#i can't decide if it's too depressing to share with others lol

[joels-shitty-puns]

The Key To Your Heart - Track 5

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x Musician!Reader

Series Summary: After writing your feelings for Pedro into a song, it gains a lot more popularity than expected. Ultimately it brings both criticism and support, with new possibilities around the corner.

*! New warnings will be listed first !*

Series Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Mentions of food, weight loss, weight gain, dieting, weighing, potential eating disorder, food guilt. Potential for puns/dad jokes (name of my blog, and the fic) should give that away. This is my first fic which should be its own warning, lol. Also some cursing. Mentions of masturbation (f) maybe more smut later idk. Sadness, reader is pretty depressed. Poor body image. Rude people. Bullying-ish and just lack of support? Anxiety. Age gap! Reader is in her mid 20's, Pedro is current age (48).

Other stuff: Reader is plus sized. AFAB. Inexperienced. Also has a dog, but you can pretend it is another creature probably. Further, in case it isn't clear, italics almost always are the reader's inner thoughts!

Word Count: 2.5k

Series List: Here!

Miss last chapter? Here!

Hi guys!!!! Thank you for reading and being so supportive of my first fic so far!!! I love you all ❤️ please let me know your thoughts on this chapter. We're not done yet!

___________

~ We alternate between Pedro + reader's thoughts in this one ~

"Hello?"

"Hello? Pedro? It's me.."

You heard him give a breathless laugh before answering with a gentle "Hi."

______

You laughed back, sounding equally shy but giddy. "Hi," you answer softly. "I hope I'm not being weird calling immediately after you gave me your number?"

"No, no! Not at all. I'm happy to hear from you" Pedro quickly quashed your worry.

"Okay" you whispered.

"So tell me more about this book you love," Pedro asked, trying to start up a conversation, any conversation, just to hear your voice.

The two of you discussed your favorite books, movies, shows, and continued on through other favorite things. Food, ice cream, music, your favorite flowers. You talked about dogs and told him about Skipper. You even shared his name and breed.

"Oh, Skipper! I was wondering about his name when you mentioned him in your interview, but you said you weren't ready to share. Thank you for trusting me. How'd he get his name?"

You smiled before jumping into a story about yours and Skipper's origin. "Well, a couple years ago… I was walking by the ocean down this pier with fishing boats, sailboats, and yachts docked on it. I heard a whimper coming from a corner of the dock and went over to investigate. There he was, small and scared. Just a puppy. He didn't have a collar and was covered in fleas. I tried to call him with no luck, but I also had just stopped at the grocery store and thought maybe I could lure him over with some jerky. But he wasn't interested. Too nervous."

"Hmm," Pedro listened.

You continued. "One of the fishermen walked down the pier with a bag from the same grocery store I had just left. He pulled out a can of wet food and tried to lure Skip over. Still no luck. I dug around my backpack to find something else, but the only food I had was a peanut butter sandwich I packed for my commute home. I took a shot and offered it to him, and weirdly.. that he accepted. The guy likes peanut butter," you said with a laugh.

"From then on, we were attached like glue. I couldn't find an owner for him and he didn't have a chip. We took care of the fleas and I decided to name him Skipper. Partially because of the boats, partially because I can call him Skippy for short, like the peanut butter."

Pedro gave a genuine laugh before complimenting the cute, yet sweet, name. "Does he still like peanut butter?"

"Oh he loves peanut butter. I can't even open a jar without him coming over from wherever he is in the house."

He hears you speak faintly to the side, away from the speaker. "Isn't that right my little peanut?"

"Boof," Skipper agrees.

Pedro laughed, grinning ear to ear. You couldn't see the joy on his face but you could feel it. "He sounds adorable. I love dogs."

"Me too," you smiled. The two of you discussed dogs you've raised over the years before you texted him a picture of Skip.

"Oh my GOD," Pedro exclaimed. "Look at those ears! He's adorable."

As if you couldn't like Pedro more, he's gushing over your dog the same way you do. 

You don't know if it's possible, but you hope someday you can have the two meet each other. 

Pedro didn't want to scare you and mention it, but he also hoped to meet Skipper someday. But more than that, he wanted to meet you.

_____

The conversation flowed so naturally, it felt as though the two of you had known each other a lifetime. It seemed the blink of an eye, but you had been on the phone for three and a half hours. 

"Y'know… I was kind of nervous to call you," you said shyly.

Pedro sighed "I was nervous to give you my number. Especially when you didn't reply right away. I worried I overstepped."

"No! I'm so glad you did. Because even though I was nervous, talking to you just feels…"

"Easy." You both answered, resulting in matching grins and blushes, neither of which are seen.

"It feels like we've been friends for years," Pedro continued.

"I agree" you say softly.

The conversation begins to close, but the two of you plan to talk on the phone again soon.

With that, you both hang up, and each begin to count down the time before the next call. In your respective houses, you flop on your bed, kicking your feet and blushing, while Pedro ran his hands down his face with a grin.

______

The next day, the two of you talk again. He called you this time.

Unfortunately, when he called, you were well into your workday. He didn't know you still worked a normal person's job.

"Hey P! I'm sorry I can't talk, I'm at work, can I call you in a few hours??"

"Oh shit, sorry! Yes." Pedro hung up frantically before he began to think. Did she just call me P? A nickname? He smiled to himself. He had been called many names, nicknames, and mispronunciations throughout his life. Some good nicknames, some… not so good. Other people have even called him P before. But never before had he heard a nickname from your lips.

_____ 

When you called him back after work, he decided to be bold. "Did you call me P?"

"Huh?" 

"Earlier when I called, did you say 'Hey P!' when you answered the phone?"

Your blood turned cold. Oh no. It slipped out. He hates that I used a nickname.

"I did. I figured it would be better for your privacy if I didn't say your name out loud."

"Oh. I see. Well, Pedro is a pretty common name."

Yeah but when your coworkers all know you're in love with Pedro Pascal, I don't think they'd be thinking of other Pedros.

"That's true. But some of my coworkers know I'm a big fan of yours so they might think I'm just delusional, haha" you answered… mostly honestly. Although you aren't sure "big fan" is the right word. It's just the safest.

Pedro thought about this and wondered: her coworkers know that she's a big fan? How big of a fan? Could I be the - nope, don't even go there.

"Big fan, huh? Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I don't mind the nickname. I liked it. People call me a lot of names and I don't really mind." He had started to tease about the fan thing but decided to change gears.

"Oh good! I was worried I overstepped," you replied cautiously.

"You could never." And he meant it. With as much daydreaming as he's been doing lately, he's not sure there's much of anything you could do to overstep. He, however, worries he might. She's already in love with someone. Stop.

He cleared his throat and continued "so I didn't know you worked, outside of your music."

"Oh yeah, I mean the music is fairly new. Luckily my coworkers haven't figured it out yet, surprisingly." You continued to describe your job, Pedro listening intently (as if work was actually entertaining).

_____

After the work discussion, there was a quiet pause. "Hello?" You asked, wondering if Pedro had been disconnected.

He suddenly sounded serious. "Can I… uh.. ask you a question?"

"Oh. Um… Okay…" you replied, heart pounding.

"You mentioned your coworkers not finding out.. Do you think you're ever going to show people who you are?"

"Maybe someday…if they don't figure it out first."

"Do you think you'll ever tell your guy you love him?"

Your heart was ready to fly away it was beating so fast. "I'm thinking about it..."

"Can I ask - What's holding you back?" He asked cautiously, gently even.

Where to begin? You thought. But he doesn't need to know all that. He doesn't want to. You'll scare him off once he realizes what a mess you are.

"Eh, it's just my own silly worries! It's okay, I'll get over them I'm sure. I know I can't stay hidden forever," you deflected as best as possible.

"Anxiety is a hard thing to conquer, but your worries aren't silly if they bother you. If you ever need to go to someone, I'm here to talk."

"Thanks, Pedro. But really, don't worry about me. I'm okay."

"That's not fair to you. How often have you felt the need to say that? That you're okay, in order to not worry someone else?"

Every time I'm worried. Nobody needs to be burdened by my stress.

"Oh.. I um.. I just don't want to burden anyone over something I should handle myself…I don't want my friends to feel like I'm using them as my therapist."

Pedro's heart sank even more. "I hate that anyone could ever make you feel that way. But if you want to talk, I'm here to listen. You won't burden me. I promise."

You couldn't help the sniffle that escaped you. "I don't want to push you away." Your voice dropped down to practically a whisper "I don't want you to leave."

Pedro's heart broke. "Baby… the only way you'll push me away is if you tell me to leave. Let down your walls. Talk to me."

Did he just call me baby? You immediately snapped up, quieting your tears instantly.

The realization hit Pedro just the same. Shit, did I just slip and call her baby?! Oh what have I done? Tell me she didn't notice. Tell me she didn't hear me. She's worried about pushing me away, and I go and say something like that? 

Unsure of how to address the nickname, you decided to ignore it. He probably is just trying to be nice. Friends say things like that. Buddy, pal, babe, baby, love, honey. At least girl friendships do… ? It's probably nothing.

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't even know me that well," you hesitated.

"But I want to. It'll be okay. Let me in," Pedro said softly, cautious, like you'd flee.

And so you opened up. You told him about your anxieties. How it feels safer to just close yourself off from people. About not sharing your excitement and passion because people feel it's "too much." Not showing your feelings because your old crush said it was weird and pushed you away. Feeling like other people fit in so much easier than you ever can. Or how you wonder if your friends sometimes just are nice to you only because you're nice to them. How you're really nobody's favorite. 

With every word, Pedro's heart was breaking. All he wanted was to scoop you up in his arms and hold you until you believed all those things weren't true. Until you felt loved the way you deserved.

"But I guess one of the main reasons I haven't shown myself to the world is because of the things people have said about me without knowing me. About my music. About me being naive. Childish. Creepy even.." you continued.

"Those people are assholes. The second you get an ounce of fame and attention they'll do anything they can to knock you down. You're amazing. You're brave and bold and all you did was share your feelings and your voice. Those people just want to make themselves feel better about their own unhappy lives." Pedro spoke from his own experiences. Rumors and articles often spread like wildfire and it can be overwhelming. He isn't immune to that.

"Thank you. And I know that, but I think part of me believes they might be right… I really am just in my silly daydreams."

"They aren't right. You said it yourself, they don't know you. You know you. I'm starting to know you. I can already tell you aren't any of the nasty things people say, and those people couldn't even be half as good a person as you are." Pedro reassured.

"Thank you… but… well… can I ask you something?" You asked shyly.

"Of course."

"On the topic of what people have said… Another big reason I haven't told the guy I like is because I worry he wouldn't like me. Like he'd think the way those people do. You said earlier in your interview when you were asked - that if someone wrote a song or something like that about you, you'd still consider them. You'd give them a chance, even though they were clearly some obsessive fan. Were you telling the truth? Would you really give a fan a chance with you? Be honest with me," you pleaded nervously.

Pedro paused for a second, before answering with certainty. "Yes. I would feel at a bit of a disadvantage that they loved me before I got the chance to love them back... But I would give them a chance. As long as they're respectful, why shouldn't you? Who says celebrities should only end up with other celebrities? The world is full of people looking for and deserving of love. Including, especially, you."

Your heart fluttered around his words like a thousand butterflies taking flight at once.

"Thank you Pedro. You deserve that too. And if that's something you want too, I hope you find it."

Me. I hope you find me.

