#it's in Rika's scrapbook I think?

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 1

I know I'm probably giving it way more thought than I should but I wonder why the MangaGamer release of Higurashi calls them Higurashi Hou. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Kai means answers (maybe Umineko? I don't remember), so I just wonder why the Steam/GOG releases call them Hou. According to a quick googling Hou means way or method? Then there's Hou - Rei, Hou+, I don't really want to go deep diving into it at the moment because I've still got these two chapters at least to go.

This might sound sarcastic but I genuinely like that this is how this chapter opens. I'm certain it'll go back to the formula of the club doing their usual shenanigans, then eventually the terrors, but I like how this opens with a frank discussion about Rika and the time loop.

I wonder why the universe, or whatever you want to call it decided to use Shion as the murderer twice. I want to theorize that there's some sort of importance for the fact that of the five chapters set in 1983 it used the same killer twice, but I can't really come up with a way to explain it.

I don't know why I never really thought about the fact that Ooishi is near constantly the instigator of the murders and events. It's easy to try and posture that with the explanations being given that I totally and completely called and figured this out. But the truth of the matter is while I did sort of notice that Ooishi seems to start the plot towards its eventual conclusion I never really did anything with that information. I was about to argue that he wasn't really that big of a part of chapter three I remembered that a lot of the stuff involving Teppei and Satoko's abuse never really came to the fore until he showed up to question her about Rina's death in that chapter.

The thing about Takano is I don't really know how much of her own bullshit she buys. I know that in the scrapbooks she goes out of her way to paint the Sonozakis as the central pillar of the conspiracy of the day, but how much of that is genuine belief? I don't have much to base it on but I get the vague impression that her attempts to pin it all on the Sonozaki family/Three Families is all a red herring that she's trying to mislead people into believing for some reason. The why and the what eludes me, assuming of course that's right, and it's not just she's bonkers and just writing whatever. I do get the impression that her entire reason for explaining/mentioning the Onigafuchi Swamp, the curse, all of that is entirely just for her own personal amusement. She's trolling the cast for reasons.

This I find interesting, why doesn't Rika possess any knowledge about what happens during the curse killings of 1980-1982? Is whatever's ruling over the timeline of 1983 able to suppress her memory of it? Or does it tie in to the fact she doesn't remember anything around the time of her own personal killing? I can't explain to you why I'm so much easier going with the aspects of the Hinamizawa mystery here being potentially explained away with magic bullshit than I was with the shown to be blatantly untrue parasite/aliens explanation but I am. Maybe because the mystical aspect has been established a lot longer than the sudden appearance of parasites and aliens? Maybe I myself am slightly spoiled due to having read/played Umineko first so the idea that witches are behind the fantastical crimes doesn't bother me as much. That's not idle speculation on my part, there's a screen relatively soon that mentions the idea of Rika being a witch.

So with this I think it's safe to assume that shortly after the events of Onikakushi Rika did get killed. What entity is constantly killing Rika? I doubt that it's the same person getting Tomitake and Takano. At some point around their deaths in Tsumihoroboshi I started thinking that Takano is probably behind Tomitake's death. I have no real basis for this assumption, I just think it's highly likely she would be one the one to inject him with the drug that makes you kill yourself. It feels more plausible than a group of cultists ambush him, then inject him, and then just let him go. It also makes sense if you assume that Takano's belief about the parasite is based even slightly on reality because this way she could verify the effects of the infection with her own eyes. The fact she dies almost immediately afterwards is kind of irrelevant to this, because I don't think she ever expects to be gotten on the day of Watanagashi.

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Festival Accompanying Final Chapter

This is a story about repentance, forgiveness, and second chances.

Hanyu's grandstanding about accepting the sins kind of falls flat when she attempted to deflect the shot. But one PTSD-inducing insult from Takano is all it took for her to lose concentration and be forced to stop time to protect herself.

We've come back to the critical moment in Massacre. The club is together to fight against Rika's enemies. They are on the verge of winning. But then Takano fires a bullet and time is frozen. Everyone is left trying to figure out how they can stop tragedy from unfolding and realize that only a miracle could save them.

In Massacre, a miracle never came because Hanyu did not believe they would succeed. Here, she accepts her death as necessary. She sacrificed her life once to cleanse the sins of others and she's willing to do it again.

But this time, the power to make a miracle manifested.

So onto the card analogy stuff that I kept mentioning last chapter. Rika talks about the key difference between Old Maid and Old Geezer is that Old Maid adds a card to the deck while Old Geezer removes a card from it. If you wanted to prevent anyone from losing at Old Maid, you'd have to find some way to get rid of the Joker. Meanwhile, if you wanted to prevent anyone from losing at Old Geezer, you'd have to find some way to add the missing card into the game.

Hanyu and Takano used Old Maid as an analogy for sin and happiness. One person always has to carry the Old Maid, and they need to try forcing it on someone else. Each time you take a card and it's not the Joker, you can take a sigh of relief that you didn't just become the loser. As the game progresses, it becomes harder to get rid of the Joker and everyone becomes more certain who is going to be the loser.

In Old Geezer, no one knows what card is going to be the unpairable card. So no one can actually know who is the loser until its too late. But because no one knows what the losing card is, every time you take a card that doesn't match anything you have, there's a fear that you may have drawn the losing card.

So as an analogy to sin and happiness, Old Maid claims that sin is something in addition to everything. If it didn't exist, everyone could be happy. But because it exists, someone will always be forced to suffer to ensure everyone else can be happy. Old Geezer meanwhile claims that sin is more of an incompleteness. If every piece was there, everyone could be happy. But if something is missing, someone will always end up suffering in the end.

Hanyu and Takano are very alike in their mindsets on sin. They believe someone ultimately has to pay the cost for them in order for them to be cleansed. A person bearing sin can only be free if someone else takes the burden from them.

Rika argues instead that sin is just an aspect of life and everyone carries some. It can be cleansed a little at a time through acceptance and forgiveness. And as long as all the pieces are available, everyone can walk away happy.

And this mindset that desired a world where no one had to lose let Rika bring a miracle stronger than the power of a god and the will of a god candidate.

When time resumes, the bullet somehow misses Hanyu entirely. The watchdogs arrive to apprehend Takano. She drops her scrapbook and one of the soldiers steps on it.

And then Tomitake arrives to diffuse the situation. Tomitake was not there for Takano the first time she needed help and that allowed Nomura her chance to influence Takano. But now Tomitake has gotten a second chance to set things right. Takano's entire life has come crashing down, and someone is once again literally stepping on her grandfather's research. But Tomitake has arrived to offer his support and show he cares about Takano and her notebook.

I think it's worth mentioning that Rika's miracle averted the worst thing Tomitake brought up in chapter 29. No one ended up dead.

And Tomitake exemplified Rika's argument about handling sin. He looked Takano in the eyes and said he still accepted her and would help her one day move past what she's done until she can return to her happy life as Miyoko Tanashi.

It feels strangely fitting that Tomitake is the one who brings all this to a close. The very first chapter made the story initially seem like it would be a slice-of-life tale about a city boy moving into a small village. It was only after Tomitake told Keiichi about the murder in 1979 when everything shifted into mystery, intrigue, and conspiracy.

Hanyu and Takano were the two key players in this long story. They fought to decide who would be Oyashiro. But really, they fought to determine who the world would decide which of their lives mattered. And in the end, both of them have walked away with what they truly wanted. They both feel accepted by someone and that they have a right to exist in this world.

So with everything settled, they realize the Cotton Drifting Festival begins at 5. It's been a long day and they have at most four hours to relax before celebrating.

And now that the future is a possibility, we get a montage of everyone deciding what they will do in the future. Rika is excited to do everything she can for summer vacation. And there is so much to look forward to. Next month, the Famicom and Donkey Kong will come out. Late next year, a new manga called Dragonball will begin publication.

I am very much joking here, but it be something if Rika called Akasaka "daddy" in front of his wife as some devious homewrecking ploy. All it took was one word for Yukie to try strangling him. What if it was all an evil plot by Rika to destroy their marriage so that she could swoop in and have Akasaka for herself?

Hanyu then tells us about her time during the festival. She truly enjoyed the festival because she got to actually be part of it. She is accepted by the world and allowed to be part of it. And we are given the true meaning behind the cotton drifting: The cotton balls represent ourselves. And they become washed by the river as they float away. As part of accepting and forgiving sins, the festival represents accepting and forgiving ourselves.

The poem Rika gave Keiichi in Massacre chapter 19 is reprised at the end (Although there is an inconsistency. The fifth line in Massacre was "Even I have the right to live in happiness."). When Rika told him that poem, he said it was a sad poem where the writer said everyone deserves to be happy but it's not always easy to be happy, and they're reluctantly giving up on their own chance at happiness.

And then Rika and Hanyu look to us to give the second verse of the poem.

Nipa Beam!!

back

[ciaossu-imagines]

I adore Mystic Messenger and have been lucky enough to handle quite a few headcanon requests for it. Not much love though for my precious V, who is one of my favourites, I will admit, so I took it upon myself to choose to write some headcanons for him! I used this prompt here and hope you all will enjoy them (since I do know he’s a pretty divisive character in the fandom)!

What they smell like?

I feel like V smells really good. He takes his personal hygiene seriously and does regularly shower and keeps clean. He favours shampoos and soaps with light and clean, faintly citrusy, scents. I feel like, when he was with Rika, he wore a more musky and spicy cologne that she favored but that, when he chooses his own cologne, it’s a lighter scent, like Burberry’s Touch.

How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc.)?

V sleeps on his side, almost in a fetal position but not quite. It’s vaguely fetal but he’s not as tightly curled up on himself, and he keeps his bottom leg mostly straight, with one arm underneath his head. He doesn’t move much while he sleeps and his breathing while he sleeps is light and regular and almost noiseless.

What music they enjoy?

He likes a lot of different types of music and enjoys learning about new bands and artists. He does like classical music and he can play several instruments, but he’s also in soft-rock, folk, happy sounding pop music if the lyrics aren’t aggressive, and would be strangely into cuddlecore music.

How much time they spend getting ready every morning?

It honestly depends on his mental health at the time. At the times when his mental health was the worst, while he’d make sure he was clean, V would put a lot less time into his personal appearance and could be ready in less than five minutes. When his mental health is fully positive, he does take pride in his appearance, both in his personal grooming and his attire, and takes about forty-five minutes to an hour to be fully ready.

Their favourite thing to collect?

V is a photographer, so is it any surprise that he likes collecting photographs? He makes scrapbooks and has photo albums that he loves looking through. I also think he likes collecting wine, tobacco pipes, art, and vinyl records.

Left or right-handed?

I think V is ambidextrous. It’s how I’ve always headcanoned him, though I think he uses his right hand slightly more.

Religion (if any)?

V’s been raised in the Catholic faith and is still a practicing Catholic, though he attends church a lot less regularly than he would like and, while the whole Rika situation is going on, I think he feels like he doesn’t deserve the comfort of confession and it would be a while before he allows himself to participate in that ritual again.

