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belliesandburps · 3 years

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Non-Kink: Top 12 Best Stealth Action Games

I was inspired by my dear pal, @twistedtummies2, to share a lil bit of non-kink related stuff about myself with’chall. One thing to know about me is I’m a huge lover of video games. I may not have as much time to PLAY ‘em much these days, but dammit if they aren’t one of my biggest joys beyond writing and the great outdoors.

And my favorite genre in all of gaming is the stealth action genre. Anyone who knows me knows that I adore the Metal Gear Solid series, but I also love a whole bunch of other stealth action games because, to me, this genre is the one with the most meat to come back to. Stealth action done right is you being put in a room or outpost or whatever with a bunch of bad guys, and trying to carry out an objective without engaging with the enemies. OR, it’s picking off the bad guys one by one, quickly and quietly. Oooooor it’s you try to be sneaky, get caught, say fuck it, and wage war with an armada of Russians because isn’t it always Russians. XD

I love that so many stealth action games can play out so many different ways. And the feeling of escalation, like trying to be sneaky, and being overwhelmed when you’re caught and having to escape a hectic situation? That, to me, is more thrilling than ANY set piece or scripted, linear mission from any game I’ve ever played. It’s why I’ve replayed many of these games time and time again, and haven’t even THOUGHT about most of the biggest AAA blockbusters upon beating them.

Now, this list is subject to change. I have a few games I need to play and they may beat out a few on this list. But for now, here’s my Top 12 Best Stealth Action games because on top of being a thirsty old bastard, I loves me some espionage and bandana action. :P

12) Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

This game gets a lot of flak, but believe it or not, it’s actually my favorite in the Arkham series. It’s City with a new coat of paint and a few more bugs, but City was still awesome, and so is this game. It had plenty of clever predator stealth sequences, with more enemy variety to shake things up, that always made wiping out the bad guys swiftly and silently deeply rewarding. AND it had more stealth action boss fights. City had Mr. Freeze and a single predator fight rehashed twice with Two Face and Harley. Origins had Mr. Freeze again, but with new additional options, and a pre-fight stage where you had to stay outta sight. It also had Deadshot, the best of the three basic “predator boss” types, as well as TN-1 Bane as the final boss, and damn if it wasn’t intense. With more gadgets and clever ways to mix and match, I think this game would be higher, but it’s still a great one for lovers of more approachable stealth action paired up with excellent brawler combat.

11) Assassin's Creed (2007)

The other AC games may be better, but AC1 is the only game in the series to stay consistent and simple with its design philosophy. Here are targets for you to assassinate, here are bolstering crowds with beautiful cities to Parkour across or hide within, and at every turn, there are hiding spots but also enemies, making situations escalate organically and entertainingly with each assassination. Hence why, despite most people regarding AC1 as the weakest entry, it's my personal favorite. It's the one I replay the most and the one that just stays consistent with what it advertises. No more, no less. 10) Hitman (2016)

I've yet to play the other Hitman games, and by accounts, each sequel is better than the last. But you've seen the Jackie boy vids. What more need be said? :P

9) Death Stranding (2019)

Death Stranding's kind of a jack of all trades in the stealth action. On one hand, you have conventional stealth action where you're infiltrating enemy camps and can either pick off all the bad guys one by one or go nuts and fight everybody head on. On the other hand, you have BT's, whom you sneak around by holding your breath and moving slowly, lest these ghostly monsters drag you out to a tarpit for a boss fight. The stealth is fairly simplistic but functional. Combat as is would be fairly shallow, were it not for the sheer quantity of options you have in any given battle. Seriously, you have a sticky gun that lets you snatch cargo straight off a bad guys back then immediately bludgeon him unconscious with it, and snatch HIS cargo to smash his BUDDY out cold with that in one fell swoop. The way situations can organically just bleed from stealth to action and give you options for both makes it a blast. And the boss fights against Cliff and Higgs are almost all I could ask for from stealth action battles. 8) Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020)

I DO wish the game had some stealth action boss fights, but far as superhero games are concerned, no game has better stealth action than Miles Morales. It hits fast and is deeply gratifying. You have corridors with as much as twenty plus bad guys, and you can clean it out in minutes thanks to being able to hide in plain sight through invisibility. Venom Takedowns with let you wipe out a chain succession of enemies all at once. Corridors have TONS of environmental advantages to wipe out a bunch of bad guys with one move. And unlike Spider-Man or Arkham, if you're caught, just go invisible, flee, and go right back to picking off baddies in seconds. It's like playing a predator sequence in an Arkham game on steroids...and in fast forward. And the sheer volume of enemies you're often up against keeps it from feeling too easy. 7) Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (2019)

This game SUCKED at launch. Like, it was actual trash that became a chore to finish when it first came out. But fair's fair, Ubisoft stuck with it and the end result is one of the most customizable experiences I've ever had in gaming. Like, this game is straight up now designed to let you change the entire experience simply by pausing the game and flipping a new options on and off and have it immediately go into effect.

I hated the injury mechanics of the first game because it slowed you down and led to a lot of random, unfair deaths because you could never predict which attacks would be critical and which wouldn’t. So now, I can turn them off. I thought bad guys were brain-dead. So I can make them smarter. I thought constantly slowing down when I'm running from bullets was detrimental, so now, I can make stamina limitless.

I thought some areas had way too many guards to viably take out without co-op buddies...soooo I can activate an entire squad of AI partners all throughout the game with me and there's a lot of coordination you can do with your team for really covert missions...and you can even customize their look to create a team that looks as cool or goofy as you want. It’s a really dorky thing, but I LOVE customization in shooters and being able to fully customize, not just yourself, but your team to look however you want in missions is really fun.

