#and start focusing on stuff everyone collectively seems to despise

[imwritesometimes]

stg every time I do have the money and contemplate going ad-free staff here does some dumb shit to "update" this app/site that makes me think "no, they do not need my money if all they're gonna do is piss it up a wall"

[loudstan]

Epiphany

A collection of  NCT werewolf AU stories.

Doyoung (pt.1) (p1.2) (pt. 3) (pt. 4) (pt. 5)

Summary: The wolf population kept decreasing and those who were left had a hard time trying to fit  into society. Sure, people didn’t consider them as dangerous as vampires, but wolves could still sense some hostility every time they did as much as go for a walk in a public place. Thanks to wolves’ natural magical abilities, NCT (one of the remaining packs) found a safe place among witches in a town where no one knew their secret, allowing some members to finally get a job, study and interact with others without fear of being rejected.

Life seems to finally be peaceful for them… except that wolves have needs, and one of those needs is finding their mate.

Pairing: Werewolf! Doyoung x Witch! female reader

Warnings: Eventual smut

 By the end of the semester you hated Doyoung’s class. He was good at teaching, but his patience was limited, as you all found out one day when he kicked a distracted boy out of the class because he had asked something he had literally just explained. You always thought twice before raising your hand in his class and reviewed your notes every day to be ready whenever he asked you something. But he never did. Actually, you were the only student he had never asked anything to.

 “You haven’t called my name, Doyoung,” you raised your hand hesitantly during roll call. “...sir.” you added nervously when his head snapped up to glare at you.

He frowned and the room stayed silent. By now people already suspected he didn’t like you.

 “There was no need,” he muttered. “You never skip class.” the last bit sounded bitter, like he really wished you did skip his class once in a while.

“Oh.” you blushed and looked at your lap but you could still feel his eyes piercing your skull. Your classmates were getting anxious too, some of them daring to whisper how they were sure the odds of you passing the class were slim.

Thankfully, the universe decided to help you get out of that awkward situation.

“Good morning, class!” professor Choi, your saviour, entered the classroom. “I hope you’re all ready for today’s discussion.” he said cheerfully and proceeded to sit next to Doyoung in a corner.

 You let out a relieved sigh. Professor Choi was the perfect teacher; a powerful lawyer with an open mind who valued brilliant minds and liked to see the world burn. Contrary to his disciple Doyoung, he did like you a lot and whenever he was in the classroom, you had the chance to speak your mind.

 You took out your notes and read them one more time to make sure to impress professor Choi, who would assign the class a problem and start asking for their opinions.

A selected group of students would discuss a problem that the professor would assign while Doyoung took notes and made sounds of disapproval that made the most confident students doubt their words. When it was your turn, professor Choi seemed to think about what topic to give you for a minute and then he smirked and said:

 “According to the magic state of law, how valid is the union between an imprinted werewolf and a human?”

 If you had paid closer attention you would have noticed how Doyoung’s consistent scribbling suddenly stopped, but you were focused on Saros: one of the smartest guys in the class who was currently defending the legality of the topic presented by the professor. Personally, you were not against the idea, neither were you a supporter of a relationship like that- it was none of your business who dated who… but you remembered how every single time you gave your opinion, there was Saros contradicting it so now it was time for payback.

 “Although my classmate here makes an excellent point,” you stood up when professor Choi allowed you to speak,  “According to the magic state of law, a legal union or marriage is only valid if both parts consent.Imprinting cannot be considered consensual, since a werewolf can’t choose their partner.” 

 “Are you saying a werewolf’s love for their partner is not real because they imprinted?” Saros decided to use an emotional approach as he stood up and looked around looking for others agreeing with him. 

“That’s not what I said. I said it shouldn’t be accepted as valid by the magic state of law” 

“So if a werewolf were to confess to you, would you tell them it’s just their instinct?” to everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t Saros’ voice but Doyoung’s. He was looking at you like he couldn’t despise you more than he already did.

 “This is not personal, Do-...sir.” you replied trying to sound as confident as you were a few minutes ago but you would be lying if you said he wasn’t making you feel insecure.

“Isn’t it?” he asked as he stood up and walked towards the front line where you were located.

“Why would it be?” somehow you found the courage to look at him in the eyes and add, “It’s a fact that imprinting is not consensual.”

 “Let’s make it personal then,” he said standing a few centimeters away from you. “Let’s pretend I am a werewolf who imprinted on you. No, don’t look away.” he forcefully grabbed your face and turned you back to him when you tried to avoid his gaze. “ Look at me. Look at me and tell me that what I feel is not real.” 

 The room was silent. You didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal out of it. You were discussing the law, not the morality of the situation. You couldn’t care less if a werewolf imprinted on a human and he shouldn’t care either.

 “I-...” you couldn’t finish your sentence when you saw his crimson red eyes.You were sure they didn’t look like that a minute ago.

“You what, baby?” he whispered only loud enough for you to hear. 

 For a second  a warm feeling took over your chest and your knees gave up. The only thing that kept you from falling down was Doyoung’s strong grip on your face. It felt like you weren’t in control of your body and mind and for a moment you worried he had cursed you, but the symptoms left as soon as the bell announced the end of the class and Doyoung let go of you.

“That’s what I thought,” he said as he went to get his stuff and leave the classroom.

“You are so failing this class, Y/N,” Saros muttered in shock behind you and, for once, you agreed with him.

[zukkoxx]

first dates! :)

w/ bakugo, kiri, deku, shoto

bakugo 💥

let’s be honest...going on a date was not bakugo’s idea.

in fact, he despised the idea of having to put off hero work for a night to pay for some extra’s meal and force himself to have a conversation he didn’t want to.

but the people he called his friends, mina, kirishima, denki and sero urged him to do this. (mostly mina)

they all complained about how he was so pent up and angry more than usual, and that one normal night where he went on a date to get to know someone might let him blow off some steam.

there’s were three outcomes to this planned date:

1. bakugo would be annoyed the whole time, counting the minutes down before literally bursting himself away from the date

2. he’d get himself laid, which was another way to blow off steam, to be fair.

or 3. he’d meet the love of his life.

and that’s where you come in.

you were one of mina’s closest friends, who had met everyone in the squad except for bakugo. he claimed he didn’t have enough time to meet irrelevant people. and the four idiots he semi-tolerated was enough for him.

but mina was persistent. she bribed bakugo with all types of things (most of them having to do with all might) to get him to go on just one date with her friend

and surprisingly, he agreed.

and now, you’re at one of the classiest restaurants in town, sitting across from pro-hero bakugo and eating all that your stomach could hold.

the beginning was a bit awkward. small talk here and there where bakugo would just reply with one word answers or even a low grunt.

but as soon as you asked him about his career, and why he chose to become a hero, it seemed like he could suddenly talk for hours.

he explained a little about himself, talking about his “hag of a mom” and his “arch nemesis deku” with a scowl.

and you explained what you did, your career and some parts of your life. bakugo listened. he was surprising himself. he never imagined being so interested in some extra’s life.

but your eyes were captivating and your words were ear pulling. and he honestly couldn’t help but think....maybe this was a good idea

bye the end of the date, you two were gently smiling at each other. his a lot straighter than yours, but it was something.

he walked you to your car, and you started to say goodbye

“this was really fun bakugo, i’ll be sure to look out for your pro-hero duties on the big screen.” you went to step in your car when he put a hand on your shoulder.

“put your number in.” he grunted. “what’s the point of watching behind a screen when you could get the story from the man himself.” he handed you his phone, and watched as you put your digits in.

when you finally said your last goodbyes and you were back home, your phone dinged, and a notification form an unknown number popped up.

i had fun too i guess. call me...whenever.

-b.k.

deku 🥦

izuku was conflicted.

he loved his life, don’t get him wrong.

living as the number one hero was literally his dream come true.

but he always felt something missing. he just didn’t know what.

it wasn’t until he was hanging out with his friends on one of his rare days off. smiling and laughing at the carefree atmosphere.

he soon realized something. he was different from the rest. it was so obvious, how hadn’t he noticed till now?

he watched as todoroki and momo smiled at each other, sharing their food.

as ochaco and iida held hands under the table.

as tsuya left early, saying she had to meet her s/o.

izuku finally realized...he was lonely

not in the the literal sense, no, he had tons of friends and peers who he loved very much.

but he didn’t have a companion. someone he would come home to at the end of the day. who’d stick by his side through thick and thin.

so he did what every standard, normal human being did when wanting to find a s/o.

he turned to online dating.

hey don’t make fun of him! you were on there too ;)

izuku spent months swiping, trying to find the perfect person to “shoot his shot” with. and eventually, he landed on your profile. your picture was gorgeous and he found himself asking “are they a model?”

feeling a burst of confidence, he goes to your messages, and types a greeting.

you, on the other hand, was confused to say the least. there was no way #1 pro hero deku had just messaged you. you thought it was a scam or catfish. so you ignored it.

but after a few more minutes, another message caught your attention from the same profile.

hey! i know what you’re thinking but...it’s really me! deku! here’s my number so we can video call. please consider. ###-###-####- i.m.

so, you decided to give it a try. if it really was deku, there was no way you’d pass on this once in the lifetime opportunity

as soon as you had free time, you called. and to your surprise, it was really him!

you two talked for a while, getting to know each other. and you shared how you both thought it was time to reach out and try to get to to know other people.

it was really nice talking to him, but as some point, duty called, so he asked you to meet him at a small cafe in town.

when the day came, it entered the nice cafe, and giddily looked around for the green haired boy. when your eyes met him, his widened and he waved at you.

as you walked closer, you couldn’t help but notice the severe blush spreading across his cheeks.

you said hello, and he replied with a stammered greeting. he was almost a totally different person than the one who had messaged and called you, but...you found it cute.

after a while, he began to calm down, and casual conversation began to flutter between you two.

you spent hours talking and laughing with him like you were old friends.

he paid for your food, like the gentleman he is, and complimented you more than you could count. you found yourself hoping this wouldn’t be the only date.

and he was thinking the same thing.

after a few hours of getting to know each other, duty called, and izuku had to leave to go save a bank from being robbed by a low grade villain. much to his demise.

before you parted ways, he spoke with hopeful eyes. “we should do this again some time. o-only if you want to, of course!” he suggested.

you smiled widely. “i would love to!” was your response.

...you two went on a lot more dates in the future.

kirishima 🪨

it was a normal day for the red haired boy.

he was having his usual friday workout at his local gym.

buffing up, ya know?

he decided to work on his legs, walking over to the leg press.

he stopped in confusion when he saw someone he didn’t know at his usual spot.

he was even more confused when he noticed the same person was about half his size, lifting the same amount he did!

he looked left and right, wondering if anyone else was watching you.

he stared a little longer than he’d like to admit, watching your figure and focused eyes, and after a while, you finished your set, sitting up to get a drink.

kirishima cleared his throat, walking towards you and flexing his muscles, groaning at the stretch when he moved his arms around.

he approached you just as you were about to do another set, but you stopped when you saw him walk up to you.

“hey uhhh...need some help there?” he asked in feigned confidence, hoping to start some conversation.

you scoffed “you think cause i’m a girl i can’t lift a few hundred pounds?”

“nonono exactly the opposite! i was just watching you. you did a good job!” kirishima stopped himself when he saw your eyes widen. he probably sounded so creepy!

“look, i saw you absolutely crushing those leg lifts and i just could not...not...introduce myself to someone so MANLY!” he grinned widely. “i’m kirishima! you are?”

you gave him an amused smile and introduced yourself. “y/n.”

you two talked for a bit until it became too late.

so kirishima suggested that you two hang out. it was only gonna be a date if it was fine with you.

you agreed, of course. he was cute, charming, and entertaining. a date wouldn’t hurt.

so he gave you his number and told he’d text you about the plan.

a week later, you got the day and time of the date, but he wouldn’t tell you where it was, claiming it was a surprise.

don’t worry, you made sure to give one of your friends your location in case any shady stuff went down.

kirishima happened to take you on a date to an amusement park!

there was a ton of attractions and rides, as well as other activities like rock climbing and laser tag.

you had so much fun. kirishima was making sure of it. he let you win in laser tag, let you sit where ever you wanted on the rollar coasters, and basically carried you up the rock climbing wall.

and in the end, he won you a giant teddy bear from the claw machine.

it was honestly a perfect date.

by the time night fell, you and him were chilling in his car, eating funnel cake and snow cones.

“so, did you have fun?” he asked with curious eyes.

“so much fun kiri!” you happily bit your funnel cake and he smiled even wider at the nickname, happy you had gotten comfortable with him already.

“that means we can do this again right! go on another date?”

you agreed without hesitation :)))

shoto ❄️🔥

todoroki had no interest in dating.

it’s wasn’t that he didn’t like the idea, or that he had trouble finding someone (god no), he just didn’t think it was important at the time.

but when the vain of his existence, the person who seemed to cause all his problems stepped into his calm and collected lifestyle, he had no choice.

his father, endeavor, was trying to set up shoto in the arranged marriage.

he had been trying for a while, but shoto continued to refuse.

however, endeavor was his father, and he continued to berate shoto about how the family name would go to waste if shoto didn’t marry someone with a good quirk.

shoto made a deal

if he found a s/o before the day of the wedding, endeavor would have to leave him alone and let him make his own decisions. finally

endeavor agreed.

the only problem was...shoto didn’t really talk to people. he didn’t reach out and go on dates. he just had no reason to. so finding someone that he was comfortable being with would be difficult

he thought about the people he knew, and how most of his friends were from his high school years.

scrolling through his contact list for what seemed life forever, he suddenly approached your name.

he remembered you fondly. how you were one of his closest friends and one of the people he actually cared about during his time at UA

and, he honestly found you quite attractive

you’d definitely be able to help him with his little dilemma.

when you received a random text from shoto, you were kind of surprised. after high school, you never really talked unless it was holidays or birthday greetings.

but when he told you about his situation, and how he needed a fake s/o to get his father off his back, you agreed.

you were always the type to help a friend in need. especially one like shoto who helped you through high school.

shoto had planned on you meeting his father and having a quick dinner to introduce his new “girlfriend”

luckily endeavor never payed attention to shoto’s friend’s, or he would have recognized you from UA.

during the dinner, a tense blanket covered the three of you.

endeavor would ask very specific questions.

what’s your quirk?

how powerful it is?

what benefits would you bring to the todoroki family?

you answered as best as you could to make yourself fit to his standards, but it was hard when endeavor was so intimidating and judgmental.

at the end of the hour long meeting, he claimed you weren’t right for shoto, and you didn’t meet his standard.

it honestly wounded your pride a bit. you slumped in your chair and shoto looked at you in concern.

you excused yourself after a while, noting to say sorry to shoto for not being able to help him.

but you couldn’t get far when you hear shoto cursing out his father, saying he was a “scum” and he “wouldn’t take anymore bullshit”

shoto ran after you, apologizing for his father’s behavior and insisted on taking you out to make up for the trouble.

that night, he took your favorite restaurant and let you order whatever you wanted.

the rest is history.

well guys this was my first official post. hopefully it’s up to ur standard. ;3

[celiabowens]

Book recommendations, Literary Fiction edition(?)

A companion to this post (which should be updated, at some point lol)

Short Story Collections: 

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield: grotesque and disquieting collection about women and their experience in society, how they view and perceive their own body and desires. Pretty strong mythic, magical realism, body horror elements in here.

The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks: fascinating collection in which Sacks reminishes some particularly odd stories of patients who had to cope with bizarre neurological disorders.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: a collection focused on the Chinese millennial experience. Stories about love and loss, family, immigration and the uncertainty of the future. (also there’s an extremely beautiful short story about a pair of Chinese divers that broke me forever!!!)

Bestiary: The Selected Stories by Julio Cortázar: unforgettable selection of short stories that mix surreal elements to everyday life and apparently ordinary events. Would also recommend All Fires the Fire by the same author.

Novels:

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang: one of the biggest debuts of 2020, it follows two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era. An adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration, this is one of my favorites 2020 reads so yeah, I’d really push it in anyone’s hands to be honest.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: historical fiction inspired by the last days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in the 1820s. A quite bleak, but beautiful novel (the prose is stunning).

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: historical fiction novel set in Norway in the 17th century, following the lives of a group of women in a village that recently (barely) survived a storm that killed all of the island’s men. 

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: the 2020 winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist (side note, I’ve been recommended The Underground Railroad by Whitehead as well, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. If you’re looking for something quite peculiar, if a bit less refined when compared to The Nickel Boys, The Intuitionist is a quite odd pulpy noir set in an alternate NY about...elevator inspectors *and racism*). 

The Leavers by Lisa Ko: haunting book about identity and immigration as the main character is apparently abandoned by his own mother (an undocumented Chinese immigrant) during his childhood. Mainly a story about living in between places and constantly feeling out of place. 

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa: when everyone would probably recommend Murakami (not much against Murakami besides his descriptions of women and their boobs), I suggest checking out some of Ogawa’s books. The recently translated The Memory Police, published in Japan in the mid 90s, is an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories slowly disappear. Would also really recommend The Housekeeper and The Professor, a really short novel about a housekeeper hired to clean and cook for a math professor who suffered an injury that causes him to remember new things for only 80 minutes. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, following a son writing a letter to his illiterate mother. The book seems quite polarising due to Vuong’s writing style (his poetry background is really quite clear and the book doesn’t really follow a regular narrative, rather than portrays events and memories in brief flashes), but I loved it and I’d really just recommend going into it without knowing much? It’s a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and more.

Exist West by Mohsin Hamid: this book was fairly popular when it came out (in 2017 I believe) and was often incorrectly marketed as magical realism. Hamid’s book is a brief and quietly brutal journey with a few fantastical elements, following a couple trying to escape their city in the middle of war, as they hear about peculiar doors that can whisk people far away. The doors are, of course, a quite effective metaphor for the immigrant experience and the book does a great job at portraying the main characters’ relationship. 

Family Trust by Kathy Wang: this has a really low rating on goodreads which...wow i hate that. Family Trust is a literary family saga/drama about a Chinese-American family residing in the Silicon Valley. It’s often been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, but I believe it to be more on the literary side and definitely less lighthearted. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: historical family saga (one of my favorites tbh, I’m absolutely biased, but this book deserved more hype) set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century, following four generations of a Korean family. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the prose, the book has really great characterisation and absolutely fascinating characters. (I’d suggest checking out eventual TW first, in this case). 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: another recent read, The Silence of the Girls, while not faultless, is a pretty good retelling of The Iliad, narrated through Briseis’ perspective. The prose can feel a bit too modern at times, but it provides the reader with some really strong quotes and descriptions. 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: and also Little Fires Everywhere by the same author, to be honest. If you’re looking for really really good family dramas, with great explorations of rather complex and nuanced relationships? You should just check out her stuff. Vibrant characters, good writing, and some superb portrayal of longing here. 

Nutshell by Ian McEwan: i’m starting with this one only to grab your attention (if you’ve even reached this part lol, congrats), but McEwan’s one of my favorite authors and I’d recommend almost everything I’ve read by him? Nutshell, specifically, is a really odd and fun retelling of Hamlet...told from the pov of an unborn baby. But really, I’d also recommend Atonement (of course), The Children Act, Amsterdam? All good stuff. 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: I’ve read this book this summer and, while I’m still unsatisfied with the ending, I’d thoroughly recommend this? The novel follows Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A singular novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life. 

Human Acts by Han Kang: from the bestselling author of The Vegetarian (which honestly, I thoroughly despised lol), Human Acts focuses on the South Korean Gwangju uprising. It’s a really odd (and at times grotesque) experimental novel (one chapter is narrated from the pov of one of the bodies if I remember correctly), so one really has to be in the mood for it, but it’s a really unique experience, worth a chance.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: sort of a really chunky historical adventure novel following two artists in 1940s/1950s NY, who create a superhero and use him to wage a one man war on the Nazis. A bit slow in places (the pace can be uneven at times and the book is quite long), but an enjoyable novel that does a pretty good job when it comes to exploring rather classic themes of American contemporary fiction: the American dream and the figure of the artist (I think there’s a particularly interesting focus on how the artists navigates the corporate world and its rules) and their creative process.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: this is a pretty classic rec, the book really got a lot of hype when it came out? It’s a dystopian-ish novel set after civilisation’s collapse, following a post-apocalyptic troupe (of Shakespearean actors). It’s a really odd, but surprisingly quiet book. Not sure if a pandemic is exactly the right time to read it, but I thoroughly recommend it. 

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng: I feel like this book is extremely complex to summarise to be honest. In short, it’s a book set in Malaya at the end of the 1940s, following a woman who, after surviving Japanese wartime camps, spends her life prosecuting war criminals. But truthfully this book is about conflicts and contradictions and in particular about remembering and forgetting. Lovely prose. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: and also The Goldfinch. I’m sure no one really needs me to introduce Donna Tartt?

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton: quite cerebral mystery set in New Zealand in 1866. Honestly you have to be a patient reader who enjoys novels with a pretty complex structure to like this, but if you’re into this sort of challenging read...go for it? It’s a book of interlocking stories (with 10+ pov and main characters) with a really fascinating structure based on astrological charts, which provide insight to the main characters’ traits and personality as the mystery unfolds.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: ok...do not watch the movie first. The Hours is an incredibly difficult novel to describe to be honest: it begins by recalling the last moments of Virginia Woolf’s life, as she’s writing Mrs. Dalloway. The book focuses on three separate narratives, each one following a specific character throughout a single day of their own life. Goes without saying that I’d suggest being familiar with Mrs. Dalloway itself first though.

An Artists of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro: not one of Ishiguro’s most famous works (most start reading his work with Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day), but probably my favorite out of those I’ve read so far. The novel follows  Masuji Ono, an artist who put his work in service of imperialist propaganda throughout WWII. Basically a reflection and an account of the artist’s life as he deals with the culpability of his previous actions. 

Stoner by John Williams: I feel like this is an odd book to recommend, because I don’t think someone can truly get the hype unless they read it themselves. Stoner is a pretty straight-forward book, following the ordinary life of an even more ordinary man. And yet it’s so compelling and never dull in its exploration of the characters’ lives and personalities. Also, I’ve just finished Augustus by the same author, which is an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Really liked it. 

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien: back to integenerational family sagas (because I love those, in case it wasn’t clear lol), Do Not Say We Have Nothing follows a young woman who suddenly rediscovers her family’s fractured past. The novel focuses on two successive generations of a Chinese family through China’s 20th century history. While not every character got the type of development they deserved, the author does a good job when it comes to gradually recreating the family’s complex and nuanced history. 

There’s probably more but I doubt anyone’s going to reach the end or anything so. There’s that lol.

[dalamjisung]

what you want ❋ bambam

word count: 4213

genre: angst, college!au

pairing: reader x bambam

description: people have been feeding you lies about the boy in your class. it’s time to learn the truth by yourself

Everyone knows him before he even says his name. Well, before he even says his nickname; his name is too long and too foreign for most. It starts with his clothes; all designer brands and fashion forward, with their bright colors and bedazzles. Then, the accessories come next, shinning more than the street lamps in the Main Ave. But it is mostly his attitude that confirms his identity; from his smirk and brooding eyes, to even the way he walks, going around as if he owns the place and everyone in it. He screams young and rich; and indeed he is. BamBam is probably the richest kid you know, and he is not afraid to flaunt it. 

You two have been in the same college for two years now, and in the same class for about a month, since the beginning of the semester, and lo and behold, BamBam is yet to learn your name. He is everything you despise; arrogant, stupid, and inconsiderate– or at least, you heard him to be like that. You’ve never interacted with the boy with the few exceptions of homework exchange in the class group chat, and you hope to stay that way; you aren’t interested in whatever hookup tales and travel stories he has to tell, your life is hard enough as it is, trying to balance work and school, you didn’t have to feel bad about being broke, either. 

The problem is that you were really good friends with Jackson, a Chinese exchange upperclassmen, and he, in turn, is really good friends with BamBam. You are also friends with Youngjae and Jinyoung, two great guys that happen to also be friends with BamBam. It made you cautious, if anything, since every time you want to vent about the stupidities of the Thai boy, you have to make sure that it isn’t to his friends, not wanting to put them in a very uncomfortable position– and that is really hard, considering the fact that BamBam is good friends with everyone. 

It isn’t until the day before your Literature midterm that you lose it. The college is already in pure chaos thanks to the exams, and people are being even more inconsiderate than usual, but you don’t have it in you to complain– you are too shy to say anything. Even though you are the class’ representative, it is really hard for you to be the center of attentions; it makes you incredibly uncomfortable to have all eyes on you, and you signed up for the class rep. position as a way to challenge yourself to be more out there. It had been Jackson’s idea, and he’s helping you out ever since. 

