#i did use some cheats to skip bosses

[dark-star-exe]

EVER WONDERED IF THROWING EGGS AT LUIS IN OG RE4 COUNTS AS ATTACKING HIM AND CAUSES HIM TO KILL YOU???

the answer is yes! also the Merchant is immune to egg

[yongility]

NEO TV # I LIKE ME BETTER WHEN I'M WITH YOU. (jaehyun x reader) 2/?

genre: angst, suggestive, gang au, rich kid au, enemies to lovers (kinda), a lil of fluffy stuff. slowburn, series.

warnings: drug use mentions, gangs, fights, use of weapons, adult language, illegal activities, cheating (not on the main couple), toxic family environment, addictions, manipulation, insecurities, illegal street racing, death mentions. jeno is jaehyun's younger brother, angst, smut and if I slip something my bad haha.

word count: +10k? (I really went all for this chapter)

a/n: I'm a sucker for cliche stuff so as soon as this fic popped in my mind I had to write it down, english isn't my first language tho.

I’m sorry if this is too long TT, but this is kinda a slowburn? it might contain a lot of parts so wait for part 3! One of the reasons this is long af it’s because I would like to show you how Jaehyun and (Y/N)'s life is before they get together! So pls pls don’t skip anything I hope you like it!

if you want to be in the taglist, just lemme know;) enjoy!

Jung Jaehyun was an idiot.

But he was a clever idiot, and anyone who knew him would know that.

That's why within Neo Zone, his boss had the trust he had in him. Jaehyun was his best guy, or at least that's what he proclaimed enthusiastically every time the boy handed him a new payment for the merchandise he had to sell in his area.

None of his guys were as good negotiators as Jung Jaehyun.

He didn't know if it was because of the particular and convincing way he spoke or if it was because of the bad boy appearance he had, which made people pay him everything they owed him with just a bad look from him. Jaehyun didn't consider himself good at many things, but he was definitely good with numbers, maybe because since the initiation of his gang almost eight years ago, his only job was to maintain the sale - and sometimes purchase - of merchandise. So the numbers always, always had to be exact unless he wanted his boss to get angry and face consequences.

Because despite being a good worker, Jaehyun had faced consequences on multiple occasions.

His scars around his body were not a deco. They didn't have the purpose of scaring away anyone who stood in front of him. They had a slightly different origin than most people thought. Yes, some were the result of a street fight that possibly took place in one of the underground races. Perhaps from a fight against another dealer who tried to sell in his area, but many of them were caused during his early years in the business, where being a kid with little knowledge of how to handle the merchandise he carried with him, things would go wrong and he had to be punished by his own boss and the elders of the gang.

As he often heard during those years, he learned the easy way or the hard way.

Jaehyun's initiation into the gang was different from what other teenagers in Neo Zone had experienced.

In his own defense, he never believed that his initiation had been extreme compared to the experiences he had heard about, however, Jaehyun had to join the gang at the age of eleven.

Normally initiations took place between fourteen and fifteen years old, but there was an exception with the boy. Families in Neo Zone had to have at least one active member in the gang - commonly the man was that member - and it didn't matter if it was the grandfather, father, or son. There always had to be one if they wanted to continue with the safety of their family.

Because being active ensured you the protection that Lee Sooman could offer your family.

So when Jaehyun's father was brutally killed in what they called a clash in a raid. The next member of the Jung family had to take his place, and being Jaehyun the oldest brother and becoming the man of the house, he had to answer for the protection of his family, at his young age of eleven. The boy's duties initially did not involve business as such, since he was still inexperienced in the matter, but Lee Sooman took him under his wing and managed to get Jaehyun to accompany him wherever he was to start acquiring the knowledge he expected to have thanks to the experiences he had with his new boss.

But there was a time when Jaehyun had other aspirations.

There was a time when Jaehyun appreciated getting up to go to school to learn, not to keep his business running. There was a time when the boy could approach his mother while she cooked, sing together, and dance with his little brother happily.

There was a time when Jaehyun loved to sing, and all those little things that brightened his life even a little were damaged by the businesses he was starting to manage.

Because by now, Jaehyun wouldn't just be a dealer.

Lee Sooman expected a lot from him.

And he hated that he did.

If only he could escape from that zone, he would do it as soon as the first opportunity arose, but things weren't as easy as he thought.

And he knew that more than anyone else.

In the end, the only reason for his mere existence currently and the only reason he endured all he had to endure was for his family, which meant everything to him. It was all he had, it was all that drove him to continue, and it was all that gave him the strength to get up every day.

And because he was the man of the house, right?

And he had to take care and protect his family even if he didn't do it with his own life.

But maintaining that title wasn't easy, especially having a rebellious teenager as a brother and having to take care of all the bills that ran through his house.

If only his brother could make things easier for him. If only his brother would listen to him once in his life... because if there was one person who didn't listen to Jaehyun, if there was one person he found difficult to intimidate, it wouldn't be anyone other than Jeno.

And amidst all his complications, there would be no greater one than trying to make a teenager listen to him.

The streets of Neo Zone are not safe at any time of the day, but of course, they would be even more dangerous when the sun set. Jaehyun, as much as he wanted, would never understand why fate gave them that life, if only... if only they had been more fortunate and even just grown up in Kosmo*, his life would be so different.

Jaehyun hated walking the streets of Neo Zone, especially if it wasn't for business, but there he was, walking through the dark alleys that were barely illuminated by the reflection of the moon that had recently filled. His steps were short but firm, as his personality used to be. His leather jacket covered him well from the cold breeze he could feel in his bones, and the rings on his fingers helped him stay focused as he ran his thumb over them. In the distance, within an alley, he could see a pair of cigarette tails being lit as smoke emanated from the mouth of the person consuming it. Jaehyun took a deep breath as he disapproved and approached the group of boys more and more.

Immediately he could recognize him, that blue hair couldn't go unnoticed even if he wanted, what a bad choice his brother had made.

Once he found himself at the entrance of the alley, he grabbed a stick from what once seemed to be a baseball bat and, taking advantage of the distraction of those boys, he made it hit against the garbage container next to him, causing the boys to jump in fright and change their gaze towards him.

Meanwhile Jeno maintained eye contact.

"Let's go," Jaehyun snapped without hesitation.

Jeno's friends and his own brother ignored him and continued with their business, Jeno taking a drag of his joint and exhaling the smoke from his lungs with a cynical side smile. His friends let out a laugh that made Jaehyun's blood boil, and he hit the garbage container again - "I said let's go, Jeno."

His brother huffed as he rolled his eyes: "Go bother someone else, Jaehyun."

The boy clenched his jaw and, dropping the stick from his hands forcefully, he then approached the group of boys and seeing the determination with which Jaehyun walked, the boys stepped back a few centimeters, Jeno stood up and held his gaze firmly on his brother's.

When Jaehyun reached him, he snatched the joint from his lips and threw it to the ground to then step on it. He raised his gaze again and looked at the boys, who were behind his brother with a bit of panic in their eyes.

"What are you looking at? Get out of here if you don't want me to wipe that scared puppy look off your faces and give you real reasons to be scared," he snapped brusquely. The boys simply shrank in their place, not moving an inch - "Haven't you heard me? Get lost!"

This time, the group of young vandals hurriedly left the alley, leaving both boys facing each other, staring directly into each other's eyes and without saying a single word. Only annoyance could be felt emanating from each of their bodies.

"What the hell are you doing, Jaehyun? Can't you go bother somewhere else?" asked Jeno, exasperated.

"You didn't go to the school," his older brother replied with no expression on his face.

Jeno let out an incredulous laugh and shook his head amusedly - "Is that why you're here? To make a scene because I didn't go to the school?"

"I put all my damn effort so you can attend that school, and the least you can do is not skip," he said while pointing a finger at his chest and pushing him forcefully - "And what do you do all damn day, huh? This?" - he pointed at the joint that was now shattered under his foot - "Hanging out with those boys and wasting your life like this?"

"You're no better," Jeno retorted.

Jeno had had his initiation into the gang not long ago. Two years ago, when he turned fourteen, and since then, Jaehyun had managed and had done everything possible to keep his boss from involving him in any business, and to be able to maintain that, his workload had increased, since now he had to do what Jeno would have to do, because definitely being a dealer with no future was not something Jaehyun wanted for his brother. He knew Jeno was smart. He knew Jeno had the potential to be someone in life.

To have a future away from Neo Zone.

Not like him.

And the last thing he wanted was to see his brother being an addict in the alleys of Neo Zone.

"I just care about you," Jaehyun said quietly.

Jeno looked at him with his eyes reddened by the substance he had just ingested and clenched his jaw after hearing that.

"You care about me? You do the same fucking thing every day. And let me tell you that you're not just an addict, you're a damn dealer. Congratulations, you bring money to the table! But at what cost? You talk about caring? You ruin other people's lives," Jeno spat as he lightly pushed him.

Jaehyun wished he could say that those words didn't hurt him, but it was impossible. After all, they came from the mouth of his little brother, who was one of the lights of his life.

"Jeno, we're not going to argue about this," Jaehyun said as he felt his rings and ran his thumb over them "but this is not what I want for you, you have more future than those boys you hang out with, Jeno. You have more future than me. It's just that you don't want to see it... this... this is not what I want for you. I don't want you to spend the rest of your life on these damn streets looking for pleasure in some damn drugs and I don't want to see you overdose. For now, it's weed, but if you don't know how to control yourself and don't know how to handle it, it won't be just that. You're not a child, Jeno, and you should know that your actions have consequences."

"Why do you talk as if you were a saint, Jaehyun!?"

"Because I damn know what I'm talking about !" the older one exclaimed, about to explode and giving him a stern look - "Jeno, you need to understand that this is not what I want for you."

"If this is not what you want for me, why don't you do something better than getting into my damn life? Why don't you start with yourself, huh? How do you expect this not to be part of me if you have mom and me in this shitty place?"

"I'm trying, Jeno... I..."

"Trying? How? By selling more kilos every day? That doesn't help at all, Jaehyun! Why don't you do something else? Why didn't you get us out of here when you could?" he questioned as he approached him again until they were face to face. Both with a firm gaze, without hesitating and without flinching.

"Oh, I know," Jeno muttered - "you don't do shit because you're afraid of ending up like poor Sicheng, right?" - he blurted out.

And that was the last straw.

By inertia and upon hearing that name, Jaehyun's arm lifted and went to punch his younger brother's cheek, causing the area to immediately turn red and Jeno's face to move to the side. The blue-haired boy brought his hand to his cheek and slowly returned his gaze to his brother, finding a bit of regret in his eyes.

"Don't ever mention Winwin like that again," Jaehyun requested without moving.

"Fuck you."

Jeno lightly pushed Jaehyun and walked briskly out of the alley they were in.

And then Jaehyun found himself alone with regret running through his body.

If only things were simpler.

_____________________________________________

"Did you go to Neo Zone!?" Jungwoo's exclamation made (Y/N) jump in her place and quickly approach him to cover his mouth with her own hands while giving him a stern look.

"Shut up, Woo, my mother can hear you!" she retorted almost in a whisper but agitatedly. Then she removed her hand from the boy's mouth and sat down next to him on the bed.

"Are you crazy? What were you doing there on a Friday night?" he asked, accusing her. They remained silent for a few seconds, then Jungwoo jumped on the bed and looked at her in surprise.

"Who are you fucking and why didn't you tell me anything!?”

(Y/N) widened her eyes and quickly shook her head.

"None of that! God, Jungwoo, you're an idiot," she lightly tapped his head with the palm of her hand.

"I'm not seeing anyone."

The boy rubbed his head with a small pout and then looked at her curiously.

"So?"

"It was for Daeho," the girl declared.

Jungwoo rolled his eyes dramatically and stood up from the bed to stand right in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now, what trouble did that idiot get himself into?"

With a heavy sigh, the girl looked at her hands and slightly shrunk in her place. "A big one, Jungwoo. You should have seen how he came home on Friday."

"What happened?"

"Well, what do you think happened? The idiot bought drugs and didn't pay on time. And to make matters worse, he decided to buy them from Jaehyun and made him go to Neo Zone. Apparently, his boss got angry about the debt, and believe me, he was very angry."

"And what have they done to Daeho?" he questioned her again, this time with concern in his voice.

"They beat him up, Jungwoo. He's covered in bruises and they've split his lip and eyebrow," she explained frustratedly.

"Was it Jaehyun?"

"Huh?"

"Did Jaehyun beat him up?"

"No. No, Jaehyun was with me when that happened," she commented while sighing. "But I don't know what to do, Jungwoo. I'm really worried about Daeho. I'm afraid something like that might happen again and it'll end up worse."

Jungwoo looked at her in silence for a few seconds and then sat back down beside her, taking her hands in his and giving her a slight squeeze as a show of support.

"(Y/N), I know it's not my business and you're worried about your cousin, but Daeho is not a child anymore. You can't go through life trying to fix his mistakes. He knows what he's doing, and he should know the consequences behind it," he explained gently. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat, trying to dispel the knot that threatened to form.

"I know, Jungwoo, it's just that..." she paused to take a breath, "I'm all Daeho has. I'm the only person who genuinely cares about him. The least I can do is be there for him," she bit her lip.

"And there's nothing wrong with that, really. But you can't always be by his side, hoping he won't get into trouble. Daeho needs help, yes, but he needs it from a professional before his drug problem becomes a serious one," Jungwoo affirmed, letting go of her hands and putting his arm around her shoulders to give her a slight hug.

"Do you think I haven't mentioned that to him? He doesn't want to listen."

"There's not much you can do on your own, (Y/N)."

It was then that the girl preferred not to say anything and just accept the hug her friend was giving her; because she knew that as soon as she mentioned that she had made a deal with Jung Jaehyun so that he wouldn't sell anything to his cousin again, Jungwoo would surely go crazy.

So now she not only had to hide this from Daeho but also from her best friend.

It couldn't be that difficult, right?

___________________________________________

If there was another place Jaehyun hated besides Neo Zone, it would be the principal's office. He wouldn't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times he found himself in that same position, sitting in a leather chair, with Principal Kim in front of him giving him a disapproving look.

"I can't do much this time, Jaehyun" the principal spoke and removed his glasses from his face to pinch the bridge of his nose with his fingers, "if you don't improve your grades, I'll have to expel you. I don't have any other excuse not to do it."

"But you have to do something" Jaehyun retorted, raising one of his eyebrows and crossing his arms, causing the principal to clear his throat and rest his glasses on his desk.

"Jaehyun, I can't keep covering up everything you do and don't improve even a little. The teachers don't want you here anymore, and if you don't raise your average, there's nothing I can do.

The boy sighed heavily and bit his lower lip. Then, the image of a Hwang came to his mind, and he smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, Principal Kim. For the next evaluations, you'll see my average clean," he explained with a smile.

"I'd like to know how will you do that?" the principal asked, incredulous.

"Studying, Principal Kim. How else would I do it?"

The principal chuckled and shook his head.

"You're warned, Jung. Now, leave my office and go study."

Without saying anything else, the boy got up from his seat and calmly left the principal's office, crossing the hallway until he reached the courtyard of his high school. He looked around, getting a couple of glances from some of his classmates, who surely weren't used to seeing him leave that office once again and as soon as his eyes located a person,

Jaehyun smiled.

He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and walked towards the silhouette sitting under a tree, with at least five books around her and taking notes from each of them, and in which she must have been very concentrated not to feel the presence of the boy a few steps away from her. Hwang let out a heavy sigh and then cursed under her breath, dropping one of her books to the ground abruptly.

"Having a hard time, angel?" he teased while leaning against the tree behind her.

The girl quickly lifted her gaze to then look at him with annoyance and closed one of her books abruptly.

"Don't bother me Jaehyun. I have no interest in having a small talk with you right now," she said, rolling her eyes. "How do you expect me to finish all your assignments and mine before the week ends?" she asked, frustrated.

"Speaking of that, I expect a good grade on those assignments. The principal has already talked to me about kicking me out if I don't meet the average this evaluation," he said, shrugging.

"If only you bothered to study from time to time, you wouldn't have these problems," she retorted reading her notes.

"Why would I do that when I have you, sweet cheeks? Business are business, besides, I've been keeping my word" he said proudly. "How long has Daeho been clean?"

(Y/N) fell silent, thinking of a response, and answered, "almost two weeks, I believe so."

"Do you think it'll last much longer?' he asked again, and she shrugged.

"I hope so, he promised," she muttered without looking him in the eye. Jaehyun sighed and moved to sit next to her, an action that confused the girl, but she didn't comment, she simply let herself go.

A consumer's promises were the worst, and they both knew it. Despite the fact that Daeho didn't consider himself merely an addict... he was. In recent weeks, he was more often in a state of euphoria than sober, and the fact that his parents had been away for over a month was a perfect excuse to do so. Hwang feared for him and feared a lot. What Daeho saw as something harmless kept her in constant unease, because she knew that Daeho wouldn't stay clean for much longer, and there wouldn't be anything else she could do.

"At least you're the only dealer he trusts to buy from," she scoffed, shaking her head.

Jaehyun laughed softly. "You know that as soon as he feels the need, he won't only come to me. Abstinence tends to be difficult for a consumer."

"I know.'

"And what will you do? Offer more money?'

"I don't know, Jaehyun," she replied with a tired tone. "I don't know what to do with Daeho, I don't want him to end being a mess."

To the eyes of an outsider, that scenario could seem a bit funny; Hwang (Y/N) and Jung Jaehyun in the same place without wanting to pull each other's hair out, but if there was something that had caused that conversation in Neo Zone two weeks ago, it was that Jaehyun had managed to empathize at least a little with the girl. At the end of the day, all they both wanted was the best for their families.

They weren't so different in that sense, however, they didn't share anything else. They were simply acquaintances with a common purpose and nothing more.

"The evaluations are coming up, you know what that means?' he asked suddenly.

"What? do I have to do twice your assignments?" she replied with another question, and Jaehyun shook his head with a half-smile.

"Johnny's parties are also coming up, and it's something you should keep Daeho away from. You know his parties are not the healthiest and most innocent thing out there."

Johnny Suh was well known in high school for two reasons; first, because he was the son of one of the best real estate sellers in the city, making him one of the wealthiest kids in high school, and second, because of the study groups he organized near each midterms on one of his properties.

The study group that was nothing more than a facade for the big parties they really have. Every two months, students eagerly awaited that party because with Johnny Suh organizing them, how could not be the best? When it came to those parties, Johnny spared no expense, he would take one of his parents' properties, buy tons of alcohol, invite the dealers from Neo Zone, and didn't care if you were from the south or north, you were welcomed all the same because according to his own words: the more people attended, the better the fun.

And yes, it was something (Y/N) should be worried about, because Daeho could never miss one of those parties. Johnny Suh was within his circle of friends, so he wouldn't dare to let down one of his great friends, how could he?

"Cat got your tongue?" Jaehyun's voice caught her attention and she turned to look at him while exhaling deeply.

"No, Jaehyun, and I'm not in the mood for this."

"Oh, relax, angel" he spoke, raising his hands in defense "I was just mentioning Johnny's party, you know Daeho wouldn't miss it" Jaehyun continued trying to rile her up.

"Great timing for my uncles to return" she muttered, angrily gathering her things and putting them in her bag. She stood up abruptly and Jaehyun followed her.

"Hey, calm down, what's wrong?"

"Daeho's parents are coming back during midterms week and they'll surely having him running around here and there, enough reason for him to go to that damn party" she spat, starting to walk away from him with Jaehyun behind her "and as soon as Daeho stops being clean, I'll break our deal" she threatened, turning around to face him.

"You can't do it if I haven't done anything, you made the deal, you keep it" he said defensively. It wasn't the time for him to risk it and not deliver those high grades to Principal Kim.

"Yes, I can and I will, Jaehyun."

"We made a deal, you can't back down now. I'm already losing money because I'm not selling anything to Daeho".

"I can still write you a check down" (Y/N) said.

"I think I made myself clear when I told you that I didn't want your money".

Ding.

Before the boy could reproach and start an argument with (Y/N), his phone rang in his jacket and he took it out of his pocket to turn on the screen and read the text his friend had left him.

“Yukhei:

come to the garage, something happened.

10:30 am

Don't ask, just come.

10:30 am

I don't even know what happened

but they're furious.

