#I've always wanted to make merch for this series and now feels like my time...

[luckyblackcatxiii]

Ahahahaha.wav~ 🦋

It's the spooky month, so I'm aiming to make some new merch in accordance with the season. What better way to start it off than with a witch? I'd like to do more Umineko charms in the future, but Beatrice felt like a good place to start~ (Also it'll be 3D, here's the vision) 👇

[xiaq]

What was your relationship with HP in your childhood and what did it mean to you?

Warning: long answer is long.

I read the first HP book when I was 10. It felt like coming home. I was a deeply awkward, anxious kid dealing with bullying at school. I felt wrong and out of place and like everyone except for me had a manual for how they were supposed to navigate life; without the manual I was certain I would never catch up.

Books were a fucking haven. And THIS book. This book was about a kid that I empathized with so much. Except he's bullied and feels out of place because he IS out place. He's meant to be somewhere better, with people like him, who (for the most part) treat him kindly and with respect. And suddenly he's able to make friends and excel at his studies, and he settles into this fantastic world where he fits, and he's bright and likable and he has a purpose. It was just. God, it was everything I wanted for myself. AND there was magic and a train and a cool castle.

I think the first two books were already out when I started reading and I read the rest as they were released (re-reading them all multiple times in between). The friends I did manage to make also adored the books. I went from "playing Harry Potter" on the playground to writing fanfic to going to midnight book releases and meeting up with friends to see the movies as they started coming out. The final book came out shortly after I started high school, and the final movie came out when I was in college. I went to that midnight showing with a good portion of my friends and we all cried like babies at the end. Because it was over. This thing that had sustained us for so long. This thing that marked our childhoods.

You have to understand that Harry Potter-related expectation was a constant for the majority of my life. Since I was in elementary school there was always a new book to look forward to every year or so. And when the book series was completed, there was the next movie to look forward to. And then it was over (and with such an unsatisfying epilogue). That's when I really got involved in fandom (outside the fic I wrote amongst friends in a the group journal we kept and passed back and forth during studyhall, ofc). And fandom was the most accepting, glorious, place for an anxious queer kid just starting to come out of her shell as college afforded her the freedom to realize that maybe the very narrow (private Christian school k-12) concept of normalcy she'd been afforded until that point wasn't entirely accurate. And it continued to be glorious. I went to cons and got merch and put my House in my online dating profile and 3D printed custom HP cookie cutters and joked about having a HP themed wedding some day and my friends and I loved our nerdy little world that made us happy. Until Joanne ruined it.

And I'm honestly not trying to be dramatic, but when something has been so intrinsic to your life and your social circle and even, to an extent, part of your identify, it's fucking devastating when you find out the creator of that thing is a bigot and actively using her platform to target people you love. I stopped supporting her (buying books/movies/merch etc.) a couple years back, and I was content in embracing the concept of Death of the Author (or, as I've previously termed it, "we've killed the author and are now rifling through her stuff to keep the good bits and throw out the bad"). But now, in light of her continued escalations and the recent TV series announcement, and the conversations I've been having with friends (particularly Jewish and trans friends), I do mean that the very concept of Harry Potter is ruined for me. My, now decades, of nostalgia just...aren't enough to supersede what feels like an irresponsible attachment. Before, I wanted HP's social presence to live on in spite of and without JK Rowling. Now, it's becoming more and more apparent that the entertainment industry is going to squeeze as much money out of the HP world as possible which will, by extension, continue to give her a platform and money with which to actively support her shitty dogma.

So. Here I am, too sad to pick up my HP books for my annual summer re-read, or start the new fic a writer I love has just posted or open the document to work on my own HP fic. Which is not at all a condemnation of folks in fandom who ARE able to keep reading and creating and loving the world while thumbing their nose at her. I just can't right now.

So I'm stepping back and blocking the tags and ignoring the show and trying to let other worlds consume me.

Anyway. That's what it meant to me. Sorry for the tiny violin moment but your ask made me sit down and confront the fact that I'm dealing with an extremely weird sort of grief I haven't ever encountered before.

[rivalsforlife]

The Yearly AA Series Future Speculation Post

I've given up on calling it aa7 speculation because that has never worked out for me. anyways [apollo justice voice] hiya!

It's been a while since I made one of these little posts where I try to predict things and end up horribly embarrassing myself. BUT this year has actually been very exciting for Ace Attorney. We have Ghost Trick! We have 456 ports! Could there be more? Who knows. Tokyo Game Show is coming up and that's always a bad time of year for my self-esteem.

In this post I will do the following:

-Go over the November 2020 leaks again, to compare that to where we're at now

-Talk a bit about the 456 port and what I think that means for the series and its future

-Talk a bit about how well TGAA is doing, I think

-Brief Tokyo Game Show speculations (there's not much to speculate about)

I'll reference my previous posts and sources where necessary. It'll get long and rambly again so I'll put the rest under a keep reading.

FIRST:

Revisiting the Calendar (Again)

For those who aren't aware, back in November 2020, Capcom got hacked (this was overall bad) and from that hack came a leak of a roadmap for the future of the AA series.

For this post, please keep in mind that this calendar is using the Japanese fiscal year, which starts in in April. Therefore Q1 is roughly April-June, Q2 July-September, Q3 October-December, Q4 January-March of the next year.

This calendar was likely made in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, which inevitably ended up throwing everything off quite a bit.

Some of these things came true. This leak was where we first heard about the official TGAA ports, and while they were delayed by about a quarter, they still came out pretty close to on time with all things pandemic to consider. What's especially interesting is that now with confirmation of the 456 ports, we now have no idea what is up with AA7.

We know that AA7 was in development at one point. We know that, if things were on track prior to the pandemic, they might have started the main production. However, the plan seemed to be to release it for the 20th anniversary and use those sales and the sales from TGAA to judge whether 456 would be ported; now that we have 456 confirmed before AA7, we can assume that AA7's delay is so severe we have no way of predicting if or when it will come out.

The thing is, though, AA has been doing really well the last few years, despite the lack of a new game. The 2019 ports of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy have sold around 2.3 million copies, when previously no other Ace Attorney game broke a million. The trilogy hit a million copies around December 2020, for reference. Ace Attorney itself as a whole broke ten million copies sold recently. In this post I covered how TGAA seemingly has sold way more than Capcom expected, and sold pretty quickly, and is confirmed to be somewhere between 500k-1 million copies sold.

I don't see any reason to believe that AA is in dire financial straits. We've gotten more official merchandise in the last year or so than we got for a while, AA is featured heavily on Capcom's Captown website, the Tokyo Game Show merchandise store has been selling out of AA merch faster than any of their other IPs... I don't see why they wouldn't want to milk that. And 456 is probably a part of it.

What Do The 456 Ports Mean

Back in March 2022, in an event I almost completely forgot about, Capcom updated their trademark for Apollo Justice. I covered my thoughts on that here, and speculated it might indicate a 456 port. ... Which it apparently did. I'll quote exactly what I said in that post, since I still feel this way:

Presumably, previously, the decision to port or not to port 456 would be dependent both on how well TGAA does and how well AA7 would do. With no AA7, they might be making this decision solely based on TGAA. And they… might actually decide it’s worth the port?

This tells us a couple of things.

1.Capcom is aware that there is a decent market and profit to be made porting the Ace Attorney games to all consoles.

2.This heavily implies that TGAA sold fantastically.

I also said in my post about TGAA's success that the 456 ports would be the best indicator of whether Capcom would find it more profitable to continue along with mainline or stick to writing more things about TGAA. Because TGAA is actually doing... pretty great? It's always seemed to have a pretty good fan reception, but it came at the end of the 3DS life cycle and seemed to do poorly enough that Capcom didn't try to localize it for several years. But now it's big enough that Ryunosuke made it onto the 20th anniversary logo, and Ryunosuke and Kazuma are featured in some of the Ace Attorney merchandise for TGS's merch store.

456 doing well would probably reinvigorate Capcom's desire to continue making stories set in mainline. It also might inspire them to finally give an official translation to my favorite game, Ace Attorney Investigations 2, who is Capcom's poor unloved child these days. I'm not expecting Investigations Ports for a few more years, since they seem to be spacing out the ports by about two years, but... it's more likely now than I felt it was about three years ago.

The Great Ace Attorney Sweep

Also, the last few years have had a heavy focus on Great Ace Attorney, even now a couple of years after the ports came out. Takarazuka made their first AA musical in a decade based on TGAA, and, if you ask me, it sounds pretty heavily like they were teasing for a sequel someday. There also has been a reading theater based on TGAA, with an original episode written by Takumi.

Of particular relevance is this source of dubious credibility I linked to in one of my other posts talking about TGAA's expected success. I've assumed it came from the data in the November 2020 Capcom Leak but I can't be certain, so take this next part with a grain of salt.

Here are the original sales projections from 2019(?): FY21: 195K (originally supposed to launch in Q1) FY22: 55K FY23: 8K FY24: 41K (with 32K being in Q3)

This sudden increase in FY24 has always been interesting. Again, as a reminder, Japan's FY24 Q3 would be equivalent to October-December 2024.

It would make sense to say that the 456 ports coming out would likely lead to an increase in sales for all AA games, and it could be that Capcom initially intended for a 456 port to come out about half a year later than the current projection of early 2024. At the same time... I can't deny the possibility that this could be hinting at a new game in the TGAA setting. And something coming out in late 2024 could be a reasonable candidate for an announcement at some major gaming show that Ace Attorney fans already have an interest in tuning into. These are all completely neutral things I am saying that I have no expectations or hope for whatsoever.

What IS Happening At Tokyo Game Show?

TGS is always the part of the year where I say "This is the most likely place for a new AA game announcement leading up to or during it" and it never happens. This year, though, will be different! We have a CONFIRMED feature of the 456 ports. This is the first time we'll have AA content at TGS since 2018, when I first got into the series, so I think it's a pretty big deal. (2018 was when the trilogy ports were first announced; TGAA ports had an announcement-release window of April-July, so they didn't get a chance to feature at TGS.)

Since all we have for a release date is early 2024, I wouldn't be surprised if there will be an official confirmation of the release date, probably a showcase of port features, maybe in-person gameplay? That could be all, and it would be more than we've had since 2018.

I want to say "because there's going to be 456 advertising there, it would be ridiculous for them to announce some new AA content to detract from that". But I said the same things about the capcom showcase where Ghost Trick was featured and the 456 collection was announced, so. Capcom's decisions on when to announce things can be counterintuitive, it seems, so maybe the least likely time is actually the most likely...?

Anyways, we have no idea what the state of New Ace Attorney Content is like in Capcom. From the calendar from the Nov 2020 leaks, the staff that had been working on the DGS ports would join the main staff for AA7, suggesting to me that there would be part of the staff working on ports and part of the staff working on new things. We have no idea what happened to these people who were supposed to be working on AA7. We *can* assume that at least part of the staff transferred over to 456 ports now, but we don't know when that would have been, or if they'd really need all hands on deck for a remaster.