Favourite sport?

V was never a big fan of sports, though he did try to enjoy them for his father’s sake growing up. I feel like he played football (soccer) during school because it was his father’s favourite sport and does know enough about baseball to be able to participate in conversations about it but generally isn’t all that into sports.

Favourite touristy thing to do when travelling (museums, local food, sight-seeing, etc.)?

All of it. Seriously, V actually really enjoys travelling. By the time he dies, he wants to have seen the whole world and he will do everything he can to immerse himself in a place and soak up all of the things it, and the culture, can provide. He likes art galleries and museums, visits museums based around history or culture, asks locals for restaurant recommendations so that he can get authentic meals, and does enjoy sight-seeing, both through guided tours and through just exploring on his own with his camera.

Favourite kind of weather?

It shifts…with Rika, in the beginning, V loved the sun. No day was as good as those where the sun shone brightly and warmed everything. But when things got bad with Rika, he developed an almost obsession with rainy days, with the heavy atmosphere and gloomy skies. When he mentally heals, I think he goes back to preferring warmer days, with the sun in the sky, but not quite to the almost obsessive level he had before.

A weird/obscure fear they have?

Honestly, it’s rejection. V is a people pleaser at heart, with a desire to be accepted and loved and he fears everyone rejecting him.

The carnival/arcade game they always win without fail?

I feel like V is actually really good at the goldfish catching festival/carnival booth. He always gets a fish, and he names every single one of them, though he tends to give them away to small children instead of taking them home.

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi! I see that since you mentioned match ups are open people have eagerly hopped in. I honestly don't blame them since you're so good at it. It's really fun reading everyone's match ups so I wanted to give it a go too! I wanted to avoid mentioning or comparing characters to avoid influencing the results but like simplifying a person's personality is hard so I'm just gonna roll with it, lol.

In terms of personality, I'm an introvert but that doesn't mean I'm shy. I can be (I have, like, 3 different anxiety diagnosis) but usually I'm generally low energy and relaxed. Very deadpan. So much so much so that people tend to laugh even when I'm being serious. I'm a Taurus and I find the description very much fitting. I take pride in being pragmatic, grounded, down to earth. I like taking care of people in a more realistic way (and just in general). In spite of seeming calm or blunt I'm actually really sensitive and emotional (although I'll never show others my vulnerability). I always try to consider the other person's feelings which is why I'm often called kind and considerate. A good listener. I'm quiet so that comes with the territory lol. I generally don't like to talk about myself and will only say something if asked/spoken to first. In simple terms I'd say I'm a weird mix of Jumin(practical, decisive, analytical) and V(emotional, sentimental, self sacrificing). I always end up getting the most hearts from them when I respond honestly especially Jumin haha. One last thing for me is that along with my millions of anxiety disorders(including paranoia so I heavily relate to Rika and Saeyoung) I also have ADHD(I guess *also* like Saeyoung lolol). As I'm sure you can tell by now I don't have the one that makes me bounce off the wall. I believe the one I have is called inattentive and it makes me a total space cadet. But I was very imaginative and creative so I think it was good trade off? I'm pretty sure my mom thought child me was a plant because I was so quiet and still. Never cried that much and was an "easy" child except when she had to coax me to do things. Then I was stubborn lolol. Definitely a Taurus haha.

For work and study, ever since I could hold a crayon I've been drawing and art has always been my focus. In public school I'd pick the all the art classes and I'd even take outside classes during summers off and when I grew out of that I'd do self study with books and online tutorials. I do illustration and graphic design and my major in college was visual communication design (which is a wordier way to say graphic design). I got my associates but sadly had to drop while doing my bachelor's (would love to get a master's and study art forever but it's just a dream for now). Currently, I work as a bakery clerk part time until I can get a better job but I like it. I like seeing people's faces light up saying "SO PRETTYYY~" when they see our cakes. I do a little bit of everything so bread bagging, baking, set up, orders, cake decorating. It's very well rounded job where I'm breaking a sweat and feel like I'm earning my dollar while also having creative input. I like giving the customers advice for their get togethers and parties. It's nice. I'd like to one day have my own brand and put myself out there as an artist but for now this is fine enough.

When it comes to hobbies I feel like it's on the nose cause I like to be creative and have my hands moving. The obvious is drawing (both digitally and traditionally. Love using soft chalk pastels) and baking but I also like more crafty hobbies like crocheting and scrapbooking. I'm a big stationary nerd and I love collecting paper, notebooks, stickers/washi taped, pens/pencils, ect. Been into watching bookbinding vids. I also have the more typical hobby of listening to music, reading (big book nerd put me in a book store I'll leave with a tall stack), big gamer nerd.

Some other miscellaneous info about me is my favorite color is green 💚. I generally like deep earthy, natural colors but I also like gentle pastels like pink and lavender. I'm a big dog person and I dislike cats. I'm actually afraid of them and they cause me a lot of anxiety. I would never cause trouble for them and I hope they are homed to people that genuinely adore them. I just don't jive with them. I can and have taken care of them in a pinch. I wouldn't let my personal stuff cause them harm. I definitely understand and relate to dogs more. I want to grow old with a bunch of pups to take care of lol. I don't want kids so cute puppers will do. I have hazel eyes and rusty red hair. When I was younger my hair was much brighter yellow orange compared to Saeyoung but as I got older it turned into a deeper, darker rust red. I also have freckles all over. My favorite shape is stars! I love astrology and magic and whimsy (again such a contrast from how I present lolol ⭐)

Im more prone to forgiving and moving on and I found Saeran's AE really relatable. It brought up a lot of topics that were really important to me that I feel a lot of people overlook in stories about healing from abusive parents. I really can't hold onto my anger for very long and generally prefer to look at people for what they are and either work with them or move on. I don't like letting others take my time and energy which is why I'm "nice", or at least normal, to even people i don't like. I feel like being petty and angry all the time is draining. It's just my style of healing. On the contrary I find anger and yelling very triggering for me even from friends who I know won't hurt me or are speaking on my behalf. The antagonististic energy is just very uncomfortable. I prefer a gentle touch I can trust. Everyone is capable of getting angry, it's healthy and normal, but I prefer someone who's first instinct isn't to jump to anger but understanding. Makes me feel safe.

That's about everything I can think of. I don't normally think about myself so it's hard to write haha. Hopefully that all made sense. Thanks for taking the time if you see this. 😊

I match you with...

Jihyun!

Hear me out, I know this might sound odd, but you seem to fall into the same realm as his heart.

Don't take this to mean that you're self-destructive, it's actually that you're passionate and that this passion is what inspires you to be who you are. Even though it may not be a lucrative career to survive as an artist, you find a way to make it work, and in doing so, you don't sacrifice what helps you feel like you have artistic liberty. Not a lot of people have that opportunity, and it would be interesting to be close to Jihyun, wouldn’t it? He didn't give up on his dream of painting, he simply found something else to fill the void in his chest because his father made him believe he would never be able to make it. 

Seeing you be your most authentic self is a challenge to everything he's ever told himself. You're the kind of person who challenges him, because while you are similar, you are inherently different, as well. It's not a bad thing, it's something he welcomes, and he can't help but want more. 

He's not the kind of person who's going to jump to anger when something goes wrong. You don't have to be afraid of being in a conversation with him, especially not with the two of you are upset, because he has a level enough head to know that you need to take some time to breathe, and do whatever you need to do before you come back to the conversation. Nothing ever feels like it's going to explode when you're with him. It feels like you can overcome any challenge that comes your way. 

[livecharliereaction]

Bye tsumihoroboshi

thats all for tsumihoroboshi chapter ZAMN. omfg i did cry i cant lie at that big battle on the rooftop i did i did i did.. It just hits a litte close to home friendship and all that... I love my friends so mach i get everything theyre feeling u know... AND the delusions of rena what a crazy writing style i dont think ill get over it like ever. urgh. Well the final tip almost wanted me to consider that "ooh maybe she was right!" but honestly my takeaways from it are juts 1. disaster happens regardless no matter how the events go otherwise 2. rika was murdered? Thats pretty weird 3. BUT theres hope liek she said BECAUSE: keiichi rememberd something from "another world" (i know a timeloop when i see one. its def a timeloop. Hells yeah) 4. the scrapbooks do hvae some evil spell or something takano i am onto you its weird anyway she shows up at such times and all.. Idk if shes the #MAIN VILLAIN DEMON OMG but shes Something.

Rena i love you thank you for solidifying your place as my favorite good time. argh every chapter so far is better than the one before it goes for this one too it does it does... Which is amazing implications for next ones... Lets hope they keep it up...

And keiichi i cant lie i do love you. I love you i love you i love you. Ughh. If i was still 16 hed have a big chance at going to that kinlist. But hes so gross so i wouldnt actually have added him then either!!! im unable to kin these days because EVERY GOOD CHARACTER EVER has Some Traits I Can Relate To Myself becuase i dont know something something human emotion something i am just like everyone else and everyone is just like me in the end and i love it. But yeah keiichi love the guy hes so #Power of Friendship #Protagonist. Im mentioning this cos i loved the girls from the start and still do but keiichi had to prove himself a little...

Yeah im curious about satoko now too i dont think i paid her enough mind i sort of ended up assuming shes #Normal but just super close to rika obviously but that one line about her being older. I couldnt tell yet if its Haha satokos body is older and rikas being funny! OR Omg satoko some immortal or something too woww! but yeah. I wouldnt think she is it doesnt seem that way at all BUT u never know w this fuckass series..ou ou ou ou ou

Mion i love you the girl that you are. Rena you are everything and more. Rika how have you managed to stay mysterious ive been here for like over 30 hours total for sure maybe even 40. But hmm

if its a timeloop i still cant tell what its about. id say rikas in charge (wants to keep giving this world a chance) n takano is with the antagonistic forces But how does it work exactly? If rikas the one "looping the time" directly it doesnt really compute unless she can do it from the afterlife. I dont konw.

