#talk about the beginning of a book setting the bar so high

[jerichogender]

i’m slowly clawing my way through green arrow (2001). we’ll see if i still have the will to live when i’m finished

[mixtapedoh]

Hi olive! For your writing event, what about felix and waiting for us?

thank you all so much for reminding me how much of a sucker i am for skz ballads; idk what they lace their lyrics with to make me feel!!!!!! so very many!!!!!!! things!!!!!! but it's very appreciated

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴛᴀʟꜱ ꜰᴀʟʟ

☄. *. ⋆

pairing: lee felix x reader genre: fluff, long distance relationship word count: 1.1k warnings: emotional at the beginning for no other reason than me liking a little bit of yearning. a hint of want.

olive's notes: yongbokkie???? in this economy????? i hope i can do him justice. on the fence with this title, i could decide if i wanted to do that line or "smile, facing each other." both felt appropriate, but the former feels more... evocative? idk. the vibes here are like if waiting for us by skz and why won't you love me by 5SOS met in a bar and kissed or something. idk.

consider my mini writing event ?

There was a lethargic shuffle to the coffee shop you habitually frequented. When you wanted to be productive in the work set out before you, or simply wanted to stave off the loneliness that would occasionally come biting — a feeling familiar to you but not quite tamed — you would always meander your way here. The permanent, sleepy fluorescent lights casting a dull orange glow no matter the hour outside it’s hypnotic four walls, the same soft-spoken, slow-drawled baristas who were just well-mannered enough to exchange pleasantries before easing back to their college textbooks, the subdued, almost-dough like quality of the lo-fi hip hop playlist that looped ad-naseum, gentle beats and occasional lazy vocalization lulling you into a doze: there was something languid, in this place where you nursed your caffeine fix. Tired, but not unplesantly so. Worn, but not so thin. 

It was that mutability, perhaps, that often slipped your mind to that velvet lined feeling of nostalgia.

“We’ll always find each other again…”

You took a long drink from the insulated cup in front of you, your eyes pulling away from the book you’d placed in front of you, a borrowed, dog-earred thing that had sprawling writing in the margins, almost illegible, but felt more than they were consciously understood. You’d swapped it months ago, now. At the time, he’d joked that you both read so slow, you’d probably reunite long before either of you would finish. But the day had come when you turned the last page. And here you were, again, a second read, near mid-way through.

The baristas were absorbed in texts of their own; couples sat at the high tables along the widows, murmuring warmly in tones too low to hear. There was an old woman, and she had all the supplies to crochet.

The taste of your drink lingered on your tongue, and the flavor gave way to hazy memories you were slow to blink away.

You popped in an earbud. The tone sounded brightly, bluetooth alerting you to its connection, and you dialed a familiar number.

“Beep… beep… beep…”

You slumped down in your seat — not entirely sure why you were doing so, but searching for the comfort of oblivion all the same.

"You have no new voice messages, and one saved voice message. To play saved voice messages, press pound.

"You have one saved voice message. Saved voice messages:

“(Y/n); hi… um… I know it’s late, so I wasn’t expecting you to pick up, but umm… I was missing you, and I wanted to hear your voice, and I guess I thought calling would work? I only remembered the time difference after it was too late, so yeah… I miss you… I’m thinking of you. You know, it’s funny, uh, Seungmin was talking, yesterday, and he said I talk about you so much it’s like I’m trying to make the rest of them feel lonely… it was right after I sent you that picture of the birds sitting on the um… wire, together. I guess I talk about you too much. So if you see him tomorrow and he pretends to be annoyed with you… yeah. Well, now you know why. Umm… that’s all I had to say; I’ve gotta go now… I love you.”

There was the faintest sound of air crackling on the other end. Like fabric of an oversized sweatshirt enveloping the microphone on the other end, a hug of sound. You heard him breathe. Then it was over.

“End of saved voice messages.

“Goodbye, now.”

Better to be free of this coffee shop - your flight was in a few hours, and you ought to gather the rest of your things - be prepared for when you get there. It was going to be a long flight.

You’d need something to pass the time. Your hands ghosted over the book before you; half read for a second time, a sweet ending that drifted into the ellipses of a happily ever after. Uncertain, happy, vague.

Maybe you’d buy an overpriced paperback at the airport.

Time ebbed and flowed, and you left the coffee shop, vacated your old apartment with the rest of your luggage in tow, said farewell to the streets you’d grown accustomed to, but never quite attached. You listened to the voicemail again at the airport, texted someone who could not reply, and then settled in for the strange sort of dissonance a plane ride can offer. Crossing a distance but stuck in the same headspace.

“I’m waiting, you know? I’m holding on, and when I see you next, I’m never letting go.”

The plane touched down with a sigh, and everyone aboard let out one of their own. You’d finished half of the book you’d picked up for the trip, slow-reading still. But here, in the middle of the story, things were still new. Life had only started to begin, and rather than a hazy, fading ellipses, there was still ground to tread. Paragraphs that led like arrows to a story only now dawning and with the sun, unfold.

The airport was hectic, as always. A far cry from the inertia of the coffee shop from earlier, a wave of movement, a cacophony of motion and sound. You picked your way through the crowd and in the rush of action, missed the phone call you were so hoping to catch. Your phone was still on vibrate, and the feeling of the person you were longing for the most reaching out to you through the divide, trying to grab hold of you before you were to disappear once again, was muffled by the giddy nervousness coursing through your body.

When you finally checked your phone and saw the call log, you swore.

“Beep… beep… beep…”

It was harder to hear, in the airport, with families milling about, people reuniting with happy shrieks, and everyone calling out names, grinning impossibly wide, catching their loved ones and pulling them close. If Felix were here… if you were to catch sight of his smiling face…

“You have one new voice message, and one saved voice message. New voice messages:”

“(Y/n).”

You pushed the phone closer to your ear, fumbling with the volume buttons. Why was it that voicemail still had such terrible sound quality?

“I’m waiting for you by the, um—”

Someone grabbed your shoulder and you spun.

“Felix!”

And your lips crashed onto his, your arms wrapping around him in a hug like a vice. He returned your joy with equal force, and when you pulled away from him he peppered you with kisses to your cheeks and forehead and the bridge of your nose. 

“You’re here,” and the words slipped through you warm: incandescent, the sun. Eventually, he’d given you the space to breathe, and, having taken your bags from you, the two of you walked side by side, Felix giving you his hand when yours itched for something to hold.

“Always.” And he kissed your forehead again.

☄. *. ⋆

blog home

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Semi-Finals

[image ID: the first image is of Stag Malinay, a young man with auburn hair and yellow-orange eyes. he's wearing a black shirt, black pants, and black, lace up knee high boots with belt straps. he's sitting on a red and gold throne. beside him is written his name, "Stag Malinay." the second image is of Granger, a girl with green eyes and short, wavy or curly black hair. in her hair is a red hat or ribbon. she's wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue overalls, and a green coat. end ID]

Stag Malinay

Very self confident, bisexual manwhore with a troubled background he doesn't like to talk about. Said past is the cause of all his anger issues which he regularly takes out on the MC, initially. They become friends later, so it's okay. Also, he has a Tumblr account! @stagmalinay, run by me, the author. Can't really get more obscure than only selling a few copies of my entire book so far. [additional propaganda 1] [additional propaganda 2] [additional propaganda 3] [additional propaganda 4] [additional propaganda 5] [additional propaganda 6] [additional propaganda 7] [additional propaganda 8] [additional propaganda 9][additional propaganda 10] [additional propaganda 11] [additional propaganda 12]

Granger

so granger is the main character of the indie game "NeverHome" Chapter one, which is only $1 on Steam, is called NeverHome: Hall of Apathy. if ur a fan of young protags being put in RPG maker horror games, then this is the game for you!! so granger is just that… she wakes up to find herself in a strange, hostile world. she, along with the friends she makes, must solve the various puzzles before them while creatures are out to kill them… and along the way they can uncover the secrets of these never ending halls… her dynamics with the cast is also super fun… each character gets their moment or moments with granger. and what's so cute is that there's unique art for each pair that highlights the fact you cant get through these halls alone!! she also has her own theme song!! here!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vwtmIj5cw it's called cyclical tragedy AND HERE IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME!! MUSIC THEORY!!! written by my good friend @HIEMIOLA "cyclical tragedy" embodies the protagonist, granger, through the music theory behind the track and ties itself back into the main track as well. to begin with an overview of the track, the key is D minor and hte time signature is 3/4. the piece begins with a broken minor third starting from the tonic. that is, it begins on the main note and moves along the main chord, D to F. the next set of notes are C to E, which is shifted down a step. the phrase repeats again, this time D to F, then G to E, which is an inverse movement from the original sequence. even in this first part, we could tell that the protagonist begins from square 1 with a simple pattern, then tries it again when it works. however, the inverse breaks that expectation of repetition, thus showing the diverse variations of solutions she comes up with using just the tools she has (the two notes moving in thirds). just like the game, she is given a handful of objects as well as a knife to defend herself and solve the mysteries of the world she exists in. with her creative uses of the items given to her, she continues on her way through the plot. we will keep moving. the melody begins. true to the title of the track, the melody cycles around the same beginning note, D, that she always returns to at her square 1. this is a nod to the save states she is allowed to keep to make sure that we the players don't lose the game, but it also references the health bar that appears as a circle around her avatar. the melody, mapped out, is also moving in an up-down wave movement across the sheet music. granger is creative with the knife she has and the quest items she obtains throughout the story, but she is not entirely reckless. rather, she knows when it is time to return to the safe rooms to rest. to time her returns requires skill because she must run to cover without being caught by varying her path so the enemies don't corner her as she tries to return to the room. most of the time, she is successful, shown through the consistent return to the beginning note. let's keep going. i would like to turn your attention to the main theme briefly. in the bass notes, you can hear arpeggios and outlined chords. this makes up the bulk of the accompaniment in the main game theme. [mod note: the rest of the essay, and some more propaganda, is continued under a cut because tumblr will not process more text than this in an indent. sorry to split it up, please continue below for the rest of the essay and additional propaganda!]

the third variation of granger's theme also has arpeggiated chords in the accompaniment while the melody features broken chords. at this stage, the pattern switches to eigth notes instead of the quarter notes at first. with greater movement and heightened senses, she runs throughout world and befriends other people, thus interacting further with the environment. while she isn't exactly someone we would call open, she is respectful to the people she first meets and has no problems with asking them for help when she needs it. because of her openness to working together, she speeds up her progress by asking for aid at obstacles that would be too difficult for her to overcome on her own, such as asking a teammate to break things, move things, or reach into smaller holes. fusing the main theme elements with her own theme marks this step as the inciting incident that sets her on the path to escape from this world. we'll continue.

continuing the same part, we hear some secondary fifths. i'm not entirely sure if this is what you call it, but it is a nod to the parallel key, D major. depending on what theory class you take, this could also be considered the other half of the key. i dont know how else to describe it, but i digress. these are glimpses to different dialogue options she could take, glimpses to a different key or a different ending. because this game only has one chapter ending so far, we are unsure of what other paths granger will end up in; we only know that there are certainly other endings she will experience, only to begin the cycle again when the save state is loaded for players to reach another ending. both A major and G major are chords that signify different choices that may lead her elsewhere only for her to return back to the tonic or main note, D. despite this, she keeps going, as will we.

at the midpoint of the track, we see a quick shift in patterns. instead of upward leaps in the notes, the melody falls in stepwise motion. true to the plot, this is another turning point of the game when she is forced to make a choice: continue or stop. after facing the spoiler event, her once determined personality is challenged as she struggles to keep herself and her team together. despite being the headstrong protagonist who spearheaded solutions, even now she finds herself doubting and taking smaller steps, smaller risks.

even after all of this, she rises to the challenge as the melody returns to its beginning sequence. true to a protagonist she gets up again despite the events that transpired and keeps her team moving in their lowest points. the thirds return as she finds more objects to solve more puzzles to open more rooms to save more friends. this repeating part of the track only solidifies her resolve as the piece ends with a broken chord in the main key, her key, of D minor. despite everything that transpired, she stayed true to herself."

the game is also so, so charming with the art, music, and story made by the same person… its so clearly loved and full of passion!! i love listening to the game's ost on occassion!! since it's all on youtube!

ok one last thing thing!! on may 8th, the game hit 100 downloads (on both steam and itch.io). you can see the creator of the game celebrate that with this lovely drawing of granger: https://twitter.com/NeverHome_Game/status/1655761270694633472

so at most, only a bit over 100 people have played the game… id like to say that makes it obscure!!

anyways granger and neverhome!! we love to see our protagonists put in horrific situations and isn't she super cute with a lil bow on her head? she is my daughter…

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[slayerkitty]

On Hidden Agenda And if the Agenda is Really Hidden

Otherwise known as @respectthepetty and I watched episode 11, looked at each other, scratched our heads and pulled the clown car over to the side of the road. Episode 11 was not the traditional "BL Episode of Doom" it usually is in most BLs. Some BLs do purposefully subvert this trope or move the episode of doom to episode 10 instead.

It didn't feel like that was what happened here. So we hopped out of the clown car, whipped out our phones to check our maps and directions, because we were very, very confused. We were so sure we had the show figured out! And...no?

So we decided to backtrack; turn the clown car around and start the trip again from the start. To take this week and re-watch Hidden Agenda from the beginning and figure out what the hell we missed.

We also took a detour into source material territory (aka looked up a summary about the book) which was no help to the current situation, because @respectthepetty discovered that JengPok, Nita's stalker, Puen, and Wave x Trin weren't even in it! The only thing we were able to confirm with it is that it's from Joke's POV, he's unhinged in it, and Zo spends most of it dating Nita.

With all this in mind, I sat down with episode 1 of Hidden Agenda in hopes that I would discover anything that we might have missed. I also have slowly cultivated two theories that as of episode 6 still hold up though I don't know how much weight I want to give the second one (but I also can't let it go).

Before I delve into the theories, I do want to point out a couple things that I have noticed.

Zo is super intense about debate club, NOVA, and the Finland scholarship from episode 1. His coaching of Joke in episode 2 rivals his mother's coaching of him in episode 10. If someone who makes gifs could make a gif set that parallels those two scenes, I would be eternally grateful; it will blow your mind. Zo's issues with disappointing his mom are also there from episode one, but they are super subtle. He doesn't want Kot to tag him in his IG story because his mom might see him at the bar drinking. He mentions in I think either episode 2 or 3 that his mom hasn't visited in a while because she's been busy and the way he says it is so... ugh, he needs a hug.

Zo's trauma from Puen's horrible treatment of him is also evident from episode 1 as well; he is constantly saying that he doesn't want to make anyone uncomfortable, that he's worried he's upsetting people, etc. It's constant. Seriously, someone hug Zo.

Theory 1: Joke did something bad/something bad happened to someone he cared about (probably in high school and appears to have gotten therapy about it based on how he speaks)

Episode 1:

In the flashback to the Freshy Contest, while Joke is scolding(?) Zo, he says, "What you said on that stage won't change a broken system."

Episode 2:

Joke tells Zo, "My tongue gets me in trouble."

When Joke and Zo are debating about hidden agendas in relationships, Joke asks why he should tell someone things when he starts dating them because he should be able to tell things in his own time.

Episode 3:

Joke says "Before you get to know someone, you need to know yourself."

Joke also asks/tells Zo to trust him for the first time.

Joke talks about the Triangular Theory of Love: Passion, Intimacy and Commitment

Joke is pretty worried when Zo crashes his bike and makes Zo ride with him instead.

Joke mentions that he used to go to the restaurant Zo picked out with his dad, back when they used to go out to eat; this suggests a distance between him and his dad.

During dinner, Joke says that "What you see of someone may not be the whole story," and "Stay true to yourself."

In the library, Joke tells Zo "I would never let someone I love face danger alone."

