#also i designed my MC because i have. spring personality

[phonyroni]

OKAY- I will admit I started just with Cameron since Ponyo is my favorite Ghibli movie too, but it devolved into me entering a crazed state of focus and now here's all the Keyframes characters and me in their favorite Ghibli movies. Anyway, Ponyo my beloved... ♥️

Context:

[hummingbird-games]

2023 In Review (Indie Games)

Last year's! | 2021

I apologize in advance for how long this might be. As a reminder, I don't bash games here so even if I hated something with every fiber of my being...I ain't sharing. As a second reminder, my more in depth reviews and live blogging has moved to Gem's Game Gems so I don't clutter the HBG's main blog. Okay. ON WITH THE REVIEW!!

DEMOS

Diffraction (Demo)- A rainy day otome indeed. I love the quiet gentleness of this game, the two romance options, and the fact that our MC is a photographer and struggling with her art and stack of life "failures" (because...SAME!!)

Alaris - I was asleep and now I am awake: I came late for the advertised fae and dragon lore, stayed seated and waiting for Fenir zjgjdf. Oh, and I guess the mystery surrounding our MC's abilities LOL.

The Summit Library - When I say I was maaaaaad when I realized I blew through chapter 1 and would have to go back to waiting for more content??? LOL, I was very miffed. Anyhoo, check out this title for the gorgeous art, another intriguing mystery (like what is *up* with the magic in the poor library?? who or what is to blame?? 👀) and of course the lovely characters we've been introduced to thus far.

Of Sense and Soul - I'm a regency romance girl. Like after you strip away the other stuff, I am but a poor woman with simple needs: a good ass love story 🤧💛 It's about the yearning and the slow burn and the will they/won't they/PLEASEEE they...I've never been so charmed by a demo, and the full game is going to be amazing I just know it!

Made Marion - This project is a game I've been keeping tabs on for a hot minute but hadn't taken the time to sit and properly enjoy the demo. I'M SO GLAD I DID!!! It's in early access now, so I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to carve out some time to play, but guysss Velvet Cupcake is doing the Thing?!? No idea which love interest I'll go for first, but I had a fun time meeting the Nottingham peeps in the demo.

Herotome (Super Demo) - Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh my GOSHHH. Where do I even began?? (Really the question is where the hell do I end because this is one of those projects I talk about a lot/think about a lot and surprisingly haven't run out of things to say zkjfksjd). Another game I've been following for a while, it 100% lives up to the superhero genre in its aesthetic, the characters you interact with, the music and sound design, and of course the slowly unfurling story. Jade and Mia had come out as my top faves, Warden is still there, like hovering in the backgroud, shhhh but I have a special place in my heart for Griffin too (that conversation we have with her?? I have so many screenshots just so I can go back and reread and sear the words in my brain. Like a weirdo. Yup.)

Celestial Crowns - Stats building, celestial royalty, dating sim where you fuck around and find out your choices directly affect your MC's personality?? I'm sat. I supported the Kickstarter and now I try to practice patience for the full game's release siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh.

OTOME/JOSEI JAM

Please note this is a SUPER abridged list for my sanity and I fell a little more in love with these 2 jams with each entry I played...

Intertwine - As embarrassing as it sounds, I've never given much thought to the "red string" thing, and I consume more than enough romance media LOL!! But Van is suuuuuch a beautiful man, the UI for this game is so interactive and lovely, the music is ALSO lovely, just lovely-love all the way around teehee. (Also this game encourages replayabillity so like, do with that info what you will.)

Spring Boy [Demo] - I believe this game is going through a complete rehaul, so my thoughts and feelings refer to the original jam entry I played. The art is bright and cute and it's a super super short demo, but I was intrigued by the other student we meet on our mission to plead with our professor about our bombed exam lol!

Assignment Due: Project Blue - IRl group projects??? Suck absolute ass. Group projects with a guy name Asher?? Suddenly it's my new favorite thing in the world 😁

Cryptid Campaign Manager [DEMO] - Remember the last time I looked over a cryptid dating sim??? Remember how I was SUCH a fool?? Good thing I didn't make that mistake again!! The prologue is such a tease but you get an idea of what the full game is gonna be like, and I'm excited to see where my career involving love (and politics) goes!

Heart Cage [Demo] - Yoooooo I stay my ass far far far away from yanderes (could never get into the trope or the character type). WELP. Guess I just needed to keep searching because I really downloaded this off a whim--well, the whim being one of my fellow dev peers playing and rating-- and proceeded to get sucked in 🤧I thought being a detective would be the highlight, but I guuuueeesssss I was more into the romance options than I thought. Oops.

Evernight - I tried to explain what this game meant to me on the side blog, but words failed me. I still don't know what to say other than I loved it?? Which is like ummm I say I love everything, and yeah I'm easy to please BUT Y'ALLLLLL if you play no other game, play this one. Please. Date a werewolf. Or a vampire. Or a fae. Plz. Also figuring out the mystery of your MC's abilities and past is just delightful, ugh.

Bright Oak (demo) - Anotha one I wrote about on the side blog!!! Play this one!!! The writing is lush and atmospheric and the characters are all delightful and it's another game with a mystery to untangle!

The Faithfulness of the Universe- This one gets the award for most unique all around entry that I played. Theeeeee prettiest pixel art to bless my eyeballs, and this tasty mystery concerning Fate and witch Faustina's future (or lack thereof 👀) and what it all means. As a player I very much want to know what it all means!

A Cup For All Seasons - Another game that needs its flowers y'all. It's short but super healing and super cozy and the voice acting and music really tie the gaming experience together???

The Working Woman's Guide to Burning Bridges - DEMO - It's the way I played the demo twice and I've been thinking about it ever since 😭😭😭🙃 obviously life happens and things come up, plus this was a demo. But. BUT!!! I am on my hands and knees prayinnggg the team gets together again to finish the game. I love playing as a stressed, lowkey bitter hot mess who doesn't have her life together 😂somehow the fictional version is soooo much more entertaining!!!

Keyframes (Spring Demo) - After the game College Craze, this is legit THE college, slice of life visual novel of my dreams. I cannot wait for the updated demo next year, and the Kickstarter whenever that rolls around. And now that the developer is on Tumblr, I've definitely been stalking the account and reading each new post like it's my day/night/weekend job 🤧

Hello Counsel 💋 - Okay I take it back, Evernight is like a 20/10 but Hello Counsel is like an 100/10 👁️👄👁️ This game is necessary for my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, alright? The banter ✅ the character designs ✅ the music ✅ the sizzling chemistry between Poise and Salem ✅ I wish this game had more buzz because IT'S SO GOOD!!! (also the dev, Miseri, is who I wanna be when I grow up. I've made it through almost their whole backlog of games and there are no misses and EVERY game is different from the rest and it makes it hard for a toodler dev--ME--to cope LOL)

Candied Hearts - Isekaied into a candy themed game?? Sign me TF UP!!! (Peppermint I love you dearly, you must understand.)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

The Knight's Dilemma - I don't even know how I originally stumbled upon this??? I just know it had been in my backlog for a hot minute and I was intrigued enough to save it way back when. Y'ALL WHY DIDN'T I PLAY SOONER SKJFHFJFH! There's a couple different endings, I loved the voice direction, AND it's such a simple concept of a game that was just executed beautifully.

Trouble Comes Twice - If I had to make a top 5 list of romance VNs, guess who makes the list?? Guess. Guess guess guess. Have you guessed yet??? LOL! I have been in love with TCT since it's development days and with each passing month, waiting in anticipation, playing the Pateron beta builds, screaming on the main blog about every single thought I had about Jace and Hazel (shoutout to Jace for helping me figure out *me*) Lol if you're curious about said thoughts, those posts are on this blog and not the side blog.

Aelfric the Wondrous - 10/10 would love to forget my first play through JUST to have that experience fresh again 😭😭💛Cute and funny and a wonderful parody type game all around.

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 - Goodness, there's no excuse for why this took me years to finish but anyhoo, I finished, I loved it, I recommend it! It's romantic and achingly authentic and the art is soooo gorgeous I literally can't stand it 😭

The Things You Do For Love - Unhinged yandere manages to entertain and garner sympathy and laughter from Gemini. And that poly ending is chef's kiss too????

Band Camp Boyfriend - There are a handful of games I found and loved before I began my game development journey, and this is one of them. BCB is so dear to me, because of the story and characters but also because of the Dynamic Duo creators and their team behind the scenes. I was never a band kid I was a chorus kid but just as the band geeks loved this game to pieces, us normal folks do too!! Even the boys who I didn't like I STILL managed to find joy in playing their routes (still have a few more to finish at the time of this posting lol, GOTTA GET THE FINAL ROUTE YO). Anyway, this game more than delivered for me and I hope more people keep discovering it!!

Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED] - While only Chronicle 1 is out at the time of this posting, I already know that the 2nd and 3rd parts are going to be just as amazing???? I wrote about this one on the side blog, so here's my copypaste that still rings true:  

I love TNP (The Nightmare Prince) but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me.

A Date with Death - I wrote about this on the side blog--again--. The demo. And then right after finishing a route. And then again where I was fully awake and still managed to sound deranged. No copypaste for that, I shall be nice. But yeah!! Another game where I was screaming at the sky about how much I love it and how I'll never know peace as long as I live.

Our Life: Baxter DLC - I need to offer an official apology to both Cove and Derek because falling head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the parking lot, falling again but down a manhole for Baxter's infuriating ass was NOT on my 2023 bingo board??? HELLO???? I bought his DLC just to complete my OL collection. Was not expecting to love it this much. Was not expecting to be called to write fanfic and abandon all responsibilities to do this. WHILE DOWN WITH COVID TOO. Allow me to play the song of my people. *Send in the Clowns plays*

Our Cinderella - (this is so funny I'm taking about a side game before the main game LOLOLOLOL) Guys. Guysss. You guyyyysss 🥹if you're looking for a cozy, hilarious, equally oddly and wonderfully sweet short game, this is the one!! You may have your personal favorite Iggy ship (like me) but all the pairings are so amazing and just make sense lol!

Wylde Flowers - This is the only non visual novel game on here but it gets the spotlight because I did NOT spend 90+ hours on this game to gatekeep this beauty. No. It the coziest, the funniest, the funnest, the most addictive Switch game (after Teacup) I've ever played.

Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin - Life kicked my butt and then sat on me SO while I finally got my grubby hands on the full copy, I still have only played the entirety of the demo. But. We will return to this in 2024 and hopefully I'll have a full review for the next wrap up!

Our Wonderland - I looked back at the side blog and I can't believe it was only THIS year that I started OW??? Because I'd known of the game and the dev for longer than that??? So basically what I'm saying is that I was chicken shit for longer than I've been in love with this world that Developer Carrot has created kjzhhshggj. But OMG to get me, who is scared oh so easily to get hella invested in this clearly labeled horror game??????????????? And even with shit gets super absurd and hella disturbing, I cannot stop playing. At the time of this post, I'm only in Act 4, hence the category above, but it's only because I play each act in a sitting and lose track of space and time and myself. That's a compliment btw.

...

Okie!! That's 2023 in a nutshell! I played a looooot of really good games this year and while I would have liked to talk about them all, I think this list provides a nice overview.

Let me know if we share any favorites!

- Gemini 💛

[blood-choke]

Since u r an artist as well as a writer I'm reslly curious as to what ur process for designing the ROs was like for this game. I would love knowing more about ur character design process.

oh this is fun! prepare for a long obnoxious answer for some questions you didn't even ask!

blood choke has been through a Lot in terms of the brainstorming process. Valentina was probably the first character i finalized, though originally she did not have a history with the mc, she was not a main character in the sense that she is now, and she was actually "the villain." the game was very different tone-wise, though it was roughly the same concept with an mc who wakes up with no memory, though originally they were a newborn vampire.

then i changed gears, decided i didn't want to make the game this way, and tried something else with a set mc & a single set love interest (this is Valerie & Angel, my ocs i post about sometimes on my personal blog.) but then i didn't like that either and i scrapped trying to make it an IF and just wrote a novel instead LOL

Valentina stayed around, she is very similar to Leda, who is an antagonist in that novel. but once i finished that i came back to still wanting to write a vampire IF.

there were a lot of ideas i didn't get to expand on in my novel, that i'm revisiting in blood choke. it's why i chose to genderlock all of the characters and make the mc a lesbian.

i knew i wanted the ROs to be very clockable as lesbians; i wanted there to be a femme and a butch and a stud.

i rewrote the foundation of the story; the mc would not be a newborn but they would have no memory of what they were or what happened to them. and Valentina became more ambiguous and less of a real "villain", i expanded on some previous ideas, and when i made up my mind on setting the mc as butch i decided to include a lot of that early butch/femme history in her backstory & their relationship. i wanted her to be a bit goth in appearance as well because i wanted her femininity to be subversive; she likes to wear corsets and leather and veils and likes how people perceive her as "weird." she's still feminine but in her own way.

and while Valentina is femme, i read a lot of Kitty Tsui's writing for Valerie (who is a Chinese butch) and that influenced my decision, along with the time period that i planned for, to make her Chinese.

“In the spring of 1988, Jill Posner approached me. She said, “By the way, I’m the photo editor for On Our Backs, and we’d really love for you to pose for us.” And I said, “Frankly, I don’t read the magazine, and I’m not really interested in taking off my clothes.” I’d later thought about it and realized that the stereotypes of Asian women are either that we’re very passive, docile, servile, nonsexual entities, or that we’re the very, the Susie Wong prostitute, fiery dragon woman. I decided that I wanted to pose for the magazine to show that not only are Asian women beautiful and strong, but that we are whole women. I realized that I had a butch side, I had a very butch side, and I also had a femme side, and that I could be all of those things. And I had an androgynous side.”

you can find more about Kitty Tsui here.

Hana came next, and again she was a part of the original story, and worked for Valentina when she was the "villain." i wanted her to have that sporty/jock laid-back kind of vibe, compared to Valentina's high-strung dramatics. i think Hana came out way more friendly and personable than i originally intended; i wanted her to be kind of stand-offish, hiding in her hood a lot, but she had other plans i guess. in the end i think she balances everyone out and i like her contrast with Valentina, and i like how much more weight her voice carries when she does get serious.

i knew from the start i wanted Hana to be Black and from america, because i really wanted that perspective included in the narrative i had planned. again, with the time period, i chose to make her Korean & African American. i looked at a lot of models when i first drew/designed her, mainly jenny park, who is Korean-Nigerian. i went for a more jock/streetwear look because i wanted her to be visible as a stud, which is a specific Black lesbian identity.

screenshot from The Same Difference.

then came Clear. i knew i wanted a human RO, and i wanted her to be big and butch cus i like subverting expectations lol. i actually based some of her design on corky from bound, mainly her hair and tattoos:

if you haven't seen bound, go watch it. one of my favorite movies.

overall i designed three characters that i knew i as a reader would want to read about, and i as a writer would want to write about. that sounds very obvious hahaha but a lot of this story is just me writing very specific things that i want to see as a lesbian author. butches & studs are one of the most underrepresented groups, even in queer media, and butch/femme is largely considered "historical" or "problematic." so i wanted my characters & this story to be very in your face & unapologetic about it.

[elean0rarose]

Author Ask Tag Game

Thank you @daughter-of-inklings for the questions!

I'm putting this below a cut because wow, it ended up getting really long, but read on if you're interested in me rambling about my WIP, my writing process, what inspires me to write, and what I aim for in my writing.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

In everything that I write, the takeaway is that ordinary people and underdogs can do remarkable things. You should never doubt the power of determination, grit, and the sort of resolve that comes from having nothing to lose.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

I draw inspiration from all sorts of places, but usually it comes from the knowledge I have of medieval Europe (which I want to learn more about—I have so many books on it I want to buy), Ancient Greek mythology and religious practice, other fantasy media, and fashion.

I like to create mood boards and have started a Pinterest again to hoard bits of visual culture that speak to me. This really helps me for things like character design.

I do also get inspired by music. One of my stories, and so the worldbuilding that arose from that idea, was inspired by NFWMB by Hozier.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

I'll speak about Blood and Water here, my novel-in-progress. Braddik, the MC, is on the surface simply looking for his long-lost father who he has never met. But underneath this is a yearning for meaning and to locate the self. Braddik as a character struggles to know who he is, and he misguidedly believes he can find that in another person who he has idealised in his own imaginings of him.

