#Zen Stan

[hecalledme-jagi]

@cheritzteam seriously spoiled us Zen Stans this year 😭 IT FEELS LIKE ITS BEEN FOREVER SINCE IVE SEEN MY BEAUTIFUL BOY IN SUCH HIGH QUALITY.

[joonboree]

Stan's strong brain theory

I was watching the Gravity Falls panel at this year's new York comic con and (this) one part stood out to me in particular. It's about 2 minutes long. (but you know watch the whole panel if you can it's so fun)

It feeds into a silly theory I had about Stanley. That he's got some zen like control over his own mind/consciousness that even he might not understand but at the very least it makes him stronger against Bill. (Last episode spoilers)

Evidence I have for this is:

1) In dreamscapers the way he just knew he was talking to Dipper in his own head.

This might not be evidence on its own but

2) The way he was able to suppress his own thoughts so that Bill wouldn't know he wasn't in Ford's mind was pretty Strong.

Now this situation though non-cannon provides a third part to that evidence.

3) Even in his dream, weird as it is, he's able to question when Bill is disrupting the flow of his subconscious.

If he knew what lucid dreaming was he could probably pick it up pretty easily and could probably even choose not to have that dream but feels too guilty to let it go.

To him it might be a gift he has that he assumes everyone can do because he's thinking "Well if my brain is so great how come I'm not smart like Ford or I messed up at school?"

It seems like something he wouldn't have found a use for in his life except to specify screw over Bill.

P.S. After writing this I literally just re-watched the Stanturian candidate from not having remembered it at all. It is kind of one minus point to my theory in regards to the tie they used on him. I feel like it wouldn't have worked or would have worked less on him.

[94girl]

[good-yin-mate]

yippee wahoo its day 2 of zen's week

zen's perspective here + no-name MC (i hate naming her idk why)

skipping day 3 but i have a very cute day 4 draft almost finished !!! :3

Day 2 - habits (smoking mention)

Zen leaned against the half-wall lining the edge of the roof, exhaling slowly, watching the last wisps of smoke curl into the night air before stubbing the last of his cigarette out. The smell of smoke clung to him, musky and dry. He knew he should quit. He’d told himself a hundred times that this would be the last one.

But then there were nights like these—restless, frustrating nights where he just needed something to quieten the noise in his head.

Except, tonight, he had an audience.

The door creaks softly behind him, drawing his attention to it. She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a knowing look in her eyes. “You said you were quitting.”

Zen grimaces, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Yeah, well.” He gestured vaguely at the night sky, as though that explained anything. “Old habits and all that.”

She sighs, tucking her hands underneath her arms as she steps out into the cool air to stand beside him. After a moment, an arm unfurls and slips around his waist, her palm settling against his side.

“Mm.” She hums. “You smell like smoke.”

“Sorry. I’ll shower before bed.”

Her hand trails along his side. “I don’t hate it,” she murmurs, her lips curving into a teasing smile. 

Before he could respond, her arm slides from his waist, her hand reaching up and cupping his cheek as she moves in closer. Without really thinking, he leans into her, drawn in by the warmth of her touch and the playfulness of her smile. She meets him halfway, her lips meeting his in a soft, deliberate kiss.

For a moment it’s just that—slow and tender—but then he pulls her closer, deepening the kiss. His hands slide around her waist as if to keep her there, held perfectly against him as the fingers of her free hand curl into the fabric of his shirt.

When he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against hers for a moment. “God… you’re dangerous,” he breathes.

She laughs softly, the comforting sound easing something in his chest. “More dangerous than smoking?”

She snorts, rolling her eyes. “Unbelievable,” she says, then tugs at his wrist. “Come on. It’s cold out here.”

Zen throws his head back with a theatrical groan. “Much more dangerous.” But he gives her a grateful squeeze. “You’re right though, I said I’d quit—I should be a man of my word. No point in being this beautiful if I’m going to end up aging like crap, huh?”

He hesitates for a second, glancing at the crushed cigarette at his feet before letting her lead him inside. He’d been looking for something to settle him—but maybe he hadn’t needed the cigarette after all.

[marshbevvie]

Enjoy the Zen..

Alright, now back to your regularly scheduled Tumblr scrolling.

[zenpai-senpai]

I love that the fandom is finally giving swap sans the maturity he deserves but I'd be remiss if I didnt argue some of you are still either not understanding who he is or are trying to avoid soft boy uwu baby boy so hard in the other direction, your overcompensating.

Swap sans is an original papyrus in a Sans body. That's it, shouldn't be hard right? Like that's just who he is, he's a personality swapped au going from being a sans personality in a Sans body to being a papyrus personality in a Sans body.

Some of you are making him just flat out mean to avoid the naive childlike maturity of the original characterization. He's not mean. He doesn't smoke or spit at people or secretly hate everyone or talk shit or fuckin kick puppies or something. Unless that's how you see og papyrus which I doubt it is. He doesn't hate ink or dream. He doesn't curse like crazy (probs sometimes lol). It's like y'all cannot see male characters outside of " naive fem twink soft boy uwu senpai" or " crotchety bitter old man who abuses everyone and shit talks his friends and scares babies for fun".

