#But also actually give your genuine honest feedback

[analyzingadventure]

Bandai is doing a survey on Digimon games (mainly for Digimon Con), go participate and vote and stuff

And remember to ask for DokiDoki Digimon Academy in the last part

[silentcryracha]

❍ ‗ Love Language (Skz - Hyung line) ‗ ❍

Pairings : Chan x reader, Minho x reader, Changbin x reader, Hyunjin x reader

Genre/warnings : Half headcanon and half scenarios. They all start fluffy and fun and end up suggestively/with a little smut. Regardless strictly 18+

Summary : Each member has some specific dynamics in their relationship that makes your love so special. These are some of them <3

Word count : 2.1 K

A/n : The summary and title suck I know apologies lol, just read to understand lol. Anyways have fun!

ps: There could be errors. Do NOT repost on other socials. Leave feedback if you feel like it, otherwise enjoy! ♡︎

Maknae line link

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Chan ‗ ❍

Chan would be absolutely smitten with someone that either had his same talents with music (the whole process) or at the very least someone that is genuinely interested in what he does. He would feel very validated and happy about it , for sure.

"Oh wow is this something new?" he'd answer yes and ask if you wanted to hear it. Of course you'd say yes in a heartbeat. You'd sit on his lap and listening intently to the new sample/recording, bopping your head to it slightly along with the rhythm.

He would try play it cool but would secretly be really hopeful of your response. When you finished listening you'd say something like "That was great, Channie. I especially liked-" and then you'd go into detail about it. He would be smiling so wide I just know.

Extra bonus points if you start adding some technical specifics or took the initiative to give other ideas, keeping in mind everything that you learned from him. Now he's absolutely in awe and wouldn't be able to hide it.

Or maybe it could be a lyric draft, a new dance bit to learn, some raw vocals and so on. Honestly just any part of his work.

He can be insecure sometimes and doubt his own abilities, so I feel like he would gain so much confidence if someone that he genuinely cared about gave him positive feedback. Especially since you'd try to be always really honest with each other, he would value that a lot too.

So in short, shower him in compliments and make him all shy, he'll love that and hate that at the same time.

It could also be that maybe you're not an expert in the matter and would simply ask him to explain further his inspiration/ideas or the process behind whatever he was doing.

Either way one of you would end up impressed af and randomly go like "You know that was really hot, right?"

Next thing you know you're fucking on the studio couch. Or the desk. Or you riding him on the studio chair. The possibilities are multiple.

"So you think I'm really hot, uh?" he'd tease, making you smile breathlessly. You'd get closer to his ear and whisper "Yes. Always" making him groan.

"You seemed such an expert a few moments ago" he'd say in between thrusts, "Should we make our own beat? What do you say, uh? Can't talk now?" you'd clench around him, too out of it to respond.

"My baby is too fucked out to talk now?" he'd tease, but quickly add some sort of praise like "My good girl, so smart".

He could and would absolutely tease you to get you hot and bothered but would never miss to also shower you in praises like you do with him.

Minho ‗ ❍

I feel he's someone who would love to have a person that can easily match his energy, but also sweep him off his feet.

If he's being serious, he'd want you to also be serious. Unless it was a situation in which you know that he just needs some jokes to make him calm down. If he's in a teasing mood or maybe a rare cheesy mood, he'd like you to play along. Imagine if he decided to be really sweet and you're like "What are you doing Minho"

He would absolutely take it ten times worse that it actually is. Especially if we're talking about occasions in which he allows himself to be comfortable and play around. So don't do that please lol

He would find it very amusing if you actually managed to not only keep up with him but maybe even take it a step further. Maybe when he's making a joke or being ironic. If he's being cute and you act even cuter it would make him happy/shy. If he gets into a heated conversation and you're open to discuss it with him, he would really appreciate you speaking your mind and listening to his thoughts.

He would also get quite protective of your own feelings, wanting to demonstrate the same consideration and love to you. He'd make sure to also adapt well to your own mood or cheer you up and comfort you if you needed it. I guess we could say that trusting each other with your feelings and emotions is your love language. And that's why you work so well together; you're truly friends before you're lovers.

But again, in general he would get so giddy and excited when you do share his vibe. Would probably end up with the tension going through the roof. Sexy, angsty, funny, cute. Doesn't matter really.

And now suddenly he's having his way with you in whichever place you're in and truly keep the energy going.

"Oh you think you're funny now, uh?" would absolutely tease you for going along with him and turn it against you. Say shit like"Such a naughty girl for making such jokes" only to make you go insane.

Not in public, absolutely never in public. He's not a big fan of drawing the attention on him especially when he feels vulnerable. But once you get home, oh boy. Again, could be anywhere around the house in any moment of the day.

"Minho-" you'd try to say in between kisses, "Are you sure this is the time for this?" your tone not convincing even yourself. He'd smirk, jokingly grazing his teeth on your neck, "Why not? What, you want me to stop?" he'd tease, making you immediately say no and kiss him harshly.

Those kind of "I don't even know how I ended up here" type of situations. Insane and unhinged just like the man himself.

A joke goes too far and you're laughing a little to hard while you're doing laundry? The washing machine will do. You just got home and are too horny to think straight? The wall next to the entrance sounds good. It's a lazy evening and you're watching something on tv? The bedroom is the place. And so on <3

Changbin ‗ ❍

Changbin is probably someone who would love to have someone that he could spoil and take care of, 'baby' if you will, but would 100% do it back. I almost feel like it would be a standard for a relationship.

He is the type of man that would treat you like royalty and make sure that you're never missing anything. He wouldn't do it expecting to get anything in return, it's just really a matter of affecting and his love language.

But, it would make him very very happy if his s/o had the same type of dynamic.

For him specifically we're talking about both non material and material type of gifts/attention. Like comforting you or making you laugh when you need it, always making sure that you're comfortable and taken care of.

But also I feel like he would spoil you with gifts both randomly and in special occasions. If for example he buys you a birthday gift, it would have to be the best option that fit your taste perfectly. I also feel like you noticing it and making a comment on it like "Oh, Binnie thank you so much, it's my favorite color!" would make him extremely proud. Just in general seeing you happy and knowing that he contributed to it.

On your side, I think he would truly appreciate even the smallest and most mundane things like grabbing his jacket for him before he goes out and give him a little kiss goodbye, adding a slightly bigger portion of a food that he likes in comparison to another that he enjoys less, taking his hand/stroking his arm when he's feeling nervous to comfort him and so on.

It would make him feel loved. And a little babyed too, which I think he'd love to be honest. He'd absolutely baby you in return though, for sure.

All of these situations could easily turn into more explicit ones with the right setting or the right occasion.

For example, if we're talking about gifts, something a little kinky could be you buying a set of lingerie 'just for him'. Or the opposite. He could be the one buying you a nice necklace and comment on how he'd "Like to see you wearing only that"

Or maybe he could have a special event/professional engagement that he's feeling nervous about and you could say something like "I know you're gonna do great. My Binnie is always so good" getting closer to him adding "Make sure to do very well today too for me, okay? Just think of me waiting for you at home with a gift for you only" you'd add some touching or kissing to really seal the deal.

Good job, now you successfully turned him on. Would probably get distracted from his anxiety and go around with a shit eating grin, and of course, do absolutely great on stage. And after that he'd come come with a purpose, and that purpose was thanking you properly for giving him the confidence that he needed. And find his gift, of course.

Not even the time for you to congratulate him on his performance or say hello for that matter, that he'd be passionately kissing you. "Want to show me that little gift you were talking about, princess?" you'd smirk at him and just go "Unwrap it yourself, baby boy".

And he would absolutely do that in no time but not before picking you up and then bringing you to the bedroom to fully enjoy his gift.

Hyunjin ‗ ❍

Hyunjin is somewhat of an introvert yes, but he is also someone who can completely transform on stage, and that is thanks to confidence. Whether he's actually confident or kind of 'fakes it til he makes it', you can't really tell the difference. And that's because nonetheless he genuinely enjoys himself and has lots of fun dancing, singing and performing in general.

This is why I think that something that he would truly appreciate and find attractive in a s/o is the ability to be carefree. Doesn't necessarily mean that you couldn't be insecure or at the contrary be extremely confident. It just means that nonetheless you would be able to have fun and enjoy yourself when you're doing something you like.

For him it can be dancing, for you it can be something else. Whatever it is I feel like it would make him happy to see you truly happy. And also not take yourself too seriously. Maybe even make fun of each other from time to time.

Like when he's practicing a dance routine and being all sexy and serious and shit, maybe even purposefully make a show for you, and by the end of it you'd go "Hwang Hyunjin stop making sexy faces it's just me. Or do you want to seduce the walls?" that would probably make him laugh and instantly shift the mood. Maybe even get him a little shy, never hurts to tease.

And that's when you play it off, but there could easily be other occasions in which he would 100% try to seduce you and be successful at it.

He could be singing or dancing to a particularly 'exciting' song and somehow get you involved. Maybe whispering some lyrics with a low voice, or get you to dance/move with him finding an excuse to touch you. Or maybe both at the same time.

You could also play the same game though. Maybe one night you're feeling particularly in a good mood and just wanted to dance/sing like there's no tomorrow, so you'd try to get Hyunjin involved in your fun, usually being successful. He'd get shy at first but would slowly start to let himself go too.

In the same situation, if you were feeling in a specific mood though, you'd try your best to seduce him. Again, maybe mouthing or singing some lyrics suggestively and giving him bedroom eyes. Or dancing in the sexiest way you could manage, swaying your hips, touching your body or straight up coming onto him and teasing him up close, inviting him to put his own hands on you.

At that point the level of attraction that he was already feeling just from seeing you being so carefree and confident in having fun would straight up turn into being horny. He'd follow your movements with his hands on your body, maybe joining for a while only to explode not long after.

Any surface would do. You'd be way too drunk on each other and with way too much tension to release to think straight. "Look how messy we are right now, and who's fault is that?" he'd whisper in your ear while fucking you against the dance practice room wall.

"I have no idea" you'd tease, making him chuckle breathlessly, before bringing his head closer with your hand to kiss him deeply.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

[notsoattractivearenti]

Frustration (Christian Pulisic x Fem!Reader) 🔞

(gif by me)

WC: 1.4K

Warnings: SMUT, dom(m), nipple play, clit stimulation, penetration. MINORS DNI

A/N: i wrote this as fast as i could (cuz i didn't wanna make any major changes if i couldn't finish it before the ucl game!) so idk if this is decent or not lol. if i miss anything on the warnings pls lmk! hope you guys enjoy and i’d love to hear your thoughts thru ask/reply/reblog 💗 this was not proofread so apologies for any errors! feedbacks are highly appreciated 🤍

—

The first match of the season between AC Milan and Juventus didn’t go well for the home team, especially for Christian. One of Milan’s defenders got a red card in the first half and the team had to finish the match with 10 men left. Then, shortly before halftime, Christian got subbed off for another defender – it was the first change for the team. He was visibly upset because he still wanted to play and it felt way too soon to bring him to the bench. Not only that, Milan also lost by 0-1 so the day couldn’t have gone any worse for Christian.

I saw what happened and I could already tell that he would be in a very bad mood until the day ended. I wanted to give him a hug right away and let him know I’m here for him but of course I couldn’t, so I had to impatiently wait until the match was over to do so. On our way to the car, he didn’t say a word – he didn’t have to, his facial expression said it all. I tried to console him but he didn’t respond, so I waited until we got into the car to continue talking to him.

When we got into the car, he slammed the door so hard it startled me for a second. Holy shit, he really is fucking frustrated, I thought to myself. He was looking all grumpy and still didn’t say anything as he started to drive.

—

Finally leaving San Siro, he took a deep breath before he started to talk.

“Sorry, Y/N, I’m just not happy with the way things were.” He admitted.

“Yeah, I know,” I rubbed his shoulder, ”I’m sorry you had to go through this shit.”