And if you think the enemies are too easy to take down? Turn on Terminator mode and have T-800's storming the place. Yeah, freakin’ Terminators. XD

The game gives you literally all the options you could ask for to have an experience perfectly tuned to what you WANT to have. And the options you have make it so the game can feel like an entirely different, borderline strategy game instead of a solid third person shooter. You can activate a drone now to coordinate your three AI buddies to stop and go where you want, mark targets for them to eliminate and have your eye on the entire battlefield. It's honestly staggering how many options this game has. And were the missions not so boilerplate and were the boss fights actual boss fights and not just reskins of basic enemies, this would be one of the best games ever. As is, it's a genuinely impressive comeback story! 6) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016)

Mankind Divided is the game Cyberpunk WISHES it was (Spoiler Alert: Cyberpunk isn’t very fun or responsive yet). It's a game with some spectacular level design where there are dozens of ways around any given enemy and tons of options for any mission. You have a wide assortment of augmentations to let you sneak or fight your way through any scenario and they give you the tools to use your robot powers in really clever ways for navigation purposes. This is a game where even the simplest side mission has about a dozen different outcomes, and most of them are wholly organic. What it needed was more...well, GAME. After all, MD is a third of the game it was meant to be. But it IS a marvel of stealth action goodness. 5) The Last of Us: Part 2 (2020)

I have a BUNCH of issues with this game, but on the subject of stealth action, TLOU2 is one of the best in the genre. Every single encounter is highly difficult, but has dozens of variations. The levels are all designed with tons of varied cover spots and hidden paths to let you navigate as you either pick off the bad guys one by one, or sneak past them. The enemies range in their weaponry, but possess self preservation, so they aren't just standing around shooting aimlessly.

And on top of that, combat is brutal. Every bullet counts, and you feel the impact of every shot fired. The melee system is simple but complements gunplay fantastically. So if you wanna save bullets, you can shoot someone in the leg, and as they stagger, you can bumrush them, grab a hammer or brick you find on the ground as you're running and bludgeon them to death to save bullets. The game also has a great lil "MGS4 Battlefield Stealth" system. Several encounters have humans and infected, and you can pit the two against one another and either sneak around the carnage or use it to pick off the harder enemies.

The game also has a FAR better predator fight that's basically David's fight in the first game, but with way better mechanics. The boss increasingly upgrades their weapon each time you attack them, the environment is perfect for this fight, and if you're caught, you aren't just dead, you have a means to escape a hairy situation. TLOU2 may have been deeply polarizing, story-wise, but as a GAME, it's terrific. And best yet, once you beat the main game, there's an encounter mode that lets you skip all the BS and just jump right into every single stealth action encounter and boss fight throughout the whole game risk free. What's not to love about that? 4) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (2004 / 2010)

MGS3 is the first really great linear MGS game. It ditches that terrible fixed camera, simplifies the controls, and has more than ten rooms where you do any sneaking. Its best moments are proto-MGSV outposts, where you have an area with tons of guards and multiple paths to your objective, and a whole lot of opportunities to get creative. It was also the first MGS game that made combat just as viable as stealth. You CAN actually just punch your way through the bad guys now, and the end result is shockingly fun thanks to all the weapons and more intuitive controls. But the real star is the boss battles. MGS3 has some of the best bosses of any video game I've ever played in my life. And MOST of them incorporate stealth beautifully. To the point where you can eliminate half the bosses with any of 'em ever even knowing your location, and giving you a plethora of variety in the bosses themselves AND the means in which you fight them.

3) Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013)

Splinter Cell's an odd series. The story is nonsense yet also pretty drab and simplistic. Sam Fisher REALLY isn't an interesting character, none of the characters are except the villain and anti-hero scumbag. But as a VIDEO GAME, Blacklist is the peak of linear stealth action. MGS3 had boss fights, and THAT was the biggest mark for the game. And Blacklist only has a single boss fight, which is basically a slightly elongated version of Deadshot's "fight" in City.

But the moment-to-moment gameplay is out of this world good. You have brilliant level design that makes sneaking from A to B deeply gratifying, but you also have insane mobility that makes you feel like the biggest badass when you play. There can be a room full of guards. And like a game of chess, with the right moves, you can end them in seconds, which requires skill to pull off, rushing the first guy and taking him down, shooting his buddy, then using execute to auto-kill up to three guards you've marked who were in range. It's about using the systems the game gives you to maximize efficiency on the field. And you can pick off bad guys using your environment, or climbing a plethora of terrain.

The game almost plays like Arkham half the times when you're climbing walls or pipes and dropping down on bad guys or shooting them from overhead. It has a huge variety of gadgets to aide you as well, and combat is incredibly difficult but doable. Sam can only take a few hits before he's dead, but the means to shake off enemies is fair, and recovering from a slip-up is more fun than it is frustrating. The campaign has several excellent missions which would satisfy a person as is. But it also comes with over a dozen bonus missions you can access from your allies, each one taking place in entirely new settings with new enemies and storylines, each one with simpler and more streamlined objectives (perfect stealth, predator missions where you kill all the enemies, and survival waves where you have to fend off increasingly harder enemies). AND it has the best kind of co-op. Like Peace Walker, you can play any side mission with buddies. But it also has missions exclusive to co-op, designed to be fully embraced with a buddy you can play with on the couch or online. It's a game with tons of content, and all of it is mostly excellent. 2) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

MGSV is the best game I've played. That's because it's a game that hits all of my buttons. The outposts are examples of perfect level design. Each one is designed with a huge array of cover spots and multiple paths, direct or secret, to an objective area. As a result, every mission allows you to get in, carry out your objective, and get out without raising a stink. And when you screw up, it doesn't feel like punishment, because the combat of this game is fantastic.

Everything is highly responsive, so your inputs happen with no delays. You can go from diving to shooting from the ground in a tenth of a second. And combat lets you seamlessly go from shooting, snatching guns from bad guys and blowing away with it, to taking breathers behind cover or with a human shield. The enemy AI is the best the series has ever had. They have way more self preservation, they're liberal with grenades, have way more variety in their weapons, and actually use turret guns and mortar cannons now.

The missions themselves can be resolved tons of different ways. Assassination missions play out like small-scale Hitman missions, without the frustration of screwing up and restarting because missions are so short, you just roll with the punches. And the overall feel of a mission changes dramatically, depending on your loadout, the paths you choose in the level, your playstyle, and the time of day you select when you start a mission.

