#There was definitely extra stuff I should have added but I forgot so...

[imreallyonthishellsite]

because I'm bored and I'm mixing up canon and fanon tn

[marloree]

hii could u do more hyuka pieces where theyre bffs and the reader isnt aware of his feelings/ cute confession stuff? hehe i love reading those slight angst + fluff pices :33 ty tyy

𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 ‘𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎’ 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘?

Pairing: bff! Huening Kai × Reader

Genre: fluff, romance, friends to lovers, slight angst if you squint, attempt at comedy/crack (?)

Word count: 0.94 k

A/N: thank you so so much for being my first request, whoever you are dear nonnie!! May your life be filled with love and happiness and may all your dreams come true ahh (sorry if I come off as a bit too excited hehe), and feel free to request more in the future if you want to! I hope this matches your expectations <33

Taglist: @babymochibeargyu (feel free to leave an ask/DM me to be added!)

You have been friends with Hyuka since elementary school. Maturing was difficult for both of you, but, despite being in numerous different friend groups and developing opposite interests, you stayed by each other's side through all these years.

Year by year, your bond grew only stronger. Both of you have gone through many hardships during the time, but it only drew you closer. You deemed each other as your comfort person. It really was true: you could vent and tell all your worries to Kai, just as he could do the same.

But, most importantly, you shared your happy moments, too. It was safe to say you two made what people call true friendship.

Or, so you thought it was only a friendship. Hyuka, unbeknownst to you, developed feelings far stronger and more intimate to be considered as just a friend's. A little crush he had on you in elementary now turned into something much bigger.

In Kai's eyes you were a perfect friend, a perfect person, everything he could ever dream of. But, would you feel the same way? The thought always was in the back of Huening's brain. And he, as any lover, wasn't so sure about this. The poor boy definitely didn't want to lose your friendship, but he couldn't completely shut down and bottle up his feelings, either. Especially since you didn't have a partner and, maybe, just maybe, you would feel the same way? Hyuka, despite his attempts to be realistic, always held that tiny hope.

What could be a better way to test the waters than try and gift you something? Of course, as your dear best friend, he would frequently make you presents for special occasions, but he hoped that a little extra gift here and there wouldn't hurt.

A pack of your favourite candies, a new set of pens since he always knew you lose yours, your favourite snack when you would feel down - such little gifts soon turned into another part of your friendship. You weren't completely oblivious to it, but Hyuka always was such a gentle and caring friend, there obviously were no other motives except his sweet and kind nature, or so you thought.

At first, Kai was even glad that you didn't catch on the reason for his gifts. But, as time went by, he couldn't help but wonder, were you really so clueless or was it your way of telling him you're not interested?

Well, you definitely were a little oblivious, even in Hyuka's opinion. You both were rather air-headed, so he couldn't blame you for the trait he himself possessed.

If not for you absent-mindedness, would you get to experience the fun of running as fast as you could to not get late to class since someone forgot to turn on their alarm or mixed the time, or doing the homework 5 minutes before the start of the class because someone was too busy dreaming in class to listen to the teacher?

You definitely would miss many hilarious and ridiculous moments if you both, or at least one out of you, were, or was, a bit more collected. In the end of the day, this is also something that drew you closer.

Hyuka now was in a quite difficult situation, not knowing whether he should cry or laugh at your obliviousness.

As the optimist he was, Huening tried his best to not lose hope and to do something useful instead. Since you were so clueless to gifts, Hyuka, gathering all his courage, decided to actually tell you about his feelings.

The next day, Kai dressed up and prepared some flowers specially for you. You both agreed to meet up at your usual spot. As Hyuka was wiping his sweaty hands with a handkerchief for the millionth time since his arrival, he finally saw you approaching.

Walking closer, you noticed the flowers, but the thought that these were for you never even crossed your mind. What a truly clueless creature you were...

Once you got close enough, Kai got up from the bench, stuffing the wet handkerchief in one of the pockets.

"Hi, Y/N...", his usually cheerful voice now sounded a bit quieter, carrying a certain amount of nervousness.

"Hii, Kai!!", you greeted back, happy to see him. But then something finally clicked in your head, making you realize the presence of the flowers and nervousness that was hanging in the air.

Your smile dropped, a hint of worry visible on your face. "Hey, Hyuka, did something happen? Did you have a bad date? Why do you look so out of the ordinary??"

Your sudden outburst of questions made the poor guy raise an eyebrow. "Sorry, what?" Kai looked so confused.

"Well, you've got these flowers and you look a bit upset, I thought maybe you had a date with someone (why wouldn't you tell me, though?) that didn't end well..."

"What!? Oh my, how could you even think of that," your explanation made Hyuka burst into uncontrollable laughter. "I wanted to confess to you, you silly clueless thing."

"What??" Now it was your turn to ask the question, your lips immediately parting in surprise. "Oh, as in..."

"As in I love you, silly."

It took you a good minute to process this new information; after realizing your mistake, you couldn't help but let out a giggle as well. "I actually love you, too. But how have I never noticed you feel the same way..."

"How have you noticed anything at all, that is the question", Kai chuckled, finally gifting you the flowers you initially thought were from a failed date.

[kenobers]

What kind of music do you think the other Batboys listen to? (If you're interested in them ofc)

okay, first of all this is my first ask!! hello!! and it's about music, so extra bonus points to you!! 🌟

second of all, of course i'm interested in the other batboys! i'm working on their spotify wrappeds right now. for anyone’s who interested, here is my spotify!!

these are what i personally think each of them lean towards music wise based on canon and my own headcanons, please don’t stomp on me if you disagree :-)

Dick listens to clown music i really only found one panel of Dick listening to music and it was mostly Original Pilipino Music and mostly ballads, which i love. it also lends itself to Dick being a fan of indie and soft rock, as well very much being a child of the 90s. The Cure and Billy Joel are artists i see him enjoying. i know a lot of people envision him as a pop fan and i think he specifically listens to early rock-pop music from the 70s; think ABBA, the Carpenters, Donna Summer, artists who would mix well with his affection for balladeers. My self indulgent headcanon is that he's a huge Fleetwood Mac and Mavis Staples fan. i think it's a legal obligation to have an appreciation for grunge to be part of the batfam, but i think he sticks with the basics.

Jason canonically likes Slipknot, Lacuna Coil and Poison Idea (which i forgot to include on his spotify wrapped, oops). however, given his background, his continued interest in being connected to the streets of a large east coast city and the fact that we know he loves good writing, he's definitely a 90s east coast hip-hop guy. i really envision him being a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan (as we should all be) and DMX wrote his theme song Where The Hood At. both the metal/punk and hip-hop genres have heavily political roots and the flaws of political systems are a common theme, which is something he’d appreciate. however, i think Jason's criteria for adding a song to his spotify is if it's good. he's not a snob, he just likes his music to be loud and have good lyricism. he likes to be able to relate to it, whereas Dick would be more about the vibe. i love the idea that he's into Jack Johnson when he wants a softer sound. he also gives me major Artic Monkeys vibes.

Tim canonically likes The Clash, Green Day (i think this is another one they all have in common) and i believe Oasis. so one could comfortably deduce that he's into punk rock, early alternative and brit pop (which makes sense, these all tend to go hand-in-hand). i think he would be fond of alternative and indie, like i think he would dig Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean (he's also a bisexual man in his late teens/early twenties who's heavily online, so i feel like it's also a fairly safe bet that he listens to Frank and probably Tyler too). i think he goes through strong phases of certain artists/genres. i think, like Jason, he likes to be able to relate to his music, but he’s also a bit of a music snob.

Steph's most streamed artist is Mucous Membrane. i get strong punk rock, punk pop vibes from her. she likes anything she can scream along to. My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, Pierce The Veil, Hollywood Undead. she definitely had a very strong Panic! At The Disco era. she's got a soft spot for Megadeath too. but i think she’s also more than capable (and willing) to scream along to some bubbly pop music too.

Duke has been seen singing The Man on The Flying Trapeze by Spike Jones. granted, this is a fairly well known song and it had a specific context, but i also kind of love the idea that Duke listens to jazz, like also has a lot of Chet Baker and Billie Holiday saved. that’s his time-to-lock-in music. then i could also see him digging a genre that samples a lot of these artists, like r&b and hip-hop. i see Kendrick Lamar pop up on a lot of Duke playlists and i’m inclined to agree. i’d also add Jay-Z to the mix. a good chunk of his spotify wrapped is stuff he plays to get hyped up, which can vary quite a bit. there’s some Fall Out Boy, Chase Atlantic, Rihanna and some classic rock. i think he also daydreams to Holding Out for A Hero quite a bit as well.

honestly, i feel like Cass pulls the most from everyone else’s playlists. i would say that she’s family spotify stalker, but frankly i feel like she uses youtube music. anyways, her personal tastes would lean more towards the sad girl side; Halsey, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Mazzy Star. maybe Penelope Scott and Grimes - i could see her vibing with the combination of the sad girl feel and a unique sort of sound. thanks to Jason, she also digs System of A Down. for Cass especially music is an emotional outlet, so i think she’d be drawn to more emotional stuff. that said, she’s definitely an ABBA girl.

i see people try to argue that Jason would listen to musicals, but if anyone is the secret theater kid, it’s for sure Damian. he likes the drama and the flair of a megamusical and as such, a couple of songs from The Phantom of The Opera make their way onto his playlist (he secretly relates to certain aspects of the storyline but he won’t say that part out loud). he’s a musician himself so it’s not hard to imagine him enjoying someone as genius as Sondheim, although i imagine he’s very picky about which cast albums/recordings he spins. he listens to a lot of classic music, with a special appreciation for Bach as he’s more or less the violin king. but Beethoven’s got a little more flair. i think he also has a playlist of songs he picked up from his siblings and Superboy

i think they all share an appreciation for Nirvana, The Pixies, The Spice Girls and A Tribe Called Quest.

and i do think The Spice Girls comes strongly from Dick’s influence.

what do y’all think they listen to?

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Better Novel Scrivener Template

BTW, If you liked the Settings Template, this has that plus more...

The Current Novel Template is out of date, the templates aren't really doing much for you. And the variety of icons is rather thin. I set out to fix this.

The template as a whole is PG-13 as the Character Template mentions "dangerous" things like "Kinks" and "Safe Words" OMG. I know. So terrible. So if you don't want to explain those things to anyone underage, don't download it.

As I am NB, and generally queer otherwise, I have included things like Sexual Orientation, Romantic Orientation and a whole load of things to think about when building CHARACTER, SETTING, WORLDBUILDING. I included things that people often forget by using my Uni and College knowledge.

Please, please read the "Read Me First" file if you want to avoid having to load missing icons. I give instructions.

In case you still opened it despite my warnings or it doesn't work, you'll have to load in the icons manually. In which case this is a reference:

The New Icons are: Domestic Products, Imported Goods, Exported Goods, Laws, and Social Stratification. I added extra icons for Weapons and Warfare in case you're not writing Fantasy. Laser Guns and a Historical Pistol.

I did my best to make it CULTURALLY NEUTRAL. If you want them specific, you're on your own.

I also added if you'd like to load them

All these Icons to the folder so You can finally color code your manuscripts to your heart's content. (My unending frustration with Scrivener).

I added an SVG file so if there is an exact shade I missed on the Spiral Notebook Colors or the Hardcover Books, you can add it.

The Composition Notebook file isn't included as it contains a pattern. However, I made pains to make sure it matches real life colors that exist in Composition Notebooks. You wanted the Settings Template? There are 2. One for City/Towns. One general one.

Zero Organization or Clue on Querying or Self pubbing?

I put up Organization Folders for you.

Here are the Templates you get. Everything is beefed up for you. I spent forever on these Templates and testing them. I also cued Styles to them so it's easy to change the colors. If you want to change something, as the About document says, turn on invisibles.

The Default Styles aren't useless anymore.