“Excuse me.”

You look up from where you are standing just to come face to face with Kim Yugyeom, aka BamBam’s best friend. 

“Yes?” You ask, voice wavering a little bit. You have to admit; this boy’s height is enough to intimidate you, now adding the beauty on top of it all is just too much. 

“You’re the class representative, right?” He asks with a wide smile.

“…yeah,” You nod slowly. What’s the catch? “What can I help you with, Yugyeom?”

“Oh, you even know my name,” He teases, throwing you a wink. “I just need help with the new topic in Psychology… I wasn’t in school last week and I’m afraid that if I don’t catch up now, I never will.”

“Oh,” Your eyes go wide. You never said anything to anyone, but you’ve also heard things about Kim Yugyeom, and they were the same, if not worse, them the things you’ve heard about BamBam. You wanted to say no, and just save yourself from the disaster that this is bound to turn into, but you can’t– this is your job, after all. “Sure. I-I can help you, I think…”

“Great!” He smiles even wider and for a second you think his cheeks are about to rip. “Would today at 5PM work? At the coffee shop in front of the dance building”

“Yeah,” You sigh, already throwing your plans to re-watch Friends out of the window. “I guess it does.”

“Thank you so much, class rep!” Yugyeom gives you two thumbs up and his eyes are almost disappearing under the big smile on his face. Suddenly, his face falls, and his eyes are not two squints anymore, but two huge brown orbs staring at you intently. “Ah! I forgot to ask! I have a friend who was also gone and is also struggling with the new topic… is it alright if he comes with?”

“Of course, who–“

Before you can ask, Yugyeom is already gone, running through the halls squealing in excitement. You sigh, tiredly, already knowing who to blame for this. 

[y/n: how could you betray me like this?]

[jackson: idk what you’re talking about]

[y/n: fess up, heathen]

[y/n: you were the one that told yugyeom to ask me for help]

[jackson: goddammit he told you, didn’t he?]

[y/n: he didn’t have to -_-]

[y/n: yugyeom doesn’t care about school, but he does care about his hyungs]

[jackson: lol what?]

[y/n: what?]

[jackson: who told you that?]

[jackson: yugyeom is the biggest nerd I’ve ever met]

[jackson: and I’m friends with YOU]

You roll your eyes at that. Sure, you like getting good grades, and sure, you might not be the most socially active person, but you wouldn’t call yourself a nerd. And you wouldn’t call Yugyeom a nerd, either… at least not from what you’ve been told. Well, I guess people can be wrong.

Shrugging it off, you try to focus on the rest of your classes, but you can’t. If you had it wrong about Yugyeom, what else could you possibly have been misinformed? Shaking it off, you start making your way to the coffee shop, hoping to get there a little earlier than Yugyeom and his friend to collect yourself and prepare your notes. 

You realize your efforts were in vain when you see the two boys through the window, with a couple of girls laughing at something they said. Your eyes didn’t miss the pile of books and notes on the table and you smile a little; maybe you were wrong about them, and maybe that is okay. Maybe the friend he brought is a nice guy, and maybe you could make new friends, and maybe– just maybe– Jackson is right; they are worth a shot. 

The door jingles when you walk in and you smile when you see Mark behind the counter.

“Y/N,” He calls loudly, and you walk over just for him to give you a cup of coffee. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came over to help Yugyeom and his friend with some work they missed when they were out last week,” You shrug, and Mark eyes go wide.

“Uh, I thought you didn’t like BamBam…” Mark goes off slowly, a little confused with the situation.

“What?” You laugh. “I said Yugyeom.”

“You’re in for a surprise,” It’s all Mark says before walking away to help another customer. 

Just as you are about to call him back, Yugyeom walks over to you and grabs your heavy bag. 

“Over here, Y/N,” He smiles and guides you to the table you saw him before. “Girls, it was nice meeting you, but now we have to get back to studying.”

“We’ll see you guys at the party Friday,” One of them says and leaves, chuckling with her friend. 

“Y/N, thank you so much for agreeing to help us out,” Yugyeom starts, as you focused on getting your books out of your bag. “This is BamBam, by the way, I’m not sure if you two ever met.”

You’re in for a surprise. 

This is it; you were going to kill Mark Tuan. 

“Nice to meet you,” BamBam smiles and sure, it’s adorable and innocent looking, but you aren’t about to be fooled. “I’m BamBam.”

“I know,” You say shortly, ignoring the hand. “I am sure everyone knows.”

BamBam’s brows go up high and his eyes get wide. 

“Sure…” He says uncomfortably. “Should we start?”

You smile awkwardly at that and tell them to open their books. The evening goes by quickly– Yugyeom and BamBam, as much as you hate saying it, are great students. They pay attention and seem to grasp the subject quickly, even taking notes and asking questions. BamBam is not as enthusiastic as Yugyeom, but you can clearly see he is trying his best. Maybe I was wrong, you sigh in defeat, looking at the dark street as you wait for them to finish a worksheet you gave them. Maybe he is not that bad… maybe people are wrong about him. 

“Finished!” BamBam announces with a bright grin. You take a quick look to find that most of his answers were correct, with the exception of a couple. He would’ve been one of the highest scores in the class had he been there on the day of the quiz. 

“Well, congrats,” You smile a bit and he mirrors you. “You got it mostly right. I don’t think you need my help any further.”

“What about me?” Yugyeom hands your the worksheet and you laugh joyously as you read it over. “You got them all right,” You chuckle, honestly happy about the progress of the two boys. “You guys are good to go.”

They do a weird handshake and then look at you again. “Thank you so much for helping us, Y/N,” Yugyeom smiles. “Now we’re all caught up with the class.”

“And to celebrate,” BamBam smirks and you can feel something change; a switch in the air, per se, and suddenly there is a slight tension looming over you guys. “Why don’t you come to the party on Friday? It’s over at Jaebeom hyung’s and–“

“I’ll pass,” Your smile is gone now, and all you can think of is the huge amount of people that would certainly be there– the bodies, the loud music, the smell… all of those together are not a good combination for you. “But thanks, BamBam.”

“Why?” He laughs, and it feels a little odd, almost as if he is laughing at you. “It’ll be fun, come on!”

“Bam, I think she’s not into that kind of stuff,” Yugyeom tried to reason. 

“Yeah, it’s really not for me,” You shrug. “But thanks, anyways.”

“No, don’t knock it ‘till you try it!” BamBam says a little too loudly and you wince, retreating into yourself. “I promise we’ll make it worth your while; you need to relax a little, Y/N!”

And without even knowing, BamBam crossed a line you aren’t sure he can uncross. Mark, hearing all of it as he got ready to leave, made his way over to your table in hopes of smoothing things down, but you were too wind up.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say to me?” You are seething, and any normal person could see it. 

“I said you need to relax,” To top it all, BamBam rolls his eyes at you, and you have to hold back from choking him unconscious. “You know, you are always talking about school and all and I just think that if you go to the party, you’ll have fun… for once!”

“I do have fun,” You mumble through gritted teeth, and you see the exact moment BamBam noticed your clenched fists. “And it might not be your concept of fun, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Not all of us shit money and fuck everything that walks; I have things I need to worry about, unlike you. You don’t even know me, what gives you the right to judge me?”

Mark gasps from behind you, and his hands are on yours, pulling you way from BamBam, but the latter holds you by the elbow with a strong grip. You can’t quite get a good look at him because of his hair, but you could feel it; BamBam was pissed and his anger was overpowering.

“That’s very hypocritical of you,” He whispers in your ear. “Class rep.”

Mark drags you out of there before you can answer, but in all honesty, you weren’t sure you could– he was right, after all. 

                                                       ------------------------

The week goes by quickly and Friday approaches as if it was a very important day– and it could be, if you consider movie night with Jackson and Jinyoung a special occasion that occurs every week. What you get, though, when you arrive at their place, is not what you are expecting. 

Jackson looks out of the ordinary good; he has a nice shirt on and his hair is sleeked back. Jinyoung is sitting on the couch looking like he always does, yet still looking incredible. They were clearly waiting for you, since you barely have time to put the snack bag down before your friends are pushing you out the door and inside a taxi. You squeeze in the back, confused and slightly amused, as you hear Jackson spit out the final address. 

“Isn’t that Jaebeom’s address?” You mutter out loud, and just as you connect the dots, the car is moving. “Guys, no.”

“Yes.” They say in unison. 

“Enough is enough, Y/N,” Jackson states. “We’ve always let you be because we know you get really anxious about parties and new people, but Mark told us what happened a few days ago. Look, it was not right for BamBam to just tell you all of that, he doesn’t know half of your story, but you need to stop this.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“You live your life studying and working– which is great! Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying for you to drop all of your responsibilities and party all the time,” Jinyoung shrugs. “But you are 21… You are living your prime days doing homework. That’s not living. We’ve always been here for you, and we will always be here for you, life goes beyond school. You have to admit, BamBam was right– it’s time to have fun.”

You groan, pained to hear those words. “I know he was right,” You mumble, looking out of the window. “I know I’m a hypocritical bitch. Anything else you want to rub in my face, Jinyoung?”

“That’s not what I meant at all,” He gasps. “What the hell did BamBam say to you?”

You shake your head in disappointment. Not at the boys; they had a point. You really needed to live beyond your dorm walls and have some fun, as much as you hated hearing that; it hurt on a level that you never wanted to reach. You were disappointed in yourself. It wasn’t always like this, and the fact that you allowed yourself to fall back into this routine killed you. You weren’t happy, you knew that, but you were content, and for a second, that seemed better than being vulnerable. 

“Just some stuff,” You finally answer. “He wasn’t wrong, though.”

“But apparently we were,” Jackson sighs, worried eyes set on you. He could read you like a book. “I’m sorry, Y/N, we don’t know the full picture, and we thought this would be a good idea but–”

Well isn’t this ironic?

“We can go back if you want?” Jinyoung frowns, ready to tell the driver to go back. He could see the hurt in your face, and it killed him to see you like this. They hated that you were always cooped up in your room on the weekends, complaining about your loud neighbors and watching dramas online, but seeing you hurt is way worse. “We don’t want you to change, love; we just want to show you something new.”

You nod slowly. “Sure,” You say, taking a deep breath. “I need to go to that party, anyways…”

“You do?!” They look at each other incredulously. 

“Yeah,” You sigh, closing your eyes and enjoying the cold feeling of the glass window on your forehead. “I need to apologize to someone.”

                                                     ------------------------

The events that follow were expected. Jinyoung is whisked away by an excited Yugyeom, whom in return receives a slap to the head. Jackson lasts a little longer with you; holding your hand in a comforting way whenever he noticed you were getting too overwhelmed. Mark and Youngjae join you two, surprised and happy with your presence. They’ve been doing this for so long, you think. And I never knew. Your friends never talked about parties with you, and you never wondered why until today.

“We never wanted to make you uncomfortable,” Youngjae explains once you ask. “We party a lot, to be honest, and we always wanted you to come, but you made it very clear you hate things like this so…”

Your face falls at that. They always stayed in whenever you asked, and you never even gave them the chance to ask you to come out. You felt like the worst friend in the world. 

“I’m sorry,” You say and his eyes go wide. “Next time I promise I’ll come with. I want to have fun with you guys, too.”

“Ya, seriously?” Youngjae smiles wide, surprised. “You can’t take it back!”

“I won’t!” You promise, laughing with your friend. “I’m sorry I’ve been a bad friend, Youngjae.”

“You were never a bad friend, Y/N,” He smiles. “We understand. Movie nights are fun in a different way; they are comfortable and cozy, and if that’s what you needed, we were happy to provide. But sometimes you need some excitement, and that’s what parties are for… we didn’t want to pressure you, so we never said anything. We just waited until you were ready– and I guess you are now.”

You nod, hugging him tight, before wandering off alone, in search of the person you went there to see. You end up in the kitchen, and you think that maybe fetching yourself a beer won’t hurt too much. 

“Here,” You hear someone say from behind you, and your cheeks brighten once you realize you were noticeably lost. “You’re looking for beer, right?”

“Ah,” You turn around and smile. “Yes. Thanks, Yugyeom.”

“Didn’t think I’d see you here after what happened in the coffee shop,” He deadpans, and you can feel it once again. The tension. “You know, I always thought you were pretty cool, Y/N. The hyungs talk about you a lot, and I always saw you as this funny person, even though you don’t talk much.”

You don’t say anything. You know exactly where this is going and you allow it; you deserve it.

“I never pegged you as a judgmental person,” He chuckles. “Mainly because everyone judges you. I don’t know, I thought you’d be all that Jackson hyung told me… but I was wrong. I guess we really don’t know you, after all.”

“That’s not fair,” You chuckle. “I get what you’re saying, and I’m sorry. This is what I came here to do; apologize. But what you’re doing is not fair.”

“How so?” He smiles a bit. 

“I judged unfairly, and for that I apologize,” You say, voice seeping honesty. “But you’re doing the exact same. I had a reason to react the way I did, the same way BamBam had a reason to react the way he did. You’re taking sides, Yugyeom.” “Well, of course I am,” He shrugs. “BamBam is my best friend.”

You laugh at that– a full blown laugh, with your head back and happy giggles in the end. “That does make sense. I am happy he has someone like you, Yugyeom.”

And with those words, the bright smiled boy you met before was back. “Thanks, Y/N. Now, if you must know, BamBam is in the back porch. Things got a little too much for him in here, so he went there to get some air.”

“Thanks Yugy,” You say and before you can leave, he grabs your hand.

“Once you get sorted out with BamBam,” He chuckles. “Can we be friends? Jackson hyung told me some hilarious stories about you, and I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now…”

“Of course we can,” You smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”

“Good or bad?” He shouts, surprising you. “Say good, please.”

“Bye Yugyeom!”

Finding the back porch was harder than you thought, but you manage. You see his jacket before you see him, and in your defense, you couldn’t really not see the bedazzled black jacket on the ground. BamBam is right next to it, though, laying down on the wooden floor, and you panic. Is he alright? Did he drink too much? What–

“Whoever you are,” He says, and his voice is nothing but tired. “Either come here, or leave.”

“Oh, sorry,” You mumble, and his head snaps in your direction. “Do you mind chatting for a bit?”

“Why?” He chuckles humorlessly. “So you can tell me all the things I did wrong? I don’t think so, sweetheart, now why don’t you–“

“I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah, you said that before now please–“

“No,” You stand your ground, even though you felt as if your heart was about to beat out of your chest. “I’m really sorry, BamBam. I shouldn’t have believed all of those things people told me; I was stupid and naive. And I shouldn’t have snapped at you back in the coffee shop, but I just thought that–“

“That I was a complete idiot with no purpose in life,” He says harshly. “Sounds about right?”

“Y-Yeah, but–“

“But you realized you were wrong and now you want to apologize so we can be friends.”

“How’d you know?” You ask, voice wavering more than you’d like to admit.

“You’re not the first,” He sighs, frowning. “It seems like there is always a problem with me. And don’t try to deny it– I can see you shaking your head.”

“Well,” You start carefully. “You do come off as a little bit… spoiled.”

BamBam laughs and pats the empty space next to him. Just as you sit down, you hear him talking slowly, as if he, too, needed to process it all. 

“People think I’m this billionaire’s son that doesn’t care about anything but my reputation,” He starts. “But they don’t know half of it. I skip class, I party a lot, so that means I don’t care about school, right?”

“I mean–“

“I’m at the top of the Dean’s list with a full scholarship,” BamBam says curtly, his voice as sharp as a knife. “And if I’m not wrong, you are right under me.”

To say that you were surprised was an understatement. 

“But how do you carry the scholarship when you are barely even on campus?” You ask.

“Who said that? Because the only time I can recall missing class was last week, when I had a business meeting, and my first semester during Freshman year, when I had to fly home for my brother’s wedding.” As BamBam explained things to you, you couldn’t help but notice his hands, fidgeting with each other; is he nervous? 

“The truth is, I’ve noticed you for a while now,” He mumbles with a shy smile, his cheeks blushing, and you swear you’ve never seen such an adorable man before. “People always assume the wrong thing about you, too, so I thought that– I don’t know, I thought that you’d get me. Jackson hyung and Jinyoung hyung always tell me these great things about you, and how you never back down even when you’re struggling and I thought that maybe we could be friends… or something more.”

What?

“But then you’ve never even looked at me,” The sadness you felt from his voice was killing you. “You barely even talked to me, even when you had to talk to everyone for that one field trip… I have to admit, I was kind of hurt. The girl I was crushing on hated my guts, and I didn’t even know why.”

“BamBam,” You gasp, reaching to touch his arm, but he is quick to evade your hand. When his eyes met yours, you swear you were about to break down; the vulnerability, the hurt, the anger. You could see everything. “I’m so sorry.”

“Well, it’s too late now,” He smiles a tight closed-lip smile and you feel your heart breaking. “I’m tired of stuck up people trying to prove they are better then me. I run my own business, that is, by the way, going really well. I have amazing grades in school. I have friends that I can count as if they were my own family. I don’t need anything else.”

“You might not need it,” You say as he gets up. “But you want it. I know you do.”

“What I want clearly doesn’t matter,” He scoffs, walking to the door. “I’m going inside. You should go soon; I know you hate crowded places.”

You feel a weight on your shoulders, and then he’s gone.

When Jinyoung finds you, about an hour later, you were still crying. 

When Jinyoung takes you home, with promises of a better tomorrow, you are still wearing BamBam’s jacket. 

And when Jinyoung finally leaves, worried and defeated, you are already asleep, hand clutching the jacket that you refused to leave behind.

--------------------------------------------------

aaaahhh my first true angst! it felt weird to leave it like that, so I will probably write a part 2! what do you all think? part 2 or nah? Let me know! Love you all and thanks for the endless support <3

[maxismatchccworld]

Patch Notes

UPDATE: 11/12/2019 - PC 1.58.63.1010/ Mac 1.58.63.1210 Happy Fall! We have a few new Holiday items available for you in Create A Sim to celebrate the holidays. Along with that a new Multi Story Column feature to help you build tall columns for a grand entrance or interior. UI Scaling is also available in the options panel to give you more options with our UI configurations. Want to know what Sims 4 content is out there? New Main Menu Message is now avail on load to easily help you find the latest and greatest content from The Sims 4. In addition, we’ve fixed bugs and community concerns to improve your Sims daily lives. -SimGuruSteph NEW & IMPROVED FEATURES Multi Story Columns I’m not sure calling them multi-story columns is accurate. They are more like multi-height columns. Just go into the build catalog, place a column, grab the handle at the top, and drag it up and down to re-size. Some have a maximum size, others however... I think I topped out around 100 feet. UI Scaling Now available in the Options menu - UI Scaling! Are you a 4k player with tiny user interface issues? Do you prefer your interface to be readable at distances greater than fifty feet away? Have you a desire to customize the scale to your personal preferences? Now you can! From the Options panel, open up Game Options, and choose Accessibility. Stay away from the red parts of the slider to keep things in the safe range for your display. But, if you are feeling adventurous, give it a try, go crazy! If for some reason you find yourself in a bad state, you can always reset - either from the options panel, or by using Ctrl+U to reset the scaling back to default! Main Menu Messaging We know you want to know EVERYTHING about what’s going on, so we’ve added the ability to show you the latest and greatest Sims content on the Main Menu. You’ll be able to learn about free content, check out the latest updates on upcoming releases, pore over the newest blog posts, and more! New Clothing We have updated the Holiday Celebration Pack with some new children and toddler clothing! If you haven’t already added the Holiday Celebration Pack to your game, click on the icon at the Main Menu, and download the free pack! From there, head on in to Create a Sim and select the Holiday filter to find the new assets! Children have a new male top, female top, and winter boots! Toddlers have a new outfit for males, a new outfit for females, and some shoes! Or open up the Styled Looks, where SimGuruMorgan created some great new looks with the content! Music We have made the Hip Hop Radio Station available for everyone! This means that it is no longer exclusive to Get Famous. However, Get Famous specific music will still need Get Famous to be played. We added the following songs as part of this update: “BMO” Performed by Ari Lennox Written by Courtney Salter, Damon Coleman, Ron Gilmore, Jr., Anthony Parrino and Galt MacDermot Published by Ari Lennox Publishing Designee (BMI), Damon Coleman Publishing Designee, Ron Gilmore Music (BMI), Kobalt Music Services America o/b/o Elite That’s Me Publishing and Third Side America o/b/o MacDermot Music Contains a sample of “Space” by Galt MacDermot Recording courtesy of Dreamville/Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises and Third Side Music o/b/o Kilmarnock Records “Big Moe” Performed by Beau Young Prince Written by Jaimy Lageweg and Beau Young Published by Jailo Music and Rough Trade Songs Recording courtesy of Def Jam Recordings under license from Universal Music Enterprises “Dumbstruck” Performed by Ceraadi Written by Emaza Gibson, Saiyr Gibson and Troy Johnson Published by Emaza Gibson Publishing Designee, Saiyr Gibson Publishing Designee and Sony/ATV Tunes o/b/o Margetts Road Music/Noni Zuri Music Recording courtesy of Roc Nation under license from Universal Music Enterprises “Good Life” Performed by RDGLDGRN & Daniela Written by David Lichens, Pierre Desrosiers, Andrei Busuioceanu and Marcus Parham Published by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing o/b/o Fungai Music (BMI) and Warner Chappell Recording courtesy of RDGLDGRN “Block List” Performed by Rico Nasty Written by Maria Kelly and Mark Nilan Published by Kobalt Music Services America o/b/o Artist Publishing Group West (ASCAP)/Artist 101 Publishing Group (BMI) Recording courtesy of APG/Atlantic Recording Corp. by arrangement with Warner Music Group Video Game Licensing “Litest” Written and Performed by DJDTP Enjoy! FIXES & UPDATES The Sims 4

Sims that dislike Fruitcake no longer react negatively to all other food. On the other hand, Sims that like Fruitcake no longer will react positively to Poor Quality foods.

Grab Meal or Give Food for all ages will now fulfill the hunger needs completely. Hopefully it will help with the 100 baby challenge :)

Spoiled visual effect now will go away on servings from coffee and tea pots.

Sims will now place grilled food on the table appropriately instead of their inventory.

Terrain Manipulation brush and eraser cursor is now visible for all terrain tools in 32 and 64 bit mode on PC.

Fresh drinks are now available on the drink tray (for those who own Spa Day and/or Backyard Stuff). “Grab drink” from drink tray functions and will no longer give you an incorrect message.

Households populated in the “Other Households” tab in Manage Worlds can no longer be composed of just a Child.

Idle Sims will no longer drink water excessively.

Skin details no longer go away when randomizing Sim features other than the "Face" or "All" categories.

NPC Sims that are not Gardeners will no longer remove Wild Plants from lots autonomously.

Rare and uncommon harvestables will now be produced at higher rates when splicing.

Fixed an issue in which typing in the search field in Build Mode made the phrase “Text Field” appear erroneously.

Sims will no longer leave the dining table after they’ve started having their meal when using the “Call to Meal” interaction.

Fixed an issue in which Sims were not able to wash dishes or use the dishwasher if there were shelving units above the sink or the dishwasher.

Child Sims will not longer have their eyebrow color changed to Brown when they are set to Blonde.

Fixed an issue that made Adult Sims constantly change outfits while Taking a Shower, and then giving a Bath to Toddlers.

Fixed an issue where capturing screenshots with the Capture UI option enabled didn’t actually capture the UI.

Fixed an issue which made the option “Put here” not available when holding Pets and Toddlers.

Fixed an issue which made Paying Bills via Phone not be fulfilled if Simmers queued any other action before it would complete.

Simmers playing in Laptop Mode will now see improvements on the in game lighting.

Moving a wall will no longer delete objects on a separate shelf when bb.moveobjects cheat is used.

Fixed an issue in which Toddlers that had maxed out their skills were not receiving the Top Notch Trait when aging up.

Toddler Traits are no longer visible after aging.

Success Lineage Aspiration can now be completed once appropriate conditions are met.

Terrain Paints now persist when placing a lot from the gallery.

Assets yfBody_EP06DressFur_GoldGreen, yfBody_GP07DressWestern_FlowerOrange & yfBody_EP03TankStrappy_ElephantAquaCream were updated to look better with various shoe styles.

Vendors will no longer use your Sims’ fireplace as an imaginary portal to mysterious places.