And Omfg i hate this series because i STILL believe satoshi will show up one day. Even though it seems impossible now. But i liked him n shion so much dude i love shion so satoshi HAS TO come back for her. Urgh urgh urgh

But yeah i fr didnt think keiichi would be able to break renas delusion even for such a long moment But he pulled it off. Shes really cool i love her. I love her i love her i love her. UGHHH. Everything and more. and i said it alr but ill say it again the portrayal of her delusional state is SO personal to me i get her i get her i DO so good... Urghh. Ok. Thank u charhigurashi6 i have to check how many games the bundle i bought still has hmm

ok these 3 i own but havent installed lets see The first one here is um well i dont know that girl i havent seen her which is concerning! I feel like i mightve seen a sprite (in the og style that i read with) but thats kinda it. I recall seeing a name somewhere too shes a furude i think but not too sure Im always frustrated when i see a spoiler like that but then it never makes me any more knowledgeable about anything so so far its fine #LOL. proably has to do with the demon stuff tho...

takano in the middle one right takano you are so weird and offputting. Damn maybe she IS the big bad afterall

last one aww rika But yeah thats. I dont know its at least 5 hrs each but i think i spent like 10+ hrs on meakashi so it could possibly be up to like what. 15 even 20? per game. At least 15 hours left though.. Idt theres anything outside of the bundle after this its either higu anime time or umineko time ill see what kinda time i have then (i can probably watch the anime while multitasking i dont really care so much but umineko i want to be TUNED. IN.)

yay exciting ok thank u charhigurashi6 best chapter so far loved it love u rena love u everyone ok gn

[smol-grey-tea]

I rly love your Cheritz posts!! Yes I 100% agree Zen must be from Grass somehow. I pay attention to the April Fools DLC especially in that it confirms the only characters who are real include him, 707, Rika, V and I think Saeran??? I'm not sure about him, maybe not. But I run with the theory that 707 and V are Wizards and the desperate wish this time was made by Rika, and V pretends to be human to get close with her. The reason Rika invented Mint Eye was because somehow she realised her world was fake, built by V, and she wants to help people to somehow escape that world.

But anyway- I wanted to focus on the timing of it. I think it's rly unclear on why Zen ended up in this world along with MC so I'm not even gonna speculate too much on why since idfk. But. I have something to add.

It might be possible that the pocket dimensions created might be interlinked with each other?? Somehow?? In Rika's scrapbook there is this image - not mine, had to search for it on internet cuz I keep losing it everytime I find it (;-_-)ノ

On the page on the left is a picture of V with his family. Mother, father and sister. But that sister,, kinda looks like Eri. Man. Huh.

They don't look too similar tbh but Cheritz wouldn't make the girl look that much like Eri without reason right? I don't think it's just an Easter egg to the past games, cuz those include mugs and paintings, not actual characters???

I'm not sure what to make of this tbh. Cuz it's also implied that the universes of Nameless and Dandelion are canonically just fiction in the world of MM, with examples of Zen dressing up as Jisoo in a play and Jumin reading a bedtime story to the MC of Nameless' 2nd Secret Ending.

But Eri being V's sister, or at least a lookalike to his sister? It's definitely strange. It not only kinda messes up the timeline of it, since the "divine prince being born only every 3 generations" means ???? when clearly 3 generations have not passed since 2013 if this really is Eri.

It's definitely strange ^^;; I'll do some more thinking about it later on but that's all I wanted to say for now :) gonna go eat a bacon sandwich now 😎

Zen is a Prince From Grass

First, we will start with comparisons.

Younger Zen/Hyun (Age 18?):

Younger Jieun/Etinos (Age 16):

Older Jieun/Etinos (Age 19?):

Older Zen/Hyun (Age 23):

… I wanted to get that out of the way first. Zen and Jieun obviously have physical similarities (especially when they were both younger and drawn with thick eyelashes), but let’s go beyond this. After all, Cheritz has a habit of making the love interests in their games have similarities to each other. In every game, you always have 5 love interests and 1 MC pursuing them because of reasons (V and Ray’s routes broke this pattern, but the original MM only had 5 routes so…). There are more specific similarities like 707 and Red, Yeonho, and Yoosung, arguably Lance and Jumin, etc. Now, I think this goes deeper in the case of Zen and Jieun.

Continuar lendo

[tiresomeimagination]

Guilty Pleasure (707 x Reader)

Word Count: 2.7k

Author’s Note: This is sort of a slight AU. A “what if” where Seven met his MC during his time abroad in college. Someone that managed to make a big enough impact that moving on was harder than it should have been. I know this might be slightly OOC, but I did try my best to keep things believable ^^; I mostly just really wanted something with a foreigner/Western MC, and when I learned that Seven went to college in America, I thought it’d be an interesting way of implementing that. I’ve been working on this for a couple weeks now and while I’m not completely satisfied with how it turned out, I do still think it’s a neat enough idea, so I’ll go ahead and share it. (I also do apologize for the length;; I don’t know how it ended up this long, haha... Leave it to Saeyoung to make me write probably my longest oneshot to date)

