#also somehow totally missed this outfit

[seochangbingifs]

FAVORITE CHANGBIN DANCE MOMENTS 12/∞: Would you like to see Changbin dancing to Sherlock sung by Stay? via zoodae15_ on twitter

[gf2bellamy]

I know that this is a common trope in the Spencer Reid fandom but a cliche is popular for a reason and I'd love to see your take on it please:

The BAU finding out Spencer has a girlfriend because he left something/his lunch at home whilst he was getting ready so she comes to his office to deliver it back to him ♡

file — spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader ( no use of y/n ) content warnings: nothing i think a/n: hi hi thank you for your request !! also omg i rewrote this like 3 times

You set your coffee cup down with a quiet clink, the ceramic making a sound against the kitchen counter.Your breath hitched as your gaze locked onto the object in front of you.

There it was.

Spencer’s case file.

He never shared too much about his cases—partly because of protocol, but mostly because he wanted to shield you from the horrors he faced daily.

But this one? He had mentioned this one. Briefly. Just enough for you to know it was important.

And now, he had left it here.

You exhaled through your nose, rubbing your temple as you stared at the file like it might somehow transport itself back into his hands.

Well, this was a problem.

Your mind raced through the inevitable sequence of events: Spencer, halfway through his workday, reaching for the file. The sharp inhale as realization struck. The way his fingers would twitch slightly before running through his hair in frustration. He’d mutter something about cognitive failure rates, probably cite a study about memory lapses under stress, and then—inevitably—blame himself. He was hard on himself like that.

But, in all fairness… this was totally your fault.

Oops.

He had barely made it out the door this morning because of you.

Not that you regretted it.

You smiled to yourself, warmth flooding your chest as you remembered.

Spencer hated leaving you in bed alone. You hated being in bed alone. It was a whole thing. A silent agreement, an unspoken rule between the two of you—when morning came, you stretched those precious minutes as long as you could. And today, you had stretched them a little too long.

He had sighed against your hair, murmured something about needing to get up, but his arms hadn’t moved from around you. His body was warm and you had curled closer, pressing a lazy kiss against his collarbone.

“Five more minutes,” you had whispered, voice still thick with sleep. Spencer hummed in response, fingers tracing mindless patterns along your arm. Five minutes had turned into ten, then fifteen…

And, well. Here you were.

Thirty minutes passed. Still no text back from Spencer.

Not that it was unusual.

You had once asked him about his habit of completely ignoring his phone for hours on end, and in true Spencer fashion, he had launched into a full-blown explanation—something about the overuse of mobile devices leading to dependency, the correlation between constant notifications and increased anxiety, and the statistical probability of missing something actually important when bombarded with mundane messages throughout the day.

Point was—Spencer wasn’t glued to his phone. Which meant he likely hadn't even seen your text yet.

You chewed your lip for a moment, the decision hanging in the air.

Well, if Spencer wouldn’t come to you, then you’d go to him.

It seemed like a trip to the BAU was in order.

And if, in the process, you just happened to pick out your favorite outfit before heading out? Well, that was purely coincidental.

It wasn’t like you were nervous or anything.

Okay. Maybe just a little.

Because, despite how long you and Spencer had been together, you’d somehow never officially met his team. You had heard plenty about them—stories from Spencer scattered between sips of coffee, casual mentions of their names, the occasional anecdote about Garcia’s pranks or Morgan’s teasing. But meeting them in person? That had never happened.

And if you were about to walk into the BAU for the first time, to meet all of them in one go, all while hand-delivering a file Spencer had forgotten because you’d been too busy keeping him in bed this morning…

Well. You wanted to look nice, at the very least.

So, you’d taken a little extra time to pick out an outfit. Something that felt casual but still put-together.

After a final glance in the mirror, adjusting the hem of your shirt, you grabbed the case file and headed out the door.

By the time you reached the FBI building, you were… okay. Not totally at ease, but you weren’t quite spiraling, either. A small victory, considering the nerves that had been building inside you since you’d left the house.

You checked in at the front desk, received your visitor’s pass, and found yourself standing in front of the elevator. You couldn’t help but tap your foot nervously against the tiled floor, your mind racing with the possibility of meeting everyone.

As you waited, a tall man stepped up beside you. He had dark hair, a sharp jawline, and an air of professionalism.

The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open. The man stepped forward, and you followed.

“What floor?” he asked, his voice calm, his eyes already on the button panel.

“The sixth,” you said. “The BAU.”

He nodded, pressing the button. Notably, he didn’t press any other buttons, which meant he was heading to the same place.

The elevator hummed upward, the soft sound of its ascent filling the silence between you. You tried to stay still, but the nerves in your stomach had made their way to your foot, which began tapping again—slightly faster this time, almost involuntarily.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him glance down at your foot’s restless rhythm before looking ahead again, his expression still unreadable.

When the elevator doors finally slid open, you both stepped out. As you moved into the hallway, you hesitated, glancing around the space, trying to figure out where Spencer’s desk could be.

Before you could overthink it too much, you turned back toward the man, suddenly realizing you had no idea how to address him.

“Uh—excuse me, sir?” You winced inwardly at your own awkwardness. Sir? Really?

To your relief, he didn’t seem offended. He stopped and turned just slightly, offering you a neutral look, like he was patiently waiting for you to continue.

“Do you, um… know where Spencer Reid works?” you asked quickly, holding up the case file in your hand as if it were some sort of explanation. “He forgot this at home, and I just—”

You cut yourself off, realizing you were rambling. Oh my god, you were turning into your boyfriend.

The man studied you for a moment, and you felt a wave of heat creep up your neck, suddenly worried that you’d just embarrassed yourself in front of someone important. But then, with a small nod, he answered.

“He’s in the conference room. I’ll take you.”

“Oh. Thank you!” you said, managing to sound more confident than you felt.

Without another word, he turned and began walking. You quickly fell into step behind him, eager to keep up.

As you followed him down the hallway, his words replayed in your mind. Conference room.

Wait.Didn’t that mean—

Oh. Oh no.

The realization hit you like a ton of bricks just as the man ahead of you pushed open a door. He stepped aside, gesturing for you to enter, and you barely had time to collect yourself before walking into the room.

And suddenly, all eyes were on you.

Your stomach dropped.

Around the large conference table sat several people, each of them pausing whatever they were doing to look at you. Some were curious, others confused, but most were simply… staring. And then there was one person who seemed to be completely frozen in shock.

That one, of course, was your wonderful boyfriend.

Spencer Reid sat there, motionless, eyes wide, as though you’d just appeared out of nowhere. His pen was hovering mid-air, as though he’d been caught in the middle of a thought and his mouth hung slightly open.

You felt your face heat up.

“Uh—hi?” you offered weakly, holding up the file like it was some sort of lifeline.

The man who had led you here—who, at this point, you were very sure was someone important—cleared his throat. His voice was as flat as ever.

“Reid,” he said, his tone unreadable. “Your file.”

Spencer blinked rapidly, snapping out of his trance.

“Right! Right, yes—um, thank you,” he stammered, his voice flustered. He stood so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor,nearly knocking over his coffee ,causing you to wince in sympathy.

You stepped forward to hand him the file. The second your fingers brushed against his, you swore you saw the tips of his ears turn the faintest shade of red.

From across the room, a dark-haired woman—who you guessed had to be Emily Prentiss, judging by the barely suppressed smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth—glanced between you and Spencer, her head tilting slightly as she observed the scene.

“So,” she said casually, her voice light but full of mischief, “you’re the reason he was almost late this morning?”

Your face went hot, and Spencer made a noise somewhere between a cough and a strangled gasp.

Emily’s smirk deepened, and you could practically feel the attention of every single person in the room zeroing in on you and Spencer. The room was so still, you could hear a pin drop.

Even Penelope—who had been in the middle of explaining a case, hands gesturing wildly—had completely abandoned her train of thought. Her mouth dropped open in delighted shock, her eyes widening as she took in the scene.

“Oh my god, is this real?” she squealed, her voice way louder than it probably needed to be. “Reid, my little geeky bean has a girlfriend?!” Penelope was practically vibrating with excitement. “A very cute girlfriend, I might add!” She made a big show of squinting at you through her oversized glasses, like she was some sort of detective herself. “How did we not know about this?!”

JJ raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued, but Derek—well, Derek looked like it was Christmas morning.

He leaned forward with an expression of pure glee. “Hold up,” he said, grinning ear-to-ear, “Reid, you got yourself a lady and didn’t tell us?”

“I-” Spencer stuttered under his breath, looking like he was actively trying to will himself invisible.

Penelope was practically bouncing on her heels now. “Not just a lady,” she chimed in again, adjusting her glasses dramatically as she looked you over with wide, sparkling eyes. “A very cute lady. Like, ‘I need to know everything about you’ cute! How did you two keep this a secret? You’ve been holding out on us, Spence!”

Rossi, who had been sitting back and watching the chaos unfold , leaned back in his chair with a half-smile. “Seems like , Dr. Reid has been keeping secrets,” he said dryly, giving Spencer a knowing look.

You bit your lip, trying not to laugh at the scene around you. It was hard to stay composed when everyone was so… extra. You shifted awkwardly on your feet, feeling your face burning, but it didn’t stop you from noticing how Spencer scrubbed a hand over his face, clearly wishing he could vanish into thin air.

Spencer, still very much red-faced, finally turned toward you, his expression caught between mortification and fondness. His voice was soft.

“Thank you,” he said, with a small awkward smile. “For, um… bringing me the file.”

You smiled, tilting your head, trying to suppress a grin at how adorable he looked when flustered. “Of course,” you said, your voice warm, matching his tone. “Anytime.”

Before Spencer could muster a response, you leaned in and pressed a quick, soft kiss to his cheek. The moment your lips brushed his skin, Spencer froze, his eyes going wide for a split second like he couldn’t quite comprehend what just happened.

The entire room went silent, save for the sound of a chair scraping against the floor as Penelope’s excited squeal filled the air.

Spencer remained absolutely still for a moment, blinking as if he were trying to reboot his brain. You couldn’t help but feel a tiny rush of satisfaction at how flustered he looked.

“I’ll see you at home,” you murmured, your smile widening as you pulled back. “Love you.”

You watched as Spencer’s mouth opened and closed a few times, like he was about to say something, but his words failed him completely. It wasn’t surprising—he’d never been the best at handling public displays of affection, especially when they caught him off guard like this.

"Bye everyone." Without giving him—or the rest of the team—a chance to respond, you turned on your heel and made your way toward the door.

“Did you see that?” you heard Penelope say as you left the room, her voice barely containing her excitement. “Reid, my little shy genius has a girlfriend and she just kissed him in front of us!”

JJ chuckled from across the room, her voice full of amusement. “I think Spencer might need a minute,” she said dryly, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

The sound of their teasing faded as the door closed behind you, and you allowed yourself a little breath of relief, knowing that Spencer’s team was kind but very curious.

As the elevator doors closed, you found yourself grinning, already imagining how the rest of the day would unfold.