What I'm trying to achieve with Braddik is quite a bit, when I think about it. The aforementioned themes of ordinary people being able to do great things is on there, because he sets out on a continent-wide journey on his quest for family. But I'm also trying to show that these idealised fantasies we have aren't all they're cracked up to be when we get close to them.

Finally, I'm also trying to represent in fiction what it is like to have paranoia—like, not anxiety, but actual psychotic paranoia—because I think that's severely lacking. Whether he's right or wrong about things is inconsequential. It's more about how it affects him and his relationship with others and the world. It is neither a positive nor a negative, it just is, and there is no need to cure him as a plot point because that's not the story I'm trying to tell

How many chapters is your story going to have?

I have no idea. I kinda just write and see where it takes me—I'm absolutely a pantser. Then I'll figure out how things should be grouped up for chapters in the edits.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

All original content. My short stories are going out for submission in speculative fiction magazines, but I'm struggling to get my foot in the door at the moment because it's very competitive. When I finally finish the novel, I hope to have a few shorts published to help me get into trad publishing. It's a big dream, but we've all gotta have dreams, right?

When and why did you start writing?

I've written mainly non-fiction throughout my life, so imagine my surprise last year when I started writing fiction! It was the turning time between spring and summer, and my novel idea just... came to me. I had the first two lines rattling around my head for a few days while on holiday, so one morning when I got up earlier than everyone else, I wrote them down and then just didn't stop writing. It didn't take long to fall in love with it after that.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

I follow waaaay too many people to list them all but I'll tag some below to take part in this and you can go check 'em out! I'm not too sure what is meant by "words of engagement", but if you mean encouragement, then I'll say this:

Write. Write because your brain bleeds stories and your fingers ache for the touch of a keyboard. Write because it sustains you more than bread ever could. Write because it is your deepest desire unlocked and spilled onto a page. Write because this is what you dream of, because it is your most enduring love. Write.

I'm tagging, with the usual caveats, @sometimesraven @callahanscorner and @mundanemoongirl. Others feel free to take part even if you're not tagged!

Your questions are:

What was your first ever story idea? What happened to it?

What's your writing routine?

Are you a plotter, a pantser, or something in between?

Do you try to tell moral stories throughout your work, or any other life lessons? What are they?

What do you prefer, character development or worldbuilding? Why?

Do you have any tips for budding writers?

Who inspires you to write the most?

[snowmaniaph]

“I don’t want to pretend. I want to always stay as my natural self.”

“My name is Fukazawa! I look forward to working with you today!” Fukazawa-san greeted us and bowed as he arrived in the studio. The atmosphere in the studio gently softened with his gentleness. He responded to various requests with superb reactions and smiles while standing in front of the camera - greatly livening up the shoot. 

“I really like western clothes, and am always interested in luxury brand items. I especially love items with loud designs. I tend to wear really peculiar clothes, which is why I get told off by the members “How about you try buying normal clothes?” (laughs). Recently, I’m trying to wear casual clothes. Someday, I want to collaborate with a brand and try making clothes.”

He is the oldest member of Snow Man and also the mood-maker. He turned 30 years old last May.

“Yes, I did (turn 30 last May)... but honestly, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I want to stay young emotionally and physically. I am a little worried because I get tired faster than the other members (laughs). Among the members, I am the designated MC so I think it would be nice if I could bring out the members’ charms through talking. Also, I would like it if I can make the audience feel a little of my adult charms.”

Making use of his outstanding conversational skills, he is now a regular in the infotainment show “Nonstop!” starting this spring.

“ABC-Z’s Fumito Kawai-kun sent me a congratulatory message “You can’t make half-hearted statements as a commentator. Each response is important.”. He kindly taught me that. At first, I was all fired up and enthusiastic like “Okay! I’ll do my best and get background information!”. Luckily, Shitara Osamu-san always kindly follows me up and teases me. And because of that I changed tactics and dared to speak my thoughts as they are without having to prepare beforehand (laughs).”

The person himself is very humble, but the breadth of his outlook on life and enthusiasm is obvious from seeing him in the show. It has been 18 years since he entered his agency, and his time of obscurity as a Johnny’s Jr. was long.

“Oh-, it did turn out like that. I danced as a backup dancer for my senpais before debut and just did my best for 15 years. There were times when I thought “Is it really fine like this?”. It was really hard during that time and I almost gave up, but now that I have debuted I’ve once again realized how valuable those times are. This is something I can say now. It is thanks to everyone that I got to personally witness the group Snow Man becoming well-known to the world.”

He talked about this job being worth doing when his efforts finally bore fruit.

“When our CDs lined up in the storefront or when the stage our members and staff-san collaborated to make is revealed - the moment when I receive something is the best. Of course, the “process”, like the results of our rehearsals piling up is also important. That too is a very fulfilling time. Personally, I want people to say “That person is funny!” (laughs). I don’t want to pretend. I want to always stay my natural self. I always keep that in mind while working. It would make me happy if people thought of me as someone who jokes around and does ridiculous things but is an honest person.”

Finally, when we asked him about featured anime:

“My favorite is “Crayon Shin-chan”. I cry when I watch it. Our anime otaku member Sakuma (Daisuke) says “It seems like you’d like this one, Fukka” and recommends shows to me. I watch everything he recommends. Recently, I’m hooked on “The Rising of the Shield Hero”. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen during the finale!” 

Source: Ginza

[chiyuki-hiro]

YES, so glad someone else noticed! Ais is my number one (& it's not just because I have a thing for demons) & I love how blunt/honest he comes across in the demo as well. I'm not sure yet entirely how I think Ais is gonna be portrayed in the main game but, I've kinda already got the feeling that he's not really a fan of people drinking from the seaspring & for whatever reason(s), he can't stop people from drinking from the spring or turn them away outright. I also find it interesting that design-wise Ais seems to be more based off of an Oni, rather that a run of the mill demon you'd see in typical christian portrayls of demons.

This is epscially interesting because while Oni are considered evil to an extent, wearing/displaying an Oni mask or getting the image of an Oni tattooed on yourself could be considered protection from evil spirits. Meaning, there's a level of protection from the image of an Oni alone & this was also kind of weirdly shown, in the demo. When the drunk at The Wet Wick gets physcially violent with the mc, Ais noticably is the first one to rush to mc's defense. Sure, it's under the guise (at leat I personally feel like it's a guise) that he was looking for a fight as he causually punches the drunk's lights out, smiling while saying "You'll do." But, as it's been pointed out by others, he must've really gotten pissed seeing someone treat the mc that way.

It's so odd to me that some people say that they don't like Ais because of how "mean" he acted towards them (I'm assuming at the seaspring when he's first introduced?) when, we seem to be getting a lot of damning evidence that Ais desires to protect, at least, certain people. People like mc who are more vulnerable. He just goes about his way of protecting people in an unusual way. But other that that, he mostly comes off as pretty strait-forward. Though, he's also quite obviously got some secrets that won't be unveiled until the game is released.

Ais and Honesty

Another loresheet snippet i'm (minorly) expanding on and (majorly) looking to see what people think about it! It was just a small thing I noticed, having to collect all of these lines and shit, and that's that a lot of Ais's lines have to do with honesty.

Not just this line, of course. In the Red Spring post about the Amaryllis District, he says, "This district is the worst and only place to be honest in Eridia." And then he says this about Vere:

Not only that, but when Ais tells the MC to reconsider the Seaspring, and that he himself doesn't think drinking is worth it unless their curse is killing them, MC says, "You could've sold me if you were less honest. You're a shit salesman."

Honestly (ehehe) even when playing the demo the first time, I was struck by how open Ais is about things—his frankness actually moved my interest in him above Leander, my previous #1 . Honesty is a core value for me IRL, so something tickled me about the violent mindfreak demon bluntly telling you he ditched you because he was lonely. He might kill me, but at least he won't lie to me~ Dream man for sure.

IDK what all this talking is culminating in, I just thought it was really interesting. It's cool to see a positive, “good” trait like honesty be shown in the recurring behavior of a morally dubious character, cos I think it adds texture (which the love interests HAVE to have for dating them to be interesting all the way through). It makes me wonder if his route will focus on how honest you and Ais can be with each other about the things that matter—or, perhaps, the consequences of that honesty.

And, now that I'm getting ready to post this: I wonder if each of the other characters' (including the DLC characters') has a recurring trait that can be so succinctly summarized, one that offers them texture simply by contrasting their baseline image? And if so, what are they, or what will they be? Interested to hear y'all's thoughts if you have any!

[simmancy]

Kit’s Essential Mods to Enhance your Overall Gameplay

I really love The Sims 4, but I love The Sims 4 because I play a heavily modded game. This is a list of all the major mods I currently use to ✨ elevate ✨ my TS4 gameplay.

This does not really include anything for family gameplay or occults -- I tried to stick to “core” gameplay overhauls. You can find my list of recommended mods for school years here.

This list was last updated 19 February 2023 / 1.95.207.1030

Preface

I wanted to put this at the top because it’s a really important step but so many people don’t know or forget about it:

Whenever you are changing out mods, adding new ones, or updating, always remember to clear your caches. So many miscellaneous problems are solved by deleting two little files in your TS4 folders: avatarcache and localthumbcache. 

Also always, always read what the modder has said!!!

MC Command Center

MCCC is such a far-reaching mod that I honestly believe it should be in everyone’s mod folder by default. It added Story Progression before we had Neighborhood Stories. It allows editing of career outfits without an extra mod. It has a teleport sim option so you can pose sims together off lot. It’s more of a what CAN’T it do sort of utility mod. It even makes cheating in game easier!

TwistedMexi’s Better Exceptions

This is another “utility” mod, which is why it’s at the top before we start building a mod folder that is disgustingly huge. Better Exceptions finds those Last Exceptions, pinpoints their cause, and helps you fix the problem. It also runs a report after each patch to check for mod compatibility. Another “must have” to make your modding experience simpler.

The latest public release also helps you track down bad outfit CC so you can finally find that item that keeps attaching itself to each sim walking by or while they’re in the shower. See what I mean? Immensely useful, must have mod.

Wicked Whims OR Wonderful Whims

I’m not here to kink shame you. I’ve used both, depending on what sort of gameplay I’m in the mood for. Both WWs add an attraction system based on appearance, ‘reward’ personality types that are automatically assigned to sims based on their CAS traits and menstrual cycles. One adds NSFW animations, some of which are weirder than others. Use at your age-appropriate discretion.

If you do get Wicked Whims, I advise you also immediately grab the CAS Default Underwear add on so you aren’t surprised by your Sim’s Bits and Bobs while you’re dressing them.

Kuttoe’s Keep Sims in Home Region

I hate walkbys. Like. I hate random walkbys. There is nothing in my game worse than a sim in Oasis Springs just strolling on by in Windenburg. Stay in your freakin lane, Nancy Landgraab.

This is great because 1) it keeps sims designated in certain areas for walkbys, 2) it allows you to assign the world homeless sims should be in and 3) you can allow some worlds to have some crossover. Like, in my mind, Oasis Springs, Del Sol Valley and Strangerville are all pretty close to one another. I allow them to have some overlap. I do not allow Henford on Bagley and Windenburg sims to randomly show up in Strangerville, because in my mind, they are overseas.

There’s also a custom lot trait to allow sims from all over to show up, so tourism can still boom in your worlds.

Language Barriers by Frankk

But now that you’re keeping their sims in their area of the sim globe....

After all, it’s sort of silly that every single sim speaks the same language from the suburbs of Newcrest to the jungles of Selvadorada to the peaks of Mt. Komorebi. Oh no. We have to make this harder on ourselves.

This mod adds 7 languages to the sims universe: Simlish, Windenburgish, Selvadoradian, Toki Sulani, Komorebigo, Tartosiano and Sixami. Your native language is based on the world you live in, family, occult, etc. It limits communication between sims who don’t speak the same language. But! You can learn new languages by studying them... If you have High School Years, you can even pick what language you learn in class? Like? Why wouldn’t you want this??

Lumpinou’s Mod Suite

Lumpinou’s mods are at this point so essential to my game that I don’t know how much farther I could go on this list without naming them.

Mood Pack & Custom Moods for some Moodlets: tons of new moods in game. The Mood Pack is required for some of the other mods on this list [not just Lumpinou’s!]; Custom Moods changes some of the in-game moodlets to match the custom moods.

First Impressions: This nifty mod adds First Impressions to the game--sentiments the second sims meet based on traits. First Impression sentiments can be positive or negative... and maybe for some sims, it’s even Love at First Sight 👀 I’ve recommended it before for Bachelor/ette Challenges, but it’s honestly a mainstay in my regular gameplay. I love when sims are tense around each other because their first meeting went so poorly.

Talents & Weaknesses: Traits can affect how fast sims learn certain skills but isn’t it boring that all creative sims are going to be good at every creative skill? This mod adds innate talents and weaknesses to your sims. It reminds me a lot of Freetime’s One True Hobby, giving a boost to the things they’re naturally talented at doing, but it also does a bonus of giving you skills that they’re just not good out

Road to Romance: This mod overhauls the romance system, adding a romance skill that unlocks more and more interactions the better your sim gets at romancing. It also adds rabbit hole dates for sims to go on together, as well as Couples Counseling!

Open Love Life & No Strings Attached: Open Love Life adds a preference for relationship types (exclusive, non-exclusive or indifference). You can even have a throuple if you like (there’s also basically a ‘hall pass’ option which I think is hilarious but I digress)! No Strings Attached added FWBs before EA added Woohoo Buddies, but it works better... And sims can even eventually catch feelings. Another really really fun storytelling mod.

✨ Relationship & Pregnancy Overhaul: This is one of the crown jewels in Lumpinou’s collection. A whole wide-reaching overhaul of the relationship system. Plays exceptionally well with the above romance-related mods but can be used alone. It adds pretty much everything you could think: preferences on having kids, pregnancy interactions, fertility, woohoo transmitted diseases, fights over unplanned pregnancies, an overhaul of cheating, options for breaking up, custody battles... I’m absolutely missing stuff here. It adds SO MUCH.

✨ LGBTQIA+ Gender & Orientation Overhaul: The other crown jewel imo. This is a complete overhaul of EA’s current system that works alongside the EA one. It allows your sims to fully identify as non-binary sims (as well as agender, genderfluid and transgender). It allows them to question their sexuality and gender. If you want to tell the story of a closeted sim, you can. Sims can come out to one another. There’s queerplatonic relationships. Sims can get unexpected crushes when they thought they were straight and maybe aren’t! It’s INTENSE. Especially as a legacy player, I don’t always go into my saves saying “yes today I think my heir will be nonbinary”... I roll with the punches. This punches me right back.

LittleMsSam’s Mods

Another modder whose wide array of mods are so widely used... It’s hard to imagine my game without them. These are the big ones I use, but I also use a few of her smaller mods (Brush Teeth After Puking and the Wake Up Overhaul are SUPER recommended. Especially the Wake Up Overhaul! It’s so small but adds so much ok moving on)

Pregnancy Overhaul: changes the size of belly, walkstyle when pregnant, and unlocks some interactions -- I usually go for the smaller belly in the 1st trimester only, allowing it to grow larger over time, as well as all the “pregnant sims can do more”... I also add the chance of death. What can I say, I like to live on the edge. Also goes perfectly with Advanced Birth Certificate, if you’re like me and likes that there’s special birth certificates for special occult babies.

SimDa: a dating app for your sims! Find the love of your life, your next one night stand, or just get a blind date.

First Love: for your child sims to have little childhood crushes 🥺

Sul Sul Weather App: don’t you hate when you travel to Sulani for a beach day in game and there’s a full on monsoon happening? This app lets you check the weather before going.

21 Day Seasons: why did EA go from 14 to 28.... why....

Calm Bees: if you’ve ever given in to your sims’ desires and bought them that fucking bee box in spring... you know why this is essential

I also use the following mods for holidays: more holiday icons, holiday traditions, no school tradition, no work tradition, wellness traditions.

MissyHissy’s Hopes & Fears Mod

This is a complete freaking overhaul of wants and fears. In addition to adding whimsets for the later packs that didn’t have them because EA was busy working on the new wants/fears system... It actually upgraded the whims Maxis forgot into wants and made sure there’s sets for children, toddlers and elders. Because y’know. EA “kinda forgot” about those life stages.

Helaene’s Preferences Plus + Preference Bomb

First of all, shout out to Helaene for truly being a real one in terms of sims community longevity. I remember being a kid and downloading their TS2 stuff.

