#this bao is just so hungry

[stiltonbasket]

ying-bao, desperately nomming on the fried-chicken plushie she inherited from Jingyi: (`皿´＃) she wants real meat! actual meat! flesh! not this fakey imitation!

She's crawling around the Hanshi and looking under all of the chairs, just in case her dad might have a fried chicken leg or two stashed in a box somewhere. 😭

[skenpiel]

i would genuinely kill to taste a krabby patty. but i know i never will

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in November 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats! Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Happy reading!

❓What was the last queer book you read?

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call - Jamison Shea 🧡 Snowed in With You - Reba Bale 💛 Fire Spells Between Friends - Sarah Wallace & S.O. Callahan 💚 Ho Ho Homicidal Maniac - K.A. Merikan 💙 Escape to the Sea - Alex Callan & Angelica Babineaux 💜 She's Always Hungry - Eliza Clark 💛 Phoenix Rising - Emily Hayes 💙 A Flower's Fatal Thorn - Jordan Dugdale 💜 A Sharper, More Lasting Pain - Alex Harvey-Rivas

❤️ The Librarian's Gargoyle - Evelyn Shine 🧡 Dead Girls Don't Dream - Nino Cipri 💛 Of Hoarfrost and Blood - Scarlet Tempest 💚 Judgement - Lucas Delrose 💙 Deadline for Love - Candi Tab 💜 Wake Up, Nat & Darcy - Kate Cochrane ❤️ All the Truth I Can Stand - Mason Stokes 🧡 Celia - Addison James 💛 A Diamond Bright and Broken - Holly Davis 💙 Hexed - Emily McIntire 💜 Hometown Christmas - Laura Conway 🌈 This Christmas - Georgia Beers

❤️ Suite Heart - Jade Winters 🧡 We All Fall - Arden Coutts 💛 Taiwan Travelogue - Yáng Shuāng-zǐ 💚 Pit Stop - L.M. Bennett 💙 The Damaged Hearts Bargain - Sienna Waters 💜 War of Night - Greyson Black & E. Scott Clevenger 🧡 I'll be Boned for Christmas - Katherine McIntyre 💜 All You Want for the Holidays - Quinton Li 🌈 Queer as Folklore - Sacha Coward

❤️ Time and Tide - J.M. Frey 🧡 Ghost of the Heart - Catherine Friend 💛 Flopping in a Winter Wonderland - Jason June 💚 All the Painted Stars - Emma Denny 💙 Currency in Flesh - Heather Nix 💜 I Really Do - Emily K. Hardy ❤️ Something Close to God - Erika del Carmen Ruiz 🧡 The Crack at the Heart of Everything - Fiona Fenn 💛 Undeniable You - Chelsea M. Cameron 💙 The Twice-Sold Soul - Katie Hallahan 💜 Always on My Mind - Kelsey Painter 🌈 Interstellar MegaChef - Lavanya Lakshminarayan

❤️ Don't Break Character - Jules Landry 🧡 Rani Choudhury Must Die - Adiba Jaigirdar 💛 Remnants of Filth: Yuwu - Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou 💚 Sugar, Spice, and Christmas Nice - Anne Hagan 💙 The Wishing Tree - Barbara Winkes 💜 Love on Moonlight Lake - Adriana Sargent ❤️ Mistletoe Motel - Lise Gold 🧡 The Royal They - KJ Sinclair 💛 My So-Called Family - Gia Gordon 💙 Frosted by the Girl Next Door - Aurora Rey & Jaime Clevenger 💜 The Star-Crossed Empire - Maya Darjani 🌈 A Hard Fit - Jennifer Moffatt

❤️ The Sacred Heart Motel - Grace Kwan 🧡 Leap - Simina Popescu 💛 I Dare You - Regena Mercy 💚 Love Lessons - Mary Ellen Capek 💙 Afterglow - Emily Antoinette 💜 In the Back Row With You - Natasha West ❤️ Make Room for Love - Darcy Liao 🧡 Here Goes Nothing - Emma K. Ohland Just for the Holidays - Micah Carver

❤️ Cookies, Candles, and Cute Butts for Christmas - Cameron D. James & Cali Kitsu 🧡 Objects in Mirror - N.W. Downs 💛 Sleigh Bells Ring - Alyson Root 💚 Real Tree / Fake Boyfriend - Ree Thomas 💙 Out of the Storm - Logan Sage Adams 💜 Hungry Heart - Jem Milton ❤️ A Wild and Ruined Song - Ashley Shuttleworth 🧡 Beneath Her Power - Margaux Fox 💛 Thanks for Listening - Molly Horan 🌈 The Lotus Empire - Tasha Suri

❤️ Naughty November - Anthology 🧡 Hearts and Stars - Phoenix Kathryn 💛 Guarding Her Gangster Queen - Persephone Black 💚 The Shadow Spinner - Eric Kao 💙 Black, Queer, and Untold - Jon Key 💜 Hall of Shadows - Mariah Stillbrook ❤️ The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso 🧡 A Crimson Covenant - Aimee Donnellan 💛 Isaac - Curtis Garner 💙 Vineyard Dreams - Carol Wyatt 💜 Kiss of Death - Bryony Rosehurst 🌈 The Many Mistakes of Amy Love - RA Hunter

❤️ Accidentally in Love - Kimberly Cooper Griffin 🧡 Unwrapped - D. Jackson Leigh 💛 Hot Honey Love - Nan Campbell 💚 Havoc for the Holidays - Jay Leigh 💙 London - Patricia Evans 💜 Fatal Foul Play - David S. Pederson ❤️ The Gift of Us - Abigail Taylor 🧡 Upon the Midnight Queer - 'Nathan Burgoine 💛 The Christmas Pic - Rena Sapon-White & Ella Schaefer 💙 Seducing Scylla - Lex Logan 💜 Fated Winds and Promising Seas - Rose Black 🌈 A Surprise For The Holidays - Anna Sparrows

❤️ Immortal Hunger - KL Bone 🧡 Love and Loyalty - Emily Hayes 💛 A Kingdom of Lies - Ben Alderson 💚 Christmas Dreams - Carol Wyatt 💙 Wrecked for the Holidays - Kerry Kilpatrick ❤️ Not for the Faint of Heart - Lex Croucher 🧡 Phoenix Found - T.J. Nichols 💛 Room for Two - Rochelle Wolf 💙 The Long Winter of Miðgarðr - Edale Lan 💜 A Handyman for the Holidays - Valerie Gomez 🌈 Sundown in San Ojuela - M.M. Olivas

[quitealotofsodapop]

Hey, what about the freenoodles pregnancy water baby? Are we going anywhere with that or is that au dead?

ah yes the #mother child river Tang au

I did create it as a silly au idea to give freenoodles some attention.

I feel like it if it happened during the Soft Boiled au, Wukong would be bent over laughing at the irony! Yuebei would also laugh once the realisation hits her. Yuebei becomes more of Bao's big sister-figure in the Soft Boiled au, the little girl happily braiding the monkey's long curly fur as she oinks and babbles about her day. Yuebei thinks "mini-Bajie" is super-cute. <3

If the Eclipse Twins are there (like my idea of Macaque accidentally bringing them back from Diyu or the Penumbra au or any other au), then they're happily perched on Tang's shoulders like attack monkeys - ready to bite whoever comes close to their dear troop-uncle.

In the case of aus like TMKATI or the Post Jttw au; it would be hilarious if Bao was still a completely accidental baby. Stuff is going on! Tang and Pigsy aren't really bothered about having a kid in all this mess, just as long as they can stay safe. Also they were feeling a little broody seeing the monkeys with all their happy cubs...

Baby Bao is still a chubby round potato of a piglet. Preemie like Yuebei (something which Wukong comforts and advises the parents over), and a bit fragile, but overall just hungry and grunting at anything that annoys her. Except dearest Gege - MK has never even heard a cross oink when he holds his baby sister. Tang jokes that Bao already has hero-worship of her big brother.