It's been a few years now since Yamazaki left Capcom. We know absolutely nothing about what Takumi has been doing, outside of whatever contributions he may or may not have made to the Ghost Trick remaster, and only recently contributing to various stage content. (We know he advised at least somewhat on the Takarazuka play, and wrote that original episode for the reading theater, so I'd assume he's not in the middle of a big project right when those were taking place.)

This is all to say, there's reason to believe Something's Been Happening Behind The Scenes. And Therefore -- [clown wig descends onto my head again] Maybe TGS 2023 Will Be The Year Of New Ace Attorney Content. Since 456 will be taking the spotlight, I wouldn't expect anymore than a teaser, if it's happening at all.

And now that I've said it, it won't happen.

OVERALL

-TGS confirmed 456 port feature, which should be interesting to see what kind of quality of life features they'll add. Slight possibility there could be something else AA related teased there, solely because Capcom.

-I think TGAA is doing better than Capcom expected and I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to make a new game of it, or at least more extracanonical content like stage plays taking place in that timeline

-AA7 has seemingly vanished but I am sure it will come back when I least expect it.

-AAI ports someday. please. please. please.

[neospokenworld]

SPRING ANIME 2024 FINAL THOUGHTS (PART 2)

Part one here

SEIYUU RADIO NO URA OMOTE

You know, ever since seeing Oshi no Ko's 1st season I've wanted to watch another anime that more or less walked through the behind the scenes of the industry, so when I heard what was Seiyuu Radio about I definitely wanted to see it and now that the season ended it was quite good ngl.

it was pretty good to watch and even if it probably isn't faithful to the VA industry it also gave some insight to the behind the scenes of it, I absolutely loved how in this final episode the entire sequence of Yasumi rerecording her lines to the 'Phantom' show was done with no music nor sound effects, just pure raw Voice Acting altogether. One thing I would say tho is that if it wasn't because a lot of yuri pages I follow said that this is a yuri slowburn I wouldn't even believe it was the intention other than slight subtext lol, I get the feeling that this show would need like 2 more seasons to show something romantic between Yuhi and Yasumi and to be honest I wouldn't mind it at all, I absolutely loved their rivalry in here and how they have each other's back if either of them was in actual trouble (Like Yuhi with the casting couch rumors and Yasumi with her lack of confidence for her role in Phantom). Needless to say this was a good anime all in all and while I would probably put it at the bottom of a ranking with all of the ones I saw complete this season it's wouldn't be because it was bad by any means, but just because I liked the other ones more in the end (also I would love to see a 2nd season of it, even if the chances are almost 0 lol)

GIRLS BAND CRY

When I first started this anime, all I thought was that it was gonna be a fun little anime with great visuals and not much else, but now that it finished all I gotta say is that it was easily my favorite anime out of the Spring season.

Like seriously, it's crazy how with each episode it got better and better. All of the TogeToge girls were really likeable to see and their interactions with each other were just so good in general, the animation was 100% a standout for the series with such an amazing 3D, and the songs were like OH MY FUCKING GOD THEY ARE SUCH BANGERS!! Like at one point I just downloaded the album they have and each new song that it came just went straight into my playlist

Another great thing it had was the relationship Momoka and Nina had over the course of the show, I'm gonna be honest here I didn't expected the yuri elements to be brought up again after the confession, this isn't that type of story in the end and even then, you could see the two sides of their really close bond, from one side of bickering and arguing but in the end being there for each other, to the other side of deep admiration (and love) for the other and always having each other back. Even if there wasn't anything canon in the end they have such chemistry that it wouldn't be crazy that they would be already dating by the time the final episode arrived

And that mainly going on Nina and Momoka's side of the band, both Rupa and Tomo had already that deep bond between them and you could see how much they trust each other, and Subaru being the wild card that easily ties everything together in the amazing band that is Togenashi Togeari. Every character has something going for them that can make you love them and be their favorite without looking down any of the others. Nina's passion and decisiveness, Momoka's leadership and coolness, Tomo's take-no-shit attitude and brash honesty, Rupa being basically the mom/older sister of the group and having an overall more relaxed nature (thus making her an amazing hidden agent of chaos), and Subaru's chaotic and grounded nature that helped both enhance the comedy and bring the girls down whenever needed

I hope we get more content for the show in the future, whether it's in form of new music; merch; a movie; second season; manga; anything, 'cause this was just too fucking good to just end here. Goated anime and the best of the season imo

KAIJU No. 8

Honestly I'm still surprised that this series isn't talked more, like I know that it has a fandom talking about it that I still haven't interacted with, but outside of that I've seen very counted posts recommending it or just mentioning it which is a shame 'cause these last 5 episodes were absolutely amazing

Like at first I was like ''it's a good one, but not as good as most I'm seeing'' but after Number 9 came to attack the defense force for the first time it was like the show awakened and started delivering banger after banger episodes, and before that we already had cool characters to go for in Shinomiya, Kafka, Hoshina and Reno. The animation was real good (especially in both the Hoshino vs Kafka fight and the full awakening of Number 8) and the action was cool too, plus it has nice characters and a pretty interesting story to tie it all up, I'm like 90% sure this will have a second season in the future and I'll be waiting for it 'cause I wanna know more about the story (even if I'm gonna start reading the manga sooner or later lol).

This anime was a late bloomer like Kafka in the end lol

SASAYAKU YOU NI KOI WO UTAU

Well, technically this isn't the final episode, but since the final 2 have been postponed until further notice I'm gonna share my ''final'' thoughts here.

I HATE how badly was this anime treated, like it had everything to become easily one of the best Yuri anime of all time after the first 2 episodes but then everything came crashing down and the production of it was basically a Mappa 2.0, so much that episodes 9 and 10 were delayed for 2 weeks and the final episodes are gonna be aired at some point in the future, leaving it inconclusive for the season.

But I'm gonna see it here on a positive side, the first two episodes were just extremely beautiful and even if by episode 3 the animation was downgraded I'm here as an anime only for this series, so I could watch this for the story instead of for the adaptation and to be honest I love the story. I love the characters and the dynamic between them, the soundtrack was really good and the songs were great too, in my opinion this anime is a top 3 for the season, and I understand the hate it gets from the fans since, while I still haven't read the manga, I can imagine how bad it must feel that the adaptation was butchered so badly that even the author hated it.

This anime deserved so much better, I really liked it from beginning to end, to the point where I'm gonna start reading the manga because of how good the story was so at least the anime did it's purpose of guiding people into reading it's source material. if by some miracle there's a remake I'll 100% be here for it, I loved it as someone who didn't knew anything about it but the fans deserved a far better adaptation

And that's it!! I'm gonna leave here my ranking for each of the anime's I saw to completion, I'll probably make another rank for my favorite OP and ED tomorrow too but for now thanks for reading

1 Girls Band Cry

2 Jellyfish Can't Swim at Night

3 Whisper me a Love Song

4 Bartender

5 Kaiju No. 8

6 Train to the End of the World

7 Delicious in Dungeon

8 The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio

[captainmera]

ello mera,

I wanted to ask how you post your comics online because i was thinking about making my own web comic series but i dont know where to start hehe

I think the website you used for IBWR was called Hiveworks but im not to sure how it works...

Also if you have any other tips when it comes to making comics like time management, planning, or even how draw those gorgeous backgrounds, it would be much appreciated :D

Thank you for your time ヾ(•ω•`)o ✧.*

Sure thing buckaroo, get in the backseat and let's hit the comic road!

ヾ(•`ω´•)o ✧.*

this is all from my perspective though, some stuff may not work for you, but hey - no knowledge is bad knowledge.

Hiveworks is a... Publisher! of sorts! Kind of. They're not like webtoons or Tapas when it comes to comic hosting, you have to be invited to Hiveworks (like me!) or apply to join them! :) They also have Hivemill which is a place where they sell merch for the comics. Either Hiveworks helped making the merch, or the artists themselves made the stuff and Hiveworks helps distribute it (I THINK, don't quote me on that. I haven't made or sold merch with them before. But it's what I understand. They have explained it to me, I'm just kinda dumb).

However! Comic control, of which Hiveworks uses to make the websites are free for anyone to use! :) So if you want your own website, go ahead and make one!

I'd still recommend you buy the URL you'll use in that case though. I pay a yearly fee on GoDaddy.com for mine. It's affordable and honestly worth it as a precaution, lest a dirtbag buy it just to ruin my day and give me distress for a year(s).

But my recommendation is that you mirror your comic in as many places as possible.

Now, my website has ads on it, so if you switch off ad-block when visiting IBWR, I can get ad rev from it! :D (thanks to Hiveworks, that is, they added the ad stuff on there. Idk how it works but it's nice passive income that I really need. It pays for my food).

That means I will prioritize the website over the secondary mirrored places. So that's the place I always link to first. So if people REALLY want to get the next page sooner, they can always check there first.

However, mirroring is great because it is very difficult to get people to read the story you've put so much love into. I want people to enjoy my story as much as I do. The more places you update it to, the more people will discover you.

I've noticed that people like to follow the artist/author on social media for update announcements and general news of what's going on for the comic - so know where your presence on socmed is at! If it's instagram, well, then prioritize instagram but don't forget bluesky or tumblr too! Just know where you're at.

BUT!! And I cannot stress (lol) this enough - but don't stress (lol) about it. which is easier said than done.

It can feel super overwhelming to constantly make each update of a page feel like a check list of "okay, posted announcement to insta, tumblr, twitter, I have scheduled a mirrored post to comicfury and tumblr, I have added all the links in the author section, uuuh, I gotta add a cropped panel sneak-peak in each and I gotta--" that shit gets tiring quick. Work smart not hard. I copy paste from a document and I print-screen crop a panel from my comic on my phone kind of flimsily and that works. Nobody cares if it's fancy. It's just extra energy on my part that I can't be arsed to worry about.

Like Webtoons require that you to always have a preview icon for each update. That's as complicated as I'm willing to get tbh. If it requires more than that from me I'm gonna hate it. But that's just me.

you want to be able to do something consistently.

Which brings me to..

MANAGEMENT

bro, it's a job. It takes work. Work is not always fun, but you gotta show up for it. you're the only worker here. If you don't show up, it doesn't get done.

And people are not going to read it until there's at least pages enough for them to catch on to a story. If you're here for recognition right away, stop. You'll hurt yourself. I know we live in a time of quick-positive feedback through likes and shares, etc. But that's just not reality most of the time when starting up.

So, you got to want to tell the story more than whatever you are expecting to get out of this.

Which will also help you with managing your feelings if your reader count grows or declines. Just remind yourself of why you even want to tell your stories. It's easier said than done, but I found it to be a helpful philosophy to try stick by.

Everything I gain from sharing my story is just a plus. Not the reason.

What I did, also, was to just post whenever I finished a page. I had no readers, only commitment to myself and the comic. That's it. You'll find it easier if you don't force yourself at first, at least I did. And then as you gain your own momentum and work-pace, you'll be able to be like "Oh yeah, sunday works for me. I'll aim for that." Aim for it, don't promise. But show up. You're not a machine, shit happens, life comes in. If you have a deadline that makes you feel guilty, you might start avoiding it etc. So maybe just cut yourself some slack and go "whenever I'm done with a page is a good day."