There are only a few major downsides to the gameplay. The bosses lack variety, like, I REALLY wish MGSV had more XOF assassins like Quiet to confront along with the Skulls and MoF. Some missions are a bit too samey, and there aren't enough larger scale outposts. Some more enemy variety wouldn't have been remiss. And finally, the open world itself is pretty lifeless. It works to complement the missions, like giving you a whole stretch of land to carry out ambushes or battle the Skulls anywhere you please. But open world games are best when they have more to react to and engage with, or secrets to find. Oh yeah, and the main villain should've had a boss fight, a stealth action shootout at that because that’s what the OG plan was until Kojima decided to be slightly more pretentious than usual.

But beyond that, this game is a freakin' masterpiece.

So why is number 2 on the list even if it's the best game I've ever played?

Because this game exists... 1) Deus Ex (2000)

Deus Ex isn't as mechanically good as MGSV. It's even that good mechanically, like, playing it now, it feels pretty clunky and not the least bit smooth. Still fun, but you feel the age. So why is it number 1? Simple. Deus Ex is the most open-ended video game ever made. It's a stealth action RPG where every, and I mean, EVERY single level has dozens upon dozens of different paths to choose and make your own. It has class specialization, meaning the build you create gives you a whole ton of new paths and strategies to use for hacking or flexibility.

Every single mission takes place in a sprawling area. You have an objective, obstructions blocking your way, and a whole bunch of guards. You can blaze right to a solution, resolving a situation in minutes. Or, you can take your time and find any number of different paths to your goal. And all throughout each mission, there's tons of things to find as you explore. There's entire other side missions with their own plethora of options. Lots of really clever flavor text. Upgrades to bolster your augmentations. And really ominous messages you can find that'll come into play later.

The bosses may lack variety but each one is a perfect stealth action battle where you can choose any number of options against the bosses, right down to running away from them and the game outright acknowledging that the boss enemies weren't killed. Best yet, it's a game designed to be broken. Unlike Human Revolution, all the bosses are recurring characters you spend plenty of time with. But you can outright blow them away WELL in advance and the game will acknowledge their deaths and keep going anyway. If you engage in a boss battle during a designated boss fight, but avoid them or run away, then that boss will turn up again for a rematch later.

This is a game where you can create your own cover spots or platforms by gathering vending machines and dumpsters and piling them on top of each other. Where specialization changes the entire feel of the campaign and incentivizes repeat playthroughs just to come up with different builds and experience missions in whole new ways. And best yet, this is a game where when you're in a hub, whatever you see around you, you can interact with. If you see buildings in the distance, you'll be able to go in and explore, and there's always something to find. Deus Ex is number one because there will never be another game like it. It's debatable that no other game will ever be as FUN as MGSV, but no other game will ever be as open ended as Deus Ex because it's literally impossible. The game is clunky and cheap looking because the engine it was built on was a low-memory one. They traded in graphics fidelity and more impressive flow for the sake of creating a vast video game with an impossible amount of content to constantly stumble upon. And unlike all the other games on this list, that open endedness actually DOES translate into the story, giving you dozens of different branching paths to the story, and sadly, only three fairly weak endings, but damn, if the journey up ain't a blast.

I have a whole slew of other lists I’ve been meaning to post for the better part of two years, and honestly, they’re fun to write. So, who knows? Don’t worry though, they won’t get in the way of bellies or burp content either. XD

#non-kink #bnb lists #video games #gaming chat #stealth action #metal gear solid #splinter cell #assassin's creed #hitman #deus ex #the last of us #ghost recon breakpoint #cyberpunk 2077 #syphon filter #that game is really good too #but it's honestly not a stealth game #it's like the reverse of MGS1 #MGS1 was a stealth game with clunky forced action #Syphon Filter was an action game with clunky forced stealth #dark mirror was great #it's the single best psp game I've ever played #and hey James Horan is the final boss #i can always pretend that was the final fight with Skull Face I didn't get from MGSV #fucking kojima...#honestly I think that's why Higgs had so many boss fights in his chapter #it felt like an apology for screwing Skull Face #so he gets three really great bosses back to back #his second MAIN fight is basically a perfect stealth action battle #Cliff's boss fight I swear is exactly what I HOPED Skull Face's would've been #*Should've been...Kojima...

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

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Absolute Carnage #1 Thoughts

Absolute Carnage is an Absolute Triumph!

Do not get it twisted. I will not be covering older or future issues of Cates’ Venom run. Nor will I be covering every tie in issue for this event. In fact I was not planning on covering the main book in the first place.

But after reading it I now will be and have put it on my pull list.

Cates’ Venom work has been tremendous despite the detractors.

There have been some writing issues with older Venom continuity, but those issues are the by product of Cates desperately loving this character and the symbiote franchise and wanting to make Eddie Brock and his version of Venom a viable anti-hero protagonist character going forward.

To be clear I still fundamentally oppose that direction for the character, but if it must happen (and sales practically demand it happen) then yes we should have good writing accordingly. Cates has thus reinvented Brock and Venom (without a total overhaul) and rendered them fascinating, sympathetic, but still with plenty of edge and moral ambiguity.

He has not done the same for Carnage. He has simply taken Carnage and made him true to what he always was. A force of nature, a force of chaos and death with a Freddy Krueger wisecracking personality.

However what Cates has done for Carnage is reframe him in this story.

Whereas before Carnage was a spikey, sharp obstacle heroes needed to band together to bring down, now he’s beyond that. As he says, he is a God now, or at least almost Godlike. A Red Grim Reaper that even a monster like Venom is rightly afraid of.

Heroes might be able to stall him for awhile, but never stop him.

Much like Freddy Krueger, or Jason Voorhees or any of the classical slasher villains then, Carnage has been reframed as a horror monster. But imagine Jason, Freddy or Michael Myers with the almost Lovecraftian raw power behind them.

Scary right? And that’s what Absolute Carnage is. It’s a superhero horror story.*

It gets scarier when you consider Carnage isn’t even himself the real horroer, he’s the harbinger of it. Knull, the literal GOD OF THE SYMBIOTES is the ends through which Kasady is the bloody red means. Knull has recently appeared in Cates’ Silver Surfer run and it only just struck me writing this that in a sense Carnage is to Knrull what the Surfer was to Galactus.