Bao also has very strong opinions on cooking like her Baba Pigsy. Her picky-food-stage was Diyu-on-earth.

Pigsy: "C'mon angel, just eat some carrots. You don't have to finish all of them." Bao, in her high-chair: "No!" Pigsy: "Sweetheart, carrots are really good for you." Bao, sticks out tongue: "Bleh!" Pigsy: "They make your eyesight better!" Bao, thinking: "Urm..." Pigsy, whispers: "Do you want to wear glasses like Tangy does?" Bao: (*finishes eating her carrots with no more fuss*) Pigsy, triumphant: "Got ya. Now to work on getting you to eat all the other vegetables..."

Thankfully the little girl loves pumpkins and sweet potatoes, so Pigsy only really needs to hide a few in the mash to trick Bao into eating her greens. Oddly enough she also loves maple syrup (cicada habit).

[attonposting]

Presenting: A Mostly Complete Breakdown of the KotOR II Crew's Relationships With Each Other

(Assuming a LS Exile, a dollop of headcanon, and a lot of reading time)

Kreia

Kreia and Atton: Of all the crewmate dynamics in the game, this one's the most well-explored, with a particularly glorious smattering of high-grade explosives. What's maybe less apparent is why they hate each other. Atton's part is straightforward; his demeanor towards Kreia starts out the same abrasive, pseudo-hostile that's his default. It sours further when she talks down to him and acts like a holier-than-thou Jedi, but he'll still interact with her willingly. And it bottoms out into murderous, trapped loathing at the Telos academy, where Kreia becomes his slavemistress and he avoids her whenever possible, desperately hungry to lash out but terrified of her retribution.

Why does Kreia hate Atton so much, though? It starts out because he's an irreverent bastard, but I think it comes down to two main reasons. Number one is that he reminds her of Sion, her worst student. They're a pair of stubborn, sadistic, infatuated blockheads who took all the wrong lessons from Malachor and run about with their oversimplified conclusions causing destruction for no purpose but its own sake. Most importantly, what Atton shirks and what Kreia embraces is accountability. Kreia believes in ownership of one's choices to the point that she can't accept redemption – wanting to change, admitting you were wrong - as an honest decision. Atton? Atton doesn't believe in redemption either, but that's because he fuckin' bails rather than own up to anything. And when Kreia uncovers that, how he cowers from his own nature, her scorn is boundless.

Reason two is that Kreia would have rather traveled with the Exile alone, shaping them in isolation of other influences. Atton is the first spanner in this plan. Later on it becomes clear that the Force has designs for the Exile, and that their entourage is simply something she must contend with, but Atton still gets the short end of the stick here because he's one of the companions who wants to get close to the Exile, especially if they're a lady. And the possibility of Atton, who is a lesson in doing everything wrong, influencing the Exile? Not on her watch.

Kreia and Bao-Dur: Bao-Dur is one of the crewmates Kreia hates most, though not through any fault of his own. He defies her probing (she really doesn't like it if she learns he actually can be read, just not by her), and she also dislikes the old and powerful connection he has with the Exile, because anyone who can mold the Exile, or who they'll turn to for support, fundamentally undermines her mentorship. Bao-Dur is neutral to Kreia at first but comes to distrust her the more he overhears. Her guidance to the Exile sets off a lot of red flags, but he doesn't really feel prompted to act on it unless the Exile starts listening to her – whereupon he'll incorrectly blame his General's fall on Kreia and attempt to act in their protection.

Kreia and Mira: Kreia doesn't particularly see Mira as a threat compared to many of the others. A foolish little girl clinging to a code that will get her killed, yes. But she's not an obstacle to her plans for the Exile, being as standoffish as she is, and so Kreia leaves her to her own devices, biding her time for the day she'll be tested. Mira is very wary of Kreia without fully understanding why – looks harmless, but Mira's good at feeling people and Kreia gives her all kinds of bad vibes – so she keeps a wide berth. Any conversations they've had have been very short and very acerbic on both sides.

Kreia and Brianna: This gets really complicated if you ascribe to the 'Kreia is Arren Kae' theory, which I do. It would certainly explain why Kreia's hackles go up when Brianna joins the crew, when the connection to Atris and later her antipathy for Visas is something she makes liberal use of, and also why she's so disapproving of training Brianna to be a Jedi when she expresses very little opinion on the subject for anyone else. There might be a smidgen of an old desire to keep her out of harm's way (and even moreso, to remain free of the Force and its machinations), but Kreia refuses to allow whatever feelings remain influence her decisions – and she throws Brianna right into harm's way when she uses her at the rebuilt Enclave and drops her off at a freshly-unhinged Atris's feet. That right there kills any nascent thoughts I might have had of Kreia approaching Brianna for any constructive reason during their earlier travels. Before everything goes down, I don't see them crossing paths much – Kreia has an especial desire to keep her distance and Brianna is not one to socialize.

Kreia and Mical: There is not a lot of interaction that can happen when you've been mindwhammied into forgetting the other person exists. I don't think Mical knew Kreia was on the ship at all until the game's climax, even when he was looking right at her. Kreia has an interesting opinion on Mical, though. She definitely disdains his idealism and softheartedness, but I think she does respect him in a backhanded way – he's the only one who managed to figure out what was happening, and actually forced her hand in order to keep the game afoot. I certainly read a sort of admiration in “you were a wasted pawn of the Republic,” and that's more than anyone else on the crew gets out of Kreia.

Kreia and Visas: So Kreia resents Visas, a lot. She did not want the Exile to have to face Nihilus, and Visas's arrival locked that very dangerous confrontation in stone. She adapts her plans quite successfully, because she's nothing if not resourceful, but Kreia's attempts to prey on Brianna's distrust and inflame her jealousy have nothing to do with any threat Visas presents. I think it also comes back to her scorn for both weakness and redemption; if Visas was weak enough to have her will crushed, she doesn't deserve to be lifted up, and the Exile only wastes their limited energy on a pity project. On her end, Visas is a remarkably mellow individual, but Kreia is the one person on the ship she does not trust. The others are clear presences through the Force, even drawn towards the Exile's alignment as they are. When she looks at Kreia, her sight is... blurred. Difficult to see. And her Master had spoken of his own Master, a Darth Traya...

Kreia and Canderous: I doubt Kreia sees Canderous as anything more than one of Revan's creatures, broken upon their charisma and following their orders in vain. She's generally pretty uninterested in any of the crewmates beyond their potential uses, but her treatment of Canderous is especially dismissive in that she doesn't even care if he sees her for what she is. I find her general scorn of the Mandalorians interesting, given that they do espouse a lot of the philosophy she shares in-game – they have a sink-or-swim ideology that eschews aid and forces each member to survive on their own merits, always seeking adversity to become strong lest they dull their edge, without falling into the Sith trap of self-destruction through infighting. I guess they're not subtle enough for her tastes. Canderous hates her for the same reason Atton does – she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was manipulating him, just nailed him to the wall on day one. Even if she hadn't been so blatant, I doubt Canderous has much trust for Jedi-types lying around after the plot twist of the first game. Revanchists, he's totally game to hang out and swap war stories, but Kreia's more of the 'preachy old crone in robes' breed of Jedi and he remembers what happened the last time he trusted those.

Kreia and T3-M4: Oh boy, but Kreia does not like the metal cinnamon roll. She's got issues with her students having attachments to people that aren't her, and she already dislikes droids for their immunity to mental alteration and probing. Which is actually intensely hypocritical of her, since she otherwise praises things that are dead to the Force and can defy its will – but I suppose it's less laudable when the Force in question is her own. Same as how Kreia praises focusing on practical skills rather than the Force, yet apart from her persuasion has few of her own, which is why these droids can defy her so. Add in that it's T3's navicomputer lock that's preventing Kreia from discovering where Revan has gone, and it's no surprise she blasts him in the cut content. For T3's part, he's never liked the old woman – she's very rude, yes, but more important is the question of how exactly Kreia got on the ship in the first place. How and when, I don't know, but she definitely hijacked T3's ship at some point and interrupted his Very Important Mission. Even if their goals ended up being aligned, T3 has issues with people who think they don't have to ask for his permission.