Preferences Plus adds TONS of new likes/dislikes for your sims, some with their own custom interactions--things like which outfit they prefer, favorite flavors and drinks, and more. Preference Bomb then rolls them for all sims in your game--with actual logic applied. Really cool!

Have Some Personality Please! by PolarBearSims

The main draw of this mod is that it completely removed the goofy idle chitchat of nothingness that sims do, along with the increased autonomy to do stuff that makes sense. I love when my sims do things of their own accord! It makes it more fun, more exciting! Otherwise, what is the point of traits anyway.

ChippedSim’s Graveyard, Paws & Claws & Lively Towns

Three mods that add some life to your town.... Well, sort of life....

The Happy Haunts Graveyard mod adds the graveyard lot type, along with appropriate NPCs, moodlets, and some new interactions related to tombstone... But because it’s modular, it also adds some additional paranormal gameplay if you have that stuff pack, some grieving interactions and more. I really like having graveyards in game [especially for my vampire slayers to lurk in].

Paws & Claws is based around animals, naturally--stuff for your pets, preferences for animals besides the cat/dog person traits... But the module I’m really keen on though is the Animal Shelter part! You can build and run your own Animal Shelter in game 🥺

Lively Towns is actually an object based script mod--it allows you to build multi-purpose lots. There are three shops so far (flower store, arts and crafts, and bookstore) but for those lots you see on the gallery that have multiple stores in one... imo it’s invaluable.

Kuttoe’s Random Calls & Texts and Lotharihoe’s Phone Call Overhaul

These two mods add some better... phone usage to your sims. The Phone Call overhaul makes the stupid phone calls you receive way less intrusive and just smarter in general. The additional “delayed invitations” add on is ALSO great for when your sim is invited on a date and you can... you know... get ready for it.

Kuttoe’s Random Texts adds a bunch of new calls and texts messages for your sims (one of my favorites is a call from a parent and they give you some extra money 😭 like how sweet is that?). I’ve had both in my game for a while and they play nicely together from my experience.

ADeepIndigo’s Healthcare Redux & Family Therapy

“Kit if you like traditional The Sims style silly gameplay why do you get these realistic mods” ............. because I like to make the gameplay harder, ok. I like to make my sims suffer. I like the chance of death around every corner for these goobers.

Healthcare Redux does... well... overhaul healthcare in the game. It adds a bunch of more realistic diseases, as well as allergies and injuries, and even medical emergencies. There are also a few new deaths (yay new deaths!).

Family Therapy adds an option that pops up when sims in the same family have negative sentiments towards each other... They can try to work through them and repair relationships with the help of a trained professional. I think that’s super cool tbh??? Like Lumpinou’s mod has couples counseling as a rabbit hole but this also adds a therapist that can make house calls. And it has some functionality for Basemental so..............

ADeepIndigo also has Dental Care and Eye Care mods which I have been... eyeing, but have not played with extensively yet, as well as some mods like Simulation is not Free and SimNation Travel that add to difficulty!

There is also now a Self Image mod, but it comes with the warning that yes, it does delve into EDs. I played with it a bit, and it can make gameplay a lot harder.

Custom Traits

I know not everyone enjoys custom traits--right now, I still use the regular three traits per sim--but sometimes I get a little bored of the same ones, and EA really dropped the ball on traits this game so...

New Emotional Traits by Kuttoe: adds emotional based traits--some are just additional new traits to match the emotions that don’t have them (like Coward) but some are extreme versions of the ones we already have.

New Hobby Traits by Kuttoe: We add movies, we don’t add a Movie Buff Trait. Make it make sense, EA.... There are way more than that though. It also adds a Technophobe trait which I also really missed from TS3.

New Spa Day Traits by Kuttoe: two new traits that play nicely with Spa Day. 

Traits by Scarlet: Photographer’s Eye and Socially Anxious! Again! Traits we probably should have but alas!

More Traits by Maplebell: even MORE traits for your sims--these are also very maxismatchy--there is some overlap with some of Kuttoe’s, so ymmv. I use all of them because I like chaos.

Offspring of NPC Traits by Baniduhaine: this one is a little different than the others, as they aren’t CAS traits at all. If you’ve ever played TS3 you might know that offspring of NPC sims would have hidden traits... And if you’ve ever had a kid with Father Winter, you know his kids have a special trait in TS4. This adds inheritable gameplay traits for lots of different NPCs! It adds a little something extra to gameplay, it’s pretty cool 🤓

The Personality Mod and The Hobby Mod by MissyHissy: these are two trait packs that add reward traits inspired by TS2. The Personality Mod adds ones inspired by the 6 TS2 Aspirations, the Hobby Mod by TS2 Freetime. Another one that just... adds a little something more for whim-driven gameplay. I know they aren’t called whims anymore but I’m pretty sure the game strings still call them whims so.

Vegetarian and Lactose Intolerant Overhaul Mods by Robin: another reward trait change--these don’t take away the traits and hide them in CAS, but they make it so that you can simply... choose to be vegetarian. And while your sim probably wouldn’t choose to be lactose intolerant, you can, of course exercise your Watcher-given powers to MAKE them be lactose intolerant. I mean... Why waste a trait slot on either when you could simple be?

Custom Aspirations

I used to use Ky-E’s Aspiration Overhaul, which was fun--it’s now being updated by NC4T and you can find it here--which did what it suggests. It completely overhauls the Aspiration system, making them more lifetime worthy, instead of “extended tutorials” as Ky-E eloquently put it. There were also 38 new aspirations added by the mod.

That said, because I do like to make and share sims with my friends, it’s just been easier on me to switch away from the overhaul to custom aspirations. These are what my game currently has. Ilkavelle made the bulk of these, so I specifically marked other creators.

Applied Animal Behaviorist

Certified Breeder

Dr. Doolittle

Simternet Conquerer

The Mother Plant Resurrection [more Strangerville gameplay? sign me tf up]

UFO Investigator & Art of Flower Arranging

Music Producer

Dedicated Environmentalist

My Own Business

Ultimate Stan - so you can experience the allure of celebrity but not be a celebrity

Voice Virtuoso

Perfectly Balanced

ADeepIndigo’s Platinum Artist

ADeepIndigo’s Blog Star (and blogging hobby!)

MissBee’s Self-Sufficient

Child Aspirations

Teen Aspirations

KiaraSims4′s Twilight Years - this requires a custom event but honestly... worth it just to have something for elders

Mods I am not currently using but still recommend:

Slice of Life: Kawaiistacie’s Big Ass Mod that overhauls... so much. Like. So much. I do really recommend trying it out to see if it works for you, but it’s a bit too much for my games on top of everything else I have--I don’t need two menstrual systems, you know? One is enough.

Lifetime Aspirations: As I said before, it’s easier to pick and choose custom aspirations at the moment than overhaul everything completely. But I do eye it up occasionally and I enjoyed my time playing with it.

ADeepIndigo’s Education Overhaul: the main reason I don’t play with this one is because it’s a bit too much of an overhaul for me--every big overhaul mod runs the risk of incompatibility of other mods, and Zer0′s Required Degrees for Promotions is my preferred mod of choice here.

Kuttoe’s Career Overhaul: ...see above. It’s incompatible with Zer0′s so I don’t have it in my game, but I’ve tried it before and liked it a lot. If you aren’t using Zer0′s Custom Degrees/Required Degrees for Promotions I absolutely recommend it.

Reshade and Gshade: actually I AM using ReShade but I don’t want to call it an essential... Making your game “prettier” isn’t an essential but I do like to have a “brighter” game and I hate editing so I play with ReShade. But I’m not calling it essential so it’s sneaking into the bottom of the list down here.

Basemental Drugs: use at your age-appropriate discretion. I’m still in the “testing it out” phase which is why it hasn’t been bumped to Essential Mod, but I am enjoying it. I am also Very Much An Adult. 

[cheri-translates]

[CN] ASMR Transcript - Devotion (Gavin)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for an ASMR, 以身相试, which has not been released in EN! 🍒

[ Released in CN: 24 July 2022 ]

[On the phone] Today won’t do.

[On the phone] She’ll be back today.

[On the phone] I have to tidy the place up.

[On the phone] What do you mean by, “Forgetting loyalty when in love?”

Why are you already back home?

[On the phone] Okay okay, that’s all. I’m hanging up.

[On the phone] Ask Luke and Tang Chao to go.

Nothing much.

Eli brought a huge pile of local products from his hometown again,

And invited everyone out for a meal at his place.

I’m not going.

He just wants to have a lively time with others.

There’s not much of a difference without me around.

[rustling noises]

Also...

Aren’t you back now?

I only want to have a lively time with you.

It’s equally lively with two people.

[rustling noises]

Oh yes.

Didn’t you mention that

There’s an evening banquet after the Fashion Week?

Why did you come back beforehand?

I was going to pick you up.

You had a free ride?

From a male or female?

...oh, from Eason.

[Trivia] Eason (aka Chen Yi in CN) is MC’s schoolmate from college. He was introduced in Obsession Date!

Cough. I’m not jealous.

I was just asking.

Maybe a little bit.

Just a little.

If there’s a change in your itinerary next time,

Let me know, mm?

It’s mainly because I can tidy up a little in advance.

When you weren’t at home,

I became lazy.

I still remembered to take care of Greenie Jr. Jr. Jr. though.

But I might not have taken that much care of myself.

If you don’t believe me, touch me.

[touching noises]

See? 

I lost weight.

Hm?

[chuckles] I wanted you to feel sorry for me.

Can’t I do that?

My waist is fine. It isn’t skinnier.

Here, feel for yourself.

[Gavin breathing noises]

Why are you measuring it?

You bought me new clothes?

All of these on the bed?

There’s way too many...

Why’d you suddenly buy so many for me?

[sigh] I guess...

It’s the charm of Fashion Week...

The styles of these clothes might not suit me.

You’re asking how I bought clothes previously?

Hm... the STF distributes spring and autumn uniforms.

As for ordinary shirts...

I buy them randomly.

They’re fine as long as they’re comfortable.

Mm, I usually visit the same few shops.

And finish buying them after a few minutes.

...a waste?

Okay okay okay, there’s no hurry.

I’ll try them on now.

[rustling noises]

I could use some new clothes in my wardrobe,

Even though I can only wear uniforms when I go on missions.

Hm? I look very handsome in uniforms?

I guess so...

I think it’s mainly because of the person himself. [chuckles]

This shirt...

I don’t think I’ve tried this colour before.

Hmm. What about the jacket? Which one should I pair it with?

A belt too?

This...

How do I buckle it?

[rustling noises]

This outfit is too troublesome.

When I wear it next time, I’ll have to wait for you to be at home to put it on for me.

[clothing noises]

Learn how to buckle it myself?

I don’t want to.

[kiss]

There are some things... that I only want you to do.

How is it?

I think it’s pretty good too. Should I change into the next outfit?

[unclothing noises + unnecessary but very welcomed Gavin grunts]

This one?

Clothing designs are becoming weirder and weirder these days...

How am I supposed to wear this?

I’ll put the sleeves on first.

Oh, I get it now.

Like this.

Eh? It looks strange.

But when it’s worn, it looks pretty good.

Mm, your taste has always been pretty good.

Of course I know that.

But why does it seem like there are only half of the patterns on this outfit?

It’s a couple outfit?

So... where’s yours?

[rustling noises]

Hmm... Why don’t you put it on so we can see what it looks like?

I can’t be the only one trying on clothes for the whole day. Mm. 

[rustling noises + heartbeat noises + GAVIN BREATHING NOISES]

Very pretty.

It’s also very unique.

It does come as a set with mine.

[footsteps]

A perfect match.

I was only talking about myself earlier.

But haven't you lost weight too?

I measured with my eyes earlier.

Now that I’m using my hands, I’m even more certain...

Once we’re done tidying up,

Let’s have a nice meal together.

Mm.

[kiss + kiss]

We’ll go later.

Right now, there’s something else we have to do.

[rustling + GAVIN HEAVY BREATHING NOISES]

Oh yes.

If the new clothes get crumpled,

Does it mean they can’t be returned?

[ GAVIN NOISES ]

Let’s not return them then.

I’m very satisfied.

✧ Text

[meenah-chan]

Brothers and a Broken Bone

An OM! GN! MC fanfiction (OM! Brothers & Now-dateables + Luke)

2.42k words

Genre: flangst probably

Trigger Warning: blood, broken bone, violence (probably) Self depreciation? Still, read at your own discretion.

A chaotic family. A fight broke out and then... "Snap!"

They were on the way to the Demon Lord's Castle. Being like their usual selves, seven demons of varying personalities is chaotic.

"I'll definitely kill you Mammon if you're not able to get my platinum Seraphim figurine back!"

"Stop fussin' around already! It's just a figurine—"

"Just a figurine?! That's the last limited edition platinum Seraphim figurine released during the final episode of Seraphim of the End! There are only 5 of it ever produced in the whole three realms!" ...extremely chaotic.

"Shut it, you're so so damn loud."

"Loud?! Then let me rip that useless ears off you!" Whilst just a few blocks away from the castle, the purple demon suddenly transformed and spring towards his scummy brother.

"Stop it already. You're making a scene—" Before Satan could finish his sentence, the book he's holding was hit by Mammon's stray hand and flew, knocking Beelzebub's burger off his hands.

"My... Burger..." Losing concentration he lost grip of Belphegor, who is on his back.

On his fall, Belphegor squash Asmodeus to the ground, who then broke a nail.

"My book..."

"My beautiful nails..."

"Mngh... the hell..."

A burger splattered on the floor. A dented book coated with mayo and ketchup. A broken nail. An interrupted sleep.

... Extremely chaotic indeed.

Simultaneously the demon brothers transformed, ready to join the brawl.

"Stop this, you fools!" A riot is the last thing Lucifer wants a few blocks away from Diavolo's abode. Yet, his words falls on deaf ears, causing a set of horns and wings to sprout from him.

And the eldest joins the battle.

Then there's MC, a mere human. "Hey! No fighting guys!!" ...with no one who want to listen to.

"Don't hurt each other!!" Still nothing.

They move closer and took a deep breath, but this time, they're eager to use a bit of force through their pacts. "CUT IT—Aww." yet before they could, they fail miserably. Knocked by whoever the brother is, MC lost their balance.

They twist to hopefully resist their fall. Still, MC's footing failed and instead fall face first.

Snap!

As if a twig cracks, Leviathan and Mammon's attention was drawn to the unsettling sound. And as if on cue— Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan and Belphegor's eyes followed.

A few feet away from them sits MC, blood profusely dripping off their nose.

MC rose on their feet but in a second, "Ahh..." They glanced on their lower right and lift their arm, as if nothing is bleeding.

Following the human's line of vision, blood suddenly drained from everyone's face. Well, except for the human themself.

"AHHHH!!" A shriek from Mammon and Asmodeus.

"Y/N!?" A shocked yell from Lucifer, Beelzebub and Satan.

"..." And a choked silence from Leviathan and Belphegor.

"...It broke." at the end of their arm limply dangles their forearm from the elbows. MC just looked at it as if nothing's out of place. They then glance to the stiff brothers a few feet away from them. "So, y'all cool down a bit?"

The brothers are anything but cooled down. They are so terrified they couldn't even move on their s spot.

And as if to trigger the demon brothers alot more, they swish their arm a little bit, the dangling forearm swinging like pendulum.

The first one to return to his composure is Lucifer, pulling out a handkerchief to stop the bleeding of Y/N's nose.

Satan followed, removing his blue jacket and sling their right arm around their neck. "I can't find anything hard to support your arm so please make do with this for now... damn, that fucking hardbound book's useless..." He mumbled the last phrase gritting his teeth.

"... Let's head to the Demon Lord's Castle first." Lucifer may looked he is composed outside but inside, he is a total mess. Everytime he loosens the pressure of his hand on their nose, blood will come dripping off with no sign of clotting at all. Just a bit more of ant stimuli and he will certainly be panicking like his brothers.

Noticing it, MC took the handkerchief from Lucifer and hold it in place themself.

Beel on the other hand towers over them and carry them.

"Does it hurt? Am I the one who hit you?" A crying Mammon hovers over them, hesitant of touching a single strand of his human.

"O-Of course it hurts, you idiot! We just broke MC's arms!" Leviathan is also a crying mess, standing beside Mammon.

"Not really. It is throbbing but numb." They reeled their arm once more, alerting everyone.

