#that 4th one is a powerful screenshot

[katethevampire]

Sexual themes under cut (+fic credits)

[sudoscience]

So true, video game from 2003

[joosthead]

skin || j.k. x f!reader

WARNING #1: explicit real person fiction ahead, dni if below 18. dni if anti-rpf

WARNING #2: explicit rpf/real person fiction content ahead. read at your own risk. dni if anti rpf, dni or read ahead if you simply don’t like rpf lol

₊˚⊹⋆ joost wants to make a song.

₊˚⊹⋆ for @spentandpent’s contest 😅🩷 (2 months late)

₊˚⊹⋆ reader: f!reader. notfamous!reader. normal au a.k.a. reader has an office job and attends university. reader is not dutch

₊˚⊹⋆ word count: 10.3k

₊˚⊹⋆ cw: smut (established relationship, consensual audio recording during sex, f!receiving oral, mirror, ruined orgasm, overstimulation, squirting, vibrator, multiple orgasms, unprotected piv, slight breeding kink, creampie), kind of really porny i can't lie. pwp. crying both out of (momentary) sadness and because cumming 🩷 reader🤝being total crybabies🤝juno

WARNING #3: rpf ahead—don't like it, don't read it. do not repost this on any other platform, screenshots or text alike. do not click ahead if you don’t want to read rpf. do not interact if you are below 18. how to block tags/words on tumblr.

₊˚⊹⋆ track(s) of the fic: “skin” by mac miller, “p power” by gunna

₊˚⊹⋆ junote: vibrator. go big or go home right 🩷 as always @howisjoostfanfictionforfree my partner in filth 🩷 @spentandpent for infecting me w the overstim brainworms 🩷 and lovely @xiaoflan for listening to me complain about this fic ! 😆🩷 i love and appreciate you all 🩷 the art for the header is by one of my amazing best friends <3

18+ only — explicit rpf content ahead, minors dni, anti rpf dni. 4th and final warning!

“Are you ready, mijn schat?” Joost asks in a soft voice, sitting on the edge of the bed next to you. 

“Ready as I'll ever be, Joosti.” 

One of his nicest microphones is set up on your bedside table, wires crossing every which way, his laptop on the ground and hooked up to it.

This was an idea that came about spontaneously, as most things regarding Joost come about; on the train home together, sharing his wired earphones with each other and listening to your playlist of liked songs when Skin by Mac Miller came on. His ears perked up and his eyes brightened at the first few seconds, and you knew you were in for it. 

There’s a woman in the first few seconds—she sounds like she’s having a positively great time, mewling softly, panting in a way that sounds almost like you when Joost is fucking you good. This was on your playlist?!?! You couldn’t fathom a situation where you’d listen to this in public, but here you were, hearing it all as you watched Joost and his mouth drop open a bit. 

Your cheeks warmed and he poked you in the side—“Oh my god,” he said, taking your hand and shaking it. “You know what this means, right?” You shook your head no though you knew the answer—”Our turn!!!!!” He said it so loud that an old lady beside you gave him a dirty look, and he just smiled at her. “Can we? Can we?” 

“Joost.” 

“I just want to hear what it’s like—if I made a song and your beautiful voice was in the background like this or you were my little producer tag.” 

“Very creative,” you laughed, sarcastic. Secretly…you two aren’t exactly public about your relationship. He would post about your anniversaries, your birthday, Valentine’s Day, your vacations; they know you exist, and that he has a long-term girlfriend, but you were so private you were almost elusive. “You want my moan in the back of your song?” 

Something so…obvious under his belt. Something so loud. It was unlike you, and you knew it would never be released, at least not in the raw form he’d likely want it to be in, but it was still something. Something that made your stomach turn in that way that felt good and not scary, even with how rarely you were in the public eye.

You existed in the backgrounds of Joost, Appie, Alanis, Stuntje’s Instagram stories; you existed as a tag of a username, a pixelated and blurred out face in Joost’s photo dumps to protect your privacy. You exist out of the spotlight, in the background, not as the beat of his song, but you figure—it is only a matter of time until you join him in the sun. 

“Who better than you? I want you everywhere, schat. Your moan will become my trademark,” he reasons, and as always—master of persuasion, at least with you. “One time. And it’ll just be between us, okay? Or mostly for me, I love hearing you.” 

You decided in a quick second that you’d do it—all Joost has ever done is protect you, and even with your easily overthinking mind, this sounds fun as all hell to the little devil in your mind that wants everyone to know that he’s yours, you're his. No one else’s. Being possessive doesn’t come naturally in any other part of your life other than Joost. 

“Okay,” you said, resting your head on his shoulder, holding his hand in yours. “Let’s do it, Joosti.” 

“Wahhh—I love you!!!” Joost exclaimed, pressing a kiss to your forehead and going back to happily looking out the window. 

“Mijn meisje,” he says softly, and it makes your stomach turn, the smooth glide of his voice as you lie back onto your pillows. You imagine how it’ll sound in the mp3 file. “Thank you for doing this for me.” 

“It’s not a big deal,” you say, shaking your head. “We would’ve had sex anyway—why not make something of it?” 

“It’s a big deal to me.” 

You nod, “I can imagine.” Joost fiddles with a dial on the side of the microphone, presses a button somewhere else, tidies the wires. “What do you think it’ll sound like?” 

Joost snickers a little to himself before starting— “Agh! Joost! Fuck me harder!” he whines, high pitched and teasing. “Urgh, Joosti, you’re so huge inside of me!” 

“I do not fucking sound like that,” you laugh, slapping him on the shoulder to his barking laughter. “Schat, you’re so tight, I think I’ll cum in three seconds!” 

“Hey!” Joost says, laughing as he leans to you for a kiss. “Okay, it might be the truth but I think it’ll sound good. As long as it’s you, we should win a Dutch Grammy for this.”

Outside the window, it’s rainy; the roof is pelted with the droplets of water of an autumn in Amsterdam, loud and incessant and comforting. Your room in this old house is humid with the moisture, but you’re sure it’s mostly just the two of you and your warmth making it feel so stuffy. 

“We haven’t even made it yet and you want a Grammy?” 

“Why not? I know we’ll get one, don't doubt us,” he grins, slinking off the bed and crouching in front of his computer. Joost’s customary wired earphones are plugged into it and he places a bud in his ear. “Mic check, 1, 2, 3,” he says, Joost Klein style, the sound waves appearing on the screen. “This issssss me and my baby’s recording session number one—“

“Number 1? The only one, Joost.” 

“Okay, okay. Recording 1 of 1. Our ears only.” Pausing a little, Joost gets that expression on his face that lets you know he’s about to say something strange and he does: “Do you think we can make ASMR mouth sounds from this? Dutch kissing ASMR or something?”

“I think we can make more than mouth sounds when it comes down to it.” 

Joost laughs, lifting his computer and placing it on the corner of the table behind the mic; gets up close to it, whispering and tapping on the wood of your bedside table like the people in the ASMR videos you both watch at his behest before bed, “Explain to them what we are going to do, schat,” you laugh and he shushes you, “This is very serious work, we have to be quiet, shhhh.” 

“Uhm…” you say quietly, stifling back a snicker as you get close to the mic from the side. “We’re going to record us fucking—“

“Bad word, schat,” Joost whispers, shaking his head at you disappointedly, “Think about the advertisers.” 

Tapping on the metal body of the microphone, you roll your eyes and start again, “We’re going to have s-word—“

“That’s better.”

“And record the sound from it so Joosti can put it in a song,” you whisper and he nods, mouthing, “Good job!” and giving a thumbs up before he brushes aside your hair to put the other half of his wired earphones in your ear. 

Immediately, you’re met with the sounds of your shared soft breathing and Joost’s hollow tippy taps on the base of the mic. When he goes quiet, the pitter patter of the raindrops upon your roof are loud enough to hear clearly. “I turned up the sensitivity so we don’t have to move it around while we’re recording,” he says, and you nod. 

“I can hear that.” Every single sound and movement you make for the coming hours will be captured on this little waveform. Your voice echoes back to you in your ears, and you scrunch up your face. “I hate my voice.”

“I love your voice, mijn schat,” he says, getting on the bed in front of you. “Sounds even better when you’re saying my name.” Smiling at him, you settle back against your pillows in your prettiest pajama set, a camisole and a pair of loose shorts, both printed with small blue flowers all over. Joost takes the ribbed fabric of your shorts between his fingers, tickling your thigh, “This one is my favorite one.” 

“Every one is your favorite one,” you counter as you open your legs for Joost to sit between.

“As long as you are wearing it, schat—of course,” Joost says, sighing wistfully as he takes the earphones out from both your ears and drapes them on the nightstand. “Are you sure you don’t want to film? You’re so pretty.” 

You roll your eyes as he laughs—it was definitely a topic of conversation after the fact, recording video of it like you have a few times before, just isolating the sound after. You argued that the sound from a real microphone would be better, and he argued, “Why not both?” 

You shut it down, telling him that your room would just become your own personal porn studio if he did both and would never go back to normal, and he died of laughter as the old lady on the train gave you a shocked look and moved away.

No filming. At least not today. 

“Do you want your song, or do you want a video?” 

“That is an extremely hard decision, baby.” 

“Make it before I make it for you.” 

“I want my song,” Joost says, simply and finally, and you nod. 

“You’ll get your song.” 

Joost lies down on top of you and the weight is comfortable as he holds himself up with one hand and cups your face in the other. 

He hasn’t shaved in a few days, his stubble scratchy against your chin as he comes forward and kisses you, soft lips against yours, his body warm and heavy and already grinding his crotch against your center as he slides his hand up your side, bringing up the hem of your camisole. 

You’re hyperfocusing on all the sounds; you’re both quieter than normal, just the smack of your lips against each others, the licking of his tongue into your mouth; the sound of fabric against fabric as he grinds his hips into yours and groans, half-hard already; the shifting of Joost lifting your tank top and exposing your tits to his dilating blue eyes, getting back up off you on his knees. 

Joost runs his knuckles down the curve of your breast and over to the other, making your nipples pebble in the already cooling air, your muscles jumping and leaping with how sensitive you are. “How cute,” he murmurs, and your cheeks burn. There’s something different about him today—if you think about it, if you were a music artist and your girlfriend let you record audio of how good the sex is, you’d be cocky too. 

The confidence looks good on him, a small smirk on his lips as you gaze up at him through your eyelashes and take off your shirt completely, tossing it to the side and lying back again. 

Joost tugs on your shorts and you shimmy them down as he rolls one of your nipples between his fingers, the sensation tying a knot in your stomach with want for him. “Why aren’t you taking off your clothes?” you ask, tilting your head to the side as he lies atop you again. 

“Just want to try something,” he says, placing a kiss between your breasts before he moves over to your nipple, taking it in his mouth and kneading the other breast in his hand. 

Grazing it lightly with his teeth, you let out a small hiss at the sensation before he closes his lips around it and sucks; your mouth drops open watching him as he does it, intent and content with his place on you. You just got him back after a month and a half away in Berlin working on music nonstop—you have an inkling that you both feel like this is where he belongs.

For a while, you both lie there as he mindlessly suckles at your tits, as you play with his hair and pretend like there isn’t a pool in your panties waiting to be addressed further than this—you don’t want to rush him. “Art can’t be rushed,” or whatever he says when he’s too busy editing visuals or tweaking his tracks in progress. 

Stifling back a sigh, you tug at the short hair on the nape of his neck, his tongue swirling around the stiff peak of your nipple. A tiny little mewl lets itself out of your mouth as he laps at it. Pulling back with a pop, nipping at the skin next to it—“Dude…” he starts. “You’re being… so quiet. Is someone a little shy, schat?” Joost grins, kissing you. 

You furrow your brows. You are but you’re not going to get called out by the most outgoing person you know like this. “No, I’m not.” 

“I think you are, you haven’t said a word.” 

“I’m not,” you insist, smiling once you realize that you have the perfect comeback. “You’re just not doing enough to make me say anything.” 

Joost’s entire face changes, falling completely flat with his eyes narrowed at you and you grin. “Oh, I haven’t done enough? Is that what you said, lieverd?” 

“I don’t wanna say it’s not enough. But definitely not enough to give you your Dutch Grammy award-winning sound bite. The pace you're moving, we’ll get a participation trophy at best.” 

“I’m not doing enough—I am lying on your tummy letting you berate me while I suck your boobs, don’t think I forgot about the last month!!!” he exclaims, voice rough and accusatory and silly, smile so wide as he jabs his finger in your face. “Don’t think I forgot!!!” 

“You’re still on that?” you laugh, squishing his cheeks, getting his hair out of his eyes. 