You are your own boss. You make your own rules.

Yes, there is an algorithm to it all - when's the best time to post, getting new readers through memes or what have you. You might discover that the best way for you to get readers is to make funny videoclips on instagram or tiktok - there is no wrong way.

However, it shouldn't feel like too much of a chore. You should enjoy it at least a little bit. Like, maybe you kinda like making goofy vids of your comic, or draw memes, whatever, right? But you should enjoy some of it. If you hate making vids, but you know it is a good pond to fish in.. well, like... I'm sorry but you're gonna get frustrated with it.

I like posting THANK YOU FOR READING doodles of my characters on instagram stories! :D <3 I like that! That's not too much trouble for me.

BE CRINGE, BE FREE.

who gives a shit.

enjoy yourself you goofy ass little comic artist. Blast your story everywhere, be proud, have fun. People enjoy having fun, they usually want to join in with the fun.

If you have fun, others have fun being with you.

DRAWING COMICS

dawg I wish I had any better tips than... Fuck it, poke at it however you want.

I usually have ten pages flimsily sketched out with speech-dialogues so I know what's gonna happen in the next pages, so I can pace the scene somewhat.

I say that, like I'm some kinda professional, but I jump between pages. Whichever page seems a little more fun. Sometimes I stare myself blind on a page and gotta draw on something else.

Some pages are super well sketched, others are just bald stickfigures making faces at other bald stickfigures.

BACKGROUNDS

Get references. Either look at photographs or take the yourself. Start getting into looking at buildings in real life. I, myself, spend quite a lot of time looking at different windows and brick buildings going "Dang, so that's a widow huh? Architects sure just make windows like BAM ENJOY THIS ONE huh?"

Basically, start appreciating the world around you. There's art everywhere. Someone has put thought - however big or small - into that sidewalk.

Is it a shitty sidewalk? Well, that's really grounding isn't it? Someone, at some point, looked at this space, sighed and thought "fuck man I just wanna go home. That's good enough." and that really grounds you visually into that this world is a place where people have been before you.

Sometimes I get lazy and at the same time in a mood to challenge my memory, and I'll start inventing what the heck a building or street looks like. And you can probably easily tell in a page when I, too, am going "fuck man I just wanna get this page done with, that's good enough."

AND THAT'S FINE!!!

Not everything have to be an awestriking master page! Damn, the pressure I'd be under if that's the only thing I had to produce asdfghj! if anything, great pages look better because some pages are shite.

It's okay.

It doesn't have to be perfect every time. Learn what didn't work, what worked. Post it. Move on. You can't sit on this forever or the story will never be told. Just post it, it's fine.

THERE IS NO PERFECT TIME TO POST YOUR STORY.

Post it in chunks or page by page. It doesn't really matter - new readers are going to read it all in one sitting anyway.

-------

I think that's all I can think of for now??

Hope that helped!

Oh also I have this side blog I've been neglecting a bit, but feel free to check that out: @comicartistcentral

[stormblessed95]

https://www.tumblr.com/stormblessed95/721486441973252096/i-know-a-lot-of-jikookers-are-absolutely-certain

I’m that person but isw I am not a taekooker. I’m jikook biased and have been for years. All I do is fight taekookers💀 n I didn’t mean to sound rude n ik I don’t know anything ab queer relationships hence my curiosity so I was kinda taken back by your response. All my social media is filled w jikook and my merch too. I’m not trying to troll. I am genuinely curious about how it would work if they were in a relationship and how I couldn’t imagine it for myself and how it’s obviously different for people including queer people, I would support love jikook the same if they were tgt and jm is obviously bi an assumption I made his photofolio and him tattooing the bigender flags. N I don’t think you understand the level of my love for them as individuals and together so I wasn’t trying to say they can’t be in a relationship at all bc I do think they are and I don’t at the same time and I don’t think that’s a bad thing or something to be like hated for. I wouldn’t have mentioned that I was straight if I wasn’t trying to perceive it from a perspective of someone who was part of the lgbtqia community and let you know that’s where my lack of knowledge came from. And ur right I didn’t check ur account I just saw that you reply to jikook posts n wanted ur opinion if I did check it my response wouldn’t have been the same. I do take u seriously otherwise i probably wouldn’t have asked for your opinion and I will read your posts ab everything I mentioned now that iknow you’ve responded to them all previously. I wasn’t trying to undermine u, kinda offensive being called a taekooker😭

I understand what you are saying. But you also have to understand how when your constant counter examples comes up as taekook examples, that's what it makes you sound like a little bit. And I just said that you sounded a little bit like one but I didn't say you were one for sure. I just expressed my own frustration at the assumption I would re answer things I've already answered before. But if you want to have a conversation about it, I would love to. I'm always very open to talk about jikook, regardless of who it's with as long as people are respectful about it. And if they are your biases, I'm sure you will be. To get you started, please check out the following posts.

Why I think Jikook are dating in a brief introduction:

Jikook exclusivity:

The difference in skinship and intimacy:

Honorifics and how Jikook use them, and introduction post as i have more too:

Boundaries In relationships and flirting platonically while in relationships:

Reasons why I think Jimin is queer:

Reasons why I think JK is queer:

LGBTQIA+ Posts that I think you should read regardless of the jikook conversation because as an ally, it's important to educate yourself on various topics 💜💜

And thats 10. To start with. And I *think* these posts answer all your questions from your first ask. If I missed a question. Let me know, I was working off of memory. So it's possible. But if you want to know my opinions over Jikook and my opinions over what you brought up, here they are. And for real, if you want to DM me to talk more about it and one to one and hopefully without the confusion of texting under anon making it harder to understand tones, please DM me. I can help direct you to various other posts after these too. Let me know if you read them! Good luck!

[becauseimanicequeen]

To Be Continued: Ji Was Always Comfortable Loving Achi

I've just rewatched To Be Continued as part of my Pride Month (here's my Pride Month Watch List if you're curious about what I planned on watching going into June), and I really enjoyed watching this series again.

During this second viewing of To Be Continued (which I binged over two days this week), I noticed several moments where Ji seemed to be very comfortable with the idea of having feelings for another boy, and then actually having those feelings. As opposed to one or two posts I remember reading (and disagreeing with) here on tumblr when the series aired, saying Ji wasn't willing to come out/be in a relationship with another boy (and that being the reason Ji rejected Achi).

I didn't believe that was true during my first viewing when it aired, and I don't believe that now after my second viewing either. Because Ji seemed really comfortable.

Just look at him smiling in this scene. Even though this was early on in their friendship and before Ji had any deeper feelings for Achi, it showed how comfortable he was in Achi's company and that he had fun (even though he didn't always want to directly show it to Achi, lol).

He even smeared the lip balm leftovers he had on his finger onto Achi's thigh. Not arm, not hand, not shin. His thigh...

Then there was this scene where Ji was cold and Achi lent him his jacket. Ji is looking so happy to share that jacket with Achi and seemed really comfortable being this close (physically) to Achi. And let's not forget those longing looks he gave Achi.

Another moment I can't get out of my head is this one:

Ji uses the same lip balm on both of them (like an indirect kiss), and he's the one who puts it on Achi. This was a bold move of Ji. If that wasn't a way to show his interest in Achi, I don't know what was.

Also, they were outside in a public space while doing this. Anyone could walk by at any point and see them together. But Ji was comfortable enough to do it anyway. Including this:

Fair enough, he doesn't say straight out that he's interested in Achi or that he likes Achi, but that's more because he doesn't want their friendship to be weird or end if Achi doesn't feel the same way (which is understandable). It doesn't mean he's uncomfortable liking another boy, though.

And he's definitely not uncomfortable around Achi:

I can't remember how many times they lay in bed together, but I can remember at least three scenes.

And even though we can discuss who initiated their first time (since Achi practically made them watch porn/an R-rated movie and asked Ji if he wanted to try it), Ji said he was the one who initiated it:

There was a misunderstanding on both sides after they had sex (Achi felt guilty for physically hurting Ji during sex and Ji thought Achi felt guilty for having sex with him). But after that initial confusion had settled, Ji wanted to talk it over with Achi:

Sure, Ji put up walls. But that's in the present, after Achi lied to him about having a girlfriend and then fleeing the country. Everything up to the point where he finds out Achi has left the country, Ji still wanted to be around Achi, the boy he liked. He seemed completely fine and comfortable with liking another boy.

Knowing this makes it even more understandable that Ji hadn't moved on from Achi (considering how he collected Achi merch and stuff). Knowing this also makes my heart ache even more for Ji losing 10 years with the boy he was always comfortable with loving.

The moral of the story, though? Clear communication is key!

[sim-songs]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

I was tagged by @papermint-airplane, thank you! Read my answers below

What’s your favorite Sims death?

Meteor strike! Although I can't remember the last time it has happened, I love the animations. Close second is death by vending machine, but I don't think I've ever gotted that death myself 💀

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Maxis Match all the way baby! Although if you've followed me long enough I have some history with Alpha as well.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

No, never! It's never been an issue in my game either, except when I had some lots with buffet tables in my save recently. I then noticed that my npc's tended to get much bigger haha, but still no cheating!

Do you move objects?

Yeah, can't live without that cheat!

Favorite Mod?

BY FAR the remove stencils mod by Velocitygrass! I use this mainly in CAS to remove EA's digusting shine on every piece of clothing. I simply go into create-a-style, open the cheat window and type "deco p" (note: once you've done that, click away to another piece of clothing. Otherwise, if you continue and edit the pattern it will snap back to the original specular) Literal lifesaver!

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

I can't remember for sure, but probably Late Night, Generations, or an older stuff pack like High End Loft Stuff.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

Like LIVing!

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Delphini Clearwater, I just love her big personality.

Have you made a simself?

No, never. I don't want to hurt my own feelings by trying, I feel like I'd get some face or body dysmorphia if I tried.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

They're all pretty terrible in my opinion, probably the plain black one.

Favorite EA hair?

Once again, they're all pretty terrible. I like some store hairs.

Favorite life stage?

Young Adult. Closely followed by teens, but because their faces always look funky they're not my first favourite.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I'd say both! I go through phases for both, but I'd say I'm quite good at building now.

Are you a CC creator?

Yes I am, converter!

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I don't have a squad, but definitely some Tumblr mutuals that I think of as friends 🥰

Do you have any sims merch?

Nope, none. Closest I've got is my disk collection with enclosed booklets for Sims 3.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Yes! I recently made a "Convert with Me" video and might make a more in depth tutorial series, and might also make a gameplay video if I ever feel like it.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

Most noticably I switched from Alpha to Maxis Match. I also did more research on faces and body types to make more diverse sims.

What’s your origin id?

I don't know, and even if I did I wouldn't share it because I share that old ass account with my sister.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@nectar-cellar @sweetdevil-sims @kotajose @aroundthesims

How long have you had Simblr?

I have no idea, my guess is since around 2017.