"DON'T DO THAT!!" They all yelled in sync.

"Hahahahahaha!! Looked at that priceless faces. Are you in a choir?"

"Hey, no fooling around! You're injuries are serious!" Asmodeus snaps.

"What if you worsen it?! You want to lose your arm, huh?!" Belphegor added.

"Why would I listen to any of you?" MC raised an eyebrow.

"Stop being childish and unreasonable. We're just thinking about you."

"Ohoh~? Did I heard it right? Childish and unreasonable? Aren't you describing yourselves awhile ago before injuring me with your bickering?" Condescending laugh. They received an insulting laugh from a mere human, yet no one utter a single word for defense.

Amidst the chaos, three forms appears opposite to their destination. "Hey guys, aren't you going to the Demon Lord's Castle too? What are you doing in the middle of the road?" As Simeon, Luke and Solomon approached the frozen brothers, MC jump off Beel's grasp and went to them.

"MC, what's with that jacket?" Luke held the hem of their shirt with a concerned look.

"It's nothing, just broke my arm. Come on, let's go to Diavolo and leave that matured and reasonable bunch." MC is smiling but the three could hear the spite in their voice.

"Wait—You WHAT?!" The eyes of the three almost bulged out of their skulls in surprise.

"Don't worry, I can't feel it. Let's go before the numbness disappears."

Through Solomon's magic, they manage to stop the bleeding and hold the arm from swinging. The four arrived at the the Demon Lord's Castle safely, leaving the brothers behind.

"MC, what happened?" As soon as he sees their state, Diavolo react fast and guide them to the nearest sofa.

"It was an accident. Is it possible to fix this?" Barbatos entered the room from a door different from what they used. He is carrying with him a first aid. Their guess is either— he left the room as he saw them or, he already predicted this will happen and came prepared. Either way, he didn't questioned them and instead act calm and efficiently as ever. Though when MC look closely, they can see an ever subtle crease between his brows.

Shortly after Barbatos appeared, the seven brothers arrived to the room, silently stayed in the corner.

"Solomon, I believe you have knowledge of healing spells, don't you?" Barbatos asked, wrapping the injured arm carefully yet fast.

"Yes, but it will take a few days to completely heal a torn ligament."

"I also have some speeding-up spells under my sleeves. I think combining it will heal MC's arm by daybreak." After Barbatos patch them up, Luke approach MC, with Simeon a step behind him.

"Are you o–okay? Does it hurt?" Teary-eyed he hold their knee, looking into their eyes.

With their uninjured hand they caress Luke's cheek, wiping the tears off his eyes. "It doesn't hurt at all. I will be alright in no time. A sweet little angel is blessing me after all."

"That's right Luke. Solomon and Barbatos are also forming a spell to return MC's arm to normal."

"Now, listen everyone." Diavolo stood in the middle of the room, calling everyone's attention. "I believe MC and the brothers have something to discuss in private. While Barbatos and Solomon are constructing a spell in the next room, I hope Simeon and Luke to come with me to give them privacy."

"I bet they are the one who caused MC's injuries! I don't want to leave MC alone with them!"

"It'll be okay Luke. They will be careful and won't do it the second time. Am I right, guys?" Simeon spoke calmly to soothe Luke but a hint of distaste still managed to reach the ears of the brothers. "Now come, let's leave them for a while." A reassuring smile from MC to Luke, and a thankful nod from Lucifer, to Diavolo and Simeon are passed before the others left the room.

"MC..." Approaching them, the brothers line up in row a meter away from them, Lucifer speaking in the middle of the line. "We would like to apologize for our... foolishness. Won't you forgive us? We're ready to do anything to earn you again."

"... I'm not really angry with you guys. Just upset and disappointed, with myself. Well, maybe I'm also sad because of you."

"MC..."

"Quarrels are normal with siblings. But it hurts to see you guys on each other's neck, ready to kill each other any moment. I mean, we're family. I should be able to stop you guys from doing something you'll definitely regret later. Yet here I am, a mere weak human who couldn't even do anything about it."

"It was like you guys calling me a family is nothing but a title. That without the pact, I am but a useless design that would crumble at a slight flick. I'm so weak and useless it's so upsetting."

"You're not weak nor useless!!" Mammon yelled.

"Yes I am. Look at this arm that snapped like a flimsy twig." MC slightly raised the arm with broken bone, which is starting to throb in pain. Pain that will definitely cause their tears anytime soon. Yet despite the pain still not surfacing completely, a greater pain within their chest caused tears to fall anyways.

"Look at me MC," Lucifer knelt in front of them, wiping the tears away from their eyes, "You, by any means, are not a weak person."

"Staying by our side after everything that happened, shows that you're a strong person." Satan strokes their head, smiling.

"That's because I really love you all. Because I want to be with you."

"We love you too, MC." Asmodeus also knelt beside Lucifer, taking their hand to his lips for a kiss.

"You're the most precious person to us, MC. We don't want you sad so please smile."

"Y–You know you're the Henry of my life! I vow I won't cause you pain. No–I'll protect you from all the sufferings in this world the best that I can!" Standing behind Lucifer, Leviathan fist-pumped.

"You're the best cuddle partner for me. Get well soon so we can take a nap without any problems." hugged MC from behind, burrying his face on the crook of their neck.

Mammon had enough. "Let go, you pricks! No touching to my human! What if you worsen their injury, huh?!" He especially tried peeling the fifth and seventh born from their intimate touch with MC.

"You're just jealous you couldn't hug them."

"Or kiss their hand." Asmodeus planted another peck onto their palm.

"N–No, of c–course not!" Mammon blushed profusedly while he held his hands over Asmodeus to stop him the third time.

"Pfft—Hahahahahahaha!" Being able to lift the pain off themself and hearing the brothers cheer them up, MC laughed with light heart, also lifting the veil of sadness and guilt from the brothers' chests.

The room was filled with smiles and laugh, fortifying the bonds of the big family they have.

"I'm sorry for interrupting everyone,"

"GWAAAHHHH!!" Leviathan and Mammon screamed in surprise as Barbatos appeared in the room with neither warning nor sound. Not only the purple and whitehead was taken aback. Everyone went stiff for a second except MC who is facing the door directly and saw Barbatos enter.

"The spell is done in the other room. If you may allow me, I would like to take MC."

On the doorway stood Solomon, holding back his laughter from the scene, engraving the comical shocked faces of everyone to the back of his mind.

"You could've knocked before entering you know..." Satan sighed.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, but I would like to bring them as soon a possible." Barbatos slightly bowed with his usual formal smile.

"... I see. Please do." Lucifer held his temple for a second before rising on his feet and giving way to the butler. If he knew, the butler definitely did it intentionally as a payback.

"If you'll excuse me." Barbatos took MC's other hand and in a snap, sling it to his nape, carrying MC in his arms like a princess.

"Oi! Let go! I'll carry them myself!" Mammon yelled at Barbatos' action. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"Yeah, you might drop MC from being too flustered." Asmodeus agreed, squealing at the thrilling sight before him.

"Beel, you carry MC." Belphegor nudged his twin. "Okay, I will."

"No, I don't think that's possible." Diavolo entered the room, interrupting any more attempt of the demon brothers of taking MC. Simeon is with him, while Luke made a beeline to his baking teacher and MC.

"Now that you settled everything with MC, we will now discuss your punishment for the incident."

"...What?" Belphegor and Satan raised an eyebrow from the Crown Prince's statement.

"Yes. Punishment. I entrusted MC in your care thinking you can protect them. Instead you caused them pain. I'll be lying if I said I'm not disappointed."

Although Lucifer thought of the possibility of punishment but to hear the word disappointed from Diavolo's lips, directed at him, his loyal prospect hits him hard.

"...Yes. I understand, Diavolo."

The stunned faces of the brothers, including Lucifer pulled the last string of composure within Solomon, freeing the dam of his loud laughter. Simeon also chuckled with him.

"Okay, let's start. Barbatos, Solomon, proceed to the other room to tend MC's injuries. Simeon will also help with the discussion."

"As you wish, Young Master." "Okay." Barbatos, Solomon and Simeon replied simultaneously.

"Will do. How about you, Luke?"

"I'll go with MC."

"W–Wait! Can't we just settle this without any punishment? MC did say they're fine already. Right, MC?" Mammon held Barbatos halfway to the exit.

"As much as I want that, I can't really oppose Diavolo's decision. And you did dig what you sow, so... Condolence, I guess?"

"You heard her." Diavolo added.

"B–But, BUT—"

"MAMMOOOON..."

"EEK—!"

And thus, the trial begins.

I dunno why I wrote this seriously 😂🤣 I just thought I want to write a comedy fanfic with all the characters but I just noticed my plot is a bit dark to make this a comedy at all. So I made it a fluffy angst instead sksksksk 😆😆✌️

Also posting A Smear of Blood soon after.

Masterlist

[tate-lin]

Omg an extension of your dissertations!! That's so cool tho; exploring your dissertation in a fiction novel~ There's more creative freedom to express what you want to say and make your point through the book's themes 👀🔥

For manga, I have several (though I did very briefly touch on it in this post)!!

The biggest I'd say is Hunter X Hunter's magic system called Nen. What I love most about it is how majority of Nen-users have to create their own special ability called Hatsu and, because of this, their Hatsu is directly informed by their respective personalities, strengths & interests which says a lot about their characters, narrative, and story arc. Because of this, I modelled the basics of my own magic system, ethra, after it by having it be something anyone can pick up and use, like a sport or skill. Here's my post on ethra and I think anyone who read the manga and see my six foundational pillars will be able to spot my inspiration behind it 😂

Besides that, I was inspired to create my darling plant-robot, Drew, directly because of an animated movie called No Game No Life: Zero. I just loved how strange and alien the robot seemed at the start and how the robots were all connected like a hive mind.

In terms of his actual story arc tho, my biggest inspirations come from a mech creation manga I read years ago (I can't remember the name of it now but it's basically this dude manufacturing non-sentient transformers) and Pluto by Urusawa Naoki, a grimmer and more grounded retelling of a really, really long chapter in Astro Boy by Tezuka Osamu called The Greatest Robot on Earth. And while it's not a manga or anime, I was also influenced by the video game Detroit: Become Human while trying to figure his character out.

Though I love No Game No Life: Zero, Pluto, and Detroit: Become Human (especially Pluto I love that thing to bits), I have different ideas on the potentials of robots. In all three of them, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the robots' humanity and empathy. In fact, the androids in Detroit: Become Human were only able to be freed from their lack of agency by becoming exactly like a human till they're nearly indistinguishable on the outside (hence the title).

For me, however, I don't need nor want robots to become exactly like us because they're not. If they can become sentient, they'd be people, of course, but not humans, and this difference is what's crucial to me.

In this case, it's the mech manga that truly influenced my direction on this take. In that story, there was a long-standing habit, maybe even an obsession, for engineers to create the mechs in our image, and the MC found a problem with that. Their society created mechs in order to fight or solve other problems, but was it so necessary to have them take on the shape of humans? If a spike for an arm made more sense, or if it was more useful to create something more akin an over-glorified spring with a knife, then wouldn't that be better? Why were humans the template that all mechs were based on? Just look out to nature and you can find thousands more fitting examples to base a design on, depending on what you're trying to solve.

This manga introduced me to the idea that humanity has a huge keenness to create robots that looked, moved, and acted exactly like us. Which is why things like this exist:

I'm absolutely not suggesting that humanity isn't creative enough to come up with something else, but from what I see, the general consensus is that a 'perfect robot' would be something that's exactly like us, just better.

But is all of that really necessary? In my opinion, it's akin to a parent-child relationship where the parent raised a child just to have another version of them. A take #2 of their life, but be perfect and make absolutely no mistakes. Be whatever the parent needs them to be in order to achieve their own goals.

In the end tho, I think it's nonsensical to assume that if a robot achieves sentience, they'd want to follow the same path as us or even want to think like us. There are many robot media out there which touched on how differently they view the world, but why is the correct answer at the end for a robot to want to be like us? To love like us, feel emotions like us, to care about the same things?

I just don't think that it makes sense. What's wrong with acting, feeling, and thinking like a robot? It may contrast with humanity's goals and desires and may prove to be inconvenient or troubling for us, but as long as they aren't hurting anyone, what's the big deal? They're essentially a whole different species we're creating, even if they're based off humans.

To me, I feel like their biggest problem wasn't necessarily not being human, it's that they wanted to be accepted and have agency but they're not, because robots were ultimately created as tools first. There is a huge difference being 'treated like a person' and 'treated like a human' I think, and that's what Drew struggles with the most.

Returning to Pluto though, one thing that influenced me heavily is how even robots that have very typical clonky robot looks can show such deep emotion & depth. Like omg JUST LOOK AT THESE PAGES!!

(note: please read from right to left for manga, like a reverse-z)

Like wowowow I just can't. I really can't. The anime did not do this scene justice cause I near about cried while reading this the very first time.

A robot that can't express themselves like a human can, a robot that doesn't look or think like a human does, a robot that doesn't even appreciate the same things as a human does... And even with all that, this is so clearly a person with her very own problems, thoughts, personality, and mindset. With Drew, this is exactly what I want to achieve.

Robots have their own strengths and weaknesses and unique appeal to them. Just like we humans do, even if we end up as very different beings. Isn't it such a waste to desire a pure copy-paste of us? I want to explore robots as their own species that are still a legacy of us, their creators, but also how they can go beyond that, like all children do in the end.

Other than that, certain panels of numerous other manga really strike me and they often inspire the creation of a particular character or plot choice. For example, Attack on Titan (humanity vs giant monsters) really influenced how I think about life's purpose, especially these two juxtaposing panels:

What are we born for, what should we do with our life? Attack on Titan was the manga that really made me realise that the answers to those questions don't necessarily need to be answered, and that's also what I want to explore, particularly with Minh.

And while thinking about my theme on acceptance, these are my biggest inspirations for it (the first is from Blue Lock, a soccer manga, and the second from Jujutsu Kaisen, an action manga about child soldiers, though the character featured is a lawyer):

Anyway we finally come to the end of this!! If you read till the end kudos to you omg cause I just ended up rambling 😭

I do get inspired by English novel books and other media too, but there's sth about the honesty and sincerity I find in manga that just really captures me.

@tate-lin reblogged your post:

#wowwww omg#did you take philosophy?? the inspiration you got is so interesting#i'm mainly inspired by manga so it's really cool to see where others draw their inspiration from#the ideas you're trying to implement is super intriguing too 👀🔥#i wanna beta readdd 🥹

Hi Tate-Lin, 💜 It's such a treat to see you on my dash! Hope you're doing good and the Writeblr gods are smiling down on your WIPS (check them out here). Thank you so much for reading through that super-long post 😅 I got a little carried away. But to answer your question, yes, I have two degrees in philosophy, and I'm still debating whether I should go in for another one (it's an addiction at this point, although I don't like the whole snobbish academic scene, tbh). Most of the references I mention in my post are things I've studied over the years. In fact, most of my big creative projects, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice especially, are extensions of my dissertations. I'm exploring the same questions, just through a different medium (my latest dissertation was on Socrates, fascism, and Foucault, so yeah you can definitely see that in the references lol). I'd be honoured to have you beta-read it when it's ready!!! By the way, I'm curious: which manga have inspired your work? I haven't read enough Manga in my life and I'd love to know more about it from your perspective! 💜

[arcadia-city-stories-if]

I read some of your prompts and I just 🤩

Could I ask another? If mc had an itch they couldn't scratch, how would the ro's help them?

I like this one lol, thank you for the prompt, Anon!

I went with early crushing because it's the only stage where everyone is on a, somewhat, equal footing.

Murphy - He gives you a bland stare. "Do I look like a personal servant to you?"

His reaction is muted as MC rolls their eyes and reminds him that not everyone has the wingspan of a damn albatross, and sometimes mere mortals, such as themselves, require a helping hand, but he also makes no more arguments against it.

A large hand presses down briefly between their shoulder blades before he starts a slow, but firm, scrape of his fingers along the offending itch. He watches, more intently than he should, as MC closes their eyes and lets out a soft but satisfied sound as the irritation eases.

His eyes follow the line of their jaw, and along the curve of their neck, down to where his hand now lingers. There's a moment of hesitation when he stops, his hand rubbing a single soothing circle against their back before he pulls away, clearing his throat and looking away.

"Can I carry on with what I was saying now?"