[exa-reblogs]

Some identifiers for AI generated fashion images that I've noticed

So, recently and not unexpectedly, I've seen a major uptick in AI generated images showing up in my searches for fashion photos, specifically. I've seen people make posts like this for specific art styles, and for 2D art in general, but I wanted to share some observations I made regarding clothing, fashion, and runways. I've seen a lot of people getting fooled by these, but it seems like for every one person thinking it's real there's about three people informing them that it's AI, fortunately. I'll admit, a lot of them look somewhat believable at first, but once you look closer it becomes apparent that they're off somehow.

To clarify: this is about common inconsistencies I've personally noticed in AI fashion images, so that you can learn where to look for these and similar inconsistencies and avoid sharing AI content by accident.

There's this one "collection" specifically that seems to come up a lot (also, click on all these images in this post to see the details more clearly):

There's more images like this and yes, despite the "houseofai" watermark I still see people asking who the designer is, or saying that they genuinely thought it was real at first. First and foremost: these are all clearly meant to be from the same runway show, right? Then why does each image look like it was taken on a different runway? The lighting and coloring are different in each one, and the middle one has vague red stairs in the background while the other two look like just a plain light-colored runway. This is something you'll obviously only be able to notice in groups of images and not singular ones, but it's a pretty dead giveaway if you see it.

Secondly: AI generated images, as a whole, tend to have this specific kind of super dramatic lighting with very bright, white lights and soft grey shadows. I'm not very knowledgeable about photography, so I can't explain it exactly, but I know it when I see it (and if someone reading this can properly explain it , please do.)

Thirdly: AI generated fashion tends to attempt perfect symmetry, but always fails somehow.

As for the actual outfits: the best that I can describe it is that a lot of the shapes and patterns just don't look like intentional human choices.

What in the hell is that monogram on the upper right supposed to be? It's clearly mimicking a logo of some kind, but it's messy and indecipherable, not actual branding.

The heart motif is clearly the running theme here, but the hearts don't really make sense. Like the main one in two halves across the chest here: why does it have those two notches missing at the bottom that prevent it from coming to a point at the bottom like a heart is supposed to?

The bottom hem is way longer on the left than on the right.

The little shoulder hearts are like, bleeding into the shoulder seams; those lines in the hair look like they're supposed to be headbands, but they disappear at the part with the rest of the hair; the embroidery on the pants isn't in a clear or intentional pattern.

Again, compare the lighting on this one's neck with the lighting on the last one's neck, totally different.

Those pink things on the chest look like they're trying to be hearts, but they're so clearly not actually hearts. If your collection is heart themed, why aren't you using actual hearts?

The quilting effect is uneven and the individual lines don't follow through and finish in the places they should. Look at the upper right sleeve, where the diamonds are misshapen and the diagonal lines are clearly disconnected. On the lower right chest, the lines just disappear. This can't actually with quilted garments IRL because the top layer is literally stitched to the bottom one along those lines with material in between. It can't fuck up like that, especially not a designer garment that costs your monthly rent.

Smooth zipper. Zippers seem to be a common fuck up.

You can't read the text on the hearts. It's nonsense. Nonsense, unreadable text and fucked up hands are the absolutely surefire ways to identify AI art like this. Conveniently, there are no hands in these photos.

What are those embossed shapes on the sleeves? They're not identifiable as anything in particular.

That is not how zippers work.

I suppose that weird folding beneath the hearts is something technically physically possible. But it's much, much more likely that they would create smoother, less ugly seams with less excess fabric.

These generative AI programs don't actually comprehend what they're trying to depict. Thus, they make mistakes like these. Physical inconsistencies that are often totally impossible, but even the possible things are just... stupid choices that an actual designer isn't going to do. Yeah, sure, designs can be weird, asymmetrical, and imperfect on purpose. But it's way, way more likely that this is just an AI.

Experiment: look at these two images of retro-futuristic headpieces/eyewear and determine whether they're real or AI.

Right one is easy, mostly because of the wonky bitch in the back. But some other inconsistencies I specifically wanna note: if the blue goggles color the "model"'s skin, hair, helmet, and the background behind the lenses blue, why doesn't it do the same for the eyes? And also, I've noticed that a lot of these images have trouble properly rendering the corners of the mouth, which is a weird detail but one you won't be able to unsee once you know to look out for it. Yes, there's a dark line where actual human lips meet, often with some subtle divots at the corners, but in the image on the right, it's rendered as a harsh, gaping hole more like something sculpted out of plastic than actual flesh. On the note of imperfect symmetry again: the left lens isn't perfectly round. And finally, this is a really good example of that giveaway lighting I mentioned. I don't know how you would actually achieve that lighting IRL, but it's so, so common in AI images.

The left photo is an actual model in 1967 wearing pieces designed by Pierre Cardin, a designer that the right image is definitely trying to emulate. The model has a look on her face that isn't super duper expressive, but it's still far beyond any of the AI images I've seen. Every AI fashion image I've seen thus far has totally blank-faced, expressionless "models". They might pout slightly, but I haven't seen any with visible teeth. Something tells me the AI would render teeth the same way it renders fingers. The emblem on the hat is actually perfectly symmetrical, and the glasses are clearly asymmetrical as an intentional design choice, not like the shapes are supposed to be the same but got messed up somehow. And she has ten fingers total, five on each hand.

Two more:

These are both AI generated. I'm not gonna lie, i fell for the one on the left at first. The right is easy:

distorted faces

woman in back is being absorbed by the train(?) seat

those middle buttons on the jacket are totally useless

AI Lighting (TM)

But the "models" on the left look very, very convincing, and the lighting doesn't immediately register to me as AI lighting. The only really wonky thing on the faces is the mouth on the left "model". However, there's one dead giveaway: the headphone wires. Why are they different thicknesses? Why does the rightmost wire disappear into the jacket sleeve? Where the fuck does the leftmost wire even go? AI, I've noticed, struggles with thin lines, strings, and strands of things. Like with the quilted jacket above, you can often try and trace a single line, only to find that it drops off, distorts, or disappears. And sure enough, as soon as I noticed something was weird with those wires, I went to the Pinterest profile that posted it and found that they exclusively posted AI content. Speaking of the actual headphones, the leftmost ear cushion is sitting on an angle that doesn't make sense, and the one to the direct right of it is significantly thinner than the other three. Again, subtle failed symmetry.

This is by no means a comprehensive guide, and I encourage anyone seeing this to point out ways they've found to identify AI images like this. These are things I've just been on the lookout for lately. And when in doubt: conduct reverse image searches and try your best to identify solid sources for your images. AI images won't list designers, model names, photographers, stylists, makeup artists, etc., while actual runway and photoshoot images will, because there are human creatives behind them.

[mellowwillowy]

I NEED TO TELL A YANDERE BLOG ABOUT THIS NSFW HEADCANON I HAVE-

Imagine a yandere that bought one of those super high quality sex dolls and dresses it up as you with stolen clothes and puts a wig on to match your hair color, etc, used it constantly calling out your name, etc

Also imagine you finDING IT- oml

- ☀️anon

☀️ nonnie you beeg brained :D

ᴡʜᴏꜱᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇ-ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴅᴏʟʟ? (ɢɴ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

♥ warnings — general yandere warnings, reader is a dom? and yan is a subby... doll and yan wears lingerie, degradations toward yan, sub-dom, worship - Master play, slapping and mention of sounding.

—𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓 - 𝑳𝑰𝒇𝑬 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕, ʙʟᴜᴇ

By just dressing this silicone doll in the correct wig, outfits, and makeup and dousing it with perfume, he gets to practice all his fantasies on it. It almost looks like you now, especially with how accurately it's dressed since it is indeed your clothes that he stole. He does enjoy dressing it up with the type of outfits you wouldn't usually wear.

All is great but not the best.

Why? It's not you after all. It's just some silly expensive doll that is dressed to look like you to satiate his needs. Nonetheless, what's better than 0? 1. And that is this doll, a 1/100.

It's mostly used for menial stuffs such as a morning bed buddy, a company for breakfast and a company for when he's sat in front of the computer for a long time, alone.

But when night falls?

"Fuck–, be good." He grunts as he slams his cock into the doll, mindlessly calling out your name like some sort of prayer, eyes rolling to the back of his head. The doll is totally abused by him every night, dressed in countless themed outfits.

"Yeah, yeah, gonna cum, gonna paint you white from the inside fuck-!"

His pace grows erratic, breath raggier and tongue lolling out like a dog. He's already on cloud nine over a doll, what will it be if he's fucking the real deal instead?

"Ah- fuck, gonna cum-!"

The sound of beeping suddenly rings, cutting his panting in half as his eyes are trained toward the door.

Beep. Clack.

"Hey Blue, brought ya' the goods.... s...?"

Your eyes go up and down. Him, naked with a doll beneath him, his cock buried inside the doll, shielding your eyes from it. Hand tugging on the wig of your hairstyle and the clothes you thought you had somehow lost lying on the floor, not to mention the whole room smells like you!

"Uhh... am I supposed to... knock or ring the doorbell from now on?" You motion toward the door as you try to avert your gaze toward somewhere else. Ah yes, the framed photo of you two looks good on the cabinet.

"Wa-wait, wait, don't, I mean, stay! I mean, go-! Arghh..." Blue stutters as he pulls out, his hardened cock now on display for you to see. So he is a grower...?

"Listen, I mean, fuck, look anywhere but me!" Blush creeps into his face as he wraps the blanket around his waist, striding toward you in panic.

"I got ya' the lemonade and uh..." You fail. Your eyes are just a pair of curious souls, looking at how his bulge is seen poking through the blanket.

"... shitfuck. Never knew ya' a grower"

"This is no time for joke..."

"You want the awkwardness to die down or nah pal?"

Blue stays silent for a moment before crouching down in annoyance. He should have just chainlocked the damn door today!

"Been wondering why I've been missing some of my clothes and undies, ya' into stealing or just broke?"

His cock is supposed to be limp by now but it's not. It's twitching from your last words. What has gotten into his head?

"And that lingerie? Oo... never knew yer' a kinky one." Your foot nudges his shin before his bulging cock, giving it a rub. Blue shudders from the contact, falling backward on the butt while the blanket slips from his waist, revealing his aching cock that is leaking precum.

"Fucking masochistic aren't ya?"

You straddle him as you place the plastic bag down onto the floor, knee pressed against his bulge while your tongue licks his sweat from his face, hand slowly taking the glasses off his face, is this prescribed spectacle?

"My pretty boy."

You walk toward the bed and sit on it, your eyes trained on the naked doll, it looks almost like you, thumbs up for him for sure. You beckon him closer with your finger, and so he does.

"Would love to see you dressed in lingerie instead, come on, do a favor for me yeah doll?"

Blue gulps as he nods, slowly undressing the doll before wearing it himself, the size doesn't really fit him but it's manageable. His cock twitches every now and then as you watch his figure.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

"U-unh..."

"Did you pick this lingerie while thinking how it'll look like if it's wrapped around my body? How the color will suit me... how easy the access would be for you to just..." You sandwich his cock with your feet, rubbing it up and down, "feel me like I'm doing to you right now?"

Blue shakes as he moans out, his knees slowly turning into jellies. He needs you, to feel you all over. And so he pleads, "Please..."

You raise your eyebrows, "Please what?"

"Please... do me... yeah?"