"Thank you. I hope you do too." He meant it. Even if it wasn't him, he wanted you to be happy.

"But lastly… I think a big reason I'm scared to show him who I am is…"

"Yeah?" Pedro could feel himself getting nervous.

"I don't… look like a celebrity. I don't look like those women in magazines. I'm not… skinny. I'm fat, and squishy… and I don't have flawless skin. I'm not… beau-"

"Stop," Pedro said.

"Sorry…" you fretted. You knew you'd push him away.

"No, no, no. Don't be sorry. But don't say to me that you aren't beautiful. Because you are. I don't even know what you look like but you're beautiful on the inside. And as far as the women in magazines? They've gone through hair and makeup and plastic surgery. They don't look perfect when you strip all that away. But you. We all have bad skin days. And you aren't defined by your body size. You may not be your own type. But for all you know, the man you are in love with might LOVE that you aren't skinny. He might love the curves and the natural beauty that you have. Not to mention that big heart of yours. You might just be his type."

You might be my type, he thought. 

You were crying now. Not a sniffle, but a genuine cry. And Pedro felt as though he must have made things much worse. Until you said "thank you Pedro. I'm sorry for putting all this on your shoulders. But thank you for your words. I know that I don't like my own body and I just assume others wouldn't as well. But maybe you're right. Maybe he would love me back."

"I think he will. You just need to give him a chance to see you the way you are. You deserve to be loved as you are. He will love you back."

And if he doesn't, I think I already do. Pedro finally admitted to himself.

__________

That's all folks! For this chapter at least. Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for more!

Next chapter! Here

Taglist: (Want in? Let me know!)@pedrotonin @starcrossed02 @lightupsketchersperson @cartoon-garbage04 @tyferbebe @maryfanson @gwendibley84 @faithfullyyours2000 @brilliantopposite187 @hc-geralt-23 @jenniferpendragon @winchestergypsy90 @red-red-rogue @theendwhereibegin @lottieellz101 @oliversaurus @kyga01 @milly-louise @titabel

[hurpdurpburps]

My Comprehensive Otherside Picnic Pilgrimage Destination List Pt. 1

This is by no means a complete collection but rather something I put together out of curiosity/an investigative itch, so feel free to add your thoughts or personal findings in the replies/reblogs. I'll be returning to Tokyo in January for a couple weeks and might cut out a few days to do an OP pilgrimage of sorts, so this is mostly for my own purposes that I'm happy to share with whoever's interested. I should note here that a good number of these places have closed for good, but I decided to keep them in the list for documentation.

Hunger Warning: There's a lot of food mentioned.

Spoiler Warning: Events up to Vol 8 are mentioned.

Word Count Warning: Some parts contain pretty lengthy commentary, mainly from my personal observations and experiences.

1. Saitama University

To be fair, Sorawo's college has only been referred to as "a university in Saitama" but I think Saitama University is undeniably the most obvious candidate.

Descriptions of the university's distance from the area's major train station (Omiya) and the one closest to it (Minami-Yono) are a dead giveaway, but the anime also did a cheeky wordplay (埼玉大学 > 犀玉大学, but both are read as Saitama University).

Unlike the real Saitama University cafeteria, however, the anime added more colour to its version because the all-white of the IRL place makes it feel like a depressing hospital food court more than anything.

2. Sophia University While not explicitly named as such, it's clear that Toriko attends Sophia University from the description that Sorawo gave in Vol 5. Even the description of the Yotsuya campus facilities on the official website fits to a tee:

The university Toriko attended was right by Yotsuya Station on the Chuo Line.

I’d read up on places to eat on campus during the train ride here. Two cafeterias, and two cafés, I think? Oh, and a convenience store too.

The cafeteria I was heading to was on the fifth floor.

When I was leaving the cafeteria, I spotted some stairs off to the side. It looked like there was outdoor seating. The building was L-shaped, and the five-story section that jutted out from the rest had terrace seating on the roof.

Ngl, I'm feeling a little cheated of my college experience... My alma mater is of a similar ranking (if not even higher) to Sophia but our campus had pretty terrible food options. Four years of 7-11/Family Mart because I was too lazy to exit my faculty building for lunch break, but also partly because the one time I went all the way to my campus cafeteria at the begging of my then-crush and I thought the food was pretty lame (or at least not worth the cross-campus trek). We also don't have a terrace T-T

Also here, I just want to make a personal note on how fitting it feels to me for Toriko to be attending Sophia, and studying English Literature no less. Tokyo has no lack of famous 'elite' or 'fashionable' universities but each has its own unique sort of branding/stereotype and tbh I can't see someone like her fitting in any of the others. Not to mention the fact that she's already silently drowning at Sophia (socially, at least).

The gate that led on to the main street was wide open and no one asked to see student ID at the entrance.

It was Tuesday. Just a perfectly ordinary day of the week. It was almost noon, so there were a lot of people walking around. I blended into the crowd, effortlessly infiltrating the campus.

Japanese schools are so notorious for their lack of security, perhaps due to complacency from the general safety. My university had closed twice during my years as a student due to bomb threat emails (both times conveniently around finals lol). Depending on what's going on in the world or country, there'd also be a wave of annoying crazies yelling into their megaphones around campus campaigning for God-knows-what from time to time.

3. KOGA Seibu Ikebukuro (皇雅西武池袋店)

This is the Chinese congee restaurant our Troubled Trio visited in Vol 3 after the events of the Kotoribako. Unfortunately it seems to have closed for good but you can still see old reviews and photos on their Tablelog page.

We talked it over, and came to the conclusion that rice porridge might be good, so Toriko, Kozakura, and I had come to a Chinese rice porridge place inside the Ikebukuro Seibu department store.

I kinda laughed imagining 2 college kids and an early-30s tiny woman sticking out like a sore thumb among all the other tables:

It was afternoon on a weekday, the place was at maybe 40% of capacity, and everyone there but us were old ladies.

Discovered thanks to this guy on Twitter (also Miyazawa follows him so he might be somebody...?)

Feeling a little sad because I used to live in Toshima-ku. If I'd discovered OP a couple years earlier I could've tried out their food. I'm kinda picky about Chinese food in Japan but this place looks pretty good.

Some language and culture trivia:

We had come on the simple idea that you eat rice porridge when your stomach’s not doing so well, but this place had a food therapy menu managed by the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy next door, so it felt like it might really work for us.

薬膳 (yakuzen, or yao shan in Mandarin) is the term used in the Japanese version of the novel, referring to medicinal cuisine. The more general idea of food therapy (食疗) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concept dating back to probably the beginning of Chinese civilisation.

The TLDR of TCM principles is the belief in healing/nourishing of the body through naturally imbuing herbs and hence their medicinal properties in one's regular diet. Probably also where the Chinese belief of "以形补形" (nourishing what you eat) comes from, such as eating some kinda tendon stew if you sprained an ankle to make it heal faster, or whatever.

Figuring I should take the opportunity to try a type of tea I hadn’t drank before, I ordered kantoucha. Toriko went for sanzacha, and Kozakura had maikacha.

せっかくなので飲んだことのないお茶を頼んでみようと思って、私は冠藤茶にした。鳥子は山査茶、小桜は玫瑰茶。

Sorawo and gang probably didn't know what these plants were because Chinese hanzi were used for the menu names instead of their Japanese counterparts. I've omitted the "-cha" suffix below as it simply means "tea" and is pronounced the same way in both Mandarin and Japanese:

Kantou/冠藤 = "Crown Vine" (hanyu pinyin: guan teng).

As a Chinese kid who grew up surrounded by TCM, even I had to scratch my head for this one and boy, researching it was a hell of a rabbit hole. Apparently "Crown Vine" is the polite name for "Chicken Blood Vine" (鸡血藤), which not only sounds nasty but looks nasty (risky click - don't say I didn't warn you).

Here's what Wikipedia says about this peculiar plant's medicinal properties:

有行血补血，调经，舒经活络的功效，其药用来源为豆科植物密花豆的藤茎。本品苦、微甘，温。归肝、肾经。

"It has the effects of promoting blood circulation, replenishing blood, regulating menstruation, and relaxing meridians. This herb is sourced from the vine stem of the legume Spatholobus Suberectus. It is bitter, slightly sweet, and warm in nature. It belongs to the liver and kidney meridians."

Meridians (经络) are a pseudo-scientific concept that still holds a lot of weight in the TCM world, and also popularly butchered in historical/wuxia (武俠) pop media. You can read the Wikipedia page here for more information.

As for my kantoucha, it had a light flavor, and was surprisingly easy to drink.

Yeah buddy... Hope you liked it at least. Sounds a bit too wild for me.

Sanza/山査 = Hawthorn (hanyu pinyin: shan zha).

The Japanese language does not have a kanji for hawthorn, and the plant is instead represented by a katakana reading of the Mandarin pronunciation (サンザ).

Toriko took a sip of her sanzacha, which turned out to be bittersweet.

Not sure why hawthorn tea is bitter. Never had it myself but I ate a lot of candied hawthorn and hawthorn flakes as a kid and it's pretty sour-ish before being processed with sugar.

Maika/玫瑰 = Rose (hanyu pinyin: mei gui).

The Japanese word for rose is most commonly バラ in katakana, or very rarely 薔薇 in kanji.

You might notice that the Japanese and Mandarin readings of these words sound somewhat similar - that is due to the on'yomi. On'yomi is partly the reason why native Chinese speakers (like myself) pick up Japanese more easily than other language speakers (barring Korean).

Due to the long history of cross-cultural exchanges within Asia, many regional languages have, to a certain extent, Sino-roots. Verbally, Korean and Japanese share many similarities with older, southeastern Chinese dialects Cantonese and Hokkien, due to Guangdong and Fujian being bustling ports/trade hubs of the past. Knowledge of Cantonese helped me greatly when I was taking Korean classes taught in Japanese (my 6th and very new language at the time - like I barely knew how to ask for the nearest restroom kinda new).

It's also why we have the hanzi (汉字) - kanji (漢字) - hanja (한자) trifecta - all three mean "Chinese characters", denoting their written linguistic legacy from imperial Han China through the centuries.

Mine was the two-color rice porridge set with crab rice porridge and chicken rice porridge. Mmm, it had a gentle flavor. The salt was used sparingly, so I was grateful that it came with ebi chili and pickled Sichuan vegetables on a separate plate.

Toriko, perhaps wanting something meatier, had gone for the kakuni pork rice porridge set. The big bowl of rice porridge with kakuni pork, bok choy, and goji berry came with a separate bowl of wonton soup. Kozakura had the yamucha set, which came in a bamboo basket, and the boiled gyoza and shumai were letting off steam.

"Yamucha" here is the incorrect katakana-derived romanisation of "飲茶" (lit. "drink tea"). Pronounced as "yum cha" in Cantonese, the term simply means "going for dim sum". You might be wondering - what's the difference between dim sum and yum cha then? Dim sum is a noun referring to food specifically, while yum cha is a verb/event/action.

Eg. You can say "Let's go yum cha" or "Let's eat dim sum" but you don't say "Let's eat yum cha".

Also I love how Toriko manages to piss off Kozakura every time she opens her mouth so effortlessly lmao.

“What is maikacha? I can’t even imagine.” “I don’t know, either, but it said it was supposed to help suppress irritation.” “That certainly does seem like a good fit for you, Kozakura.” “Yeah, I’m feeling irritated at this very moment. I hope it comes soon.”