“Duh,” he grumbles. “It’s half the reason why I wanted to do this.” 

“Forgive me, then.” 

There’s been no time for you to call or Facetime him in this past month; only texting and one-sided voice messages from Joost pleading for you to send him a voice memo back but you’ve refused, either willingly or unwillingly. You’ve been so tired, your voice and energy all going to talking to clients and people in real life that you just couldn’t muster the strength to send him back any after a long day—Joost couldn’t call for long either, too occupied with the final touches on the album. 

He asked you one night, sleepy voice rasping about how he just wanted to hear you, and he sounded so hot—you texted back that you couldn’t sound sexy and all he said was that he didn’t care if you sounded sexy. He just wanted you. 

Still, you couldn’t let it happen.

Joost whined all the way up until his train home got to the station; all the way home in the car as you drove him and asked about his work; all the way up to now, pouting with his prickly chin on your bare chest and his arms wrapped around your waist. 

“If that isn’t enough, how far can I go to get my audio clip, then?” Joost asks. 

The both of you are competitive as can be with each other. 

So long ago, you bet him he couldn’t make you cum just from internal stimulation alone—he proved you wrong and then some. He bet you last year (and every year before that you’ve been together) that he could last all of November not cumming—you manage to prove him wrong anywhere from 2-5 days before his birthday on the 10th. Everything is a competition, everything is a game for you two, that’s what makes the relationship so fun. 

If you give Joost an inch, he’ll take a mile, and you know that better than anyone. 

“As far as you think it takes, Joosti.” 

Wordlessly, he gets up off from you and sits on the side of the bed facing the wall, in front of the mirror that’s there now—obtained at a swap meet somewhere in the city and hauled back by you both; standing against your wall, the top rounded in an arch, used mostly for outfit checks and Joost to try on a million different clothing pieces before he decides on things he wears all the time. 

“Sit between my legs, baby.” 

“Why should I do that for you?” 

“Because I want you to do it for me,” he says, looking back at you and patting his lap. “Here. Sit down or none of this will happen.” 

Usually, Joost is never so commanding—he’d rather ask you, sweetly and nicely to please do something for him. There isn’t a demanding bone in his body. And yet…

You take the seat between his legs and look at yourself as he hooks his fingers in the white and lacy waistband of your panties and pulls them down your thighs, down your calves. His lips ghost over the nape of your neck as he watches you in the mirror—Joost is always intense, always strong-willed, but it’s as if he’s come back a changed man.

“I want you to watch me do enough.” 

He hooks his hand under your right knee; you let him bring your leg up and drape it over his, spread wider than you’re used to. The same is done to the other leg; if you tried to close them, you’d be unable to. 

“I’ll get those sounds out of you if it kills me, lieverd.”

The cotton of his shorts, Tears as always; your shared necklaces resting on the chest hair that pokes out of the neckline of his wifebeater—they rub against your backside as you adjust your position on him, Joost’s warm and clothed body making your naked skin feel piping hot. 

He places his hands on your inner thighs, squeezing lightly. There is the feel; of his rough fingertips gliding against your silky skin, dancing across the jumpy nerves of the junction between your leg and the beginnings of the most sensitive parts of you.

“Do you know how hard it was for me not to hear your voice for so long, lieverd?” 

With his gentle hands, Joost spreads you open, exposing the most private part of you to both of your eyes, his chin hooked on your shoulder and looking down directly at it. You almost shrink into yourself, bringing you closer to his chest against your back, rising and falling steadily. In contrast, your breathing is so erratic, you feel as if your lungs might tire. 

The microphone will pick up your labored breathing, as much as you’re trying not to make a single sound; the mirror reflects your furrowed brow back at you as he dips his fingers inside, light and gentle, bringing the wetness back up to circle your clit slowly. 

“Mooi,” Joost murmurs, gazing intensely down at your form in his hands, putty in and between his fingers. “Look at you, hm?” 

You’ve done this so many times—watched as he’s fucked you, in the mirror or when you watch your bodies meeting, over and over again when he fucks into you, cock reaching your deepest parts. But today is something different, you can’t tell why, but it brings hot heat to your chest and cheeks, to see it so clearly. 

You can’t deny it—it’s you in that mirror, it’s you with your legs spread for him, it’s you. 

It’s Joost behind you, a mess of blonde hair, no glasses on today, his rough chin against your shoulder as he pets you slowly. 1982 exposing you, 1983 doing the rest of the work. 

“Als een mooie bloem, mijn lief,” he murmurs, two fingers spreading your lips, another rubbing your clit so gingerly you want to swear at him to go faster, harder, but you know he’ll just do the opposite of your wishes in this mood he’s in. 

“A flower?” you breathe out, and Joost smiles at you in the reflection. Still though, you know your words aren’t what he wants at the moment. 

“Pretty flower,” he says, and the smile is gone. 

The sound—the sound of his fingers rubbing tight circles on your clit, the wetness from your pussy all he needs to do so, not spit or lube or anything else. Just the slickness of the back and forth of his hands on you. 

The rain beats down on your roof, louder now, the backdrop for those filthy sounds coming from you. “You’re still so quiet, I think the mic will capture the rain more than you,” he mumbles into your neck, kissing and nipping at it. ”The quieter you are, the longer we have to do this.” 

“Is that really an issue?” you say, labored through the consistent circles of your clit. You turn away, looking at the side of his face—“Ah, my god,” you whisper, moaning softly as he brings his hand up to your nipple, rolling it between his fingers and kneading your breast. 

“Not really, but I question how much you can take.” 

“I can take a lot, you know that.” 

“If you can take a lot—why are you looking away?” 

He moves your chin gently so you're looking at yourself in the mirror again, and he’s looking at you so intently, pupils so blown out you'd almost think his irises were black. You look down at your pussy to avoid how burning his gaze is; watch as he pets at your entrance, and slides his two middle fingers inside, the stretch warm and all you’ve needed the past several minutes. 

Still you hold it back, chomping down on your bottom lip not to let any sound close to a real moan out—you’ve made the rules for yourself: not loud enough to be usable, the least amount of sounds possible, and the biggest one, proving to be the hardest as he continues…don’t say “Joost.” 

When Joost starts curling his fingers inside of you, pace slow as ever and he grinds the heel of his hand against your clit—you have to stifle a whimper, both at the sound, and the appearance of it, his fingers disappeared inside of you. “You’re really going to do this, lieverd?”

“I never said I’d make getting your song easy.” 

“I like a challenge.” Joost gives you a kiss to your temple and you smile even as he ceases his fingers moving.  “That's why you’re my girlfriend.” 

“Hey,” you giggle, and then stop giggling when he moves his fingers faster and it makes a truly blushworthy squelching noise come from inside you. He does it again—why would he stop, seeing the way your face screws up in pleasure in the mirror at the pads of his fingers on your g-spot? 

For some reason, you expected him to be nice about it, let you have a little break—but two can play this game, you know that well. 

Your wetness is louder than even the rain, his rhythm making the sound almost incessant. “Do you think we could make that the beat?” he thinks out loud and you give him a bewildered expression.

“You…no. One day I’ll understand your thought processes.”

“What do you mean? You already do.” 

You never realized how loud it could be to do any of this. Can people hear you so clearly all the time? Your neighbours, your roommates, strangers. 

The countless times you’ve fucked in backstage dressing rooms, club bathrooms, the backyard—this is what it sounds like? There is no mistaking it. On the audio recording, it’ll be even clearer. Your voice, high pitched and breathy. Joost’s voice, deep and low and rumbling against your neck. 

“How many people do you think, schat? How many have heard us?…I think they would like it, how it sounds when I’m inside you.” You shake your head, heat rushing to your cheeks and the tension in your chest rising at the same time at his words. 

“You're so wet, my baby, and this is only the beginning—what about when you cum? How loud do you think you are then? What will my fans think when they hear this, hm?” 

“Jo—mmm, fuck,” you sigh, stopping yourself from saying his name. 

This shame and arousal growing inside of you—they’re like two sides of the same coin for you, and they accompany that tightening in your stomach, so close to cumming. The impish and petulant devil on your shoulder tells you not to do it so quickly, not to let Joost get what he wants after you agreed so eagerly to this entire thing.  

You screw your face up, thinking of… paperwork and saying bye to Joost at the airport and sad kittens in animal shelters—you have never actively avoided an orgasm in your life, but this is working quite well, and it seems to be obvious. 

“Schat, are you serious right now?” You open your eyes to see yourself and Joost behind you, his lips a straight line, no amusement to be found on his normally jovial face. “What are you doing?” 

“Being a challenge, I thought you knew,” you say, voice more wavering than strong—your eyebrows furrow, a sheen of sweat on your forehead as Joost continues crooking his fingers right into your g-spot. Almost immediately, you lose your focus on keeping your climax away, melting into the pleasure of his thick fingers fucking you open. 

“Say my name, baby, that’s all I want from you.” 

“No,” you say softly, turning your head and resting it back on his shoulder—he knows what you want, and he can’t resist you. “Please?”

Joost looks at you, blue eyes so warm you almost think he’ll give you what you’re asking—a kiss, his lips on yours, but he only gets so close that your noses brush, that all you can do is breathe into his mouth and hope he gets closer. 

You try to adjust yourself, but he holds you in place with his forearms, still thrusting his fingers inside of you, your face contorting in pleasure with every single move he makes closer and closer to your face, tipping you right over the edge, right where your climax is and then—

Nothing. 

As quickly as he moved them, Joost takes his fingers out of you, resting them wet on your thigh as you tense with what you thought was going to be an orgasm, a tidal wave of bliss flowing through you. In reality, the waves subside quicker than usual without him fucking you through it, and the sensation is ruined—almost completely.

Pathetically, you let out a whimper, can’t even let out the moan or the gasp of his name he wants so badly, that’s how miserable it feels. Joost’s never done that with you before—he’s always gotten you to the peak and rode down with you through it, kissing and licking and petting you through it and even past that point, mischievous and pushing your buttons when you swear at him to give you a break from all the bliss. 

“Joost,” you pout, eyebrows furrowed and mouth downturned. “Fuck you.” 

“Fuck me? You weren’t doing what I wanted, schat, why should you get a good one out of that?” Joost scoffs, and though he doesn’t seem too serious, breathing heavily against your back with you, you can’t help but feel like you did something so wrong. “You’re playing too much.”

It makes sense now—he asked you for one thing—one thing. 

Wasn’t much to ask, either. Microphone and equipment straight from his yet to be unpacked suitcase. Joost’s one reprieve from album mode until he’d take the train back for him and Tantu to do a final once over on every single track. This stage in the process takes weeks, sometimes even months—pushing too many buttons on the control panel, their soundboards and computers and plans all prodded and poked and pushed to the limit until the project is the amalgamation of their creative vision and perfection.

This time, you pushed too many buttons; through all of this, you’ve forgotten that Joost has been at home less than 24 hours, that the train ride from Berlin to Amsterdam was 6 hours long with no stops, no wi-fi, no you to soothe his worries, only album preparations far past his self-imposed deadlines and his own thoughts. 

You’re both workaholics—it’s why you get along so well, but it means that you know better than anyone that the last thing you’d want to be after so long is annoyed, and annoyed on purpose at that. 

When he’s as petulant as you’ve been so far, you know that you can get annoyed as well, asking him to just—stop. And he does, but you couldn’t do that for him. Joost has gotten frustrated with you before, sure, it happens enough that you’re not so affected by it anymore. 

But he’s never been so frustrated before that he’s ruined your orgasm. For some reason, the expression on Joost’s face, the heat of the moment, the dull pulse between your legs at both your immense need for him and the emptiness you feel at such a clipped climax has you emotional and overanalyzing the last half hour, every bratty quip of yours, every response from him. 

“I’m really sorry, I know you had a long few days, I shouldn’t have—” Water lines your eyes, and you try to blink it away when you ask in a weak voice, “Are you mad at me?” You feel terrible. Embarrassed. 

Joost meets your eyes in the mirror, eyes widening in surprise at your emotions strung so tight; you break, a tear running down your cheek which you quickly wipe away because you feel like you're making a big deal out of things and it’s just—aghhh!!!!

“No, my baby, of course not,” he smiles, face sympathetic, lips pouting at his baby being so emotional. Such a reaction would usually make you roll your eyes at him, but he’s so sweet, you have to nuzzle closer to him. “Come here,” he says, wrapping his arms around you and letting you curl up in his lap. “You’re so cute, mijn schat,” he coos, giving you a wet kiss on the cheek as he hugs you tight. 