He's literally a fucking himbo. I don't think he's kronk levels of stupid but you can still play on his (and og papy's) naivete and positive attitude and high energy without infantilizing him and you can acknowledge his sarcasm, high strung and occasionally fake smile without demonizing him. There are shades in-between, please stop reading the 7,000th incorrect quote from the office you've read with 300 other characters in the exact same scenario and engage with him on a deeper level.

I know I have bias cause he rots my brain and is litterally my fandom husband but like it's not that hard to actually just apply papyrus' personality to the character meant to be exactly like him. Y'all do this same shit to og papyrus too so don't play with me

[filmcourage]

Stan Lee Offered Me A Job At Marvel... Why I Turned It Down - Stephen L. Stern

Watch the video interview on YouTube here.

[evilhorse]

Kinda like a zen thing, huh?

(Usagi Yojimbo Vol 2 #2)

[ifangirlalot]

would you ever consider writing for any other members of the losers club? sorry sjfjdhem it’s just that i’m desperate and the fandom is in a drought of writers 😭

Hell yeah I'd be so down with writing the Losers

[redmemoirs]

so like. he gets it, right. izana gets it.

[meowscarada]

truly my top comfort characters for years have been raskolnikov, link, and zenyatta. i love characters w a lot of internal shit going on

[homoeroticfisticuffs]

me when siblings

It's funny that as a long-time MP100 fan, the Mob and Ritsu sibling dynamic was just there for me. Like, oh that's nice.

This group of sibling doofuses from Gravity Falls though:

And these guys from GotG:

Amazing, makes me foam at the mouth. Yes, explore that complicated family dynamic you funky weirdos.

[unique-high]

ATEEZ S/o Popular YouTube Live Streamer Reaction.

Requested: i would like to request how ateez members would react to their s/o being a popular YouTube streamer and them accidentally walking in on their s/o live stream in the chat would go crazy.

a/n: this is a birthday themed request. I enjoyed making this. It was funny to me. 🤣

NOT EDITED BUT PROOFREAD A LITTLE.

MINGI: "HAPPY BIRTDA-" He stops at the threshold of the door wearing a party hat and holding a cake. "Oh, are you live streaming?"

You turned in your gamer chair looking at your boyfriend. "Um, yeah."

"Oh, really?" He steps further into the room, looking at the computer screen.

The chat box started going crazy

Zen: Omg is that who I think it is?!?

Baby Tee: Is this your boyfriend y/n? Why does he low-key look like Mingi from Ateez?

Theodore: Oh my freaking nuts. MINGI? Is this a prank? Or is this some crazy video editing somehow?!?

Suan: their boyfriend can't b Mingi. Not THE Mingi. This has to be some kind of prank fr fr.

Psycho: It makes sense now why Y/n never showed us their bf. Its cause he is just as famous as they are!!

You pulled your boyfriend into the screen smiling. "Um, Everyone so yeah... Mingi from ateez is my boyfriend."

Mingi sat the cake down so he could wave. "Hi, Everyone, I am Y/n's boyfriend. Nice to meet you all." He smiles. "If you all don't mind, I'm going to steal y/n for a few hours."

YUNHO: He didn't know that you were in the middle of live streaming when he came dancing into the room singing Happy Birthday and popping confetti poppers.

"Yunho, I'm living streaming right now." You pointed at your computer.

"Oh, shit." he quickly bows. "I didn't mean to ruin your live."

The chat box started to go off.

Kill la Kill: Okay no, cause is dat YUNHO I see? lol.

Mint Mint: U CAN RUIN MY LIFE!!

Prince Charming: Is he ur boyfriend?

Rugrat: Y were u keepin him a secret from us?

Paul: Is this guy famous or sumthing?

Lizzy Bear: Don't tell me he's Y/n's bf like they're my WAIFU!!

NOT OKAY: I hope Y/n can fight. LMAO

"Would you like to join the live with me, Yunho?" You ask him.

"I don't want to steal the attention from you, but if you want to I will." He pushes you out of the way and smiles into the camera. "Yunho, taking over."

JONGHO: While you were in the middle of showing off your new headset, a fan gifted you. Jongho burst open the door blowing a party blower. "Let's get the party start-" he pauses. "Oh. Oh, are you streaming already?"

"Yeah." You said. "Want to say hi?"

Jongho wobbles over, waving. "Hi, I'm Jongho. Y/n's number 1 supporter."

The chat box starts flooding in with messages.

Bambi: No way. NO FREAKING WAY THIS IS THE JONGHO!!

Jaya Jaya ya: He should be grateful to have bagged a baddie like Y/n.

Shy Mariah: BLOW THE WHISTLE!

sUpEr MaRio: I just started stanning ATEEZ and Jongho is my bias!!! i'mma go cry in a corner.

My lucky lady: New Ship?

BBQ Sauce on my tittes: Jst waiting for the crazy fans to enter the chat *sips tea*

SAY MY NAME: Does dis mean we getting couple stuff now? cuz I don't mind at all :)

Jongho laughs at the ship comment saying. "What can our ship name be?"

You rolled your eyes nudging him out of the way. "Jongho has boyfriend duties now. Say bye Jongho."