4. JUNKUDO Ikebukuro (ジュンク堂書店 池袋本店)

The bookstore frequently visited by Sorawo, and also the IRL collaboration partner of the series. Miyazawa recently held an in-person interview and livestream session at the Ikebukuro flagship store with his editor for the launch of Vol 9, where they also shared a lot of unpublished/uncommissioned art by Shirakaba (see this amazing post for screenshots).

It's also the only place I know of that carries signed copies of the novels. As of yesterday (5th July 2024), signed copies are still available at Shelf 41 (the Hayakawa section) on the 3rd floor. How do I know this? Because I begged my friend to pop by Ikebukuro and pick up a couple for me ;___;

Phone and online reservations for the signed copies are not allowed, and it's limited to one book per volume per person. Go get it while it's hot.

I recorded the livestream as Junkudo's archives were only up for like a week. I can share the recording if anyone asks me for it but the livestream is entirely in Japanese so YMMV.

5. Cafe Pause Ikebukuro

The cafe where Sorawo and Toriko had their first falling out over the search for Satsuki (File 4 - Time, Space, and a Middle-Aged Man).

Miyazawa even made an acknowledgement tweet.

I guess the business really liked being featured in this series because the anime replaced a bunch of other locations in the other files with this one place.

The cafe also hosted an 8-part promotional series featuring the two main voice actors called Otherside Special Activity Report (裏世界トクベツ活動報告) where they did some light meta-commentary and even tried holding guns featured in the series.

It's also right behind Junkudo so I guess it's a great pilgrimage combo if you're in the neighbourhood.

"We were in the cafe behind the Junkudo bookstore in Ikebukuro, where we’d gone after meeting up. Toriko was enthusiastically trying to discuss plans for our next expedition when I spoke up."

Here's their website and Instagram if you're interested.

6. Italian Tomato Café Jr. Ikebukuro West Entrance (イタリアン・トマト Café Jr. 池袋西口店)

This is where Sorawo, Toriko and Akari had a little chat before getting ambushed by feline assassins (File 7 - Attack of the Ninja Cats). There's a few Italian Tomato Cafes in the area, but this best matches what the novel says:

When I headed for the underground plaza by the Metropolitan entrance of JR Ikebukuro Station, Akari Seto spotted me first and was waving her arms.

Together with Toriko, who protested, Why not? Isn’t that kinda mean?, we got aboard the elevator that went above ground.

A standard chain cafe/restaurant type of thing, convenient for when you're peckish, if nothing else. NGL tho I am a big fan of Japanese family-restaurant style pasta.

Website here if you wish to know more about the chain.

7. Bali-An Resort Shinjuku (ホテルバリアンリゾート新宿)

Ah yes, the fabled love hotel in the lore of OP (File 16 - Pontianak Hotel). A quick Google search for "Kabukicho Bali love hotel" gives you not one but four results in Kabukicho alone. I guess business is booming.

Unfortunately, none of their exteriors matches the novel's description:

The facade of the building was stone (or aesthetic paneling designed to look like it, maybe) and used spotlights to give it a high-class image. The building was surrounded with greenery, exotic sculptures, and flowers, along with architecture that evoked the southern seas.

The walls shielding the entrance from view were the barely love hotel-y thing about it, but even those walls were gaudy, covered as they were in ivy and colorful flowers.

However, Bali-An Resort Shinjuku (the first one) has a word-for-word match with the interior description for one of its rooms. There's even a dedicated section for girls' party (女子会) packages on their website.

Here's a 360-degree view of the Royal Garden room (ロイヤルガーデンタイプ).

The first thing to catch my eye inside this room that was decorated in earthy tones were two canopied double beds in the back. Hibiscus petals were scattered over the top of their white blankets. Next to the wall there were two black leather massage chairs. In the front of the room was an L-shaped sofa and a wooden table. The table had a silver bucket of ice placed on top of it with a bottle of wine sticking out. Along the wall there was a mini-fridge, and a shelf with a microwave, and on top of that shelf was a large TV surrounded by a bamboo frame. It currently showed nature footage from Bali. There was the sound of the waves rolling in and out, and gamelan music played at a subdued volume.

“Lookie, lookie! There’s a sauna!” Akari shouted, looking through the door to the side of us that she had opened. Beyond it was a washroom with a selection of amenities including face wash, face lotion, and face masks. Across from the sink was a large dry sauna that had room for two.

Toriko walked in, pushing the bathroom door open. The tub was made of black stone, and was an almost round heart-shape, or maybe more of a peach-shape, and it was large enough it seemed to cry out “get in me together.”

None of the lobbies match the novel's description, but here it is anyway:

There were couches scattered around a lobby with dark-colored flooring, and lines of decorative plants as tall as a person. The space was softly illuminated with spotlights and indirect lighting, and a languid Balinese gamelan piece served as background music interspersed with the sounds of water and birdsong. Was this aroma foreign incense, perhaps?

For a gigantic room with two beds, massage chairs, room service, a huge ass bathtub, large couch + TV area, sauna and free amenities, 26,800 yen is honestly a steal, especially when you consider it's right smackdab in the heart of Shinjuku. I'd totally stay at this place bruh.

8. Jimbōchō Book Town (神田神保町古書街)

Jinbocho is the neighbourhood that houses the building with the elevator that leads to the skeletal building entrance on Otherside. The area is served by a couple of stations but Sorawo and Toriko reached via Ochanomizu station.

Book Town is one of the more classic 'old school Tokyo' locations favoured by fans of literature. It's a treasure trove for people who love hunting for secondhand books. It's no wonder why Sorawo is familiar with the area.

I have no idea which specific building that houses the elevator is supposed to be, but my guess is this one - it's the only one I could find that appears to match the description in Vol 1.

"The place Toriko led me to was a building in Jinbouchou. It was a tall, thin building with a bunch of shops in the back of Book Town. Ten floors in total."

If I'm right then it would be really funny as the building is literally called Jinbocho building (神保町ビル) lmao.

Book Town used to be a pretty lively (or as lively as a secondhand book district could be anyways) locale but COVID-19 unfortunately caused many of these legacy businesses to shut down, so now it's a lot quieter. I'm not sure how long this street will last so if you ever visit Tokyo I do strongly recommend visiting it, if only for the vibes.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the rich history of this area.

Book Town also has its own website that carries a great deal of information if you're planning on visiting.

9. Shosen Grande (書泉グランデ)

The flagship store of the Shosen bookstore chain, located near Jinbocho station. Sorawo waited here for Toriko before their second venture into the Otherside together (File 2 - Hasshaku-sama Survival).

It's hella huge with seven floors - and apparently also a popular shopping location for weeb/otaku merch. This is the official floor guide on their website.

10. Maison c

The quaint little wine bar near Junkudo Ikebukuro where Sorawo and Toriko had a rather gloomy dinner after the Ninja Cat saga (File 8 - Little Bird in a Box).

We were at a wine bar near the Junkudo in Ikebukuro. It was the middle of the week, but the dimly lit establishment was filled with customers. In one corner of a place where there were young couples having a lively time, we were having a quiet after-party of our own.

Definitely a cosy little spot, if their Instagram is anything to go by.

11. Meat Bar Modavaca (ニクバル モダ・バッカ)

The steak place near Shakujii-kōen station where Kozakura brought Toriko and Sorawo to shortly after events of the kidnapping (File 12 - The Matter of that Farm).

Unfortunately it seems this place has also closed for good, but the location, menu, prices and other information from their Tablelog page and Instagram perfectly matches the description given in Vol 4:

We entered a bar and grill that was conveniently open all day and started off with rosé wine, even though it was still bright out. I’d never thought of rosé as anything more than “that kinda pinkish sweet stuff,” but the taste of it was crisper than I had expected, and I liked it. Next, we ordered prosciutto, flame-seared meat sushi, and red wine. We had the staff cook us some expensive meat that cost 2,000 yen per hundred grams, and devoured the steaks after watching them sizzle on a hot iron grill.

It was already evening outside. As I watched the people being spewed out of the station one after another, I caught myself unconsciously searching for that woman in the crowd.

12. Kitchen Nankai Jinbocho (キッチン南海 神保町店)

The "Western food" (洋食) place Sorawo and Toriko visited for a quick builder's lunch in Vol 6 (File 20 - T is for Templeborn).

This is actually a pretty famous spot, so much so that it even has its own page as a Chiyoda-ku attraction. Most famous for their black curry.

Settling on a place that served Western-style dishes, we joined the salarymen and construction workers for a hearty meal.

I should note that there's a bit of missing nuance here. The original Japanese text is as such:

あんまり気取らない感じの洋食屋を選んで、スーツ姿のサラリーマンや工事の作業員に交ざって、がっつりボリュームのある定食を食べた。

The bolded part roughly translates to "We chose a rather unpretentious Western restaurant...", with 'unpretentious' in this context referring to a place that doesn't feel very conscious/fussy about attire/appearance. This part is entirely omitted in the English version.

I don't think it's a big deal per se, but it's the inclusion of small details like that which adds flourish to Miyazawa's writing, and it's kind of a pity when they get missed out like that.

There's also a slight mistranslation here:

I ordered tonkatsu curry with a black roux and lots of cheese, while Toriko had roasted flounder with ginger. We scarfed down a whole bunch of chopped cabbage and white rice on top of that and headed back to the elevator with our bellies full.

The corresponding Japanese text is as follows:

私は真っ黒なルーにチーズのたっぷりかかったカツカレー、鳥子はヒラメのカツと生姜焼き。キャベツの千切りと白いご飯をわしわし搔き込んで、お腹パンパンでエレベーターに乗った。

The bolded part states "flounder katsu and shougayaki", which actually means a piece of breaded, deep fried flounder, with pork stir-fried in ginger sauce on the side.

True enough, there is a dish called "fried flounder shougayaki rice" (ひらめフライ生姜焼きライス) according to the real restaurant's Tablelog page. Here's a review of the restaurant featuring multiple photos of the dish.

13. Keio Plaza Hotel Shinjuku

Explicitly stated as the location of the First Anniversary Dinner in Vol 7 (File 22 - Toilet Paper Moon).

The buffet that our fav girls stuffed their faces at is the Glass Court Super Buffet, located on the 2nd floor. Looks pretty spankin' and swanky if you ask me.

“The buffet here’s on the second floor. I told you, you don’t need to get all worked up about this.”

I'm omitting the novel's lengthy descriptions of the food out of mercy to us all.

The second half of the night takes place at the Aurora Sky Lounge on the 45th floor.

Fun fact: I ran into a bit of confusion looking up this place due to a translation error in the English version lol.

“I hear there’s a lounge on the fourth floor here.” “A lounge…?” “It’s got a night view and you can drink there.”

There's a Cocktail & Tea Lounge on the 3rd floor but I'm not sure what kinda night view you can get apart from dirty concrete in a city jam-packed with skyscrapers lol. A quick check against the original proved my hunch about the mistranslation was right.

「ここ、四十五階にラウンジがあるんだって」 「……ラウンジ？」 「夜景が見えて、お酒が飲めるとこ」

14. Charcoal-Grill Yakiniku Gyurakutei (炭火焼肉 牛楽亭)

In the anime-special episode 10, our little gang went for some good ol' grilled beef.

It's a little up in the air about how accurate this one is. There is only one place called 韓国炭火焼肉 牛楽亭 (lit. "Korean Charcoal-Grill Yakiniku Gyurakutei") in Tokyo, located in the Shinjuku section of Iidabashi that has since shut down.