If you need a more Definitive Guide, I also made one in the file:

Download the Scrivener Template. It is a ZIP FILE Win Zip or other Zip app should be able to handle it.

Warning: Direct Download https://www.kimyoonmi.com/BetterNovelScrivenerTemplate.zip If you want to Skip the Template completely, but are wishing to add the Icons to your Scrivener:

https://www.kimyoonmi.com/ScrivenerIcons.zip

This template itself is not for sale or profit nor are the icons. Also don’t be the person that lies that says you made it. It’s a Creative Commons License Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivatives by Yoonmi Kim 2024. You may change it for personal use only. Any problems can be addressed directly to me at https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com. If you would like to translate this into other languages, let me know.

Don't be the ass that tries to sell my hard work, 'cause really, it's free. And I spent a lot of pains and time to make sure it's free and easy to use with a lot of subtle UX. Edit: I added even more stuff to the newest version.

Yes, a Pets Sketch, a Fauna Species Sketch a Flora Species Sketch, there is Literature added to the list of Art (I forgot it. lol I thought the mistake was silly, but yeah.)

And I added a Medicine Section with an icon to the technology section. There are two native icons already for Medicine--syringe and pill, but I kind of felt it didn't always give the feel of fantasy, so I made a Mortar and Pestle from scratch to add, but if you're doing sci-fi or contemporary, etc you can change to the syringe or pill.

I added explainers as well for the items to the guide.

Why?

'Cause. I would love to be able to see people put more thought into their worlds/worldbuilding, even if it doesn't show up. Maybe it won't be only horses for animals as pets. Or an occasional dog. Haha. Having a gay dog like Robin Williams would be great.

[kitakami-kid]

GWOHHH I GOT CAUGHT UP ON SCHOOL STUFF SO I FORGOT ABOUT THE APPLIN THING LOL- so here it is... almost 3 hours late, sorry!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who joined again! It really makes me happy that anyone participated at all. I loved all of the submissions, but this is a contest so they will be ranked.

3rd place

@basilcatchup 🎉🎉🎉

I've said it before, but the composition of this piece is very good! They're all arranged nicely and all the applins seem to have their own personality. (I especially love the hydrapple to the right. He's getting silly and he doesn't even have a license!) The little speckles and textures are also a nice touch! Overall, pretty great!

2nd place

@symphonypikachu 🎉🎉🎉

This piece is so pretty! The characters are well proportioned and posed, the shading is great, and I love the texture! Adding a background definitely gives you extra points, and you did a really good job! Especially the sky, the different layers of blue and white are subtle, but beautiful!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Before I get to the first winners, we should also recognize the other entries for this contest!

@a-plethora-of-midnight-roses 🎉🎉🎉

First of all, I'd like to say that hydrapple looks sick as fuck with those choice specs. He looks like he's about to shoot a 252spatk all-out fickle beam with helping hand against a 0spdef/0hp level 1 noibat, guaranteed OHKO. Adding a Hydreigon to the fray is super cute since they're both little dragons who grow up to be hydras. Very silly :3

@thesillyexpresser (idk why but tumblr isn't letting me tag you so I hope you still see this lol) 🎉🎉🎉

@glitchpunkz 🎉🎉🎉

Again with the adorable art! I really love the implication that Kieran might've doodled the porygon-z on the league club white board, so this just takes it a step further. The facial expression, the shadows, and the other little things on the whiteboard make this very fun to look at!

So without further ado...

1st place

OHHHH.... I ADORE this fic! Watching those two idiots give each other signs and completely missing it despite doing the same things is very in-character. This fic is so darn cute, I think it would even overwhelm Lacey. I enjoyed this piece in its entirety, and you all should go read it!

CONCLUSION

It's been fun to look at all this art, and I hope you three winners enjoy your shiny applins! Let me know if I should do more shiny giveaways, and if it should be a contest or a raffle. Winners dm me so we can work out when these trades will happen. This concludes the shiny applin contest!

[opreaadriann]

Found your game today, and tried it out and really enjoyed it. I already brought up the trans name situation on the forums, which you so kindly already replied to and figured I'd ask the last few things here both to get your account here some traction, but to also avoid clogging up the forum post.

The player is able to get a tattoo, which is fucking amazing but I was wondering if it would be possible to get more than one? Unless individual tattoos and their meaning is brought up at any point in conversation, which it would then make sense to limit it to just one. But if the specifics of the tattoo isn't brought up, could you make so that the player could've multiple tattoos?

On the topic of tattoos, an option to have piercings would be a really cool option as well. Even if they aren't outright mentioned at all in the story, they would still be a cool addition if for no other reason than a head-canon of what your MC looks like. Again, having multiple piercings would be cool. Piercings would definitely add some extra spice for the players like me, who are going for the rebel without a cause / rockstar musician persona.

Height. Absolutely height. I want to be a tall trans girl rebel/musician who can tower over the shorter RO's, specifically the girls, even if I do feel like I won't romance anyone of them. At least not from what I've seen of them so far, and their personalities and past and present behavior.

And last but not least. Cigarettes. When you meet the clown that was our first friend, you can pull out a pack of cigarettes and hand him one, because you think he might find it cool. This option to me at least, seemed very out of left field since there was absolutely no indication the MC was a smoker. I don't personally mind the MC smoking, again it would fit her persona, but it might be jarring to some players. Maybe make it an option early on if the MC smokes, and if they do they'll have the option to pick this scene? Like that it's established the MC smokes, and as a result can be used later on in the story for other scenes as well, rather than just potentially being a one-off situation, and it could potentially become a cool story element to build on the MC and their potentially very different personalities from each different player. Because as it currently is, making it a one-off scene would make it even more weird than it already feels without any prior choice of smoking or not, because why would the MC smoking never be mentioned again if they picked this choice, because clearly they smoke otherwise they wouldn't carry a pack of cigarettes with them I would imagine.

This last bit isn't really a topic, suggestions, or request, but rather a question. If you join the band with your adept skill being music, the MC has some internal monologue about how you might be able to take over the lead singer role if you got trained in singing. Will this ever be an option? Because I would love to absolutely take over the band, as the main 'front girl' with my bass and singing, haha.

Hey, first of all, thanks for the name change suggestion. It really would have been stupid to keep the same name after the transition haha. I’ve already added the code for it, I’ll just wait to do a bigger update to add it to the demo.

Originally I was thinking of making the tattoos important in some way or another but It’s been 5 years and I can’t remember for the life of me what that purpose was. So yeah, I’ll add the option to add more tattoos and I’ll probably only talk about one of them or mention their overall presence.

And sure, piercings, why the hell not?

Oh yeah, height would be good for the character customization. I just naturally assumed the MC was relatively tall, but forgot I should actually give the choice haha

The smoking bit I thought worked well with the rebel/edgy persona, since, for example, the edgy type will have a lot of stuff never mentioned before ready for special occasions. In the cafeteria scene, the edgelord had food prepared from home and they don’t stay in line to get anything. But yeah, I guess I could explain better that our MC prepared stuff from home for occasions like these.

And, yes, you can become the lead vocalist for the renowned Fighting Rooster! Without spoiling anything, there will be a plot in the band where you’ll need to figure out who should be the vocalist. And that option can also be you.

[gildedpanic]

Now that I have my own kitchen, I've been cooking more. I made donuts (and various other foodstuffs)!

More of this week's recipes below the cut :-)

~~Donuts~~

Dough (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/no-yeast-homemade-donuts/#wprm-recipe-container-18314

Glaze (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp water. For the chocolate I added some unsweetened cocoa powder.

Notes: I used Bobs Red Mill Egg Replacer, storebrand vegan butter, and water instead of the buttermilk because I accidentally left my milk out and had to throw it away. I made my own powdered sugar by combining granulated sugar and cornstarch in a blender.

~~Bread~~

Recipe (⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/no-yeast-bread/

Notes: I've been using this recipe for years. It's super simple and easy if you just want something quick. I've found it to be better for more savory recipes if you add in some Italian seasoning to the dry ingredients and brush it with olive oil so the crust is a little crispier. Although, my sister loves the recipe as is and often eats it with just jam/butter.

~~Chickpea Concoction~~

Main(⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hgCPzx1u478

Flatbread (⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RYvU-25g-Ow

Notes: I didn't have a chili or red pepper, but I added a bunch of spinach for the extra iron. I also forgot to buy turmeric last week so I had to do without that. It was obviously pretty bland at first, so I just kept adding spices/seasoning until it tasted right. This recipe came out really good, but I honestly couldn't tell you how to replicate it yourself. The base is a good start, so just follow your cooking instincts and believe in yourself? The flatbread was nothing special; used a tiny bit of maple syrup in place of the honey and it came out fine. (PS. There's rice beneath the chickpeas) (PPS. Save the aquafaba! You can do a bunch with it, including making homemade mayonnaise)

~~Seitan~~

Recipe (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxNaThLDrsk&t=204s

Notes: Second time making this recipe. I didn't have sage but I added a tiny bit of Italian seasoning. Used sriracha instead of the sweet chili sauce and left out the garlic because I ran out. I think I accidentally added too much oil to the pan, so watch out for that. ALSO: Make super duper sure you are not cooking this too fast. I didn't add the sauce while it was in the pan because, again, way too much oil. I should honestly give this recipe 5 stars for how easy this seitan was compared to literally every other recipe. Would go well with some broccoli.

~~Bannocks~~

Recipe (⭐️⭐️⭐️):https://www.scotchandscones.com/scottish-bannocks/

Notes: Really good use of oats if you're someone (like me) who hates the texture of oatmeal. Only blended the oats 3/4 of the way so there were still some full bits. Added ~0.5 scoop of vanilla protein powder and used vegan butter. The chocolate topping is just peanut butter mixed with a bit of cocoa powder. I baked it for a little longer than the recipe said to. Pretty good, but next time I would probably add some more stuff like cinnamon/maple syrup/apples/etc. Also you could definitely add some vital wheat gluten in there if you are looking to get better macros as the baking powder should get rid of any strange taste.

~~Microwave Red Beans and Rice~~

Recipe (⭐️⭐️⭐️): Rice, canned red beans, canned diced tomatoes, and a buttload of cajun seasoning.

Notes: When my mom went away to college she complained about missing my grandma's red beans and rice, so my grandpa bought her a dozen cans of kidney beans to eat raw out of the can. This is a half-step up from that. It takes like three minutes. It’s just some cooked rice out of the fridge, add ~1/4 can tomatoes + ~1/2 can beans, microwave for 1.5 minutes, and dump in the seasoning.

~~Crab Sushi~~

Recipe(⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XiN-QyUWt8c

Notes: Okay, I know it looks gross. But! This crab salad is very very good. I've made it 3 times now (or 4? When I made it the second time my mom ended up eating all the crab salad before I could roll it up and I had to make a whole new batch). My sisters like it even though they hate sushi. My dad likes it even though he dislikes veganism. When I made it this week I didn't even have any cucumber or avocado but it still tasted /okay/. I would recommend julienning some carrots if you have any extra, but that's just because I like my maki to have some crunch. Also, if you make a lot of sushi please make your life easier and pick up some Mizkan Sushi Seasoning.

~~"Arepas"~~

Recipe: 2 parts corn meal/flour, 1 part AP flour, some salt and oil/butter. Pour in warm water until it forms a dough, then fill with some beans and mozzarella and fry.

Notes: Please no one get mad at me for calling them arepas. Good with avocado if you have it.

~~Macaroni and Seitan Nougats~~

Macaroni(⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://theeburgerdude.com/vegan-instant-mac-cheese/#recipe

Seitan(⭐️): https://www.sixvegansisters.com/2018/08/24/seitan-fried-chicken/

Notes: The mac was super easy, and TheeBurgerDude has never led me astray so I suspect the recipe would be at least four stars if I wasn't missing literally half the ingredients. I didn't have mushroom seasoning, lactic acid, or msg, but I added some extra salt and nooch yeast. I also still didn't have milk so I mixed flour and cornstarch with water and used that for both the mac and nougats, along with some extra butter. The seitan was pretty gross, but I think that was mostly my fault. From what I can tell, I may not have kneaded the dough for long enough, my chicken broth:water ratio was off, I simmered the seitan at too high of a heat, and I fried it too quickly. Glad I only made a half batch. Maybe would have tasted better with a thick layer of breadcrumbs?