You smack his cock with your foot, "Is that how you are supposed to talk to your Master?"

Blue gulps before kneeling down, his lip moving to your foot pressing kisses on it while occasionally licking it, "Please, Master." You try your best to bite your excitement back, eyes swirling in lust as you focus on the lovesick mutt in front of you. You'll collar him later but for now, he is your doll, yours to toy with just like how he's been toying with this doll.

"Come," You pat your thigh, "Let me feel that cheek of yours."

Blue nods and brings his face closer to yours, you can feel his breath fanning you. Your finger pokes his cheek before it turns into a palm that feels his cheek, hard. You slap him.

"Be good, else I'll fucking squeeze a pipe down your cock."

Blue shivers from the idea of sounding. That would totally feel so good, right? His cock starts leaking even more pre-cum, spoiling your thigh with the white liquid.

"Fucking mutt in heat. Why not rut yourself with my thighs?"

It only takes that for Blue to raise your legs by the ankles, his cock in between your thighs as he ruts himself in and out, panting like a dog in heat. You pinch him in response to his action, too bad you couldn't reach his nipple.

"Fucking slut." You rip the lacy lingerie as you claw him, nails digging into his hips, "Gonna fucking chew your cock off later until it's minced."

Blue's cock twitches again from your words, pace even more erratic now. "Please do so!" He is close, you can see it. But he knows better than to come before you allow him to first. "Please, please, please, lemme cum? Need one out so bad, hurts so much."

"Ah? Do I look like I care?" You scowl at him for pulling one of your legs away from him, kicking him by his shoulder, "Fucking mutt, go hold that until your balls are as good as blue and I wouldn't even care."

Blue whimpers at your words but his excitement only grows even more, it only pushes him even further from his limit.

"Please, please, please I beg you. Please..." He begs as he rubs his face against your foot, peppering it with kisses and licks, "Please let me come, just one word I'm all done, please..."

You sneer at him before kicking his face lightly, "Give me a twirl."

He twirls. "Show me how needy your cock is." He shows it to you, lifting the veil for a clearer view. "A striptease for me." He strips, eyes never leaving yours until you suddenly jerk him off, "Good boy... come on." You rub him even faster, his hip bucking toward you for a better angle, "Come, my pretty doll."

Rope of cum soils your feet not afterward, your name rings in the room as he pants, trying to grasp reality after how cum-dazed he was. You rub your spoiled feet against his pelvis, soiling it with his cum as well.

"Come," You open your arms wide for him to dive his face into your neck. You kiss his ear as you caress his hair, muttering praises at him.

"Wanna try the real deal now?"

[mortalityplays]

Does it seem like Infinity Nikki is building on the lore in the previous games, or is it doing its own thing? It's been a few years since I played Love Nikki Dress-up queen, and all of the proper nouns seem to be different than I remember.

Okay let's talk about Nikki lore!!!

if you've come straight from Love Nikki, Infinity Nikki probably feels strikingly different and yet eerily familiar. It presents itself as a clean slate for new players and a straight reboot for returning players, with Nikki and Momo encountering a magical outfit and being pulled into Miraland where they learn a whole new set of terms and mechanics for the dress-up game you're about to play. All the proper nouns have changed - 'styling power' is still the same, but now magic and tech are 'whim' and base currency is 'blings' etc. The story, setting and characters are all a little different too. So it's a total reboot for the new format, right? Makes sense.

TL;DR: for everything I'm about to unpack:

Doylian answer: IN is a clean reboot of the basic isekai premise, allowing them to easily onboard new players and update the core nature of the game.

Watsonian answer: the reboot is itself part of the ongoing canonical lore of the Nikki series!!!

The context you're missing is Shining Nikki. SN actually pulled this move first - it was a total overhaul of LN to move the series from 2D paper doll graphics to full 3D models, and like IN it seemed to begin the isekai type story of LN again from the start. Not too many people in english speaking markets played the first two games in the series (Nikki Up2U and Hello Nikki), but what you need to know about them is that they were both set in Nikki's own earth-like world, where fashion was an ordinary element of everyday life (i.e. the player was asked to dress her appropriately for real-world situations, with the context that she was an aspiring fashion student). They were also direct instalments in an ongoing story.

Here's the timeline up to where you stopped:

NU2U: Fashion student Nikki and her talking pet Momo practise her skills as a stylist in everyday situations. Though it's usually played as a joke, both Nikki and Momo acknowledge that he's a 'cat-like thing' - not really an earth cat.

HN: Nikki and Momo travel their world, finding styling inspiration in different locations / through meeting various characters. Some of the costumes she creates in this game continue to appear through each sequel as lower-level outfits, implying continuity.

LN: The first game that really broke through in english-speaking markets, and the first in the Miraland cycle. Nikki is preparing for graduation, when she finds a mysterious outfit in the attic. Touching it gives her a vision where she glimpses a strange realm brimming with fashion-related power of some sort. When she comes to, she and Momo are in a field of flowers. They've been transported to another world called Miraland, where styling has literal magical power that's used to settle disputes in place of violence. She embarks on a quest to attain a set of uniquely powerful dresses at the centre of a burgeoning magical/political crisis, in order to save Miraland.

^ Big sideways jump, right? The Doylian explanation for all this is very mundane. They have to keep rebuilding this game for newer phones, and updating the graphics/mechanical gameplay as the series goes on. There are only so many times you can ask a player to dress Nikki up to go to a café or whatever, and the isekai genre is massively popular among the target playerbase. BUT they retain the canonical continuity of the series with LN - Nikki frequently refers to her sister Yoyo and their travels around the world throughout LN and SN, and Momo hints that Miraland may be the origin of his clan (or at least tied to their origin somehow). It would have been an easy place to wipe the slate clean, but they didn't.

And then comes Shining Nikki. On starting the game, Nikki speaks to you directly from a meta-realm where you set up your username and get introduced to basic concepts. Nikki has an encounter / vision with a mysterious figure related to this styling meta-realm, and then she wakes up. She and Momo find themselves in a field of flowers, in a world called Miraland - sstop me if you've heard this one before.

SN is where things started to get really interesting, and where I suspect the writers started laying down some intentions for the series going forward. As Nikki travels around Miraland, she runs into a variety of people and places that are reminiscent of, yet different from, the cast and setting of Love Nikki. And little by little, she begins to recover memories of that game.

As it build towards its climax, SN does one of the coolest things I've ever seen from a rinkydink fantasy mobile gacha. Nikki comes up against an opponent she can't beat, and you're asked to style-battle them again and again. She starts to dissociate and refuses to back down, and then- well at this point my phone couldn't handle the 3D effects and it booted me back to the game's home screen.

SN was pretty ambitious with its 3D elements, to the point that the home screen itself featured a 3D nikki you could dress up, who would move around and strike poses, and spit out lighthearted quips when you tapped her ('I wont give up on my friends!', 'If Momo eats any more BBQ he's going to turn into a beach ball...' etc.) So anyway, my game was locked up apart from homescreen Nikki's idle animations. And then she started talking to me, by username, commenting on the defeat she was suffering repeatedly in the story chapters.

At this point, SN introduces the idea that the player is (from Nikki's perspective) a powerful being from another parallel world, who has been influencing her styling choices the whole time. It also introduces a meta-meta-realm where outside observers can access people's memories to subtly alter their world's timeline. When I say this game got high concept...they had a limited-time event at one point where Nikki essentially explores the lingering cognitive dissonances left behind by the inhabitants of Omelas. I'm insane about this series. Anyway.

A LOT went on in SN, but what you need to know is this:

Nikki learns that she found herself in the story of SN because she went back in time 600+ years from the events of LN in a last ditch effort to prevent the apocalypse she failed to avert.

By accessing the Ocean of Memories, she also learns that this is not the first time she's done this. She has been stuck in a time loop for thousands upon thousands of cycles, perpetually failing to save Miraland, going back in time, and creating new causal offshoots that she again fails to save.

Nikki realises that by doing this, she is perpetually rebooting the lives of all the friends she keeps meeting and bonding with and then failing to save, and wrestles with whether this is ethical. Ultimately she decides to persist, determined to save Miraland.

Now here's the million-dollar question: Is Infinity Nikki a straight reboot, wiping the slate clean to simplify the lore and onboard new players? Or is it a continuation of Nikki lore to date, setting her on a new cycle in the same sequence? I would answer: yes and yes.

Every game in Miraland seems to follow a certain pattern with minor changes, and IN is no exception:

Nikki arrives in a tutorial zone themed around cosy rural villages and flower fields.

She meets a friendly girl who introduces her to Styling and its role in Miraland, and who puts her on the path to her first set of competitions (rip Bobo greatest anime betrayal of all time)

Nikki gets drawn into a political crisis centred on Miraland's system of styling contests, inevitably involving mercenaries and corporate espionage at some point.

Reference is made to an ancient fallen monarch who had a personal connection to certain outfits of immense power.

Reference is made to an elusive but powerful spiritual being (a god, a prophet, ???) whose divine power is bound up with the mysterious source of Styling Power.

Nikki encounters a reclusive society of magical beings whose life force depends on that same power source.

She travels to a variety of regions including Fairytale Forest, Gothic Lolita Town, Literally China, Uncomfortable Desert Realm, Big City, and Separatist Tech Freak Island. [in progress]

War breaks out somewhere and Nikki ends up on the run [hasn't happened yet, but I believe]

Vampires/demons get involved [hasn't happened yet, but I believe]

There is a goofy yellow mascot that looks like a fat duckling. [I'm a Gifty truther, what does it all mean.]

So far we're only a few chapters into IN, but I can already see a lot of familiar pattens starting to take shape. Factions are an interesting twist on regional styling competitions, and elements like Eureka and the Mira Crown contest (and the repeated motif of mirrors and fragmented crystals) look a lot like the seeds of more meta-realm content to me. Well, and the actual literal meta-realms accessed via waypoints and whimstars.

If you read all this, well done!!! You are definitely insane enough to enjoy the Nikki series.

[solaarbeeam]

Walking in public with Nishinoya Yuu is odd to the outside perspective for two reasons.

One, you’re way taller than him. Two, the style of dressing was completely different.

Nishinoya, is clad in a pair of baggy jeans, beat up high tops, a hoodie that reads ‘Guardian Deity’ on the back that the Karasuno First Years (Yachi included) had gotten for his birthday, and black headphones around his neck.

You, on the other hand, completely contrast the outfit he’s wearing, and it’s making people stare. It’s totally uncomfortable.

“Meh, let them stare. They’re just made they saw someone totally awesome wearing better clothes than them and got jealous!” He jumps up and down, which gets a chuckle out of you.

- If we’re going to be honest here, Noya is totally the kind of person to be peeved about people taller than him. He literally gets pissed when someone gets at him for his height.

- Of course, what he doesn’t have in height, he makes up for it in two ways. One, volleyball, and two, being in a relationship with you.

- The first thing that he said when he saw you for the first time, was “God fucking damn.”

- Now, he’s seen some pretty tall people in his lifetime. His own kouhai being some of them, and Amanai, Tanaka’s childhood friend.

- But you were different.