Emotional sculpture thumbnail in sims inventory and world appearance are now visually the same.

“Get Married to..” whim now complete when you actually get married. Achievement Unlocked!

Sims now are more diligent in putting back their books in the bookshelf and/or bookcase.

Focused Sims can now go back to hacking work process when they reach level 6.

Sims that randomly decided to cosplay and have pointy ears have now revert back to their normal selves.

Nature’s Welcome Arch gate will no longer have metal gate audio.

Catching fish with excellent quality will now count toward the “Make 6 Great Catches” task of the Angling Ace Aspiration.

Creating stairs to the second floor of a raised block will no longer need a drop wall to support it for Sims to be able to route on it.

Sims are now able to route into their home after using terrain manipulation tools in their home lot.

Sims are no longer collecting items in their inventories without your permission.

Alien Disguises and Vampire Dark Forms uploaded to gallery are now properly flagged for packs and custom content used.

Sims will now autonomously interact with each other if one is sitting down and the other is standing.

Move lot will no longer inadvertently unhide stairs, specifically stairs above the first floor.

Updated Muslim inspired assets so clipping is not apparent below the Sims’ chin.

Updated Apron tops to look smoother.

Sims are now less considerate and do not congratulate their romantic partners when they find a new romantic partner.

Send Geo Council for collectables will no longer require you to send your computer with it.

Glass roof created on the ground should now be routable (as long as there is an entryway built into it).

Randomize Twin in Create-a-Sim will carry user-manipulated ears and nose over to the twin.

Fixed an issue that would cause interactions to get stuck in the queue.

Selling Normal quality Mystery novels will now give you money in return.

Copy interaction is now available on Cookbooks and Mixology books.

Sims that despise each other and have no romantic relationship will no longer greet each other with a passionate kiss. Seem normal to me?!

Child sit-to-stand transitions for toddler bed and lounge chair exhibit less clipping.

Perk and trait buffs will now persist through travel.

Drop walls from stairs will now fill in when terrain is manipulated below the stairs.

Sims’ Inventory will no longer reset and jump to the top while in use.

Hover Tip for Electrified Artist updated to proper text.

Fixed an issue in which railings were clipping into the walls.

Railings on extended landing do not have missing posts or different looking sections.

Drawn on eyebrow thumbnail will no longer show incorrect swatch.

Music artist names in the Music Game Options are no longer cut off.

Collared jean jacket will clip less with various hair styles.

Fence posts are now updated when terrain manipulation occurs.

Sims are now able to do Check Toddler interaction while swimming.

Steps in enclosed courtyard will no longer auto delete a part of your staircase.

Take a Vacation day and Call in Sick are no longer available options when Sims are already on vacation.

Teen Sims will no longer get adult Woohoo buff.

Park Cub table can now be put in the inventory.

Wall Height icon in the description text in Build Mode will now the appropriate wall height.

Fixed some issues which may cause Error Code 102 or Error Code 139 to appear during gameplay.

You can say the Fruitcake was the culprit, jury is still out on that one.

Objection! Maybe not…

They are now properly supervised.

They will now hydrate appropriately.

It was haunting.

Now both eyebrow and hair color will match as set by Simmers.

Though we would love to hold them forever.

Get to Work

Patient Sims that are referred to the surgery table will no longer leave in the middle of surgery.

Sims can no longer simultaneously have two occult types. Specifically Vampire and Aliens.

Get Together

Steam will no longer accumulate in rooms above indoor swimming pools, or natural pools, built with vents.

Book Covers do not change when you place them on retail display.

Club panel text field size has been increased to accommodate longer text.

City Living

NPC Sims that attend Festivals are not longer seen in not festival appropriate outfits.

Fixed an issue that Simmers with Outdoor Retreat and City Living didn’t have the “Ask to Cloudgaze” interaction available in San Myshuno apartments.

Fixed an issue that didn’t allow the camera to zoom in properly when looking at lots at their basement level.

Updating the pricing of counter and cabinets to be more consistent with the rest of the Build Mode catalog.

Updated rental options to not exist in Sulani..

Promote Cause Daily Tasks will now be fulfilled with the Promote Policies Interaction.

Cats & Dogs

Fixed an issue in which all stray dogs were large dogs. Now they can be all sizes.

Lighthouse Woohoo spot is back in business.

Sims are able to complete crafting pet medicine with Marketable trait.

Quickly Update your Dr. Magi-Heal’s Surger-o-matic 3000 with an instant upgrade.

A jacket blazer now layers better with bottoms

Dogs will no longer try to put the cat wand away when they can’t and stretch into a mystical form.

Clipping issues were improved with a pair of shorts and various tops, specifically the asset yfBottom_EP04Shorts.

Turning on view distance in option panels will no longer make a brick fence in the world completely white.

Seasons

Child and Teen Sims are now spawning to knock on doors during the holiday season with trick or treat.

It's less likely to rain at GeekCon festivals now, which should help keep those computers safe!

Fixed an issue in which Sims were able “Rake Leaves” in their Home Lot while Sims were far from leaves to rake.

Mix breed cat function in Create a Sim now works again. Yay!

Social events put in calendar are now functional and will trigger.

Simmers playing with Low Graphics settings can now see improved textures when Sims are wearing Scout uniforms.

Fixed an issue in which rewards from the Scout after school activity were not being awarded properly.

The reward will now appear in the Sims’ Inventory, instead of being unlocked in Build Mode.

Get Famous

Sims employed in any career will no longer be prompted to miss work, or end their shift early, when work hours coincide with visits from Sims that were given a residence key.

Have Sim Dance at the Same Time goal at the Fan Meet and Greet Event can now be completed when you have your Sims and other Sims dance at the same time.

Talent Showcase events will no longer sometimes occur on an invalid location.

Text was updated to hover tip for Action Vol 3 purchase book picker.

Tooltip text for Quality description of videos created by the video station is now colored purple.

Sims Radio too loud? You can adjust the radio volume now after listening to the music you created on the Mix Master Music Production Station.

Consistency!

Island Living

Uninvited Sims will no longer appear when attending Kava Parties on lots with the “Private Dwelling” Lot Trait.

Beach Venues lots can now be selected for Sims to go on dates.

Fixed an issue in which samples taken from Sulani to fulfill Conservation career tasks were disappearing from the Sim Inventory after analyzing said samples.

Fixed an issue in which the “Dried Scales” buff would not disappear after Mermaids fulfilled their hydration needs.

Fixed an issue with Mermaid Children that did not allow them to Take Baths INSIDE bathtubs.

Traditional Sarong asset will not clip with tops as much.

Fixed an issue that made aged up Mermaid Teen Sims have their Mermaid Tails disappear in Create a Sim and while Swimming.

Career Promotions for Conservationist can still occur after reaching level 10.

Bulldozing waterfront lots in Island Living will now not remove terrain paint.

Goggles no longer create an awkward shadow that does not make sense.

Sims can now store coconuts away in the fridge. Woot woot!

Human Sims no longer will think they are Mermaids by swimming like them when swimming laps.

Promotion task is marked completed when Sims have a diving knife.

Sims can now release the fish back into the ocean.

Sims with Master Chef Trait do not make spoil food anymore.

Sunkiss buff will now have the appropriate icon.

Rounded blocks will no longer have missing stilts

Blueprint placement for lots with floor lights will no longer place them underneath structure and float. Gravity is more realistic.

Stilt foundation shadows now appear properly.

Game will no longer crash when placing particular lots from The Gallery.

A TV stand missing in search bar will now appear. You didn't know what you were missing out on when using search… or you did know and now it’s fixed!

Penthouses from The Gallery will now place all available items properly.

Some furniture items that did not appear on the cursor from Build Mode will now appear.

Claiming a bed is now exclusive to one Sim. Now Sims can sleep in their own bed without disturbance or worry about another Sim using their bed.

Selected tattoos in Create A Sim will no longer automatically reapply clothing.

Hot and Cold outfit categories will no longer filter tattoos upon re-entry.

Jet visual effect will now display properly when streaming from a drone.

Burnt visual effects no longer appear on lot terrain when there is fire on homes with stilt foundations.

Configuring a U shape staircase to another floor will cause the stair cause to lose some steps no more!

Mermaid Sims will do their special swim idle when performing Mermaid interactions.

Mermaid Sims that have been turned into skeletons can now take a bath. Keep those bones clean.

Set favorite watercraft will now set correct one to favorite.

Plants placed on Suspended Modern from gallery will no longer place plants in odd places.

Island Welcome Wagon will now continue to hold Kava bowls to give to your Household instead of placing it on the ground when it rains.

It’s my party, and I don’t invite you if I want to.

Romantic!

Being used to the vastness of the Ocean, Mermaid Children were not happy being limited by a bathtub.

Dine Out

Fixed textures for a few Experimental Dishes.

Restaurant signs no longer have an odd bounding box shadow around it. It’ll be well rounded.

We apologize, our Glazed Heirloom Bamboo Roll, Space Taco with Pearled Egg Core, and Free Range Sixam Pit Beast did not look quite like what you actually ordered.

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer get scolded if they drink plasma from Sims even though they had been granted permission to do so.

Options from the Face category in Create A Sim are no longer missing for Vampire Sims when using the Change Sim interaction.

Vampires have adjusted to daylight savings now and are awake when you invite them to hang out.

Vampire Dark form uploaded to gallery are now properly flagging CC content and packed used.

Parenthood

Adult Sims are less likely to autonomously watch Kids Network if Toddlers/Children/Teens aren't nearby.

Realm Of Magic

Spellcasters with the Bloodline trait will no longer have their rank reset if they reach the Virtuoso rank.

Potions can now be sold for Simoleons.

Fixed an issue which allowed the Emotional Stability Potion to remove certain buffs from Sims unintentionally.

Fixed an issue where the Spellbinding Tile wall pattern was displaying duplicate swatch colors in Build Mode.

Cooking and Brewing in cauldron will no longer change sell price in build mode.

Drinking animation is performed by Sims when Sims drink potion of curse cleaning to remove curse.

Animation for the teleport is no longer getting cut off.

Orb Familiars will not pop and jump from their locations while following their Sims out of water.

Two necklaces were updated to improve capability with other Create a Sims assets.

Trouser texture will no longer appear on the top of a pair of boots.

Bicep bracelet is now shown properly in Create A Sim thumbnail.

Profit!

Cool Kitchen Stuff

Removed “Get Leftovers” option for ice cream since it was never intended, and who leaves ice cream for leftovers? Not me :)

Spooky Stuff

Spooky Party will now count towards the Party Animal Aspiration.

Moschino Stuff

Fixed an issue in which in some cases the game would freeze while in Photo Mode.

Sims that you have not met will no longer appear in the Sims selector when triggering Take photo of.

[woopboopboop]

Of promises

Note: Trigger warning!!! There is mention of suicide in this story. If you are uncomfortable, I suggest that it would be better to not proceed or you can proceed at you own discretion. 

Look who’s back at it again! This is one is kinda fluffy and angsty at the same time? I don’t quite know. I’ll let you be the judge. Happy reading, babes.

I am not going to lie. I think about you almost all the time. I think about you when I am at work too. It’s amusing how the thought of you keep on appearing in my mind no matter how focus I am on something else. As I listen intently to the added vocals blending in with the strumming of guitar and mellow bass sound of the latest track, I can’t help but think of the time when you peeked over the book you were reading and concentrating on the random strumming patterns that I was experimenting one evening. You seemed fixated to the melody even commented how good it sounds and that was when I knew it needs to be in one of my songs. I unconsciously shake my head, smiling at the thought.

“What are you smiling at?” Kid asks, approaching the mixing console where I am standing next to.

“Just – thinking of something,” I say, scratching an invisible itch behind my ear, smiling sheepishly.

“Your wife?” Kid raises his eyebrows at me before returning to tweak some knobs on the board.

I try to hide my growing smile but it doesn’t really work. “Yeah. My wife.”

I am used to the band, Jeff and everyone else teasing me but when it comes to you, boy oh boy, do they have newfound love for it. “Lovebirds”, “Head over heels”, “Totally smitten” are just some of the words they use to describe us. You know this, of course, because I share about the things that we talk about during studio breaks or even random things that we did inside or outside of studio. Sometimes, you join in on their teasing game. But I don’t mind at all. They make the butterflies in me come alive and I live for the feeling after all. They make me think of you and I love having you on my mind.

The clock is way past midnight when I reach home. After fumbling with the house key for a while, I finally gain entrance, kicking my boots to the side and setting both the house and car keys on the wall key hooks. With the guidance from the living room dim lighting, I walk towards the kitchen to get a glass of cold water. Opening up the fridge door, the light bathes a portion of the kitchen wall and floor in a soft, yellow hue. It is then that I remember you asked me to grab milk from the nearby shop. “If you don’t mind,” you added.

I curse under my breath not because I despise the domestic act but because I actually forgot about doing the exact thing and I only have the ability to remember it now. I have to admit that you are the one who is better in remembering things be it dates or appointments. As for the milk, I will get it tomorrow.

Carrying my heavy footsteps upstairs, I notice the beam of light from beneath the door signifying that you left the light on. I tiptoe to flick off the light switch after switching on the table lamp on your side. The room is in total darkness except for the light from your half illuminating the room dimly. We agreed that only the light from your side will be on when we are sleeping after I vividly recall you telling me that you are not a fan of sleeping in the dark. You tell me about things that scare you and things that make you happy afterwards a lot and I also share mine.

I sit down carefully on the bed and watch you sleep facing my side of the mattress. Haruki Murakami’s Men Without Women is lying face down on the bed just a few inches from your chest. Closing it, I put the book along with other collections of Murakami in the bedside drawer behind me. I can’t help but notice an unfamiliar book residing in the drawer, I guess you bought it recently to add on our reading list. Yes, our reading list. In fact, there a lot of our things in this house and for each passing day, there will always be some new addition. Just like when there is a new record added to the existing little tower of vinyl records in the study room, new set of rings on the vanity or even new mugs with minimalist design in the kitchen.

Every object in each room of this house is an embodiment of us, together or individually. Though, I have to say that your presence was stronger because when I step into a space, I feel you. I feel your presence now too but at times it feels like it is fading away before it comes again in a crashing wave. I remember the time we talked about this over a cup of coffee. On that day, we shared our most complex struggles through simple words and comforting gestures.

Like my eyes always do, they return to you. The soft light in the room highlights certain features on your face and it begins to darkened towards the part where you have your face buried in the pillow. A sudden rush of warmth creeps behind my neck, making its way to my ear. The electrifying and alluring feeling is still the same as the one that I felt when we shared our first kiss. In fact, every touch and small gestures exchanged between us, especially now, brings more intensified feelings. You look so peaceful, frozen in time, except for your eyes darting back and forth behind your shut eyelids and the rising and falling of your breathing.

Your hair is everywhere with some strands falling on your upper arm, hiding two scars located at the same place which can hardly be seen. You always try to hide the scar, not liking the reasons behind it but I always tell you that things happened for a reason and that I will always love you and promise that I will be by your side if you need me. There is a scoff of disbelief on your face at first before your eyes soften and thank me for willing to be by your side. I love kissing the scar just as a reminder that I love you. I love kissing it without any reasons too. It has a slightly different colour from the rest of the skin on your body where I love to leave kisses as well. Hell, I just love to kiss you. No question asked. But I love to see you like this too, so I refrain myself from waking you up.

You shift for a bit in your sleep and a strand of hair falls down across your face. As if it is a reflex action, I move the strand away and tuck it behind your ear. My finger caresses the shell of your ear and you jaw with the slightest pressure. I notice your eyes fluttering, as if they want to open or maybe you are just dreaming.

“Hey,” you mumble when you gaze is focusing on me.

“Hey.”

We bask in silence for quite a while and I thought that you go right back to sleep but then I hear you asking me, “What?”

“Nothing. Just watching you.”

You squint your eyes and pull the duvet to cover half of your face, “Creep.”

“But you love it.” I stick my tongue out and you pull the duvet until it’s not covering you face anymore, sticking your tongue back at me. My lips find their way to your forehead, leaving a soft kiss before I disappear to the bathroom to change.

Coming back, I see you starting to fall asleep again. I smile and breathe in your presence for a moment before joining you on the mattress. Your eyes are fluttering open again as I caress your chin with my thumb and forefinger. My thumb stops at your cheekbone and I whispered a quite sorry. You shake you head and lean closer to me. We exchange long and gentle kisses, fingers wandering to every place that they can reach. And we don’t stop until both of us run out of breath. I don’t want to stop. Ever. Not when your fingers are tugging my hair slightly and mine resting on the nape of your neck to deepen our kiss.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, worried lines shadowing on your face.

I prop myself up on one elbow and carefully lay out the words. “It’s about the trip.”

You look more aware than anything at this moment, bottom lip pouting a bit, “I’m not going to like this, huh?”

“I’m so sorry, love. I’ve checked the date, I swear, but unfortunately it clashes with some promotions stuff that’s going to happen. The team and I confirmed the date and we can’t move it to another time.” I look into your eyes, hoping that I am not letting you down too much. You have been very excited for the trip, talking endlessly about it.

“Babe?” I call out and see your eyes regain their focus and concentrate on mine. Head falling deeper into your pillow, you hum, asking me to repeat whatever was said.  

“The date for the trip clashes with my work. I’m so sorry. Really.”

“It’s okay. I understand,” you whisper, drawing circles on the back of my hand. “When can we go then?” It sounds more like curiosity than anything else.

Leaning down, I kiss your nose and you scrunch up your face, giggling softly. “In three weeks time. I promise.”

“H, you are promising a lot of things. Don’t think I’ll forget all of them.” I know you are serious beneath the joking tone of your voice. I lay back on the mattress, reaching over to snuggle into the dip of your neck. The faint scent of chamomile lingers in the air where I am hiding. After sponging few kisses on your neck and holding you close, I loosen my grip and move away from the crook of your neck. My eyes move from looking at you lips, to your nose and finally setting on your eyes.

“I intend to fulfil each and every one of them. You are stuck with me for a long time. Don’t think you’ll forget about that too?” You nod your head and both of us giggle. When the giggling stop, we are left with gazing into each other's eyes, as if we are looking for something. I found something behind yours, despite the dim light trying to hide away whatever it is in the shadow.

“You okay there?”

“Yeah.” I feel the little space between us closing in and our lips brush each other. You are no longer sleepy and I am no longer tired.

 A single sun ray wakes me up in the morning. I jump up, panic at first but then it dawns on me that I have today off. Your side of mattress is empty. I roll over and bury my face on your pillow, smelling in the chamomile scent.

I lift my head when I hear the sound of water running from the bathroom. Bare naked, I cross the room in a number of strides and is reminded about last night when I encounter our clothes mingling together in a messy heap on the floor. I blush thinking about it as if it is our first. I knock on the bathroom door, calling out your name. Silence. I turn the knob slowly and push the door open expecting that you will be standing under the shower, asking me to join you there.

I am about to greet you good morning but see that there’s no one in the shower but the marble tiles staring back. As I lower down my vision, I find you slumping against the glass door. An angry stream making its way from your wrist down the drain, a huge contrast from your skin colour. Suddenly, I don’t know what to do. I am panicking. I rush over your limb body, wrapping the wound with whatever that I could find at the time. I pick you up and get you in a purple robe before I grab the clothes from last night and put it on. You feel so light and so heavy at the same time in my arms as I carry you to my car.

I fumble with the key in my hand. I don’t even know if I have locked the front door or not. I keep on calling your name as if it is a chant that can get you to magically wake up. All of this while trying to stay sane when in actual reality the world feels like it is slipping from my grasp. I wish that you reply my calling with any incoherent sentence or even garbled sounds. But you don’t answer. You don’t wake up.

When reaching hospital, I can only vision what a sight we are to those waiting there. “Please, help me!” I call out to no specific person. Everything just goes by so quickly and in a blur as the nurses push your bed towards the emergency room. Why aren’t you finishing my words when I try my best to explain what happened to the doctor? Why aren’t you opening your eyes when the doctor barks command to the nurses? Why aren’t you struggling when they put on the bed? Why aren’t you here to comment how ridiculous I must have look with my damp, wrinkled, half unbuttoned shirt? I don’t even notice the bloody patches on my shirt if I don’t button it up.

I stay out of everyone’s way and lean against the pillar near the entrance. A woman approaches me and pass me a document that I need to fill. I make a beeline for the counter so that I have a flat surface to write the paper on. As I fill in the paper, the nurse presses me for any information and I answer as best as I could but then I keep on thinking of you. I think about the milk that I forgot to buy. I think about the trip that I postponed last night. I think about the upcoming tour and that I promised you will stay longer with me this time. I think about all of the promises made, waiting to be fulfilled over our happily ever after.

“Have you call her family?” asks the same nurse. I must have look so distraught trying to fill the blank spaces and answer her questions. I stare at her for a moment to process her question. I want to say to her that I am your family. She is about to repeat the question when I shake my head.

“Call them. Let them know what’s happening.” She waits a couple of minutes until I finish filling up the paperwork. The waiting room is filled with a lot of noises given the works that are going on here but I feel so alone. The worst of thoughts come creeping in and start becoming louder each passing minute. I snap back and remember that I need to inform mum and your mother about the situation. Mum is very much heartbroken over the phone when I tell her about what is going on. It’s a bit funny that I am the one who consoles her instead of the other way around. I can’t blame her though. She loves you so much that she regards you as her second daughter.

 I don’t know whether I prefer to be with family and friends at the moment or to be alone. The clock ticks slowly while things around me are moving at a normal speed. I feel a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, Mitch stands behind me and Sarah besides him. She hugs me without saying any words and Mitch offers me a weak smile.

“She’s going to be all right,” they assure me. I don’t know what else to say so I thank them.

Almost all of our close friends are here, waiting for any news from the doctor or nurses. I don’t dare to pay attention to their presence and kindness because I may break down and cry. That is the last thing that I need in this situation. “What is taking them so long,” I mutter, pacing back and forth, occasionally running my fingers through my hair. Sometimes they interlace with the curls for a while as I try to remain calm, taking deep breaths here and there. I need to be strong for both of us.

More people arrive and then I hear a familiar voice. Mum’s. Standing up, I greet her, Gemma as well as your mother with a hug. Your family is here too. I recount what happened to them and I can’t help but choke on few words as I feel the tears threatening to spill. They look so worried, afraid even, especially your mother since she knows you well enough to know that there are times when it can be so hard for you. And I am worried and afraid too.

In the midst of things happening, Mum finds her way to mother me, “Have you eaten?” Her question reminds me that you would do the same too. Regardless what the situation is. Trust me.

I get up from my seat and walk as fast as I can to the toilet. Finding the nearest toilet bowl, I vomit. I would think that there is nothing left inside of me after seeing you slumped in the shower this morning but I keep on vomiting until the only thing left is the bitter taste in my mouth. My knees buckle against the cold tiles. I feel a hand running up and down my back and see mum kneeling besides me. She holds me so tight, afraid that if she let go, I will break into tiny pieces.

“Everything’s fine. She’s going to be fine.” Her voice soft and soothing.

“No. She’s not.” I let out a sob, both hands fling to my face, covering my eyes, pressing hard against them. I don’t know if admitting it to myself or saying it out loud is harder.

I try not to cave into the heavy feelings but it is a total failure when the thought of being able to stop you is more overpowering. “She’s barely breathing when I found her. I call out for her but she didn’t respond at all. God knows, how long she had been there before I found her.  I should’ve been there. I should’ve noticed it earlier when she looked a bit different last night. I should have known. This is my – ”

“Harry, do you love her?” She holds my face between her hands.

I nod, wiping stray tears falling down my cheeks. I am crying again.

“Sometimes, no matter what you do, you can’t protect the people who you love all the time. Things that happened to them is out of your hands. At times like this, the only thing that you can do is pray for them. Pray for her. Continue to love her. That’s all that you can ask of yourself. Things happen for a reason.”

She let go of her hands that cradles my face and hold my hands instead. The words sound weird when you are on the receiving end. Things happen for a reason. I always say that to you and it makes me think if you ever feel the same way as I did when I heard the words. Sadly, it doesn’t really bring comfort. It only leaves you in wonder of what is the reason behind all of this and what did I do to deserve such thing.

Friends and family sit patiently in the waiting room. It feels like an eternity waiting to be allowed in the same room as yours. The doctor approaches me to further inform the state that you are in and to be honest, after he says that you are in a stable condition, I am in and out of the conversation. I just need to see you on my own to believe that you are totally okay.