Kreia and HK-47: For this one, we're back to Kreia's refusal to view droids as people. In her eyes, HK-47 is yet another one of the tools Revan lavished their time on in a meaningless sidetrack from their true potential. Unlike T3, though, HK doesn't present an ongoing obstacle, just a blunt instrument and an irritating reminder of her former student's proclivities. HK, for his part, frequently occupies his processors with potential scenarios where he could terminate the old-model meatbag without compromising his Master's integrity. The unusually strong Force bond presents an altogether new challenge for his assassination protocols and he's eager to overcome fresh obstacles – for purely hypothetical purposes, of course.

Atton

Atton and Bao-Dur: They tolerate each other, which is as good as things get with Atton. It's a sort of wary, untapped understanding that they've both done some shit and don't want to talk about it, and they've kind of got a personal issue with the other's war crimes (and that sure is a KotOR II sentence) but don't think it's worth it to drag it out. It could warm up into something friendlier if they ever hashed out an understanding – they have some crucial things in common and could really get each other in a way most of the crew couldn't – but it would take something big to get that talk to happen. Apart from the history, Bao-Dur thinks Atton is ridiculous and Atton thinks Bao-Dur is a stick in the mud and a gearhead, but they do trust each other to have the General's back. And that's the most important thing to both of them, so they get along all right.

Atton and Mira: They snipe at each other constantly, and get into more verbal brawls than anyone else, since they're both pretty chatty and not afraid to insert themselves into other people's business. But their relationship isn't as hostile as it looks from the outside, even if it has involved stolen equipment and at least one minor sonic charge being planted on the pilot's seat. They annoy the hell out of each other, but Atton is about as fond of Mira as he is of anyone who isn't the Exile. She's relatable without the traits that make him despise himself, and when they're on the job, the two of them often end up backing the same strategy, or spouting very unintentionally synchronized “oh, kriff no”s to someone else's, despite having no actual desire to agree with each other.* And Mira thinks Atton's an idiot, but he's a familiar kind of idiot, and he's good for a laugh (read: easy to wind up and create some on-demand performance art.)

(*For posterity's sake, group strategizing usually slices out like this: Atton, Mira, and Visas on Team Sneaky Fuckers; Brianna, Canderous, and HK-47 on Team Why Don't We Just Light The Place Up; and Mical and very occasionally Bao-Dur on Team I Am Very Concerned You Would Suggest That. Kreia would be a Sneaky Fucker but refuses to provide positive reinforcement to any of these cretins. Poor T3's contributions go nearly unnoticed due to half the crew not understanding Binary. G0-T0 vacillates between Sneaky Fuckery and systemic elimination of all obstacles depending on the situation, and for Hanharr, do you even have to ask?)

Atton and Brianna: They openly hate each other. Brianna thinks Atton is undisciplined and uncouth, Atton thinks the Handmaiden's a self-righteous bitch. The reason they really loathe each other instead of the usual 'just thinks that person is really annoying' is because they don't trust each other to have the Exile's best interests at heart – Atton thinks she's a spy and Brianna thinks he's a slimy, lying opportunist, and if she learns who he really is, that's going to get five times worse. Both of them have fantasized about kicking the other's ass at length, but Brianna has too much discipline to start a fight and Atton's worried that he might not come out on top. Killing her would be easy, but an honorable duel with a crazy Echani ice queen who spends every waking hour boxing air in her skivvies? No thanks.

Atton and Mical: Atton despises Mical on principle. Everything Mical does infuriates him, no matter how innocuous. Mical needs help in a firefight? Useless fop, don't know why we let him tag along. Mical heals Atton afterwards? Pushy asshole thinks he's better than me. Mical asks Atton to pass him the salt at breakfast? Get it yourself, you needy bastard. Mical looks in the Exile's direction? Die in a fire, Blondie. He drags him endlessly, coming up with a stream of excuses to hate him when the reality of it is that Atton's pissed that Mical is a better person than him in every single way, and has decided to react to that by resenting his existence rather than, y'know, trying to improve himself at all.

On the other side, Mical dislikes Atton - it would be very strange if he didn't - but he's patient and diplomatic, rarely rising to the bait and occasionally extending olive branches (which only serve to make Atton angrier and more unreasonable.) He wants Atton to work out his issues, because that in turn would be best for the Exile who cares for all of them, and also because he hopes that it might get him to improve his behavior. Of course, it'd be much simpler to drop Atton off on the next planet, but unfortunately he's already ruled out the possibility.

Atton and Visas: They don't interact much. Visas doesn't have any particular feelings about Atton; she trusts him because his feelings towards the Exile are clear and that's the only metric that matters to her. Atton doesn't care that she was Sith, it becomes obvious by like three days in that she's not a threat and the Handmaiden's full of it – it's her servility that creeps him out. It's that Jedi tendency to act like drones instead of people. He doesn't know what to do with that (he does, knows a lot about how to crack open their shells, but not in any way he wants to remember), so he keeps his distance. The sad thing about this is that they do have some big things in common; they're ex-Sith who lost all hope in the galaxy only to have it restored by the Exile, who they'd gladly die for because they don't value their own lives and because the Exile is so much greater than they could ever be. But I can't realistically see Atton taking his walls down for that conversation to happen. Visas can talk about her feelings but keeps to herself; Atton reacts to emotional honesty like a wet cat.

Atton and Canderous: Pretty hostile. Atton's not as overt about it as Bao-Dur (since his hate congealed in a different direction), but he has any veteran's grudge against the Mandalorians and doesn't love the idea of them reorganizing. Canderous has a thick hide when it comes to trading jabs, but he's less tolerant of anyone shit-talking his people and their honor, and you can bet Atton has made plenty of snipes from the relative safety of the Exile's favor. Atton eventually ends up crawling to the Exile to bail him out after Canderous calls him out on his bullshit and challenges him to throw hands, because he could kick Atton's ass in a brawl and Atton fully knows this but will not admit it.

Atton and T3-M4: T3-M4 has done nothing wrong in his life, ever, and Atton is proof that there is no fairness in the galaxy. T3 retaliates by inconveniencing Atton in endlessly small ways – colliding with him while he's carrying food, tweaking his laundry cycle to singe his clothes, constantly changing the astrogation system's access codes. And, of course, baiting him into pazaak only to crush him with his superior logic matrices. Atton brought all of this on himself and T3 would strongly consider stopping if Atton would only apologize and admit he has been very rude and mean. He doesn't.

Atton and HK-47: A flaming mess. Atton distrusts T3-M4, who is a cinnamon roll with a shock arm; now take his irrational hatred of droids, add in psychotic programming and an expressed desire to murder everyone on board, and you can be sure he's sleeping with his door locked. This is made worse because while HK-47 also hates Atton, he's very interested in his past as a fellow assassin and Jedi-hunter – irritated that Atton seems to have fallen prey to that insidious meatbag disease known as 'regret', but he has no desire to respect those boundaries and is highly curious about comparing their tactics and K-D ratios. Mostly because HK wants to express his clear superiority over his meatbag imitators, but also because there may be an opportunity to refine his craft. (If we're dealing with a DS Atton, they still hate each other, but it's because Atton is as disgusted by the idea of a droid doing his job as HK is of him. But you can expect a lot more open debate of torture tactics at the breakfast table.)

Bao-Dur

Bao-Dur and Mira: They don't have an awful lot in common, but they interact well enough. It's part because Bao-Dur is the king of the garage and Mira spends plenty of time in there, and part because Mira likes to poke people to see how they'll react (and at first, she really wants to know if the beefcake Zabrak does talk or if he just tinkers in the droid bay all day looking like a snack.) Bao-Dur's a wallflower but he can sass back with the best of them when prodded, and he's gotten involved with Mira's maintenance more than once - enough for Mira to grudgingly respect that damn, she runs a tight ship with her equipment but this guy knows what he's talking about.