Carnage is the Herald of Knull.

Kasady has all the over the top immense abilities he had before as Carnage, only now they’ve been cranked up to 11. Which considering the whole point of Carnage was that he was cranked up to 11 makes Absolute Carnage 22? He’s less vulnerable to sonics and fire and injury in general. His anatomy is contorted to the point where when bonded with the symbiote his waist is as thin as his spine and he’s HUGE. He can generate other symbiotes and bond them to others making them his footsoldiers.

He’s seemingly Absolutely unstoppable.

In this sense Absolute Carnage is a true blue sequel to Maximum Carnage. Like so many sequels of the time it is BIGGER. Whereas in Maximum Carnage the question was how far should the heroes go to stop Carnage, in Absolute Carnage the question is rather how on Earth CAN they stop him?

It’s Carnage taken to his absolute logical conclusion and I love it.

Now in fairness all that is contingent upon you liking Carnage in the first place. I’d still recommend regular ASM readers skim the issue as events from it will be relevant, but if you don’t like Carnage in general maybe don’t buy this.

However the issue holds other merits.

Cates is a unique beast amidst symbiote writers because he actually seems to unrepentantly LIKE them.

In the history of all the symbiote comics writers have either approached the characters as enjoying Venom and/or Carnage or parts of their lore but being very selective. Flash Thompson’s run on Venom for instance carried an undercurrent of, if not contempt, then elitism towards Eddie Brock and all the other symbiotes hence Remender (or was it Bunn?) sought to clean the slate of them. Bendis infamously didn’t even want to do Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man, rarely used him after he did and totally reframed the symbiotes in Guardians of the Galaxy to be glorified gooey Green Lanterns.

And I will be the first to admit I fall into the cadre of people who are extremely selective when it comes to symbiote lore. My love for them is through the lens of how they fit in and enrich Spider-Man’s mythology, not appreciating them on the basis of their own mythology.

Cates is entirely different. He is first and foremost a Venom/symbiote fan. He is someone, and there are interviews corroborating this, who as a kid had one of his formative comic book lover experiences with anti-hero 90s Venom and stories like that.

This is why so many of the Web of Venom comic books that have been setting up this event have directly or indirectly referenced those 90s Venom books, even if it’s just in the name of the comics. Unleashed. Funeral Pyre. Cult of Carnage. Carnage Born. I mean he’s the first comic book creator to have ever expressed adoration for Carnage Mind Bomb, the first ever true blue Carnage horror story that is his equivalent to the Killing Joke. It’s obscure, macabre, twists and gruesome. But it lays out for you everything about who Carnage is. He hasn’t got layers. And that is the point.

Cates’ love for those stories, for the symbiote lore oozes (pun intended) in his Venom work and this comic. He WANTS to use every corner of that lore that he can and add to it. He wants to tell the greatest symbiote epic of our time. He wants to do the ultimate Carnage story, the ultimate Venom story.

Hell he WANTS to do a Maximum Carnage tribute because he unapologetically loves that piece of hot trash.

And he wants you to love that stuff too. I don’t agree with the decision to do stories like this because I feel Venom and Carnage should be just about the only symbiotes around and be nothing more than Spidey villains at that. And yet...I feel his enthusiasm pulsing from the pages of this comic.

His love and excitement for using these characters and doing something this big is as palpable as it is infectious. And so he’s won me over. I don’t agree with doing this story but I’m so onboard for enjoying the ride.

It helps that it’s honestly very well written.

He’s done his homework (and symbiote canon is a fucking mess let me tell you so that is impressive), he throws out deep cut references to stuff like Marvel Knights or the Life Foundation. More than that when you look at this issue and his Venom run up to this point you can see how meticulous he planned it. it could go way off the rails of course, but right now he’s firing on all cylinders. Carnage was appropriately foreshadowed and built up, his escapades were well documented in various issues preceding this event. The Knull mythology was clearly established, the stakes were appropriately set up.

And just in case you disagree he spells it all out for you concisely in the first few pages of this oversized issue. I’ve been reading the run and even I appreciated the refresher course.

He doesn’t just give us a larger than life doomsday scenario though, or even a ‘a bad guy is doing bad things we need to stop him’ plot. By making everyone to have bonded to a symbiote a target it means characters we are emotionally invested in, even if they are villains we love to hate, are in jeopardy.

And at the beating heart of it all is the story of a father and a son.

Eddie Brock and his son, unbeknownst to the boy of course. On a thematic level this is relevant because Dylan and Kasady/Carnage are both the products of Brock and the Venom symbiote. But the fact that this is all about Knull, the ‘father’ if you will of all symbiotes makes this a metaphorical family drama.

And Peter Parker to my surprise and delight is a part of it. I didn’t expect him to show up or to seemingly have the starring role he will have, and yet here he is. That’s what got this onto my pull list.

If there are any criticisms to be had it relates to Spider-Man continuity.

Peter is nonchalant over Brock knowing who he is.

Spider-Man in costume refers to Normie as his Godson multiple times in front both Normie and Dylan.

Norman Osborn may or may not still have the Carnage symbiote (the art makes this a bit unclear).

Spidey is very chill with Brock.

These do bother me, they are objectively writing issues I will not deny that, even though my thrill at the rest of the comic means on a pure enjoyment level I can’t bring myself down by sweating them.

My only defences would be that Peter upon learning Brock is once more aware of who he is would probably not react that badly to the information for a few reasons. First of all he was already living with the distinct possibility that Brock already knew the truth about him. The symbiote had known for a long time and had been bonded to Brock for awhile now so it was always a possibility. Second of all the Brock/Venom of the 80s and 90s is not the Brock of the current run. That is to my personal chagrin, but nevertheless Peter knows Brock and the symbiote are nicer more moralistic folks now and if they still held a grudge they’d have come after him, with or without knowing who he was.

