#also expect me to be super inconsistent when i draw it

[lycorisicecream]

Rework of an OC of mine, all that's really different is that I used green instead of red for the eye

[cultleaderyoongi]

With You, All The Way | myg

☆ pairing: Yoongi x f. reader

☆ genre: ex2l, pwp • angst, smut, fluff

☆ word count: 10k (I have no excuse except for I'm frustrated)

☆ warnings: toxic stuff happens, a lot of miscommunication; a lot of making up and making out; some cursing; mentions of alcohol; explicit smut – kinda soft dom!Yoongi, breast/nipple play (he's kinda a boob guy), fingering, eating out, handjob, blowjob, penetrative sex, unprotected sex (reader is on birth control tho which is mentioned), multiple orgasms, simultaneous orgasms, creampie, some praise, some aftercare

☆ synopsis: Break-ups are rough, more so if you and your ex share the same friend circle. How could a simple and supposedly tame night full of fun games change the trajectory of your relationship that is no more?

☆ playlist: Tinashe – Perfect Crime | Alina Baraz – Between Us | Kali Uchis – Moonlight

☆ a/n: Guess who's back after *checking imaginary watch on my wrist* almost a year 💀 Did I whip this out within approximately two weeks? Maybe. This is the fastest I've ever written, so therefore it's sloppily edited – especially towards the end (I'm not a fast writer, ok? I'll come back to edit it soon). Listen, I was super heartbroken about the concert (still am), so my mind conjured up this beast of a delusional, self-indulgent story. Pls think of me when you go see my man live, especially if it's the Newark show tonight 😭

I started off this story with Marie Claire Yoongi in mind, but with the release of D-Day it turned more and more into Haegeum Yoongi, sooo...feel free to imagine whichever version you want. Happy D-Day era to y'all! Lmk what's your favorite track, your favorite look, your favorite whatever. Let's talk and suffer together lol

Enough of my rambling though. I hope you enjoy reading! As always, if you do – thank you and pls lmk what you think ♡

☆ taglist: @main-bangtansmauyeondan @jwlmnbt (I'm really horrible at keeping track of my taglist which is also due to my inconsistent posting, but if you see this and you remember wanting to be on my practically non-existent permanent taglist pls lmk)

© cultleaderyoongi on tumblr | do not repost or translate on any platform

You shouldn't be here.

You really shouldn't.

Whose idea was it to bring everyone together for a night of fun activities and drinks? Whose stupid idea was it to invite you when your least favorite person in the world is going to be present as well? And furthermore, whose stupid idea was it to seat the two of you within clear vision of each other?

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Your friend Jimin, the host and therefore perpetrator of all this, speaks with a smirk as if to answer your internal monologue, watching your other friend Jungkook pick up eight colorful cards after being hit with two subsequent draw fours.

Laughter goes around the circle as the youngest tries to rearrange the abundance of cards in his hands.

Truth be told, you could've declined. It's not Jimin's fault things went south with you and the man whose glare avoids you as if his life depends on it. Yet you spot glimpses of his feline eyes set on you when he least expects it, catching him off-guard – and suddenly the fluffy, white rug beneath his feet is a lot more interesting to look at.

"Oh Jungkook, you're almost as rich as Taehyung!" Seokjin jokes, drawing your attention back to the group.

Hoseok joins in, accompanied by an animated cackle. "You're giving Taehyung a run for his money."

You muster said boy beside you, his brows furrowed and tongue poking out in focus. He can barely spread out his set of cards without dropping any. Poor Taehyung.

As the game continues and more and more people yell out Uno in relief until a loser is revealed (it's a close and tedious match between Jungkook and Taehyung, but at the end Jungkook pulls through) you pay close attention to the way Yoongi toys with the rings on his fingers. He always does this when he's anxious. His action is incessant, almost obnoxious in your eyes. You don't like being here any less than he does, but at least you try your damn hardest to pull yourself together in front of your friends. They're your friends as well as his. You haven't had the chance to see them as much lately while he gets to see them all the time – they live together, for fuck's sake!

"_____." Jimin's voice pulls you back to reality. "Lend me a hand?"

"Uh yeah, sure." You spring up from your seat, realizing Jimin asks for your help clearing the table.

While he collects the cards strewn across the coffee table, you make move of collecting empty bottles and cans. In your position, you're slightly hunched over the surface which involuntarily causes one thing to happen.

Your suspicion is confirmed when you look up at your ex-boyfriend shamelessly staring at your cleavage. There's a split second where you make direct eye contact once he grasps the situation – and now things are ten times more awkward.

Taking a deep inhale, you place everything on the kitchen island nearby before returning to your seat. You muster Yoongi's stone-cold, almost dead-like expression. To anyone that didn't witness what happened seconds ago, it probably looks like the regular go-to mood for Min Yoongi. But you can catch the tiny movement of teeth nibbling on the inside of his bottom lip. Oh, he's frustrated. You can't quite determine yet if you're proud of this achievement.

Meanwhile, Jimin sets up the next game.

"This doesn't look like a safe game to be around Namjoon-hyung," Jungkook murmurs, inspecting the tower of wooden blocks stacked on top of each other.

"Hey!" Namjoon retorts to the boy, his lips pulled into a slight pout. "I can play Jenga alright. Just you watch."

There are noises of disagreement going around the group, some of the guys sharing anecdotes on things Namjoon has accidentally broken recently.

"There's a little twist, by the way," Jimin informs everyone amidst the commotion. "Each block has an instruction on the bottom. Kinda like truth or dare – but you don't get to choose."

"Oh!" Seokjin claps his hands once in excitement. "Now we're talking."

Of course, leave it to Park Jimin to make an already awkward evening even more awkward by potentially causing ruckus with whatever tasks he gives out to people. Great.

After a match of rock, paper, scissor to determine who starts (which is Namjoon who already almost has the tower topple over by crouching down to the table), the first few turns go by in a breeze. Nothing too out of the ordinary has been requested yet. Taehyung choosing Jimin if he had to pick someone he would date out of the bunch or Jungkook giving Hoseok a lap dance like there's no tomorrow seem like natural occurrences for a Saturday night in this house.

"My turn," you murmur as you bend over until you reach the stack. Carefully, you pick a piece from the lower half, smiling to yourself as it slips out with ease. That smile fades though as soon as it appears when you flip over the block to read out the demand: kiss a person of your choice (on the lips! No less than 10 seconds).

There are multiple Oohs going around the group. Some are of surprised and enthusiastic nature – some stem from a place of concern.

You're rooted in place, your mouth running dry at the idea of... What exactly? There's nothing to be nervous about. Most of the guys (emphasis on most) wouldn't even make such a big deal out of this for your sake. Also, you're not blind. You've got handsome friends for sure. Each and every single one of them. It's the thought of him and the consequences. Whatever that may entail.

"I don't think this is right." Namjoon comes to your rescue, most likely sensing your discomfort.

"Why not?" Taehyung asks in earnest, visibly confused about the elder's remark. "She's a free woman. She's free to do whatever."

"Hyung," Jungkook chimes in, "I know for a fact she's not gonna kiss you. You can stop sucking up to her."

The youngest's savage comment has everyone in a laughing fit – everyone except for Yoongi of course.

Uncertainty takes over your mind, covering it in a thick blanket. It's been three months since the two of you broke up. Are you still hung up on him? Yes. A hundred percent yes. Does the same apply to him? You can't say for sure. He's been eerily quiet the entire evening, almost too quiet for your liking. He could either be hiding his innermost thoughts or he actually doesn't give a single fuck about you anymore.

Once the laughter dies down, the sound of his all too familiar voice has you lifting your eyes from the little troublemaker in your hand.

"He's right," Yoongi points out plainly, referring to Taehyung. "She can do whatever she pleases. I don't care."

As he finishes up with a sip of his whiskey, the room falls silent. Nobody dares so much as even breathe. Everyone exchanges looks between each other ranging from unease to utter shock.

So he really doesn't care.

"Okay." You catch his attention with these two syllables, his eyes never straying from you as you place the wooden piece on top of the tower. Making your way over to his side of the couch, you maintain eye contact throughout. There's a slight twitch noticeable in his eyes, confusion taking over his features. Once in front of him, you bend over before leaning in – only you redirect at the last second, wrapping your arms around Seokjin's neck who's sitting next to him. You give it no second thought, planting your lips onto his in an instant.

Although in tunnel vision, you can still hear the gasps around the room. You didn't think this through, but you have to commit now which is why you slightly intensify the kiss by parting your lips. Your hunched-over position becomes uncomfortable though, causing you to drop down to one knee beside Seokjin's thigh on the cushion.

He welcomes the closer vicinity, holding you by your waist with gentle hands.

Has it been ten seconds yet? You have no idea. You assume Jimin would count down, but he's probably too stupefied like the rest of them. Throwing in the tiniest of tongue action for good measure, you part again rather sooner than later. A clear sheen of lip gloss and saliva covers your friend's plush lips. His ears are flushed almost a hot pink.

Your job here is done.

Clearing your throat, you turn around to no one in particular. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. You can keep playing without me."

And with that, you brush past Yoongi's frozen form, ignoring the whispers going around the room.

You've been warned about the sink in the downstairs bathroom not working (once again, courtesy of Namjoon), so you swiftly climb up the flight of stairs to the upstairs bathroom.

Closing the door behind you, you let out a loud exhale before you make your way over to the sink. You don't have to use the bathroom. You just need a minute to breathe. Or two. Or five.

You look up at your reflection in the mirror, the telltale sign of the kiss written all over your lips. Had you known this is how things are going to pan out, you would've opted for smudge-proof lipstick. Turning on the faucet, you dab some water onto the pad of your finger to wipe at the corners of your mouth.

What have you done?

A knock on the door startles you.

"What?" you ask, wondering who it is.

"Let me in."

The deep, raspy tone coming from the other side of the door draws an annoyed sigh out of you. "I'm peeing," you answer flatly.

"No, you're not."

Another heavier sigh passes your lips this time. He's the last person you want to see right now, but something tells you to give in still. "What do you want?" you bite as you swing open the door with so much power you almost detach it from its hinges.

Yoongi steps over the threshold, closing it behind him with equal force. The impact causes the door handle to rattle. He watches you wander back over to the sink, irritation marking every inch of his face. "What the fuck was that for?" he spits with so much venom it's far from characteristic of him.

"What do you mean 'what the fuck was that for'?" You turn to face the mirror, inspecting yourself again. "I did what was expected of me."

Coming up behind you, your ex-boyfriend shoots daggers at you through the reflection. "Are you fucking kidding me? That was way more than what was expected of you!"

"What's your fucking problem? You made it clear in front of everyone, including me, you don't care. Besides"–with your blood pumping hot through your veins, you spin around looking him dead in the eye–"you wanted this. You ended this." You point back and forth between the two of you. "So you don't get to complain now."

He stares you down with what you can now decipher as hurt and rage. "Don't talk about our relationship like it was just a thing. For fuck's sake, _____! We were together for almost two years." His growing distress shows as he rushes a hand through his pitch-black hair. "You took equal part in the downfall. You took equal part in the decision."

A small scoff comes to the surface. "Are you actually listening to yourself? You sat me down and told me this wasn't gonna work out – not me. You came up with all the excuses you're too busy and your career doesn't allow a stable life when you know very well I've tried everything in my willpower to make things work."

His features contort more into agony. "That's because you were never satisfied with my solutions. Who says you were the only one trying to make things work? Nothing was ever good enough for you. I know I have a busy lifestyle, but things always have to go according to your plan. You immediately shut down whenever I suggest something that's not part of your vision."

You roll your eyes at him, partially in anger but also in a poor attempt at keeping your tears at bay. He's not entirely wrong, you're aware of that. It wasn't easy with him, but you could be equally as stubborn. At the time, the glass was simply too broken to put back together – no matter how hard any of you tried. Maybe you needed the time apart to see clearer.

"These past three months were hell for me," you confess suddenly, dropping your head in shame.

There's a beat of silence following your words. "For me as well," Yoongi finally answers, his voice coming out barely above a whisper.

"How come we're so bad at this?" It's more of a rhetorical question, but you genuinely wonder how you managed to stay together this long.

Another pause settles in before Yoongi speaks up again. "I don't think we're bad at relationships. There are things we need to work on, sure. But these things don't come overnight." After wetting his lips tentatively, he continues, "We're already making big progress by talking about this – even if we wanted to strangle each other seconds ago. If anything, we needed this in order to finally be honest and not hide behind a façade anymore."

Your mind takes you back to that fateful day when you talked each other through the break-up. Things were convoluted as you convinced each other you didn't see any future in being together just to avoid addressing the truth and finding a common denominator. It seemed easier this way, running away from your problems and saving face in the process.

Now look where it led you – the worst outcome possible.

Catching a stray tear rolling down your cheek, you muster up the courage to look at him again. "What do we do now?"

He lets out a low hum at the sight of you, his hand coming up to carefully wipe another tear close to spilling from the corner of your eye. "I don't know. All I know is I don't like this. The distance, the avoidance – the animosity."

"Yeah." You let his words hang heavy in the room. Hard agree on this one. "Neither do I."

"And I certainly don't like seeing you make out with someone else right in front of my face – let alone Jin-hyung at that."

His comment has you chuckling lightly. "To be fair, I didn't enjoy it as much as you'd think."

"You're joking." He breaks out into his signature gummy smirk. "Worldwide Handsome didn't do it for you?"

You shake your head, a small smile forming on your face. "He's not you."

At that, his grin grows even wider, his eyes turning into downturned crescents.

"I'm sorry, by the way." You play with one of the bracelets around your wrist, tugging at the golden chain.

Yoongi reaches for your arm, most likely out of reflex as he notices your hesitation. "It's okay. I'm sorry, too." Dropping his hand, he elaborates, "I overreacted earlier. You're not... We're not­..."

He struggles to finish his thought, but you know exactly what he's trying to say. "Do you want to be?" you drawl, immediately wincing at how desperate you sound. Maybe it's still too early for this.

Your concern dissipates as his eyes light up in an instant. "Of course," he murmurs. "I've always wanted to."

The corners of your lips tug upwards again at that. "I do, too," you follow up though you're sure he already figured.

What a serious turn of events. Who would've thought things were going to work out this way? You could hug the world right now. Hell, you could hug the entire universe.

"Should we..." he starts, a mischievous glint glossing over his irises, "shake hands on this?"

Bursting into laughter, you shake your head at his ridiculous idea. "That's so formal. We're not business partners."

"Fine then."

Your laughter ceases instantly as he takes a few steps forward, slowly backing you into the marble countertop behind you.

"Should we hug it out instead?"

You watch the way his tongue swipes across his bottom lip as you're caged in between his arms, the closeness sending your mind reeling.

"Or do you have something else in mind?"

Swallowing down hard, your focus switches between his lips and the seductive gaze he holds you with. "A hug would be a start,” you croak out.

He sends you a crooked smile before releasing his grip around the corner of the sink, enveloping you with both arms for a tight bear hug, his cheek coming to a rest on your temple.

You welcome his touch, bending your arms that are stuck underneath his to clasp around his shoulders. An abundance of warmth and comfort washes over you, so you bury your face into the crook of his neck to take it all in. Words can't describe how much you missed this – how much you missed him.