- He’s seen you in the hallways of Karasuno before. Most people just know you as ‘that one kid who doesn’t really wear the uniform’, and they aren’t wrong in that sentiment, but not completely right either.

- All you did was style the uniform to fit your style more. He was captured by the look.

- And you were tall. Way taller than he was. Somehow, that just drove him further towards you.

- He was worried of coming off as weird, especially with his height. Even if he’s tried his best to have people ignore his height for the person he actually is, it’s not going to stop people from drawing their own conclusions.

- Until you, naturally.

- He got intimidated by your style of choice, to the graphics on your shirt to the chains and clips, shit, he had no idea what to do.

- He didn’t want you to think he was lame or anything, so he actually tried to start dressing like you. Key word being tried.

- He failed miserably. You on the other hand, simply laughed at his antics and decided that you’d give him a try.

- If we’re going to be honest, Noya was indeed a little miffed about having an S/O that was taller than him. He can’t help it! However, he slowly but surely came to terms with it and now he simply doesn’t care.

- His S/O is like a giant model! You stand out from the others with how you dress! You look stunning, amazing, show stopping, and drop dead gorgeous! All Monster High slang intended! (Okay I’m sorry moving on-)

- During post-timeskip, his instagram follows go up by like 10K each day just because of you. Of course, he travels everywhere, and on the trips he takes you on, it’s like two million likes per post.

- All in all, pre and post timeskip Nishinoya Yuu loves his S/O, loves the way your style fits you, love how it contrasts to his, and anybody who wants to say otherwise can fight him.

- Also, please piggyback him places. He likes heights more than solid ground.

@kyoghurts

this was a request from kenji <33 i hope its to ur liking, if there’s anything I missed or something you wanna see i’ll make a pt 2

[strniohoeee]

Matt with a GIRLY ASS GF, I’m talking feminine energy coquette, bows, pink, I want it ALL😫😫 I can’t the thought of Matt having masculine energy being protective over his gf, I know it’s not a request request more like an idea, you can go about however you’d like, but plssss

Dally

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: A short little imagine about Matt with a girly girl for a girlfriend🎀💞

Warning⚠️: None, honestly I’m not 100% what tf coquette is LOLL, or like being a girly girl, so I tried my best. It’s also super short because it was more of like a blur idea I had, but I hope you enjoy🥹

Song for the imagine: Primadonna- MARINA

Primadonna girl, yeah

All I ever wanted was the world

I can’t help that I need it all

Pink, bows, teddy bears, sparkles, more pink, more bows. I mean that was my whole lifestyle. I loved everything girly ever since I was a little girl.

Most of the time boys ran away when they would see my room. Scared at how girly and dainty it was. However when I showed Matt my room his eyes lit up.

To see this tattooed, rugid, dark person in my bright pink filled room made my heart flutter. I mean totally not his aesthetic, but somehow we worked together?

My room was full of pink and white, teddy bears, there were bows on everything, sparkles, dainty white curtains, light pink carpets. I mean it was like Paris Hilton threw up everywhere. To see Matt look at everything with a smile on his face. To watch him sit on my bed, his black outfit clashing against my bright room.

Matt was so adorable. I mean he’d let me do whatever I wanted with him, but would also turn around and snap someone’s neck for me. He was so overprotective of me, often giving men looks and comments if they ever tried to say anything to me.

But then that same night we’d be laying in my bed as I mindlessly tied bows in his hair to make us laugh. Laughing at how silly he looked as I laid a kiss on his lips while we giggled. And snapping pictures for instagram.

Matt loved buying me gifts, and making sure I sat at home looking pretty for him. I’d wake up to a new package almost everyday. Pink boots, a white shirt with bows, more bows for my hair, a new teddy bear for my collection, cardigans, makeup….I mean everything I ever wanted Matt got for me.

I sat at home primping myself for him as he was out there working to bring home money. I always felt bad, but it was something Matt insisted I do. He wanted me to sit still and look pretty for him.

He used to take me shopping, but the last time we went to the mall he almost got into a fight with some guy hitting on me. Honestly I was ignoring the guy, so I didn’t even know he was saying things to me.

Up until Matt moved me out the way and got in the guys face. I mean security had to step in. That was the last time we went out. Matt said “I can’t have my precious baby getting disrespected by random creeps”. I mean agree, but also I missed shopping

Because of this Matt gave me his card information, so anything I wanted I could just buy. I bought one thing, and I just didn’t like to buy stuff without asking.

However recently I’ve been very into coquette style, and Matt has no idea what that means, so he just tells me to swipe his cards and do as I please. I haven’t because I like to ask permission first.

I’ve been eyeing these shoes for a few weeks now, and they’re $250. Something Matt would say is nothing, but to me that’s so expensive. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them though. I had a tab open on them and stared at them for hours on end.

Finally one day I decided to text Matt

Matt🧸

-Hi babyyyyy :)

-Hi my precious baby!

-I have a question….

-what’s up?

-sooo there’s these coquette shoes I want, and I’ve been eyeing them for sooo long

-what is it with this coquette shit??

-IDKKK, but I love them. They’re the perfect coquette aesthetic

-Coquette this….coquette that…how about you coquette a job😀

-Matt…. That’s not funny😐

-I’m kidding, baby! Charge the Amex. How many times do I have to tell you? Get whatever you want!!

-Nooo I hate doing that. I like to ask permission before buying anything with your money😔

-baby I earn this money for you! I love seeing you in your outfits with your shoes. I love seeing you happy. So please get whatever you want!❤️

-okay baby. Thank you 🥹

-Of course my love💞🎀

Matt was the best thing to ever happen to me. I was able to be me because he loved me for me. And I’m sure he loved me for my pink lingerie sets I always had on deck for him….

The End

Y’all…..IDFK WHAT THIS IS OK😭😭 idk anything about a girly girl aesthetic or coquette, so I did what I could😔. However I hope you enjoyed🥹🖤🖤

-J💅🏽

[tetrakys]

A few thoughts on the Halloween event

The first event of New Gen was released today, and as usual there are some positives and negatives. I'll start with the negative and put everything under spoiler.

Negatives

The system in my opinion isn't well calibrated. I personally hate gatcha, years ago I swore to myself I would never play another gatcha game in my life. But alas most games have some form of gatcha embedded mechanic, and I know generally people are not as negative toward them as I am. However, even if I want to set my personal feelings aside and try to be completely objective, there are some issues.

I think it all boils down to: games should either have a luck component or a timing/difficulty component. At the moment the event relies both on luck (the gatcha and the minigame) and timing (it's too short). This means that while it's impossible for f2p players to complete the event in full, it's also extremely expensive for them (and everyone else) to catch up.

Side note: I don't think it's outrageous that f2p can't complete the event in full. If we look at other games it's basically the case everywhere (I'm thinking of Ikemen games especially, but also MLQC and other similar mobile games). Companies have to make money somehow so it makes sense that they incentivise people to invest in the game with additional rewards. The issue here is that by adding too many obstacles what is achieved isn't a desire to invest some money to keep playing, but only a feeling of frustration that puts people off completely.

I did the math, f2p players by entering the event every day will only be able to obtain around 10-12 items when the total is 25 (including clothes, room elements and moments with the crushes), which makes for only 40% of the event. The gap is too large. If it had been 70-80% instead, maybe some players would've felt encouraged to spend something on the event to complete it, but when you're missing more than half and would need around 650-750 gems the feeling is instead anger mixed to a resigned 'what's the point?'.

Of course there is the possibility of someone being extremely lucky and obtaining perfect scores at the minigame and also unlocking all the dates and items they really care about in those free rolls they are able to obtain. It is true that not everyone wants to maximise the event and unlock all clothes and scenes. In which case yes, the event would be very convenient to them. But 40% odds of obtaining exactly what you want are still too low in my opinion.

Hence why I think this would be solved by either making the minigame easier, or extending the event for a few extra days.

Positives

There are indeed some very positive aspects. The outfits and items are all really pretty in my opinion, plus I already mentioned being a fan of how the crushes look like in their Halloween attire.

But what I think is the main improvement of this event is the scenes spent with the crushes, they seem to be much longer than what we used to have in the old game. Plus personally I really liked these scenes, they were both funny, cute and a bit romantic/hot. I can tell it's an early days event because there's nothing overtly romantic going on, but it feels right for the pace of the game. Also, I think all illustrations are 10/10 chef's kiss (I wiiiish Jason's illu had been a bit darker, with a dangerous/spicy undertone, but alas that's just my personal taste).

Also, what really sold me on these scenes is that they are all saved in our library, and we can replay them in full whenever we want and even pick different choices. This gives my completionist soul so much relief, I've always hated that I couldn't test different choices in past events without spending most of the event currency.

So, in conclusion, there are both things that work and don't work in this event, I hope for Christmas and Valentine the high quality of art and scenes will be kept and the system will be reworked to make it less frustrating for everyone.

[darkenedroses-world]

Three’s Company, Four’s a Crowd

f!reader, poly!clooless, tender moments, banter, comfort and care, request🦋

The dynamic between you and the Clooless guys was always a mix of chaos and camaraderie, but lately, things had shifted. It wasn’t just playful banter or casual teasing anymore—there was an undercurrent of something heavier, something you hadn’t quite figured out how to address. It all came to a head one night during one of their infamous podcast recordings. Droid started it, of course. “Okay, so we all agree that Y/N has, like, the best laugh ever, right?” “Obviously,” Pezzy chimed in, leaning back in his chair with a grin. “It’s kind of unfair how cute it is.” “Alright, alright, relax,” Puffer cut in, though the way his smile tugged at the corners of his lips gave him away. “Y/N doesn’t need a whole simp brigade. Let’s stay professional here.” “Oh, like you’re not part of the brigade?” Grizzy shot back, raising an eyebrow. “I see the way you look at her during streams.” Puffers cheeks darkened, but he held his ground. “Yeah, and you don’t? Please.” “Guys,” Droid interrupted, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Let’s not pretend we’re not all down bad. At least I’m honest about it.” Pezzy snorted, tossing a crumpled wrapper at Droid. “Honest or shameless?” “Both,” Droid replied without missing a beat, flashing a grin. “But seriously, Y/N, you know you’re adorable, right?” You blinked, caught off guard by the sudden direct attention. “Uh, thanks? I think?” Puffer groaned, running a hand down his face. “You can’t just say that out loud, Droid. We’re trying to keep it cool here.” “Oh, cool? You mean like the time you spent five minutes debating if you should DM her about her new profile picture?” Grizzy teased, his grin widening as Puffer’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. “Shut up,” he muttered, glaring at Grizzy. “That was different.” “Oh, sure,” Pezzy said, leaning into the banter. “Totally different. Just like the time you ‘accidentally’ complimented her outfit on stream.” You sat back, trying to hide your amusement as the chaos unfolded. It was flattering, sure, but it was also toeing the line between funny and awkward.