He slightly smiled.

“Mmhm. Ugh, I should’ve had more time on the field…” He sighed.

Even though I had assumed that the reason behind the decision was to maintain the defensive structure of the team, it didn’t feel fair to take Christian off that early. 

“I’m with you, baby. But what’s done is done. Pioli might have thought it was the best decision, but in the end one goal was still conceded. Let’s just focus on the PSG game and give your best as always, okay?” I tried to encourage him.

“Okay… But sorry Y/N I can’t help but think the game could’ve gone better…” He grunted.

“Hey,” I kissed his hand, then continued consoling him, “don’t beat yourself up. That was not your fault! Tonight’s not your night. Nor Milan’s. Trust me, you guys will do better on the next one.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” He hesitantly agreed.

“Thank you, my dearest. I’m so glad you’re here.” This time, he was being genuine.

—

Now at home, Christian didn’t waste a second to find the couch and laid on it. He drowned his face onto the pillow and screamed his heart out. I love that man so much but he is so used to bottling his emotions – which kind of bothers me, if I’m being honest – and seeing him screaming like that, I just knew he truly felt hurt and couldn’t contain it anymore. So I thought of a way to release his emotions – what I had in mind could actually be fun and beneficial for us both.

“You know, if you want to fuck your frustration away, I’m down.”

He immediately sat up, then turned his head right away and looked at me all confused.

“Say what now?”

“Yeah, I mean… I’m kind of in the mood, so… If you want.” I teased him.

He still wasn’t convinced.

“Are you messing with me?” He pouted.

“I’m serious, Chris, I’m not playing.” I smirked. “Do what you want to me.”

Without a word, Christian roughly picked me up and started kissing me. He threw my body on the couch and positioned himself on top of me. He took off all of his clothes right away, and when I was about to do the same thing, he stopped me.

“Don’t. I’ll take them off myself.” He demanded.

I nodded in response.

“Did I not hear a ‘yes, Christian’?”

“Yes, Christian.” I repeated his words.

“Mmm, good girl.”

I bit my lip and moaned when he called me a good girl. Those two little words never failed to drive me crazy. As he said that, I could feel my pussy starting to get wet.

I was wearing his jersey at the moment. He wanted me to keep wearing it, so he took off everything I had on my body except the shirt.

“Fucking hell,” he gulped, “you look insanely sexy wearing my shirt.”

His hands began tracing my body starting from my chest. He rubbed and squeezed my breasts tightly then moved his fingers over my nipples, gently twisting and pinching them. It felt so good I closed my eyes and quivered.

“Do you like it when I play with your titties, baby?”

“Yes…” I whimpered.

“Tell me how good it is.”

“So fucking good…”

Before I knew it, I felt one of my nipples was already inside his mouth – he swirled his tongue around then sucked it. I gasped at such a pleasant sensation.

“Oh!”

When he heard my gasp, he gave a little bite and it successfully got me moaning so loud. My hand was grasping the cushion while the other was holding on to Christian’s arm – and when he bit my nipple, I squeezed his arm so hard it turned slightly red.

After he finished sucking one nipple, his mouth moved onto the other and did everything all over again. By then, my naked pussy was already dripping wet.

His hands continued wandering around my body, feeling every inch of the curves. When he found his way to my pussy, he started rubbing my clit with two fingers.

“Oh, so slippery already?”

“Mmhm…” I bit back a moan. “Please don’t stop…”

He rubbed my clit faster and my thighs started to clench.

“Ohh… Mmm… Yeahh… Faster!” I sputtered.

“Are you gonna cum, baby?” He asked.

“Y-y-e-esss…” I hissed.

He kept rubbing.

“Then cum for me now.” He demanded.

“I- Ahh…”

My entire body was trembling – my eyes rolled back and I stopped breathing for a moment.

“Holy fuck…” I moaned.

“Ah, that’s my good girl. But we’re not done,” He said as he put on a condom.

I took a glance at his hard cock and all I could think of was having it within my pussy.

“Get inside me now, please…” I begged him.

He then roughly pushed his cock into my wet pussy.

“I’m gonna fuck you harder than I’ve ever been tonight.”

He really meant what he said – he started pounding me really hard, deeper and so rough than he usually did.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so wet.” He moaned.

The sound of our skins slapping against each other was so loud even the other noises we made couldn't cover it. His hands were strongly gripping my thighs while he was thrusting his cock deeper and faster by the second.

“I- oh you feel so good… Ohh sh-shit…” His breath hitched.

“Faster!” 

He immediately went full speed to the point where it felt like he was about to destroy my pussy. I could clearly feel his pulse inside me. Suddenly, my brain stopped working and I couldn’t say anything but moaned loudly.

“Hhh… Good fu-uck…” he panted.

His face was moving closer to mine and my lips immediately met his. I broke our kiss by biting his bottom lip then we heavily breathed each other’s air. When his neck was across my face, I started sucking it and left a mark. He moaned even harder when I sucked his Adam’s apple – it kind of tickled when it moved.

“Fuck… I’m close…” He whimpered. “Cum with me princess…”

And in an instant, the earth stopped spinning. The waves of pleasure just left my body, and at the same time I could feel his entire body quivering – his cock was still inside me.

Christian rested his face over my shoulder and heavily breathed into my ear. I kissed his ear and whispered, “feeling better now?”

He nodded, couldn’t say a word as he was still trying to catch his breath.

When he was finally able to speak he said to you, “Y/N, you sure know how to turn a bad day into a better one.”

—

taglist: @pulisicsgirl @neverinadream @swimmingismywholelife @chilwellspulisic @bracedes @lovelynikol16 @thoseboysinblue @lizzypotter14 @masonsrem @landoslover

[lady-raziel]

Hi! I've read your document on The Strategy and it's really good! I think it's so cool that you've put all this research in and presented all the info so clearly!

I'm torn because I think the biggest thing I have to contribute to the discussion essentially boils down to a "the book was better" breakdown of the two versions of the story, and I want to stress that I don't hate the show or anyone who worked on it and I still want it to succeed.

But I'm REALLY passionate about all these thoughts I have about it. In your opinion, would it hurt The Plan if I was quite a bit negative in something I post about the show or does it still help because "any publicity counts" or whatever?

Thank you ovo

Hey! I'm so glad you liked the document! And my (long, big-picture) take is: I don't think you should be afraid at all to share your opinion on what you really thought of the show or if you believed the book (or for some people out there, the podcast) was a better experience. Any environment where people are made to feel like there is only ONE way to feel about a piece of media and that they can't express any differing opinion because there might be backlash (or criticism might harm the media's viability in some way) is not a healthy or productive one in my opinion.

If you have things you didn't like about the show's interpretation of the story or even anything else, I think it's IMPORTANT to say that! Echo chambers, even for things we like and want to succeed, are not going to help anyone in the long run. Unless there's the freedom and agency to be able to say, "yeah, I don't think this was great" or "this could have been better," and people don't feel pressure to always say "this thing was absolutely perfect and there were no flaws"... what starts to happen is that we lose the ability to be able to critically discern the GENUINELY good things from the merely satisfactory.

Like if fans of a band insist that EVERY ALBUM and EVERY SONG are all masterpieces, it starts to become a disservice since the actually better bits aren't able be recognized as genuinely being the best. If fans of a tv show insist that every episode is equally good, then the truly well-crafted ones can't stand on their own. It can be an understandable instinct for many fans not to want to criticize something you did really like or that comes from a creator you enjoy--after all, for some people that can feel like a self-criticism.

Or in the case of what you wrote this ask about-- there can also be discomfort in leveraging criticisms because it might feel that saying something has flaws or didn't really appeal to what you were hoping for can hurt that thing's ability to succeed (and cause some other fans to get up in arms because anything other than positive energy is taken as an attack). That can also lead to problems, since when it comes down to it, success doesn't always come because all the talk around it was only in approval. Plenty of objectively bad, controversial, or poorly crafted things do well all the time even when people say as much.

I wouldn't be afraid to speak your mind out of worries that you might be hindering "the Plan" or anything. Media rarely gets better and creators rarely have a chance to learn from their experiences if no one ever gives them honest feedback, good or bad. It's a healthy thing to do for making future projects better, helping fan communities from echo-chambering themselves, and there's always the off chance that criticism of something prompts someone to go check out the thing for themselves to see if they agree. People who did like the show's version might not like what you have to say, but I don't think you should let that stop you either.

That was a very long answer, but I hope it helps!

[sysmedsaresexist]

so this is an honest question because you seem to understand the ToSD really well, and this is something that has always confused us; is there a specific reason for the idea that identity integration can only be interupted by trauma and not a neurological or biological issue?

We ask because we have autism which has affected almost everything about our existence and functioning from how we process information and sensory input, to how we learn, and even how we experience emotions and more complex things like our self perception and gender.

It is confusing to us that all these other things, including identity and perception, can be changed by something biological/neurological, and thats generally accepted to be true but the idea that and extremely long and complex process that also depends on feedback from other people can't be?

We get specific trauma responses and symptoms but the whole "the only way for states not to integrate/integrate fully is trauma in one specific window" seems to make integration one of if not the only processes in the brain that can't be disrupted by neurology and that is confusing to us

This is a good and valid question.

And here's the truth.

We don't know that it's the only way.

However, that conversation is 100% completely separate from structural dissociation.

It's so important to remember that structural dissociation is specifically and solely focused on dissociation in response to trauma.

Nothing else. It can't be compared to anything else.

I'm genuinely not sure how to structure this post, so I'm going to talk about a couple different theories/ideas, in no particular order. Give it a chance and read to the end, where we talk about the flip side.

I think we need to first talk about trauma in relation to developmental and neurological disorders.

As a reminder, trauma is not an event, but a reaction to things around you.

For children with things like autism, ADHD, anxiety, OCD, they're not only at a higher risk of being abused and traumatized, but they're more easily traumatized by a wider range of things. They're the populations most prone to pathological dissociation.

Did you daydream a lot as a kid? Does MaDD kind of hit hard? Did teachers and parents get really mad at you for your dissociation?

I hate to tell you this, but there's a high chance you're traumatized.

And the thing with CPTSD, what is essentially a precursor to DID and (largely considered) to be a dissociative disorder, is that it can be so hard to pinpoint where and how it started. It's a lifetime of papercuts vs a car accident. Do you remember every little cut? The cause can seem invisible.

The leading cause of CPTSD is emotional neglect, something even the most well-intentioned parents can do without ever meaning to. It's called the invisible abuse for a reason.

And emotional neglect happens so much easier when your child has additional needs that are commonly missed and not diagnosed until adulthood, long after the crucial period where they needed the most help.

All that said, we need to talk again about how many of those disorders include dissociation already.

Not only is dissociation common, but things like autism are highly recognized to affect a person's sense of self, specifically in childhood, but now you're getting into "chicken and egg" conversations.

In my own opinion, I would think that if autism alone could result in dissociated identities, we would know that by now. I mean, look at BPD, we know what happens with trauma in childhood that doesn't result in DID. There's an incredible amount of discussion about whether certain cases of BPD are actually sister-versions of OSDD (think OSDD-1c, the less defined alters seen in 1a, plus the lack of amnesia seen in 1b).

All THAT said, we're talking about dissociation and trauma.

This doesn't touch on the way people define and interpret their personal experiences. It seems completely plausible that people could simply just be more in tune with aspects of themselves, and view life through a comfortable, happy lens of multiplicity.

The multiple self theory has been around as long as the ToSD.

And that discussion doesn't necessarily need to be separate from dissociation and trauma, but I think for some it just is.

In every sense of the word, it just... is.

It simply is that way for them.

I firmly believe these two concepts would be 100% separate and different (acknowledging that for some, these can and do overlap, but I'm talking about brain scan level differences)

Unfortunately, words are limited, and there's only one perfect word for both experiences.

"System".

I hope this was some food for thought. I encourage people to get involved in the conversation!