The two of you stay like this for a while until Yoongi breaks the silence. "Just to be clear–"

You lift your head to get a proper look at him.

"–I do care. I always have, and I always will."

All trains of thought leave you as you stare at each other, the sincerity in his eyes granting them with a spark you haven't seen yet before. You swear there's a magnetic force involved, that's how strong the urge is when you slowly close the distance pressing your lips onto his.

Bliss overtakes you instantly, the familiar feeling of his lips bringing back all the memories of the past two years. Things were never easy between you, but you want to make it work this time no matter the cost.

Once you pull apart, all you can do is look at each other, completely at a loss for words. You catch the way Yoongi's focus switches back and forth between your eyes though, trailing down to your lips before coming back up where it ultimately stays.

He loosens one of his arms around you, bringing it up to rest his hand on the side of your neck. With his thumb, he rubs soothing circles into your cheek.

You close your eyes at his touch, unfurling an arm from behind his back to curl around his neck instead. The other follows the curve of his spine before enclosing around his waist.

"God..." Yoongi murmurs, his forehead coming to rest against yours. "I missed you so much."

Blinking your eyelids open, you catch the moment his open just a second later. "I missed you, too."

This time it's he who draws you in for a kiss, his hand gently tilting your head to the side to grant him access.

There's always been something super addictive about Yoongi's kisses. From the tingling sensation that infests your entire body starting at the top of your scalp all the way down to the soles of your feet, to the funny feeling in your core that has you weak in the knees and lose all sense of self – you could never get enough.

You're done for when he parts his mouth slightly, the tip of his tongue slipping through the seam of yours. You let out an involuntary moan, seeking solace as you tighten your grip around the cotton fabric of his shirt.

He steps closer causing you to part your legs to make space for him. With your torso bent backward into a small arch, he starts planting kisses along your jawline down your neck.

At this point, you're like wax in his hands. Of course he's more than familiar with your weak spots.

His hold around your waist wanders down to your thigh as he hooks your leg around his hip, gently hoisting you up on the countertop. In a painstakingly slow fashion, his lips flutter across your collarbone before they land above the cups of your bustier top.

You can feel his hand travel further up your thigh, shyly slipping beneath the denim fabric of your skirt. Before he can go any further, you gently grab him by the wrist.

Flustered, the male lifts his face from your cleavage. "Sorry, did I–"

"No," you interrupt him quickly. You don't want him to get the wrong idea. "Not here."

"What–"

Before he can ask any further questions, you climb off the counter, dragging him out of the bathroom down the dark hallway.

The door closes behind you with a silent click before you switch on the light.

You haven't seen this room since the break-up. It looks about the same, maybe a bit messier than you remember. The bed looks like it's been made in a hurry, there are a few more clothes strewn around than you're used to from your ex-boyfriend. You're unsure of the emotions that overcome you. They're something along the lines of guilt, shame – sadness.

In your daydream, you don't notice Yoongi coming to stand in front of you. "I'm sorry it's kinda messy," he apologizes, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't expect company tonight."

You solemnly shake your head. "It's fine. That's not it."

It's silent for a beat until he speaks up again. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

Again, you shake your head. "I do though."

The man musters you sternly as if to read your mind. Then he cracks a small smile. "Okay. Me too."

One wouldn't be able to tell the two of you were engaged in a semi-heated make-out session just a minute ago with the way you're gradually closing the distance between you. But once your arms are slung around his neck again, the passion from before resurfaces in an instant.

His hold around your waist grows more desperate with each passing second, pulling you further into the room along with him until you reach the foot end of his bed. In between hungry kisses, he plops down onto the mattress with a soft thud.

You're still in a mostly upright position, a little bit hunched over with one knee propped up beside his thigh as you continue kissing him. It's comically similar to the scene from the living room – although this time it's with the right man. The realization has you chuckling against his lips.

"What's so funny?" he asks, breaking out into a smirk of his own.

You playfully nibble on his lower lip. "Nothing," you lie. "Just thought about how strange life is sometimes."

A tiny squeal escapes you as Yoongi suddenly drags you down with him, your arms coming out just right on time to cushion the fall. "Life is strange," he agrees. "But I like where it's leading us right now."

The mischief in his tone doesn't go unnoticed by you, so to wipe that smile off his face you lean down stealing another kiss from him. It starts off relatively tame before you try to rile him up ever so slowly, lowering your body until you're straddling his waist. Your tongues are fighting for dominance, but ultimately you have the upper hand in this as you pull away, watching him from above in all his glory. Or so you thought because the second you lay eyes on his fucked-out expression, his parted lips so plump and shiny and his pitch-black hair splayed out on the white comforter you swear you lose all sense of reality. Ethereal is the word that comes to your mind. He's nothing short of ethereal.

"Ah!"

Yoongi takes advantage of the situation while you're lost in your thoughts, flipping you over on your back. "Enjoying the view?" he jokes, his gummy smirk on full display.

You snort. "Maybe."

His lips are on you again immediately, retracing their path from earlier as he places kiss after kiss over the curvature of your chest. "So am I."

You're reduced to whimpers when he sucks love bites into your skin.

Once he pulls away to admire his work, he informs you with a straight face, "You know, I had a really hard time not staring when we were downstairs."

You bite your lip, patiently waiting for the revelation.

"But then you helped clearing the table, and they were practically in my face, so–"

"You missed my tits," you interject with an amused smile.

He chortles. "You make it sound so crude." Tracing the intricate flower embroidery covering your breasts with his finger, he elaborates, "Obviously, I love looking at all of you. Not just your tits."

The way he repeats the word has you burst into laughter.

"Stop laughing at me." His cheeks rise into full globes before his face falls again. "I'm serious, I missed seeing your face. You look really beautiful tonight."

Whatever bullshit you were about to say – it's gone. The way his words leave his lips with such sincerity and his eyes are set on you as if to imprint every single inch of your face in his brain renders you speechless. All you can do is show him that you missed him just as much – if not even more. Pulling him down to you by the nape of his neck, you press your lips together again, eagerly running your hand through the strands on the back of his head. It's gotten a little bit longer ever since you broke up, and admittedly you find it kind of sexy.

"In all seriousness though"–Yoongi mumbles in between kisses–"as beautiful as you look in this, I want if off now." Toying with the strap of your top, he gently glides it over your shoulder until it loses tension.

You comply with no questions asked, propping yourself up on your elbows. Yoongi catches on right away, reaching behind you to pull down the zipper. It always amused you how contradicting he could be, his patient character cracking when it came to intimacy, his soft-spoken nature turning more daring and demanding.

A low hum resonates from him at the sight of your bare breasts, and it doesn't take long until his attention is on them again, his hand cupping one of them while he bends down to take care of the other.

The sudden contact has you moaning out louder than you'd like. As he changes up the motions on your hardened nipple, it's hard to keep it down now. Throwing your head back, you relish the onslaught of suckles and licks, kisses and bites.

He switches sides, granting your other boob the same treatment while still squeezing the prior.

You're a mess, to say the least, the dampness sodding your panties a sure indicator of that.

As if he's living in your head, Yoongi's hand wanders down the expanse of your torso before stopping right under the hemline of your miniskirt. Tugging at the seam, he grumbles, "Take this off, too, baby."

The audacity to throw in the pet name as well – you've never been quicker at undressing up until this point. Your hands are shaky as you're fiddling with the button though, so Yoongi comes to the rescue, unbuttoning it at the speed of light yet the veins raking across his hands have your undivided attention, prolonging the moment to infinity.

He slides down from the bed to the floor, taking the obstructing clothing with him at the same time.

There's something about you being stripped down to your underwear whereas he's still dressed that sends uncontrollable tingles to your core.

While leaving fluttery pecks across your lower abdomen, the male slips a single digit under the fabric covering your crotch. "We haven't even started yet"–he places another peck closer to your pelvic mound–"but you're already so wet, baby."

A snarky response is on the tip of your tongue, something along the lines of it being a given when he's been playing with your boobs like a man possessed, but you swallow it down when he drags his finger over your folds, dipping the tip into your slit.

Your reaction is immediate, the whimper passing your lips drawing a smile onto his. "God, I can't wait to make you cum," he grunts, and with that his fingers hook around the waistband of your panties, removing the last remaining piece of clothing covering you.

Any sort of thought dissipates from your mind as he throws your thighs over his shoulders and his mouth connects with your center, licking up your arousal like it's a sport.

You're no stranger to the things he's capable of with his tongue, but this is no match to the times before. His moves are calculated yet determined, taking you to the brink of an orgasm in record time. There's no use holding back anymore, your hand covering your mouth doing little to nothing hiding your whines.

In between all the licking and sucking, Yoongi retracts for a split second, a wicked grin gracing his features. "Getting close?"

"Mh-hm," you hum out breathlessly. "Please don't stop."

He doesn't need another plea from you, his movements more eager than before as he continues eating you out.

Weaving your hand through his thick locks, you watch him from above. His eyebrows are furrowed as he focuses on your pleasure, his hands around your thighs digging deep into your flesh. This sight alone could have you cumming on the spot, but it's the switch-up from small kitten licks to suckles on your clit with the perfect amount of pressure that drives you over the edge. "I-I'm cumming, fuck!"

He guides you through your release, letting you grind on his face as he runs his hands over your thighs locked around his head in a tight grip. Once you're done riding it out, he presses one last kiss to your quivering core, smirking at the way you squirm over the sensitivity.

"Fuck," you curse again in disbelief. The room around you appears surreal. You watch the ceiling above you to regain consciousness. He essentially mouth-fucked you into oblivion.

A light kiss to your temple brings you back from wherever your mind was catapulted to. Outer space or another dimension. No one really knows for sure.

"Still with me?" Yoongi checks on you, his thumb rubbing tiny circles into the highpoint of your cheek.

You swallow down hard, willing your eyes to focus on his looking back at you. The deep brown of his irises resembles that of the Iced Americanos that he loves so much although warmer and more welcoming than the caffeinated drink. "Y-yeah," you manage out.

"Good." He bends down to peck your lips. "Thought I'd lost you for a second."

You might as well be lost for the rest of eternity. Your hands seek for harbor, digging into the sleeves of his jacket. "Take this off," you mumble, impatiently tugging at the garment.

"Alright." Yoongi chuckles at your cute antics, taking it off instantly.

You're not satisfied yet though, curling your hands around the hem of his shirt, dragging it upward until a sliver of his abdomen shows. "This, too."

He shushes you, grabbing ahold of your wrists. "Baby, you're getting too excited."

With your lips in a pout you protest, "I'm not. I just wanna take care of you, too."

His laughter resonates in your ears. "You're gonna get to take care of me soon enough." You're still pouting, so he comes up with a peace offering. "Here, how about this?" Guiding his hand back down to your heat, he proposes, "Give me another one, and I'll let you do whatever you want with me for a while."

You're spent already, your first orgasm having drained your entire energy. But you're willing to go again if that means getting what you want. Nodding your head, you lean back onto the bed.

"Good girl."

Holy shit.

It takes all your might not to melt into a puddle right then and there, but his working hand doesn't give you enough time to even process his words, his ringed fingers already drawing circles on your swollen bud. You gasp out silently, leaving an imprint on the mattress with how hard you're throwing your head back.

His digits expertly tickle your clit as if you're a key on his piano or a string on his guitar, experimentally dipping them into your heat for precise pumps. You thank the gods but also simultaneously curse the devil for making this man skilled with both his tongue and his hands.

It's not long until you feel the all too familiar knot in your core tighten again, squeezing your walls around his fingers as you feel the cold metal adorning them.

"That's it, baby," he growls. The pad of his thumb works your nub while his ring and index finger drag in and out of you with fast strokes. "Almost there."

You barely manage out anything intelligible other than Yeah and Don't stop. Sweat forms on your skin from your neck down to your chest, the golden pendant of your necklace clinging to it. So close, so damn close.

His hawk eyes are on you the entire time, intense and sinister. Not a single twitch of your muscles passes them by. If it wasn't for that crooked smile of his you would think he's studying you, analyzing your every move.

It's easy to feel intimidated under his watch, so to lessen your nerves – and finally bring yourself over the edge – you grab him by the collar, pulling him close to you. "Kiss me,” you murmur as if his lips aren't already pressed to yours.

With one last wicked grin, Yoongi gives in to your request, kissing you as if his life depends on it. He knows exactly how to get you going, lets you taste yourself on his tongue while he produces more of your sinful essence.

All you can do is whimper against his mouth until you break apart, another orgasm ripping out of you sooner than you thought that has your thighs clamping shut and your back arching off the mattress. A string of profanities leaves your lips as Yoongi continues massaging your clit through your high. Your sweaty hand clutching at the comforter snatches his wrist, stopping his crazed motions. "F-fuck okay, stop," you manage out, your throat as dry as a desert.

The man has the audacity to send a soft slap to your folds before pressing a quick peck onto your temple. "You did so well." He peers down at you with a gummy smile as he sits up straight, popping his soaked fingers into his mouth. "That was fun."

You're essentially an empty vessel, watching him with your mouth agape while nothing but a numbing, tingling sensation travels along your limbs. This must be the afterlife. Hell or heaven or maybe both.

"Alright." His voice takes you back to the bedroom. "As promised"–he shuffles to the edge of the bed, spreading his legs–"you have all the creative control now."

A tired chuckle escapes you before you scramble yourself up on your elbows, immediately sliding down to the floor in front of where Yoongi sits. You're quick to work on his belt, looping the leather through the holes although the feeling in your fingers hasn't returned yet.

The sound of Yoongi's laughter fills your ears, and you know you must look like a fool with the way you're trying to get him out of his pants before you even took off his shirt. Oh shit, yeah. You totally forgot about his shirt, but you have all the time in the world. For now, your focus is on something entirely else.

He observes you as you pull down his jeans and boxers in one go, lifting his butt from the bed to facilitate the process for you. He sports this cocky sideway smirk that drives you insane, but you manage to wipe it off his face the second your hand wraps around his length. A hiss passes through his teeth once you start stroking him in an up-and-down motion. Throwing his head back, he lets you take full control.  

You add in a twisting motion whenever you reach the tip which clearly affects the man, his breathing becoming shallow and his whines turning into guttural moans. "I've barely done anything," you tease him just as he did earlier. "But you're already so hard."

That smirk returns instantly though weaker this time. "So what? I get hard watching you get off."

"Mh-hm," you hum unimpressed. "So what you're saying is I can do this"–you bend forward to slowly lick a stripe from the base up to the tip, giving the head a light suck–"and it does nothing for your raging hard-on?"

Whatever response is on the tip of his tongue, it disappears as soon as you put your mouth on him again, swallowing half of his length. "Ah, fuck!" His hand shoots up to hold you by the back of your head. The further you take him down your throat, the tighter his grip around your hair becomes. "Baby..."

You wish you could imprint this memory on instant film. The rosiness creeping up on his cheeks and neck compliment his smooth, milky skin so well. A thin sheen of sweat starts forming on his forehead, the strands of his dark bangs clinging to it framing his face like a picture. He's beyond beautiful, especially when he falls apart under the touch of your hand and the wet, warm comfort of your mouth.

Your head bops up and down at an excruciating pace now, his hard-on covered in slick from your saliva. You ignore the stinging ache in your jaw, planning on sucking him dry. He's always been such a sucker for your blowjobs, so you want to put on the best show possible for him.