“Guys,” you interrupted, holding up your hands. “Are we seriously arguing about this right now? On the podcast?” “Y/N, you’re the one who shows up looking all cute and distracts everyone,” Droid said with a smirk, his tone half-joking but his gaze lingering on you just a little too long. “What do you expect?” “Droid!” Puffer exclaimed, though the corners of his mouth twitched as if he was trying not to laugh. “You can’t just call her out like that.” “What? It’s true!” Droid replied, throwing his hands up. “Y/N knows what she’s doing. Showing up here, laughing, being all charming.” “I literally just exist,” you said, unable to stop the laugh that escaped you. “Exactly,” Grizzy chimed in, his tone softening as he smiled at you. “And somehow, that’s enough to turn this group into a bunch of idiots.” The teasing subsided for a moment, replaced by a rare, quiet moment of agreement. You glanced between the four of them, their expressions ranging from playful to oddly sincere, and felt a warmth bloom in your chest. “Well,” you said, your voice light, “I guess it’s a good thing I like you guys anyway.”

Droid grinned. “See? She likes us. Told you I was her favorite.” “Keep dreaming,” Pezzy shot back, shaking his head. “You’ve got a long way to go, bud.” The playful bickering started up again, and you couldn’t help but smile. For all their antics and teasing, you knew they meant every word. It wasn’t until after the podcast ended and the guys were packing up that the real conversation began. You were helping Grizzy adjust a mic stand when Pezzy leaned casually against the desk beside you. “So… about what Droid said earlier,” he began, his voice low enough that only you and Grizzy could hear. “He’s not wrong.” You blinked, taken aback. “Not wrong about what?” “You being a distraction,” Grizzy muttered, avoiding your gaze as he fiddled with the mic. “It’s kind of hard not to notice you.” “Oh my god,” you said, laughing nervously. “You guys are ridiculous.” “It’s not just them,” Puffer added, walking over with his arms crossed. “We’ve all noticed it. And honestly? It’s getting harder to pretend we don’t feel… something.”

Your heart skipped a beat as you glanced between them. “What are you saying?” Droid joined the group, his expression surprisingly serious for once. “I think we’re saying that we’re all into you, Y/N. And instead of fighting over you like idiots, maybe we could figure out something that works for all of us.” The room grew uncomfortably quiet after Droid’s confession, the weight of his words hanging in the air. You blinked, glancing between the four of them, trying to process what had just been said. “Wait,” you said slowly, raising a hand. “Are you all… serious right now?” Grizzy rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze fixed on the floor. “I mean, yeah. We’ve been tiptoeing around it for a while. Didn’t think we’d just blurt it out like this, though.” Puffer sighed, leaning back against the desk. “Yeah, well, the way Droid put it out there, we didn’t have much of a choice.” “Hey, don’t blame me!” Droid defended, though the faint blush on his cheeks gave him away. “You’re the ones who kept acting all obvious. I just said it out loud.”

Pezzy chuckled, the sound breaking the tension in the room. “Look, Y/N, we get that this is… a lot. But we’re all serious. We like you. Like, really like you. And it’s not fair to make you deal with this without knowing how we feel.” You stared at them, your heart racing. “So, what? You’re all just… okay with this? No jealousy? No drama?” Grizzy shrugged, his usual playful grin tugging at his lips. “I mean, we’ve talked about it. None of us want to screw things up—between us or with you. So, yeah, if you’re open to it, we want to make it work. Together.” Your cheeks flushed as you took in their earnest expressions. This wasn’t a joke or some fleeting crush. They’d thought about this—talked about it—and now they were putting it in your hands. “Okay,” you said softly, your voice steady despite the whirlwind of emotions inside you. “But we’re taking this slow. No rushing into anything, no pressure.” “Of course,” Puffer said, his tone immediately reassuring. “We’re not about to throw you into the deep end.” “And if at any point it feels like too much,” Droid added.

“Just say the word, and we’ll figure it out.” Their sincerity made your chest ache in the best way. You couldn’t help but smile, the tension in the room finally dissipating. “Alright, then. Let’s see where this goes.” It didn’t happen overnight—things like this never do. The four of them were patient, giving you space to process and letting the new dynamic unfold naturally. There were moments of awkwardness and plenty of teasing, but above all, there was tenderness. Dates became a regular occurrence, each one unique and catered to you. Droid took you to quiet bookstores where you’d sit together, your heads bowed over the same page. Grizzy always had a new food truck or restaurant to try, his easy laughter making every outing feel like an adventure. Pezzy brought spontaneity, dragging you to carnivals and arcades, where his competitive streak never failed to make you laugh. And Puffer? He made the most ordinary moments feel extraordinary, like late-night drives with the windows down and the radio blasting your favorite songs.

There were no grand proclamations or dramatic moments. Just small, meaningful acts that solidified what you already knew: this was right.

[orsan1070]

A Quick Z-A Lore Overview

I love me some Pokemon lore, so here's a quick compilation of all the important things I noticed in the Z-A trailer and gameplay footage! A lot of this has already been mentioned by others, but I just wanted to get this out there! (This isn't complete, just a compilation of things I noticed and wanted to talk about.)

The very first thing the trailer gives us is a look at the protagonists.

Now, it took me a bit to notice, but these are totally based on Ethan and Lyra, right?

Firstly, their hair is very very similar. Their hats have the same color scheme, minus Ethan's counterpart missing the yellow. The Z-A protag's shoes match their respective HGSS protagonist's outfit colors very closely, and their belts match their PokeNavs. As for what this means, well, that's... less clear.

The Z-A website says the protagonist begins by "arriving in Lumiose for some sightseeing" and "While visiting Lumiose City during your travels, you’ll come to stay in an old hotel named Hotel Z." As for whether they're literally Ethan and Lyra on vacation, I'm... not sure. It's true that Legends Arceus features Lucas / Dawn, isekaid into Hisui, but here, we're in modern-day Kalos. We're definitely after XY, judging by AZ's Floette, likely after SM, due to the prominence of the Rotom Phone, and, honestly, I think after SV, due to the Rotom Phone's new capabilities (more on that later). Now, we know Red is 20 in SM, according to concept art, placing his adventure as nine years prior. Ethan / Lyra came three years later, making them 17 in SM. We don't know how much time passed between SM and SwSh and SV, other than I think Peony's Adven-tour lacking Penny only makes sense eighteen months or more before SV. Even if you disagree with me, the Johto protagonists effectively have to be adults by the time of SV and onwards, where we seem to be. Plus, the Z-A protagonists seem to not have Ethan and Lyra's eye colors-- it's kinda an averaged grey-brown. I don't think we're literally Ethan/Lyra for that reason, but I do think we're related somehow.

Just a minor observation, but those are the ambiguous statues seen in places like Kanto's Victory Road, and the Wild Zone number is inside a pentagon, much like the Route signs in the original Kalos games! Neat!

I know Sandile are frequently shown hiding in the sand like this, but if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time they've shown Krokorok like that?

Wild Zone 1 is given quite a bit of focus in the trailer-- enough where it's super simple to point out where on the map it is! It's what I've outlined in purple, while it seems like we meet the starters in the red circle. The Fletchling and Fletchinder are obscuring Hotel Z, where we can see later in the trailer the first rival battle with Urbain/Taunie occurs, and what's past the first Wild Zone?

That's Sycamore Pokemon Lab! Seems like we'll be heading there quite early in the story. Is Sycamore himself still in charge, or has enough time passed where it's changed hands to Sina, Dexio, Trevor, or another character?

In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it animation when jumping across roofs, we can see that it's actually the Rotom Phone enabling the player to double-jump! The last shot of the trailer also features a Rotom Phone:

It definitely seems like the Rotom Phone will be playing a big role! I also think this points to Z-A taking place after SV-- the Rotom Phone is clearly doing more advanced things than catching us when we fall, and now it has three cameras, when it had one in SwSh and two in SV!

As for why the Rotom Phone is relevant, well, Lumiose City is the home of Clemont, who invented the Rotom Pokedex (according to concept art, Samson in SM, and Kukui in Masters). Perhaps our Rotom Phone's new features tie back to him in some way?

AZ and his Floette being together means this is after XY at the very least. But, also, why does AZ seem older? He didn't need a cane before. He's immortal, he shouldn't *be* aging (the height is not due to his immortality, that's due to ultimate weapon exposure). Was his immortality lifted somehow?

While the Pokemon Centers in Lumiose have changed designs, as has the PC, the nurse behind the counter seems to be roughly the same.

In the gameplay overview, we can see this holographic person. The other man is likely speaking to him with the Holo Caster-- in fact, holographic technology seems to be heavily connected to the reconstruction in general, with the Wild Zone gates seemingly being holograms and the redevelopment program being described as high-tech. Lysandre was the one who made the original Holo Caster, though, and he's dead. So, uh, what's going on here? Could Malva be involved somehow? She was the main newscaster on the Holo Caster. This definitely seems to tie Quasartico to Flare in some way...

I'm very curious as to the in-universe etymology of Quasartico, by the way. A quasar is a very specific thing to use in a name, yknow?

One of the final shots of the gameplay overview is this-- the Looker Bureau! Emma runs it now, so she'll likely appear. I wonder what role it'll play in the story.

That's... all I've got! All the little lore details I figured were worth sharing. Thanks for reading!

[jakevwebber]

johnnie guilbert x anxious reader

JOHNNIE GUILBERT X ANXIOUS READER SMUT

summary: johnnie and y/n had been in a relationship for 2 years and they were the exact same people just different genders , when it came down to there sex life y/n was always anxious but johnnie always tried to made her feel better.

it was october 31st me and johnnie had been invited to a halloween party , you had to dress up in costume so me and johnnie did matching and went as harley quinn and joker.

i was in the bathroom with door open quickly touching up on my lipliner and lipstick when johnnie walked in smiling at me

“you look so good” he kissed my cheek

“thank you baby so do you”

he sat on the side so he was looking down at me while i was doing my lips , he then asked me if i could touch up on his hairspray cause he felt like his black hair was coming through.

i grabbed the green hairspray and swapped seats with him , him standing inbetween my legs me sat infront of him on the side i began spraying his hair and getting the hair gel and running it through his hair to get the same hairstyle as the joker.

“look in the mirror baby did i get it all?” i questioned

“yeah you did thank you” he kissed me and grabbed my hips picking me up and letting me stand back up following him out the bathroom .

i put on the jacket that went to my outfit and laced up my shoes also drenching myself in perfume , johnnie then doing the exact same thing as me.

“are you ready to go jay?” (nickname for johnnie)

“yes i’m ready who’s driving?” he asked

“me and then you can drive on the way home”

he agreed and followed me out the house locking the door and getting into my car.

10:27pm

me and johnnie had been at the party for around half an hour i was so drunk without realising , johnnie was with tara and jake most of the time leaving me to be with colby since i couldn’t speak to anybody else becuase it scared me speaking to people i didn’t know.

me and colby were going back and forth to the bar getting shots each time and then sitting back down in the booth we were in from the start of the party.

“where’s johnnie?” colby wondered

“i don’t know but im gonna go find him i miss him” i said getting sad

“don’t start crying please” he begged

“i can’t help it i love him so much cole im gonna go find my boyfriend” i said crying

colby just laughed and let me walk off to find johnnie.

i finally found johnnie and he was stud with tara , i walked over to johnnie hugging him from behind still crying

he turned his head to see me hugging him from behind and realised i was crying , he then turned his whole body around and lifted my chin up asking me what was wrong.