10:31 am”

Jaehyun looked up at the sky, cursing under his breath and closing his eyes. He returned his gaze to the girl, who was now looking at him with confusion, and pointed at her with his index finger.

"I expect my assignments by the end of the week" he commented, turning around to walk away from the place and leaving a frustrated (Y/N) behind.

"Hey! Jung Jaehyun!" she called out loudly "You can't just leave me like this! Hey!”.

_____________________________________________

When he reached the garages, Jaehyun got out of his car, slamming the door shut, immediately drawing Lucas's attention. Lucas was sitting there smoking a joint, one leg propped against the wall and one hand in his pants pocket. Jaehyun approached his friend and took the cigarette from his lips, then took a drag himself.

"What the hell happened now?" he asked, exhaling smoke from his lungs and raising an eyebrow at Lucas. His friend sighed and straightened up.

"Jeno".

With the joint between his lips, Jaehyun's eyes widened, he tossed it to the ground, stomping on it, and quickly took a step forward, only to be stopped by his friend, who placed a hand on his chest. He looked at Lucas, not understanding and showing no expression, then listened to him speak.

"Before you go in there and cause a scene. I don't know what happened. Cheol Uk wouldn't tell me shit, he barely said something had happened with Jeno and they're waiting for you inside" the dark haired guy explained, lightly tapping his friend's chest.

Jaehyun's chest swelled after the deep drag he took. He closed his eyes for a moment and brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose, squeezing it slightly.

"Do you know if he's okay?" he asked, opening his eyes and met with a grimace on Lucas's face.

"Honestly, I don't know".

One of the garage doors opened, causing both boys to turn their heads towards it and seeing Cheol Uk coming out of it, nodding towards Jaehyun to enter, so the guy began walking towards there with Lucas behind him, who was immediately stopped by the guard who put his hand on the boy's chest: "I've been told that only Jaehyun can enter."

Jaehyun turned his head to give Lucas an affirmative look, who breathed deeply and stayed in his place. Jaehyun walked through the garage door, which closed seconds later, and headed towards where his boss was supposed to be.

His head was spinning, and only his brother's name ran through it. What the hell had he done this time?

He didn't even know if he was okay or where he could be, and that was eating him up anxiously.

Despite everything that could come out of Jeno's mouth and his rebellious behavior, as an older brother, Jaehyun worried a lot. Jeno was an important part of his life, and as soon as something happened to him, he wouldn't know what to do. He began playing with the ring on his hand as he continued his way, managing to hear a couple of shouts that he knew well, came from his boss; he clenched his jaw, he was right behind Lee Sooman's back, who, feeling a presence, turned halfway, face to face with the boy.

He approached dangerously. Jaehyun held his breath and suddenly, a burning sensation ran through his cheek, feeling his boss's palm hit him. Jaehyun didn't flinch, didn't complain, and simply did nothing.

He knew it was better that way..

He stayed in his place, straightened his posture, and continued to look ahead, but without making eye contact with Lee Sooman.

"Do you know what your brother's little joke has cost us?" the man asked with annoyance.

"No sir".

"A lot. Your brother is an idiot, he couldn't do something as simple as what I sent him to".

Jaehyun's body tensed, and this time, he made eye contact with his boss.

"What... do you mean you sent him to do something" unintentionally, the tone of his own voice rose, catching his boss's attention "I thought we had a deal, boss."

"Are you talking to me about deals, Jaehyun? Look, the kid came to me asking for a job, and I really admire your whole facade of wanting to feel like the responsible older brother who doesn't want anything to happen to his brother and blah, blah, blah" his boss spoke mockingly "but the boy isn't five years old, Jaehyun. It's time for him to be a grown-up, isn't it? Turn him into one, just like I did with you, right? Look at the man you are, boy".

He felt the falseness in his words, and the sound of his laughter irritated his ears, but again, he said nothing, he knew he shouldn't, and simply stayed in his place to continue listening to him.

"But Jeno and his idiot friends go and screw it up, and now it cost me money and a possible fight. Aish, they can't do anything right if you don't teach them" he muttered the latter.

The boy's brow furrowed and followed his boss's silhouette as he walked to his desk.

"A fight?"

"Yes, I sent them to leave some stuff at the train station, and they ran into Yellow Wood's guys, they stabbed one of the boys. Ah! Park will surely want to do the same" Lee Sooman sighed as he brought his hands to cover his face "and if that's not enough, the Yellow Wood guys stole the stuff, and believe me, they weren't just a few wones worth in drugs. There were a lot.

"Sir..."

"Don't try to cover for your brother, Jaehyun. He made a mistake, a big one, and now, who will pay for it? I'm sure Jeno won't."

"Excuse my brother, sir. I... will talk to him, for sure..."

"A talk won't solve my problem. I need my money, or what? Where do you expect me to get paid from? How do I pay my guys for their work? If there's no drugs, there's no money, and you know it, Jung."

"Sir, please let me do something. I... don't have the money right now. I'm paying for his medicine and..."

"Oh, Jaehyun, don't give me the same old story. Those damn medicines don't matter to me. I've helped you enough with that boy, and I know the whole story inside out and upside down."

Jaehyun's fist clenched at his sides, and he closed his

eyes for a moment, avoiding exploding right there.

"I'm sorry, sir. What do you want me to do?"

"You'll take double of the stuff on Friday when you pick it up. You'll have the weekend to sell it and deliver it to me by Monday, and let's see if you can teach that idiot brother of yours how to handle the business properly once and for all."

The boy's eyes widened, double of the stuff in one weekend? He had been struggling to make ends meet with his normal portion, and now he had to sell double in three damn days. If Jeno was okay right now, he surely wouldn't be after the scolding Jaehyun was going to give him.

"But sir, the business has been slow these days, and..."

"I don't care, Jaehyun. I don't give two shit about how you get that money, but I want all my stuff sold by next Monday, understood? If you don't deliver the money, there will be repercussions, and no, they won't be on you, Jaehyun. It's been Jeno with all this bullshit."

Without saying anything, he nodded. He supposed he would have to ask Johnny for a favor at his party; it was the only place he thought he could sell at least half of what he owed. As for the other half... he would figure out what to do with it later.

He watched as his boss pointed to the door with his hand, and Jaehyun obediently turned around to leave the place. The blood was rushing through his body, and he clenched his fists tighter and tighter as he moved.

His brother was such an idiot.

Not only had they lost the stuff, but they had also stabbed one of the Yellow Wood boys, and he knew they would come back looking to do the same. What guaranteed him that one of these days his brother wouldn't come back with a wound like that? He let out a sigh as he opened the garage door. He saw Lucas quickly approaching him, but he didn't pay the slightest attention to him because he was too busy storming towards his car with fury in his eyes.

His friend tried to stop him, but he couldn't, so he simply followed him. Both got into the car. Lucas heard the slam Jaehyun had given. He started the car without answering the questions the guy in the passenger seat was asking and drove off at speed towards his house. Lucas kept calling him, but it was in vain because Jaehyun could only think about how bad the conversation he had to have with his brother would go. The older boy's knuckles could be seen white from gripping the steering wheel, and he could hear him cursing every now and then. Lucas gave up and sighed as he leaned back in his seat; it was pointless to try to talk to Jaehyun when he was behaving like that, so he simply wouldn't bother anymore.

A few moments later, they were in front of the boy's house, where the older one quickly got out of the car, and Lucas continued his steps behind him.

"Jaehyun! What the fuck happened!?" Lucas shouted at his back, and again, he didn't receive an answer.

He aggressively entered the house, slightly alarming his mother, who was in the kitchen and, seeing the way her son had entered, left things and approached him.

"Where's Jeno?" he asked without preamble.

"What happened?" she asked, concerned.

"Where's Jeno?" he repeated, clenching his jaw.

"In his room" she didn't even finish speaking when Jaehyun was already walking towards the door, she turned worriedly to see the boy beside her and spoke: "Yukhei, what happened?"

Jaehyun opened the bedroom door with a bang and found Jeno sitting on his bed, with a bruise under his eye and his lip slightly open. The older brother exhaled deeply and approached his brother, who was already standing up and naturally, defensive.

"What the fuck do you think you did, Jeno? Huh?

"Stay out of my damn life, Jaehyun. I'm sick of it" Jeno spat as he walked towards him.

"Oh, are you sick of it?" Jaehyun asked "Wow, the little boy is tired of me only wanting what’s best for him" he said, feigning a pout "Do you know the stupid thing you and your friends did?" he questioned again as Jeno pushed him slightly with his shoulder and walked out of the room. Arriving in the living room, where Lucas was trying to distract their mother —"Not only did you lose the drugs, Jeno. You stabbed someone from Yellow Wood, do you think that's something funny to do?"

"What? Drugs?" Mrs. Jung asked confused.

"Shut up, Jaehyun" the younger one spoke through his teeth.

The boy looked at his mom and then at his friend, scoffed, and denied as he once again approached his brother: "Jeno went to Sooman to ask for a job" he confessed as his mother exclaimed in surprise "and now I have to answer for the stupid things your son did".

"Stop treating me like a damn kid!" Jeno exclaimed as he pushed him slightly, managing to anger the older one a little more.

"You want me to stop? Huh?"

"Jaehyun, Jeno. Enough" their mom intervened from her place, causing Jaehyun to turn to look at her and shake his head.

"No, Mom. Jeno doesn't want to be treated like a kid anymore? Fine. Does he want to ruin his life? Fine. If the boy is old enough to make decisions for himself and get into things he has no fucking idea about; let him. I don't give a shit anymore. I already have enough responsibility for this house as it is for him to come and add more".

Silence fell in the living room, with Jaehyun and Jeno staring directly at each other. With their mother leaning on Lucas, who was supporting her, and Jaehyun could only catch between his ears, the boys' accelerated breaths in front of them.

"You have no idea what you're getting into, Jeno. Do you think it's easy to go out there with that stuff and sell it like chocolates? What are you going to do when you don't meet the quota? Huh? Will you take responsibility and face the consequences? Ah, right. You're not a child anymore, and you don't need me. So if something happens... Don't you dare come running to me, because if you have the balls to get into this shit. You'll have the balls to solve your problems. Once you enter in this shitty hole, there's no way out" he ended slowly as Jeno widened his nostrils. He turned around and left the house with a bang, making his mother jump in her place, and with tears shining in her eyes, she moved away from Lucas to approach her older son.

"Jaehyun... "she murmured as her son enveloped her in his arms and hid his head in her chest "he's still my baby" she sobbed.

Jaehyun looked at his friend, who only gave him a sad smile and lightly patted his back, silently demonstrating the support he would always provide.

"I know, Mom. Jeno will be okay" he replied in a whisper as he stroked her hair and planted a kiss on the top of her head "I promise you that someday I'll get you out of here, even if I have to stay behind"

His mother raised her head to look into her son's eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek: "Jaehyun, I can't take this anymore. You're my children, I don't want to see you both ruined, I can't" the boy choked up and once again caressed her hair.

"I'll get you out of here, someday I'll be able to do it, including him. I'll get all four of us out of here, I promise you".

His mom nodded with another tear running down her face and pressed her lips slightly. Jaehyun moved away from her and moved towards Lucas, to nod his head indicating that he should accompany him out of the house. Both boys walked in silence towards the door, where they were stopped after hearing the words that came out of Mrs. Jung's mouth.

"Don't end up like your father, Jaehyun."

The weight those words carried was something the boy couldn't believe.

Because that was something he wasn't sure he could promise.

______________________________________________

Once her uncles set foot in the city, it would be total chaos. It was something that (Y/N) knew, something she was aware of, which was why she simply hated the thought of it happening for two simple reasons: first, because then she would have to be even more attentive to her cousin and his possible impending collapse due to the pressure his parents put on him as soon as they arrived in the city.

And second, because their arrival meant a family dinner at her house; which had no other result than to talk once again about the future that awaited both of them and the vast comparisons their mothers loved to make between them, creating an endless discord: to see which family had more than the other, or to allude to who had a better present and future than the other.

At her ripe eighteen years, (T/N) never managed to understand the dynamics of her family. Were all families like hers? She didn't understand why her father and uncle had this constant competition between them; as brothers, it was the last thing they should have. Did money eventually turn you into such a person? Was it something that Daeho and she would become when they were responsible for the companies? She couldn't wrap her head around that scenario, the last thing she would want is for there to be some kind of conflict between them when they both needed each other, both had each other's backs, and both were the support for each other.

What a great family environment existed in that residence.

And if she could add a third reason: it was that she hated having to behave like the perfect daughter everyone expected her to be.

Coincidentally and to her own misfortune, the dinner at her parents' house was on the same night as Johnny Suh's party.

One more concern to her list.

With the faint reflections of the moon on her room and the gentle breeze coming through her large window, she gave one last careful look in her mirror, observing her figure wrapped in a black dress that ended just above her knee, a white and fluffy sweater that covered her from the coolness of the night, and her platform boots that complemented the style of the rest of her outfit.

She sighed... approached her dresser, picking up the first pair of earrings she saw to put them on her ears and let out another sigh. She never understood the formality of dinners at home, in the end, it was just her parents, her two uncles, Daeho, and herself who would end up sitting at the long dining table, but what she did know was that if she dared to come down with any outfit that didn't please her mother enough... she would instantly make her go back to change her clothes to something more suitable for her... or for them rather. Because according to her mother; you never know who the next person you might meet is.

Yes, even in her own home.

Where there wouldn't be more than six people.

She had tried multiple times to get in touch with Daeho since early in the morning, as soon as she had found out that her uncles' flight had arrived, however, he didn't answer her calls or text messages; which was enough to make (Y/N) nervously bite her nails. Something that had her tired, she was tired of living like this, worrying about everyone but herself, but if she didn't worry about her cousin the way she did, who would?

She was well aware that Daeho was not a child of five years to be in charge of, but sometimes she felt like he was. With the little attention he received from his parents and all the attachment and emotional dependence he had developed towards his cousin, (Y/N) had no choice but to fulfill that role, but... how much more would it consume of her?

She was grateful to have Kim Jungwoo in her life; the only sincere friend who had crossed her path. False friendships that could arise around her were no surprise to the girl: status was everything. If you wanted people to see you well, recognize you for something, and not sideline you, you had to hang out with people of your same level. (Y/N) tried to remember all those times she tried to create friendships, but ones that were sincere, each of those times ended in a failed attempt when she realized that people didn't really care about her but the great dollar sign that pursued her as if it were an ornament.

What a fake life.

That's why the affection she had for Jungwoo was immense. The only person who gave herself the opportunity to get to know her without judging her, the only person with whom she didn't have to maintain a whole facade.

She hated pretending; everyone thought she was perfect, that her life was perfect, the presentation she always carried was perfect, they even thought her family was perfect; she had spent the last few years of her life trying to keep up appearances, continuing with the facade that her parents and uncles had created and if Daeho screwed up, it all fell on her, because she was the one who had to fix it, because she was the one who had to assure everyone that everything was fine in her family... because if she let her guard down and showed her reality; the dream world that the Hwang family had invested so much in pretending would come crashing down like a freshly kicked sandcastle.

And so, seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours and when she least expected it, she found herself uncomfortably seated between her mother and Daeho, with a plate of food that, for the moment, didn't look appetizing at all and with her leg bouncing slightly from the anxiety emanating from feeling the tense atmosphere she was wrapped in.

Her mind was elsewhere. The last thing her ears had captured was the conversation her uncle had created about his recent trip to New York, where he had signed a couple of agreements and where... she couldn't remember anything else.

It reminded her a lot of her childhood, where they would both sit for hours beside their parents listening to them talk about business, money, agreements, and a thousand things that at her age they wouldn't understand but that according to their parents, getting involved from an early age in the world they lived in would help them shape their future.

In a way, she felt like her childhood had been stolen. Instead of being able to go out to the huge yard of her house to play like any normal child, she had to stay inside to attend one of her mother's arranged classes for her. Instead of listening to a story that her father had to tell her before going to sleep, she found herself with the stories he told her about "how he became the successful businessman he was and how she had to do the same" or the times when they always wanted to include her in the adult world when she was barely in elementary school.

But she never complained... at least she had a family and a roof over her head, she convinced herself of the luck she had of being born into the family she had... a total privilege.

When she lifted her eyes from the fixed point they had been pinned to, she could notice out of the corner of her eye how Daeho simply limited himself to eating in silence, nodding from time to time and feigning a smile here and there, moving his cutlery slightly and taking small bites of his food.

At least she wasn't the only anxious person at the table.

Her gaze lifted when her name came out of her mother's mouth, who was watching her expectantly with a smirk: “Isn't that right, sweetheart?” her mother inquired.

“Hmm, excuse me?” she questioned with a small voice as the adults' gazes were fixed on her.

“Oh, sweetheart, it's disrespectful not to pay attention to the matters discussed at the table” her mother gave her a fake smile that simply made the girl change her gaze to her hands resting on her lap and tilt her head in apology, causing her mother to let out a snort that was only heard by her “Your uncles and we have been talking about the fact that Daeho and you are about to graduate, we believe it's time to start looking at which universities you'll get into” her mother explained, staring at her intently “although, personally, your father and I have had this whole life plan we created for you since you were seven, remember we talked about studying abroad?

“Oh! We also want our Dae to study abroad! We had thought about Oxford! Isn't that right, honey?”Daeho's mother spoke with enthusiasm addressing her husband, who only smiled as he nodded.

(Y/N) and Daeho shared glances for a couple of seconds, precipitating what was to come, and smiled sadly at each other.

“Umh, mom? I don't think this is something we should discuss right now... there's still a little time before we graduate. I don't think it's a... necessary topic right now...”

The girl was interrupted by a gasp from her mother, who looked slightly offended and placed a hand on her chest, shaking her head from side to side.

“You say there's still time? (Y/N), you graduate in a year, do you think that's little time? We should start looking at universities, especially if we want to send you abroad.”

Taking a breath in surprise, she spoke: “Mom, abroad?” the girl let out a sigh “I don't think it's necessary, I mean... Seoul has incredible universities and curriculums, it's not necessary to go far from home...”

“Seoul?” her mother asked incredulously “Do you think I, your mother, will send you to some mediocre university in Seoul? You must be crazy if you think you'll end up at any of those universities” she continued with contempt “You, miss, will get into an Ivy League university, like your father and uncle did and there’s no other way.”

The table fell into a small silence, where only the looks of Mrs. Hwang and (Y/N) were shared intensely, when slightly the voice of Daeho's mother was heard:

“Well, we also have to see if she's capable of passing the exams first, don't we?” she said quietly before delicately wiping her lips with the cloth napkin on her lap.

The gaze of (Y/N)'s mother abruptly changed to the other woman, who only smiled sideways in a mocking tone and feeling her cousin's body tense beside her, the girl's anxiety shot up a thousand miles per hour anticipating what was to come.

“What did you just say?”

“I think you heard me right, sweetheart. We must see if my niece really has the ability to pass exams as important as those of the Ivy League, because believe me, dear” she changed her view to the girl “it's not just going, sitting down, and looking pretty as you've done all these years.

It felt like a punch… right into her face.

Was it really like that? Did her appearance speak more than the effort she had put into her work for so long?

Was that how they really perceived her?

She knew she had much more to offer... why were they reducing her to just that? She was dedicated, she was responsible... wasn't all her effort worth it?

Wasn't it enough?

“I think you're the least qualified person to talk about children, Eunji” (Y/N)'s mother attacked “Daeho is no delicate flower, the disaster he is when you don't pay attention to him...”

The eyes of the mentioned boy widened and immediately (Y/N) dropped her hands on her table and got up from her seat.

“Mom! Stop this” the girl exclaimed.

“Do you think I'm going to let this woman come to my house to talk about you and my family like that, when we welcomed her with open arms?” her mother reproached, standing in front of her.

“You don't have any right to talk about mine either” now Eunji joined the conversation.

“Oh, come on, Eunji, stop being so blind and realize the kind of son you have.”

Daeho didn't need to be there anymore, which was why he fleetingly got up from his seat and without saying more, left the house with more haste than his cousin had ever seen. (Y/N) dropped her cloth napkin on the table with noticeable annoyance to try to go after her cousin, it was when her mother took her by the arm, squeezing firmly.

“Don't you dare set foot outside this house.”