Edit: I wrote a short continuation piece that can be found here!

~~~~~

Ah, there was nothing like coming back to your quiet little apartment after a long day studying on campus. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for you to spend long hours at your college library. After all, you had the somewhat unpleasant honor of making it into an Ivy League school to begin with. This meant you had to work pretty hard just to make sure your GPA didn’t slip too much. Keeping up with things had been easier during your first year…back when you had a fun classmate to spend those long hours pouring over textbooks with. Now, it was just you. But that was fine. You managed on your own.

You trudged your way inside, kicking off your shoes and tossing your bag somewhere into the corner. With a tired sigh, you flicked on the light, nearly jumping out of your skin at the sight that greeted you. 

A familiar young man with bright red hair and glasses reclined on your couch as if he had been waiting for you. He met your gaze with a smile and gave a small wave. “Hey Y/N, long time no see! You really need to find a better hiding spot for your spare key y’know. I would have thought you’d change it up by now,” He said calmly. His English was nearly flawless, although you could still hear his Korean accent.

“L-Luciel??” You croaked out, finally finding your voice after your mini heart attack. This couldn’t be the same guy you knew, could it? Your old classmate...Chilyoung Choi, or Luciel as he had used as a nickname between the two of you, the mysterious boy who disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared in your life.

“Yep!” He chirped as he hopped back onto his feet, still sporting a carefree grin.

Several feelings ran through you in that instant, from utter disbelief, to relief that your old friend was okay, to hurt as you realized the implication that if he was okay…then he really had just left without so much as a goodbye. You pushed that feeling down and chose to focus on the positive for now. Your friend was alive, safe, and in front of you after all this time. Pushing yourself forward, you threw your arms around the redhead.

Luciel stiffened in surprise, letting out a small “oh!” before he returned the hug. He admittedly wasn’t sure how you would react to seeing him again, but he was relieved that you seemed to be taking it well so far.

“...Don’t think this means I’m not mad at you for ditching me,” you grumbled into his shoulder, savoring the warm embrace a moment longer before the two of you broke away.

“A-ah, of course, haha…!” He chuckled awkwardly, not wanting to risk getting on your bad side right now.

You let out a heavy sigh. "So…what are you doing here?" You asked, trying to keep your tone from sounding too frazzled.

"Ah, well, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing!" Luciel said as he gave his best casual shrug, speaking as if he hadn’t dropped off the face of the earth. This actually wasn't the first time he had checked up on you. He had looked you up on several other occasions, but you didn't need to know about that.

"...You were in the neighborhood…? I figured you'd go back to Korea after school."

"Oh…yeah. I did," he responded simply, making no move to elaborate. The truth was that he had traveled back to America while working on a new mission. He tried his best to ignore the proximity to his old school, and by extension his old acquaintances, but after a long and grueling few days of agency work, his impulses had won out in the end. He needed to see you in person…at least one more time.

You let out a more exasperated sigh, running a hand through your hair. You knew better than to push for answers with him. Even back then, he had always been a bit dodgy about certain subjects. If you pushed, he would just shut you down and start to distance himself. You would have to walk his crazy tightrope of half-answers if you wanted to get anywhere. "O-okay…well…you're here now, so…can I…I dunno, get you something to drink?" You asked awkwardly.

"Don't suppose you've got any Doctor Pepper?"

"Umm…I'll take a look," You mumbled before heading into the kitchen and leaving Luciel alone in the living room.

He took the opportunity to look over the room. He took note of any new items you’d added and smiled as he spotted old familiar ones. He always did feel relaxed here. You had been one of the only classmates of his that could make him feel a bit less anxious about everything. Somehow, you could make him actually feel the teensiest bit safe in the midst of his crazy secret life filled with far too many worries to count. Maybe that's why he was drawn to you…why he couldn't completely push you to the back of his mind and forget you when it was time for him to leave. Luciel’s nostalgic smile faded as his thoughts continued to wander. He was supposed to forget you. He should have…

“Well you’re in luck, I had a few cans of soda left in the back of the fridge and it looks like I’ve got a couple Doctor Peppers. Guess it was meant to be,” you said as you reentered the room with drinks in hand.

Luciel snapped out of his thoughts and accepted the drink with a small thanks. "So… you're still hard at it, I see." He commented, gesturing to your school bag on the floor, practically overflowing with your textbooks and papers after you carelessly threw it down earlier.

"Oh…yeah, I've got a bit longer until I graduate. Not everyone can be a genius like you and fast-track everything," you scoffed as you averted your gaze, instead focused on opening your can of soda.

"Aw, come on! I remember you not being too bad yourself. You could keep up with the best of 'em. You would never have survived the year as my study buddy if you couldn't!" He said with a laugh, giving you a playful nudge with his elbow.

You couldn’t help but join his laughter. You forgot how contagious his smile could be. “Hah, are you sure it wasn’t just so you could come play with my cat instead of work?” You asked teasingly.

Luciel’s smile widened. “Ah…I will neither confirm nor deny that accusation,” he responded in an equally teasing tone before taking a sip of his own soda. “Where is the little guy anyway?”

“Hm, not sure…Here, buddy! Come on out!" You called out for your cat, scanning the area.

"Eep!" Luciel squeaked in surprise. You turned back around to find your cat coiling his way around Luciel's legs. 

You both chuckled slightly and Luciel was quick to bend down and scoop the kitty into his arms. you were torn between cringing and laughing at the feline's whines of protest as Luciel cuddled him enthusiastically, rubbing his face against the creature.

"Hey, be gentle with him. He's not as young as he used to be," you chided half-heartedly.

"Aw, but he's just too cute!" Luciel squealed happily.

You watched him play with your cat for a few more moments with a fond gaze before your expression grew more serious. "...So are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room? You just show up here after years of me not knowing if you were dead or alive? Come on, Chilyoung. You've got to tell me something." You pressed. You tried to keep your voice as level as possible but you couldn't stop a bit of hurt from leaking into your tone.

Luciel's movements slowed to a stop, instinctively holding your cat close as his expression darkened. He couldn't help but wince slightly at the use of his old fake name. Just one of many…

"...It was never my intention to hurt you...I had to leave the way I did. You won't understand, but I didn't exactly have a choice…And I didn't exactly have the luxury of keeping in touch…" He explained in a voice so low you almost didn't catch it.

You were a bit taken aback by his solemn response. Was he in some sort of trouble after all? You frowned with concern and stepped toward him, touching his arm gently. “What are you talking about? What happened to you?”

Luciel sighed, silently opening his arms and letting your cat scamper away. He then lifted his gaze to meet yours, giving you a sad smile. “I can’t talk about that…In fact, I’m not really supposed to be here at all…I just…” He paused, his smile fading as he looked away in shame and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “...I guess I just really wanted to see you again…hah…pretty stupid, huh?”

“...Luciel…”

He quickly shook off the gloomy expression and gave you a fresh smile, only managing to worry you more. “But this can be our secret, right Y/N?...No one can know I was here, okay?” He asked, his tone chillingly serious despite his cheerful facade. He sounded almost…scared.

Your expression hardened into one of determination as you pulled him into a tight hug. He held himself stiffly, not sure whether to push you away or not.  After a moment, you pulled away just enough to look him in the eye. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on or what it is you’re going through…but you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. I’m just glad to see you again. I'm glad you're okay and I'm glad you're here…I missed you too.”

…Ack! You used friendly support and affection! It was super effective! Critical damage -707 hp.

Luciel just stood there, staring at you like you’d grown two heads. If you didn’t know any better, you’d even say he looked flustered. “Ah…I…uh…haha…yeah…” He stammered, struggling to get a hold of his hammering heart. You always did this. You made it easy for him to let his guard down. That was…dangerous. Much too dangerous.

You just chuckled at his anxious state, taking his arm and tugging him towards the couch. “Now come on. We don't have to talk about anything that you're not comfortable with right now. Let's just sit for a minute and relax," you reassured him, sensing that he needed some comfort.

He followed your lead without protest, although you could have sworn you heard him mutter something in Korean under his breath as he tried to pull himself together.

You both sat on the couch, falling into an awkward silence at first, but slowly beginning some friendly small talk. True to your word, you kept yourself from asking any of the big questions you really wanted answers to. Something you could tell Luciel greatly appreciated. Instead, you caught him up with a few things that had happened since he left. You didn't really think your boring college experience was particularly enthralling, but Luciel seemed to be enjoying every word of it. He never had the time to slow down and really enjoy a proper college experience. He had a job to do and people to help. He could never be like you. So he found it particularly relaxing to hear about the life of a regular student.

In return, Luciel offered you a few small pieces of info. They were all pretty vague, more like a few gracious breadcrumbs to sate your curiosity and keep you from asking more questions than they were actual explanations. You learned that he worked for a big fancy group where his genius computer science skills were being put to use. He told you that was the reason for his traveling. He made an effort to make it sound like a cool plus, but you could tell he was unsettled about something.

"Luciel…are you really okay?" You asked hesitantly.

"Oh yeah sure. Living the dream," he responded lightly.

You weren't very convinced.

Luciel looked over at your concerned expression, letting out a small chuckle. "Seriously, I am okay, Y/N. You don't have to worry about me. Sure, my job isn't exactly easy, but I can handle it. It's no problem for someone like me!" He insisted. Another lie. His job was terrible. It made him do terrible things and it made him feel like a terrible person. But he couldn't tell you that part. No. He just wanted to indulge in a little peace with you and pretend to be normal for a single fleeting moment.

You gave him a critical look. You knew he wasn't being completely honest but you also knew there was nothing you could do about it. "Well…even someone like you still needs help sometimes. I know I can't do much. I'm just a boring college student with a cat. But if there's ever anything I can do…I'm here, okay?"

"...Yeah," he muttered, expression softening and his smile turning a bit more genuine. There was a moment of silence as you looked at each other, drinking in each other's presence.

The moment was broken by the buzz of his phone. Luciel’s expression immediately soured as he fished the device from his pocket and flicked it on. He groaned, letting out another grumble to himself that was foreign to your ears. "Yikes…Duty calls," he finally said in English once more before he rose to his feet. He had to get back before anyone from the agency realized he was gone. None of them knew about you. He was never supposed to make any real connections during his brief time here, but he had managed to keep whatever this was a secret…And by God, he was going to keep it that way.

"You're leaving already? Is everything okay?" You asked anxiously, following his lead and rising as well.

"Yeah, yeah. Great. I've just gotta…uhh…have you got a back door?"

"Oh, uh…yeah. Just through the kitchen."

"Good, good…" He trailed off, mind running a mile a minute. His attention suddenly snapped back to you. "Ah, you remember what I told you, right? I was never here,” he reminded you hastily, sounding like he was in a hurry to leave.

You smiled. “Who was never here?”

Luciel mirrored your smile. “Haha, yeah. That’s the spirit! Now, I hate to drink and dash, but I’ve really gotta go. Thanks for…thanks for everything, Y/N. Take care of yourself,” he said, his voice softening at the end. He gave you a more hesitant and lingering look before heading to the kitchen, making a beeline for the door.

“Wait! Luciel!” You called after him as you followed him around the corner.

“Yeah?”

“...Keep in touch this time, will you?”

“...I…Yeah. Roger that,” he responded, lifting his hand in a small salute before opening the door and slipping back out into the night like the ghost he was.

Luciel could barely think as he hurried his way back to his temporary hideout where his handler would undoubtedly be looking for him. It was fine. Luciel was smart. Exceptionally so. If anybody was qualified enough to keep such complicated double lives separate, it was him. He would just have to think of a new way to get under his handler’s skin again to keep the agent distracted. It would be easy. Maybe it was a bit of his ego thinking, or maybe it was the addictive nature of your company, but Luciel couldn’t help but think that he could do this again. Was it really so bad to enjoy himself for once? It wasn’t like you were associated with him in any meaningful way someone could trace. All Luciel would have to do is cover his tracks properly and you would be fine…right?

Ughh…He groaned quietly in frustration, lowering his head as he hurried along the dark streets. Who was he kidding? He didn’t deserve to be selfish like this, did he? He shook his head, forcing himself to stop the senseless back and forth. He would think more about this later. For now, he needed to get back to work…and pray that there would be no punishment for indulging himself in such guilty pleasures.

[sunshinejihyun]