"Baby," he repeats, his voice quivering. "Please."

Slowing down your movements, you resort to running your tongue across the protruding vein on the side of his length. "Yes?"

His hands wander down to your arms. "Come here."

"Hm?" You give him one final hard suck before pulling off him with a loud pop. Still kneeling in front of the man, you feign ignorance.

Impatiently, he pulls you up to your feet. "Stop playing."

You practically fall into his arms, straddling him in the process. His hands immediately find their way to your ass, grabbing a handful causing you to gasp. "What now?" you ask innocently, covering him with your slick as you grind down on him.

Drawing you in for a heated kiss, he drags your pelvis down onto his even harder. "Hands and knees, baby," the man orders with a sharp slap to your ass.

You don't waste another second, complying as you crawl off his lap. Getting into position with your butt high up in the air, you can hear his feet shuffle across the hardwood floor. He reappears in your vision shortly after, rummaging through the drawers of the bedside table.

"Shit," he curses harshly. "I thought I had some in here."

No further explanation is needed to understand what he's referring to. Sitting up on your heels, you watch Yoongi run a hand through his hair in distress.

"Can you check the other side?" he suggests, his eyes set on you.

"Sure." Leaning over the edge of the bed, you sift through the drawers though without luck.

Yoongi usually keeps the condoms on his side, the right side. When you were together, you would occupy the left side which is closer to the window. You always preferred the one closest to the window. It didn't matter much to Yoongi which side he slept on, but he made sure yours was always cleared so you could store whatever stuff you wanted. From any type of jewelry you took off before going to sleep, to snacks or books you brought with you that day – you always had your space within his home. And going through what were once your drawers, you realize nothing much has changed. They look rather uninhabited, no traces of you or him – or even someone else which is a concern that crosses your mind now.

He scratches the back of his head. "Fuck..." His voice comes out in defeat. "Maybe I can ask one of the other guys–"

"Don't!" You grab him by the wrist before he can wander off.

Confused, he looks down at your hand then back at you. "Why? You don't want to anymore?"

Shaking your head, you murmur sheepishly, "That's not it." There's a beat of silence as he waits for more. You swallow down the lump in your throat before you elaborate further, "Have you been with anyone else after..."

He holds your gaze, his eyes turning somber at your insinuation. "No."

His answer his short, but it's all you need to know. Min Yoongi might be the master of poker faces, but when it comes to you you can read the man like a book.

"Have you?" he follows up.

You shake your head. "Me neither."

Your reply seems to loosen some of the tension Yoongi was harboring, his body language becoming much more relaxed. Intertwining your hand with his, he inquires with a spark in his eyes, "Are you still on the pill?"

Giving him an affirmative answer, you interlock your fingers with his free hand as well. Your gesture changes the mood for good, his signature gummy smile making its return. You pull him closer until you're chest to chest. Sending him a light peck to the corner of his mouth, you curl your fingers around the edges of his shirt, peeling it off his torso.

He chuckles, raising his arms into the air in compliance. His hair ends up slightly disheveled once the clothing drags over his head. As you're smoothing it out for him, he asks, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"  

You give it another second of thought. It wouldn't be the first time you've done it without extra protection. You started birth control once things became serious between the two of you. Over the course of your relationship, you would stick to double protection mostly to stay on the safe side. Now that you're back here with him and your first time ever since is going to be raw, it puts so much more significance to the situation – but that's what you want. You want to be with him all the way.

"I'm okay with this," you assure him with another peck to his lips. "Are you?"

Nodding his head, he allows you to drag down his pants and underwear that still hang around his thighs, letting them pool around his ankles. You're about to crawl back onto the bed when he stops you midway.

"What?" You look at him from across your shoulder. "What's wrong?"

His arm wraps around your middle, turning you on your back. "I wanna look at you."

With bated breath you watch his eyes linger on your face, taking in every inch of it as if he's trying to paint a picture of you in his mind. God. If he's not going to do anything, you're going to have to eventually –

Cupping your chin, he then kisses you deeply while entering you slowly.

Your reaction is immediate, gasping against his mouth as he sheaths himself inside of you. Thank God. Finally.

The feeling is all too familiar though it still needs some time getting used to. He prepped you well at least, so it doesn't take too long until pleasure ultimately replaces the stinging sensation.

"Fuck," he curses as he moves at a moderate pace. "I missed you."

You hold onto his arms resting beside your head. "I missed you, too."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

It's like this flips a switch inside of him, his movements becoming more eager and carnal. He fills you up to the hilt, thrusting in and out of you with vigor. The silver pendant of his necklace swings back and forth wildly, grazing across your chest.

Your nails leave crescent shaped marks around his biceps. You're reduced to moans and curses. How long have you been hoping for this? Within those three months without him, you never considered a chance of getting back together – but you also haven't stopped thinking about the possibility of it. It seemed so farfetched due to all the circumstances. You had ruled it out immediately. But your fantasy always ran wild with the idea of it. And now your fantasy has become reality.

A particularly hard thrust has you practically screaming. You're quick to cover your mouth, your hand clasping it shut.

"Don't do that." Yoongi grabs ahold of it, holding it down above your head. "I wanna hear you." As if to test you, his hips rut into you faster and harder.

This ultimately does the trick, and you certainly don't disappoint as you let out lustful sounds loud and clear. Your focus should be on the here and now – in the arms of the man that you love so much. Nothing else and no one else should matter. "O-oh God, Yoongi!"

He sends you a satisfied grin as he sits up on his heels, his hips still snapping into yours. "Turn around."

With a mocking voice you tease him, "I thought you wanted to look at me."

"Yeah," he states nonchalantly, separating his sweaty bangs. "Now I wanna see the other side."

You let out an amused chuckle but abide alas, turning around on your side first before falling forward on your hands, your ass on full display for him.

"Perfect," he praises, caressing your cheeks with both hands. "You're doing great, baby."

Seconds pass before you feel his tip slide past your folds again. The stretch is different in this position, deeper and more thorough. You don't even notice yourself backing into him, your behind pressed flush to his pelvis.

"A little eager, aren't we?" One of his hands comes down to spank you, but before you even get a chance to complain he continues his onslaught, rolling his hips into your backside with deliciously slow yet harsh thrusts.

"Oh my God!" You lower yourself until your chest comes into contact with the mattress. "Yoongi…"

The telltale sound of skin slapping against skin echoes off the walls though they're not enough to drown out your sounds. As he gradually picks up his pace, your moans turn unstoppable. It's like an out-of-body experience – and judging by the noises coming from the man behind you he seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself as well.  

"Fuck, baby…" Yoongi's grip on your hips tightens. "You take me so well."

You desperately nod your head at no one in particular before burying it in between your folded forearms as you withstand his force. There's a burn you're trying to ignore that spreads along your thighs, but the longer you hold out the easier you lose posture until you collapse like a house of cards.

"Here." His hands guide you further up on the mattress until you're on your half of the bed. "Lay down."

You flop down onto your back like a brick, drawing a chuckle out of Yoongi.

As he positions himself beside you, he puts your legs together rolling you onto your side.  

"Oh..." You watch him with wondrous eyes as he settles down onto the space behind you. "This is new."

"Yeah." He grins while looping an arm around you, burying himself in your heat again. "Thought you needed a break."

At that, you chuckle lightly. "How thoughtful of you."

"Right?" With one sharp thrust, he hits you right in your g-spot. "Aren't I thoughtful?"

You moan out as he continuously pistons in and out of you, unable to answer in coherent sentences. "Mh-hm, so th-thoughtful."

His hand resting on your belly trails down to your thighs, spreading them ever so slightly so he can toy with your clit. The other squeezes through a crevice he creates between you and the bed to play with your tits.

When you think this is the highest of pleasure you can experience, he proves you wrong again. As his hips and hands move together in a perfect rhythm, he has the audacity to nip at your neck at the same time. His hard cock driving in and out of your pussy while he draws circles on your clit, pinches your nipple, and laves his tongue over your neck – this overstimulation sends you straight to the verge of another orgasm.

"Yoongi…" You twist your head around, resting it against his. "I'm gonna cum again."

"Okay." His features are contorted, one of the telltale signs of his own high incoming. "I'm about to cum, too."

Grabbing onto the hair on the back of his head, you press your lips together. The position proves itself as slightly awkward but is no obstacle to the heated kiss you're able to share.

Parting for a split second, Yoongi mumbles against your lips, "Should I pull out?"

You give it a moment of serious thought, shaking your head. As much as you loved when he used to finish somewhere on your body, you loved it the most when he finished inside. It always felt the most intimate, connecting the two of you on another level. "Cum inside me," you clarify, your walls already starting to flutter at the thought of it alone.

It's apparent the male is affected by your command, trying his hardest to send the two of you over the finish line. His eyes are shut, and his forehead crinkled into deep creases. "Baby," he huffs out with shallow breaths, "cum for me, please."

His plea along with his relentless ministrations seem to be the final straw for you, that long awaited orgasm exploding within you like a firework. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as you manage out a hoarse moan, involuntarily clamping your thighs shut while your legs twitch.

"O-oh fuck!" Yoongi also finds his release right away, emptying himself inside of you. "Shit!"

You barely register the profanities leaving his lips, but once he's reduced to mere whimpers you come back to reality. You always thought they were the sweetest sound in the world, such a contradiction to the strong and secure exterior of Min Yoongi.

The two of you lie there entangled with one another, catching your breaths. It could be a matter of a few minutes or maybe even an hour that you bask in the afterglow until Yoongi breaks the silence. "Come on," he murmurs, caressing your cheek. "We gotta clean up. Take off your make-up and all that."

You agree although with an annoyed grunt, slowly heaving your strained limbs from the bed one by one. There's a slight chill in the room now that your body has acclimated without the added body temperature from Yoongi and the physical exertion.

The touch of a fabric being draped across your shoulders causes you to jump a little. Inspecting the piece, you realize it's Yoongi's shirt from earlier. Thanking him, you slide it on as you stand up to your full height. Your legs are like jelly and there's the telltale ringing in your ears.

"Can you walk?" Yoongi inquires, coming to stand beside you. He’s back in his boxers, inspecting you with care.

Sending a timid nod of your head, you take a step but stumble over your own feet.

His arms reach out for you just in time to prevent the fall. "I went too hard on you. I'm sorry, darling."

"'s alright," you slur into the crook of his neck. "I liked it. A lot."

A smug grin finds its way onto his features. "Now come on," he chuckles. "Let's get you cleaned up."

You're more than thankful in this situation that Yoongi's room is one of the two in this household with an en-suite bathroom (the other belonging to Seokjin – being the eldest comes with benefits for sure) since your legs almost give out at any step despite leaning onto him while you walk.

After you take care of your situation down there, Yoongi runs a warm washcloth along the inside of your thighs for good measure. You thank him with your mouth agape, watching him in astonishment while you're propped up on the sink countertop for balance. It's beyond you how you could agree to the break-up so easily when he's always been so attentive to your needs, has always taken care of you without you even asking.

"There." He rises back to eye-level with you. "All good now."

You turn around to face the mirror, looking around for the things you need to in order to wash up. "Do you have a spare toothbrush?" you ask.

The man takes a second to process your request before his hand curls around the handle of one of the upper drawers. "I actually..." He hesitates. "I've got a few things you could use."

When he opens the drawer, your breath hitches in your throat. "I forgot I left these here," you murmur, inspecting the items revealed to you.

"Yeah..." Yoongi scratches the back of his head. "When you said you didn't need them, I tried throwing them away, but... I just couldn't."

You fairly remember the scene, storming out of the house after that talk, and when Yoongi told you he still had stuff of yours when you came over to drop off his you answered in anger 'Keep it or throw it out'.

With a trembling hand, you reach for the pink headband next to the rest of your skincare products. You don't want it to happen, but tears spring up in your eyes. Trying to keep them at bay, you throw your head into your neck, but to no avail. The first tears roll down your cheeks, so you turn away from Yoongi in shame, letting them fall freely.

"Hey," Yoongi coos, his hands coming up to rub soothing circles into your arms. "It's okay, honey. It's in the past now."

You feel so endlessly guilty of how things have turned out. All you want is for it to work out with him.

He continues consoling you, "We're gonna do better this time. But we have to be honest with each other." One of his hands slide down to intertwine with yours. "So no more of that hiding shit."

You let him spin you around in your spot. Looking up at him through blurry vision, you wrap your arms around his neck. "I want this to work out, Yoongi," you croak out choked up on tears. "I really want this to work out."

"It's gonna work out," he assures you, his arms around you as tight and secure as ever. "We're gonna make it work."

As you pull apart, he swipes his thumb over the last of the remaining tears on your cheek before placing a chaste kiss on it. The gesture draws a smile back onto your face, soothing your haywire state.

It's so domestic how you stand next to each other now brushing your teeth and doing your skincare routines, pulling silly faces at one another through the mirror – and before you know it you're racing him back to the bed, drifting off into peaceful slumber with his chest pressed to your back.

Sunlight peeks through the blinds as you blink your eyes open. You're sore all over, the memory of last night hitting you like a bat over the head though it draws a smile on your lips – especially since his arm is still draped over your middle.

Carefully rolling over onto your side, you're met with a half-asleep Yoongi, his eyelids still heavy as he peers at you.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" you whisper, your smile widening at his cute face.

He shakes his head, burying his face into the pillow. "Mh-mh." His voice comes out muffled, thick with sleepiness. "I woke up a minute ago or so."

You place your hand on his cheek at which he turns his head again. Rubbing your thumb across his soft skin, you shuffle closer to peck him on the lips.

He seems slightly more awake after that, chasing after your lips for another.

You still can't believe this is how you ended up. All the trials and tribulations brought you back together in the end. A huge thank you is due to be said to Jimin.

Yoongi props himself up, looking around the room in search of something. Once his eyes land on the bedside table next to you, he speaks up, "Pass me my phone, please?"

You hum out in affirmation, bending over to the side to retrieve the device.

He settles back down on the bed when you hand it to him, welcoming you with open arms as you cuddle up to him. Tapping on the screen, he unlocks the phone to a plethora of messages. He opens the most recent chat with Jimin.

You're not one to sneak a peek, but it's hard not to when it's right in front of your face. When you read the last message, heat creeps up into your cheeks.

from Jimin [12:04 AM]

i'm glad you guys managed to "talk things out" 😉

"Oh God." You hide your face in the crook of his neck. "They know."

"Of course they know," Yoongi replies with a chuckle. "We were gone for the rest of the night." He types out a quick reply before tossing the phone onto the space beside him. "On top of that, we weren't exactly quiet," he jokes, wrapping his arms around you pulling you flush to his chest.

You linger in embarrassment for a little longer until you can't help but laugh along with him.

A soft knock on the door ends your chatter early to which Yoongi answers with a chipper 'Come in'.

The door cracks open ever so slightly, the chestnut-brown of Seokjin's mop of hair coming into sight. "Everybody decent?" he questions before correcting himself. "Well, you wouldn't have told me to come in if not." Swinging the door open wider until he's more than a floating head without a body, he adds, "Uh... Breakfast's ready."

"Alright, thanks," the younger male responds. "We'll be down in a bit."