Shae - They blink up at MC, the question slow to process. "...yes?" The question mark in their answer hangs heavily between them both before Shae briefly shakes their head, taking on a more sure tone. "I mean, yes, of course I can help." They stand from their desk, the urge to smooth down their clothing automatic and unavoidable, and make their way behind MC.

They hesitate for only a moment, their fingers twitching in the open space between them, before they reach out tentatively, their fingers scraping lightly over the designated area.

"Harder.. harder..."

Shae feels their skin start to heat up as MC mutters distractedly to themselves, but their embarrassment quickly melts into something closer to amused fondness as they oblige MC and get an exaggeratedly pleased groan for their efforts, their words slipping into mumbled thanks and praise as they finally dislodge the pesky irritation for them.

"Better?" Shae asks, a shadow of a smile on their lips as they let their hand fall away. Turning back towards their desk, they try to remember what on earth they'd been doing before MC had interrupted.

Callie - "Of course!" She springs up from her seat with a grin and wastes no time getting to work. Using both hands she scratches between MCs shoulder blades before increasing the surface area she's working with until it covers their entire back.

Her distracted chatter about how much of a pain it is to have an itch you can't scratch trails off as her pace slows, her fingers coming to a halt at the bottom of MCs shirt.

"If it still itches..." she offers, her voice leading as she pulls softly at the hem, her fingertips ghosting over the, now exposed, skin along their waistband before starting to trail a little higher, "I could keep going...?"

Neither of them miss the hopeful tone her voice carries.

Toni - Lazily waves MC over to take a seat in front of them.

"Here?" They ask, as they bring a single finger up to half-heartedly scratch at the wrong area.

"To the right."

Toni smiles at the frustration in their tone, suppressing their amusement they shift their attentions to a new spot, to the right, one that they know is also wrong. "Here?"

They have to smother their laughter as MC practically growls in frustration, pressing themselves back against Toni, their shoulders rolling under the fabric of their shirt as they receive absolutely no relief at all. Toni leans the elbow of their free hand on their knee, resting their chin in their palm as they lean around MC, wanting a better look at their face as they reach for the wrong spot yet again. "What about here?"

Toni grins as MC glares at them, finally acquiescing with an animated eyeroll, like their frustration is unwarranted. "Fine, fine."

When they finally graze over the right spot, Toni can't help but focus in on the way MCs lips part, and the soft sigh of relief that slips between them. "See now?" they murmur softly, their eyes never leaving MCs face, "Wasn't that worth the wait?"

Claude/Claudia - "I... suppose I could?" Their voice is more unsure than they'd like. It's such a mundane thing but they genuinely can't recall if anyone's ever asked them to do something like it before, especially not a human they barely know.

They clear their throat before reaching out, hyper-aware of every movement they make, concerned about how much pressure to use, what if they hurt them? What material is their shirt? Will it catch, can they damage it?

The pointless questions melt away as they finally make contact with the agent in front of them, their focus shifting entirely to the satisfied breath that escapes MC, the way the tense muscles under their fingers quiver before relaxing into something more loose and pliable.

As MC glances back over their shoulder to thank them, the content look on their face stirs something unfamiliar in them. Without too much forethought they increase the pressure, ever so slightly, enraptured by the way MCs eyes flutter closed for a moment, and the low, almost inaudible moan that catches in their throat.

They allow themselves to indulge in it for a second before pulling themselves away. "It was my pleasure, Agent."

??? - They let out an indignant snort. "Not my problem." They dismiss MC with a casual wave before seeming to change their mind. "Unless..." They offer, a sharp smile pulling at their lips, "the shirt comes off." They run their eyes down the length of MC, drinking them in, their tone unapologetic. "At least then I'd get something out of it."

[seeyoudarling]

My random chaotic thoughts while watching Boruto

I haven’t bothered to follow Boruto, only when there were Uchiha Family moments. But I’ve found Boruto on Netflix and it isn’t that bad. I find the interactions between the Genins cute :)

I love Sarada so much 🥺 she really comes after both of her parents (I feel like mostly the positive traits of them). I love her friendship with Chocho. Their friendship is so supportive and understanding. I really love Chocho, too! (Chouji and Karui are a random couple but that’s so Kishimoto-esque. The gentle Chouji and the though Karui… 😌)

On the first look the new Gen seemed like Konoha 9 rebooted but new InoShikaCho have a different dynamic than their parents had. Boruto is different to naruto but doesn’t resemble Sasuke either :)

I also like the relationship of Sarada an Boruto. Childhood friends, rivals and understanding each other’s daddy issues. Admiring the other ones father while trying to understand their own.

Mitsuki is Mitsuki. Precious little Mitsuki 🥺 Inojin is hilarious af and obviously the child of his parents but still a character of his own 😂😂😂 did I mention that I love supportive husband Sai Yamanaka?!

I am mostly not ready to ship these Babies but I’d love if Mitsuki really ended up with Chocho xD

I also like shikadai and Boruto‘s friendship :) (especially when the underlying competition between them came through during chunin exams which is pretty normal I guess)

Another precious person: Himawari🥺 she appears to have naruto‘s charm and we know how charming the MC of a 15years running manga is ;) I think it’s cute that Naruto is protective of her and she seems to be his little girl but I totally see her kicking some a**es when she’s older with Hyuga Clan special Jutsus with a chaotic take on that xD

I love how Sasuke advises and guides Boruto. He gets him because he grew up with parents and felt neglected by his father too. I think Sasuke is a wise sensei :o he does meaningful things and guides Sara und Boru well. (Maybe besides the fact that he took Boruto with the Kages to rescue Naruto and Boruto got the Karma because he let him attack Momoshinki but otherwise Boruto wouldn’t have an interesting plot would it?) I also like the way he has trust in Boru and Sara and doesn’t patronize them. He trains them, is strict and honest. I’m dangerous situations he takes over when they are overpowered but doesn’t withhold them from these situations. In this way they can learn a lot more with him spring to step in.

I am such a Sarada fan! Hope she will appear in more episodes/ chapters and take on an important role. I’d love to see her become hokage but it has to feel earned. Sarada turned out so perfekt.. I’d try for another xD no sorry jokes aside. I also love her design and her attitude/ body language. She is not just a Sakura with dark hair or a Sasuke as a girl. Really a blend of her parents :O I see both of them in her. She’s so strong willed and determined but also so sweet and warm with her friends. And I love her geekiness. She seems to read and research a lot 🥺

It’s always a feast to see the old Senseis. Sensei Huy especially 🥺 so I am glad for these Episodes of Boruto.

I guess the pacing is annoying even when you stream. Can’t imagine watching week to week 😬

[ginkgomoon]

Gavin’s Mini House In Detail 🏡

During the Mini House special events, I obtained all the furnishing items and had already unlocked all the furniture in the home so I thought for Gavin’s Birthday Week, I would share all of the little secrets it contains! 

Gavin has four sections of the house including-

Living Room

Loft 

Courtyard

Basement

This post also includes MC’s commentary and quotes from special happenings associated with Gavin. Special furnishes will have the coziness points indicated next to its name.

Please enjoy! 

Living Room

Soft Stool 

The white soft stool next to the tea table.

This stool is a must when Gavin watches soccer games.

The leather surface is very soft, and its height is just right for watching TV on.

Want to know the trend of the soccer lottery recently? How about asking about it? 

It seemed to have won all the recent games, and is both happy and lonely.

If his favourite team loses, Gavin will sit here alone. (#sad) 

White Sofa 

With so many pillows, you don’t have to worry about having no support behind you.

Is the white sofa difficult to clean? 

The bolsters are very comfortable.

Curled up on the sofa with soft ginkgo aroma.

“Gavin, do you remember what you told me?”

“I just want to be with you, just like this...”

“You still remembered!” 

“I won’t forget what I’ve told you.” 

“Then... Do you have anything you want to tell me this time?” 

Gavin kissed MC’s forehead gently.

- This special happening (Starry Sky) refers to the Furniture City Date!

White Table 

“Gavin’s Pad is placed here too.”

(It has a photo of MC and she says she will change it into the both of them next time.)

“I can add a snack box, but Gavin doesn’t really eat snacks.”

Hallway Cabinet

“Gavin waters the plants regularly.”

“These are often loose change on the cabinet which we can take before going out.”

“The silver ornament is a souvenir I bought when we went to Disneyland.”

The “Wavy Thing”

“I noticed a little “go for it” written on the most recently scrawled page of the notebook.” 

“I found a magazine that puts people to sleep in a second, which was necessary for insomniacs.”

Zoombot 

The black Zoombot.

Today I’m again busy all over the place saving Zoombot.

It’s a bit stupid and often gets stuck after hitting the furniture.

Makes a buzzing sound when working.

You threaten it: If you hang again, I’ll replace you!  

Music Stand

The music stand bought by Gavin.

On it are sheets of music scores printed by Gavin.

It will sometimes think that the small black table next to it is a bit short.

Sometimes Gavin uses in in the hanging chair to record melodies.

Gavin will print the music scores and put them on it to practice.

Flowers on the Wall 

Each flower is carefully selected by Gavin.

The front wall stores a variety of flowers.

The flowers on the entire flower wall are all preserved fresh flowers. 

Black Table and Seat 

Looking at it closely, it is the song that Gavin played last time. (Music score sheet on table.) 

It is also very comfortable with the little black seat cushion next to it.

The soft black cushion stuffed with cotton.

My exclusive seat for Gavin’s recital.

I bought it with Gavin when we were shopping at the furniture market.

Hanging Chair/Rose Hanging Chair (Coziness 88)

A great napping spot.

Here in the Leisure Time special happening, MC and Gavin talk about the swing they had in high school. MC is surprised that Gavin knew about the view of the sunset when being on it. He says he “passed by” sometimes. MC notes how the ginkgo leaves danced in the wind. He says, “they were gifts from another person”.

Heart-Shaped Chair (Coziness 28)

A cute small stool and a convenient storage box.

Gavin’s expression was a bit subtle while he sat on it first.

Alternating blue and pink hearts, as it’s a Valentine’s Day limited edition.

Surfboard Cabinet (Coziness 42)

It’s a new surfboard. Bring it next time we travel.

There are also other surfboards. Guess where they are? 

It says fly on the surfboard, like I can leap through waves with it.

(THEIR CUTE SHOES ARE NEXT TO IT AHHH)

Blue Lamp

A lamp that always blows bubbles from the bottom to top.

It’s beautiful and dreamlike when switched on at night.

Black Table on the Left 

“This looks like the score that Gavin played on the beach last time. I suddenly feel a bit nostalgic.”  - This refers to the Slightly Drunken Date!

“I found a picture of an asleep Gavin. He was sleeping soundly.”

Claw Machine and Carpet 

A dream-like claw machine. Gavin will add new dolls in it.

The inserted game coins can be taken out from the back of the machine and then reused.

A small black carpet in front of the claw machine.

I bought it together with the large carpet.

Red Bunny, White Bunny, Pink Bunny, Red Bunny, Grey Bunny.

Motorcycles 

The blue motorcycle sometimes want to compete with the opposite motorcycle.

The colour of the motorcycle displayed is sky blue. 

Maybe its name will be “Azure”? (because Gavin uses colours to individually name items.) 

Spring Landscape Display 

The landscape has been embedded into the window, like beautiful paintings.

Maybe there is a new world inside.

I can't help stopping to enjoy the view each time I pass.

Is designed for a wider view, improving your mood even when you're tired.

Winter Landscape Display (Coziness 61)

A corresponding landscape should be changed into winter.

Such heavy snow! Frozen river! Unfortunately, they are all fake. 

You can enjoy the red maple leaves and snow even at home, isn’t it wonderful?

Loft 

Painting

This is a word map that covers the entire wall.

Looking at it, Gavin and I have already been to so many places.

If you want to travel, you can find the destination on it in advance.

I'm willing to create memories with him in many more places.

Chandelier

The current iron style design is really cool.

Shines warm yellow when turned on, warming our hearts.

Display Cabinet  

It should have been a wine cabinet, but Gavin doesn’t drink, so it became a display cabinet.

The ‘little things’ between me and Gavin are displayed inside.

It looks empty now, but it will slowly be filled up in the future.

Black Tea Table

A black low table in front of the sofa.

I occasionally work here.

The star and moon deco piece is very beautiful, I picked it with Gavin.

You can put fruits and snacks on it while reading.

The wood texture had a matted quality with the black coat of paint.

Art 

Looks cold but is artistic.

Seems useless, but also seems cool.

Greenery

A corner with blooming flowers all seasons, is warm and restful to the eye.

Outside the window is a huge ginkgo tree, and the fallen leaves are like brocade.

I feel like it’s always spring with all these flowers around.

It compliments the scenery outside the window. (They have a ginkgo tree right outside their home!) 

Cabinet 

Photo framed have karmas from the Starry Date and the Romantic Date!

Decorative Cabinet/Snowman Closet (Coziness 49)

The two little snowmen stared at each other throughout the winter. (Cute little reference to the CN Recovery ASMR.)

It looks like a window at first glance, but it’s actually a cabinet if you look carefully.

And you could open it. Didn’t see that coming right? 

Starry Sky Wall (Coziness 52)

Today’s wish… I hope that Gavin…

I will accompany you to see the meteor rain which falls on this Earth.

Every moment a wish is realised, there will be a meteor streaking across the sky.

Dandelion Lamp (Coziness 43)

The lamp looks exactly like the grapefruit during Mid-Autumn Festival.

Like a burning sparkler, shining brightly.

Six light sources, not too dazzling nor too dark.

Festive Decoration Table (Coziness 57)

Although there are two cups of drinks, we can still drink from the same cup.

The sofa in the corner always makes people feel safe. 

Although we are only two people, I still chose two long couches.

The letter under the ginkgo biloba leaf, writes a love poem.

All the shopping bags represent his most flawless love.

The wide view allows you to see the scenery in the yard.

The soft white mat was added afterwards.

But it’s always hot under the sunlight, so the curtain is often pulled down.

Basement

Security Camera 

You are in a monitored area, please mind your actions.

Bulletproof Glass 

It’s not a normal screen, it’s bulletproof.

It's not often that one gets to see such a cool and HARD-CORE transparent screen.

Anyways, curious what’s in this wall.

Sci-fi glass wall in the movies.

The engraved badge is Gavin’s silent pride.

1-2-3... still shorter than it!

Gingko Tree

Seasons slip by soundlessly.

No matter how small their wishes are, they will become seeds and eventually bloom in gold.

All life’s little joys turned into gold.

It guards the serene life here quietly over in the corner.

(Gavin makes ginkgo bookmarks with them for MC. CRIES.)

Corner Resting Area 

These action figures are actually pretty fun!

The puzzle is all grown up. It should be able to piece itself back together. (LOL)

(Puzzle) Maybe finish it while Gavin’s gone? 

(Table) It sometimes thinks the table is a bit short.

(Chair) It looks hard but it’s actually comfortable to sit on.

Very spacious, but looks a bit empty.

Some decorations should be displayed here.

Sitting on a blanket is also very comfortable. You can also lean on the small pillow. 

(Carpet) This is a carpet. You can’t tell, right? 

The advanced smart carpet that is warm in winter and cool in summer is awesome.

(The book on the table is called ‘Kritik Der Urteilskraft’- The Critique of Judgement by famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant. It follows after the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of Practical Reason- the First and Second Critiques, respectively. The Critique of Judgment constitutes a discussion of the place of Judgment itself, which must overlap both the “understanding” and “reason”.)

“You need to take better care of your health.”

“Who was the one working overnight over the proposal the other day?”

“Alright, we’re birds of a feather, so... so both of us should look after ourselves for each other!” 

“Rest assured, I will. After all, it’s different now. I have you by my side.”  -Harmonous Compa Special Happening

Gavin’s Workspace

Accompany Gavin though every sleepless night.

This seems… No, I’m seeing things.

All folders are neatly organised and arranged.

A spacious table, with files and reports spread all over when busy.

I no need to worry about waking up from naps due to cold late at night.

I was reminded of some criminal investigation shows I have watched. Come on, Officer Gavin!

If this complicated case is made into a movie, it will be an exhilarating one. 

(Computer) A customised large-screen UHD model customised for work purpose.

(Computer) Work exclusive computer, only connected to intranet.

(Computer) The three auxiliary monitors can help keep the data safe.

(Chair) If you want to protect your waist, you should first have a comfortable cushion.

(Chair) if you work long hours, be sure to work in a comfortable chair.