The next day, Zo is sitting outside when Joke finds him and says that Zo wasn't answering his calls. and it's implied he was searching for Zo because he was worried.

Joke invites himself on Zo's trip as if he's afraid if Zo leaves without him, something bad will happen.

Episode 4:

Joke tells Zo he couldn't leave Zo "alone and sad" and "I'll never abandon you"

Joke also says "I only care for those who care for me."

Joke is afraid of the glass bridge but he's also to worried to let Zo go out on the bridge by himself.

After dinner, Joke says "Sometimes people don't show all their cards."

Episode 6:

Joke gifts Zo a sunflower pillow and tells him to look up the meaning, Zo searches up "liveliness sprung from despair."

Joke insists on picking up Zo so Zo doesn't go out in the rain/worried about his health.

Kot doesn't seem to like Joke and extremely overreacts to the way Joke trying to get Zo to eat the food he bought. Now, Joke was maybe a little pushy, but Kot goes off the handle.

When cuddling in bed, Joke says "hugging for 30s releases Oxytocin" and if they hug longer, "it means we feel the same."

Theory 2: Joke is a stalker

Yeah, you read that right. There is ample evidence throughout the first 6 episodes that on first watch, didn't quite ring alarm bells, but on re-watch, are setting off sirens. I kinda had this as a crack theory in the back of my head after episode 8 first aired, but now it's staring me in the face and feels a lot less crack-y

Episode 1:

Joke eavesdrops on Zo recording his podcast

Joke is super intense when speaking to Zo at the studio and manhandles him a little so that Joke can sort of pin him against the wall.

Joke eavesdrops on Zo and friends on the bus and then approaches him after to give advice on Nita

Joke asks Zo if the iced coffee is for Zo and says it's not because "Zo doesn't like coffee."

Joke always seems to be around when Zo is trying to approach Nita.

Joke confesses that he has a crush before singing a song.

When Zo tries to leave the bathroom after getting sick, Joke actively won't let him, grabbing him roughly and holding him in place.

In the flashback to the Freshy Contest, Zo asks Joke why he won't quit if he hates it and Joke says he has his reasons.

At the studio, Joke says "I love you and you love me" in Chinese and proceeds to do what has been touted as an "erotic wedding based tradition" with drinking the Roselle juice.

Episode 2:

Joke starts pushing boundaries with food

Joke and Zo make a deal to help Zo with Nita.

Joke has a fantasy of Zo winning and them kissing.

Joke pushes boundaries with food again

Joke admits to Zo he has a crush on someone.

When Joke and Zo are debating about hidden agendas in relationships, Joke asks why he should tell someone things when he starts dating them because he should be able to tell things in his own time.

Joke ties Zo's shoe

Joke says he's already started helping Zo with Nita, but has he?

Episode 3:

Joke basically milks all the situations with Zo in his favor under the guise of helping Zo with Nita

Joke admits he listens to Zo's podcast because it helps him sleep.

During dinner, Joke says that "What you see of someone may not be the whole story," and "Stay true to yourself."

In the library, Joke tells Zo "I would never let someone I love face danger alone."

The next day, Zo is sitting outside when Joke finds him and says that Zo wasn't answering his calls. and it's implied he was searching for Zo because he was worried.

Joke insists on driving Zo home despite Zo's protests.

Joke invites himself on Zo's trip really insistently and hugs Zo excitedly when Zo agrees.

Episode 4:

Joke tells Zo he couldn't leave Zo "alone and sad" and "I'll never abandon you"

Joke also says "I only care for those who care for me."

After dinner, Joke says "Sometimes people don't show all their cards."

Episode 4:

Joke knows how long it's been since Zo changed his profile pic.

After dinner, Joke says "Sometimes people don't show all their cards."

Episode 5:

Joke confronts Zo for trying to avoid him and wanting to forget their kiss. Joke is incredibly aggressive and spills his drink on Zo as a result.

Joke continues to message Zo that Zo is avoiding him and that he's going to come over. Zo says not to. Joke does anyway.

Joke gets himself invited to dinner with Zo and his mom.

Joke makes a move while doing dishes and tells Zo he wants to know how Zo feels.

Joke says "why would you hurt me and tell me to forget?" and "you never care about my feelings."

Joke also says "don't run away from me," and "don't avoid me."

Joke confesses through tongue twister.

Joke remembers that Zo hates stink beans.

Joke tells Zo "I would do anything for you," and "I like you Zo, I want to show you that you like me, too."

Asks Zo to let Joke pursue him.

Episode 6:

Joke gifts Zo a sunflower pillow and tells him to look up the meaning, Zo searches up "liveliness sprung from despair."

Joke insists on picking up Zo so Zo doesn't go out in the rain/worried about his health.

Joke pushes boundaries with food again and then fights with Kot.

Zo tells Joke he needs to respect boundaries.

Joke oversteps boundaries again in at debate club.

Joke pushes Zo again for an answer on his feelings; Joke says he "will always wait" for Zo.

Joke also insists that Zo was into him all along and not Nita.

Joke watches Zo at the debate open house and gets jealous.

Joke wants Zo to stay over; he pushes Zo again for an answer to his feelings. When Zo wants to go shower, Joke grabs his arm and stop him, saying that he won't let Zo run away.

Joke gives Zo the arcade t-shirt and when Zo says he doesn't know the significance, Joke tells Zo to take it off. Joke then takes his own shirt off and refuses to put it back on.

Joke asks to hold Zo and Zo doesn't answer, just rolls over onto his side away from Joke. Joke says "silence means yes" (and in this case it did but OH MY GOD) and proceeds to cuddle Zo.

As I go through my re-watch, I'll add more to both theories but as of episode 6, they both hold up. I can't decide of Joke himself actually did (insert bad thing here) to someone, or just knew someone that (insert bad thing here) happened to. Joke being a stalker wasn't that evident at first, but it is now! At a minimum, Joke is obsessive, posessive and overly clingy.

Also, these theories can both be true! They don't contradict each other in any way. Stay tuned for Part 2, probably... Friday or Saturday.

[thelollipoplux]

Cupid's Corner | In Focus: Buck

Buck embodies an adventurous soul, reveling in his nomadic lifestyle. Roaming the country on his cherished motorcycle alongside his fluffy Alaskan Malamute, Ruby, he continuously seeks thrilling escapades. Together, Buck and Ruby have embarked on countless journeys, culminating most recently in conquering the peak of Mount Komorebi.

Having recently taken up residence in the peculiar town of StrangerVille, Buck aims to contemplate his past decisions and confront the inner turmoil that has long haunted him. Whether he's unwinding at the 8 Bells bar or trekking through nature with Ruby, Buck can often be found embracing these activities. And during quieter moments, he can be spotted cruising along deserted evening roads on his motorcycle.

Buck finds solace in the world of books and the craft of writing. This passion emerged during a dark period in his life and swiftly evolved into one of his pillars of strength. Chronicling his escapades, Buck curates captivating narratives on his blog titled "Buck and Ruby do Adventures." Alongside this, he's engrossed in crafting a book series centered around a mysterious town harboring enigmatic secrets—a project he aspires to see published in the future.

Despite his past romantic endeavors, including marriage, Buck has shied away from long-term commitments. However, as time advances, he begins to sense a yearning for companionship. Eager to explore the realm of love, he's now open to welcoming romance into his life.

Additional information about Buck can be found below.

Aspiration

Bestselling Author

Job

Manual Laborer (Level 3)

Skills

Rock Climbing (8), Writing (7), Handiness (6), Guitar (6), Fitness (5), Fishing (5), Horse Riding (4), Cooking (4), Nectar Making (3), Gardening (2).

Traits

Adventurous, Self-Assured, Noncommittal, Muser, Morning Person, Night Owl, Frugal, Free Services, Stoves and Grills Master, Shameless, Carefree, Independent, Professional Slacker, Storm Chaser, Iceproof, Heatproof, Great Kisser, Mentor.

Lifestyles

Outdoorsy, Adrenaline Seeker, Technophobe

Likes and Dislikes

Hobbies and Skills Likes: Fishing, Gardening, Handiness, Rock Climbing, Writing, Cooking, Fitness, Guitar, Nectar Making, Horse Riding Dislikes: Acting, Skiing, Snowboarding, Wellness

Conversation Topics Likes: Physical Intimacy, Compliments, Stories, Potty Humor, Pranks Dislikes: Gossip, Discussing Interests, Small Talk

Sim Characteristics Likes: Argumentative Sims, High Energy Sims, Nature Enthusiasts Dislikes: Cerebral Sims, Romance Enthusiasts

Color Likes: Brown, Red, Black Dislikes: Yellow, Green, Pink

Music Likes: Americana, Ranch, Metal Dislikes: Electronica, Pop, Summer Strut, Tween Pop

Fashion Likes: Basics, Country, Rocker Dislikes: Streetwear

Décor Likes: Industrial, Basics, Farmhouse, Shabby Dislikes: Vintage, Contemporary

All these characteristics, including Milestones, have been set to add to the sim's character. You can download Buck and his companion Ruby on the Gallery. My username is @thelollipoplux the same as on Tumblr.

The Cupid's Corner Template is by @sarahsimmerxo Thank you so much for making such a wonderful template!

Creating Buck in CAS and developing his story has been VERY fun to do. This is the first time I've ever gone into details like this with a sim and I'm loving it. I've created a few more sims that I will be using in my own gameplay when Lovestruck comes out so I will be giving them a dedicated post on Tumblr as well.

[moirtre]

‎ ‎ ⋆⠀⠀&.⠀⠀٬⠀⠀(⠀⠀CALL YOU MINE.⠀⠀)⠀...⠀is the second extended play (ep) by south korean girl group, letalis. the album was released in both digital and physical form by south korean entertainment company, apricus culture on march 18, 2014.

the album was supported by performances of the title track, "I GOT A BOY" and the promotional single, "DARLING". the group's second release received massive attention from the group's growing fanbase and garnered critical praise for their vocal improvements from their first release. commercially, call you mine debuted at number two on the gaon album chart, highlighted in a highly publicized fandom war. "I GOT A BOY" was praised critically for its eclectic production and international appeal. the single itself peaked at number three on the us world digital chart, marking their first introduction to the american market. the music video for "i got a boy" won the award for video of the year at the first youtube awards in 2013, generating the first signs of an american fanbase for the group.

in terms of critical reception, the album performed noticeably better among musical critics than their debut album. billboard columnist, evie lowe, noted that the song displayed the group's promising potential with "gleeful chaos" that "set the bar high for pop music in 2014". the group's choreography for the title track also created a small dance craze among korean adolescents and is regarded as being a continued domestic favorite. averaging a 4.5/5, the album has stood to be one of the group's most successful.

ㅤ*ㅤSECTION ONEㅤ:ㅤthe tracklist.

ʬ.ʬ.⠀001:⠀⠀ ٬⠀⠀ DARLING⠀

ʬ.ʬ.⠀002:⠀⠀٬⠀⠀ CHARMING⠀

ʬ.ʬ.⠀003:⠀⠀٬⠀⠀ I GOT A BOY * (title track)⠀

ʬ.ʬ.⠀004:⠀⠀٬⠀⠀ 좋은 날 (BETTER DAYS)

ʬ.ʬ.⠀005:⠀⠀٬⠀⠀ CLICKIN'

ʬ.ʬ.⠀006:⠀⠀٬⠀⠀ IN & OUT

ㅤ*ㅤSECTION TWOㅤ:ㅤthe physical album.

‎ ‎ ⋆⠀⠀&.⠀⠀٬⠀⠀two versions of call you mine were available upon initial release. the group would go on to re-record the title track, "i got a boy", in both english and japanese in 2014.

ʬ.ʬ.⠀ENCHANTMENT VERSION: contains one disc, one photobook (featuring 100 photos), one of four unit posters, one of seven member-written letters, one of seven random photocards, one group poster, and one of three random stickers.

ʬ.ʬ.⠀ROMANCE VERSION: contains one disc, one photobook (featuring 111 photos), one of four unit posters, one of seven member-written letters, two of seven random photocards, one of seven individual mini-poster, one of two random group posters, three stickers, and one fandom charm.

ㅤ*ㅤSECTION THREEㅤ:ㅤthe styling.

they walked around like they were the shit and at the time they really were. their styling team really invested in designer brands like obey, adidas by jeremy scott, and joyrich, to push their look between trendy and individual. each member was given a unique twist to the group look that managed to solidify the styling trends stylists would continue to stick to as a staple of the letalis branding.

ㅤ*ㅤSECTION FOURㅤ:ㅤthe notes.

this era eats in every way, i'm so serious.

a fan favorite album and title. everything about this era is solidified in letalis history books and learning every word to the songs on this album is like a vitalis prereq.

the teaser videos from this era kind of generated lore rumors which was different for apricus which is usually pretty upfront about if their groups have a universe of lore/storyline or not. letalis didn't overtly debut with one and apricus didn't address the murmurs of a storyline.

the teasers were released through 15 second member concept films. each begins with an echo of a different snippet of the track, in & out before cutting to a flashing sign with different words for each member: young, work, duty, vow, adore, loyal, and want.

fan theories kind of spun out of control only for the music video to never reference any of these themes. all of these ideas were noticed to be talked about within the songs and fans were largely pulled into the group through the discussion of these topics through the album's lyrical contents.

there's video essays left over on youtube from this era. it's kind of fun to see how far off everyone was when predicting the future lore that would come to define the group.

some of the girls allegedly may have hinted at what the teasers meant. they all deny they've ever said anything about them and actively avoid talking about lore and fan theories to this day.

intense choreo returns and somehow gets more intense?

emmy gained her first choreography credit in the description box of the uploaded music video, beginning the tradition of a member of the dance line participating in title track choreography.

they went viral amongst the general public for not just the catchy and edginess of 'i got a boy' but also for their live vocals after they sang on a radio show. melanie and sienna in particular got a lot of praise for carrying the more emotional vocals on the more technically advanced tracks.

as for the members relationships, this era was kinda smooth sailing which is probably why it's one of their most successful. they didn't argue much (publicly at least) and were all just excited to be gaining their popularity and recognition of their talent.

styling was a huge point of this era. we saw the beginnings of their individual styles being blended into their group identities.

hair also became a big deal. melanie dyed her hair its signature blonde this era with a striking honey blonde initiating the era. emmy's hair was chopped for the first time and heri gets her staple 70s big hair.

this era was also the start of their longest running youtube series: lethal doses. the series follows a different member in a vlog style of filming as they talk through their thoughts about the album, performances, and activities while being styled for the day.

the first episode in the series follows naira as the group's leader. it created the infamous fandom joke about emmy needing her bangs to hide her creases on her forehead from getting upset at rehearsals.

positions were finalized this era and melanie was officially handed the center and face positions and no one was shocked.

[ladygenius]

Crimson Nights & Predators | Part III

Content: in their fairytale surrounding finally, Spencer tells y/n what’s bothering him about the evening

Wordcount: 1300

Category: fluffiest confession fluff🫶🏼

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, bullying, verbal abuse

“By the way”, she clearly had to urge the rest of the mysterious booze down her throat, “Obviously, I’ve been planning to share this exquisite finding with my favorite bookworm anyway”, she darted her eyes back up at him.

“Mr. Braggy and his wingman just offered the first opportunity for a little getaway. Whoops.”

She rolled her eyes before facing one of the huge shelves, clearly with a plan in mind. “Alright. This devil’s stuff better made me forget about my vertigo. Hey, what do you think, Spence? Bet I’m gonna find, say, at least an original Twain or Whitman up there.”

Bravely, she climbed the first few steps of the ladder, a little wobbly on her heels maybe but still as gracefully as ever. That was until she leaned over a little too far and just as she reached for a particularly fancy-looking book the wheel mechanism of the ladder set in, catching y/n off guard.

This time, it really was her frightened squeaking as she clung to the shelf and Spencer reacted just in time to stop the ladder before she would have eventually flopped to the ground - ungracefully.