How do you edit your pictures?

I do very minimal editing, I just crop my pictures and let gshade do the work for me.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

My top three is: University Life, World Adventures and Seasons

Phew! If you've read all of this you're awesome! I tag @hiddengnomes @hiddenspriings @nectar-cellar @rollo-rolls @faeriefrolic

[dnangelic]

i just wanted to send some positive words your way and let you know that i absolutely adore the way you write both dark and daisuke. it's clear you put a lot of thought and love into both of them, and your posts have always brought a smile to my face. i'll never forget the shock i felt when your blog popped up in my recommended and, i was on call with my boyfriend at the time, he hears me go 'NO WAY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?' before i slapped the follow button LOL d.n.angel holds a special part of my early teenage years and your blog brings the warmth and nostalgia i felt all those years ago. i almost feel like that 14 year old again, giddy over a silly anime and kicking my feet with excitement every time i see your posts c: thank you for being such a joyous presence on my dash

YOOOO YOU FOUND ME FROM TUMBLR RECCS???? that's so funny... i always thought that thing was useless but i've been proven so wrong LMAO. I'M REAL THOUGH. I'M SO REAL!!! *DOES A JIG* I'M SO GLAD MY BLOG CAN MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY TOO 😭🤧PLEASE IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME. dnangel is such a weird series because it feels like everyone's at least -SEEN- or heard of it at least once but then it's still weirdly niche?? like there's not really anything for it esp anymore and nobody talks about it esp now that it's finally finished (manga-wise) after 30 some years but it's still like. most popular/easily recognized niche series ik off the top of my head JJGJKFKJ TYSM FOR UR COMPLIMENTS OVER MY PORTRAYAL TOO!!!

making this blog was such a good exercise in my own growth because going back to it sugisaki had such BANGER themes that i didn't even notice or totally grasp at first when i myself was in middleschool, so i feel like i'm lowkey compensating and paying proper attention to everybody now that i have. well. better critical thinking skills and media literacy DFKJKJGKJKJ even going back i was kind of surprised how it dealt with such dark topics like grief and death and the consequences of Playing God or sins and cycles when like.......... it's also a silly little dramatic rom-com about middleschoolers and immortals but it still never leaves you feeling hopeless or lonely, which as also sugisaki's intention with the series!! it's so nice!! i really wanted to be able to emulate the overall messages of her characters and loving art esp since it ends up so meta for us writers. i'm just happy to write!! doesn't have to be perfect or even exact, since i do take a tiny bit of creative/hc liberty with my own inspos and portrayals for dai n dark! but i'm always having sm fun interacting with everybody, AND I RLLY APPRECIATE U TOO!!! 🙇🙇

i'll probably be around for a looooong time bc dai n dark r just as much treasured and influential for me (i was also one of those 14 yr olds, i have embarrassing dnangel merch on top of piles of manga laying around, im certifIED REAL FAN /J) but it makes me so happy my posts bring u joy. im glad bc i know i can post/talk ooc a lot before i get the time to actually properly sit down and Write but that's just how it is for a lot of us kjgkjgfb anyways, thank u again!! things like this rlly help my confidence since actually at the start i had no idea if i could do like... a protagonist (daisuke)/'popular' (to me. dark/dnangel is popular and legendary and overwhelming in the eyes of the tumblr populace to Me-) chara any justice, but im put at ease any time i get such warm feedback like this!!! 💐💐💐FOR YOU! u get even more flowers this time straight from me!!! go buy urself a treat for being so nice!!!

[elysium-eternal]

White Clover

My thoughts on the gorgeous song "Clover" by Toru Itoga, from MMZ2.

I've seen many translations of the lyrics, and they're all more or less the same. I'll use this one because it's convenient:

(Memories of pain so soft...that's poetic, isn't it?)

Some people think the mention of this "flower" refers to Iris. Maybe so, maybe so. She was important to him. He may have shared his fears with her about becoming a Maverick, or his dreams of his creator. I've always thought that perhaps he kept those things from X because he knew it would worry him unnecessarily; when you have to fight as your job, worrying that your best friend might be feeling constant anguish and fear, and even possibly be worrying he might become a Maverick, would be a huge distraction. Perhaps Zero was unwilling to place that burden on X's shoulders, so instead he told Iris. In the end, X was worrying about the same thing of himself. I think that may have played into Zero's long pause during X's cutscene at the end of X4 -- he realized that he could have talked to X about it all along. Or perhaps it confirmed that he couldn't -- because X was burdened by the same fears.

"White Clover is symbolic of the universal struggle for freedom."

That's interesting to me, because what Zero is talking about -- struggling to remember who he was and who he was "supposed to be", as well as vaguely remembering pain -- those are all psychological chains that weigh him down. Even though he has forgotten most of his memories, he is still aware that he has those ties to his former life, and feels they are still tying him to things he might otherwise be happy to get away from.

Zero's life during the X series was turbulent. I can imagine he might have taken a chance to start over.

Thus, struggling for freedom from his past.

And the rest of the song. He has resolved to walk this path that has been laid out before him, even though he does not remember anything that would have helped it all make sense.

It's beautiful, haunting, and special to me.

But why is it about clover? Let's get back to that. I found some interesting facts!

"Protection and male energy"

Perhaps X gave him that clover flower that he has in his pocket? Perhaps we can think of X as a protective figure for Zero right now, given his role as the "mentor" figure in the Zero series!

Or perhaps the songwriter is alluding to Zero as a protective figure, and the clover suits him!

Clover helps the soil! I can't think of a more needy, sun-baked wasteland than the Earth after the Elf Wars! With this, the clover flower might represent the healing of the planet as the characters go about their quests.

Clover is said to be a healing herb, after all.

Bees are super important for a healthy world!

"Clovers symbolize 'promise' and 'think of me'."

Again, it could be something about Iris, but I didn't find that relationship to be anything super special, deep, or sacred. Not all relationships HAVE to be super special or deep...but if you believe in soul mates, or just like the idea of soul mates, you kinda want more to point to than just "here is a boy, here is a girl, they like each other".

Or is it just me? XD

Most of us go through several relationships in our lives. Some of us have multiple relationships at the same time. Whether we remember those relationships fondly or not comes down to us as individuals. In real life, things are MUCH more complicated than they are in fiction, where things are often reduced down to only the main points the creators want us to observe and know.

So PROBABLY, they definitely want us to think Zero/Iris is or was an important thing.

However, I think there are people who worked on these games that are quietly nudging us ZeroX fans, too. ;3 I've heard people say "they only do it to sell merch and games", but I think that's a bit cynical for my liking. If they're okay with saying "Serges = Wily? The Player may decide what is the truth!", then they are going to HAVE to be okay with some of us Players deciding that ZeroX is the best pairing. v_v

WHICH BRINGS ME TO....

I see a way this clover thing could be about X, too. If ANYONE made promises to Zero, with Zero, or about Zero, it was X. And he would want Zero to remember him. Heck, X is the only one Zero DOES remember!

And that makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

And now, my last, MOST IMPORTANT addition to this post:

"If someone carried a four-leaf clover, they would have the ability to see fairies".

CYBER ELVES ARE FAIRIESSSSSSSSSSS

xD It is done, mystery solved! The song "Clover" is about Zero's ability to see fairies.

Thanks for reading. Don't take anything I said too seriously. x3 It's just me rambling about my brainworms.

[iristial]

New plushie shelf setup, since I got a new clothing rack(?) after the old one broke and had to rearrange my bedroom furniture. Surprisingly, everything fit! I love how colourful it is 💕

Other stuff...?

My last shift was on Friday and the feeling was - surreal yet liberating. No more "making it green"! No more managers making me do five different things at once...for now! (It was to the extent where several of my coworkers said they felt sorry for me, running all over the place because of my workload) Had a little skip in my step when I walked out the door the last time ~

Now that I have actual time on my hands, I can get my community service card renewed, ask the post office how to send mail internationally, finish a drama, a toku, maybe visit the city, eat regular meals...as you can see, work sucked out all my energy this past year

In the spirit of me learning new things about merch this year, apparently trading luck-based/randomized merch has always been commonplace? I've seen this happen for K-pop photocard collecting and the aforementioned keychains. People post their array of pulls up for trade and request for certain items in return. It looks like a lot of fun ^^

The Geats cast are so quiet on social media. At least compared to previous years, I think? Yuna and Kazuto are quite active, whilst the others exclusively post about the next Geats episode. Nothing wrong in that, of course. Social media isn't always a true measure of people's character and their relationships. I'm just a very greedy person who wants to see a bit more cast banter and cute times on Twitter, as opposed to learning from interviews I'd usually never read (because I focus on the pictures) that Hideyoshi and Ryuga Sato went to the sauna together lol

Apparently Geats has been doing super well in Japan, which means 👉👈 more than one photobook for little old me? (Trust Yuya Takahashi to create series with no less than five photobooks xD) At this point I'm craving one badly, and with the rapidly adding to my toku stash saga feat. wailing wallet and banning Heisei era saga ending, the excitement for new material will multiply who knows how many times. Right now all of it will be Geats related. I'm enjoying it so much! I say it every week but it's true

[yennefer]

hello, I just wondered if you had thought about changing your blog away from a HP theme? given JKR and the terf problem, if its better not to give it as much of a platform .

No hate just want your take on it

okay i'm finally back from work so i can answer this...

i just want to preface this first by saying that i am not a jkr apologist by any means. i think her opinions about trans people are wrong, disgusting, and very harmful. there's a problem within the harry potter fandom where people get very defensive about still enjoying harry potter to the point where they try to explain or defend jkr because they feel they have to. i'm not one of those people. and i've honestly been let down by cast members who feel like just because she created a world they grew to love, and because they might otherwise like her as a person, that she deserves the benefit of the doubt or some kind of compassion. she doesn't. not when her words can lead to real-life consequences and harm. not when she's proven herself to be a giant hypocrite. how do you write a story where your main characters are looked at as lesser than because of who they are (whether that's harry being a half-blood, hagrid being half-giant, hermione being muggleborn, house elves being treated like slaves, etc.) by the villains, and turn right around and do EXACTLY the same thing? and it makes it so, so much worse because she has such a giant platform and has a lot more influence than, say, the rick riordan or stephanie meyers of the world (for example).

now i will say that harry potter holds a special significance to me, as it was the series that got me into reading. i went to see all the movies the day they came out, i waited at barnes & nobles for the new book releases... my original harry potter books are so worn out from me reading them that they've literally fallen apart. i've spent money on five different book sets and a hell of a lot of merch. my dad will never let me down getting upset with him because he decided he would rather spend money on building our movie room instead of taking me the wizarding world of harry potter the summer it opened (i ended up going two summers after anyway). there were points in my life where i read nothing but harry potter. i just re-read the books over and over again. i've watched all the movies countless times that i can recite the lines verbatim. i say all this to say that i'm a huge harry potter fan. and i will always have a lot of love for the series and the movies.

that being said, it's hard to reconcile being a fan of her work and not being a fan of her. i used to reread the entire series every year or two. it just felt like coming home. but i haven't reread them since the news broke and i don't think i ever will. i also stopped buying all harry potter related merch. for me, it's enough that i don't support her financially in any way. it's enough that i'm mindful when i do watch or engage with the world she created, i am mindful that it's based off a work by a person who held bigoted views and those views certainly influenced certain things in her work. i think that's enough that i don't try in any way to defend or make excuses for some of those things. however, i realize that this is not enough for some people and they would rather not engage with the fandom (and by extension me, or my blog) at all. and they absolutely have that right. i'm not here to tell anyone how they should feel.

as for my blog, tbh, i don't post that much about hp anymore. the fandom has pretty much died out on here, and that's in large part to jkr being a terf. i don't necessarily think that posting hp is giving it a platform, especially when i am not a big blog by any means. i do hope that if someone does decide to watch the movies or read the books because of my blog (doubtful lol), that they are aware of the fact they're engaging with a work created by an author with bigoted views. my blog is also multi-fandom and always has been. i stopped giffing so i don’t create content for it anymore either. as for whether i'll change urls or stop posting about hp entirely, the answer to the first part is probably and as for the second... i really don't know yet myself sorry.