[dalooneylass]

The Chains Pokémon partner parings explained.

Hi this is that post where I try to explain my reasoning for pairing each Link with their Pokémon partner + a little fun fact about each Pokémon.

Sky with Dragonite

Sky and Dragonite have quite a few things in common. Their both big, loveable, caring beings who are always ready and willing to help those in need, their both also A LOT stronger than they initially seem. Sky being a literal demon god slayer, and Dragonite being a Pseudo Legendary Pokémon that can control the weather at will.

I imagine that Sky met his Dragonite before his adventure when it was still a little Dratini, they love to take naps together, and go on long flights around Skyloft.

Fun Fact: Pseudo Legendary Pokémon get their title from the fact they have a base stat total of 600, which is the same as most Legendary Pokémon, and are extremely difficult to evolve, Dratini taking 55 levels, or 207,968 experience points earned to evolve into its final form, Dragonite.

Four and his Eeveelutions

To be honest there really wasn’t any other Pokémon besides the Eevee line that had enough evolutions or unique forms/variants to give Four. But even then it’s still a good pick, Eevee can evolve into one of 8 different Pokémon. Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, and Espeon being the most obvious picks for Four/The Colours, Jolteon being the next best thing for Green since there’s no Flying type Eeveelution, and Espeon for Vio due to his book smarts and relation to Shadow, with Vaporeon and Flareon being perfectly fitting for Blue and Red respectively.

I picture Four meeting his Pokémon between his adventures in Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures, as Eevee, and then taking them with him through the latter adventure. And while Green, Blue, and Red found the evolution stones to evolve their Eevee at some point or another throughout the adventure, Vio and Shadow’s Eevee evolved during their time together when Vio was pretending to be a traitor (Eevee evolves into Espeon and Umbreon through high Friendship during the Day and Night respectively). And that while the Colours were struggling to work together during FSA, their Pokémon were working with each other just fine. After Shadow sacrificed himself, Four cared for his Umbreon.

Fun Fact: Shadow’s Umbreon likely knows Shadow isn’t really gone, but has no solid way of communicating this to Four.

Time with Celebi

Pretty simple really. Time is a time travelling fairy boy from the forest who’s possessed by a deity, Celebi is a time travelling forest guardian fairy who IS a deity.

I believe that Time would meet his Celebi some time after Majora’s Mask, but before the War of Ages.

Fun Fact: Time’s Celebi is nicknamed Navi.

Double Fun Fact: Time’s Celebi Navi may or may not actually be several different Celebi (Cuz there’s actually like a bajilion of these lil onions babies all zipping throughout time and space) and Time has yet to figure this out.

Note: Still a’nt actually settled on whether Navi IS multiple different Celebi or just one single Celebi. Tell me which one you guys think it is in the comments. I genuinely love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Or I might make a poll or something.

Legend and Lopunny

With the fact that Lopunny is a rabbit Pokémon with a pink shiny, the connection seems pretty surface level, and that I paired the two just cuz I genuinely like Lopunny (Which I admittedly do) but when you look a little deeper into Lopunny’s character, they actually do have more in common with Legend other then aesthetics.

For one, Lopunny evolves via Friendship (Like Espeon and Umbreon) HOWEVER Buneary, Lopunny’s pre evolution, is actually hard to befriend at first, as Wild Buneary always start out with a friendship level of 0, (something usually reserved for Legendary Pokémon) Legend too is a bit rough around the edges and a little hard to get to open up at first, but a loyal companion and friend once he lets people in. As well Lopunny, while not one to go out of it’s way to pick fights, IS a strong and capable fighter, who could hold its own alongside Legend in combat, and much like how Legend has a wide variety of tools in his arsenal, Lopunny is able to learn a wide variety of Moves. Plus both Legend and Lopunny could totally put on one heck of a show if they wanted to.

I would think Legend meets his Lopunny as a Buneary after all his adventures where set and done (But before LU of course) and while they didn’t get along all too well at first, they actually warmed up to each other rather quickly and have become the best of pals since.

Fun Fact: Due to how Pokémon breeding and Egg Groups work, Legend’s Lopunny is able to be siblings with Fable’s partner Pokémon, a Delcatty.

Twilight with Herdier

I wanted to pare Twilight with a Pokémon that would not only work well with his profession as a Rancher, but also not overshadow or replace Epona’s relationship with Twilight, nor the Chains relationship with Wolfie. So I went with Herdier, A loyal and sturdy hard working dog Pokémon that just like real dogs has been working with humans both on and off the farm since ancient times.

Just like Legend and his Pokémon, Twilight meet his Herdier back when it was still just a little Lillipup some time after Twilight Princess, and they do everything together! Work, play, fight, and just overall in joying the simple things in life, Herdier loves to play with the village children, and is happy with its life with Twilight overall.

Fun Fact: Twilight’s Herdier is actually already passed the level when it should have evolved, but hasn’t due to it holding an Everstone, a item that, when held, prevents a Pokémon from evolving even when the conditions for evolution have been met. Herdier has the Everstone because it’s happy as a it is right now, and is in no real rush to evolve, and Twilight respects his Pokémon’s wishes to say a Herdier.

Wind and Clauncher

Again a pretty simple reasoning behind this pairing. Wind loves the Great Sea, the colour blue, and lobsters. Clauncher is a Water type Pokémon that lives in the sea, that is blue, and is a lobster.

Again just like Legend and Twilight, Wind meets his Clauncher after his adventures in Phantom Hourglass, but before LU. Wind loves his Clauncher, and Clauncher does love Wind back, tho that doesn’t mean they don’t get in fights, as Wind and his Clauncher are both hotheads. (Wind taking weeks to get Clauncher to stop attacking Arill’s Wingull, or any Wingull in general for that matter, and being VARY upset with Clauncher during that time. And Clauncher being upset when Wind thinks that he isn’t good enough as a hero or a big brother, despite it being completely untrue, casting Clauncher to become moody with Wind) But they can still both be sincere when it really counts. And will comfort the other when the other is feeling down.

Fun Fact: Wind’s actually had his Clauncher for the same amount of time that Legend and Twilight have had their Pokémon for, but Clauncher has yet to evolve due to Wind lacking the Time to properly train it.

Hyrule with Ribombee

I paired Hyrule with Ribombee due to their similarities. Hyrule is half Fairy, and Ribombee is a duel Fairy type Pokémon. Hyrule is a capable Magic user, and Ribombee is a strong Special Attacker. Hyrule has the ability heal his allies, as so too does Ribombee. Not to mention their both small and cute.

I imagine that Hyrule actually meet his Ribombee as a Cutiefly during his first adventure in Zelda 1, and that while Hyrule was apprehensive about bringing a tiny little Bug Pokémon like Cutiefly on a dangerous quest, Cutiefly did a surprisingly good job holding it’s own against the monsters in the dungeons. And after that, the two have been best buddies ever since.

Fun Fact: Hyrule’s Ribombee has the Ability Honey Gather. Meaning after a battle, Ribombee has a chance of just finding some random honey. Ribombee happily shares this questionable sourced with Hyrule afterwards.

Warriors and Aegislash

Picking out a Pokémon partner for Warriors was the trickiest, I initially thought about giving him a Kingambit, but felt that it didn’t really suit him, as while Warriors does lead an army and is a tactician, I felt that Kingambit’s style of fighting didn’t really suit Warriors. Aegislash however are known to work with people and leaders such as kings, and are known to be good judges of character, which I feel was more fitting. Also I thought it’d be cool to have Warriors use his Aegislash like a sword. (The Pokédex says you shouldn’t do this, but it’s been established that the Pokédex is being written by edgy 12 year olds, and a character did it in one of the mangas, so it should be fine)

Warriors met his Aegislash during the War of Eras, not sure if was already an Aegislash or not tho. Despite the communication barrier between them, the two often do battle planning together, and fight really well together. Aegislash and Warriors a’nt afraid to tell the other off if they were bing stupid, or pushing themselves too far, but also are happy to compliment each other if the other for doing well.

Fun Fact: Warriors Aegislash has a Sassy Nature, meaning it loves bitter foods and hates sweets. Don’t ask me how a sentient ghost sword can eat, it just does.

Wild and his Hisuian Zoroark

And finally we come to Wild and his Zoroark. When I was looking through the Pokédex to see what Mons would fit well with Wild and saw Zoroark, I knew that it would make the perfect partner Pokémon for Wild. A loyal, wild fox Pokémon and master of trickery that will protect its pack no matter what.

Much like the others in the Chain, Wild did not meet his partner as a fully evolved Pokémon, but as a Zorua. But he didn’t meet it as a Hisuian Zorua. They meet each other when they were kids, before Wild had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and back when Zoroark was still a regular Zorua, they became close friends, and where together through thick and thin. Zorua was there when Wild became a knight, Zorua was there Wild when he became Flora’s appointed knight, Zorua was there during the memories, Zorua stood by Wild’s side when Calamity Ganon attacked, Zorua died by Wild’s side during the Battle of Fort Hateno.

And while Link was placed into the Shrine of Resurrection so that he may revive and defeat the Calamity 100 years later, Zorua was not. But Zorua did not need the Shrine of Resurrection. Through the power of they’re hatred for Calamity Ganon, and they’re love for their trainer Wild, Zorua rose from the dead, reborn into the world anew in the form of a Hisuian Zorua. They wanted on the Great Plateau for over a hundred years for Wild to revive, likely evolving during that time. And when Wild finally awoke, it was the happiest day of they’re life. But it was also they’re life, as Wild remembered nothing of his life before the calamity. But even then Zoroark stuck by Wild’s side throughout his adventures in BotW, through thick and thin, and they defeated Calamity Ganon together, along with the Champions, and Zelda. And while the spirits of the Champions and the King passed on afterwards, Zoroark did not, as always Zoroark continued to stand by Wild’s side, through TotK, and Beyond.

The Fun Fact about Wild’s Hisuian Zoroark, is that it uses its power of illusions to help Wild recall his lost memories.

OK! This was a long post but I did it, I hope you all find my progress interesting, and that I did a good enough job of explaining it. If you want to look into this sorta stuff yourself go for it. Sorry for the Wild bias, I hope you have a lovely day/night and goodbye.

[sunset-a-story]

Hey, folks! I just had to quit my new job. Its "flexible hours" (a requirement for my physical disabilities) were actually over-managed deadlines that required a 7-day work week and it was untenable. So! As an income-less person, I'd like to put this out there:

I'm Offering Alpha & Beta Reading Services

Why me? I have a degree in Creative Writing. I was gainfully employed as a professional writer for 6 years. I have been published in literary journals and was a founding editor of a literary journal that I helped run for years. I have a 1,200+ page serial that will start to be released in the next 6 months and I just plain love stories.

Alpha Reading

Alpha reading is geared toward Zero Drafts or First Drafts where the creation process is still a work in progress. I'm reading as a writer who wants to help make your story work. As an alpha reader, I'm not worried about your grammar or spelling--just the content. My job is to cheerlead you through this first draft while giving helpful, gentle notes as a fellow writer. We'd nail down exactly what sort of comments you want or don't want but it can look like feedback on:

Plot structure

Pacing

Description

Setting/world building

Characterization

Dialogue

Spotting plot holes/continuity issues

You can also request no critique if what you really need is just someone who will read your draft, leave encouraging comments, and get excited with you.

Beta Reading

Beta reading is for more polished drafts from writers looking for constructive criticism on how their wip reads. I'm approaching your story less as a writer and more as your test audience. I will be honest but kind about issues and genuinely excited about your victories. Again, exactly what you're looking for can be nailed down on an individual basis so you get the type of support you want. (Note: I am not a line editor. I can point out obvious errors but that is not what I do.)

As far as pricing, $0.0015 USD per word seems like the lower end of the industry standard and, while I have alpha/beta read before, I haven't been paid for it yet so that feels fair. That works out to a 25K word story being $27.50.