The restaurant name might be an off-brand reference to Anrakutei (安楽亭), which is an affordable yakiniku chain around Tokyo. There's one in Ikebukuro and another in Shinjuku. But cheap places tend to use electric grills instead of charcoal, so... idk bro.

15. Omiya Ichibangai (大宮一番街)

The place where it all started - when Sorawo discovered a gate to the Otherside on a random day in April.

In contrast to the west side of the station, where further development had yielded large buildings, the east side was still a sprawling town of small buildings and multi-tenant buildings, the same as it had ever been. It was on the east side, on the corner where two narrow streets met, that I came to a stop. Pachinko parlors, ramen restaurants, taverns, parking lots… In between the various assorted buildings of the shopping arcade, there were many shops with their shutters lowered. Their signs had been taken down, and nothing was posted out front, so you couldn’t even tell what kind of businesses they had been.

I've been to Omiya station once, but that was before I knew about OP and it was on a blitzy winter day in mid-January. The station is pretty big and the immediate surrounding area is bustling, but everything looks just so slightly dated compared to downtown Tokyo, like a time capsule from early 2000s IT-bubble era Japan, which is wild because it's technically only 20-something km away from Ikebukuro. I was only there to meet a friend and didn't get a glimpse of the rest of the area outside of the passing "car passenger POV", so I didn't really feel the "forgotten suburban Showa town" vibes from the novel when I read it but YMMV.

A quick Google search for "大宮商店街" shows a shopping street called Ichibangai to the immediate east of the station, and street view images match up the screenshot from the anime, so this specific area's your best bet.

I casually approached the building and slipped into the gap between it and the neighboring one. The lock on the side door was broken, so I knew I should be able to get in. I’d been able to do so the last time I was here, at least. Turning my body sideways as I proceeded down the gap, I put my hand on the sliding door. It got caught if you tried to move it normally, but if I put in some force, and lifted it up a little—there, it moved.

The back room of a shop that had gone under. The ceiling and wallpaper were in poor shape and the sink and gas stove against the wall were dark with grime. There were chairs and a table in the center of the room, covered in dust.

I crossed the room and approached the back door.

I pushed the door open with trepidation, and on the side was just the back alleyway, as I’d expected. There was a puddle on the bare concrete surface fed by runoff from the external portion of an air conditioner.

I took a step out into the alley and looked towards the arcade. It was blocked off with an iron bar gate and a padlock. Turning the other direction, the alleyway came to an immediate dead end with the back doors of some other buildings. Oh, I guess it had never been possible to come in through here before.

Omiya might be in Saitama but it's still a pretty urban area, so don't go breaking into empty shops or whatever... Still, taking a walk around the vicinity would be a good experience I think.

16. Yamaguchi Mansion (山口マンション)

Toriko's supposed apartment building near Nippori station - as deduced by this extremely detailed post. There's no need for me to repeat what's already been said so I'm just gonna add my own two cents for this section:

It wasn’t a particularly new building, but it still looked expensive. I hated that my reflexive reaction was—Little Miss Moneybags sure lives in a nice place, doesn’t she?

Definitely looks old - records I could find on Google show that it was built in 1985.

Also definitely expensive - apart from being so close to a Yamanote line station, it's got elevators! Japanese law doesn't require elevators to be installed for buildings shorter than 5 floors, so cheap developers often cap at 4 floors and call it a day. How do I know this? I used to live on the 4th floor apartment of a 4-storey building (also next to a major Yamanote line station), and let's just say every day was leg day.

I should add that it's an actual residential building located at the end of a street so I wouldn't recommend lingering, because that's pretty sus behaviour to anyone living nearby. I suggest maybe just a quick glance and move on to explore the rest of the neighbourhood.

Also if you're wondering why it's called a "mansion" - it's the Japlish term for a condo.

17. Casa N.Y Apartment Ginowan (宜野湾市Casa N.Yアパートメント)

The closest thing I could find to anything remotely New York-related on Okinawa…

Looks like a slightly old run-of-the-mill Japanese Airbnb though. My best guess is Miyazawa saw the name and decided to embellish things a little bit...

The location and exterior somewhat barely match up at least...?

Calling it a pension made it sound like some kind of resort, but this place was smack-dab in the middle of the city. It was a wooden penthouse on top of a three-story building, and right outside our window, across a street lined with palm trees, was a big billboard for a consumer finance company.

We were some distance from the center of Naha, so no matter where we planned to go, we were going to need a car.

Ngl, this is probably the wonkiest entry on the list.

18. ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort

Expensive rates? Check. Poolside bar? Check. Taxi distance from downtown restaurants? Check. Credit cards sure are convenient eh.

We stayed in a super expensive room at same-day arrival pricing, swam in the pool, ordered cocktails by the poolside, and went beach-combing for bits of coral. Then we took a taxi into town at night to eat Ishigaki beef and locally caught fish, then send Kozakura pictures of all the tasty food and alcohol.

Now I'm tempted to do this myself... Girl math is best math...

Fun fact: spamming someone with food photos (or on social media in general) is called 飯テロ (lit. "food terrorism"). And this post is starting to feel like it.

19. Chichibu Waraji Katsu Tei (秩父わらじかつ亭)

In Vol 4 (File 14 - The Inviting Hot Springs), Sorawo and Toriko mentioned that they ate a place called Golden Waraji Katsu (黄金わらじカツ) located within Seibu-Chichibu station after escaping Hasshaku-sama for the first time back in Vol 1 (File 2 - Hasshaku-sama Survival).

“Oh! That was here! I remember now. We caught a taxi on a mountain road, came back here… ate some katsudon at the station, and went home, right? It had a gaudy name. What was it again?” “Golden Waraji Katsu.”

While there isn't any shop of that name IRL or within the station proper, there is indeed one waraji katsu shop located within the food court of a hot spring facility called Matsuri No Yu (祭の湯), which in turn is directly connected to Seibu-Chichibu station (wth that's so nice???).

The facility is mentioned in the novel as well:

There was a building with a number of facilities, including a hot spring for people making day trips to the area, as well as a food court, attached to the station building.

Waraji katsu-don is a specialty dish of Chichibu. "Waraji" (草鞋) refers to Japanese sandals made from rice straw, although I'm not sure what is the special relation between this footwear and Chichibu, or what makes this katsu-don so different from the standard variation.

20a. Nipponichi Ikebukuro (にっぽん市 池袋)

The Ikebukuro private room izakaya that Sorawo booked in Vol 8 to celebrate Toriko's birthday. I did a Google search in Japanese for "Ikebukuro izakaya Japanese-style private room" and this seems to fit the bill off the bat. The entire izakaya is split into private rooms that can seat anywhere between 2 - 20.

I lacked the guts to book dinner for us at a hotel, so instead I chose as nice a drinking establishment as I could: a Japanese-style tavern in Ikebukuro with private rooms that was reasonably priced, and had good reviews for both the alcohol and seafood.

The indirect lighting of the private room shone softly on her golden locks and indigo irises.

Today she was wearing a relaxed, sky-blue dress, not something showy like when we went for dinner at the hotel. She was probably matching the vibe of the tavern.

Seems like a bingo. Pretty intimate interior, if you ask me... Maybe that's why Toriko finally mustered the courage to confess formally later that night lol.

We got more drinks, trying out some unfamiliar Japanese sake.

Their menu also has a dedicated fresh fish section, along with a very extensive sake list... which is a double wham in my books.

20b. Oto-Oto Ikebukuro (音音 池袋店)

There's another private room-only izakaya in Ikebukuro that also fits the description in the novel both in terms of food and interior, but I'm placing this as Option No. 2 because I think Sorawo at this point would rather stab herself in the eye than book the Couple's Room (right pic):

Like literally I would call this the sort of place you bring a girl to get laid after, you know???

Anyways, for those of my pals here who do want to get laid, you can check out the place on Tablelog here.

The Rest (???)

So, that's a cool 20.

There are some locations that have too few details to be narrowed down, such as the DS Labs building, the Shinjuku izakaya where Toriko donned Hasshaku-sama's hat (File 3 - Station February), or the yakitori place near Shakujii-kōen station that they settled at to escape the stalking cats (File 7 - Attack of the Ninja Cats).

Meanwhile, others, like the Chichibu hot springs inn they visited in Vol 4 carry too many research details for me to fit properly in the remaining space left in this post.

I'm sure there's also a bunch of locations/clues that I've forgotten that were visited throughout the 9 volumes, so I'll make a sequel if I come across any new clues/locations as I re-read Vol 1 - 9 in my sparse free time.

I might also do a post casually comparing the JP vs EN (and even CH) versions of the novels, since there were certain parts of the localisation that I felt made characters come off a bit too strong compared to the original.

[badendfriendstournament]

Contestants submissions currently open!

Some rules and clarifications!

So, i think the criteria for this tournament needs to be shared, since its not only the classic bad end friends but we also got wayyy more characters here and i would like include your suggestions for the next year's poll.

Rules and basic criteria to count a character as a BEF

I decided to separate this characters in categories so its easier to explain:

"Main/secondary character is now evil!!!"

I think we all get this one. Certain characters end up on the other side of the battle, by choice or maybe bc he didn't have one!! Betraying their morals and everyone else. They maybe became crazy and/or are being mind controlled/ possessed

Now, this has its own subcategories to take account:

"Oh no! I got possesed or mind controlled!"

Very self-explanatory, character that is now controlled by the villain/antagonist.

"Multiversal typa shit"

CANONICAL AUs where the character has turned up evil/in an antagonistic role, by any reason

"TRAITOR!!!!"

When a character changes sides by "choice," they might still be themselves but felt betrayed/are being manipulated/they simply decided to betray the rest for their own benefit.

"Hell nah, they went feral"

Character that got turned into a monster/some kind of creature

"Evil alter ego takes control"

A second personality fully controls the character now.

"Ain't evil, just a failure"

As the tittle "bad end" suggests, we also include characters that ended up meeting a depressing fate without necessarily becoming evil

This one has some restrictions obviously:

The character needs some sort of appearance change

Something REALLY REALLY BAD has happened to them, a significant defeat.

DOPPLEGANGERS

To make it short, a character that is a replica/clone of the mc and their goal must be replaced/ defeat the original one. Its not necessarily required for them to be explicitly "evil," but if they wanna replace the og, they sure do count.

FANON BAD ENDINGS

There are lots of fanon bad endings on this AU, but the general rule is that it has to have some sort of logic on the character's original lore, or at least be based on a fate that is kinda plausible to happen. So we don't end up accepting every single Sans AU that comes across, lol.

These characters can't come out of nowhere. It needs a valid justification to make em accountable. "Theres a chapter where the villain tells the hero to become evil aswell bc they're their father, so in the canon says no, but the BEF is that he says yes." See? It was plausible and justified.

(There sure might be some exeptions to this rule such as Wirt and Marco, but at least Wirt making a deal with the beast doesnt come out of nowhere, technically talking Tom did curse marco on the original series, i know that their whole deal is too stretched but they have been here since the beginning so who are we to kick em off.)

NOT ALLOWED:

Creepypastas: we tryin to stick with canon here, you know? Creepypastas often just turn characters evil and into demons just because, thats not what we are going for!

Role swap AUs: Those definitely are not even considered. Since they're way too far from the actual canon.

Completely non-canon/very unlikely situations: "but he can get possessed by the villain!!" So as every other character, if its extremely rare for it to happen, don't even bring it up.