Joost is so kind to you, it makes you feel a bit silly—not in a bad way, just one where you’d never think you’d be sitting on his lap, naked, being comforted about having your orgasm ruined by him. Almost five years of this kindness, you’re not sure you’ll ever be used to it. 

“I just got a little frustrated that’s all, none of it was serious, okay? I thought it would be a little fun for us to try something new like that, but I should’ve talked about it with you before—I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” you say, wiping your eyes a little. “Just don’t look so serious next time, I really thought you were angry.” 

“I got too in the moment, I guess.” Joost moves your hair aside and kisses you on the lips, tender and sweet. “I’ll make up for it, I promise you.” 

With that, you nod, letting him kiss you, letting him suck your lower lip in his mouth and then lick into yours, touch so devastatingly slow it almost makes you whine again with anticipation. Joost places a gentle hand over your throat, giving it a small squeeze, and he laughs when you moan, quiet and stifled into his mouth at the pressure. “You know, you’re very pretty when you’re desperate,” he says softly when he pulls away, and your cheeks burn. 

“I could say the same about you, Joosti.” He noses at the side of your face, and you melt at the feeling of his skin on yours. “Am I not pretty all the time?” you tease, and he rolls his eyes. 

“Don’t start, schatje. Gorgeous, beautiful angel—is that what you want me to say? Lie down and hold your legs back.” 

Quickly, you get off of him and lie back down on the bed on your mountain of pillows, and he takes his place sitting between your legs, wet fingers running through your folds as he takes a look at you, all of you. “Aren’t you pretty?” 

He takes your left hand, kisses your palm then your fingers, then he places it firmly on the back of your left knee. He does the same for your right side, then lies in between your open legs, staring, examining. One finger down your slit, collecting your wetness on the tip—Joost leaves a bite on the meat of your ass, trailing kisses all the way until he kisses over your entrance, over your clit. 

You breathe heavily with anticipation, but still, you find it in you to tease. “Doing a lot of silent things for an audio recording, Joosti.” 

“Not silent—all of it is important, every second.” He shakes his head to 

“Defeats the whole purpose of the audio? Doesn't it?” You smile, flexing your ankles, feeling your muscles stretch as Joost teases your clit with his index finger, makes you open your legs wider. “The whole point is to record how good you make me feel, right?” 

“You want to be silent so badly for me, you want to play around so much—why are you calling me out for it? That I want us to have fun?” Joost rolls his eyes, but then smiles at you, trying to soothe the burn. “I like when you play,” he murmurs, then spits on your pussy, making you full body shiver when you do. “Play even more, let’s make this recording go hours.”

“And I’ll cum all I want?” 

“Careful what you wish for.” Joost rubs the spit over your bud, spreading you with two fingers and petting at it with another. “Als een prinses, schatje. Spoiled.” 

“Spoiled,” you mock, and he shakes his head at you, grinning. 

You probably shouldn’t rile Joost up so much—it’s too late for you to save yourself when he dives in, wrapping his lips around your clit and sucking hard. The spit and silky softness of his tongue make you keen, how good it feels to have him on you, his lips sucking so much, so good, so wet. 

The slide of Joost’s finger inside of you surprises you, how gently he pets against your spot internally as he laps at your pussy; you sigh, having to close your mouth on purpose to not make any sound. He sucks your clit between his lips, tightening, loosening, several seconds passing as he continues the pattern, making you groan with the feeling of him eating you out so well. It’s too much; you cry out when it hits what feels like 10 minutes with his tongue on you, but is really only 20 seconds at most. 

Too much, so good—bucking your hips up, you squirm, futile against his strong hands holding you down by the backs of your knees folded almost to your chest as he drinks you in, the wet sound of his mouth smacking against you so humiliatingly wonderful you could cry. How are you supposed to stay silent now? 

“I’ll never get enough of this, lieverd,” he says before diving back in, lips wrapped around your clit as you moan out at the suction, whining as you hold onto his arms for support, because pushing against him is no use—either way, who are you kidding? The last thing you want is for him to stop, especially after that first “orgasm”. Completely breathless, you stop trying, tired hips back on the damp bed sheets. 

“Good girl, baby,” Joost praises at your defeat, your finally being subdued. The nickname makes you shudder, arousal pooling deep in your stomach, and you squeeze at his arms for some sort of comfort in response. 

Joost nips at the thin and sensitive skin of your inner thigh and it makes you yelp, then he comes back and licks through you again, fucking his tongue inside of you. 

There’s no sense of organization or pattern anymore with what he’s trying to do—he’s lost it. He’s lost it. 

Your climax hits you like a freight train, your stomach and thigh muscles spasming, any control you had—lost. “Mmmf…fuck!” you exclaim, throwing your head back on your pillows as Joost keeps sucking your clit through your orgasm, white on the edges of your vision at how intense he’s doing it. “Ugh… shit!” you cry, panting out when he keeps going.

“It’s only a matter of time until you give me what I want, schatje,” he says in a quiet, sing-song voice, then attaches himself back to you. Your clit is practically numb with pleasure now, and yet, the waves are rolling through you, erratic and wonderfully uncomfortable. 

You laugh out, tears at the edges of your eyes at how intense your nerves feel, how fried they are—“Joost, enough!” and he lets up off you. He sits back up and pouts at you, lips and cheeks wet with your arousal. 

“‘Jooooooost!!!’” He laments, cursing at the sky in jest, and you laugh at how dramatic he is. “The line is ‘Joost!!’ Lieverd! Joost!!!” he says his own name in a weird, breathy moan that you’re half sure really will make it to a final draft of a song of his. 

Holding yourself up, legs open and so wet between them, you purse your lips for a kiss, which Joost gives you. “You said we can make the recording go hours—I’m sure I’ll say it one of these times.” 

“Okay, I’m glad I say the recording can go long—I will need a minute.” As Joost pulls back, you tilt your head to the side; he sounds… strange. Embarrassed, almost, and his cheeks are pink, and he can’t look you in the eye anymore, completely different from your ravenous and intimidating boyfriend from 45 minutes ago.  “I think I came in my pants.” 

“You’re kidding,” you scoff, throwing your head back and laughing.

Joost gets back up off the bed, stands. “Do I look like I'm kidding?” he says, pointing down to the wet spot on his crotch—he must’ve ground against the bed too much, how cute. 

“You haven’t done that since we started dating,” you laugh, watching as he strips off his shorts and his underwear looks just as bad. 

“Well, I did it again. Your fault. This sucks.” Joost shimmies down his boxers, picking them up and throwing them in the hamper; it hangs on the rim, he’s already soft, and he looks at you so dejectedly, then at the ground. You start to say ‘aww’ —he’s so cute and pathetic this way, but he wags a finger at you, saying,  “Do not say ‘aww’ at my dick, you’re annoying,” and it makes you laugh harder until he’s laughing too, climbing on the bed and kissing you sweetly, pulling back only to take off his shirt and then immediately come back to you. 

Laying atop you, he wraps his lips around your nipple, pulling at it gently with his teeth as you wince in the pain and the pleasure. Joost lays his tongue flat against it, laps at it, switches to the other one. 

“I just love you,” he sighs, latching onto you again immediately after, and it makes you smile—insatiable, truly. 

A few moments of this—letting Joost lave over your skin, the stiff peaks of your breasts, sucking hickeys into the meat of them—and he’s ready to sit back against the headboard together. 

Your legs are open and his hand is between them in an instant, running his fingers along your skin. It feels strangely electric…not his fingers on you, but his arm against yours, the side of his sweat-sheened body against your hip, what it feels like to see “Thanks for today” on his collarbone and your name and lipstick mark tattooed on the other side of his neck forever. 

Your thoughts are interrupted by Joost’s voice—“Why aren’t you saying my name, hm?” he says, gazing at your lips, his nose brushing against yours. You press a chaste kiss to his chin as he circles your clit, spreading your wetness around with his fingers. “It’s mean. It is sinister, what you’re doing.” 

“You’re gonna have to work for it, I’m serious.” 

“I will work overtime, I’ll be just like you,” he smirks, and shuts you up when he attaches his lips to yours, slips his middle fingers inside of you, grinds the heel of his hand on your clit as you gasp into his mouth, let him move down and suck at your jaw, your pulse point. 

The concentration it takes not to lose it makes your eyebrows knit together. He murmurs, “Do you hear that, my love? Do you hear how wet I make you?” says it into your open and mewling mouth, the sound of it all—the squelch of your wetness at the behest of his fingers fucking your pussy. You’re beholden to him, and he enjoys it so much. The person you are at work and in life; normally so collected, preferring the comfortable quiet of your life together, now so bold to let him do this. 

“Wat een mooi geluid, mijn meisje. You have me under your spell—what will happen when everyone hears this? Your siren song, hm? Is that what you want? Everyone to know how good I make you feel?” 

The surprise on everyone’s faces that you could sound like this, all because of Joost—goofy, grinning, laughing Joost. Serious as ever about coaxing these sounds out of you as he kisses you slowly, tongue so languid on yours, tempting you, seducing you into giving him what he wants. 

You’re almost delirious, the bubbling of laughter rising in your body as you grip onto his arm, so big, three of Joost’s thick fingers nestled inside of you and curling against your spot, stroking it with no abandon. You’re stretched thin around him, squirming and twitching with the rising peak coming to a head in your body. 

He doesn’t even thrust his middle fingers in and out of you; only keeps them there, deep and to the knuckle inside of your pussy as he curls his fingers inside of you again and again, petting and petting and petting at the most sensitive part inside of you. At the same time, he circles your clit with his thumb—you could almost pass out with how good it feels, how hot you are in this room, rain beating on your roof, his mouth on yours and receiving every single moan and breath you put out. 

The only thing absent is a crackling fire and a bottle of wine to fit the mood, but you can’t really complain. 

“Happy?” he asks, smiling. 

“Joost,” you choke out, eyebrows furrowing as you gaze at him, then close your eyes, touching your forehead to his, clutching his bicep, the challenge to yourself not to say his name all but forgotten. 

“Yeah, baby?” Joost grins—in the pursuit of his craft, your boyfriend has turned evil. 

“I feel like…” you start, face screwed in pleasure, words stolen from you by his curling fingers, confused at this feeling inside of you you’ve never felt before. “I just feel…” 

“What is it, baby?” Joost teases, fucking into you, devilish. “Can you tell me? Can you use your words, like I’ve been asking you to?” 

“I’m gonna…” 

Burning hot and building up and up and up inside of you, in your stomach, in your chest, your tired thighs tensing the knot in your stomach tightens and tightens and tightens until it snaps, hard and fast; you don’t even realize the curses and almost chanting of his name tumbling out of your mouth as you look down and see—

Clear liquid runs down from your pussy, down your ass as you groan out, a punched out moan tumbling from your lips. The wet squelch around his still moving fingers even louder now—oh my god? There’s wetness beneath you now, a small laugh of disbelief coming from Joost as you gush all over his fingers and hand and writhe with your powerful climax, the bed under you wet, the comforter wet, everything wet, and all because of Joost. 

You whine and he nods, smiling at you. “Schatje…I didn’t think it would work…”

“Oh my god,” you whisper, half laughing and half embarrassed at the mess you’ve made, panting and completely out of breath. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?! Mijn schat, that’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, I think.” He takes his fingers out of you with a sound that makes you cringe, and holds his hand in the air, fingertips dripping with your wetness, shiny and slick. You had no idea you could even do that, let alone feel whatever white hot pleasure was ripping through you while you did, and you laugh at his amazement with your hands over your mouth. 

“We’ll have to change the sheets again,” you pout once you realize—you just changed them yesterday before he got here, and the other set of sheets is dirty. Ughhhhh. 

“I’ll wash the other sheets—I would change them a million times over if it meant you doing that again.”

“We’ll run out of sheets before that happens, Joost.” He hates changing the sheets, but he’s so desperate for it, obviously. 

“I’ll make new ones,” Joost says proudly, then kisses you. “Please don’t worry about the bed. I’ll take care of it, and to be honest, I would like you to mess it up even more.” Kiss on your lips. Your worries have melted away with it. “You were so good to me, yet I still didn’t get my song. Tell me, why is that, mijn schat? You want me to torture you for longer?” he says softly, kissing you on the lips. 

“It’s not torture,” you breathe out and Joost laughs. “I said your name, what more do you want from me?” 

“It’s not torture? Is that right?” he asks, and you nod, coming up to kiss him again,  “I want to be inside you, lieverd, that’s what I want.” 

Only now do you notice that he’s hard again—the same hand he used to finger you wrapped around his cock, your wetness his lubrication alongside the precum drooling from his tip. “That’s what you’ll get, then,” you say, sweet and smiling and so ready for it even after Joost has had his way with you for what feels like hours now. 