He pouts. "Bye Y/n's live stream fans."

SEONGHWA: He was rubbing his sleepy eyes in his other hand was a gift bag with your birthday gift, he sleepily walked into the middle of your live stream yawning, holding out your gift in front of you. "Y/n, happy birthday."

"Baby, say hi to my fans." You beamed.

"Huh?"

You pulled him down to be in frame and pointed at your computer. "I'm live."

"What?!" Seonghwa nervously laughed, running his fingers through his messy bleached hair. "Um, Hi Y/n's fans I didn't mean to interrupt."

Fever Fever: Mother Seonghwa is that u?

Bad boi dwn: Oh, wonder how his company is going to cover this up?

Queen of tha South: Wasn't expecting to be blinded by a handsome man.

Lil Lotto: We need a story time cause like wtf?

U can call me monster: Y/n musta did something in a past life to be this lucky to get a K-POP man.

Crazy Form: whenever he eat the cookie he got good form?????

Alice In Wonderland: This man makes me forget I'm lesbian.

"Should we do a small q & a?" You ask your fans.

Seonghwa sits on your lap. "Yeah, should we?"

WOOYOUNG: He was wearing a pink lace apron and carrying a homemade cake when he walked into the middle of your live streaming while you were doing the dance to Bouncy.

"I baked you a cake for your birthday but I see you're busy. I'll come back later." Wooyoung said.

"I'm having a birthday live. You can join in. Everyone would love to see you."

Your fans started flooding the chat.

Pirate King: R my eyes deceiving me? Wooyoung is that you my boy?

Kitty Kat: Oh they really living the Y/n life.

White boy wasted: Haters gonna say this fake.

i stole ur bias: adding to the hit list.

Alpha Josh: So are we going to ignore the fact that this man is overly gorgeous?

Pizza HūrT: Life isn't fair because how can I live the Y/n dream? do I need to play “I'm not like other girls” card?

Dirty Sprite: K, that explains why she never shows us her phone screen saver.

Woo Woo: I can't right now. Because like Wooyoung and Y/n are together? Two of my favorite ppl n the world!

“Well, since I'm in the live stream, can you all help me wish, Y/n a very happy birthday.” Wooyoung gives you a kiss on the cheek.

YEOSANG: He didn't mean to barge in during your live stream. At first he doesn't notice because he puts his phone in your face. The rest of Ateez faces were shoved into the phone camera yelling happy birthday to you, it was so chaotic and loud. You smiled at Yeosang.

“Babe I'm in the middle of a live stream right now.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. See everyone is commenting.” You point at the chat box.

Yeosang reads the incoming messages.

Depresso Expresso: idk how to explain it but he's the product of his mother during all the work doing sex.

Dat girl Maya: yeah what they said ^^^

Get'em Gates: r u 2 dating?

Ur Faves Can't Rap: I'm suddenly gay.

M0lLy: Oh I know he's cracking her back like a glow stick every night.

I got that dog in meee: Funny of u to assume he does the cracking ^^^

Princess Tee: he's a work of ARRRT.

Megan Thee Goat: He's the definition of HOT BOY. If ykyk.

“Okay say bye to Yeosang everyone before he gets a big head.” You laughed, poking your boyfriend in the ribs.

HONGJOONG: “Okay make a wish!” Hongjoong burst into your room with a cupcake in his hand and a big smile on his face.

You spun in your gaming chair. “Where are your clothes?”

“I'm your birthday gift.” Hongjoong winks at you.

“Thats nice in and all. But there's like 100,000 people seeing your junk.”

“You're joking right?” He lets out a nervous laugh, using the cupcake to cover himself.

“Nope. Live stream.”

“Live stream?” he swallowed and waves at everyone watching. “Hi, I'm um Hongjoong Y/n's birthday gift.”

The chat box went crazy.

Vanilla baby: At least he came unwrapped. My God!!!

GUERRILLA: ooou he's a big boy indeed.

Choke me spank me: sssjjiokhdgfertgyjbfrfv.

San's left nut: I can die happily now.

Icky Vicky: He your man?!?

Touch sum grass: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N!!!! But please get your naked man off the screen. My mom walked in and thought I was watching porn....

Jimin's baby momma: am I in a fanfic right now?

Peru Peru: He slanging.

Sativa: he really gifted us all.

Bill Nye: isn't this how most porns start?

3D: Can he make it bouncy?

Olivia: This man is sex on legs.

“Sorry, everyone. Hongjoong will go put on some clothes now.”

“But I like the attention.”

You ended the live playfully beating up Hongjoong.

SAN: He had the same idea as Hongjoong but instead of being naked he wore a silk black robe but still naked underneath. San walked into your room with a bottle of champagne and from somewhere in the house Birthday by Katy Perry played.

"Y/n, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" San drops his robe, bare ass to the camera. "This is all for you. but when isn't it?" he smirks.

You stared at your boyfriend. "Um babe, you're mooning my live stream."

"What the fuck?" He hurries to grab the robe from the floor to cover himself. "Why didn't you say anything sooner!”

You laughed. “I wasn't expecting you go all Chippendale's on me.”

The messages started to flood in.

Isamu: Um... Continue please?