I sit beside you quietly and hold your hand gently. I don’t want to risk waking you up since the doctor told me that you need the rest. Your hand is cold as I hold it with my own. The fingers of my other hand touch your securely bandaged wrist. If you were to be awake, I guess you will make fun of my matching red nose, cheeks and eyes. I smile thinking about it. Carefully, I bring your bandaged hand to my cheek, then littering feathery kisses on your knuckles. I then nestle your hand onto the sheet but not letting go of our intertwined hands. I love holding your hands too. I love how we pass secret message by squeezing each other hands when we are in public. I love it more now that I can see both of our wedding bands adorning our fingers when we hold hands.

Watching you in this state, the only thing that I want more than anything is for you to wake up. I want to see the colour in your eyes again. I want to hold your hands firmly and not letting go. I want to feel your presence in this space. I am willing to do anything and everything just to get you to say my name. My mind drifts to the conversations that we had last night and I remember you teasing me about the promises that I made. I know I have a bad track record of keeping my promises but just know that I meant it when I say I want to fulfil them. The only thing that I need right now is for you to wake up and you will see that I am here as promised.

[spacesuitsforemergency]

Amias Meeting The Wagners

A/N: Dolly forgive me if I got his character wrong I get insecure writing others ocs. But hope you guys like it! This is pretty messy, it was written quickly in the span of like 3 days

Amias belongs to @silverdecepticon93 @dollyreblogs

“Sawyer! What in God’s name is taking so long?” Anja banged her fist on the bathroom door.

“You know, for claiming to be a good Catholic girl, you sure say the Lords name in vain a lot.” Sawyer snapped at his sister as he focused on his hair in the mirror.

“Oh, shut up! Can you hurry, I have to get ready too, you know?” Anja huffed in annoyance.

Sawyer rolled his eyes and opened the door, rushing past his sister and teleporting to his bedroom. He collapsed onto the silk sheets, staring at the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths, trying to regain his composure.

His boyfriend was coming over to meet his family for the first time, and to say he was nervous was a total understatement. He knew his Vater wouldn’t approve, as soon as he mentioned the name ‘Potenza’ he had scowled. He knew Anja despised Midas, but she had agreed to ‘act civil’ (though Sawyer knew that condescending tone anywhere, she would definetly not act civil).

His fur stood on end when he heard the doorbell ring, and he teleported downstairs. Unfortunately, Tommy beat him to it (curse speedsters), and opened the door.

“SAWYER YOUR BOY-oh, there you are.” Tommy noticed his half brother behind him and shoved more of his pop tart into his mouth, getting crumbs on the marble floor.

“Must you?” Sawyer sighed in disapproval.

“I must.” Tommy grinned, more crumbs falling from his mouth. Sawyer couldn’t believe Tommy was already embarrassing him, and making a mess on the floor he had just cleaned. He shoved him aside and opened the door all the way to face his boyfriend.

“Hi, Amias.” Sawyer smiled up at him.

“Ciao, mio caro.” Amias smirked back as he stepped inside and peered around. “Lovely home.”

“Thanks-“

“Is he here?” Luna and Cerise poked their heads around the corner in timid curiosity of the new stranger.

“Oh my god, are you Amias? I have heard so much about you.” TJ waltzed in from the kitchen when she overheard Tommy yelling at the top of his lungs. She grabbed Amias’ gloved hand and shook it firmly, grinning at him. “You’re Italian, right? I love your food.”

“Oh my god.” Sawyer pinched the bridge of his nose as his older sister continued rapidly shaking poor Amias’ hand. He shooed her off of him, and she went back to the kitchen.

“Don’t say the Lords name in vain.” He heard the mocking tone of his sister somewhere behind him.

“Anja, please...”

“Hi, Anja.” Amias grinned cockily at her, already knowing she disliked him.

“Hi, jerk face.” She sneered down at him from the top of the stair case.

“Anja! Tommy! Come help set the table!” Their mother called from the kitchen. Anja teleported out and Tommy zoomed away, leaving Amias and Sawyer alone in the foyer.

“They seem...spirited.” Amias chuckled.

“You haven’t seen anything.” Sawyer grumbled.

“I deal with chaotic idiots on a daily basis, I think I can handle one dinner with your family.” Amias shrugged his coat off and hung it on the rack.

“Whatever you say.” Sawyer shrugged, and led him to the large dining room. Anja shoved Amias as she passed him to set down the plates, glaring at him as she did so. Sawyer narrowed his eyes at her in warning, which she didn’t care too much about.

“Hello, Amias.” Sawyers mother walked in, setting down a bowl of mizeria before shaking his hand. “I’m Wanda.”

“Lovely to meet you, ma’am.” Amias said politely.

“You boys sit.” She gestured to the chairs, before leaning towards Sawyer. “Your father is in a good mood, I made sure of it.”

“Mulțumesc, mamă.” Sawyer kissed her on the cheek quickly, before sitting down next to Amias, who had already made himself at home. Cerise walked in, which made Sawyer feel on edge, because she could bite or yell at any moment. He tensed up as she sat in the seat next to Amias, and glared at him when he glanced at her.

“Do you want to see my collection of bird heads?” She asked after a few moments of silence. Sawyer groaned and slumped in his seat, now officially embarrassed.

“Um...no thank you.” Amias stared down at the small child.

“Okay.” She nodded casually, as if she hadn’t asked the bird owner if he wanted to see a box of decapitated bird heads (which she unfortunately did actually own).

Amias looked at Sawyer and raised an eyebrow in questioning.

“Ignore her.” Sawyer mumbled. “Trust me.”

“She doesn’t actually have bird heads, right?” Amias whispered.

“...sure.”

“Oh god, did Cerise ask you if you wanted to see her box of eyelids?” Sawyers uncle, Pietro asked when he walked in and saw the mix of horror and confusion on both boys faces.

“Unchiule!” Sawyer groaned in even further embarrassment. Amias’ jaw dropped slightly and he moved his chair slightly closer to Sawyer when Cerise grinned up at him.

Everyone finally entered the dining room, setting down dishes of food and glasses of beverages, having their own conversations as they filled their plates. Anja sat across from Sawyer, though her judgmental gaze was fixated on Amias. Sawyer kicked her under the table to tell her to stop, but that only made her more angry and kick back, accidentally hitting Amias instead. Sawyer grimaced when Amias winced in surprise and shock of the small girls strength.

“Anja, cut it out!” Sawyer hissed at her.

“I didn’t do anything.” She shrugged, looking away as if she was innocent.

“So Amias, Sawyer says you’re from Italy?” Kurt asked, despite his clear distaste for the boy. Sawyer was thankful he was at least trying to make nice with him, unlike his dead sister.

Amias went on a ramble about Italy, which Sawyer has heard just about a million times, but he still found himself listening. Dinner went smoothly after that, TJ asking question after question, and Cerise thankfully didn’t ask Amias if he wanted to see anymore dead animal collections.

Once everyone finished dinner Pietro, Wanda and Kurt cleaned the table and began doing all the dishes, so Sawyer tried to escape with Amias upstairs, but his siblings wouldn’t allow that to happen and bombarded Amias with even more questions.

“I don’t get it, why are you dating him?” Luna asked Amias.

“Because I-“

“Yeah, don’t you know he snores?” TJ asked.

“I do not!” Sawyer snapped at her. He in fact, did not snore, that was actually Tommy, but TJ didn’t believe him.

“You so do.” TJ scoffed.

“Yeah, why do you have to date MY brother? Go find someone else.” Anja said.

“Well-“

“You’re a villain right?” Cerise asked.

“Yeah I-“

“Cool. Have you killed people? How many?” She grinned.

“I don’t-“

“Aren’t you friends with a bunch of heroes though? I’ve seen it on the news.” Billy asked.

“I suppose-“

“I like your outfit, is it designer?” Tommy asked. “You know those shoes will give you back pain in 40 years?”

“I don’t think that’s-“

“Oh they will. Trust me. Ask anyone who actually knows fashion.” Tommy said snobbily.

“I’m quite sure I know fashion.” Amias huffed.

“I don’t think so.” Tommy mumbled.

“Okay-“ Amias stood up to fight him, but Sawyer tugged him down. He glared at Tommy, who snickered and sped up the stairs. The tension was broken when Anja brought in a tray of tea, everyone thanking her. Then she “accidentally knocked over” a glass and it spilt on Amias’ shirt. His white shirt.

“Oh, whoops.” She winced, sarcasm dripping in her voice. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. Was that expensive?”

“It was.” Amias said, pushing down any anger.

“That’s it.” Sawyer grabbed his sister and teleported outside to the balcony. “Anja! What the hell?”

“It was an accident!”

“Clearly it wasn’t!” Sawyer gestured inside, where their mother had cleaned the shirt with magic.

“Oh, what’s gonna happen? He’s gonna melt? It’s just tea.” Anja put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

“You said you would act civil! That wasn’t civil! You’ve been a total asshole all night!”

“Look, I just don’t see why you have to date him! He’s bad! He’s a villain! He turns people to gold! What if one day he turns you to gold? Then you’re dead!”

“He’s not going to!”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because he loves me!” Sawyer glared at her. She exhaled sharply in frustration, looking through the windowed doors at Amias, now awkwardly chatting with Cerise.

“Look, I’m just worried.” Anja sighed. “I don’t even trust our own mother because she’s a villain. I’m starting to not trust you either.”

“What?” Sawyer stared at her.

“You’ve been doing some bad stuff, no one knows what side you’re on!”

“I’m on my side.”

“That’s not a side.” She huffed. “One day you’re helping me and the girls save people from being robbed, the next you’re the one robbing! Why? You don’t need to, we have plenty of money.”

“I don’t know.” Sawyer looked at the ground, not having the courage to look her in the eye.

“Well you should really figure it out.” She mumbled. “I’ll go apologize, okay? I’ll stop.”

“Thank you.” He sighed.

“I love you, you idiot.” She grinned, playfully punching his arm.

“I love you too, you moron.” Sawyer smacked her lightly across the head, messing up her curls.

They went back inside, Anja saying a very quick apology to Amias before excusing herself to help in the kitchen. Sawyer finally got Amias away from his siblings, stepping out into the porch and shutting the door, making sure they weren’t listening in.

“So?” Sawyer grinned awkwardly. “What’d you think?”

“That Cerise is quite obsessed with dead things. She just told me about a haunted doll she owns.” Amias chuckled.

“Yeah, we’re getting her checked out.” Sawyer nodded.

“But seriously, they were great.” Amias reassured him. “It was fun not being able to get out a full sentence all night.”

“Yeah, everyone around here always has to have their two cents in.”

“Hey, it adds a little drama. Like Tommy trying to tell me I have no fashion sense.”

“He has no room to talk, he wears crocs.”

Both of them shuddered at the very idea of crocs. Both boys spun around when a twig snapped, and Sawyer grabbed a baseball bat that had been lying in the rose bush. They saw Tim Drake behind them, going towards the side of the mansion.

“Tim? What are you doing here?” Sawyer asked, lowering the bat as they stood up straight.

“Um...nothing?” Tim said.

“You would think for being a super spy, you’d be better at sneaking around.” Amias grimaced at him.

“You’re sneaking in to see Anja, aren’t you?” Sawyer raised the bar again.

“What? No.” He shook his head quickly. “I Uh...I came by to say...that Uh...”

“That’s what I thought. I am so telling dad! Bye Amias!” Sawyer grinned, turned and kissed Amias on the cheek, then ran inside. “Dad! Guess what?”

Amias turned back to Tim, glaring at him.

“Screw you, man! That was supposed to be a romantic moment!”

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: New Game Patch (November 12th, 2019)

Remove all MODS and Custom Content before updating your game

UPDATE: 11/12/2019 – PC 1.58.63.1010 / Mac 1.58.63.1210

Happy Fall! We have a few new Holiday items available for you in Create A Sim to celebrate the holidays. Along with that a new Multi Story Column feature to help you build tall columns for a grand entrance or interior. UI Scaling is also available in the options panel to give you more options with our UI configurations. Want to know what Sims 4 content is out there? New Main Menu Message is now avail on load to easily help you find the latest and greatest content from The Sims 4. In addition, we’ve fixed bugs and community concerns to improve your Sims daily lives.

-SimGuruSteph

NEW & IMPROVED FEATURES

Multi Story Columns I’m not sure calling them multi-story columns is accurate. They are more like multi-height columns. Just go into the build catalog, place a column, grab the handle at the top, and drag it up and down to re-size. Some have a maximum size, others however… I think I topped out around 100 feet.

UI Scaling Now available in the Options menu – UI Scaling! Are you a 4k player with tiny user interface issues? Do you prefer your interface to be readable at distances greater than fifty feet away? Have you a desire to customize the scale to your personal preferences? Now you can! From the Options panel, open up Game Options, and choose Accessibility. Stay away from the red parts of the slider to keep things in the safe range for your display. But, if you are feeling adventurous, give it a try, go crazy! If for some reason you find yourself in a bad state, you can always reset – either from the options panel, or by using Ctrl+U to reset the scaling back to default!

Main Menu Messaging We know you want to know EVERYTHING about what’s going on, so we’ve added the ability to show you the latest and greatest Sims content on the Main Menu. You’ll be able to learn about free content, check out the latest updates on upcoming releases, pore over the newest blog posts, and more!

New Clothing We have updated the Holiday Celebration Pack with some new children and toddler clothing! If you haven’t already added the Holiday Celebration Pack to your game, click on the icon at the Main Menu, and download the free pack! From there, head on in to Create a Sim and select the Holiday filter to find the new assets! Children have a new male top, female top, and winter boots! Toddlers have a new outfit for males, a new outfit for females, and some shoes! Or open up the Styled Looks, where SimGuruMorgan created some great new looks with the content!

Music We have made the Hip Hop Radio Station available for everyone! This means that it is no longer exclusive to Get Famous. However, Get Famous specific music will still need Get Famous to be played.

We added the following songs as part of this update:

“BMO” Performed by Ari Lennox Written by Courtney Salter, Damon Coleman, Ron Gilmore, Jr., Anthony Parrino and Galt MacDermot Published by Ari Lennox Publishing Designee (BMI), Damon Coleman Publishing Designee, Ron Gilmore Music (BMI), Kobalt Music Services America o/b/o Elite That’s Me Publishing and Third Side America o/b/o MacDermot Music Contains a sample of “Space” by Galt MacDermot Recording courtesy of Dreamville/Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises and Third Side Music o/b/o Kilmarnock Records

“Big Moe” Performed by Beau Young Prince Written by Jaimy Lageweg and Beau Young Published by Jailo Music and Rough Trade Songs Recording courtesy of Def Jam Recordings under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“Dumbstruck” Performed by Ceraadi Written by Emaza Gibson, Saiyr Gibson and Troy Johnson Published by Emaza Gibson Publishing Designee, Saiyr Gibson Publishing Designee and Sony/ATV Tunes o/b/o Margetts Road Music/Noni Zuri Music Recording courtesy of Roc Nation under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“Good Life” Performed by RDGLDGRN & Daniela Written by David Lichens, Pierre Desrosiers, Andrei Busuioceanu and Marcus Parham Published by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing o/b/o Fungai Music (BMI) and Warner Chappell Recording courtesy of RDGLDGRN

“Block List” Performed by Rico Nasty Written by Maria Kelly and Mark Nilan Published by Kobalt Music Services America o/b/o Artist Publishing Group West (ASCAP)/Artist 101 Publishing Group (BMI) Recording courtesy of APG/Atlantic Recording Corp. by arrangement with Warner Music Group Video Game Licensing

“Litest” Written and Performed by DJDTP

Enjoy!

FIXES & UPDATES

The Sims 4

Sims that dislike Fruitcake no longer react negatively to all other food. On the other hand, Sims that like Fruitcake no longer will react positively to Poor Quality foods.

Grab Meal or Give Food for all ages will now fulfill the hunger needs completely. Hopefully it will help with the 100 baby challenge Standard smile

Spoiled visual effect now will go away on servings from coffee and tea pots.

Sims will now place grilled food on the table appropriately instead of their inventory.

Terrain Manipulation brush and eraser cursor is now visible for all terrain tools in 32 and 64 bit mode on PC.

Fresh drinks are now available on the drink tray (for those who own Spa Day and/or Backyard Stuff). “Grab drink” from drink tray functions and will no longer give you an incorrect message.

Households populated in the “Other Households” tab in Manage Worlds can no longer be composed of just a Child.

Idle Sims will no longer drink water excessively.

Skin details no longer go away when randomizing Sim features other than the “Face” or “All” categories.

NPC Sims that are not Gardeners will no longer remove Wild Plants from lots autonomously.

Rare and uncommon harvestables will now be produced at higher rates when splicing.

Fixed an issue in which typing in the search field in Build Mode made the phrase “Text Field” appear erroneously.

Sims will no longer leave the dining table after they’ve started having their meal when using the “Call to Meal” interaction.

Fixed an issue in which Sims were not able to wash dishes or use the dishwasher if there were shelving units above the sink or the dishwasher.

Child Sims will not longer have their eyebrow color changed to Brown when they are set to Blonde.

Fixed an issue that made Adult Sims constantly change outfits while Taking a Shower, and then giving a Bath to Toddlers.

Fixed an issue where capturing screenshots with the Capture UI option enabled didn’t actually capture the UI.

Fixed an issue which made the option “Put <Sim/Pet Name> here” not available when holding Pets and Toddlers.

Fixed an issue which made Paying Bills via Phone not be fulfilled if Simmers queued any other action before it would complete.

Simmers playing in Laptop Mode will now see improvements on the in game lighting.

Moving a wall will no longer delete objects on a separate shelf when bb.moveobjects cheat is used.

Fixed an issue in which Toddlers that had maxed out their skills were not receiving the Top Notch Trait when aging up.

Toddler Traits are no longer visible after aging.

Success Lineage Aspiration can now be completed once appropriate conditions are met.

Terrain Paints now persist when placing a lot from the gallery.

Assets yfBody_EP06DressFur_GoldGreen, yfBody_GP07DressWestern_FlowerOrange & yfBody_EP03TankStrappy_ElephantAquaCream were updated to look better with various shoe styles.

Vendors will no longer use your Sims’ fireplace as an imaginary portal to mysterious places.

Emotional sculpture thumbnail in sims inventory and world appearance are now visually the same.

“Get Married to..” whim now complete when you actually get married. Achievement Unlocked!

Sims now are more diligent in putting back their books in the bookshelf and/or bookcase.

Focused Sims can now go back to hacking work process when they reach level 6.

Sims that randomly decided to cosplay and have pointy ears have now revert back to their normal selves.

Nature’s Welcome Arch gate will no longer have metal gate audio.

Catching fish with excellent quality will now count toward the “Make 6 Great Catches” task of the Angling Ace Aspiration.

Creating stairs to the second floor of a raised block will no longer need a drop wall to support it for Sims to be able to route on it.

Sims are now able to route into their home after using terrain manipulation tools in their home lot.

Sims are no longer collecting items in their inventories without your permission.

Alien Disguises and Vampire Dark Forms uploaded to gallery are now properly flagged for packs and custom content used.

Sims will now autonomously interact with each other if one is sitting down and the other is standing.

Move lot will no longer inadvertently unhide stairs, specifically stairs above the first floor.

Updated Muslim inspired assets so clipping is not apparent below the Sims’ chin.

Updated Apron tops to look smoother.

Sims are now less considerate and do not congratulate their romantic partners when they find a new romantic partner.

Send Geo Council for collectables will no longer require you to send your computer with it.

Glass roof created on the ground should now be routable (as long as there is an entryway built into it).

Randomize Twin in Create-a-Sim will carry user-manipulated ears and nose over to the twin.

Fixed an issue that would cause interactions to get stuck in the queue.

Selling Normal quality Mystery novels will now give you money in return.

Copy interaction is now available on Cookbooks and Mixology books.

Sims that despise each other and have no romantic relationship will no longer greet each other with a passionate kiss. Seem normal to me?!

Child sit-to-stand transitions for toddler bed and lounge chair exhibit less clipping.

Perk and trait buffs will now persist through travel.

Drop walls from stairs will now fill in when terrain is manipulated below the stairs.

Sims’ Inventory will no longer reset and jump to the top while in use.

Hover Tip for Electrified Artist updated to proper text.

Fixed an issue in which railings were clipping into the walls.

Railings on extended landing do not have missing posts or different looking sections.

Drawn on eyebrow thumbnail will no longer show incorrect swatch.

Music artist names in the Music Game Options are no longer cut off.

Collared jean jacket will clip less with various hair styles.

Fence posts are now updated when terrain manipulation occurs.

Sims are now able to do Check Toddler interaction while swimming.

Steps in enclosed courtyard will no longer auto delete a part of your staircase.

Take a Vacation day and Call in Sick are no longer available options when Sims are already on vacation.

Teen Sims will no longer get adult Woohoo buff.

Park Cub table can now be put in the inventory.

Wall Height icon in the description text in Build Mode will now the appropriate wall height.

Fixed some issues which may cause Error Code 102 or Error Code 139 to appear during gameplay.

You can say the Fruitcake was the culprit, jury is still out on that one.

Objection! Maybe not…

They are now properly supervised.

They will now hydrate appropriately.

It was haunting.

Now both eyebrow and hair color will match as set by Simmers.

Though we would love to hold them forever.

Get to Work

Patient Sims that are referred to the surgery table will no longer leave in the middle of surgery.

Sims can no longer simultaneously have two occult types. Specifically Vampire and Aliens.

Get Together

Steam will no longer accumulate in rooms above indoor swimming pools, or natural pools, built with vents.

Book Covers do not change when you place them on retail display.

Club panel text field size has been increased to accommodate longer text.

City Living

NPC Sims that attend Festivals are not longer seen in not festival appropriate outfits.

Fixed an issue that Simmers with Outdoor Retreat and City Living didn’t have the “Ask to Cloudgaze” interaction available in San Myshuno apartments.

Fixed an issue that didn’t allow the camera to zoom in properly when looking at lots at their basement level.

Updating the pricing of counter and cabinets to be more consistent with the rest of the Build Mode catalog.

Updated rental options to not exist in Sulani.

Promote Cause Daily Tasks will now be fulfilled with the Promote Policies Interaction.

Cats & Dogs

Fixed an issue in which all stray dogs were large dogs. Now they can be all sizes.

Lighthouse Woohoo spot is back in business.

Sims are able to complete crafting pet medicine with Marketable trait.

Quickly Update your Dr. Magi-Heal’s Surger-o-matic 3000 with an instant upgrade.

A jacket blazer now layers better with bottoms

Dogs will no longer try to put the cat wand away when they can’t and stretch into a mystical form.

Clipping issues were improved with a pair of shorts and various tops, specifically the asset yfBottom_EP04Shorts.

Turning on view distance in option panels will no longer make a brick fence in the world completely white.

Seasons

Child and Teen Sims are now spawning to knock on doors during the holiday season with trick or treat.

It’s less likely to rain at GeekCon festivals now, which should help keep those computers safe!

Fixed an issue in which Sims were able “Rake Leaves” in their Home Lot while Sims were far from leaves to rake.

Mix breed cat function in Create a Sim now works again. Yay!

Social events put in calendar are now functional and will trigger.

Simmers playing with Low Graphics settings can now see improved textures when Sims are wearing Scout uniforms.

Fixed an issue in which rewards from the Scout after school activity were not being awarded properly.

The reward will now appear in the Sims’ Inventory, instead of being unlocked in Build Mode.

Get Famous

Sims employed in any career will no longer be prompted to miss work, or end their shift early, when work hours coincide with visits from Sims that were given a residence key.

Have Sim Dance at the Same Time goal at the Fan Meet and Greet Event can now be completed when you have your Sims and other Sims dance at the same time.

Talent Showcase events will no longer sometimes occur on an invalid location.

Text was updated to hover tip for Action Vol 3 purchase book picker.

Tooltip text for Quality description of videos created by the video station is now colored purple.

Sims Radio too loud? You can adjust the radio volume now after listening to the music you created on the Mix Master Music Production Station.

Consistency!

Island Living

Uninvited Sims will no longer appear when attending Kava Parties on lots with the “Private Dwelling” Lot Trait.

Beach Venues lots can now be selected for Sims to go on dates.

Fixed an issue in which samples taken from Sulani to fulfill Conservation career tasks were disappearing from the Sim Inventory after analyzing said samples.

Fixed an issue in which the “Dried Scales” buff would not disappear after Mermaids fulfilled their hydration needs.

Fixed an issue with Mermaid Children that did not allow them to Take Baths INSIDE bathtubs.

Traditional Sarong asset will not clip with tops as much.