“i just love you so much baby like soooo much i can’t even explain” i said squeezing him

he smiled at me and kissed my forehead “i love you too” he let go off the hug and grabbed my hand walking over to a big booth were lots of people were sat.

johnnie sat next to jake obviously and i sat next to chris , not even realising chris was there i layed my head on johnnies lap curling my legs up to my chest and looking up towards johnnies face.

he was just speaking to people and stroking my head and looked down at me every one in a while asking if i was okay and if i wanted something to drink. i declined each time because i didn’t want to be really hung over the next morning

we finally all started to move and eveyone went to the dance floor to dance and got lots of drinks in , i totally ignored the fact i just said i won’t have more to drink and kept drinking and dancing with different people .

i was dancing with johnnie the most , tara a lot , and colby obviously and somehow ended up dancing with all the triplets at different times.

time skip

3:45am

me and johnnie were walking out of the party holding hands and many other people were leaving at this time as well so all i could hear was people talking and music playing quietly form behind me

i was very drunk so johnnie said goodbye to eveyone for me and put me in the passenger seat with a bottle of water in my hand so i could sober up , thankfully it was working i was starting to feel less sick thank god .

“when we get home i’ll get you some tablets and get you changed okay?” johnnie says to make me feel better

i smiled at him tilting my head onto the seatbelt so i could sleep for the 30 minute drive we had ahead of us .

we arrived back home and johnnie went and got me another water and tablets from the kitchen and we both walked into our bedroom i literally just flopped onto our bed staring up at the ceiling , johnnie came over to me pulling me into the bathroom and helping me take my makeup off .

johnnie also took his makeup off and quickly washed his hair in the sink also washing his face.

i walked into the bedroom slowly taking off my costume , i took off my jacket and my socks then unclasping my bra throwing it somewhere random on the floor.

while i was changing johnnie came out and said for me to stop and that he will do it for me, he went over to our drawers and grabbed me some of my shorts and a baggy shirt.

he took off my shorts and then taking off my tights , he put my pj shorts on for me then telling me to put my arms up.

i did

he pulled the shirt over my head and looked straight down at my boobs , i looked up at him staring into his eyes he then looked up from my boobs looking into my eyes.

“ can i kiss you ”

i nodded

he kissed me and began leaning foward causing me to lean backwards so he was on top of me , he moved from my mouth to kissing my neck and my shoulders.

he asked if he could take off my shorts and then my panties and i nodded.

he took them off my body he began kissing down to my thighs until he reached my clit , starting to pleasure me by kissing it licking my folds up and down i was out of breath covering my mouth

“ uhm can i put my bra back on please” i ask

“of course here” he hands over my bra

he stopped kissing my clit and put two fingers in his mouth then bringing them down near my hole teasing me slightly

“stop teasing please” i mutter under my breath

he was rubbing his fingers around my hole touching each fold while making direct eye contact with me

i moan a little and johnnie moves one of his hands up to my boobs and squeezes one of my boobs massaging them.

he shoved his fingers straight into my hole curling his fingers inside then bringing them in and out

“fuck your so hot”

johnnie got faster making me moan i covered my mouth arching my back throwing my head and my whole body back

johnnie took his fingers out and didn’t let me finish and he sat up on his knees pulling his pants and boxers down

his cock was leaking with pre cum with thick veins running up and down it , my mouth opened forgetting how big he was each time we had sex.

“you definitely want to carry on baby?” he questioned

“yeah please” i stuttered

he lined his cock up to my folds moving it up and down teasing me again , he moved back and moved me over to sit ontop of him

he was holding my waist to keep me hovering over his throbbing cock.

he then slowly moved me down so now i’m sat on it

all of it

he filled me up so well and he lifted my chin up and asked if I was okay i nodded at him smiling

i began moving once i was adjusted to his size , i was moving back and forward with my hands resting on johnnies chest

the whole room was echoing with johnnies groans and him talking me through it and my loud moans every once in a while

“omg johnnie”

he smiled and started bucking his hips up to thrust into me deeper , so i was moving back and forward and he was thrusting into me faster and faster

“your so good at this o-omg” johnnie moaned

i smiled down at him and leaned down to his face and began kissing him

“i’m so close johnnie keep going”

“okay i am too baby”

we were both riding out to our highs so close to cumming with eachother he grabbed both my hands that were on his chest and interlocked them with his so we were holding hands

his cock twitched inside of me so i knew he was seconds away so i got faster and kissed his neck making him finish with me.

we both finished at the same time and we were so out of breath we were sat staring at eachother then broke into laughter

i got off johnnie and went into the bathroom using the toilet and then washing my hands coming out to get some panties to sleep in and i got back into bed with johnnie laying on his chest with one of my legs over his legs.

“your special to me” he said kissing my forehead

“your special to me to baby”

“i love you y/n”

“i love you so much more jay”

——————————————————

OKAY I HOPE RHIS WAS GOOD ITS MY SECOND TIME WRITING SMUT LOL

@teapartyprincess4two

[mykoreanlove]

🍊

You fumbled with your outfit for the 100th time, still annoyed with how it looked.

„Why the fuck did she make us dress up in orange. I look like a giant carrot“, you huffed out in annoyance.

It was your friend‘s birthday which you gladly arrived for. You left the city five years ago and returned on happy occasions like this. Still, you were nervous to meet her new friends. But you were even more nervous about your old friends, especially Minho.

Ever since you moved away your friendship took a downfall. Back then the two of you worked at an agency together. You became inseparable from the get go - he was your confidante, your drinking buddy, your big brother when you needed him. Rumors about you dating circulated all the time but it was just that - rumors. You had no romantic feelings for him, even though he did. Or so you thought.

He never confessed properly but dropped some hints over the years.

You took a last glance into the mirror and sighed defeatedly : „Guess I’m gonna be a carrot for tonight.“

Your friend shot you a message as you were late to the party.

„Girl get your ass here. Minho has already asked about you ;)“

You gulped. He did? Wasn’t he coming with his wife? You thought back to when he first met her. Ironically, she has the same name as you, only spelled differently.

Memories of you sitting at the river flooded your mind. Minho consulted you for dating advice as he usually did.

„So, we went on a date yesterday and well, it happened. We had sex. It was nice, nothing too crazy but I still don’t know where this is going.“

He looked like he had to decide if he wanted to join the army now or wait a little longer.

You smiled benignly. „Break up with her.“

Minho turned to you in shock. „What? I can‘t break up with her the day after we had sex!“

You sighed - was he really that oblivious? „Min, I don’t want you to break up because you finally fucked her but because you have dated her for a while now and you’re totally unimpressed by her. Let her go. She deserves better and so do you.“

He was lost in thought, contemplating his options.

You moved away shortly after which resulted in him getting distant. He was serious with your name doppelgänger as they became an official couple. Maybe you were too quick to judge?

You arrived at the venue and laughed to yourself. Given the different shapes of the guests it was like a gathering of carrots and oranges. You spotted your friend and went over to congratulate her. You chatted about the past while downing sweet orange drinks.

„Have you seen him?“

„Whom?“, you giggled.

„Minho, y/n. Aren’t you curious? He’s right behind you.“

You turned around and spotted your old friend. He still looked handsome, even if slightly older. He was listening to his wife talking, holding on to his cigarettes for dear life.

You caught his gaze and congealed. Minho looked sad. No, that was not it, he rather looked lonely.

You thought back to one of your later visits. Your group of friends was all drinking and talking but somehow you ended up alone with him. Minho started pouring out his heart to you, in desperate need for help. He wasn’t happy with her, he wasn’t happy alone either so what was he to do?

„What’s so wrong with breaking up? And actually looking for someone that makes your heart flutter?“

He downed another shot before he answered. „I’d rather be with her on cloud 4 than on no cloud at all.“

Seeing him now made you realize that life on cloud 4 had to be cruel. As Minho realized that it was you looking at him his whole face lit up and he walked right over to you.

„Y/N!“ He hugged you tightly in his strong arms. „Damn, why are you still so good looking?“

You missed his banter, you missed him even more.

„Shut up, Min“, you laughed. Only then did you notice his wife standing beside him, fuming with jealousy.

In all those years you never actually met her, only heard those stories about her. You wanted to give her a chance so you greeted her casually. „Hey, you must be y/n, I am also y/n - nice to finally meet you!“

The second you stopped talking her soul left her body. She didn’t take your hand, she didn’t say a word to you at all. Enraged she turned to Minho and made a scene.

„Y/N? THAT Y/N? Are you seriously expecting me to party with her like this?“

You had no clue what got her so mad but decided to leave the premise before she would ruin the whole party. You motioned at Minho, whispering „I’m gonna go, Min.“

Only when you turned around were you able to fully grasp the argument.

„You take me to a party where the girl you’ve been in love with for years is also at and expect me to be cool with it?“

You stopped dead in your tracks. Did you hear that right? In love with you? Was she for real? You turned around slowly and faced him concerned. He looked embarrassed - both by the scene his wife made but also by the sudden confession. He never intended on telling you but now the cat was out the bag.

His wife noticed you observing them too which only fueled her anger more. „What are you looking at? Aren’t you ashamed to come here even though I am here? Don’t you know your place?“

Before you could explain yourself Minho spoke up. „She didn’t know.“

„What do you mean she didn’t know? You never told her but you told me?“

Minho looked you straight in the eyes, his gaze as intense as their argument. He didn’t break eye contact when he answered his wife.

„I told you because you are my wife and I planned on sharing my life with you. But maybe that was a mistake.“

He turned around and left. His wife broke down crying, only to be immediately consoled by her friends. Your friend came over and patted you on the shoulder. „Damn, did not see that coming.“

You didn’t either.

[heychucklenuts]

the mercs and miss Pauling on a undercover mission at a pizza place?

Miss Pauling and The Mercs Undercover at a Pizza Place

Totally did not register "pizza place" as Chuck E. Cheese no way no how. (Gonna use that for a post later though.)

The Administrator has growing suspicions that a pizza place in Teufort may be the front for an illegal Australium trade, or possibly they're hiding their own cache of the good stuff. Of course, she's not looking to rat anyone out to the police. No, she's looking to take the sweet, sweet Australium for herself. Which is when she calls on the help of Miss Pauling, telling her to gather the mercs, and to set up an undercover mission to steal the Australium back for her.

The mercs are divided into groups of two (with an exception), based on compatibility, all given some sort of a task within the pizza place. How well will this go?

Miss Pauling

The brains of the operation, having to come up with a discreet yet reasonable style of mission for the mercs, so nobody decides to end up making the "undercover" in the mission mean nothing. As for her role within the mission, she has to stay in the background, being the one to watch and make sure everything is going alright, having something set up so she can hear the others, and what they're saying, or even any intel they may pick up on. She doesn't stray too far, staying close by with her pistol and some body bags in case everything goes south. She keeps close tabs on Engineer and Spy, since the two of them have a much larger role in the mission. She keeps tabs on the rest of the mercenaries too, sometimes listening in to their own conversations, keeping mental notes on anything she may have to tell The Administrator. Her role becomes a bit more hands-on when she gets the okay from Spy, to "make a delivery" of ingredients to the place. It does entail actually hijacking and posing as a delivery person for the pizza place, and supplying ingredients, but the boxes don't leave empty. Anything made of Australium gets to go straight to The Administrator.