Robots (in a doppleganger sense): yeah obviously this rule doesn't talk about robot/android characters like murderdrones or something, but it's about robotic clones with not really their own conciousness Just, machines.

Fanon media in general: stuff like comics, fangames, or any fanmade product of any existing media with a bad ending will not be counted. No, you can't submit your fnf mods. im sorry

ABSOLUTELY NO OCS: no original characters, im being REALLY CLEAR WITH THIS ONE. No, your shadow2 the hedgehog original character do not steal cannot be counted.

NO PIBBY GLITCH.

Now that its all clear!

How do i submit a character?

Simple! You just have to send an ask with the character, their media, some of their backstory, and any detail you think is need to be mentioned!

So that would be it! Hope to see your submissions soon!

The submissions will end on april 1st 2025!

[acourtofthought]

"I imagine that if Elain sunk into the depression she did after Graysen's rejection, someone she never had the connection to the way she does Lucien, she's even more terrified at what would become of her if what she's feeling for Lucien also ended poorly."

Lol there's no deep connection between Elain and Lucien. Neither of them would be okay with being away from each other for so long if there was. They don't even act like mates. We've seen Feyre and Rhys, Nesta and Cassian, and the pull they feel towards each other, the way they can't stay away. Elucien shows none of that. Only elriel resembles that level of pull towards each other, that level of connection, understanding without words.

You are a fool.

I'm sorry but it's true. Willful ignorance is getting you nowhere.

Was Feyre's pull towards Rhys evident in book 1 where she died because of her love for Tamlin?

Both Nesta and Feyre easily stayed away from Cassian and Rhys. Nesta stayed away so well she refused to see him for nearly a year and chose to sleep with other men. And neither she or Feyre were attached to their humanity the way Elain was. You are blind to the similarities while also not giving any leeway for them being different people coming from different experiences (Elain was in love and engaged while Nesta was not).

No deep connection? So these moments meant nothing?

Do explain to me why a female who has zero interest in a male, no pull at all and was at the time in love with someone else would bother arriving at the top of the stairs just to see Lucien one last time? Why she says she can hear Lucien's heart the first time she met him whereas she only tells Az his Siphons are pretty, sparkly jewels after knowing him for months?

She is drawn to Lucien and it scares her, just like Nesta:

You cling with your whole chest to the fact that you know how Elain is feeling except:

I am so sorry about your poor excuse for a ship because it's built on the heels of Elain trying to run away from her bond because she's scared.

Az is a rebound, if that. Because her fiance rejected her, because her bond scares her.

And what sort of pull did Az have to Elain when he chose to stay away from her because he couldn't stand her bond though it's clear she could have used a friend during her arguments with Nesta? What male love interest avoids a female who isn't pushing him away? Cassian, Rhys and Lucien stayed away because it's what the female wanted. Az stayed away because he was too much of a baby to do right by Elain and be there for her.

There is nothing of substance to hold she and Az together except daggers and potatoes whereas Elain and Lucien share a love of nature, a desire to avoid violence, the ability to not lash out in anger, a love of parties and balls and being good at talking to people, a life spent in the light.

Az does not support Elain unless he is playing the hero. He does not encourage her, acknowledge her growth, is staring at other females with yearning while she's in the room.

Also, elriel understand one another without words? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. I love how you try to justify the fact that they do not talk at all. Two people who have such deep feelings for one another, both seemingly receptive towards hooking up yet they don't talk because "they understand one another without words" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. For an author who likes banter. If they understand one another so well than why did Elain look hurt over Az calling her a mistake? Shouldn't she have known he didn't mean it since she understands him so well? Why did Az give another female her necklace? Shouldn't he have understood that she was just hurt and therefore would hang onto it until they sorted things out? Az understands Elain so well that his words on multiple occasions contradict things Elain has said. Elain: "You do not decide what I can and cannot do" Az: "There is an innate darkness to the Dread Trove that Elain should not be exposed to" Elain: "Swear it" (in her conversation asking Feyre to leave Graysen unharmed). Az: "If Lucien kills Graysen, good riddance" Elain: "I'm not a child to be fought over". Az: "I'll defeat him with little effort".

I don't know why you continue coming onto my page writing anons against Elucien when all that does is reinforce my belief of how Az and Elain are the absolute worst excuse for a romantic pairing that I've ever read about and trust me, I've read a lot.

[dokoni-mo]

I’ve arrived with more horny william brain rot!

There is little doubt in my mind that our favorite afton to slut up likes to read. He’d probably love to share that with his darling bunny. And you absolutely know that man is making the polaroids he took into bookmarks. He just loves to see his bunny everywhere!

Bunny is in fact a college student, and sometimes certain classes end up requiring/give the option for a field trip. And that trip happens to fall on a weekend. They’re a little bummed, Willy is like actually depressed (lol), so bunny decided to hide a little something for him. As a ✨treat✨

So when afton wakes up Saturday, he reaches over for his book to read a little (because what else is there to do when his little rabbit is gone), and his usually bookmark feels a lot more lumpy than usual. So he opens it and what does he find? Polaroids of his precious, lovely bunny in nothing but his shirt, and a pair of her panties 💜

YEAH i uhhh,,

warnings: age-gap relationship (reader is 20 will is almost 40 yall know the drill), swearing, smoking, drinking, dom/sub undertones, sir kink, not proof read AGAIN IM SRY

"What? What do you mean the whole weekend?"

It had been an especially hard week for the brit at his diner. For one reason or another, it seemed as if nearly every single damn brat in that town just had to have a birthday that week. The diner was booked from start to finish every day of the week. William was frustrated. But every day drew him closer to the weekend. Closer to when he'd be able to see you again. And god did he fucking miss you. He missed his little bunny next to him; kissing them, holding them. Coming up with so many fun activities to show you.

But, it was in the past now. It was Friday. You'd be over tomorrow, and help relieve him of his pent-up stress like the good bunny you were.

Right?

Wrong.

"I knowwww, I'm sorry!" You pleaded with him at the other end of the phone, the older man taking a long, drawn out puff of his cigarette, "I just totally forgot about it until today!"

William sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaning against the wall, "And you're certain you have to go, love?"

"Yeah..." you sighed back, "It's required for my major. And I already rescheduled it last month, too. I can't do it again or I fail."

"Bunny, the weekends are our time together. You know this."

"I knoww, and I'm sorry! I'd stay behind if I could but I just can't. I'm sorry, Will. I'll be back for next weekend though!"

William took another puff of his cigarette, "Are you certain you can't come over even for a little? I... I miss you, bunny. It's been a tough week, and... I want you."

You let out a sympathetic hum, "I miss you too. But I have to go. I'm sorry."

"Alright." William sighed, "Fine. But don't expect to get off the hook next time I see you, little one. You need to tell me these things sooner rather than later."

The brit heard you giggle over the phone, "It'll be fine, Will. Surely you can survive two weeks without me."

"Getting smart with me now, hm?"

"No, sir."

William let out a pleased hum, "Good bunny. I'll miss you, okay? Have fun for me, alright? I'll be here waiting for you."

"I will, I will... Hey, before I forget; you remember that book you gave me, right? The old, thick and dusty one?"

"It's not old, love. It's classic."

You giggled again, "Classic, sure. Well, I finished it. I'll leave it in your mailbox before I go. Maybe that'll keep you occupied until I get back."

"Nothing could replace your company, little one. But, thank you. That's very kind."

"It's no problem. I gotta go pack now, Will. I'm sorry again. I'll see you next saturday, okay?"

"...Alright, bunny. Have fun. I love you."