After a moment of shock that lasted longer than it would have with sober brain cells, they both burst out into ringing laughter.

So while Spencer was holding onto the ladder from the start this time as a safety measure, y/n continued her quest for the most ancient-looking copies. He urged himself to look in every direction but ahead of him – y/n’s legs centimeters away from his face - nervous at the sight of their soft skin and perfect shape, he desperately tried to find something to talk about. But it was her voice that made the decision for him.

“Spence.. Can I ask you a question?" his face instinctively tilted upwards, only to shyly dart down again, realizing he didn't want her to think he was trying to get a glimpse up the skirt of her alluring dress. "Do you think I’m being kind of a bitch to Andersson?” The question alone set off an alarm inside him.

“I mean, it’s actually kinda mean… running away from someone like a kid on a playground. But you know, I’ve told him like a gazillion times that I have no interest in going out with him.”

Spencer’s thoughts immediately catapulted him back to the bar. The two men’s degrading comments about y/n and Andersson’s plan to take advantage of her potentially intoxicated self once the evening had come to an end. And yet, here she was feeling sorry for him. It made his heart ache. But fortunately, from where she was standing, she couldn’t see the honest pain plastered on his face.

"Spence, did I say something wrong?" "Oh.. no, y/n. Not at all" She descended carefully, Spencer steadying her with a gentle hand on her back.

"You know.." she hesitated, suddenly their difference in height making her seem so vulnerable and timid again. "I didn't want you to think of me this way but I feared somehow this was reminding you of how you were treated once.. you know, back in high school. I don't want you to think of me as that kind of woman.. you know, leading guys on only to prank them in some demeaning way for everyone to see."

"What, woah, y/n. This isn't even in the slightest comparable. I mean it. Hey, look at me. I would never think of you like that, Okay?" He was incapable of even beginning to explain how far his genuine thoughts about her varied from her assumption.

She nodded doubtfully, her gaze resting on his hand on her shoulder which he immediately pulled back upon noticing.

"It's just.. I feel like you're somehow - angry about something? I don't know. Maybe I'm just reading into it too much but I was afraid we weren't okay.. Cause we are, right?" Her orbs studied him and widened hopefully, as his heart was melting once again at how well she knew him.

"No. You're right.. obviously", he sighed, y/n's chest puffing out anxiously, her brows frowning. "I just can't keep a secret from you, can I?" His timid smile clearly made y/n already feel a little more at ease. "It's those jerks." "What? Andersson and his idiotic wingman? How could simple creatures like them cause brilliant Dr. Reid any trouble?"

"I. I just can't stand how they're treating you.. you know." Y/n seemed baffled for a second. "Oh.. well, yeah, I mean, they're obvious douches and it's annoying Andersson won't ever accept a simple no. But other than staring and asking me to dance he really hasn't done anything I could blame him for. It's sweet of you, though, that you're being different. You actually sense how I'm feeling, you know. You always can."

Her hands settled on the hem of his jacket, where they had already rested earlier this evening, causing nothing but blissful feelings inside him. But now it felt all wrong.

Her eyes searched for his. But he couldn't face her, it hurt too much. Just like he had thought - sooner or later, the fairytale was bound to end.

"Please don't defend them". His lips uttered barely inaudible. "Those pricks sure as hell don't deserve that." Slightly startled by the unlike-him choice of words and the stern sound of his voice, y/n sensed that she must be clueless about the situation.

"What happened, Spence"? She softly tilted up his chin to reveal his hazel eyes meeting hers all blurry.

"They said things about you.. earlier. I overheard them. Disgusting stuff you don't deserve. No one does. I don't even wanna repeat it.. I just can't stand the thought of you being talked about this way y/n. And yet you're the one to worry about treating them fairly. They're nowhere good enough for you anyway. And I know, neither am I, but I would never treat you like that." This last part slipped out unintentionally. And y/n noticed.

It’s over, he thought to himself standing here almost crying, she must think him to be completely embarrassing.

But she just stepped even closer to Spencer, hesitating briefly before decidedly taking his hands inside her own. Finally.

"I know you never would.. That's why I love you." That, too, slipped out somewhat suddenly but not quite as unintentionally. She sensed how loaded this topic was for Spencer, how much she meant to him. She has been suspecting this for a while now, but she was always just too scared to take the leap. And now she couldn't help it. In this perfect location with his protectiveness about her.

His eyes fixated on her own for almost an eternity. Both barely blinked. Whatever happened, it wouldn't be half bad, y/n thought. After all, he finally knew. God, how he deserved to know he was loved like that.

"But.. y/n. Why would you ever, I mean. You're so much more than I am-"

"You are everything to me, Spencer. It doesn't get much bigger than that, I guess. I mean, of course, if you insisted, I could go with the whole universe too.. but the point is, you've always been more than enough because you're you-"

And suddenly it was he who cut y/n short unexpectedly. His lips met hers with the most delicate urgency imaginable. Finally, he could pull her closer without their bodies colliding meaning mere accidental contact.

Her hands around his neck tangled into his soft curls and it still felt like once they let go of each other - it might all be over again. The Fairytale a silly fantasy and reality ready to separate them cruelly.

But as they opened their eyes, everything remained the same. "I love you too, y/n."

Except for the fact that everything was different now.