My other defence is that this is not a Spider-Man story. It is a Venom story. It is in essence Spider-Man/Peter Parker filtered through the lens of Venom and the needs and requirements of serving Venom’s character and narrative. Whilst a major problem in Maximum Carnage was serving Carnage and Venom at Peter’s expense, that was a Spidey story in his titles, this is Venom’s story so giving him the spotlight, short-changing Peter’s continuity for the sake of propelling the plot along, that’s fair game. I don’t like it but it’s fair game.

Similarly Peter becomes Brock’s supporting character in this story and an effective one at that.

Brock recognizes Spider-Man is his best ally to resolve this situation even though he hates him. We learn more about Brock as a person through his feelings towards Spider-Man. Where once irrational hatred flowed now there is surprisingly...jealously. Spidey often gets a bum rap in the press and yet Venom is envious of that because in and out of the costume it’s much better than his lot in life.

There is also two wonderfully poignant moments between the two. The first is where Peter learns Dylan is Brock’s son and that Dylan doesn’t know this. We see the hurt Peter feels when he relates how terrible it is to not know who your father is. The second poignant moment is when Brock is distraught that Carnage must have desecrated the body of his deceased ex-wife and Dylan’s mother. For a character like Eddie Brock who’s so often (unfairly frankly) been dismissed as lacking depth this is a shocking moment of sadness, compounded by the fact that Dylan doesn’t know who Ann was. In this same moment Spider-Man looks remorseful too, which is a subtle piece of continuity porn done right by Cates. Ann was first introduced in ASM #375 (the issue setting up Brock’s solo series actually) and later died in ASM vol 2 #19.

What follows is another Spidey/Venom team up but arguably the best, or at least one of the best ever, as they encounter the Maker a.k.a. Ultimate Reed Richards which is a historic moment as Spider-Man finally gets to meet the counterpart to his old friend. There is plenty of other connections between hem too. The Ultimate Universe is innately associated with Spider-Man more than anyone else, the Maker like him was a young genius and they were both among the Secret Wars 2015 survivors. We get Normie Osborn returning for the first time since Fresh Start, a welcome return at that as I always love seeing his relationship with Spider-Man acknowledged. Then we get a nightmarish sequence set in Ravencroft with yet more well done continuity porn. John Jameson, veteran of Carnage Mind Bomb, Carnage: It’s a Wonderful Life, Conway’s Carnage run and 90s Ravencroft stories shows up to pay off his appearance in Cult of Carnage earlier this year. Norman Osborn returns in what will hopefully fix the asinine Red Goblin story arc. Spidey and Venom have their backs up against the wall (literally) and facing down Carnage, an army of Carnage infected psychos and Norman Osborn with the Carnage symbiote.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve ended a comic thinking ‘How WILL they get out of this?’

To tie aaaaaaaall this together is Ryan Stegman’s stellar art.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, Stegman is the best new Spidey artist of the 2010s. He’s Bagley, JRJR, Frenz levels of awesome. He’s also the perfect fit for symbiotes as his art seems to be somewhat influenced by McFarlane co-creator of Venom despite what fucking fools (like RDMacQ) might think. His style here is dynamic, detailed, funny when it needs to be, scary when it needs to be, awe inspiring when it needs to be.

His double page spreads are eye candy and the one depicting the pit of bodies feels straight out of a late night drama. It’s just brilliant.

Never before has there been a Carnage or a symbiote story that’s felt this epic, this ambitious, this sheer mad and audacious in scale.

I can’t wait to read future installments.

Cates in this issue, and his run in general, has somehow managed to recapture the allure of the symbiotes that I think 80s and 90s fans felt when they first fell in love with them.

If you don’t like Carnage or symbiotes inherently I strongly recommend you skip this. If you even vaguely like them though I cannot recommend this enough.

*Carnage has been making the transition into a horror character for awhile now. Carnage U.S.A., which is recommended reading for this event, felt very similar to a Dark Horse horror comic only with Marvel superheroes. Gerry Conway was explicit about how his Carnage ongoing series was effectively his take on Tomb of Dracula.

#Absolute Carnage #Carnage #Carnage symbiote #venom #venom symbiote #symbiotes #eddie brock #Cletus Kasady #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #Dylan Brock #Ann Weying #Norman Osborn #Green Goblin #normie osborn #Gerry Conway #Donny Cates #Ryan Stegman #Maximum Carnage

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the--sad--hatter · 5 years

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Name Changing (9)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU, X-MEN, DEADPOOL

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION - Sequel to Name Calling

After merging with your bloodthirsty alternate personality things start getting a little dicey. You’ve got two decades worth of anger to sort through, a feral mutation to figure out how to live with, a biological father who you hate trying to teach you control and if your wedding planner suggests teal for the bridesmaids again you might just eat her liver.

Luckily you have Bucky Barnes by your side, helping you figure things out. What Bucky doesn’t know is that you have found an outlet for the uncontrollable rage, one that absolutely nobody can know about. If your friends and family knew that you were out slaughtering people in the dead of night while they slept, they might be a little annoyed. Wade Wilson is happy to keep your secret though, so long as you keep bribing him with Mexican food.

For as long as you could remember, all you had wanted was to be good. Now you’re seeing the temptation in the darkness.

Chapter Nine - Bloodlust

“What you got for me Wade?” You asked as you walked into his apartment without knocking.

He was sprawled out on the sofa, surrounded by empty foil wrappers and some kind of white powder that you chose to ignore.

“YOU BROUGHT HIM!” He yelled.

“He wanted to come with me, he figured out what I’m up to and insisted on coming with.” You said with a shrug, sitting on Wade’s legs as Erlo sniffed at the empty wrappers.

“Aww who’s a pretty kitty?” Wade cooed, ruffling Erlo’s mane.

Surprisingly, Erlo let him. The only person who Erlo let pet him was you. And now apparently Wade.

“He likes you.” You noted out loud.

“I’m the pussy whisperer.” Wade said smugly and you snorted.

“Well Erlo, tonight’s your lucky night. Daddypool has a gift for his two best kitties, yes he does.” Wade cooed.

“We’re listening...” You said curiously.