~~Seitan Nougats 2: Electric Boogaloo~~

Recipe(⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️): https://www.stephsunshine.com/vegan-life/crispy-fried-tofu/

Notes: I've used this recipe a ton and it works well with regular and lentil burmese tofu. I usually add some extra spices to it, but this time I only added some paprika to get it kinda similar to what the original seitan recipe called for. I used the leftover seitan dough from the previous recipe (boiled, but not yet fried) and pressed the pieces into very flat discs because the seitan puffs up while frying. It came out much better, maybe 3.5 stars. Did not pair well with the macaroni though. The end result oddly reminded me more of tempura than anything else, so it might work well with that sorta stuff? If you were making it from scratch, I would replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Relatively cheap and filling, though (this photo is ~$1.87, 823 kal, 46g protein, 115g carbs, 31g fat. Two servings of mac + One serving seitan)!

[judgeanon]

Plastic Skies - Model 13: F-15E Strike Eagle "Garuda 1"

Near the end of last year, I bought a sheet of bootleg decals to make my Mobius-1 F-22 Raptor (as seen here!). The sheet had a lot more decals than just the Mobius ones. Some were for planes I had no interest in doing, some ended up in my old decal-less Berkut model, and some inspired the model I'd end up building right after the Area 88 Tiger. After all, I knew sooner or later I'd end up making an F-15. Even if I'm not its biggest fan.

Yeah, yeah, I dunno, I just don't like the F-15 Eagle. I know it's the backbone of the USAF and a fantastic plane and it does everything and the story of how it was conceived is super funny, but there's something about it that just doesn't spark anything in me. It's just... a fighter plane. Much like the Flanker platform, it always felt like the most standard example of Fighter Jet to me, without the cool swing wings of the Tomcat or the sleek small shape of the F-16. There's no such thing as a boring fighter jet, but the F-15 is close.

That's not to say we don't have some history. One of the last models my brother built back when we were kids was an absolutely massive (for us) 1/48 scale Eagle. As with all our models, it was glued together and not much else, and I distinctively remember it losing one of its tail fins somewhere underneath a bed. Still, the thing was huge to us, and I always remember it as the biggest model we ever had. But that's about as much fondness as I have for the Eagle.

Or at least, as much as I had until Ace Combat happened.

Although the Eagle is very prominent in several AC games, the important one for this model is Ace Combat 6: Fires of Rubi--I mean Fires of Liberation, for the Xbox 360. This was one of the very last Ace Combat games I tried during my "I want to play all of them phase", since although PS1, PS2, PSP and 3DS emulation are all pretty good right now, Xbox 360 emulation is not quite there, and has apparently been not quite there for years now. I should know, I tried. But earlier this year, a very generous and dear friend of mine offered me an old Xbox 360 which he'd come into possession and was using to try some cool hacker stuff. And soon, I was finally getting to play AC6.

The game itself is great, as are all Ace Combats. It has a really interesting "large-scale battle" system, where different units are doing their own thing and you can choose which ones to support. It has the first appearance of high-g turns, which I love. It has a killer soundtrack, but that's no surprise. It has a really frustrating boss fight followed by a really amazing final level. And it has one of the most gloriously OP fictional jets in the series. Its story isn't quite as engaging as the PS2 games but I'm very glad I played it. And as seen above, the game's cover star is the F-15E, a plane for which I already had the decals to make.

So as I was finishing up the Tiger, I knew what the next project would be.

This was also going to be my first Academy model kit. Academy is a Korean model kit company that as far as I can tell sits quite comfortably in the middle ground of model kit quality. They make decent stuff for a good price with solid plastic quality, although some reviewers note a few glaring accuracy issues. I don't really care about accuracy when it comes to models, especially not at the price I found this, so I got to work pretty quickly.

The cockpit was the first step. Emboldened by my work on the Tiger, I tried to really make it shine this time, adding those little extra dabs of red to the flightsticks and other touches. Unfortunately, the decal sheets were a bit too wide for the panels, so they ended up getting warped and stretched. It looks pretty bad, but once inside the plane, I figured it wouldn't be visible. And I was right! Althouh what is visible are some of the corners where I skimped or forgot to paint, something which I'm definitely trying to work on in my latest kits.

The main fuselage was a much easier fit than the Raptor, although not quite as easy as the Tiger. The Eagle is a big motherfucker, after all, so putting it together requires a lot of pressure in different spots. Unfortunately, it also resulted in some plastic melting around a few corners, but only in the underside, and only on one wing. It was still a good lesson that made me want to invest in better cement, but it'd take a while for me to actually do it.

I decided the next step would be the nozzles, which is where this particular kit goes a bit fucking nuts. The F-15's thrusters feature external fairing arms for their variable geometry nozzles, which is way easier to explain with a picture:

And if you're observant, you can go back to that first picture of all the model's sprues and see how this kit handles that. But just in case:

The parts in green are the 30 (!) parts necessary to build just the two exhaust nozzles. The parts in orange are Academy offering people who aren't insane a way out, with two fully built nozzles with "turkey feather" panels instead of the arms. Which is very thoughtful of them, but after 12 models, I guess I was feeling a bit insane.

Admittedly, it wasn't rough sailing. The panels themselves didn't fit as well as I would've liked, and the faring arms required a very delicate touch. Still, I figured it'd all look at least decent once I went in with my beloved burnt iron paint, and sure enough, the end result was mostly fine.

Around this time, I started running into what's become my weak point this far into model building: indecisiveness. It's easy to think that models are "put them together first, then paint, then decals, then varnish, then panel lining, then clear coat", and some cheap kits are perfectly capable of following that order. But the more experienced I get and the bigger kits I try, the more I find myself playing with that order, doing things like painting certain parts of the plane first before gluing, or even fully detailing things like tail wings before I'm even done painting the fuselage.

Which sounds smart and is the way to do until you're staring at four different tasks and you just don't know what you should start on now. In this model's case, one of the biggest problems was armaments.

This isn't even all of it, btw. This is still missing the eight other missiles I also had to paint. Though I will say, as messy as the yellow tips on the Mk 82 bombs are, I'm still a little proud of the way I figured out to paint them roughly similar:

It's not perfect, but nothing is. However, the armaments thing was something that bothered me all the way to the end of the build.

Painting the fuselage was a way different story. One of the reasons why I chose AC6's F-15 was precisely because it's just one big color. No camo jobs, no masking tape save for the yellow bits on the tail wings, just me and my brushes and a newly bought box of Revell Greenish Grey paint. That paint is... an odd one. Looks absolutely disgusting when wet, like the insides of a toilet after eating some very unhealthy food, but once it dries out and especially once varnished it looks... kinda cool? Kinda awesome? It just has way more personality than the usual air superiority grays of most USAF fighters.

The other part of the build that was surprisingly comfortable was the landing gear, since this model only has one door for each gear. Made the whole thing go by in a breeze, and before I knew it, I was already putting in the decals. At least the big ones. Admittedly, they're not 100% game accurate, since AC6 uses low visibility versions of the emblems and such, but they were there and I wasn't not gonna use them.

Panel lining was also shockingly easy for this kit. Although I'm still pretty lousy at it, the kit's panel lines were very well defined and easy to get the paint in. Compared to other kits I've had, this one was very well behaved when it came to this step. Sooner than I'd expected, the whole thing seemed almost ready to be done. I just had to finish the armaments and we'd be all done.

So... yeah. You might notice something missing here. As it turns out, this kit doesn't actually have enough parts to put the 12 green bombs I'd painted besides the Mk 82. They're supposed to go three alongside the edges of the conformal fuel tanks (where the missiles now are) and three on the little chunks poking out of the sides. But for whatever reason, this kit only has four of those little chunks instead of six. And due to some issues with the instructions, I think I also glued the ones it did have wrong.

On top of that, I had some issues gluing the hardpoints with the Sidewinders and Mk-82 bombs to the wings, mostly because hey, protip: gluing stuff that's already painted and varnished is waaaay harder than gluing stuff when it's fresh off the box. But I just had to be a smart boy and get all the panel lining done first... Very frustrating, especially after realizing this, too, isn't game accurate. But it'd never really been my goal to make something perfectly accurate to the game. Like with the Raptor, like with every kit I make, I'll always choose what looks good to me over what looks closer to the real (or virtual) thing.

Eventually, the whole thing was done. Painting the cockpit was tricky but I've lost a lot of my old fears about it these days. And once the whole thing was varnished, I found myself really liking what I was seeing. The long nose, the beefy wings, the shiny engines... Maybe I'd been wrong about the F-15 all this time. Maybe it isn't really a boring jet. Maybe I just needed to let it back into my heart. And although it gave me a real tough time in a bunch of places, at the end it's low-key one of my favorite models so far, and a nice homage to an unsung game.

And it looks pretty cool on the Area 88 base too.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Ok so what if I made a list of things I started at some point in the past like five years or so and haven't finished but am still pretending I'll get back to them eventually? Maybe that would be interesting to literally no one but me, which is good enough.

The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games ever. I'm like 90 hours into it, have at least twice that left to go, and I haven't touched it in like three years. Like most of the rest of this first section the main problem is that it's on my computer, and being able to sit comfortably in a way that doesn't injure myself while also being able to see the screen isn't going well these days.

Tales of Berseria is also a lot of fun, but it has the computer problem. I need more Magilou because she's such a gremlin.

Final Fantasy 13-2 is definitely my favorite post-12 FF game and might even be the one I've had the most fun with since 6, 7, and 8. Alas, computer.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is a very silly crossover that feels like it shouldn't exist. I keep saying I'll go back and finish the rest of the storylines, but computer and also I just haven't had a strong desire to yet. I did figure out that I can win fights using an old Guitar Hero guitar though, so that was fun.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is something I started after finally getting caught up on the manga after years and years, because I tend to like Warriors/Musou games when I'm in the right mood. It's decent but not amazing, which hasn't motivated me to get past the computer issue.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is technically also a computer thing because I was playing it in Cemu. It gets extra bonus points for being hard to see because the text and UI are so small, but also I managed to break my save file like 70 hours in and haven't gotten around to figuring out what's wrong with it yet. Everything seems fine except my character and the camera get loaded in different locations, and I could probably use the memory editor to reset my location and fix it, but it's not worth the trouble until I can see.

Boyfriend Dungeon is great and I already finished the base game right when it came out, and I've been meaning to go back and do the post-launch stuff they added later and still haven't.

Atelier Ryza finally got good like half a dozen hours in after one of the worst-paced intros I've ever seen, and I haven't worked up the fortitude to try playing more past there so far.

A Slug's Dream has some decent puzzles and I was enjoying it enough, but I totally forgot it even existed. Maybe some day.

Xenogears I also keep forgetting because it's in an emulator on my computer and not somewhere I remember to look to see what game I should play. It sort of bypasses the usual computer problem by being ancient and designed for 480i screens so everything is huge. I'll finish it one of these days.

Ok I think that's all the stuff on the computer. There are a couple others that I'm not including because I only made it like an hour into them before getting sidetracked, so I'll just start them over if I ever go back to them.

3DS next? 3DS next.

Fire Emblem Fates is what's currently in there I think. It's taken multiple years, but I've finished Birthright and most of Conquest. Some day I'll finish that one and then maybe do Revelation. Any year now...

Shadows of Valentia might come back around too. I've had enough of a break to at least partly get over how mediocre a lot of the maps are and how annoying certain enemy types are, and I do want to at least try to finish it for the sake of the story, just not while I'm in the middle of pretending to play Fates too.