It’s your wetness that’s darkened Joost’s arm hair and the hair on his stomach; your wetness facilitating his sharp sighs as he pleasures himself to the sight of you, the thought of you, the sound of you. 

Beaming, Joost turns away to the side. “If it isn’t obvious to you, the audience,” he says into the microphone in a silly voice. “This is the first time I’ve made her squirt, and she still wants me so bad!! What the fuck!! I am sooo so lucky!!! What amazing sight, wow. Shoutout lieverd, for real!!” Your laugh is sure to be captured in the background, your small “Shoutout Joosti!” too. Joost turns back to you—”My one in a trillion, baby,” a kiss to your lips, your body being laid on the damp sheets again and your legs opening in response. 

“mijn_schatje_loml_voor_altijd_TANTUPLSDONOTLISTEN.mp3” has been running for 1 hour, 33 minutes, 8 seconds, 3 milliseconds—feels like so much longer. Joost lies between your legs again on his stomach, his cheek on your thigh, his calves in the air swinging and happy and him batting his eyelashes at you “innocently.” “Dickhead,” you laugh, knowing he wants to put his tongue on you again, and he laughs too. 

“Your favourite one, though, right?” 

“Yes, my favourite one.” You roll your eyes at his giggles but smile nonetheless at him. “I want you inside me, Joosti, don’t make me wait, please.” 

Joost holds up a finger—“One criticism—”

“Already?!” you exclaim. “What is it?” 

Joost gets up off of you and goes to the dresser to the side of your bed. You tilt your head in confusion—there isn’t much in there he could need for the rest of this, but he seems to be determined. “I think it’s the cutest thing when you call me Joosti and I never want you to stop doing that,” he starts, rummaging through the drawer. “But I think for the sake of the song, or your part in it, it would be better if you just said ‘Joost.’ Can you do that?” 

“I can do that, Joost,” you tease, your perfectionist musician of a boyfriend coming out in full force. 

“Good, good, schat. Now can you say it while I’m using this on you?” 

Joost turns around holding…Ole Reliable, the name you both call a taupe vibrating wand that was your best friend before you two started dating, is your best friend when he’s gone for longer than a month or two and your fingers aren’t enough when you two are FaceTiming…to Joost’s absolute displeasure. When he’s home, it hides in your underwear drawer—but trust, he knows where it is. 

“Be serious, Joost,” you laugh in disbelief. There’s no way that Ole Reliable will be part of this with how much lighthearted vitriol Joost has treated it in the past, calling it his “mortal enemy,” his “biggest competition.” This isn’t real. 

“It takes you like, 3 hours to cum after I’ve made you cum so many times, this will help,” he shrugs, and he’s right. You’re so overstimulated at this point that he’d have to fuck you for longer to get you over the edge, but the vibrator is a bit overkill—it’s powerful, and you’ve made your own legs shake with it countless times, with or without Joost. 

“I think I’ll end up…squirting—ew, I hate that word—even more if you use it.”

“It’s not so bad of a word, mijn schat. And either way—bed is already dirty. Why not go all out so we don’t have to clean up again?” 

Joost makes a good point, and you know he’ll want to see more of your newfound ability later on—minimizing the cleanup later sounds good, so you lie back, open your legs, run your fingers through your wet folds as his eyes widen at your eagerness. “Let’s go all out,” you giggle and he flops on top of you, exclaiming, “Yayyyyy!!!” 

It’s slow, the way he hooks your legs over his thighs, long presses the button of the vibrator, presses it again once so it turns on completely, and then recoils in surprise when he presses the largest button again and again. “Whaaattt the fuck, I didn’t know there were so many patterns in it. That is crazy. You use this?! What is ‘thumping feature.’ There are so many buttons. What…” Joost looks at it in wonder, the vibrations sure to be going through his entire forearm—that thing is strong, and you know it. 

“There are only 2 buttons, Joost.”

“That is a lot to me.”

Cycling it back to the lowest, most tame setting, he places the head on your clit, gentle; you hiss at the waves coming through you, even at the lowest rate it could possibly go. “Do you like that, baby?” he asks, voice low, other hand coming down to slip a finger in your pussy. “You look like you love it.” 

Nodding, Joost takes your hand and wraps it around the handle of the wand, and you hold it against yourself as he jerks his cock between your legs, enveloping the warm head of it in your entrance. It slips in so nice—you’ve been ready for it for hours now, you'd be surprised if it didn’t just slide in. Your eyes roll back, the back of your head hitting the wire frame of your bed, the vibrations coursing through you and his big cock parting your slit. 

“Oh, fuckkk, schat,” Joost moans as he sinks into your soaking wet pussy. “So fucking wet, baby, you feel so good.” 

Breathless, you nod, as Joost glides right in; he’s thick, but you're so wet. Three orgasms and counting for you, it’s so easy now. Angling the vibrator, you move it so you can see it all—how messy it is when he pulls his hips back to adjust how he’s thrusting into you, his pubes and happy trail wet with your juices, the hair on his thighs wet as well. What a mess you’ve made. 

“Oh my god—“ he says, rolling his neck back in pleasure once he finally bottoms out inside of you, the wand pressed against his pelvis just as much as it’s pressed against yours.  Joost bites his lip, shaking his head. Not so much of a mortal enemy, after all, is it? “How do I compete with this thing…” 

“This thing could never be you, Joost,” you breathe, and it’s true. So tired, so happy, you’re a little emotional about it for some reason. 

How he holds you so warm and safe and tight, always, never a question on if he wants and loves you—he always does and always will. In bed together like this, sheltered from the rain in your home together, your cats scratching at the door and a whole life ahead of you; on the train giggling with each other about the middle-aged and elderly side-eyeing his barking and boisterous laughter; in club bathrooms and snow covered curbs and swimming pools in your backyard and the couch downstairs. 

The rest of the world should be envious about what you have, who you hold. Joost, this house, that audio recording, and you, forever. 

“Hehe!” Joost leans over to the microphone and gloats into it, “Me—1! Vibrator—zeroooo! Hahahahah!” 

You laugh—and this, forever. You could never trade this in. 

Pulling Joost in, you kiss him sweet and slow, little thrusts of him inside of you as he moans into your mouth incessantly, every breath of his a whimper, it must feel so good—buried balls deep in your pussy, vibrator against your clit and pressed against the few centimeters of shaft that can’t fit in you when he begins thrusting inside of you sloppily, the hollow clap of his hips against you filthy as you moan out his name against the humming backdrop of the toy you're using together. 

Every nerve in your body winds itself tight around the coil in your stomach as he fucks into you, a smooth and steady rhythm that makes you lose yourself, trying to wrap yourself around him, wanting to devour him whole, wanting to make it so it’s just you and him and no one else in the world, no one outside these walls, no one else. With Joost breathing into your mouth, his sweaty bangs tickling your forehead, the taste of his tongue on yours—there might as well be no one on this earth except you and him. 

“I can't do it, Joost, it’s too much,” you whine as he keeps driving into you—god, you want it so badly, but three and a half orgasms later and you’re entirely spent, letting him do all the work as you moan loudly, no control over yourself or your body. The vibrator is pressed flush against your clit and gets you to the precipice faster than you’d like right now. 

“You can do it, baby,” he coos, and you know there’s no way to get out of this. Either way, you wouldn’t want to, legs wrapped around him, the buzzing of the vibrator such music to your ears, the feeling of his cock driving into you and Joost, a warm and heavy and perfect weight atop you. As you claw at his shoulders, his back, he holds you open with his strong hands, your squirming no match for his strength with every deep seat of his cock inside of you. “I know you can, you can do it.” 

When he says it, you believe it; you have to bite and suck at his neck in order to focus on keeping it together long enough for him to cum, apologizing to Lola in your head at your treatment of her, how she’ll be blooming purple and red by the time the sun rises tomorrow. Joost ruts into you, pressing the vibrator hard to your clit and it’s so…it’s so much, the mattress squeaks with how spirited his hips are against you, loud slaps of skin against skin and your name, his name, intertwined on this wavelength, on this track for everyone to hear. 

“Joost…fuck, Joost!” you cry out again and again, tears coming to your eyes with how hard and fast your orgasm rips through you, repeating Joost’s name like a prayer, an oath, gushing around him and too fucked out to kiss back properly when he licks into your mouth, grounding you back to this bed even as you sob out in pleasure, fat tears rolling down your cheeks at how amazing he’s making you feel. “I love you,” you breathe, blissed and fucked out tears streaming down your cheeks at how good it feels, all open and airy. 

“Why are you all sappy, baby? ‘Cause I’m fucking you so well?” Joost teases, pressing wet kisses to your tear stained cheeks, your mouth bitten red with his nips, his kisses all throughout this. 

“Yes, I love you, Joost,” you sniffle, wrapping your arms around his neck, bringing him closer even if it means the vibrator gets pushed even harder against your aching clit. 

He laughs, continuing his feverish thrusting as he finally gives you the kiss you want. “I love you too, mijn hart.” 

You don’t notice him fumbling around on the side table as he kisses you, bringing the wired earphone from the nightstand back to your ear, your eyes widening in surprise. 

“Do you hear that, mijn schat?” The feedback, his voice, doubled and almost echoing as you hear it in real life and it plays out in your ears, delayed. You have to try and dampen the rest of your senses to focus on what you’re hearing. The slopping of his hips against your ass, the low pitched vibrations of the wand, his voice. 

Joost’s voice that distracts you until you’re snapped out of it by him pulling out, stroking his cock and panting heavily, cheeks and chest and neck pink with exertion, skin shining with sweat. “What are you doing?” you mumble. 

“You’ve already done so much, schat,” Joost breathes, and you shake your head, looking up at him through wet eyelashes. 

“Finish what we started, I want it all.” 

Obediently, Joost nods, inching himself back inside you again; it sounds so wet in your ears, the microphone capturing every gritty detail, every squelch of yours and his. 

“Schat, I wanna…fuck, I wanna cum inside you so bad,” he whines, erratic thrusting with every word, losing it again, losing the practiced, methodical musician that you know so well. Even with his whining, his voice is deep, needy, chanting your name like you moaned his. “Wanna…fuck, I wanna fuck it in you ‘til it takes, I want everyone to hear it, see it, know you’re mine…mine, mine, mine…”

“Yeah, baby?” you smile, his cheek laid against your tits as he grinds against you, then goes back for long, deep strokes inside of you. Joost groans so loud against your skin, spit and sweat on the softness of your breasts; so overwhelmed, he takes your nipple in his mouth and sucks, nipping at you through his own orgasm, stuttering his hips into your pussy.

Warm ribbons of Joost’s cum paint your insides and fill you up so well, your moans finally joining his as he comes down from his high, moaning and sobbing out your name, lieverd, schat, collapsing on your chest and heaving for his breath again as you catch yours once more, satisfied with your recording together. 

“That a good enough song for you, Joost?” you smile, eyes already closing with the bliss of such a good recording session together. 

“Dutch Grammy worthy, mijn meisje,” Joost breathes, and you laugh as he reaches to the side and shuts his laptop, ending your recording. “How about another recording session later?” 

—

A month later and you’re carrying a paper bag of takeout from a few blocks down, earphones blasting a new demo from Joost and Tantu, using the spare key under Tantu’s doormat to get into his apartment from the cold. You set down the bag on the counter of his tiny kitchen, place the key back under the doormat, get three bowls together to split the takeout between, get utensils and glasses of water and what have you before you enter the bedroom studio. 

The takeout fights you tooth and nail; cheap food spilling everywhere, oil and sauce and vegetables on the counter and the rims of the bowls that you have to wipe up with the one (1. ONE!) paper towel left on the roll in the kitchen. Is this what happens when Ruby isn’t in town and they’re in album mode? You figure it must.  

You manage to wrestle it all together precariously, using every square centimeter of the one paper towel you have in your arsenal before picking up all three bowls—two of them nestled in your left arm, one of them held in your right hand. 

The door to the bedroom is closed shut—your arms are full, and you spend a few moments fussing about how to get in without having to go back into the kitchen and set down the food, but you hear Tantu and Joost’s muffled voices through the door. 

“Oh my god, I shouldn’t have skipped ahead—“

“You should've never played it, Tantu!”

“Well, you shouldn’t have kept it on your desktop for anyone to see! With my name on it!” 

You tilt your head in confusion, and then knock on the door with your foot; in an instant, Tantu opens it for you, and you hear, loud and clear: “I wanna fuck it in you ‘til it takes, I w—” before Joost slams the laptop shut and says, “Baby, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I—”

2 fics in a few weeks!! lfg!!! i hope you enjoyed!! <3 thank you so much for reading! likes, comments, reblogs always so so appreciated <3 : ) they keep me writing!! askbox anon on hereeee - juno

[trapastrology]

Mercury Retrograde w/ Aris!