“I know a guy who knows another guy who sells amphetamines on the black market and after a little digging... I found the doctor you were searching for. The one who is experimenting with mutations on animals.” Wade said, digging under himself for a piece of paper and brandishing it at you.

“This is where the team that created Erlo is?” You confirmed.

Erlo perked up and you felt his rage and anticipation mingle with yours.

“Yip, Wade came through for you. I think that deserves some love.” Wade said.

“Yes, yes it does.” You agreed.

Wade hopped up excitedly and Erlo jumped up, putting two massive paws on Wade’s chest and licked the mask while you giggled.

“Not what I meant but I’ll take it.”

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“I can’t believe I’m not only guilty of pre meditated murder but now I can add grand theft plane to the list.” You snarked, biting your lip to stop from laughing.

The address was in Virginia and since you couldn’t risk asking for or borrowing a quinjet, you, Wade and Erlo had snuck into a private airport on the outskirts of the city and stolen a small cargo plane.

“Stick with me Peaches and we’ll pad out that rap sheet in no time.” Wade said, rubbing his hands together in glee as you crept towards the facility.

It was a small building, owned by a medical corporation. Legal, above board and certified. You didn’t give a damn, you were going to burn it to the ground and salt the earth it stood on. You felt Erlo’s agreement at the thought.

It occurred to you that he often reacted to your inner thoughts and was most likely reading your mind. Well it’s not like he would tell anyone, he had your back.

“So, wanna sneak in or knock on the front door?” You asked.

“You could blast the side off the building and we can just walk in?” He suggested.

“Nu uh, no Deathwave powers. I can’t leave a calling card, which reminds me, you got my mask?” You asked him, wrinkling your nose when he dangled it in front of your face.

“Where were you keeping that?” You looked him up and down suspiciously.

“It’s better if you don’t ask Peaches, just shhh and put it on like a good girl.” Wade replied.

You winced and pulled it on, trying not to think too much about it.

“I’ll open a door for you, after all I am a gentleman.” Wade said, jumping up from his spot in the bushes and running towards the building.

Five minutes later you heard an alarm blaring and rolled your eyes. You and Erlo ran for the building, seeing a door at the side of it lying wide open. In unison the two of you pushed off from the ground and sailed across the six foot fence between you and the door, landing gracefully on the ground and slipping in the door.

You went left and Erlo went right and the hunt was on.

Every person you came across died a horrible bloody death, you didn’t bother to think about whether or not they deserved it. From the first drop of blood you spilled your desire to maim became unbearably strong and you left a trail of corpses behind you as you made your way through the facility.

There was a woman, a scientist who had tried to run from you and slipped on a puddle of blood and landed in a heap on the floor crying. Her body was trembling with the fear as you leisurely walked towards her.

There was no remorse in you, no disgust for the terrible things you were doing. You crouched down and pulled your mask off, you wanted to be seen, to be feared.

“Please, please don’t do this. I’m sorry.” She wept.

“Beg for mercy.” You ordered.

“Please!”

“Again.” You instructed, unsheathing a knife slowly.

“I’m sorry, please please don’t hurt me!”

“One more time.” You purred as you twisted the knife in your hands, watching the way the edges glinted under the lights.

“Plea............” You didn’t let her finish, striking out with the knife faster than her eyes could follow and dragging it across the soft flesh of her throat.

You stood up, wiping the blade clean on your leg and stepped over the dying woman, her choked gargling giving way to silence as you stalked down the hall like a predator hunting her next prey. Over the snarls and terrified screams down the hall where Erlo was you heard the sound of laboured breathing and tilted your head to listen.

A vicious smirk contorted your features as you opened the closet door and exposed the hidden woman. She whimpered and closed her eyes, like a scared child who believed if you couldn’t see the monster it couldn’t hurt you.

“Well Well, What do we have here?” You snarled.

She stifled a sob as you stepped closer, blocking out the light, drowning her in your shadow. She didn’t beg or plead, she didn’t even look at you as your hand snaked out and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her out of the closet and squeezing until the fragile little bones in her neck were crushed into dust. Her corpse landed at your feet with a thump.

“Erlo?” You called out in a singsong voice, feeling the tendrils of his consciousness reach out and beckon you to where he was.

Your vision wavered, flickering out and you were looking through his eyes. Your lips curled into a bloodthirsty and savage grin when you saw what he was looking at. It didn’t bother you that his powers were advancing or that he’d pulled you out of your mind and into his.

The congregation of Scientists were cowering in fear in a lab, protected from the violent lion that was prowling on the other side of the glass. They weren’t protected from you though as you dropped from the ceiling and landed in the centre of the throng.

“Deathwave! Help us.” One of them pleaded.

Your head cocked to the side as you regarded the man who had spoken and your silence unnerved them.

“You’re not here to save us are you?” He whimpered.

“No, I’m not.” You agreed.

It was a bloodbath as you ripped through them, forgoing weapons for your bare hands and brute strength. Skulls were crushed under your boot, limbs were ripped off by your hands, bones were crunched and flesh was ripped and through it all you smiled, revelling in the carnage. This was what you needed, this was who you were deep down now. You didn’t want justice, you wanted vengeance, you wanted blood and death.

You wanted to hold someone’s life in your hands and take that life away at your whim. You wanted to see the light die in their eyes and paint with the red of their blood. You wanted chaos and destruction.

The scientist who had spoken was saved for last and he retreated to the corner, hands covering his face to protect him from the blood that sprayed across the room, until you grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him towards the glass, kicking out and shattering it.

“Is this the one?” You asked Erlo and he growled in response.

You held the Scientist up by the neck and forced him to look at you.

“Do you recognise him?” You asked.

“Subject 12.” he stammered.

“His name is Erlosung, and this is his revenge.” You said, throwing the man to the floor.

You stood and watched with twisted satisfaction as your faithful companion tore into his creator, ripping the scientist apart by tooth and claw.

His blood soaked maw nuzzled into your hand and you lovingly stroked his fur.

“They’re gone now, they can’t hurt anyone ever again.” You assured him.