[mysticdragon3md3]

Finally going to see what figures were announced at the WonHobby37 gallery. Here we go. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! i'M AFRAID TO LOOK!

Picture source: https://twitter.com/gsc_goodsmile/status/1685561619215179776

That vampire Miku with the weird face I don't like.

Bocchi the Rock.

I'm going ot guess Vtubers and Honkai Star Rail/Genshin Impact.

Bobobobo.

Oishi no Ko.

Of course, Demon Slayer.

What's this wafuku apron anime?

Licoris Recoil getting Nendo Dolls. I heard that anime was popular, but I forgot popular series are getting Nendo Dolls on top of regular Nendos now.

Forgot about Jujutsu Kaisen.

Are..Is that an extra faceplate set for Jujustu Kaisen??????????

I'm so out of the loop. Is there anything that makes you feel older than just not being into SO MANY popular series? (Besides aches and pains lol)

Don't care about Minions.

My Hero Academia.

OH MY GAWD IS THAT MUSHISHI????????????????????????????? ^O^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Are KanColle coming back or is that Azure Lane?

Oh, yeah, Joker was getting a Nendo Doll. Always love to see Persona 5.

Wait, Hetalia is getting Nendo Dolls too? o.O

I'm going to guess the guy with a 10 on his shirt is from Haikyuu, but I don't recognize him. I need to catch up on that series.

Who are these guys with gotees and normal clothes? Oh, wait, are those the other band members from Given?

Elden Ring Nendos. Excellent.

Hunter x Hunter person.

Toothless Nendo got painted.

What's Nikke?

Danganronpa.

omg 3 Nichijou Nendos all in a row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^o^

Dragon Maid---O my gawd, Kobayashi got a Nendo too! About time!

These are really pretty patterned Chinese clothes for Nendoroid Dolls.

Why is there a whole new Nendoroid Doll Archetype? What makes this one different? Oh, "Kids". It's a child.

Regular pants for Nendo Dolls. That's nice. Kind of similar to how I wnated a set of jeans and Tshirts for Nendoroid More…Again, Nendo Dolls keep getting accessories that are suspiciously like my requests for Nendoroid Dress Up sets.

Fate Grand Order.

More people I don't know.

I'm going to guess "Sky" is an indie game.

OMG IT'S 808 FROM HI FI RUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to need to get that kitty!

Netflix version Castlevania Rictor is getting a Nendoroid, and that new series hasn't even been out yet!

More 02 stuff. I guess I should have seen a Nendo Doll of her coming.

Hey, the Medicine Seller from Mononoke! I didn't know people were still into that series1

And this BL series "Classmates", that ALSO was SOME TIME AGO. Y'know, earlier someone said that my wish for FE3H Nendoroids was foolish because it's been a while since FE3H was popular. I said that lots of series are getting Nendos years after their popularity, like Dragon Maid. But freaking Classmates and Mononoke??????? Dude. Nothing off the table, just for being not the zeitgeist for a few years.

That pink haired girl with the pigtails looks familiar. Isn't she like a famous yandere or something?

And is that a Kaichou wa Maid-sama character? A series from 2005-2013!

And these sports characters look like from manga from YEARS ago! …"Mr. Fullswing" from 2001-2006…OK, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE ABOUT HOW FE3H CAN'T GET NENDOROIDS NOW BECAUSE IT'S BEEN YEARS SINCE IT WAS SO POPULAR.

Ok. Another disappointing figure event. I'm just not into as much anime as I used to be, for me to even recognize most of these characters, let alone to be attached to them enough to want to buy their Nendoroids.

I feel like until I get FE3H Claude and Dimitri Nendoroids, I just can't get excited about any new figures. Because any new figures just feel like money I could be saving for FE3H Nendoroids…if they eventually come. But I've spent so many years collecting, where I thought a series I liked wouldn't get Nendoroids, so I splurged on other merch, and then Nendoroids for that series would get announced. It just KEPT HAPPENING. So I don't know why FE3H is not following suit. Intelligent Systems even said they'd be participating in WonHobby37! FE3H has a lot of great designs! They'd make wonderful figures! On par with all these Vtubers and Fate characters I don't know. But I guess that's the thing: all these characters are likely very popular, and I'm just out of the loop. -_- I'm sure there are lots of people who have been happy with many of these announcements. Just like the past several WonHobbys that didn't have FE3H Nendos. But I feel like, all this time I've been holding out for FE3H Nendos, anything that isn't Claude and Dimitri, I just can't get excited over, enough to spend money on. My OTP has raised a high bar. If this keeps happening, I'll just stop being excited about Nendoroid collecting and figure collecting IN GENERAL. I can see that happening to me eventually. I'm kind of scared, because I feel bad for all the past hobbies/collecting I've dropped off from: manga, anime, comic books, dragons, etc. These things used to be MY WHOLE WORLD. I feel bad looking back and seeing how they've fallen to the wayside. ;;

I guess I can be excited for Nendoroid 808 from Hifi Rush and Nendoroid Ginko from Mushishi. Then I can finally do Mushishi and Natsume Yuujinchou Nendoroid photoshoot crossovers. It should be great.

…Still really deflated thAt FE3H didn't get Nendoroids AGAIN. I thought I kept my hopes down, but then as the houses for the gallery opening crept up, I suddenly had all the hope again. Maybe the only way to stop is to just stop being obsessed with FE3H. Netflix's version of Nimona has been helping me out with that lately. Maybe I should put some effort into it and fully get into Ambrosius/Ballister, forget about FE3H, then I can stop being enormously disappointed at every WonHobby, like the past few years. (Then when I've forgotten about FE3H, maybe then it'll finally get Nendoroids announced.)

Man, I used to be into PERSONA 5. That used to be my whole world! AkiRyu was my OTP! Persona 5 is still so freaking popular, that these WonHobby announcements never disappointed me! Because there would always be SOMETHING Persona 5 announced. At this past WonHobby, there were several Persona 5 Royal figures announced, and now at WonHobby37, we have the painted prototype reveal of Nendoroid Doll Joker!!! …I miss being fixated on only Persona 5. ;_;

Oh, wait. The gallery filter had "Nendoroids" automatically on. I don't normally care for figures that aren't Nendoroids, but maybe there will be something interesting in the other figure lines. After all, Intelligent Systems did say they were participating in WonHobby37, and I haven't seen any Fire Emblem Nendoroids yet. Maybe they announced some nice FE3H scale figures, more Pop Up Parades, or post timeskip Figma? o! I prefer Nendoroids, but I'd also LOVE post timeskip Figma of Claude and Dimitri!

Is that an alternate color Bridget?! o Oh, it's a Pop Up Parade! That's why they can afford to make alternate colors.

Oh, it's Alucard. Must be the Pop Up Parade that got announced last time.

Forgot to notice those Blue Exorcist Nendos before.

Lots of bikini boobies in a row.

Forgot to note these Aria Nendos. People have been waiting on those for a logn time, and it looked for a while they'd be dead, with their original figure producer going out of business. But now their Nendoroids are painted. Good for them.

WHAT ARE THESE CUTE PERSONA PROTAGONIST CHIBI!?!?!??????????????????????? O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is this figure line? I don't recognize this figure line! What's a "Qset+"? Persona 3 protag is listed as from Persona 3 Portable. Speaking of, if they had announced a figure of P3's female protag, they would have really made money from the fanbase. lol Anyway, these concept arts are cute. I like that they have different chairs, all for their different styles/tones.

Hey, it's a big Pochita. What's a "PLAMAX"? Is that an enormous vinyl figure?

Chainsaw Man Hello Good Smile. I should have seen that coming, but I didn't. lol

Is that Attack on Titan BABY VERSIONS??????? I didn't even know if the baby figure set for Tokyo Revengers went well or not! And then last month or something Nendoroid More baby accessories also got announced. Someone is really on a baby figure kick over at GoodSmile right now. lol What's this figure line called?…"Akatans". Ok, LOL. "They are baby." LOL

MORE BABIES????? But for Fate Grand Order?---No, it's that Skate Infinity series or something---"SK8 the Infinity".

These Pop Up Parades of the "Classmates"/"Doukyusei" characters in white suits look pretty.

Again, more of this "Qset" figure line I've never heard of. But for 13 Sentinels this time. I guess since they're not sitting in chairs, they're "Qset" instead of "Qset+"? Also, it's also listed as "Good Smiel Arts Shanghai" too…Is this a figure line that's only produced by GSC Shanghai? Are they chibi static figures or something? What are they?

Anyway, I still didn't see any Fire Emblem, to at least keep my hope alive for more FE3H figures, hopefully Nendoroids, in the figure. So I'm still disappointed. But Intelligent Systems said they were participating in WonHobby37. Did they just display all those Fire Emblem static scales that were previously announced a couple months ago? I guess so, because there's no "Fire Emblem" listed on the online gallery AT ALL. They probably just have physical displays of their previously announced figures at Good Smile's physical WonHobby gallery in Japan. Nothing new to announce, so nothing on the online gallery. ;_;

At least Joker is still looking cool.

Maybe I just need to get back into buying figures, so I don't lose a love for this hobby. Just throw money away on characters I'm not even that obsessed with. Because barely anything will rival Dimiclaude at this point; I shouldn't adhere to just that bar. I shouldn't have passed up those figures I wanted from last month's Memorial Day sale. Those were BIG discounts. I could have gotten that Horimiya Nendo's hair, for only $30, painted it yellow, made it into a custom Nendo Dimitri. I should have gotten Nendo Donatello. And those plushies for Code Geass and Guilty Gear. Well, I guess the Guilty Gear preorders are still open.

But still, when it comes to new announcements, I can't help feeling that so many WonHobbys in a row, where I wasn't too interested in anything…makes me feel like I'm getting out of figure collecting.