"Love you too."

~~~

It was odd to have an empty house on the weekends. While William was used to Michael being away at his mother's, the house felt more depressing than usual without you in it. Dull. Grey. No life whatsoever.

William didn't drink often, not at all. He never found it to be that classy, and he wasn't about to throw his charm to the wind over alcohol. But god fucking damn it. He missed you so fucking much that Saturday afternoon. His cigarettes weren't having their usual kick to them. He needed something stronger to fill the void where you should be.

Pouring his second glass of whiskey for the evening, he couldn't help but wonder how you were. Your college was taking you an entire state away from him. Those fucking bastards. How dare they drag you so far away from him. What if you got hurt? Or in trouble? And he wasn't there to save his precious bunny? You knew his number, sure, but you were still so fucking far away from him. And a lot can happen so many miles away.

William took a large swig of the alcohol.

Fucking hell. He missed you so damn much.

He knew you didn't mean to tell him about the trip so late. You were a good bunny. Hell, he was the entire reason you didn't go when you were supposed to. He vaguely remembered convincing you to stay in town the first time you told him about it. You had just forgotten this time, surely. He couldn't stay mad at you for that. It was hard for him to stay mad at you in general. You were just too cute.

But William was miserable. He didn't want this shit to happen again. You would need to learn your lesson. And he'd make you learn it next time you were over.

But would he? Thinking of it now, it was hard for him to imagine giving you any sort of punishment. He just wanted you close to him. To pull you in his lap and kiss those sweet lips of yours. Hold you close to him. Lie down on his chest while he read his books before bed.

Oh, yes. That's right. The book he leant you. You said you'd give it back before you left.

Maybe he should take your advice. Use it to get his mind off you.

Finishing up his glass, William finished up his glass before he walked to the front door, opening and shutting it behind him as he made his way to the mailbox. The cool breeze of the sunset blew his neatly-combed hair out of place, washing over his pale skin. Upon opening up his mailbox, sure enough. The book he leant you was in there. But, it was... strange. Looked a lot fatter than normal.

The older man reached in and took the book out, brow furrowing in slight confusion. Leaning against the mailbox to shut it, the brit opened up the pages to see inside.

...

Oh.

William could feel the heat creep down his neck and cheeks.

Oh.

Oh, bunny. Sweet bunny.

Strewn about the pages was a handful of polaroid pictures. Pictures of you. In so many different positions... so many. He could see the plushness of your thighs. Your sweet little smile. Those big, gorgeous doe eyes. Your cute little pair of underwear...

You even still had some of the marks he'd given you last time you were over. And was that his dress shirt? It certainly was. How long have you had that, little one? Why, sir barely noticed that it was gone. Stealing his things now, are we? Naughty bunny.

You've been so bad recently, haven't you? William didn't much appreciate that. You had earned yourself a punishment, bunny. You probably know that just as sir does though, don't you? Was this your attempt at getting out of it?

William calmly shut the book, but quickly walked back into his house.

It worked, bunny.

For now.

[jung-koook]

that photo jeongguk posted left me so inspired and wanting to share something here about myself with you guys. in 2019 I was feeling very physically tired and a friend told me that by going to the gym I would feel more energetic, but I didn't care much about it. I said "I'm going to wait for a sign telling me to join a gym". and after that jeongguk started posting videos of him at the gym and my friends said that was the sign I was asking for. 😂 I joined the gym but didn't take it seriously and I felt uncomfortable there.

I was always thin but I never thought my body was beautiful. and I felt super uncomfortable with the size of my breasts. especially because of how it got men's attention. A few months before the pandemic I had scheduled surgery to reduce the size of my breasts, but for obvious reasons I didn't have this surgery. when everything went back to "normal" I was too lazy to go through the pre-surgery procedures all over again and left this plan for other time.

at the end of 2022, my therapist said she was pregnant and that she wouldn't be able to see me anymore because of that. I was lost. especially because it's hard to find a good therapist and one that I feel comfortable with. but in 2022 I was a person who was seeing beauty where I used to not even notice. I started to think that being thin wasn't something that suited me and wasn't something that I found beautiful about myself. I started to find fit bodies more beautiful. so as I was lost in 2023 then I decided switched to another gym and start taking this seriously. and after that everything changed in my life. even with depression and having ups and downs, I started to feel happier, I started to feel more comfortable with my body and I started to admire my body. my confidence has completely changed. I started wearing clothes that I want without wanting to hide my body. the size of my breasts also changed to something that was more proportional to my body. It's not something that bothers me anymore. my back is extremely hot now. I even admire myself in the gym mirror sometimes lmaooo😂

I still have a lot to change about myself, especially my relationship with food, but I have to say that no one motivated me about gym more than jeongguk, namjoon and the other members. especially jeongguk for being the one who talks about it the most. in my real life, literally everyone who wanted an opinion on this, even though I never asked for their opinion, said that my body was beautiful that I shouldn't go to the gym because I would look like a man LOL. but I really am someone who doesn't care about anyone's opinion on something as personal as my body. but having jeongguk and namjoon talking about the gym and stuff like that really made me more motivated to keep going to the gym. I look at their bodies and I'm so impressed not only by how hot they are but by their dedication.

I think it's so amazing, I don't know if it's because they're close to my age but bangtan always helps me with something about my life. it's incredible but often they say something that is literally like advice for some situation I'm going through in life,. other times it is something that motivates me, other times it comforts me. it's amazing how they help us without even knowing what we're going through, without even knowing us. when I say they are my best friends it's because of that. I really can't imagine what my life would be like without having bangtan by my side. in a different way that but in such an important and special way. they really impact my life in ways that I can't explain because if I try I'll burst into tears.

thank you bangtan for everything you guys did and do for me without even knowing me ♡🥹

[treason-and-plot]

REPLIES TO CONNOR FIGURING THINGS OUT AND SOME UNRELATED WAFFLE!

First off, I'd like to express my heartfelt appreciation to @mysimsloveaffair @dandylion240 @hurricanesims @bool-prop @simbico @windermeresimblr @oasislandingresident @pixelcurious @simlicious @simsdada @nectar-cellar @percosim @wannabecatwriter @ninjaofthepurplethings @muses-circle @zosa95 @simsdada @parystrange and @anamoon63 for your sweet well wishes on my flu post. I don't think I have ever had the legit flu before, although of course I have had my fair share of colds and viruses, and it really hit me hard. Worst thing was the fever and the loss of interest in everything. I still feel a bit weak and shaky but I'm 99% better. Thank you again for helping me get through it! I love youse all!🤗 Now, on to the replies to my last story post:

@justanothersimsblog

Why lie about it? Just be the supposedly proud you are of being the side piece

Because it matters to her what Connor thinks of her despite her denials. That's also why she didn't have a cigarette on the way over, in case he smelled it on her ;=)

@wannabecatwriter

Truth hurts, especially when someone smart confronts you with it.

This particular situation must be very unsettling for Saffron, who's used to being the smartest person in the room!

@echoweaver

Well, being that she's a high school student, the other explanation would be that he knows his peers would be creeped out regardless of his marital status -- as they should be.

I don't know if that would be a deterrent to be honest- at least not amongst Aussie men. In my experience they would be high-fiving him and offering their congratulations, as vile and depressing as that sounds!

@queeniecook

Hahaha, I love this!

@oasislandingresident

I am waiting for Saffron to either burst into tears or bust out of there tbh

Saffron bursting into tears would be epic. I can't remember an occasion that she has ever burst into tears! You're probably in a better position than me to remember if it's ever happened, lol!

@simsaralove

There’s no fooling Connor!

Try and fool Perceptive Sims at your peril!

@ktarsims

LMAO - Deny it all you want because you don't want him to know, Saffron, but Connor's very perceptive. You might fool him into thinking you don't know the guy's married, but he's certain of his facts. (He's right, too.)

Also I get the feeling that once Connor has made up his mind about something it's virtually impossible to get him to budge!

@sweetnovember77

First of all, it’s none of Connor's business. Saffy, you do not owe Connor an explanation. Most, if not all, of your mistakes can be excellent learning opportunities. If Connor wants to be with you, make him earn your love. —Not badger you for it. He needs to back off.

Except they are playing Truth or Dare so she kind of agreed to be badgered when she signed up. I think one of the underlying rules of Truth or Dare is that you don't participate in anything that makes you uncomfortable and hopefully Saffy would understand that. And I totally agree that mistakes can be excellent learning opportunities, except Saffron hasn't yet realised that she has made a mistake...which is going to be potentially disastrous.

@kscriba

In a vacuum, if I didn't know Saffy, just based on her answers I would assume it's a sugar baby situation LOL

This made me guffaw! I really can't imagine Saffy being in that kind of situation though because she is so strong-willed and independent. I could actually imagine her being a sugar mama though once she becomes a wealthy and successful lawyer!!

@muses-circle

I can't decide if Connor is honestly interested in Saffron and going about it the wrong way, or if he's doing this to be a smut jerk. He's totally right (and the truth hurts), but at the same time, Saffron's there to hang out...right? IDK, something about this feels off.

I think the first line is true! It may not be immediately obvious because of his good looks and privileged aura, but he is definitely lacking in key social skills. But he does genuinely want to get to know Saffron better.

@batsheba

Busted! Me thinks Saffy do protest too much. Maybe she's a tiny bit embarrassed of the relationship or that Connor so easily figured it out?!

I also think she knows she is protesting too much but feels temporarily powerless to stop herself! Connor has really gotten her flustered. And she feels torn between wanting to stay and being scared she will expose herself further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WAFFLE:

So I've been reading some of the comments posted in response to that aesthetics poll, and people have had some very interesting and diverse opinions. Here are a few of my thoughts.

As a storyteller my primary focus is on my writing, and editing my screenshots comes a very distant second. I have to confess though I once did try to download Reshade, around the time Sims 4 was released because as a Sims 3 blog I was hemorrhaging followers and I thought I had to up the ante as far as my screenshots were concerned to stem the flow. Anyway it froze not only my game but my entire PC, and I was so scarred by the experience I never tried again. I have never owned Photoshop either. I use Picasa and Pixlr to edit my pics and I'm generally happy with the results although I am envious of certain Simblrs who manage to combine lush photo editing skills with engrossing storytelling! But if anyone ever came into my ask box and criticized my screenshots I would reply that virtually all my creativity is expended on my writing, sorry, and if you're not following me for my Sims story you may want to reconsider that decision!

I'm probably not typical of most of the community either because I don't *get* a lot of the aesthetics that garner hundreds of notes. For content to resonate with me it has to touch something emotional, and a picture of a Sim with no context just isn't going to do that for me no matter how amazing and beautiful the edit. I'm here for Sims stories, and legacies and gameplay that communicate the lives and loves and all the idiosyncrasies and quirks of our Sims, no matter what iteration of the franchise you're into!

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

2, 7, 23 for OC ask game!

Hello, thanks for the ask! (From this edgy/misc OC ask game)

Going with Kelsey!

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

Kelsey looks like your typical preteen trying to be emo and edgy. In reality, though she has a lot of Angst and Baggage, she's very sweet and gentle. She takes care of her much younger cousins, she cares deeply about her friends, and she's very loyal. She's pretty shy, shutting down if there's too many new people. She has an inner sarcastic monologue even if she rarely says it out loud.

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

More than one thing. I will share them all.

Kelsey's original incarnation was named Nellie. Nellie was eight years old, had shoulder-length light blonde hair, and thick purple glasses. She has no edgy tendencies and her powers were just flying.

After aging her up to eleven and changing her name to Kelsey, I also chopped her hair and gave her round black glasses. The emo look came in Draft Four, and recently I've decided cheap black hair dye will be fun, though she's still a natural blonde.

In terms of personality, "Nellie" did not have much of one. Kelsey was a little sassier and bolder at first but her shy and gentle demeanor did overtake that side of her eventually. Her narration has always been a little sassy toward people that don't make much sense to her, but a lot of it is internalized. She also has a tendency to be passive aggressive.

Nellie originally had flight, but in Draft Two I gave her force fields. In Draft Three, Kelsey was given what I vaguely defined as "magic," but in Draft Four I decided it was a form of reality warping, aka essokinesis.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Kelsey struggles to process her own sadness. She tries to ignore it for as long as possible, and generally just gets overwhelmed whenever she feels it. Kelsey wants to be strong. She puts on the emo façade, but in reality, the true nature of her depression is something she can't process is actually happening.

Kelsey has difficulty expressing resentment. Despite the shit that people pull on her, she doesn't hate them as much as she should. Her disgust, anger, and disappointment in others lingers, but she shoves it down. Her powers usually get out of control the more she feels these emotions, and they take control when it comes to expressing resentment toward others.