Bao-Dur and Brianna: Unfortunately I can't really see these two coming together outside the field. They both keep to themselves in their spare time, and neither of them are the type to initiate conversations, so most of their talks have purely been strategy or reacting to situations as they happen. They're both pretty practical and goal-oriented people, so they don't clash. The one place these two intersect is Telos – Brianna is actually very impressed with Bao-Dur's work and considers him singularly skilled. If she expressed that, things might warm up a bit, though Bao-Dur definitely has some not-so-charitable thoughts about why a Jedi Master was sitting around stealing power from Telos's already strained grid instead of helping with the restoration efforts in any way.

Bao-Dur and Mical: They get on quite well. Bao-Dur's more of an introvert while Mical likes to strike up conversations, but they're the two most Republic-positive people on the Hawk and they're both appreciative of the other's work, which is a good foundation. Mical definitely has questions about Bao-Dur's extensive experience with Telos on his studies of worlds sickened by the Wars, which is a topic Bao-Dur has a direct interest in – he'd hoped to branch out before the Telos Project started going sour. They've had plenty of problem-solving brainstorming sessions, even if their musings in their respective fields tend to go way over the other's head. I was also gonna bring up that they both think the world of the Exile and find endless inspiration in their actions, but that's kind of true for everyone in KotOR II: The Simp Lords. Still, it's those two and Visas who are the least afraid about expressing it.

Bao-Dur and Visas: They go for a long time without crossing paths, but they've got plenty in common – they're fundamentally gentle people who struggle with feelings of despair and anger borne of PTSD, and they both appreciate solitude to center themselves without actually having a real desire to self-isolate. I could see them taking up a companionable silence one day on the Hawk while the others are off adventuring, and in time coming to meditate or simply exist together. They've both got a planet's worth of trauma on their shoulders and they could forge a strong connection if one of them ever reached out.

Bao-Dur and Canderous: Bad, bad, bad. Bao-Dur's deal is self-explanatory – he hates the Mandalorians with an all-consuming fervor, to the point where he's uncomfortable with himself, and Mandalore's presence on the ship just drags it all out into the open. And Canderous doesn't understand this, or the depths of Bao-Dur's PTSD; he sees a skilled warrior who was instrumental in his people's defeat, which he's been taught not to personally resent. So, y'know, there's nothing stopping him from dropping by and striking up a chat between two old warriors. And he figures out real quick that Bao-Dur's the type that holds a grudge, but I don't think he can really grasp just how deep it goes. In Canderous's world, if you've got a problem, you brawl it out. Bao-Dur could only begin to find common ground with a Mandalorian if he was shown some remorse, which just isn't going to happen. Now make it not just any Mandalorian but their leader, this symbol for everything he despises, who loudly intends to reunite his scattered thugs and murderers for the next great war? Yeah. It's bad.

Bao-Dur and T3-M4: They have a rocky start, since T3 really doesn't like that suggestion of a memory wipe. But Bao-Dur's not going to press if this mouthy Astromech is that opposed to it, and if I had to peg one guy on the KotOR II Hawk who sees droids as fully-fledged people, it's gonna be him every time. The Remote talks up Bao-Dur enough for T3 to trust him with some maintenance, and it leads to a gorgeous heat sink on his processors and the smoothest treads of his life. It doesn't take long for Bao-Dur to become T3's favorite, second to the Exile. T3 repeatedly rants to Bao-Dur about all the incredibly annoying and illogical things the organics on this ship get up to. Bao-Dur chuckles, agrees with everything, and never breathes a word of it to anyone else.

Bao-Dur and HK-47: HK-47 is a one-of-a-kind piece of machinery, but Bao-Dur could really do without the cutting remarks. If he has to hear 'Insincere Placation' one more time, he's kicking him out of the garage. And if it's not the disparaging comments about his skills as a mechanic, it's the frankly disturbing homicidal musings. Bao-Dur wonders if programming a droid to be this single-mindedly murderous constitutes abuse. HK, for his part, does come to respect Bao-Dur's skills, and has very good reason to fear self-proclaimed mechanics after a low-repair amnesiac Revan did unspeakable things with a hydrospanner. But his friendly musings about the laudable efficiency of the slaughter at Malachor V and the truly impressive galactic implications of all that death did not produce the enlightening discussion he'd hoped for.

Mira

Mira and Brianna: Mira first saw the Handmaiden from afar when she was stalking the Exile on Nar Shaddaa. They meet properly when Mira's poking around the ship, and okay, yeah, Mira sees why this girl fought like a dancer with that electrostaff – she spends all her time training. Like, does she even know what fun is? An intervention is necessary. In her efforts to get the Handmaiden out of her shell, Mira drags her out of the cargo hold for anything she can think of – the latest gossip on the Ebon Hawk, girl talk, drinks, blaster practice, an improvised dartboard with a picture of Kreia taped over it. Brianna really doesn't know what to do with this attention at first, and she's very put off. But Mira refuses to let her be awkward, and... even if all these customs are foreign to her, she finds she does enjoy being sought out? By the end of the game, those two are tight-knit. Mira's eventually the one who teaches Brianna how sarcasm works, something which Brianna wields with terrifying precision.

Mira and Mical: Mira's decent enough to the guy, but with a distinctly condescending flair. The Disciple is like a pet, maybe – cute, harmless, and doesn't do anything useful as far as she can tell. Well, that's not strictly true, because he's good for getting Atton to act like a ronto in heat, but she doubts the Exile keeps him on for that. They've squabbled before on missions when Mical had an issue with laying out a minefield on civilian turf (they were just flashbangs and stunners, dammit, what does he take her for?) or thought talking to a bunch of crime kingpins would work. Still, he's nice to look at if you can tune him out.

Mira and Visas: Mira tries to draw this one out of her shell, too, but with much less success. It's part because Brianna really hates Visas and Mira doesn't get their Jedi crap enough to work out whatever this spat is, so Girls' Night dies before it ever has a chance to become tradition. The other half is because Visas barely reacts to anything Mira does – she'll never refuse her company, but she seems indifferent to everything Mira tries to engage her with. It makes Mira sad, and also really uncomfortable, and she eventually gives up for fear that she's just dragging around someone who doesn't know how to say no to her. (This wasn't strictly the case. Visas is terrible at enforcing boundaries, but she generally didn't mind – just didn't really understand what was expected of her. Aimless chatter is a luxury she had to relearn. On the whole, just being on this ship that teemed with life and determination instead of draining them was often enough for her, and she spent many hours feeling and observing the others from afar.) But Mira doesn't stop watching Visas, and she's relieved when other members of the crew, and of course their fearless leader, connect with her in their own ways.

Mira and Canderous: Man, this one gets complex. Mira loves to pretend that she's over her past, and she's super not. The Mandalorians are the only family she remembered. It was screwed up on a lot of levels and she understands that better now than she did then, but... she knew who she was when she was one of them. Dreamed of being one for real someday, before Malachor ended everything. So finding the hidden enclave on Dxun stirred up a lot of mixed feelings. She keeps her distance from Canderous, but she's drawn to him anyway. It's Mandalore, a legend brought to life, of course she's curious – that's normal, right? And maybe one day he offhandedly comments that she handled something like a Mandalorian, and it means the world to her and she's not prepared for it, at all, and she tries to play it cool but ends up spilling that she halfway was one. And they swap stories for a long time after that. She doesn't take him up on his offer of returning to Dxun with him, but she feels a sense of completion, maybe closure, that it was made. Canderous obfuscates it, because no one will accuse him of going soft, but he's fond of that girl. She's got real fight in her.