Mercury Rx Starts Aug 4th - Aug 27th...

All you need to know

Over the years, I see that way too many individuals are terrified by rx's esp mercury. Why? Well, this is what you were taught to believe, it's what you were taught to fear. Fear is a powerful emotion that can make you do anything. What if you weren't scared anymore? What if you knew the benefits of mercury rx and took advantage of it? You shouldn't fear transits or planets, you should learn how to work with them, good or bad. Mercury rx isn't a means to avoid life. You can't live life if you're always avoiding it 3-4 times out of the year for weeks at a time...

Think of Mercury rx as the prefix Re-. Meaning to go back and do it again...but better than the first time! It's sort of like a second chance in a way. You can't change the past, but you can change what you do in the same situations going forward. This is the time we take to go through our metamorphosis.

This is how you'll come out of the retrograde doing better than how you were going in.

Avoiding life during retrogrades is what makes you seem ahead in the beginning yet ending up behind.

Let me walk you thru what Mercury retrograde entails and what you should be doing to take advantage of these energies. As well as some of what I'll be doing during this retrograde!

********************************************************************************

Remove. -Yourself from certain ppl and situations that don't serve you. Know that it's time to let go. Stop letting yourself get back into the same cycles just to complain about the results. This would be a good time to withdraw and be a little secluded if you've been feeling the need to do so. when you take yourself out of situations it's easier to...

Reflect. -Slow down. Pay attention to the recurring patterns in behavior of others as well as urself. Take the time to slow down and really think about the past and get clarity. Properly analyze current situations to know what to let go of and what to...

Reassess. -Pay attention to the different/new factors of ur current/past situations. Take time out to reconsider everything (ur whole life even). Work thru recurring issues with a different approach to stop the cycle and give you peace. This is not the time to sign contracts but to read the fine print. Think before acting (even if it's taking a day or 2 to respond to a text). This is the perfect time to read old books with a fresh perspective. Easiest time to absorb new information.

Realign. -Reorganize your mind, emotions and life. Plan the life you really want for yourself, then act it out. Make it practical. The person you want to be wakes up, does yoga and reads a book every morning, so do that! This is the best time to build new habits and drop old ones. Getting rid of unnecessary clothes, items, contacts, screenshots, everything. Best time to purge! Let go and get right back on track. Write everything down that you want to be or do so you can...

Restart. -Start fresh. apply the new knowledge, mindset and habits to your new beginning. make and fulfill new goals for yourself as simple as *walk around the block twice daily*. Make new plans, your old plans may not align with who you are anymore. Have a daily routine that aligns with the person you want to be now! Apply all the knowledge from the previous stages.

Reconnect. -How where you when you were at your happiest and most content? Reconnect with that person. Pick up that old skill/hobby/interest. Rewatch those old movies/shows that brought you the most joy. Get back in touch with the sweetheart in you. Whatever you miss and it was good for you, get back into it.

Rebuild. -Start back from the ground up. Fulfill the missed opportunities. That business you were going to launch but didn't (or it failed the 1st time), take this time to plan it thoroughly and better and execute it after the rx (which is why I'll be launching my Patreon Sep 1st!!!). Pick up a new hobby/skill and perfect it. Any unfinished business must be handled, tie all loose ends. If you've been feeling the need to apologize or make amends, do it. This is also a good time to redecorate/rearrange things at home. Upcycling clothes and getting repairs on things that's been needing it for a while.

Regenerate. -Now you feel refreshed. You feel like a weight has been lifted off of you. All (or most) of your baggage is gone. You feel like you again, you feel like you can breathe. You have reclaimed your power. You love the way you've been living and the work you've done. However, after the rx ends it'll be easy to fall off the wagon so take precautions.

Reappear. -Now you can come back out of hiding (for those who stayed mostly recluse to work on themselves)! Enjoy all of the things you worked so hard for. Take the time to enjoy your self improved self.

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

If you want to know what YOU should do during this retrograde get your $10 RETROGRADE READING! I'll look at how it's aspected, where it falls in your chart and give you tips on how to utilize the energy. Receive a 15% OFF COUPON after you get a Mercury Rx Reading...

[theheirofthesharingan]

I know Itachi is your number one, but in what order do you like the other uchihas? Im guessing sasuke is 2. Who is 3rd, 4th, 5th place etc?

Actually, I love both Sasuke and Itachi equally, but in a different way. Sasuke is like my son and Itachi is.. well *blushes*

The reason I write more about Itachi is because I don't see genuine love for him in the fandom. It's the extremities of either the dudebros (who also want to portray him as a flawless, did nothing wrong kind of character) or the haters who lie on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, deliberately ignoring all the good. Even he has some pick me fans, who are his haters in disguise, I guess.

He's a wonderful character who is heavily misunderstood. I love to write about him more than the powerscaling stuff and the regular takes you see on him about him being evil, him being a villain from the start, or him being an irredeemable evil and all the shitty opinions. Since I don't like replying with the negative opinions on other people's posts (or taking screenshots of their posts to secretly harass and badmouth them), I tend to write the analysis on him in my own space. Most of the things I write I haven't seen being said about him, so I feel he needs this positivity terribly.

He's tragic, he's sad, he's powerful, he's miserable, he made mistakes, he was hurt, he hurt, he had regrets. And most people reduce him to what aligns with their moral compass. I love to explore his multifaceted character without the finger-pointing or blaming other characters, because he deserves it.

When I joined Tumblr, I was a bit more pro Sasuke and pro Uchiha, but their fans in my posts back then ended up talking a lot of shit about Itachi, which made me focus a lot more on Itachi. Though I'm not going to let fandom activists dictate and change my love for Sasuke, so my interaction with most of his fans is nil. That doesn't mean I don't love him. My fics are a proof of how much I love him.

Anyway, this isn't what you asked. I love both Itachi and Sasuke. The second would be Shisui. The third would be Izumi (even though she's a "filler" character).

I like Madara too. He's a cool villain. But I'm not all that emotionally invested in him, so I don't talk about him that much. I stopped caring about the story after Itachi's death and watched the rest of the episodes of war arc for Sasuke. So, I only remember what happened to him, not Madara. And I don't care about the ship (HashiMada), so there's less interest for me there.

I like Fugaku as well. But I'm most invested in Itachi and Sasuke, and Itachi needs positivity, and I'm forming an Itachi cult, so let's go.

[chaysreality222]

A Guide On How to Script Your DR!

table of contents ⬎

1⌇opening message

2⌇what is a script ⋄ what can you script⋄where to scrip

3⌇how to script

hey, it's c! i know this was a long awaited post but, it's here now. in this post, i'll be giving you a guide on how to script your dr. this process can either be enjoyable or stressful because of not knowing where to start, but that's why i'm here! feel free to script your dr as you're reading this! let's dive in!

what is a script?

A script is a written version of all the details of you within your desired reality, scenarios you want to happen, the relationships you want to have, and the things that you own etc. I will say it once again, you don't need a script! but it is extremely helpful to organize all your thoughts about what you want for your desired reality.

what can you script?

You can script anything to your hearts desires! Don't take too much advantage of that information. I know it isn't any of my business about what you choose to script but don't be scripting anything inhumane. Come on now. Anyway, you can script things like unlimited money, (if you have a harry potter dr) a charm to make your period stop, or one of your pets into your dr. Stuff like that!

where to script?

You can use anything to script your desired reality! You can use a physical journal, the notes app in your phone, a google doc, google slides, canva, notion, etc. Basically, anywhere you can write or type. For those who want to keep your script a secret, I'd recommend a digital script rather than a physical one. You can get a journal app that requires a code to it so that no one gets in.

Then lastly, you can get the lifa app on the app store! It's like a pre-made script and all you have to do is add what you want. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who has a hard time scripting on their own or just wants to get done with the process of scripting. I think there is a code on the app as well!

how to script

Finally, the part you guys have been waiting for. Everyone start taking notes. I'm gonna start off with the basics of what you'll need for your script. I took some screenshots from my script that can help you guys out!

Reality or Shifting Information! this will include: your time ratio (1 hr in my CR = 1 week in my DR), the timeline ("I'm shifting to 4th year, 1994), safety (safeword, safe action), scenarios (something as simple as going to get ice cream with your comfort character), and or arrival (describe what happens when you wake up in your dr/your first day in your dr).

Personal Information! this will include: about me tab (name, age, birthdate, hobbies, hygiene etc.), appearance (how you want to look/claims), wardrobe (what you'll have in your closet), backstory/plot (write about your backstory and how you're apart of the plot/change the plot if you want).

Relationships! this will include: s/o, family, friends, and pet. You can basically just list how old they are, who they are to you, where and how you met them, etc.

Belongings or Assets! this will include: finances, your house and or dorm, vehicles, and miscellaneous items. Basically whatever you want to own, how it looks like, what it can do.

[OPTIONAL] Places! this will include: any main spots that you'll know you'll be at and you can script that you own the place, eventually WILL own the place, or live there etc.

Extra! this will include: if you want to separately talk about how you become a vampire, get powers etc, (if you go to school/work in that dr) a schedule tab, calendar (come up with events or holidays you want to celebrate), immunities (whatever you're immune to).

I truly hoped this helped those who don't know much about scripting! I personally really love this part about shifting and I hope you will too. As always, Happy Shifting!

xoxo, c!

[autisticsupervillain]

FTF Shorts: Not Even Close!

A vs show where the longer analysis and set up is skipped in order to briefly explain why a certain fight is nowhere near close.

This Week's Fighters....

Son Goku vs Oz!

Conditions:

A complete composite of Goku pulling powers and feats from every single official continuity. Crossovers not counted for either.

Breakdown:

Alright, the first thing we have to look at when discussing this fight is stats. Now, I could stand here all day going over their lower end feats, such as Calculester destroying the moon, Piccolo drstroying the moon, or Damien punching the sun, etc. But, frankly, both of these characters scale so high that doing so would just be pissing in the wind. Both of these characters scale to the higher echelons of their cosmologies, so it's best to just take this from the top.

Cosmology:

While the baseline Dragon Ball universe is already exponentially larger than our own, Dragon Ball Heroes goes the extra mile by giving Goku a massive multiverse to scale to.

It's been stated that the continuity of Heroes has infinite alternate histories with infinite timelines and infinite worlds.

Resting on top of all of that is the Crack of Time, a superdimensional realm existing around the entire multiverse that is above time itself.

Problem is, Oz can match it.

Oz is an ancient eldritch diety created by the Nothingness, designed to destroy the entire multiverse, with is stated to contain infinite timelines. Zoe refers to the ancient gods created by the Nothing by their old names. Zoe is the embodiment of Despair but then gave up that name to become Zoe. Oz is the embodiment of Fear, but gave up that name to become Oz. An alternate timeline version of Oz, who didn't abandon its calling like he did to live like a mortal, even attempts to urge them to bring about "the end of all things".

What's more, we know definitively that these universes contain the 5th Dimension, which Oz can reach by.... partying really hard.

I couldn't find a let's play to screenshot. Sue me.

This by itself would already put Oz on par with Goku, as Oz has several feats that would scale him to this level. Becoming one with all reality, turning reality off and on again reducing it to nothing, eating a sandwich with literally everything in existence on it, and etc. Gag feats? Sure, but no one blinks when Spongebob does it.

However, it gets exponentially worse for Goku from here, thanks to the Metaverses.

See, the Metaverses are infinitely smaller digital realities with dimensional structures different from the baseline universe (as stated by Polly). There are countless, possibly infinite, amounts of Metaverses with in each other, constantly traveling downwards. Oz and friends travel down these Metaverses for hours on end without finding the bottom and aren't even sure if they've found the bottom by the end of it.

Polly: THIS is the third dimension everyone keeps hyping up? I'm not a fan. Go deeper!

This means that every individual universe within Monster Prom has unquantifiably countless dimensional layers within them. And Oz was specifically created to destroy an infinite amount of these universes. That's..... a level of jacked that Goku simply cannot match.

Speed is much simpler. Both can move and fight in realms beyond time so immeasurable. Overall advantage goes to Oz due to an infinite stat gap that Goku cannot close or make up for.

Powers:

So, if Goku can't close the strength gap directly, could he circumvent it? While Dragon Ball may be known for being raw brute force, but Goku still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Hakai that deletes you from existence across time, Mafuba to seal you away, and even 4th wall awareness of his own, being able to damage the manga panels and draw power from the audience.