Fixed an issue that made aged up Mermaid Teen Sims have their Mermaid Tails disappear in Create a Sim and while Swimming.

Career Promotions for Conservationist can still occur after reaching level 10.

Bulldozing waterfront lots in Island Living will now not remove terrain paint.

Goggles no longer create an awkward shadow that does not make sense.

Sims can now store coconuts away in the fridge. Woot woot!

Human Sims no longer will think they are Mermaids by swimming like them when swimming laps.

Promotion task is marked completed when Sims have a diving knife.

Sims can now release the fish back into the ocean.

Sims with Master Chef Trait do not make spoil food anymore.

Sunkiss buff will now have the appropriate icon.

Rounded blocks will no longer have missing stilts

Blueprint placement for lots with floor lights will no longer place them underneath structure and float. Gravity is more realistic.

Stilt foundation shadows now appear properly.

Game will no longer crash when placing particular lots from The Gallery.

A TV stand missing in search bar will now appear. You didn’t know what you were missing out on when using search… or you did know and now it’s fixed!

Penthouses from The Gallery will now place all available items properly.

Some furniture items that did not appear on the cursor from Build Mode will now appear.

Claiming a bed is now exclusive to one Sim. Now Sims can sleep in their own bed without disturbance or worry about another Sim using their bed.

Selected tattoos in Create A Sim will no longer automatically reapply clothing.

Hot and Cold outfit categories will no longer filter tattoos upon re-entry.

Jet visual effect will now display properly when streaming from a drone.

Burnt visual effects no longer appear on lot terrain when there is fire on homes with stilt foundations.

Configuring a U shape staircase to another floor will cause the stair cause to lose some steps no more!

Mermaid Sims will do their special swim idle when performing Mermaid interactions.

Mermaid Sims that have been turned into skeletons can now take a bath. Keep those bones clean.

Set favorite watercraft will now set correct one to favorite.

Plants placed on Suspended Modern from gallery will no longer place plants in odd places.

Island Welcome Wagon will now continue to hold Kava bowls to give to your Household instead of placing it on the ground when it rains.

It’s my party, and I don’t invite you if I want to.

Romantic!

Being used to the vastness of the Ocean, Mermaid Children were not happy being limited by a bathtub.

Dine Out

Fixed textures for a few Experimental Dishes.

Restaurant signs no longer have an odd bounding box shadow around it. It’ll be well rounded.

We apologize, our Glazed Heirloom Bamboo Roll, Space Taco with Pearled Egg Core, and Free Range Sixam Pit Beast did not look quite like what you actually ordered.

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer get scolded if they drink plasma from Sims even though they had been granted permission to do so.

Options from the Face category in Create A Sim are no longer missing for Vampire Sims when using the Change Sim interaction.

Vampires have adjusted to daylight savings now and are awake when you invite them to hang out.

Vampire Dark form uploaded to gallery are now properly flagging CC content and packed used.

Parenthood

Adult Sims are less likely to autonomously watch Kids Network if Toddlers/Children/Teens aren’t nearby.

Realm Of Magic

Spellcasters with the Bloodline trait will no longer have their rank reset if they reach the Virtuoso rank.

Potions can now be sold for Simoleons.

Fixed an issue which allowed the Emotional Stability Potion to remove certain buffs from Sims unintentionally.

Fixed an issue where the Spellbinding Tile wall pattern was displaying duplicate swatch colors in Build Mode.

Cooking and Brewing in cauldron will no longer change sell price in build mode.

Drinking animation is performed by Sims when Sims drink potion of curse cleaning to remove curse.

Animation for the teleport is no longer getting cut off.

Orb Familiars will not pop and jump from their locations while following their Sims out of water.

Two necklaces were updated to improve capability with other Create a Sims assets.

Trouser texture will no longer appear on the top of a pair of boots.

Bicep bracelet is now shown properly in Create A Sim thumbnail.

Profit!

Cool Kitchen Stuff

Removed “Get Leftovers” option for ice cream since it was never intended, and who leaves ice cream for leftovers? Not me

Spooky Stuff

Spooky Party will now count towards the Party Animal Aspiration.

Moschino Stuff

Fixed an issue in which in some cases the game would freeze while in Photo Mode.

Sims that you have not met will no longer appear in the Sims selector when triggering Take photo of.

[justhereforseverus]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Chapter 6: There is flattery in friendship

Summary:

After a heavy and choatic sleep, you'll awake restless in the middle of the night. You decide to talk a walk to your usual bench and form a pact that might just change the future..

Notes:

Hey folks. Thank you so much for your kind comments, kudos and hits in general! They really make my day!!! It’s the first thing I’ve written for many years. I used to be a very active poet and writer but lost my connection with it due to some life events. Slowly, I’m trying to get back to it again and alone the fact that people read and enjoy something I’m putting out there is amazing! Thank you! I'm trying to get the next chapters up in a weekly schedule but whenever I have more time to write and finish a chapter, it'll go up.

I’m not sure how to proceed with the timeline/canon/not canon kind of thing. However, I see that in my story Lily and Severus had a fight involving the m-word and then she and others turned their back on him. He thought about joining dark forces and did some stuff but there was no war, Voldemort didn’t succeed and everyone went on with their lives. However, James and Lily Potter live in another country thus Remus and Sirius have more contact with each other than with them. I hope it makes sense somehow. It will be more of a topic later focusing more on Severus perspective and choices.

Chapter Text

I returned to my room sometime later and went straight to bed. I didn’t even bother taking off my clothes. Unlike me, I fell asleep immediately and dreamed of potions spilling on an enormous piano. I awoke around midnight knowing only too well I won’t be able to sleep anymore for tonight. I sighed, there go my attempts at a normal sleeping schedule. I decided to take a walk because I was desperate to escape my thoughts dealing with whatever happened today.

The night breeze soothed my spirits and I watched a black and white cat making her way through a flower bed. I sat on my usual bench and looked up. It was a bit cloudy tonight, so I couldn’t see much of the constellations but here and there some stars glistened their way through. I tried to control my breathing to calm down and focus on the here and now – in and out – in and out- in and out. It’s ok. Everything is fine. We can deal with this. Yet, my mind managed to wander back again and again to my anxiety, my pain, my tears and the memories I pushed away for so long. This was not the only thing I felt though. Between all these dark clouds was a warm light. Something I had longed for back then. Something that could have saved me. I closed my eyes to focus on this positive feeling. To push everything else away. Let this light surround and heal me. Everything is going to be ok.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps near me. I opened my eyes and saw Severus standing under the lamppost next to the bench. The soft, warm light fell on his long black hair and I saw that he didn’t have his cloak on, just his buttoned jacket. He held a book in his left hand and his wand in the other still lightened up by the Lumos spell. He looked so elegant and mesmerising in the dim light. He greeted me by saying with a slight sarcastic undertone: “Either my sleeping potion was ineffective or you have slept too much already.”

“The latter. That’s the problem with going to sleep in the afternoon – you’re awake for the rest of the night. Or it’s just me and my body.”

He sat next to me, turned off the light on his wand and looked at the cloudy sky. Neither of us said anything for a while. We just watched the sky and somehow it didn’t feel awkward at all. However, after a while I asked: “What about you? Why are you sitting with a sleepless arts teacher on a bench at 2am on a Saturday night?”

He replied: “I’ve worked until now and needed a bit of fresh air before I go to rest.”

“What did you have to do? Grading essays again?”

“No, not this time. I brew potions for someone who found herself unable to produce them herself.”

“Wait….do you mean me?”

“Obviously.”

“Which potions did you do?”

“All of them actually. They have been put in my personal storage. You can have them whenever you need.”

I was flabbergasted. Shocked. Flattered. Anxious. Basically, all the emotions at once. Classic.

“You didn’t have to do that! Why are you doing me so many favours? We’ve barely known each other. Is this.. a joke? Do you want something in return? I…”

“No, I don’t. Don’t think I’m doing this because of any ulterior motive. I’m not that kind of man independent of what is said behind my back. I simply thought it could help you and make you feel better after today.”

“That’s… sweet. Thank you. But why bother bothering? I’m not saying I don’t appreciate it but I still don’t understand why?”

He sighed and said after a while: “I’m rather attached to muggle fiction. Especially, Shakespeare. I started with one old and rather battered collection of my mum when I was a kid and reread and studied it for years after. Yet, I never saw a play on stage. I turned my back on all things related to muggles when… certain events happened and then I was busy with my profession here. Frankly, I’m also not a person who longs to travel a lot, so it never occurred to me to actively visit a theatre and put myself in a crowd of people. As I’ve mentioned before, I found myself rather satisifed, for once, with Dumbledore’s staff decisions when I heard he had invited you here despite the controversial treatment of theatre in the wizard world. He always tries to support subjects and people, who he deems to be capable of bringing change into this old conservative world. He also gives people a chance whose fate might seem hopeless and one could argue this includes my appointment, too. Recently, I’ve came to the conclusion that if I want change and growth in me or others, I need to actively support what I think is worth it and take an open stand. Therefore, I want to support you. I want you to have everything you need to change their minds and I assure you, I don’t need or want anything in return for my own benefit. You don’t need to defend or stand up for me in any way. You don’t have to mention my name. You don’t need to be sympathetic to me. All of this is of no relevance to me. It’s the cause I want to support… and you.”

I was speechless. That was so sweet and kind. He trusted me with this information and opened up despite everything I’ve heard from others. “He won’t talk with you much. He hates everyone here. Better to leave him alone. He only listens to Dumbledore. He is still mad that he didn’t get the DADA position. He is the Slytherin headteacher so he’ll dislike you as his house is firmly against half-born and anything muggle. It’s just how it is.” He is a respected teacher and potion master but apart from that he is feared and despised. He lives rather isolated from the rest of the staff. That was what everyone apart from Dumbledore told me so I thought I won’t bother. But he is so different to me. And we’ve barely known each other but I feel somehow safe with him. Like he speaks the truth and I can trust him. This could be a mistake but then I decided this was worh the risk. Suddenly, I had an idea.

“Then let’s make it official. You and I will run the drama group. I take care of the performance and the students. You are responsible for the magical effect potions and will teach the students how to brew and handle them, too. For your time and effort, you’ll receive some perks in return.” – he sighed and opened his mouth but before he could interject, I continued – “I insist upon it. You’re welcome at every rehearsal; you’ll have an official title that will be communicated to others and you’ll be a permanent member of my team. Of course, taking into account that we actually survive for more than one year. What do you say?”

He looked at his hands for some moments in deep thought, ever so slightly clutching the book on his lap. He then replied:

“What an unusual offer. I won’t argue with a lady about her requests. However, are you sure that my name won’t cause any distractions and keep other people away?”

“Oh no. Probably the opposite. They’ll be curious to know what made you do it and will flock to us even more.”

He chuckled: “Then let’s make up the most fantastic story and draw them in.”

“Agreed.” – and we both shook hands. His hand was warm and his skin softer than I expected. When our fingers touched my heart skipped a beat. Our eyes met doing so and I swear I could see some joy concealed behind his usual monotone mask. I felt like this was the beginning of something important and certainly something very good.

“YOU DID WHAT?!” – Remus almost choked on his toast on Monday morning and the entire hall looked at us suspiciously. “Calm down Remus, I don’t want the entire school to think I’ve just murdered someone.” I quickly said, doing a quick motion with my wand to refill his glass with orange juice. When he could talk again Remus apologised and continued:

“Oh, I gotta send an owl to Sirius this is hilarious.” I send him an evil look and then he said:

“Seriously though. Severus Snape as part of an extracurricular activity, voluntarily and outside of his office hours is… What did you do to him? Have you managed to put a spell on the untouchable chemistry master?!”

“Come down! No, I don’t think that would’ve worked and is probably very illegal.”

“I swear, I won’t report you to the ministry of magic if you tell me.” – he laughed – “No, but for real. This is very unlike him. However, I do remember Lily telling me once that he used to read a lot of muggle books in his childhood. I wasn’t sure if that continued into his later life as she cut contact with him after the fight. Actually, we all did this in one way or the other. The first time I saw him again was after I started working here. He mentioned that it was a recent decision. I wonder what caused him to do this…”

“Maybe it wasn’t a particular event. I mean people grow old. They realise what they did was wrong and want to change. I sure regret many things I did. I have the feeling I improved much over the years but I'm still working on becoming a better person."

“Yes, we all do that hopefully. Including me. I regret many things I did as a teenager…. or last year for that matter. Yet, he has been so isolated and stuck in the same old grudges, I never thought he’d do something else. I’m flabbergasted really. Maybe you are just the person he needed.”

I looked at the empty chair reserved for Severus in the great hall. He never joined dinners unless they are connected to a big event. I wonder…

[dixbolik-lovers]

“These are so much fun! I love reading about these girls!! I get really happy when I see stuff about them! The next three I’d like to hear about are Manipulation, Obsession and Cowardly.”

---

This is slightly (very) old, but I hope you’re still here, anon!! I really do love these asks! ;w;

MANIPULATION

-When she’s not trying to make people feel bad, she can have quite a sense of humor. Although she’s too mean to bother with it very often, she’s strangely good at telling jokes and making people laugh. Unfortunately, she’d much rather see people cry than laugh. 

-She’s extremely eloquent and good with words. Unfortunately, she mostly uses this talent to trick people into doing her bidding. Everyone has caught onto her tricks pretty well by now, but that doesn’t stop Manipulation from trying to get under everyone’s skin. She can talk circles around almost anyone, and is very proud of her ability to confuse, sway, and mislead. 

-Her hair looks like a combination of vines and dreadlocks, and is completely prehensile. She can use locks of it to restrain people so they can’t get away from her, and often uses this ability to make sure she has a captive audience. Her hair has feeling in it, though, and damage to it hurts. Every lock is like an extra limb that she’s completely aware of, and these tendrils are a lot more delicate than they look. 

-She has a habit of sticking things in both of her mouths when she’s bored. She’s a chewer who’s often seen with something in one or the other-- be it a small rock, piece of debris, or part of a plant. 

-She loves when people underestimate her, and often tries to look weak on purpose for this exact reason. When others assume that she’s weak and harmless, it makes it all the easier to get her way. It’s entertaining for her to watch people get everything about her wrong... then find out the hard way why she’s just as dangerous as the rest of them. 

-She’s a near-pathological liar. Spinning untruths comes naturally to her by now, and she often lies for no reason other than that the opportunity is there, or simply because she could use it to lead someone astray. Lying has become easier than telling the truth for her. Because of this habit, she’s hit a point where expressing her true feelings is difficult. She has a terrible time of telling the truth, especially when any part of it could make her look bad. 

-Although she’ll never admit it, she’s a little bit afraid of being alone in dark places. Something about it makes her feel way too empty. 

-She needs entertainment at all times, and can’t stand monotony or boredom. When things are the same for too long, she gets an uncontrollable urge to start stirring up trouble-- the more it hurts others, the better!. Emptiness is what she hates most in the world, especially within her own head. 

-When she cries, her tears are made of blood. Of course, she loves crying for attention, as she does with anything that helps her get her way, and as such, she’s known as a complete faker. She loves convincing people to feel sorry for her, but by now, few fall for her tricks. She can cry on command within seconds, and is an excellent actress when it comes to faking tears. 

-Surprisingly, she’s rather hyperactive. New things excite her more than anything, especially new people to play with. She’ll do anything that seems entertaining, even when she knows it’s probably a bad idea. Humans, in particular, fascinate her more than anything in the World of Fog. 

OBSESSION

-She adores physical contact, but thanks to a combination of her claws and not knowing her own strength, she can’t touch anyone without hurting them. It’s very sad to her that she can’t get close to people, but she often misses the extent of the damage she does. This doesn’t stop her from trying to get close, though, as she’s determined to get close to those she loves, no matter what she has to do. The objects of her affection are likely to wind up bloody when she reaches out to them.

-She’s naturally good with words, but her brain moves faster than her mouth can keep up with. She tends to talk quickly and in confusing circles, and repeats herself often because she needs to fill space. She’s something of a chatterbox, even if what she says only sort of makes sense. 

-She likes tying “pretty” things into her hair, like small strips of fabric and bits of string or glass. The others are fond of ripping these things out, though, so she often feels like she’s better off simply hiding them where they’ll be safe. 

-She has a large, open hole in her chest, about where her heart should be. It goes approximately halfway into her, and is always leaking-- if not dripping-- blood. She has a habit of trying to stuff all kinds of things into it, and will attempt this with anything that looks like it can properly fit. Because of the hole, she always has the feeling that something is missing, and she’ll go to disturbing lengths to try to fill up the void. 

-She’s very single-minded, and has trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. When she gets interested in something, it’s hard for her to tear herself away. Once she’s zoned in on something, nothing can stop her. 

-She gets crushes easily and loves strongly, but her love fades as soon as she realizes that the person she’s fixated on won’t fill the void inside of her. She has unrealistic expectations of what others can do to make her feel happy and fulfilled, and when people fail those expectations, her desperate love for someone will just as quickly turn into intense hatred.

-When she first came to the World of Fog, she developed an immediate, intense crush on Selfishness. Obsession loved Selfishness for her spirit and loud, brash nature, but soon found out that Selfishness was resistant to all of Obsession’s attempts to “love” her. Obsession’s crush faded quickly. 

-She’s claimed one of the houses in the main town for herself. It’s rotted and unsteady, but mostly intact and safe to reside in. She fills one room in particular with things she’s collected (read; stolen) from the other girls in an attempt to find some sort of spark. She adores her secret treasures, openly fawning over the pieces of them that she’s managed to take for herself. However, she gets angry when anyone else tries to get close to her horde. 

-Her emotions seem strong and intense, but inside, she’s empty. She overcompensates for her lack of emotions through exaggerated behaviors. 

-She has a love-hate relationship with the other girls where she adores the idea of them, but can’t stand their real selves. Obsession always has unrealistic expectations of others. She falls in love with these expectations, then turns angry and violent when the real person fails to live up to them. She falls in love with concepts easily, but can’t tolerate the flaws that real people have. 

COWARDLY

-She picks at her skin when she’s nervous. It’s a habit that’s impossible to break by now, and she does a lot of damage with it. She usually scratches to the point of drawing blood, but has gotten down to the bone before when she’s particularly upset. It’s a clear give-away that she’s anxious or afraid. 

-She’s very sensitive to light and sound. She gets overwhelmed by these things easily, and despises bright and crowded places because of it. Both light and sound give her headaches and leave her disoriented, and when she’s stuck with either one for too long, she very nearly shuts down. Direct sunlight would have her curled up in a little ball trying to hide from the pain. 

-Her skin is rough and sharp all over. At it’s smoothest, it’s approximately the texture of fine sandpaper. However, there are sharper parts that form actual spikes, poking up an inch or two from her skin. The spikes are solid and hard, but can be broken off, and they have as much feeling in them as the rest of her.

-Because of the spikes on her skin, her clothes get ruined easily. She tears through almost everything she wears before long-- her spines and rough skin shredding the fabric just from her moving around. Her clothes never last, and she’s constantly switching out outfits for whatever she can find because of this. She hates having her skin uncovered, and almost always goes for long sleeves and floor-length skirts, even though they’ll be destroyed in no time. 

-Although they’re not as noticeable, she has claws like Selfishness. They’re smaller, but just as sharp, and between that and the spikes on her skin, direct physical contact with her is bound to hurt. 

-She suffers from minor hallucinations, both visual and auditory. These usually feature monsters just outside her field of vision that she can never quite see, or low voices whispering to her in words that can’t be made out. These hallucinations only serve to make her more paranoid, and sometimes, she has trouble differentiating between what’s real and what’s just in her head. 

-While she’s not exactly smart, she’s highly perceptive. Her strength lies in reading people and figuring out how to not get hurt. She’s always alert and aware, catches onto things quickly, and has a distinct skill when it comes to reading when people are going to get angry. 

-Despite her anxious, almost sweet personality, she’s highly two-faced. She’ll only show the parts of herself that earn favor, hiding everything else from the people around her. She never dares to show her true self. 

-She tends towards the vengeful. Because she’s bullied and hurt so often, she has a long list of people that she hates and things that she wants revenge for. She’s been hurt enough times that she has a reason to hate every other person in the World of Fog, and may actually be plotting something to hurt all of them. The only one she’d never dare to stand up against is Judgement. 

-She’s drawn to small, dark places, and is often compared to a rat, roach, or other vermin because of it. She detests those nicknames viciously. Nothing makes her angry like being called the vermin of the World of Fog. Even so, confined, hidden, lightless spaces make her feel safe. 

[thekpopcloud]

Write to love

Stray Kids Seungmin soulmate AU

Seungmin x reader, non-idol!AU 

requests are open!!

Soulmate Sign: You and your soulmate can communicate by writing on your skin, whatever you write on your skin will appear on the other person’s skin and vice versa.

(gif not mine! credit to owner!)

You were one if the luckier people in the world, you and your soulmate had a simple way of connection, through writing on your skin. The first time the connection showed up was on a weird day. You’d been at school when a you felt weird sensation on your arm, you looked down and almost screamed. 

There was a sentence scribbled down across your arm, one you certainly didn’t write, and it was barely readable.

You were prepared to roll down your sleeve and hide it when your friend looked over, she was just as shocked as you were, except she was a lot more vocal about it. 

“Y/N GOT THEIR SOULMATE MARK!!” She’d screamed to almost the whole class and suddenly, everyone’s attention was on you. 

That was simultaneously the best and worst day of your life. 

“I hate this damn thing!” 

Looking up from your revision book, you watched as Hyunjin tugged on the dark red ribbon wrapped tightly around his wrist. He was your best friend, since the day your were born. 

But he hated the idea of soulmates, absolutely despised them. He’d grown to hate the ribbon locked around his wrist, the ribbon that only his soulmate would be able to untie. 

You rolled your eyes at him, placing the pen down. “You say that everyday Hyunjin, maybe if you stop complaining you’ll meet our soulmate and they’ll take it off” 

The familiar sensation shot through your arm and you looked, a smile crawling onto your lips as you watched the words appear on your arm. It was your soulmate, Seungmin was his name. 

‘I’m starting at a new school today, help :(’

“You’ve practically got hearts pouring from your eyes...” He mumbled, clearly annoyed. 

Picking the pen back up, you scribbled a reply onto your arm. ‘Aww don’t worry Min, you’ll be fine :)’

“At least i care about my soulmate..” you spoke, shooting him a glare. Though you both seemed angry at each other the smiles on your faces said otherwise.

Before he could shoot a comment back, two people came barreling through the the library door and towards you and Hyunjin but not before giving the head librarian guilty glances. 

“What’s got you two in a rush this early in the morning?” You asked the tow boys, glancing between them and the clock on your phone. 

Felix crashed onto the chair beside you while Jisung crashed next to- almost on top of- Hyunjin.

“There’s gonna be a new kid in our class, I've gotta show him around” Jisung replied, folding his arms on the table and resting his chin against them. 

You mumbled a reply, not really too stoked about another kids joining your class. The feeling returned to your arm and you looked down, diverting your full attention to your soulmate.

Instead of a comment or anything, there was a somewhat detailed drawing of a sunflower on your arm. You bit back a giggle and scribbled down onto your arm. 

‘Did you get bored?’ 

Seconds later words began appearing underneath your own.

‘Yep :(’ 

“Y/N...are you paying attention to anything i’m saying?” Jisung asked, reaching over and tapping your arm. 

When you didn’t reply, he took a hold of the pen in your hand and pulled it away, you jumped in surprise and looked up. 

“Hey! I’m mid conversation! Give it back” You tried to reach for the pen but he leaned back in his chair and held it far from you. 

An idea popped into Jisung’s head and he smirked, sitting normally again. 

“Let me write something on your arm and i’ll give it back” He suggested, raising an eyebrow. 

Felix piped in. “Ooh me too!”

“And me” Hyunjin joined, his voice had an evil tone to it.

You sat back in your chair, genuinely thinking about it for a moment. “Ugh okay fine, if i see one inappropriate thing I’m replacing all of your’s shampoo with bleach” 

“You wouldn’t dare..” Jisung muttered as he grabbed your other arm and rolled up the sleeve, immediately starting to scribble down something. 

10 minutes and one aching arm later, you’d finally gotten your arm and pen back. The first thing you did was look down, eyes widening when you saw the amount of things on your arm. 

“How..what the...since when did any of you know how to draw so well?” You asked and admired the weirdly cool pattern on your arm. 

Felix, who looked very offended, slapped your arm lightly. “Hey! I’ve always been able to draw!”