Mira and T3-M4: For a while, they don't really interact, but Mira's eagle eye eventually catches that many of the inconvenient accidents on board the Hawk coincide with a little Astromech whirring by moments before disaster. Which is concerning, but also really funny, given that the usual butt of the joke is either Atton or HK-47. So she does what she does best and gets involved – either she gets a piece of the action or she's busting his operation. T3 promptly pops out eight pieces of weaponry she didn't realize a utility droid could have mounts for, wheels her over to a holoscreen, leverages her right back with the secret stash she keeps under the docking ramp panel, and recruits her wholesale. Everyone those two dislike proceeds to have a very frustrating week. She doesn't understand Binary, so they can only ever talk when T3 plugs himself in and types, but damn, Mira thought she had a mouth but that droid is sassy. Scrappy little fucker runs the ship from the shadows - she's staying on his good side.

Mira and HK-47: Mira tries very hard to pretend that HK doesn't unnerve the hell out of her. She's seen those things in action and she's not entirely convinced this one isn't a plant that's going to drill them in the back once some unknown trigger is tripped. HK-47 is deeply offended by the accusation – less that he would murder them all if he could, and more that Mira can't recognize how his abundance of personality and far more intimidating looks set him apart from his mass-produced copycats.

Brianna

Brianna and Mical: In-game, they can't ever interact, but I like to imagine that all six of the Lost Jedi come along with the Exile. These two have an awkward start – she's a soldier trained not to question while he's a historian who does nothing but. Mical has some questions about Atris that'll get Brianna's hackles up, and she'll want nothing to do with him for a while after that. But as she travels with the Exile, she'll come to realize that he's right; Atris's actions run counter to her spoken principles, and the Exile is a truer expression of the Jedi teachings despite having been cast from the Order. They'll coalesce most post-game, when Brianna sets aside her single-minded dedication to combat to become an archivist. Mical has plenty of interest in helping her with Atris's salvaged collection and disseminating the information within.

Brianna and Visas: Visas is demure and respectful – Brianna bites her head off every time she speaks up. It's a mess. Brianna's been raised with an incredibly black-and-white, fear-based set of views on the Jedi. There's no redemption for Sith in Atris's academy, only punishment and execution. The Exile skated by Atris's conditioning with their Force magnetism, and to a lesser extent, their similarities to Yusanis – Visas is not so lucky. Brianna's jealousy isn't strictly romantic in nature, though. The way I see it, it has more to do with her deep-seated feelings of abandonment and never being good enough no matter how hard she works. She thought she and the Exile were forging something special, that the Exile saw something in her that no one else had (and maybe that was even true, maybe she does have potential), and then they went off to gallivant with a Sith. She feels cheapened, replaced – maybe even scorned, if the Exile sees her the same way, as something broken and wrong to be fixed. And she can justify it to herself with what Atris taught her instead of actually confronting her own feelings. So it becomes a mantra: Visas is a Sith, she cannot be trusted, and all the time the Exile spends with her is time for her to sink her hooks into their mind.

I would like to think, on a LS run (as a mirror to what happens on a DS one), when Kreia tricks Brianna into despair and she subsequently discovers Atris's corruption, that Brianna has an epiphany – that she was watching for enemies in the wrong places, and that Atris's teachings had blinded her to what was evident in Visas's stance, if only she'd been able to accept what she saw. And by the time they band together on Malachor, they've buried the hatchet. Visas accepts this heartfelt apology readily – she never held a grudge even when Brianna was snarling at her daily. Post-game they become quite close. They understand plenty about what it means to dedicate yourself to someone out of desperation and out of inspiration, and they more than anyone else on the crew share the Exile lifting them up and setting them free. And they share their strengths – Brianna passes on her knowledge of combat now that she's ready to set it aside, and at her behest, Visas spends the time to teach her to see through the Force so that she'll never be blinded to others' hearts again.

Brianna and Canderous: Brianna's wary of Mandalore and disagrees stridently with him on philosophy – they agree on fealty and discipline, but discussing the purpose of combat has led to some raised voices and a few worried (or popcorn-crunching) eavesdroppers. But they do respect each other as fellow warriors. They've sparred a few times, even if Canderous refused to remove his raiment in a minor bit of tradition-crossroads. Canderous even lost a round or two, which he is damn impressed by but privately worries about for weeks later. He's getting old.

Brianna and T3-M4: Brianna largely ignores T3-M4. This is probably a good thing, since T3 holds a grudge from when she stole the Ebon Hawk and delivered him to Atris, where he had a very unpleasant time of things. He was not happy to see her board the ship yet again, and kept a close optic on her for a while. Eventually he decided she was unlikely to repeat offend, and she at least doesn't make a mess of the ship like some organics, but the beeps and boops he uses to address her are not especially polite ones.

Brianna and HK-47: Brianna cannot fathom why the Exile reactivated the assassin droid, and once it starts talking, she really doesn't understand why they keep it around. This is mostly because it's clearly a psychotic tool of war, the kind of single-mindedly bloodthirsty creation Atris always accused the Exile of being, and its company is... unbefitting for the hero she's come to know. But also, and she stubbornly refuses to admit this to herself, she's frustrated that the Exile thinks they need more firepower on the battlefield. Isn't she good enough for them?

Mical

Mical and Visas: They get along very well. They start interacting early on, when Visas first joins the crew and has all kinds of old untreated injuries that need tending. After the medbay visits taper off, the meditation visits start. Mical's curious about Sith philosophy and techniques and Visas is pretty much the most tailor-fitted discussion partner the galaxy could have possibly given him on those topics. Visas is dubious of Mical's own views, particularly that he clings to them when he's seen so many things that undermine them and readily admits this, but over her travels with the Exile comes to appreciate his steadfast optimism more. They're both very gentle people and Mical could do wonders in shoring up Visas's lost faith – a favor Visas pays back in full when Kreia betrays the team and leaves Mical to the horrifying realization that the Force is decaying around the Exile. She feels his distress and seeks him out, invites him to meditate together as he so often approached her, and repeats the words he always insisted upon – no matter how fraught it seems, there is always hope.

Mical and Canderous: When Mandalore joins the team, Mical's immediate concern is the Exile's mental health. Bao-Dur has clearly been doing poorly since Dxun and it's hardly a secret the Exile shares much of the same trauma. He keeps to the background and watches carefully, his own few interactions with the man being brusque and dismissive. Carth is... concerned, to say the least, when Mical reports of a new Mandalore; it gets interesting when Mical's next transmission contains some footage. Much like the player, it doesn't take Carth long to pick up on the fact that Mandalore's voice is just Canderous's through some filters. This is how poor Mical ends up as the go-between between two old frenemies, passing notes back and forth like he's stuck at the middle desk. That said, he's greatly relieved that their Mandalorian contact is on the up and up; he would not question the Exile's decisions, but did worry about what might come of them until it became clear this was all the work of the Force.

Mical and T3-M4: They first met when Mical requested to see the records of the Exile's trial. T3-M4 was wary of the request, but organics who are actually courteous to utility droids are a rarity, and Mical eventually won him over without having to fetch the Exile for proof. Once T3 finds out that Mical has connections with Carth Onasi, they're fast friends and occasional coworkers, though there's a bit of friction involved because you know Carth would have told him to fish for any information on Revan's whereabouts, and T3 can't talk, as much as he'd like to reunite his old (and new!) friends.

Mical and HK-47: Of all the unfortunate meatbags HK-47 must share the ship with, it is the Republic one who clearly has the least merit. He has tried to convince his Master why a bit of target practice is necessary to keep his assassination protocols from degrading in the monotony of hyperspace travel, but for some reason truly unparseable to his processors, he has repeatedly been denied on this front. On Mical's part, HK-47 is a firm reminder of Darth Revan's character whenever his musings about their war strategy start becoming too favorable.

Visas

Visas and Canderous: It's so wild to me that I would have never known anything was here at all, if those legends over at TSLRCM hadn't brought back all of those Visas-Canderous interactions on the Ravager. Like, Visas forcing him to keep on fighting after a gravely wounded Canderous tells them to leave him behind, that he's not useful anymore... Hello?? My girl came full circle???