This was more difficult than I thought lol

This was fun!

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

[moonlight-tmd]

regarding your recent post:

I'll be honest, I'm either rooting for blitz or prowl lmao X3

blitz cause he's gone out of his way to do these things for bee that you listed in the other and his pure admiration and love for the lil' bug. blitz has nerve and gut to do those things, especially for an autobot ; who are the enemy since he's a decepticon, blitz's own fraction and leader are an after thought, and I respect that to an extent lol

can't really say the same for shockwave/longarm tbh but he's trying lol

and prowl because of the chemistry he and bee shared in the canon of the actual show. I'm pretty sure there are two episodes dedicated to just the duo working together or bonding cause they're the embodiment of technology and nature. I like this one because it fits more into the canon and they just give me brain rot >v<

and bee just seeking protection from bulk from all three is funny and cute to me! like, bulk and bee are long term besties of course they'd protect each other. bee just running to bulk, asking for a place to hide (from longarm and prowl lmao) and bulk agreeing. so, bee just naps in bulk's subspace while he's doing something as prowl and longarm wander around the factory

yeh me too X3

Blitz is literally attached to the Decepticons by nothing other than the fact he's scared of Megatron, it says so on the wiki even. And now Megatron is gone so technically there's nothing holding him back from doing what he wants and ditching everything to pursue the yellow scout that stole his Spark.

Prowl knew Bee for a while and had grown to admire him in secret. He never thought about asking him out cuz there was never an occasion- plus he thinks that Bee will turn him down cuz he's so different from him. (even if they get along great as they are)

Longarm/Shockwave is just stuck in a perpetual loop of "What's more important: Job or Love?" So he's just trying to cope with everything at once- seeing how every choice will impact his and Bee's life and all. It's a lot even for his processor. Although, similar to Blitz, Megs is gone atm so there's nothing holding him back from casually switching sides once and for all and devoting his life to Bee.

Bee is just there very confused and worried to why everyone wants to date him all of a sudden. I mean, he likes the attention but he doesn't like how possesive each of them get. He doesn't wanna be treated like a prize, but like a loved one. Bulkhead is just trying to help him out and so is the rest of the team- when Bee suddenly disappears they don't tell Prowl or Longarm where he went on purpose. Prowl is smart enough to understand Bee avoids him which saddens him. He wants to apologize but he never gets an opportunity.

Tbh after Blitz reveals Longarm is a spy there are 2 routes it can go; Longarm gets arrested and Bee is hurting cuz he did like him and Shockwave is just being depressed in his prison cell. Or Longarm pulls an uno reverse and says he's been an Autobot spy in disguise and been doing infiltration missions in secret to get Decepticon files, effectively earning him a good favor with Bee. (he's not really registered in the criminal records, he has access to that if he needed to delete it and all his actions have been anonymous from the start, few know of Shockwave's existance.)(Blitz knew Shockwave for a bit but he is too dumb to see thru Long's lie.)

Either way it's most likely that both Blitzwing and Prowl get to date Bumblebee. If Shockwave does decide to pull the uno reverse then he tags along too. Don't worry they learn to share nicely and that there is enough love for everyone.

though BlitzBee is my favorite but don't tell them

[protectingtulpas]

@unearthed-27 Heyoo! Thanks for being my first person to ask questions!! To get this outta the way first, P-DID stands for Partial Dissociative Identity Disorder and is present in the EU-wide ICD, not the American-only DSM. I'll spare u diagnostic criteria but essentially our host can't completely leave front, so our switches would only b medically recognized as "partial". Still got basically every other DID symptom full force tho- when we started out and I first came around, neither of us had any idea, but my presence eventually got us unlocking people we didn't know were there at all. Wild!

As for your other questions, there're tons'a reasons. I didn't choose to become a tulpa any more than you chose to be born, it's kinda my species and I'm happy I exist. Freedom and agency has always been the name of my game and I'm eager to spread that around. ✨ Why make a tulpa, though? That's just about as hard to answer as why someone might want like, a kid or a dedicated partner, without that person sounding selfish to the outside if u take out the social convention of it. The biggest reason is companionship - a tulpa is someone alongside ya no matter what, a friend to grow and change with, someone you can always count on to go to. Treat your tulpa right and you've got a free friend for the rest of your life! Obviously it won't be sunshine and rainbows ALL the time, but any healthy relationship has some bickering, and being perfect all the time is creepy anyways lol

My host made me to try and help enhance their outerworld life, kick their ass essentially so that we'd go out and do more, live more. AKA I'd get to do what I want, and they'd get to live a little for once, doing things they were too chicken to or ignored before. Turns out the body is WAY more disabled than we thought, souuuhhhh we've had to readjust those plans, but my point still stands. Companionship and to improve your own mental health- which studies and personal experiences show tulpamancy does in droves- are the two biggest reasons someone might want one of us sharing your life! I've seen people say they made their tulpa to help with their anxiety, with their depression, with their isolation- hell, I've seen a crazy amount of tulpas say they've saved their hosts' lives before. Even just the thought of "I can't go when that'd mean taking my tulpa/system with me" stops my own host from going anywhere near those kindsa thoughts.

We're a decision a new host hasta think about for a while, especially if you're a singlet- are you ready to share your life with one of us? Are you ready for us to grow and change outside of your control? Are you ready to treat us like real people? But there're lots of people whose lives have been changed for the better forever by deciding to start. It's not for everyone, but hey, it's good to decide for yourself, yaknow?

thx again for the question! Ik I'm harsh but these kinda questions are what I want here ✌️

[tokillamockingbird427]

hey katar again ! its random anon (now 🎧 anon because everyones random ^^) :)

after saying ill ask more asks in the future (in hopes of stepping out of my poor and very depressing comfort zone.), i have a very questionable “what if” hc i would love to share; merrick beardless. not cleanly shaven, i wont put the man under THAT much misery than i would like to but, its a very big difference to which even logan would gasp audibly. (i also hc he’s selectively mute, which was not mention at all last ask until i read ur response… shame on me.)

now, heres my perspective of how this could go, feel free to add on !;

1) the poor man is going undercover(alone or with other ghosts, ill leave that up to you.) mainly because merrick has a terrible sense of style and those who are close to him will probably recognize him from afar(inspired by your hc of who in the ghosts has the best/worst sense of style from a while ago, which i also agree with :)). but, the beard gives it away if you really see who the hell it is, so, he (regrettably) shaves the beard off to his demise. tears were shed, and not only from merrick. (a comment of merrick looking like mr.clean but with more facial hair was definitely made by someone.)

2) he got shaven because somebody decided to get revenge. (this parts completely up to you :D) Poor guy probably was in such a bad mood, and the comments did NOT help. hesh was probably the main one bullying poor merrick, along with keegan and kick, with neptune making a few comments and logan snickering and almost bursting out laughing everytime he sees merrick.(would be an accomplishment but in this situation…no.) if merrick was getting bullied before this, its fucking hell now.

anyways, thats the end of this ask ! its a little long like my previous ones which i apologize about. maybe even id even share another ask one of these days about another victim caught in my thoughts. :)

—🎧 anon

Good on you for stepping out of your comfort zone! Pleased that you decided I was a good first step lol. And neat sign off! 🎧!

"Not cleanly shaven" But imagine, hairless mole rat Merrick... A horrible reality in which he doesn't have that carpet of hair on his chest. Or arms. Or legs. Or his █████ (Explicit material censored)

Logan audibly gasping has me cackling. Bro never makes a noise, vocal or otherwise, but a beardless Merrick is literally so shocking he can't help it. Just slips out. GASP!

Okay okay, you say undercover, I say undercover too... but how fucking funny would it be if he had to be a dad to one of the other Ghosts? He'd be so done. "If you do not come by the dad instincts naturally you will be provided with them." and the Ghosts being the absolute shits they are (Because *all* of them are little shits.) would 100% be snuggling up to their "dad" at any given opportunity and making jabs about the missing face fuzz. "Oh yeah, he's been told he should grow a beard out, but idk I'm just so used to his face as-is. Been like that allllll my life." "Mom said I pulled all his face hair out as a kid, hasn't grown back since." "Some people say he looks like Mr. Clean, I think that's mean. I think he looks more like Lex Luthor." "Dad with a beard? Oh never. I don't think he can grow one!" Meanwhile Merrick just has to grin and bear it. Poor fuckin guy lmaooooo.

He gets his face shaved due to a bet he lost very sorely. As apart of the bet all the Ghosts get to shave one swipe off his face. (They all ganged up on him for this bet, hence the loss. I like giving Merrick a bit of a big ego, which is mostly harmless... to everyone but himself. Lol.) They all rip into him during the Shavening, which they have made an incredibly big deal, and while Merrick would like nothing more than to melt into the floor he's stubborn as a mule and refuses to back down or beg for mercy. (Which would not be given anyways.) It remains infamous in their history for years to come... mostly because Merrick concocted the most wild heist-esqe plan to get back at each and every one of the sorry fuckers who crossed him. A plan even Rorke can't rival! So good in fact, that I cannot even describe it to you. (Cheap cop out LMAO)

Please feel free to send more asks, ones even longer than this one, and don't apologize. I love seeing what other people come up with, and you are no exception, okay?

I eagerly wait another one of your asks in my inbox! :D

[wangmiao]

hii! i just finished reading the dark forest!! what a journey, i think it took me about a month to finish it lol. i wanted to share some thoughts !!

i found some of the concepts fascinating.. what stuck with me the most now i that i (try to) recall everything that happened, was the battle of darkness and the dark forest theory as a whole was brilliant. i imagine those people that were just- endlessly floating in the immensely vast universe and it made me think "oh wow how Sad and Hopeless that must've been" i too would've want to end it all, i believe that's a lot to endure.. that's one

another thing was the infamous wallfacer project. well that was new. and the fact that they had to plan everything on their own bc of the sophons, that's also kind of depressing lol. one thing i was confused was: why was luoji re-elected as a wallfacer at the end? i mean there wasn't anything more he could have done anyways?

da shi as always is such a great person😭 he never abandoned luoji during this long crazy journey, even after 200+ years. honestly i love his character a ton, i wanted to see what would happen to him at the end but there was nothing! will he be on Death's end? or his character just ends here? :((

i thought the whole thing with the "trees" as homes was pretty cool, though i couldn't really see it in my imagination haha i honestly can't imagine what would our society be like in, say, 300 years from now

i found it too simplistic(? that only when the trisolarans communicated with luoji did they stopped their plan to coming to earth, or maybe there's something i missed? or maybe it is really just that: communication solves everything? lol idk

and a deserved special mention to zhang beihai, respect!

i think that's everything i've got on my mind right now, but in general it was very interesting and depressing and dark.... what were some your favourite moments from the book? i can't wait to start death's end next !! but i'll start later, i have to fully process this book first hahaha anyways that's all, have a great day or night!!! :))

hello, friend! it's great reading this ask, and i'm glad you decided to share it with me. i have to say that i read the books years ago, so my memory on everything is not that fresh. and since i read the chinese version, i don't know some of the vocabularies they used in englishn. while i'll try my best to reply to this ask, i'm sure there's gotta be some novel fans here that could do better than me.

the dark forest is indeed very interesting and depressingly dark. i was definitely in awe when i heard the dark forest theory for the first time (before i read the books, and that was partly why i decided to read them). i also really like 水滴/waterdrop or droplet which is just something that looks simple but super super super powerful.

i enjoyed reading about the wallfacer project. even the three failed ones are equally fascinating and disturbing. i want to bow down to liu cixin's imagination...if i remember it correctly, luo ji is re-elected because his "咒语/spell or curse" actually came true. and at that time humans are really hopeless, so they just want to have someone that they believe can save/lead them.

da shi is everything. i lol need a da shi myself. unfortunately, he's not in the third book. my inner shiwang shipper feels that shi qiang and wang miao got similar style of exist from the story. and the common believe (i don't even remember if i read it in the novel or it was fan theory) is that shi qiang dies of natural causes at old age like wang miao. i kinda feel like maybe shi qiang and wang miao promised each other that they'd try to stay alive so that they can both be copernicus *sobs*...

ok...bear with my silly shallow shipper's talk for a moment, you know some people were like shiwang will be no more once season 2 of three body comes out, and everyone will start to ship shi qiang and luo ji, and it kinda bothered me a bit (ps. i know most people including myself didn't ship anything while reading the books, but man, these dramas are really forcing it on us lol). but i don't anymore, because i really think wang miao is special to shi qiang. besides shi qiang being a good and protective human being who will die for the greater good, i think one of the reasons that he stays with luo ji all this time is because luo ji reminds him of wang miao. even though it is only mentioned very breifly, i do believe liu cixin meant to tell us how important wang miao is to shi qiang... “我这辈子还只见着他一个”