She didn't know if it was the anger running through her veins or the tiredness of always wanting to do what her mother thought was right; but she didn't need to think twice when without looking back she went out the large door of her house, taking the keys to her car on the way. Her throat felt weird, she didn't want to waste a single tear. She shouldn't. With her hands slightly trembling and biting her lip, she took her cell phone and pressed a couple of numbers on it, waiting for the other line to answer.

With heavy breaths and sitting in the driver's seat of her car, she listened to the rings her phone produced and when she finally heard a response, she spoke quickly:

“Jungwoo, I'm sorry for calling late, but there’s a party we need to go”.

_____________________________________________

The scenario in which Jung Jaehyun found himself was not unfamiliar to him. His ears had been ringing from a few meters away before he arrived at one of the Suh residences; with Wong Lucas by his side and stepping out of his own car: a BMW M2, a car that he had won from a rich kid in one of his many bets a few months ago, thanks to his luck and his driving skills.

And since then, it had become his favorite car. Luckily, he could occasionally take it to his friend Taeyong's workshop to make some adjustments and add a couple of details to make the car even better.

Entering the mansion, he could see some familiar faces a few meters away from him. Some greeted him warmly as their dealer was just entering, while others tried to avoid him like the plague. Either way, Jaehyun didn't care how they looked at him.

He came with a single purpose in mind.

It was incredible to see how much someone like Johnny Suh could invest in one of his parties: it was crazy to see how he splurged everything for a simple night. However, that was his perfect hook for his businesses, and if he had to give double the money to Sooman by Monday, he had to get started right away.

Without exchanging a single word with Lucas and lightly taking him by the arm, he brought him closer to the wall; from his pocket, he took out a couple of small bags and immediately handed them to his friend, who only nodded, understanding everything and putting what Jaehyun had given him into the pockets of his jacket. They hugged with a quick pat on the back, and again, without saying anything, they separated.

Observing the environment cautiously, Jaehyun went into the luxurious house, trying to blend in with the people there. His ears were still ringing, and the smell of marijuana reached his nose. He inhaled subtly and relaxed his posture when Johnny Suh's figure stood in front of him.

"Jung Jaehyun!" the guy exclaimed, opening his arms. "Welcome to the Suh residence, my favorite dealer. What do you have for me this wonderful night?" he asked curiously while waving his hands.

Jaehyun put his hand in his pocket and carefully showed him the contents he had there, causing Johnny to smile ecstatically.

"Half or an ounce?" Jaehyun asked, putting the small bag back into his jacket.

"An ounce, my friend."

Friend, surely.

"You know how much it is," Jaehyun said as he took out the small bag again and placed it in the guy's hand, receiving a 50,000 won bill in his other hand in return. "Dude, I don't have any change with me," he warned.

"What are you talking about, Jae? Keep the change and enjoy the night. The drinks are by the kitchen, take whatever you want, and if you happen to go up to any of the rooms, don't forget to lock it," he patted his chest with a wink from his eye and left his sight without saying more.

Even with a bit of evident surprise on his face, he tucked the bill into his wallet and continued on his way; it would be a long night, so why not have a little fun while selling all his stuff?

He didn't know at what exact moment his first drink of the night ended, nor did he know at what moment he found himself among a circle of people who had bought at least a quarter of what he needed to sell, nor did he know at what moment his hand ended up on the waist of a girl who was looking at him while batting her eyelashes at him.

He knew better than anyone that it wasn't time to get drunk, especially with the heavy merchandise he was carrying with him, but how good it felt the slight dizziness that passed through his head, the weed made him momentarily forget everything. When he was younger, he had sworn he wouldn't fall into alcohol so easily, but it was a temptation that was hard to resist, and eventually, weed also helped. For a moment, he could be himself and forget everything at home, in his neighborhood, at work.

But how hard it was when all that effect wore off and he became simply Jaehyun again, the number one dealer of Neo Zone.

His eyes momentarily diverted from the girl in front of him, watching as at the back of the room there was a Yellow Wood guy; one of the gang his brother had gotten into trouble with, selling a package similar to the ones he was selling to none other than Hwang Daeho.

He didn't know what had come over him because clearly it wasn't his problem, but slowly he left the small group he was in, hearing behind him how the girl he had spent the whole night with called him while he ignored her, heading towards the two young men.

"Hey, Chris," Jaehyun greeted with a serious expression. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this guy."

"Oh, Jung, don't get involved when I'm finishing a deal," the mentioned one responded as he pocketed the bills Daeho had given me. "Don't think we've forgotten about the little show your brother and his friends put on a couple of months ago on the train tracks."

He clenched his jaw and could feel Daeho tense beside him. "It's not like I'm going to forget that you're dealing and doing business in Neo Zone territory either, go back to your city and sell there," the tattooed guy explained as he dangerously approached him.

"Look, Jung, the last thing I want tonight is a fight, so stop getting in my way," Chris replied as he walked away from the guys.

When they were alone, Jaehyun stood in front of Daeho and stretching out his hand, he spoke: "Give me what he sold you."

It wasn't his problem, so why was he doing this? He hadn't sold him anything, so he hadn't broken any deal.

Was alcohol playing tricks on him, making (Y/N)'s face appear in his mind? Daeho looked at him without understanding what he was asking for, and that was enough for Jaehyun to let out a heavy sigh to repeat: "Give me any crap that idiot sold you."

"Look, Jaehyun, I don't know what's going on, and if this has to do with buying from someone outside your area, I'm sorry, but dude, you haven't wanted to sell me anything in the last few weeks, and I can't go a single damn day without getting something else," Daeho explained, putting the package away in his bag and refusing to comply with what Jaehyun had just asked.

"I don't give a damn that you can't keep your damn body clean, but apparently, your cousin does care, so give me that," he demanded again.

"What does (Y/N) have to do with all this? Are you fucking her or something?" asked the boy in front of him with annoyance, and now that he paid attention, his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

He didn't have time to deal with a junkie right now.

"Go ahead, champ. Go keep putting that crap into your body, I don't want you crossing paths with me all night," Jaehyun requested, touching the bridge of his nose, feeling Daehyuk getting closer to him.

That guy had courage out of nowhere.

And that's what a substance can do for you.

"I remind you that you're no better than me, you consume it and sell it."

Daeho stepped away from him, leaving him alone and causing him to clench his fist. He was tired, tired of remembering every minute of his life how messed up it was. Did he have another option? No, he didn't have any other option, right now, it was either to sell all that heaviness in the pockets of his jacket or risk ending up on Monday with a beaten body and having to hide it from his mother.

The night was still young, and he had to end up with those empty pockets. He just hoped Lucas was doing his part correctly.

____________________________________________

Jungwoo was next to (Y/N); it had been a while since he and his friend went out partying, and although clearly, she wasn't there to have fun, she wanted to make the most of the night.

The girl next to him scanned the room for any sign of her cousin, but there was no trace of him. The familiar faces of her classmates ran through her mind, and she was starting to feel overwhelmed.

"(Y/N), I know you're worried about your cousin and all that," heard her best friend's voice above the music, "but I also know you need to have some fun. Why don't we do that? It's been a while since we've been to a party; we should make the most of it, and then later, you can kick Daeho's ass."

"I don't know, Woo."

"Look, the same pressure Daeho says he feels is the same pressure your parents put on you, and after the scene they made today at dinner? Don't you think you deserve a break?"

Jungwoo approached the table where a couple of drinks were, quickly preparing a paloma for his friend and handing it to her after finishing it.

"Let's enjoy the night, break away from your home, and be yourself. Not the girl your parents expect you to be, not the girl your business expects you to be. Just the teenager you are now, just that." The girl, although not very convinced, nodded and then took a sip of her drink, feeling that Jungwoo had put more alcohol than soda in it. The boy laughed at his friend's reaction and hugged her by the shoulders.

"Alright, let's have fun tonight."

(Y/N) had never been a big fan of alcohol, especially beer. If she occasionally enjoyed a drink, it was usually some kind of elegant wine that her father had in the mini wine cellar at home; some kind of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Grigio... however, tonight, the acidity that ran down her throat every time she took a sip of her commercial beer was a feeling of ecstasy.

She didn't know if it was because Jungwoo's words were really resonating in the back of her head, where she remembered that, right now, what she needed to do was relax and distance herself from her family. Because she deserved it. So she wasn't sure when she lost sight of her best friend during the night, maybe it was sometime around eleven or twelve at night when Jungwoo left her side; nor was she sure when her head started to feel light after the third beer, but she was sure she was starting to lose count.

Normally, it was always Jungwoo and (Y/N), stuck side by side and never separating, which is why, at that moment, it was strange to see the girl around classmates, with whom she rarely engaged in conversation, but she truly didn't care in the state she was in, because she was having a good time, and especially because a nice guy, whom she didn't recognize, was making her laugh like she hadn't in a long time.

Her phone felt heavy in the small bag she was carrying, especially because she was aware of the numerous calls and messages she had been ignoring from her mother since she had arrived at the Suh residence, and although she knew she should answer those calls, she firmly believed that she didn't want to deal with her and her father.

For now, she just wanted to be a girl having fun and forgetting about everything else.

The image of Daeho had been temporarily erased from her mind a while ago, but at some point in her night, the doubt of whether Jung Jaehyun had attended the party had arisen.

Still, she couldn't see him.

Amidst all the numbness her mind was going through, she didn't notice when subtly the guy she had been talking to for an hour moved her away from the group of people they were with. Chris, she remembered his name, had a slight grip on her waist; something she hadn't paid the slightest attention to.

"Why are we moving away?" (Y/N) asked in a sleepy voice, letting herself be guided by the steps the guy took.

"Oh, I just thought it would be good if we moved away a bit to talk more. You know, we can get to know each other a little better," the guy responded, causing the girl to overlook the hint of malice that came out of his mouth.

"But we were fine with the others," she dragged her words as she tried to move away from Chris's grip on her body. "Where's Jungwoo?" she asked when her inner alarm went off.

"He must be around here somewhere, don't worry; we'll look for him later," he replied as he gently brought his lips to the girl's ear and then moved them to her jawline. "Let's have a good time for now."

A light kiss was planted there, and it was then that her senses returned coldly, and all the dizziness she had previously experienced disappeared slightly; putting her hands on the guy's chest to push him away abruptly.

"No, I don't want to look for him later. I want to go with Jungwoo now," the girl demanded after her failed attempt to push him away.

"Calm down, Hwang. You've been practically all over me all night; it's not time to start playing hard to get, is it?"

"What are you talking about, idiot?" she questioned sharply and tried to push him again; she looked into his eyes with anger and could see in them the way they were droopy, slightly bloodshot, and that's when she could gather who this guy was and what he did with his lif “let go of me now or...”

"Or what? Stop pretending to be a fucking innocent; it doesn't suit you," he said as he, again, brought his mouth to the girl's neck.

And surprised by the strength she found in that moment, with a strong push and after struggling, she was able to push him far enough to release a punch that went straight to his jaw.

"You damn bitch," the guy spat, letting go of her and grabbing her face.

"That would be the last time you touch me, and get that if a girl says no, it's because she means no."

"You'll regret it, you fucking bitch."

With her heart pounding in her chest and her mind still accompanied by a slight dizziness, she began to move away from the guy and the dark hallway she was in. It was difficult to walk when her legs felt shaky from the scene she had been involved in; she scolded herself mentally for drinking the amount of alcohol she had drunk, knowing well her low tolerance to it.

She looked for Jungwoo with her eyes, and it was difficult to find him when her vision was blurry. She wanted to get out of there. She wanted to do it now.

What an idiot Chris had been. She hated it when men looked for things that weren't there. She had never hinted that she wanted anything, nor that she wanted to get away from the group. She felt dirty to remember where his hands had been. How his fingerprints felt on her skin and how she wanted to hit him again in his stupid face.

She felt something strange in her chest, she didn't know how to explain it; it was a combination of anger and vulnerability she was experiencing. The slight distress she felt there could be noticed on her face, surrounded by so many people under the effects of who knows what substance, feeling her body reacting slowly and not knowing where the hell Jungwoo had gone.

When she felt a hand on her arm, stopping her steps, she feared it was Chris, who had gone after her. And with her breath caught in her throat, she turned around to find a pair of eyes that took her by surprise.

"Hey, are you okay, Angel?"

She thought it was the first time she was glad to see Jaehyun.

It wasn't weird seeing Jaehyun in Johnny's house, she knew he's use to come to this parties at the end his presence was required if her classmates wanted to have a good time. What it was weird to her a that in the last two weeks he has seen Jaehyun more often that her own cousin, that always seemed to have an excuse to avoid her.

She didn’t know if it was of the dizziness she was feeling or what, but Jung Jaehyun looked good. All dressed up in black leather, with his neck tattoo decorating his body and his pulled hair back. She must be really fucked up if she was thinking in how hot Jaehyun looked.

But that wasn’t the case right now, she needed someone because she couldn’t trust herself in that state.

And right now, among all the people inside the residence and adding that Jungwoo was nowhere to be found, Jaehyun was the only person she could rely on.

Could she really?

She thought there wasn't much difference between Chris and Jaehyun. In the end, they both did the same thing. Sure, in different areas, but their lives revolved around similar things; situations, people, experiences.

"I... I don't know where Jungwoo is," she clumsily said.

In her voice, Jaehyun could notice the slight clumsiness in tone, realizing that the girl had been drinking, approaching her delicately, now he could see the expression of concern on her face.

"And then that idiot of Chris," she continued with a disgusted face, and upon hearing the mention, Jaehyun defensively turned to look at her.

"Has Chris approached you? Was it something about Daeho?" he asked quickly.

(Y/N) nervously bit her lip to avoid the boy's gaze and again put her gaze on the hall where they were.

Where the hell was Jungwoo?

"Shit," the girl blurted out when she realized, "Chris sold something to Daeho, didn't he?" Seeing the expression on the boy's face, she knew the answer. "Damn it, I'm so sick of this," she said as she put her hands on her head. Her breathing quickened, and she felt her hands trembling. "What the hell do I have to do for Daeho to stop this nonsense? I came here to find him, and then Jungwoo thought it would be a good idea to have fun," she spoke quickly, causing Jaehyun to only catch a few words. "I'm sick of my mom and my aunt arguing about which family is better, then Jungwoo disappears, and the stupid of Chris tries something with me”.

"What? Has he done something to you?" Jaehyun asked, surprised.

"What's the point of having this damn deal with you?" she ignored the boy's words and continued, "I know you told me that Daeho would find another dealer as soon as he wanted to use again, but I had hoped he wouldn't. Now I'm overwhelmed with my tasks and yours, that damn report I have to submit in four days, and my mind is stuck. I don't know what else to do to keep everything at one hundred percent, when I'm not even at five percent," she confessed without thinking, and when she realized what she had done, she lowered her gaze. "Sorry, I know you're not someone who cares about this."

She turned around without letting the boy say anything, and after walking a bit, she heard behind her:

"Come on, I'll take you home."

Her brow furrowed, and she turned to face the boy, confused, she asked, "Huh?"

"It seems like you've been drinking a bit too much, and Jungwoo is nowhere to be found, I'll take you home, even if your car is parked around, I don't think it's wise to drive like this."

"What about you?"

"I stopped drinking two hours ago," the boy replied simply, "let's go."

When Jaehyun started walking, (Y/N)'s steps became almost automatic; without thinking about where she was going or with whom, they only followed the silhouette of the boy in front of her without a word.

Perhaps a few seconds later, when she noticed she was in front of Jaehyun's BMW, her mind questioned what she was doing.

She hadn't made wise decisions tonight.

With her hand hesitating on the door handle, debating her actions and whether she should get into the car or not, with her senses heightened knowing it was Jung Jaehyun who, presumably, would take her home, and with the same, already inside the car, waiting for her to react and finally make up her mind; her body trembled.

The music from the residence still echoed in her ears, yet above it, she could hear Jaehyun calling her from inside... and then, without further thought; she got into the car.

The car, to her surprise, looked clean; the scent she could perceive from it was odd... like a combination of marijuana and vanilla, in smoky tones... and now that she thought about it of the few times she managed to be close to Jaehyun, that was the same smell she perceived, and she couldn't help but think it was a pleasant smell. Odd but pleasant.

Jaehyun knew where the Hwang residence was, he had been close once when he had to make some deliveries in that area; that's why he didn't need to ask the girl for any directions, besides he didn't feel like having a chat, especially with someone he doubted was in their right mind.

The first few minutes were silent, she could hear (Y/N)'s soft breathing above the sounds of his own car, and he hoped the rest of the journey would be like that; until she decided to speak: “do you use as well?”

Jaehyun was taken back for the sudden question and the he shook his head. “Sometimes I smoke weed, but that the only thing I use. I don’t like other shit, I might not be the greatest person but I appreciate my body” he said jockingly. It was weird seeing Jaehyun joking with her. “But really, weed is the only thing I like.”

“Doesn’t make you an addict?” she questions again.

“Don’t think so” he answers. “I don’t do it often. Only when I’m really stressed about something, I can control myself” he says and she stayed quiet for a couple of minutes.

“What's next for you?" She asked out of sudden again, making Jaehyun furrow his eyebrows while he kept looking at the road.

"What do you mean?" Jaehyun asked without looking at her.

"It's the last year of school, do you know what's next for you?" (Y/N) asked again this time she stop looking at the window and she put his gaze in him.

Jaehyun scoffed "Do you really want to know?"

Did he really wanted to answer?

This is the longest talk they have ever had.

"I mean... I guess so"

The boy hated thinking about future. And now he hated even more because some preppy girl had to ask about it.

"I don't know" he said. "I don't think about future a lot if I'm honest" he didn't know why he answer though. He could just not say nothing if he wanted to.

"But you should" (Y/N) commented. "College is just around corner and there's a lot of options you should look up".

Jaehyun let out a laughter that left (Y/N) confused. Was he laughing at her? She tilted her head, she didn't know what was so funny.

"College isn't an option for me" he said as he stopped in a red light and then he moved his head so he could look at her. He didn't know why he was telling all of this. "There's no next for me after high school"

"You can't be serious" she mumbled. "There most be and option that can suit you"

"You don't know shit" he said and that alone made (Y/N) move in her sit a little bit uncomfortable.

"No, I might not but if you say that there's no other option for you... then I'm sorry, Jaehyun, I think I have to end the deal with you."

When Jaehyun abruptly stopped the car, he was glad that there was a red light at the traffic signal.

"What?"

"I'm tired of trying to help Daeho when he doesn't want to be helped," she confessed without even looking at him, "and... I think it's time to focus on me. It's too much work. Yours... mine... if I want to keep good grades, my assignments alone are enough, and if you don't have an interest in making something good for you, then I'll stop helping you out as well".

Jaehyun shook his head: "No, but I need your help. I can't fail. I can't be kicked out of school."

"I don't understand, Jaehyun," she said, changing her gaze from the street to the boy's eyes, "I don't understand why all this fuss about not being able to be kicked out of school if it’s because you don't want to ruin your business, not because you genuinely want to be better in your school life. You said it yourself, college isn't an option for you so, if this is only about your work I don't want to be involved or have any influence in something that is not legal".

Jaehyun's hands tensed on the steering wheel.

"You don't need to understand," he said as he moved forward at the green light, "they can't kick me out of school," he repeated firmly.

"Well, I'm sorry, Jaehyun. I made the decision. I appreciate the weeks when you didn't sell anything to Daeho, but even so, he finds a way to consume. It's not your fault. And I finally realized it's not my fault either. I also appreciate you taking me home, but after tonight, you'll go your way and I'll go mine."

"So you're okay with me being kicked out?" He asked with a side smile.

"We're not friends, Jaehyun" she stated. "We were just helping each other out. But if my cousin doesn't want to be helped, I don't need your help neither. I’m sorry if you needed mine but I can’t keep up with this anymore. Being involved with you was dangerous enough and I think it’s for the better"

It hadn't been long since the damn deal had taken place, but inside Jaehyun, he liked having an occasional interaction with the girl, especially if it was to annoy her... he found it funny every time she wrinkled her nose when she was upset with him or the way she tenderly rolled her eyes after he made a silly comment on purpose.

He might got used to her a little.

"I knew you rich kids weren’t faithful to your word" he said. "I guess I can't force you to anything," Jaehyun let out a sigh.

Another fifteen minutes passed in complete silence, with some discomfort on both sides. (Y/N) looking anywhere out of the windows but not putting her gaze on Jaehyun, and the boy was focused on the wheel.