"So you guys are good again?" The corners of Seokjin's mouth tug upward as if he doesn't know the answer already.

Yoongi sends him an assuring smile. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good, good. That's a relief." It looks like he's on his way out before he adds with a teasing grin, "Otherwise I would've had no other choice but to ask for your hand in marriage, _____, because that kiss last night was something else. Like wow–"

A loud thud sounds as Yoongi throws his pillow at the older male with full force. Seokjin's fast reflexes save him though as it knocks against the closing door instead.

You shake your head at the eldest’s shenanigans.

"Say…" Yoongi starts again, acting as if what just happened a second ago didn’t. "I’m gonna have to go on some trips starting next month."

Your ears perk up at that.

"I know I can’t take you with me on all of them, and I’m not gonna force you, but…" He studies you with careful eyes. "Do you think we can make something work? Like you keep me company for at least one of them?"

Tracing shapes across the smoothness of his chest, you answer, "It’s a little short notice, but I’ll talk to my manager first thing Monday morning."

He cracks a crooked smile. "If not, we’ll figure something out."

"We’ll figure something out," you repeat as an assurance to him but also yourself. "What’s important is we both gotta be comfortable with what we’re doing and be patient with the process. Chances are things aren’t gonna run smoothly right away."

His smile grows wider at your addition. "Yeah, exactly.” Pulling you closer to his chest, Yoongi says the next sentence with an underlying tone of regret. "I hope you know it’s not your fault."

Your fingers curl tighter around his figure.

"I was just as guilty myself, I made just as many mistakes." Tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, he trails, "So please, don’t put all the blame on yourself."

Last night you would’ve cried in an instant, but you’re in a much better state this morning. Now you know you both have things to improve in order to move the relationship forward.

Lifting your head off his chest, you nod at him with a small smile. "Thank you for letting me know. And the same goes for you as well."

He reciprocates your smile before pulling you down towards him, pressing your lips together. "I love you," he repeats the words from last night.

Your heart flutters in your chest. "I love you, too." You resume the kiss, your hands roaming around his naked torso. "Do you think breakfast can wait? I feel like"–slinging one leg over to the other side, you straddle him–"I was kinda lazy last night."

At that, he gives you an all-knowing grin and the rest is history.

[loz-furbies]

Din

Design

I like Din's design from the shoulders up; I think she has a cuter face than Nayru and the hairstyle is fun and memorable. I also like that she appears to be a bit more muscular than the average anime pretty girl.

However the rest of her look is kind of a mess. What exactly is that outfit anyway? For starters I just can't help thinking how impractical that hyper tight jumpsuit is for using the bathroom. Also I really don't think hot pink goes well with the purple decorations, or especially with her bright red hair, and I'm not a fan of the flame sashes being the exact same colour as her hair either. The triangle pattern is a struggle to draw too since the references are inconsistent on which side of the outfit they are, or if it's symmetric.

And then there's the bangles, they are just so huge and the rest of the design doesn't exactly match them. You'd need a lot more magical super form goddess tier design for anti-gravity bracelets this big not to look awkward and Din here is just too casual for that. When I recently drew Din with her arms on Nayru and Farore's shoulders I debated if I should just leave them out but decided to include them in the end, which was a mistake because they just look so stupid...

I guess the frills do make me think of a flamenco dancer so at least the outfit checks out as a dancer outfit. And Nayru has similar frills in her design so they contrast each other quite nicely, with Din's design being the more active one to Nayru's more prim and proper look.

She has noticeably darker skin in the full colour GBC art (below), but apparently that didn't make it to the sprite. I'm guessing that's a hardware limitation?

Character

Din has a fun and playful personality, and at the beginning of the game she invites Link to dance with her and later says she had fun. The other NPCs also state that she is kind, as she was the one who took care of Link when he was out cold for a bit. And that's about all there is to Din honestly since she gets kidnapped right after.

She does have a bit of magic pixie dream girl element to her, like pretty much the only character-based thing she gets to do in the whole game is to drag the mc-kun she just met to join her fun. But I still prefer her to Nayru since at least she uses the little space she has to make an impact well. So she's above the early franchise damsels in that at least she has a distinct and likable personality, which makes it more motivating to save her than if she was just some random girl.

Din's role as the Oracle of Seasons is pretty superficial, at least you get the time travel harp from Nayru's house and also teaches you some songs for it, and obviously the villain took over her body specifically to use her powers to travel to the past, but Din doesn't really get to do anything worthwhile with her powers.

Role in the story

I played Ages first, and Nayru being surprisingly present in the story raised the expectations for Din as well. Which means it was especially disappointing when she's barely in the game; You meet her for a few minutes in the beginning, she gets kidnapped, and won't be around until the very end when you finally save her to do some cutscene magic. Nayru at least was kept relevant in various ways (her possessed body shows up, there's an NPC who talks about her at every opportunity and she is rescued partway through the game) but Din just falls off the earth. Honestly I really like Din but I'm sorry in the game she just sucks.

I do like that Din is somewhat associated with the Triforce of Power at least; the Triforce is supposed to be a neutral force but the Power triangle is always with Ganon, so it's nice to have a good guy related to it for once.

Relationships

Unfortunately nothing to talk about. I really wish Din had a character like Ralph around her for example from her dance troupe, but that is not the case.

[binaural-histolog]

Storytelling Is Too Effective

There's a podcast I listen to, If Books Could Kill. Every episode, they review a book -- usually popular science or psychology, but sometimes political -- and they poke holes at it. They go back to the original papers that the book cites, they cross reference claims made between chapters and point out inconsistencies, and they draw from other studies and theories to provide contrast and context. It is entertainment, but it's also an appeal to critical thought.

One great thing that the podcast does is to track down anecdotes back to the original newspaper articles, and then point out how the book misquotes or misconstrues the event to serve the narrative. It can be jaw-dropping to hear what some books do with their source material. And yet, this is believable. These books, and these stories, are believed.

But I'm only talking about popular science books that present studies and supporting anecdotes as the truth. There's another category of book, the books that present the argument purely as story.

Who Moved My Cheese is a popular book about workers who have to deal with organizational change, including layoffs and cost-cutting measures. It was famous at the time, and consists almost entirely of made up conversations between mice, detailing how the mice should think about these changes. The podcast takedown is brutal and recommended.

Part of the reason that the book is so effective is that it's entirely story. The mice say what they're told to say, and the arguments are set up to make the right mice look smart and the wrong mice look dumb. The book wants you to engage and believe the argument even though the support is entirely illusory or relies on social pressure. And people believed it.

I think there's a natural tendency for people to believe books when they are storytelling -- either as stories or narrative as dialogue. The mortar that holds storytelling together is belief, and belief by its nature is credulous. You are not invited to review the raw data of a story, or examine the statistics for data dredging. You can't reproduce the results in a double-blind experiment. Story is story: you either believe it or you don't.

And that made me wonder.

What would If Books Could Kill say about Frogs into Princes or My My Voice Will Go With You?

Frogs into Princes is a dialogue about NLP. It's supposedly a transcript from a seminar. It's super effective.

The dialogue based format is effective in part because it's off the cuff --it doesn't come with footnotes or cite references, because who does that in the middle of talking? No-one in the seminar calls them out or challenges them on where they got their results or their thinking. Bandler talks about a therapist repeatedly removing and putting back back a phobia in a single session. Terms like "transderivational search" are dropped in (even though the word "transderivational" is a linguistics term) and no-one blinks an eye. The concept of preferred representational systems (PRS) is introduced, which even Bandler revised as no longer considered an important component in 1986. The audience believes all of this. You are expected to believe all of this.

And yet, if you dig into NLP and Bandler more specifically you find that much of this doesn't actually work and PRS is invented from whole cloth, with no linguistic evidence behind it.

According to Weitzenhoffer, "the major weakness of Bandler and Grinder's linguistic analysis is that so much of it is built upon untested hypotheses and is supported by totally inadequate data."[24]

But the point isn't truth. The point of NLP is to sell NLP, and it does very well at that; the conferences are very successful and disturbing to attending journalists.

My Voice Will Go With You is slightly different. It is the teaching tales of Erickson, written by Sydney Rosen. Erickson presents a series of stories showing how he solved a patient's problems using hypnosis and metaphor. Erickson was a natural storyteller, and because of that, the books present him as a protagonist.

But if you look at Erickson as a whole, his methods and philosophy are not about truth -- Hilgard gives several examples. Erickson never cared about truth. He cared about belief.

His habit of utilization meant that he would not only utilize behavior to point out that they were going into trance. He would utilize any improvement in his patients lives to point out his successful intervention. He was clear that he would lie to his patients for the sake of the case, and it's pretty clear he was lying or exaggerating some of his cases. He projected an image, and his image was so effective that it meant people would uncritically repeat what he said and fail to check and verify his accounts.

Cardena even called out Erickson's approach.

To muddy the waters even more, why have not some of the followers of a therapist known to fabricate false past stories to achieve therapeutic goals wondered whether he used that same technique in his writing and teaching?

And the problem is, some of it appears not to work for anyone else.

The research reviewed simply does not support long-held beliefs by Erickson or those who practice Ericksonian approaches to therapy. [...] Although there are impressive and dramatic clinical anecdotes cited in the literature about Erickson and his work, there is no compelling need to invoke any sort of special curative processes active in Ericksonian approaches beyond those already documented as active in any form of effective psychotherapy (e.g., relationship, expectancies, construction of a compelling narrative, active client involvement). Unlike hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral therapy, it is not clear that hypnosis adds anything to this approach.

When indirect suggestions are tried in experimental hypnosis, they don't work as well as direct suggestions.

The best controlled studies provide no support for the superiority of indirect suggestions, and there are indications that direct suggestions are superior to indirect suggestions in terms of modifying subjects’ experience of hypnosis. Nevertheless, the overriding conclusion is that differences between a wide variety of suggestions are either nonexistent or trivial in nature. (p. 138)

The reason that people still believe in Erickson and in NLP is because the way that the books present the argument is through storytelling. Storytelling requires belief and inhibits critical thought. We are set up to believe: hook, line, and sinker.

[renapomissing]

Comic Sonic Study 3

So, I open up issue 11 and--

T H E P E N D E R I N G H A S B E G U N

I've been waiting for this. Now, lest you mistake me for a Ken Penders supporter, I'm not, but I've developed a sort of ironic humor about this man, and I don't know what to do about it.

Anyway, from what I've heard, he's actually a good writer, when he has supervision, but once we get to the part where he's the only writer, that's when shit starts to get wild, so while it may fall under the category of bile fascination, I can't wait to experience

M A X I M U M P E N D E R S

I feel like there's something I should own up to, going forward. While i was never the most devout reader of this comic, I have at least read SOME of it before, and the thing is...

There are some things I'm just not going to enjoy. I have no beef with anybody who ships Sonic and Sally, but I just can't get behind shipping Sonic with anybody, so I'm not gonna be super into that era. I mean, Mike Gallagher set that up pretty early on, but I'm willing to sit through the story, at least take it as it is, and not complain about it. I'm not looking forward to Sonic and Tails fighting over Fiona, as I recall happening. And some of the things I dislike will probably also be Ian Flynn's fault -- I don't wanna blame things squarely on Penders. See, I may not like the man, but I also believe in judging people fairly, and if he's good at what he does, I'm perfectly willing to admit that. Now, let's continue.

I don't know if this was Penders or Kanterovich, but as soon as these guys got on the book, the tone shifted pretty noticeably.

Oh wow, I was just... I was just talking about this... I didn't think it would be so graceless, but I guess I should expect this by this point. All right. That's the only time I'm gonna complain, and even then, it was about the execution, rather than the concept. I mean, Rotor, why are you asking this question when you're about to die? And why does Tails look like he thinks this isn't weird? Why is Antoine the only one being sensible right now? I understand this is aimed at children, but there's plenty of children's media that handles romance without placing it in a situation where the characters are about to get exploded. Also, I should note that this is highly out of character for Sally, as all hints she had a crush on Sonic were thoroughly framed as it being a thing she'd rather not admit, so having her gush like that so freely is in complete conflict with that.

Now's as good a time as any to bring up that I have been told that Sally's characterization throughout this comic is rather inconsistent, so I'm wondering how true that is.

In other news,

With issue 11, the buckle has officially made its way into the comic. Currently, the artists are still ping-ponging between drawing Sonic's quills correctly, and continuing to do it the old way. This is a fight that began in issue ten, and seems like it'll continue for a while.

I was supposed to cover multiple issues in this post, but it got so long just talking about issue 11, I'm gonna end it here.

[sparxaf]

In terms of inconsistency when it comes to Alex’s pace, I would like to draw your attention to the reassurance scene you can have in the Villa with your boy, where they can assure you of their intentions after their original partner has been all over them. Alex notably says at some point in that conversation (and this is a bit that’s unique to Alex’s route) that he’s “husband material”, and when the MC says something like “not boyfriend material?”, Alex doubles down on how he wants that next level kind of thing.

Keep in mind during this point in the convo, your LI is trying to convince you to stay with them in case your having doubts. So a man who says they “move slow” has told a person he’s interested in that he’s “husband material” on like day 5 of knowing them. (And yes it’s a reality show where they’re isolated with only each other but STILL)

Now in Alex’s defense, and I highly doubt Alex is intentionally written this way and not just suffering from authorial inconsistency, BUT I DIGRESS. In defense of saying he wants slow but acting in a fast manner, I myself and a few other people I’m close with kinda do this in real life. For me personally, I’m usually quite slow with about 96% of the people I dated, doing the same things Alex did of being upfront about where my head’s at but going slow in the physical aspects and other things you would expect in a relationship. But that 4%, again for me personally, was fairly fast paced because I myself ended up being down bad and not even realizing I was on a speeding train towards feelings.

Long ask long, It’s more than likely Alex is just suffering because of bad writing, but there is the chance that Alex is a slow burner usually so that’s what he’s expecting, hence why he’s saying it. And MC is just that like, 4% person that he isn’t even aware he’s falling for at the speed of light. 🤷‍♀️

Thank you for drawing my attention by sending this twice 😂 I received the first one, but I ended up with a lot of anons and didn't know where to begin.

Yeah, I played the new eps and I referenced this very thing in my post. He went ALL IN once we were in the main villa. It's not like I don't think there's a world where a person *could* be this way, it's just that it doesn't really work in fiction. At least not the way it's presented in the fiction of the game currently. The tricky part of writing is that it has to be both more real than real and then less real than real. For instance, I have a best friend who is a BIG personality. I mean over-the-top. Love her and love her gigantic energy. She has amazing stories. But she's also surrounded by friends who are writers and every one of us has attempted to base characters on her and they never, ever work. Like no one has managed it. Because no reader ever believes that her antics are "realistic." She even took a writing class herself and wrote a paper that was essentially just a story about herself and no one in the class found it believable 😂 Sometimes reality doesn't play in fiction.

I love the idea of Alex just sort of losing his shit when he has a super strong connection, so I don't disagree that it *could* work. I just don't think it's working right now, because yeah, I 100% think it's just poor writing. Nothing about it feels intentional.