Misty Blue: lol mooning yes. A FULL moon indeed.

Hawaii Five - O: Lol is it just me are does he look like San from ATEEZ?

Jazmine: Yea was watching with my dad...Thanks...

Lisa: CAUSE IT IS SAN FROM ATEEZ. *screaming and punching the air*

Da Kid: Boyfriend or Roommate?

Hailey: noooo y is my husband there with Y/n!!!! San you come home this minute!

Supernatural Fan: Didn't think I'd b seeing a guy's bare ass while enjoying my salad.

Beth: Thank you for the heart attack.

Charlie: I don't think roommates do this kind of thing @ Da Kid.

Angelina: PUT IT ON MEEEEEE!!!SCXSYBXQTIVKSWTCHOUDWWXGHGD

Kimmy: Are u getting dick downed by him every night?

iPad adult: Too much junk in the trunk lol.

“Now that everyone has seen my boyfriend's butt. I'm ending the stream.”

“Does that mean you're going to enjoy your birthday gift now?” San smiles at you.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Beat Poetry

Beat poetry - the work created by Beat poets during the Beat movement, a post–World War II literary community that embraced counterculture and activism.

Examples of Beat Poetry

Explore the following poems to gain a better understanding of Beat poetry.

“Howl” by Allen Ginsberg (1956): Perhaps the most famous text of the Beat movement, Ginsberg’s “Howl” is an epic fever dream that documents the experience of people living in the United States. It features critiques of American injustices through surreal and terrifying imagery.

“At Tower Peak” by Gary Snyder (1956): This poem evidences Snyder’s commitment and interest in Buddhism and environmental activism.

“Wild Dreams of a New Beginning” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1988): Ferlinghetti, responsible for the publication of many volumes of writing in the Beat Generation, presents utopian visions in this poem. This poem was published in a book of the same name in 1988.

“I Am 25” by Gregory Corso (1956): This poem written by a young Corso documents the Beat poet’s rejection of what they viewed as a stale elitist tradition of academic poetry.

In general, Beat poets were against capitalist American values and elite academia.

Prominent figures of the Beat Generation include Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, and Diane Di Prima.

Other American poets like Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Gary Snyder, Bob Kaufman, Hettie Jones, Herbert Huncke, and Lucien Carr also helped define the literary movement.

The broader Beat Movement also included artists such as the surrealist painter Jay DeFeo and filmmaker Stan Brakhage.

The writing and activism of the movement focused on transcending the bourgeoise values of America through spiritual liberation, sexual liberation, anti-imperialism, a rejection of academic literary culture, and a demystification of recreational drugs.

Zen Buddhism and other elements of Eastern religions were a central topic of study and practice for the Beats.

For example, Kerouac's 1958 novel, The Dharma Bums, references Gary Snyder's move to Japan to study Buddhist practice.

A Brief History of the Beat Generation

The Beat poetry movement was relatively brief but culturally potent.

Columbia University: In the early 1940s, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Hal Chase, Lucien Carr, and other writers met at Columbia University. They would go on to be associated with a movement known for rejecting academia in favor of creating American literature that lived closer to the working class.

Greenwich Village: From the early to late 1950s, writers that were or would come to be associated with the Beat movement gathered in Greenwich Village in New York City due to the low cost of living and communal culture.

Gallery Six: In San Francisco, California, the Six Gallery Reading took place on October 7, 1955. It featured Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, and most famously Allen Ginsberg, who gave a poetry reading of the first section of "Howl." Kenneth Rexroth served as the host of the reading. At this time, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco began publishing the City Lights Pocket Poets series. He would publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems the following year in 1956.

Rising popularity and resistance: In 1957, “Howl” was subject to a famous obscenity trial that was later dismissed, which further attested to the movement's values and potency in the public consciousness. Other state-led suppression efforts on Beat poets continued, including the FBI arresting Amiri Baraka and Diane Di Prima on grounds of obscenity that similarly resulted in non-indictment. Anti-war was an important theme in the Beat's work and the movement is largely considered America's first Cold War literary scene.

Multi-faceted influence: As the popularity of the Beat writers rose, artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and the Beatles were influenced by their work and values. Following the murder of Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka advanced his organizing and activism. Diane Di Prima also helped to organize the Diggers as community activists in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Between the late ’50s and early ’60s, Paris became a hotspot for members of the Beats to be inspired by French avant-garde art and political history. The Beats were a major influence on the Black Mountain Poets, another literary movement that adopted similar core values and often featured work by Beat poets in the Black Mountain Review literary magazine.

Media mischaracterization: Popular media circulated an understanding of the Beats that was more informed by a perceived bohemian hedonism gleaned from cursory readings of Ginsberg's "Howl," Kerouac's On the Road, and Burroughs's Naked Lunch. A columnist coined the term "beatnik" as a pejorative term referring to the Beats in 1958, and in 1960, J. Edgar Hoover declared that "communists, eggheads, and beatniks" were the primary enemies of the United States. Ironically, by that time the popular conception of Beat poets had strayed from the lives of the original Beats. The public viewed the movement as a frivolous fad and cultural commodity, complete with themed kitsch aesthetic media, services, and coffee shops based on hippie or hipster imagery with an over-emphasis on psychedelic and drug addict associations.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[sebstanaddict]

Code Daddy Supreme

Sebastian Stan x Reader Unhinged One Shot

Summary : Sebastian is reader's adorkable, chaotic yet cute boyfriend. One day when reader is struggling to fix broken code in her web application project, Sebastian offered to help but instead of helping he is making things worse.. or is he..?