I don't know how much these two coincided before the end of the game, because they are exceptionally different people. Visas tends to hang in the background, and I doubt Canderous spared the Miraluka in the aft dorm that much thought beyond “damn, they make Sith different than they used to.” But there are no words to express how Visas felt when destiny called them back to Telos and not a single one of the crew balked in the face of her Master – and nowhere did that sentiment land harder than Canderous, who mustered an army to stop a second Katarr and walked with her to face her nightmare in person. (It wasn't for a lack of will on the others' part, and I suspect many of them were strident about wanting to join. In a lot of cases, the two-party restriction comes down to game mechanics; here, it's that Nihilus would have straight-up eaten anyone else. Visas was the only Force-Sensitive he wouldn't, the Exile was the only one he couldn't.) She's well aware it wasn't a personal favor, but the reasons pale in the reality of it; she had believed nothing could stand before her Master, and together, Canderous and the Exile proved her wrong. And Canderous is forced to reassess Visas afterwards, once he's done licking his wounds and kicking himself for a lapse in resolve so bad a Sith had to haul him up and tell him to get moving. Which is where he got it wrong; a Sith she is not, but that girl's got beskar in her, especially if she survived that long as that thing's apprentice.

Visas and T3-M4: At first, T3-M4 is quite cross about being overloaded via the Force and the attempt on his new Master's life. But the immediate request of termination is... concerning, and observing the following chain of events leads T3 to suspect that she'd been given orders that went against her core motivators, something T3 is distressingly familiar with. He observes Visas for a bit longer – he developed a number of protocols regarding Sith in his formative months - but soon deems them irrelevant once he's mapped her behavioral patterns and found them quite agreeable, if perhaps more cloistered than strictly recommended.

His initial diagnostic of conflicting orders seems correct, and T3 enacts a policy of friendliness in simpatico. Whenever ship maintenance takes him towards the aft dormitory, he brings her little things like Atton's share of dessert or interesting lightsaber parts from Bao-Dur's workshop. Visas is at first convinced that the Exile has simply programmed the droid to attend to her in their doomed quest to save her, but at some point she comments on it and discovers they genuinely have no idea what she's talking about. She does not know what to do with this information, but is immensely moved by the little droid. As a being without presence in the Force, Visas sometimes has difficulty perceiving his movements; when she admitted this, T3 developed a policy of emitting a low-volume sound pattern in her presence.

Visas and HK-47: HK was very excited when a Sith joined the crew - still irritated that his Master didn't simply dispatch the assassin like any being in possession of functioning logic circuits, but hoping that perhaps this was his chance to witness and partake in some real carnage. He ends up despairing when Visas ends up just as soft as the rest of them. She even eventually retracts her statement that all life exists for the purpose of being systemically extinguished! The Exile is a truly distressing influence.

Canderous

Canderous and T3-M4: Canderous affectionately calls T3-M4 a hunk of junk. T3-M4 affectionately calls him an obsolete model propped up with bulky life support mods. The little trash can's grown a spine since he last saw him – that, and Revan clearly taught him some creative curses while they were out on the edge of space. Canderous will never admit this and will lie through his teeth if accused, but he misses the old crew dearly – now more than ever that he's back on the Ebon Hawk. Having the droids around is an old, comfortable bit of nostalgia.

Canderous and HK-47: Canderous might be the only non-Revan meatbag HK-47 actually likes. It's mutual – HK's a fine soldier and an unreal shot with a scoped rifle, even if he's looking a little worse for wear these days. HK frequently seeks out Canderous to complain about the inconsistent and highly inefficient moral codes so many of these meatbags seem to possess. “Jedi,” Canderous agrees. He'd think a bunch of war veterans, particularly the type with a history of blowing up planets, would spend a little less time plucking loth cats out of trees and take a little more initiative with the armies of people trying to kill them, but he figures you can't take the Jedi out of the Revanchist. At least they're not boring.

T3-M4

T3-M4 and HK-47: Revan's two old droids are not friends. It's like a cat and a dog (or maybe a kitten and a grizzled bobcat) fighting over their Master's affection, except their Master left for milk a while ago and the only thing left to squabble about is who was more useful. Mutual accusations of obsoletion abound. T3 is very smug that HK spent a chunk of Revan's travels deactivated while he was present all along; HK, who is incredibly pissy that he was not involved in the grand plan and the game of cover-your-tracks that followed, never fails to point out that somehow, T3 failed so immensely that Revan saw fit to dismiss them both and carry on without backup, and that he at least does not have such a blatant error in judgment on his record. Add in that T3's tenure of the ship has involved hijackings and total crew pacification by a Sith warship, an Echani saboteur, and a band of slavers, and it's wholly understandable that this new Master decided they needed a more reliable droid.

It frequently comes down to HK-47 threatening the jumped-up Astromech with termination while T3-M4 smugly dangles the metaphorical car keys in his face.

G0-T0

I'm putting the crimeball in his own category because G0-T0 has remarkably one-note relationships with everyone and there isn't enough to say. It's really simple; they don't want him around and he doesn't want to deal with them. The only one worth any note is Mira, who he has identified as a reliable agent and a potential asset when it comes to delegating side jobs. She's proven capable of bringing in targets alive, which is a directive he's had some trouble with in the past. Mira's wary of having a major Exchange boss a few doors down from where she lays her head, but less on principle and more that she'll get caught in some conflicting-employers spat. And she wouldn't say no to some credits as long as the job didn't go against her sensibilities.

There's another exception with HK-47, because some of the restored content implies he and G0-T0 had a history – but personally I do not know what to make of this, because their timelines do not line up and it doesn't come up later, leaving me to think it was a dropped plotline like Kreia zapping T3 or Kaevee and the holocrons. I'd like to do something with this, but there isn't enough for me to go on. About as much as I can say is that HK-47 is quite cross at this comically rotund intruder for bobbing onto his base of operations and attempting to dictate orders when any being in possession of optics can tell his Master is clearly the one in charge, and for not having the decency to invade his ship without a fail-deadly detonator baked into his circuitry. But really, anyone who had employed so many of his sub-standard clones and established the galactic reputation of HK units as bounty hunters was going to fall pretty hard on HK-47's shitlist.

Bao-Dur has strongly considered 'accidentally' damaging some vital components when G0-T0 seeks him out for maintenance. The Remote is a very enthusiastic ball-shaped devil on his shoulder.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on Hanharr since I've never played with him, even on the one time I forced myself into a Dark Side run. But the vibe I get is pretty similar to the above; nearly all of the crew would stay well away, with HK being the only one actually enthused at the prospect of having him around. But I don't know Hanharr well enough to tell if that could even be mutual or if he's just furious with everything.

[sephirthoughts]

8 and 11 for ship ask? Valenwind?

8. If only either of them were just a night owl or morning person. Day and night mean nothing to these two, because their sleep habits are medically fucked.

Cid has ADHD, and gets into days-long bouts of hyperfocus, during which he doesn’t sleep (or even eat unless Vincent makes him), until he’s finished with what he’s doing. At which point he crashes hard and sleeps for like 20 straight hours. He was always like this, but the habit became even more ingrained during his time as a rocket scientist at Shinra, when he’d go heads-down on a project for days at a time, propped up by coffee, cigarettes, and unethical, if not outright illegal stimulants, administered by Shinra staff physicians.

Vincent never really sleeps, and as a consequence, is always falling asleep. The “nightmares” disrupt his sleep cycles so badly that no matter how long he’s unconscious, he never wakes feeling rested, so he developed this compensating mechanism of dozing off for tiny catnaps pretty much every time he stops moving (yes he can and does sleep standing upright). Cid theorizes that this is the real reason for the high collar and long cloak. So he’s always tucked in for nappies, no matter where he is.

In conclusion, Cid is a marathon-sleeper and Vincent is a sleep micro-doser.