That said, I still think even if he was coming at it from that perspective--like he's 96% slow-motion in relationships and MC is just part of the 4%-- it would still cause problems. Mainly that any MC worth her salt is gonna view him as being manipulative. Telling her what she wants to hear while still trying to get inside those underpants. Which would be interesting, but I just don't think that's what Fusebox going for. Though to be fair, I'm not sure Fusebox even knows what they're going for either.

Thanks for the message, Anon!

[existingonthisplane]

A master post of my projects (w/ links to the ones that have been started c:)

On going:

The I Love You Series. It’s also on going and is a comic I’m writing about Mike coming to terms with his very obvious feelings for Will. It’s accompanied by a fic but it’s all pretty slow to update since it’s not my main priority. Still it’s fully outlined so I’m planning on finishing it. (Also sorry in advance for inconsistent drawings, I’m in practice of drawing consistent faces so-) I post this on my main for the most part

I Don’t Think I’m Faking Anymore (fake dating au) This is a fic im writing and what I’ll be updating the most. It won’t be a super long fic (I think) so I want to finish it before I throw myself into my other projects. It’s been on a bit of a break after some family stuff (and eventually the holidays) but I’ll be back to it now that everything’s over.

Yet to be started/in progress/not posted:

Like Sun and Moon (byler dnd au and my biggest project.) this is a WIP and the only real proof of it existing other than my many pages on google docs are the posts on here c: they’re a bit outdated now since I’ve done a lot of revising but you’re still welcome to go search my main account (@existingonanotherplane)for it

Fake dating au pt 2??

Karen Wheeler is a lot of things but a loser isn’t one of them. So when an extended family member calls her bragging about her kids many achievements and how they’re bringing them along to a big family event, can you really blame her for trying to one up them? Aka, Karen tells the wheeler family a bunch of lies including one that so happens to be about her “super successful son dating his roommate and equally as successful best friend”

Byler Band Au (not the usual kind though) Mike is a sax player, Will plays trombone. They attempt to find each other through music. (It makes more since if I were to actually explain it lmbo but I’m trying not to ramble)

WillEl daycare au (more like youth center but they run it out of their house so-) it’s pretty self explanatory but The wonder-twins take care of kids after school and one of those kids happen to be one Holly Wheeler. Maybe Will is closer to getting a boyfriend than he thought.

Will Byers the interior designer attempts to design the Wheeler household. Also straightforward. Will is a popular interior designer and Karen is in need of something fresh in their home. They head out on a vacation and leave Mike to watch over the progress. He wasn’t expecting the guy to end up being his type. (This one honestly has a low chance of being written but I think the concept is silly so if anyone wants to give it a shot then go for it)

Literally send me asks on any of these or just anything in general. I want to talk about them so bad

Edit:

Oh my gosh! A linktree?? Who could’ve guessed :0

[floral-frenziez]

REU Update Weeks 4,5,6

I am probably the most inconsistent person ever when it comes to social media. I just want these to look back on for the future and it doesn’t take me long but I still don’t do it lol. So today I am going to try and recap the last few weeks of the REU. It is currently week 7 and I am trying to write about weeks 4, 5, and 6 so I definitely am going to forget a lot. This whole post is going to be messy so gear up. 

As a group we went on a cave tour a couple of weeks ago and that was super fun. There was much more hiking than expected though on this day and it was all outside in the blazing 100 degree sun which was not so fun for me but we pushed through. We also went to the New River Gorge National Park and did the bridge walk. That was the scariest thing I have ever done, being nearly 900 feet in the air with nothing but a narrow piece of steel and copper holding me. But obviously everything turned out okay or I wouldn’t be writing this. The views from high up were breathtaking. Not sure if I would do it again because I nearly shat my pants but it was really cool and I recommend for others to do it unless you are super afraid of heights. I have plans to go to Mammoth Cave National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains while at my REU since I am much closer to them here than back at home. 

I went to my boyfriend's apartment a couple weeks ago because he isn’t too far from here, and it was really nice to see him for a while. My work here is just computational so I can leave for a couple days if I want which is really nice. We did some shopping, met with his parents that I haven’t seen in a while, and went to a really cool aviary. The penguins were super cute and definitely my favorite part. 

My research has been coming along. The past couple of weeks I definitely have been slacking and not getting as much work done as I need to but I put in a full day today and over the weekend did a lot of work too to try and catch up as much as possible. It is 11 PM and I am still going because I am motivated and know I need to catch up pretty badly. But I am starting to write about my research as we come closer to the final days of the REU. 

I have been drawing a little bit more than I usually do here which is nice. I have also been playing minecraft for the first time in a super long time which has been super fun and occupies me more than just sitting on my phone or driving around. I have been having a good time here so far but I am not getting along with my roommate that well anymore and I’m not really friends with anyone here so it is just getting a bit lonely being by myself all day every day pretty much. I am excited to go home to see my sister who is my bestie and all of our pets. I’ll have a couple weeks at home before regular school starts back up again so hopefully I can spend a lot of time with my family before leaving again. 

I have been pretty stressed the past few days particularly because I realized how far behind I feel and because I realized how fast time is going by, and the fact I need to be applying to graduate schools very soon. It is scary but motivating and stressful at the same time. My plan this week is to seriously catch up, especially on reading, and I plan on going back to my boyfriend's house later this week for a few days and hopefully I get a decent amount of work done there since he works at weird times. 

Other random thoughts at the moment: I want a Jelly cat dragon so bad they are so cute but why do they cost so much. I have like 5 songs on repeat at the moment but I am about to start going insane if I hear any of them one more time. I got concert tickets to see a smaller band I LOVE and I am so excited, I’ll have to drive a few hours but it should be worth it. I want to upload a bunch of photos from this summer at some point too. Okay that is all, goodnight.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

At the cafe library by the riverside

To beat the winter slump, I find that a change of scenery is super helpful, especially in an unfamiliar place. Spending the week at Lilypad Brook with Daisy Jane, Spencer, Sapphire, Steven, and Arabella has been chill, which was exactly what we needed.

Along with wandering around the shops I often found myself drawn to the river, mesmerized by the movement of the water and the cold breeze blowing against my face. Something about being there just makes me feel more awake, like a constant reminder that I’m right here, right at this moment not drifting off somewhere else. As someone who tends to be stuck in my own head, I feel like I need some sort of anchor to keep me grounded or else I might end up veering too far somewhere I’m probably not supposed to be.

Instead of feeling trapped or chained down, this kind of anchor is reassuring, like a safety net. While it does prevent me from drifting away, I still can move freely without fear of losing my way. This anchor is a guide, a helpful tool instead of something that restricts me, and I could use more of that in life.

When it gets too cold to be outside, I often found myself at Espresso Lane, a popular cafe library that has become our meet up spot. There, I’ve been doing art journal stuff or knitting my latest sweater while enjoying the food and coffee.

Art block has struck me again so I’ve been kinda slacking off on the art journaling aspect so my spreads have been feeling a bit uninspired. At least I can still fill the pages with my thoughts, though I’ll admit I’ve been having a bit of trouble with that too. Sometimes the words come easily and I’m going off on tangents, other times I have thoughts but struggle with getting them on paper. This journal entry started off on the former, but it looks like I’ve found my flow now so let’s hope this sticks.

See, this is part of the reason why I can’t be like Daisy Jane and Cheyenne in terms of being productive as a creative, I’m too fucking inconsistent. On one hand it’s a me thing, as in I don’t always like sticking to the same thing for too long and prefer to jump from one thing to another depending on when inspiration strikes. Like for now I’ve been more focused on knitting and cooking while journaling and drawing has kinda been on the side. But it’s also frustrating when I kinda have an idea of what I want to do but my brain refuses to focus so I have a bunch of ideas but they’re just sitting there because I don’t have the energy to think things through. I mean, I’ve found ways to work around it but I still can’t help but feel frustrated sometimes, but at least I’m no longer super hard on myself about it, so that’s an improvement.

So I’ve been focusing on drawing in my journal and knitting a new sweater, which is turning out good. I’m trying to be a bit more experimental with my journal spreads so while some of my drawings don’t turn out as good as I expected, at least I’m trying. Also, it just feels good to experiment and try something different, because even if it doesn’t work out, at least you gain something out of it. Like with drawing, even though it doesn’t feel like it, I find that I do have a style and I have preferences and that’s what makes my art unique. I may not stand out or have a trademark style but it’s the little things that makes my art mine, like how I do my line art or what colors I tend to gravitate towards. Art is self expression after all.

As for my sweater, I’m trying out this mock cable pullover in this lovely moonbeam color yarn I got on sale for a great deal. Raglan sweaters have become my new favorite thing so I definitely want to get more into expanding my me made closet some more. Cables aren’t something I gravitate towards because they seem like a lot of work so a faux cable sounds more appealing since no extra tools are necessary. Basically it gives the look of a cabled sweater without the extra effort and I’m all for that. As soon as I saw the pattern I knew I had to make it and now I’m almost done with the yoke.

Speaking of knitting, I should really invest in getting more DPNs because magic loop ain’t doing it for me anymore. While I’ve gotten used to the technique, it still puts a strain on my wrist and I just don’t like that. I’ve already invested in interchangeable needles so why not do the same for DPNs, for my wrist’s sake? Also, I’m pretty sure I’d get the sleeves done a lot faster and avoid second sleeve syndrome while I’m at it. Yeah, if I’m gonna keep making sweaters I’d better start looking into that.

So everyone’s been doing their own thing while meeting up at the cafe to hang out. Daisy Jane’s on a well deserved break after a busy holiday season. She, Almie, and I had to pack so many orders that we had to set aside a couple days specifically just for that. While it is overwhelming, it is a good thing that her shop is doing that well. Not only people are buying her stuff but it also means that Daisy Jane can afford to take a month or two off so she won’t get burnt out and I’m happy that she can do that. It took a lot of trial and error but Daisy Jane has achieved a balance between art and work that allows her to do what she loves without being burnt out. She deserves a nice long break without feeling guilty.

Steven, Spencer, and Sapphire, the time warp trio, have been doing well. Steven’s still with Eats & Treats and while desserts remain his forte, he has branched out to other videos too. He’s been focusing on music too and finally had the courage to post some of his songs online. While he has always been confident as a musician, he admits that he was a bit self conscious putting himself out there as a lot of his songs are super personal. So he was pleasantly surprised that his original compositions were not only well received but the fact that people have said they relate to his lyrics. Music has always been an outlet of self expression for him, something he found can be a good and bad thing for him.

Despite being a generally positive person, Steven admits to easily falling into negativity, which is understandable as I tend to do the same. A lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s lived through some difficult times and that has affected his relationship with music, something that has always been a big part of his life. After his father died, he pretty much lost interest in everything, which was why he abruptly left home, basically running away from life because it was just too much for him to deal with.

For me, the standout song Steven composed was Taking Back What’s Mine, which he says is one of the hardest for him to write. Basically it’s about his complicated feelings about the past and how he’s slowly healing from it, taking back his life by not letting the past cloud his future. Everything about the song - the lyrics, the music, and the way he sings it - I can’t help but replay the song several times because it really struck a chord with me. For him running away kinda helped him and set him back at the same time, so with this song, it kinda forces him to go back and confront his past problems, this time with the new experience and perspectives he gained and that allows him to finally close that chapter and fully move on with his life.

Sapphire and Spencer took his words to heart and finally confronted some unresolved issues from their past they’ve been putting off for a long time. At least with Sapphire she had an excuse with her time travel powers not working, which meant she couldn’t go back to her time safely. While she has regained some of her powers, it’s still not safe for her to travel alone so she needs someone to accompany her or else she might get stuck again.

It wasn’t easy for her, but Sapphire knew that sooner or later she had to go back to her time, she just didn’t expect it to take years before she was finally able to do so. She’s built a life for herself here with Steven and Spencer and she’s happy with it, so that added to her hesitation. After her best friend died, she pretty much had no reason to go back to her time where she wasn’t as happy. Funny thing was that when she was trapped here, things weren’t as good either as she and Spencer ended up running off, which was how they reunited with Steven.

Now that she can go back and communicate with her family, Sapphire promised them to keep in touch often. Her parents weren’t too happy to find out how much they missed out on her life but they’re glad she’s doing all right. It must’ve been disorienting for them to see their daughter go from a teenager to a young adult in a short amount of time (to them) but then again time travel shenanigans are weird.

She also visited Lizzie’s family and promised to keep in touch with them too but she admits that she’s not sure if she can keep up with her end of the bargain. Lizzie was her best friend and seeing her family kinda reopened the wound for her, especially since they just found out she’s never coming back, something Sapphire had to live with for years. While I hope Sapphire keeps her promise to keep in touch with them, I get why that’s hard for her.

Spencer has been busy with Written in Ink, his thrift shop. In fact, he’s here with Arabella on business while taking it easy at the same time. He also said that he’s been hanging out with his sister more, even invited her to spend the holidays with the gang. From what I know, Spencer always had a complicated relationship with Dylan for understandable reasons. Their father cheated on Dylan’s mother, which resulted in Spencer, and for whatever reason Spencer’s mother kept coming back to him. Spencer speculates maybe they blackmailed each other or something - not that it matters anymore since his mom’s dead and he’s not on speaking terms with his father.

Like Sapphire, Spencer’s also confronting his past, specifically his parents and how they screwed him over. His mother was the renowned time travel scientist Lynda Sage, the kind of person who looked good professionally but their personal life was in shambles. Spencer was close to her and looking back he said that maybe she relied on him as a crutch a little too much while putting work above him at the same time. I guess in other words that meant outside of work she had nothing else aside from her son, so that complicates things a lot. After losing his mother suddenly while stuck in an unfamiliar time with family who somewhat resented him for existing, it’s no wonder he wanted out. After Dylan, who he was starting to get along with, decided to live with her grandparents, Spencer and Sapphire had no reason to stick around so they packed their bags and hopped on a bus to get as far away as possible.

According to Sapphire, Dylan has been easy to get along with now that she’s no longer under her father’s influence. She said that Dylan had been hostile to her since she was a complete stranger who suddenly became part of the household - which is not an excuse but she can kinda see where she’s coming from - but over time they’ve been getting along. I mean if things were rough on Spencer and Dylan, imagine being Sapphire, who was basically the outsider. Well, at least she was able to live with them as she had absolutely nowhere to go, but that didn’t meant she wasn’t alienated by the others for basically being an extra burden to them. Again, it was a shitty situation all around so it’s no wonder why she was totally on board with taking off when things predictably didn’t work out. Why stay in a place where you’re clearly not wanted?

So Spencer and Dylan have been catching up as well as finally dealing with their own problems, most which stem from their father and Spencer’s mother. They’ve accepted that the past is in the past and they shouldn’t let other people’s mistakes and shortcomings dictate their relationship. I think that’s something a lot of people need to hear so I’m glad that they’re able to move past their parental issues. Hopefully one day I’ll finally get to meet Dylan and maybe hear about her side of the story if she’s willing.

As for Steven and Spencer’s time traveling abilities, they don’t use them often. Steven’s busy enough as it is so time travel isn’t a part of his life unless he’s accompanying Sapphire or maybe he needs some inspo for recipes or songwriting, which he says is basically all he does with his powers. Spencer is the same in terms of using time travel only to get a change in scenery, though he sometimes takes on jobs, but very rarely, He says he has a bit of a complicated relationship with time travel since it’s his mother’s thing and she kinda relied on her work too much. On one hand he wants to be like her and use his time travel powers to help people but at the same time it’s a bit hard for him to do that as it also reminds him too much of the past. At least, he says, the feeling of wanting to use his powers for good is stronger than the negative feelings attached to that so I hope he finds some peace with that someday.