Thanks, all! Please DM me if you're interested.

[cyle]

Hi! I'm wondering if you can offer any insight into something that's been bugging me with all of the changes. This is genuinely not a hostile ask - I know first-hand how hard (necessary) change management is. I don't envy the position y'all are in.

That being said - I'm having a hard time making sense of the strategy around the roll out for the last few big changes/"experiments"). It seems like the folks doing the messaging vs the actual feature management are not on the same page.

It has been stated several times that:

"We’ll be testing [our new] ideas in an opt-in basis with people who’ve been using Tumblr for years, and more especially with people who’ve never even heard of Tumblr (a difficult group to find)."

We've also seen, repeatedly, that

"Tumblr is a place where you can tailor and customize your experience to individual preferences."

With those statements in mind, the choice to roll these new features out to folks who *didn't* volunteer - and not offer any way to "customize our experience" seems like a strange one.

An expectation (which was positive) was established only to be directly violated within a few weeks. It makes it challenging to get a read on what y'all actually mean -- and to extend good faith or trust when communications do come out.

If you say you're going to do something, then do it, it builds trust. If you don't, it erodes trust. And that just makes your already difficult jobs harder - and the userbase even more reactive and knee-jerk resistant.

Can you give us a sense of what's going on here? Or can you at least pass this feedback on to whoever is handling the messaging around this stuff? We can see that y'all are striving for transparency, but that's only effective if it's honest/consistent.

[TL;DR: Tumblr's messaging emphasizes testing changes with volunteers, and offering the ability to customize - but that doesn't seem to be what's actually happening. What's up?]

this is a really great question, thank you for asking it. you've accurately pointed out some glaring holes in our communication strategy -- some of that is even my fault, to be honest, as someone who tries to help shape our public communications.

the easiest answer is that there's a lot of work happening on the internal tumblr side, and not all of it is the same kind of work, and therefore not all of it is being communicated consistently. that's a huge problem if you're not inside of it, as you point out; the contradictions seem weird for anyone paying attention.

i'm currently a part of the @labs group and we're trying to come up with radical ideas for reshaping tumblr, prototype them quickly, show them to people, and iterate on them, and reject them quickly if they don't make sense. the Tumblr Mini thing recently is an unfortunate example of that -- something leaked way too early, before we even got a chance to really understand how the thing we prototyped would be received. that may never go beyond the thing people saw, for good reason: it doesn't make sense. we're learning from it, but it's unfinished.

in that Labs group, we do want volunteer-based feedback, and we're actually starting that very soon with targeted user research. you may see some surveys soliciting that feedback soon, or invites to be a part of the testing. i'm extremely excited by that, because some other ideas we have feel like they should've been a part of tumblr since the beginning.

but.......

there's a whole different group at tumblr that are making "core product" improvements, and a lot of their work is reflected in the recent staff post about product strategy. their aim is to alleviate a lot of common points of confusion and frustration, some of which will seem counter-intuitive to people who have been on tumblr for many years and learned (what i call) "the hard way".

a lot of that core improvement work will be rolled out, experimented with, and iterated on, the traditional way: involuntary A/B tests, rather than volunteers. that is standard industry practice, because when you're trying to understand the behavior of millions of people, just asking for volunteers introduces too much selection bias.

however, it's important to note that even today's rollout of the new desktop navigation was released to some XKit devs beforehand, so we could get early feedback. so sometimes we do roll these core things out for feedback first, before "regular users", before we A/B test it. usually those small initial experiments are hyper-targeted though... in this case, because we do actually care about XKit and third party developers. you don't see that though!

so full transparency: not everything we do is going to be volunteer-based, not everything we do can be communicated adequately before we test it, not everything during testing will be customizable, because how much we want to customize is dependent on the outcome of these tests. it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.

and furthermore, this is kind of how it's always been, for better or worse, since around 2016 when tumblr started believing in A/B tests and experiments, rather than just "ship it and we'll see"... the common denominator, though, is that we want your feedback. we don't do a good enough job soliciting that feedback, but we do want it. (i kinda wish we had an easy feedback button for the new layout.) we do make decisions based on feedback, but we augment that decision-making process with hard data from experiments.

i hope that makes sense? there's too much to cover to provide you with the full context. i could write a book about it. all i can confidently say is that we're trying as best as we can to balance the ideas of keeping tumblr special and unique, while trying weird/bad/good/uncomfortable new directions to help the platform grow and thrive. status quo and complacency aren't acceptable; tumblr needs to change to survive. i am just as uncomfortable and upset by that fact as anyone, and i worry every day and night about it, whether the price of survival is worth it.

we'll see, hopefully together.

[littlecrittereli]

It's been a long time since I watched Wild Kratts but I didn't even know he had a fandom, I'm so happy, and your story made my dream come true, I would love to create a story like you, but I'm not very good at writing stories What tips would you give to a beginner <3

I don't consider myself a super great author to be honest, I'm much more confident in my illustrations! But as someone who is completely self taught: here are some tips I use when I write my stories! (these may not apply to everyone, but they do help me) Outlines

If I'm writing a plot-based story I make an outline of all the major plot points I want to make and separate them into chapters. I reference this outline when I'm writing a chapter and it helps me meet all my "goals" for that particular chapter! Of course you can be flexible with this. Say one of your plot points dragged out a little too long and you want to save something for the next chapter, you can adjust your outline as you go! Sometimes your idea will change as you write it, and that's okay! revise your outline accordingly. For me, it's handy so I don't end up spiralling completely off the path I intended and lose the conclusion I wanted to have. Here's an example of the outline for my Reprogrammed AU. (Only chapters 1-5 to prevent spoilers for unreleased chapters)

as you can see, it doesn't have to be super formal. This is literally just in my notes app. As long as you can understand and follow your ideas, that's all that matters.

Get a Beta Reader!

I do not actually have a beta reader currently, but sending your writings to someone to proofread is one of the best ways to get genuine feedback. Try to find someone who is also pretty educated on proper grammar. I learned more about proper formatting from a fanfiction beta reader than I did in school im so fr. At the very least, make sure this person is comfortable with giving you constructive criticism. If something reads a little awkward or if a plot point doesn't make much sense/could be solved with an easier method, it's a lot easier for someone to point out when they didn't write the piece.

Study fanfictions/books you enjoy

Honestly... just reading a lot has made me a better writer. You will begin to notice the way authors describe certain feelings or environments, and that can give you insight on how to go about writing your own ideas. If I find an author I really like, I will try to dissect WHY I like them so much. Is it their accurate characterization? Do they describe emotions well? Are their plots engaging? Is their dialogue interesting? Find out what makes their writing so interesting so you can incorporate those traits into your own story. This goes for the way they format their writing as well. For example, I've found I prefer when chapters are around 1k-5k words. Really short chapters can make the story seem choppy when the reader has to constantly click to the next page, it kinda breaks the immersion of the story. Instead I try to use chapter breaks as interesting pausing points for suspense. I love it when authors leave their chapter on a slightly unfinished note. So I'm curious for the next chapter, but also I feel fulfilled with what I've read so far. And I've discovered this by analyzing the stories I enjoy!

And the most important advice I can give.... PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!

Writing is similar to drawing in the sense that in order to learn, you must DO it. You have to make the shitty stuff before you find out how to make it better! It's honestly just part of the creative process. I still have some short stories I wrote back when I was a preteen and ITS BAD LOL but I needed to go through that in order to learn and grow and be more confident in my storytelling capabilities. And just like illustrations, everyone starts at a different place and everyone's process is different. SO BE PATIENT AND DON'T GIVE UP! Write that story! Even if it's bad, who cares?! You wrote something! And next time, you will write something even better!

[homeslices]

Hey I love your best friend writing with chishiya. Was wondering if you could do a before the borderlands how they became friends. You said they met in collage so I guess they meet there and become friends. Maybe when they very first enter the borderlands as well. Like what they were doing before the fireworks.

Best Friends 0

Part 1 Here

Part 2 Here

A/N: I finally got this done!!! If I’m being honest I’m not 100% sure how I feel about this because it is all before the show, romance, and smut, so any feedback would be amazing. Also I’m not sure how ooc Chishiya is in this, I’m sorry 😭

Summary: This is apart of my Best Friend series. This is Pre-Borderland, and mostly just mutual pining.

Pairings: Shuntaro Chishiya x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: None

The first day of school has never rattled you. You have thought like this since you were a child and had to leave your home in order to attend preschool for the first time, then for kindergarten, then for elementary, and so on and so on, and it’s the same now, your first day of medical school.

If you're being honest with yourself, school was always more like a chore to you. While you enjoyed learning, that’s all you really liked about school. It’s not like you didn’t have friends, quite the opposite you had quite a few, but you knew friendships from childhood hardly ever lasted outside in the real world, and if you were being truthful, you much preferred the quiet.

Your lecture started in 5 minutes, and although most people wanted to get there early, you just wanted to slip in under the radar. The door to the lecture hall was propped open, and just as you’d hope you were able to go in and take a seat in the very back completely undetected. Well, almost completely undetected.

There weren't many people around you. In fact there was only one other person in your row who was also pretty much invisible to everyone there, everyone besides you.

You sat a few seats away from the mysterious blonde, taking notice of him, just as he was taking notice of you. You set all of your supplies in front of you, however much to your annoyance, your pencil rolls off the table right in front of him.

The blonde looks at the pencil that rolled over to his shoe, then to you. He gives you an amused look before finally speaking.

“Well that’s inconvenient.”

You raise your eyebrow, curious more than anything. Most normal people would just hand you the pencil without a word, yet he seems to be dragging it out.

You hum in agreement, “yeah it is.”

He looks down at the pencil once again then back up at you. In response you shrug and turn back to your desk only to pull out a pen inside.

His lips quirk up slightly, and a few moments later, your pencil that fell at the strange blondes feet rolled its way over to you on the desk.

From that day forward you always say in the back a few seats next to the guy, who’s name you later found out was Chishiya.

Over the next few months you became close. You partnered together for group work, studied together preparing for tests, and even just hung around for the hell of it. You found out you both had a lot in common, including your sense of humor, and over time you also realized you were beginning to develop feelings for the blonde. You would rather die than admit that to him though.Those months blended into years and now you're both working at the same hospital, much to your pleasure and annoyance.

“You know, most friends would’ve gotten their friend caffeine when they work a 13 hour shift together.”

Chishiya nods his head in agreement, before taking a sip of his coffee and replying to you.

“Yes they would.” A smug smile makes his way to his face and continues. “Good thing we’re not most friends, huh?”

You narrow your eyes in fake annoyance only to be handed Chishiya’s half drunk coffee as he stands up.

“I need to get going. One of my patients, Hayato, has a donor for his transplant lined up and I need to tell him and the family.”

An actual, genuine smile graces your face.

“That’s amazing, Shun,” you respond, calling him the nickname you gave him long ago.

He only hums in agreement, but when you make eye contact with him, you can see how happy he actually is. Hayato has been a patient of Chishiya’s for a while, so naturally he’s become close to both him and his family.

As Chishiya walks out of the break room, you take a sip of the coffee he handed you and immediately grimace.

“Who the hell drinks black coffee?” You mutter, only to look at the clock in the corner of the room and realizing you have 4 more hours left of your shift.

Sighing you take another drink of the bitter liquid and close your eyes ready for this day to be over.

Over the next few days, you can see how the good news has affected Chishiya. He seemed lighter somehow. His lips quirked up more often, he humored you during break, and he even got you caffeine. However, like most good things, it didn’t last.

It was a week before the transplant when everything fell apart. Chishiya left with one of your superiors, and once he came back, it was like all the light had left his body.

It was after your shift, on your way home, the Chishiya told you the news about Hayato no longer getting the transplant he so desperately needed. You of course were beyond angry, yet Chishiya only sighs and in a monotone repeats what both of your superior said to him.

“It’s just the way it is.”