(Board Area) What does it say? Ermm… Cats have nine lives? 

“Found a girl crookedly drawn next to a work record when he reached a bottleneck.” 

Airplane

This airplane model was assembled by Gavin himself.

The computer says-  Agent B-7

Team Operator S.T.R.I.K.E

Location Tracker 

S.P.Y Camera 

U4V Commando

Gunship Operation 

Motorcycle Repair Area 

Every vehicle is so cool in its own way! 

Hello, you are... Little… Erm… Let me think… 

With the strength to lift mountains and the spirit to take on the world! Ha! 

The robot arm is actually a simple robot.

For your safety, please don’t linger below it

(Motorcycle) I would like to greet my seniors.

Electronic Control Pad

Responsible for controlling the rising, descending and switches of the entire area.

On Spring Festival, it will say: Happy New Year, Sir!”

Sooner or later, fully automated smart management will be achieved.

Radio Office 

It’s an important communication device, and the only disadvantage is that it’s a bit heavy.

It’s actually a satellite phone, and it can receive signals everywhere.

Looks like the palm phone in the 90s. Oh no, I’ve exposed myself.

It looks like an electrocardiogram.

Don’t know how to use this weird device.

A thick laptop that it’s properly shut when not in use.

A cool eagle logo is printed on it.

Gavin used it only for special tasks and it will not be brought out.

LMAO MC DOESN’T HAVE ACCESS-

Courtyard 

Corner Seating Area 

A courtyard in sunny or snowy days are interested in their own ways.

Sometimes the unfrequented bolsters will envy the knee pillow.

It's’ wonderful when two people are sitting here reading, even if they don’t talk.

Standing barefoot on the soft lawn is very comfortable.

There's nothing nicer than basking ourselves when its sunny.

Binoculars

The white binoculars which you can see things several miles away.

You can use it to watch the stars when it’s not too cloudy.

But star-watching is clearer mid-air.

Seems to be the same binoculars as those in the scenic area.

The binoculars in the scenic area require coins, but this one doesn't.

Outdoor Lounge Chairs 

The new furniture I asked Gavin to buy.

Can enjoy the sunlight spa comfortably when relaxing. 

Closing my eyes, I feel like I’m lying on a beach.

The soft breeze and warm sunshine. This is life. 

Lying on it and looking at the blue sky and white clouds, your mind goes blank easily.

The blue and white clouds-

Leisure Table/Romantic Table (Coziness 52)

Lace tablecloth… I can’t imagine that it was chosen by Gavin.

The elaborately prepared dinner and roses, just for today.

A large sunshade on the balcony. (Black large umbrella.)

Bird Nest (Coziness 37) 

Once it was a pair of binoculars, now it’s a bird’s nest.

I bought it just because it was cute, but I’ll consider having pets in the future.

Birds flying by can also have a free meal here.

[dutchforstrangers]

Digimon Astrology Journey - Independent women: Sora & Mimi

For references, more understanding and background, make sure to read my posts about basic Astrology 101! Part 1 | Part 2. 

A fire Sun/Moon placement combined with a strong Taurus placement... Look out for Femme Fatales! They have a natural beauty, are bold, sensual, strong and creative. Sora and Mimi both have all of that, even though they have very different personalities. Most likely because Sora’s Rising placement balances out her Sun and Moon with compassion and caring protectiveness while Mimi’s big three is here to be a princess and to live for the applause whenever she feels like. 

See it like this: Sora takes care with passion, Mimi wants to be passionately taken care for every once in a while. 

The important stuff

Sora Takenouchi, March 21st 1988 (around 11AM)

Sun: Aries (fire-cardinal) 

Moon: Taurus (earth-fixed)

Rising: Cancer (water-cardinal) 

Mimi Tachikawa, July 24th 1989 (around 11.30PM)

Sun: Leo (fire-fixed) 

Moon: Aries (fire-cardinal) 

Rising: Taurus (earth-fixed)

Charts and analyses under read more!

Beware!: I calculated their birthdays by assigning them a Sun and Moon placement. All of this is NOT CANON! It’s inspired by/based on the canon. I use these analyses and their headcanon birth charts as a reference/character sheet for -as an example- my own fanfiction. Of course be my guest to use these for your own, but remember it’s just someone else’s (in this case it being my) headcanon ;) Some credit, a reblog or a like when used is appreciated. 

Sora Takenouchi - March 21st 1988

We do know in Our War Game, Taichi gave her that hairpin for her birthday in the Spring break between 5th and 6th grade (for her 12th birthday). Conclusion: she probably has her birthday somewhere between March 20th and April 6th (even when it’s not canon? I once read that her birthday is not canon even though the movie implies her birthday is around that time…). Meaning two things: she is either an Aries Sun or a Pisces Sun. I went for the Aries Sun, because I feel like the Pisces is too ‘dreamy’ for her. Her Sun however is on the thin line between Pisces and Aries (even better: if she was born around midnight on the same day, she would have been a Pisces!). So she is an Aries, but her Aries Sun will probably be highly influenced by Pisces.

An Aries Sun is independent, determined and has a strong physical appearance. These Suns NEED sport or some kind of physical and practical activity to feel good, which in Adventure turns into Sora’s absolute and passionate love for soccer. The determination and independency can be seen in DA episode 26 when she stands up against her mother because of soccer even though her knee is hurt. However, that independency and determination is more often towards or for the sake of others, for example when Sora takes off on her own to secretely help her friends. This probably comes from her Sun placement close to Pisces, making her more compassionate and sensitive than any other Aries Suns. And it’s due to her Rising placement. 

Intermezzo: Reboot 2020 Sora is more of an Aries than her original counterpart. I know the character building in the Reboot isn’t that good -or even not existing at all-, but looking through the Astro-glasses, I do see some character. Reboot Sora fits perfectly in this chart!

Sora is a Cancer Rising. Cancer Risings are, even more than the Cancer Suns, protective of others. Cancer Risings tend to see everything or otherwise WANT to see everything. They’re not nosy, they just want to check on you and make sure you’re safe, healthy and happy. This is in fact Sora in a nutshell. 

Taking care of others is their priority number one and that’s exactly what Sora does all the time. Cancer is often called the mother of the Zodiac, a title she is given every once in a while. In Tri episode 10 (Confession pt 1) Meiko says “You’re just like a mom”, and Meiko is someone who doesn’t know Sora for that long. Even she sees, feels and experiences it, making Sora a natural mom-like protector. 

And even though that motherly role is not something what she wants to achieve, it comes natural to Sora. There are more DigiDestined with Cancer placements, but somehow it’s Sora who they call a mom all the time. Her Aries Sun makes her passionate and determined, while her Cancer Rising makes her care and protect. This Aries-Cancer dynamic gives her a mom-like character you can’t get around. 

Sora’s first reaction after Meiko calls her a mom is annoyance and a way of denying and is most likely her Aries-Cancer dynamic. Cancers have a hard shell and they like to keep it that way. Aries can say and feel things before thinking it through. Her face and reaction is a mix of that Cancer’s shell, not wanting to admit she is a mom, and Aries’ impulsiveness, an immediate and bold reaction. (However, it could also be her Moon speaking.)

Cancer Rising makes her sensitive, protective and caring. Place it next to her Aries Sun and she is a bold and independent person with a strong emotional touch. Put her Moon in Taurus next to all of that and she becomes a perceptive human being.

Taurus Moons are highly disciplined, can be somewhat stubborn and crave stability. They like to show others they have everything under control, all the while their bodies extremely react to stress, making Taurus Moons very emotional and (inwardly) reactive people. This could be the explanation why Sora is having such a hard time putting her feelings into words or even doesn’t want to talk about her emotions at all, even when she has these very strong, physical and intuitive feelings and emotions from time to time. So whenever she does have her words ready, she won’t say it, because she thinks about the other first. It’s likely for Sora to bottle everything up and when she can’t hold it any much longer, it will all come out at once. 

With her Mars placement in Capricorn -making her ambitious, feel responsible and act thoughtful- on top of it all, she might has the tendency to overwork herself and go into these downward spirals. Especially when she feels -in both her work and private live- like she can not mean anything to others. This is likely due to her MC = Midheaven (career and calling) in Pisces which makes Sora humble and very ambitious in helping others. And here it comes: preferably through sports or art! Maybe that’s why she is suddenly drawn into Ikebana. And I feel like she isn’t an ordinary fashion designer, but someone who wants to help others feel good through her designs. 

Also a Taurus Moon can make one very traditional, which is the case with Sora. In Adventure she caves more into standing up against her mother, which is more of the Aries-Taurus dynamic: stubborn and determined. Later on, especially in Kizuna, it turns into working with her mother which could be the Cancer-Taurus dynamic. And When she chooses for herself in Kizuna, she’s fully into her big three, using them all three equally. Well, if that isn’t growing up… No shit she was the first one to lose her partner (which I still think is so sad…).

Mimi Tachikawa - July 24th 1989

To me, Mimi is WITHOUT A DOUBT a Leo Sun. And also without a doubt a Taurus Rising! Making her a very very very fierce lady. With an extra emphasize on lady. Her Aries Moon makes her even more bold.

As you can see, her Leo Sun placement is on the thin line with Cancer, which means Cancer influences her Leo Sun and makes her more caring towards others whenever it’s needed. But: the Leo Sun is charismatic and can have a big ego. This is pointed out by Koushiro in Tri episode 6 (Determination pt 2). That ego could make Mimi chose for herself and the people that affect her directly in a certain situation first. Her Taurus Rising and Aries Moon will probably emphasize that even more. Let me be clear: that’s not a bad thing! It’s a good thing knowing what you want and need. And Mimi is a good at that! In comparison to Sora, Mimi is way better in letting others know what she really thinks and feels. In that same episode, just a view seconds before Koushiro puts her in her place, she says she is “sick of Palmon and the others being critisized”. Mimi is honest and sincere, of course she has the Crest of Sincerity/Purity! 

Leo Suns tend to be bossy, they like to boss around and delegate, something we see Mimi is very good at in the series. When she acts and dresses like a princess in Adventure episode 25, in the second arc of Tri (Determination) with her ‘Daters café’, even in the DA: 2020 reboot twice (episodes 6 and 37). She is a princess and a queen, but let’s not forget she can be an awefully good leader and Mimi is an amazing entrepreneur foremost! 

Whatever you think of Leo Suns, they are organized, can be very inspirational, work hard and are very creative. As an entrepreneur myself I can tell that those are the traits you have to possess if you want to make it into the business world. Mimi with her Leo Sun is all up for that! Seeing her starting up her own business in Kizuna is so suiting for her and with this amazing birth chart, it MUST be her calling. Even her Midheaven is in Capricorn, which makes her ambitious, hard working and possibly a tough business woman! She is very practical and needs to immediately act, do stuff. 

As for her Taurus Rising, funny thing with this placement is they can have these explosive tantrums, something we could see with Sora too. However, Sora gets angry and passionate after she bottled things up for too long. Mimi on the other hand just passionately rants when she thinks and feels is the right thing to do. Again I refere to the specific moment in Tri, but there are probably a lot more of these moments. Mimi is such a sweet girl, but in the end, she wants it her way and she will get it. She is stubborn, not to listen to any bullshit you have to say. She can be easily bored due to the Leo-Aries dynamic. Though to be clear, she isn’t shallow. Mimi just has a filter for bullshit and won’t budge easily, due to her Mercury in Leo too. However, when you do say something that moves her in whatever kind of way, she will act on that and makes sure it will work for her. This could partially be her Venus in Virgo, making her have the ability to be more critical to and reflective on her own values.   

Back to Mimi’s Taurus Rising which wants security just like Sora’s Moon placement, but in case of the Rising placements Mimi finds that security more in materialistic comfort. Mimi likes to possess stuff and things. Clothes, accessories, plants, designer furniture, cute home decoration and more. Flying business class? Definitely her Taurus Rising in combination with her Leo Sun. Her Aries Moon makes her impulsive and that Moon in combination with all of the above makes her buy new things and stuff on impulse. Good thing the girl is rich!  

Mimi’s Aries Moon was a placement I had to put some thought in, but I knew she had a fire Moon. In the end, Aries fits the bill. Aries Moons make act quick and impulsive which lead them straight into action. They have a need for independency, which makes Mimi’s Leo Sun more bold and independent. The Leo-Aries dynamic makes Mimi a natural leader, her Taurus-Leo dynamic makes her a sensual leader and her Aries-Taurus dynamic a inspirational leader. She is a leader, she just needs to make sure she doesn’t become too bossy. And she has to pay attention to not let her emotions rule her actions, which is very common with Aries Moons. 

Mimi is a badass woman, but let’s not forget she has a soft side too. Again, Mimi’s Leo Sun will likely be influenced by Cancer, making her Leo Sun more protective towards others. Her Moon in her 12th House could imply she needs more alone time than others -and herself included- think. Her Venus in Virgo in her 5th House makes her more devoted and dedicated towards relationships, making her a caring and devoted friend (and lover). We see her devotion towards her own value and others in the Dark Masters arc in Adventure, when she makes a decision based on her own values and what she thinks is important to do. Mimi is not afraid to act and therefore she is beautiful and very strong! 

Her Venus in Virgo love-wise could also mean she is held back when it comes to love and relationships. Not because she’s insecure, but because she is picky and very critical when it comes to her partners! Hahaha, can you imagine Mimi breaking things of with someone, because he or she or they doesn’t meet up to her standards? Because I definitely can.

For an end note on both girls: People with a Taurus placement (mainly a Taurus Sun, but I’m using the freedom of intepretation rn) in the Big three are often called ‘natural beauties’. I think that’s very accurate with these two gorgeous anime ladies, don’t you agree??

Also bonus: strong, very caring and loving friendship between these two that can go the distance <3

[jokertrap-ran]

(时空中的绘旅人—For All Time—) Clarence Route Translations (Chapter 16-1 阿萝拉: Aurora)

*For All Time Master-list / Clarence’s Personal Master-list *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Maintaining Si Lan’s name as Clarence *Route Tag is #Chapter of Legacy

I hid behind the screen but made sure to do it in a way that allowed me to observe the Water Mirror without Sun Zhuoyi noticing me.

Aurora knelt on the ground, her fingertips flashing with white light as the Water Mirror appeared on the ground.

The Water Mirror rippled; and soon enough, the familiar face of Sun Zhuoyi appeared.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Alert, I tuned my ears into their conversation.

I want to know just what he's talking about with Aurora; just what sort of information is he getting, by maintaining contact with Yemsaiel? I want to know just what he has planned for earth, and why he wished to destroy my world.

Unfortunately, it all ended up in one big disappointment.

He only listened to Aurora's tearful ranting, as patient as ever, even warmly telling her how to regulate her own breathing and teaching her ways to soothe her tummy aches. He looked fondly at the thin young girl that hailed from another world. His face was kindly enough, he kept a reassuring smile on his face throughout everything, and everything he said was done so warmly, gently. 

Aurora: Uncle? Didn't you promise Aurora that you'll learn a new song and sing it to her today? ...Aurora wants to sleep… She wants to hear you sing... 

He nodded, casting his gaze downwards as he broke out into a low song.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

He sang of the nursery rhymes of the modern world. His voice was a very low baritone, but his song was gentle, capable of moving a person's heart.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Stars are sleeping, snow gently falling.

Where has the butterfly gone; for my hand still holds the fragrance of flowers...

Flower buds sprout as the snow melts, where oh where do these little footprints lead…

And at the end of the road, stood her which was lost…

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Aurora: Sounds nice...

Aurora: Aurora loves Uncle's singing the most...

When facing Aurora, Sun Zhuoyi simply just looked like a father who was gazing tenderly at his precious child, treasuring every second of his interaction with her.

Aurora: Sleepy… Aurora's gonna take a nap first...

Aurora quietly mumbled, lying down on the floor and drifting off into sleep.

Clarence was right; Aurora was close to losing control. She probably only insisted on coming to see the Water Mirror because… Because she really relied on Sun Zhuoyi...

As a Mage herself, there weren't many ordinary people who'd willingly interact with her like that. Maybe normal interactions with someone of another world is absolutely precious to someone like her.

Sun Zhuoyi: Ngh...

I heard him release a choked sob.

Aurora was already sound asleep. Why… Why is he crying? Unless… Did he really pity her…? Is he truly sincerely crying for the suffering she's facing right now? Just what is he thinking…? What is his intention for wanting to destroy the world?

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Filled with doubts, I walked up and lowered my head to face the Water Mirror.