Fortunately, they seem to be gradually adjusting to one another’s sleep habits, so who knows. One day they might actually meet in the middle and start getting normal amounts of sleep.

11. It’s Vincent, for multiple reasons.

A) Vincent can eat but he has no need to, so lunch isn’t really a thing he does. He only eats socially, or if there’s something nostalgic or particularly delicious he wants.

B) Cid would never even remember to eat, on his own, let alone make and pack a lunch for someone else.

C) Vincent likes Chinese comfort food, like his mother used to make (xiao long bao, jianbing, congee, zongzi, youtiao) and as it happens, Cid is a top contender for world’s worst cook. He attempted to make food for his beloved once, and let us just say that Vincent would very much prefer his mother’s cultural food traditions not be subjected to that kind of desecration, ever again. (How does one even get congee to both look and taste like bog slime, Cid? How??)

What were we talking about? Right. Notes in lunches.

Vincent absolutely makes Cid lunches, because acts of service are his love language, and he genuinely enjoys doing it. He puts in notes because that’s what his mother did for him and his brother, when they were little, and he doesn’t know any other way. Side note: Vincent has beautiful handwriting. He's from a time when they still taught penmanship and also he just likes to write nicely. The less said about Cid's handwriting the better.

Some of the notes found in Cid's lunches:

Engine grease is unhealthy for humans to consume. Wash your hands.

I know you picked the spinach off your sandwich. You put it back right now, no picky eating.

Hurry home after work, I want you (turn over) to help with the spring cleaning. But also in the sexual sense.

Get your paws out of Cid’s lunchbox, Yuffie. If you’re hungry, you can bring your own food.

[kyoosoup]

my younger brother and I were bored and got to talking about our favorite foods and the best food/food experiences we've had so far in our lives, so I thought I'd share our results

this conversation started somewhere with me mentioning my brother's favorite strawberry smoothie and asking him how he would rate it on a scale from 1-10. He gave it a solid 9. Now although I can't personally say that I enjoy that smoothie as a 9/10, I cannot argue with it as I know it has quite a bit of potential. I've just never liked strawberries as much as others may. I personally am more of a mango person. But, nevertheless, I can imagine the joy the specific smoothie might bring someone.

I followed up my inquiry with asking my brother what else he would give a similar or better rating than the smoothie. we ended up agreeing that the first time we tried cream soda was also a 9/10 ranking. I also offered up the ice cream floats we used to have at our grandparents' house, and my brother countered with the chocolate milk that we had there. we agreed that both of those hit the spot. Solid 9/10s , or perhaps higher. I remember on a roadtrip I drank a strawberry daiquiri or something and i was obsessed with it but I couldn't tell you what it tasted like and I honestly had forgotten about its existence until today

We then got to discussing foods. It was without question that the best food we had consumed thus far was sushi. Specifically the sushi two of our friends brought us and our brother to. the chef prepared it in front of us and each piece of sushi melted in our mouths. My brother gave this experience an 11/10. And I agree. but we also realized that this would have been only a 10/10 had we not gone with those specific friends. shared joy or something.

what else were the best specific foods we've had? I couldn't think of a specific day that stood out, but I really enjoy my mom's wonton soup. I have never had better wonton soup than when my mom makes it. 10/10. The first time I had Xiao long bao would also be a top food experience. Eating a hot dumpling with soup inside??? yummy. 10/10 would recommend. When we were younger, my brothers and I used to be addicted to har gow. They are still pretty good, but I don't think I can say they are the same level as they were. But at their peak, also 10/10s. In another genre of food, I remember a specific burger I had at home one day. It was loaded with the toppings and for added flavor my dad offered me truffle mustard. I think that might've been the best burger I've ever had because I still think about it whenever I eat a burger. And I compare my burgers to it still 10/10. Another specific memory was I went on a trip with my dad to Albany and I barely remember anything about that trip except we stopped at an old lady's house (I assume we knew her somehow but idk) and that's where I had the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever had and ever will have. It might've been grilled I can't remember, but I remember eating it and it was perfect. I don't even like PBJ thatttt much but that one specific sandwich was so good. Some of the first times I had good steak were probably 10/10s. One time my dad made an egg salad sandwich or something idk I can't remember it had a bunch of random stuff on it but it was really good. I still think about it sometimes.

In a similar manner my brother and I talked about desserts. Brownies are consistently good, at least when my mom makes it. My brother said my mom's red velvet brownies were one of his top picks, and I think I can agree with that. Both 10/10s. I think the first time I had lava cakes would be another. Also the first time I had red bean soup with mochi. man I kinda want that now. I used to LOVE red bean soup (I still do and thinking about this is making me hungry I haven't eaten anything today yet). 10/10. The first time I had mango ice cream mochi. These frozen oranges I remember eating at a restaurant in a city?? when I was really young. But I'd say my top snack/dessert experience was when my mom was making up a snickerdoodle cookie recipe and me and my brothers were playing outside and she had us try the cookies and they were warm and yeah that was the best. 11/10 perhaps. Snickerdoodles are still pretty good .

I'm trying to think if there were any more specific food experiences but I'm having trouble thinking and all this food talk is making me hungry.

if you made it this far you should do a jumping jack

[brookebeebe-blog]

August 7th - Travel to Taipei, Tea Ceremony and Farewell Dinner

Today we got up pretty early and I got some chicken nuggets. I really wasn’t that hungry so I only had about 5. Then, I did some final packing and got on the bus. It was a 4 hour bus drive to Taipei. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and I got some really good pastries. I also got some sushi. I didn’t really like it to be honest. One of the shrimp sushi had American cheese on it and then was covered in brown sugar and I was just not rocking with the sweetness or the cheese. Kind of a bummer because I couldn’t get any other protein source. We got back on the bus and finally arrived in Taipei at around 3 pm. Then, it was time for our tea ceremony. It was another traditional style of the tea ceremony and I really like watching how meticulous they are with it. The tea was a bit bitter in my opinion, but I am not really a fan of tea either way because I don’t like the caffeine or the taste. We were there for about two hours just talking. Jasmine was discussing what she would be eating as soon as she got into America. After we left, we had to go straight to get dinner because the tea ceremony took a bit longer than expected. The meal we got was super good. I had a bunch of shrimp, some orange, chicken, fried rice, and more xiao long bao. I really liked the fried rice. Peter got his gifts from all of us and it was really sweet to see him read the photo album and the card. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel on the bus. We all sang karaoke for the last time on the trip and got back to our original hotel. It is kind of bittersweet to be back. When I got back, I gave Yeh laoshi her present and then headed up to the room. I started to unpack for the last time! Then, I finished some journaling and took a shower. I’m very happy to be going home and I think the first thing I will do is workout. I really miss going to my gym. I also really miss running with my dog on the trails. Jasmine and I are thinking about pulling an all-nighter so we can sleep on the plane. This will be my last blog. Thank you Yeh laoshi, Peter, and Chief for making this the best trip ever!

[jebewonmorelike]

✰⋆⁺ Steal Your Heart ⁺⋆✰

*ੈ Part Three: The Lovers ♡ Kim Jiwoong

♡ Steal Your Heart Masterlist

♡ Read this Introductory Post and the Masterlist for details!

♡ Read Part One and Part Two (Gyuvin) Here!

˚☽˚｡⋆ Steal Your Heart: An Interactive Fanfiction Game

... Collect Points to Determine Your Love Interest and Special Ending!!

⁺⋆✰ wc: 7k (i'm sorry but i love this chapter sm. it took so long and has a lot of different choices so it's not that long if you just pick one choice lol. pls enjoy!)

⁺⋆✰ reader-insert pronouns: none used; n/a -- reader is the 10th member of AU ZB1, but the group is referred to only as an "idol" group. no mentions or descriptions of gender of reader.