And a few days later, you both were on the second floor watching the young boy’s mother, whose son just passed, sob. Chishiya’s jaw was tense and eyes were as black as a void, drained of everything. Yet, all you could do to show your best friend emotional support in that moment, was hold onto his hand and squeeze.

Chishiya would never admit how much this hurt him, and you would never push him to, but you were always there to try to make him feel better. This leads to another thing Chishiya would never admit, his feelings for you.

You were always there for him as he was for you, yet neither of you were ready to acknowledge that. At this point, for a stranger looking in, it almost seemed like you both were already dating. You were always with each other, supported each other, and just clicked.

This leads to where you both are now, walking down the busy streets of Tokyo trying to get to your usual café. While crossing the busy street you take notice of someboys, about both Chishiya and your age, screwing around in the middle of it. You just huff out a laugh at their childlike behavior. Your attention soon is drawn to fireworks being lit up in the sky.

“That’s weird,” You say to Chishiya. “Is it some sort of holiday I forgot?”

Chishiya only looks up to the fireworks, while not breaking pace, and shrugs.

“I don’t believe so.” He pauses only to continue with one word. “Strange.”

You snort in amusement.

“You think?”

Chishiya’s lip twitches up slightly and when you both reach your usual café, he opens the door for you.

You mumble out a thank you before entering your normally crowded café, only to find it empty. The only sound you could hear was Chishiya’s footsteps behind you coming closer.

“This is even more strange.”

You turn to look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the situation, only to gap in shock as you see outside.

The big windows of the café is where you and Chishiya usually sit and people watch, observing the people walking down the street. Yet the only thing these big windows show are the empty streets of Tokyo.

Chishiya follows your gaze and his eyebrows raise.

“Huh.”

“Where the hell did everyone go?” You wonder aloud.

“No idea.” Chishiya responds casually.

His carefree attitude makes you press your lips together and sigh.

“What do we do now?”

“Probably look around.” Chishiya responds after having a moment to think.

Seeing as there was no other option, you nod and make your way outside of the café with the blonde. You both wander around the town, going in and out of different buildings, not finding a single soul. You did find out though that phones and other non-battery powered electronics do not work here. Wherever here is.

Taking a few useful supplies with you both, and temporarily stumped from the lack of clues, you both head to where you began, the café. At this point it was dark and you honestly just wanted to rest. However, the sudden brightness of a build board turning on blinds you for a second.

‘Players this way’ with an arrow pointed to the left, graces the screen. You glance towards Chishiya, who is already looking at you.

“You think we should go?”

“I think that we would get more answers.”

You hum in agreement to him, and brush your arm against his as you pass, follow the way the random arrow points you to.

Finally reaching your destination, you and Chishiya find a lit up restaurant. You glance at him, to which he nods, and simultaneously you enter the building, both with blank faces. The building was not empty, in fact, there were four other people waiting inside. They all looked nervous, but not because of the unknown. They all looked like they have done this before. In fact, that’s probably why they all were so anxious, you piece together.

Finding a table with phones on top and a sign saying ‘one per person’ you and Chishiya both take one. It turns on surprisingly, scans your face, and the words ‘register closes in:’ and a countdown appear on the screen.

A generic feminine voice rings out, interrupting the silence.

“Registration is now closed. The game will now commence. Game: Blackjack. Difficulty: 6 of Diamonds.”

Following the voices direction you all file into the restaurant to the table in the center, with nooses hanging over the chairs. Not giving anything away with your face, as to not to seem vulnerable, you take in the scene before you, and as the voice instructs, sit in a chair around the table and place the noose around your neck.

You look over at Chishiya, who was seated right next to you, while the voice lists all the rules, which you were paying close attention to. Once again, you find him already looking at you. His face, similar to yours, holds no emotion, but his eyes display curiosity. Yours do too you're sure, but also slight fear as there was a noose hanging around you and the person you care most about.

The last sentence makes both your gazes harden.

“The game clears once there are two survivors.”

The quick conversation with your eyes between you and Chishiya is clear, and as you look around the table, analyzing the strangers that sat with a noose, identical to Chishiya’s and yours, around their necks, you know that only you and Chishiya are walking out of this alive.

[pearwaldorf]

My comment on the OTW's most recent announcement post

It addressed the End OTW Racism campaign, but not any of the things Azarias revealed or things she has requested from the OTW Board and Legal committee. You can find her comments on the post here and here.

--

I have been a member of AO3 since 2009. I was proud to support an organization with a vested interest in making a place for all fanwork, including kinds which for-profit corporations would find objectionable. It is a thing I supported with my money, my words, and posting my fanwork on AO3. I was also a tag wrangler for a little bit, because I wanted to use my labor to improve AO3 for everybody. I have seen the OTW promise movement on many things regarding user safety, welfare, and DEI, some of which have been done. But the truly substantiative, laborious, gnarly work required has not actually progressed significantly. It is absolutely ridiculous that it has taken almost three years to move forward on recruitment of a DEI consultant/officer. I also understand that TOS updates take time to think through and require community feedback, but my understanding is this is something that has been in the works for, again, about three years. I'm not saying people should expect instantaneous results, but your stakeholders deserve more clarity than has been provided. This is something I have felt for a long time, before the revelations about how poorly the Board and Legal handled the 2022 CSAM attack and the aftermath. It is one thing to drag your feet on things promised, it is completely different when organizational dysfunction, personal vendettas, and overreach from Legal contributed to grievous harm of at least one volunteer. I would like to think we, as fans, understand that we do the things we do out of love. Certainly there will be annoyances and irritations in the process, but those are not the same as genuine harm. I know for many of us, fandom has been a refuge from extremely awful things in our lives. It tears me up inside that a thing you do out of love can lead to such a devastating trauma because people who should have given a shit absolutely did not.

--

The rest of this message is addressed to the Board of Directors and the Legal Committee. I want a public response, preferably in the comments. (Others can feel free to +1/ditto/support this.) * Given how grossly you violated the Code of Conduct all OTW personnel are supposed to abide by, there is no way any reasonable person (AO3 user, OTW member, anybody in fandom) can trust any of you to make decisions on behalf of the OTW. When can we expect your resignations? * Do you have plans to retract the defamatory statements you have made in response to Azarias's revelations about how she was treated? Will you apologize to her for how she has been treated while volunteering for your organization? Will there be any counseling or therapy conducted by qualified practioners specializing in exposure to CSAM offered (and paid for by OTW) to Azarias or other affected volunteers, for as long as they need? * Were there ever any intentions to address the possibility of another CSAM attack, or any plans to prevent or mitigate them? You can be honest. I'm not asking these questions to be dramatic, but rather out of frustration there is very little certain stakeholders (AO3 users, people who won't give money to become voting members) can do to demand accountability and redress for a fellow fan and volunteer who has been grievously wronged. This organization can practice transparency and start making amends by answering them.

If this is something you'd also like addressed, I'd love it if you could go here and make a +1/upvote/supportive comment. Feel free to say your piece too. I also encourage you to go through the other comments on the main post and +1 the ones that speak to you.

[toruro]

Talk about your moots; what do you like most about them (could be a paragraph or a single sentence, spread the love!!)

omg yes i love love … only doing this for the last few i interacted w though .. irly wish i could do more but i got so tired while writing these and it has been a long day :[

@rubyreduji guys do i even have 2 tell u how much i love jj?! U ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM like i don't even know how it happened one day i'm interacting w him 4 the first time 2 bug him abt a jihoon fic i had planned and then BOOM we r evil twinning in the dms and then BOOM AGAIN he's listening to the 70+ vms i send him every day i love him so much >_< WE JUST GET ALONG RLY WELL and it's so much fun ... also jj just writes so much and he write so well ?! his ideas are rly unique too and whenever he mentions another story i'm like :o wow bc he is so WOW and i love his brain and i love how he is true to his woozidan identity (woozi having a separate masterlist altogether LOL) ... jj is just the love of my life if u guys couldn't tell i'm actually insanely territorial over him so actually he doesn't exist 2 u guys UR NOT ALLOWED TO PERCEIVE HIM IF UR NOT ME

@gyuswhore i love em sm okay first of all what drew me 2 her was her phenomenal writing?! guys i revisit her gyu fic more often than she knows HELPDKJ but ya and the stuff sh has in store 4 u all ... just u wait OKAY AND I JUST. I LOVE TALKING ABT WRITING WITH EM she genuinely helps me so much and i love the honest feeback she gives and she has encouraged me through 2 of my longest fics so far which means the absolute world to me >_< also i love her daily little updates and how she tells me all this stuff IT'S ENTERTAINING and also i love that we are able 2 have convos like that ... and she's also literally the prettiest ever. i kid u not mingyu would PICK HER. we also just understand each other's situations very well and feel the same way abt a lot of stuff which makes talking abt certain things easier ^^ ya i love em my desi sister P.S. SHE FEEDS MY DELUSIONAL MINGHAO REQUESTS (the way her only works for hao are reqs from me ... gfhdfksjd)

@cheolhub SAR SAR the sweetest ever like :[ sar was my first mutual when i started on tumblr and she scared me at first bc ... she was so a cool to me atthe time AND SHE STILL IS SO COOL. LIKE SAR IS SO COOL 2 ME but now i see that she is also so loving and caring and c: she will always hold a special place in my heart bc she was the first 2 dm me (I REMEMBER. BC WE INTERACTED ABT GETTING TIX TO TWICE AND WE TALKED ABT OUTFIT PLANNING ... funny bc the way we didn't figure out any outfits until literally june LOL) anyways ya also if u have read sar's works u probably know she is also insane and :c she is so amazing 4 helping me out too uifgjks i love sar sm

@etherealyoungk skye is so sweet :c also one of my first mutuals and i appreciate her so much 4 always checking in w me and just interacting w me consistently hehe ... she reminds me my hoshi pc as well whenever i look at it i'm like oh ^^ this is skye right here :3

@hwanghyunjinenthusiast only rly started interacting w rj recently but she's so funny like her reactions pics and feedback under fics genuinely has made me giggle and i love that ... and rj is just! rly fun 2 talk 2 as well and i can't wait 2 get to know her better hehe

@leejihoonownsmyheart the sweetest ever and omg her writing is so good ... brie don't downplay urself EVER bc it's so good and ^^ ur such a fun and positive person i will love u even if u don't like me bc i'm a capricorn hehjefjk

@lovelyhan guys stop i never shut up abt kai's writing but they are just so good at everything they do like! insane i'm insane and kai is just so cool to me kjfdskj ALSO. LOVE KAI SO MUCH BC THEY ALWAYS SEND ME TWTS ABT HAO AND it kind of drives me crazy but also it feeds me breakfast lunch & dinner so am i really complaining? basically kai knows me 2 well and it drives me insane in the best way possible

@ressonancee only became mutuals rly recently but thea is so fun and kind and auuugh don't even get me started on how amazing of a writer she is bc her jihoon and gyu fics literally took me to heaven and back like! augh! they make me feel so much and i'm so exited 2 continue to get to know her and more ^^

@userelv elv is so fun like we don't interact a lot but whenever we do it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and anyways i'm gonna be collecting insane dk pics and save them up so i can send them to u one day w out warning c:

@wheeboo so funny and so sweet and also i feel get along rly well! i love the way she writes and we have a lot of common interests and i love talking abt kdrams w her hehe LIKE?!?! ME AND RANIA JUST HAVE VERY CHILL AND NATURAL CONVOS which i absolutely love and she is a person who is very calming 2 me ^^

[the-boy-meets-evil]

tell me how it got this way | ch.5

pairing: jungkook x f.reader, hoseok x f.reader genre: fwb to lovers/friends to lovers, love triangle | angst, smut, fluff | non-idol!au chapter rating: mature, minors dni warnings: drinking, mentions of sex (nothing explicit), jimin is a little shit (affectionate), swearing, i think that's it word count: ~6k a/n: other idols pop up in this chapter (ateez & seventeen), they're really just used as names. ages aren't relevant and you can assume they're all generally around the same age. the final part (at least for what i have planned) is also finished and i'm going to post that next week! prev | masterlist | next

When Namjoon had initially pitched the idea of selling the movie rights for your books, your answer was immediate. No. Movies rarely, actually, came out as good as the books and you felt like you lost so much of the finer detail. If you had wanted to see your work on the big screen, you would be writing screenplays instead of full-length novels. Which, okay, that sounded pretentious even in your head, but whatever. Namjoon got the picture and the conversation was tabled temporarily.