Spencer's eyes were still blurry from overwhelm, but this time for a better reason as he stared deeply into hers. He cleared his throat, "By the way.. did you end up finding any good first prints up there?" Y/n let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Honest to God.. I don't remember anymore."

~~~~~~~~

What are you doing? Catch up: Part I | Part II

[astrokatsuki]

HIGHWAY TO HELL feat. Toji Fushiguro

SUMMARY You wanted to test out a book you got from a garage sale. Just so you can get your money’s worth. When something goes wrong you think the book was useful after all.

WARNING Toji, smut, like two spanks, cunnilingus, gets a lil rough, not proofread.

WORD FROM ARTIST This is my first time writing smut y'all.… 2.5k+

HIGHWAY TO HELL

Why are you the dumbest person alive? If you’re even still alive, that is.

You used to believe you were actually pretty smart. You did well with A’s and B’s in high school and you got even better grades in college. But now, you’re not so sure you’re as smart as you thought.

You know you shouldn’t have picked up that dark magic book. Especially from that sketchy garage sale, you overheard coworkers at your server job talking about it. The pages were worn, dirty, and stained. Plus the cover barely held on, some duct tape being used as a half assed repair. You’ve watched more than enough horror movies to know doing something this stupid never ends well.

But here you are finishing the last step of one of the rituals in the dumb, blood red book. Most people on a Saturday night would be out at clubs and bars, taking shots and listening to whatever setlist the DJ set up for the night.

Surprisingly, you would be one of those people too if it wasn’t for your curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, but you prayed that the same outcome wouldn’t happen to you. When you finally stepped through the door of your cute, one bedroom apartment, you recklessly flung off your shoes not caring where they landed and carried the thick book back to your room.

You just wanted to try it, see if it worked at least once. You doubt it would anyway.

Making it to your room, you decide against sitting in your bed and instead opt for sitting on your baby pink rug. The last thing you want to do is bring that dark energy to your bed.

You shouldn’t even bring it to your room but here you are.

Your bedroom is filled to the brim with different shades of pink and a collection of stuffed animals that happen to multiply every time you go shopping. Books lay hazardously in the furthest corner of your cozy room, your gaming setup’s lights turned on and have been for a while, brightening the area and making the room even better.

You stick out like a sore thumb in this room. Your closet consists mostly of baggier clothes, but you have a hefty amount of clothes for when you want to show off a little. One of these outfits you could’ve worn if you decided to go out tonight.

This dark magic book also sticks out like a sore thumb. But, you proceed anyway.

After spending about 10 minutes give or take, just skimming the pages, you stumble across one that seemed the most harmless.

Contacting a demon.

This was the most tame one in this book, which was unnerving and almost made you rethink your choice. You paid money for this though and the owner of the garage sale made it clear that you couldn’t return anything.

Hoping that creating an atmosphere would increase the chances of the ritual working, you turn off the lights and light some candles.

Fortunately, the ritual only has three steps.

The first two were pretty easy and straightforward. Grab some sticks and put them in a circle and Take some DNA and place it in the middle of your stick circle.

After reading the first step, you swung your feet over the side of your bed duvet, shuffled into your slippers, and picked some perfect sticks from the front of your apartment complex.

The last step in order to complete the ritual, is to close your eyes and say a chant.

Seems easy enough.

The chant doesn’t seem to be in English but you closed your eyes and tried your best not to completely butcher the chant.

After a generous amount of time you begin to feel silly and almost embarrassed.

‘Of course this wouldn’t work.’

With a sigh and slumped shoulder you open your eyes just to roll them at yourself. After having your vision clear from having your eyes shut so long, they focus on a large figure, with an amused look on his wide grin.

With a sigh and slumped shoulder you open your eyes just to roll them at yourself. After having your vision clear from having your eyes shut so long, they focus on a large figure, with an amused look on his wide grin.

On the desk sits two of the candles you once lit. They’ve both been blown out.

The figure moves closer as your mouth opens to let out an ear-piercing scream. A large hand lazily covers your mouth to muffle your voice.

It’s so close. So close you can finally see some of its details. It looks like a guy. A gorgeous one.

But it can’t be.

Your heart is racing and you’re scared shitless, but you think that money wasn’t completely wasted after all. The ritual worked.

“You fucked up the ritual you tried to do.”

The guy's voice sends a chill straight down your spine and to your core. It’s deep and slightly raspy.

This man can’t be real, not when he looks that good anyway.

His dark hair covers his forehead and the tips of his eyes, and a scar runs down his lip.

Fuck.

He stares blankly at you before remembering you can’t respond. His rough hand was still covering your mouth. Not that he asked a question for you to answer anyway.

He slowly removes his hot palm from your mouth, seeing if you would scream again.

Oddly you don’t.

“Huh?” Is all you can manage to say.

He grins wider at your dumbfounded state, “You said the chant wrong, I mean. There’s so many spells in that stupid book. A lot of spells are similar.”

“So instead of contacting a demon I actually summoned one?”

He adjusts his position on the floor into a more comfortable one. You would’ve never thought demons could get uncomfortable.

“Smart girl.”

Your hole flutters at the praise, even if you didn’t feel like a smart girl. You instantly feel shame. This is a demon, this is wrong.

Seemingly restless, the man stands up inspecting your room. He annoys you in the process.

“So how do I send you back-“ You look up at him for his name.

“Toji.” He offers, not paying you any mind.

“Right Toji.” The name feels good leaving your lips. You move to your bed from your old place on the floor. You need to get comfortable, this seems like It’ll take a while.

“Well that’s the thing.” He stares you down, as if you’re supposed to know what thing he’s talking about. There’s a lot of things wrong with this right now.

“What thing?” You stare at him dumbly. You don’t have time for this.

You didn’t say that when you were summoning the damn man.

Toji walks away from his place by your floor books and instead decides to sit next to you on the bed.

He glances at you blinking. Leaning down to pick up the magic book that was previously discarded on the floor, hands it to you.

“Read the first page.” He knows something you don’t. You really should’ve been more thorough before deciding to do something like this on a random Saturday.

Warning! In order to make an entity leave you must give them something.

You read aloud.

You look up at him to find him already staring at you.

Not responding right away his warm, big hand travels to the side of your face. He leans closer. So close your noses are almost touching.

He’s so beautiful.

His 6’2, 250lbs frame covers yours as his eyes lower to your lips. You can’t figure out the exact scent that reaches your nose when you’re this close to him, but his musk makes him that much more enticing.

“I want that something to be you, sweet thing.”

He sees the hesitation on your face. He can also see the desire.

The hand that isn’t on your face travels to cup your clothed cunt.

“But you’re-” You begin to stammer.

“A demon?” He finishes, not seeming bothered by your tone. He couldn’t blame you for being wary. But he would show your cute self a good time.

“That’s what makes it fun.”

This is so wrong. But you can’t help the way your skin heats up under his touch. You can feel yourself getting wetter the closer he gets.

His slightly chapped lips capture yours in a hungry kiss. The kiss is filthy, the tension fills the room like a fish tank and you can practically see the desire oozing out of his body.

You can no longer tell which tongue is yours and which one is his because both of them are overlapping. His hands trail lower, cupping underneath your jean-clad thighs and picking you up from the edge of the bed.

Toji’s lips eventually leave yours. A dissatisfied whine escapes your plush lips as your dazed gaze focuses on his.

“Patience baby.” He warns.

He unbuttons your jeans and slides them down your thighs slowly, almost as if he’s trying to tease himself. He then moves you closer to your headboard. Even though he warned you, he’s also affected by your lips not connecting with his.

You tug on his black compression shirt, trying to pull it off him. It hugs his body deliciously, you can’t even imagine what it would look like off of him.

“I wan’ it off” You tug again.

He pulls away from you quickly, and takes his compression shirt and sweats off in record time.

He reconnects your lips.

He takes your bunched up shirt off of you, throwing it behind him, but instead of taking off your bra too, he just pulls the cups underneath your soft boobs. Your nipple hardens due to the cold air filling up your room.

The sight of you sprawled out all pretty for him is a sight for sore eyes. Like an angel.

An angel for his demon.

He captures a hard nipple in his mouth sucking on the budding flesh while groping the other boob.

You mewl, writhing in his grasp. Without removing his lips from your boobs, he slides your pink panties down your thighs. You pussy clenches from the brush of his arms across your thighs.

“Such a pretty pussy,” He groans as he lowers himself so that he's face level with your cunt.

“Thank you.” You mumble.

“So polite.” He seems to be talking to himself almost. He stares at your cute little clit getting close but never touching.

Growing shy, you begin to close your legs. But before you can fully close them a slap on your thigh causes you to yelp.

“Keep them open. I want to see you” He glares, finally touching you. He rubs you up and down collecting your slick.

“M’ sorry.” you twitch.

“I know you didn't mean to be bad, sweetheart. Just keep them spread for me.”

He knows exactly where to touch to get you pent up. He slowly inserts two fingers and curls them to hit exactly where you need them.

You moan out making eye contact with him from your place on your back. He stares back up at you with dark eyes. While maintaining eye contact his lips wrap around your clit and suck softly.

You grip his hair causing him to moan out with an eye roll. He moves his tongue around your pussy trying to get all the juices you leak. His tongue trails lower to your hole and licks what he can, while his fingers are still pistoning in and out of you.

You can feel your release building up. You try to warn him, but the pleasure is taking your breath.

“gonna’ cum!” You manage between moans.

“Give it t’me.” The vibrations of his words are the push you needed to tip you over the edge. With the loudest moan yet, your back arches trying to move away from him. He grips your thighs holding you in place making your fluids spray his chin and the sheets below you.

He keeps swirling his tongue to make you ride your high out before his face comes up to face yours. He takes his fingers out of your hole and holds them up to your face.

“Suck.”

Without any words, you stare up at him and suck your release off of his fingers making his dick twitch at the sight.

You're such a cute thing, so pliant.

Pulling his fingers out, he handles you like a doll flipping you over without any effort. You automatically arch, wiggling your ass as an invitation.

He swats it smirking at the sight.

You whine, looking back to watch him pull his boxers down. He's so– big. He’s about 9 inches with a vein running down to his base. His tan, mushroom tip leaks white pearls that drip onto the already messy sheets.

He rubs his tip along your sensitive slit making you quiver. He slowly pushes in, forcing your arch deeper.

He gives you little time to adjust before plowing into your wet cunt.

Plap, plap, plap.

The sound of your ass hitting his pelvis as you attempt to bury your moans into the stuffed bear you got at the fair.

He notices your actions and wraps both his hands around your throat, using that as leverage.

“You’re big!” You slur your words, your eyes rolling to the back of your head for what seems like the hundredth time.

“Yeah? Tell me where you feel me?“ Toji takes one hand off your neck to rub your swollen clit.

You slowly move one hand down your waist to push on your stomach, where you feel his tip reaching.

“M’ Right here!” The pressure of his pounding mixed with your hand makes it almost too much to handle, but it's too good to stop.

Pounding sloppily into your soaking pussy, Toji rubs onto your clit even faster. He can tell you’re about to cum again.

“Slow down!” Your voice grows higher in pitch as you try to push on his abdomen. He catches your hands and holds them behind your back, making his thrusts harder as punishment.

“You can take it.” He grunts.

You pussy clenches around him once again. You’ve lost track of how many times you’ve both come. He’s so mean the way he bullies his cock into you.

He is insatiable.

Your eyes can’t help but roll back as he hunches over you. His mean grin comes into view as you look over your shoulder.

You splutter, “So’ good Toji!”

“Mhm?”

Without another word you cum again, your unfocused eyes black out for a second at the intensity of your orgasm.

Toji follows soon after with an airy whine. You’re boneless as you fall out of your arch and flat onto the bed. Fatigue hits you as your eyes begin to close.

Toji slowly pulls out careful not to stimulate you even more. The last thing you remember before sleep hit you is a wet cloth cleaning your sweaty body off.

The next morning you wake up to a sore body and a page of the spell book flipped open.

How to summon Toji– the incubus demon.

© astrokatsuki 2023

[sketchy-rosewitch]

Play With Me Like a Child: Carly Jones x Bo Sinclair

Warnings: Carly and Bo are both 18, PinV, fingering, Bo somewhat being Bo, (anything else I missed please tell me)

A/N: Day 3! day 3 day 3 day 3! dayyyy 3! I changed this idk how many times and landed on Carly x Bo so now y’all get this!

Haunted Hoedown Masterlist

Day 3

Previous: Anything for You: Corey Cunningham x afab!gn!reader

Next: ai!android!Captain Denninger x afab!gn!reader

The school bell rings and Carly is quick to get up and make her way to her locker to grab the rest of her things.

Nick told her not to wait up on him, he and Dalton were going to be hanging out tonight. Carly took this chance at lunch to ask Paige is she wanted to hang out. Unfortunately her and Blake were going on a date tonight.

Which means Carly is going to be alone. She hasn’t been alone on a Friday night since her freshman year. But last week changed everything. Her and Wade finally had a serious talk about him coming to New York with her.

Wade didn’t take it well, he spent the whole year trying to avoid this talk knowing sooner or later it’d have to come. Last week was when it came and Wade tried so hard to get Carly to stay and Carly tried so hard to get Wade to go. They couldn’t come to a conclusion and it ended in their break up.

The whole school caught on quickly to it, but that wasn’t saying much as their class alone was only 75 students. Still, it was embarrassing. Everyone and their mother thought Wade and Carly would never break up, that they’d be High School Sweethearts. Now that they weren’t together anymore she could hear whispers of people wondering if true love really did exist.

Did Carly and Wade really set the bar that high?

The dirty blonde girl sighs as she frustratingly opens her locker. She puts the text books she doesn’t need away and pulls out homework she didn’t finish in class that she’d have to do over the weekend. One more month of this shit, then she was free.. until September that is, but even then it’s be a whole new set of work.

“Carly.”

The teen jumps slightly and looks to her right. Her eyes roll to the back of her head and she slams her locker shut.

“What do you want Sinclair?” She looks at him with her brow raised. The brunet has a crooked smile on his face. Carly knows how charming it is, but so does every other girl at this school.

“Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out tonight.” He replies, shrugging nonchalantly. Carly maneuvers around him and makes her way to the school’s entrance.

“Why would I wanna hang out with you?” She asks, not even trying to hide her annoyance. The oldest Sinclair brother catches up to her and begins to walk at a similar pace as Carly.

“Cause you don’t have anything better to do.” He answers, Carly glares up at him, making Bo snort. “Listen, I don’t have anything better to do either. You’re free, I’m free. I’m single, you’re single. We can go out tonight. Everything is on me.”

“Are you serious? A week after I’ve been broken up with and you wanna ask me out?”

Bo stops in his tracks and laughs stupidly at himself. “Shit, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that.”

Carly is quick to turn around. “What did you mean by it then? Huh? You think this is some joke?” Her face turns red from embarrassment and anger. Instead of Bo getting pissed back at her, he holds his hands up.

“No, hun, I just think you need to have a fun night out is all. Relax a bit.”

The teen takes a deep breath and looks down. “Fine. But none of your, ‘Sinclair funny business’.”

“Anything for you. I’ll pick you up at 6.”

-

A truck horn honks loudly outside of Carly’s house making her cringe. Of course Bo had to let everyone in Ambrose know that Carly Jones was hanging out with him.

She grabs her satchel with money and her phone and walks downstairs. “Who’re you hanging out with?” Her mom asks. It’s not suspicious, yet Carly’s heartbeat picks up pace.

“Just Paige.” She smiles and goes to hug and kiss her mom on the cheek. Her mom would murder her if she found out she was actually hanging out with a Sinclair boy.

“Okay, well. Have fun tonight and be careful!”

The teen nods her head and leaves the house. Bo’s truck blasts heavy metal music and if Carly’s mom had come out here. She would’ve known right away her daughter was lying to her.

Nervously the girl opens the passenger’s door and she gets in. Her classmate turns down the music and starts to back out of the driveway.

“You look good.” He comments as he drives down the small town roads. She looks at Bo who wears a flannel with rolled up sleeves and jeans.

“You too. Your uh-hair is nice.”

God, why is she so nervous. This isn’t a date, she literally grew up with him too.

Bo smirks and combs his fingers through his curls. “Thanks.”

“So, where are we going tonight?” Carly asks, her fingers fumble with a loose string on her shirt.

“There’s a lake a few miles out. Figured we could shoot some cans and talk for a bit. Brought picnic shit too.”

“Mmm, you sure this isn’t a date?” Carly teases. She doesn’t mean to be but she ends up sounding more annoyed than playful when asking the question.

Honestly what he was taking her to do sounded a lot more fun than doing homework. It actually sounded more fun than what Wade usually had planned. A movie of some sort, it was always one in town, one at his house, or one of those drive-ins. Those would get so boring after so long and it wasn’t like they did anything together. Any advances she made would get brushed off.

“It’s whatever you want it to be.”

Bo parks the truck under some trees and gets out, Carly following close behind him. He grabs his shotgun and a bag and the two of them start to walk into a large field.

“Over by the peach tree.” Bo points. “I found this spot years ago, I take my brothers here sometimes. I’m surprised no one else has found it yet.”

“Why bring me here then?” Carly asks.

“You won’t tell anyone. Paige is just as city girl as you are so why would she come out here? Nick hasn’t hung out with you in years and Wade.. well ya know.” Bo explains, he sets down his gun against the tree and drops the bag next to it.

“Well why aren’t your brothers here?” Carly yells, Bo is yards away setting up the cans again, he glares at Carly but she doesn’t back down from her question when he doesn’t answer.

She flops down in a shitty lawn chair as Bo comes back up.

“Nuh-uh-uh. You’re up first.” Bo gestures his hands towards himself, he grabs his shotgun and hands it to Carly.

Carly looks down at it and then over at Bo. “I’ve never-“

“God, you really are a city girl.” Bo teases, his signature crooked smile comes in his face. Carly’s stomach churns and her face gets a bright pink in embarrassment.

“I’m not, I grew up with you Sinclair! I just never learned how to shoot a gun.” Carly grumbles. Her grip tightens defensively on the barrel of the gun.

“Well that’s just bad parenting. Come on. I’ll teach ya.”