Anyone who saw the scene would laugh to see two people as different as Hwang (Y/N) and Jung Jaehyun in the same car.

She was sure Jungwoo would laugh if he saw them.

Of course, after she kicked him a few times for leaving her.

She didn't notice precisely when they were entering her residence; it wasn't until the car stopped abruptly, and she could see through the window the immense house in front of them.

It was more appealing to stay in that car with the dealer than to deal with her mother.

"I guess it's time for me to go," (T/N) said, grabbing the car handle, "Thank you... Jaehyun... for bringing me, and I'm sorry I can't help you with your work anymore... but I can't do it."

The boy smiled slightly and adjusted his jacket as he shook his head.

"Take care, Angel," Jaehyun said and then said no more.

Jaehyun hadn't been a bad guy to her during the time they had agreed on the deal, however... for her own good; she hoped they wouldn't cross paths again, like it was before the start of the deal.

Jung Jaehyun was a dealer from the Neo Zone, and she had an image to uphold, that's why it was better for each to take their place.

But what was that she felt when she got out of the car and saw Jaehyun leave without even looking at her one last time?

a/n: taglist is open! thank you for reading! wait 4 the next chapter!

there’s a mention of Winwin, what could have happened to him?:0 idk, you might found in the next chapter, who knows?;)) I hope you liking this so far, sorry but I’m more into longer chapter than short ones. Love ya! Oh I’m also posting a Taeyong au later so check it out!

taglist: @gojoscumslut @bluedbliss s @dear-97 @girlwholoveslpreppyattire @hana-off-icial

[dreamersdreamdreams]

omg your yandere cheater boss fix is soooooo good I really do hope you make it into a series I’m like super invested now😍😍😍 maybe can you do a part three where reader gets Stockholm syndrome because they’ve gotten no social interaction other than b/n and b/n has been begging for forgiveness 24/7. Anyways I LOVE you’re writing and I hope you’re doing well☺️🫶

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ the boss part three -ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

content : angst and smut ( minors do not interact )

warnings : yandere themes

key : b / n = boss’s name

author’s note : thank you so much for your request 🫶🏻 i hope you are doing well too , i hope you enjoy this if you are reader

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

It was another day. You only knew that because you had watched the sun set and rise once again. You spend your day mindlessly wandering around the penthouse, waiting for b/n to return home. You clean, cook, and take care of yourself, the only thing motivating you was the love from b/n that you so desperately craved. As soon as you hear the roar of his expensive car, you run to the door to greet him with the greatest smile. “Hello, my love,” he mumbles in a groggy voice. Your heart pangs at the name. “Hello, b/n,” you day softly. “I am so exhausted, y/n. Do you mind if we skip dinner tonight?” “Not at all” you say while the steaming dinner is set on the table. B/n grabs your tiny hands in his hand and leads you to the bedroom. He drops his briefcase on the floor and immediately pulls you in to kiss him. The kiss was rough. You tell he was searching for something good in the long day he had. His hands begin to grab at every curve of your body. He picks you up and throws you on the bed aggressively. Something in that moment made tears start to flow from your eyes. Maybe it was the pain of being thrown on the bed or the seeming lack of love in his movements, his body taken over by lust. B/n is finishing undressing when he sees the tear droplets fall from your eyes onto the sheets. “I can’t do this tonight, y/n,” he says in frustration. You curl up into yourself in the silk sheets, hiding the most private parts of you. “I just want you to love me” you choke out in a sob. B/n grabs your face and smears the tears across your cheeks with his thumbs. “I remind you every day, y/n. I do love you.” You shake your head from side to side as tears roll down your cheeks. “If you loved me you wouldn’t have cheated,” you tell him while staring into his eyes with blurry vision. “I did it for us. I did it because I love you, y/n,” he asserts, gaslighting you. “I know,” you reply instinctively. He grabs your arm in a painful grip. “Then why do you keep this up, y/n,” he argues in frustration. He slams your arm on the bed, trapping you beneath him. You try to pull your arm away from the pain, but your strength could never match b/n’s. He enters into you all at once. You scream at the pain that rips through your body. He immediately starts to move in and out of you at an ungodly pace. You continue to sob throughout the night. The memories of him cheating play in your mind like some horror movie. You came quickly but you no longer felt the high you once felt; it was just a painful ritual at this point. It felt as though you were trapped in purgatory. As soon as b/n finished, he collapsed beside you and fell asleep. He left you alone with your empty thoughts. Would you ever experience true love with b/n again? No, but your corrupted brain could no longer process such realistic thoughts.

[typellblog]

What the anime got wrong about Gilgamesh

So, we know Saber kinda gets shafted in the anime adaptations. She’s introduced in Zero, in which her role is a bit different from FSN, and then instead of adapting the introductory route, the one where we learn the most about her as a character, we skip straight to UBW.

Well, guess who else gets a similar treatment, where they’re first introduced to anime-only watchers via the prequel, and then we skip the route they’re supposed to be introduced in for one where they play a comparatively lesser role?

Illya, of course! And then the bastards cut her scenes from the HF movies as well.

Okay, but seriously, I want to talk about Gilgamesh. Now you might be thinking, Gilgamesh? What’s wrong with Gilgamesh? People liked Gil in Zero. Well, so did I, but reading the Fate route again, there are some interesting differences. I think examining his introductory scenes in both Zero and Fate makes this clear.

Brief recap for those who don’t remember: In Fate he appears near the end of the route, where he slaughters Caster and establishes himself as the final boss. In Zero he appears near the start of the story, where he slaughters Assassin (well, one of them), and establishes himself as a threat.

These scenes are remarkably similar; I wouldn’t be surprised if Urobuchi’s was an intentional homage (Zero does this a lot, compare the role that Lancer plays as Saber’s initial opponent in both).

The two key components here are that Gil is standing at a position higher than his opponent in order to display his superiority, and that his opponent gets utterly destroyed with no chance of fighting back.

That’s rare in any Fate fight scene, but it serves to establish that if Gil wants you dead, you’re dead. It’s a simple but effective formula, especially paired with his striking character design and Seki Tomokazu’s excellent voice acting.

There are two key differences, though. Firstly, Urobuchi is kind of cheating: Assassin is, by design, expendable. It’s only impressive that Gil dispatches him so quickly until you realise that he’s one of a hundred different Assassins. This was even a trick in-story, the plot concocted by Kirei and Tokiomi to conceal that Assassin is still alive.

Caster, on the other hand, is not expendable. She’s an important character who serves as a midboss in UBW and seems poised to serve the same role in Fate before Gil arrives. She’s in the middle of a tense fight scene with Saber and Shirou and is hinting at the hidden capabilities of her Noble Phantasm and everything! This, to be fair, is something that Nasu can only get away with due to the medium – in a visual novel, you can have the impact of a sudden subversion of expectation in one route while playing it straight in another, ensuring you don’t waste any setup or make readers feel cheated.

The second difference, and I think the more important one, is how we’re supposed to react to the scene as audiences. Zero’s version seems solely oriented around showing off how cool Gil is; Assassin gets about as much characterization as a plank of wood, meaning that the audience, as dispassionate spectators, are much closer to Gil’s point of view than anything.

FSN’s version, on the other hand, has a point-of-view character! And if there’s anything we know about Emiya Shirou by this point, it’s that he’s not a big fan of seeing women getting hurt.

As a result, it’s very easy for us to mentally reframe the scene as a person seeing another person getting brutally murdered. And it is brutal. Caster screams in agony as she desperately tries to escape, in contrast to Assassin who simply accepts his fate. The whole scene is dyed blood-red as she is repeatedly skewered by a barrage of Gil’s Noble Phantasms.

Gil isn’t just portrayed as impressive and powerful in this scene, he’s also cruel and awful. And that’s my first point:

1: Golden Man Bad

Gilgamesh is a surprisingly offputting individual.

From his voice (Shirou describes his laugh as ‘irritating’), to his mannerisms (remember the way he blocks Saber’s blows by just covering his head with his hands?), to his unbelievably weird facial expressions, he’s the epitome of an unlikeable villain.

In Zero, we see Gil at his best: sexy, dominating and intelligent. He’s still not a very nice guy, but his bursts of anger all fall on characters we aren’t particularly sympathetic to. In FSN his casual cruelty is made more apparent and more objectionable. (Need I remind the reader of what he does to Illya in UBW?)

In Zero Gil’s constant boasting asserts his confidence and power; in FSN it just makes him kind of seem like a douchebag.

The core qualities that people like about Gil, and make him a cool character to watch, are still there in Fate, but they’re tempered by a lot of reasons to not like him, which barely show up in Zero.

Basically, in FSN Gil seems to have been conceived as the type of villain you love to hate, while in Zero he leans way into the role of a villain you love to love. The subject of how he's portrayed in FGO, CCC or Strange Fake is beyond the bounds of this post to address, but I do think the popularity of his appearance in Zero had some influence there.

2: Sexism

Strictly speaking it’s a subset of the above point as it’s a big part of what makes him so unlikeable, but I think it’s interesting enough to deserve its own discussion, considering it’s much more noticeable here than in other entries.

Just a quick reminder of some of his greatest hits:

The fact that Gil is objectifying Saber specifically because of her gender is obvious, and interestingly enough Shirou is the one who pushes back against it. There’s a real comparison to be made between the two insofar as they are both trying to win her over in the latter stages of the story.

Gil ascribes to a similar perspective to Saber when it comes to the roles people should play. He just thinks that Saber should abandon her role of king in favour of the role of woman, which in Gil’s view is characterized by a set of obligations that include marrying a man and basically becoming his slave.

On the other hand, Shirou is strongly opposed to denying people’s humanity based on arbitrary categories. That’s why, in the early parts of the route, he . . . repeatedly emphasizes the fact that she’s a girl? It probably sounded better in Nasu’s head.

Regardless, the point is that Shirou sees Saber as a human, while Gil sees her as an object. So, there you have it. Emiya Shirou, ally of social justice.

Now, I don’t think Zero is necessarily a worse portrayal of Gil than Fate. In many ways it’s more interesting, and in fact, I think they’re complimentary. Which nicely leads into my last point (wow, it’s almost like I planned the structure of this post before I wrote it):

3: His defeat

For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of an anime-only fan who has started with Zero, just about to watch UBW (yeah, I know, ew).

The main takeaway from Zero seems to be that the bad guys always win. People who pursue their dreams are idiots who will inevitably fail, even if their dreams are really cool (looking at you, Iskandar). A thorough victory for Gil’s ideology of self-centeredness, and a large factor seems to be that he doesn’t care - from his perspective, he already won like three thousand years ago!

So, going into UBW, the characters that we’re attached to, whose stories we really want to see the end of, are Gil and Kirei. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we want them to win – we’d be fine with them losing, just so long as they do something.

And then Gil gets shot in the head and swallowed by a black hole. Shirou wins, but it’s hard to say that Gil loses. After all, Shirou’s whole deal is that he doesn’t need external enemies – the one he must fight is his own image (UBW takes this line very literally). All well and good for the Shirou fans – i.e. the people who began the story at the correct point – but those excited for what they were expecting to be a culmination of Gil’s character arc might understandably be a little disappointed.

To those people I say: read Fate!

In this route, Gilgamesh’s final battle is against Saber, not Shirou. Saber, a person he knows prior to the beginning of the story due to the events of Zero. Saber, the person who serves as his primary motivation and goal during the story. Saber, the person with whom he has significant ideological disagreements about the nature of kingship with!

Just as Ea, embodiment of the cold, hard Truth of the world, proves superior to Iskandar’s dream by destroying Ionian Hetairoi, so too does Avalon, the symbol of everything Artoria fought for, prove able to endure Ea’s destructive power. It’s a perfect conclusion to the questions asked in the Banquet of Kings.

UBW, for the Zero fan, does not reveal anything new about Gil’s character. But Fate does. We get his single best quote!

Not only is Gil implicitly justifying Artoria’s own unobtainable dream as valuable, but he also identifies himself with her, as a fellow pursuer of that which cannot be obtained.

The contradiction at the heart of their conflict is that Gil wanted Artoria precisely because she was the kind of person to refuse him. What attracted him to her was the stubborn idealism of her kingship, not the subservience he expects from a woman. So, there’s no actual way for Gil to end up satisfied, even if he wins.

His plan was to force Artoria to drink Grail mud to physically incarnate her, driving her insane, but even if he could make her submit to him without that, she would still be tainted, still be fundamentally less valuable to him by the mere fact of being his possession.

In realizing this, he accepts his defeat, unlike in other routes. He couldn’t stand the idea of losing to inferior copies of his treasures in Unlimited Blade Works, but Artoria’s Noble Phantasms were never in his treasury to begin with. And after owning everything in existence for thousands of years, the things you don’t have start to look a lot more alluring than anything you already do.

This is the fifth of roughly thirty analytical essays on Fate/Stay Night that I will be reposting here (with some edits) from Reddit.

It was once pointed out to me that this one was where my posts started 'getting good' so to speak. Hopefully this time round the rough start has been softened a bit.

[ganondoodle]

Hey there, just read your concept for how you would replace building in TotK with Hookshot mechanics and it sounds really cool!

Like, sure Building was fun, but as you said before, it really doe not fit this game/world and just broke to many parts of it.

To get to my actual question, would the Hookshot be aimable in slow-motion while falling, similar to how Bow & Arrows work?

Because I am now imagining Sky-Islands surrounded by lots of small floaty rocks, some of them so far from each other (or moving) that the player has to hook to the closest one, climb up, get a run up, jump, glide towards the next one, and then let go of the glider, whip out the hookshot, and hook onto the next rock.

Heck, you could have an entirely airborne Gleeock Bossfight this way, similar to som of the Bosses in Twilight Princess!

Thanks as always for sharing your ideas with us!

yeah! its not too hard to imagine right? and i feel like it would have fit so well and be much easier to balance for botws world

maybe you have seen it before but i did make an ability concept for it before (some info on this wouldnt be for the botw2 style rewrite im focusing on now bc i made this originally as part of the villain rauru idea, but the abilities and how they work remains the same)

maybe the way to pull yourself towards somethign or it to you wouldnt be a single button press but instead a holding one, so if you wanna hook and immedaitely be pulled there you can just streamline it via holding the button until you are there (i know holding down a button can be rly straining but botws control scheme doesnt have a lot of it so i think using it here wouldnt be too bad .......... less painful thatn the totk arrow menu thats for sure lol)

(can i just say i really like the the infusion idea for abilities too, like ... wouldnt it be so cool to find broken shiekah tech and using it just because and then it WORKS, like theres a guardian wreck and you get on top and use infuse and it springs to life to move out of the way of a doorway for example, other structers you could use similar to twilight princess copy-staff but in a more modern interpretation??)

the building jsut breaks the game too much, and imo not in a fun way like cheating in a way definitely not intended or glitched, its like a 10 piece picture puzzle but you are also given a button that assembles it for you and you get the same reward anyway, that doesnt count as multiple solutions like it worked in botw, its like they gave up and just gave you (multiple) skip buttons, since not only rocketshields but also the 'move thing and reverse it' are like that, and you cant tell me they didnt realize that (also id argue that even without skipping puzzles, alot of them arent fun either, like its mostly either insultingly simple building tasks the game tells you outright what to do .. or just hands it to you .. or you know what to do immediately and the puzzle part comes from you having to deal with clunkily glueing stuff together until it works, which i found pretty frustrating)

ANYWAY thanks for liking what im doing!!! if i wasnt so slow and art blocked so much id have way more to show already, and text alone usually isnt that interesting :,)

[natolesims]

MY HEART IS YOURS | A Sims 4 Legacy Challenge

Written by @natolesims AKA @dustbon

I did a thing! This challenge is based on the mexican telenovela "Mi Corazón es Tuyo" (My Heart is Yours) where the main character, an exotic dancer, ends up working as a nanny for a millionaire by accident. I used to watch it every single afternoon with my abuelita and since I was feeling nostalgic, this challenge came to life. Hehe.

This is a 10 gen, story-driven challenge with detailed objectives and dynamics for each generation. I hope you like it! I'd love to see if you play it, so feel free to tag me or use #myheartisyourslegacy

Rules under the cut! Or if you prefer it, here's the Google Doc~

NOTES AND GENERAL RULES

Adult themes are included in some generations. You’ve been warned.

There might be some aspects of the gameplay that might not be included in the game by default (for example, earning money as a nanny or a dancer). If you play with mods, feel free to use how many you’d like to enhance the experience! 

Alternatively, you can always make your own twist and interpretation of the challenge, its features and rules. It’s your gameplay, so have fun and do your thing!

Since the story revolves around wealthy families, I’d suggest to create / download  some rich sims or households if you’d like to have more options.

You can skip, add new or change the order of the generations.

No cheats allowed besides freerealestate or funds modification (according to some situations)

I created this challenge considering multiple aspects of the game and its DLCs. If you’d like to change or substitute something, go ahead!

Each generation is a bit specific, so I’d suggest to play on normal / long lifespan or pause aging whenever you consider necessary.

Again, have fun!!

GEN 1 - THE NANNY

You are an orphan who learned to survive on your own at a very young age. After years of working as an exotic dancer you finally managed to buy your own little house, but you lost everything unexpectedly. In an act of desperation, you asked for a large loan from your horrible boss who has you trapped in their grasp and  the money they gave you is still not enough to get by... so you signed up into an employment agency to get the expense off the ground. As if it weren’t enough, they mixed up your papers and now you've been hired as a… babysitter? Are you kidding? Welp, thank goodness you love children.

Traits: Good, Family-Oriented, Loyal

Aspiration: Super Parent / Big Happy Family

Skills: Max dancing,  charisma and parenting 

Job: Make-believe nanny and part-time exotic dancer. 

Rules:

Move to an empty house and set your funds to 0.

Alternatively: Move to a furnished home and destroy everything through an "incident" (you can cheat for this) and break all the plumbing. You can’t fix those items, only replace them after you get your loan money.

Have a night job as an exotic dancer in a local club. None of your day job clients should recognize you while you’re working at the club, and vice-versa.

If you have mods that fit this situation, feel free to use them! Save the tips you earn :) 

If you play this vanilla, disguise your sim and send them dancing to a club each night. You'll earn $200 per day if performance.

Ask the nightclub owner (your boss) for a loan of $8,000 simoleons. You’ll have to keep dancing there until:

A) You earn the money and pay your debt, or

B) You’ve been working in the club for 1 in-game year, but then you can’t keep the money you’ve earned from dancing.

Optional: Consider paying $1,000 for a renovation permit and another $1,000 for plumbing and electrical installation per story.

Start a day job as a nanny. You’ll earn $300 per family.

To do so: Meet sims with children and visit them often to take care of the kids. You can only help one family per day.

Alternatively: You can choose a particular household to be working for. The wealthier and more kids, the better.

Give your sim the always welcome trait so you won’t have issues with cooking and stuff. 

For super wealthy families: You can build a room for yourself in their homes or use the visit room if they have one, but you can’t move your sim into their households at all. You’ll still have to work at the club at night and work on rebuilding your little home. 

Befriend all the kids of the families you’ve worked for.

Fall in love with the head of family of the wealthiest household that hired you. To marry your potential spouse, you must:

End paying the nightclub debt

Finish rebuilding your house again :)

Become friends with the live-in services, if they have (butler, chef, maid, gardener, etc.)

Max your friendly relationship with each kid the love interest has. Only then you can start building a romantic relationship with them.

If they already have a spouse, make them your enemy and have the love interest divorce them. 

Have as many own kids as you can. 

GEN 2 - A GROOVY GRANDPA

You come from a rich family that cares for its wealth with fervor. You did everything your parents and your parents' parents taught you: work hard, make money, have an heir and make even more money. You always felt that working was the only purpose of your life… but now that you are older, you realized how wrong you were. Now that you're old, loades, and your family can fend for themselves, you have the opportunity to do everything you couldn't in your youth.

Traits: Materialistic, ambitious, loner.

Aspiration: 1) Mansion Baron and 2) Inner Peace

Skills: All the skills needed for the career of your choice, mixology, dancing, wellness and a hobby of your choice (as an elder).

Job: Business (Investor Branch) or Salaryperson (Expert Branch)

Rules:

Go to university and get a degree that’ll help you get a jump start on the career of your choice (options above).

University can be tedious and long to play, so I’d suggest using a mod that makes the terms shorter :)

Reach the top of your career as a young adult. 