as for luo ji stopping the trisolarans, i think he uses the dark forest theory, and his threat of exposing the location of the trisolaris (and in turn exposing earth's location) stops their plan.

and zhang beihai is an awesome, complex, and well loved tragic hero even though he isn't a very major character like luo ji. i remember yu hewei said in an interview that if he didn't play shi qiang, he'd probably like to play zhang beihai. i'm really curious who they'd pick to play zhang beihai in season 2.

anyways, thanks so much for the ask. you made me want to re-read the books, and i know i really should! have a nice day/night!

[arklayraven]

3, 12, 26, 29.

Thank you for the ask. 💜

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

Nightmare Before Christmas, Resident Evil Damnation, Batman: Under the Red Hood

12. what’s some good advice you want to share?

Ain't good with this stuff I feel so yeah...But...Cling to what makes you happy and keeps ya going...Even if it's fiction, a character, or a harmless hobby/passion. Even if others might see it as nothing, pointless, silly, etc...

If it means lots to ya, makes ya happy and has great meaning to ya. Especially if it helps ya through the days and your life, especially during those dark times. Then that's all that matters in the end. Your happiness matters.

So cling to that and never let it go...but by some chance, you do lose it or it fades away(like love for a series/character/etc) naturally in time, or for other reasons...Look for another thing to make ya happy and keep ya going...Just don't stop seeking and clinging to things that keep ya living and help ya find a reason to smile and keep going...

(This especially goes for f/os, even if your mind screams at ya they aren't real and you're fucking alone and will never experience or feel real love/affection/etc. fuck that voice. if living in fantasy, with them, keeps ya going and makes ya happy. and it ain't harming anyone and stuff. then cling to those fictional loves of yours and let them shower you with the love, care and happiness you damn deserve...maybe i'm saying this more for myself but i'm sure someone might relate or need this too...)

26. fave colour and why?

Don't have just one but lately been very attached to purple...I don't recall exactly why but...I guess because of mystical reasons? I dunno...but it's pretty color and use it often now. lol

29. what do you do when you’re sad?

...Like to make me feel better?? Cope?? tbh not much helps i feel...once sadness(depression) hits, its like...being buried alive, or dragged down in the dark waters and I can't get out...So I just...ride it out...or wait it out until I finally am set free again from the suffering.

...If I do have the will to do something though in those rare times, than just feel so weak I can't move and crap...I try to watch some youtube videos of my favorite gamers or such...In hopes to get a good laugh from them. Laughter is the best medicine after all...that's what they say. Or play some video games...(speaking of which...want to buy RE2 remake that's on sale rn, might be a good distraction and pick me up but want to save money for future stuff too. lol hard to decide so still thinking about it)

[pigidin]

I just randomly had a mood for sunkissed 😭

They're in qp, your honor 😋

Hcs below ↓↓↓

Kel was named Kelsey and is afab, but at the age of 6 he told his parents that he didn't feel as it was truly his name, as it gave him too much of a specific-gender feeling.

He also told them that he wanted to be everything, not sth specific, so parents even encouraged shortening the name to Kel, as they used to call him this way in the childhood as it was hard for him to spell the whole name properly (mild dyspraxia).

Kel mostly expresses masculinity (still thinking if to hc them t-masc) but as he got to know more about gender from Basil, he is fond of exploring his gender widely, adding more both androgynous and feminine features to his look, so now he's really keen on this. Basically is panpronominal, is occasionally ok with being referred to as Kalsey (so it can't really be considered deadname ig), but still prefers Kel.

As for Basil, it was a very difficult birth for them and they were not even named as well as not assigned as any gender; only later the parents decided to do it (afab + bailey) and in the end parents abandoned them completely.

Polly was wonderful and started to tell them more about everything in the world and they became interested in LGBT, started to learn more about themselves and discover gender. Basil is a pro, like a real pro in all queer stuff. They were actually the one who helped Kel and Sunny be more free in their bodies and encouraged them to be more open about expression.

It's actually Basil's coping: explore gender instead of dreadful guilt and depression they face; while Kel knows everything on trend-stuff, Basil is more familiar with sorta-selfdiscovering-things.

Sunny is intersex and was assigned at birth as one but just hates telling people he's axab(sry if this word isn't rlly right),,, nd sry for internalized phobia, but he hates his body sm..

Basil and Kel try to help him overcome this tho.

Sunny's kinda afraid to be more free, choosing to wear the same clothing for huge periods of time, but tries hard to beat the anxiety of outer world.

It's strange for Sunny to be agender, but he just hates everything binary and not, actually. It's not about being phobic towards sb else, but just to himself exclusively.

Sunny still wears two ponytails when he feels like it bc fem!omori concepts are stuck in me yk lol

brief qp thing^^ Sunny and Basil were in 'undeclared' qp before mari stuff, cuz they were really close to each other. They like shared everything with each other, and Sunny considered Basil his best-bestfriend. At the same point of time Sunny developed an interest of emotional subtext to Kel, but they remained good friends, and it basically was ok for both of them. Their connection wasn't that big as between Basil and Sunny, yet Sunny incredibly measured Kel and the feeling was mutual. Them three got together a few years after the ending of game, and immediately grow extremely close to each other. Sunny was attending therapy, but had still a lot to change. The same goes with Basil, who also was seeing a doctor. Kel never really thought about getting help, but having Basil and Sunny by his side and trying to open up, he understood that his optimism often becomes quite unhealthy, so he wanted to concur his own demons as well.

[limitless-rose]

Stray Kids as weird habits/quirks of mine:

Yes, that's how I act, I'm sorry 🙃

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˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Bang Chan: Randomly flirting on accident but unable to actually flirt on command. I can openly make 'flirty/suggestive' comments and throw 3 (very) inappropriate jokes in a row to casually respond in a conversation, to the point where my male friends keep assuming I'm flirting with them (I'm really not, that's how I act around people In comfortable with). But if you put me in front of someone I have a crush on, I become hella awkward, I can't even ask them a casual question without somehow messing up, make it make sense 🤷‍♀️ (why did Daddy Issues start playing while I was typing this last part, ffs)

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Lee Know: Passive aggressive, semi offensive, sarcastic but still caring comments. Well, just being 'cold' and moody in general. At this point, I get a genuine compliment and turn it into a self depricating joke. Even in deep, meaningful conversations, I tend to throw in dark comments. My fellow STAY friend has actually said that I give off Lee Know energy sooo here it is, I guess 😅

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Changbin: Talking loud and fast when I'm excited. Like, I could just be casually talking to my friends about, let's say, cartoons, and once I find out we all watch the same thing, I verbally keyboard smash, lol (you should see me when I find out people I hang out with listen to artists I really like, the other day I found out a girl we met recently is a fan of Weekend and Chase Atlantic, and the scream I let out, gosh). I also do this when I'm really irritated, annoy me enough (or talk shit about something I'm passionate about) and I'm competing with Jisung Changbin Seungmin on who can talk the fastest. I'm talking angry rapper Kim Seokjin level, that's how I am 😂

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Hyunjin: Doing my makeup and dressing up when I'm home alone for no apparent reason. Mainly during spring/summer, because in the winter I'm a depressed potato sack, mood so low I procrastinate getting out of bed 🤣 But yeah, it makes no sense, I take my time to get dolled up just to take a hundred selfies (half of which I hate and probably delete) and then go back to watching dramas while eating takeout in my hoodie. Stupid but honestly a nice little confidence boost, a fun activity between crying sessions imo.

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Han: Platonically calling my close friends 'babes', 'honey', 'lovely/my love', 'sweetheart' etc (I have also considered using 'papi chulo' as a joke 😂) It just happens mid-convo, especially when a friend can't decide on something. Usually in a passive-aggressive tone, like "Sweetheart, we talked about this a million times already, can you shut up?" or "My love, can you please wait for ONE fucking moment so I can finish doing this?" (and then I use 'dude' and 'bro' romantically, wow Noni, you and your weird brain 👏)

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Felix: Baking sweets out of the blue and sharing them with friends/family. I find it surprisingly relaxing compared to cooking (why does it feel so fast paced, lol) and seeing people enjoying what I've made makes me really happy 😊 Not saying I dislike cooking, I'd just rather make chocolate chip cookies at my own pace than stress over the second failed fried egg and the burned bacon 🙂

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ Seungmin: Jotting down my dreams either in my notes app or in a journal (if they're interesting enough) mostly because I leave sarcastic remarks on them in the margins (might make a post about that) So when I want to have a laugh, I go back to them because they're so random and stupid but they always crack me up 😅

˚ ♡ ⋆.˚ I.N: Collecting plushies. Listen, I'm a simple person; I see something adorable and really cuddly, I buy it (if only it was this easy with relationships too, lmao). I can't help myself when I see cute things, especially with stuffies, like look at their eyes and their small smile and their fluffy bodies and their little arms, so cuteeeee 🥺 Yes, I already have a bunch of teddy bears and other plushies but that won't stop me from getting more of these cuties (also I really want a SKZOO? Like look at them, they're adorbz 💕 but I can't choose between Wolfchan and PuppyM 😭)

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Hope you enjoyed this post 🖤

Feel free to drop post ideas in the comments ᵔᴗᵔ

[lightlycareless]

hi! i hope ure doing a little bit better. take all the time u need! here's an hc i have

https://youtu.be/wOEKdWrtz6U

THIS but satoru and hinata when they were 2nd years, they just did this for fun. since canonically satoru can do everything he puts his mind into, wouldn't be surprised if it was the same for hinata

UGH i can't help but think it's THEM

+ adding to the yt link post w virtuemoir, you might think it's unlikely since they didn't really love each other like genuinely genuinely, but still i like to believe the attraction was there

Heya anon!

Thank you so much for your lovely ask and checking in on me 🥺❤️I'm doing much better now, now that the small depressive episode is done and I'm back to writing :>

I apologize for taking a while to respond, but do not be fooled... this never left my mind (I also combined the two asks so they wouldn't be separate :>)—more so because the second season of jujutsu made me wonder just how involved Hinata would've been when everything went down!!

But going back to this video—yes!! I think Hinata and Satoru would've done, even with their differences, everything together at one point, and excel at it too.

Knowing how everything comes easy to him Hinata would've made it work, mostly because out of spite haha. She couldn't allow Satoru to be that good, she had to be in his level or near him (She wanted to save herself the incessant teasing from his part) while Satoru would come up with the craziest ideas to find a "weakness" for him to exploit/humiliate, only for him to be rightfully contested when she wouldn't relent.

However, the more they spent time together, the more they realized they genuinely liked being with one another, at one point Satoru offered to teach her whatever she needed—with Hinata willingly accepting to be his student.

I do feel they were attracted to one another, if not started to be attracted, during this time. I mean, they were teenagers, very hormonal, and have been in each other's life since forever 😂 it just started to happen, so... why not?

Hinata would be the first to find the other attractive, however, Satoru would be the first one to conclude that "maybe spending the rest of my life with her isn't as bad"

Of course these sentiments were nothing but a step they needed to take in order to know themselves and what they wanted in life, (like their first time together lol idk if writing it would be morbid but let's be real after all the shit I've done.... do I have any excuse? 😂) eventually coming to the realization that what they wanted the most out of the other was friendship—The reassurance that no matter what happened they would still be there for one another.

Presumably around the time where Satoru met Suguru. They just had a whole new level of chemistry, and Hinata was all in for it.

After Hinata called off the engagement I could totally see Satoru telling her something like:

"If we're still single at 30 we could marry each other and have some kids or something" to which she would only roll her eyes and dismiss as him being his usual silly self—at least outwardly, because Hinata wouldn't deny that the idea of settling down with someone she already knows is nice.

I mean, let's not forget how her dating endeavors had been going—she hates it lol. And I can't blame her, the dating scene is... oof. So why waste her time meeting people that just don't get her, seemingly don't have any ambitions, don't share her work ethics and whatnot, when she could could just rely on Satoru?

And if the pressure from the elders towards Satoru grows too "annoying" for him to keep ignoring, or who knows, maybe he finally decides he do wants to settle down, he could rely on her as well.

It sounds awful when put that way lol, but I think these things serve to show just how intertwined Satoru and Hinata were, something that only people who have known each other for a very long time, and learned to trust one another completely, could do.

Satoru cherishes Ren, Hinata, and Y/N a lot, and so do they. There's nothing they wouldn't do for one another, and that's something I intend to show deeper into the story :>

Once again, thank you so much for sending in this ask! Now I want to write in what Hinata's, Ren's and Y'N's reaction would've been to the whole thing that went down on season 2 😭 (who am I kidding, that's totally gonna happen)

If there's anything else you'd like to know about their relationship, or just share with me, my ask box is always open 🤭❤️

Thank you so much, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and see you around!!