Shadow Dragon deserves another chance too when I'm in a better frame of mind for it, I just don't know when that'll be.

Radiant Historia is amazing and I really need to get back to it and finish it, and I don't know why my brain keeps not letting me for the past couple years. One of these days it will though, and it'll be great.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is also pretty great, but it's physically painful for me to play. I keep saying I want to try to figure out some way to work around that, but it's been multiple years and I still haven't.

Shovel Knight is one I completely forgot I even have, but it was way better than I expected and I should give it another chance.

Project X Zone is another ridiculous crossover that feels like it shouldn't exist, and it's pretty fun sometimes too, but wow does it really drag sometimes with how long each level is and how many of them there are. I might be able to manage it in smaller chunks though.

Ok Switch gets to be in a separate post or I'm going to run out of tags.

[purplekoop]

also after I saw the turtles movie I saw that youtube had the original Jimmy Neutron movie (and some other Nick movies) for free with ads so I watched that afterwards.

So uh. Gonna make this one a little shorter.

Koop Talks About... (#3) Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius I don't know if this deserved an Oscar nomination but it's funny that it did so it's fine

Very fun, and also very reasonable to deem better than the subsequent show even though I love that jank bundle of insanity that is a children's cartoon. It's a solid story about a solid concept of a character that takes itself a little more seriously than the show itself, while still keeping that cartoonishness with even a bit more "whimsy" to its tone.

I remember thinking the amusement rides turned into spaceships were THE coolest thing as a kid, and even then I think the creativity behind some of them has that really fun sense of childlike wonder that I don't think the show itself quite captures.

Plus also it's just funny, I forgot how many of the show's most iconic lines and bits came from this movie specifically. Personal favorite bit of the whole franchise is the part where Carl shows Jimmy a drawing of a frog and he responds with full sincerity "that looks great, Carl". Comedy doesn't get better than that.

Also I forgot how many pop songs were in this movie, I remember classics like "Hey Jimmy Jimmy", the Bowling for Soup version of the main theme (yes really), and "Kids of America" (y'know like the digimon movie song. not All Star, the other one.), but I forgot how there were like, 5 more. This was more than likely the first place I heard Blitzkrieg Bop and I didn't even remember it. They're not distracting for me personally, honestly they work for this silly movie and make it feel more "grand" than the show itself.

Frankly, the most interesting part about the movie is more just its weird role in the series as a whole. The movie came before the show, expressly because they could use the theatrical budget to make higher-quality character models to use in the show itself, rather than make TV budget models for the show and then make better models for a movie later. The weird part is that... for some reason the assets they reuse in the show are worse than the stuff specific to the movie? Like, the best-looking stuff is all the alien stuff. The Yolkians themselves are especially well-animated and detailed, which is weird because aside from one TV special they weren't in the show itself. The basic human character models look... not BAD, but not exactly impressive compared to who was also nominated for that first ever best animated feature Oscar. It overall looks notably better than in the show itself, likely just due to having more time and budget for quality assurance, extra details, and rendering. If you want more info on the interesting history of Jimmy Neutron's development, going well before this movie's 2001 release, I highly recommend this video by Slow Start. 21 minute watch, won't regret it if you're even just mildly fond of the show. They also have more videos on an array of early 2000's nostalgic topics, which hey that rubs my fancy, so if you're like me then check them out!

Especially compared to the last post I feel I should reiterate that this isn't like, a super fantastic movie I recommend to everyone, but if you have nostalgia for it or otherwise just have 80 minutes to kill on a decent 2000's early CGI kid's movie, then I definitely say to go for it. Or if you have control over what a kid watches and you want to give a cultured viewing experience, here's a suggestion that's not hard to get access to right now.

I maaaayyyy talk more about the show itself, but to be honest there's not much to say compared to other shows I'd want to give time to rewatching and talking about. I saw the whole show a few years back when it was on Hulu, and it was a good time, but I just don't know how much is worth mentioning. There's some highlights, and while it's still probably in my top 3 Nick shows, it's not super deep. Even then, I still think it's aged better than the other early 2000s nostalgic Nick show starring a kid with an "-immy" name who has control over forces no mortal should hold power over. yikes that show is rough even before the part where it's generally considered outright bad.

Anyways uhhhhh

Goodnight Retroville.

[gwydionmisha]

My OTC Medicare Advantage Benefit Saga:

I'm writing thins in case any of you have Medicare.  (Do you have medicare advantage?  if not!  Get some when it reopens next fall, because medicare part C is amazeballs).

They switched up providers and the entire system of Over the counter Meds benefits at the new year.  They increased the benefit and made it monthly instead of quarterly and added a $50.00 food voucher.  They were late sending cards out to let people actually use the benefit and out right lied to social services, medicare advantage social workers etc., that they mailed the catalog/directions/etc. packet in December when as of 1/10/22 they hadn't mailed them at all.  This is a serious asshole maneuver as if you do not spend your benefit by month's end it doesn't roll over. My card only got here end of last week and as of last Tuesday very few had them yet.  I suspect preventing most people using their benefit this month is an illicit cost saving measure.

Anyway, the old system, you had a catalog full of OTC stuff you could order four times a year.  You couldn't  go over the limit, and any change left after the order was lost.  It was all at cost so big bang for your buck, but they lacked all kinds of things one would think should be in there like surgical masks or better, but they had no masks at all at the start of the pandemic, and a year in they only added the crappy white cloth ones that never fit properly.  You'd think masks would have been standard for elderly and disabled people even before the pandemic, but...  Yeah.  Still it was way better than not having it.  You could get things like antacid and first aid supplies and toothbrushes, but it was missing stuff that logic dictates made sense.

The new system is a give away to pharmacies.  You get more to spend, but it's at price gougey pharmacy prices instead of at cost.  You can only use certain chain pharmacies and grocery stores.  The two cheapest grocery stores in my small city/town are not on the list.  The second and third most expensive are.  

So my social worker and the person in charge of several things including OTC benefit in my state were on a conference call with me Tuesday as we tried to work out WTF.  Why me?  I'm a squeaky wheel who kept asking how I was meant to use the benefit and so is my nurse/social worker.  The lady from OTC was super nice and helpful, it's just the office in Washington and third party administrator were not communicating about stuff at all in a useful way.  So they asked if I'd guinea pig for them using only information that came with the card which was sketchy at best.  I agreed to go to the Rite AID, ask them if they had any info sheets sent to them, and try to buy an experimental month's worth of OTC.  (I'm doing the grocery run next week, I think.  I was exhausted from errands and treatment.)

NOTE: If you get your card make sure to activate it and definitely save the mailer it's attached to as it lists participating chain stores and the monthly benefit amounts.  Do remember to account for state tax if any and have extra money with you in case you go over.

No one at Rite AID on that shift knew what an OTC benefit was and they took my benefit card for something else when I went to pay.  They had definitely not been informed this roll out was happening nor had they been sent a what people could buy with it list any more than we had.

My purchase set was deliberately experimental.  I mostly selected things I knew were on the old list, but tried brands they didn't carry for a bunch of things. Oral B toothbrush heads instead of Phillips.  I got tums, but also the store brand equivalent, that kind of thing.  I also grabbed a big box of the previously forbidden masks.  They fit under the vague guidelines on the card mailer, but I knew they were off list last year.

I explained to the cashier about not knowing what was covered and that we may have to put things back.  Everything went through.  Even the masks.  I was so caught up in the experiment, I forgot to factor in state tax, so I went a little over, which is fine, as that too is useful data.  If the only thing over is tax, you can't remove items from the tally, which is good to know.  I have reported back, so the medicare advantage people for my state can use the results to help all the others.  

Next month I will branch out a little more and see if I can push it a little further from the old catalog of we don't get our items list in time.

All in all, as annoying as it is that pharmacies are profiting off this instead of people getting full value, being able to buy the toothbrush head brand I need and to purchase things off book like masks is a huge help.  I just wish some things weren't jacked up 3-4 times the price from the old catalog.  With the benefit increase it balances out though. Not having to spend thirty bucks on masks is worth it by itself.  It also means not spending an hour or two planning my purchase so as to lose as little as possible.

The old catalog let us buy soap, but not shampoo.  I am wondering if soap is still allowed under the new guidelines.  I supose it's a question for next month.

[myfavfanficsss]

I’m surprised Pope didn’t jump Rafe in the last chapter/this chapter after finding out reader is pregnant again. Reader is stronger than me, I would have had a complete breakdown between last chapter and this one, screaming, throwing things, breaking things, all that. But then I guess that would make it even worse because then her parents and ward would be like “she is crazy and unstable” and wouldn’t listen to her/ believe her if she later told her parents that she was raped (and everything else he did). Oohhh but then maybe Ward would be like “I don’t want my son to be associated with her” 🤔 hmmm. Also I know this story obviously focuses on reader and rafe, but I wonder what Sarah’s (and the other pogues) reactions to all of this were. Also I can totally imagine wheezie either being like “omg I’m gonna be an aunt!!” Or “so you’re the girl he’s with 🙄.” And she will definitely never let rafe live it down that they weren’t careful (since she obviously doesn’t know that he didn’t want to be careful). Also I’m still wondering all of ward’s involvement. Like did he know about reader before hand, does he know rafe wanted her to get pregnant, that she had an abortion and she got pregnant again? We never really got a scene in the less I know the better of everyone beating jj up, so I propose that everyone takes turns beating up rafe in this story. Reader of course gets to hit him first, then Pope, then the other pogues join in. For some extra fun add in Bunny, Cam, Topper, and Kelce, hell, even let Barry take a few swings even though he doesn’t know why he’s beating him up, I’m sure he would like to just to do it for fun. Anyways, on to canon stuff, those last lines!! I hate him. I hate him so much. I love reader and of course want nothing but the best for her but I truly think since she can’t find a way to get to Charlotte, and I’m sure if she tries any at home unsafe ways she will end up hurting herself and not harming the fetus at all, the best option for her is to 💀. Also, rafe shut the fuck up with your “beautiful” comments. You say that to her again while intimidating and/or assaulting her in some way, I’m gonna come through my screen and slap you! Also, should have added this before when talking about the pogues but I wonder how bunny and cam would have reacted if reader told them the truth. Like the whole truth. I assume though reader doesn’t want them to feel like it’s their fault since they left her at the party and hadn’t picked up on the fact that she had been acting different. Lastly “rose and I don’t work, not yet anyways” maybe I am dumb and missed/forgot something but wtf do you mean by that boy! To me it sounds like he’s saying since rose will be home he won’t hurt her, but once rose starts working, nobody will be home and see/hear how rafe really is.

When The Party’s Over XVIII (Rafe Cameron x Reader)

Warnings: mentions of NON-CON, DUB-CON, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP, mentions of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, forced pregnancy, mentions of abortion, forbidden relationship, violence, jealousy, stalking, underage drinking, drug use, manipulation, corruption, public sex, innocent reader, Heyward!reader

➥ banner by @vase-of-lilies​ | divider by @silkholland​​

➥ series masterlist

summary: Manipulated into a secret relationship with Rafe Cameron, you’re finding it much easier said than done to do the right thing and walk away…especially when he refuses to let you.