Marry a wealthy sim out of tradition and have only one child. That’s our heir.

Have a so-so relationship with your kid and your spouse.

Your spouse should die as an adult (you can cheat for this).

Focus on making all the money you can while being an adult. If you can get fame points while you’re at it, perfect.

Once you reach elderhood, have a life crisis and embrace a new “you”.

Change your traits to: Romantic, adventurous and goofball.

Change your aspiration to: Inner Peace.

I’d strongly suggest to turn aging off so you won’t die of old age.

Enjoy life! Be self-indulgent, go partying, pick up new hobbies, make new friends, visit new places. 

Try getting the emotional mindful moodlet often.

Find true love with a humble sim significantly younger than you. 

The next heir must disapprove your new relationship.

Have a child through pregnancy or adoption with your new partner. Move out of the family home and go live with your new little family.

Focus on being an excellent parent and spoil the little one rotten until the last of your days. 

GEN 3 - THE WORKAHOLIC

Your father lost it and messed up his life's direction... and stained the family’s values. You carry your last name with pride and you’re determined to put it back to its former glory by doing what you do best: working. You will rescue the company that your father nearly ruined, return wealth and good fortune to your family and lead an exemplary life, whatever it’s the cost. Your children constantly complain about how absent and cold you are, but they are too young to understand the importance of your priorities. They will thank you one day.

Traits: Proper, Ambitious, Perfectionist.

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Skills: All the skills needed for your career only. You’re not interested in anything else.

Job: Business (Management Branch)

Rules:

Always excel as a student.

Don't have a social life.

All sims you meet (except the future spouse) must stay as acquaintances.

Always turn down any kind of social invite.

Never throw a party of any sort.

Never celebrate a birthday, not even your own. 

Go to university and study communications at U-Brite. At uni you must:

Enter the secret society.

Enter the debate guild.

Graduate with honors.

Meet the love of your life during your time as a student. Your spouse must:

Have good traits only.

Belong to a wealthy family.

You can only marry if you have a full romance bar.

Also: no woohoo before marriage!

You two must live in the family home / manor. Refurnish it with  expensive items, fine art and decorations if it isn’t.

Have a butler. If you play with mods, also have all sorts of live-in services. If not, hire a scheduled gardening, maid and nanny service via the phone.

Don’t have any kind of pets. Not even fish.

Fill up your sim's fun need by doing "boring activities". For example:

Only listen to the talk radio and classical music stations.

Only watch the news and the weather channel.

Don't tell jokes.

The only game your sim can play is chess.

Only read non-fiction or skill books.

You get the idea by now :)

Dedicate your entire existence to your career, completing your aspiration and your loving partner.

Earn fame points through situations or interactions related to your career only.

Get the workaholic lifestyle and live accordingly.

Have as many children as you can with your spouse. After the last family slot is taken, your spouse has to die unexpectedly (you can cheat for this)

After your spouse's demise, change two of your traits to: Hot headed and gloomy.

Have a rocky relationship with all of your children:

Try to limit your interactions with your children. Have the helping sims (butler and nanny) take care of them.

Develop the strict family dynamic with every single child.

All of your kids must be top students and gain the good manners character value trait.

Your kids must have a tight schedule: School, after-school activities, homework time, limited playtime, music lessons (for girls), sport lessons (for boys) and early bedtime. If they develop a dislike for an activity, accept it but they’ll have to do it anyway.

Marry a co-worker as an adult, but do not love them. On the contrary to your loving spouse, they must only have negative traits. Bonus points if they have the hates children trait.

Start a recurrent affair with one of your service sims.

The next generation starts when the heir is a teen. 

GEN 4 - THE INDECISIVE ROMANTIC

You grew up in a large family that seemed more like a military company. Being the smartest of all your siblings, your father always sought to train you in such a way that you would take his place when time comes, but you don't want to be remotely like him. You are still young and you have enough time to change the course of things. You want adventure, you want love, you want happiness and wealth… but the pursuit of hedonism may not help you make the smartest decisions.

Traits: Genius, bookworm, snob

Aspiration: 1) Nerd brain 2) Serial Romantic

Skills: Logic, writing, research and debate, fitness

Job: Law career (Private Attorney Branch)

Rules:

Be the typical nerdy teen. Embrace the stereotype at its fullest.

Always excel in school 

Complete the nerd brain aspiration as a teenager.

Frequent intellectual lots like libraries and museums.

If you can, become a valedictorian and/or achieve early graduation.

Start a romantic, toxic relationship with the first sim who is constantly rude to you.

Your sim has to still be a teen.

Break-up and get together again frequently.

Enter the U-Brite Communications program as your parent did, but drop out shortly after. You want something else in life. 

Improve your physical appearance and start working out. After your makeover, change your bookworm trait for the self-absorbed trait. 

Move out on your own, live the party life and date around! But keep coming back to your toxic ex.

Don’t have any source of income after moving out.

Have an accidental pregnancy with your ex, but don’t take responsibility for the baby. 

Have another accidental pregnancy with one of your affairs, and also don’t take responsibility. 

This other sim must have the good or cheerful trait.

After spending all your simoleons on parties and vice and, go back to the family home and enter the Law career to become a private attorney. 

After getting your life in order again, look for your previous partners and decide to take care after the kids they had with you. 

Don’t have any more kids after that.

Start building up both romantic relationships again, but keep them in the shadows from one another. Never make a final decision.

Write books as a hobby, but only publish: non-fiction, poetry and biography books.

The least disciplined child will be the heir.

GEN 5 - THE ADVENTURER

You grew up in a millionaire family that has everything you could imagine, but somehow you always felt like you didn't belong to it. There is a certain indomitable spirit of adventure within yourself and when you came of age, you decided to fully embrace it. Your parent disapproves and would rather have you not prefer an unstable life of artistic adventure to the safety of a well-established profession... but he has no place to tell a you a thing, knowing the kind of life he led in his young years. Leaving all the responsibility of the house and the family business to your half-brother, you packed your bags and took the first plane to the jungle.

Traits: Active, creative, loves outdoors.

Aspiration: 1) Jungle Explorer 2) Mt. Komorebi Sightseer, 3) Beach Life and 4) Archaeology Scholar.

Skill: Selvadorian Culture, Archaeology, Fishing, Fitness, Singing and Guitar.

Job: Freelance photographer.

Rules:

Always be a laid back, cool type of person. 

Frequent museums and parks as a kid and teenager.

Once you graduate high-school, travel the world to become a nature photographer! Think of a globetrotter-ish kind of generation:

1: Selvadorada. 

Build a luxurious villa as your jungle home (you’re still a millionaire, so no problem with this). You’ll frequent it a lot during the generation.

Complete the Jungle Explorer Aspiration.

Once you reach level 2 of the photography skill, you can travel to the next destination:

2: Mt. Komorebi

Complete the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration.

Visit each festival.

Once you reach level 3 of the photography skill, you can travel to the next destination:

3: Sulani

Complete the Beach Life Aspiration

Max the fishing skill.

Max the photography skill.

Be a flirt and have multiple lovers across the worlds, but find true love with one in particular.

Optional 1: have this sim travel with you as a companion.

Optional 2: have your half-brother fall in love with them as well.

Complete 3 collections of your choice.

Become famous by publishing your photographs.

After ending your stay in Sulani, your half brother must die (you can cheat for this). You’ll have to go back to the family home and take care of the generational fortune.

Keep traveling often to Selvadorada, the world you like the most. Work on completing the Archaeology Scholar Aspiration during your short visits. 

Decide to settle down with the sim you fell in love with and form a family of your own. 

Have lots of children.                                     

GEN 6 - THE STAR

You don't understand the tendency of past family heads to get rid of a life full of all sorts of comfort. Dirt? Ew. Luxury and fame are everything to you, but since you were young you had a problem with your appearance and awkward personality. But you know what? That is going to change. You are not interested in a boring company or looking for love: you just want to shine as bright as the sun.

Traits: Self-absorbed, materialistic, high-maintenance.

Aspiration: World-Famous celebrity.

Skills: Charisma, mischief, acting.

Job: Social Media (Internet Personality), Actor (optional)

Rules:

Be the “ugly duckling” of the family while growing up. 

Have the socially awkward trait as a teen.

Have your first puppy love as a pre-teen / teenager, but be heartbroken. Never believe in true love after that. 

Have a bad relationship with every single family member. 

Move out on your own to a luxurious home as soon as you become a young adult and cut ties with the rest of the family, previous friends and acquaintances. You’re on your own now. 

Have a radical image change after becoming independent.

Enter and reach the top of the Social Media career as an Internet Personality. Only then you can enter the Actor career if you wish. 

You can only actively work as a Young Adult.

Start building your own fortune through fame and gold-digging. 

Have an accidental pregnancy and use it to your convenience. Keep the baby. 

Never develop the parenting skill

Have a bad relationship with your kid

Mold your child to your image. They must be conventionally beautiful.

Your child must be well educated and skilled, but have terrible character value traits.

If you marry, become a widow everyone shows their sympathy to. Keep being a gold digger after that and never remarry.

Quit your job(s) right after entering the adult lifestage and spend your fortune as if there were no tomorrow. 

The next gen starts when the heir becomes a young adult. By then, you must be broke and have lost all your fame.

GEN 7 - THE HOMEWRECKER

You always meant an instrument for your parent, even before you were born. Thanks to them, you are an expert in the art of manipulation, seduction and performance. You are beautiful, intelligent, cold and calculating. Such confidence and mettle has carried you far from childhood, but now that you're an adult, it's time to think big and not make the same mistakes as your stupid parent... even if it means carrying them around for the rest of your life. Now, time to choose a victim to pay the family debts and live a perfect life.

Traits: Evil, hates children, hot-headed.

Aspiration: 1) Drama llama, 2) Mansion Baron

Skills: Charisma, logic, writing, acting, research and debate.

Job: Salaryperson (Supervisor Branch)

Rules:

Be the perfect, spoiled brat your mother made you since childhood. 

Always have a pristine image, even if you’re broke as hell. People doesn’t need to know your family is in bankruptcy

Become the unreachable, popular meanie in highschool and embrace those vibes throughout teenagedom, but never start a serious relationship. 

Complete the Drama Llama teen aspiration.

Move out on your own as a young adult, but have the previous heir move in with you shortly after to live at your expense. Your parent:

Cannot get a job or have any source of income of any sort.

Has to have the slob trait (you can cheat this),

Has to follow every whim related to their personality, and

Has to spend $5,000 simoleons by the end of each week. If you don’t have the money, add it to a “debt” list you must pay. 

Enter the salaryperson career (Supervisor Branch)  and reach the top of it quickly as a young adult. As soon as you reach it, get relaxed and don’t pay much attention to your career anymore.

Optional: get an university degree that’ll help you get a jumpstart. If you chose to do this, you’ll have to study at home, ask for all the scholarships you can and graduate with honors (of course).

If you get the workaholic lifestyle, go to coaching to get rid of it. 

You must choose only one ultimate spouse candidate.

They must be attractive (to your sim), successful and ridiculously wealthy.

They must be already in a serious romantic relationship of any sort with another sim.

Bonus points if they have at least one child. 

Once you decide on a love interest, develop one-sided feelings for them and do everything in your reach to gain their favor, but they should never love you.

Get to marry your love interest one way or another. Move your sim and the previous heir into their home and enjoy your new fortune :))

Once you marry, adopt your spouse’s last name.

Have only one own child: the result of a one-time affair with another sim.

Use mean interactions only with every child you meet (even your own), any “low-class” sim you meet and service sims. 

Gain the Twisted Heart reward trait.

GEN 8 - THE BEAUTY 

You've lived in a bubble all your life. Despite having a lousy relationship with your parent, they have given you everything you wanted and more: a good education, luxury, travels and gifts. You have always tried to fulfill their expectations and desires... until you met the love of your life in someone you would never have expected. After a terrible argument with your family, you decided to run away with your love and start a new life from scratch. The plan sounded good in your mind, but then you realized that you don't know how to do anything other than being cute.

Traits: Good, Clumsy, Romantic

Aspiration: 1) Admired icon 2) Soulmate 

Skills: None in particular

Job: None in particular

Rules:

Be the stereotypical perfect, beautiful and shallow rich kid. 

Have a bad relationship with your parent, but respect their authority.

Try not to do activities that make you gain "useful" skills (or any skill). Focus only on having fun and enjoying life.

Complete the Admired Icon aspiration in your teenage years.

Have your parent arrange your future marriage with a wealthy sim and start a forced relationship with them, but reject their romantic advances often. 

Enter university in a conventionally well-respected degree program. Become engaged with your current partner at the same time.

Find true love with a service sim.

They can be either one of your household's employees or a NPC like the mailman, a street vendor, a mixologist, a firefighter, etc.

They must be poor.

They must have the creative trait.

They must be a single parent. 

Keep your affair with the service sim in secret until a family member, a close friend or your partner discovers you. Only then you can break your current engagement and escape to live with the love of your life.

Move your sim with their new partner and their child, but bring no simoleons or material goods whatsoever in your inventory.

You can only move to a Needs TLC starter apartment or a starter home with the Gremlins and Grody lot traits. 

The lot or apartment cannot be pretty when you first move to it.

You cannot move out of it on this gen.

Drop out of university but don't get a job. Your spouse must work as a starving artist (Painter career level 1) and don't let them get promoted. 

If you play with mods, keep them in the service career they were when you met them.

Spend all the household's funds on useless things.

Optional: Everytime your sim breaks anything (even the plates while washing them), cheat -$100 simoleons of the household funds.

Get a job only when all your services are cut down after not paying your bills.

You should go through all the basegame careers before deciding on a permanent one. You may start with part-time jobs, then full time careers. 

After you decide on a career to stay, focus on developing the necessary skills for it. When you reach level 3, your spouse can finally work on their artistic career.

If the spouse sells their art, they can't gain fame out of it.

Have only one own child after your household has a stable income. 

GEN 9 - THE NONCOMMITTAL ENTREPRENEUR 

In your family there was never a lack of love, but money definitely was a problem. Your parents made an effort to give you everything that was within their reach, but the truth is that you could never shake off the itch of having something more… something “big”. The thing is that working seriously is not your thing. Never has been, in fact. However, you have brilliant ideas that you just have to materialize with the right investment. But first, let’s go to the party everyone’s talking about.

Traits: Lazy, party animal, noncommittal

Aspiration: 1) Live Fast 2) Party Animal

Skills: Juice fizzing, dancing, entrepreneur skill.

Job: Odd jobs

Rules:

Be a terrible student and surround yourself with lots of friends.

Complete the Live Fast teen aspiration. Then, drop out of high-school but keep living with your parents.

Gain the Irresponsible character value trait.

Earn money only through odd jobs or in-game activities that doesn’t require "intellectual" skills (like writing, programming, painting, etc.), but have Juice fizzing as your main interest.

Frequent party lots every single night like bars, clubs and lounges and spend at least $500 simoleons each night on bar drinks.

Accept every party invite you get, no matter who they are or what your sim is currently doing. 

Meet a love interest in one party night and start a relationship right away, but don't commit to it:

Never take the initiative to go on dates with them, only accept their invitations and make them pay for everything.

Be unfaithful.

Ask them for loans and crash their place frequently to take care of your needs (eating from their fridge, using their shower, etc).

Only visit them to woohoo if your fun levels are low.

Have unprotected woohoo often (try for baby instead of regular woohoo or use mods for this)

Have an accidental pregnancy with your partner and get excited by it. 

Once the baby's born, you'll have to take care of them and your partner will have to dump you and lose all contact. You can then move out of your parents' house.

Now that you're a parent, take your side hustles more seriously and even get a part time job if you decide to, but keep partying at nights and spending most of your earned money on vice.

Don't have any more kids and try to nurture your child as much as you can.

Have an unexpected death while the heir is a child.

GEN 10 - THE (UN)LUCKY MIXOLOGIST

When you were little, you listened with amazement to all kinds of stories that your father told you about the adventures and misadventures of your ancestors. That’s why you have always been a dreamer who wants to achieve success and, above all, to know true love, but that is something that only happens on TV. It seems life had other plans for youm and the only thing left is to work hard and try to move on with a smile.

Traits: Good, foodie, music lover.

Aspiration: 1) Master Mixologist 2) Soulmate

Skills: Mixology, DJ mixing, cooking and baking.

Job: Culinary career (Mixologist Branch)

Rules:

Since you'reunderage, move into a shelter or an orphanage.

Once you become a teen, dropout of high school and earn money through odd jobs and buy a dj mixing station. Only then you can start working in secret as a freelance dj in local clubs and bars:

To do so, create an alternative persona or character your sim must disguise as whenever they're on a show. 

Save all the money you earn through tips.

Don't gain fame.

Once your sim becomes a young adult, join the culinary career and help out at the shelter/orphanage until you have enough money to move out on your own, but keep presenting as a dj each night.

Buy and move to the starter home the founder fixed.

Present yourself regularly at the bar your founder worked at as a dancer, and also work as a hired mixologist some nights. You'll earn $300 per night.

If you have mods that adjust to this, feel free to use them!

Have 10 failed relationships throughout your Young Adult lifestage. Give up on finding love after your last relationship.

The relationships will only count if you get to become boyfriends or more and get to break up, divorce, cancel engagements or separate through other circumstances. 

Once you become an Adult, fall madly in love with a sim you meet in one of your work nights. This sim:

Must be an elder.

Must be visiting the lot you're at for the first time.

Must be super rich. 

Start a sugar-ish relationship with your love interest. Have them gift your sim money ($1,000 simoleons) everytime they see each other. You decide if they keep, donate or sell the gifts.

Break up with the love interest, but get back shortly after and get into a serious relationship.

Only then, start working on the soulmate aspiration with this sim.

Move in with the elder sim only when you have a full romance bar.

If the elder sim has family, make them disapprove of your relationship together.

Wait a minute… isn't the story kind of repeating itself?

You decide what happens next ;)

[cherryzlem]

Thoughts about Klavier and Apollo's respective relationship with Kristoph and how it could (and should) have had much more impact on both of them after his trial(s):

I see in some klapollo fic that the two of them tend to share a more or less strong connexion over the fact that they both knew Kristoph on a personnal and professionnal level. To make it short they both looked up to Kristoph, as a boss and as an older brother, and, I cannot stress this enough, the betrayal and the heartbreak they should have felt knowing he was a murderer and a manipulator was definetly skipped, even ignored in the games (the most we got as in-game evidence of Kristoph's influence was Apollo paraphrasing him in Dual Destinies, and that is NOTHING compared to what it could have been). So I'm going to make it up to you all with this analysis of their respective relationships with him.

Starting with Apollo. First all you need to know before we start looking at what kind of relationship he had with his mentor, is that Apollo definetly doesn't have a high self-esteem and that that is something that can easily be played with.

Kristoph definetly had some kind of impact on Apollo, that just makes sense given he literally taught him how to be a defense attorney, but the thing is that Kristoph is a manipulator (and a damn competent one at that, we'll go back to that) and if he hadn't been sent to prison who knows what he could have done of our beloved Apollo ? Kristoph is the kind of manipulator that breaks people, the way he did with Phoenix.

Personally i think it's very unlikely that Kristoph was planning to make Apollo do any really traumatizing things, but in Apollo's place i couldn't help but wonder "what if i had ended up like him?" And THAT is what we could have gotten in the games, because paraphrasing Kristoph with a good old "Evidence is everything" is not enough to show how much he could have changed Apollo if he had been given the chance.

And finally, Apollo spent probably a lot of time with Kristoph, learning from him and looking up to him. Kristoph likes to seem friendly and approachable so that people can trust him and that definetly worked on Apollo aswell, so the betrayal he must have felt when he found out Kristoph to be such a horrible person, the heartbreak that his mentor was nothing more than a liar, it must have been unbearable (AND THE GAMES DON'T DIVE DEEP ENOUGH INTO APOLLO'S EMOTIONS GODDAMMIT).

But whatever Apollo felt after that revelation can in no way compare to what Klavier felt.