“Your work in art class tells a different story” Hyunjin scoffed, resting his chin on his hand. 

The three of you started to laugh, minus Felix who crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, looking like a child.

Words slowly appeared on your other arm, making you look back down. 

‘How did you draw all that so quickly?’ 

‘I didn’t, my three friends did :)’ You wrote back.

The school bell rang, catching the attention of all of you. You quickly packed up your stuff and slid it all into your bag, swinging it over your shoulder. 

As the four of you left the library, Hyunjin appeared by your side and swung his arm over your shoulder, pulling you into his side. 

“You alright, Hyunie?” 

He forced a smile onto his lips. “Perfect” 

The teacher came into the class, her arms stacked high with papers and a boy trailing behind her like a lost puppy. 

He was a handsome boy, there was no doubt about it, his brown hair parted down the middle. Okay he was very handsome. 

You adverted your eyes, choosing to glance around the class. The fact that every desk was taken, the only free seat being beside you, seemed so cliche. 

“Class, listen up” The teacher spoke as she dropped the papers onto her desk rather aggressively, silencing the whole class. Even the new kid beside her jumped. 

“We have a new student joining us today, please make him feel welcome, care to introduce yourself?” She directed the last part to the boy. 

He nodded and bowed to the class. “Hello, my name is Seungmin, pleased to meet you all” 

Seungmin? no way... it can’t be...

You shook the thought away and propped your arm up onto the desk, resting your chin flat against your palm. 

“You may sit...over there!” The teacher smiled, pointing over at the seat next to you. 

As he walked over you looked behind you, shooting Hyunjin a look that screamed ‘save me!’ but he only laughed and shook his head. 

“Hello...” Seungmin greeted you as he sat down, you smiled and mumbled back a hello and shuffled your chair over. 

The teacher took out a folder labelled ‘PROJECTS’ and the class collectively groaned. 

“It’s projects or recreating scenes from Romeo And Juliet...consider yourselves lucky!” She stated, but still some of the class complained.

Opening the folder, she took out a sheet of paper and read over it. “For this topic, you and your partner must research a mythical creature and do a small paper on it, this will be 30 percent of your final grade” 

Mythical creatures...this will be fun

One the students called out. “Can we choose our partners?” 

“No, you will be working with the person beside you, and no it is not up for discussion”   

You glanced at Seungmin in the corner of your eye. He was slumped in his chair, toying with the hem of his shirt, upon a closer inspection you caught glimpse of a what looked like a drawing poking out from his sleeve. 

There’s no way he’s that Seungmin...no way..

The teacher was still speaking but you were paying no attention to her, too focused on the boy beside you, trying to subtly stare at him. 

Eventually, the teacher stopped talking and everyone was given time to discuss their projects. You felt a tap on your shoulder and turned in your chair, now facing Hyunjin. 

The first thing you noticed was the frown on his lips, he looked beyond annoyed. “What’s wrong?” You asked, leaning back in your chair. 

He motioned towards the person beside him, rolling his eyes. 

“Ha, you’re screwed” You laughed, speaking just loud enough for Hyunjin to hear you. 

He huffed and crossed his arms. The person he sat with was the worst person to work with during projects, she never did any work and did nothing but party. 

“Well good luck Jinnie, you’re gonna need all the help you can get” You commented, patting the top of his head before turning around. 

As you turned to Seungmin, he was already looking at you, making you jump. “Hi...” 

He giggled. “Hi, so erm...what should we do for the project?” 

“I don’t know, the teacher said mythical creatures so maybe...vampires?” You suggested, shrugging. 

Seungmin hummed and nodded his head. “Good idea, should we...do the work in the library?” 

“Yes, i don’t feel like doing work anywhere else..”

It seems like me and him are gonna get along..

“You can join us for lunch if you want to!” Jisung suggested enthusiastically, his arms swinging by his sides as he walked.

Seungmin held a rather large textbook close to his chest. “If it isn’t a problem...”  

Jisung shook his head. “Of course not!”

He walked ahead while Seungmin trailed beside you, walking slowly. You gently nudged his shoulder, catching his attention, and smiled. 

“Stick by me and you’ll be fine, I’m the only normal one left out of the four of us...” You stated, laughing a small bit. 

Seungmin snickered and nodded his head. 

The three of you rounded the corner to lunch hall and headed towards your usual table. Hyunjin saw you first and jumped from his seat, jogging over and practically launching himself at you. 

“That lesson is going to be the death of me! All my partner did was try and get me to come to a party on Saturday” He complained, putting all of his weight onto you. 

With him still basically attached to you, you stumbled over towards the table and let him fall into his heat before grabbing the last free seat. 

“So Y/N...any more messages from Mr.Soulmate?” Felix asked, his lips pulled into a smirk. 

Out of the group, Felix was the only one that had found his soulmate. It was one of the Baristas that worked in the schools coffee shop, his name was Changbin. 

You shook your head, reaching over to take a fry from his plate. Felix whined and smacked your hand away from his plate. 

The conversation quickly switched to something else and you slumped back in the chair, glancing down at your sleeve. An idea popped into your head, reaching into your coat pocket for a pen. 

Uncapping the pen, you stretched out your palm and brought the pen down. As it touched your skin you felt someone flinch beside you. 

Seungmin silently watched you scribbling on your hand, his attention was drawn to you until someone called his name, snapping him back to reality. 

He absentmindedly replied to what Hyunjin was asking him, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye. 

It couldn’t be.... 

Seungminnie: My house @ 12?

You looked down at you phone, a smile grazing over your lips upon seeing the text. Seungmin had been at the school for a few weeks and you closer than ever. 

Quickly texting him back, you got changed and made yourself look somewhat presentable. You’d never put this much effort to look nice for someone else, but it was different with Seungmin, it wasn’t like you had a crush on him but it was something else. 

You rushed out of the house with your jacket half on and your bag swinging on your arm. Rushing down the stairs, you almost tripped and fell, if it wasn’t for the banister you would’ve landed on your face. 

As you speed walked down the road, your phone rang in your pocket. You fumbled around and looked at the screen before answering. 

“Hello?” You asked. 

“Y/N! What are you doing today?” Felix asked down the phone. 

“I’m going to get the final bit of this project done at Minnie’s house, why?” 

You could hear him shuffling around on the other end. “Binnie hyung wanted to know if you could come round and help him with a track. 

“Hmm maybe, we’ll see what time we finish working” You hummed.

“Are you gonna tell him? Oh please tell me you are!” He pleaded, you shook your head. 

“Tell him that i think he’s my soulmate? No way! Cause if he isn’t then it’ll make things hella awkward!” 

Felix sighed, you could picture him shaking his head with a disappointing look on his face. “Y/N...”

“No lix, i’m not telling him! Now go spend so time with your boyfriend, but don’t do anything i wouldn’t!”

He laughed. “Haha, alright then, bye!” 

You put the phone down as you got to Seungmin’s house, knocking on the door twice. 

The door swung open to reveal Seungmin. His hair was messy and he was dressed in a casual pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, a pair of glasses sat on his nose.

“Y/N-ie!!” He smiled, opening the door fully, You walked in and took you shoes off. Before you could speak Seungmin pulled you into a tight hug and rested his head against yours . 

You ignored the hammering in your chest, snuggling against him. “Seungminnie~ how are you?” 

“Good, better now that you’re here” He pulled back, looked down at you and winked. 

Shaking your head, you pulled back and patted his chest. “Whatever you say Seungmin. Now, should we get started on this work?” 

Two hours later....

“I swear if we don’t get a good mark on this i’m gonna have words with the teacher” You ranted, tapping away on your laptop. 

Seungmin laughed, looking over at you. “Now that is an argument i would like to see!” 

“Well...” you started, clapping your hands together once. “Arguments later, this must be finished first!” 

“Actually...i’m kinda hungry...” Seungmin trailed off, pushing his laptop onto the coffee table beside you. 

You hummed in agreement, taking your hands off the laptop. “Should we go and make food? or nah?” 

He shook his head. “Let’s order something, what d’you want?” 

“Let’s get pizza, give me the number of that pizza place down the road!” You said as you picked up a pen, a little idea popping into your head.

Seungmin started to say the number and you scribbled it on the back of your hand, when he stopped speaking you looked up at him and raised an eyebrow at him. 

“You alright min-”

“I had a feeling it was you, the minute i heard Felix say your name” He mumbled, looking down at the back of his hand. 

I was right 

He’s my soulmate

You jumped from your seat and wrapped your arms around Seungmin as tight as you could, he slowly wrapped his arms around you and held you against him. 

“I knew i wasn’t stupid, i knew it wasn’t just a coincidence” You mumbled against him. 

Seungmin pulled back and looked at you with confusion written all over his face. “What do you mean?”

“The fact that you joined my school the day my soulmate tells me he’s starting a new school? And the fact that there’s probably not a lot of people in the world called Seungmin? It had to be you” 

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, staring at each other. The two of you slowly leaned in until your faces were inches apart. 

You took the opportunity and closed the gap, pressing your lips to his. Seungmin could feel his heart speeding up in his chest as he kissed back, his eyes fluttering closed. 

The kiss was short and sweet, still managing to leave you breathless as you pulled away. Seungmin pressed his forehead against yours as his eyes slowly opened. 

“As first kisses go, that wasn’t too bad” You smiled, looking up at him. 

Seungmin smiled, full of happiness at that exact moment in time. 

He’d found his soulmate, and his soulmate happened to be the person he was developing a crush on.

“We need a break from work, a date?” He asked, unable to stop the smile.

You nodded, retracting your arms from him and standing up. “A date it is” 

This was now the happiest day of your life.

[i-am-the-entertainer]

RevieWBY: Volume 6

This has been stated so many times, but Volume 5 was bad. Okay, it wasn’t terrible, like I don’t feel offended by it being bad (unlike certain folks), but looking back on it I don’t have anything to say to really defend it as something Rooster Teeth should have talked up as much as they did at the time. It had some good things going for it, but the amount of problems it had in terms of animation and writing really put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. So for Volume 6 to deal with all that fallout, it was going to have to do a lot. And to their credit, CRWBY accepted the criticism in stride, and actively worked to make Volume 6 something that people who despised Volume 5 might enjoy.

Still, one had to go into this season with the understanding that some people were never going to be completely satisfied with whatever CRWBY did. Because at the end of the day, the RWBY that Rooster Teeth currently makes is not Monty Oum’s show anymore. No, this isn’t saying CRWBY is in any way disrespecting his legacy, it’s just Monty Oum had a certain method to running the show that only he could really get away with: epic fight scenes, suddenly throwing giant curveballs into the series’ mythology, taking vital time away from storytelling so the fights looked cool. I mean, there are people who criticize the show for doing that now when they didn’t give two shits when Monty did it, because Monty did it in a manner that somehow worked. I don’t know how he did it, but he did, and, well, he’s not here to do it, and there’s no way even a huge animation team can collectively do things like him. And they shouldn’t: if they can use a better industry standard animation engine than Poser, than the fact that Monty Oum didn’t like animating with Maya shouldn’t stop them.

Blah blah blah...this is all about FNDM reception. What did I think of Volume 6?

Well...

Focus

In my mid-volume review I cited this as Volume 6′s strongest aspect, and as far as I can tell this remains the case. By focusing our hero storyline on one group and for the most part the villain storylines on only a few characters who were paired off, Volume 6 effectively told a story that didn’t force the viewers to juggle multiple things and find some semblance of a continuing story. Everything happened linearly and the whole thing made for a more enjoyable watch overall.

Tone

Building off of that renewed focus, this volume felt like it had more of a consistent tone that lasted from beginning to end. RWBY markets itself as an anime show and uses a lot of that anime-style of humor (slapstick and comedically exaggerated emotions), but honestly it’s always played fast and loose with using that humor in a way that doesn’t feel out of place. In this volume it was more consistently used, and that’s largely thanks to the nailed down focus that allowed character interactions to utilize the humor in a natural way. Ruby and Maria Calavera were especially good sources for humor.

Now, things did get a little more screwball when Cordovin came into the mix, but it was interesting seeing CRWBY take that humor to a logical extreme for the first time in a while (not since the Beacon years). It interrupted the tone for a bit, but not in a manner that overall changed the genre this show is going for.

Animation

Beautiful. The improved production pipeline that we’ve heard about really came through. These episodes were the best they’ve ever looked, minus a few errors here and there, showing just how amazing RWBY can look when you give the animators time to add their own touches. There was some really great fight animation to boot: none of the fights this volume felt awkward, and you could tell the animators had a lot of fun.

Worldbuilding/Storytelling

It feels weird saying that Volume 6 did a better job with worldbuilding than Volume 4, which took place on four different continents and traveled across one, and Volume 5, which took place on two different continents and featured the second major skirmish between the villains and the heroes. I think this has to do with just how well it was integrated into the story: insight into the world came at points where the story needed it and when the viewers wanted it. Nothing ever felt like a massive info dump better suited World of Remnant; where there was just too much information delivered that wasn’t relevant to what was happening in the show. Volumes 4 and 5 had this same problem with establishing the world, often telling us too much in a way that just didn’t feel natural to the story. With Volume 6, almost every chapter up until the final Argus arc included some form of that insight:

Chapter 1 showed us how ordinary civilians deal with traveling through Grimm territory––the steps they take to protect themselves

Chapter 2 showed us some aspects of the Mistral criminal underground, not telling us too much about it but suggesting it was much larger than what Cinder encountered.

Chapter 3 showed us...so many things.

Chapter 4 offered a sense of the stakes RWBY faced in relation to all of Remnant.

Chapter 5 and 6 gave us a glimpse at another form of non-city life in Remnant.

Chapter 7 introduced us to Argus, my favorite of all the Remnant cities we’ve seen; plus a glimpse into the life of the silver-eyed warriors; and a more representative depiction of what domestic life is like in Remnant

Chapter 8 told us what Atlas personnel who aren’t Ironwood or Winter are like, plus the long-awaited insight into how the silver eyes work.

Chapter 9 shows something of the effect the Battle of Beacon, and by extension Pyrrha’s death, had outside of our core group.

Things kind of teeter off with the finale arc, but that’s because worldbuilding became a little less important to what was going on. This is kind of a stretch, but the mech fight and the arrival of the Grimm in Argus give us an idea of how large non-capital cities defend themselves without just spelling everything out.

All in all, this volume delivered on some impressive worldbuilding, probably the best the series has had in a while. It wasn’t massive info dumps unless it needed to be (e.g. Chapter 3), and it offered just enough for other important things like the storytelling and the action to still be in the forefront.

Characters

Volume 5, despite the fact it involved the major reunion of Team RWBY after two volumes, felt like it was simply putting the main characters through situations without those situations really doing anything to develop them or define them as anything beyond what we already knew. Some characters fared better on the development front, namely Yang, but others, especially Ruby, just seemed to be along for the ride without us getting any insight into them. This is where the writing issue that came from separating everyone starting with Volume 4 really came to a head: too many different characters with their own story to cover, and sometimes those stories just didn’t do much for the character beyond existing as a situation they were in.

Volume 6 feels like the refutal of that, and that mostly has to do with the fact that we’re not juggling so many storylines anymore. When a major event happens to the heroes, everyone gets affected at the same time. The train crashes? DEVELOPMENT! Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT AND INSIGHT! Snowstorm? INSIGHT! The Apathy? DEVELOPMENT! Telling team JNR about Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT! Adam ambushes Blake and Yang for the first time since Volume 3? DEVELOPMENT! WITH A HEALTHY DOSAGE OF ANGST!

Surprisingly, the same thing is happening to two of our favorite villains, Mercury and Emerald: even though they only really appeared in three chapters this Volume, we actually got a surprising chance to see how their defeat at the Battle of Haven affected them, and their increasingly strong misgivings about working for Salem. We get more of an idea of them as people rather than Cinder’s blind followers, understanding why they stuck with such an evil person for so long. It’s the most we’ve learned about them since Volume 3, and we didn’t even need lengthy flashbacks.

Even Adam got some more insight. RWBY has been following the path that Adam was an abusive ex-boyfriend for quite a while now, but there was always this underlying thought that he got into the White Fang business for a seemingly noble cause. The problem was the show hadn’t depicted how he got from Point A to Point B. The Adam Character Short offered us some of that much needed insight, putting some of his actions up to this point in a new context, even if it was set-up for clearing up some things so they could get rid of him.

Of course, there are still exceptions to characters getting character development, and honestly they’re kind of glaring ones. Oscar’s development arc, where he came to accept he was his own person, completely happened offscreen (for reasons that I’ve brought up before and will reiterate in the final section), robbing us of really witnessing his growth as a person. I enjoyed some of the stuff Cinder did this volume, especially her escape from the vault and her fight with Neo. But honestly she continues to be a pretty bland villain with little hints at her motivations for being such a terrible person: the Battle of Haven was such an utter defeat for her there needed to be some form of consequence that would’ve affected her character while also telling us more about her. Maybe it would’ve been her strategizing her revenge, which would’ve gotten more insight into how she thinks as a master planner. Instead, we get her leaving the vault, more or less going back to what she used to do but in a more low-key setting, fighting with Neo, plotting with Neo, and leaving with Neo. It felt more like “Hey, she’s alive, and here’s what she’s doing,” which while I appreciate it feels kind of a waste of time if you’re not doing anything with her beyond that. Honestly, a post-credits reveal that she was alive and then a pre-Volume 7 character short detailing how she made it to Atlas that covered her and Neo’s entire storyline this volume would’ve been more helpful.

Before I go on to my most major critique of this volume, I need to address the two Goliaths in the room.

Adam

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: they needed to get rid of Adam. The way things have been going, there was only so much more you could do with his character before he became a nuisance that was overstaying his welcome. I understand people wanted some deeper insight into him, but the fact was he was never introduced to be a major villain to anyone beyond Blake and later Yang. They could’ve had him have a thing against Weiss, but they didn’t, they focused the time that would’ve made him a major villain for everyone else on making people like Roman and Cinder and Salem the big villains. They decided on the path of abusive ex-boyfriend a very long time ago, and if you hadn’t figured that out after the Adam Character Short I honestly think you were being willfully ignorant to what’s been building up.

The best I can say is that Adam and his history is a missed opportunity for some pretty interesting storytelling and worldbuilding, but the fact remains: it is not his story that they want to tell, it is not his show. It may make something interesting to think about, but Adam’s story is supplementary, and works better in supplementary material, a la character shorts and maybe mangas.

Jaune

Y’all need to quit it with the “Hrrr drr Jaune took up time again moan moan Miles Luna is self indulgent” talk, he barely did anything this volume beyond Chapter 9 and having a sister that the whole fandom loved.

Pacing

This...this is where Volume 6 ran into trouble.

Overall, from the season premiere to the finale arc, this was probably the best-paced season of RWBY we’ve ever had. Major story events happened right when we needed them, and for the most part they didn’t drag out story arcs for any longer than they needed to be.

Well...until they reached Argus, that is.

At face value, a lot happened in the final couple of chapters. Chapter 8 gave us Maria explaining the silver eyes, Chapter 9 had the scene with Pyrrha’s statue and the mysterious Red-Haired Woman (I’ll headcanon whatever I want about who she is, Jen Brown) Chapter 10 started the Cordovin fight, Chapter 11 reinforced Blake and Yang’s partnership, Chapter 12 killed Adam, and Chapter 13 had Ruby finally use her silver eye powers to defeat a Grimm and they made it to Atlas. Yeah, it was a pretty eventful set of episodes.

So then why did it feel like it dragged? Here are a couple reasons that I’ve identified.

1. The Cordovin Battle sidelined story arcs for too long

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: the finale arc should not have been split up like that over so many episodes. It afforded us some pretty well-animated fights, some of the best the series has ever had, but the volume hadn’t been relying on that action to keep up the forward momentum, but on actually telling the stories of these characters. I get the need for CRWBY to prove that they can do well-animated fights, but as I’ve come to accept action should never take precedence over storytelling (I know, that’s hard to swallow when parts of the fndm spends hours complaining about how Monty’s not animating the fights anymore). And it’s clear to me in this final arc put emphasis on the action over the momentum of the story, bringing the actually pretty good storytelling the volume had had up to that point to a grinding halt.

Now, historically RWBY fights have delayed telling stories, but it’s never been for too long, at most maybe two chapters? But if you spend three chapters on a single fight, thereby devoting three weeks of your viewers’ time to high-octane action, people are gonna notice that the story is basically going nowhere.

What could’ve made this less of a problem? Well, perhaps establishing Cordovin earlier and making her less of a buffoon would’ve eased my hatred of this arc. Volume 6 lacks a clear antagonist for the story, but the way Cordovin was treated as a big deal in this final battle made it seem like she was taking up that role, except we didn’t even see her until the final half of the volume, and in her debut we couldn’t take her seriously as a villain, much less an antagonist, because of the pure comedy they used in her intro. There needed to be something about her at least a few episodes early––take this with a grain of salt because I think following JNR in Argus would’ve killed the balanced pacing of the first half of the volume (and just made the Jaune haters apoplectic), but maybe a few quick scenes of JNR arriving in Argus and getting rejected by her would’ve been helpful. Or honestly easing off on the comedy of her intro. Such a one-note character who we are primed to not take seriously isn’t interesting as a major force, so identifying her as a more threatening roadblock for the heroes would’ve made the stakes of the final fight a little more...present.

2. Important storylines got trimmed for time’s sake and weren’t addressed properly.

@hypeathon (whose excellent production analyses for this Volume are well worth a read) identified a tweet Miles made back in October, prior to the premiere and most likely when they were finishing storyboards, about “killing your darlings.” For those unaware and who may have severely misinterpreted that comment, “killing your darlings” is when writers have to sacrifice something they love or want to do so that the story works better. The timeliness of this tweet (after they would’ve finished the script but before they’d wrapped on storyboards and voice acting for the final episodes) suggests the writers’ room had to cut a lot of material from Volume 6 (what Miles called a massacre of darlings), most likely due to production limits or not having enough time to cover them.

Think about it: the story from Chapters 1-7 was really good: everything was properly spaced out, the scripts felt polished, there was a balance of action and comedy and legit storytelling, the good pacing lasted longer than it ever has within a single volume.

Then we hit Chapter 8 and suddenly it all changes: storylines don’t get the proper time devoted to them, arcs come to a screeching halt due to the big fight. Unlike previous volumes, where the imbalance was pretty much the entire volume, there’s actually a clear point right in the middle of this volume where things suddenly took a turn for the worse. And the fact is, some of the problems with the story in the final arc suddenly make more sense if you accept that time that would’ve been devoted to it got sidelined in this “purge”: Qrow’s alcoholism suddenly getting brushed aside after Chapter 9 hopefully to be addressed next volume, Oscar disappearing and all his development happening offscreen, Adam’s completely unsubtle return after only a vague hint in Chapter 1 that would’ve been stronger if he’d kept popping up in Argus. I’d even go so far to say the odd pacing of the final few chapters could easily have been the result of the writing team not being able to devote a single chapter to such a grand fight, so they needed to stretch it out so CRWBY could actually animate it within reasonable deadlines, which meant sacrificing time for those arcs that so desperately needed development.

So what overall is gonna fix RWBY’s pacing in the future? Well, I think at the moment the show is too ambitious. If it wants to keep to a reasonable production schedule, they need to control the scale of their finales so that it can be completed without needing to sacrifice other storylines. If it wants to hold onto that ambition and make the finales as grand as they want it to be to do their boy Monty proud, then they absolutely need to delay the actual release of the volume so they can put in the proper amount of time to both the story and animation. And I don’t think anyone would mind waiting a little longer for Volume 7 if it meant this show got the care and attention it needs to tell the story it clearly wants to tell.

Conclusions

Evaluating Volume 6 is impossible without evaluating what came before it. RWBY was never a perfect show, but when you lose someone who was responsible for the show’s popularity in the first place and have to change how it’s made to make up for his absence, there’s going to be backlash. Backlash from the fans, and, uh, backlash from inside the company. The fact is, people are never going to be satisfied with the RWBY that Rooster Teeth makes today, and Rooster Teeth is never going to push out a RWBY that will make everyone happy. All they can really do is keep moving forward.

And move forward they did. Despite my problems with the finale, Volume 6 was good. I’ve always been sort of ambivalent about the show (I was drawn to it by my brother shortly before Monty’s death and have been watching it out of respect for him and the company as creative artists), and even if I thought some of RWBY’s critics were being too harsh (or seriously needed to find something better to do), I didn’t find Volumes 4 and 5 enjoyable enough that I felt like defending them. But guys, Volume 6 did something amazing: it made RWBY fun to watch again. Focused, consistent, and compelling storytelling plus gradually eased-in worldbuilding made for a story that I could follow along without having to juggle so many different plots. Improvements in the overall animation made things nice to look at and when fights happened they were always entertaining, never making me cringe or grimace, always making me think “Hell yeah, beat the shit out of them!” Just like I felt back in the old days of the show.