A/N: This is just something I wrote out of a fever dream while being in a sleep deprived, stress induced state as I try to finish my web application project (yes, I don't just write fanfics, I write code full time XD) . It's based on my life as a web developer so excuse me if I include some codes here. But I promise they're human readable ;) Seb here is a funny, adorkable, chaotic mess of a boyfriend but we love him anyway ;) Enjoy and please vote and comment, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Warning: none at all, just an all out funny, unhinged and ridiculous story, somewhat like a sitcom XD

Word count: 944 words

Read more Sebastian and Bucky one shots here

---

It was supposed to be a quiet Sunday. Y/N was curled up on the couch, tackling a web development project that was due the next day. She was in the zone—until, of course, the code rebelled.  

“WHY?!” she shouted at her laptop, yanking her headphones off. “Why won’t you just WORK?”  

From the other room, Sebastian burst in wearing pajama pants, no shirt, and wielding a spatula like a sword. “Who dares disturb my pancake zen?”  

“This stupid project!” Y/N growled, gesturing wildly at her laptop. “Every time I try to fix one thing, another error pops up! It’s like Whack-a-Mole, but with coding and existential dread!”  

Sebastian leaned casually against the couch. “Want me to fix it?”  

She blinked at him. “No.”  

“Yes.”  

“No, Seb. The last time you ‘helped,’ my laptop shut down and played a MIDI version of “Highway to Hell” on repeat.”  

“And did it sound amazing?” he asked, grinning.  

“That’s not the point!”  

But it was too late—Sebastian had already plopped down beside her, cracking his knuckles with the bravado of someone who doesn’t know what an IDE is but thinks they could totally rebuild Google.  

“Alright,” he said. “Time for me to hack the planet.”  

Y/N groaned. “Seb, no..”  

“Seb, YES!”

He grabbed her laptop and began typing with the unhinged enthusiasm of a mad scientist who’d just discovered how to turn broccoli into candy. His first move? Replacing all her variable names with things like `CaptainFixThis`, `ErrorWho?`, and `TotallyNotABug`.  

“Sebastian,” she said, rubbing her temples. “What are you doing?”  

“Rebranding,” he said, as if it were obvious.  

“You can’t just rename everything and hope for the best!”  

“Oh, can’t I?” he shot back, now aggressively typing.  

He added emojis to every line of code:  

```  

function saveTheDay() { 💪🔥  

    console.log("Sebastian is here to fix it! 😎✨");  

    return true;  

}  

```  

“SEBASTIAN. WHY ARE THERE EMOJIS IN MY CODE?”  

“Because the code needs to feel appreciated,” he said, completely serious, adding even more lines:

```

// You’re doing amazing, sweetie  

function runCode() {  

    console.log("You’re the best, code! You can do it!");  

}  

```

“Seb, stop typing compliments!” Y/N shrieked.

“This is important!” he shouted back. “The code needs to feel supported!”

She couldn’t help but facepalm.

At one point, he opened a separate file titled `BackupPlan` and wrote this:  

```  

if (everythingFails) {  

    summonTheAvengers();  

}  

```  

“Seb, that’s not even real code!”  

“It is now,” he said, smirking like he’d just reinvented the wheel.  

He then proceeded to write what he called "the ultimate fix." : 

```  

while(true) {  

    console.log("Just vibe and it’ll work.");  

    everythingIsFine = true;  

}  

```  

“That’s an infinite loop!” Y/N screeched.  

“Exactly,” he said. “Infinite solutions for infinite problems.”  

She lunged for the laptop, but he was too quick. He held the laptop above his head while somehow still typing.

“SEBASTIAN, GIVE IT BACK!”  

“NOT UNTIL I FINISH!” he yelled, putting the laptop on his lap and turned his back on her. “TRUST THE CHAOS!”  

“I definitely do NOT trust the chaos!” she protested as she peeked over his shoulder, trying to see what he was doing all the while her stomach was filled with dread.

Then came the pièce de résistance. He opened Google, typed “how to fix broken code,” ignored all the actual solutions, and clicked on a forum post titled: “Sacrifice to the Debugging Gods.”

“Uh… what are you doing?” she asked nervously.  

“Something foolproof,” he said, grabbing a nearby candle.  

“Seb, no—”  

But he was already chanting nonsense in a deep, dramatic voice. “O GREAT SPIRIT OF JAVASCRIPT.. I OFFER THIS SACRED WAX STICK IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR MERCY!”  

Before she could stop him, he blew out the candle, slammed her laptop shut, and whispered, “It is done.”  

“Sebastian, I SWEAR TO—”  

“Wait for it.”  

With a flourish, he reopened the laptop and hit “run.”

And then… everything broke.  