Carly and Bo walk so they’re facing towards the old shitty fence with the cans on top of it. He takes the gun from Carly’s hands and sets it down. “Do this.” Bo crosses his arms but holds his elbows up and Carly mimics Bo. She watches closely as Bo takes his hand and pokes next to her shoulder but below her collar bone. “Gonna want the butt of the gun right here. It’s gotta be comfortable.” He says. “Your feet like this.” One toe faces forward and the other is pointed right slightly. Again Carly mimics Bo, not wanting to fuck anything up and get herself or even him killed. “Good.”

The teen’s heart swells but she shuts down the emotion immediately. Bo hands her the gun and puts her hands where they need to be, the emotions she feels for Bo coming right back up as if she didn’t just get out of a relationship just last week.

“Gotta keep both eyes open. Right eye stares right down the barrel.”

Carly nods her head. The brunet goes behind her and looks at her stance. She feels his eyes wandering, making her gulp. “If you think this is some way to check me out you have another thing coming, cause who’s the one with the gun Sinclair.” Carly’s tone is defensive. She’s scared, she can’t fall in love again, not when she’s going to be leaving this small town and especially not when it’s Bo Sinclair, who is far worse than any man out there.

Except if he’s so bad, why’d she go somewhere with him… alone.

“I ain’t gonna do shit, I’m makin’ sure you’re not gonna hurt yourself. Geez.” Bo sighs. She can tell he’s shaking his head at her. “I want you aiming at that rusty can in the middle.”

Carly listens her eye focuses on the can. “Safety off.”

She turns it off and shoots, the bullet hits just below the can. Into the wood of the fence. She aims again, this time higher and shoots. The can knocks down.

“Hell yeah!” Bo whistles with his teeth excitedly. “There we go!” Carly’s adrenaline picks up and she blushes.

The two manage to shoot cans for a couple of hours before they sit down and eat dinner.

“Ain’t much but it’s what I make Vincent and Les when we come out ‘ere.” Bo says biting into the chicken salad sandwich he made. Carly takes a bite too and leans back in the lawn chair.

The sun is starting to set, she looks at it then over at Bo. “Why didn’t they come?” She can’t help but ask about his brothers again, Bo’s quiet. She knows he’s reluctant to answer.

“Vincent’s getting caught up with the Wax Museum and Les made some friends of his own.” Bo replies. Carly nods in acknowledgment. “Is it true why Wade broke up with you?” Bo asks, he finishes up his sandwich and takes a sip of his beer which Carly never commented on.

“You mean him not wanting to go to New York with me? Yeah.” She answers, honestly up until now she forgot about Wade’s existence. She didn’t feel anything towards him anymore. Originally she was sad but now, who cares? He was never going to change his mind and she should’ve known that from the beginning of their relationship Freshmen year.

“He’s fuckin’ dumb.”

Carly furrows her brows and looks at Bo. “How so?”

“Because, he had one chance to get the hell outta here. Honestly if my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to go to college with her, I would’ve! Ambrose doesn’t provide shit. You get a whole new life away from this place and he takes it for granted.” Bo rants, he’s now standing up and pacing, Carly shrugs.

“Yeah, guess he wasn’t feeling it.” Carly mumbles, Bo looks at her.

“He didn’t deserve you. Fuckin’ hope you know that.” He huffs and shakes his head. Carly finishes her sandwich and chugs down her water.

“Yeah and that’s why I broke up with him Sinclair. Let’s just, forget about it, okay?”

The boy nods his head and takes another sip of his beer. Carly looks up at the peach tree and looks to see a single peach hanging from a branch.

“I can get it for you, if you want it.”

Carly feels how close Bo is behind her.

“Oh no! I was just-“

Bo drops his beer bottle on the dirt and climbs into the tree impulsively. Carly gasps.

“Bo! Get down here, I don’t want you hurting yourself!” She squeaks. On the ground she follows Bo as he walks and crawls to the branch where the ripe peach hangs.

“Oh god, please it’s not even that far of a drop!” Bo shakes the branch with his legs making all sorts of reactions come from Carly. Bo chuckles and before she knows it, Carly has to stop because of the water. Bo reaches up to grab the peach and smirks once he does grab it and shows it off to Carly. She nervously plays with her dirty blonde hair.

“See, nothing to be afraid of.”

“Okay, stop showing off and get back down here!” Worry still laces the girl’s voice. It had every right to as she hears the tree branch snap and then a large SPLASH. She gasps and runs towards the water. “BO?!”

Quickly she toes off her boots and jeans and jumps into the water. It’s not to shallow and not to deep, but with the sun setting it was harder to see what was underneath.

Bo come up before Carly can fully give under. He wears a goofy smile and it still holding the peach for Carly. The fort blonde huffs at the brunet. “You’re not funny! I told you to be careful!” She starts to walk out of the water and grabs her clothes and boots. Bo comes out after her.

“I was very careful! And I got your peach. Bo combs his hair back and out of his face and Carly glares at him. He makes it really hard with how he’s looking at her, she really wants to smile but she still is a little pissed.

Bo waves the peach in her face and she takes it, biting into it. The juice falls from her lips, down her chin and onto her chest. She wipes her mouth and raises a brow holding the peach out for him to take a bite from. He eyes her and takes it, biting the same amount she did and feeling as the sticky nectar drips down his chin too. Carly takes another bite, but this time from his hand and he finishes it off.

When Bo done chewing he grabs Carly’s face and kisses her deeply. Her lips and his both tasting like the fruit they just ate. Carly doesn’t even hesitate, she knows what she wants. Her fingers entangle in Bo’s wet hair and she lets out a small moan.

“Let’s-let’s go back to my truck.” Bo mumbles breathlessly. Carly nods and everything is quickly packed up as the last part of the sun sinks under the horizon.

Bo chucks the bag and gun in the bed of the truck before opening the hatch and lifting Carly onto it. Messily he kisses and licks at Carly’s jaw, his wet clothes getting thrown off in the process. He easily unclips Carly’s bra and she slips it off. When Bo’s hands reach her panties though both of them stop, panting and staring into each others eyes.

“Do you-“

“I’m a virgin.”

Bo backs up and looks at her. “You’re tellin’ me Wade had one of the prettiest girls in Ambrose and he didn’t fuck her once?” He growls. Carly nods her head.

“Got on birth control cause he said he wanted to. He never took my advances though so I never asked.”

“Such a goddamn cuck.” Bo rolls his eyes. Cary laughs which makes Bo smile. “Do you want me to?” His face drops into something genuine and it makes Carly happy.

She looks away but then back at Bo. “Yeah. I’m sick of waiting.”

Bo is slow with her. He grabs her hips and pulls down her panties. He stairs at her dark and hairy mound and almost drools, his thick sigh it’s dipping between her legs and pushing into her. She feels her pussy stretch and grabs onto Bo’s arm.

It feels good, so much better than her own fingers.

Bo’s thumb circles her clit lightly causing Carly to squirm and let out a tiny squeal. He leans down and kisses her cheek. “So tight. Gonna take good care of you.” He promises. Carly nods, her mouth wide open yet she’s unable to speak as his fingers curl in her. Wet noises come from her pussy as he pleasures her and she lets out breathy moans.

“God, I wanna fuck this pussy. This is a good pussy. So goddamn tight.” Bo growls into her ear and bites on her jaw lightly.

He pulls his fingers out and sucks on them as he adjusts himself, getting ready to fuck into Carly.

Carly looks at his huge cock then up into Bo’s blue eyes.

“Don’t worry. I don’t wanna hurt ya. I’ll be slow.”

Slowly Bo slides into Carly and she arches her back. Both of them letting out loud moans. She takes his face in her hands and pulls him down, kissing him messily. Without warnings Bo starts to grind into Carly.

The dirty blonde doesn’t care, she rolls her hips into him and lets out soft pants. Bo’s cock stretches her out with every thrust. Bo kisses and licks her neck gripping onto her hips trying to get more leverage. The truck creaks and groans underneath them.

“You feel so good around me. Squeezin’ me just right city girl.”

The nickname causes Carly’s pussy to pulsate around Bo making him groan more and almost fall on top of her. He keeps thrusting, his hand moves up and thumb caresses her nipple before he pinched it lightly. Carly yelps in surprise which signals Bo not to stop.

Carly’s legs start to shake as she feels her stomach tighten and she starts to sweat.

“I’m gonna cum. Please.” He pinches her nipple again.

“Fuck, yeah you are. You gonna cum around my cock? You gonna let me cum in you?”

Bo’s nose nuzzles against Carly’s cheek and he gives her a wet kiss. She nods and Bo smirks.

“Gotta hear you say it.”

Carly moans and Bo slows down slightly.

“Come on. Then you can cum.”

Carly wiggles trying to get more friction but Bo’s hands hold her in place. “Fuck.. fuck Bo just cum in me! Make me yours!” Carly screams, Bo starts up his pace again and it takes Carly right over the edge. Her back arches as her pussy spasms. She lets out high pitched squeals and cries into the night sky.

Bo falls over the edge rig after her. He bucks repeatedly into her pussy, filling her up just right. He grunts and falls onto her.

“Fuck you felt so good.” He sounds out of breath.

Bo looks at Carly and caresses her face, moving her sweaty hair out of it. He slides out of her causing her to whine. “Sorry, I gotta get you cleaned up.” He says, getting up, he grabs his flannel and wipes her pussy clean. He then pulls Carly back on top of him and the two lay there like that. The night air feeling warm against their skin.

“Do you wanna come to New York with me?”

Carly lets out a small gasp, no, she didn’t mean to ask Bo that. Not at all. No, that’s embarrassing, she tries to get up, but neither Bo or her own body let her.

Instead she hears Bo laughing, she can tell his nose is scrunched up.

“Ask me again in August. I think it’s too soon for you to think you’d wanna room with me.”

Carly opens her mouth to speak but shuts it again and nods. Bo plays with her hair and kisses her head a few times. The two lay there almost all night talking about everything and anything which each other. Catching up on all those years they despised each other.

[accio-victuuri]

from this article & interview with Yuli studio. It’s a long but very good read and contains spoilers for the drama.

Xiao Zhan: When I played Xiao Chunsheng, I briefly experienced the happiness of Sheniu.

In June 2023, among the topics related to the actor Xiao Zhan, a Beijing boy named Xiao Chunsheng appeared more.

In the hit drama "Where Dreams Begin", Xiao Chunsheng, who lived in the 1970s, was in a hurry all day long, wearing a coat, riding a 28th pole, reading books everywhere, and complaining about injustices. But he wanted to do this, but he experienced changes one after another, such as the departure of his lover and the shattering of his dreams. The audience regretted what happened to him and worried about his fate. Looking at him, it was like seeing his parents when they were young.

Xiao Chunsheng in front of the camera is pure, proud, and high-spirited, which is completely different from the quiet, humble, and polite Xiao Zhan outside the camera. These two young people with great contrasts have formed an invisible resonance through roles as the medium, spanning nearly 40 years.

When talking with Yuli Studio, Xiao Zhan told us that although there are obvious differences in personality and region with Xiao Chunsheng, both of them have the same energy in their bones. Even if there is only a 1% probability, they will never give up their efforts. They firmly believe that as long as they persist, the future and light must be ahead.

Through Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan has completed a new challenge and experience. The sea in their dreams, even if it is frozen at low temperature, will eventually wait for the scorching sun.

From Chongqing people to Beijing people

When seeing the script of "The Sea in the Dream", Xiao Chunsheng, a young man living in Beijing in the 1970s, immediately attracted Xiao Zhan. In that high-spirited, dare-to-think and dare-to-do era, he admired Xiao Chunsheng's wantonness, freedom and persistence.

"His enthusiasm and appeal are relatively strong, so he will have a stronger sense of presence. This sense of presence comes from the fact that in Xiao Chunsheng's mind, his father is an out-and-out hero, so the influence on him is positive. Make him very optimistic, cheerful and full of hope." Xiao Zhan told Yuli Studio.

Xiao Zhan believes that in the tide of the times in the past 40 years, no matter how personnel changes, what Xiao Chunsheng sticks to is the friendship and principles in his heart. Pure love exists.

Slowly, from Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan saw Tong Xiaomei who is soft on the outside but strong on the inside, Ye Guohua who is loyal and true, He Hongling who is warm and realistic, and Chen Hongjun who is inferior and restrained. A vivid image of Beijing youth emerged in his mind. come out.

"The group portraits in the script are very well written. The growth of Xiao Chunsheng is very complete, so I want to challenge it. From the relationship between Xiao Chunsheng and every small partner in Beijing in the early stage, to his joining the army, because of some The reason is that he had to return to Beijing, and in the later stage of entrepreneurship, the relationship with the people around him changed, and his experience was very complicated, but very attractive.”

Xiao Zhan, who grew up in the factory area, has lived with his family for a long time, and often listens to his family telling stories about the past. When he walked into the set that was meticulously restored in the 1970s, wearing an old-fashioned coat and gloves, and riding a 28-bar, Xiao Zhan seemed to see the shadow of his childhood, acting and acting, he felt that he had become Xiao Chunsheng.

After the episode aired, his family members told him: "The acting is not bad, a bit like our era." This gave Xiao Zhan more confidence.

However, Xiao Chunsheng's mouthful of Beijing movies baffled Xiao Zhan, a Chongqing native who had never spoken a child's accent since he was a child.

During the script reading for the first time, Xiao Zhan stood up and introduced himself, saying, "Hello, teachers, I am Xiao Zhan, and I am a kid from Chongqing." He originally thought that he was the only one who was from the south among the leading actors, but in the end, he played Xiao Zhan. Zhang Lingxin of Chunsheng's sister said that she is from Shanghai. Seeing the "sister" and himself "sick and sympathetic", Xiao Zhan joked: "Sister, let's change the background of the story and say that we are actually children who grew up in the south, and then moved to the north."

Social Cow VS Social Terror

Compared with Xiao Chunsheng's social cow in the play, Xiao Zhan outside the play is a bit socially fearful.

When there are many people, Xiao Zhan usually sits in the corner habitually, watching everyone play and laughing. Seeing many people discussing Type E personality and Type I personality, Xiao Zhan, who doesn’t know much about MBTI, tried to think about it: “Maybe Xiao Chunsheng has Type E personality? I am I, right?

When playing Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan had to mobilize the energy of his whole body to heat up the whole scene. In the scene of fighting with Guo Heizi, in order to show his aura, Xiao Zhan yelled while jumping up and down, as if he was about to shoot a small flame from his mouth, and after the director called to turn on the phone, he changed his face at the speed of light. With a drag, the transition from "Social Horror Brother" to "Social Niu Big Brother" was completed in one second.

Every time when shooting a group scene where everyone eats together, the director always likes to say: "Let Xiao Chunsheng say a few words". In the absence of a script, Xiao Zhan could only muster all his strength and output with a crackling meal.

In the scene of sending Ye Guohua and He Hongling to the army, looking at the reluctant Ye Guohua, Xiao Zhan said impromptu: "A good man has ambitions everywhere", but the scene was a little awkward. So, Xiao Zhan tried his best to raise another glass. Although the movements of his hands were a little rusty and the wine glass almost spilled after toasting, the atmosphere was finally preserved.

During the time when he played Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan briefly experienced the happiness of She Niu. The leading actors Liu Ruilin, Cui Hang and Xiao Zhan are the same age, and all three of them happen to like singing. While waiting for the show, they simply sang together, filling the crew's daily BGM. After the episode was aired, he also saw everyone's jokes about Xiao Chunsheng on the Internet, which made him laugh so hard.

But after a year of filming, Xiao Zhan admitted frankly that the social cow attributes he learned from Xiao Chunsheng have degenerated.

In the army, in order to beat others by running, Xiao Chunsheng practiced extra hours alone in the middle of the night. Because of this, he was nicknamed "Xiao Chunjuan" by netizens.

Xiao Zhan felt that Xiao Chunsheng was born to be strong, and the "jump" came from his inner pride and unwillingness to admit defeat. But in real life, I just want to do my own thing well, and I will not entangle others or entangle me until I can't sleep, just do my best.

"In the last interview, I said that it would be good to be tired. In fact, I am still very tired, but happy tired." Xiao Zhan said.

Growing up with Xiao Chunsheng

For Xiao Zhan, the most difficult part of playing Xiao Chunsheng is his complexity.

"The complexity lies in the fact that he went from adolescence to his 40s, from a young boy to an entrepreneur. Many things happened during this process, both to make the audience feel that he is sticking to himself, and that he has grown up, That's a point I'm always measuring on the shoot."

Xiao Chunsheng in the play is faced with many major life choices. It includes not only love and friendship, but also dreams and future.

When reading the script, Xiao Zhan had a discussion with the director. He felt that it was not the script that made Xiao Chunsheng choose, but the environment and society at that time made Xiao Chunsheng actively make the choice. Whether it is the subsequent changes in fate or emotional changes, it is the result of Xiao Chunsheng's own choice.

In order to present this complexity, Xiao Zhan will carefully discuss with the director before shooting each scene, what kind of emotion is Xiao Chunsheng in this scene? Does the logic of behavior conform to his current choice? Only by understanding the logic of each character's actions can he truly make himself Xiao Chunsheng.

Xiao Zhan also designed a lot of small details for Xiao Chunsheng, such as not speaking in a positive way in the early stage, he was sloppy, he would never speak well when talking to others, his head was a little crooked, and he looked awkward. After joining the army, he has experienced more changes in the world, and has grown, and his demeanor has become more and more stable.

"I did some processing on his expression and body language. The young Xiao Chunsheng is unrestrained and extroverted, so his expression is richer, his walking steps are brisk, and he can run two steps. In the middle age , Xiao Chunsheng became calmer, more often he was introverted, his body movements would not be too many, and at this time he was walking step by step, down to earth."

In the countless crossroads of life, Xiao Chunsheng always sticks to his original aspiration and passion, and has never been knocked down by his own misfortunes. This is also the point that Xiao Zhan admires the most and wants to learn from.

After "Where Dreams Begin" was broadcast, Xiao Zhan also saw netizens' analysis of Xiao Chunsheng's choices, and these comments coincided with his own thoughts.

"The thing that impressed me the most was the point about choices. Actually, I never told anyone, and I don't believe other people would know. But in the few episodes that have only aired, everyone has felt this. The theme surprised me."

In getting along with the characters day and night, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chunsheng also had friendship, family affection and career resonance, and completed a special growth together.

Perseverance, steadfastness, strength when encountering the strong, and difficult roads are the uphill roads. In this dialogue, Xiao Zhan repeatedly talked about these words with Yuli Studio.

"Later, he was injured, demobilized, and experienced several heavy blows, but he never gave up easily. This is worth learning or thinking about in our own lives. There will be many difficulties, but we will never be easily defeated ——This is more important.” Xiao Zhan said.

[chzdavmpr]

Goodnight Punpun Reading Diary Volume 2

Content Warning: I try to avoid going in detail about the more explicit parts of this story, but this does book gets real explicit for a while, so I'll still warn here that this post will discuss a plot point about abuse and sexualization of a minor. Also if you plan on reading this book yourself PLEASE LOOK UP THE TRIGGER WARNINGS FIRST CAUSE THAT'S JUST THE ONE I CAN'T AVOID TALKING ABOUT