Get this, Klavier and Kristoph are brothers, meaning they definetly spent most of their childhood together. They lived in the same house, they probably went to the same school and they spent loads of time together. Klavier definetly loved his brother, he trusted him and admired him the way one admires their older siblings, and he learned he had been manipulated by him. Klavier was used by his brother in order to get Phoenix Wright disbarred and then 7 years later he was framed as a murderer. I also saw mentioned somewhere that Kristoph had the false evidence ready before Phoenix took his place at the Gramarye trial which very much implies that Kristoph was planning to CHEAT in order to beat Klavier during his first trial, that just feels so so fucked up. It's hard to really know for sure if Kristoph actually cared about Klavier but planning to cheat in order to show his little brother that he's just better than him is a good indicator as to what Kristoph thought of Klavier.

In the games, Klavier is never, ever, shown to be affected by Kristoph's actions and that is such a missed opportunity. Sure, the games aren't about him, but still, even just a simple "how are you feeling after all of that ?" Would've already been a little bit better than just forgetting about Klavier's emotions I believe.

Finally, just a little thought but how do you think Klavier feels when he realises how much he looks like his brother ? Somewhere during the 7 year gap he even started styling his hair like Kristoph, do you think it was because he admired him so much he wanted to look like him ? Or maybe to feel closer to his brother ? Why, god, why didn't he change his hairstyle in Dual Destinies ? Was it because he's just still too attached to his brother to let go of the memory of him ? Was it out of spite, to show Kristoph he could cope with the resemblance he shares with his him ?

That's all I got on that subject, that was a long one but god I needed to get all of this down because it just felt so unfair for Apollo and Klavier to be treated like that 😭

[thefallennightmare]

Moment of Weakness-five

*credit to whoever created the gif. found on google/Pinterest *

Pairings: Mob!Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings: language, smut, angst, fluff, affair, cheating, violence. Very very slight mention of small forceable touching. It’s towards the end so if it’s a trigger. Please don’t read. You can skip and not miss anything.

Summary: Reader is the assistant to New York's most feared mob boss, James Buchanan Barnes. He had the picture-perfect life: status in the mob, friends, and beautiful wife. So why can't he keep his mind and eyes off of reader?

Authors Notes: I've italicized a certain spot in this chapter that I found a prompt for on Pinterest and absolutely fell in love with so I wanted to use it in a story of mine. Kind of a long one but the only one for tonight. As I mentioned in the warnings, small amount of forceable touching towards the end. Feel free to skip ahead.

Tags(open): @splendidreads @sebsgirl71479 @mdpplgtz03 @pattiemac1 @unaxv @elizacusi-blog @alana4610 @broadwaybabe18 @themayzittcha @playboystark @raajali3 @ozwriterchick @ragamuffin285 @screamingdying @themorningsunshine @kenziekugler22 @calwitch @sebastianstansqueen @stanaddict @stucky-simp03 @sleyeveryday @loustan90 @lyra-black13 @valsworldofcreativity @cjand10 @tesseract69 @batprincess1013

I palmed my eyes, rubbing away the blurry tiredness that clouded them, and continued to read the papers in front of me. This should have been done hours ago but I found myself becoming busy with answering phone calls from the other gangs around New York because they wanted information about the next meeting. My work day ended over an hour ago and with how angry Bucky seemed at me earlier, I wanted to make sure all of my work was finished before leaving. 

“You’re still here?” 

I looked away from the papers and gave Steve a weak smile. “I thought you left already.” 

He nodded. “I did but Bucky needed me to come back. Something came up.” 

I looked towards the closed door of Bucky’s office and sighed. It had been a few hours since I had seen him and wasn’t sure what he was doing behind the closed door. 

“Is everything alright?” I asked, looking back at Steve. 

Steve stuffed his hands deep into his pants pockets. “Don’t worry about it. You should get home and get some sleep.” 

I squinted my eyes at him, clearly understanding that he was hiding something from me. I was interrupted by asking what by the front door of the small building opening, a fiery redhead bounding inside. 

“Oh, Steve. You’re still here?” 

He gave a warm smile to Natasha. “Bucky called me back. We need to take care of something.” 

“With Thor? Bucky told me that he low balled you guys again with his payment,” Natasha ignored me, only keeping her attention on Steve. 

My stomach dropped with jealousy, hearing that they talked about this with Natasha. 

“I thought Bucky specifically counted the money? I was with him and he said it was all there,” I said. 

That got Natasha’s attention and she looked at me with a parted lip expression. 

“Bucky went with you?” 

I nodded. “Last week. He was going to send me with Sam but he was out sick and Steve was busy so Bucky just came with me.” 

“He didn’t mention that,” Natasha muttered to herself. 

“I’m not exactly sure what happened. Bucky said to meet him here so we can head over to Thor’s club,” Steve shrugged. 

At the mention of his name, Bucky appeared almost out of nowhere and was surprised to not only see Natasha there but me there as well, still working. 

“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you were coming by. I told you I was going to be late tonight,” Bucky said. 

She laid a very deep kiss upon his lips, clearly one that Bucky had no problem returning. I had to look away not only because of the jealousy that filled me but the awkwardness I felt between them. Nothing happened between Bucky and I so there was no reason to feel this way. But I couldn’t help it, especially with how different Bucky had been acting when it was only him and I together. 

Steve didn’t miss the hurt look in my eyes. 

“I wanted to surprise you. I thought that we could get a few minutes together before you had to leave,” Natasha’s fingers dragged down the front of Bucky’s chest and lingered over his belt. 

She clearly didn’t care that Steve and I were there still, watching this unfold. 

Bucky shifted uncomfortably under her touch and when our eyes met, I had to look away, hoping he couldn’t tell how hurt I was watching them. 

He did. 

“Nat, I’m sorry but I don’t have any time for this,” Bucky sighed while taking her hands off of him. 

“Well, I guess I’ll go back home then and wait for you.” She ran a hand through her hair, the hurt and embarrassment clear on her face. 

Bucky shook his head before he motioned to his office. “I’ve got two minutes. Why don’t you tell me about your day?” 

That brightened up Natasha’s face as she eagerly nodded and followed Bucky into his office, the door left wide open. I couldn’t help but watch as they conversed quietly amongst themselves, the smile that played at Bucky’s lips sunk my heart deep into my stomach and it was weighed down when he moved a strand of hair out of Natasha’s face, tucking it behind her ear. 

How I longed and wished that was me. 

Steve sighed as he sat on the edge of my desk and looked down at me, arms crossed over his chest. 

“What?” I asked, not bothering to take my eyes off of Bucky. 

“You’re staring at him again,” he observed. 

Embarrassed, I looked down at my feet and shrugged. “I’m not. I simply looked over in that direction and he was there.” 

“Then why was that look on your face?” Steve snickered. 

“What?” I shook my head. “What look?” 

Steve bore his own hurt expression. “Everytime you look at him, you get this certain spark in your eyes. Almost as if you’re looking at the night sky.” 

“And?” 

He let out a broken breath. “You love the night sky.” 

My heart dropped again, only this time it was because of how hurt Steve sounded and suddenly I realized why he felt that way. 

“Oh, Steve,” I breathed while standing to my feet. 

My hand went to cup his cheek but he was quick to stand, Bucky and Natasha walking out of the office. I didn’t have the chance to talk to Steve about what I realized because he had moved away from me, almost as if I had breathed a sickness unto him. 

“I’ll see you when I get home, alright?” Bucky placed a kiss on Natasha’s lips. 

I averted my gaze to my shoes and danced on my heels. 

“Y/N, do you want me to wait for you and we can walk to our cars together?” She suggested. 

“Oh, I-.” I stumbled over my words, trying to rack my brain for an excuse as to why I couldn’t leave quite yet. 

I knew the only reason why Natasha wanted to walk with me to my car was to make sure that I wasn’t alone with Bucky yet again. 

“She’s finishing up some work for me. Not worth it to have you wait around,” Bucky spoke for me. 

I gave him a small smile of thanks. 

They said another quick goodbye and when she was gone, I crossed my arms over my chest while leaning all of my weight onto my left foot. 

“So, Thor low balled you with the cash yet again?” I asked Bucky with a raised brow. 

He sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Steve and I will handle it.” 

“What’s the real reason why you’re going to New Asgard?” 

Bucky and Steve looked at me with slight shock. 

“How do you know the name of his club?” Steve asked. 

I shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I’ve been there once or twice. It’s a crazy place and there’s only two reasons why people go there; sex and drugs.” 

Bucky ran a hand over his beard. “Is that why you went there?” 

I didn’t miss the jealousy in his voice. 

“Hell no. I went with my friend Wanda a year ago after she lost her boyfriend. She wanted to let loose and she did. It wasn’t my scene.” 

“But I do know that you’re not going to get in just the two of you,” I continued. “New Asgard has a strict rule of allowing male members inside when they’re alone.” 

Steve spoke next. “I’m sure if we tell them that we were there to talk with Thor, they’ll let us in.” 

I snorted. “If you wanted to talk with him, why don’t you meet with him at Asgard Industries?” 

The two men shared a look, not saying a word. 

“So if you want to get into his club, you’re going to need me,” I said while getting my things together. 

“Fuck no,” Bucky shook his head. “I’m not letting you go anywhere near Thor especially after how he was acting around you the last time.” 

I shrugged before slipping into my jacket. “Which is exactly why you need me tonight. I can distract him while the two of you do whatever it is you need to do. I’m assuming that is top secret mob boss stuff.” 

Their silence gave me their answer. 

“So,” I nodded. “I’ll meet you outside the club in one hour.” 

“Where are you going?” Steve questioned. 

“Home to change. Business attire isn’t exactly New Asgard dress code,” I informed him. 

Bucky shook his head in disagreement while grabbing my elbow to stop me. “I don’t like the idea of you throwing yourself onto Thor to help out Steve and I. We’re not going to be there in case something happens.” 

The fire from his touch burned all of my insides and I resisted the urge to taste him. So instead, I gently removed myself from his grasp. 

“Too bad it’s not up to you. I’ll meet you out front in one hour.” 

I ignored their protests, knowing that whatever their true intentions were tonight, that they needed me in order to distract Thor. 

My heels clicked loudly against the pavement in tangent with the loud bass blaring from the club as I walked up. There was a long line of people, waiting to get inside, but I knew that in order to get inside, there was no point in waiting in line. There was a slight chill in the air tonight as it wrapped around me, the bottom of my very tight dress doing nothing to warm my legs as it stopped just below my ass. The low cut was very revealing and the red color choice was perfect for tonight. 

Not for Thor but for Bucky. 

Word around the office was that he loved his women in red. 

I found the two men whispering to each other and when I walked up, it seized, both of their eyes drinking in my appearance. Steve simply licked his lips as his eyes looked me up and down. 

Bucky, however, wore a look I had never seen before. His breath caught in his throat while his jaw dropped, eyes turning dark. 

“Hi boys,” I smiled. 

Steve let out a low whistle. “You clean up nice.” 

“Thank you, Steve.” I looked towards Bucky, who still hadn’t uttered a word. 

“Cat got your tongue?” I teased. 

His tongue rolled slowly over his bottom lip and the sheer desire I felt oozing from his stare froze my feet in place. I suddenly felt small in front of him as his eyes grazed up from the tips of my toes to the top of my head, taking his sweet time over the swell of my chest. 

His eyes showed what he didn’t say; Bucky wanted to taste every inch of me. 

My skin burned with the thought. 

“Should we, uh, head inside?” I asked. 

Reluctantly, the men nodded and they followed me to the front of the line where one of Thor’s men stood with a clipboard in his hand, like the typical bouncer at a club. 

“Ms. Y/N, how are you? It’s been awhile,” he smiled. 

“Hello Heimdall!” I cheered while stepping into his open arms. “I’m sure Thor told you that he was expecting us tonight?” 

I nodded over my shoulder to Steve and Bucky, who were not too keen on me having this man's arms around me. 

Heimdall looked past me and wore a low scowl. “You know how we feel about outsiders on our streets, Y/N.” 

I let out a fake sigh. “I know and I’m so sorry. But I needed to see Thor and these two wouldn’t let me go alone. Something about New Asgard being too dangerous for a girl like me.” 

“As if you couldn’t handle yourself here. I’ve seen it a few times,” Heimdall reminded me. 

I snorted. “And yet you guys still allow me to come back.” 

Bucky sneaked up behind me, his hand ghosting over my lower back, and I felt his warm breath against my ear. “We need to get inside now, doll.” 

My body shivered and I peered down at his phone when I saw that he was showing me something. 

I’m alright, boss. But I can’t promise that I’ll be alive in the next hour. I’m sorry I got caught again. I promise it won’t happen again as long as you get me out of here.

“Fucking Peter Parker,” I grumbled. 

So that was the reason why we were here, to save Peter’s ass. 

“The faster we get inside, the faster we can leave, and these pathetic excuses of men stop gawking at you,” Bucky seethed. 

I saw what he was so upset about; a few men in the line waiting to go inside had averted looking from their dates to take in the sight of me. I smiled smugly towards Bucky. 

“Are you jealous?” 

His jaw tensed but remained silent, giving me my answer. I turned my attention back to Heimdall. 

“Well, it will be ten minutes, top. Promise,” I made an effort to make an X over my chest. 

Reluctantly, he nodded before stepping to the side, allowing the three of us to enter the club. 

The music radiated off of us and the heat from the packed bodies around us brought a fast sweat to my skin. Bucky and Steve were close to my side as we maneuvered our way through the crowd and over towards the bar. 

“So what did Parker get into this time?” I asked Bucky. 

He sighed. “He tried selling to Thor without knowing who he was so Thor was upset that Parker was dealing on his streets without getting a cut so now I have to save his ass.”

I ordered a drink from the bartender and smiled a thanks as she handed it to me. My eyes peered over the rim of the glass as I looked at Bucky. 

“I’m surprised you’re here to save him. I thought for sure it was a Steve or Sam kind of job,” I admitted. 

“He was adamant that he would come with me tonight,” Steve spoke from behind me. 

The feeling of his body pressed into my back from how close he was made me bite my lip when the large bulge in his pants pressed into the bareness of my thigh. This was a new feeling with Steve and as much as I loved the feeling of him pressed up against me, I knew that it would falter in a moment. 

“What’s the plan?” 

Bucky pointed with a vibranium finger towards a door far off in the distance. “That’s Thor’s office and most likely where he’s keeping Parker. You need to distract Thor long enough for Steve and I to save Parker.” 

I tossed back the rest of my drink and nodded. “Shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“Hey,” Bucky grasped my hand, linking our fingers together. There was a shock that filled the both of us but I pushed the feeling to the side. 

“Can you promise that if you get a bad feeling, you leave? Meet in my car down the road?” 

I nodded. “Of course.” 

With a gentle squeeze, our hands dropped and I frowned at the sudden chill I felt but pushed on, hoping to find Thor in the crowded club. 

After a few minutes of searching and avoiding grabbing hands of the random men, I spotted Thor on the second level, sitting in his own secluded section. Our eyes locked and through gritted teeth, I forced a smile and gave him a wave. The look of excitement that crossed his lips did nothing to ease my nerves. He had been so persistent the other day when I first met him that I was a bit afraid of how he would be tonight. 

With a quick wave, I ascended up the steps to his section and had no issue passing the guard at the top of the stairs. 

“I was hoping you would show,” Thor beamed. 

“I did text you, didn’t I?” The fakeness in my voice scared me. 

He motioned to the open spot next to him on the couch. “Care for a drink?” 

I shook my head. “I’ve already had one, thank you. I’ve got to work in the morning.” 

Thor and I leaned back into the couch, his arm resting on the edge behind me. His long blonde hair had been braided back out of his face and his beard had been trimmed nicely. If I wasn't so creeped out with how forward he had been before, I would have found him attractive. 

“Barnes has you working late nights and early mornings, eh?” Thor asked. 

I shook my head yet again. “It isn't so bad. I did get to meet you, so that’s a perk.” 

My hand rested against his arm and I gave it a slight squeeze. Thor leaned in closer, his breath fanning against the crook of my neck, and his own hand began rubbing up and down the bare skin of my thigh. 

I froze under his touch when his fingers slipped underneath my dress. 

“Why don’t we move this to my office? Much more private there,” his lips brushed against my skin. 

I tried to move away from him but his grip on the inside of my thigh tightened. 

“You know what, I forgot my phone down at the bar. I should go grab it,” I lied. 

Thor ignored me, his fingers sliding farther up underneath my dress and I placed my hands over his to try to stop him. 

“Thor, stop. I don’t like this.” 

My words fell onto his deaf ears and I thrashed against him, tears welling in eyes, when I felt a finger hook into my panties. 

Suddenly, vibranium fingers wrapped around his throat and I let out a small scream, scooting farther away. Bucky had Thor pinned against the couch, his oxygen getting cut off instantly. 

“If I see you touching her like that again, I’ll make sure to end your life without a second thought, understood?” Bucky fumed. 

Thor couldn’t speak so he nodded and Bucky tossed him to the floor, his loud gasps of air echoing around us. 

Bucky was quick at my side scoping me up to my feet, his arms locked safely around me. 

“Are you alright, doll?” He asked. 

I shook my head, the tears falling, but my throat had closed up, not being able to speak. 

Redness covered me with embarrassment as I allowed this to happen, Thor getting that close to me. I wanted to help out Bucky and Steve so I let my guard down. 

“Don’t do that,” Bucky cupped my cheeks. “Do not blame yourself, Y/N. This wasn’t your fault.” 

It was as if he read my mind, knowing that I was blaming myself. 

I nodded in his grasp. “Can you take me home?” 

Bucky’s lips ghosted in my hairline and I melted into his embrace, my hands grasping at his back. 

“Of course, doll.” 

With soft sobs falling from my lips, I let Bucky lead me out of the club and the fresh air still did nothing to calm me.