Keep reading

[robotnuts]

Hi sorry if you’ve answered this before but do you know the “correct” way to watch all rvb content? I recently found out there’s like, bonus episodes outside of the main seasons and have no idea what order I’m supposed to be watching everything in. I’m doing a rewatch soon with my partner and just wanted to know if you knew, no worries if not!

yeah sure!

so what i'm guessing you're probably asking is about is the miniseries. the first two pretty much need to be watched for the plot in my opinion

seasons 1-4

out of mind miniseries

season 5

recovery one miniseries

season 6

relocated miniseries

seasons 7-9

MIA and WTAWTAW miniseries (two of them!)

season 10-onwards

there's also the chorus journals that take place before season 11 (these are technically a miniseries i think). bonus points if you include journal #4 which rt lamely left out of the compilation

if youre ever confused i recommend just looking up your current season on the rvb wiki, and the bottom of the infobox will let you know if theres a miniseries to be watched next

NEW EDIT: THERE ARE ALSO TRAILERS FOR THE SEASONS THAT INCLUDE ADDITIONAL CONTENT. These are like, dubiously canon, the RVB9 one in particular gets retconned pretty heavily, but should still be watched before their seasons. Here’s the ones that actually have original content and aren’t just montages of moments from the season. 

reconstruction trailer (rvb6) / recreation trailer (rvb7) / rvb9 trailer / rvb12 trailer / rvb13 trailer

(also because i am so autistic: there’s also the original trailer that, iirc, was made like 6 months before they actually started making the series. it doesn’t really have a ton to do with what rvb would become but it’s definitely a cool artifact.) 

(there’s also this rvb10 trailer which doesnt have anything new but is charming enough i want to save it on this post anyways, as well as this fanmade rvb13 trailer set to the chain by fleetwood mac that im obsessed with). END EDIT

the next layer of interpreting "all" rvb content includes the psas. psas are extra canonical content where the "actors" from the popular webseries red vs blue talk to the audience about a given subject. there's a few psa videos that were created alongside each season, but they can be watched whenever since they have no effect on the plot. i dont actually know of a good playlist for these this one seems to have the most videos. i think some psas might actually be lost media rn last i checked i should see if i can do anything about that

finally there's also deleted scenes and general rvb bonus content exists (like the end of season 5 which had several alternate joke endings) if you're interested in watching that. the person who uploaded journal #4 seems to have uploaded a lot of that and (sighs) hopefully i'll have some of that stuff up myself soon in a google drive or something

EDIT: forgot that i’d also consider this deleted rvb scene mandatory content. it was only cut because burnie made the decision that he didn’t want to mention tex too many times in season 6 in order to make it a better entry point for new fans. i think this was a horrible idea honestly and the added context about why church changed his mind at the end of the season is fantastic

[beauvibaby]

there won’t be anyone else — t.seguin

a/n: obviously my timeline isn’t going to be accurate, and I know he went back to Canada for a large portion of his recovery but this is what worked… should I do a part 2???

Part two here!

summary: tyler asks his best friend to stay with him and his daughter during his recovery

word count: 5.2k

tagging people who interacted with my post: @i-am-a-lost-girl16 @mandypants95 @fallinallincurls @sidscrosbyy @myhockeyworld87 @lilyhood22 @joeyisourranger @je-ne-regrette-rien @youngbeezer @slimdebrusk

“Y/N?” Tyler spoke nervously, you tore your eyes off of the six month old in your arms, she gurgled in complaint as she grabbed at your face, “what’s up?” You asked him, shushing his daughter as she kept pinching your face. He smiled at the sight of you two, “I have to have a couple of surgeries, big surgeries, and I’m going to need a lot of help with Willow.” He explained, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, “do you think you could come stay with us for a while?” He finally asked, you nodded instantly, you’d known Tyler ever since he came to Dallas. Long before he ended up as a single father to little Willow. “Of course, Ty.” You assured him, “anything you guys need.” You added, giving him a soft smile as Willow reached for her daddy. “Hi baby girl.” He grinned, smothering her in kisses, “glad you finally wanted to come back to me.” He teased her, holding her above his head as she giggled, the sight alone melted your heart as she grabbed at his beard the second it was in reach. “When is the surgery?” You asked him, you were fortunate enough to run an online shop, so really, as long as you could bring your supplies to his house, which you knew he’d have no problem with, you’d be set.

“Next week,” he paused, glancing over at you, “in New York.” He rushed his words together. “New York?” You gasped, eyes going a little wide. “You don’t have to come!” He stated, “my mom is going to meet me there, and then she’ll fly with me back here.” He explained, “I’ll be gone for a little over a week, then I can rehab here.” He added, realizing he didn’t explain anything very well. “Are you sure you don’t want us there?” You asked, motioning to Willow who was happily laying on his chest, gurgling away, probably close to taking a nap since she just ate. “I do, I really do, but it’s not worth the hassle, she’ll be happier here.” Tyler sighed, resting his chin on top of her head. “I’ll send you a bunch of pictures and videos of her, promise.” You laughed softly, thinking of how crazy this recovery is going to be for him. “You’re going to do great.” You assured him, seeing the wheels turning in his head, “I’m sure of it, and I’ll do anything I can to help.” You murmured, running a hand through your hair as all he could do was muster up a smile.

***

Day 1.

Tyler’s mom FaceTimed you that night, once he was coherent enough to remember seeing his daughter. “Hi, Mrs. Seguin.” You spoke softly, Willow looking around with wide eyes on your lap, you flipped the camera to show her, “Tyler.” His mom mumbled, handing the phone over, he looked exhausted but the way his eyes lit up when he saw Willow, she’d just had a bath so she was only in a diaper, showing off her chunky little legs. “Hey, Willow, hi baby.” He spoke, she focused in on the phone, rapidly swatting at it as she recognized his face. You giggled, moving her around to be sitting more on your chest, her face next to yours. “Say hi.” You cooed to her, waving her hand for her, she bounced excitedly as he smiled at her.

Day 2.

He was a little grumpy that day, but tried not to show it as he got to see Willow via FaceTime again, you knew he was already tired of being unable to move.

Day 3.

You were talking to him encouragely as he walked for the first time in three days, Willow sleeping in her room, Tyler’s mom held the phone out in front of her. You knew it had to be hard for her as well, to see her son like this, all because he was playing the sport he loved. You took some time to talk to her as the nurses helped Tyler get back in bed.

He didn’t feel up to talking again that day so you were sure to send him photos and videos of Willow, she was finally sitting up on her own without falling over.

The next week went on like that until he was finally coming home, luckily it was right during Willow’s long afternoon nap, so you could help him get settled and get everything in order before his mother had to leave to catch a flight tonight.

***

“Hey, Tyler.” You smiled, opening the car door, greeting him brightly, he tried to mimic your eyes excitement, but you could tell it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Hey.” He mumbled, letting out a soft groan as you helped him get out and onto his feet, he gave his mom a hard time about using the wheelchair, you could see the pain floating in her eyes, just overly worried that he would fall. “I’ve got him, Jackie.” You assured, walking directly beside him as he hobbled with his crutches, she nodded, grabbing the bags out of the car as you helped him get inside the house.

“Thank you.” He sighed, leaning into the couch cushion as you put a pillow under his leg. You just gave him a reassuring smile, his mom dropping the stuff by the entryway, “be easy on her, I know it’s hard for you, but imagine if you saw Willow like this.” You added in a whisper, understanding came across his face as he nodded, motioning for her to sit beside him, you let them have their moment as you grabbed his bags and brought them to the room he’d been staying in, on the first floor for now, until stairs weren’t a questionable decision.

You put the clothes in the laundry, and moved some stuff down to the guest room, humming softly as you did this stuff without question, just doing it to be helpful, not thinking of how much the small gesture would really mean to him.

After a while, you peeked in on Willow and she was still sleeping soundly with her arms above her head, you smiled, carefully shutting the door to the nursery and heading down the stairs with the monitor, Jackie had to get going if she was going to make it to the airport in time. So you both said your goodbyes, and you could tell it was hard for Tyler to let her leave like that, but what was he to do, she has a life to get on with as well.

“How has she been while I was gone?” Tyler asked, looking at Willow on the monitor, his heart clenching in his chest, wanting nothing more than to hold his baby girl again. “She was good, Ty.” You giggled, easing his nerves, he nodded, “thank you, so much, I know we just started the recovery process but you’ve already helped so much.” He explained, adjusting himself on the cushions, “you don’t have to keep thanking me, I’m happy to help, I love spending time with her, and you.” He smiled at your words, giving you the side eye as you turned away in embarrassment. You two had always been flirty, but once he came to you and said that was going to be a dad, he changed, he stopped going out, he spent his time at home, and it only made it easier for you to imagine a life with him. “We like spending time with you too.” He whispered, resting his hand on your knee right before Willow started to cry. You could tell he briefly forgot he couldn’t go get her as he went to sit up but then stopped himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her.” You hopped up, excited to see her when she finally got to see him for the first time in over a week, you took the stairs two at a time as you heard her crying get more intense.

As you picked her up, you completely forgot that Tyler had the monitor, and could hear and see you tending to her. “Oh my goodness.” You cooed, scooping her up, “your daddy is so excited to see you.” You grinned, kissing her chubby cheeks, making a brief face of disgust as you got a whiff of her diaper, “let’s get you cleaned up first.” You whispered, grabbing her a new outfit, this one having dealt with a small blowout. You quickly changed her and put her in her little jean shorts and a pink shirt, if it wasn’t for you, you were certain Tyler wouldn’t have anything girly for her to wear. He was watching the whole time as you took care of her like she was your own, his heart swelling in his chest, he’d always had a thing for you, but as he saw you with his baby, it only made him fall harder. And he became determined to make you his by the time he was back to playing.

He turned the monitor off and shimmied himself to be sitting up more properly as you came down the stairs, “who is that, Willow?” You gasped, pointing towards Tyler, she began to bounce in your arms. “It’s daddy.” You grinned at her, walking over to him and allowing him to take her. He breathed out in relief, “I missed you so much, baby girl.” He groaned, hugging her tightly, she pushed on him so she could lean back and look at him, she looked at him with a completely serious face before trying to bite his nose. He broke into a fit of laughter as he moved her away from his face, “that’s not nice princess.” He joked, tickling her sides, she giggled swinging her little legs as he lifted her up. “I swear she grew in a week.” He mumbled, sitting her on his good side, she sat on the couch, chewing on her hands and getting drool everywhere. “And she sits now.” He groaned, dramatically resting his head in the couch, she mimicked him and fell into the cushion. “Crazy girl.” You commented, taking the chance while she was distracted to tie up the top part of her hair, she definitely had his hair and all it did was fall in her eyes. Tyler smirked at you, you rolled your eyes at him, “now she looks like a real little princess.” You quipped to him, he faked a gasp, dramatically hoisting her into his chest. “How dare Y/N say that about my princess.”

It was a lot of extra work, and mess, but you brought her jar of food and bib to the couch so Tyler could feed her, knowing it was one of his favorite times with her as she was so smiley. “Have you ever tried this?” Tyler asked curiously as you sat beside him with her in your lap, she happily ate the spoonful of puréed apples, peas and beets. “Baby food?” You asked with a laugh, he nodded, pushing some more into her gummy smile, she gnawed on the spoon as he tried to take it away. “No, I haven’t.” You answered as you contained your laughter, “I tried it once, I figured it couldn’t be so bad, and it was even worse than bad.” He explained, carefully prying the spoon from her hands, she pouted at him, about to cry until he gave her the last bite and let her chew on the soft rubber spoon. “I’m sure it was.” You snickered, lightly wiping around her mouth, “when’s that first tooth gonna come in? Hmm.” He spoke to her, rubbing her little tummy as she burped, he smiled at her, the love he had for her was something only a father and daughter could share, and it was beautiful as you could see the concern on his face as she began to whimper. You let him take her as you went to get rid of the jar and spoon, coming back with her bottle.

“I just changed her, so she should be good for a while after this, is it alright if I go get some work done?” You asked him, he easily nodded as he laid her back on his chest, holding the bottle up to her lips as she eagerly started sucking on it. “Yeah, of course.” He spoke, not hearing you had already started walking away once he nodded, he smiled as you were tying your hair up sloppily while you walked, something you’d always done when you were getting focused on a project.

He turned on the golf channel, sinking into the couch with Willow as she fell asleep once her bottle was empty, he laid her down in the cushion beside him, boxing her in with a rolled up blanket and leaving his hand resting on her as he himself fell asleep.