The Birthday Debacle || Choi Twin’s Birthday 2020

Summary: Saeyoung and Saeran have always celebrated their birthday together since the events of Mint Eye, but there’s one person they didn’t know who also shared a birthday with them

Word Count: 3.9K

Masterlist

\“We have a problem." Was not something Saeran Choi wanted to hear on the day of his birthday party. But alas, Saeyoung just had to say it, didn't he? "It's also MC's birthday. I totally forgot about it after doing my background check on her but now I just remembered."

Saeran’s hands started to sweat and he could feel his heartbeat speed up; how could he forget his own girlfriend's birthday? Why didn’t he know it in the first place? It’s been three years since they met, why has this never come up before? “You’re telling me that she probably thinks that we’ve forgotten her birthday for three years now? You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m sorry! But isn’t it her boyfriends job to remember?” Saeyoung threw his hands in the air and walked off. “I’ll start making the cake, if you want to call and let everyone know it’s also MC’s birthday and we should expect to surprise her.” Saeran mumbled a thanks under his breath and pulled out his phone, already dialing Jumin’s number.

“Saeran, I’m going to see you soon, am I not?” Jumin questioned on the end of the line and Saeran felt a bubble of anger rise in his throat. He wasn’t angry at Jumin, he was angry because he never even thought to ask your birthday and now you probably thought no one cared.

“You are, but there’s been a slight change of plans.” Saeran explained to Jumin that it was your birthday as well as his and Saeyoung’s and that he needed Jumin to stall you for a few hours. “Can you just take her to get a new dress or something? Make her pick out a few and then have her wear her favorite one to the party. I’ll send you a new wine I found as compensation.”

Jumin knew the reason that he was asked to take you was simple: you were closest with him aside from Saeran, and knew that you’d be less suspicious of him than anyone else. So, that’s how Jumin found himself taking a detour to your small apartment, waiting out front until you were planning to leave to meet everyone else for the party.

When you stepped outside, your eyes glanced over the car inquisitively before Jumin saw you smile and rush to meet him. “Jumin, what a lovely surprise!” You exclaimed, leaning over and pressing a friendly kiss to his cheek, him doing the same to you.

“I have to admit, the reason I’m here is purely selfish. I just didn’t want to show up to the party alone and I needed your help with something.” Jumin explained before the driver started the car up, driving in the opposite direction of Saeyoung and Saeran’s bunker. “I need your help choosing a new suit to wear. I’m getting tired of the same grey color every time.”

“Oh Jumin, you know I love to help you but isn’t that what your tailor is for? I don’t want to be late for the party.” You pulled out your phone and looked at the time, nervously chewing your lip. “Can’t we do this after?” Jumin was having none of your objections and instead insisted on sitting on his phone, ignoring whenever you would complain about being late.

When you pulled up to the nicest clothing store you’ve ever seen, you saw Jumin eye a gorgeous white, pink, and green floral dress in the window. “That would look nice on you.”

And that’s how you ended up trying on dress after dress while Jumin looked at some dark blue suits. Jumin had deemed himself the fashion police and every time he didn’t like something you had tried on, he just sent you right back in with another dress in your hand.

At the Choi household, chaos had ensued after the fact that it was also your birthday came out. Saeyoung was in the kitchen baking a second cake for you, a little personal one for you and Saeran to share together later. Saeran and Jihyun were going through all the decorations and trying to fix them so they said “Happy birthday Saeyoung and Saeran! And MC!” Jaehee was running around with Yoosung and Zen, trying to pick out a few perfect presents for you since no one had time to shop before.

Finding his brother in the kitchen with vanilla frosting decorating his face, Saeran chuckled. “I think you missed the cake.”

“I was just taste testing it. What if it was bad? We wouldn’t want MC to get sick.” Saeyoung protested and Saeran reached across his brother to dip his finger in the frosting as well.

“Well, it tastes good enough to me.” After standing and watching his twin messily frost the cake for a moment before speaking again. “Hey, thanks.”

Saeyoung stopped his movements, putting down the knife and turning towards his other half. “What on earth are you thanking me for?”

Saeran turned his gaze to the floor, sure that if he looked straight at his brother he wouldn’t be able to explain correctly. “When we were younger, you always promised you’d come back for me. For a long time, I lost any sort of hope that you would. When I was under Rika’s control, there was only hatred left for you, she erased all the good memories from our childhood. But you never gave up on me. You sat silently day after day and waited for me to come around and I just wanted to say thank you. I’m glad you're my brother.”

Saeyoung felt tears well up in his eyes and he hesitantly stepped towards Saeran, wanting to embrace him but needing the confirmation first. Saeran wrapped his arms around his brother tightly for a moment before letting go and clearing his throat. “You should probably finish that cake.” He noted before walking off, presumably in search of something else to do.

Saeyoung Choi was turning 25 this year and finally, he was in a place in his life that he was happy with. He had great friends and his brother back at his side. They were his family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but what family wasn’t? Even MC, who came later than everyone else, fit right in. In his mind, she was his and Saeran’s honorary triplet (except not really, since you and Saeran were together and that would be gross) since they all shared a birthday. That’s why this year needed to be extra special. It was the first year that they were actually celebrating everyone’s birthday together.

Saeran approached his brother for a second time that morning and set a large box down in front of him, away from the cake. “I got this for you. It’s not much but-“

“I love it!” Saeyoung laughed as his brother looked at him exasperatedly.

“You haven’t even opened it, you idiot.” Saeran deadpanned and then gestured for his brother to open the box.

Inside the box was the biggest Longcat pillow Saeyoung had ever seen and he gasped, hugging it tightly to his chest. “It’s perfect,” looking his brother in the eyes, Saeyoung sincerely thanked Saeran. “Wait here for a moment.”

Saeyoung returned with a large book and promptly handed it to Saeran. Turning it over, Saeran smiled softly at the cover. It was a picture of them together on their first birthday, faces both covered with cake and smiling at the other. Inside was every picture Saeyoung could find of them together or Saeran alone and later on, pictures of MC and the rest of the RFA was added in there. “Saeyoung..”

“I know it’s kind of cheesy, but I wanted to show you that no matter what type of childhood we had, we always had each other and there’s so many people who care about you.” Without saying anything, Saeran grabbed his brother tightly, a sob wracking through his whole body.

“Thank you. Seriously.” After straightening up, Saeran wiped his eyes and went to go put the scrapbook in his room, hidden in a safe place so nothing could damage it.

There was a knock on his bedroom door and he smoothed out his sweater, turning to see Yoosung in the doorway. “Hey, MC and Jumin are on their way. We’re all going to hide and surprise her when they walk in.” Saeran nodded and followed Yoosung to the living room silently, crouching behind a chair and feeling utterly guilty about missing your birthday.

Shutting off the lights, Zen announced that you were at the security gate, struggling to answer the question Saeyoung currently had set for security measures. Saeran smiled to himself, remembering the first time he brought you to the bunker and how frustrated you got with the simple question. How when he finally told you, your neck flushed red and you thanked him with a small kiss.

As soon as he heard the door start to rattle, his smile on his face got bigger, just imagining your face and how surprised you’ll be. “Jumin, the lights are off. Are you sure they’re still-“

As you walked in the door, Zen flicked on the lights and everyone jumped out, screaming a variation of “Happy birthday, MC!”

Your hand covered your mouth and tears welled up in your eyes as Saeran hastily made his way towards you, wrapping his arm around your body as you buried your face in his solid chest.”Happy birthday, Saeran. I love you.” You waited a moment before asking, “how did you know?”,voice muffled by his sweater.

“I’m just sorry we didn’t find out sooner, my love. Why wouldn’t you tell me?” One of Saerans hands pushed your hair back from your forehead and he pressed a soft kiss to the exposed skin.

“Because the first year you celebrated your birthday with Saeyoung, was the first time since you reconnected and I wanted you to have that day with your brother. After that, it just felt too late to tell you so I just never bothered.” You explained and turned towards Jumin. “You’re sneaky, Mr. Han. I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner.” Saeran took that moment to truly study you for the first time in about a week, since that was when he saw you last. You were wearing a blue tea dress, small flowery patterns swirling around - one of the three dresses Jumin had gotten you. Your hair was partially up and it showed off more of your neck than normal, and he smiled to himself when he saw a necklace he had gotten for you on your second Valentine’s Day together dangling down the front of your dress.

“Happy birthday, MC!” Saeyoung exclaimed and wrapped his arms around your waist, twirling you around. Saeran smiled at his brother and partner getting along and he mouthed a thank you towards Jumin, who held up his hand in a way to say “no problem.”

When you pulled away from Saeyoung, you made your way around the room with hello’s and thank you’s making sure to ask everyone how they were doing. Saeran loved that about you, the fact that you remembered such intimately personal details about all your friends; it made everyone know you cared and made them care for you even more.

After you finished your conversation with Jaehee, Saeran gently took your hand and pulled you towards the couch, loving the laugh that you let out as he settled you down on his lap. “What do you say we get out of here later? I love all our friends but I’d really just like to spend some time with you, Princess.” You bit your lip and nodded quickly pressing a kiss to his lips and laughing at the blush that settled on his cheeks.

“I would like that, I want to give you your present alone.” Saeran couldn’t help but let his mind wander at that comment and you laughed, smacking his chest. “Not like that, you dork. It’s just not something anyone else needs to see.”

Saeran smirked, lightly peppering your neck with kisses. “Your not helping your case by saying that.”

“You are unbelievable!” You laughed as you squirmed in his grip, Saeran hitting the ticklish spot on your neck.

“MC, we got this for you. Since we didn’t know it was your birthday, we looked for something to suit you. We hope you will find it suitable.” Jaehee handed you a small velvet box and you felt a smile creep onto your face before sneaking a peek at Saeran, who’s smile was almost mirroring your own. Opening the box you gasped as you saw a bracelet with a locket inside it.

Skipping it on your wrist, you felt Zen grab the charm and open it for you, showing you the pictures inside. One side was the group picture you took on the twins first birthday together and on the other, a picture of you and Saeran asleep, you curled in his lap with one of his hands in your hair, the other wrapped protectively around your waist. “This is beautiful. Seriously, thank you guys.” You got up to hug each of your friends and when you got to Saeyoung you pulled out a small box for him. “Happy birthday Saeyoung.”

He opened the box and saw it was a customized HBC and PhD. Pepper keychain to put on his car keys. Laughing he booped you on the nose before pulling you into another hug. “Thanks so much MC.���

After some more gift exchanging from the other members of the RFA, you noticed Saeran’s eyes starting to glass over, a clear sign he was getting overstimulated and needed a break from people for a moment. Grasping his hand, you shook him out of his trance and motioned your head to the front door. “Want to go take a walk?” Smiling gratefully at you, Saeran got up and you wordlessly followed him to his room where he grabbed two sweatshirts, one for him and one for you.

“I know it’s summer but the nights get colder now. I want you to stay warm.” He explained, once again taking hold of your hand and leading you out the door. “Thanks for noticing I needed a break.”

You squeezed his hand gently and he brought your entwined hands up to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of your hand. “I notice everything about you, Saeran.” You replied honestly, smiling to yourself when you saw a blush dust the tips of his ears. “Can I give you your present now?”

You guys had stopped and sat down at a park bench when you handed him a heavy bag. He looked at you curiously before pulling the paper out and handing the crumpled ball to you, grunting slightly as he pulled out the large picture frame. “It’s… constellations?” He asked, confusion written all over his face.

Laughing, you pointed to the bottom. “Look at the date.”

Saeran’s eyebrows knit together in confusion before a look of realization dawned on his face. “The day we met.”

You nodded, wrapping your arms around one of his, grateful for his sweatshirt he insisted you put on before you left the party. “Those are the constellations in the sky on the exact date, time, and location when we first met.” You explained, looking at his face as he studied the frame carefully, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I didn’t know what to get you for the longest time, to be honest. You’re picky and I didn’t want to get you anything that wasn’t sentimental, like I got Saeyoung.” You laughed and Saeran pulled you closer to him, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. “But I figured this would be good, since it’s sentimental and something you can always use. Let’s be honest, your room does need something on the walls.” You teased him and your heart swelled when Saeran laughed along with you.

“It’s perfect. Seriously, MC. I couldn’t picture anything better.” Saeran had set down the picture frame and was looking deeply in your eyes, grasping both of your hands. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you.”