[thegeminisage]

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA ECHOES OF WISDOM FINAL VERDICT

SHORT VERSION: minor nitpicks but rad as hell

LONG VERSION:

what i loved about eow:

zelda getting her own adventure, FINALLY. it matters so much to me <3

the thinking aspect of it. i'm used to trying a puzzle a few times and then looking it up if i can't get it, but eow made me WANT to throw myself at the wall until something clicked. it made solving puzzles even more satisfying than in link games, somehow. though i had my initial concerns over not getting a "real" sword, i didn't really miss it until the final fight, and most of the time, i went out of my way to avoid using it if possible, because i wanted to be creative. in fact, even while playing, i looked forward to being able to watch other peoples playthroughs to see how they tackled certain puzzles differently from me. it's so fitting to who zelda is in the lore that it's crazy to me she wasn't een in the original concept - she just fits so PERFECTLY here, as if they'd designed it for her from the ground up.

the way link mattered in the story without stealing the stage (everywhere except the final boss, which i have mixed feelings on). i know that link's function is to act as a stand-in for us, but in this project especially, it's nice to see him get some personality - i think he's earned it!

i ALSO really loved, of course, the final dungeon and working together with link to solve puzzles. the last zelda co-op game we had was four swords where everybody had the same abilities bc they were all link, but what if we had one with link and zelda where they had different abilities? it was so exciting and rewarding to finally get to work with link after all the mystery surrounding him and the fights with his evil duplicate.

the stilled realm stuff was incredible. i had so much fun in the rifts i wish there had been more of them. picking your way around that fucked up landscape is great

being able to cheat your way around any landscape is great also. like i can get to hebra from the ground with enough platbooms, i can jump over tree barriers, etc. it made me feel like a master of the world.

i liked tri! not the most standout companion, but they were just confused enough about basic emotion and nonplussed about things in general to be funny and make me fond

in fact, most of the secondary characters were a lot of fun. i was pretty neutral on wright and lefte and the gerudo ladies, but the zora leaders, impa and lueberry, and of course, conde - they were all fantastic. zelda's dad not being shitty for once was a really nice touch, too.

loved all the callbacks to other games - the deku scrubs, the river vs sea zoras, volvagia, big blue pig ganon even though he sin't my fav

speaking of, i'm not mad about the lore either. it fits with what we know so far and it was GREAT to hear from the three goddesses again when it's been like 20-something years. i was kinda mad when they got shunted aside for hylia and i'm glad nintendo is bringing them into co-existence again

most of the time the music was just okay but when it was good it was REALLY fucking good.

overall, the story was absolutely charming, filled with mostly fun characters and environments and a creative mechanic and a world i cared about saving. none of that feeling i got from totk sometimes where i went "wait, what?" or "this is bullshit!" except maybe when the goron had to break the picture of his dead dad lol.

what i did not love about eow:

my absolute #1 main complaint is the quality of life bs. i should NOT have to go through so many dialogue boxes for a task that is repetitive. minigames that have a 20-second time limit where i spend almost as much time skipping thru the dialogue to try again? come on. smoothies? the dojo? these are things we do dozens, perhaps hundreds of times per playthrough. there is NO NEED to make it that tedious. i would have had a LOT of fun experimenting with smoothies if it hadn't been so tedious, but instead i went out of my way to avoid using them because i was dreading having to sit through the animations and dialogue boxes for more. and there's no quick retry for minigames, either. for the dojo where one misstep means you'll have to start over, all you can do is quit early and then go through the dialogue ALL. OVER. AGAIN. it is 2024!!! surely when they played the game they got annoyed by this too! what are we doing!

similarly, while i didn't hate the slidey menu as much as everyone else cuz i got pretty good at skimming it, it's still nuts to me that they couldn't come up with anything better, perhaps involving some sort of category. sometimes i want platforming echoes and sometimes i want combat ones. separate them!!

while the final boss was FANTASTIC in mood and presentation, my echoes and automatons being kind of useless + me being denied a sword made me feel like i had nothing to do but run around and dodge and watch link and my lynel fight the boss. this is a tricky one because i'm not sure what could possibly be changed to make me a more active participant and still leave link his sword (his presence elevated it so much - much like zelda's does in final fights against ganon), but it felt just an inch to the left from perfect for me

automatons in general - i was really hype for them, but most of them don't even move around on their own, and they're so slow a fast-paced combat sitch will obliterate them instantly. which would have been PERFECT for the final boss where i wanted a more direct means of attack, but they'd get toasted before i had a chance to wind them up. JUST removing the winding element would have improved these greatly without any other change at all, but it's another quality of life thing

the horse was also useless, but the horses have been useless in every game since majora's mask, and even in majora's mask it's iffy.

the world DID feel a little small sometimes, but i think that's the natural result of being able to cheat your way around it - and i wouldn't change that.

finally, the music - most of the music for the overworld sections was boring, where the dungeon music occasionally had more character. i was a little disappointed there wasn't more of the old melodies aside from little snatches of them here and there. i definitely understand composers wanting to do something new, but if their new something is this atmospheric, unhummable stuff...that just doesn't feel like a zelda score, you know? that said, again: when it was good, it was GREAT. that final boss fucking rocked.

overall this made me SOOOO ready for an oracle or minish cap remake from grezzo and absolutely RABID for zelda to have her own 3D adventure someday. they thought it wasn't possible but it ABSOLUTELY is, and the co-op sections near the end were especially wonderful and something i'd love to see in a mainline title someday. yes, this game was flawed, but it wasn't flawed the way totk was, it was overall a great joy to play and well worth both my time and money. there's very little i would change.

and, on a mushy real life note, echoes of wisdom did also help me get through the 15-day power outage after hurricane helene...i started the game just before the hurricane hit and finished it just after i got my power back, so helene kind of defined the experience of playing it for me. i'll never forget sitting in my dark bedroom with all the windows open and the generators going outside and my switch just propped up on my monitor stand, surrounded by battery packs, my only light from flashlights or candles, trying to help the time pass and enjoy the game while keeping a clooose eye on my battery life. it was one of the very, very few things i could look forward to in an uncomplicated way every day, and having something to keep me going was vital to my not just going nuts. zelda games usually seem to come out when i need them most! and i'm grateful to her too <3

[secretsandpurplethoughtss]

Candy's / Ysaline's Backstory

I decided to write a story based on what we already know about our Candy in MCL New Gen. I obviously took some creative liberties and I am imaginaing this to be my Candy's story, but I hope you guys like it. As the game goes on I might turn this into a full on fanfic! :)

Enjoy:

I studied journalism at university, because writing is truly my passion and I’ve always wanted to become a writer, a journalist. Following said dream, I moved to Spokane after graduation to work at my dream company as a “Staff Writer and Analytical Assistant”. EPMC had its headquarters in Los Angeles, but they were a huge company and so they had a couple of offices around the U.S. I always thought that EPMC seemed fun and lively, but I realized on my first day already that it was all just an appearance to please the readers, the content consumers, its customers. The company was cold, and it was extremely competitive – something I wouldn’t necessarily mind normally, but I was raised to believe that competitions should be fair and honest. At EPMC, backstabbing and sabotage was not just allowed but encouraged.

The only person I trusted at the company was my boss. It felt like we pretty much had the same values and he always voiced to me how “he hated the atmosphere in the office” and how “barbaric these competitions were”. Because I felt lonely and most of my days were filled with fights with colleagues I couldn’t stand, I was a more than frequent visitor in my boss’ office. We’ve became friends and soon… more. I should have known that dating my boss would bite me in the ass, but he seemed like such a great guy, and I was so lonely and desperate for kindness and companionship. Not to mention that I upkept the “happy façade” to my friends and family, because I didn’t want them to worry about me. My boss, my boyfriend was the only person I could confide in. My colleagues soon caught onto the fact that we were dating, but I didn’t really care about them gossiping about me. Even before my boss and I got together they would gossip and try to make me feel bad just for existing in the same space as them, so… it didn’t really matter. I was happy with him; at the time he might have been my only source of happiness.

That and my weekends where I ventured out into the city to explore it – museums, coffee shops, hikes. I liked the city: Spokane was breathtaking.

Things started to go even more downhill one day however, when I was in the office of my boyfriend waiting for him to return from a meeting. We were scheduled to discuss the analytics of the EPMC website, but his meeting was running late. He left his phone on his desk, and it kept buzzing, buzzing, and buzzing. It was unusual for him to forget about his phone and although he did get a lot of texts – the company didn’t provide us with separate work phones, so his phone was always going off, my mind went to darker places. What if his phone wasn’t buzzing itself practically off the table because a lot of people emailed him, but because there was an emergency? What if something happened with his family?

I was an overthinker and so my panicked thoughts led me to picking up his phone. I couldn’t see the texts he was receiving since they only showed themselves through face ID, but I could see the name of the person who sent them – “my love”.

My heart skipped several beats, before I put the phone back on the table. Could “my love” be anyone else besides a lover? No… he was cheating on me.

Soon, after I came to the shocking realization that he was unfaithful, he came back to his office, and he acted like everything was normal. Like he wasn’t a cheater. He gave me a kiss on my cheek and started apologizing for being late, cracking jokes and laughing at them.

I knew I needed to confront him, but I questioned myself – what if I was somehow wrong? What if he wasn’t cheating? I went on, telling him about the analytics and at the end of my presentation he commented on my “strange behavior”. I just lied about having a headache and left his office shortly after. At my cubicle I was bombarded with mean comments by my colleagues (as always), telling me how “I was sleeping my way to the top”. Usually, I didn’t give any attention to these comments, but that day I did. And then someone called me “a dirty mistress”.

“I’m a mistress?”, I asked the colleague that called me that word with genuine confusion. “Why would I be a mistress?”

“Are you really that stupid?”, he lifted an eyebrow.

I truly didn’t know what he was getting at.

“Wait, NO! DON’T TELL ME! HAHAHAHA!”, he started laughing and kept calling attention to himself. “She doesn’t know guys! She really doesn’t know!”

Other people caught on and started laughing with him and kept giving me certain looks. Their behavior always reminded me of high school or those nightmares where I was naked and people pointed at me, all while also ridiculing me.

“What are you talking about?” Anger was boiling inside me, but I knew that giving them what they wanted, an angry reaction, wouldn’t benefit me at all. Plus, then they’d win.

“He is married! You’re his mistress, his side peace. He doesn’t wear his ring at work but come on! Did you really not know?”, the guy finally explained with tears in his eyes from laughter.  

My entire world shattered in that moment. They were liars, they were jealous, they were competitive assholes, but I knew they were telling the truth just for once. It would explain why I never stayed at my boyfriend’s place after all these months (he said that they were doing construction at his place and that he was currently staying at some hotel), why he had someone in his phone under the name of “my love” and why I barely met anyone from his private life. He wasn’t really unfaithful to me; he was truly unfaithful to his wife. I was the other woman, not the woman in his phone named “my love”.

All the frustration inside me just broke loose – I hated my job; I hated my colleagues, and I hated my boyfriend for being a lying, cheating bastard. I got up from my desk and marched straight into his office, determined to break up with him, to let everything out. He was on the phone, but when our eyes met, he quickly ended the conversation. I closed the door behind me – quiet forcefully – and started chewing him out.

Normally, I wouldn’t let myself get so off the rails, as I always tried to rail in my negative emotions, to have some kind of control over myself, but I’ve been through hell ever since I walked inside EPMC building on my first day of work. He was the only one I trusted, the only one who made me happy in Spokane and he wasn’t even the person I thought he was. I quit right then and there and packed up my desk on the same day. I threw every gift, every memory of him and I in the trash, when I got home and called my mother, telling her, crying to her about the whole thing.

“Come home, baby. Just come home! We’ll work this out, I promise!”

So, I did. After that phone call, I put on some music and packed all my things. I started to re-assemble all my furniture, despite my inability to be handy. I blocked all my previous colleagues’ and my ex’s phone number, and I booked a ticket to Seattle for the next day. I was exhausted and I was in pain – all I needed was my mom and my sometimes-annoying little sister.

Seven hours later, my apartment looked just like the way it did when I moved in almost a year ago. My entire life was in boxes and in a couple of hours, movers would come around to get all my things. Almost all my furniture would go to a storage unit, and I’ll sell them on Facebook Marketplace as cheap and as soon as possible – I didn’t want to own the things he touched, where memories with him and his bittersweet-lies would always hunt me.

This new chapter of my life closed too soon. Not even an entire year did I live in this apartment, in Spokane and worked at EPMC. This was not at all how I imagined it to go: I was mentally drained and heartbroken. My dreams shattered and now I was left with anger and embarrassment. Despite all of this I tried my best to look at the bright side of things. I missed mom, I missed Tasha, Taki and I missed Seattle, so going home would be good. I would start therapy again – My God, I so was desperate to message my therapist this entire time, but because I moved and felt confident in myself, I broke it off with her before I moved to Spokane.  So maybe, when I focused on all these things this will be good – I’d find a good place to work, would spend some desperately needed time with my family (maybe even dad).

A new start. A fresh start. Truly, what are your twenties for if not that, right?

With a sad and somewhat forced smile on my face I closed the door of my apartment one last time.

I would focus on the positive from now on. It’ll all be okay… this is just a new chapter in my life.

I will welcome it with open arms.

[ciaossu-imagines]

Could you do Bleach and Host Club? With any character of your choosing because I love them all to various degrees.

Of course I can, my lovely anon! Thank you so much for sending in the request and I hope you'll enjoy the headcanons!

Okay, I feel a little bit like I'm cheating here, since this is the second AU set in a high school setting but I'm setting this AU firmly in the same universe as Ouran High School Host Club. It still takes place at Ouran Academy. It's been a long time since Tamaki and the other Hosts have graduated and honestly, the Host Club became a sort of school fixture even after they left, a tradition of the school. However, in the past couple of years, the club became abandoned because of lack of student interest in becoming 'hosts'.

The Academy has new headmasters this school year though. Shunsui is the new Headmaster, with Jushiro being his Deputy Headmaster. Shunsui, being the man he is, laments the lack of what used to be such a fun tradition and takes it upon himself, with Jushiro's blessing and support, to reinstitute the Host Club.

It's how he goes about it that's rather amusing though. Since there was still a real lack of student interest among the males in becoming Hosts, Shunsui told his teachers that certain male students, the ones selected by the teachers and the Headmasters, who received consistent detentions would now get a choice - they could face further detentions and possible suspensions, or they could choose to become Hosts for the Host Club.

While the idea seemed rather…stupid as one particular teacher put it to most of the staff, they all begrudgingly agreed to it and act upon the new rule, especially since they all know that neither Shunsui or Jushiro will give up on their idea, especially because it seems to amuse both of them greatly.

The first student to become a Host is Renji Abarai. He did get frequent detentions for uniform violations and fighting, almost all of them given to him by the Japanese teacher Byakuya Kuchiki…and it might have been Byakuya who made sure he was the first one sacrificed to this new rule. A little bit of it might have been Byakuya's own seeming dislike of the boy, especially given how close the boy was to Rukia Kuchiki, Byakuya's younger sister. Renji gets deemed the 'Bad Boy type' and honestly, he's pretty popular as a Host, though he really doesn't much like being one. The rare times he seems to really be enjoying the club is when Rukia comes around and spends time with him.

Renji is quickly joined by Ichigo Kurosaki, who does receive frequent detentions for uniform violations, tardiness, skipping school, and getting into fights. You think with all that he'd be a 'bad boy' type as well but it's decided there can't be repeat types inside the club and he gets branded as the 'Athletic type' due to his outstanding performance in athletics and prior place on a couple of the school's sports teams. He was really pissed off about even being in the club at first but kind of mellows out to it. He makes a show of not really caring about the club or his other Hosts but the truth is he makes friends out of most of them, gets along well with most of the girls who comes to see him, and besides, his best friend Chad was recruited at the same time as the 'Foreigner type' and his other good friend Orihime comes to see them often so there are some perks to this whole thing.

Yachiru takes it upon herself in the early stages of the club becoming a thing again to take her place as the Club Manager and she has so much fun bossing all the boys around and making them bend to her whims, which are many and mostly off the wall and insane but very fun. She makes her adoptive father, Kenpachi, the school's physical education teacher, give two students detention a lot so that she can rope them into the club because she wants them to be Hosts.

And that's how Hisagi and Kira both get forced into the Host Club on very trumped up detention charges, both of them will argue (and rightfully so). Hisagi is also head of the school's newspaper and also part of a band, so while he does actually enjoy his duties as a Host, he's always complaining about how much of his time the club takes up. He really wanted to be billed as the 'Rock Star type' but Yachiru shut him down and said it sounds too cool for him, so she dubbed him the 'Literary type'. It's actually rather fitting, especially since one of the things he does that makes him so popular with his guests is that he'll sometimes recite poetry to them, either from classic poems or his own original poetry and song lyrics.

And Kira says he got off lucky with the 'Literary type' moniker, given that Yachiru dubbed him the 'Emo-Boy type'. He's really very popular with a certain subsection of the school and actually gets to discuss a lot of really big issues with the guests who frequent him, from the meaning of life to what might come after death. He frequently complains about having to work so hard for the Club and about having to dress up and do all these insane ideas, but he's having a lot more fun with it than you'd suspect.

Other students forced into the club because of teacher's unfairly picking on them or because it made the teacher's themselves very amused include Hanataro Yamada, who ended up puking during Biology teacher Mayuri's lesson and promptly got punished severely by automatic enrollment as a host. The shy boy is probably the worst host, having troubles really talking to his customers and is so awkward the entire time. He just wants to go home and it is so clear but as the 'Shy Type' that's really his appeal to the customers who request him.

Chemistry teacher Kisuke, meanwhile, just thought it would be amusing to watch brilliant but lazy student Akon be forced to be a Host. Dubbed the 'Mad Scientist type' by Yachiru, Akon really just kind of sits around and smokes, doesn't cause too much trouble and goes along with what's expected of him. He wouldn't really be such a popular Host if it wasn't for the fact he's become known for helping his 'guests' with their homework.

Shinji volunteered for the Host Club. It sounds like fun to him and he really does like the ladies. Yachiru dubs him the 'Wild type' because he's very changeable, with his hosting style constantly changing to fit the customer.

Both Ikkaku and Yumichika earn their way into the club though, as both get a lot of detentions for fighting and mouthing off to teachers. They're the least popular of the hosts and mentioning that will piss them off, even though they claim to hate being forced to join the club. Yumichika dubs himself the 'Pretty Boy type' and won't hear anything to the contrary. When he does get customers, he's well known for doing their hair and makeup and giving them styling types. Ikkaku, meanwhile, gets branded the 'Delinquent type' and has a really hard time keeping his customers happy. He almost never gets repeat customers but gets a lot of the host-hopper types.

Jushiro keeps trying to find reasons to give Toshiro detention and Toshiro knows it. The other teachers and especially Rangiku try to help find reasons but Toshiro is wise to their game. He's not going to be trapped in such an infantile club and he's the model of perfect student behaviour just to prevent Jushiro's seemingly relentless desire to see Toshiro become a Host.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

alright antony and cleopatra let’s get it

part ONE! (which is just until wherever the intermission break is)

-choreographed prologue??? 👀

-TECHNO PROLOGUE!!! low key this is such a vibe

-“my boss is a manwhore”

-just let them have bed wrestling fights!

-ANTONY BYRNE??? DUKE VINCENTIO ANTONY BYRNE??? yaaaaaaaaaay

-i love them both already

-seriously they are such an amazing vibe

-the way he covers his face with a pillow when she teases him for blushing omg

-they are just so utterly besotted and it’s making me so happy

-ooh boy we have another soothsayer

-this has the same energy as the carmen card trio

-wait i feel like this actor playing one of the ladies in waiting was in troilus and cressida (edit: yes! it’s amber james! aka cressida and now charmian!)

-cleopatra fully just said “i’m out i’m not talking to him right now” lol

-well that just happened (fulvia is dead!)

-somebody give antony a hug pls

-enobarbus what are you doing

-“I CAN’T DO THE HONEYMOON PHASE ANYMORE”

-she is just so. utterly. brilliant. and. so. MUCH. and i love it

-“eternity was in our lips and eyes”

-oh wait this is the scene from this play they did at [area shakespeare company’s] founder’s retirement party

-their energy is so much and i love it

-“Sir, you and I must part, but that’s not it/Sir, you and I have loved, but there’s not it…”

-soundtrack continues to pop off

-octavius: insecure about masculinity

-octavius wants to cancel antony and lepidus isn’t so sure

-YAAAAAAAY PIRATES OF PLOT CONVENIENCE! (okay maybe just plot spice but whatever)

-okay we fully just skipped a scene i guess (from the few lines i skimmed it looks like “cleopatra and her girls do edibles”)

-okay so pompey is collaborating with Pirates Of Plot Spice TM?

-“okay so how do we get the boys to start fightingggggg”

-okay we’re jumping back to cleopatra and her girls doing edibles

-love the music and love the mardian dude

-“where’s my serpent of old Nile?…now i feed myself with most delicious poison” so uh. about that.

-‘you’re not mark antony’ lolol

-not sad or merry but a secret third thing

-‘charmian that was LAST play’

-the boys are fightingggggggg

-‘i didn’t say i wouldn’t, i just didn’t do it’ mood

-“That truth should be silent I had almost forgot.” OOOOOOOOH

-oh this is definitely a great idea /s

-oh hey it’s the barge speech!

-he’s just a boy who cain’t say no!

-“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale/Her infinite variety.”

-sleepover at agrippa’s!

-LUCY PHELPS OCTAVIA??? (so the duke and isabella did get married in an alternate universe then)

-“i will definitely, 100%, not cheat on you” yeah it’s act two i’m not putting it past you

-no one ever listens to the soothsayer

-FUCKIN CALLED IT

-“Give me some music—music, moody food/Of us that trade in love.” 🤝 “if music be the food of love, play on”

-y’know, iras is so Not Even In This Play

-she is a QUEEN

-“But sirrah, mark, we use/To say the dead are well.” ross over in scotland, about to tell macduff his family is dead: *shuffles uncomfortably*

-i love their banter

-“you did NOT just say octavia was better at banging than me”

-oh she’s straight up beating him up

-“PLEASE DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER”

-she is Going Through It

-pompey: *gives very emotional speech*

octavius: …take your time

lmao

-BOAT PARTY

-so enobarbus and menas are besties anyway? i thought they were on opposite sides (which obvs does not prevent bestie relationships but yeah)

-enobarbus knows what’s up

-BOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAT PAAAAAAAARTY

-yeah lepidus words are hard

-menas has a Plan

-octavius: buddy i am Not Getting Drunk Tonight

-PLAY THIS IN THE CLUB

-Many Complicated Emotions Between These Two,

-antony, fully intending to ditch octavia at first opportunity: well this is awkward

-messenger: i can’t fucking believe i still have to work this customer service job even after getting beat up

-scoping out the competition

-uh oh. there are Political Problems

-GO OFF OCTAVIA (also this is just like blanche in king john)

-“The Jove of power make me, most weak, most weak, your reconciler. Wars ’twixt you twain would be As if the world should cleave, and that slain men should solder up the rift.”