***

Tyler had been home for a couple of weeks, physical therapy had been stepping up a lot, which meant he was incredibly sore by the time he got home, and incredibly stubborn. He figured, if he could do it just fine with a doctor walking beside him, there was no reason he couldn’t walk ten feet into the bathroom. Well, he quickly found out he was wrong as he stumbled from a pain in his hip and ended up on his knees, cursing as he couldn’t push himself up. You heard him fall, then the sounds of him cursing to himself and you shot up. “Tyler!” You called, rushing towards his room, he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment as you rounded the corner. “Hey, hey, are you ok?” You gasped kneeling beside him. He shook his head, slumping against the wall in defeat, “what’s wrong?” You asked, looking over him, trying to make sure he didn’t pull any stitches, or injure himself again. “I just can’t get up.” He muttered, slamming his fist on the wall. “I’m a fucking professional athlete and I can’t stand up on my own!” He snapped, he thought you’d move away at the tone of his voice, but you didn’t, you only moved closer, wrapping your arms around him in a hug. “I know, Ty. It’s going to be ok.” You whispered, his breathing was ragged as he finally gave in and hugged you back. He calmed down as you just stayed there, letting him hug you as tight as he needed, you pushed his curly mop of hair back once he completely calmed down. “You ready to get back up again?” You whispered, he nodded watching you stand up and give him your hands. “Just push with your good leg, alright.” You gently reminded him, stepping a little sideways to give your feet some traction. “One, two, three.” You pulled on his hands as he slid up, his back against the wall steadying him, he planted both feet on the ground, you quickly grabbed his crutches.

“I’ll just wait until you’re back in bed.” You mumbled, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he nodded, hobbling to the bathroom right outside the room. Your adrenaline high quickly crashed as you waited for him, and you found yourself laying flat on the bed as you waited.

Tyler came back into the room, stopping in the doorway as he saw you stretched out on half of the bed. A smile came over his face as you shifted in your sleep, burying half your face in the pillow, inhaling softly as you felt at peace. He didn’t wake you, he couldn’t bring himself too, so he carefully got into the opposite side of the bed, the thumping in his chest so loud he was certain you could feel it as you subconsciously rolled towards him, resting your hand on his chest as he threw the blanket over you.

Eventually, morning came, and when you woke up in the empty bed, the events of last night came rushing back and you leaped out of bed, not only was Willow crying from her room, but you didn’t see Tyler anywhere, you instantly became worried he’d fallen again and you’d slept right through it. “Y/N?” Tyler called as you went rushing past the kitchen looking for him. “Tyler!” You gasped in relief, placing a hand over your chest as you saw him pouring a cup of coffee. “I thought you fell again, oh my god, where did you sleep? Oh, the baby, let me get the baby!” You rambled heading for the stairs, he chuckled as he listened to you stomp up them, Willow’s crying soon stopping as you picked her up.

He was feeling a little better today, so he managed to get Willow’s morning bottle ready, and some toast for himself, settling himself at the table as you came down the steps. Your hair was tangled in itself, you didn’t have makeup on, and you were in oversized sweats and a tank top, but you’d never looked better to him as you giggled with his daughter on your hip.

You called his name as you walked into the kitchen, spotting him at the table, he didn’t answer, but his eyes were pointed in your direction, “Tyler?” You called again, snapping your fingers. He blinked, “what? Sorry.” Tyler muttered sheepishly, “did you want eggs?” You asked him, eyeing him suspiciously as you maneuvered Willow in your arms to give her her bottle. She happily started drinking it as you propped it up on your cheek, pulling the eggs out of the fridge. “Give her to me.” Tyler chuckled, making grabby hands for her as you struggled to balance everything, you happily gave her over, glancing back as he cooed down to her, whispering a good morning as he kissed her messy head of his hair, they looked so like in that moment, Tyler with his hair sticking all over the place, and Willow with hers pushed to the side from you, with a clip barely holding it back.

“I’m not sure if you’re up to it, or if you want to, but I was going to go to the pumpkin patch later today, if you and Willow want to come?” You offered, “I know you hate having to use that wheelchair but it would be so fun to see her next to all those giant pumpkins.” You raddled on, giving Tyler the chance to admire you, “yeah, that sounds fun.” He answered, smiling when you turned to face him excitedly, “I’m sure you have some cute outfit for her planned out too.” He rolled his eyes jokingly, and you nodded eagerly, of course you did, how could you not, it is her first fall season after all.

“Here ya go.” You mumbled, sliding a plate in front of him, he furrowed his eyebrows, “I never answered about the eggs.” He didn’t argue though, as he picked up his fork and took a bite. “I know, but you’re doing a lot today, you need them.” You giggled, offering a small piece to Willow, now nearly eight months old. She happily mushed it with her couple of teeth, smiling brightly at Tyler, he nodded reassuring her that she was doing good.

Finally you were loading up into the car to go out for a while, Willow dressed in the cutest outfit she had, something you’d bought before she was even born. The belle sleeve onesie just barely still fit her chunky frame, and the red overall skirt over top just made her look even more adorable, and of course, a matching red bow in her hair. Tyler jokingly didn’t approve of how short her skirt was as he took her from you once you arrived, she sat perched on his lap as you pushed the wheelchair down the isles, thankful for the wood boards they had put down as paths in the dirt, Willow was making noises at everything she saw, reaching out to touch the pumpkins every once in a while. “Let me get a picture of you two.” You stopped his chair next to a huge pile of pumpkins, and he stood Willow up on his lap as she grinned at you, it was by far one of your favorite photos of them so far.

An older couple was walking by and smiled at you, “would you like me to take a photo for you?” She asked, and before you could even process her words, Tyler was answering with a yes please. You felt the blood rush to your face as you approached him, he handed Willow to you, and you were about to stand beside him but he gently pulled you to sit on his good leg, you didn’t have time to react, you only smiled for the camera just like he was. “Oh, how beautiful.” The older woman cheered, handing the phone back over to you. “Thanks.” You mumbled, Willow hiding her face in your neck, suddenly shy. You clicked on the picture, and you felt like your chest would explode, you looked like a family, but you weren’t. “Y/N?” Tyler called, you quickly shoved your phone in your pocket, “are you ready to go?” He asked, taking the baby back from you, confusion laced in his tone as he saw the look on your face. “Yeah, Uh, yeah let’s go.” You mumbled, pushing the chair towards the exit, he held in a sigh, trying to figure out what had caused your sudden mood change.

***

“It’s Christmas!” You heard Tyler cheer as he got Willow out of her crib, the nine month old clapping her hands out of his excitement. Tyler was on the upside now, his second surgery complete, and now rehabbing both, he was able to walk without his crutches, he had to go slow on the stairs, but the doctor encouraged him to keep working on them. In a few weeks he’s going to be skating for the first time in months, and you were terrified, meanwhile he was ecstatic, ready to feel like his normal self again. You smiled, keeping your eyes shut as your door opened, “it’s Christmas!” Tyler shouted, putting Willow on the bed and letting her crawl up to your head, mushing on your cheeks, you gasped lifting her up quickly, sending her into a fit of giggles in her reindeer pajamas. “Christmas? Your first one!” You spoke to her, Tyler smiled, sitting beside you. “Merry Christmas.” He whispered, handing you an envelope, he laughed as you put Willow down and quickly pushed yourself to be sitting against the headboard beside him. She made her little baby babble as she played with the bunched up blanket. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” You spoke softly, opening the envelope, revealing a gorgeous Christmas card. “Oh shush, just read it.” You could hear the nerves in his tone, you shot him a smile before letting your eyes run over the extensive writing he’d done.

“Y/N, you have been a godsend in mine and Willow’s life, there isn’t anyone else I would’ve trusted to leave her with during all of this, there isn’t anyone else I’d want to be helping me off the floor at three am. What I’m trying to get at is,

There isn’t anyone else. I don’t think there will be anyone else.

So, if you’d kindly accept my gift, dinner, without Willow, a date, that’s what I’d like to call it.

Love, Tyler.”

“What’s the matter, Seguin? Too afraid to ask me in person?” You quipped, he opened and closed his mouth searching for the right words to say, “is that a yes?” He finally asked, a hopeful look dancing in his eyes. “Of course it’s a yes. I’ve only been waiting months for you to ask.” You giggled, catching him off guard by pecking his lips, it isn’t like you two hadn’t shared kisses before, but it was normally in a drunken state. “Uh-huh.” He hummed pulling you back in for a proper kiss, Willow shrieked, startling you both. She was looking at you angrily, before snuggling up to her dad, as if saying you weren’t allowed near him. “Good job, princess, gotta protect daddy from mean ol’ Y/N.” He murmured to her, earning a glare from you, but as he broke into laughter, you couldn’t even keep up your charades. “Come on, it’s Christmas, she’s got presents to open.” You mumbled, kissing her chubby cheek, “presents!” He cheered, holding her up highly, she giggled as he lunged her back down.

The date had gone as good as you could’ve hoped,

not exactly how he’d planned, but still a great night, the sitter had cancelled, and the restaurant he wanted to take you too didn’t offer a pick up option, so you ended up eating pizza on the living room floor, watching Disney movies, per your request, and talking about everything and anything. And of course, there were lots of stolen kisses.

***

“It’s alright to be a little scared you know.” You reminded your now boyfriend, he was about to go on the ice for the first time in months, and the anxiety just hit him, what if’s repeating themselves in his head. Willow was fast asleep in the stroller, tired from her own activities this morning. “But–“ “No but, you’ve got this babe, you’ve been warming up to this for months, hell, you probably skate better than you walk.” You cut him off, giving him a short pep talk, you squealed in delight when he pulled you in for a quick kiss. You pulled away with a smile, “now, go show that ice whose boss.” You giggled, pecking him once more before patting his shoulder, you weren’t allowed to watch him rinkside, no distractions allowed, so you took Willow for a short walk, all the while she slept. You kept yourself busy, getting caught up with things on your phone as you waited for Tyler to call and say he was done.

Finally as you went back to get him, Willow was awake but grumpy, and hungry, so you kind of just rushed in with her on your hip. Also remembering you had some stuff to do for work today that was time sensitive, “how’d it go?” You asked as you bounced her in an attempt to get her to calm down. Tyler slung his bag over his shoulder, “it was great, rusty, but it felt good.” He explained shortly, sending your urgency, “I’ll put her in the car.” He offered, taking her from you, and instantly she calmed down, only making you feel worse. You knew it was common for her to go through phases, hell, she’d done this with Tyler where she wanted nothing to do with him for almost a whole month, you didn’t realize how bad it would hurt. He shot you an apologetic smile, “hey, just take a deep breath. You’re gonna get everything done on time.” He assured you.

***

New Years had come and gone, and Willow’s first birthday was quickly approaching, as were her first steps. Tyler was sad that they were going to be happening so soon, but at the same time he was beyond excited for her to be running around in no time.

She quickly grew out of the phase of only wanting Tyler, which both of you were grateful for, as he could see it eating away at you.

“Come on, come to dada.” You heard Tyler, you peeked your head around the wall, seeing him sitting on the floor arms reach away from Willow, she looked at him quizzically, reaching her arms out, she wobbled but didn’t fall. “Come on baby.” He encouraged her, she took one step, two, three, and he just kept sliding back until she couldn’t go any further. “Oh my god!” You and Tyler shouted at the same time, “shit,” he jumped now knowing you were behind him. “Hi.” You laughed, sitting beside him, “I think you officially have a walker on your hands.” You told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He furrowed his brows for a moment, he looked as if he was going to say something, but then decided against it. “Yeah I do.” He chuckled in agreement, setting her back on her feet and grinning as she did it again, and again, and again until she was too tired to do anymore and just plopped herself on your lap.