About two months after that, Namjoon had found what he called a compromise. You weren’t sure how it was a compromise since it was your work and you didn’t want to sell the rights. Until Namjoon reminded you that the publishing company also had a stake. Point: Namjoon. It was a good point, though, because a streaming service wanted to pick up the rights to just the first book as a test and do a limited-run series as opposed to a movie. Namjoon was very clear on the differences here. The budget, in some ways, would definitely be smaller, you aren’t looking at big superstar names, and, most importantly, you have to either sign on as a co-writer for the screenplays or fully sign the rights over. They were fine with either option, they just knew that there wasn’t enough in your book for the standard 8-10 episodes.

And that answer was just as immediate. Yes. These were the kinds of chances that authors hoped for. Yes, it will still be different from the book. This just gives you much more leeway to include the important details and even flush characters out more in a way that’s just too much for a book. You’re not Stephen King over here releasing his “unedited” version of The Stand, which, if you’re being honest, was kind of (read: insanely) self-indulgent. Not that you’re comparing yourself to Stephen King, either. To each their own and all that.

So, with Namjoon’s guidance, you signed a deal where you’d co-write the episodes with a team who actually have a lot of experience doing just that. Really, you know you’re just there to keep everything true to the world that’s lived in your head for years. That’s why they want you. Some people will stumble onto this show never having heard of the books (and Namjoon hopes it’ll make them buy a copy), but others will tune in expecting it to come off the same way they’ve been imagining, for characters to make decisions that feel authentic. 

You actually kind of loved the writing sessions. It was really amazing to see how things came together and to be in a room where you didn’t need to shout to be heard. Everyone there was genuinely interested in your feedback, and you tried to be conscious of when to just let the process unfold. It was collaborative in the best way. The only hard thing was keeping it all under wraps from almost everyone. The whole team had decided that they wouldn’t announce the news until the rough copies of the scripts were finished enough to move on to casting.

Now, that you’re having to sit through casting auditions, you’re rethinking your entire life that has led to this moment. No, that is not dramatic. You gave the casting team literal pages on pages for every character that needed to have any sort of significant role in the show and had even worked with someone for fucking *mood boards* for the main characters. There were days when you barely slept because you had to churn things out for casting. All so you could turn the rough scripts into final copies. What else did they want from you? 

To sit through casting calls, apparently. So fine. You can eat craft services with the best of them.

After a few days, you do start to see the point in it all, see the times when the casting team liked two people for a particular part and looked to you as the deciding factor. While it felt like a lot of pressure, it also allowed you to make sure everything felt right. It was never just about physical appearance, that was always fluid. You also didn’t want Kristen Stewart in the Twilight movies with one damn expression the entire time. (No shade to Kristen Stewart, it just wasn’t anyone’s best look in those movies).

The one positive is that you’ve managed to meet a few people you actually kind of like. And, okay, yeah, they’re mostly assistants to some of the more important people in the process, but those people are stuffy and very unlikely to gossip with you around the water cooler. Since you’ve never had a normal office job, this is a very important part of actually getting to work with people. Namjoon scoffs a lot at this, says that it’s probably good that you haven’t had a normal office job. He spends a lot of time letting you know actual office jobs aren’t anything like sitcoms, which is funny considering the office where he works. Maybe he doesn’t gossip around the water cooler, but you’ve definitely seen the assistants gathering. Even heard his name come up a time or two. Heard how attractive they all seem to think he is. They’re not wrong.

Your new friends are also the type of people who insist that you absolutely have to join them when they decide happy hour is the perfect way to end the day. As San points out, you have the morning off tomorrow anyway. When you ask why it would matter if it was just happy hour, Wooyoung promptly elbows San hard in the ribs and says it doesn’t. You don’t miss the conspiratorial look on their faces, but fuck it. Happy hour sounds good.

Your head is pounding and it feels like you got hit by a freight train. You don’t even remember getting that drunk the night before. The whole evening is kind of a blur of shots and bright lights and off-key karaoke. It was just supposed to be happy hour, which you learned quickly was your first mistake. There was no such thing as just happy hour with San, Wooyoung, and their insanely chaotic group of friends. And as the sleep is wearing off, something else creeps in. There is an arm draped over you. You’re not alone in your bed. Peeking one eye open, you’re immediately struck with the fact that these aren’t your walls, not your sheets, this isn’t your bed. You’re praying on everything that you don’t believe in that the arm belongs to one of the other people you’d gone out with the night before. You remember thinking one of Wooyoung’s friends was cute and tall and smiley, a little flirty and a little shy too. And then you see the hands. And the rings. With a careful glance back, you confirm it’s Hoseok, shirtless (you don’t need to check if it’s wearing anything else).

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

It’s rushing back. You quickly learned San and Wooyoung had no intention of letting you go after just happy hour. They were all convinced you were too stressed and that what you really needed was a patented WooSan (yes, they had a couple name, despite not actually being in a relationship) night of fun. You briefly considered protesting, but really, what was the point? And fuck, they weren’t wrong.

So happy hour turned into multiple stops. Wooyoung was on a karaoke mission and although you had never heard him sing, you instinctively thought drunken karaoke was never a good idea. (You were wrong, he had the voice of an angel to match his personality of the devil.) Karaoke meant meeting up with more of their friends. And somehow, because fate was cruel, one of their friends had brought along his friend Hoseok. You remember staring at him like a deer in headlights before declaring everything was fine and hitting the shots. There also may have been a lot of flirting with Wooyoung’s tall friend with the shy smile whose name you couldn’t remember.

Now, in the light of day, it was not fine. You gingerly slide out from underneath his arm and carefully get out of the bed, tiptoeing over to what you can only hope and assume is a bathroom, phone snatched off the nightstand on the way. You’re thanking drunk you for not making it harder to find.

Once you’re in the safety of the bathroom, you sink down to the floor and take a couple of breaths. You’re not sure if it’s the hangover rearing its ugly head or just the situation you’ve found yourself in.

You: Yoongi are you up? You: Please be up, I need you! You: This is important! Like one of those most important things in the world.

Yoongi isn’t answering and you’re starting to panic. You need someone to talk you through this. So you call him, knowing that it might get his attention. The first call goes to voicemail and so you try again. This time after the second ring you hear him grunt a frustrated “what?” and then hang up.

Yoongi: What the fuck? You call twice and hang up on me? You: Because I need you

Missed call from Yoongi

Yoongi: Then answer the fucking phone You: I *can’t* You: Yoongi, I fucked up, like really fucked up Yoongi: What’s going on? You: I went out drinking last night and ugh I did something really fucking stupid Yoongi: Whatever it is, it’s not that serious You: I just woke up next to Hobi… You: Like I’m in fucking university again Yoongi: … Yoongi: I’m going back to bed, you’re being dramatic You: I’m *not* this is SERIOUS Yoongi: It’s not that serious You: I’ve spent 5 years trying to get over the way he treated me, so yeah it’s a big deal Yoongi: it’s just drunken sex and I’m tired You: oh my god, give the phone to Jimin Yoongi: Just text him You: Yoongi, please

You stare at the phone and try to figure out what else to say when the screen lights up again.

Yoongi: I have a very grumpy boyfriend You: Jimin, thank god Yoongi (Jimin): what is it my little problem child? You: Just read up Yoongi (Jimin): You bitch, you went out and got drunk and didn’t invite me? You: Jimin can we focus please? Yoongi (Jimin): Who did you go out with? You: Is this really the time? Yoongi (Jimin): I’m waiting You: Fuck Jimin, just some people that are working on the show You: Now can we please talk about this colossal mistake? Yoongi (Jimin): I’ll be there to pick you up and take your hungover ass to get breakfast, which is more than you deserve since you went out WITHOUT ME You: Thank you and I will never go out without inviting you again Yoongi (Jimin): Better

You’ve taken way too long in the bathroom and you know there’s a chance Hoseok will be awake now. But you can’t bring yourself to leave the bathroom until you get the text from Jimin that he’s downstairs. Bless him for being an absolute angel, even when it’s his horns keeping the halo upright. 

Despite being a colossal pain in the ass about nearly everything in life, Jimin does actually come through and take you to one of the best meals you’ve ever had. Or maybe you’re just that hungover. You don’t really know. He’s also somehow managed to bring you a change of clothes (which, you’re not really sure if they’re actually yours or where they came from, but the outfit looks remarkably put together) and makeup so you don’t have to go all the way home. You try to ask why he’s so prepared and he only gives a vague answer about how you didn’t know him before Yoongi and smirks. You’re immediately filing that away for another day when you do remember to invite Jimin out to drink with you and whatever group you’ve been dragged into. 

When Jimin drops you off at the studio (another point to Jimin) where your car is still conveniently parked from the night before, you’re feeling and looking significantly more human. You know you owe him, he doesn’t have to say it. But he’s Park Jimin so he says it anyway and you just smile.

The auditions feel a little less tedious with a stomach full of greasy food the day after a much-needed night out (where you will be pretending that you did not fuck Hoseok again). You’re looking for some more minor characters today. If things go well and you end up doing a second season based on the second book, they could play a much bigger role. For now, though, it’s still small.

Realistically, you’re not hungry because Jimin really did hook you up. Then again, the food is there and it’s free, so you’re looking over to decide what you might actually want to try. Someone approaches the other side of the table, looking tentative. You immediately recognize him as one of the guys you pointed out as fitting the right look for one of your characters. He was sweet, kind of endearing, but with really striking features.

“Hey, I just wanted to introduce myself,” he says and you look up. “I’m Chan.”

“I remember,” you say and you’re being honest. You were insistent that he be kept around to audition.

“Wow, I didn’t think…well that’s great. I’m excited to get the chance. Thank you so much,” Chan says and you realize this might be a big deal for him.

“No problem, you just remind me of him,” you say.

“I was talking to my dance teacher before the first audition,” Chan starts and you raise an eyebrow. “Oh, I know this isn’t a dancing part, I just like to take the classes.”

“That’s fair,” you say.

“And I was really worried about the audition and how it would go,” Chan says. “But my dance teacher, he’s awesome, he said he had gone to school with you and used to be friends with you and all that and that you were really nice.”

That one statement brought you up completely short. What the fuck?

“Who’s your dance teacher?” You already know the answer because really, who else could it be? Still, you need to hear him say it.

“Oh, Jung Hoseok,” Chan says quickly and you force a smile. “Do you remember him? He gave me all this great advice about the audition and said he’d try to reach out to you if it made me feel better. He’s so nice.”

“Yeah, he was. It’s been ages since I’ve spoken to him though,” you say, hoping that you succeed in the attempt at nonchalance. 

“Yeah, he said that. I think he was just trying to help me feel better, offering to reach out,” Chan agrees. “I get it though. You’ve had so much success as a writer, so it makes sense you wouldn’t still talk to everyone from college. It’s so cool they’re turning your book into a series and you’re so young!”

“I feel like I’ve been writing for like 20 years with how much it ages me sometimes,” you say to distract yourself from thinking of Hoseok.

“I actually…read all the books when they came out, I’m a big fan,” Chan says and blushes like it’s embarrassing to admit. You think it’s sweet. One of the PAs calls out for you, though.

“Good luck today, Chan. It’s been really great speaking to you,” you say and excuse yourself.