I feel as though what’s holding RWBY back at this point, however, is adhering to the production schedule that its old vision called for in making its current vision. And it honestly cannot keep doing that. RWBY is a show trying to reach grand heights, and its rushed production timelines and lost story arcs are keeping it tethered to the ground. Yet I can’t help but say: Volume 6 is RWBY at its finest so far. It can’t fix the problems that previous volumes have had, but it builds on the void those problems left to build a story that makes this show feel like something worth following once more.

So, I can safely say I’ll be following along when RWBY returns for Volume 7...hopefully later rather than sooner (again, it needs a better production schedule).

[allisonsargxnt]

Hostility

[Liam Dunbar x Fem!Reader]

Summary: Liam assumes (Y/n) hates him, and (Y/n) just knows Liam hates her.

Request:  Hey You! 😊 when I heard you were back I just had to visit and leave a little prompt... So, what about a Liam Imagine, in which the reader is new at BHHS and Liam bumps into her because he is late, but don't apologizes and later they are paired up for something. Kind of hate to love style, if you are up for it. 💙 and “Why do you hate me”

Words: 2,100+

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: I put two requests together for this, I really hope you don’t mind! They work well together though! I will be doing part 2 for this! I felt like everything I wanted to get done wouldn’t fit into one fic, so this will have a second part! My requests are open, if you wanna send one in! Here are my rules and characters I write for~

You huffed as you walked through the empty halls of Beacon Hills High. You had arrived fifteen minutes late to your first day of school and you could only hope it wouldn’t harm everyone’s first impressions of you.

“‘Scuse me?” You knocked on the door of the counselor’s office and peaked in as it slowly opened, “is this Mrs. Martin’s office?”

“Yes, you must be (Y/n)! Come on in.”

The red head waved you into the office and you sat in a seat in front of her desk. She pulled a paper up and handed it to you. You grabbed it and saw all of your classes and the room numbers listed beside them.

“Your first class is English, that’s just right down the hall,” Mrs. Martin quickly gave you the directions to your first class, “If you need anything please don’t be afraid to come back to my office for help.”

You nodded at the counselor and stood back up. You thanked her for your schedule and made your way out of her office. You headed towards English class your grip on the strap of your backpack tightened. The sound of footsteps echoing down the hall caught your attention and you turned your head over your shoulder.

The sight of someone running full speed towards you was the last thing you could process before being knocked back and sent sliding down the hall. You could feel your elbow slide across the hard tile floor and you let out a whine. You looked up to see papers and books lying on the floor, and a boy trying to collect all of them.

“Excuse you!” You snapped as you sat up.

He looked at you with furrowed brows before his face softened. His lips parted, words close to coming from his mouth, but his eyes moved to a nearby clock and he finished cleaning up his books. He stood back up and ran down the hall, leaving you on the floor alone.

You tensed, your jaw clenching and your knuckles turning white as you grabbed at the strap of your backpack. You stood up and brushed yourself off. You had never thought you would make an enemy on the first day of school, but you were sure that boy brought this on himself.

You walked towards your english class while half hoping you didn’t just look like you slid halfway to the room. You opened the door and the teacher turned towards you, a smile on her face. You tried to not look as uncomfortable as you felt as you waited for her to speak.

“You’re the new student, I’m assuming? (Y/n)?” She asked, and you responded with a nod. “It’s nice to have you. There is an open seat beside Corey.”

You watched as she motioned near the back and once your eyes traveled to where she had pointed you saw a boy slightly waving at you. He was softly smiling, but looked almost embarrassed as you now that the attention was just on the both of you.

You hurried to back of the class and sat beside him. You placed your backpack on the on the ground and looked ahead at the board. The teacher was talking about Shakespeare and his influence. You were sure you had learned about him more times than you could count, and while you liked Shakespeare and his plays, you were more focused on something you hadn’t learned yet; your class schedule.

“Can I see that?”

You looked to your side and saw Corey staring over at you, his eyes moving from your schedule up to you. You nodded and handed him the paper. He looked over it and lit up.

“You have Biology with me and my friends,” he whispered and pointed at the class, “that’s also the lunch period, so if you want, you can sit with us?”

You smiled and nodded at him. You hadn’t known him much at all and he was offering you a spot at lunch with him. He seemed to not want you alone, and that felt nice. You had nowhere else to sit anyway, so that couldn’t be worse than sitting alone.

Corey looked at your other classes and told you where they were, giving you in depth descriptions of how to get to them. You knew once Biology rolled around you would need help finding your classes afterwards, but you were thankful he was being so nice.

The rest of class went by quicker than you could have hoped for and you thanked Corey for helping you. You grabbed your bag and started walking towards your next class. You hoped all of your other classes were as nice as that one.

You shoved everything in your backpack as you stood from your desk and your eyes moved towards the clock. The hungrier you got throughout the day, the slower the classes moved. Math seemed to drag by, but you were finally headed to biology.

You walked from your class and down the packed hallways. You looked at every classroom, trying to memorize as much of the school as possible. You weren’t very keen on getting lost every day just because you were new. Your eyes fell onto the Biology classroom and you walked in.

“(Y/n),” the teacher spoke from her desk, “it’s nice to have you here. Liam is the only one in class without a lab partner, so you can sit over there-” she motioned towards an empty table, “-with him. Whenever he decides to show up.”

You nodded at her and headed towards the table. Corey sat behind you, and beside was, who you assumed to be, one of his friends. You smiled at Corey and his friend and the two returned the gesture.

“(Y/n),” Corey wrapped his arm around Mason’s shoulder,  “this is Mason. And here’s Liam now!”

You saw Corey and Mason look towards the classroom door, causing you to follow their line of sight. As soon as you saw who walked in your face dropped. You turned back towards the front of the class to glare at the boy who had run you down in the hallway, Liam.

Liam caught sight of you and slowed down. He furrowed his brows at you as he sat his book bag down. He sat on the stool beside you and turned back towards Mason and Corey as you glared at him.

“I assume you two already know each other...” Mason looked from you to Liam.

“Not really,” Liam frowned at you.

“Uh, this is (Y/n). (Y/n) this is Liam.”

You nodded, “It’s nice to have the name of the person who ran me down in the hallway earlier.”

Mason and Corey seemed to grow tense, but Liam only stared at you a moment. You watched his hand ball into a fist and he narrowed his eyes at you. You only turned your nose up at him and looked forward.

By his reaction, you were sure he felt the same way as you. You were going to have to deal with someone who hadn’t even liked you for the rest of the semester. You could only hope any upcoming projects weren’t too partner dependent.

It had been two weeks since you arrived in Beacon Hills. Ignoring the weird things that seemed to happen, everything had been going fine. Mostly. Liam had been just as snappy towards you as you were to him. It only seemed to grow worse as the days passed.

“Liam” you blankly stared at him from across the table, “you somehow seem more upset than usual, and I know I haven’t said anything to you today, so what’s stealing my spotlight?”

Mason made a face as he tried to quickly eat his roll. Corey sat beside you, avoiding both of your stares as you glared at each other from across the table. Liam inhaled sharply and his jaw clenched. You had seemed to push one of his buttons a little too hard.

“Since you asked to politely,” Liam spoke through clenched teeth, “I could be doing better in biology.”

“Hey, (Y/n)!” Corey put his hands up, forcing a smile as he looked between you and Liam, “you already learned this stuff at your other school right? You can show Liam how to do it.”

You looked at Corey for a moment before saying anything, “Me?” You pointed to yourself, giving Corey a confused look.

“Why would you even ask her that? She wouldn’t even help me if her life depended on it.”

You tensed. The sudden urge to prove Liam wrong was too strong to ignore. You turned to Corey and smiled at him. You could feel the others tense at your sudden change in attitude, “You’re right, Corey. Since I already know the material I might be able to help Liam.”

Liam blinked at you in surprise, “Uh, seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” you snapped once again, “you can come to my place after school. Or is yours better?”

“Yours is fine.” Liam still seemed confused, unsure of your real intentions, or if you were actually being genuine about helping him.

Lunch ended and you headed to your next class. You couldn’t help but wonder if you had made the right decision. Liam seemed to absolutely despise you. His feelings seemed more amplified than yours so teaching him anything was going to be hard. You knew the two of you were most likely going to be butting heads the whole time he was over.

The end of the day came faster than you wanted it to, and you waited in the parking lot for Liam. You spotted him standing with Scott’s group of friends and you waved at him, giving him a forced smile. Stiles patted him on the back and Liam rolled his eyes before making his way to you.

Once Liam reached you, you could see his displeasure with Corey’s idea. He groaned and shoved his hands into his pockets, “We walking?”

“Yea, I only live five minutes away, is that alright?”

Liam only nodded. The walk to your house was quiet. Those five minutes were the longest five minutes of your entire life. Liam kicked at rocks as the two of you walked down the sidewalk. You walked a few feet ahead of him, watching the rocks he kicked skip by you. You were grateful once you reached your house.

The house was quiet as you entered it. Liam silently followed you to your room and you threw your bag down beside your bed. You pulled the drawer of your desk open and sifted through some paper before grabbing a binder from your old school. For once, you were thankful you kept old things.

“So the stuff we’re going over isn’t too hard, I should be able to teach you easily, as long as you listen.” You looked at him on those last few words.

Liam was standing awkwardly at your door, his book bag one the ground beside him. You could hear him suck air in as you spoke. You stopped and looked at him, wondering if he was gonna come over to you or not.

“It might be easier to do work if we aren’t across the room from each other.”

You sat down on your bed and Liam walked towards you, sitting on the other side of your bed, a few feet away. You involuntarily rolled your eyes at him, causing him to let out a loud groan.

“Why couldn’t Corey or Mason have helped you?” You mumbled under your breath, but as soon as he stood up you could tell he heard you.

“Why do you hate me?”

You reeled back, “Why do I- Why do you hate me? Ever since you bumped into me you’ve seemed so hateful.”

“I’ve seemed hateful? You come at me for the smallest things!”

The smallest things. Maybe him bumping into you was small, but you were sure at the time he had hated you when he had done that. Now, you weren’t too sure. You two were stuck in an endless loop of hostility and both of you assumed it was because of the other one.

“So, you don’t hate me?”

“No.”

“Oh,” You could feel your cheeks heating up. “Um, I don’t hate you either, but it must really seem like it now. I’m really sorry, I’ve been a total asshole towards you over an accident. I get it if you’re upset, but I don’t mind showing you this biology stuff if you still want help?”

Liam nodded, “I guess since you already have everything out I can stay for a little while.”

The tension in the room slightly subsided and you pulled your old notes out from the binder, “Maybe we should start over. Wipe the slate clean? We didn’t get off on the right foot.”

“That’d be nice.”

You stuck your hand out towards Liam, “Fancy meeting you here in my home, I’m (Y/n).”

Liam gently grabbed your hand, almost like he was scared of hurting you, and gave you a wide smile, “I’m Liam.”

[invisible-ties]

hihi!💗 so i’ve noticed that you like alphonse a lot, and i really want to like him too. but my issue is that he just seems kinda.. flat. like he doesn’t really have unique and interesting motivations, like the other characters do. he just kind of seems “nice” or “good”, rather than multi-dimensional and complex like people are supposed to be, you know? since you like him, can you prove me wrong? do you have any headcanons about him? why does everyone like him so much? sorry if i sound rude!!😖

 Hi, there! 

No, you don’t sound rude. Don’t worry. I was actually thinking about doing a full research on Alfonse because my Alfonse crush has been getting more intense lately and I want to know more about my boy and understand him better too. Because it’s been so long since I’ve played the story mode I really wanted to read a script and do a full character analysis at some point - so, I guess now is a good time too. :D

As this turned out to be quite long (and when I say long I mean almost 5000 words long), the rest is under the cut. All the main points are summarized at the end so if reading long analyses is not your thing you can go by with just the introduction and summary at the end (but that means taking my word for it and I might be wrong).

Disclaimer: English is not my first language and no matter how much time I spent on polishing this, language can get weird sometimes. Please, bear with me. I also think it gets better later in the post. The beginning is weird and I don’t like it but I’ve spent too much time on this already.

Post breakdown: first I address the ask, then I start with the analysis of Alfonse as a prince and how that shaped him and his personality, then I move on to some random facts I picked up, and end everything with addressing the popular ‘trust issues’ trope and the analysis of his relationship with Zacharias and Summoner. All is rounded up by a summary and some last words.

Okay, so first of all, Alfonse clicked with me the moment I met him mostly because of aesthetic reasons - his design was on point with my tastes I guess, and I will be as shallow as one can be with liking fictional characters based on appearance first. Nothing in his personality gave me a reason to dislike him so he stayed as a new fav. Also, developers wrote him kind of fan-servicey in a way that he is really attentive to Summoner and there is loads of super cute stuff he says to you too. More on that later.

As for his multi-dimensionality, there are many facts about him that make him more than just “nice” and “good”, although he is definitely that too. I can’t dislike that. I prefer good people and I will always like kind characters because I like positive personalities in real people. Of course, you can’t expect of all the characters to be made perfectly complex, especially if you work with just short dialogues that are more focused on the plot. Keep in mind that there are no support conversations in this game where we usually find out more about the characters’ past and traits unrelated to the plot conflict that is currently going on. So, even though I agree new siblings could be developed more I am also aware of the limitations this type of game imposes on the characterisation of new characters. For the amount of characterisation fe:h allows, I would say he’s been done justice. I would even say he’s got more characterisation than Sharena, who is just portrayed as being cheerful, outgoing and loves making friends with everyone (nothing bad with that, I love Sharena too and those are likeable characteristics in people). I will be mentioning Sharena a couple of times but it’s important to note that I haven’t been paying attention to her as much as I have to Alfonse so I might have missed something.

Now that we’re done with the introduction let’s start talking about Alfonse. I collected all this information from story dialogue and paralogue maps scripts from feheroes.gamepedia, as well as from the fe wikia character quotes.  If you read chapter scripts and his Castle quotes you can pick up quite a few things about him.

He is the crown prince of Askr, and one to bear the responsibility of royalty on his back. It is mentioned both in Book II, Chapter 4, and one of his Home quotes that many were against a prince being so hands-on and joining the fight in the way he and Sharena did. Their father even stopped talking to him. This isn’t mentioned anywhere for Sharena and implies that greater responsibility was expected from him and that as a crown prince he has more expectations to live up to. Still, he chose to fight for his kingdom over staying in his father grace - that’s how much he cares about what he considers morally right. Furthermore, in his lv 40 confession, he mentions that as a prince he needs to be strong and avoid exposing himself to emotions that might result in him being hurt. This could point to his behaviour being shaped by the expectations that are put on him as a crown prince, which indicates his strong sense of responsibility towards his duty. I mean, you can argue that being driven by one’s duty to others is unhealthy or something, but I would always pause and say that this is a crown-prince we’re talking about. Being born into a royal family and being a crown prince is unfortunate in that one should always be selfless and act for the benefit of your nation in mind. This is not a “normal”, common person who can allow himself act for his own good because the crown bears a tremendous responsibility to the people, and everything royalty does should be for the benefit of their kingdom. It’s not fair to the person itself but if the ruler is not acting like that then they are not a good ruler. I can see Alfonse as being someone who understands this and tries to act (trains himself to act) accordingly. He accepts his role and takes it seriously - something I would also interpret as a sign of maturity. This might not be “unique” or “interesting” but for the role he has in that world, I would say this is reasonable and acceptable as a circumstance that has shaped him. He is also presented as the more responsible and serious one of the siblings, “the reasonable one” and “the voice of reason” who puts breaks on Sharena’s impulsive reactions and brings her down to earth (e.g. Book I - Prologue, Part 2). A funny moment in the LA Paralogue where he says “today’s youth” actually shows us that he is taking himself really seriously and doesn’t even allow him to think of himself as a regular young person - that is a luxury he cannot afford. Sharena’s reaction “ Not this conversation again… “ could potentially support the hypothesis that this is indeed true and that he indeed regularly acts like this. I could have misinterpreted something here because I can’t say what she wanted to say here:” You do realize that, today, you- No, never mind. “. Was this last word supposed to be ‘you’ or ‘youth’? I also can’t tell what she wanted to say before stopping herself, and it could affect the interpretation of her “not this conversation again” sentence. But no matter how much we joke about this detachment from people of his age, it’s actually quite sad. Sharena doesn’t have problems with this apparently, and I have enough reasons to believe she was not brought up in the same way as Alfonse was and was probably spared of royal responsibilities to some degree which is why she can afford to behave more cheerful and relaxed. But on the other hand, these children had some fucked-up childhood which is revealed in one of Sharena’s Home quotes where Sharena mentions OFTEN sending letters to her mother because they don’t get to see each other enough, even though they all live in the same castle. Their main way of communicating is via letters! With her own mother! I couldn’t dig up more on this and I don’t want to start with pure speculations but something weird is going on here.

Back to Alfonse - even though he acts all serious, when his kingdom, his people, or people dear to him are involved, he can get pretty passionate and impulsive too (e.g. Book I - Prologue, Part 1 - here he is also clear on what he thinks about conquering other worlds and enslaving heroes; Prologue, Part 3 - to Veronica: “And I will personally never forget this violation of my kingdom!”; Chapter 9, Part 4; Chapter 12, Part 1; anything concerning Zacharias basically - but that will be covered in more detail below). When he gets like this he doesn’t mind his language as usual, so he swears and becomes really direct in confrontations (*cough* Chrom mood *cough*). When he’s mad, you can really see that he is mad. This and all his emotional bursts actually show that he is not all brain and cold reasoning, but he might be acting like that because he was brought up to be more careful and responsible. 

His royal posture is the most easily seen when he confronts enemies and demands answers from them (e.g. see Book I - Prologue, Part 1; Chapter 9, Part 4; Chapter 13, Part 1). Sharena doesn’t do this. 

I believe Alfonse is truly a good prince. He is really loyal to his people and deeply cares about Askr - you might see this as boring, but you can’t have a good ruler without that and every lord in FE should be like this to be a candidate for a ‘my fav’ position [see Book I, Prologue, Part 3; but also, more evidence for this claim will be mentioned in some specific instances below]. In Book II, Chapter 3 he is shown as worrying about the townspeople and wanting to help them rebuild the town. Upon leaving he asks for signal hay in case the need to signal the people to run away, and even if at first it seems he abandons his people to proceed with their mission it is shown that he did care, and was in fact thinking in advance. He also shows his genuine kindness in multiple instances, e.g. when he insists on helping Fjorm after the Order finds her unconscious.

I would also say that he actually despises battling and cruelty. There were instances where he calls war “brutal” [Book I, Prologue, Part 3], war cruelty “despicable” [Book II, Chapter 3, Part 1], and tries to resolve a situation by conversation rather than fighting [Book I - Prologue, Part 2].  In the New Year Paralogue [Paralogue 17, Part 13] when Order of Heroes visits a shrine and prays for something in the new year, he wishes for world peace. This leaves Sharena proclaiming that he always goes with the perfect answer. Why would this be bad and boring? We need more people like this, especially males. Imagine if all people in power were like this.

A random fact that I’ve realized upon systematic reading is that he is presented as being the most knowledgeable one in the Order of Heroes, familiar with most legends, prophecies and historical facts about kingdoms. There are some instances where Anna is the one to bring exposition, and Sharena did it in LA Paralogue, but it is mostly Alfonse who does it [e.g. Book I - Chapter 9, part 5; Paralogue 4, Part 1; Paralogue 16, Part 1: I realised that I wasn’t taking note of all instances to support this claim, which I regret now but I am not going through the whole script again]. Whether this has more to do with more attention being given to his education considering him being the heir to the throne or he is just keener on collecting knowledge on his own is not said (as far as I could pick up at least). He does say this in one of his Home quotes: “Someday we should visit the library together. There’s much information on the Heroes of other worlds.” which does imply that he visits libraries often. Again, this is not exactly evidence in favour of any of those, but as he invites you to the library it can be said that he actually enjoys learning new stuff. In Paralogue 16, Sharena cuts him off while he is telling a legend about the origin of giving gifts on Christmas which ends up in Alfonse sounding really disappointed for being interrupted. This could be taken as a hint that he actually enjoys stories and likes passing them down/telling them. So adorable.

Okay, now is the time to address the most recognizable of his traits and the one that is brought up the most – his trust issues and problems with opening up to other people. This is actually the juicier part, but surprise surprise, it can be traced back to his royal role. 

“Sharena: Two of my best friends are Heroes! That’s why they stay with us. I only wish I had more friends like them.Alfonse: I’ve told you before, Sharena. Heroes are not friends. Only our allies. Don’t get close to them.Sharena: Oh, you. Don’t be prickly. You think that only because you were once very close to a Hero. And THAT one left to go home.Alfonse: Enough, Sharena.” [Book I, Chapter 2, Part 5]

To put things in a perspective: the royalty of Askr and Emblia have power to open and close gates to the other worlds, respectively. Veronica’s father started a war with Askr, stopped closing the opened gates and started enslaving heroes. After he died, Embla declared that the war is over, but Veronica continued his legacy after a while [Chapter 9]. I didn’t stumble upon any mention of the actual years to help us with a timeline, so we don’t know when Veronica’s father started a war nor how long the peace after his death lasted. Regardless of weather Alfonse and Sharena were brought up in a time of war or peace, there is a long tradition of siding up with heroes from the other worlds [mentioned in the introduction by Alfonse]. Apparently, Sharena has two “best friends” who are Heroes (although we still don’t know who these people are as they are not mentioned again), and Alfonse apparently got really close to one of the Heroes in the past (maybe he even developed romantic feelings for them – this is my hc :P) but they left the world of Askr and went home. This is not Zacharias, as Zacharias is from their world and they still don’t know at this point that he left them voluntarily, nor that he indeed went home.

Next, Alfonse mentions this in his confession: “The more you have to lose, the worse it hurts when you do. Others may open themselves to such hurt, but as a prince, I must remain strong. It seemed reasonable to keep everyone at a distance.” What I think happened there? Alfonse fell in love for the first time and discovered that other person can be a big weakness to oneself. After they left, Alfonse was really hurt, his royal duties were maybe affected, and I have a reason to think that he’s still not over that and is just repressing this feeling (for example, his reaction to Sharena bringing this up). To prevent this from happening again he shut himself from opening to another person again. Or maybe not necessarily at that point, but after losing Zacharias, and this happening again - definitely. He was hurt again, and it was affecting his performance as a prince. He wouldn’t mention “as a prince” as the reason why he must remain strong if it wasn’t. He takes his role seriously indeed. However, he is also fully aware that closing up to other people like that is not a good solution either. In Paralogue 7, Part 3, after Sharena was tricked by Katarina he says this: “If you don’t trust people, they can’t betray you… And if you don’t trust people, you’ll never make a connection with anybody. Not truly. Sure, you might be hurt. Lied to, tricked, betrayed… Played for a fool. But trust is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t come easily to me, Sharena. But it does for you. That is something special.”. Here he also mentions being lied to, tricked and betrayed. He could be speaking about all the theoretical possibilities, but he could also be speaking from the personal experience. If someone is willing to explore and play around what might have happened with Alfonse’s first love/friendship, there’s a nice fanfic prompt. :P

There is a double and kind of contradicting potential in his words about trust not coming easily to him. I love to think that trust actually does come easily to him (maybe not as easily as to Sharena but still), but he actively blocks it and tries to prevent it from happening to avoid getting hurt. He doesn’t get attached to everyone as Sharena does, but only because he chooses not to, not because that’s in his nature. We could go as far as to say that he so actively shapes this part of him that he is convincing himself and others that this is actually in his nature. Why I think so? We have three instances where he opened up to another person in a relatively short amount of time - that one mysterious person, Zacharias, and Summoner. Alfonse is just an introvert and when he gets attached he gets really attached. If one wasn’t naturally trustful would this be happening so often despite one’s efforts to prevent it? I might be totally wrong and he actually IS naturally untrusting and just those three people somehow managed to gain his trust. Which is again weird, but also, if that was the truth, why was he so fast to trust Bruno (covered below)? Also, it’s not like he doesn’t cooperate with other people - on the contrary. Being in the Order of Heroes and cooperating with all the Heroes even before that shows that he is not repulsed by the idea of cooperation (you need to trust your ally for that). He is not depicted as rejecting everyone and working alone, on the contrary, he is quick to welcome Summoner and Fjorm. Who are you trying to convince that trust doesn’t come naturally to you, Alfonse?! C’mon! He is too well trained in diplomacy and had experience in cooperating with Heroes even before the war with Embla started to actually sound convincing here. He is just careful not to get too close to other people again, which was driven by a certain experience and actually takes effort so you can’t say that it’s natural to him. 