“This isn’t Game of Thrones.” Wade noted in amusement ten minutes later when he walked out of the building whistling a jaunty tune and saw you placing a decapitated head on a spike.

“Got to send a message.” You said cheerily and stepped back to regard your handiwork.

Erlo sent you a wave of approval as Wade stop beside you and looked over your masterpiece.

“Peaches you’re so violent.” He complimented.

“Come on boys, if we leave now I can be home before midnight.”

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When you slipped beneath the cool sheets a few hours later and Bucky sleepily opened his arms for you to crawl into his embrace, your mind was remarkably clear. The rage that had been building inside you was gone and the blood-thirst was sated. For now.

You slept long, deep and peacefully.

“WAKE UP! IT’S VEGAS TIME BABY!” Sam screamed as he burst into your room shortly after dawn, ignoring the gun Bucky had pulled from under the pillow and was pointing at him.

You made a strangled noise of discontent and turned onto your stomach, smooshing your face into the pillow and hoping if you ignored him he’d go away. It didn’t work and he grabbed you around the waist and flung you over his shoulder.

“You can have her back on Monday, she’ll see you at the end of the aisle. She’ll be the one in white.” Sam told Bucky as he bounced you on his shoulder and carried you out of the room.

“I’ll be the one wearing Sam’s blood, put me down you moron!” You yelled, flailing.

Bucky chuckled and waved at you as you were carried away.

“See you Monday doll. I love you.” He called at your retreating form.

“I love you too, put me down Samuel! I’m a mustant super soldier who was created to kickstart a fucking apocalypse you can’t just haul me around all the time!” You shrieked at him.

“But I can and I will.” Sam answered, smacking you on the ass.

“SAM!”

“VEGAS BABY! Oh good, you got the luggage.” Darcy quipped as Sam carried you onto the quinjet and dumped you on a seat.

Darcy, Wanda, Natasha, Scott Lang, Pepper and Rouge all smirked and laughed at your disgruntled expression.

“Cheer up sweetheart... You’re getting married in two days.” Pepper soothed you.

“But first! HEN PARTYYYYYY!” Darcy crowed as Wanda shoved a gaudy plastic tiara on your head.

You looked around at them and before anyone could stop you, bolted.

You giggled to yourself as you sped through the corridors like a demon (or Natasha) was hot on your heels and burst back into your room, jumping onto the bed where Bucky automatically caught you.

“We’re getting married in two days.” You whispered to him like it was a secret.

The look he gave you was so pure. It was all excitement, happiness and love.

“We are.”

“I love you James.”

“I love you umph” You didn’t give him a chance to finish saying it back because you leaned forward and pressed your lips to his.

He wrapped his arms around your back and pulled you impossibly close and kissed you back until both of you had to come up for air.

“I had better go before they come up here to get me.” You said regretfully.

“It’s only two days, then we have the rest of our lives together.” He said placatingly.

The rest of your lives. But first....

Vegas Baby!

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Baby Starks darkness continues to grow. But lets put all that on hold for now.... VEGAS BABY!

@nerdandproud-86 @harrison-shot-first @thejourneyneverendsx @thelostallycat @inquisitor-selvala @the-corruptor @iovher @kendrawr-kitkat @phoenix-whiskey-tears @the–real-wombat @buckitybarnes @fairislesheets @angieptt @meganjonezzzz @dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty @memanda17 @krystallynx @theonelittleone @piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes @tarastudiesalot @captainamericasbeard @dropthepizza346 @jaynnanadrews @likes-to-smell-books @drdorkus @life-wanderer @metalarmlover @animegirlgeeky @jsmith509 @chipilerendi @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @ericasabe @gravedollie666 @madlykpopfan @l0kisbitch @mywinterwolf @sassysweetstories @life-wanderer @jessieray98 @littledeadrottinghood @myfandomlife-blog @spnrvt @dahkness @sexyvixen7 @dilaila95 @liveonce-sodoitright @uuuuuuuuggggghhh @mywinterwolf @myfandomlife-blog @pinkisokay

#hattersmarvelverse #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes #deadpool x reader

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imnoexpertblog · 5 years

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Lonely Netflix Movie Binge

6/21/18

In my boredom with Baby being gone on his business trip and needing something to watch/listen to while I pack up our apartment, I have been watching random Netflix movies that were suggested to me based on my interest and past viewings. I never watch new movies alone. I can re-watch anything I want by myself but I like seeing new stuff with someone else. Over some intense self-reflection the past few years I think this is because I have always had company in some form throughout my life. I was rarely alone. I never had to do anything myself. My mom was very social when I was growing up and she always had friends over. My siblings were also always with me. Then as I got older, I was usually in a relationship. When I was single, I had a roommate I was very close to. I’ve become used to doing things with someone else. Going out to eat, watching new movies, going to events, even just hanging out. It’s not to say I can’t do these things by myself, I have grown to appreciate my alone-time. But. I prefer to have company when doing certain things. I like sharing experiences with people; talking about what we are doing, making memories, having someone else to enjoy time with. But with Baby being away, I forced myself to watch six whole new movies by myself! These are the ones and what I thought about them. (I tried to pick unique and understated ones but that were still specifically recommended to me by Netflix and that went… Not so great).

Adore

“Two lifelong best friends each begin a steamy affair with the other's son, but trouble begins to brew when one of the two young men desires a lover his own age.” I have seen the cover art for this movie for a long time now, maybe a year. I don’t know why I have skipped over it every time until this week; maybe because I never read what it was about. The synopsis intrigued me enough to start watching it though. Seems pretty risky and taboo, doesn’t it? That always makes something enticing. I will say, though, it is odd. It has a soap-opera type of feel to it. Instead of being really cliché, it turned out to feel a little deeper than that. I am not sure how believable the whole plot is, but who watches a movie to see a boring realistic story? I was pleased with the cast and the acting. I think it was scored well, too. There is tension and drama, but it’s a calm flick. I wasn’t sure what to make of this movie until I found out it’s actually a French production. That changed my perspective a bit, considering the difference in culture. The setting made it easy to watch; the beach is absolutely gorgeous. I was genuinely interested to see how in the world this unique situation would turn out. The reviews aren’t very good, but I didn’t hate it, my any means. I thought it was interesting to see how everything played out for them all.