Hanging out at the cafe knitting and/or journaling my thoughts away has been good for me. I don’t know what it is about this time of year that makes me feel uninspired and stuck so I’m glad to be able to get some creative inspiration back. Like the others, I too will keep moving forward and learn not to be too hard on myself when things don’t work out.

[happyk44]

Echolalia and palilalia are forms of vocal tics where a person repeats things said by other people (echolalia) or from themselves (palilalia). Vocal tics can be more than repetition though - like making noises (humming, grunting, etc) or saying words/phrases at random.

I've just used echolalia and vocal tics/stims interchangeably tbh because, personally, my vocal tics tend to repeat themselves in succession (i.e. yesterday I said the word "teeth" repeatedly to my granny's cat for no reason) so I just kinda smashed them together but in hindsight that was just a general vocal tic, and looking back, it seems that I've only ever really experienced echolalia once past the whole learning to speak phase of life.

(It was the name "Edward" and I picked it up from the Battinson movie for a couple days last year, lmao. Haven't said it since though)

Also I discovered palilalia like twenty minutes ago, which, hahaha, I definitely get to a mental/internal degree (you know when you're thinking to yourself and you repeat this one phrase over and over and over again? I get that a lot lmao. it's super annoying when I'm trying to write something out in my head and I end up just repeating "What's up, bub?" like thirty times)

But anyway, Jason's common vocal stims/tics:

Bird calls

Whistling

Howling

Hello (he'll hold the "oh" sound because it sounds like howling and thereby tickles his brain)

Clicking his tongue

Reyna (he usually draws out the "e" in her name and then ends sharply on the "na". she thinks it's funny)

Squirrel

Aluminum (he will pronounce it the way British people do when he's ticcing, but in normal conversation he uses the American pronunciation)

Clacking his teeth together (he actually doesn't like this one because it's annoying, but he picked it up as a kid, mimicking the way the wolves would chomp to correct behaviour, and now it's kinda stuck. It is often associated with him jerking his head forward, the same way a wolf, or other animal, might when correcting behaviour in another)

Teeth

Red rover falls over (when he started walking Thalia used to repeat the Red Rover rhyme to entice him to come over to her, and would say this when he fell down. He doesn't remember this though and thinks it's just a random phrase he made up, until he says it in front of her one day)

Meat - spoken in the same tone as a former camper from his cohort due to echolalia

Meat - often repeated due to palilalia

Are a few of these me projecting my vocal tics? Yeah, but like. Who cares, lmao. Either way, Jason does his best to repress them, especially the echolalia as he doesn't want people to think he's mocking them. Luckily, like I said, his echoing is typically delayed, so he can just dip and mumble it to himself when it does crop up. Aside from "meat" and "red rover falls over", both of which he will carry with him forever, words and phrases he picks up from other people don't usually keep and will cycle out of usage after the first couple of times.

The palilalia he can play off pretty easily as long as it doesn't repeat too long, so he doesn't hate it, but still not a fan.

His feelings on his general vocal tics vary. Whistling is normal and very short (think a just a quick burst, rather than one that's drawn out) so he doesn't mind it when it happens, birds calls can be normal since they're usually in a very nature filled environment and he can also play it off as whistling. Plus, you know, he's a sky baby so bird noises are lowkey expected.

Howling was easier when he was younger because of the wolves and people at camp understanding that he had been raised by them for quite some time. Of course as he gets older, the howling is looked at as more inappropriate and weird. Clicking his tongue is usually very loud and very clearly annoys other people - especially when it repeats in bursts (i.e. four clicks, a pause, then four more clicks, etc. Length of pauses and number of clicks vary, which can annoy people due to the inconsistency making it harder to adjust).

Clacking his teeth is probably more of a motor tic because it makes very little noise to anyone other than him, but, as I said, it annoys him personally and looks kinda creepy, especially as he gets older and more intimidating. Who wants a giant bulky sixteen year old with bright blue eyes and a resting stern expression chomping in your direction?

His vocal tics that express as words irritate him the most because it's almost impossible to play it off to other people. "Reyna" is probably the one he has the least amount of issues with, followed by "hello". Aluminum and squirrel aren't the worst but they refuse to come in normal context, like while cooking or hunting, and as much as he likes the way the British accent tickles his brain on the word aluminum, he really wishes he would stop saying it like that.

Or that he could say it like that in casual conversation to maintain consistency - unfortunately, he cannot because for whatever reason his casual attempt at a British accent is shit and it only comes out nicely when he's ticcing. He is very frustrated by this. Reyna makes fun of him for it.

He hates that "teeth" is one of them because most people do not enjoy having a kid that was raised by wolves carrying a sword shout "teeth" at them, especially when it's followed by the word "meat" said in an unsettlingly deep voice (because the camper he picked it up from said it in a deep voice, while trying to be silly at dinner, and unfortunately for Jason, that context is not common knowledge and does not carry over). He really wishes that one never happened and tries extremely hard to keep it internal.

Jason with echolalia/palilalia because certain sounds hit his ears in a way he finds pleasant. Piper has a very smooth tone of voice so his echolalia is mostly immediate with her, but it's usually delayed and typically mitigated, in that he'll focus on the word that hits the sounds he likes or overenunciate a word to really pack in the sound

[demonfamilytherapist]

Diavolo's lack of character progression is one of the main reasons I ignore the canon story. His flaws were easy to ignore at the start when his role wasn't so prevalent. But know? I can't engage in the story lessons because my MC would never tolerate such bullshit without snapping.

Oh, we're locked in a karaoke bar and forced to sing? And you're telling me THE PRINCE can't break the magic curse? Yeah no, I'm calling bullshit and using a pact to order brother to tear down the door.

Boogieman in the hotel? Again, you're the strongest demon out here it should take you a second to deal with that. I'm not traumatizing my boys even further.

Place at the Student Council? So I can see you even more? HAH! Fuck you.

And that's without touching any event stuff and lesson 16 with the whole "Your death is in the past let's celebrate my birthday!"

I try to be fair to all the characters, including ones I didn't like initially. But... Diavolo makes it hard for me. Also, it's super late and a frog won't shut up outside my house, so I apologise for any lack of coherency here.

I think as a character, Diavolo can be very interesting. I have a whole OC that exists to draw attention to his privileged and lonely life and also romance Levi I would like to see him get more genuine development, but it's tough when you've only got 20 chapters spread between 14 characters. As he is now though, I struggle to see his appeal as a romance option. I feel as though he has the potential to be a good leader and he genuinely seems to not want to hurt anyone, but... well, you know what they say about good intentions.

The karaoke incident seems like part of a larger writing issue where the powers of the demons (and angels) are generally pretty inconsistent. Diavolo can make an entire fake sun but can't break out of a karaoke room, Levi can't climb a wall or run 100m without getting winded but he presents a significant physical threat to us in early chapters, everyone is generally as strong or weak as the plot demands them to be.

But the bogeyman incident. I love Solomon but Solomon and Diavolo both got on my shit list for that one. MC was protected by Luke's blessing, but Asmo, Belphie, and Beel shouldn't have had to face their traumas/fears (also Asmo's being played for laughs kind of but... it's his very real insecurity) for the sake of our test. Satan at least had both Lucifer's and MC's support through his. It's weird that the one test that actually amounted to a real challenge was more of a challenge for our demons than us.

And the student council. What are we going to do? What is our actual role planned to be? Are we going to be another accessory member like... all the brothers but Lucifer, with no real voting power but random responsibilities? Are we expected to be another Diavolo yes-man?

I feel like throughout the whole story, Diavolo is shielded from consequences, especially by Barbatos. The first time he seemed to have a mistake shoved in his face was S2, where Lucifer suffered the consequences of Diavolo keeping secrets (Yes it wasn't directly Diavolo's fault, but if Diavolo had been more transparent from the start Lucifer could've helped out in the research or possibly recognised what was happening to him). In S3 he seems to sort of grow from it(?) and tries to get closer to some of the other brothers as a king and a friend (see: while the karaoke incident was a little BS, he did at least try to protect Levi and MC...). But it's quite inconsistent and in S4, it seems he's back to his old ways again, taking pictures of Lucifer in clothes he's quite clearly not comfortable wearing, ignoring all signs of how uncomfortable he is, and acting without consideration for others.

Of course, all the characters suffer from this to some extent. The issue with a seasonal otome game like Obey Me! is that the writers likely didn't know how many seasons they'd get when they started S1, and quite possibly still don't know how many seasons they'll get since the game is still quite popular. Diavolo I think just gets the worst of it.

[migulofhearts]

My complete thoughts on Sonic Frontiers (Spoilers Ahead)

Thoughts on Sonic Frontiers

Spent a good amount of time thinking about this game and my thoughts and overall… I had a phenomenal time with this game. First, the pros. It is so much fun to just run around, especially when doing the challenges and fighting enemies. To me, that’s like the main thing to get right when it comes to open world (or open zones in this case). The best comparison I can give is Bowsers Fury, and that’s a good thing cause I adore Bowsers Fury. Also idk where to say this but the fishing is so much fun, useful too!

Next, the combat. Good Lord the combat!!! The skill tree may be small and it very much prioritizes flashy moves over nuance combos, but to me that fits Sonic, and let me say, that flashiness is something else! The ki blast and the move where he shoots orbs are my personal favorites.

Next, the story… THE STORY!!! It made me all types of emotional seeing Sonic, the gang, and even Eggman and Sage being given the respect they deserve. I wanna draw attention to Tails cause… dude, they really fixed him. It was such a genius move to take the fact that Tails was written like garbage in Forces and twist it into an arc where he feels inconsistent and out of touch with his prime. And for Sonic to encourage him for all the feats he’s done and to go and find himself! I was holding back tears during that scene man. Knuckles and Amy also, they were written beautifully. Seeing Knuckles accept that he’s not alone and Amy wanting to spread love to the world feels so good after seeing them relegated to dumb brute and Sonic simp for YEARS. Even Eggman and Sage! I did not expect Eggman to go through it this game, I already love him but man… it feels so good to see him grow after so long. I also didn’t expect to like Sage as much as I did! It may not be for long, but you start to care for her and want her to get the family she wants, which just makes her “death” and Eggman mourning her so much more painful… along with the song that she sings. We love Sage.

Speaking of which… THE MUSIC!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! So many of the Cyberspace themes are bangers on bangers and the Super Sonic themes… wow. I’ve never been too into heavy metal but this makes me want to check out more of it. Also, idk about you but I vastly prefer One Way Dreams to Vandalize, it feels so climatic in the best way, I may be bias cause I love Nate.


Speaking of, all of the Super Sonic fights elevate this game ten fold, they’re all perfect. The music, how he controls, the fights, everything. I don’t know what else to they but…perfect. I can’t remember the last time a Sonic game made me feel something like that. As for my favorite? In terms of the fight, Knight easily. Favorite song? A tie between Undefeatable and Find your Flame

As for cons… sometimes the physics can be finicky, both the islands and cyberspace especially, island 3 had way too may 2D sections that just locked you in them, the game kinda loses track in the endgame. I liked the Touhou styled final boss but there’s no denying the other Super fights were much more hype.

I have other tiny gripes here and there but not enough to lower my love for this game. Does it have issues? Yes, but I know they will be ironed out by the next game, whenever that is.

While SA2 is still my favorite Sonic game, this game comes exponentially close to topping it. It easily tops games like Colors, Mania, Unleashed, and even Generations in my eyes. The ambition, the exploration, the combat, it all adds up to something special.

This game didn’t need to be a gem, it needed to pave the way to a bright future, and it did that in spades. Immense props to Ian Flynn btw, the characters wouldn’t be written this immaculately if it weren’t for him. He shows his passion for the characters, their stories, and the stories that they will tell in the coming future. The future is bright for Sonic, and I for one cannot wait to see that future.

Sonic is really back.

Also I’m so mad, Sage consider Orbot and Cubot her brothers but not Metal? I see how it is. I got my NEO Metal mention though so it’s all good

ALSO THEY JUST CAUSALLY MENTION STICKS AND IDW BEING CANNON ALONG WITH MENTIONING THE BLACK ARMS WTF

[nightswithkookmin]

Hi Goldy, JK was bold in the past, around 2017-2019 (to me, gcf & rosebowl can be considered as ‘coming out’). But it seems he now prefers to stay closeted? E.g. he snatched JM’s hand in the Xylitol x BTS shoot, then looked at the camera. Holding hands is normal among members… a lot of his interactions with Jin, V and other members are more intimate than holding hands… his reaction makes me feel like he wants me to pretend I didn’t know…?

Sorry I've been a bit AWOL lately...

I'm busy being the man of my woman's dreams in a cis het anti black capitalist world

Fun times.

I saw that bit, uWu-ed and kept it pushing.

It's nothing new really. I think a few months back when I was out here screaming Jikook are toning down, acting super professional around the cameras yadda yadda people out here were looking at me like I'd lost my two delulu heads- but this segues into that theme for me and since I've exhausted the topic I don't know what else to add.

I've said before they've both been very conscious of the cameras within certain periods post October- again nothing new, they be like that every now and then every season every phase and the whys will always be up for debate in these ship streets- on that subject, I've read a lot of opinions yet I think like mine better and will stick to it. Thanks Kimberly of Delulu precinct. Walk along now. Lol.

Jimin was like that during the Coway behind the scene shoot too when he noticed the cameras and quickly elbowed Jk to draw him away from the gaze of the cameras.

I don't think it's because they stopped being 'bold' or want to pretend. It takes a lot of courage to even pretend or even perform the gay in front of the world and your peers. I think they are just awfully aware and conscious of the people they work with as well as corporation's growing awareness, intentions and interests in them. You just never know which saessang is moonlighting as a brand PA or marketing director for a company they are working with. You just never know who is watching especially whenever they have to work with these 'outsiders.'

Think of Dispatch. Were they not allies or business partners, they'd be careful around them too if they worked with them. Know what I mean?

Toning down and exercising caution is necessary sometimes. I don't know why some people think that's absurd or Tuktukkerish when I say stuff like that. Especially with the kind of reputation they have as a ship and just how commercially attractive that image is. It's common sense at this point if you ask me.

Jikook sells. Argue with the analytics. I don't know who thinks they don't. Must be the clowns and penguins. They sell period. BigHit knows this, BTS knows this, companies know this. We don't scream Jikook is a brand within a brand for no reason.

And a lot of the toning down in recent times has perhaps inadvertently mitigated that growing power and demand of them as a marketing resource- who knows, that could have as well been by design, intentionally instigated for obvious reasons which I argue is the case but don't mind me. I'm delusional, gay and apparently the man of my woman's dreams uWu. Gotta wear that pants in my relationship. Ayaya Hwaiting.

When you say he prefers to stay closested- I thought they are both closested already?? They both have never been fully out in our opinion. Yes our opinion because I feel we are like minded. Let's be delulu mates.