MC: Hello, Mr. Sun.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

MC: I still wish to speak with you, even if it has to be through the Water Mirror.

He looked a little taken aback to be seeing me here.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

He quickly recomposed himself into the familiar "member of society" that I knew, levelling a calm look at me.

Sun Zhuoyi: Hello, (Y/n). I really never thought that I'd be seeing you ever again.

MC: Yeah, I never thought that you'd sing that we'll either. You're so talented that it's truly such a waste that you didn't participate in the "Starry Cup".

Thinking about how killing Selene was part of his design, I couldn't help but to spitefully snark in his face.

He paid no heed to my sarcasm, only calmly opening his mouth to speak with me.

Sun Zhuoyi: That's right, (Y/n). Selene died on the day of the "Starry Cup"; it was all part of my plan, just like how you were forcefully summoned to Yemsaiel.

Sun Zhuoyi: And to me, that world named "Yemsaiel" is way more important compared to the world I'm currently living in.

Sun Zhuoyi: Because Yemsaiel is where my daughter on the stars is; and I've already lost all my loved ones here on earth.

Saying so, he raised his hand, signalling for me to give him a moment. He whipped out his wallet and flipped through it, taking out an old, yellowed photo.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Depicted in the photo, was a cultured Scholar accompanied by a little girl that resembled Aurora.

The scholar within was pointing up to the starry skies above while talking to the little girl… He was probably teaching her to recognize the many different constellations.

Sun Zhuoyi: Her name's Sun Lin, my one and only daughter. My wife left me quite early on due to a fall-out, leaving only my daughter by my side.

Sun Zhuoyi: I once pursued my astronomical research like a madman, devoting my entire being into it. I was always immersed in either my observations, or the calculations, for the most part. And I'd once thought the sky above much more interesting that the ground I tread upon.

Sun Zhuoyi: But one day, I tore my eyes away from the Astronomical Telescope and found that she was no longer there.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Sun Zhuoyi: She went on a Spring Trip with a friend and strayed into a cave that collapsed onto itself, dying of suffocation. Ironically enough, I was still in the throes of excitement, from having observed the collision of two neutron stars, right before I received news of her untimely demise.

Sun Zhuoyi: I still remember not having cried that night. I didn't cry; all I did was to laugh. I laughed so hard the entire night that everyone in the lab thought me crazy.

Sun Zhuoyi: I laughed at myself. I thought that I'd finally embraced the entire galaxy and the universe for what they were. But the truth was that I wasn't even able to protect my one and only daughter.

MC: Even if you did lose your daughter, that's still no reason for you to be harming Selene...

He nodded gently.

Sun Zhuoyi: I know. I know very well. A villain may voice all pain and hardship they've gone through and endured, but it's only capable of gaining the forgiveness of young children and nothing more.

Sun Zhuoyi: I do not wish to defend my case, but I've become very weary of the world after losing her. I delved headfirst into researching space-time resonance, using the transmitter in the Observatory to transmit news about Earth to the entire universe.

Sun Zhuoyi: Perhaps I was truly hoping that aliens would come destroy this planet and end my pain and suffering once and for all.

Sun Zhuoyi: I managed to get a connection with the Water Mirror in Yemsaiel after that, and met the Chief Mage, Clarence. I agreed to cooperate with him.

Sun Zhuoyi: That's right... I was the one who helped him find you. The Water Mirror required a medium before it was able to observe the happenings of Earth. I've seen you before, back when you were still in your hometown. And that's when I realized that maybe you were the one that Clarence was seeking.

He said that he saw me before…? Was that back when I was still thinking of applying for St.Shelter's University? Or was it before that? Maybe that's when he left something that allowed Clarence to observe me through the Water Mirror.

Sun Zhuoyi: I'm willing to cooperate with him for any of his plans, because I saw Aurora within the Water Mirror… And she looks exactly like Sun Lin.

Sun Zhuoyi: For this, I wholeheartedly thank the universe— Oh, how miraculous the universe is to allow me to bypass the galaxies to find my one and only, most precious, treasure in this entire world.

He looked a little fanatical saying that.

I knew deep down that Aurora wasn't Sun Lin. She was only Sun Lin's counterpart in this parallel world, at most. But I also knew that I shouldn't bring this up, for fear of triggering Sun Zhuoyi. 

To him, the topic of his daughter was the most traumatic and touchy subject.

He'd truly descend to madness if he lost Aurora, if he lost his 'daughter' again. It was the only thing holding him together.

Sun Zhuoyi calmed down from his tirade and continued conversing with me with his usual gentle and composed demeanour.

Sun Zhuoyi: (Y/n), I've told you so much, not because I want to confess everything to you, nor is it a plea for me to win over your compassion and forgiveness.

Sun Zhuoyi: All I want is for us to make a deal— I've also talked to that Mage, Clarence, before about it.

Sun Zhuoyi: I want you to protect Aurora.

Sun Zhuoyi: I'm not stupid. I know that she's losing control of her magic due to overuse. And that Mage, Clarence, he's nowhere near benevolent.

Sun Zhuoyi: Although he did promise me to protect Aurora if I helped him find his blood sacrifice, there's no longer any real need for him to uphold that agreement now that you're already in Yemsaiel.

It was here that his words began to come out in a hurry. I then realized that he was actually literally worried out of his mind.

Sun Zhuoyi: (Y/n), I swear to you. No harm will come upon your world as long as my daughter amidst the stars continue living and breathing.

Sun Zhuoyi: Don't let her use her magic ever again. I don't want to see her turn into an Ice Butterfly… I hope she can live her life like she should, just like the normal young lady that she is...

He gave another dry swallow as he reached the end of his sentence.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

The Water Mirror slowly disappeared as the magic that Aurora had used to activate it began to dissipate. I saw him, right before the Water Mirror disappeared completely. 

His face, full of tears.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥Chapter of Legacy✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Previous Part: (Chapter 15-2) | Next Part: (Chapter 16-2)

[chemicalpink]

Trust Fund Baby ♡ Kim Seokjin

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x reader

Genre: Fluff + Softcore Smut with a side of Comedy

Word Count: 6.1k

Warnings: includes softcore porn, mc cries during sex bc too much feelings, fake engagement, Jin’s mum dislikes YN

Summary: Kim Seokjin is the biggest Trust Fund Baby, it is no secret but he’s almost thirty and on the line to inherit his dad’s CEO position, which makes his family set a deadline for his engagement or he loses it all.

OR

The one where Seokjin is no good with buried feelings but Y/N isn’t any better (they kinda hate each other and they have to share a bed okay, thats the cliche here)

A/N: banner made by me, whoa I finally got this bad boy finished that took quite some time, well, I hope you enjoy, these past few days haven’t been nice to me but I’m slowly working on it. Much blessing to all of you reading this first attempt at a slightly longer shot.

Seokjin has always been one to enjoy the finest things in life, traveling around the world at any given time? check. shopping without checking the price tag? check. attending a top tier university? also check. 

The thing is, one can only live so long without having to actually work for every single swipe of a black card. He is about to turn 28, youngest child of the most successful tech innovator in Korea and a former second-place Miss Universe, and he has yet to bring a girl home that provides him with some kind of secured future to the family name.

“We are not getting any younger” his mother had said the first few times the topic was brought up during their usual family Sunday brunch, but the words fell on deaf ears.

When his dad started getting involved in the matter, Seokjin knew he was over and done with.

But as much as his dad was headstrong, Jin was one himself too, he entered each blind date knowing that he would make whoever was sitting across from him, absolutely despise him after less than an hour went by, which was quite a hard task in itself, seen as he was pretty good looking and with a heavy amount of money under his name. 

See, he would have probably agreed to marry to some of the girls that his dad sent his way, but every time he sat down for dinner with each of them, they were not even trying to fake being interested in him, just his lifestyle, whether it is if his dad was about to name him CEO any time soon or how much money they could blow off in the wedding.

He could do it for the rest of his living days, scaring off his father’s candidates, that is. It was somewhat fun, earning a weirded out look when he mentioned he liked bathing in goats milk religiously, or how he allegedly liked being put to sleep like a baby, he even once went as far as admitting a fake toe kink in the most perverted way possible when one of them just wouldn’t budge.

Then again, his fun could only last so long, as his father called him up to the office to give him a 30-day ultimatum or his trust fund would be taken away for good. Now that had the gears in his head working, how on earth would any sane enough person agree to marry in a month-long time.

“I’m not saying you’re not a keeper, hyung but I honestly don’t think I can take up such a responsibility,” Namjoon laughed as they sat in one of the campus’ lounge chairs while they waited for their class to start, the elder groaned in response.

“Could you imagine having to marry THE Kim Seokjn in less than a month, but also having to meet the standards of tech genius Mr Kim and universal beauty Mrs Kim” Jungkook laughed at his friend as he patted his shoulder in pity “I don’t think anyone is willing to put themselves through it hyung”

“Could you just- I don’t know, help me out a bit? I already know I’m fucked” 

“Okay, let’s say… who could pass the scrutinising judgemental eye of the Kims?” the blond one offered, just a bit of teasing in his tone “They would have to be a girl, your father seems adamant on that one” he paused as if in thought “ A nice family name would help too”

“She would have to be good looking too, my mum says Seokjin-hyung’s mum can never be seen without looking like she is about to own a runway” 

“Well that’s about it, I will be broke for the rest of my life, I won’t be able to pay my student loans, it was nice knowing you guys, I’ll just have to work at some greasy old diner to pay for a one-bedroom apartment somewhere out of the city and we’ll never hang out again because I’ll be a disgrace of society, this handsome face will just wrinkle and spot without the high maintenance and- ugh” he buried his face in between his hands, resting on the table in an overexaggerated manner after his rant, making the youngers try to stifle a laugh

“Whoa, what is the drama queen crying about now?” Taehyung, another friend of theirs approached the table after hearing the not so subtle commotion “Hyung, if your night cream went out of stock again, you know I can get my mum to ship some to you, we’ve talked about this”

If Seokjin’s dramatic outburst from before had made them laugh, Taehyungs’ confession made them burst in a fit of laughter that had both of them holding onto their sides “You’ve- you’ve had to restock Seokjin-hyung on- on night cream before?” 

“And now he’s going to kill me, stop laughing!” he took a seat next to them “What is this about anyway?”

“His dad said he has to marry or they will completely obliterate his spending rights” 

“Oh but, how hard can it be? You’re Kim Seokjin, just ask a girl to fake marry you” 

“He’s just worried that after having a taste of Worldwide Handsome, they won’t let go ” Seokjin let out an overdramatic groan at that, continuing to fake cry, sound muffled by his arms

“Then just ask someone that doesn’t give two shits about your money or reputation to fake marry you”

“I don’t think such a person exists, hyung”

“Yah, Y/N is a good option, her family is filthy rich too” 

“But isn’t Y/N… you know, a bastard child?” Taehyung was known amongst their scene as a social butterfly, not caring about the protocol they were subdued into when they were children, so it made sense that while for them it was almost a rule to never consider an illegitimate child a friend of theirs, Taehyung would just jump over that fact.

“Which is exactly my point, if you show up to your parents’ house, saying you’re ‘oh so in love with this black sheep’ I could bet my life, they’ll let you off the hook”

 So maybe Taehyung was right, you were his best shot so far. Contrary to what most people new to the scene of Korea’s high society believe about your social status as an illegitimate child of the car emporium’s CEO and national treasure, he knows you are more of an insider, having grown up with him but… pretty much on the side. It wasn’t like you were alien to his lifestyle, but as you both grew up and he was involved more in the family business, you had grown apart, going as far as rebelling against your father once you were grown up enough to understand what being a bastard child meant for you. 

He never stopped seeing you around though, once you started going MIA on business dinners and family trips, he thought enough to see you during classes.

However, you stopped being recognisable after he attended a semester abroad, coming back home to see pigtails and pink puffy dresses long gone, in their place, ripped jeans, which were completely unacceptable for a lady, according to his mum, and driving one of your dad’s self-proclaimed archnemesis designs. 

It was a spring semester in high school, he could recall the time as if it were a precious memory, while the rest tried to pretend it had never happened in the first place; at age 27 he doesn’t have to try so hard to recall the way you burst into one of your father’s celebratory cocktails, drunk off your ass, barely managing to get a hold of some mic and screaming into it how he, and everyone else attending the party, had a stick up their asses that didn’t let them see anything but price tags before you were dragged off stage by security. He had giggled at it but his mother had scolded him, asking him to pretend as if you had never existed in the first place.

So of course, the secure way out of an arranged marriage was simple: you. 

Now, this promised to be no easy task, he knew you hated his family almost as much as you hated your own father, but he also happened to know his way into negotiating an infallible plan that would get you to rebel against the system you were so adamant on taking down. 

“Wait wait wait, so you’re telling me, asking me, to marry you” so perhaps approaching you on your way to class wasn’t the smartest way to do it, seen as you halted your hasty walk to turn to look at him, books in hand and looking like you hadn’t slept in days.

“Yeah, fake marrying me though” 

“I would still sign a contract, Jin you do know we would be legally married, right?” he just raised his shoulders as if to dismiss your statement.

“Say, hypothetically I do it, I don’t think your parents would approve of me” you resumed your walk and he found it appropriate to play dumb with a smile on his face.

“Why wouldn’t they?” 

You stopped walking again and blinked a few times his way as if debating inside your head if he really was that dense“Jin… I’m a bastard child, you know how it goes around here”

“Hmmm I’m willing to look past that, yeah” you stared at him for a few seconds before smiling in a knowing way, resisting the urge to roll your eyes at him,  not being able to see past his words to his true intentions on the matter since you two hadn’t really hung out for years “So what do you say?”

“No thank you” you weren’t about to turn around once you started to walk away once again, but out of the corner of your eyes you could see him hanging his mouth open in that drama fashion he was known for.

Days passed and each one seemed to go by faster than the last, by the time two weeks were left, he could practically hear the ticking clock inside his head, reminding him that maybe he should have gone for an easier target, perhaps some girl from the country club that seemed to always try so hard to steal a glance from him. But then again, he wouldn’t get rid of her for all he’s worth.

Seokjin tries, again and again, everytime ending up with a no from you, he starts actually trying as his days run low, peer pressure, you’d call it as he set up a huge booth full of roses just outside your dorm building, a mic held in his hand as everyone around him took videos of THE Kim Seokjin making a fool of himself for a girl, your cheeks blazing red as you walked up to him, finally fed up with him as you angrily whispered to him “You’re asking me because you don’t think I am on your level, you honestly think less of me, why? because I didn’t grow up in a golden cradle like you and your friends? because I actually have to work for what I have? You’re an asshole Kim Seokjin, but I will prove you, I can absolutely charm both of your parents, I’ll do it” Seokjin’s grin taking over his features.

The first time you officially posed as Seokjin’s girlfriend, you wouldn’t have thought it would be one of the most nerve wrecking experiences in your life, having grown in a wealthy family, after your mother decided to leave you with your biological dad and his rightful heirs, you were no stranger to their roundabouts, their lifestyle and everything in between.

“Well you cleaned up nicely, Y/N” Seokjin said in a mocking tone, body resting against his black car just outside your dorm building as he watched you close the glass door, ready to drive both of you to his family’s vacation house all the way in Jeju Island

“Why aren’t you a gentleman and help me with my stuff?” you groaned as, once again, your suitcase betrays you and tries to slip away from your grasp.

“Nah, not really my thing” he adjusted his sunglasses perched on his nose as he mockingly added “...darling”

“Kim Seokjin, I am the one doing you a favour by going with you!” you shouted back at him, in a futile attempt to get him to help you as he was already buckling himself up  inside the driver’s seat.

In all wealthy family fashion, as soon as Seokjin phoned back home to let his parents know that he was ‘finally ready to bring his girlfriend over’ his mum had gone all out and invited most of the inner Kim family for a weekend get together in one of their houses in Jeju, with just a text the night before having to leave campus as a heads up for you to get ready, currently on your way to catch a plane. 

“Wait so let me just get this straight” you said, surprised at Seokjin’s story of how the conversation with his mum went down, turning in your seat to face him more clearly “just after month of your parents trying to set you up, you just went ahead and straight up lied to your mother by saying that you’re bringing your long time girlfriend that you just somehow never mentioned before?”

“Yeah, Y/N, didn’t you hear me out the first time?”