You shook your head, smiling. “I don’t need anything. Being with you and the rest of our friends are enough. You’re the most important thing to me.” Saeran smiled widely before pulling you into a deep kiss. It was a kiss that said way more than words ever could. It   love and thoughtfulness, hope and adoration. It was the type of kiss you would remember forever. It was the type of kiss that proved to you that true love was real.

“As much as I would like to keep you to myself for the rest of the night, I think we need to get back.” Saeran said, a little out of breath as he pulled away, his forehead still pressed against yours.

You let out a small whine as he laughed and pulled you up, holding you close with one hand and holding the bag with your present in the other. On the way back to the bunker, you spotted an ice cream shop, the lights still shining brightly and you stopped your boyfriend. Pointing to the shop, you smiled as his eyes lit up. “Want some ice cream before we head back?”

“MC, do you even have to ask?” Saeran asked seriously and you laughed out loud before he dragged you inside. “Can I get a strawberry on a cone and a vanilla in a cup?” You smiled at the fact that he remembered your order before you remembered you should stop being impressed. Saeran remembered everything you’ve ever told him, even if you didn’t remember telling him. Of course he did, you were his pride and joy.

No matter how much you insisted, Saeran wouldn’t let you pay for the ice cream. “I have three years of birthdays to make up for, please don’t fight me with this.” He pleaded, taking your hand before walking out the door of the ice cream parlor.

Sneaking a glance at Saeran, you suppressed a giggle as you saw a bit of ice cream on his nose. He looked down at you and as he did, you reached up on your tiptoes, kissing the tip of his nose and promptly cleaning his face of ice cream. “You had ice cream on your nose,” you explained as he looked at you with a bewildered expression.

Saeran silently pressed a kiss to your lips. “You had ice cream on your lips.” He stated, like it was the most mundane thing ever.

The rest of your walk back to the party was quiet, the both of you just enjoying being in the others company. When you got to the door with the security questions, you stepped back, happy to let your boyfriend figure out the answer.

“MC, Saeran! There you are.” Yoosung flocked to your side as soon as you stepped into the front door, linking his arm with yours. “You guys have to blow out your candles on the cake!”

“Well, uh, I actually don’t want cake.” You stayed and when everyone looked at you like you were crazy, you went on to explain. “When Saeran and I were out, we got ice cream.”

“Speak for yourself, Princess. I still want some cake.” Saeran released your hand and kissed the top of your head before heading over to sit by his twin. You went and stood by Jumin and Jihyun, a smile on your face as you watched Saeran and Saeyoung argue over who was going to blow out the candle on which cake.

Once they settled their little debacle (Saeran took the vanilla cake and Saeyoung, the chocolate), you all started to sing happy birthday and you laughed as everyone tried to fit Saeran’s, Saeyoung’s, and your name into the song. As your two birthday twins blew out the candles, you felt a tap on your shoulder and Zen stood before you, a smaller cake with your name written sloppily on it with one candle in the center. You smiled at him and blew it out before returning your attention to the birthday boys who were now both eating their first bite of cake.  

Saeran gestured for you to come by him and you complied, sitting on his lap as he wrapped his arms around you. Jaehee pulled out her camera and you were about to ask why when you felt something sticky on each side of your face.

Saeyoung couldn’t contain the giggles that had bubbled up in his throat at the look on your face and he doubled over, laughing so hard he fell out of the chair. “I’ll give you both five seconds to run.” The twins each looked at the other and then you were pushed out of Saeran’s lap, both of them running to hide. You immediately chased after your boyfriend, quickly catching up to him and pressing your cheek against his, making sure to rub the frosting all over his face as well. He pulled you closer to him, his face close to yours as he whispered. “Happy birthday, MC. I love you.”

“Happy birthday Saeran, I love you too.” You replied before gently kissing him.

“Happy birthday Saeyoung, I love you.” You heard the other twin say to himself and you and Saeran both broke apart with a giggle playing on both of your lips.

-

“Hey, Jaehee just sent us the pictures she took from the party, do you want to see them?” Saeyoung sat down next to his brother on his bed.

“Sure,” Saeran replied, turning his attention away from the book he was reading. As Saeyoung spread the pictures out in front of the two boys, Saeran smiled at all the pictures that were there. Pictures of him with his brother, Yoosung, you, and every other combination of all of his friends was laid out in front of him.

“What do you think about adding these to your scrapbook?” Saeyoung asked, laughing as he saw his brother's eyes transfixed on the picture of you and him kissing, cake frosting all over both of your faces.

“I think that’s a good idea, but if you don’t mind I think I’d like to keep this one out of it.” Saeran grabbed the picture his eyes hadn’t left. “I’d like to frame this one. Keep it where I can see it no matter what.”

Saeyoung smiled at his lovestruck brother. “Of course.” Patting his brother on the back, Saeyoung removed himself from the bed. “Hey Saeran?”

Looking up at his brother, Saeran answered him quietly. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for being my brother. I can’t wait to celebrate our birthday together next year.” Saeyoung said before leaving the room.

“I can’t wait either,” Saeran whispered, picking up the picture of him and his brother blowing out the cake candles together. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Gou Ep24 [Final]

Technically this is the final episode of Gou, but we’re getting a sequel later this year, so what I said last week about pretending to be surprised about this not being the end of the whole story still applies, lol.

Thoughts under the cut.

Even though this is the season finale, there honestly isn’t a whole lot to talk about with this episode, and it doesn’t even necessarily feel like a conclusion to the current arc. I wonder if it’s like Re:Zero’s second season, which was originally planned to be two consecutive cours, but got made into a split-cour because of production delays, which lead to the end of ‘part one’ feeling anti-climactic because it was only meant to be the middle episode of the season.

But on the note of the sequel, we now know it’ll start airing in July, which is kinda interesting since several different TV stations had already leaked the existence of at least one more cour of episodes immediately after this one, so I get the feeling that it was originally meant to start in April, but got pushed very recently to July. Considering that Gou already got delayed a season because of production delays, it’d make sense if Sotsu was originally meant to air in April after a one season break, but now it’s getting delayed as a consequence of Gou also being delayed.

I wasn’t 100% convinced about the rumors and leaks related to Sotsu, but it’s been pretty obvious for a while now that we were getting some sort of sequel, so this isn’t really a surprise. I’m curious to see if Sotsu will be one cour or two cours long, though. Usually split cour anime have both ‘halves’ be the same length, but I’m not really sure if there’s another two cours worth of material left in the story, now that so much has been revealed. But this whole arc has been way slower than I thought it’d be, so for all I know they might spend two whole cours just on explaining how the question arcs worked, and wrapping things up.

On the one hand it’s almost funny to think that we might get multiple arcs in Sotsu dedicated to explaining the Gou question arcs before we even return to the cliffhanger from Nekodamashi, but on the other hand it’d be nice to get a lot of time dedicated to those arcs, if it at least means that characters like Rena, Mion, and Shion get more screen-time and development. The trailer that’s been posted for Sotsu already hints at more Rena content, so that’s exciting.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect from the answer arcs, though, since unlike with the original VN it kinda feels like we can already piece together exactly what happened in each arc just from what we’ve learned in this one. It seems like basically every arc just boils down to ‘Satoko steals a syringe of H-173 and sets up a new ‘culprit’ in each arc to make Rika feel like she’s trapped in her loop of tragedy again’. So I feel like there just isn’t a whole lot to explain about that, especially since all of the arcs should have basically the same ‘solution’.

I know that at this point this is just a full on sequel, but I kinda hope they go back over material from Tsumihoroboshi and Meakashi in order to do more with Rena and Shion, even if it wouldn’t be new info for people who’ve read the VN. Unless things go in some really wild and unexpected directions, I think that’d be the only real way to do a whole set of answer arcs.

Realistically, the thing that will probably add some spice to the answer arcs is the whole plot point being introduced recently of Satoko’s loops causing permanent character development in everyone around her. So on top of probably going over a lot of existing material from the VN answer arcs, there should be new stuff that goes into the effects of having characters like Rena, Mion, and Shion remember more and more about previous loops, and how that influenced their actions in the question arcs. I don’t really know how much that’d impact the actual mechanisms of how each arc played out and how the murders and stuff worked, but from a narrative standpoint it’d be fun to see how this whole thing plays out.

And to be honest, even though this is a sequel that doesn’t really work properly for new fans, I could totally see them spending a lot of time more or less rehashing stuff from the VN that we already know about. It kinda feels like from day one they’ve been making genuine attempts to include enough info from the VN to make this accessible for new fans, but it doesn’t really work out properly.

On the whole topic of the permanent character development thing, I think it’s actually a really neat plot point, although it does feel like it answers enough of the mysteries that there isn’t really anything left to explain about how the question arcs worked. But I think the whole concept of people’s development piling up and persisting across time like some kind of supernatural entropy is really interesting, and it’s already something that was established in the VN. Basically the whole reason Rika even managed to win originally was because everyone was slowly remembering old loops. Gou just took that idea and decided to take it to it’s logical extreme.

I also like how it plays into the whole idea that Rika and Satoko’s goals are completely incompatible with each other, and only one of them is going to be able to ‘win’. Satoko’s looping is causing the people creating Rika’s tragedy to change their minds and back off, which is exactly what Rika would want, but it’s not what Satoko wants. She wants to keep Rika stuck in this loop until she gives up on leaving the village, and having characters like Teppei and Takano grow up and abandon their evil deeds is a hindrance to her plans.

It also helps clarify that Satoko started taking a more active role in causing the tragedies in each loop because the other people who would otherwise trigger those things aren’t involved anymore, so she has to step in and do it herself. Which is kinda morbidly funny in a way, but it does help explain why she wasn’t just sitting back and letting the ‘original’ tragedy play out each time.

This episode also more or less explains why Takano apparently had a change of heart and abandoned her goals, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I think I like how they handled it. It’s probably something that would have worked better in a VN format that could dedicate more time to her thought process, but I liked how it was triggered by her reading her grandfather’s letter. The whole concept of the scrapbook and the letter kinda feels like something Ryukishi came up with when writing Gou to make things work, but the important part is just that the final straw to changing her mind was to do with her grandfather not wanting his research to become a burden for her. I was kinda worried that they’d just have Satoko give some kind of lecture to Takano that would somehow change her mind, but it makes a lot more sense that it didn’t even really have to do with Satoko. And ironically, Satoko probably didn’t even want her to change her mind, since now she has to do everything herself, lol.

I think they probably should have done a bit more to hammer in the idea that Takano was slowly pushed towards a place of uncertainty and doubt over the course of the loops, though. At least with Teppei we got a whole montage of him having memories of violently dying as a result of his own awfulness, but we only saw Takano have one memory of Matsuribayashi, which she didn’t even seem all that fazed by, and then she has one sentimental moment that totally changes her mind about her entire goal in life. That feels more like a pacing problem than a fundamental issue with the idea of Takano being able to change her mind about things, but there’s only so much they can do in the time-frame of an anime. I do kinda feel like this whole arc in particular could have been more efficiently paced, though. At least in hindsight, I think the whole St. Lucia’s section should have been shorter [but also more intensely depressing for Satoko, to really drive home how she felt after it all], and more time should have been spent on the second half of the arc.

Anyway, this episode also gives us even more increasingly blunt hints that Satoko is literally just Lambdadelta, so that’s fun. I know there’s a lot of debate about it, but at this point it feels like Ryukishi is going out of his way to make it happen, so I don’t really think it’s some kind of elaborate misdirection. I don’t really expect the connection to get much more explicit than it is right now, but who knows. Things might get really weird in Sotsu.

[electric-wafflez]

Mysme Parents AU!

I love the idea of the mm gang being parents. So these headcanons came about and I hope you all enjoy!

Yoosung

He would love to start a family with you! His parents would probably push him to have a large family, so he would probably want four kids.

You would have 3 boys, and the youngest would be a girl!

At first, Yoosung was a total mess. You two would have to take parenting classes for your first child, yet even with the classes - he struggled to change diapers and figure out why they were crying.