On the topic of closets, I want to save that for a separate post. What I can say though is they are both growing and maturing and learning and unlearning. Jungkook's desire to 'come out' or act reckless with his glass closet in my opinion stemmed from him placing more value on his personal happiness over other values perhaps because he was young and hadn't fully grasped the full and complex nature of happiness or understand the privilege he has as part of BTS.

We make decisions based on our values most times. It's how I make sense of their actions really. I'm more likely to assume things that are consistent with the values they each have expressed openly and tend to reject any theory that contradicts or is inconsistent with those values. A guy who values his career is less likely to act in a way that puts that career at risk. And I'm well aware their values evolve over time.

These days he has never quit as one of his mottos next to rather dead than cool- do you see the contradictions in those values? Rather dead means quitting life. Yet now he says never quit. Don't mind me. I'm in a grumpy mood.

But what I'm saying is, the desire to want to show the world who this person means to him is not fixed or a priority all the time. Now i think he values his career a lot more than before which means he is more likely to compromise and less likely to do things that may put that career in jeopardy.

Transferring that to his relationship, I don't expect him to be breaching the glass closet anytime soon. And if he do, it might be incidental and may carry with it consequences which I believe he is well aware and concious of now. Will that change? You bet. Again it depends a lot on what his values in a given moment are and which ones he prioritizes.

It's their relationship. They chose which aspects of it they want to share with the cameras. Some of it get written off as fanservice. Fair enough. But the nonfanservice passing moments has always been questionable- although I must say, I find all Jikook moments and interactions questionable lol.

It's just skinship. Holding hands I mean. Why would he be conscious of that right? II'vetalked about consequences and repercussions of their actions. Sometimes I think it's the off screen scolding that gets to him. The ones silently whispered at his back. I mean we saw his reaction when Jimin was getting scolded by the hyungs for sleeping late. He's talked about skipping sleep too if I recall correctly. Jimin is hyung and I know the hyungs expect him to know better and do better. I'd Imagine Jimin would equally scold JK if his actions reflected poorly on him too.

So why the hell would he not say anything to Jungkook for posting on his birthday when he hadn't posted at all for any hyung's??? Sigh.

It's sad his guards are back up- but it's for good reason I believe given the context of the situation.

I don't think dramatizing his dynamic with Jimin makes him bold. Nor does Jimin's propensity to over express himself with Jungkook mean he loves Jungkook more than. Both are extreme takes for me.

Nevertheless, I contrast that moment with a Tae Kook moment which is one of my favorite tuktukk moments. In this moment, JK is staring at Jimin, his whole body turned towards him. Tae notices the cameras and draws JK's attention to it. I think there are two such moments like that from the recent contents? I don't know I have to cross check.

Tae in that moment reminded me a lot of Jimin. Jimin does this too- play out their relationship infront of the cameras to the point one might say he likes to show off their bond- which is such a BTS thing to do too so no big deal. I mean they like to show off their bond and chemistry as Tae said a while back.

It's one thing for JK to hesitate to act with a member because of the cameras, it's another for him to act self conscious only after the fact.

And JK has always been him like this with Jimin as Jimin used to say- JK acts different with me off cameras than he is on camera. He had a history of suppressing himself around Jimin owing in part to his personality

He's talked about putting on a mask around people and in a recent interview Jimin have talked about pretending and acting one way when he's not- I mean I've ever talked about the boy being in love with the Maknae being a facade- one of many.

They have public personas which, from what BTS themselves say, looks slightly different or similar to what we see on screens- or that they've grown to be more like what we see on screens.

I guess what I'm getting at is that 'pretending' isn't exactly a new thing or out of the ordinary. Personally I'd say he's being conscious of his surroundings like Jimin was and not that he is 'pretending.' If you know what I mean.

If he's pretending he has good reason to I believe and we can only speculate on that- we can't know for sure why.

If Jikook is fanservice then there's no need for either of them to worry about the cameras picking up on their interactions or who's watching them.

What goes on in Tae's head? I wanna know.

I don't know where to direct this post because you didn't really ask a question.

I'm fine thanks for asking. I'm really fine. I'm thinking of joining Jimin in the gym at 3am to bench press and build some biceps to match my role in my relationship😒

And no I don't need any advice. Keep it.

This is going to be my attitude until we switch back😐

I'm gonna be a boyfriend from hell and a blogger from satan's ass.

Also I think I overshare💀

GOLDY

[deliciouskeys]

Guess I should stop being surprised that Homelander fandom would contain people with massive superiority complexes. Maybe me complaining about this is ironic. But I’d like to humbly point out that I’m not the one saying I’m the only one in fandom who understands X. And I’m also not saying you need to agree with my tastes (or morality) when it comes to things I’d like to see put on screen. I’d rather be condemned for being disgusting than for being ignorant or inconsistent dammit!

unless the satire has gone over your head,

You mean… you’re concerned I didn’t notice that the video is saying Ryan is unaware that his drawing is super disturbing and that he is inadvertently showing Vought’s hand about HL’s true nature? Which part is going over my head? That HL doesn’t make an adequate or safe parent? I don’t think you need a fifth grade education to notice that. I suppose what I’m saying is, I would expect this tone in a “sitcom style diabolical episode”. Am I being that opaque that this is hard to understand? Yes, I want it to be funny. Hence it is for Diabolical, not even a stupid “dream sequence” inserted into actual canon, which you seem to be advocating. It is a crack scenario, jfc, lord help me, why don’t people understand what I’m saying, am I not speaking English, why do people at work understand me and people on tumblr don’t, fuck me, I should start writing meandering walls of text without punctuation then maybe it will be crystal clear since that seems to be the preferred writing style around these parts.

i could definitely see something like this ending up as a parody sitcom style cartoon done in a dark way on diabolical. and while i might find it hilarious, i'm gonna be upfront and say most of fandom who say they want it would HATE it.

Wow I had no idea I was getting the chance to converse with the one person in fandom who could find hilarity in the darkness among people who watch The Boys. Are you like, a celebrity, @sharonisthebettercarter ? Everyone else is just a pretender who thinks they understand but they don’t, and yeah we would cry so badly if this episode ever came out, omg Kripke is making fun of us, omg I’m so sad that I got what I asked for, I regret all my life choices, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS ASKING FOR HELP ME @sharonisthebettercarter I KNEW NOT WHAT I REQUESTED *RIVERS OF TEARS* (but actually Kripke, yes, please do make fun of us, please “punish us”)

But you do have me nailed on one thing, @sharonisthebettercarter , and that is there is probably a defined limit for the amount of art ugliness beyond which I will start losing interest. Guilty and just as shallow as charged! 😁💋

On a less trollish note, check out this post by @kosmochlor for a good discussion about all that’s fucked up about Ryan’s messed up circumstances . Because that reflects my actual feelings on how bad of a situation the show has set up in a realistic sense.

Co-parenting Butchlander is a bad idea for canon even if done in the tamest way possible and I feel like this needs to be said because this shit is getting out of hand to disturbing levels.

Homelander is the rapist.

He doesn't have custody of Ryan. He doesn't and shouldn't have rights to him. After getting Becca (Ryan's actual parent) killed, and against her wishes, he has stolen or in other words kidnapped Ryan.

Ryan is not his to take and shouldn't be viewed as such. Just think rationally for a split second on this.

Do you think a rapist should have rights to custody of a child they force on someone just because that person chose to keep it or god forbid, couldn't manage to get an abortion? Do you think it would be okay for that rapist to then kill the mother or get her killed and steal the child simply because he wants to be a dad?

That's not cute. It doesn't matter what the rapist's backstory is, that's horrifying and wrong and so gross on so many levels.

And look, it's fine if you want to romanticize this idea for fics but that is the one and only place it should be framed this irresponsibly. Because it is a bad idea with horrible implications that shouldn't be rose tinted into something adorable just because there are a few moments Homelander isn't pushing Ryan off a roof.

And you cannot complain about canon treating Becca badly when you advocate for this in canon.

This would be so much worse by make her nothing more than an incubator for the kid of the guy who raped her and then steals her husband. And that is disgusting.

Can we not forget that Ryan and Becca are both victims here, for once?

Romanticize it all you want in fics. It does not belong in canon.

Context link: My dumb crack idea for a Diabolical episode that Anon is referring to

“Co-parenting Butchlander is a bad idea for canon”

Maybe it doesn’t really matter for this discussion, but : I wouldn’t consider Diabolical “canon”. They had an episode about a woman talking to her poop, with a Deep cameo because it involved a sewer. It’s not canon.

“He doesn’t have custody of Ryan”

Well… okay, this is interesting, Ryan is in his custody as of end of season 3, whether HL has legal custody or not. In fact, NYS law is particularly lax and kind of messed up in the sense that you need a rape conviction to be deprived of your parental rights to a child that is genetically yours (and wasn’t made via a sperm bank). So not that it changes things ethically, but legally speaking HL may have legal claim here until someone convicts him of rape or CPS finds his parenting criminally negligent/inappropriate.

“Do you think it would be okay for that rapist to then kill the mother or get her killed and steal the child simply because he wants to be a dad?”

Do I think it’s “okay” ethically, morally, legally? Hmmmmmm, idk, what do you think I think, Anon? I’ll clear it up and say: no, I don’t . But am I watching and enjoying a show that already portrays this fucked up scenario? Yes, I am.

“You cannot complain about canon treating Becca badly when you advocate for this in canon”

Were you up in arms about this Amazon video?

Because it’s along the same ‘teehee this is so fucked up’ humor lines that you are clearly revolted by. If you were, then okay, at least you are consistent. And I’m going to chalk it up to different tolerance/interest levels about fucked up scenarios.

Come off anon if you still think I’m being glib and “romanticizing” dead incubators. I promise I’m not that scary to talk to off-anon. I even promise to hear you out if I’ve misunderstood the problem you have with my hypothetical dumb spin-off plot that wouldn’t be part of canon. You’re allowed to disagree.

[neverdoingmuch]

Wait cql lawyer/law school AU

i got you my pal dont worry!!

law school, im gonna be honest and say i know like nothing about law or law school so pls ignore any inconsistencies or inaccuracies

lwj goes to law school and he is definitely the top student in his class. they’ve been there for like a month and everyone already knows he’s gonna be the best

his one and only competition is this dude called wei wuxian but lwj isn’t particularly worried about him

so far they’re still in the stage of the course where they do the fun things to sucker people into doing the class for the semester so there’s been some practise debates and arguments and stuff in their tutorial classes

wei wuxian has that Charisma and like yeah all of his arguments are perfect but also he has an amazing smile and people are like yes i can trust him 

(he’s definitely the sort to be like hm, the easy way to argue this case would be to quote some laws and use precedence to justify this but that’s boring)

lwj is also good at that sort of stuff because his arguments are perfect and everything is so perfectly researched that there should be no ground at all for someone to lodge a counterargument

(wei wuxian manages somehow and it makes lwj so mad)

but that’s whatever lwj thinks,, a lot of people join law thinking it’s gonna be like the tv shows and books and then get completely blindsided when it comes to the rote learning part or like the actual laws 

and for all of wwx’s confidence, lwj hasn’t actually seen wwx so much as touch the textbook/s and he always studies in the law library so he knows that wwx has probably never even been there bc he hasn’t seen him even once (why’s he looking? bc he needs to see which books wwx uses to study,, bc there has to be something going on there,, obviously)

then they do their first like proper written assignment and lwj and wwx tie for the highest scores and now lwj has a Rival and he refuses to lose to someone who thinks that putting a ‘-us’ sound at the end of a word makes it latin (did wwx say habeas corpus and then point at a soft drink and go  sprite-us can-us,,, maybe,,,,)

anyway! lwj and wwx are kinda rivals for the top spot and it’s one of those situations where one test lwj wins by a point but then the next test wwx gets full marks and they just keep exchanging the top spot in class

and this whole time wwx is like The Worst to have in class. he’s always interrupting to ask questions or just straight up not listening and spends the class doodling pictures of rabbits (they’re cute but wwx is terrible and he’s not allowed to make cute drawings)

so after a few months the most horrible thing happens.... they get put together in a project and lwj is like ugh. internally of course but his face is also saying ugh

the first time wwx and lwj get together to work on the project, lwj is prepared with a proper list of tasks to do all nicely split up between the two of them and a schedule for when they should get certain parts done by. 

needless to say, lwj does not expect wwx to be ready, but wwx is definitely on top of things

he rocks up and is like yeah let’s do this, this and this and have them done by this time - basically proposing to do everything that lwj has already written down

and lwj is pleasantly surprised and is like hm maybe i misjudged wwx and decides to like re-evaluate his opinion on him

in doing so he realises that when he’d never seen wwx studying, it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. he’s never seen wwx so much as touch a textbook or spend more than a minute on a laptop doing something that wasn’t minesweeper or solitaire

but wwx is also making all of their deadlines and even adds extra information and resources to their document that could be useful elsewhere and sometimes he shows up to their study sessions and he looks absolutely exhausted

eventually lwj manages to get the truth out and wwx is just like yeah it’s easier to get worse grades than a genius but if you both study and you still get lower grades, it’s not easy,, for jc or for me

so wwx usually studies at night when his brother is asleep and lwj is like that’s bad, you can’t keep that up and just when wwx is about to go off at him lwj is like you can come study at my place

and thus begins the wonderful time where everything is alright and lwj falls in love with wwx

they work really well together and wwx is strangely considerate and nice? when he finds out lwj likes rabbits, he goes out and buys bunny post-it notes for lwj and starts to always bring him a doodle of bunnies every time he comes over. he always gets his work done on time, early even, and his work is always so brilliant and every time wwx smiles at him, lwj feels warm inside etc etc

for a long while lwj is like yes (: this is friendship (: bc he’s never had a crush before but then on the day they submit their project wwx is like hey,, the two of us make a great team,, we should always work together,, now and next year and even when we graduate,, i want to help the innocent people who need our help and i think i’d like it a lot if you joined me and lwj has his oh moment

they get a perfect score on the project of course and even after it finishes, wwx keeps coming over to lwj’s place to study or just hang out and lwj is just falling more and more for wwx each day

they’re best friends now and everyone gets used to seeing them work together on projects and then turn around to try and decimate each other when they’re working one on one and lwj thinks that he might just be the happiest he’s ever been

but then one day wwx doesn’t show up to class. it shouldn’t be strange but wwx has never missed class even once and he ends up hearing from lxc who heard from jgy that wwx was caught sabotaging some other student’s work (the other student was jzxun, who had a fondness for playing devil’s advocate and other than wwx once telling him that his argument was shit, wwx never spoke to him or seemed to know who he was but lwj is a bit too angry to remember that)

he manages to find wwx outside of his dorms as he’s moving out and he’s just like why did you do that? and wwx is like oh y’know,, bc he’s not really sure what’s happening himself,, one second he was at the top of his class and the next he was being brought before a board and being told that he was being expelled but he’s not going to tell lwj that bc lwj would definitely try and stand up for him and then they’d both get expelled

but lwj is furious and just spits out well if our dreams meant so little to you then maybe it’s a good thing you failed now,, bc his mother was a lawyer who took all these little jobs that helped people who actually needed the help and lwj was looking forward to doing that with wwx and he doesn’t even seem to care that now they can’t do that 

wwx flinches and then smiles at him and just cheerily says, that’s me and leaves. he doesn’t look back and lwj doesn’t chase after him.