Her once-polished website now looked like a clown vomited onto a computer screen. Bright neon colors, text bouncing like a screensaver from the ‘90s, and a random image of Sebastian flexing in a Captain America hoodie plastered across the footer.  

“What…What the actual.. WHAT DID YOU DO?!”  

“Relax,” he said, unbothered. “This is just step one.”  

“Step one of what?!”  

“Recalibrating the space-time continuum,” he said, completely deadpan.  

At that exact moment, her apartment lights flickered, her phone started playing the “Avengers” theme unprompted, and—somehow—her toaster beeped, despite not being plugged in.  

“Sebastian,” she whispered, wide-eyed, “I think you actually broke reality.”  

He looked smug. “Told you I was good.”  

Before she could yell, her laptop chimed cheerfully. The browser opened, and her website was… perfect. No bugs, no errors. Everything worked.  

She stared at the screen. Then at Sebastian. Then back at the screen. “HOW?!”  

He shrugged, grabbing the spatula again. “Sometimes, babe, you just have to trust the chaos.”  

“But—Seb—this makes NO SENSE!”  

“Neither does Bucky surviving a fall off a mountain, but here we are,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to finish my pancakes. You’re welcome.”  

She sat there, frozen, as her laptop hummed happily like nothing had happened. The lights stopped flickering, the toaster went silent, and the “Avengers” theme faded into nothingness.  

She stared after him, still holding the now-functional laptop. “I live with an actual lunatic.”  

From the kitchen, Sebastian’s voice rang out. “You live with a genius! Love you!”  

For the rest of the day, she tried to figure out Sebastian’s chaotic “fix.” Meanwhile, he strutted around the apartment wearing sunglasses and calling himself “Code Daddy Supreme.”  

The kicker? She later discovered the reason the code worked was because Sebastian had accidentally deleted an entire block of problematic logic while trying to format a smiley face.  

As for the weird flickering of lights, the “Avengers” theme playing from her phone and the beep from her toaster? Well, not everything can be explained and she thought maybe, just maybe, Sebastian really did recalibrate the space-time continuum.

[haine-kleine]

ngl replaying Another Story after 283639 years is making me regret they focused on romance so hard? V feels ooc in both routes but RAE's cartoonishly evil V originating from the same common route that hasubando VAE V did makes it borderline comical.

and as a Saeran stan since the beginning this is almost a surreal experience because?? they clearly realized just how unhealthy his fixation on mc was and??? went with it anyway???

any attempt to make him take care of himself instead of obsessing over mc is met with rebuttal and trying to establish even reasonably healthy (compared to other routes' rejection options) boundaries sends this bpd bitch into a textbook rejection dysphoria.

what's really buggering me is that his route proceeds to successfully establish both Rika = Saeran/Saeyoung = V and the twins' mother = Saeran/Prime Minister = Saeyoung parallels. this makes it very easy to draw comparison between Rika's early relationship with V and Ray's budding romance with mc where both kept lovebombing their romantic interest before switching to their 'dark' personality that will manipulate and harass said partner. V going bonkers in RAE makes this equation positively insane which perhaps is evenly reflected in Ray's route requiring insane mental gymnastics of the player to get to the good ending (at least compared to mysmes' usual 'say i love you/spit on him and call him a little bitch' options).

like... realistically? at least speaking on mysme's otome game world's scope of realism, Saeran and mc's relationship would inevitably turn toxic. bc of his mom and Rika's brainwashing the concept of self worth is entirely foreign which pretty much makes therapy mandatory before it's possible for him to enter a healthy relationship. because mc is the first foreign person to get to know him and express interest in staying by his side he starts basing his entire sense of worth off the status of their relationship but his history with Saeyoung and V and Rika's influence turn this into a tightrope walking experience for mc. on the one hand, preferring Ray's gentle behaviour to Saeran's literal abuse inevitably leads to a bad ending but on the other hand the concept of accepting his 'inner darkness' or however else they decided to put untreated mental illness and years of CPTSD is on the same plane of existence that V/Rika's 'going blind and becoming suicidal as expression of eternal devotion and 'love'' toxic relationship is.

I'm aware what an otome game is and what soap opera/wife=therapist mysme specific brand of otome is, but my point is about Saeran's route being different from all the other ones.

the main routes were an introductory experience to the game and the characters, so the point of each route was exploring each of the characters fully and in practice allowed the player to help the characters resolve their specific issue by supporting and loving them. you won't really get Zen, Yoosung or Jaehee's flashbacks outside of their routes.

Jumin and Saeyoung are very different, and Jumin's route formula leans closer to the main ones with the bonus of giving V a happier ending which is exclusive among the initial 5 routes.

