's story was hugely lacking #even the ones i don't like #tfw you remember SERAPH was an event and judge all other events by the precedent it set lmao