The most damning of all of these powers, however, is the Key Sword, a powerful blade created by the Gods to seal away the Demon Realm. Ability sealing, complete control over time itself, and the immunity against the effects of Dark Ki, which distorts the laws of physics and alters the very laws of reality. If fully unlocked, the Key Sword can even seal you away in the Eternal Time Labyrinth, a realm outside of time that even Mechikabura with all of history absorbed into him couldn't escape. It's big enough to seal away entire universes even!

Does Oz have counters to this? Well, yes. What it comes down to is how being an abstract concept works within the realm of Monster Prom.

If an abstract concept is either killed or removed from its home reality, that reality will begin collapsing and eventually cease to exist. This is explained by Faith and Joy when she discusses the many deaths of Hope, who is the embodiment of.... well, Hope.

Faith: The rules are cryptic.. but to some extent you're the embodiment of humankind's Hope, and so if you died... it will be the end of everything.

Faith: He knew about all of this, and so he took us by suprise and

killed Hope...the First Hope. The fabric of reality weakened and Hope as a concept disappeared from the equation.

This applies even if the character is even removed from their home reality, as when Evil Hope left the Evil Dimension, that Dimension started crumbling and eventually ceased to exist. So, Eternal Time Labyrinth is a no go. This means that Goku can't kill Oz or even remove them from the fight without nuking himself from existence.

Everything that wouldn't fall under that umbrella would get nullified by either the infinite strength gap or by Oz simply...... becoming one with all reality. Let's see Mafuba seal away *existence itself*, idiot.

Polly: Here's how ya do it: first, imagine nothingness. Now,imagine something-ness. Now, ask yourself.. how different are they really?

Polly: Don't be so sure, boo. The lines of physics in this world are not so cleanly drawn.

Polly: The existence of the multiverse and interdimensional travel prove that fixed existence in one Space is a total myth.

Polly: The Human Realm and Monster Realm overlap they just exist on a different quantum level or something. Who's to say how many other realms sit on top of ours?

Polly: what does it even mean to be "here" and not "there"? Aren't we all just atoms and stardust being yanked around by gravity and magic?

Polly: How is wishy-washy-ass reality gonna stop us frow being in

the monster truck RIGHT NOW?!

And, sense Goku can never win, he'll inevitably never lose. Oz would just eat his sanity, or eat the concept of Goku making him never exist or steal Goku's narrative importance to the plot itself and make himself the new protagonist of Dragon Ball. Goku can shrug off reality warping, but the plot itself warping on him? Nada. Dark Ki has simply never demonstrated that level of bullshit.

Counterarguments

Aren't a lot of these gag feats?

Yes. But I just don't consider that disqualifying. Monster Prom is about 90% silly gags and 10% lore. If the verse is gag centric, gags counting should be the norm. It's basically how scaling toon force works. It's not the same as, say, Hercule surviving get smacked by Cell, where Dragon Ball at that point is primarily trying to take itself seriously. You have to meet the work at its own level.

Should Oz scale to Zoe?

Yes. While Zoe does slaughter the entire cast, Oz included, in the Prank Masterz ending, they are still comparable. For example, taking the "Fight the Dark Deity" option at the end of the Totem Route successfully will have Oz, well, successfully fight off Zoe. Both characters were created by the Nothingness to destroy all reality so it stands they'd be at least somewhat comparable.

Isn't Hope's death collapsing reality just because of the True Power?

Oh, boy, here we go. The True Power is the ultimate being of the Monster Prom verse. It created and sustains all reality and the endless universes there in. Oz does not scale to it, even at their best.

In Aaravi's secret route in Monster Camp, The Owl reveals the true nature of the True Power and then speculates as to where it is now.

Key word, speculates. He doesn't know for sure and is completely transparent that all his theories, including the Hope connection, might not be true. He knows it created infinite timelines, as stated in the scans above, but that's all that's definitive.

Joy and Faith meanwhile are experts in magic and multiverse travel who have been saving the world for years now. I simply see them as a more reliable source on Hope's condition, as they've seen it first hand several times now.

As it stands, Goku just doesn't have the raw power, nor the hax to keep up with this eldritch high schooler. Between this and HA Dio, Oz is one step closer to soloing anime.

This Throwdown's Winner is....

Oz!

[satoshi-mochida]

GEX Trilogy launches this summer - Gematsu

GEX Trilogy will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC via Steam this summer, publisher Limited Run Games announced.

Here is an overview of the collection, via its Steam page:

About

Everyone’s favorite tail-whipping, channel-surfing, gecko is back in a collection that features all of his best-selling adventures!

It’s Tail Time, Baby!

Things are about to get weirder than the 4th of July at Rick James’ place! Everyone’s favorite tail-whipping, channel-surfing gecko is back in a collection that features all of his best-selling adventures! Everyone’s favorite tail-whipping, channel-surfing, gecko is back in a collection that features all of his best-selling adventures! GEX Trilogy includes the original 2D platformer, GEX, and the two 3D sequels: GEX: Enter the Gecko and GEX 3: Deep Cover Gecko—but these aren’t just re-runs! This Carbon Engine powered collection includes extras and numerous improvements that bring GEX back into prime time!

Included Games

-GEX

HBO comedian Dana Gould fuels GEX with over 300 hilarious one-liners and sound effects.

GEX’s mouth gets him in trouble, but it’s his thrashing tail and suction cup paws that get him out.

GEX has been sucked into the Media Dimension, the place where cheesy 70’s movies go to retire. To escape he’s gotta kill TV’s in each world.

Over 450 frames of smooth 3D animation and hand-rendered backgrounds!

GEX jumps and sticks to everything while thrashin’ secret levels in search of elusive remote controls.

-GEX: Enter the Gecko

Huge Media Dimension Levels, all designed as sarcastic parodies of popular TV and movies.

Innovative Camera Control! Explore and look anywhere in beautifully textured 3D worlds.

Talkin’ Trash! HBO comedian Dana Gould delivers over 500 sarcastic lip-synched impressions and one-liners!

Over 125 Slick Gecko Moves! Whip-cracking tail attacks, flying karate kicks, tongue grabbing, and climbing up walls!

Master of Disguise! GEX sports a secret agent suit, kung fu uniform, spacesuit, and other costumes.

-GEX 3: Deep Cover Gecko

All-new character mechanics! Scuba diving, gliding, machine gunning, fire-ball hurling and more!

Baywatch’s Marlice Andrada stars as the beautiful Agent Xtra spoofing buxom spy babes of the past.

All-new intuitive 3D camera system.

Over 25 all-new disguises! Private GEX, GEX Capone, Count DracuGEX, and more!

Over 1,000 wise-cracks and celebrity impressions from comedian Dana Gould.

All-new secret playable characters.

Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

Release Window Trailer

[hollowtones]

final thoughts on zapper?

1st world isn't as bad as I remember, 2nd world is rough, 3rd world feels actively mean, 4th world is mostly kind of boring. If child-me had played past world 2 I think I would actively hate video games today.

Sound design is consistently real weird and unpleasant but sometimes that wraps around to being funny

Level design doesn't usually feel very interesting & if you're trying to get all collectibles it sometimes feels tedious. The best bits are the little self-contained bonus rooms & the levels where things are more puzzle-focused. I don't think it really needed a boss fight at the end but I'm glad there was only one, rather than one for each world / each level.

Individual art assets are okay, but sometimes levels are a little hard to parse visually & paths you are allowed to take aren't very clear. Issues with depth perception. Fixed perspective makes it hard to see details on the models I thought were cute. (At least we have Dolphin free camera...)

Visual theming of levels feels really, really incongruent, outside of the first world. I still don't know if I like this or don't. But it sure is noticeable!

The jump button snaps you in weird directions sometimes & every time it makes me scared for my life. It straight up killed me in some of the moving platform segments. Sometimes the jump lets you get to very high platforms and sometimes it makes you jump over them and go into a pit.

Camera's weird. Zoomed in too close, very easy for things to just get you from off-screen. When you have to deal with moving platforms it feels straight up nauseating (& I basically never get motion sick!! This game got me!!)

Music is good.

This Did Not Need A Lives Mechanic. Getting knocked back to a checkpoint feels fine. Having to redo entire levels from the start because of bullshit getting me made me feel like a ghoul.

A lot of hazards have weird hitboxes. Spikes can kill you after retracting. An object can be fully moved past your location but if you move parallel to its trajectory it'll sometimes kill you anyway. Slow-moving enemies in front of you need the world's widest berth. Moving platforms in combination with hazards is a special hell. A couple times I was killed by a seeming act of god.

Mercifully short.

Zapper as a character is like if someone went "what if Gex didn't talk" and that's real funny to me. Also very funny that they gave a cricket lightning powers instead of, like... sonic / music powers. I guess "a wall of noise so loud it kills slugs and explodes bricks" wasn't cool enough for a radical, sardonic wise-guy.(??)

lol the bird has tits

This is just a Frogger game. It's kind of blatant. You can very clearly see the bones of "Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge" in all of it. (The four screenshots I have seen of that game make it seem like its level design was much more easily readable at a glance, though. Four screenshots do not paint the picture of an entire game, but...) Honestly, I can respect the "we have Frogger at home" angle to it. They clearly wanted to make a game like this again, and good(?) on 'em for doing it, I think.

Didn't like it very much. Had a laugh, at least.

It's no "Claymates". (Future scholars will debate what she meant by this for decades.)

[emilystheories]

Nesta Archeron is Thurr - God of Lightning.

ACOTAR and Crescent City 2 spoilers!

[Disclaimer: This theory aligns with the thinking that the ACOTAR, CC and TOG worlds are not existing on the same timeline. I understand that Aelin flew past Prythian, and that SJM has recently spoken about this matter, but I have addressed that (and all other evidence) here! There's so many ways a non-linear timeline could work (and I've already posted a few theories with different variations), but the most basic is that Throne of Glass is occurring in the past, ACOTAR is the present, and Crescent City is the future. So, at the end of HOSAB, Bryce has gone back in time.]

Now, let's get into it!

---

Nesta's powers.

As of ACOSF, we are made to believe that Nesta has given up her powers (or most of them, anyway). But, what if she doesn't need them...?

Instead, Nesta has the Harp, the Mask, and the Crown. She has the Dread Trove.

Even though Mor tries to hide the Dread Trove at the end of ACOSF, the book concludes with this important passage:

"I got a crown of my own, don't worry" Nesta said, even as she knew that Mor was now winnowing all three objects of the Trove back to the place Nesta had taken them from. She'd summoned them, working around Helion's spells. No spell could ever keep them from her - Briallyn had spoken true about that."

To me, SJM is making clear that Nesta's connection - and use - of the Dread Trove is far from over.

The Horn.

In ACOSF, it is also suggested that there is a 4th Dread Trove item (made of "age-worn born"). It seems to be popular consensus among CC and ACOTAR readers that this missing item is the Horn; the object tattooed into Bryce's back.

With this in mind, it is then worth noting that the Horn, when wielded at full power, can do anything. It can even allow someone to establish themselves as an Asteri.

Thus, if the Horn is part of the Dread Trove, then logic suggests that the other Dread Trove items - of which Nesta can control and summon - would have that exact same power.

And it makes you think; if one Dread Trove item, such as the Horn, can allow someone to establish themselves as an Asteri... what can three Dread Trove items do...?

Three items that Nesta can wield to their full power...

This gives Nesta... almost God-like power.

The Crown.

One particular Dread Trove item is of notable interest for this theory - and that is the Crown. Towards the end of ACOSF, readers are informed that the Crown can harness and manipulate the power of weather - bending it to the users will:

I now want to point out some interesting parallels between Nesta - and storms.

For starters, there are multiple occasions where SJM describes Nesta using "storm" imagery:

Stating that Nesta dances like a "night storm"

Nesta's rage is often likened to a "storm"

And Nesta even describes herself as a "storm cloud"

But perhaps the most salient example, is when Nesta comes face-to-face with Tamlin.

As Nesta starts to feel her rage - to threaten Tamlin with her wrath - thunder starts to grumble in the sky.

Then, in that final battle on Ramiel, where Nesta faces off with Bellius - lightning is mentioned multiple times (more times than what the below screenshot conveys!)

In fact, Sarah's use of thunder and lightning in this scene was so overt, that many readers started thinking about Thurr - the storm deity mentioned in Crescent City 2 (who presumably could wield thunder and lightning). As a result, many theories started popping up about Thurr's connection to Ramiel and the Illyrians (that maybe Thurr was even an Illyrian himself!)

However, what if the thunder and lightning had nothing to do with the Illyrians... but Nesta instead.

And dare I say it... what if Nesta IS Thurr?