lwj doesn’t see him again for years (you can do 13 or 5 or however long you feel like)

lwj is a fully licensed lawyer and he’s working for the family company and he spends half of his time working on cases and uses the rest of his time to do like outreach programs where he goes and visits schools and runs sessions on what it’s like to be a lawyer, how to apply, and to provide assistance to any students who decide to study law at uni

and then at one of these programs he meets this kid, wen yuan, who is ridiculously bright and enthusiastic and has a smile that seems oddly familiar

at the end of the second session he comes up to lwj and is like mr. lan, is your name lan wangji? and lwj just says yes, expecting the kid to be a fan of one of his cases or something but then wen yuan is like oh wow! i thought i recognised you from my dad’s photo!

and lwj isn’t expecting much but he asks what the photo looks like and wen yuan pulls out this photo from his pocket and lwj immediately recognises it,, it’s the only photo he has of him and wwx

your father is wei ying? lwj asks him and wen yuan is like yes, hesitates, and then asks, would you like to see him?

and that’s how lwj finds himself following wen yuan to some dinky little office that has a plaque outside that reads wen and wei

(wen ning is the nicest and sweetest person ever and lots of people underestimate him but then he’s an absolute monster on court. he gets up and completely decimates the opponent and then at the end is like (: it was so nice to meet you!! i am baby!! and all that,, you know our boy)

anyway they walk in and wwx turns to greet wen yuan but then he sees lwj and is like woah! you! and he’s not sure whether to hide or go and hug lwj so he just gives him a fist bump,, like a bro,, and immediately wants to shrivel up and die

anyway they get the reunion stuff out of the way, swelling music, tender wrist holding, lots of staring, lwj silently declaring his wholehearted love for wwx and refusing to believe rumours about him again even though he doesn’t actually know what happened, you know how it goes

from wwx’s side of things,, after he got kicked out he went to some small uni. good in its own right but not known for their law program and ended up specialising in family law

the first case he ever won was for the wens to have the right to keep custody of a-yuan and the first case wen ning ever won was to let wwx adopt a-yuan bc i’m soft like that

so wwx has just been kinda vibing,, being a single dad, living with the wens and helping to make that difference he always promised he would

now this isn’t gonna be some au where lwj goes oh my! i must give up my high salary job and work with wwx! bc lwj has been doing good stuff at his current job and for all of his family’s stuffiness, they run a fair and just company 

but! he does end up helping wwx when wwx gets a letter with a bunch of information about the jins and how they’re actually super corrupt and evil (big surprise,,) and how wwx was maybe definitely framed bc he was doing some casual work on the side and stumbled across some bad shit on the jins back in uni

lwj ends up being the one to take the case officially but wwx is definitely the guy leading it and so lwj ends up spending most of his time at the wen-wei office

lwj definitely bonds with wen yuan, who also wants to go into law, and writes him recommendation letters and helps him edit his applications and stuff

(and one day wen yuan is like leaving you was the hardest thing dad ever did and i dont think you appreciated how much he cared about you. he really did think that he annoyed you ‘til the end and lwj is like no! he didn’t! and wen yuan is like yeah i know but you gotta tell him and lwj really does mean to but the time is never right or something like that but also wen yuan is all but calling lwj dad at this point)

anyway they end up going to court, side by side, working as a team just as they promised to do and just as they finish their final day on the case, ended with the jury ruling jgy guilty and wwx’s reputation all but saved, wwx turns around and flings himself at lwj

is he crying? is he laughing? a bit of both tbh but wwx ends up confessing right then and there, still on record and everything (is that how that works??? idk! let’s say it does)

and what can lwj do but make out with him?

did a news crew come in to film the results of this massive court case just to end up with five minutes of wangxian kissing?? maybe! but when it played on tv it meant wwx and lwj didnt have to actually tell anyone they got together

(and does lwj eventually pop the question using wwx’s bad latinification? yes and wwx is too busy laughing to accept at first but he does and they end up being the worst possible tutors for wen yuan as he goes through law school bc they keep being all gross and lovey-dovey and acting like law school is the most romantic place in the world)

[emmys-grimoire]

Lesson 52 analysis + 53 predictions

Turning this into a routine thing now! They’re fun to write and they’re popular (moreso than my actual commentary posts lmao).

Y’all like my ramblings.

Things guessed correctly from prior lesson

The House of Lamentation was an illusion produced by the fairies

The arc culminated in the completion of the Trial of Patience (star received via Simeon)

The illusion did a number on Simeon's feelings as well due to his fondness for Lucifer and the brothers

They shoved Mammon and Luke off to the side and plopped them back in only after the Satan/Simeon arc was complete. There was no arc for Luke. To be fair, though, they did get more content than I expected even so.

Things guessed wrong

The banshee didn't show up at all. It was a red herring.

There was no significance to the geranium found in the mysterious book

Our adventure also completed the Trial of Generosity. (I incorrectly attributed this to Diavolo, who actually gave us the Star of Gratitude)

Still ???

Whether or not there is some kind of transfer of memories/experiences going on between the brothers' past selves and present selves due to our meddling in time. We've confirmed that past angel Beelzebub has turned into a glutton in between the time we last saw him and now, but we haven't confirmed if it *is* our meddling that has induced that. Currently, no change has manifested in the present brothers, nor has the timeline of events seemed to have significantly changed.

Whether or not present Lucifer becoming more "angelic" in season 2, in lieu of past angel Lucifer's growing doubt, will be a significant plot point. The parallels are getting stronger, though. (This is elaborated on further down)

It feels like 50/50? I’ll probably keep a list like this going for future analysis/prediction posts just so I can keep track of how right/mistaken I am throughout the playthrough. Might help me make less mistakes in my analysis!

As a general rule I try not to meander too far off into symbolism or out-of-game lore because what I write begins to sound like this:

And this is an otome game that is light on writing and plot. Nine times out of ten, it’s not going to be that deep. So I work with the details given and the plot points shown and try to draw connections within the framework of the story, in an attempt to try to deduce where the devs are taking the plot. Unfortunately for me, the devs like red herrings, and red herrings are designed to mislead you. With me, they are quite successful! I’d like to get better at spotting them.

The book was consequential -- it’s used to imprison Satan later -- but that’s the end of it’s meaning. Maybe the Bible verse had something to do with it, too -- those were some weird ass numbers to just throw in the title -- but maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. 

But enough of that, onwards! We have a lot of points to go over that may be interesting to note, right or not.

Satan the Memory Thief

Back in 50-B we learn that it was Michael who taught the brothers the stories behind the human world constellations. 

When we’re tossed back in time-dreamland (?) again, it is Satan who takes the opportunity to teach the brothers the human world constellations. The room had just been remodeled: Michael hasn’t had the opportunity to give them tours yet. Lucifer mosied into the room so he and the brothers can get the first glimpse.

Sooo if in a future lesson we ask them about where they learned the constellations in the present timeline and they say “oh a guy named Sully, who suspiciously looked just like Satan, taught us!” then we know our meddling is having significant consequences.

It IS worth noting that unlike the prior dream sequence, Satan and Simeon remember what they just went through. This particular time-dream could very well just be an illusion meant to give Satan/Simeon some kind of emotional resolution and nothing else. This is kind of why I hate that they’re bring time travel back into the story: it makes stuff like this confusing and borderline inconsistent. Some sequences may have effects and others may not. 

The chat between Lucifer and Simeon could also be consequential.

“Do you *really* mean that?”

There is a parallel at play here!

After you wake up after dozing off, you go off to find Lucifer and Simeon conversing in a forest clearing, evidently unaware that you’re eavesdropping on them. Simeon says although he knows it is just an illusion, that he was glad to see angel Lucy once more. Angel Lucy is predictably confused, and reassures Simeon that they’ll remain like this forever.

Simeon, of course, knows better. He tells Lucifer that he knows he’s been meeting with Diavolo and he’s having doubts about his place in the Celestial Realm -- and if things really will remain the same. Lucy is caught off guard, and starts to explain with some clear hesitation... and of course we pass out before we could hear his answer.

There’s creepy loud heartbeats when it fades out. Normally I associate them with tense, pivotal decisions -- but it could also just be related to us waking up and returning to reality.

If Simeon ends up being wrong -- and there will be real world consequences to this conversation -- they could be very significant consequences. We’re not sure if the conversation continues for a bit longer after we pass out, but Simeon already woke up before we come to.

Obviously the brothers still fell (they’re still demons in the present), but I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of a butterfly effect changing the circumstances of the Great Celestial War. I kind of hope they don’t do that, though, because they haven’t even begun to explain the present details of that event. We know only the broad strokes. Suddenly changing them to make the resolution between the demons and angels more smooth will feel really forced.

And that parallel I mentioned: Diavolo expresses similar worries and doubt in Lucifer’s conviction in season 2.

I have no doubt Lucifer actually means what he says to Diavolo, unlike his dialogue with Simeon, but Diavolo is aware of just how far Lucifer will go for the sake of his family -- and he’s probably #2 on the priority list, when push comes to shove. Lucifer forsaking the Celestial Realm for Lilith was the thing that brought him to Diavolo in the first place.

Of course, this lesson has Simeon suggesting that Diavolo’s influence on Lucifer was significant prior to all that unfolding, and it may have eventually happened regardless. It was only a matter of when, not how.

Still, Lucifer be writing checks he may not be able to cash. We also get this foreboding warning from Barbatos in Season 2:

As I’ve said before, the inevitable conflict the story was hinting to at this point doesn’t happen in Season 2. Lucifer isn’t forced to make a choice like this. The Night Dagger didn’t demand it.

I’ve also expressed my belief that Season 2 and Season 3 were likely written back-to-back due to the small window of time between their releases, so I believe details overlooked in Season 2 may suddenly become more relevant in Season 3.

It’s worth remembering Diavolo’s growing feelings for MC -- and Lucifer’s inner conflict about it -- were hinted at early in Season 2, as well. It doesn’t really get going until the conclusion of Season 2, leading into Season 3.

Do I have any clue of what this is actually leading up to? Not at all! If it mirrors Season 2′s format, though, it’ll suddenly come to a head in the last 3-5 lessons. I remember feeling equally clueless then, and Season 2 had a lot more foreshadowing...

... a lot of which actually didn’t pan out! But it might now. 

Guardian Angels

Another smaller, but interesting detail. Guardian Angels are indeed a thing.

I think they’re gonna become a thing soon. The devs very sneakily changed a small detail in Season 2, suggesting they might have realized that it may interfere with their plans for later seasons. 

Old version.

New version.

I’m thinking they may have decided giving Michael guardianship of an entire swath of the population was cheating, and they may be individualizing the role of Guardian Angels.

Which leads me to who I think Michael’s chosen human squeeze is:

My man has been scoping him out long before we came around.

It makes sense, too. We know Michael gave his Ring of Wisdom to Solomon, which seems to have kickstarted his career as a demon-pacting sorcerer (though he clearly was a sorcerer before this).

This is a very powerful item, described as the Ring of Light’s counterpart, that would be very useful for a high-ranking angel to possess. I don’t think Michael would fork it over to just anyone, particularly when we remember how he felt compelled to interrogate us via dream hi-jack before the Ring of Light fully came into our possession.

Solomon also makes Michael angst in a way a well-meaning but misbehaving child would make their parent angst:

Solomon also really doesn’t seem to regard Michael like some distant, all-powerful alien being who could smite him out of existence.

Contrast this with how he responds when he’s forced to hang out with Diavolo for a day (he gets more comfortable, but he initially wants to punt the responsibility back to Lucifer ASAP).

And he knows a surprising amount of small details about the guy:

I think Solomon is a significant part of Michael’s long-term plans, but he may not even be fully aware of how. Or he is, and they’re in some kind of mutually beneficial agreement -- possibly related to cross-realm peace -- that we simply haven’t been made aware of yet.

Personally, I think Simeon should be made MC’s ‘official’ Guardian Angel if they’re gonna be a thing with official mechanics behind them. I know Michael is supposed to be the Big Cheese and ridiculously hot, so it may make sense to have him linked to the MC of an otome game because they’re super special too, but Michael may already have Solomon. He shouldn’t get to hog everything. It’s not like assigning Simeon to do job would really inconvenience him, either: MC is Solomon’s apprentice. He can easily work with the arrangement.

Luke may feel left out but he’s a kid so...

Seven Brothers Constellation

We learn there’s a constellation representing the brothers in the Celestial Realm. Everyone there knows the legend, but Luke doesn’t know what the three stars ‘watching over them’ represent. 

He, Mammon, and Satan begin to theorize and Satan suggests they may represent the three realms. The other two like the idea, and Mammon insists the ‘human’ star represents MC. 

He’s probably right, but I’m willing to take it a step further: it represents MC, Diavolo, and Michael. The three “guardians” of their respective realms, and the brothers. Season 3 has been repeatedly beating us over the head with how much Michael still cares for the brothers and his relevance to their upbringing, and likely their future.

It bears repeating: Diavolo and Michael are aiming towards the same goal, though their visions of what peace and harmony looks like may be very different.

Solomon could also qualify as a self-appointed guardian, but I think he lacks the connection to the brothers MC obviously has.

Still, he has the same resolve, and he’s not leaving the story any time soon.

Predictions

I sniff out even the smallest Michael details because he’s clearly the key to whatever is gonna blow up.

This might give us some insight on how the initial dealings with him may unfold:

It’s hard to deduce just what this actually means. Either Michael tends to overthink things that just aren’t that deep (can empathize) and that in itself leads to needless complications, or he’s apt to misread situations and as a result gives poor advice. Or a combination of both.

My initial read on him makes me think that he thinks the best of humans/angels but the worst of demons. He is very, very complimentary towards MC as soon as they start answering his questions.

Am I now? Really?

It could just be the game making characters butter up the MC to make the game more enjoyable for the player of a self-insert character, but dude we just met.

When you tell him you did what you did out of love for Lucifer:

That’s a very telling pause/ellipsis. It’s like his brain momentarily short-circuits and he needs to regain his composure before he continues, and he still doesn’t sound entirely sure of what you just said lol

He also just outright admits he initially thought you must be wicked just because the brothers liked you, and this is a guy who is still fond of them himself. I think he’s having a very hard time with it.

So the inevitable bumps in the roads ahead with him will likely be a result of this, and/or his dad being an asshole. Neither he or Diavolo are actually in charge of the realms they’re overseeing -- they’re both de facto leaders -- so maybe the parents will suddenly barge in and try to knock over their sand castles for whatever reason. It is kind of weird that the exchange program has been agreed to in the first place, particularly on the Celestial Realm’s part.

Regardless, I have no clue what the next arc will be. I know we still have three trials left, but they could combine two again to leave more room for the actual storyline to progress. The climax is going to be the last trial of our sorcerer’s exam, or something happening afterwards. Not sure which one I’m willing to bet on yet: I remember Simeon’s play and the silly Blood Moon contest in Season 2 were what kept use preoccupied for Season 2 until SUDDENLY LUCIFER GETS AMNESIA AND THE WORLD IS IN DANGER AND WE HAVE TO STAB HIM TO SAVE EVERYONE. But they did heavily foreshadow that in the very beginning lol. They just didn’t fill in the blanks until much later.

I wonder what the trial of chastity is gonna be like and how hard we’ll actually fail and the game will need to overcompensate for that