Well, that's that. Disappointed. Big time. AGAIN. I set myself up for disappointment, and I get disappointment. x_x;;;;;

At least some people on Twitter agreed with my comments wishing for FE3H Nendos. ;u;

[supernovafics]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇

pairing: dylan o’brien x best friend fem!reader

summary: in which dylan has been your best friend for as long as you could remember. your busy lives and schedules may have pushed both of your lives in vastly different directions as you’d gotten older, but somehow you two would always be led back to your hometown, and each other, during the holidays. however, one moment causes all of that to change. 

warnings: angst (what else is new), some fluffiness, mentions of past trauma (the maze runner incident), existential crises, explicit language

word count: 3.6k words

author’s note: idk why i decided to write something christmas related in the summer but it happened lmao (also i feel like it’s slightly important to mention that this takes place in 2016)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The rocks being thrown at your window were not what woke you up. Instead, you had been lying awake for hours; getting little to no sleep was something that you had become used to at this point.

However, on this specific night— or morning, depending on how one looked at it— you were glad that your sleep had been restless once again because it made it easy for you to get out of bed and walk to your window when the rocks began hitting it.

There was really no need for you to push open the curtains and check who was doing the throwing because, of course, it was Dylan. Ever since he moved onto your street in Hermosa Beach in middle school and the two of you easily became friends, he was the only person that would ever wake you up in the middle of the night with the soft pings of rocks, especially on this specific day at this specific time.

You waved at him and gestured that you would be down in a moment. You slipped on a random pair of sweatpants along with a hoodie and then placed the Christmas gift that you bought for him in the pocket. The item was small enough to fit in the not too big pocket of your hoodie; however, it did awkwardly protrude a bit.

All of this was a sort of unspoken tradition that the pair of you had developed over the many years you’d known each other. Meeting at five in the morning on Christmas day, walking to the beach that was only a few blocks away from your respective childhood homes, and exchanging Christmas gifts with each other as you both watched the sunrise. It started when you were in ninth grade, and you hadn't missed a year since, not even when the ending of high school pushed your lives in vastly different directions, especially since Dylan graduated a year before you and was almost immediately thrust into his acting career.

But, it didn't matter that Dylan's career took off, and you eventually decided to go to college in Santa Barbara, because, no matter what, you both would always come back for the holidays.

When you opened your front door and saw Dylan lingering by the sidewalk no more than ten feet away, you were quick to go toward him and pull him in for a tight embrace. It actually hadn't been too long since you’d last seen him, maybe only five or six months, but for some reason, it still felt as if the last time he was in front of you was last December.

"Hey," Dylan breathed out in a short greeting, his arms wounding around your waist.

“Hey to you too," You responded, a small smile gracing your features when you both pulled away, and you looked up at him. "How have you been?"

It was quiet for a few moments as you waited for him to answer the question, but eventually, you were met with no verbal response, and instead, Dylan simply shrugged. The short action made your heart constrict in the most painful way, and it was then that you noticed the light remnants of a scar peeking out from behind his dark hair that covered the majority of his forehead. You were quick to peel your eyes away from the scar and instead cast them down at your Converse-covered feet, but that didn't stop the memories from quickly coming back.

The Maze Runner accident had happened back in March, but to you, and you knew to Dylan as well, it felt as if it was just yesterday, especially considering the fact that he was still dealing with the unavoidable repercussions from it.

"Wanna walk?" You asked, finally looking up at him once again.

Dylan nodded. "Yeah."

A silence that could only be deemed as comfortable lingered between them as the two of you took the five-minute walk to the beach and sat down side by side on one of the random empty benches.

"Merry Christmas, Y/N," Dylan said as he handed a present over to you. The present was messily wrapped, something that was not at all uncommon when receiving gifts from Dylan, and the sight of it made you smile.

Before you unwrapped the gift, you pulled out the one you had for him and handed it over. "Merry Christmas, Dyl."

The nostalgic sound of wrapping paper ripping could be heard as you tore into your gift. A simultaneous shocked and happy yelp emitted from your lips when you held up a Harry Potter t-shirt. But, it wasn't just any Harry Potter t-shirt; it was one with a version of the Goblet of Fire movie poster on it, which was your all-time favorite movie in the series.

"Holy shit."

"It's the original merch that was sold when the movie came out," Dylan told you. He hadn't opened his gift yet, and instead, he was playing with the green bow placed on top of it; he always liked to see your reaction first.

You looked at Dylan and then back down at the shirt as you processed his words. "Wow, double holy shit. I would put it on if it wasn't freezing right now."

Dylan laughed a bit. "Very understandable."

“Why haven't you opened yours yet? I'm dying to see what you think of it," You said. You were now holding the t-shirt to your chest, genuinely feeling like a little kid on Christmas morning again.

Dylan finally began unwrapping your gift to him, and when all of the paper was peeled off, there was a square box. "Aw, a plain white box. Thank you so much. This is what I've always wanted."

You rolled your eyes and playfully bumped him with your shoulder. "Ha ha. Please save all of these bad jokes for your stand-up act; I can't wait to boo you off the stage along with everyone else."

"So, what I'm hearing is you don't think that becoming a comedian is going to be the next best career move for me?" Dylan asked. He attempted to make the question sound as serious as possible, but there was a joking undertone to his words.

You bit back your laughter. "Please just open the box already so I don't have to hurt your feelings by truthfully answering that question."

"Okay, we'll circle back to that topic later," Dylan smiled and then finally opened the white box to reveal a slightly faded baseball. When he picked it up, he ran his thumb over the black signature written on it. "Now it's my turn to say holy shit."

You could feel yourself smiling at his awestruck reaction, and you wondered if that was what you looked like when you saw the Harry Potter shirt. The baseball was signed by one of the players of the New York Mets that had been Dylan's favorite player when he was younger, and he'd even caught a ball hit by him when he went to a game before he moved to California.

"I've had this idea for years, but I could never find a baseball signed by him," You began explaining, the excitement clear in your voice. "But, last month, someone named Paul Todd posted this on eBay and I immediately bought it. God bless that old man. It's completely authentic and everything."

Dylan was quiet for a few moments as he simply looked at the baseball in his hands, a small joyful smile on his face, and it made you happy to see him so genuinely elated with the present.

"This just made my gift look like shit," He finally said, a light laugh falling from his lips.

"I have always been the superior gift giver. I think that's my hidden talent," You responded with a playful smirk.

Dylan placed the baseball back in its box and then looked at you. "Next year you will receive the best gift ever from me. It will completely top everything that you have ever given me."

"You're saying that as if I should feel upset about receiving a trip to Italy as a Christmas gift."

"A trip to Italy?"

"In my strong opinion, that would be the best gift ever," You said with a smile and then looked down at the t-shirt, which was now in your lap. "But, anyway, I don't think this gift is shit. I'm in love with this shirt already."

Dylan let out a joking, overexaggerated sigh in relief. "Phew, okay, since you think this gift is great, that means I don't have to do the trip to Italy next year."

"What? Did I say I like this t-shirt? I hate it! Harry Potter actually su— Fuck, I can't say this with a straight face," You laughed, and Dylan was quick to join in with you.

The joking statements leading up to the laughter hadn't even been the funniest things ever, but it didn't matter because this was probably the hardest you had laughed in a while, and you were both glad and unsurprised that it was with one of your favorite people in the entire world.

You missed joking around and laughing with him. You missed simply being with him.

Eventually, the laughter died off, but there was still a smile planted firmly on your face. You looked ahead at the darkness in front of you and the ocean that looked completely black; it was still kind of early, so the sun hadn't begun to rise just yet. Your back pressed against the wooden bench, and you let out a small sigh, your head finding Dylan's shoulder as you leaned against him.

"How have you been?" You asked him, your words coming out both soft and slightly quiet, and before the mood became too serious with your question that was nothing but serious, you attempted to lighten it. "And please no shrugs as a response this time. I don't wanna get a headache due to my head bouncing off your shoulder."

Dylan let out a breath of a laugh at your final statements but refrained from answering the question for a few moments.  

After what felt like forever, he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I honestly don't know. My mind has felt so fucked lately, thinking about everything. I swear I've been feeling every feeling known to man these past months."

"What are you feeling right now? In this moment?"

"I'm really happy with you. This is probably the only normal and familiar thing I've experienced in a while. But, of course, there's still that confused feeling in the back of my mind revolving around everything else." He paused for a brief moment before continuing, his next words came out quieter. "I don't even know if I want to go back to acting."

You lifted your head off his shoulder and looked at him as you pulled his hand into yours and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze.

"No matter what you decide. I'll be right there to support you," You told him and then added a "bro" at the end of her sentence along with a small smile. Whenever things became too deep in a conversation you two were having, one of you would always throw a "bro" or "dude" in there to bring some playfulness to the mood.

The corners of Dylan's perked up a bit. "So, you'll support me when I decide to become a comedian?"

You were unable to stifle your light laughter. "Yes, fine, fuck it. I'll be the loudest one laughing at all of your shows."

Dylan squeezed your hand back because he knew exactly how reluctantly true your words were. "Don't worry, I promise not to put you through that."

"Thank you."

"So, how have you been?"

"No."

"Oh, come on," Dylan said as he playfully poked your side. "I'm not gonna be the only one exposing my feelings."

You sighed and then hesitantly nodded. "Okay, okay."

The truth was you had been far from good lately. Your life was moving, but for some reason, you felt like you weren’t moving with it.

You felt stuck.

Stuck in a confusing mindset where you had absolutely no idea what you wanted to do with your life. You thought that identity crises usually happened in high school, but apparently, yours had come five years late. But, you knew that this delayed identity crisis had been your own doing because you had convinced herself that you would figure everything out once you were in college; and you were both lucky and smart enough to receive a full ride to UCSB.

And although you were finishing up your Master's degree in Creative Writing and had a TA job at the university with the department, which was the reason behind why you could even pay for the Master's program, something in your "should be great" life simply did not feel right.

However, you felt absolutely terrified to say any of that out loud because admitting it would only finally make that statement a wholehearted truth, instead of just a spiraling thought in your mind. And even though Dylan was your best friend and you knew you could tell him anything and not receive any sort of judgment, it still felt hard to let the words leave your lips.

You thought about the way to perfectly word everything, but nothing felt right. You pulled your hand away from Dylan's and covered your face as you let out an exasperated breath. "I can't figure how to say it all."

Dylan placed an arm around you and then mimicked the same question you had asked him not too long ago. "What are you feeling right now? In this moment?"

You would have both laughed and smiled at the fact that he was using your exact words if the current circumstances were different.

"Scared," You finally said, your voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know what the fuck I wanna do anymore, and actually, I don't think I really ever did. I only went to college because of the scholarship, and I convinced myself that I would figure my life out when I got there. And for a while, things felt right because I found creative writing and genuinely enjoyed it, but something doesn't feel right anymore. And I actually do like school. Because it's stable, and I am doing things, even if it's taking a dumbass test. But, it's about to be over soon, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do."

Your words were coming out like vomit, and nothing could stop it because finally, everything you had been feeling for so long was out of your head and put into the open.