Saeyoung is like a neon sign, drawing your attention with his enigmatic presence the entire time, and his own route truly feels like the fullest experience of the story. he is designed to be intriguing, with the red herrings thrown around in every other route and 707 himself spending a good chunk of his own route fighting off mc's involvement in his life. what I'm saying is his route is designed less like a romance novel boyfriend and more like a mystery detective. the 707 romance experience is very close to being better outside of his own route, theorizing about the error 707 reset and him holding romantic feelings for mc in every single route. while the skeleton of the route structure remains the same, the experience itself falls short. you don't really get to steadily develop your relationship with him, have him express his doubts and insecurities as you reassure him and help him become a better person thanks to finally having unconditional support on his side. Saeyoung himself literally gets in the way of this formula and fights you with every step you have to forcibly take to get to know him better. and why is that?

because of Saeran, of course. literally everything he does is motivated by his belief in Saeran's safety being the exchange for his sacrifices. Jaehee, Zen and Yoosung don't really have a person whose presence in their lives motivates them so strongly, and mc walking into their lives gives them this exact motivation that drives them to finally unfuck their lives and learn to love themselves. Jumin is different from them because of V, who is his healthiest relationship as his childhood friend, and Elizabeth the third whom he wildly overcompensates V's withdrawal from his life with. as a result he has a much healthier recognition of his needs than everyone in RFA and because of this his route orchestrates very specific circumstances that put Jumin on the brink of psychotic breakdown, which might make the beginning of his relationship with mc appear as something unhealthy but once the time specific stress factors are gone he is able to enter a healthy purely romantic relationship with her without the need for mc to play his life coach and personal therapist.

what Jumin and the common route trio have in common is mc filling in the void in their lives. for Saeyoung this void has already been filled by Saeran. even after breaking through his aggressive tsundere period Saeyoung's personal brand of boyfriend is very strongly influenced by the dynamic he had with Saeran in childhood: he is a control freak, decisive, protective, the responsible one. the other half of this is clearly depicted in Ray's route: he is submissive, meek, fragile, the one who demands attention and care. okay maybe i find twisted humour in the fact that romancing either twin requires copying the attitude of his brother, did cheritz think about the flavour of brocon they were cooking with this.

this brings me to Another story and on this scope of comparison V has the benefit of his past being largely unknown outside of his relationship with Rika. even if you don't personally enjoy V, there's something you can get exclusively from his route: more details on his toxic past relationship, his backstory, a happier narrative conclusion to his friendship with Jumin.

this unfortunately puts Saeran into a losing position because he had already gotten a dlc dedicated fully to his backstory and recovery in secret endings. the route formula established above that consists of character backstory+romance+overcoming personal issues via unconditional support can't work for Saeran because it wasn't meant to work for Saeyoung. Saeyoung's route was intended as the 'true' route that uncovers all the mystery plots presented in main story. Saeran's primary role throughout the process of main route's conception was to serve as a mystery, unknown, the intriguing character baiting the players to buy deep route and be inevitably led to 707's one.

considering the many times Saeran killed himself, his brother or someone else throughout all the original release's endings they took the reasonable step to give him his own hopeful ending in the dlc containing all the details of the twins' childhood. mc is barely present throughout the secret endings because neither of the twins can dedicate himself to a healthy relationship without healing their own relationship first. it's extremely conditional and more defining for their perception of self than anything else. Saeyoung is a giver and a protector, this makes him into a control freak that later views personal distance as a safety measure without realizing how imbalanced this makes his friendship with RFA.

putting this exchange as the best example of this because it's preceded by 707 giving Yoosung an extremely long lecture on 'life is pain and suffering, pursuing your dreams is a hopeless waste of time, the point of existence is making money in the least miserable way you can negotiate with yourself' and pointing out the discrepancies in his preaching and procrastination habits makes him literally run away. he is absolutely not used to having his point of view challenged, this guy is allergic to it. because he had to cobble his belief system in the middle of the hellscape their childhood was and because the healthiest authority/father figure in his life was Jihyun 'i know better than everyone else and i am taking these secrets to my grave in the most dramatic and least productive way possible' Kim, it's easy to see how his self image grew attached to his percieved sense of responsibility (authority) over his close ones. but the fact he wasn't able to save Saeran and their separation puts an error into his belief system that spirals into this guy changing his name to 'Satan'.

Saeran on the other hand has a chronic attention whore syndrome. in Another Story this causes a lot of martyr behaviour from him: when Rika makes him work like a dog after V's detection he keeps coming to mc for validation. this point isn't meant to disregard the objectively horrific circumstances he is forced into, but the only other mysme chara who keeps complaining about their circumstances is Jaehee, who starts doing it more once she notices mc acknowledges her abusive work conditions. both Saeran and Jaehee are orphans with no support system and both of them throw themselves on the first person who shows them positive attention. but while Jaehee is notoriously cautious in her interpersonal relationships, Saeran depends with a reckless abandon. mc's rejection leads to him blowing himself up in V's route, this isn't meant to be healthy!

what is very important to understand about Saeran is the fact that he isn't actually Ray. despite all the traits that can be attributed to his Ray persona fitting every Saeyoung's description of little Saeran, the game itself makes a point about Ray being a false image, or rather a construct.

what little kid Saeran and Ray have in common is that both were identity constructs created by Saeran for the purpose of getting positive attention from his favourite person: Saeyoung and Rika. the concept of Ray really stresses just how conditional love is in Saeran's understanding. misery is a required step for acceptance. his mother's abuse was always followed by Saeyoung taking care of him, nursing his wounds and promising a better future. when Rika did what Saeyoung couldn't (or wouldn't, in Saeran's POV) do and freed him she had also implanted her very flawed conceptions about love which several years later turned Saeran into pretty much her personal slave. Rika was vulnerable the way Saeyoung wouldn't be with Saeran. Rika would have her highs and lows: going from mania to depression, demanding obedience and respect and then support and acceptance. being in relationship with Rika broke V, who was at least nearly an adult. of course, taking Saeran from inhumanely abusive environment straight under her wings was a disaster waiting to happen. Ray is pretty much a custom made identity designed by her to satisfy her needs: he is extremely submissive and can't function without validation.