-oh octavius is Big Mad

-“YOUR HUSBAND IS CHEATING ON YOU OCTAVIA” “NO I JUST WANT YOU GUYS TO STOP FUCKING FIGHTING”

-ooh did octavia just take her ring off 👀

and that’s intermission! this is GREAT and i would continue watching but it is also late and i am tired so…rest tomorrow!

[atarathegreat]

Present mic fic?

Of course! Present Mic is one of my favorites so I absolutely don't mind doing one for him!

I've also got a whole story that I had written for Present Mic, if that's something anyone is interested in?

Present Mic/Hizashi Yamada

Ridiculous, getting stood up by some over-the-top hero! Who did I think I was? I'm not some hot actress that could just pull any man she wanted, let alone some decent-looking lady that could get an equally decent-looking man. Hell, I was a disheveled office worker that just so happened to be the closest hostage to the villain trying to get...well shit what was he trying to get? Crunched numbers on the debt my boss was in? Maybe the papers I had stuffed in the back file cabinet that proved my boss was cheating on his wife? Fuck, maybe he wanted the numbers on how many clients have now been fucked over by the company.

God, I should've left that hellhole earlier. I wouldn't have ended up in the position to get stood up by the same damn hero that asked me out. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, after all, why would a hero want to go out with some stupid civilian? Idiot, I should've thought it through before actually showing up that day.

"Hey, this seat taken?" A nonchalant voice asked from above my head, a blonde standing with donuts and coffee in hand, "I know this ain't a coffee shop, but I figured you could use a cappuccino. You look rough." I scoffed but accepted the drink, I was proud but not proud enough, "Rough is putting it lightly, actually. I look like shit and haven't brushed my hair in weeks." The man laughed, taking the seat across from me and sliding a donut to me. It was a lame pickup line on his part, but he did secure a seat at my table, and that was enough to be dubbed successful. "So, can I ask why a roughed-up businesswoman is sitting all alone in the middle of a restaurant? Hopefully not getting stood up by some lame ass?" He chuckled, "Your date popped in a few minutes before you did, dipped with another woman." I laughed, seemingly catching the guy off guard in my mania, "And you know what? I'm not even shocked! I was held hostage for a few minutes and tossed across the whole floor, why could I handle that and not handle being stood up?"

Without realizing it I had started to cry. My boss was a shitty human and I'd been working there for years and then a villain breaks in wanting heavens knows what, I guess it really is the lightest straws that break the camel's back.

"Oh! I didn't mean to upset you, miss. I was actually hoping to get you out of here, maybe go see a movie to make up for it? My name's Hizashi Yamada," The man was a fast talker, genuine in his words but stupid in tongue, "I guess this is the worst timing but I just thought you were really beautiful and didn't see the harm in shooting my shot." His candy-apple eyes were huge with worry, amplified only by the eccentric way he was leaning over the table to offer me a napkin. I thanked him, saying maybe another time would be more appropriate, and swapped numbers with him. I barely had time to leave the restaurant when he texted, a simple "I hope tomorrow is better for you." that would've made me cry if I wasn't already. Hizashi smiled as I waved to him through the window, a darker-haired male rolling his eyes at him.

With the whole rest of the day at my disposal, I decided it was wisest to find another place of work. By midday, I'd put in three applications to two different coffee shops and a lower-ranking hero's agency. It was exciting, like moving to another country and restarting from nothing. Or, basically nothing since I was paid dirt and didn't even have a proper mattress, and trust me when I say that sleeping on an air mattress did horrible things to the spine. But my feet skipped all the way home, in the elevator, and up to my apartment door. I hadn't been that happy since I had actually moved countries and started with nothing, I even pulled out the oldest bottle of wine I had. My neighbor had gifted it to me when I moved in, I barely understood Japanese at that point and only grasped at "Welcome, neighbors here sweet, sleep easy." And it was still entirely possible I heard him wrong because, well, I'm incompetent and extremely non-fluent. My parents and siblings would often send letters, but I rarely replied to them, mostly because I didn't have the money to be able to send them overseas. It upset them, rightfully so, but they understood that things were hard enough without them getting angry and berating me for having a shit job with a shit boss.

I pulled up my phone and texted the number Hizashi gave me, telling him that whenever he was available I would be more than happy to go somewhere with him and gave him a brief rundown of what my day held. He congratulated me, giving me an address and a date along with the dress code. I chose to wear some high-waisted jeans and a frumpy tank top, meeting him at what turned out to be a public park. A small wooden stage had been set up, a band setting up while other people hung decorations, Hizashi holding up a little girl so she could tie a cardboard cut out from the string lights. It was cute. "Hey, there you are!" He noticed me, walking over with the little girl still on his shoulder, "If you want, you can help us finish decorating. One of my classes is playing a huge gig tonight and I thought they were perfect for you to see." I nodded, picking up a nearby box of streamers, dropping it just as quickly. Not only had it just clicked that he was a teacher, but the streamers also had the UA logo on them. He was a teacher at a prestigious school, a hero school. He was a hero! "Eri, could you go help the others while I see what she and I can do over here?" Hizashi set the girl down and returned to me, picking up the box I dropped. "You're a hero?" I whispered, not sure what to think. On the one hand, he wasn't the one who ditched me, but on the other hand, most heroes were assholes. Did I want to risk getting embarrassed again? Now at an overly crowded park where tens more people can see me crying.

"Just stay for a little while, if I don't pay enough attention to you then you can leave and I'll lose your number." Hizashi sighed, picking up the box. It was his eyes, the way they conveyed each and every emotion of his as overtly as he was tall, that made me sigh and follow him to the stage. We each nailed the border up, a single nail every two feet to have the perfect rounding as the string fell, looping small fairy lights around it right after. The students that made up the band were rushing around to get everyone in the right outfits, they were adorable kids.

"Up we go!" Hizashi lifted me up to the tree branch, "This is where that All Might cutout is going." I wrapped the thicker string around the bark before tying it securely, though Hizashi didn't let me down from his shoulders. He walked around with me perched around his neck as though I wasn't even there, occasionally handing my things that belonged higher up. All the decorations were put up by the time the sun began to set, and by that point a whole crowd had gathered and the band was ready to play. And they were perfect in every aspect, from guitar to the girl singing. I grabbed Hizashi's hand and pulled him to the side so we had room to dance, "This song reminds me of one I heard when I first moved here." My date smiled, his teeth shining just as brightly as he was, "So it's a good date, then?" I nodded, resting my head easily on his arm, "Probably the best date I've ever been on. Sure as hell beats being ditched for some other guy to pick up."

[fireheartwraith]

I just got Goncharov brainrot and !!! I need to talk about how it kind of reminds me of Macbeth (though it’s been a while since a read it) and how some people miss the Point, so let's break the movie down

We all know that Katya was from a powerful Russian family but, because misogyny, felt like her potential was being stunned. She eventually fell in love with Goncharov since he was the only one who listened to her ideas. Of course, a case can be made that they were never actually in love but simply using each other to achieve their own goals.

Since we only see their beginning through flashbacks though, I propose that both interpretations are true: high on the possibility of finally having what they wanted, they made themselves think they were in love with each other when in truth they were in love with the idea of having power. I even have evidence! The first time we see them meeting at the party, the roses are pink, but the second time they are paler and beginning to wilt. Very obvious allusion to the rose colored glasses falling. Also note that the rain became a storm

Them going to Naples to evade the Russian government was Katya's brother was her idea, not his. She first mentions vacationing in Italy as a child at breakfast right after they were discussing how to cement their influence, and then server him wine from Naples at dinner. This was a deliberate choice on her part, otherwise they wouldn't have shown her picking it, it would have just skipped to the dinner scene with goncharav and her Valery. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a 'Katya is the true protagonist' truther, but oh well. This is also foreshadowing how Katya kills her brother later on by poisoning his wine. Very Medea of her.

Once they get to Naples we can see Katya talking her husband into their most risky plans, but eventually we see Sofia planting seeds into Katya's head that eventually leads Goncharov to order Andrey to kill the son of their rival family, the Rossi, which sparks a war between their families. Rossi also plays into the red theme, both Katya and Goncharov get more and more surrounded by the color as the movie goes on.

Remember how Katya leans into Sofia and then says she smells like lilies? The next time they talk about perfume, Sofia says she likes jasmines, so why did she smell like lilies? Well, if look through the window of the Rossi family's house when Valery goes there, you can see they have a lily garden, and we know Sofia was in debt to someone powerful, likely the Rossi family. She made the Goncharovs take out the people after her and many of y'all didn’t even notice!! If we consider the strings being pulled like the ultimate wand from harry potter, one could say that from this point onwards Sofia is the one controlling it, not Katya or Gorbachev. But Sofia herself is being controlled by her debt, so she's also caught in the strings

Ice Pick Joe cornered Katya about her sabotaging her husband because she wanted the competition to take him off so she could take over the business and unfortunately Goncharov overheard their conversation. And obviously there's a clock behind him when he leaves.

We see Katya and him getting further and further apart after this, Katya going to Sofia and him to Andrey, which takes a toll on their operations since they are not in sinc anymore. Mario then reveals to the Rossi Boss (who may be a stand in for destiny since he is the only unnamed main character and the clocks are always static when he's around, showing he will never 'run out of time' like the rest of the cast) that Andrey was the one to kill his son, resulting in his falloff with Gorbachev. Then Ice Pick Joe makes good on his promise to always side with the victors and kills Andrey to get into the rival's side.

This is the final straw for Goncharov, that absolutely spirals after his "best friend's" death, much like Dom Casmurro. Though in the book he also thought that Capitu had cheated on him with said best friend and here Goncharov just thinks his wife betrayed him and killed his bff. But still, he's crazy now so we finally get to the climax!!

He locks Katya, him, and IPJ in the boathouse and then sets fire to the place, paralleling him and Katya ser fire to her family home to buy them time to get out of Russia. IPJ and Katya manage to kill Goncharov, and then Joe tries to kill Katya but runs because the building is starting to collapse. Despite her injuries Katya also manages to flee, and we get to the bridge, aka my favorite scene

So, Sofia meets Katya in the middle of the bridge, and it looks like she was waiting for her. We can still see the smoke in the air and the fire from the boathouse reflecting in the water. And then Sofia points a gun at Katya. She is too hurt to run and IPJ took her pistol, so she tries to talk to Sofia, who kisses her cheek like Judas and says "oh, love. If only freedom wasn't power" and shoots her in the heart. These are the last words we hear in the movie. I've seen some discourse on why she says that instead of "if only power wasn't freedom", which would make more sense considering that both she and Katya talked about wanting freedom, but I think that's because both of them wanted power more than they wanted freedom. She could have just sold them out, but she went the extra mile to get in with the Rossi

Katya's body then falls in the water as the bells ring midnight, meaning it's a new day. We look back at Sofia and we see the hand of the Boss on her shoulder (look at the ring), proving that she killed Katya to get in with them. We can see the fire reflecting in her eyes and she would look impassive if it wasn't for that single tear. The clock is still chiming, so I think the tear isn't for Katya but for herself, since now she is also running out of time.

The movie ends with Sofia, Mario, and Ice Pick Joe being the only ones from the Gorbachev mafia clan to survive, and only because of their betrayal. Some people complain about this "message" but they are dumb and miss the point of the movie, which is that the persuit of power can only end in death because those that seek it will never be satisfied with how much they have. Hence all the clocks. They were doomed from the moment they went down this path. Like Macbeth. And now it's Sofia turn.

So yeah. It may be a mafia movie, but that’s just the setting. It was never about that.

[sublime-beyond-loss]

Detailed Instructions On How To Get The Narrator To The Post-Skip Desert

I figured I’d put together some in-depth instructions on how to do what I did to get the narrator to the desert just in case there’s anyone else who’d like to attempt it themselves or for anyone who is just curious with the process involved. 

First things first, you need to download the cheat engine and Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe file from this site that I’m linking here.

https://fearlessrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?t=19959

Please note that the cheat engine tends to set antivirus programs off when you download it as an unrecognized and potentially harmful program. if you are uncomfortable having something like that on your PC, do not proceed.

Once you have the cheat engine and the TSPUD file, start the game up and hit the button on your keyboard to either minimize the game or bring up the toolbar. From there search for the cheat engine or go to the shortcut on your desktop.  

Once the program is open, click this and go to your downloads to find the TSPUD file you downloaded from the website.

Once you have the table loaded into the program, click this, and make sure TSPUD is still running in the background or else you will not be able to find it in the process list.

This is what it will look like in the process list while it is running.

Once all of that is set up, the absolute basics of how you move around in the world are like this, although there are lot of little details and finicky issues with it that make it much harder to get around then it might seem. This is not noclipping and you are somewhat limited in how you can move. It should be noted that the farther away you get from the original point you were at within the game space when you went out of bounds, the more your movement will slow down until it becomes a crawl and then stops entirely. This can be fixed by going back the way you came, but sometimes that does not work and all you can do is fall into the void to reset the level. The direction of which way the button prompts move you can also change depending on which level you are in and you will have to adjust to that movement.

You press Ctrl-P to freeze your position in place. This is to avoid falling into the void if you go out of bounds within the level or if you go above or below a level. You press it again to unfreeze. Your movement is locked in place while you have this active. You can move forward and backward but as far as I’ve tested it, you cannot move left or right. You have to use the arrow keys, which I will explain in a moment, to move through the game world while this is active.

You press Ctrl-Q and Ctrl-E to move up and down within the game world. Which one moves you up and which one moves you down depends on the level you are in so you have to experiment. The exact amount of movement is fixed, so if you have a specific spot you are trying to get to but the cheat engine overshoots it, you can toggle Ctrl-P on and off to ‘drop’ you into place.

You use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move through the game world on the current elevation you are on. Which one moves you forward, backward, left, and right can also change depending on which level you are in. You can use these without Ctrl-P freezing you in place, but you more likely than not will just fall into the void without it.

Because of how finicky movement is with the cheat engine, I am going to give you very exact instructions on which buttons to push and where.

Now that you have the cheat engine running, go to the first Memory Zone visit either while doing a regular playthrough of the game or through the New Memory Zone portal in the bosses office in the post-game. Let it play out like normal until you get to the skip button room.

This next part is very important or else the rest of this will not work. When you step into the skip button room, make absolutely certain that you do not walk forward far enough to trigger the prompt that causes the narrator to start speaking and for the door to close behind you. You want to stay as far away from the opening and the fence around it as possible, because in my experience with it, even getting too close to the fence near the opening can trigger the door to close.

This is the segment of fencing that you want to avoid.

Instead, while sticking close to the wall, take a left turn and then make your way to the back of the room. You then want to press yourself up against the left corner of the wall.

This corner.

From here, hit Ctrl-P and then the left arrow key 6 times. It should take you to this skip button room.

Press Ctrl-P to unfreeze yourself and go over to the skip button. From here you want to progress through all of the skips up to the ‘the end is never the end’ one and from that one you carefully want to count the next three skips. This will put your current skip as the ‘correct’ one for the room you are currently in and now you can go back to previous skip button rooms without them progressing you forward down the line of rooms. If you mess up this part it will send you to the green skip button room and you will now be on the wrong ‘line’ of rooms and will not be able to easily get back to the room with the door you entered through. Given the nature of the movement with the cheat engine, it is easy to move up and down the line of rooms you are on but it is very hard to move between the two lines of skip button rooms and so you want to use the presses themselves to teleport you to the line of rooms you want to be on.

To give you a better visual of what I am talking about, this is what the line of skip button rooms look like from the Boundary Break episode where he increased the render distance to show them all off at once.

Anyway, now that you are on the right skip, you want to go back to this corner between the pipe and air conditioner, 

While facing the skip button, hit Ctrl-P and then the right arrow key 3 times. This is the skip button room you want to end up in.

Please note that when jumping between room for this particular segment, for whatever reason the game likes to ‘snap’ you back to the one with the hole with light coming down. If this happens, hit Ctrl-P to unfreeze yourself, get back into position between the pipe and air condition and hit the right arrow key 3 times again.

Once you are in the room pictured above, go to the skip button and hit it four more times. You are now on the final skip. If you lose track of the number of skips you are on, you can hit Ctrl-E to let you fall back into the skip button room and check the color of the skybox. Normally, it looks like this,

When you are on the last skip it will look like this.

If you lose track of your skips, make sure to check with every skip, because if you skip too far, the music from the end of this ending will start playing and once it completes, the game will reload, boot you out of this ending, and you’ll have to restart the process all over again.

Anyway, once you are on the last skip and the skybox has turned blue, the desert is now loaded in and it is possible to get there from the skip button rooms without pushing the button that last time, and it is now possible to bring the narrator there using an oversight with the programming to close the door.

Go back to the left side of the current skip button room you are in and make sure you’re lined up with the skip button. It should look something like this.

 Now hit Ctrl-P and the right arrow key 3 times. If done correctly, you should be back in the room with the open door.

This next part needs to be done relatively quickly. The narrator’s dialogue no longer loops so if you are not fast enough, he will stop talking before you can get him to the desert.

Go to the opening in the fence and go forward far enough to trigger the door to close, now quickly go back to the left side of the back of the room and press yourself up against the wall, like you did at the start of all of this.

Hit Ctrl-P once more and then just keep pushing the left arrow key until you find yourself in the final skip button room with the broken skip button. Hit Ctrl-P one last time to unfreeze yourself and then quickly make your way to the opening out of the room. Congrats! You just beat the concept of time and the very mechanics of the game itself to get the narrator to the post-skip desert alive and at least somewhat sane!  

[murfeelee]

IWTV 2022 INSP - EP6: Like Angels Put in Hell by God

Louis [narrating]: Lestat had disappeared after that awful night. Vanished, out of a profound sense of shame he would later confess to. Which was just as well, since Claudia and I were in no mood to receive his apologies. I made pride my blanket, and she dedicated all her energy to my rehabilitation.... For six years...raw and desperate mea culpas came like the tide. And for six years, they were greeted with silence or fire. We burned more gifts than bodies in that decade, but they would not stop coming. And Lestat's relentless determination began to crack my considerable armor.... But in the spring of 1937, one broke through.... His first composition in 100 years.... Antoinette (singing): ♪ Come to me ♪ Claudia: “Pathetic....” Louis: “Six years of begging! You think a song's gonna get a rise out of me?!” Lestat: “Did you like it?” Louis: “I hate you." Lestat: “As you should.” Daniel (present): “You took him back.” Louis (present): “We were going to kill Lestat.”

-- Interview with the Vampire (AMC 2022, S01E06)

MY THOUGHTS & CC CREDITS

MY THOUGHTS (another rant, whoopsie, but I have to drag Antoinette)

Listen, I REFUSED to make an Antoinette sim in my effing game, so for my gameplay I skipped ALL of the scenes with her, despite how crucial she was to Loustat’s marriage imploding.

Like, we know Lestat’s a cheating dog, but lemme talk about ANTOINETTE for a second. The DISRESPECT of this heifer, sleeping with a man she KNOWS is married to HER BOSS, and KNOWING Lestat WASN’T EVEN TRYING to leave his husband and was ACTIVELY tryna get him back--even when he was banging YOU--and you have the NERVE to badmouth Louis and Claudia, like EXCUSE YOU, you 9-fingered HOMEWRECKER?!

DRAG HER, Claudia! 😤

For that nasty wench’s existence ALONE, Lestat deserved to catch Louis’ hands.

Kick 👏 Lestat’s 👏 ARSE, 👏 Louis! 👏 Stand up for yourself, that’s right! Eff all of Lestat’s money, his gifts, his pretty face, and eff that stupid song especially!

DRAG HIM, Louis! 😤

GOD, I can’t wait for Armand to clown Lestat, it’s gonna be glorious. (What I REALLY want is for Daniel to have a go at Lestat; I would crack up and DIE, watching Lestat get scalped by some crotchety old man.)

________________________________________________

CC CREDITS

- Bloody scars by Tifa & Ephemera

- Bloody body bruises

- Claudia sweater & skirt by EA, hair at TSR, scarf acc, overalls by @deniisu-sims​, updo, dress (IDER)

- Louis & Lestat’s clothes all by EA (SHT top debraceleted by Nitromon)

- Goat by @silsharkie84​

- Cane & pose by @shushilda​

- Poses by Fortuna (I use this set all the time)