Theory: perhaps "God" represents a part of Punpun's inner thoughts. (Note: I tend to be pretty bad at picking up on themes and symbolism in a story before finishing it, so for some of you that statement is probably pretty obvious.)

There's 2 of him now???

With the wager Punpun and Yaguchi set up it's very much them ignoring Aiko being her own person, but for different reasons. For Punpun he's in his incel arc but for Yaguchi it very much he more has his own issues in how he sees himself that he needs to overcome before he's ready for any relationship.

In volume 1 I thought Punpun's uncle was a chill dude, but he not only has a pretty cynical outlook at life, but he thinks his own sister should die just for having armpit hair, but gets off to a vhs labeled "high school hotties" and now I think I hate him. [Note from after finishing the volume: it get's worse. Now I 100% hate him]

Ok so either we are getting guy-with-afro lore that he works the this karaoke bar, or he's just a gag character that the author puts everywhere for no reason

Uh oh. UH OH. I see where this flashback is going STOP USING THE SAME WORDS YOU USED FOR THE POTTERY TO DESCRIBE THE 16 YEAR OLD!

As of the end of "part 3" I am very uncomfy. And that's probably the point, it forces the reader to be like "that's fucked up" and then look back at that whole date scene that was played mostly wholesome and say "this whole situation is fucked up" (which they probably should have already but the legacy of Scott Pilgrim has taught that you can never be too obvious with this stuff).

They have a lot of zoom ins on Yuichi's eyes in the scene where he brings- what's her name again (checks list of important characters at beginning of part 4) oh shit her name hasn't even been said. That makes this even worse then I thought.

Back to the point though, the scene in Yuichi's apartment has a lot of zoom ins on his eyes being drawn in a more human and realistic manner. I think this is to remove that "goofiness that undercut the darkness" I talked about for Vol 1. If this scene played out and was constantly showing Yuichi as a little bird in a crude artstyle it would make it easier to look past the monstrous behaviour of him by writing him off as "silly." But I feel the author really wants you to stew in the uncomfortability of this so that you really grasp that Yuichi is a bad guy.

Since Yuichi is the one telling this story, I wonder if he's lying about any details, in particular I wonder if he did actually go all the way with the 16 year old. I hope I'm wrong, but there is a chane.

WHY THE HELL IS THE CAFE GIRL STILL INTERESTED IN HIM? Honestly that makes me highly suspicious of her, cause I don't buy "love at first sight" for an appropriate motive to still be interested in a guy significantly older then you, who you've gone on ONE date with, who just told THAT story. Honestly I hope that there's more to her motive cause if not I will be honestly disappointed in that character writing.

Wait the guy who attempted to murder the mom and then set himself on fire isn't either dead or in prison? He's just fine?

The appearance of another "God" who is a different face raises a lot of questions and I don't think I have enough info to piece together an answer rn.

It's definitely healthier then being dead, but this relationship with Yuichi and cafe-girl doesn't seem healthy at all.

"God" opened his eyes. I wonder what that could mean.

So it looks like there will be a 2-year timeskip at the end of each book. Assuming Punpun was like 8 in Vol 1 he'll be like 20 in the last. Interesting.

Closing thought on the volume: This is honestly more what I expected going into Volume 1. I would no longer call this a "dark comedy." We are in full on dark drama now, just with some goofy elements.

Looking back at my notes I had a whole lot more to say about Yuichi's story then I did Punpun's, and I'm trying to think about why that is. Cause Punpun's story is one which I feel I probably should have more to say about but most of the time I'm just kinda along for the ride and don't end up having much to write notes about. The only thing I can think of that I probably could comment on is how Yaguchi is like the only morally good character (except maybe cafe-girl) in this whole volume.

I think part of this is that Punpun himself isn't really the strongest character to me. I know about him, how he feels, what he wants, but him rarely talking and has almost non-existent body language so his scenes flow weird. He can't really bounce off the other characters. I hope that by the end of this story I have less of an issue with this.

While reading this volume I also, as an exercise to get better at media literacy, tried to ask "what is Goodnight Punpun about?" What is the main thing this story is trying to tell? My conclusion so far is that I have no idea. My best guess is it has something to do with how being surrounded by negative influence can make someone worse. Which I guess isn't the worst first attempt at figuring out the theme. But with later reading diaries we'll check back in with this theme and see if it holds up.

Also I realized I only used 1 image for this, and it was for basically a background detail. I should be more liberal with them next time.

[saturdaynightghostclub]

Highway Hypnosis

Chapter 7: Meadow Report

I miss gossip. I miss rushing home from the library at the drop of a hat because Nora, my roommate, had “major dirt” on a classmate that couldn’t wait until I was done studying. Those text messages (or, better yet, phone calls)—the “Come home right now” followed by the “You won’t believe what I heard in the diner today”—summoned me quicker than any house fire ever could. It’s horrible, but it doesn’t feel that way when it’s happening. It feels like an accomplishment, like you’re receiving high-priority intelligence. Young people are wasted in retail and food service; we could really be put to use as spies, I think. It’s an inherent sneakiness that’s kind of thrilling, an unspoken code of conduct that we adhere to without being told: information is to be exchanged only in person, unless it’s an objective and irrefutable fact, in which case you may send it in a text message (but why would you, when it’s so much fun to see the look on your friends’ faces when you spill all the latest drama?). “Tell no one” means “Tell everyone, just don’t let them trace it back to me,” and “You can’t know this” means “No really, tell no one.” I want to exercise my knowledge of this code, to be once again on the receiving end of “You won’t believe this,” but it appears that the only good source of gossip around here is me.

I’ve just about given up on my dreams of scandalous water cooler conversation—having three friends, two of them men, will do that to a girl—when it becomes clear that, unbeknownst to me, I have created the biggest scandal in Evergreen since the death of my uncle. It runs in the family, I guess. The scandal in question? It pertains to Jasper Stevens, because lately I’m nothing without his lanky shadow following me around.

“Tell me everything,” Janie says immediately after clocking in, practically skidding around the corner with a crate of whole coffee beans in tow. She knows something I don’t.

I raise an eyebrow, nearly letting Joshy’s coffee cup overflow as I refill it from the pitcher. “Everything about what?”

Janie rolls her eyes. “Don’t be like that, Andie!”

I turn to Joshy, who’s sitting at the bar. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

He nods, amused. “Moss,” he offers, though I can tell by his sage manner that I won’t be getting any more information from him.

“Oh, Jasper? What about him?”

Janie’s exaggerated groan tells me that she’s at least as starved for good gossip as I am, but I’m no less lost for it. She sets her crate down on the bar before turning to me and, in a voice like a kindergarten teacher’s, says: “Moss was in here the other day. You two left together. Tell me everything.”

“Moss never hangs out in town,” Joshy adds helpfully, “he’s like a cryptid.”

I nod. I think I get it now. And really, who am I to deny a fellow woman the joy of being entirely too invested in someone else’s business? It’s one of life’s purest joys. I assume the position: the one everyone knows, that invites others into your confidence. Elbows on the counter, leaning forward—come closer, I’ll tell you a secret. Janie follows suit, standing beside me with her ear trained toward me. Even Joshy leans in, eager to hear what I have to say. “Well,” I begin, “we’ve been spending a lot of time together lately.”

“I knew it,” Janie hisses, slapping the counter.

“At first it was just coincidental, you know? But he started coming over once a week to change out his books and then—I don’t know, we’ve been hanging out. Am I crazy?”

Janie says “No” at the same time that Joshy says “Yes,” and I groan in protest. The couple stares at each other for a few moments, engaged in a silent stalemate. Without breaking eye contact, Joshy raises his hand. “Joshua,” I acknowledge.

“I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing,” he says, turning his gaze on me, “this is a really small town, Andie. You need to be completely sure before you make a move. Really weigh those pros and cons.”

“Oh my god, is that what you did before we started dating? You made a pros and cons list?” Janie says, whacking Joshy’s arm. “You know what?” She asks, as he dodges another blow, “Don’t answer that, I don’t want to know.”

I put my head down on my arms and take a deep breath before coming back up. “Janie?”

“I think you have to go for it,” she says, “partly because I’m curious—I mean, being in a relationship with Moss, what would that even look like?—but mostly because I want you to be happy, and I think he could be the person to make that happen.”

“You think?”

“I think. Moss isn’t one of those guys you just casually hang out with, you know? He’s an acquired taste. You must get each other though,” she says thoughtfully, “anyway, you lured him into a public cafe, so that’s got to count for something.”

“What do you guys even talk about?” Joshy pipes up, “I mean, I love the guy, but he’s not a real conversationalist, you know what I mean?”

This gives me pause. What do we talk about? We talk about everything, so entirely that it feels like nothing. Like water flowing over rocks, or silk sliding across your skin. It’s unimpeded, uninterrupted even in our moments of silence. One long, continuous conversation. “Everything,” I say, “honestly, if I didn’t know he had a reputation I’d just think he was a run-of-the-mill introvert.”

“So weird,” Janie murmurs, “I mean, you know we all love him, he’s family. But like, the type of family who writes you a letter every five years from a different country, you know?”

“Yeah,” I sigh absently. I want to tell them about that night at the cabin, where he clasped my head to his chest and let his warm cologne breathe life back into my body. I want to tell them about the river, where his hand on my knee sealed my fate as his devoted acolyte. Hell, I want to tell them about how he exchanged War and Peace, unfinished, for The Hobbit because it’s summer and he “should be having fun.” But something about those stories feels too personal to share, like they’re just for us. Eyes on us would ruin the illusion, if that’s all it is.

“For what it’s worth,” Joshy says, “I haven’t seen him so…I don’t know, outgoing? Not for a good couple of years, at least.”

Janie nods, looking like she’s deep in thought. “Yeah. Yeah, come to think of it, he has been more talkative. He gave me a recipe for risotto the other day because he noticed I was buying rice.”

Risotto. Would you look at that. I rake a hand through my hair, wrenching my gaze from my companions as the front window is suddenly assaulted by a barrage of gigantic rain drops. Jesus, it’s like the sky’s got something to prove. I lament a moment for my sundress, which is sure to become a liability on my walk home assuming the storm doesn’t let up in the next ten minutes.

“You wanna head out?” Janie asks, seeing straight through me. “Go ahead, it’ll be dead until the rain stops.”

“Mmkay,” I reply, untying my apron, “call me if you need me.” It’s a formality. She won’t call.

The walk home is, as expected, a balmy torrent of rain that weighs on my dress and clings to my skin. I reflexively fold my arms around my body, but give up consciously after reminding myself that there’s no point. The rain is so all-encompassing it may as well be the air itself I’m passing through, soaking me to the bone. I’m inclined to shiver despite its slimy warmth, and I pick up the pace as I approach the cabin (the cabin which is still a The, caught in the limbo between a His and a My).

Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Soaked and saturated, on your front porch steps. Jasper Stevens rises to stand as I approach, unfolding his limbs and stretching like a cat. He passes through the downpour without so much as a blink.

“What are you doing here?” I call, jogging to meet him so we don’t have to yell above the rain. He’s got this look, like he’s faced some kind of ancient evil and accepted his fate.

“Last time it rained like this you had a panic attack,” he says. The rain’s numbed me to everything but his fingertips against the line of my cheekbone. He’s searching me for god knows what—labored breathing, signs of fatigue, I don’t know. It’s mortifying, and I would shrink from him if it didn’t mean he’d stop touching me.

“That wasn’t a panic attack, and it wasn’t because of the rain,” I say casually, taking a small step into his personal space. Janie’s words are circling me like vultures. She’s the devil on my shoulder, convincing me from afar that this man is the solution to my past, present, and future problems. As if sensing my line of thought, he freezes. His breath hitches in his throat for half a second before he continues as if nothing happened. “Why are you really here?”

“Andie…” he says softly, his voice melodic. Sweet and low, like dark brandy.

“Jasper,” I reply. Kiss me, damn it. I can’t be the first one to fold, I’m not the space alien here. Eyes. Lips. Eyes. Kiss me, Jasper Stevens.

I don’t notice the glide of his fingers across my skin until his thumb is brushing my lower lip. “I can’t…” he trails off. I’m about to roll my eyes or finish his sentence or both when he picks it back up: “I can’t be casual about this. If we do this, I mean.”

“What makes you think I want to be casual with you?” I ask. One of us is the Earth right now, pulling the other one in by some invisible gravitational force. I can’t tell if it’s me or him. What makes this man think that I, all of four inches from his face, want anything but his entire self? Here, moments from changing the very fabric of our relationship, I am more certain than ever that I want to immerse myself in him fully. I want us to change each other, I want to change us, I want us to remain exactly as we are. He looks entirely overwhelmed, and I want him to know that it’s really so simple. All he has to do is lean in, and it’ll all be crystal clear.

Jasper’s lips are soft, slightly parted as they brush across mine. A plea for entry, an experimental knock before turning the key he’s always held. I slide a hand over the back of his neck, fingers carding through his hair where the rain has curled it away from his skin. My other hand tangles with his somewhere to my right before eventually settling on his chest. His breath catches again, as if I’ve somehow caught him off-guard, and then he’s pulled me in by the waist and he’s kissing me—really—and it’s all I can do not to collapse into him. I can only hope that his thoughts are as blissfully simple as mine are in this moment: this is right this is right this is right.

[umichenginabroad]

Stockholm Week 10: Grind Before Barcelona

Hi! I can’t believe that it’s already the end of March. Isn’t that crazy? It still feels like late February to me. 

I’m bringing this up because my trip to Barcelona is coming up real fast. I am leaving on the 27th when the Explorative Travel Week begins! We get a week off as a travel break; certain elective courses travel as a class during that week, but I am not in any of those electives so I get a week off from school. Hurray! 

The number 1 country I wanted to travel to was Spain, and I am finally going there next week. That also means that this week has been rough, catching up with all the homework and finishing up projects before the break. 

3/18 Mon: (the best news) Class Canceled! 

On Monday, the only class I had switched to online at the last minute due to traffic issues. 

I took the opportunity to call my boyfriend and my mom while I worked on my assignments the entire day. I slept earlier than usual, around 11 pm, to treat myself :) 

3/19 Tue: Spicy Uno

We have been watching this Netflix series called The Chestnut Man in the Scandinavian Crime Fiction class, and I have been on my nerves since the start of the show. The plot and the music interact too well to the point that I have to cover my ears and close my eyes every now and then. I hate horror movies but I would say this is an extremely well-played thriller/detective show. I recommend it to anyone who likes mystery/crime genre! 

When I’m at home, I always have to try very hard to refrain from watching the rest of the episodes on my own. It has been a difficult battle but I made it to the 5th episode (out of 7) without binge-watching it alone. 

I didn’t know (and wouldn’t have known) that crime fiction was so popular in the Scandinavian region before I took this class. I can see why it’s so famous; all the books and films are quite good! I always look forward to starting a new book or series in class. This course has been my absolute favorite class in Stockholm :) 

During lunchtime, I surprisingly met a new friend who’s going to Barcelona on the same day!!! She and her friend booked their flight yesterday, so I never heard about them when I was asking everyone if they’d like to join our Barcelona trip. The most surprising part was that her friend turned out to be my friend who always sat next to me in two classes! We exchanged numbers to talk more about the trip. 

Afterward, I went to Arkivet, a second-hand store on the higher end. There are high-quality clothes that are in good condition—all the way from H&M and Zara to COS, BOSS, and Coach. Although it is a bit more expensive than other stores like Myrona or Stockholm Stadsmission, the pool is much better in my opinion. I bought a Tommy Hilfiger trench coat for $70! 

There are so many buttons on this coat

Happy with my purchase, I came back home and made Alfredo pasta for dinner. I have been CRAVING creamy pasta and it momentarily satisfied my yearning. I need to go to an Italian restaurant and get a good alfredo spaghetti soon. 

I threw some chicken and sausage in there too :) 

That night, my friends and I all gathered around my room to play Spicy Uno. My friend taught us the extra rules and it was a lot more fun than I expected. Towards the end, we even incorporated Never Have I Ever into the game (ง˙∇˙)ว

After they all left, I couldn’t sleep right away because of the sugar rush from all the goodies we ate (ice cream, jellies, chips, chocolate bars, and wafers). 

I blame this sugar rush for the catastrophe that happened a few minutes later. 

I was peacefully putting on a new set of fake nails until the nail glue fell down on my joggers. I can definitely say that it was an exothermic reaction because where the glue spilled was hot. Thankfully, I was able to separate my pants from my thighs by lifting it up a little bit, but my pants did not survive the accident. 

Picture that captures the moment of the tragic incident 

If anyone knows how to remove nail glue on clothes please let me know ( •́ ̯•｡̀ )

3/20 Wed: Skansen Open-Air Museum! 

Today’s field trip for our Swedish class was Skansen, the world’s first open-air museum! 

The escalator was endless and the area of the museum was unparalleled to any other museums I visited. We had a full experience with the tour guide—we even got to go into houses from the 1700s and see reindeer! 

Us inside the houses

More cool photos: 

Some cool facts: 

Going to church was obligatory: people were officially tested on their bible knowledge and the answers were recorded! 

Each house was numbered (well over two thousand pieces for each house), deconstructed, relocated, and reconstructed in the museum! 

After free fika with the entire class, my friend and I hung out around T-Centralen. We went to cafes, second-hand stores (again), and the system. We headed back to the hog together. 

For the rest of the night, I worked on the insurmountable group project for my online ChemE class until 4 am… ;) 

3/21 Thu: Reeeaaaading

I woke up early to do the pre-lecture homework for the classes. Despite dozing off for a few minutes here and there, I finished the assignment! 

For Friday’s class, I started and finished reading half of The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag. I’m starting to spot the similarities in the settings of the crime fiction novels! 

3/22-3/23 Fri-Sat: Zoom Meetings

I devoted two whole days to working on the group project. I had a series of Zoom sessions with the Professor and then with teammates. 

Cooking and doing laundry was my time off from work! 

When I was done with the project around 11 pm Saturday, I started scavenging for English-guided tours for Barcelona. The tickets were rapidly selling out! 