"And don't get me wrong, I do love to write, but I don't know, I just can't see myself doing it for the rest of my life," You admitted and then let your next words come out quietly. "Honestly, I can't see myself doing anything. I'm so unhappy here."

You did not say it aloud, but you didn't think you were ever fully content there. Aside from Dylan and your parents, you never truly liked California. You had grown up there all your life, and although there were millions of people that adored the state, you felt the exact way someone from a state like Wyoming probably felt.

Dylan did not verbally respond to your long confession at first; instead, he simply pulled your confused and stressed self in for a hug, and you let out the simultaneous sigh and breath that you had been metaphorically holding in for years at this point.

"Maybe you should take a break," Dylan finally said; his arms were still around you, an action that made you feel completely comforted. "Right after high school, you went straight to college, and I don't think you've ever really taken a break to really think about what you actually want. Like, maybe, it's becoming a zookeeper."

Your laugh was slightly muffled by the fact that your face was pressed into the warmth of Dylan's chest. "Zookeeper?"

"I don't know," He laughed too. "You said you would support me in whatever the fuck I decide to do, and I'll do the exact same for you."

Somehow a smile found its way on your face. "A zookeeper and a comedian. What a fucking dream team."

Another laugh fell from Dylan's lips. "The best fucking dream team."

"But, honestly, I wish I could've known sooner that this is how you've been feeling. I would've been telling you to slow down so long ago, but you seemed content with everything," Dylan told you and gave you another light squeeze. "Please take a break and don't stress yourself out over the future when your next semester is over. Just relax for the first time. You can even come stay with me in LA for a little bit if that's where you wanna take your break. I'll be here for you, Y/N. Always."

Something about his words hit you hard. The wholehearted honesty and sincerity behind his statement shouldn't have surprised you, but it did. And the worry he had for you resembled the same concern you had for him when the accident happened. You two were best friends, so it should not have been a shock that you would worry about each other, but still, in that moment and for you, it was shocking because it felt like so much more than just that.

"Me too," You whispered, finally responding to his previous statement.

The long embrace came to an end with you being the one to pull away; however, you did not pull away far enough for you both to become completely detached from one another. Dylan's arms were still around your waist, and yours were still around the nape of his neck, and your faces were dangerously close. Your hand somehow took on a mind of its own as it reached around and cupped Dylan's cheek. The miniscule confusion and tickle of panic that began to prick at the back of your mind because of the action were not enough to make you pull away.

The slight way that Dylan leaned into your soft touch was the catalyst for you to take the leap and lean in the tiniest bit to close the small distance between the two of you, your lips almost too easily finding his. The inward sigh of contentment you emitted when Dylan almost immediately kissed you back made you realize that kissing him was the one thing currently happening in your life that actually felt right.

Later, when thinking back to that specific moment, you would wonder if that "rightness" had always been there between you both.

However, that right feeling, which was both comfortable and familiar, was quickly replaced with dread and angst, at least on your part. Your mind was beginning to fully catch up with your actions, and it immediately told you that the current action was both bad and stupid, and there were many, many reasons that proved that.

Maybe there were moments where a younger, and even present-day, you did want more to happen between you and Dylan, but you would always push that thought away because you knew that your and Dylan's friendship was so much more valuable.

And then it was the fact that your lives were nothing alike. Even though you were immensely confused about where your life was going, you could say for certain that it wasn't going in the same direction as Dylan's; an acting career that he genuinely loved and enjoyed too much to truly give up. Something deep down told you that, and you could feel the truthfulness behind the thought. The holidays were the only time your lives would truly intersect.

You abruptly pulled away, not just from the kiss but from Dylan's body entirely, moving to the edge of the bench you were on. Your hands covered your face in nothing but pure embarrassment and regret, and you wished that you could take back the last minute and a half of your life. And you also absolutely hated that you couldn't help but notice how much colder your body felt now that it was away from Dylan's.

"Oh my God. I'm sorry. Fuck. That kiss— it was a mistake. I'm really sorry." Your words came out rushed and fumbled, and it probably did not make much sense, but you just hoped that there was at least a little bit of coherency with them.

As much as you wanted to look at Dylan, you refused to do so because you knew that you would only see the regret you were feeling written clear across his face.

"Hey, it's okay, Y/N. Everything's fine. Don't worry," You heard him say but could hear the uncertainty in his voice as if he really didn't know if everything truly was fine. And you knew that it wasn’t. It really wasn’t.

The holidays were the only time your lives would truly intersect, and you had just completely ruined that.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know your thoughts <3

((((already potentially thinking about doing a part 2 to this….. but idk…))))

[marnie1964]

right back atcha with mr. terrance silver 😎

favorite thing about them:  he’s SUCH A SIMP. the way he was like, how dare you come into bronco henry’s dojo when he told you to go away >:( to stingray in the middle of betraying kreese. oh my god, i think it’s terminal. if tumblr were around in 1985 he’d be running a tradwife inspo blog about the importance of making your man feel big and strong, hell maybe he is now 

least favorite thing about them:  i thought that kreese and silver splitting up over kreese’s weird obsession with johnny would be one of the last things to happen in the series so i’m not sure how much i’m looking forward to terry as a solo villain, we shall see 

favorite line:  nothing particular, but terry probably has my favorite overall diction of any of the characters (he’s a real drama queen) 

brOTP:  him and margaret! the corporate bond between a self-loathing gay man and a stern older woman is something that can be so special (i know this because i've watched succession). i also think there's a very compelling alternate universe where he smokes a joint with johnny instead of swearing vengeance upon him. they hang out and bitch about kreese and his whole thing, the way normal people do at unpleasant family gatherings.

OTP:  him and kreese. i think terry's happiest life is one spent tolling for ducks. kreese rubs him behind his ears every time he drops a bird at his feet, and at night he sleeps curled up at the foot of their bed. they’re happy together the way they were before his dad got in the way, before kreese abandoned him, before johnny lawrence ruined everything just as it was finally coming together 

nOTP:  it's not really a notp, but i want it on the record that i think silverusso is dull 🤷‍♀️ it lacks a strong personal connection! they want what johnny and kreese have so bad but they'll never be a 10th as rancid

random headcanon:  he suffers from delusions where he believe that lana del rey is singing directly to him about his relationship with kreese and has attempted (unsuccessfully) to take legal action against her over it on multiple occasions. also if you cut off his hair he loses the ability to do karate  

unpopular opinion:  i don’t think his plan to christen the old cobra kai dojo with johnny’s blood wasn’t vengeful or a test, so much as a characteristically cuckoo apology? he was reasserting his own loyalty and, ehe, devotion in earnest after mistakenly ‘breaking rank’ (a normal person might have bought flowers). it’s spelled out early on via robby that he misinterprets kreese’s attempts to psspsspss his karate son/legacy back into his life as vindictive. i also got the sense that kreese’s "he’s a great guy, unless you beat him at monopoly” thing has been pretty par for the course in their relationship, thus nothing to retaliate over--i’m super fond of the notion that he was being serious when he told mr miyagi that kreese wasn’t always like that. if he ever actually suspected that kreese’s affections had shifted, he was in denial of that up until the very last minute. sincerity and fallibility are more interesting to me 

song i associate with them:  scars by papa roach. i’m sorry, he aggravates an aspect of my id that’s been buried since the end of middle school. sorry again 

favorite picture of them:  every frame of him in that stupid sparkly silver sweatshirt is unbearably cute, especially the ones where he’s on the verge of tears. do you think that’s available in the general cobra kai merch store, or did he have it made just for himself? 

[farfromsugafanfic]

Sutures - Chapter Nine: Lost In Japan

Genre: Soulmates AU, Idiots to Lovers, slight Enemies to Lovers

Pairing: Yoongi/Named Reader

Warnings (chapter specific): chest pain, health problems, getting lost

Synopsis: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” –Jean de la Fontaine

There was only one thing you and Min Yoongi had in common that night. You were both brokenhearted. You only intended to be together for one night, but when you both end up in the hospital the next day you discover that you are soulmates. It could kill you to be apart. As you and Yoongi attempt to sever the bond between you, will another be formed?

Previous | Series Masterlist | Next

When you landed in Japan, your phone was already blowing up with notifications. 

"Jang Sumi Seen With Min Yoongi's Bodyguard"

"Jang Sumi Joining BTS In Japan For Promotions"

The cameras already waited when you stepped into the airport. You were in the middle of the members, and instead of stopping for pictures like normal, bodyguards flanked in between the eight of you and the cameras. 

You felt as Yoongi reached down and softly took your hand. You looked back at him with a confused look and he just shrugged. 

"They all have their assumptions anyway," he said. "Just keep going. They'll try to get in our way, but just keep going. They won't bother you if you're with me."

You moved through the crowd with Yoongi's hand as your anchor. You heard the various fans gasping and screaming and the paparazzi asking questions and trying to provoke you and the members into a response, but before you knew it, you were in the back of a van and fastening your seatbelt. The satisfying click making you smile. You made it.

Yoongi was beside you. He still held your hand and you wondered if he noticed. His thumb rubbed lightly over your knuckles in a quick, sweeping motion. You didn't necessarily mind him holding your hand, it was just that there was no use for it now.

The van door shut as Jimin got in and plopped down beside you. A few seconds later, the van was moving.

"My phone blew up when we landed," you said. "Apparently, the bodyguard who helped me through the airport was your bodyguard?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, shrugging his shoulders. 

"What did you do then?" 

"Eh, we had plenty of bodyguards," he said. "Since we were in a group, it was unnecessary to have mine." 

"But, Yoongi, I know things have happened to you in airports before. You're an idol. You're a bigger risk." 

"Sumi, I lent him to you and something still happened," Yoongi said, his thumb brushing over your knuckles again, but slower this time.

"You really don't have to worry about us, Sumi," Jimin said. His eyes were closed and you'd honestly thought he was asleep. "We have enough bodyguards and we have Jungkook." Jimin kicked the back of the youngest's seat, who sat in front of him. 

You laughed and dropped the subject and instead gazed out the window at Tokyo. You'd only truly been to the city once when you were a kid, although you'd had many layovers in the Tokyo airport on your flight to and from the US. 

---  

"There's a problem with the hotel," Se-jin said, coming back out to the van. Most of the members were barely awake due to their busy schedules and how they'd gotten used to sleeping on most forms of transportation. "A fire sprinkler in Sumi's room burst and it flooded the whole room. The flooding is contained in her room due to the staff. Are you okay sharing a room, Sumi?"

You nodded. "Yeah," you said. "That's fine." 

"All right, does anyone--"

"I will!" All of the members shouted at once. You were amazed that despite their perceived states of sleep, they all appeared to be awake and fully listening. You laughed.

"She'll stay with me," Yoongi said. 

You turned to look at him surprised. "But, what about the rumors?"

"They know we're soulmates at this point. And, if you got caught staying with one of the other members, what do you think they would think?" 

Your brow furrowed. They already thought you had cheated on Minki with Yoongi, but if the media began circulating that you were cheating on Yoongi, you could only imagine the backlash you would receive. 