Honestly, you can’t believe the audacity of fucking Jung Hoseok to say what he had to this poor kid. Playing it off like he knows you, making it seem like you just used to be friends. And what was he thinking, offering to reach out to you on behalf of this kid?

That’s when a truly sickening thought settles into your brain. Takes root in a way that you know you can’t shake it. One of those intrusive thoughts that shouldn’t ever exist. Was that what this all was? Is this why he reached out? Does he just want to help one of his dancers get a role in your new series? That would be seriously fucked up if that was the case. And you hate thinking he could be capable of something like that. The reality is that you used to know Hoseok, while the guy who wrecked you was a complete stranger and there’s no way of knowing which one had shown up now.

The rest of the day is kind of a wash from a concentration standpoint. You’re a million miles away and thankfully, nobody seems to call you on it. You’re not sure if it’s because they’ve worked with writers before that had their heads in the clouds or because you’re still answering all the questions asked of you. Either way, you’re not really there at all. 

Over the next day or so, you decide the best way forward is to continue ignoring Hoseok (despite him texting you multiple times wanting to talk about what happened after karaoke). Instead of talking to Hoseok, you do the completely rational thing and talk to every other person you trust. How can you decide on the next move without multiple opinions? 

You can’t.

Yoongi is first up and he’s exceptionally grumpy since you woke him up before he was ready to be a person. It may not have been that early by normal human standards, but Yoongi is only part human and part gremlin, you think, so he’s never really followed normal hours. Once he’s done being grumpy, he takes his time being thoughtful. As far as he sees it, this was just some drunken sex. It isn’t like Hoseok actually asked for anything, that you remember. And you insist you remember everything from the night.  For all you know, it was just stress relief for both of you. No point in getting worked up.

Since Jimin is there and incapable of being ignored, he also gets to weigh in. Which is welcome, actually, because Jimin can be really calculating when he wants to be. He asks a lot of questions, both about the guy you were friends with and the fight that ended it all. You’re just about ready to call this conversation a day when Jimin says he doesn’t think it sounds like something malicious. There’s only one way to know for sure, though, and he suggests that you just talk to Hoseok like an adult with multiple published books and a streaming deal. There’s Park Jimin for you.

Part of you wants to ask Namjoon, but thinks better of it. The Affair incident is fresh in your mind and you really don’t need to give him another reason to question your sanity. There are enough of those just in everyday life. And you just had to relive the entire fight with Jimin so you’re not too eager to explain all the backstory to Namjoon.

Which makes the final person you ask Jungkook. His opinion is so incredibly important to you, yet it’s the one that you’re least excited about getting. It means you also have to tell him about sleeping with Hoseok, a fact that you have carefully avoided. Not that you owe Jungkook every detail of your life, because you’re not actually in a relationship. It’s just that, sometimes, with how much you depend on each other, it feels like something more. Feels like it’s much more than just some friends-with-benefits type situation. 

In true Jungkook fashion, he takes the news in stride and doesn’t linger on you fucking this stranger that reappeared at the Gala and hasn’t seemed to go away since then. He’s thoughtful, Hoseok has come up a lot in your conversations lately, so he doesn’t have to ask questions like Jimin. And you tell him how frustrating it was to answer them, anyway. There’s no escaping it when Jungkook comes to the same conclusion, though. 

“Just talk to him,” Jungkook urges, “you’ll feel so much better being able to gauge his answer.”

“I’m really sorry,” you say and Jungkook’s eyebrows furrow at that. 

“For what?” he asks.

“Getting drunk and making a stupid fucking mistake by fucking him,” you answer, avoiding his eyes. 

“It’s really not a big deal for you and me,” Jungkook says.

“Are you sure?” you ask. You hate how small your voice sounds.

Jungkook closes the space between you and kisses the top of your head. “I’m sure. I’m here for whatever you need.”

This brings you to texting Hoseok.

And that brings you to sit down in a coffee shop with him, because apparently you can’t just text or go to each other’s apartment, like normal people. Which is nice too, actually, because it gives you a chance to see more of the city than just your apartment or the studio where you’ve been working. It allows you to people watch, see those rushing by in a haze mingled with those taking their time. Let’s your overactive imagination come up with a story for each of them. 

You still aren’t even sure if you want to forgive Hoseok for everything that happened all those years ago. And with all the writing sessions and casting calls, you haven’t exactly had a lot of time to even think, let alone talk to anyone outside of your small circle. Which isn’t totally out of character, you’ve never been one for a huge circle of friends or social engagements. It just makes everything a little more complicated now as you’re trying to sort out feelings. 

Hoseok beat you to the coffee shop this time, seemingly by a bit since he’s going to get his second cup just after you sit down. You spare a passing thought that maybe he’s nervous about talking to you. He certainly seems like he is. Weirdly it makes you less nervous. It makes you feel somehow more in control of the situation because you do know what you want to say.

“So,” Hoseok begins after he sits back down, “about the other night…”

“Actually, that isn’t exactly what I wanted to talk to you about,” you say, watching his eyes go wide.

“What?” he stutters out.

“I mean, I guess it’s kind of related? But also not,” you say. “I met Lee Chan at a casting call the other day.”

Whatever Hoseok was expecting, it’s not this. He tries to connect the dots for a moment before meeting your eyes again. “Okay? He’s a great kid, I’m glad he decided to go to the auditions after all.”

“That’s it?” You’re watching him for a reaction that just isn’t there. Maybe, despite The Fight, he’s still more or less the person you were friends with.

“I’m not sure what else to say about him,” Hoseok admits.

“Okay, cards on the table,” you say with a confidence you don’t entirely feel. “Did you show back up in my life to help your student get a part in my series?”

Hoseok chokes on his drink when the question comes out, turns into a coughing mess and takes a minute to clear his throat. “What the fuck? Is that what you think? Come on, you know me…”

“I don’t though, do I? Not anymore,” you disagree and there’s finally an emotion on his face that you can place: hurt. He’s hurt and you’re not sure how to feel about that. Your feelings about him are still so mixed up. A big part of you wants to comfort him, though. Which isn’t exactly the response you’d expected.

“Maybe I deserve that, but it still hurts,” Hoseok says. You chew your bottom lip while you think.

“It hurt to have the thought it was possible too, trust me,” you say. “But it was weird timing, you know? Chan introduced himself during his second audition, later the same day I woke up in your bed.”

“I would never sleep with you to help a student get something out of it,” Hoseok says earnestly. “I’d never sleep with you to get anything out of it.”

“I want to believe that,” you admit.

“I had no idea that you’d be there. Another guy from the studio who teaches but also takes my master classes is friends with your friends that invited you out. He asked if I wanted to come out, I wasn’t busy, so I figured why not?” Hoseok explains. “And then I wake up and you’re gone.”

“Hoseok,” you say, a quiet warning.

“Actually, I wake up and you’re sneaking out without saying anything,” he amends. 

“I needed to not be there,” you say because it’s all you can say.

“I get that, I know you’re seeing someone, but we needed to talk about it,” Hoseok says.

“Yeah, Jungkook knows,” you say and feel your heart constrict a bit at the way Hoseok pales.

“What?” Hoseok asks. When you don’t say anything, he continues. “Please tell me you’re kidding, he looks like he could kick my ass and barely break a sweat.”

“He would never,” you disagree. “My…relationship, if you wanna call it that, with Jungkook isn’t exactly what you think? Like he’s not my boyfriend, we’re not exclusive or anything like that.”

“But you let me think you were?” He doesn’t look upset, just confused if anything.

“Yeah, I know,” you say and he’s still watching you carefully. “It was just easier and honestly, I didn’t feel like I owed you an explanation for my personal life after all these years.”

“I - yeah, okay, I guess I have to respect that,” Hoseok agrees. “But we still need to talk.”

“I’m not ready,” you say immediately, try not to feel anything when he deflates. 

“I guess I just thought…since you asked to meet me,” Hoseok says, trailing off.

“I needed to know if you really just did that for a student,” you offer.

“You believe that I didn’t, right? That I wouldn’t?” Hoseok asks with so much hope that you’re not sure you can take it.

“I do, yeah,” you say. You’ve barely had time to process, but you know you do believe he wouldn’t do that. It’s about all you know when it comes to him now.

“I really do need you to know how sorry I am,” Hoseok says and you start to open your mouth, but he’s quicker. “Please, you don’t have to say anything, just let me say this? Please?”

He looks so much younger, so vulnerable for a moment. All you do is nod.

“I know sorry isn’t what you need to hear, I get that. I know that I can’t go back and change that fight and all the fucking stupid shit that I said. Stuff that I didn’t mean. And I do hear you that you’re not ready. I just want you to know that I’m so sorry,” Hoseok says.

You let out your breath. “I do know that Hobi, at least on some level.” 

“I’ve, well I’ve done a lot of thinking about that day. I talked to a lot of people, both friends and a therapist, actually. There aren’t any excuses for what I did, no matter what was going on in my head. If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s definitely that. So I want to make sure you know that when you are ready, if you’re ever ready, I won’t make any excuses. What happened was entirely my fault and I completely acknowledge that,” he says, so earnestly. 

“I appreciate that,” you say because it’s all you really can think up.

This was supposed to clear your head up, which it has in some ways. You feel a little silly for even thinking that Hoseok would do something like sleep with you to help get someone he only kind of knows a role in a TV series. And you’re also questioning your friends since none of them pointed out you were having a full breakdown over a man. Not your finest moment. 

But with that one, small thing cleared up, your mind immediately goes back to the bigger issue: Hoseok has reappeared in your life and you really need to figure out how you feel about that. You’ve missed him, of course. You’re not going to deny that very obvious truth. On top of that, you also very clearly have some sort of feelings for him. After all, you’re not stupid college kids anymore. It’s not like you can pretend the sex was meaningless. 

Hoseok, showing some definite growth from your college days, accepts it when you say that you just can’t talk about all the very real things you need to right now. Accepts it when you say that you believe him but you have to go. Accepts that you’re running late for something. The only problem is that you’re not running late. It’s not like you actually planned for after your talk with him. It was too much to even think about how the conversation was going to go.

Now it’s over, though, and you don’t really want to go home to be alone with your thoughts. One of the few times that you don’t like that you live alone. Don’t like that you don’t have a built-in person that can just be there without you having to explain what you’re feeling or that you don’t want to be alone. Which is when your brain goes to Jungkook. He’s become that person that you go to when you don’t want to be alone or when you need to get out of your own head.

Except you’re not really sure that’s fair to him. Not really sure if seeing him right now is going to help you. Since the Gala, he’s been nothing but supportive and understanding. This is too much, though, isn’t it? Sure, you and he have never really wanted to bother labeling things, both just happy with the way things are. Things have naturally kind of evolved, but you haven’t stopped to talk about any of it. Sure, Jungkook always assures you that it’s fine, that he’s happy to be there whenever you need him. 

The healthiest thing to do is go home and actually try to sort out your feelings. The second healthiest thing to do would be to call Yoongi and tell him that you actually need to talk to him (which you do, desperately, need his help). 

None of the healthy options include texting Wooyoung to see if he’s got any plans that night. The healthy ways to process definitely don’t include agreeing to go out for happy hour knowing full well what that means with Wooyoung. At least this time, you invite Jimin to avoid one disaster.

(Jimin agrees to come and agrees to your terms that he’s not allowed to ask if you’re okay or if you want to talk. Agrees that he won’t tell Yoongi even if he thinks you’re making reckless decisions. He also finds a way to tell Wooyoung’s friend not to invite Hoseok this time without outing you. When you’re sober, you’ll probably thank Jimin. Maybe. There is always his ego to consider.)

“I feel like I’ve seen you around somewhere,” San muses, looking at Jimin.

Jimin just smiles his most mischievous smile and shrugs, taking a sip of his drink. “Probably.”

“Jimin is one of my best friends, he’s been by the studio a few times,” you say when it’s clear Jimin isn’t going to provide any more context. He sighs and rolls his eyes dramatically.