Scout and Sniper

Given that they're, according to The Administrator, "the most normal looking" of the mercs, they get to play as duds in the front of house. They're acting as a pair of college students wanting to grab a bite to eat, using that to pick up anything that they can from anyone who comes into the place, or anyone who looks vaguely suspicious as a whole. Scout of course tries to take this a step further in being a ladies man, going up to tables with hot babes and asking for their numbers, or asking what they're doing in town. While on one hand this somehow works for gathering intel, occasionally, it also turns into Scout's flirting hour, and hopefully the hour where he can get laid. Sniper has to act as the mediator to this, usually grabbing Scout and yanking him back to his seat before silently scolding him about being too flamboyant. (To which Scout pulls the whole, "Me? Flamboyant? Lookit me Snipes, I'm the complete opposite of that." Whilst showing off what he claims to be an outfit for the ladies.) Sniper has never had to work "undercover" per se, his job just requiring him to take the kill and get the hell out of dodge. So, while he may not exactly be the most used to this, he's not exactly complaining. All he has to do is blend in and not draw any attention to himself. Perfect, if he didn't have to work with Mr. Boston on this mission. He believes in discreetness, Scout believes in flashiness, both believing in opposite concepts to reach the same goal. Though the only okay thing about this may be getting a free meal, and getting to see Scout make an idiot out of himself.

Medic and Heavy

Similar role to Scout and Sniper, but this time they're posing as tourists new to Teufort. They get to be a bit more direct in getting intel, talking with people and with staff alike to find out whatever they can about the supposed Australium trade. So long as nobody brings up mini-guns or dead bodies, the two actually blend in quite nicely. Medic, being the more extroverted half, takes over for talking most of the time. He tries to play the story of being a German tourist fascinated by the states, and fascinated by the history of Teufort, and also fascinated by the (im)practical uses for Australium, trying to bring up how it can be used for huge medical breakthroughs and to further the human race, or that it can be used to make a spoon shiny. All of this to pry deeper into the heads of those whom he suspects may know about this little trade going on, trying to pry deeper and deeper, and perhaps trying to even get in on it. So it seems. Heavy passes himself off as a longtime friend of Medic's, an excuse that works quite well given the chemistry they already have with each other. While Medic is being the more jovial half, asking this or that, heavy puts up the front of small talk and casual conversation as a way to get the people they're talking to to better trust them, better let out any secrets. He's helping form a cat and mouse sort of game, if you will.

Soldier and Demoman

This unique pair gets an equally as unique job, getting to pose as new hires. Is this a good idea? Great question. But, given the two are supposedly new hires, maybe they could pass it off. Demoman just passes Soldier off as his lead-poisoned friend who'll get used to everything over time. Eventually though it gets to the point where Soldier gets more of the janitorial duties while Demoman got to work with the food and make pizzas. The both of them are there to talk to the employees, and get to know the place. Soldier ends up being a little more anal about how he conducts his discussions, usually demanding them to answer lest he threaten to smack them with the mop he's been using. While he's registered that they're on a mission, he still hasn't quite grasped the "undercover" side of it. Demoman acts as the middle ground, either trying to excuse Soldier's behavior, or do something to make him happy. (Such as promising him bacon if he can relax.) Wouldn't say he comes off more convincing, but he does come off a lot more personable in comparison to Soldier, being very friendly with the staff and trying to lighten things up a bit. And in the end also trying to make sure Soldier doesn't have a major slip, always trying to cover it up when he almost outs what they're doing.

Pyro, Engineer, and Spy

Unlike the rest, these three get to nest together as a trio, having the most important job: try to secure the goods, or figure out how the trade was occurring. The three nest in the lower levels of the pizza place, where the fridge and supply room are located, but unlike the others they aren't posing as anything but a threat. Pyro stays a little more up front, nowhere towards the dining room or the kitchen, but closer to the stairs leading down to the area. They're there in case anyone catches on, and in case someone needs to see the fun side of fire. They don't only stay by the stairs though, going back and forth between there and the other two to check in, and to make sure that everything's okay. They're the first defense. Engineer stays somewhere between the stairs and the room where the goods are supposedly stored in. He has a nest set up down there, a sentry in case anyone gets past Pyro, a dispenser to make sure everyone has enough ammo and that everyone's healed, and a teleporter leading the three of them outside. (If the mercs spot them outside, that's their cue to get out, and that something is wrong.) He's one of the two who keeps consistent communication with Miss Pauling, telling her if anything's wrong, or just giving her any updates. He also partakes in a couple beers from down there, nothing to get himself drunk obviously. Just a little somethin' somethin' for doing this. Finally there's Spy. He's closest to the objective, the final defense in case anything goes wrong. He's the other to keep consistent contact with Pauling, giving her cues for when it's safe for her to enter, or if she needs to wait a minute. He also occasionally will run upstairs and course the area, cloaked, to see if something's going bad with the plan. And if not, he'll return back to his position. In the end, him, Pyro, and Engineer, will help Miss Pauling when she arrives to "bring the supplies", swapping the food supplies with the goodies and the intel, before Spy will cloak again, and follow her out.

From there, Pyro and Engineer would use the teleporter to get out of the place. But, they wouldn't all pool out at once. You don't want to cause a commotion, after all. Well, you try not to. Engineer did have to self-destruct his buildings after all.

Scout and Sniper would leave first, sighting that they needed to "head back to campus", because they had "a class staring in the next half hour", and that they wanted to get back and get settled beforehand. They'd leave once Pauling and Spy have left, and after Engineer and Pyro had left.

Medic and Heavy would stay a little longer to talk with people, eventually excusing themselves to head out. Their excuse ends up being that they had an early morning to go visit the Poopy Joe memorial, so understandably they could leave with zero question. (This would be followed by the people they'd been talking to murmuring and weeping over the fallen American hero.)

The last to leave would be Soldier and Demoman, having completed their first days of work at the pizza place, so they wouldn't be leaving until much later. Though upon arriving back to the base, Miss Pauling would tell them they could've just quit, to which the pair would look at each other and shrug, claiming they didn't want to be disingenuous about working there. But in the end, the mission would prove itself to be successful, even with the infinite possibilities where it could've went wrong.

[shegoesbyjoy]

What I thought might've been an animation error in my previous post about the red-eyed siblings I now believe to be fully intentional after seeing S2 E6. Link Click S2 spoilers ahead!!

---

TURNS OUT, BOTH OF THE SIBLINGS VISITED LU GUANG.

Because this show's got me in full detective mode, I went back through every episode that has aired so far and combed through every appearance of the twins. First we have the scene at LG's door.

As established in the previous post I mentioned, the siblings can be told apart by their hair, outfit, and to some extent their lashes as well. (The most obvious tell is their hair—the boy has a fringe, while the girl has straight-cut bangs.) Knowing this, you can see that the initial scenes where LG is stopped from closing his door is the boy.

Immediately afterward we have LG's eyes widening...

...followed by a shot of the girl. Note the hair and lashes.

Then we switch back! The one who ends up handing LG the photo is the boy, NOT the girl.

Now, let's take a look at some of their other appearances. The sibling in the back of Qian Jin's car who was instructed to "do it" before being handed Chen Bin's photo? The boy.

The one waiting in the hallway, who Qian Jin's henchman gives a phone to? Also the boy. (The outfit difference between him and his sister becomes rather obvious now, if you are looking out for it.)

The one who then calls Qian Jin on the phone later that episode? The girl! (Made clear in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment at the very end of that scene when she tilts her head, revealing a tiny corner of her bangs.)

That conversation btw (which happens in E4) potentially foreshadows the events of E6...though of course we still don't quite know what "this plan" was meant to accomplish, assuming the girl's trip to the police station is really what they're referring to here.

Qian Jin: How about it? Have you found him? Li Tianxi (the sister): [shows mouth moving but with the audio silenced] Qian Jin: [laughs] You’re a real lunatic. This plan is risky, but if we can take action before the police discover it, we still have a chance.

Anyways, what all this confirms for me is that BOTH siblings are in contact with Qian Jin and working with him somehow. But what's still totally up in the air is:

Are the two siblings in contact with each other? And if so, are they working with or against each other?

Are the siblings actually on Qian Jin's side by choice? Or are they being coerced in some way?

Do they have their own agenda (either individually or as a team) that they're pursuing under the guise of following Qian Jin's directives?

Why did Qian Jin scrub most of their info off the police records?

What exactly was the brother trying to accomplish by handing LG that photo of his sister and their mother?

LOTS AND LOTS OF QUESTIONS left for S2 to answer... 👀

[yuriisclumsy]

Inside a Game

Last Chapter | Next Chapter

𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗈𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗅𝗒. 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 2137

Authors note: I hope you lovelies are ready for the end of ACT I! I made a whole GIF for the chapter... Yeah, not doing that again in a while.

I couldn’t believe what I had seen.

She wasn't supposed to exist, yet…somehow…she was right there.

This wasn’t making any sense. How could a character in a video game be here!?

My mind flashed with a memory, a very important memory I had forgotten that would have answered where I was.

“What do you think [Name], pretty cool right?”

“Amalia, for the last time, I don’t know what you’re showing me.” She gasped, offended that I wasn’t paying attention to her explanation.

“This is the game I was talking to you about! It came out a few months ago, and I think it’s amazing!” She said with a big smile as she switched to another character. “Look! This is Lisa. She’s a librarian!”

I looked at the screen. There stood ‘Lisa’ in the middle of a pack of monsters. She was glittered in purple, and had a witches hat.

“A librarian? Shouldn’t she not know how to fight? You know, because she’s in the library all the time? I pointed out. “And what’s with the witch get-up?” 

“Uh, well, I don’t know much about her background yet, so I couldn't tell you why she fights… As for her being a witch…don’t know that either.”

“*sight* Her name’s Lisa, right? What about this guy?” I pointed at another of her characters that were in her team. I could see that she was ecstatic that I finally got interested.

“Oh, this is Kaeya! He’s one of my supports’!” She shoved the screen in my face. She switched to another character, “This is Jean. My first 5 star character. I love her!”

“I fail to see what’s so entertaining about the game. But, because you are my friend, I’ll listen to your rants.”

“REALLY?!” I covered my left ear.

“Yeah. You’ve listened to mine, so it’s only fair I do the same. Also, don’t scream in my ear.”

“Whoops, sorry,” she gave me the happiest smile I had seen from her for a while.

Amalia used to talk to me about this game whenever she could. It was her favorite. She’d spent an ungodly amount of time “farming” materials to ascend her characters. Talked days on end about the lore of the game, and her insane theories.

How could I have forgotten something like that?

When I snapped out of that state, I was met with another screen. It was showing a quest: A One-Sided Reunion. There was not a single decline, or accept button. The only option was to continue.

Quest:

A One-Sided Reunion

[Continue]

And why do these things keep on appearing in the worst times?! I flapped my arms trying to make the screen despair. Stupid hologram! I just had a traumatic experience, and this is what you do?! AGH!

The screen was still intact after I calmed down. The continue button kept staring at me to press it. I sighed in defeat. There was no other way of leaving this space, I had to press it.