And, in future books, through the use of the Dread Trove - most notably the Crown... what if Nesta will harness the power and lightning and thunder?

Thurr.

We are first introduced to Thurr in the very first chapter of Crescent City 2 - Bryce notices a statue of a fae male using a hammer - lightning is cracking, and he is forging a sword.

"On it, a powerful Fae male stood poised above an anvil, hammer raised skyward in one fist, lightning cracking down from the skies, filling the hammer, and flowing down toward the object of the hammer's intended blow: a sword."

Now, who is the only other character in the SJM universe who also raises a hammer, and forges a sword - in the exact same manner?

Nesta.

"Nesta's arm arched above her, the hammer gripped in her clenched fingers. It was a dance, each of her movements timed to the ringing echo of the hammer on the blade. She pounded the sword to a music no one but she could hear."

And, is it then any coincidence that the swords Nesta created emitted "iridescent sparks" and "crackling magic"....?

Which, is also the exact same description of the Starsword when Hunt filled it with his lightning...?

However, you're probably thinking: "But Thurr was a man!"

You've also probably picked up on Thurr sounding just like Thor - the Norse God of thunder and lightning - and also a man.

But, what if history got it wrong...?

What if Thurr was instead a woman?

Because, when you look at SJM's Pinterest board for Twilight of the Gods (her rumoured next series...)

A little closer...

That's LADY THOR!

And, you can't tell me that Nesta as Lady Thor - or rather, Thurr - isn't so damn fitting (especially if we get a scene where she's leading the Valkyries into war...)

Ancestry.

Going back to that statue of Thurr, it was rather interesting that Bryce's father (Randall) likened it to Hunt - to which Bryce then joked that the statue was a "long lost relative" of Hunt's.

We know Hunt has similar lightning and thunder powers. They must have originated from somewhere, but strangely... no other character in the SJM universe possesses such power.

Unless, they haven't possessed it... yet. Given that this theory operates on the different timeline hypothesis; what if we are yet to see Nesta wield these powers, achieve her status as Thurr - and her (and Cassian's) descendant is Hunt?

Although, it is rather interesting that Hunt is said to look exactly like the statues of Thurr. If Nesta was Thurr - but this detail was twisted throughout history, replacing her with a man - what if the figure people currently know as Thurr, is Nesta and Cassian's son instead?

Is that who Hunt descends from...? (Or, could he be his father...?)

I mean... many readers have commented on the likeness between Hunt and Cassian.

And, let's not forget that Nesta and Cassian's bargain tattoo was an eight-pointed star - the symbol of the Starborn fae.

We also know that "Project Thurr," the Dusk Court, and the Starborn are seemingly all connected...

So, although it's crazy to think about, perhaps it's not out of the realm of possibility.

I'll guess we'll have to wait and see! ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

[discord-lurking]

A Statement From Former Wiki Administrator, Gaycowboyrats

Thanks to the hard work of @ninjapeach671-blog (author of the fanfic Scamson, as a completely non-subtle friend plug), Gaycowboyrats has been found and is in contact with me over Tumblr!

They've given us permission to post messages & references to their Tumblr account.

This is Emmett (they/star), or Gaycowboyrats, or @boyscoutpaladin here on Tumblr! Thank you again to Emmett for reaching out.

First, a statement on the supposedly-racist Ratehouse account:

This lines up with my own checking- the page is currently down, but as of the last archive copy I was able to see, the only movie ratings on the account were from 11/8 - 12/6, around the time the new moderators began to take over.

(Gaycowboyrats Ratehouse archive link here, for anyone who might be curious- warning for some general vile language and possible triggers):

Then, Emmett's general take on the situation:

Then, notes on some additional context I had missed:

This was really interesting, for obvious reasons. It seems that removing administrators based on alleged Ratehouse comments became a pattern.

And another reference to someone "not knowing their place." An odd reason to remove a wiki moderator. Again, we see the new moderators display a very strict sense of wiki justice and the importance they place on wiki administrator power.

Brazil86 also makes references to a new admin staff being put in place by TwoRatner, who would "debrief them and look them over."

On the link provided to the Oktobmer Ratehouse page, the comment (still up, unlike the Gaycowboyrats Ratehouse page) reads as follows:

(Ableist slur redacted).

Emmett responding to this:

This is... deeply suspicious, to say the least. This is the second time that one of the new moderators accused an old moderator of bigotry in comments on Ratehouse, specifically, and used that as a reason that they should be removed.

Then, more information on Brazil86:

Again, deeply suspicious. It seems that at the end of October, a new influx of mods came in, making sweeping changes to the landscape of the wiki before removing old mods and ultimately deleting large parts of the wiki.

Why? Is this related to Brazil86's supposed crime against the new mod team? How does this play into the new mod team's fretting about administrator account security, considering Brazil86 was removing protections from wiki pages?

Then, Emmett provided a link to the Blocked Users page of the wiki (screenshots from time of writing on December 21st, 2023):

The first block to happen after 2022 was on November 4th, 2023, where Brazil86 blocked Oktobmer for a list of problems that included "being unacceptable in terms of behavior on other sites" and "making bad faith assumptions."

After this, more blocks were performed by the new moderator team, with the exception of the blocking of MitchRiot by Gaycowboyrats on November 30th, 2023, days before they were removed.

MitchRiot, whose username is very similar to the MitchRioterer seen in an admin discussion thread (see Part 2) declaring themselves to be in charge now, then going ignored.

A simple troll creating sockpuppets to continue trolling? Maybe. Maybe MitchRiot(erer) is more involved than that. At this point, the only thing I can say for sure about this situation is that it keeps going deeper than I thought.

Unsurprisingly, SudeKK was blocked temporarily after their forum post, though the post itself remains up.

That's the situation as it stands. More could happen, who knows?

Expect the conclusion of my main series on the wiki drama tomorrow, with additional context and notes on the situation as it's changed since I started writing this series <3

[imminent-danger-came]

So I was wondering and isn't it weird that there are 10 different stone animal figurines in one photo. And we just happen to have 10 Kings of the Underworld? Could this be a hint from the creators that the woman created the 10 kings? I also noticed that there is a stone figure of a monkey. At first I thought hey it might be the same monkey figurine we were able to see up close, but no! There's a distinct difference between them. And here my question comes. Was there supposed to be 11 kings from the beginning instead of 10? (I've read your theories and they're awesome^^) And guess we'll see the fourth mythical monkey? Because if so, I can't wait :D

HEY WAIT A MINUTE.

For as much as I've stared at this screenshot I can't believe I didn't notice there was a DIFFERENT stone monkey in the background until now!

As for the 10 Kings of the Underworld, as far as my research has yielded they have no associations with animals and there isn't anything about a potential 11th King.

Now with the 3rd and 4th celestial primates, I have no idea if we'll see them! I have talked about MK potentially being the Long Armed Gibbon in the past, but it's not something I'm certain on. With writing theories you often just throw stuff out there and see if anything sticks.

HOWEVER.

Out of curiosity I did a little digging into gibbon symbolism in Chinese culture, and I found this lovely little quote:

In ancient China, gibbons were often considered being a symbol of the world of the supernatural, mysterious and remote from man's daily life. According to Taoist beliefs harking back to about 150 B.C., the occult powers of gibbons included the ability to assume human shape and to prolong their life to several hundred years. Even in later dynasties, gibbons often served as examples for the ideal human existence and were represented in numerous paintings of varying naturalism. (Gibbon Research Lab)

Now, I read "included the ability to assume human shape" and had to do a double take, because obviously that's something MK is distinctly able to do. It would help explain why MK took the form of a human child when he first meets Pigsy:

Gibbons being a symbol of the supernatural also feels very relevant to MK as a character. He wants to maintain a sense of normalcy ("Just like none of this never happened"), but that stopped the moment he picked up the staff. MK is now very separated from the daily life he used to have ("He's not even pretending to deliver noodles anymore" - "Seriously? You still think we're just some noodle delivery guy? You can't remember where we came from, and we got all this power, and you never once asked why us?").

And I just think it's neat!

[whyiseverynametakenpls]

Birthday !!

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

Genre : fluff

Tw : none

Pairing : Kanae 叶 x sibling!reader ( platonic )

Characters : Kanae, you and Kaori from your lie in April

Story : Look at what I found on twitter!

Info : The reader is quite young, and is a big fan of your lie in April

It was the morning of 4th of July, your phone buzzed incessantly with birthday messages from friends and family. You rolled out of bed, heart racing with excitement.

It was your birthday, and you felt a thrill knowing the day was all yours. As you made your way downstairs, you were greeted by the tantalizing smell of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes.

Your older brother, Kanae, was in the kitchen, flipping pancakes. "Morning, birthday kid," he said with a grin.

"Morning!" You replied, grabbing a plate and loading it with pancakes, strawberries, and whipped cream. You couldn't sit still, practically vibrating with anticipation.

After breakfast, You settled on the couch with your phone, scrolling through your Twitter feed. You came across a trending hashtag: #Kaoribirthday2024. Intrigued, you clicked on it and quickly realized something.

"Ehhh???" You shouted, your voice booming across the house. Your eyes wide, reading a tweet that displayed a screenshot from your favorite anime, with the character's birthday clearly marked as Kaori. "Kaori's birthday is today! Mine is too!" You exclaimed, your voice a mix of surprise and joy.

You jumped up and ran to find Kanae, who was tinkering with the PC in his room. "Kanae, you won't believe this!" You said, breathless with excitement.

Kanae looked up, quickly switching off the PC. "What's up?"

"You know Your Lie In April, right? The one with Kaori?" You asked, holding up your phone.

"Yeah, the sad one, right?" Kanae replied, sounding half-interested.

"Look at this," Kanae said, showing him the tweet. "Kaori's birthday is today. So is mine!"

Kanae glanced at the phone and looked back at you, a small smile tugging at his lips. "That's great, (Name)."

"I know, right? I can't believe it," You said, practically bouncing on your toes. "It's so cool! I can't believe it!"

Kanae, seeing that his younger sibling was happy, he outstretched his hand, patting you on the head. "That's neat, (Name)"

You grinned, your excitement renewed. "I still can't believe this!"

The rest of the day, you couldn't stop thinking about the coincidence. You shared the news with your friends, who were equally surprised.

Later that evening, you found Kanae in the living room, scrolling through his phone. You plopped down next to him, still buzzing from the day's excitement.

"Thanks for letting me go on about this all day," you said.

Kanae looked at you and smiled, letting out a little chuckle. "No problem, (Name). I'm glad you had a great birthday, as long as you're happy, I am too." He reached over and gave you a quick, affectionate pat on the head.

You nodded, your heart filling with joy. A smile graced your lips as he smiled back at you.

Oh how grateful you were to have him as your brother.

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

<- MASTERLIST

-> it's been like... Over 2 months since I posted?? 😭

-> My will for writing died for a bit, but then I remembered a clip of Kanae talking abt like fanfics n shit and he was like "omg yes send them to me, write whatever you want" and then it suddenly gave me writing powers

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, June 3rd - Monday, June 4th

Joyce: (trying to make sense of it) It's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it? Buffy: It's just fate, Mom. I'm the Slayer. Accept it.