“Hi baby.” You mumbled, kissing her forehead, she sighed, nuzzling into your neck, instantly falling asleep. “She loves you.” Tyler mumbled, tucking your loose hair behind your hair, you bit your lip as you looked over at him. “I love you.” He breathed out, relief hitting him when you broke into a huge smile, “I love you, Ty.” You mumbled, he kissed you as good as he could with Willow curled up on your lap. “Let’s go put her to bed, yeah.” He laughed, taking her from you and disappearing to her room in record speed.

***

Tyler had his first morning skate today, finally getting back into a routine with the team, he was anxious as it was on a Saturday, thankfully no game today, but it was Willow’s birthday party. Of course, all planned by you, Tyler clueless on what to do for a one year old, all he knew is it had to be puppy themed, because those were her absolute favorite things.

“Woah.” Tyler stopped in his tracks, seeing the decorations you’d spread out around the house, his dogs happily laying with party hats on their heads. “Baby, this is awesome.” He chuckled as you came around the corner to greet him, “I know it is.” You laughed, welcoming the hug he offered you. “Thanks for doing all this for her.” He mumbled against your head, “of course.”

***

“Dada, dada, dada!” Willow shrieked running towards him, “Willow?” He gasped, his first game back resulting in a loss, but he scored and you couldn’t lie, it made you emotional. And he was all the clueless to you two being here, “surprise!” You grinned as he scooped her up, “you came?” He mumbled in shock, kissing his daughter before pulling you in with his other arm, “of course we came.” You whispered against his lips, smiling as he finally kissed you, “you did so amazing, babe, I’m so proud of you.” You cupped his jaw with one hand, “thank you.” Is all he could get out before Willow started to speak. She reached for you, “mama.” Your breathing hitched, and Tyler’s smile had grown. You looked to him, afraid to over step, “yes baby, that’s mama.” He assured her, “Tyler.” You cautioned, taking her as she kept reaching for you.

“Y/N, she’s just as much yours as she is mine, you’ve been here since she came home, you’ve taken care of her like a mother, and I don’t plan on letting you go anytime soon. So yes. You’re her mom.” His words brought tears to your eyes, he smiled softly wiping away the tears, kissing your forehead as Willow watched curiously, she kissed your cheek with a smile, having learned early on to be affectionate to people she liked. “Thank you baby,” you cooed to her, resting your head on top of hers. “Mama?” She hummed, smiling against you. “Yeah.” You agreed. “I love you.” Tyler sighed, snapping a picture of his girls, he said the words right before he snapped the picture, getting the most genuine smile from you. “I love you.”

taglist: @boqvistsbabe @tortito @2manytabsopen @heybarzy @barzysreputation @yzas-stuff @iwantahockeyhimbo @calgarycanuck

[bookyeom]

pairing: jin x reader / word count: 2.6k / genre: idiots to lovers, friends (kinda?) to lovers

summary: It was her birthday, and she really only wanted one thing.

tags: pure unadulterated fluff, maknae line shenanigans

warnings: none, just... alcohol maybe?

Happiest of early birthdays, dearest @taejinnies. It’s short and it’s sweet and I hope you like it. I love you!  (This is completely unedited and I’m sorry for that, I wanted to get it out for bb’s birthday before I head out on vacation!! I know your birthday isn’t until tomorrow - it’s already the 4th here - but I hope it’s okay that it’s early!!!)

*****

“Hobi.” 

She drew out the last syllable of her roommate’s name, the wine making her a little bit more tipsy than she probably should have been at this hour. Who cared? It was her birthday, and all of the people she loved the most were in the apartment she shared with her best friend, and she was happy… and so she’d had an extra glass. Sue her.

Hoseok let out a chuckle. “I guess you like the wine Tae got for you? He pretended he was at a small winery in the French countryside the entire time we were in the store picking it out.”

“I’m sad I missed that,” came her solemn reply. “I’ll have to thank him for going all the way to Bordeaux for me. It’s great, though. Have you tried some of it?”

Hoseok shook his head, holding up his cup. “I’ve got my trusty rum and coke, I’m satisfied.” 

She hummed in response, her eyes wandering over her friend’s shoulder to look around the room. She heard her name, and turned back to find Hoseok staring at her, eyebrows raised teasingly.

“Don’t worry, I asked Jin to come. Just for you.”

“Huh?” She tried to play innocent, but Hoseok simply took a sip of his drink, staring back at her. “Where is he then?” She finally caved with a pout. 

Her friend rolled his eyes fondly as he grabbed her by the shoulders. He gave her a little shake as he replied, “You’re so whipped, and you’ve only met him like four times.”

“We’ve met five times,” she muttered, looking away, and Hobi let out a snort. She paused, contemplating. “How drunk do you think I need to be before I ask him to make out?”

Her friend opened his mouth to respond, but the voice that spoke came from behind her.

“Why don’t you ask him now?”

She turned around in a flash, her eyes landing on the man before her, his eyes crinkled at the sides as he smiled. Even without alcohol, she was usually confident, but ever since she’d met Jin months prior, she’d felt a bit like a fraud. She could easily talk to her friends about him, about how hot he was, about how nice he was, about how much she wanted to shove her tongue down his throat… but as soon as he walked into a room, she forgot how to function.

Her gaze finally broke from his, eyes wandering up to his hair, parted on one side and falling softly across his forehead on the other. Her gaze traveled down to find him wearing a yellow and white collared casual dress shirt, and it briefly crossed her mind that the only other person who could pull off a shirt like that was Hoseok. On Jin, it looked amazing. It was a shirt she couldn’t ever recall seeing him wear in the few months she’d known him, and a thought suddenly crossed her mind. The last time she’d seen him, he’d asked, and she’d told him that yellow was her favourite colour. It was just a coincidence, right? There was no way he’d worn a yellow shirt on purpose because she’d said she liked that colour… Right?

But then his hand was lifting towards her, extending a yellow gift bag in her direction. “Happy Birthday,” he said softly. 

His free hand lifted to scratch the back of his neck, and she felt rooted in place. She wasn’t sober, but she also wasn’t drunk enough not to realize the implications. Either he’d remembered, or he just also happened to really love the colour yellow. It was too much for her hazy brain to comprehend.

It wasn’t a secret that she had the hots for Jin, and all of their friends told her they could tell he felt the same. When she flirted with him, he would blatantly flirt back, and she knew that there was definitely something there. Still, a voice in the back of her mind was consistently filling her with doubt. It had been three months since he’d transferred to their university, three months since they’d met, and he still hadn’t made an official move. Her friends all told her that maybe she needed to be the one to do it, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She was confident, sure, but she still didn’t like being rejected.

After a moment passed without her taking the bag from Jin’s outstretched hand, she heard Hoseok clear his throat from behind them. 

“I’ll put this with the other stuff,” he said, and she nodded at him gratefully. He sent her a smile, and she turned back to Jin, hoping her cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt.

“I like your shirt,” she managed, and her stomach flipped as the smile on his mouth grew even wider. She could tell he was pleased with her compliment, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a soft pink blush dusting across his cheekbones. 

“Thanks. I bought it just for you.” He stated it simply, and the wind was knocked out of her for a moment, before she finally managed to steel herself for a witty response.

“For me? Didn’t I say my favourite colour was puke green?”

Jin let out a barking laugh at that, and she couldn’t help smiling, too. “Shit. Guess I’ll have to take it back and exchange it, then.” He paused before adding, eyes twinkling, “I’d do it for you, you know.”

The words left his mouth, and she wondered, yet again, if she should just do it. If she should just ask him out first, kiss him first, cross the line first. As he looked down at her, brown eyes sparkling as he teased her, she made a promise to herself. Tonight, she would do it. It was her birthday party, after all. Why not ask for the gift she really wanted?

*****

She did not do it.

What she did do was get roped into taking shots with Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook - lots of shots. Lots and lots of shots.

Before she knew it, she was drunk, Happy Birthday had been sung, they’d cut the cake, it was 1am, and everyone was leaving. As she lay on the couch with her head in Hoseok’s lap, all she could think about was how grateful she was… and how absolutely exhausted she felt. 

“I’m going to head out.”

She looked up to find Jin, tipsy but not drunk. Curse him and his high tolerance. He was smiling over at her, a bag of recycling in his hands, and she could do nothing but stare at him for a moment. 

“How are you getting home?” She’d meant to ask it, but it was Hobi that finally did. He spoke from above her, and she looked up at him before looking back at Jin, waiting for his answer. 

“Taxi,” Jin shrugged. He lifted up the bag. “I’ll take this out on the way.”

“You should stay,” Hoseok suggested, and she turned to him in surprise. Hoseok shrugged. “Tae and Jimin are already crashed in the spare room, but the couch folds out.”

She could feel Jin’s eyes on her. Every fiber of her being wanted him to stay - but with her. In her bed. She somehow managed to stay silent, the sane side of her thankfully warning that that would be a very, very bad idea. Especially with how good he looked now, his hair looser than when he’d arrived, and his shirt unbuttoned more at the top. If she wasn’t so tired, she’d have gone over and messed his hair up some more herself.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.”

*****

She woke up in the morning, a soft pounding in her head, her mouth dry. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and she was grateful for that, but she still had to grab an Advil from her bedside table. She quickly brushed her teeth in the bathroom, wincing at her reflection in the mirror. She could thank her past self for remembering to take her makeup off, at least.

She headed into the hall towards the kitchen to grab some water, but stopped short in her tracks as she saw a familiar, broad back stretching from the foldout bed in the living room. He was sitting up, wearing just the white t-shirt he’d had on underneath his yellow shirt, his hair messy from sleep, and she wanted nothing more than to climb in with him.

“Morning,” was what she said instead, because there was no way she could get to the kitchen without him seeing her.

He turned to her mid-stretch, his face lighting up when he saw her, arms falling back to his sides. “Morning,” he replied back, and when he lifted a hand to rub some more sleep out of his eye, she was a goner. He was so, so cute. How had she let last night pass her by?

“I’m getting some water, if you want some.” She jutted her thumb towards the kitchen, and he nodded. She had meant that she would bring him some, but he stood up to follow her, still clad in his jeans from the night before. “Sorry if you were uncomfortable last night.”

Jin shook his head, leaning against the counter as she grabbed the water judge from the fridge, as well as two glasses from the cupboard. “Nah, I was out like a light,” he reassured her. 

She handed him one of the glasses, ignoring the way their fingers brushed as she did so. He thanked her, bringing the glass to his lips, and she cursed herself for being unable to look away as he swallowed. She finally turned to her own glass, but she knew he’d seen her ogling when she caught the soft smirk on his lips. 

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, it was fine,” came her reply. “Didn’t get too much of it, but I’m alright.”

“You could always go back to sleep,” he suggested, and she brought the glass back up to her lips with a shrug. 

“I have a hard time getting back to sleep once I’m awake,” she admitted. Jin hummed in acknowledgement. 

“Well, if you’re up for it, we could always do something else.”

She nearly spat out her water, and she watched his eyes widen as he realized what he’d said. 

“I meant we could play Mario Kart or something,” he groaned, and she could see the tips of his ears becoming red. 

As she watched him apologize, so genuine and endearing, she finally made the decision. She couldn’t go one more day without trying. 

It was now or never.

“I’m up for anything you have in mind, Jin,” she said softly, making sure to keep her gaze firm on his, trying to convey just exactly what she meant. 

He seemed to understand almost immediately, straightening his shoulders. “Yeah?”

She nodded, her back leaning against the counter as he took a hesitant step towards her. He continued to close the distance, their eyes never once wavering from each other. He was tentative as he reached her, giving her room to back out if she wanted, but as her eyes fell to his mouth, he seemed to realize that she didn’t plan on going anywhere. 

“You know,” she began, voice a soft mumble. “I didn’t get what I really wanted for my birthday.”

“No? And what was that?” He was staring down at her, his brown eyes twinkling as he asked the question. He was so close now, his mouth inches from hers, and she slowly lifted a hand to his face.

Their noses brushed as Jin’s hand gripped into her waist, pulling her even closer before she whispered, “A million dollars to pay off my student loans.”