I pressed continue and everything gained motion.

“Hello? Are you alright, dearie?” the woman – that I now know to be Lisa – asked. She placed a hand on my forehead, face filled with worry. I see her appeal now.

I took her hand off of my head, placing back down for her to rest. It feels weird when I know she’s a video game character.

“I’m fine, miss,” I gave her a smile, “I just remembered something important. Sorry I made you worried…”

“Oh, please, don’t apologize. You had to take your time. Are you the one Amber told me about? The girl who has amnesia? Are you remembering some things?”

Calm down [Name]. Just lie. It’s going to hurt no one.

“Yes. I just had a memory come back to me about a friend,” it wasn’t a total lie.

“That’s good.”

“Uh, I’m sorry. Is it possible to check out this book?” I need to leave this place. The fact that I’m talking to a character in a game is making me feel dizzy.

“Yes, I can check them out for you,” she said, walking to the stairs.

Seeing her from afar, her outfit is almost identical to her in-game model. If Amalia were here, she would be all over her. She had a weird fixation with her, just like my mom.

Wait… Is she into older women??? No, can’t be. She said she wanted to marry a rich man. An image of Amalia marrying a wealthy man came into my mind.

“Are you coming?” Lisa called from the stairs.

“Ah, yes!” Leaving the thought alone, I left the seat and ran towards her.

I excited the library as fast as I could when Lisa checked out the book. If I were to stay there for one more second I would have suffocated.

Turns out that meeting characters of a game in real life is not a dream come true.

I don’t understand… I strolled the streets of the city that had welcomed me with open eyes. How did I end up inside a game to begin with? 

I looked at the sky. The colors were muddied because of the dragon, but not that dark; it was cloudy.

Most people are afraid to step outside, leaving the streets feeling lonely. One or two clerks are open, and the few brave souls that didn’t fear a mythological creature, with knights doing routine checks.

If I remember correctly, Amalia explained the game follows a set of ‘Quests’ that advance the story. This city, for example, is the first place ‘players’ spawn in; the first region of Teyvat. According to the book and Amalia, there are seven nations, with seven gods, which we will meet.

From what I know, all the gods use other names when referring to them in the story. So, what is Barbatos' other name?

Amalia said that out of all the gods, she likes this one the most. Damnit! Come on [Name], she used to say his name all the time. Remember! I hit my head with the book to juggle my memory.

“Miss, are you feeling well?”

“AH!” I flung back with my book and hit something. Opening my eyes, I see a knight looking concerned.

Oh how embarrassing…

“S-sorry… I, uhm.. Better get going!” I dashed away, leaving the knight confused.

“Looks like you scared her Raymond,” another night said.

“*sight* I don’t think I’ll understand you youngsters anytime soon,” he eyed my leaving form with a frown.

I breathed in all the air I used for my escape from the knight, with my hands on my knees keeping me up.

“Ahg… I need to stop spacing out,” my heart calmed down to an extent. I found an empty alley when I was running, so that’s where I was.

There were some cradles in the alley, so I used them to rest.

“Ah…a place to rest is what I need…” I passed my forearm to swipe the sweat of my face. I looked at the surrounding area, then to my feet. “...Am I really inside of a game?”

If I really am, I should be familiar with the events that will happen in the future. This was Amalia’s favorite game after all, she didn’t stop talking until I played it. 

“Hmm, what happens at the beginning of the game…?”

“Why did you want me to download this game again…?”

“Because I know a person with your intelligence will appreciate it! Right now, you are playing the prologue of the game,” Amalia explained.

“...What happens in the story?”

“Nu-huh. Spoilers.”

“Amalia, I’ll probably toss this game in the trash bin later. You might as well tell me while I play,” I pressed the ‘W’ key to go to the next quest.

“Fine… The prologue’s main plot is the rescue of Dvalin,” she looked at my PC’s screen from the side, relaxing in my bed.

“Dvalin?” I inquired as I slay another hilichurl.

“Yeah. He’s the big blue dragon you saw in the cut scene.”

“Why are we saving him?”

“Because he got poisoned during a fight 500 years ago that left him vulnerable enough for the Abyss to manipulate him.” 

“Sounds deep.”

“OI, don’t make fun of my baby’s backstory,” she threw one of my pillows at me.

“OW–!”

“Anyway— You are going to help Save Dvalin with Barbatos. By the way, he goes by Venti. No, I’m not explaining why. Play the game and you’ll know.”

It was short, but it could have been worse given the one explaining.

The Traveler saves Dvalin… Isn't that what they’ve been calling Sirius? Wait a second– isn't Sirius the name I picked when I started the game…!?

“AH, concentrate!” I smacked my cheeks.

I played through the prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2,  the rest was told to me by Amalia, since I dropped the game, only playing here and there. I’ve been in this world for a few months, and so far the story has proceeded like the game. If I know the events that will transpire, then I know the future, if I know the future, I can either prevent and change things. And I can save myself from getting into anything dangerous!

Good thing I rejected their invitations to go with them. If I remember, Sirius had gotten sucked up in the air, and fought Stormterror – Dvalin.

“Now that that’s resolved, I need to figure out what kind of powers I have… I’ve been able to see cutscenes… Does that mean I have a system of-sorts?”

It would make sense, given that it’s a game, I need to have a game-system-power.

There must be a main menu somewhere. Or at least something similar to it.

Do I need to say it aloud? I puffed my chest full and closed my eyes at the embarrassing thought. I had to try it if I wanted to get somewhere.

“Main menu..!” I yelled, and I lightly opened my eyes to see if it worked. But there was nothing. “Guess that didn’t work…”

“What are you doing, [Name]?”

“AH!” I flinched and backed away, placing my hand on the cradle for support but missed. “AHHH! Uf!” I screamed as I landed on my side on the floor.

“Wah! Are you okay, [Name]?” The voice loomed over my form.

I looked up, only to be met with Paimon’s worried face.

“Paimon?!” I looked to the side as Sirius came forward, also worried. “What are you two doing here?!” Weren’t they supposed to be off on a domain?

“We just came back from finishing one of the tasks given to us by the knights,” she said. “Wait, don't try to divert the attention from Paimon’s original question! What were you doing just now?”

“Oh, uh… Nothing…?” I scratch my head.

“That sounded more like a question than an answer…” she put her hands on her hip, unsatisfied with my answer.

“Hahaha–ha…” I laughed awkwardly. Did you know there were 15 tiles from the entrance of the alley to where I sat? Neither did I, until now.

“Hey! Are you going to tell us what you were doing or not!?” She stomped her feet in frustration.

I stayed still, without saying a single word.

Sirius patted her back to calm her down. “Let’s leave her alone, Paimon. She has her reasons to stay quiet,” I looked up to see him smiling at me. “Are you hungry? We came looking for you to eat with us.”

“You can’t let her go just like that!”

“Now that you mention it…yeah. I am hungry,” I said, finally feeling the hours from the last time I ate. Had I been stuck in the library that long and didn't notice?

“Hey!”

I stood up from the floor, dusting my wardrobe.

“Is this yours?” Sirius asked as he picked up a book from the ground.

“Ah, yes! It’s not damaged right? Lisa would electrocute me if I let something happen to it…” I shivered at the thought of her using her electro vision.

“You know what? Paimon is leaving and getting that Sweet Madam Amber promised Paimon since you two don’t want to talk to Paimon.” The mad fairy floated away.

I felt bad for Paimon.

“Wait Paimon!” Me and Sirius catch up to her, “I’ll buy you dessert as an apology… Will you accept it?”

Paimon huffed, and flipped her head away from me. “Hmm, Paimon will think about it.”

“Oh, come on! Fine, I’ll buy dessert for three days straight! Is that better?”

“Okay, Paimon accepts!” She gleefully forgave me after the mention of more food.

I sighted and shook my head with a smile. That’s the Paimon I know…

“Can you two hurry up? Amber has been waiting for us for a while,” Sirius pushed us to go faster.

“Ah! My Sweet Madam!”

“Alright, alright I’ll walk faster,” he walked past me and talked to Paimon on what other foods they could order.

He knew I didn't want to talk about the thing they saw, his gaze landed on me when he noticed I was looking. I gave him a small smile, he reciprocated. He is too kind… I’ll tell you once I figure it out, Sirius…

I promise…

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[thehylianidiot]

Sooo... bout that idea of "Maruki's palace but it's the setting of Princess Tutu" concept. I may have been obsessing over it and did a few concept sketches.

Explanations under the read more

The concept is simple: the ability to become a god changes Maruki's palace theme after the Christmas Actualization; instead of a laboratory, where experiments and uncertainty are used to find the answers, it's now a "Fairy Tale" where rule are certain and can be whatever the author wants them to be. In other words, I have an excuse to make the setting Gold Crown from Princess Tutu with P5 characters. Yes, this would place Maruki firmly in the role of Drosselmeyer...except with like the exact opposite intent. Upon entering the palace on 01/02, the royal trio end up trapped within a never-ending story, with a part of themselves scattered to avoid them from progressing. They have 32 days to realize something's up, seek out their missing "heart shards", and complete the palace. Along the way, they will encounter cognitions of other P5 characters (I haven't gotten that for into the details of that though). Personas I think shall be restricted because A) it's a god's palace he can do whatever he wants with his cognition's rules, and B) because I wanna :3

As said, in order to progress in the palace, the trio needs to find the missing pieces of themselves scattered throughout the palace. There are 3 shards total, ergo replacing the "Will Seeds" of the palace. This concept is meant to lend itself to a lot of character development. Remember that the story start on 01/02, meaning any third-semester plot points have not been revealed to the characters yet (hehehe, much potential angst, much wow). Order of shard discovery initially set for: Sumi -> Akechi -> Joker

Each of the three's ballet clothes are based on a simplified version of their metaverse outfits, meant to promote mobility and helps the artist maintain her sanity. Sumi is a shoo-in for the advanced classes. Her skill as a gymnast (regardless of the comparisons to her sister) are seriously good, and that's not even accounting for her metaverse outfit resembling a ballerina. Whether or not she stays in the advanced class due to her whole identity crisis in parallel or October 3rd is another matter. Ren isn't top of the class, but he's fairy decent himself thanks to tutelage from a certain gymnast confidant. Kid picks up on lots of things pretty quickly. But on the bright side, in Gold Crown he always gets to wear his Joker mask...and probably good on his metaverse identity's namesake along the way. You'd think Akechi wouldn't be the least experienced dancer of the three...but his battle style isn't exactly the most...graceful (especially in the edge-suit) and he definitely wouldn't have reached out to anyone for lessons and stuff. Also, having to deal with others being considerably better than him at something? He would hate it and it would be hilarious. Thus, somehow the rageball somehow has a parallel to a literal duck. Note that each of the trio is not a 1:1 ratio with any of Princess Tutu's main cast. For example, while Sumi is a sweetheart like Duck, the need to adjust her technique as she learns to be her own person parallel's Mythos, and her desire to initially keep Maruki's reality when she realizes what she would have to give up parallel's Rue's motivations. And that's just for one of them!

Also yes, since I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to Princess Tutu, I swear I shall find a way to put in the underwater lake dance!!!

ANYWAY

That's all I have so far. What do folks think?