~~Becoming~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Love's Cost by Jackdaw816 (Buffy/Spike, past Spike/Drusilla, T)

Lessons In Self Love by zombiesam (Buffy/Giles, Explicit)

The Powers that Were Not by eevol76vamp (AtS ensemble, Desdemona, Whistler, Betta George, not rated, violence warning)

Five Things that Never Happened to Betta George by eevol76vamp (Torchwood crossover, Betta George, not rated, warnings for violence and death)

Snow Day by Nicholas_Oliver (Andrew/Jonathan, G)

empty rooms in an empty house by belledamn (Giles/Jenny, Giles & Buffy, not rated)

Fix Me Right by MadeInGold_AfterDark (Buffy/Maggie Walsh, Explicit, non-con warning)

Un trou noir dans le coeur by Nelja (Willow/Tara, T, in French)

Ascent by ClowniestLivEver, Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Hearts In The Fog by Spikelover4ever (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

That One Time by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Like the Sands of Time by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Memorial Day by myrabeth (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Aglow by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Release (Pt. 1 of The Experiment series) by madeingold (Angel/Maggie Walsh, NC-17)

Followup Tests (Pt. 2 of The Experiment series) by madeingold (Angel/Maggie Walsh, NC-17)

Masters & Minions 4: Dies Irae - Chapter 1-8 (COMPLETE!) by MedeaBtVS (Angelus/Willow/Spike, Explicit with multiple warnings)

Party At Mosaic - Chapter 1-2 (COMPLETE!) by eevol76vamp (Spike, Beck, Betta George, Jeremy, not rated, graphic violence warning)

Apocalypse, Again? Chapter 1-34 (COMPLETE!) by RevelloDrive1630 (Buffy/Spike, Angel, Wesley, T)

Green Eyed Monster, Ch. 10 (COMPLETE!) by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

A Ripple In Time, Ch. 43-44 (COMPLETE!) by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Love Bites But So Do I, Ch. 8 (COMPLETE!) by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, )

[Images, Audio & Video]

Sketches: observational studies by artsying-ifer (Gunn, Drusilla, Cordelia, Wesley, Harmony, Lilah, Lindsey, Anya, Fred, Buffy, Faith, worksafe)

More of the shoulder angel/demon thing by aa-arttss (Faith, Kendra, worksafe)

Fanvid: I Want U by ladyofthelakes (Willow/Tara)

A sketch of Giles and Willow by mistyintherivers (worksafe)

Screenshots captioned with text posts by ofteaandsparrows (Buffy Summers, worksafe)

Screenshots captioned with text posts by ofteaandsparrows (Anya, Spike, worksafe)

Screenshots captioned with text posts by ofteaandsparrows (Spike, Buffy/Spike, mild nudity)

spike + textposts: 🌈 edition by spikespeaches (probably worksafe)

Drawing: A surfer's dream by JSBirsa (Spike, G, some nudity)

Manip: Pillow Talk by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Happy Pride month to those who celebrate by sophie_4187 (Lorne, worksafe)

A BtVS wallpaper by Sammaelus (worksafe)

Podfic: ChokolatteJedi's story Remember the Name read by pieces0fstars (Dawn & Buffy, G, character death warning)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Examples of oddly-structured exposition? by Tuxedo_Mark

Finale Anya vs. Wesley by Elphaba_92

Podcast: Investigating Angel’s episode of “Forgiving” (3.17 of AtS)

[Recs & In Search Of]

mermaiidbitch seeks fanvid recs: any fan edits of Buffy and Angel ending up together?

[Community Announcements]

Seasonal Spuffy Spring 2024 Index Post

Reduced Summer of Giles 2024 will run from 17th July 2024 until 1st August at summer_of_giles

[Fandom Discussions]

How does Sunnydale do Pride parades? by aphony-cree, lunacornfan2k24

[Reasons why Angel only appears for one scene in Season 2’s Ted] by coraniaid

Rewatching “Something Blue” and remembered how fucking much I love this exchange by ravelqueen

I so so wish the Ben/Glory connection had been explored more... by reality-schmality

Once again… poor Dawn. In Conversations with Dead People... by reality-schmality

I wish the slayer before Buffy haunted the narrative the same way that... [comparisons to other shows] by hersterical

Riley lights up Season 4 (cont'd) by xxstaindrosesxx and others

Dawn, Faith and Tara looked more like sisters than Buffy and Dawn do by jdpm1991

If you had the chance to change one major plot point from Buffy, what would you choose? by Asherware

If Buffy lasted more than 7 seasons? by matt-89

Party like it's 1999. What character are you grabbing and what are you guys doing? by sushibananawater

How would you change season 3 if it was the final season? hosted by Waarm

What scene or storyline did you find sad or moving, even though it probably wasn't intended to be that upsetting? by foreseethefuture

Philosophy of Buffy help (a question about forgiveness) by threefeetoffun and others

Oz calling Angel too Pale is ironic. by MDJokerQueen

S7 Alteration(s) by johnnyorac

Adam’s Minion in Superstar by Enough-Pen644

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

I attended San Francisco's Sunnydale Prom event! by hotpinkroadbike

James Marsters to Attend Comic Con Holland 12-13 October 2024 - via jamie_marsters

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[blackgurl028]

The Unforgettable 4th of April, 2022

In a country where corruption is the norm, where even those tasked with upholding justice exploit their power, I experienced an event that will forever linger in my memory.

I worked as a cashier in a betting shop owned by a man named Mr. Adebayo. He was an easygoing boss, though occasionally prone to bouts of anger. I had worked for him years ago without any issues, but after the COVID-19 pandemic and the long university strikes, I left to focus on my education. When I completed my exams, I decided to return to the job to save money for my school fees, rent, and other necessities.

On December 19, 2021, I resumed work. I met two of my colleagues, Anita and Chris, who had joined the team in my absence. The first month was rough. I struggled to adjust to the workload and the constant insults from customers. Although I had done the job before, I had forgotten most of the processes, so I was constantly making mistakes. Anita, noticing my struggles, took it upon herself to guide me. She patiently helped me balance accounts and taught me what I needed to know.

Eventually, I got the hang of things, and work became manageable. But there was one issue that couldn’t be ignored—Chris. He believed he was smarter than everyone else and was stealing both from the business and from customers.

The Discovery

Anita and I had noticed Chris’s behavior for a while. He would reprint betting tickets for loyal customers, like Mr. Johnson, and pocket the extra cash from the duplicate tickets. It was dishonest and infuriating. One day, I confronted Chris about his actions. He dismissed me with insults, accusing me of pretending to be righteous. We stopped speaking after that, but karma soon caught up with him.

Mr. Johnson caught Chris red-handed and stopped coming to the shop altogether. Anita and I didn’t have to expose him—his own actions betrayed him.

Chris didn’t stop there. One morning, when I went to Mr. Adebayo’s house to collect the shop keys, he told me about another incident. Chris had reprinted a POS transaction slip of ₦5,000 that Anita had processed for a customer. He used the duplicate slip to take cash from the till, effectively stealing from our boss. Mr. Adebayo showed me the slip as evidence. Anita and I weren’t surprised, as we’d never trusted Chris.

Mr. Adebayo told me not to confront Chris about the slip because he planned to address it himself. When I got to the shop, I shared the news with Anita. We dubbed it “premium content” and waited for the drama to unfold.

The Confrontation

Chris arrived late that day, looking unusually nervous. We assumed he had personal issues, but our focus remained on work. Later that evening, Mr. Adebayo came to the shop. He presented Chris with the original and reprinted POS slips, asking him to explain. Chris, unable to provide any reasonable answers, mumbled excuses. In the end, Mr. Adebayo warned him and deducted ₦10,000 from his salary as punishment.

The very next day, Saturday, I noticed something strange. I had attempted to withdraw ₦1,000 using my ATM card earlier, but the transactions failed and displayed “transaction timed out.” Later, I saw Chris using the POS machine with a card he’d taken from Anita’s locker. Alarmed, I checked my transaction history and discovered one of my earlier transactions had actually been successful. Chris had reprinted the slip and intended to steal my money.

Caught Red-Handed

I tried to inform Mr. Adebayo via WhatsApp but ran out of data. That evening, he sent me screenshots of two additional fraudulent POS slips—₦10,200 and ₦6,200—that Chris had reprinted. It was clear Chris was unrepentant. My boss decided enough was enough and had Chris arrested.

The Nightmare

On Monday, April 4, 2022, Chris unexpectedly showed up for work. Shortly after, the police arrived and took him away. Hours later, to our shock, they returned to arrest Anita and me as well. They accused us of conspiring with Chris to steal from the business.

We were thrown into a cell like common criminals. The stench was unbearable, the bathroom unsanitary, and the lack of freedom suffocating. Anita and I cried until we had no tears left. Fellow detainees tried to console us, but their words provided little comfort.

I blamed everything—the ASUU strike, the system, and myself for returning to the job. The hours dragged on endlessly. By 7 PM, Mr. Adebayo finally bailed us out. He was furious with the police for detaining us, insisting that he only wanted Chris arrested. He apologized repeatedly, but the damage had been done.

The Lesson

That day taught me harsh truths about the society we live in. Corruption and incompetence permeate every level, even in places where justice should prevail. In Nigeria, reporting a crime can feel like committing one.

It was an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but it served as a reminder to always stand for what’s right, even when the odds are stacked against you.

This is a true life story but the characters are fictional.

[kusukixcrystal]

Zen & Rika are Trapped in The MM World Part 1

I’m splitting this into 2 parts because it would just be too long. This is sort of a continuation of my “Zen is A Prince From Grass” theory and “Saeran/Ray created Another Story” posts. In one of them, I suggested the possibility that Zen is a bunny prince who is trapped in the Mystic Messenger world. In the other, I do talk about Saeran, but I added a follow-up delving into Rika, Saeyoung, and V and how Rika is trapped in the MM world, too.

In this post, I will focus mainly on establishing background information.

Pocket Universes/Dimensions

First, I have to establish that I believe that the world of MM is a pocket universe. Basically, it's a new universe completely different from a real universe. For example, characters from Nameless and Dandelion all live in a real universe. Dandelion is where the term ‘pocket universe’ first comes up in the franchise, and refers to a new universe created by The Wizard by using a large amount of his power. He did this because he wanted to be with a woman named Heejung, but couldn’t descend to Earth because he couldn’t leave his dimension. So, he created a pocket universe where he can enter it and brought Heejung along.

So, why do I think MM is a pocket universe? Well, basically pocket universes don’t operate under the same rules as a real universe. See the example I gave above with The Wizard and Heejung. In a real universe, The Wizard couldn’t physically be in her presence. In this pocket universe, it's different. Because he made it and probably established the laws of how this universe works, he physically can be with Heejung.

In my previous posts, I mention off-handedly how the MM world is ‘fabricated’ or ‘fake’. This is what I mean. It's not a ‘real universe’ but a ‘pocket universe’, operating under different rules and created by wizards.

I hope that makes sense. Now let’s get into all the signs of why MM seems to be a pocket universe.

These signs mostly manifest as the 4th wall breaks or references we see throughout the whole game. It’s not just a “hehe haha this is a videogame” thing from Cheritz. It's diegetic. No, it’s the characters literally realizing that they are living in a pocket universe. As for the references, I will go deeper into their relevance. First I will list the most relevant of these instances, and then break down why it's all important in part 2.

I won’t list all examples of 4th wall breaks, but here are some big examples:

1. Casual Story Common Route Bad-ending (4th Wall Break)

I discussed this ending extensively in another post, so I won’t get into too much detail. Basically, this ending shows how the RFA members might be machines, following an algorithm/script, and being controlled by V and Saeyoung. Yoosung says that the messenger is fake and that their only purpose is to hold the RFA parties. I also talked about how I think that V and Saeyoung are wizards who created this pocket universe. 

Just a tiny addition to this point is that Jaehee breaks the 4th wall in this ending as well. After Zen and Jaehee visit Yoosung, worried about him after he started raving about how they are machines. In the screenshot above, at first, Jaehee treated Yoosung like he was delusional, and sent him to get a mental health examination. Despite saying this, her last 3 messages indicate her true thoughts. She believes him and chastises the MC/player for getting this ending. You only get this bad ending if you either don’t participate in enough chats or don’t get enough hearts to get into a character route. Jaehee is directly telling the MC/player to choose a route next time. Some people can get this ending if they try to balance getting hearts with characters, too. That’s actually how I got this ending originally because I was indecisive and kinda wanted to see what would happen.

2. Another Story Common Route Bad-ending (4th Wall Break)

I went into detail about this one in my Saeran/Ray made Another Story post. In this ending, Saeran says that the RFA are AIs. In the surface story, this turns out to be a lie. Here in this bad ending, though, Ray talks about the RFA as if they actually are AI, even going as far as to mention Saeyoung (’that redhead’), asking if we played ‘his version’. I speculated that what he means by this is the Casual and Deep stories.

3. Dandelion and Nameless (References)

The first screenshot is from day 3 of the Casual story common route, the next 2 are from the April Fool’s DLC. 

Zen is dressed up as Jisoo from Dandelion in the first ss, which is apparently a play that is being adapted from a book. The other reference to Dandelion is in the 2nd ss, an animal hospital named Dandelion is mentioned by Jumin and Jaehee. The characters from that game were part cat/rabbits, so this ref goes deeper than just a name drop.

Nameless: The One Thing You Must Recall is referenced too. Tei’s Tea Leaf is one of the plays Zen starred in. This is a reference to Tei from Nameless, Cheritz’s game before this. (I don’t know where this is mentioned in the game). Another example is in the last screenshot, the password that Jaehee mentions is from the title of the game. There is also a big reference to Nameless in Deep Story that another Tumblr user named smol-grey-tea has brought to my attention.

The story that Jumin reads to MC directly references Nameless’ backstory, which is revealed in the true route in secret ending 2. Nameless is the character pictured above as ‘???’ and he is a stuffed bear. The scene that Jumin reads is when Eri’s grandfather buys Nameless for Eri. The person who gave this book to Jumin is Rika. I will talk about the significance of this later.

EDIT: Here’s part 2 btw