Open House

“A teenager and his mother find themselves besieged by threatening forces when they move into a new house.” This one I was excited for initially when it was new. I like thrillers and I like the main actor, Dylan Minnette from 13 Reasons Why. But man oh man. This movie is so slow. Not until half-way through the film did I actually feel some excitement or anticipate what comes next. The whole beginning half I was just kind of waiting. The “build-up” didn’t build me up at all. I was bored watching this. The real excitement did start until there was 22 minutes left in the movie. A lot of wasted time, if you ask me. The same “scary” weird things happen through the entire first 3/4 of the movie and it was just redundant and anticlimactic. But once it got going, HOLY COW. I will say I was so confused because there didn’t seem to be anything in the movie that would point me in any direction of guessing what was happening once the action was going down. So, that also frustrated me. It was a pretty intense last 20 minutes or so, but that is not to say it was good. Thumbs down for sure.

Below Her Mouth

“Jasmine is a successful fashion editor living with her fiancé. On a night out in the city with her best friend, she meets Dallas, a roofer recently out of a relationship. Surprised by the confidence with which Dallas pursues her, Jasmine turns Dallas down but can't get her out of her head. When Jasmine finally succumbs, the two women embark on a steamy affair that forces them both to re-evaluate their lives.” Okay. I didn’t expect this movie to have so much sex in it. Again, I watched it out of intrigue for the taboo nature of it. And taboo it was, oh my goodness. There was no limit to nudity or openness of sexual scenes. I have no issue with intimate scenes, but I was surprised to see just how much there was involved in the film. It seemed to be overkill at some points. I was fascinated by how these two women acted with and towards each other so early on in knowing each other. I guess I can’t judge. Baby and I felt like we were together forever by the time we were a week into seeing each other. We acted like it, too. Anyway, this movie just seemed like a lot of erotic moments with little substance. I did need to know how this affair would unravel, though. Not sure how I feel about the ending. All of that being said, I wasn’t sure how to rate this. It is rated pretty poorly overall. A lot of people attacked the main focus being on sex. Which it was. It got in the way of getting to know the characters. There was nothing to invest myself in. The acting was also dull until the erotic scenes. The more I type, the more I realize that I was unimpressed, as was everyone else. I’ve read that this is a crappy version of another movie on Netflix, “Blue is the Warmest Color.” Maybe I will watch that next.

Friend Request

“Laura is a popular college student who graciously accepts an online friend request from Marina, a young social outcast. To everyone's shock, Marina takes her own life after Laura decides to unfriend her. Soon, a disturbing and mysterious video appears on Laura's profile and her contacts slowly dwindle. When her friends suddenly begin to die one by one, the frightened young woman must figure out a way to stop the carnage before it's too late.” I remember seeing the trailer for this in theaters back when it came out 2 years ago. I did NOT want to watch this movie. I thought it looked ridiculous, to be honest. I have never been interested in the social . I know I shouldn’t watch anything remotely scary if I have to sleep alone (I have issues with a type of nightmare/sleep disorder but we will get into that another time) but beyond my better judgement, I watched it anyway. I was actually very interested the whole time I was watching. I did think the kills were different. The reviews are horrible. People have ripped this movie apart. Maybe I’m a broken human being (LOL) but I didn’t mind it. I also actually really enjoyed the ending. I wasn’t sure how this could end up, but I like the way they did it. Again, I’m on the fence about rating it. I wouldn’t say it was great, but I wasn’t struggling to watch it either.

Inconceivable

“Angela develops a friendship with a mysterious woman named Katie and offers her a job as a live-in nanny. The natural bond soon turns into a dangerous obsession as Katie becomes overly attached to the family's young daughter. Enduring lies and manipulations, Angela and her husband realize that sweet Katie is actually trying to destroy their family from within.” This started off with a bang. It also revealed the twist within the first half of the movie. I was pretty interested in it the whole time because I liked the story-line. You get enough information at the right pace. It didn’t drag and it didn’t bore me at any time. I was a little apprehensive with how all these movies have been underwhelming this week, but I liked this. I didn’t find it predictable. The reviews, you guessed it, are bad. I actually rarely agree with reviews on movies that aren’t huge. I didn’t this movie to have crappy reviews though, to be honest. I recommend this movie.

Dismissed

“An optimistic, straight-edged teacher finds trouble when a star student is willing to do anything to get an A.” Alright. First of all. Dylan Sprouse acted the hell out of this role. I was thoroughly impressed with him in this film. He was so believable! A great film about psychopathy. I was hooked right away, even with the vague synopsis/summary. There was so much potential for this to be so cheesy but it wasn’t at all. They didn’t hold back in this film; the incidents that occurred. Some reviews said it was predictable but I highly disagree. Reviews also said it was low budget (is also said that they did well with such a low budget) but I didn’t see it that way. I don't want to give too much away because really liked it and I recommend it.

I wish I had better suggestions for you guys, I really only recommend Inconceivable and Dismissed out of these six movies. I guess I’d say watch Adore if you are bored and wanna throw something on for background noise; something to catch every now and then while cleaning maybe. Friend Request might have been something I liked just because I like scary movies, but watching those can be fun. Below Her Mouth, honestly is just super erotic. Take that as you may. And lastly… Please, I beg of you, never waste your time on Open House.

In other news, I have decided to take this day to myself. If you are not my fiancé, I can't promise I will be talking to you today. I have packed a lot (which I wouldn't have gotten done without the help of my sister Vanny, my best friend from work, Ryan, and his best friend named Cal), slept less than I've wanted to, been to the bank too many times, and have seen my mortgage lender too often lately. It is time to shower, sleep, watch better movies for sure, and lay around without having to answer ANYONE. If you feel like you've been stretched too thin or you're stressed, you should consider doing the same. I've been non-stop going at it for about six weeks now and I deserve this. I love you all, but I need today. Comment away, just expect a response tomorrow. Xoxo.

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