the facet of Saeran that exists beyond both Saeyoung and Rika's scopes of acceptance or understanding is the Saeran that was left alone with his mother.

in this flashback we learn that the woman made a habit of projecting on him and comparing the older twin to their father. Saeyoung and Mr Choi were stronger, more capable and resourceful than herself and Saeran. the younger twin became an outlet for her frustration and true to the narrative thread of this game, internalized the unhealthy beliefs of his caretaker.

lo and behold, Unknown/Suit Saeran/Dark Saeran/Yandere Ultimate

I won't go into details how this guy uses mc (Ray route), mc and RFA (main+deep story) or Saeyoung (secret endings) as his emotional outlets, what i want to focus on is his importance in his own route.

scrapping him would have been easy: Ray for all intents and purposes shares all the requirement characteristics for the role of Saeran-as-love-interest, down to persisting hatred of Saeyoung. Ray is much easier to write in this role than the edgy counterpart: one provides textbook romance and the other literally tortures you, physically and psychologically. evil!Saeran's entire persona begs to invite himself to all the bad endings, so what is he even doing in the middle of unskippable part of the route?

i think this can be interpreted as Cheritz pretty much acknowledging the impossibility of the task they've set themselves with. you can't really heal Saeran by romancing him and healing him is not as easy as bringing him back the brother he was separated against his will from many years ago. the analogy with Rika and V is inevitable, so there's no avoiding the label of toxic relationship even if you change his name and give him a whole new identity.

Saeran's road of healing always without failure leads to Saeyoung. and in my opinion the absence of the brothers' actual relationship really takes away from Saeran's route. Saeyoung's route only dangles the possibility of reunion because at that point we barely knew who the fuck Saeran actually was, and RGE actually downgrades this by fully taking Saeyoung out of the picture.

which leads to RAE being a highly questionable experience, even as a big Choi twins enjoyer. Saeyoung's role in it is exclusively angst porn. we already knew how desperate he can get when it comes to protecting his twin, the grand sacrifices and the pain of their consequences is already perfectly conveyed by his guilt trips that prevent him from genuinity with RFA, all for the sake of Saeran-ah. like, it doesn't get any bigger than actively and without stop sacrificing your authentic identity???

and the twins' mutually sacrificing themselves for each other's sake rather than turning up the drama to it's peak feels like this meme

is it nice to have Saeran actively protect Saeyoung? sure is. but his overall extreme passivity and victimhood in this route are too over the top. the end checkpoint of each individual route including Saeyoung's was teaching the character their self worth and watching Saesae throw himself at every inconvenience feels like we did a fairly bad job at this. (this is not realistically healthy but) using the trend that Ray's route established of his feelings for mc overpowering his harmful beliefs and self harming habits and making him actually take care of himself, this downright reads like a failure on our part? i dunno, watching an actively suicidal character who had tried to kill himself in front of us in two of the good endings already, after the point of his own good ending leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

all for the sake of what? Rika abandoning her cult and seeking validation in express makeshift family? Prime Minister's character arc?????

after analyzing this critically, i really feel like Saeran's route would have benefited a lot from putting the focus of his character on RFA rather than focusing RFA on the outer drama. the message of found family being as important as blood family and in some cases even more has already been conveyed so beautifully in Jaehee, Zen and Jumin's routes, it would have put this message full circle if they used it on the one romanceable character outside of RFA. what makes this especially upsetting to me is that Zen and Saeran's platonic relationship is almost designed to be perfect:

- Zen is estranged from his blood family by choice from a very young age, making it easier for him to validate Saeran's feelings on topic of family

- throughout the routes Zen is pretty much the only character who is consistently willing to discuss the emotional problem the others are going through. pretty much every other character is too busy drowning themselves in escapism while Zen gently nudges them towards bringing up the issue they are running from (with the exception of Jumin because he triggers traumatic memories about his brother's abandonment and you know who else was abandoned by their elder brother?!). what is Zen's own issue? he constantly requires attention and validation. you know who else does?..

- despite Zen sharing Saeran's attention whore medal, he is outwardly unambiguously supportive of the other RFA members. 707 even dubs him a nag because of how aggressive he can come off in his desire to emotionally support RFA.

- Saeran is a very impressionable person. both of the twins consider their only worthy attribute their hacking skills, and because of how sheltered Saeran's whole life he has very little personal life experience. as an example, in that short window of time after being rescued from his mother and before Rika snatched him to her cult he was taking care of the church's garden and that was enough for him to develop a lifelong obsession with flowers. considering how genuinely talented Zen is, i think it would take Saeran no time to be deeply impressed by his passion and his performances. i can see Zen becoming a similar symbol of freedom and tenacity to Saeran that he did to Jaehee.