No matter how hard he tries not to open to other people it happens again. He opens to Summoner [from his confession: “I have to confess that I never intended to become friends with you, Summoner. But you’re always there when I need you, to the extent that when you’re not near, I feel…not quite myself. (…) It seemed reasonable to keep everyone at a distance. But you’ve shown me the folly of that. I would have never discovered our fine friendship, had I not welcomed you in. And then what would I be? Less than I am. Now, I can only hope you feel the same. In any case, I swear to keep you safe. You are my trusted partner, Summoner.”]. His fear of losing another person he loves (any kind of love you feel comfortable with) is apparent in a couple of cases. Case 1) Book I, Chapter 6, Part 5 – Battle against Ryoma. Ryoma’s tactic was to separate someone from the Order of Heroes and engage in a single combat with them. It’s not completely clear was he challenging Summoner or Order in general, but after the battle, Alfonse says this: “I have to admit that I was alarmed when he shouted about going into single combat. Thank goodness we were able to work around that wall. We should avoid any attempts to separate us!”. Sharena also brings some angst with lettings us know that they were severely affected by the Zacharias’ disappearance: “Sharena: It was terrible, wasn’t it? Being split up like that, I thought we might never see each other again! And… and… And I never EVER want to go through that again. Not like we did with our friend Zacharias.”. Case 2) Book I, Chapter 10, Part 5 – Veronica closes gates with Summoner still in the other world. After they are all reunited, Alfonse shows how distressed he was: “When I saw you disappear just like Zacharias did, I thought my chest would burst.”. So, yeah. All his efforts turned back on him because now he has Summoner. 

In the end, I would like to just cover some things regarding Zacharias, because the way Alfonse behaves when he’s brought as a topic and the way he behhaves around him as Bruno tell us something about Alfonse. Zacharias and Alfonse are so shippable (whatever kind of ship you want) you’ll see why now. So, after mentioning the Zacharias for the first time (see above) both Alfonse and Sharena started dwelling on his disappearance again, then comes all the exposition [see Book I, Chapter 7, Part 5] and then they decide to go look for him again. After that failure, they become desperate again “Anna: (after scolding Sharena) You too, Alfonse! Wipe that sorry look off your face. What would Zacharias say if he saw this?”. After this, they are confronted by Bruno who leaks them information about Veronica’s next plan which helps the Order of Heroes to stop her from destroying the Summoning ruins. Bruno approaches them again after that (they still don’t know anything about him). Alfonse is the first one to address him and acknowledges that his help was invaluable and proceeds to thank him (my good good, proper and polite boy), but that’s not why Bruno has approached them. Upon hearing that they are still searching for Zacharias he lets them know that their search is futile and that they will never see him again which makes Alfonse extremely emotional and he loses composure showing how much he is still hurt by Zacharias’ disappearance. Short exclamations and questions, arguing with Anna, acting on a whim and behaving irrationally (Anna had to stop him from running after Bruno who is still a complete stranger with unknown motives and could be easily setting up a trap for them), unwillingness to let Bruno go without getting answers out of him… all of that shows how much he is affected by his emotions, even though he tries to bury them and not let them affect who he needs to be as a crown prince. “If he knows anything about Zacharias… But, fine. I’ll follow your command. I only hope that my friend is safe… wherever he is.”.  I love this boy who cares about his friend so much (TuT). The next time Bruno appears before them he’s in his “possessed” state, and our boy, who tries really hard not to trust people and not to get attached, is the one who sees that “(s)omething’s wrong with him”. “It’s like he’s not even the same person.”. Even after trying to kill them, Alfonse doesn’t want to kill Bruno. “You helped us, once. I have no intention of taking your life here.”. Bruno replies with “You’ll live to regret letting me off so easy…”. I can only imagine the realization Alfonse had here – he really was behaving irrationally and was letting his peaceful and nice nature directs his actions. There is no notion of this in the script but considering everything I think he must have heard the echo of these words for a while. Afterwards, Bruno tells them that he was the one who killed Zacharias, which our Order refuses to accept. Alfonse is clear on what they need to do now though, and lets his emotions slip up again: “I… I think we should follow Prince Bruno. We last saw him in the World of Shadows. He may still be there. Only he knows the truth. And if he did kill Zacharias…that is an act I cannot forgive.” This is happening in Chapter 12, and Part 5 is where Alfonse finally decides to avenge his friends (his words) but stops in the middle of the act when Summoner attracts his attention. If we think about this scene being filled with emotions (after all that effort they put into finding him and never giving up on him, Alfonse has to accept that his friend is dead, and his murderer is kneeling before him) the fact that he’s able to stop himself in a middle of such an emotion-fuelled act reminds me of when Robin was able to stop Chrom from rampaging after Emm’s death. Summoner realized that Bruno might be Zacharias, however, they don’t say it directly – Alfonse is the one who actually says that out loud.  Chapter 13, Part 1 is so emotional, which makes me emotional over poor Alfonse. I will not paste the whole script here but look it up if you want. For some reason, they made this face-off only between Alfonse and Zacharias/Bruno. Sharena and Anna don’t jump in at any point, we only see Alfonse’s suffering and dealing with Zacharias’ explanation. Is this just a simplification or was it done on purpose? Hm hm. He doesn’t say much, but his reaction is so genuine – if you imagine this scene you can see him being in so much pain for hearing what is happening with Zacharias… I mean, at least I can. Zacharias even calls out for Alfonse at one point. In Part 5 of the same Chapter, Zacharias asks Alfonse to kill him before his cursed blood consumes him. Alfonse, of course, can’t do that. “I cannot kill a friend. I wish you had told us about this sooner… Why did you wait?”. This is so painful aaaaah, imagine someone you care about fighting their inner demons like this on their own – it breaks my heart, and I imagine Alfonse feeling the same. He is hurt again. Our boy is hurt again by caring for another person. Zacharias vanishes here without anything actually being resolved and the Book II starts after this, so we will definitely see more of this drama. Argh, can’t wait. 

To summarize, Alfonse is a crown-prince of Askr who was probably brought up in a controlled way to be prepared for his future role. He takes his role very seriously, but he is also a kind person who deeply cares about his kingdom and the well-being of people. As a prince, he tries to put his duty above his personal feelings and when the latter started affecting the former, he tries to stop it from happening ever again by not letting himself get attached to other people. Because this goes against his nature he can’t help but start caring about Zacharias and, later, Summoner. He definitely cares about Sharena and Anna too. Even though this was not addressed in canon yet, everything else tells us that this is to be expected. I wonder if some of them will get in danger in the future and trigger that common Alfonse’s reaction again. He is well-educated and loves reading, learning new stories and passing them down. Whenever he is not under the influence of emotions he is being very serious and rational and acts like a true royal when facing enemies. Alfonse is an introverted bby that loves to spend time reading in a library, needs a lot of time to warm up to people, but when he does, oh boy, he’s so attached to them that losing them is really painful. Guess what, Summoner? Alfonse found you worthy of imprinting on and there is no escape now.

I can’t speak for other people and why they like Alfonse, but I have developed a crush on him because of his design and all the nice attention he gives to Summoner. He goes on patrols with you to make sure nothing happens to you (“’ll be glad to go on patrol with you. Some get lost around here. So, really, it’s best I keep an eye on you.“), invites you to hang around in the library while learning about things (I’m a scholar, so this appeals to me), is interested in the world you’re coming from and wants to visit your world with you (see his tap quotes; arghh he’s so curious and wants to know more about you aaaah my tiny heart), begs you to stay with them [Chapter 9, Part 5] and not to leave without warning him first (“Promise you’ll never leave us… without warning me first.”), he continuously acknowledges your help (“I deeply appreciate your help, Summoner.”, “All of this is thanks to you, Summoner.”, “"We are fortunate to have you with us, I can’t imagine a better summoner.”) he mentions feeling like his chests bursting when you got separated by Veronica, and he is quick to react to Summoner’s voice [Chapter 12, Part 5]. And let’s not forget him inviting you to a romantic stroll in the snowy night [Paralogue 16, Part 3]. To top everything, here’s his lv 40 confession in full, because it’s just to heart-melting and I couldn’t pass including it in full: “I have to confess that I never intended to become friends with you, Summoner. But you’re always there when I need you, to the extent that when you’re not near, I feel…not quite myself. It’s a delicate position to be in. The more you have to lose, the worse it hurts when you do. Others may open themselves to such hurt, but as a prince, I must remain strong. It seemed reasonable to keep everyone at a distance. But you’ve shown me the folly of that. I would have never discovered our fine friendship, had I not welcomed you in. And then what would I be? Less than I am. Now, I can only hope you feel the same. In any case, I swear to keep you safe. You’re my trusted partner, Summoner.”

Have some nice summary quotes for the end:

“I’m striving to be an excellent prince, and to master the use of Heroes.”

“My greatest wish is to see our realm at peace, and our people happy again.”

“Promise you’ll never leave us… without warning me first.”

“I’m glad to have you here, but someday, I’d like to open the way to your world… We could go together.”

Congratulations! You have survived reading through all of this (or scrolling if you’re on a phone - I am so sorry). You deserve to rest your eyes now on this blessing that Fire Emblem gave us a year ago. A truly blessed smile.

[atleastputinsomeeffortinuroc]

Rant/Review: Ready Player One --aka-- Just Watch Wrinkle in Time Instead...

I don’t usually hate movies. 

I know that seems backwards considering that this blog is me complaining and ranting incoherently about movies I don’t like, but very few movies leave me seething. Even all of the Detective Conan movies, which are mostly terrible pieces of garbage, I don’t necessarily hate. Red Crimson Letters is a terrible waste of time and energy, but I wasn’t insulted or felt talked down to. It was just a really bad movie I wanted to talk about.

In my life, there have only been three movies who have truly enraged me. “Batman v Superman,” “Joy,” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.” 

Objectively, there are aspects that are genuinely good in all of them and are definitely better than I probably give them credit for...but I doubt it, but they just flare up an anger in me for one reason or another. They’re permanently on my “fuck that movie” list. And now…now there’s another entrant to that prestigious list.

Ready Player One.

My GOD. THIS was the book everyone’s been talking about? THIS is supposed to be the fucking bible of pop culture?! THIS MOVIE?! THE ONE THAT UNIRONICALLY HAS THE PHRASE SPOKEN BY HUMAN VOCAL CHORDS “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER?!!” ARE YOU GUYS--…ok. Ok, I need to calm down. 

There are several, several, SEVERAL parts about this movie that don’t work, and I could go into a lot of the problems, but instead I’m going to try to talk about three aspects of the film. And for the sake of me not swearing up and down, we’re not going to talk about that godawful dialogue. Just know that it sucks.)

1) The ham-fisted arc

2) The protagonist and his trophy waifu

3) References over content

There are spoilers ahead, and I’m going to write this with the assumption that you’ve already seen the movie. If you haven’t, you’ve been warned. Anywho, let’s get started. Put on some “a-ha,” break your nostalgia goggles and join me as we go down this road where I collectively shit over Spielberg’s attempt to adapt a supposed “beloved classic.” (CAN YOU TELL I’M MAD?!)

1)     The arc

Here’s the thing with arcs in narratives, and more specifically films. 

They need to feel earned. 

Your central character has gone through a life-altering change or point of view since the beginning of the film due to the adventures and trials had throughout the film. Good examples include “Mad Max: Fury Road” where Max finally lets others into his life and sees the value in not going through life alone as described by the part where he donates his own blood and tells Furiosa his name. Another good example is actually from the Oscar nominee Spielberg had LITERALLY LAST YEAR, “The Post.” In it, Kay Graham finally put her foot down and shows authority by stepping out of her comfort zone to release the Pentagon Papers—damn what the powers that be say. This is important to any narrative because it shows the flaws of your characters through their insecurities and hesitations to make them human rather than movie characters. Even if you have paragon characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, or Batman, they still have to overcome some kind of personal issue that is keeping them from achieving what they’ve wanted.

Now, if you look over to the main character, you can see that his arc was…what is it that was his arc? 

He’s…he’s the same at the beginning as he was at the end. 

“OH BUT HE HAS A PENTHOUSE AT THE END,” yeah that’s not a change. One could argue that the (even though the catalyst for change has no fucking relation to it) arc is about unplugging and enjoying the real world. The bits at the end with Easter Egg man where he starts going on and on and on about how he missed reality or something, and the VERY BRIEF bits at the beginning where you see people all over the VR systems, one of which is the mother neglecting a fire in the house and one where an Asian man almost commits suicide after losing all of his stuff in the game (it’s played for comedy, so THAT��S also pretty fun, because it’s not like Japanese suicide rates are a serious issue or anything OH WAIT.) So it’s about being close to reality and unplugging. Ok. Coolio.

But here’s the thing, similar to “War for the Planet of the Apes”…YOU HAVEN’T EARNED IT. There are brief moments where it kind of alludes to it (see the middle challenge with ‘oh yes, I should have kissed the girl during the Shining’ and the small bit at the middle where the main two are sitting there and the main dude has ONE HALF-ASSED LINE about how “it’s nice here. It’s slower,”) but that’s IT. It doesn’t actually give you a reason to think that staying in the Oasis and avoiding reality is a BAD thing. Sure you have abusive father obsessed with getting high scores but he’s just one dimensional asshole dad who dies and you don’t give a shit about it one second later after his parental figures are killed. 

There are no real CONSEQUENCES to spending too much time in the Oasis, it’s just because he’s good at the game. And if there are, they sure as hell aren’t focused on in favor of mindless spectacle (which looks REALLY BAD by the way. I know it’s supposed to look fake because video game, but do the main characters have to use the ugliest models in existence?!) As such, the ending and central arc of learning is lost.

So what’s the arc? Well…there is none. Nothing is really learned, nothing is really gained that MATTERS aside from the keys to Willy Wonka’s goddamn chocolate factory. 

Z or Perzival or Wade or generic-white-gamer-boy learns all of fucking NOTHING by the end. (As such, it makes the ending where he says “EVERYONE HAS TO BE OFF ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS” come off as BULLshit.)

But no, this is clearly the Spielberg classic. It’s not like Indiana Jones learned anything in the Last Crusade as a character only he totally fucking DID, HE LEARNED TO RESPECT AND LOVE HIS FATHER WHO HE PREVIOUSLY DESPISED AND THE IMPORTANCE OF—sorry. Sorry I’m getting a bit mad again.

Anywho, due to a lack of a real arc, it makes you think that the entire fucking plot was pointless. It was just inevitable that the good guy win because…well he’s the main character. He doesn’t say anything about anything but is instead dumb fluff, which would be fine…but here’s the thing. It also affects the main characters. And it affects them HARD.

2)     Tweedledee and Tweedledumbass

The two main characters have no personality or character due to this lack of an arc.

The main man, Wade, his personality is…what exactly? He’s just generic hero-boy who is obsessed with the 80s. “He’s like a regular Star-Lord!” I hear you say, only he totally fucking isn’t. Starlord has baggage, has character has points and instances that stretch BEYOND just quoting 80’s movie and saying the actual phrase that a screenwriter actually wrote down and didn’t immediately delete that went “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER” NO I AM NOT OVER IT.

...Point is, the references don’t make Star-Lord who he is, it’s the character of Peter Quill himself. Cocky, brash, and in many ways, a child running from his past. 

As for Wade, he’s got nothing. I’ve looked over this sometimes, depending on the writing or the situation, so maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much, but the actor who plays him isn’t doing a good job. I know I don’t talk about acting a lot, but the man…the man is just whining through his lines. He comes off as insufferable with his needless 80’s knowledge that I was genuinely rooting for the one-dimensional villain to kill that fucking brat.

Then we have Artemis or Samantha or Sam or its-the-pixie-cut-rebel-chick.  

There are several scenes that are etched into my brain now (including a FUCKING NUT-SHOT AND A PASSWORD FOR A HUMAN ADULT THAT IS “B055MAN69.” IN A SPIELBERG MOVIE. THE MAN WHO MADE INDIANA JONES AND SCHINDLER’S LIST.), but one of the big ones is the final image of the film in which the main character in his 80’s man-boy cave spins around with his beautiful woman sitting in his lap as they suck face as the line “reality is pretty awesome anyway” or something like that. Aside from the main character not earning that statement as previously stated…fucking let’s look at it for what it is.

The man just won a real-life walking-talking waifu. A trophy wife that he wins at the end of the game.

She’s what probably made me see through the movie the most honestly. She makes this big fucking deal about “oh, but I’m not who you think I am on the outside, I’m not pretty” and then when you go outside to the real world, of course she’s the fucking gorgeous Hollywood white girl—she just has a goddamn birthmark on her eye to be her “blemish.”

“Oh but she’s insecure about it,” I hear you say--I’m sorry, but you mean to tell me NOBODY told her she’s fine and beautiful with the eye-mark BEFORE Wade? You mean to tell me she’s insecure, but not insecure enough to feel the need to buy fucking MAKE-UP!? I’m not saying that she needs it, I’m saying that the character’s central flaw is the WEAKEST FUCKIN FLAW I HAVE EVER SEEN. YOU WANNA CHANGE THE GAME, QUASIMODO THAT SHIT. 

THEN, and this part was just fucking HILARIOUS to me, she mentions about how the ioi company fucking KILLED HER FATHER in a workshop and she has to stop him for revenge…and then it’s totally dropped. Like it’s never mentioned by the end. At all. She chucks a grenade into Mechagodzilla to kill the bossman but fuck me if it ain’t satisfying and adds physically NOTHING to her character.

Her character exists for one purpose. She is the love interest who sets the main character off on his journey. Nothing more. And I say that, because SHE’S THE CATALYST FOR HIM FINDING THE FIRST KEY. She tells him something that reminds him of something that solves the puzzle. And what’s more, I am willing to bet that THAT’S the reason they kept her Hollywood pretty. Because you need to have an attractive romantic love interest to keep the audience pleased. 

Now apparently, she does more in the movie than she does in the book. And that’s great. That’s super. She’s the one breaking in to destroy the d20 of doom. Hell yeah I guess. But I also don’t care. You wanna know why? BECAUSE I AM NOT READING THE BOOK. Superficial changes that improve certain aspects doesn’t make the movie better than it is. It’s like polishing a fucking turd. Yeah, it’s nicer than what you had, but you are still making me hold this piece of dogshit.

They don’t have characters. They don’t have chemistry BECAUSE they don’t have characters. It’s a fucking wash.

3) Drowning in References

But now we talk about the big one. The big fucking thing that everyone and their mother is obsessing about this movie over. And the thing that has gotten me from not liking this movie to fucking DESPISING it.

The references.

To quote from people who will be seeing the movie in the theater *ahem*...

“OHMYGOD IS THAT TRACER?! OH AND IT’S HARLEY AND THE JOKER! OH! OH! OH! IRON GIANT! HALO! BORDERLANDS! BACK TO THE FUTURE! BATMAN—FUCKING IT’S THE BATMAN! THEY MENTIONED THRILLER! THAT’S PRINCE! STREET FIGHTER! MECHA-GODZILLA FIGHTING GUNDAM! MINECRAFT! NINJA TURTLES! FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH! STAR TREK! FIREFLY! THE SHINING! IT’S FUCKING CHUCKY!!!”

…Ok? So what?

Not to be a snob, but seriously—so what? Why does it matter?

Listen, I like crossovers too. I remember the Avengers and what a big goddamn deal it was, and how it made everyone’s jaw drop to the ground, and how in some ways, it still does. But whereas with those it felt organic, Ready Player One with its ninety thousand references felt…empty.

I’m going to bring out two comparisons to the table that do the same thing that Ready Player One did, “Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” Both had pop-culture icons throughout them. One had all of the classic cartoons all spliced together—where you saw Daffy Duck and Donald Duck in the same shot having a dual piano-off. One of them had all of these video game characters that you loved and embraced since you were a kid, running around and hanging out ala “Toy Story.” These big names are all in the background, just like Ready Player One, but they’re clearly different in terms of execution. Why is that?

Well it’s because the movies weren’t reliant on them. Sure, Rodger Rabbit had fun moments with these big names, but if you took them out and animated totally new characters with similar personalities, what would you lose? Nothing. The plot is the same, the dynamics are the same, and it can still be seen as a salute to the classic animations from back in the day to also an allegory for the Jim Crowe era just as the book intentionally was. Same goes for Wreck-it Ralph, the character goes through a fundamental change that has him accepting who he is and how “there’s nobody else I’d rather be, than me” ALL THE WHILE paying respects to classic arcade video games.

The same can’t be said for Ready Player One. The instant you take away the pop-culture references, the movie loses its protective suit of armor to reveal it’s about…nothing. 

It is. 

Nothing. 

The generic quest, the generic corporate baddie, the generic love interest, the main character has nothing to say, and the conflict is revealed to be flat—nothing about it sticks out or makes an impression.

And if you fail to make an impression without a fucking suit pop-culture references then, well, if I may use a pop-culture quote myself...“If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”

Plain and simple.

But then…there’s the one thing I can’t really debate. 

“It’s just fun though, right?”

Yeah sure. I’ll admit around that third act, even though it was long overdrawn, I had fun watching the violence and references I understood while they blasted “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in the background.

But y’know what? It was just about as enjoyable as seeing someone adapt a piece of shitty fanfiction, because both have one thing in common for everything that they do: It’s just there for fan service. If you make the statement “well the Oasis is cool,” then you’ve clearly missed the point because you don’t like the movie, you like it’s gimmick. And it’s gimmick exists—it’s called VR Chat.

Meanwhile, screenwriters of different backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and religions from everywhere across the world are actually putting EFFORT into their screenwriting and directing. And while their action scenes for their blockbuster idea may not be perfect, they at least tried and did something new with it.

I went to see “Wrinkle in Time” today after I’d seen Ready Player One yesterday, needing to see literally anything good. And yeah, it’s not perfect. It’s got some stilted dialogue and some questionable acting on nearly all fronts at points and the conflict can be about as cliched as you can imagine, but the visuals, the costume design—you could tell everyone cared and put a goddamn effort into everything put forth. It’s much more gorgeous than the downright UGLY CG that was in the Oasis world in Ready Player One, and I guarantee you nobody had the phrase “B055MAN69” anywhere. It didn’t pander to kids or guys who wanted to feel validated for knowing a couple references. It wanted to tell the story of fighting back evil and hatred by embracing love. It’s cheesy and sappy…but fuck me, if it didn’t try to say something while having fun.

But fuck that movie right? We have Iron Giant fighting Mechagodzilla. 

If you have that, then why bother putting in effort?

That’s what kills me. It’s lazy and people praise it because it just stuck pop-culture words in a fucking blender. Don’t call it innovative. Don’t call it original. Don’t call it anything than what it is.

80’s. Prepubescent. Fucking. Fanfiction.

You can love it and enjoy it if you want, I mean I don’t like not liking movies. It sucks. And in some aspects, I can see why you can if you turn your brain off but…I’m not gonna lie, to see this get away with murder insults me.

Listen, I love Spielberg. There is nobody I respect more in the business. His work in AI, and the reason why he did so to keep a dying friend’s vision alive will always keep him as one of my personal heroes but…sometimes you gotta call people out when they make shit. And I am.

I don’t care what anyone says, don’t see Ready Player One. Watch something worthwhile. Go to Netflix and watch “Stranger Things” if you’ve got that need for an 80′s kick, or hell--”Blade Runner 2049″ is a visual goddamn MARVEL. Go see “The Post” or “Jaws” if you want some good Spielberg. Just PLEASE! Go see something that isn’t just a bunch of references that almost feel as though it’s a remake of “ctrl+alt+del.” 

(Random aside, people have told me to read the original book...but if that fucking thing is ANYTHING like this movie, I’d rather BURN IT than let it get one inch into my house. So no, I’m not going to read the book even if there are claims that it’s “better.” (Even though I believe that it’s impossible to say a book is better than it’s adaptation or vice versa because it’s two different mediums and as such it’s hardly fair, but that’s a whole other thing.) Point is, I’ve never been more turned off to a book in my godddamned life and I ain’t gonna bother.)