"Yeah, okay," you said. "I'll stay with Yoongi." Se-jin nodded and closed the van door as he went back into the hotel to finish checking in. 

"We've rented out the whole floor, so there should be no way anyone will find out," Yoongi said, giving you a small smile. 

"Then, why couldn't I stay with one of the other boys?" you asked, your lips curving into a smirk. 

Yoongi's ears turned red and he looked between you and the other members who watched in loving amusement.

"Just in case."

---

By the time you all got checked in and everything unloaded, the sun was beginning to set. You saw no point in unpacking your suitcase completely when you were only staying for four days. However, you unpacked your toiletries and headed to the bathroom. 

"Do you need to shower--?" you ask, but the words are left in the air as you notice Yoongi dropping the extra pillows and blankets from the closet onto the couch. "What are you doing?"

"Setting up my bed." He smoothed out the blankets and placed the pillow on one end of the couch. 

"You don't have to sleep on the couch. I trust you. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."

"It's not that," Yoongi said. "I don't trust the urges. We've only had one, but I'm afraid if we lay together in bed. It would just trigger something." 

You nodded. "You're right. But, I'll sleep on the couch. This is your room." 

Yoongi shrugged and shook his head before falling back onto the couch and crossing his hands over his stomach. "Go take your shower." 

You sighed and went into the bathroom and took the shower you'd been long awaiting. Despite the coffee having been spilled on you hours before and changing into Yoongi's shirt, you could still feel the sticky cream-filled coffee on your skin. You undressed and folded Yoongi's shirt and placed it on the counter so that it wouldn't get wet and continued to undress. Only when you had finished did you realize that you'd forgotten to bring your pajamas with you. 

---

"Yoongi?" you asked, peeking your head out the bathroom. "Are you awake?"

Yoongi chose not to respond as you emerged from the bathroom in one of the hotel's white bathrobes. He didn't respond because he wanted you to strip in front of him, but rather, he was hoping to be asleep within a few minutes anyway.

As he heard you shuffle back towards the bed, he heard a small scuffle and you curse under your breath. He opened his eyes to see you standing by the bed as nothing happened. You unfastened the robe and allowed it to fall. 

Yoongi only caught a glance of your bare back before he shut his eyes again, although he felt a stirring in his stomach. He could only curse in his head as he attempted to focus on anything else. He didn't catch a glimpse of anything super sexual, but it didn't matter. Yoongi hoped this wouldn't lead to another urge. While he wanted nothing more than to pull you into him and kiss you up and down your body, he knew he couldn't for the sake of severing the soulmate bond. 

There were a few seconds of silence. He figured you'd finished getting dressed, but the light was still on and he hadn't heard you climb into the bed. He opened his eyes only to be met with a pillow to the face. 

"I knew you weren't asleep!" you said, holding the pillow above your head to bring back down upon him. Yoongi acted quickly and sat up and grabbed the pillow and tossed it to the side. 

You were dumbfounded for a second until you heard Yoongi laugh. "What was your plan exactly?"

You shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted to prove you were being a creep." You wiggled your eyebrows as a smirk came over your face. 

"Hey! I didn't see anything. I kept my eyes closed."

"Mmm," you said. "I don't believe you." 

Before Yoongi could respond, a silence came over the two of you as you both simultaneously realized that you were straddling his lap and you could feel him pressing into you. 

"Sorry," he whispered as you climbed off of him. 

You shook your head. "No, it's okay. You didn't mean to. Let's, uh, let's go to bed."

"Wait, Sumi, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I just plan on going out and exploring a bit. I've never got to explore the city. Probably do some shopping, visit temples." Your eyes narrowed in curiosity. "Why?"

"I'll be working," he said. "Just make sure to get back here before me so we don't risk anything. I'm supposed to be done with the fan sign at five." 

You nodded. "You don't think being away from each other in general will cause anything?" 

It was only then that Yoongi realized that you hadn't been away from each other for nearly two weeks. While you might not be physically together, you were always within the same building or space. "I think it's been enough time." 

You nodded as you climbed under the covers of the bed and reached over to turn off the bedside lamp. Even in the dark, Yoongi could make out as you pulled the covers up to your chin and turned on your side. It made him smile. 

"Goodnight, Yoongi."

"Goodnight."

---

Your knees ached by midday, but your day alone in the city had been one of the best you'd had in years. You hadn't been truly alone for what felt like months. Sure, you slept alone and you could easily duck in the bathroom for five minutes of peace, but this was freedom you didn't think you'd have after the whole soulmate thing happened.

Yoongi was gone when you'd woke up that morning, the blanket tossed to one side of the couch. Not neat, but not exactly messy. It was odd, not feeling the aching in his chest when he was gone. You knew there were exceptions for when you were obligated to be apart, but since Yoongi worked so much, maybe it wouldn't be so horrible.

Your mind had still wandered to Yoongi throughout the day. Occasionally, you'd see a BTS ad campaign or someone wearing merch, but what really caught your attention was a small Kumamon figure. It was clearly meant to act as a paperweight or just to decorate a desk. You'd noticed that Yoongi seemed to like the character and after a quick Google search, it was confirmed. You bought the figure and tossed it into your purse.

With shopping bags in your hands and your camera in your hand, you managed to use your one free hand to pull out enough money to buy a taiyaki. You thanked the woman who handed it to you in your best rudimental Japanese. 

You were a few blocks away and halfway through your taiyaki when you thought to check the time. You nearly dropped the sweet bun when you realized it was 4:50 pm. Yoongi was due to be done in ten minutes and you were at least a half hour walk from the hotel--if not more. 

You rush out to the side of the road and attempt to hail a taxi. The first few passed you, but eventually one stopped and you frantically told the driver the name of the hotel. 

Within five minutes, the driver only managed to get a few blocks because of rush hour traffic. With nowhere to go, you were stranded. You'd gone the whole day without making a scene or being recognized (although maybe because you wore a baseball cap and mask), despite your face on the cover of magazine articles everywhere. And, you were afraid that you were going to have to end up on more of them to get out of this. 

You waited another five minutes before handing the driver a wad of cash that was definitely too much and apologizing as you got out of the cab. Carrying your bags and purse on your arm, you ran across the stopped lanes of traffic and tried to ignore the car horns and confused shouts. You checked the time. 5:01 pm. You ran and pulled up the GPS on your phone and entered the hotel address. 

Your vision blurred and you felt a small pull in your chest. It was warning you.

---

Something felt off as the van pulled up to the back door of the hotel. His palms begin to sweat and his heart beat against his chest as if he were sprinting. The door to the van opened and Yoongi didn't even remember it stopping or the rest of the members climbing out. 

"Yoongi?" one of the members called. 

Yoongi managed to his feet and out of the van but nearly collapsed against Jin, who grabbed him by the shoulder to stabilize him. He doesn't get far before he collapses against the wall of the hotel, his neck lulling back. 

"Yoongi, what's wrong?"

"Sumi...she must not be back yet..." 

Yoongi hears some talking and shuffling, but barely understands anything as two of the boys lift him up and inside the hotel. 

"They're going to look for her, Yoongi. It will be okay."

---

You'd made it a few more blocks, although you could barely tell. You were running, even though your vision was so blurred you could barely see. You used the buildings on the side as your guide and hoped you wouldn't bump into anyone. 

Your heart was beating out of your chest and you honestly couldn't tell if it was because of the running or that Yoongi was back at the hotel. You felt lightheaded and even with your headphones in you could barely hear the directions your GPS was telling you.

The edges of your vision begin going black and you feel your knees hit the pavement. This was it. You hoped a passerby would stop and at least call an ambulance. 

"Sumi!" someone a short distance away shouted.

You couldn't make out their faces, but you could see figures running through the crowd towards you. As you slumped against the nearest wall, you felt yourself being scooped up. 

"Sumi, Sumi, it's okay. We're not too far away. Come on, stay awake." 

You recognized Jungkook's face and allowed your face to fall against his T-shirt. It felt warm, but as you neared the hotel, your senses clearing a tiny bit, you realized it was a little too warm. You remembered back to the day before when you'd accidentally burned Tae's hand. 

"I-I'm sorry," you said. "It doesn't hurt does it?"

"It was just the T-shirt. Don't worry about it, Sumi."

His voice is soft and you can barely hear him over the commotion you're approaching. You can already hear the slew of photographers who are inside the lobby of the hotel and outside on the sidewalk. They haven't seemed to notice you yet, as their camera flashes and yells are aimed elsewhere.

"Jungkook! Jimin!" Se-jin called from the alleyway where he held open a service door normally only used for employees. While your vision had cleared, you still felt out of breath and your heart still convulsed in your chest. 

Jungkook ran towards the door and immediately into a service elevator. He didn't drop you back on your feet like you had expected him to. His arms were slung under your knees and around your shoulders. You wondered why you weren't burning his arms. Maybe because he wasn't touching your skin? Maybe the soulmate curse somehow recognized that he was helping you get closer to Yoongi? Whatever it was, you were thankful that beyond burning a small black hole in his T-shirt, you hadn't hurt him. 

The elevator dinged and Jungkook rushed you into your hotel room. Yoongi was already on the bed, a cloth on his forehead. He was sweaty, his shirt pulled up, exposing his stomach and his hair pushed back. 

Jungkook plopped you down on the bed beside Yoongi. Your breath evened out and your muscles relaxed, but the dull ache in your chest remained.

"Do you guys need anything?"

"Just some water." 

Jungkook went to the sink and filled a glass with water and set it on the bedside table beside you. "Just text or call one of us if you need anything." 

You nodded and Jungkook left the room. As soon as the door shut, Yoongi's arms around you and your face in his chest. His lips came to your forehead and you released a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding.

"I lost track of time," you said. "I tried to take a taxi, but it was rush hour." 

"It's okay. It's not your fault. It was harder than we thought it would be." 

"Do you think we'll ever break it?" you asked. "If this was so difficult, if we can't even be apart due to a simple mistake, even if we were in love, how would we fix this?"

"I don't know. But, you should get some sleep."

"You too." 

You rested your head on Yoongi's shoulder, his arm slung around you comfortably, fitting perfectly against your waist and in the swell of your hips. It was the only place your body would allow you to be, but even if it was just the soulmate curse, even if you didn't love Yoongi, you knew there was no other place you wanted to be than his arms.

---

You fell asleep long before Yoongi did. Your small breaths tickling the skin on his neck and you were so still in his arms, only the way your chest moved slowly up and down indicated that you were still alive.

He'd never tell you, but he loved the way you looked when you slept. You scrunched your face up like a fussy baby and sometimes you'd make small moans in reactions to whatever happened in your dreams. 

It was nearly 1 am and Yoongi couldn't sleep. There were still pangs in his chest, but he wasn't sure if it was due to the earlier ordeal, or something else. He looked down at your sleeping form and carefully tucked stray hairs behind your ear. The ends of your hair were still a little damp with sweat, but he didn't care. 

You smiled at his touch and burrowed deeper into him. So deep, in fact, Yoongi wasn't sure you'd ever come out.