I managed to get an English tour of Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. They were expensive, but when would I ever have the chance to visit Spain? With that mindset, I joyfully paid for the events. 

3/24 Sun: Planning Barcelona..

My body weighed 200 tons today and wouldn’t have gotten out of bed until 2 pm if it wasn’t for the Barcelona planning meeting I scheduled with my friends. 

We met at Downtown Camper Cafe in T-Centralen and stayed there for three hours, making reservations and finalizing schedules. We are ready to fly to Barcelona! 

The bathroom was fancy

Again, when I got home, I cooked and did more homework.

Tada!

With the energy I gained from dinner, I was able to work on the group project until I got burnt out at 9 pm. I called my mom for a little (meaning 1.5 hours) and did some more work before going to sleep. 

I am SO excited to share my experience in Barcelona next week! 

Stay tuned for new, rejuvenating adventures coming soon!!! 

Tack,  

Jiwoo Kim 

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

[wirewitchviolet]

The Entire Plot of Final Fantasy 14, with all the expansions, and some serious analysis of how good it actually is. (Part 3 - Heavensward)

Continuing from last time, our hero, The Warrior of Light, some kid who’s mother dresses him in a really questionable way, and their secretary, are on the lam, fleeing the three countries they just saved from a fascist invasion to... hands down the absolute worst place you could possibly live in this setting. Oh and from here out, we have narrators going over a little bit everytime you reach somewhere new. In this case it’s some noble guy who after this bit writes it all in an in-universe book he calls

Heavensward

Also I should probably explain the joke that when hyping up the whole free trial thing there was a ton of ad copy talking about it with some deeply cumbersome language and it was a big internet running gag to quote the entire thing when mentioning the game or shoving it into stuff like this for some reason.

Also for real if I’m trying to explain these things I really do have to point out that for the entire base game Alphinaud and Alisae are running around dressed in identical outfits that are kind of a lot.

It’s like this weird turtle-necked sleezy sci-fi girl jumpsuit with this shredded up coat over it. Just looks super super weird, but fortunately Tataru’s true purpose is to make new outfits for every character who’s good a bit without a wardrobe update so first thing day one he gets this less ridiculous look.

Which of course still features the thigh high boots and the earring because FF14 is just like that. Your equipment slots are weapon, hat, upper torso, gloves, shorts-or-stockings, thigh-high boots, earring(s), choker, bracelets, ring, other ring, regardless of gender. Just a random side note. Anyway, we pick up where the end credits dumped us in the city of Ishgard which is both absolutely just the worst, and also honestly depicted as just wildly out of scale with everything else in the world. Every other major city is kinda just the commercial district with the residential part of town in a separate area we can instance out for reasonable player housing, maybe a dozen buildings, and then you get to Ishgard and like... we have this pretty impressive city to begin with and then if you look over a ledge you see the part we’re running around on is like the uppermost tier of this 30 or so tier thing?

Most of it isn’t actively inhabited though. I think what they’re going for is that they’ve been at war with the dragons for so long that they’ve just repeatedly had to abandon old battlements to disrepair, and I’m told that prior to the end of 1.0 apocalypse it wasn’t the sort of land of eternal winter thing, and now most of the population is living in the inner-most noble district with the big church. Or more accurately most of the population is living in this ramshackle wooden death trap on the edge of that district exposed to the elements and dying of exposure and starvation. Ishgard sucks.

You’re kind of adopted by one of the nobel houses immediately though. The lord’s son was running the southern outpost you did like 50 sidequests in in the base game and he really put in a hell of a word for you. So that’s your base of operations for most of the expansion, plus the local bar where Tataru just pulls up a seat and does not leave until the expansion’s over. You take a bit to get acquainted with this absolute hellhole, the starving commoners, and the incredibly strict church that calls damn near everything heresy. You can’t bang the dragons. You can’t have long one sided conversations with corpses in alleyways you pretend are talking back. You can’t kill church-protectorate knights by the dozen in the middle of the street. You can’t replace those knights with an army of peasants with rifles. Fortunately you can get out of heresy charges through one of those trial by combat deals, so early on you make one major slip-up, get to beat some jerk up for it, and afterwards they kinda let you do whatever you want. Which is good because banging dragons is the only thing on that list you aren’t going to do if you aren’t trying the three new classes that open up here. And hey, they have nice little storylines that really sell the new setting.

Mechanists are the “I have a gun” class and really lean hard into the classism thing. Astrologers are a healer class from Sharlayan, the island of insufferable nerds, and you’re helping someone out who is off spreading that knowledge to people who didn’t pay the full tuition, how dare you, AND going around healing a bunch of religious creeps who largely think keeping them from not dying makes you a witch.

And then there’s the Dark Knight class which has probably the most interesting writing in the whole game. You find someone named Fray lying in an alley looking hurt with a stupidly big sword, who takes your efforts to see if their OK as a sign of a good character, and starts training you in being a proper Big Sword Edgelord. This involves a lot of honestly baffling cryptic mutterings about embracing your inner darkness and listening to voices and such, and also a lot of killing the hell out of people abusing positions of power.

Meanwhile Fray has really wild mood swings, going from hey, gotta follow your heart big damn hero stuff to thinking about dead old friends to kinda breaking the fourth wall to gripe about how every damn minor NPC with a sidequest is apparently so helpless that a farmer can’t even like go pick his own vegetables if you aren’t volunteering to help. Anyway I kinda already foreshadowed this, but after getting the class up to about level 50, you get confronted about how people keep saying they see you standing around in an alley talking to a corpse, and what the hell is that about?

Around then Fray comes clean and explains that yeah, that person you first went to check on was dead, and this whole time you’ve just been running around with a giant sword talking to yourself. Which is all straightforward enough, except after resolving this, another dark knight walks up and goes “oh, you know Fray too?” But then rather than dive into what they’re going for with that, his quest line is this whole thing about whether he’s just acting as the personal bodyguard for this kid with an abusive religious fanatic of a mother out of genuine concern for her, or because it gives him an excuse to fight more terrible temple knights. And of course the great thing about that quest line is that while it totally sets up some sort of reconciliation sort of thing, by the end her mother is still basically calling her child a witch who deserves to burn, and the daughter just kinda going “OK cool, guess you get to be with your god when you’re dead then” and has him kill her. Atypical, but, you know, real satisfying.

So again, Ishgard is just a terrible place. The surroundings are neat though. Really detailed frozen wastelands and flying islands. You tour around a bit before finally picking back up on that whole “Lady Iceheart’s rebels” story line, tracking her down, learning more about where she’s coming from, and basically working out, eventually, that the best way to deal with the problems in the region is to make peace with what dragons you can, so you end up on a big road trip with just you, Alphinaud, Ysaile, AKA reincarnated Shiva, and for reasons I can’t fathom but won’t object to because it’s amusing, Estinien.

So... if you level up as a dragoon, from level 30 on the main NPC you’re dealing with is this guy Estinien who is, in no particular order, the biggest big shot dragoon in Ishgard, very much an homage to Kain from FF4, and a huge idiot with terrible social skills. It’s honestly quite interesting to have him as this major main storyline NPC as a promotion from a class trainer NPC (which he still does all the way up through the end of the next expansion, when those stop being a thing). Normally those people just kinda stay constrained to their own storylines, but not this guy. Ysaile’s cool too. They don’t even make a big deal out of how she’s a terrorist leader and you’ve kinda been trying to hunt her down. She has actually good motives, and she’s only killing the military of Ishgard who, let’s face it, are awful and deserve it.

So in addition to being good at what he does and bad at obeying the laws of gravity, Estinien’s big claim to fame is that he’s officially in charge of protecting the Eye of Nidhogg, which sounds like some big fantasy gemstone or something but, no. The actual disembodied eye of a big dragon. He just carries it around with him everywhere, and casually whips it out any time it’s relevant to a conversation. Can you see why this is maybe a bad guy to send out on a diplomatic mission with dragons?

So there’s this whole thing we get into where dragons’ cool magical powers are all concentrated in their eyes, and according to a story that gets revised a lot, the whole noble line of Ishgard started with this group of big damn heroes managing to gouge this one out of the head of the one dragon everyone generally agrees is just a huge jerk who’s never going to see reason. He’s also incidentally one of the first generation of dragons born on the planet, along with his brother Hraesvalgr who Ysayle claims to be the reincarnated wife of, and his sister Tiamat, who was the main summoner of Bahamut and is in this real I deserve to suffer, wrap me up in kinky chains and put me on display headspace. Also another sister whose death kinda kicked the whole war thing off, and one more they totally retcon in much later.

Anyway, Hraesvalgr seems cool, so you’re mainly off to see him. First though you have to cut through some absolutely bonkers-huge maps because they decided everyone could handle those now, hardware wise, and meet with some younger dragons. The first group of these has a serious problem where they’re worried that they’re all going to be killed by a bunch of bugs. This really isn’t doing much to make them seem like a huge threat to Ishgard but to be fair the bugs in question all have guns.

They also have this whole hive mind thing, and a god they’ve been summoning, and it’s around here you really just start to feel like a god exterminator. Not a big huge hero about it, just, you know, they call you, you show up in a van, quick in and out thing. These bugs are also first on the whole “beast tribe” list here, because every so often one wanders too far off and loses their link, and they all formed a little village. They’re worried about being reabsorbed into the collective if they come from them and the whole thing kinda has a queer kids with estranged abusive family vibes. I dig it.

Next up you meet moogles in their fabled homeland in the sky. They’re kinda spacey, you end up helping them restore a monument to an era of peace between them humans and dragons in this like permanent storm of floating rocks... and here my memory gets a little fuzzy, but I believe hereabouts is where you finally meet Hraesvelgr, who is in fact cool. Really most dragons are. Visually they’re really varied, but aside from ones who are being jerks and picking fights, they all have this vibe of being just incredibly tired. Exhausted. Can’t lift their head to look at you, but nice. It’s interesting. Anyway Hraesvelgr really bursts Ysayle’s bubble and explains she absolutely isn’t the reincarnation of his dead wife, and the Shiva she turns into is just her own imagined idealized vision which is honestly kind of offensive to him, but hey she seems nice.

It’s also hard not to notice that Hraesvelgr is kind of unfathomably huge, which really makes you wonder how the whole thing with hooking up with a human even worked, and uh... short answer is vore? Like dragons apparently parthenogenetically lay eggs and romance for them is mainly a cuddling thing but he totally ate his wife when she died of old age to absorb her soul which is why he’s so sure this girl doesn’t have it. She’s seriously really broken up about it though because this was kind of her whole thing, and the lyrics and general punk vibe that kick in halfway through her boss fight really suggest to me that she was just a real disaster lesbian before having this personal religious moment.

And/or kinda suicidal. Oh and the actual start of the big elf/dragon was was some elves finding out that dragons have magic eyes, so they killed the above-mentioned dead sister and ate her eyes to get cool powers. This ticked off Nidhogg in particular and being the extra spiteful sort he decided to wait a bit and then start taking advantage of how the descendants of all these eye-eaters (read, like, the whole population of Ishgard) have enough dragon magic in them that if they drink a little dragon blood they full on turn into dragons. Once people broadly learn this there’s a lot of horrified realizations that all these dragons their proudest warriors they’re putting down used to be elves like them, but personally I’m kinda relieved to learn it’s kind of all hateful idiot infighting and all the proper dragon-born dragons are chilling out where it’s safe.

After this revelation though we’re kind of at an impasse because Nihogg’s hard to reach, so we check back in on things back home. Rauban’s in prison, needs busting out, and this is also when we have the horrible retcon I mentioned where that cool plot momentum-y assassination of the Sultana gets walked the hell back. She’s actually alive and... agreeing to call off that whole democracy thing and be a figurehead since otherwise she’ll just get assassinated for real I guess? I hate this. Also there’s a new Emperor over in the Empire. Apparently they were distracted for a bit with the whole succession thing but now they’re ready to get back to killing you and sending down some massive flying fortress deal. Anyway Cid makes you and Estinien some personal high altitude mini-airships to get to Nidhogg and at least get that whole thing resolved, and since we’re no longer dealing with base game levels of padding, yeah, goes pretty well actually. You handle most of the fighting, Estinien comes in at the end for some “I literally just don’t care about gravity” shenanigans, rips that other eye out, gets totally drenched in blood in the process which turns his armor red from there on out (they’re probably going for some magical infusion thing but I like to think he’s just the sort of gross weirdo who never thinks to wash it off), and yay, mission accomplished. Also now Estinien has TWO giant eyeballs to whip out in polite company!

... Except wait this other eye is yellow. It’s supposed to be red. Time for a bunch of flashbacks. Turns out the big famous heroes of Ishgard back in the day actually nabbed both of Nidhogg’s eyes and he’s been using a loaner from Hraesvelgr. Sweet of him really, too bad he was a jerk. The upshot here though is that the extremely horrible church of Ishgard totally has a spare dragon eye hidden away, always has, and they have evil plans for it. Also they totally made up this thing about the 4 noble houses being direct descendants of big damn heroes. Also those heroes sucked, actually. Basically they’re just the worst and lie about everything and it’s high time they get called out on it. And the pope hangs with Ascians. Specifically Lahabrea even the... technically final boss of the base game who left no impression and I guess was less dead than advertised. Oh and his personal honor guard can go all giant god-like knight.

So when called out on being Just The Worst, the pope tries to kill you, and his secret son Aymeric who’s just a real nice well-meaning guy, but you’re saved by Haurchefant who dies in the process. Oh no! Poor noble sweet Haurchefant! Uh, who the hell was Haurchefant again? For real I totally forgot who this guy even was when I got to this point but oh right, he’s your main Ishgardian contact in the base game who you help with a bunch of stuff and got you into Ishgard in the first place. I’m sorry I just kinda spaced through his quests and then didn’t see him for a while.

Anyway the pope runs off on an airship and the empire’s showing up with their airship and everyone’s after this secret forcefield protected floating continent lifted into the sky forever ago by those wacky Allagans where they keep all their raddest and least responsible stuff. But... to crack it open you need a special key, and it’s on a flying island, and that flying island gets eaten by Bismark, another of these pesky gods,in the form of a giant flying whale, summoned by the nastier members of our next race of cool monster friends, these giant owl people who settle all their dispused with dance contests, bake cookies, and adopt cats with adorable little wings.

Anyway you gotta kill Bismark. Always love me a sky whale. It’s kind of a disappointing fight though. You hook some air tugs up to a flying rock and jump off it onto his back and all, but even the extreme version of the fight is a total cakewalk. And of course after you kill him the pope swings in and steals the key, so, damn it, gotta find another way to pierce that forcefield so you can kill that pope.

Also hey, you know how you used to have like seven or so Scions to help research technobabble like this? What ever happened to them? Oh right, they did dramatic last stands escaping The Incident. They’re all fine though right? Well, no. Y’shtola, the white mage who tried the risky teleport thing is totally missing in particular.Turns out she kinda got uh... stuck halfway and has been disembodied and probably like disintigrating all this time you’ve been chilling with bugs and dragons and dancing with owls and yeah whoops. So you go do some technobabble and track down her long lost sister to help recover her and it mostly goes pretty well, but her eyes are screwy and her clothes don’t come with her. Guess they’re just floating around in the lifestream or whatever.

Side note, you change classes by equipping whatever weapon that class uses, and all equipment has a level requirement plus if not bound to a specific class tends to only be wearable by a broad category of class. So unless you remember this is a thing and switch to all level 1 gear, whenever you first pick a class up, you suddenly aren’t qualified to be wearing any of your other gear and all your clothes just kind of explode off your body. Probably while you’re standing in the middle of a super high traffic area. It’s pretty consistently hilarious, but basically we’ve all been where Y’shtola is here. She actually does kinda switch from being a boring white mage to mostly-a-black mage around here, too.

The eye thing is some good writing by the way. Her old mentor, in a little bit, notices her eyes are pure white now and lectures her on using that risky spell, which is about the comment anyone makes on it, and the writers show remarkable restraint in honestly never explaining this outright, but she’s blind from here out. However she also gains this sort of innate magical aura vision which mostly means she functionally can still see just fine, but, there’s weird stuff with it later. I dig it.

She’s no help on this forcefield front, but does have a lead. Her old mentor knows a lot of esoteric stuff, and she lives in a cave near the ruins of Sharlayan, a big ol’ nerd town that got wiped out in the apocalypse. The twins and their grandfather kinda grew up there too. Presently it’s occupied by a bunch of goblins, some of whom are in a weird cult but most of whom are pretty cool and getting a little endgame town up and running with the help of random drifters. Goblins have a weird naming scheme though where they have kind of a thing they do and the suffix -ix or -ox depending on gender so like... is twich gonna be mad at me for posting this image?

You have to help them deal with some stuff for a bit because you always have to hang out with the locals some when you go somewhere new, but eventually you go meet with Y’shtola’s mentor and it’s freaking Matoya, the old witch from FF1! She’s got a cool cool hat. Also her cave totally plays a remix of the song.

She’s also got talking brooms with backwards hints, little frog wizard pals, and a cool upsidedown tower in a back room. This whole section’s pretty great. She’s pretty helpful too but she needs a special book from that cool library dungeon from FF5 with the book monsters flipping around pages and such. Anyway you need a big anti-forcefield ram and it needs some super powerful magical power source. Like say that dragon’s eye Estinien has been carrying around forever. So cool, off to Azys Lla already.