“I’m also dating her platonic soulmate, so she’s stuck with me,” Jimin adds and you snort.

“Is that what we’re calling Yoongi these days?” you ask. Jimin smiles a real smile, eyes crinkling. 

“Honestly, yes, your friendship with him is so sweet, it makes me sick,” Jimin says with nothing but affection. 

San seems satisfied and Wooyoung just looks enamored by anything Jimin says. Which is actually kind of cute because you can tell he’s not even interested in Jimin like that, just genuinely wants to be his friend. And you definitely get that. Jimin is one of the sweetest, most charismatic people that you know. Yes, he can be a devious little shit, but when he’s like this, it’s impossible to not like him. 

That’s just kind of how the night goes. Thankfully, it’s not quite as crazy as the last time you went out with this group. You learn the tall guy’s name is Mingi and for some reason, he seems weirdly shy around you. It’s cute and he’s incredibly sweet. Jimin fits in seamlessly, which isn’t a surprise to you with how many times you’ve seen him like this. 

What is a surprise, though, is that Jimin keeps demanding you get up and dance with him. Since, of course, happy hour turned into going someplace else. It wasn’t just Jimin that wanted to dance and now you were just along for the ride. He also insisted that you were a safe choice to dance with and also gave you a sob story about how Yoongi would never dance with him at the club. 

(Probably true, crowds and people and this kind of thing were definitely not Yoongi’s first or second or even last choice. It’s also true that Jimin is a really amazing dancer and you’re a little intimidated by him. You’re also, thankfully, just buzzed enough to not really care.)

It’s the early hours of the morning when you finally head home, feeling a lot lighter than you had after leaving Hoseok. In fact, you haven’t checked your messages since meeting up with Jimin, Wooyoung, San, and the others. There’s something freeing about just putting everything on Do Not Disturb and enjoying the moment. 

By the time you get out of the car at your apartment, the alcohol haze is already wearing off. Which ends up being a good thing when you open your door to see someone sitting on your couch. There’s a half second of panic, of your brain calculating fight or flight, before you realize that it’s just Jungkook. Sitting on your couch, watching TV like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

“Jesus Christ, Jungkook,” you say, hand on your chest like you’re about to die. A little overdramatic, maybe, but your brain is still a little hazy around the edges. 

“Sorry,” he says, eyes immediately going comically wide. “I didn’t mean to scare you!” 

“No, it’s fine,” you say as you toe off your shoes and drop your keys and bag on the table by the door. 

“I really am sorry,” he says. It’s easy to believe when he looks that bashful. “I don’t even know why I came over. I just, well I texted you after I got out of my shoot to see how things went and you didn’t answer.”

“Oh yeah, I went out for drinks with Jimin and some friends from the set,” you say and Jungkook nods. 

“Yeah, he actually texted me,” Jungkook admits and you just chuckle. Of course he did, you think. “But I was already on my way over here and your apartment is more comfortable than mine. I can leave though?” 

“No, it’s fine, it’s late,” you say as you collapse on the couch with him. “One rule, though.” 

“What?” he asks.

“I don’t wanna talk about the conversation with Hobi right now,” you say quietly as you nestle into Jungkook’s side.

You miss the way that he tenses for a minute at the way the old nickname falls so easily from your lips. Miss the way it takes his arms a minute to wrap around you. Miss the way his face falls a little at you not wanting to talk to him about something. 

“Of course, whatever you need,” Jungkook says. 

You don’t hear the way his voice sounds a little hollow, a little less animated than it usually does. He wants to mean it, wants to keep being there for you however you need him. It’ll be fine, he tells himself. He can do this. 

all of them are kinda going through it right now, but please let me know your thoughts <3

[mint-yooxgi]

I really respect how much you stand up for yourself. Not everyone has to agree with your opinions in order for them to be valid, and so many people (myself included) are people pleasers who prioritise being ‘nice’ over being honest and true to yourself and setting firm boundaries on the respect you deserve from others. It’s always refreshing to see someone who will stand their ground and I genuinely find it a source of inspiration, so I appreciate that just as much as your brilliant writing! If someone doesn’t like your stories they don’t have to read them. I’ve always taken your requests for feedback as a request to hear what people thought, not as a request for anyone who hated it to come out and insult it (very common courtesy, if I don’t enjoy something I obviously don’t interact with it???). I understand if people like the stories but want to share something constructive, but if you’re giving feedback on something that was FREE, the least you can do is be respectful - honesty without tact and respect is just cruelty. And I think you’re right in your observation that a lot of the hate/cringe anon stuff is coming from butthurt people who don’t like to be called out for their behaviour … sucks to be them! If only they’d take the opportunity to learn and grow from it 🥲

Hey love, I just want everyone to know I received this ask before I got the one I just responded to, but I felt the need to respond to the other one first because, I'll be very honest, I'm tired and very upset people keep taking things out of context and putting words in my mouth.

This is getting ridiculous at this point, and you're right here my dear anon, I AM going to stick up for myself because this is MY blog, and if people don't like it, they can see themselves out. I have every right to defend myself on my own blog, or make jokes out of rude, hateful anons that come into MY safe space and call ME a "dumbass hoe."

I, too, believe it or not, am a people pleaser, but I'm sick and tired of ignoring my own comfort in favour of others. This is something I felt finally needed to be said, and I'm very pleasantly surprised by how many other authors agree with me. Which, honestly, says a lot!

I literally never made it about the two blogs I reblogged those fic rec posts from. One of which, has reached out and said they're actually grateful I told them and is going to fix the post when they get a chance to! Kudos for them! That's the mature thing to do!

This whole situation never was directed at anybody, or meant to be targeted until certain people made it just about them. And now, it's ballooned into this when all I was asking was for basic respect for all authors. I'm just... shocked.

And I could not have said it better myself, anon. I hope you don't mind me quoting you here, but

"If someone doesn’t like your stories they don’t have to read them. I’ve always taken your requests for feedback as a request to hear what people thought, not as a request for anyone who hated it to come out and insult it (very common courtesy, if I don’t enjoy something I obviously don’t interact with it???). I understand if people like the stories but want to share something constructive, but if you’re giving feedback on something that was FREE, the least you can do is be respectful - honesty without tact and respect is just cruelty."

This, especially your last line about tact and respect is literally so important. I think people get too comfortable saying whatever they want behind the security of the anonymous feature. If you have a problem with me, then come off anon, or shoot me a private message, and we can deal with it there. Sending a rude anon during a time when I'm making a post about showing your authors respect just doesn't sit right with me. And if you're going to send feedback, like actual helpful feedback, make sure it will actually help the person you're sending it to? Also, make sure they asked?

I really hope people do take this opportunity to grow, and critically think about this situation before trying to get involved. Because at this point, a lot of people are just making themselves out to be an ass. (Not you anon, you're literally so sweet for sending me this! Same with everyone who has been supporting me and kind! So I thank you very much!!)

[lunar-years]

Hey, just wanted to leave a note from a British perspective about your new fic, that you probably shouldn't publish, or you can if you want, but you definitely should know about. I know you aren't too into looking for canon corrections, and I know you want Jamie to have a friendly face on the England team, but Paddy O'Gara is THEE most Irish name in the world, the Arlo White cheat sheet has him down as a former Ireland international, and the animosity and oppression of Ireland by England leading to Ireland gaining independence is extremely culturally important, to the point of it being extremely offensive to mislabel an Irish person as English. I know this is just a side character who never gets a line of dialogue, but the info we have on him says he's Irish and I really wish you would change that in your fic and not have him on the England team. I don't have a massively good solve for you aside from using a real man city player's name who plays for England and would have been there when Jamie was, or maybe a variation of it? Like... God.... Trotter, to mean Kyle Walker? Something to mirror Stones? But given that the small moments and information we have about O'Gara make him someone who shows up in Jamie fics a fair bit... we know he's Irish, and interchanging Irish for English is extremely not good for Irish people. Even in this case, it stings. You're nice so I thought you'd want to know and thought this might sit outside of your "not fussed on getting canon details right in an AU" thing, which I generally support. Being like "this Irish person is actually English in this AU" is not the same, if you get me. It's laden with racial politics. Sorry if this bums you out.

Hi! Few things:

I've gone back and corrected this! I don't feel comfortable using real player's names as I know nothing about the real players, but I think I came up with a decent alternative (making someone up!) :)

I don't mean to waywardly post this when you said I maybe shouldn't, but since you also said I still could, I've decided I'll go ahead and do so so that people know I am receptive to this kind of feedback (and so I can respond and apologize!) If something ever genuinely offends you in my fics let me know and I will try my best to fix it.

In this case this was an honest error, and I definitely didn't mean to be implying like, "so btw this Irish person is actually English in this au." I just picked O'Gara because he's the only man city player Jamie seems genuinely friendly with/interacts with in canon. Obviously I am aware of England's oppression of Ireland so I take total ownership of my mistake! Just want to be super clear it was NOT my intent to purposefully rewrite and mislabel an Irish character as English, it was an accidental oversight.

I am sorry to you and to anyone else who may have been offended. Hopefully you will be able to enjoy the revised version of the story if you decide to give it another go. Thanks for letting me know.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Unfinished, Ugly, Overpriced

Genuine answer for the autistic anon and a discussion point for general commentary. Feel free to disagree and post your own thoughts on this, I feel like it’s important. While this may vary and we aren’t a bjd hive-mind, there are some basic minimum quality standards for artisan-made resin dolls, things that we have just kind of come to expect in the hobby, and many of the recent artist dolls that have been posted about here are posted because they don’t meet it. A lot of us don’t judge the doll worthy of its price and classification if it doesn’t meet these standards. Can you make what you want, how you want and charge what you want and ignore what anyone else thinks? Sure, but that might not be your best option if your goal is to continue to make and sell dolls. It’s not that big of a hobby and you need to appeal to a minimum number of actual paying customers to continue to meet your casting minimums and business expenses.

‘Ugly’ is subjective, a doll can be ugly to me and be wonderful to someone else but some degree of symmetry, a certain level of detail and evidence of artistic merit is usually expected for a doll over $100 not to just be considered ‘ugly’. ‘Finished’ is also subjective - many companies have refined their body sculpts and re-released them to look better and pose better, a few do it compulsively enough that it’s confusing to sort out all the versions even - but each version usually meets what we have come to expect as some kind of ‘finished’ state at the time of release, a range of motion, a refinement of the parts inside and out, consistent sizing within a proportional aesthetic, a good fit for the parts where they meet and few to no defects in the resin or overall design that could cause problems later. ‘Expense’ is another thing that is subjective, but price expectation is usually tied to both doll quality and skill of the maker, and in a more complex way, to rarity at release time or later. It’s true there have been a few utter potatoes that have held their value but those are exceptions. For me, since my doll gang has a really wide price range - basically if you can’t produce something that matches my aesthetic preference on a quality level that is consistent with other similarly sized dolls within your price range, I give the doll (and often the doll maker) a miss.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the in past, doll critique in some circles has been both more blunt and more honest. When I started painting dolls, I received more helpful feedback in my own work and improved faster than I would have otherwise with only likes and nice comments. Now it feels like there’s more expectation to just say something nice and encouraging when someone posts a WIP and the actual critique areas are forgotten. I believe that part of the difference also is that some of the digital sculptors today don’t have a basic art background and they aren’t asking for and receiving valid constructive critique and re-printing & refining their dolls accordingly before casting, especially to work on the joints. But I also do know of at least 2 doll sculptors who will nearly throw a tantrum if they post a digital WIP asking for critique and don���t get praise, so no one bothers to give them any good critique anymore. Yet they expect to charge competitive prices for doll preorders that IMO do not meet the quality standards that merit the price they are asking.I mean yeah it's cool to make a doll that is inspired from book, video games, anime etc but I think this should stay a personal project, not something that you want to sell in several quantities.

~Anonymous