After your first kid, he is a pro. He would help you when you do not want to get up during the middle of the night, help take them to school or practices, and cook them meals.

Very understanding with some of their more outlandish hobbies. He can relate to them because of his obsession with LOLOL as a student.

He is the best at helping out with their school projects and will stay up with them to make sure they get it completed on time.

Super fun dad, would show his love in the form of movie nights with the entire family or playing different card games.

Zen

Once you two have gained his family’s approval, he would be ecstatic to start one of his own with you.

You would have 2 girls and 1 boy!

A natural at being a father, he is a very quick learner and picks up on all the necessary tasks he needs to do very fast.

Zen would want his kids to be engaged in sports or other activities to promote fitness in your children.

He would lowkey want them to be engaged in the performing arts so he could relate to his kids more, but would never force it upon them.

Although he has never been very good at homework or studies, he makes up for it in that he is very supportive and gives meaningful advice.

He learned from his negative experience with his own family that he needs to let his children discover who they want to be and approve of them with love.

Jaehee

Jaehee always wanted to raise a child with someone she loved. When you brought up adoption she was overjoyed.

You would adopt a darling boy!

She would have read many articles to prepare for adoption and parenting, as well as take a class or two with you.

Extremely good at scheduling. She has schedules for everything ever since they were a baby.

You two would have a scrapbook filled with memories that you would update yearly with photos and items about your family.

Would show her child how to do Judo!

She is very good at teaching if there is something your child does not understand in school, Jaehee can look at it and explain it better than the teacher.

Overall she is a great mother and cares so much about you and your child.

Jumin

Jumin seemed very excited about your pregnancy, yet deep down he was hesitant about becoming a father. He was nervous him and his child wouldn’t connect due to all the comments about him being emotionless.

You would talk to him about how much he changed you for the better because of him being a great husband - and how that wouldn’t be possible if he did not have emotions. He would then be thrilled wholeheartedly.

You would have 1 boy and 1 girl!

He wouldn’t know what to do at first considering he had most of the stuff done for him in his life, but he would do his best and pick up on it.

If parenting was hard on you, he would take more responsibility or hire someone to help you.

Would never miss any of your children's events, and would always take time out of his schedule for his family.

He would be strict because he cared a lot, but he would never push them to follow a certain path in life. He just wants them to be successful and happy.

Saeyoung

When you announced you were pregnant, the only thing he could feel was anxiety. He was never mad and realized it was inevitable - he was so scared though. He was scared that he would be similar to his own parents, he was scared of the agency, and Saeyoung would never want your child or you to experience that.

He probably wouldn’t get over the anxiety until you have had the child and your life has been secure for some time.

You would have a girl!

As soon as he sets his eyes on her, he wants to protect her from any evil in the world and would go great lengths to make sure she is safe.

Eventually, you two would also adopt a boy! Saeyoung would be drawn to this option because of his past and you agreed entirely.

He loves his children so much, you would constantly find him playing with them and building them toys. Saeyoung would encourage creative thinking and behavior from a very young age.

Once they get older, he would be amazing at helping with complicated math problems.

DAD JOKES.

When he becomes aware that everything will be okay, he is the most grateful father and would continually feel blessed every time he looked at you and his children.

Jihyun

Once he recovered from his past, Jihyun would be an excellent father and so excited about your pregnancy.

You would have 2 beautiful girls!

He already knows how to deal with children to keep them from crying abundantly due to him dealing with baby portraits. When he walks in the room his peaceful and tender outlook seems to make your kids relax.

Jihyun from his own experience realized the negative effects of pushing certain career paths on children are unhealthy and he would always engage in the things your kids were interested in.

This wouldn’t stop him however from teaching them how to paint and photograph. He wouldn’t mention it as a career to them unless they were interested, but he would want his children to have some sort of expressive outlet.

Loves to take them hiking! He wants his children to recognize the beauty of nature and this is an easy and fun way to introduce them to all the gorgeous things the earth has to offer.

When talking he is so soft-spoken, but take this man to one of their school events he is the proudest and most excited parent. He just loves them so much.

Saeran

His heart dropped. He is arguably the most overwhelmed and anxious out of everyone about becoming a father. Saeran is horrified of what his parents did to him and his brother, afraid of what his other caregiver Rika did to him, and this turns into anxiety about himself - will he damage his own children with all of his scars?

You have to talk to him about how he is not his parent or Rika or anyone else. Explaining you tell him his past does not define the man he is today, and how you love having him in your life - despite his “flaws”.

Saeran still has a level of anxiety but it is definitely lessened because of you.

He takes every parenting class with you. Saeran did not have a normal childhood and wants to give his child everything he could never have.

You would have twin girls!

He was so delicate with them, he treats them as if they are made of glass and could break at any second.

At first, he was somewhat awkward and would not really know how to deal but he was very supportive of you. After about a month he managed a lot better.

All of you gardening as a family together on weekends!

Often would tear up often thinking about how good his life is now with you and your children in it. He was just so thankful.

Vanderwood

He is the most rational about your pregnancy. Although he had a slight anxiety about the agency, he knew he took all the extra measures to keep you and him safe - so he was not extremely worried.

He would want only one child, but he would end up with 2 boys and a girl.

Vanderwood is lowkey great with children, he knows how to help you with everything - although this doesn’t stop him from complaining and getting embarrassed if you mention it to him.

The strictest father. He will not waver when he sets down rules and would expect his children to follow them.

This especially applies when it comes to chores. He sets certain chores for each child, although the chores are not extreme he does want them to appreciate cleanliness.

He is also very loving but definitely shows it more in his actions rather than constantly telling his children.

Also definitely reads Iron Man comics with his kids. Any movie night is most likely a superhero movie. (I will never be over Stark)

Would desperately try to lead his children toward a better path than his own. He knows what the world is like and wouldn’t want his children to be intermingled with all the negativity he has had to deal with.

Always feel free to request! Follow me for more!

[coconut-milktea]

New Fanfic WIP

So. Since I lost absolutely everything I had been working on, fanfic wise. (luckily I hadn’t posted anything...)

I’m ready to move forward and start fresh, utilize some of the other ideas I have and get my creative juices flowing. Hopefully.

There is one fanfic I’m already working on, ‘cause I literally woke up thinking about it and decided to just go for it.

As of right now, I’m still very deep into the Mystic Messenger fandom and doubt I’ll be moving on anytime soon. I blame my friend for introducing it to me because now I’m stuck in it. Which is fine! I’m content, except when Cheritz hurts me right in the feels. Which is often. Anyway, Saeran is my precious marshmallow and I love him out of all the characters because I relate a ton. I grew up in similar circumstances unfortunately, so I feel I understand him well. Now, I had few fanfics I wanted to come out with, but I was waiting for Cheritz to release the After Story for Saeran before I proceeded, in case there was some information that could be relevant to my story. But it wasn’t meant to be, lost it all before that happened. SO! While I try to remember everything I had and put it into words again, I’ll keep myself occupied with a completely different project. I show Saeran a lot of love, so I’m gonna go ahead and share some love with Seven!

So my next fanfic (and I have since backed up all my files), will be a Saeyoung Choi fanfic since his after story and secret endings are available and I’ve played through it multiple times and gathered lots of information. (my poor heart, I swear)  This is my writing style. I basically gather as much information as I can, analyze and break it down before I move forward with my own work and try to connect it or fill any voids. Now, in the routes, specifically Yoosung’s, we learned he [Saeyoung] graduated from university early and went to a top school in America.

If any of you got the Special Believer’s Package or seen the contents elsewhere, one of which was Rika’s Scrapbook. You might already know this information. In it reveals a smidge of background information for Saeyoung. I’ll post a photo of it below so you guys can see what I’m talking about just in case you’ve yet to see it.

After reading through these article clippings in Rika’s Scrapbook, I got an idea and currently, it’s to have my fanfic based on this. I plan on having an original MC and I’m putting together her profile and background information. I have yet to decide whether I’ll follow Saeyoung’s Route or create my own concept. I’ve yet to decide and want to get some input from local fans of the Mystic Messenger community.  But the main component is that my MC would’ve been one of Saeyoung’s classmates (and friend) in America, the first to report him missing. And that’s all I’ll give for now. <3 Love you guys! Hopefully I’ll actually have readers when I finally complete the basic outline. For anyone who is interested, please comment or send me a direct message! Let me know what you think, what you might want to add, like thoughts and ideas, where you might want to see this story go.  Do you want me to follow the route? Go original? Or do a combination of both? Please let me know!

Also, I’ve been using Twitter more as of late. If you wish to contact me or follow me there, by all means! @ adrivvii

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi pt. 16

Rena, having made her daring escape from the school with none of her friends or Chie any the wiser, doesn’t catch that they’re talking about her escape. Keiichi is vaguely aware that she’s probably fallen under the spell of another cockamamie story, or maybe the one she was already certain was true before.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition of how she hates the fact that Takano left her these scrapbooks, but she also views them as an absolute necessity in her struggle to stay alive. Rena then starts thinking about how exactly this unknown conspiracy is going to use the curse as a method to seize control of Japan. Settling upon the idea that the conspirators are going to use the curse and Rika as the embodiment of a miraculous wonder cure for the curse Rena spirals deeper into paranoia. Since Rika is being used as a figure head clearly that means she can’t trust her nor Satoko in her fight. That goes double for Mion, since she’s the leader of the Sonozaki family, and is therefore the leader of the muscle for the conspirators. She reflects back on Takano’s research, and comes to the conclusion that since the conspiracy killed her this means that their understanding of the parasite has clearly advanced to such a point that it is capable of taking over the entirety of the land all the way to Shishibone City. Or worse than that, the entire prefecture! And if it’s possible that it can cover the prefecture, this means that it’s more than likely able to cover other prefectures too! Clearly this is why they killed Takano, and are now plotting to kill Rena, because they’ve worked out all the kinks in their mad revolutionary plan to seize control.

How much sleep do you think Rena’s got over the past… since she got caught chopping up the bodies of Rina and Teppei? She latched on really tightly to this conspiracy angle that she just read about less than two days ago. Now I know that this can all be explained away with information we learn in Minagoroshi, but you know that her mind isn’t exactly at the best place it could be given the events of the last week or so. She committed a double homicide, she was caught trying to dispose of the evidence, she was given these scrapbooks filled with absolute bullshit, she recently began remembering previous trauma she’d mentally blocked away. Then on top of that, Ooishi mentions to her that Takano and Tomitake were found brutally slain shortly after she was given the scrapbooks of garbage. Around the time the rest of the gaming club helped her dispose of the bodies she did explicitly mention she was feeling exhaustion. So I can’t help but wonder if her excessively strong paranoia here might be the result of all of these various stressors just finally catching up to her.

And so, thus armed with $17,558 (adjusting for inflation) Rena goes to her secret hideout in the garbage dump. She reasons this is a perfectly good hiding spot, even if she’s ignoring the fact that both Rika and Mion know about this location. Rena, feeling the restlessness that comes with having to wait until nightfall to contact Ooishi leaves her hideout.

Which then cuts to Rena’s father talking with a local police officer because it looks like someone broke into his house and stole 800,000 yen out of his lock box. During said discussion with the officer Keiichi calls asking if Rena went home? Rena’s dad informs him he hasn’t seen his daughter since she left that morning and hangs up on him, the missing 800,000 yen and break-in being a slightly larger issue than his daughter’s friend wanting to chat over the phone.

Rena, meanwhile is off to go look at where they dumped the bodies of Rina and Teppei.

Wuh oh! Just like the bodies in Watanagashi the bodies of Rina and Teppei went out for a stroll! Also, I love how the text for Rena’s narration is now this just blood red, it’s a very nice touch.