You let out something between a laugh and a scoff as you melted into your seat “We’re so screwed”

Two hours and a lot of bickering later, you are still pushing your own suitcase forward as you and Seokjin made your way to a rented car just outside the airport.

“Listen so- these family things are kinda..”

“Stuck up?”

“I was gonna say etiquette-driven, but yeah, stuck up probably fits best” he said as you buckled your seatbelt on, him beginning to drive away and towards his family address, somewhere from the side of your eye you could see his hand trembling lightly on the steering wheel. Could it be that Kim Seokjin was nervous? The Kim Seokjin? 

“Relax Jin, I know exactly how to handle it. We grew up together, remember?” you said smiling at him as he turned your way for a second; to calm him down, but honestly it was more a thing to try and calm yourself down, having ran away from such a lifestyle, stirring things up in your family, only to end up somehow at the center of it all was sure a wild ride to be on.

“Yeah, I sometimes kinda forget you used to be so much better at this stuff than your sisters” his eyes lingered on you a second too long as you stopped at a red light, a small smile taking over his lips and the car behind you being quick to make it known that Seokjin was taking up too long to start the car going again when the light changed.

The ride was pretty much silent and kinda awkward but soon over with as the car pulled up to a familiar villa, white houses with fancy front gardens and over the top luxury cars lining up together as Jin parked on the third house on the right, just beside the one that used to be your father’s, and probably still was.

A woman was waiting by the entrance door, which you soon recognised to be Seokjin’s mum, looking just a tad older than how you remembered her from all those years ago, a bright smile on her face as she rushed to the driver’s side to greet her son.

“Ah Seokjinnie! You never visit anymore, look at you! Are you eating well? You look so thin!” she said as she placed two sonorous kisses on her son, one  on each cheek.

“Yah, eomma, we talk on the phone a lot though” 

“Wait so who’s the lucky lady you’ve brought home?” you stood kind of awkwardly on the front of the car to greet her with a small bow and a faltering smile, your heart speeding up at the memories of what your life used to be, fingers gripping your bag tighter in an attempt to not run away as soon as her eyes landed on you and her smile fell “Y/N? Seokjinnie, is Y/N really the girl you brought home?”

“Surprise?” Jin said from behind her as she not so subtly let out a huff and entered the house as you tried not to notice how your heart sinked at the sight, surely, you had always known deep down that you were quite the talk of the town amongst the families, with you being a bastard child and all, which was exactly why Seokjin had asked you to pretend to be his girlfriend, so his parents would drop the topic, very much preferring to see his son single rather than married to an out of marriage offspring, which not only made you realise that what you had promised yourself to make Seokjin down his words would never be true, you could never in a million years make his parents love you, and you didn’t calculate just how much it would hurt yourself as you tried.

“You can take the room upstairs, I’ll call you when your sister’s back so we can have dinner together” his mother said as she made her way inside without another word

“So I don’t think your mother likes me” you blurted out as soon as you closed the door to the room “Which I guess, goes exactly as you planned, after this I don’t think they’ll be pestering you to marry”

“Y/N that’s the least of our problems”

“What are you talking about?”

His eyes opened up to emphasize along with his hands dramatically pointing towards the bed “There’s only one bed and I have a bad back so I’m not about to sleep on the floor”

“Well that’s the least you could do Kim, I’m not about to share a bed with you”

“Take the couch?” he said as he pointed to a small couch that faced the window 

“Kim Seokjin I’m doing this much for your sorry ass, so unless you want me to go down and tell your mother that all of this is a set up, you take the damn couch”

“Well I never knew you looked that hot while yelling at me, Y/N”

“You’re insufferable” 

“Y/N come on, I don’t fit in that couch” he whined at you as you walked towards the bathroom to freshen up

“Do as you please Seokjin, but you’re not sleeping with me” 

As if dealing with Seokjin’s mum wasn’t enough, his sister was about to burst your head either from all the questioning or out of spite from the looks she was giving you as you sat across from her on the dinner table

“So Y/N, your sisters never mentioned you dating our Seokjin”

“Oh yeah- it was more of a very private matter, we dated for awhile just to see how it went, right Jinnie?” you said the nickname in a honey dripping voice that fitted the fake scenario you had going on

“Ahh yeah, yeah, Y/N and I, we uh- we like keeping to ourselves”

“And I haven’t seen you at your dad’s company dinners after- well, the incident”

“Seung” their oldest brother said sternly, catching up with her intentions “We’re just glad to see you again, Y/N”

“Thanks”

After dinner, Jin and you walked upstairs saying your goodbyes to the rest of his family to enter the bedroom, separately doing your night routines, you lied on one side of the bed as Seokjin prepped a few blankets and pillows in order to lie on the floor “I was just joking, you know? You could sleep on the other side of the bed” you said, feeling somewhat guilty at how he had taken your past statement as a rule

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable” he was quick to say, already tossing at being uncomfortable lying on the floor.

“Oh so now you’re being considerate?” you scoffed- sure, Seokjin was kind of a dick, most of the time, but he wasn't half as bad as most people his age and social status, but honestly speaking, if he was so preoccupied on making you uncomfortable, he wouldn’t have even proposed to make you go through this whole ordeal “After what I just had to go through with your sister?”

“Well you kind of accepted to come” he retorted in a soft voice, one you hadn’t listened to him use before, as if over the course of the short dinner time, something had changed in your relationship “A friend doing me a favour, you know?”

“Seokjin…” you trailed off, however as far as you two went back, after news broke that you were somewhat cut off from your father’s heirship, and everyone started treating you cold as ever, you would have thought Jin had gotten the clue “We stopped being friends a long time ago”

“What are you talking about” the night was filled with silence apart from your two whispering voices in the dark as both of you laid there

“Yeah after… that time, we hadn’t talked to each other until now” Describing your relationship with Seokjin was one of the most difficult things to do, while you were still part of the official lineage of your father’s, the Kims had actually even rooted for you to marry Seokjin, whomst you were head over heels at the time, both of you were, but Jin being the good son and heir to a tech emporium, had always disliked the way you stood up against your father and the whole elite thing your families had going on; needles to say, you both completely cut off any strings attached after you proclaimed your despise to the whole wealthy ordeal and you were vanished from your dad’s will. 

“I fail to see your point” and for a second you would have loved to believe his soothing voice in the dark, to still be in friendly terms at least, with him, after all this time.

“Nevermind just- goodnight” you said as you turned on your side to cuddle the pillow in between your arms, his soft voice reaching your ears once more and for the last time in the night.

“Goodnight Y/N”

“I’m just going straight to the point here, Y/N what exactly do you plan on achieving by marrying my son?” Jin’s mother said as soon as you came down the stairs, Seokjin having left the room a while back

“Nothing ma’am, we’re just really in love” something inside you twisting at the lie that could have been truth if things were just a tiny bit different than how they were evolving at the time, the words leaving your lips sounding as the mere truth to your ears nonetheless

“I don’t buy that lovebirds facade, Y/N drop the act now” she turned to look directly at you, trying to sound menacing, which, would have worked, had it not been for you handling her for quite some time now, so you just tried your sweetest smile at her “Whatever you and Seokjin had when you were teens, your father and Seokjin’s father called it off”

“I know” you tried to conceal just how much the reminder hurted, the memories flooding into your mind, of you and Jin being engaged even before meeting each other, the good times you both spent together as friends, a few months as something more, then the lonely nights when it was all over and it had seemed like a dream that just wouldn’t ever come true.

“Just so you know, I’m keeping a close eye on you two” were her last words before leaving the kitchen, off to some other place in the house.

“Yes ma’am”

“Hey, Y/N, we’re heading to the beach you coming?” Seokjin asked as he laid his elbow on the counter, you pull him towards you, taking his hand in your smaller one as you watched his mother closing in on you two from the distance before she set her eyes elsewhere

He leaned in to you, whispering “What was that for?”

“Your mother knows something’s up” you shortly answered

“Y/N, I didn’t know you were coming” Seokjin’s father looked just as he did the last time you saw him years ago, his face contorting into an incredule one as he saw you descend from one of the cars that took you to the beach “Are you and your father on a better place now?”

“Oh no sir, I’m accompanying Seokjin” if he hadn’t believed your presence at first, he surely wasn’t believing the words leaving your mouth; Seokjin’s father had always had a soft spot for you, my hardest working tobe daughter-in-law, he had once said, and even after you and Seokjin’s engagement was called off, mainly by your father even when Jin’s mum said otherwise, his dad had offered you a place in his company’s headboard after you graduated, which you politely denied, knowing that someday, Seokjin would be CEO and you would have to work under his name directly.

“Seokjin? my son?” you nodded “What has Seokjin ever done to deserve you as his fiancee?”

“The same thing I keep repeating myself” you mutter more to yourself than for him to hear

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing!”

The weekend with Jin’s family was as monotonous as you remembered them to be, with family dinner after a day at the beach, plus the constant scrutinising eye of his mother on you two, which made you both hold hands more than the normal amount a real couple should, only to have to spend the night at a lonely bed.

 “Jin, I’m cold” 

“Well you sure aren’t planning on also taking my blanket from me, you’ve taken my bed already” he joked from his made up bed on the floor, which in hindsight, was probably even colder for him than for you

“Jin”

“No can’t do”

“Come cuddle me then” the words had left your mouth before your brain could even complete to process them, the situation all too familiar from years before, like muscle memory, your brain had just dwelled into a common relationship between the two, too easy to slip away from.

“Ohhh you’re already falling for worldwide handsome” he joked, only you knowing the truth his words hid behind them and you felt your face heat up, somehow deciding against backing up.

“Shut up just-” torn between spilling your “new found” feeling for him that were remains from a past love or keeping it the bare minimum “I’m cold”

“Fine, I’ll be there” he paused, and you knew him all too well to know that he was wearing a stuid grin on his face, wondering if by any chance the innocent banter had a deeper meaning for him too as he added “Almost fiancee”

You could hear a shuffling  of blankets and him throwing his pillows on the bed before he literally jumped on it, whole body hovering over yours, his eyes glistening as they bore into yours as he kept his body weight on his extended hands, a familiar twist in your heart at the distance, his lips on yours in the blink of an eye for less than a second before he rolled off to the empty side of the bed

“What was that for?!” you panicked, not loud enough for anyone to hear but him

“I don’t know it felt right”

As you turned to confront him, the air suddenly didn’t feel as cold as before, a warmth enveloping you both that felt like home, like this place and time was exactly where you were supposed to be all along, your hands coming up to caress the side of his face as his larger ones tugged you closer to him effortlessly without breaking eye contact; both of your faces coming closer to each other, noses brushing against each other before your lips found his, an all too familiar setting for the both of you, everything feeling as if both of your lives had been a movie that had been unwillingly paused and someone had pressed play just as you were close like this, feeling as if all those years apart were nothing when together, his hot tongue lapping your lower lip as you granted him entrance, tongues dancing with one another as time seemed to slow down, a gasp escaping your lips as his cold hand found its way into your pajama pants “sorry, is this okay?” he whispered against your lips, to which you agreed, your own hands scurrying under his top to caress his torso, his lips finding your sweet spot under your ear all too easily, as if he had never forgotten about it, his pants straining by each passing second as you felt him grow harder against your thigh, hand going under the covers to palm him over the fabric, which made him exhale a moan in your ear, feeling yourself grow wetter at the display, all too familiar, yet not enough, you lunged yourself over him to straddle his hips, clothed core rubbing against his covered length in a futile attempt to ease the tension “ah- you’re sure about this, Y/N?” he found himself checking in with you before you both lost yourselves to pleasure “a hundred percent, Jin”.

Seokjin was quick to rid you both of your clothing, both of you grimacing at the cold and giggling about it for a second before you resumed your ways with one another, Jin’s tongue working its way down your body until he reached your folds, eating you out like a man starved, his hand finding yours to grip tight as he went down to business, lapping up your juices and working you to your first quieted orgasm of the night with a questionable experience, were you two to have never broken up in the first place; you quick to turn you both over so you were on top and ready to ride his apparently aching length as soon as he disctrated himself by kissing you post-bliss tasting yourself on his tongue, a smirk forming in his features as he reached on the bed side table to roll a condom on himself, your hands teasing him already as you muttered a “Your parents are in the next room” that was soon answered with a cocky “We shouldn’t let them hear then” before you lined him up with your entrance and slided down on him, hands gripping each other’s as you started working a pleasurable deep pace, moans tangling with the other’s, eyes fluttering shut and a lonely tear rolling down you cheek at all the emotions that you had pent up and were slowly releasing by each thrust as you buried your face on his neck, startling Jin  and making you look down on him to check on you as he noticed you crying “Y/N, are you okay?” he muttered sweetly before kissing your lips in the sweetest form, hips stilling as he was buried deep inside you, him tossing you underneath him, angling his hips better and taking over a more passionate pace, plump lips kissing away your falling tears, as if knowing that they were caused by something bigger than the both of you “God you’re so beautiful” he said as his pace became erratic “Come with me please, Y/N” whether his words or the newly found position as he pulled a leg over his shoulder, hitting all the right spots, worked you to your second orgasm, followed by him spilling in the condom, would remain a mystery as he was quick to dispose the used condom and clean both of you as you edged on sleep, his naked torso colliding with your bare back as he cuddled you.

“What are they doing here?” You muttered under your breath as Jin leaned into your frame, your right arm intertwined with his as you both rounded the corner to greet the guests that Jin’s mother had so carefully selected for the engagement party

“What? Who?” his eyes scanned the room rapidly 

“My father and- Seoyun and Junghee” his free hand rested on top of yours in an attempt to let you know he was there for you, having witnessed first hand all the history between you and your family and mentally cursing his mother for playing you so dirty

“Shit”

“Seokjin I can’t keep doing this” you turned to him, eyes panicked and wide on the verge of tears, his mind racing a hundred miles per second in search for the right words that would make you stay, he had already lost you before, and even though things didn’t quite turned out the way he had planned, he wasn’t about to let you slip away again “I can’t face them again, after all they’ve put me through, Seokjin, they took away my dreams just because I wouldn’t pace around like the rest of them,  this is your life, not mine I’m so sorry” you had ran out of his grip and out the door before his brain could even begin to process it, blinking a few too many times before he called out to you 

“Seokjinnie! What’s taking you so long?” his mother had gathered the guests in the garden for the grand entrance of the newly announced engagement, tired of being kept waiting, walking up to him

“I’m so sorry eomma, I’ll- I just- I have to go” in his mind he was already out the door looking for you, had it not been for his mother’s hand on his bicep keeping him on place and turning him to look at her

“Kim Seokjin, we get it. Your father and I will wait until you find a girl to marry, one that suits you well” Seokjin’s mother was sure a woman that could not be fooled, but this one time perhaps it was Jin that had been fooled by himself on letting himself get close to you and fall in love all over again, just the way it happened all those years ago, just the way it was supposed to be

“That’s what you don’t get mum, I’ve already found the one” 

“Y/N? Jinnie, Y/N is not part of our world, you know it” 

“Then I want to be part of hers. I don’t care if you take my trust fund, take everything, I’ll build myself up, just like she did all those years ago and all of us, we all turned our backs on her, I want to be there for her, like it should have been from the start” he would have loved to record the incredulity in his mother’s eyes as she let her arms fall to her sides defeated, the first time Kim Seokjin had fail to complied with his mother was about none other than in an engagement matter.

Truth be told, you couldn't go far, there was no possible way you could just run home all the way from Jeju Island, but somehow seeing your tear stained face as you slumped over an old set of swings that he now recalled, you two used to go to back in the day, had his heart filling up, butterflies roaming his tummy

“...Jin” you exhaled his name, his mind quickly recalling the night before, how your eyes spilled love all over, how the past days watching you go on your daily routine alongside him, had him imploding with the purest kind of love

“Y/N? Listen I-” he began, a thousand words tangled in his mind waiting to be released

“I don’t think I made it”

“Made what?”

“Your parents to like me” a smirk appeared in his features as his hand came up to caress the side of your face lovingly

“Well you certainly made me like you” he said, close enough to your lips that you could have sworn both of your breaths mixed into one

“I don’t think you ever stopped liking me” a mirroring grin traced your lips before you leaned in to kiss him, whatever the path you two were once destined to walk, it was all different now, whatever turns it may take the only sure thing was that you two would walk it down together after all those years apart. 

Plus, technically speaking, Jin’s trust fund should remain intact since he found a wife in less than a month’s time, and you could always ask his dad for that place in the company he was always talking about.