Problem is the empire’s headed that way too and they have this cool flying fortress. So... time for a real big splashy areal combat cutscene.

So I think I said this before but when this game decides it wants to kill a major character off they have a real good batting average for getting a really well done death scene out of it. Often they ruin it later by bringing people back, but, Heavensward’s deaths tend to stick.

Azys Lla has such incredibly good Final Area energy that I’m convinced they didn’t think they were going to have any future expansions and it was time to really just go all in. It also has the freaking Warring Triad from FF6 in it, each with their own boss fight and some real neat gimmicks in those. Also despite Ysayle’s cool death scene, the Empire does get in here too, which isn’t too bad because the guy leading this expedition kinda has a general Leo thing going and despite having this absolute ridiculous monster man helmet he’s pretty willing to team up with you to try and stop the pope. And then he dies too.

There’s some dumb lame Ascian stuff and I still don’t care. Lahabrea and some other jerk kinda get eaten by the pope when he uses that other eye to turn into a big boss fight. Then he screws up though and talks about how he now has power akin to a god, and I swear your character’s face lights up like someone asked you if you want a Scooby Snack. The pope actually sees this and tries to backpedal but nope, you’re a god now, extermination time. He semi-godifies all his bodyguards too so we get this whole Knights of the Round fight.

Once he’s dead Estinian shows up to grab that second Nidhogg eye and says he’s gonna go stash them where nobody can find them. On the way in he was channeling the power of just the one and almost getting possessed for his troubles, but he’s pretty sure he can handle it. He is, however, I can’t stress this enough, a complete idiot and IMMEDIATELY gets possessed by Nidhogg and flies away. What I love is when you head back to the airship you don’t even bother to mention this to anyone else. Just, like, of course that idiot would go and do a dumb thing like that.

Anyway you go back to Ishgard. At this point the whole dragon war is over, the incredibly evil pope and his inner circle are dead, so, peace is restored after like literally thousands of years, the pope’s son is in charge and immediately proposes a new democratic system (albeit with like a house of lords still), and while not disbanding the church their power is getting curbed and they’re generally being asked to chill, and hey now that they’re no longer having to fight all these dragons the really impressive army of Ishgard can get in on this alliance to deal with the empire. They’re also going to rebuild some of the destroyed parts of the city to deal with that slum thing. Or, really, they’re going to let you level the hell out of crafting jobs by doing it for them. Pretty happy ending except the whole bit where Ysayle is freaking dead.

So... I actually don’t like Heavensward. The back end gets pretty good mind you, and it’s a big improvement over the basegame in that all the major characters who show up get developed nicely. Ysayle and Estinein play off each other really well. Alphinaud is basically the main character and has a whole lot of personal growth proposing peace talks and long term plans and not having a giant ego about things. Y’shtola interacting with Matoya fleshes her out a lot as this sort of flippantly self-confident sassy turbo nerd. We get more of that later so like, everyone eventually absolutely loves Y’shtola.

The problem is that Ishgard and most people who live there just suck so incredibly much. There was already a problem in the base game where there really isn’t a good reason to root for the three main city states because we’re leaning too hard on the morally grey stuff, and that is just SO much more pronounced here. You can root for the dragons though, they’re cool. I do however really like a lot of stuff in the gap between Heavensward and the next expansion. In particular let me just tease that the culty jerk goblins are mainly concerned about the most interesting landmark in the ruins of Sharlayan.

We’ll get to that next time in Post-Heavensward. In the meantime, maybe throw me a little money?

Oh and the title of this expansion was pretty good. You’re constantly climbing to higher and higher elevations, trying to improve people’s moral character, dealing with the wardens of a pope, and eventually building out a nice high elevation residential area for people who are dying.

[missevelynpierce]

The Brat.

I met him in high school so many years ago. He was popular and was kind of that classic “bad boy” out of an ‘80s movie. Think of James Spader’s character from Pretty In Pink. He was popular and would never be seen with someone like me. I was kind of like Molly Ringwald’s character. A bit nerdy and quirky and definitely not popular. He was kind of a dick, but he was hot - dark hair, dark eyes, and I sensed this other darkness in his energy that ignited something in me. He was in with the theater geeks and he was also a writer; he was the only one I knew that used a refillable Parker pen. I seem to remember these details.

An interlude in college where I got to be a bit of a bitch to him turned the tables and felt good. I was waiting for the bus and he complimented my pedicure. He asked if I had some time to hang out and I essentially rejected him. I still remember the shade of nail polish I was wearing from that day. The whole ride home I was a little flushed. And there’s the almost interlude a few years later when his book was published and I almost went to a reading at a local bookstore. I had my first aura induced migraine on my way there, so I went home. 

A few years later, through the magic of social media, he connected to me as all the high school friends that were long forgotten all washed ashore in the digital realm. 

He sent a message. I was living with an ex at the time in a relationship that was falling apart. He commented on my feet and confessed his years-long crush on me and never had the nerve to say anything about it. This made me really happy, and we continued to talk. The conversations getting increasingly explicit. One day, we made plans to meet up at a local bar and he called me and asked if I could just go up to his apartment so he could suck on my toes. Nope. I wasn’t going to do that. He got pissy and whiny and I was more concerned about safety - I hadn’t actually seen him since college, and it wasn’t my nature to just go to someone’s place. I craved authentic connection and didn’t want to be his kink dispenser. 

I got annoyed and unfriended him. A couple of more years would go by before it would really begin. 

I was in another relationship, and now he moved far away, and we picked right back up. There's something about physical distance that allows one to go harder and deeper when expressing desires. He told me the things that he wanted me to do to him. I told him some early childhood stories that involved feet, and he had similar experiences. We would soon call each other brother and sister. The conversations got even more explicit and I would be getting pedicures weekly, sending him foot pics, buying new shoes and sending video clips of me putting them on. I would get a thrill teasing him relentlessly. I had a boyfriend at the time and mastered the art of discretion and would thrill at rubbing myself thinking of the brat as the boyfriend snored beside me.

Soon, our conversations would run late into the night. He’d soon offer himself as a slave to me and tell me the stories of his earlier experiences as a slave. He had girlfriends who beat him and he loved it, he once had a Domme who was a well-known professor, a few pro-Dommes, and others from the club scene that he was gladly a human carpet for. He told me that it’s very rare to find someone with the raw energy and the natural propensity for kink that I have. That I know it’s not about pure impact; that the power of wordplay and the intuitive understanding of power dynamics and exchange is what makes me authentic. 

And this is what truly set me on my path. 

I would continue playing with the boyfriend I had at the time, and the physical kink that that relationship already had got amplified. I felt myself claim my power and then realized that I deserved a hell of a lot better than someone who was unemployed and who would never satisfy my needs. I dumped him then booked a flight to visit the brat. After 7 years of maintaining an online long distance relationship, I would finally get the nerve to play with him in person. It had to happen. There was no stopping this.

This was my rebirth. 

This was my transformation. 

When he knocked on my door, I hugged him. Tight. And kissed him, long. 

We just talked for hours, reminiscing and actually getting to spend time with each other, because despite all the years, we haven’t had any true conversations. It felt so good to talk and to feel understood. The familiarity and all the connections with people and places we grew up with. It was nice to share stories and connect. 

And once night fell, I would make him clean my sand crusted sandals and would press my feet into his face. He’d get super bratty and I’d slap him and spit on him, and all those things, until I finally sat on his face smothering him, making him eat my ass and my pussy. I was on the verge of climax and then he said:

“I dare you to piss on me.” Something about the dare, just did something to me. I grabbed him, went to the bathroom, commanded him to lay down in the shower, and then released all over him. I felt electricity everywhere out of every nerve ending in my body. It was intense, powerful, and I knew I was never going to be the same. 

This was only the beginning. And nearly 20 years later, he still frustrates the shit out of me, and despite time and distance, he always returns.

[thechroniclesofahotgirl]

New Moon New Me

New Moon New ME.

Welcome back to the third installment of The Chronicles of a Hot Girl.

I started the week as I always did. I woke up. I had some existential dread. I went to bed.

After firing pretty much everyone involved with my show I took a little time off to center and refocus.

I took only Monday and Tuesday to blow off a little steam and catch up on sleep. By Wednesday we were back at it again (no white vans though.)

With an appointment with my Psychiatrist on the books (which did me no good at all as Adderall is on backorder basically everywhere) I made my way to the bank to deposit some cash.

While I was there I figured now is as good a time as any to set up the bank account for my LLC. I even changed my car insurance to a way cheaper brand so I could save a little money.

With my finances in order I headed back home to prepare for my Telehealth appointment.

Now this wouldn’t be a hot girl chronicle if there were not some hot girl shenanigans. SO OFC the new psychiatrist was someone on Bumble maybe I would have passed on. However, here at the telehealth appointment, I felt myself get nervous as I talked about my self pleasuring habits. (yes even hot girls masturbate)

Normally this part of the conversation didn’t bother me, but I couldn’t help but wonder if my comments got him a little curious too.

He didn’t matter much though because doctors can’t sleep with their patients. Wa wha.

In my state of motivation, I did get online to begin my search for a new band.

An overall uneventful start to the week.

With Thursday bringing us into a new moon, something in the air must have shifted.

On Thursday at a book store by the university with my boss, I got a phone call that ushered in a new phase for a former employer of mine.

A potential class action for sexual harassment.

I guess I had all the right experiences for the EEOC to take action not only on behalf of the girl who made the original complaint but for a whole class of people who worked for the same people.

More on that later.

Later that night I joined up with the same friend as the week before to hit the country bar on the outskirts of town for a little line dancing.

We really did have a great time. The dancing and the music were great, but there wasn’t much here in the way of Hot Girls getting their Hot Girl on.

It was hard to believe that environments like that were where I used to find mates of sorts.

Friday the 19th was the new moon in Taurus. A time to let the universe know that I was ready to take on all it had to offer me.

You want to know what this mother fucker sent me?

Well, I had gathered a couple friends of mine to come to help me get content for a 7th Ave bar. The theme was Pirates. Here in this Shmity TM* (a city that behaves like a small town) we fucking love pirates.

It was at the Pirate Bar on 7th Ave that I had the strangest experience.

In a skin-tight black halter dress and black babydoll strap peep toes, I made a full strut to the stage to sing a little diddly called “Hell on Heels” which I not only thought was fitting, but also that I killlllled.

From the stage, I scanned the crowd for the most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.

Mostly unimpressed, I sang my song, gave my thanks, and made my way back to the table. We had chosen a high-top table in the back that we shared with a few other unrelated groups of people.

Sitting at the end of the table, I became all too aware of a very drunk man staring at me.

He was about 6 feet away at the table in front of ours. He stood at no more than five foot five maybe. A round man in Jesus sandals and a floral button-up. The lights weren’t really on behind his glossy bloodshot eyes.

How did I know what his eyes look like you ask?

Well, that is because that strange and drunk little man stepped out of his sandals and stumbled over to my table. He took a seat as if my acknowledgment of his staring was an invitation.

In an attempt to alert his friend group to their missing passenger, I unwittingly invited a second man to our table.

The second man also grabbed a chair and took a seat between me and 7th Ave Jesus.

“What made you want to call me over?” He asked

His breath probably could have started a small fire in the right conditions.

He was tall and had to be at least six foot five inches, he had a ridiculous mustache, floral shirt, sneakers, and blue eyes.

His eyes though less bloodshot and glossy, were still inebriated.

“Well, I called you over to remove your friend. His shoes by the way are over at your table.” I retorted as I pointed out not only his barefoot friend but also where he had stepped out of his well-worn sandals.

The taller bachelor reached over to grab the nasty sandals and handed them to his significantly more intoxicated friend.

I ignored the little one as he continued his drunken staring.

I really couldn’t blame him. Hot Girl is as Hot Girl does.

The taller man whose name was something perfectly normal, continued on with his conversation overlooking my comment which I thought would be the end of our exchange.

“I see, like your friend, you have taken my call for aid as an invitation.”

Blah blah blah

We talk a bit about what books we are reading and make a few recommendations. I warm up to him and realize he is objectively attractive. His floral Hawaiian shirt had the top few buttons undone and I could see a bit of his chest.

He asked where we were headed next.

After some light coordination, my friend and I took him and his friend on an adventure leaving the rest of the bachelor party they were with behind.

They were here from Canada for a bachelor party, so I wanted to give them a night they could take with them forever.

We started at the new wine and cheese bar where we were almost denied entry due to the friend in his Crocs.

(Why men go out without considering dressing well is beyond me)

Luckily the owner of the bar was a friend who owned another establishment a few door fronts down who happened to be walking in at the same time. He gave us the go-ahead against the dress code of the new establishment.

It was cool but loud.

The Canadian and I chatted. He told me about how he worked in medical sales back in Toronto and played hockey in his free time. He asked me questions about what made me who I was. It was all very polite.

Over a couple glasses of champagne and some very loud music we got to know each other. He had his arm around my waist and my free hand rested on his muscular shoulder.

Attempting to find an environment more conducive to talking, I lead the foursome down to the bar I worked at.

Here is where it gets interesting.

Some many shots and a few drinks later we the Canadian and I had started making out. It was 1 am at this point and I was feeling great.

Maybe a little too good because somehow, mid make out sesh, we completely lost our footing and fell over taking a few chairs down with us as we went.

A quick jump up from the ground though was not enough to cover up what we had done. Or the little bit of blood coming from a small gash on the bridge of his nose.

My favorite part was in the security camera footage, which I had coxed out of my manager the following morning, which was my coworker shaking his head at the whole scene.

Deciding that I had enough embarrassment for one establishment, we made our way on to the next place.

A nightclub, one of the oldest on the 7th, also had a dress code. (Those fucking Crocs again)

I looked one of the security guards dead in the face and said “Help a girl get laid.”

Maybe it was my heartfelt plea or maybe it was because I used to work there, but either way, they let us in. With my credit card whose balance I’m still scared to look at as I type this, I bought another round of shots as we waited for the elevator.

My efforts were for not though as we eventually trekked the 5 flights of stairs up to the rooftop. The only level out of 5 that I was willing to tolerate.

Already plenty lit we had even more shots and made out in the front corner looking at the strip of bars and clubs.

I was thankful for the fresh air and the breeze. Things got a little steamy on that rooftop.

The Canadian was stroking my side from my breast to my hip which was only made sexier by my lack of bra.

His big hands made my whole body feel petite and tingly as he grabbed me to pull me in closer while we locked lips and teased each other’s tongues.

Ready for more alcohol though I lead us back to the bar where I briefly checked my phone.

There were 3 unread messages from B. 1:11 am.

I slipped my phone back into my small pink vintage coach purse. (Vintage because I had it since 6th grade.) I opted for the man who spent the better part of the night buying me flowers from the strange man who pedals them and asked me everything there was to know about how my mind worked.

He was trying to get laid, but I sensed a level of severity in his interest that eased my guard just enough to tell him little things about myself that I doubt he remembers now. Mostly about therapy and why we were in it.

The bars and nightclubs around the strip had started to close up so we made our way out the street with no plan of where to go next.

Popping into one last establishment for an after-hours shot before reconnecting with our respective friends.

I found mine a few paces ahead of us. When I met up with her she had given me the impression she was ready for the night to be over.

So together we made a break for my boss’ condo a few blocks over leaving the boys in the dust.

I woke up Saturday morning on my boss’ couch with the kind of hangover that you know hasn’t fully set in yet.

Upon my return to my dwelling, I immediately showered, got back in bed, and reviewed the footage from the night before.

I finally opened B’s messages and replied at first with a simple “sry I was out, just got home.”

I wish I would have left it there, but as I do, I did not.

I went on to address something passive-aggressive he had said about a playlist I had made for him a while back.

He was upset I changed the name of the playlist and accused me of trying to guilt trip him.

I wasn’t. I just changed it from “playlist 50” made by me to the name of the first song I showed him that he got excited for.

Music was one of those things B and I shared that felt special to me. After consideration, it probably wasn’t ever special to him, but I didn’t let that affect me.

I didn’t have time to dwell on his emotional triggers though as I was now down to two hours until I had to leave my house and brave an entire brunch shift fighting the urge to regurgitate every shot and sip of champagne I had the night before.

I did exactly that too. I made it through the whole shift curating a telling of the events of the night before to each table or group that sat at the bar.

The Canadian really had his heart set on seeing me for a second night and even called me a couple times throughout the night. I, however, was already fast asleep in bed still wearing my falsies from the brunch shift I had just worked.

The Canadian tried Sunday morning, and then Sunday night, even into the wee hours of Monday morning to see me one more time.

I think you all know me just enough by now to know that I am a full send no-more than once a week kinda gal. If I even have the energy for that much.

Another victim of the Hot Girl comes and goes as a does a week.

Maybe soon I’ll take it another step forward with someone. Maybe I’ll even go on a proper date. Honestly, though, I am not looking for it. I’d rather have a date with the videographer to set up my show’s next steps.

Until the next cosmic shift, this has been an update in The Chronicles of a Hot Girl.