It was silent for a moment, Jin’s eyes opening slowly, and he blinked down at her. She couldn’t help but giggle, her hand falling from his face to cover her mouth, and she watched as he began to laugh, too. 

“You’re the worst,” he whined, his forehead falling to rest against hers, and she couldn’t help but loop her arms around his neck. 

She was still smiling, giggles getting quieter until she was able to speak again. “I think you know exactly what I wanted, Jin.” She paused, her skin feeling electric wherever he touched her. “What I still want.”

He moved his face away then, his hands finding the small of her back as his eyes wandered across her face. “I think I have some idea,” he said softly, and she nodded as he closed the distance again.

“Dude, Jin! You actually did it? You asked her out? Nice!” 

The two of them sprang apart as Jimin and Taehyung entered the kitchen, and she held back an audible groan. 

“Could you knock?” She cried, her heart still pounding in her chest. Jin leaned back against the counter next to her, his arms crossed as he tried to contain his laughter at her obvious irritation.

Jimin furrowed his brows in confusion. “It’s a kitchen… without a door.”

“We just wanted some Lucky Charms,” Taehyung added, as if that would help dispel the tension.

She sighed, raising her eyebrows at the two men pointedly, and Jimin finally seemed to take the hint, tugging on Taehyung’s arm. “Let’s go to the cafe across the street, Tae, my treat.” 

The two of them turned to leave, but not before Taehyung gave Jin a pointed look, eyes flitting between the two of them leaning against the counter. When they were finally out of sight, she let out the breath she’d been holding, her eyes squeezing shut. It was Jin that spoke first.

“Should I get going?”

She opened her eyes to look at him again, and he gazed back. He sent her a soft smile, and she could have killed her friends for ruining their moment. 

“Um, yeah,” she said softly, looking down at the floor. “If you want to.”

He didn’t move. 

She felt his eyes on her, and she met his gaze again, eyebrows raising in question.

“Taehyung’s not crazy,” Jin finally spoke into the silence. “I had planned to ask you out, that’s why he asked if I’d done it.”

She short circuited. It took a second before she managed, “What?” 

Jin let out a soft chuckle. “I was going to ask you yesterday. At your party.”

She stared up at him, blinking slowly, before letting her head fall back with a groan. “Fuck. Fuck Jeon Jungkook for roping me into a drinking game,” she whined, and she could hear Jin begin to laugh. “You’re telling me we actually could have made out last night?” She sounded delirious, but she didn’t care - she would never forgive her friends for this one.

“Yes,” the man beside her grinned. He took a step forward, and she turned to him again. “We also can make out right now. Which is what I was trying to do before we were rudely interrupted.”

She couldn’t help it as her mouth parted slightly at his words. Sure, they’d almost kissed just moments before, but hearing him say the words out loud had goosebumps spreading across her skin. 

“You’d better fucking do it this time,” she managed breathlessly, and then he was beaming, his smile wider than she’d ever seen it, and then - his lips were pressed to hers.

It was everything she’d imagined, but better. He kissed her soft but firm, slow but insistent, his mouth moving against hers in a way that had her entire world spinning. He pulled her in flush against him, one hand in the hair at the nape of her neck, the other firm on her waist. Her fingers twisted into his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer as they kissed each other breathless. She couldn’t get enough. They finally pulled apart, chests heaving, and Jin moved to rest his forehead against hers.

“Happy Birthday,” he whispered, and she pulled him back in for another kiss before she replied.

“Happy, indeed.”

*****

tagging @taehyungsupremacy @tae-bebe @snackhobi @moon-write @xjoonchildx​ @hazeltae​ if you wanna read xoxoxo

[ladyyatexel]

I Went On A Manga Binge

So you don't have to

For those of you who have wisely avoided the shreds of it I've left around the blog thus-far, I had some weird notion to go re-experience Yu-Gi-Oh uuuuuh a week ago? We'll go with that. Time is meaningless.

I'd been able to read a good portion of the early manga at the end of highschool, and somewhere in my stacks and stacks of paper is fanart from this dark time, so you know I cared. I also still own a Dark Magician action figure somehow, so. I'd also watched a large portion of the anime with my brother because it had been laced with some kind of crack and we couldn't look away? I remember when we both were just like shit, wait, don't change the channel, I can't stop looking at it. And the next thing we knew we were waiting for new episodes and I was doing research on the Japanese original because I was that kid.

Anyway, unnecessary backstory out of the way, here are some... let's call them Observations and Consequences of having read somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 chapters (and growing) of a manga primarily hinged on card games from a spectrum of sources ranging from boringly lawful to sketchy as fuck.

Surprise actual character that develops in typical shounen fashion being Jounouchi. My limited experiences with the 4Kids dub and only early manga had not painted him in a particularly good light. I don't know if episodes were being aired out of order or if I had just missed the ones that established that he was making shit up as he was going along, but Wow I liked him a lot more going through the manga than I ever did watching the (dubbed, heavily edited and censored and thrown into a slurry machine) anime. I'd managed to come out with the impression that he was just as reasonably experienced with the game as Yugi back in the day. Wild.

I'm now reading every single comic-style post on Tumblr backwards.

Striking inverse to first point, wow, I don't like Seto Kaiba. Though he gets points for his general philosophy of the future, and the line I read in my sketchy online combo of scans and scanlations in which he said, "If God is in your way, you run him down," was Metal As Fuck. I somewhat shame-facedly admit to enjoying him a lot more as an Abridged Series character. (I watched Abridged as it came out back in the day! The experience of watching the anime with my brother had been so fresh that I got all the in jokes about the way things were edited and dubbed, it was great. Series remains influential part of my life to this day, which is hella weird.)

I almost understand how Duel Monsters works now. I don't want this.

That said, wow a lot of the decisions made in the anime made everything a lot more ridiculous than the admittedly already ridiculous original. I got the distinct feeling in the manga that the Duelist Kingdom stuff we were seeing was designed to be used and exploited in ways that don't make sense in an actual cardgame just played on a table like a normal person and this was part of testing everyone to think higher, differently. Maybe this is obvious to everyone already, I don't know. I had always liked that it was very, 'Not so fast, I'm going to blow up the moon to change the tides,' but I'm not really sure the anime gave enough explanation that this was an extra layer added to things for that event? You can see people actively getting used to it in the books, and people who aren't considering the real or 3D nature of it getting owned, but my memory of anime version is everyone just like, 'oh, shucks, fuck me, I forgot to consider the phase of the moon before i played this card, can't believe I forgot.' No one calls Yugi on any of this stuff because it's valid play in that situation. Plus Yami Yugi had mad trickster energy in the beginning and it suited him to think of ways to do things inside these little simulation boxes the way it suited him to set perverts on fire. I imagine the real card game trying to emulate this element as something that would be to its detriment, but I neither know nor particular care haha

Ryou Bakura.

Really, though. I think he became kind of casualty of 'wow, we have a lot of characters who really aren't able to do anything in this story anymore,' despite the fact that his whole inner life could have been as interesting as Yugi's. I always like thinking about the possibilities of stories in which main character falls into magical world and is given magical item and told they're the hero and then they find out they've been the bad guy the whole time. The first several volumes of manga were about the quiet weirdo kid that no one talked to who was always blacking out and turning into a fucked up version of himsef because he was so attached to his ancient Egyptian jewelry, so like, Bakura could have much the same shit going on. I want to know what's happening with him so much. He clearly doesn't love being possessed, but he's also so drawn to the ring. Despite it having stabbed him at least twice and him knowing it's a danger to him and his friends, he keeps being pulled back into it. You see so much more of him being like, 'Oooh, a creepy thing, I love that! :D' in the manga than ever in the anime, which I'm all about. Also more blood. I'm very about that as well. Though my memory of the anime also made it look very much like normal regular daily Bakura was just a weird facade in places before he ever would have been. I think that was it trying to compensate for what people didn't see from the Toei anime, but okay whatever, that I love everything about this guy is not news, I don't need to talk about Bakura excessively here, I'm pretty sure that's gonna show up on my blog by itself

On a related note though, damn, more of these people need to talk to each other. Can we have some existential crisis support clubs or something. Can we get like some apologies or something? "I respect you as a duelist." "Cool, but you literally built a tower designed to specifically assassinate me and my friends? You were supposed to get Better after I retaliated by putting you in a coma, but you kinda didn't." "Why would the coma have made it better" "I just told you it didn't" ---- "Sorry I went along with the plan of your evil parasite stabbing you, misled you, and then also jumped in and took up some real estate in your head too." "I understand, I also have an evil thing inside me that does things while I'm blacked out." "...no, I was conscious for all of that." "Oh." "..." "..." "..." "Do you like Ouija Boards?" "sure okay" ETC. Like damn we are reading shounen manga because no one is talking extensively about their feelings here and I'm tapping my foot angrily.

Holy shit there are so many mythologies happening at once. The ancient family guarding the Egyptian Pharaoh has a surname that's a Mesopotamian goddess. None of the god cards make any Egyptian sense except Ra, and just like. Baaarrrrely. Somewhere either Evil Ring Bakura or Mar/lik makes a reference to cremation and spirits being taken to heaven with smoke which several things, but definitely not Ancient Egyptian. Marik/Malik meanwhile is clearly trying to head Arabic, along with Rishid, but then, hey, our sister is just Isis. Goddess McGoddess. Sometimes they're the same goddess! Her name could be Isis Isis or Ishtar Ishtar. Meanwhile, all the obviously 'occult because Christians think it is freaky' stuff. ~ancient egyptian pentagrams~~~This isn't a complaint, I guess so much as a 'Wow, I can kind of see the cultural spot the author was coming from and where he was aiming' kind of thing.

Wonder where things would have gone if the card games had not been latched onto the way they were.

Managed to forget how gross the pre-cardgames stuff was on the sexual harassment front. I'm glad there was a sort of explanation of everyone drifting away from being dick heads and that that decision was made. It got way more comfortable to read after no one was bringing Yugi p*rn on VHS.

Yugi looks better with a nose, glad we got that upgrade.

Interesting to watch the series style shift as it goes away from being horror to being over the top cardgames and friendship (with blood!). The first picture of Mokuba is fucking Jarring. Also noticed that the nicer a character is, the less their teeth are defined.

Glad manga did not go as completely off the fucking the rails about Marik's face. I never got as far as seeing him back in the day because college occurred, but I remember seeing pictures and stuff and being like, "what in the Fuck happened to that dude, I think the house style has collapsed in on itself"

Things the author Really Likes: motorcycles, belts, SHOES, holy shit the shoes. These are some of the most lovingly rendered sneakers I've ever seen. All the detail on his characters goes straight to their feet and then it's stretched upward until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in 3000 years of trauma and bake face down in a crumb coat of scattered mythology. Remove when you roll two zeros.

Where the fuck am I going to put the extremely large omnibus volumes of this comic I purchased in order to balance out how much I would be reading for free on the internet. I should have grasped that a three in one edition would be Thick and yet somehow I was still :O when it arrived. Have I strategically purchased volumes that contain my favorite parts, maybe, what's it to you will i eventually get the whole thing because incomplete book series gnaw on my soul? yes

Wish the transition from "I've murdered several people in delightfully karmic ways" to "all you need is friendship in your heart and cards in your hand" Yami Yugi/Pharaoh had been discussed more/transitioned better. Buddy, where did you get this approved for television high horse? Please go back to strangling people with yo-yos or at least tell me why you stopped.

I still can't tell anything that looks like a big robotic monster apart from any other big robotic monster. My dude, I can't tell cars apart, all these monsters look the same.

Yami Yugi fascinated me way more in highschool? Maybe because it was still super early and the anime was like 'we need to torture you about his origins WeEkLy. Now I'm just like 'wait hold on, can we go back to Bakura and Marik for a minute, there's some extreme unpacking to do here?' Those two are paying so much more in baggage fees here my guy wow

Violently uninterested in any of the spinoff media