One of the things that I like about this chapter, and it continues a little bit into Minagoroshi as well, is this notion that even though we have Mion’s word for it that the Sonozaki family isn’t as nefarious as they seem, but actually are still highly suspicious. I don’t doubt that the Sonozaki group at large just decides to take credit for some of the more illegal deeds that happen around Okinomiya/Hinamizawa. But there’s things like this, where if the Sonozakis were indeed on the up and up why are they willing to help dispose of these corpses with no one raising a fuss? It just acts at odds with the claim that they’re not actually a crime syndicate, and maybe there is something to their criminal reputation outside of their actions during the dam conflict.

Rena then rationalizes that the Sonozaki family must actually fear what she knows. After all, they moved the bodies, why do that if not to use against her in the future if she proves unruly? Emboldened by this new information Rena leaves the site where the bodies used to be.

I feel like it took tremendous restraint on either Ryukishi07 or the translators parts to not include some variation of “I know that she knows that I know that she knows that I know that she knows.” It just seems like the sort of line that would be included in some way you know? Although I guess you don’t really see that used in a serious context very often. Cause as we all know this series has never indulged in a silly line like that at all during the course of it all. Still I appreciate how even in the ever worsening depths of her paranoia Rena still is aware enough to think that hey wait, what if Ooishi is in on it? However I do like the version of these events where even though she’s dead certain most everyone’s out to get her Rena is still willing to try to get some help on her side. It’s an interesting change from Keiichi and Shion’s dives into paranoia and eventual murder where they just kept it to themselves.

[otomeho-me-blog]

MM: Mint Eye Special Believer Package Review

Horray! Finally a review on something. (｡´∀｀)ﾉ I got the package a couple days after they released it in January. And they’ve got some pretty good shit in here fajdkljadk. Let’s go my dudes! I’ll post all the pictures on a separate post since there are just so many things. Link will be posted below.

So Cheritz is amazing with their packages and the pack is sorta contains the same amount of contents as the VIP pack. With the Mint Eye Believer pack you get:

5 wholesome prints; including one that is printed on ACTUAL photo paper 

2 Magnets (Seven Star Drink and Elizabeth’s Premium Cat Food)

Saeran’s Diary

Rika’s Scrapbook

Another Story Soundtrack 

Voice Actor Special Talk (includes a special video)

Mint Eye Believer ID card with clear cover protector

Neck strap for the Mint Eye Believer ID card and pocket pouch for cards

4 cards (Saeran, Saeyoung, Yoosung and )

2 “Flyers”

200 Hourglasses coupon 

Actual bookmark from the game

A small message from yours truly ( ❝̆ ·̫̮ ❝̆ )✧

Once you activate the package, you’ll automatically get 1000 Hourglasses added to your account which is a pretty sweet deal for a $85 USD package. (Around $90-100 for CAD)

Below the cut is a little bit more detailed stuff about the package. I put it like that for the sake of keeping the post short lol. 

This is such a cute package. When you get your pack, you’ll get your signature Cheritz box. And once you open inside, you’ll get these cute “flyers” (Honestly tho, they really trying to recruit you. And they really go all out on the whole story feel of it) I found this so hilarious when you open the package, the first thing you see before your Believer pack is the flyers. xD

Honestly. This is so wholesome and I love the flyers. These are going to be hung on the wall for sure lol

The contents of the pack are actually so amazing. And how they pack it is so adorable. I mean look at that little sticker that says “From Ray”. (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Unlike the VIP Package, they follow through and explain more about Ray’s route and how and what happened to him. It also shows how Mint Eye really works out. This pack also sheds some more light on the Choi twins and how tragic their childhood past was. 

This pack is definitely on the darker side of Mystic Messenger and it contains a whole bunch of clues on the psychological aspect of Rika and Saeran. It’s actually quite sad. 

Probably the best part of the pack (Other than the hourglasses lol) are the prints of the package

Probably my favorite print of is the one that is ACTUALLY printed on photo paper?? Look how happy the twins are ;-; On the back of it, you’ll actually see the name of the paper print which is really cool. 

Other than that, the 2 booklets that copy Saerans Diary and Rika’s scrapbook really gave me the feels. ;A;; With Saeran’s Diary, it really reveals and shows how gradually he came to be Ray. And the story is so sad that I almost cried reading it!!

Rika’s scrapbook though, is like the name says, a scrapbook. 

Other than the one that says Show Us Your Bag! lol. It just shows goofy pictures of what’s inside everyone’s bag. I’ll have to take pictures of that later. 

The one thing that really got to me is the small messages that they box gives. 

Like. The time that Cheritz really gives to put every single detail in the package is phenomenal. It makes it like that you’re actually a Mint Eye Believer member irl. Which is why I love Cheritz and Mystic Messenger. They really break the 4th wall in otome games which is an amazing feeling for any otome ho. 

Obviously the soundtrack CD is what it suggests, which is the soundtrack and OST from Rays route. The Special Talk again contains the English translation so when you watch it, you can actually get what they say lol. 

The magnets are the cutest! Although I don’t think I’d actually post it on my fridge haha they are too precious

This is something completely new. They never included magnets in the VIP package so this is actually a treat (๑￫‿ฺ￩๑)

Last thing is the lanyard and the ID card and cards that were included. 

The actual ID card looks and feels like an ACTUAL ID card. It’s actually pretty cool and I’m impressed. Although, the rest of the cards, Saeran, 707, Yoosung, , are actually printed on 5 point paper. So it means it just feels like it’s printed on cheaply. HOWEVER. The way they put the information (like 707′s) is detailed and it’s kinda cool. Only downside is what it’s printed on.

I think this covers mostly of it. LOL If there are any photos you wanna see up close or if I missed something, don’t hesitate to send me a DM and I’ll gladly show you it. However, I’m not sure if I would put up pictures with such details since this is Cheritz stuff already. And that we should be supporting our local and small otome companies. I’ll be posting some more photos in a separate post! I’ll put the link on later on.

More reviews to come! I have a couple of Drama CDs to share next. ⁽͑˙˚̀ᵕ˚́˙⁾̉

- Yuu

[yoodere]

Trivia

His favorite game LOLOL stands for League of Loneliness of Life, this is a parody to an online PC game League of Legends (shortened as LOL).

Despite of his addiction to gaming, Yoosung is actually smart enough to get a scholarship at his school; to the point that Jumin personally offered him an internship at his company.

In one of the chattoons on Cheritz’s dedicated page, Zen calls Yoosung YS.

The university that Yoosung attends, SKY National University, is a possible reference to the three most prestigious universities in South Korea (Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University). These three universities are often commonly known as the SKY Universities.

He, like Seven, enjoys Honey Buddha Chips. He savors one bag of chips for weeks, because they’re so rare.

The one who put the black star (★) behind Yoosung’s username in the RFA Messenger is Seven.

In Zen’s route, Yoosung states that his mother is a housewife, his father works for the government, and his sister wants to be a teacher. He describes them as a normal family.

In one of his phone calls in Seven’s route, Yoosung admitted that he has small crush on MC, but after realizing another member of the RFA loves them much more, he’s looking forward to other interests.

According to the Orientation Guide Book:

He adopted the cat who was found by Jumin outside his house during the events prior to the party. In exchange, Jumin would convince V one more time to get his eye treated and sent security guards to Rika’s apartment.

He has a very low alcohol tolerance. [1]

In Deep Story, during a call with Yoosung, he has mentioned about him being an M, which stands for masochist. This is also referenced many times by Yoosung himself (mostly in response to his friends’ ribbing), who remains blissfully unaware of what it means. [2]

He can cook well but has trouble with making Chinese food. [3]

Yoosung loves romance movies and dislikes horror movies, seeing as they make him uncomfortable. [4]

He has once broken the fourth wall. In his status he said “Seven, I feel like there is a bug in this game.” [5]

His shoe size is 240. (EU: 38, US: 6, UK:5)

It’s his 3rd time to attend the RFA party in the Original Story, according to Jumin. [6]

In an outgoing call, he mentions he has abs although he admits it’s not photogenic like Zen. [7]

Yoosung’s Bad Story Ending 1 is the longest of all bad endings. It consists of 5 chat rooms, 2 visual novels, 4 outgoing calls, and 3 incoming calls. It starts from 17:00 until 23:30.

In an outgoing call in Jaehee’s route, Yoosung has stated that he liked the idea of being treated like a maid, ordered around, and insulted some times; implying he is a masochist. [8]

According to Jaehee, he has changed clubs 14 times already within a year.

In April Fools DLC he is the vice master of his LOLOL guild, which is also called Omelette. [9] While in Original Story the guild is named Blood Dragon.

Yoosung reads shoujo manga.

His first love in fifth grade is Areum. [10]

Byungwook, Yoosung’s best friend in high school, has joined a cult, and his behavior scared Yoosung. [11]

In Casual Story and Deep Story, Yoosung isn’t aware of the fact that Rika was adopted and was not related to him by blood. In Another Story, Yoosung is fully aware of Rika’s adoption and lack of blood relation.

He mentions in a call that he used to write poetry in middle school.

According to Saeran’s Diary: His behavioral pattern is Home - SKY University His weaknesses are Rika and family

According to Rika’s Scrapbook: Rika needs him in RFA despite him being busy attending school. In an interview as the new elected class president in high school, he rehearsed a lot for the campaign and speech because he has a mild stage fright. He had lots of people who advised him and few of them are Zen and Rika, who helped the most, but he didn't mention their names. Yoosung's belongings: flip phone, new student ID (he lost the first one), wallet, pencil case (he carries it because there's a cute character printed on it), class printouts, and notebook.

His LOLOL character seems to be based on the League of Legends character Taric, most notably his ‘Armour of the fifth age’ character skin pre-redesign

He prefers playing with females, and claims they make it better in the guild.

He often plays LOLOL from 10 P.M. to 4 A.M.

His major is veterinary science and he was the fastest to get his Ph.D as mentioned by himself in Yoosung’s After Ending.

In Jaehee’s After Ending, he becomes a temporary assistant for Jumin, he also his intern prior became a vet in his After Ending.

He studied 10 years to get into the university.

This contradicts information in Yoosung and Seven’s routes where he states both his parents are teachers, which in South Korea are government workers.

His email is yoosung8@cheritz.com

His special talent is defending the peace of LOLOL.

He likes instant ramen, spicy rice cakes, omurice, fried chicken, and pizza.

He dislikes ginseng-flavored candy and things such as black garlic.

His most used apps are his class timetable, gaming forum, 10Gag, and the RFA Messenger.

He desires a gaming mouse, and an autograph of the LOLOL programer.

His favorite quote is: “It’s not that people have humor. Humor is what moves people.”; same with Seven.

Although 707 loves to play pranks on him, he mentioned that he will not go overboard since he thinks Yoosung would be scary if he reaches his limit.

He would like to play LOLOL together with the person he likes, or sit and chat at a cafe together.

He thinks that if he ever got into a love triangle, he would not be able to give up the person if he truly likes them.

For a first date, he has no preference on where to go as long as he and his date can talk to each other.

He would like to give his date shoes so that they could match.

In women, the feature he looks for (and at) are their eyes.

Seven also claimed in a phone call that Yoosung could have yandere tendencies if you start to get involved with him.

In his After Ending, the cat is revealed to be named Lisa, implying that the cat is female.

He and Jaehee share the same shoe size. In East Asia, there is no difference between men and women’s shoe sizes.

[livecharliereaction]

Oh ok now its lining up that even if rena couldnt have known beforehand its very likely that since she told takano first she was just like Omg this reminds me of one of my stories! n thats why she gave her the scrapbooks She probably didnt even realise she was gonna die though

What happens when u give ur scrapbooks to the mentally ill girl But no i get her i do rena im so sorry for this

but this problem is still there WHO THE FUCK KILLED HER. she prolly couldve killed tomitake herself (curiosity maybe) but if thats true who killed HER. There must be a third party here that i havent thoguht of. Lets think

Def not sonozakis bcs its being spelled out for us as a red herring n mions saying it here it wasnt them AND: i believe her Why would they kill those two.

keiichi n rena so much pov that i cant believe they wouldve had the time anywhere without Me The Reader noticing

satoko No fucking way. Rika uh maybe but why? N both of the girls were with rena mion n keiichi at the time

I thought maybe someone who knew about the ritual storehouse (assuming they go there every round which i do really believe) but in the routes where shion n keiichi went too they didnt suffer the consequences from it so i dont rly know

Something something curse. No idea. Takano suicide could be logistically but WHY

[cheesetrap0113]

I received my SB package, and boy, Saeran’s diary and Rika’s scrapbook is ❤️.

But, reading Rika’s scrapbook, I am really wondering why, and what happened between her and V. Although I know that V wants Rika to see a specialist or something, but I think that’s not enough for her to do that kind if things to him. I mean, are there any more events, concerning how V “betrayed” Rika? Or is it because V is trying to get rid of Rika’s “devil”?

Cause if it is that, reading her scrapbook and interviews of her and V, it doesn’t seems to fit?

Maybe I am just saying nonsense, but I really want to know what really happened.