⁺⋆✰ chapter warnings: crime (reader was wrongfully convicted of a crime), swearing, depictions of alcohol/bar scene, suggestion of a drinking problem, pretty vague descriptions of making out (only the beginning of chapter), mild violence, angst, the choice *waack* towards the end contains a small suggestive joke... and lots of really funny and insane shenanigans! all ages welcome; pg-13+ themes.

⁺⋆✰ summary: for series summary click here. gyuvin and (y/n) are now fully awakened to their powers in the metaverse, confronting their company's president head-on as the fate of au!zb1 lies in their hands. what will happen when their group member jiwoong, the textbook definition of a washed-up idol, enters the mix? inspired by the jrpg persona 5.

⁺⋆✰ please download the scoresheet for the game here!

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

Welcome back, Player! Get your scoresheet ready-- we're about to embark on the third part of our game. Are you ready to see how your Chapter Choice from Part Two plays out? Were you happy with your Chapter Choice from Part One?

Remember to tally your points! Let's jump right into it then and meet our Lovers arcana for the first time...

The rim of the shot glass touching his lips feels like a warm embrace to Kim Jiwoong. It’s comforting. Familiar. The hard liquor that pours down his throat again and again is just an added bonus.

Jiwoong had always enjoyed his fair share of alcohol, but during this past year he’d consumed far more than what was fair. Jiwoong shrugs it off now like he does each time. Life isn’t fair. The world isn’t fair. Why should he be?

So he takes another shot. And another. And another... Until he loses count. But if Jiwoong could be honest with himself for once, he’d concede he had no intention of keeping count from the start.

When he finds his lips eventually attached to another pair, he’s not surprised. Just disappointed. A deep, self-loathing ache that he silences by shoving his tongue further down the indiscernible stranger’s throat. And then he’s not so disappointed anymore.

Jiwoong suddenly notices a distinct absence of noise, pulling back to realize he’s transported outside. His right hand caresses the exterior brick of the bar, his other hand is wraps around the belly-chain adorned waist of a blonde person. He can’t really make out any features of their face, but he doesn’t really care to.

He’s pulled in again, lips meeting the impossibly glossy ones he’s been exploring for who knows how long. Cars zip by the alleyway, but Jiwoong is tucked safely out of view thanks to the darkness of the earliest hours of the morning. And also a giant dumpster.

Fitting, Jiwoong thinks.

“I can’t believe you,” a voice echoes down the alleyway from the street, catching Jiwoong’s attention. 

Let's find out the effects of your Chapter Choice for Part Two, Player! To refresh your memory, Choice 1 was to Get Food while Choice 2 was to Go To Karaoke.

⁺⋆✰ If You Chose “GET FOOD”:

“You ate ALL of my bao buns,” Gyuvin complains with a pout. “I didn’t even get to have one!”

You shrug. “You snooze, you lose.”

“You stuffed all three in your mouth as soon as the plate hit the table,” your best friend replies, kicking the cement of the sidewalk as you stroll down the dimly lit street.

“Sorry,” you mumble in apology. “I was just really hungry. I hadn’t eaten since before probation work this morning.”

Gyuvin’s eyes widen at this before his brow furrows sadly. “You really know how to make me feel bad, don’t you?”

“I wasn’t trying to—.”

“Should I pack you a lunch from now on? Hm?” He interrupts, hands flying about dramatically. “That’s too long for you to go without eating, especially under the hot sun.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “Am I speaking to the right Binnie? Did you switch brains Freaky Friday style or something?”

“I’ll have you know I worry about you just as much as Hanbinnie hyung does,” Gyuvin retorts, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I just suppress the urge to nag you better. I know you won’t listen anyway.”

“see, hat’s why you’re my best friend,” you conclude with a smile. “You let me f*ck up even when it kills you to watch.”

“Do you do the same for me?” He asks, looking up at the night sky.

“Every time I let you wear down another reporter,” you answer honestly, “it’s another dagger to the heart. You know how much I wish they cared. But I care about you more.”

“Did we become pine trees overnight? The sap’s been just pouring out of us lately,” Gyuvin jokes, rolling his eyes. “I was actually thinking yesterday that maybe you were right about that. Maybe I should just give it up like everyone else already has.”

“But today?” You prompt knowingly.

“Today I’ve realized that even if I’m the only one trapped in your corner forever” he replies with a laugh, “I don’t want out. And I don’t think I ever will.”

“You know, you have really resembled a pine tree lately now that I think of it,” you observe with a smile. “You’re already so tall, I guess the needles and the branches didn’t look that out of place.”

“Can you believe they let two trees into a restaurant?” 

“As long as they’re buying something,” you say with a shrug.

Gyuvin hums, blinking at you. “But you’ll sing with me soon, right? I really miss it.”

After a moment, you nod. “Yeah. I miss it, too. I guess I’m just... not quite there yet.”

“That’s okay,” Gyuvin says, nudging you with his elbow as you continue down the street. “Whenever you’re ready. Take all the time you need.”

You probably have more to explain to Gyuvin-- the feelings you’ve felt over the past year are more complicated than could possibly be understood by someone who hasn't experienced them for themselves. But Gyuvin doesn’t ask for an explanation. 

He just let’s you f*ck up... even when it kills him to watch.

“When I do sing again,” you say, moonlight illuminating your eyes. “I really want it to be with you.”

“I'd like that.”

Your bond has grown stronger with Gyuvin. +1 Gyuvin Point. Please add +1 Gyuvin Point to your score sheet.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

⁺⋆✰ If You Chose “GO TO KARAOKE”:

“You haven’t been able to use your voice for an entire year and the first song you choose to sing is Ring Ding Dong?” Gyuvin asks, his voice dripping with judgment.

“Hey, cool it with the disrespect on a literal classic,” you reply with a huff. “Besides, you said you needed a distraction. I thought singing something a little silly would help!”

“Ugh,” Gyuvin sighs dramatically. “I guess it did, yeah. You knew all the words and everything. You didn’t even need to look at the screen!”

You shrug, smirking up at him. “What can I say? I’ve still got it.”

“I know you meant that as a joke, but it’s true,” he replies, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I can’t tell you how happy it made me to sing with you again. I want to keep singing with you for as long as possible.”

“You’ve been such a sap the past twenty-four hours,” you tease, knocking into him gently with your hip. “Seriously, I missed singing with you, too. To be honest, I was really scared to sing again. When I lost my voice, I’d make deals at night with the universe: everything I have in exchange for the ability to sing again. Still, I worried that if I ever was able to sing again, would it feel the way it used to? Would it hurt even more to have my voice back and still be unwelcome in my own group? But... Singing with you tonight was easy. You’ve made everything easier for me this year. I guess this is my sh*tty, impromptu attempt at thanking you.”

Gyuvin blinks back at you, eyes wide and doe-like. “F*ck. And you think I’m the one being too sentimental?” 

“Okay, I take it back,” you reply quickly, rolling your eyes.

“NO TAKE BACKS!” Gyuvin shouts at the exact same time, a cheesy grin on his face fading to a soft smile. “You don’t need to thank me. You just need to keep being my best friend.”

You nod. “I think I can arrange that.”

“Also,” he starts to add, hesitating for a moment before ultimately deciding to continue for better or for worse. “I bet there’s a bunch of people who would love to hear you sing again.”

You press your lips together awkwardly. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“Why not? You really don’t think you still have fans?” Gyuvin asks with a frown.

You remember the small group of four or five teenagers standing outside of Total Control with protest signs yesterday. “Honestly, I wouldn’t wish being my fan on anyone.”

“I think they’d be really hurt to hear you say that,” Gyuvin replies, shaking his head like he always does when he thinks you’re being impossible. “It hurts me to hear you say it. I am your biggest fan, after all.”

You smile at the charming sincerity of your goofball best friend. “It must be hard to be around your favorite idol all the time.”

“You have no idea,” Gyuvin agrees with a laugh. He looks up at the sky, avoiding your gaze-- his cheeks noticeably pink in the lamplight. “But I’m happy to suffer for as long as you let me.”

Your bond with Gyuvin has grown stronger. +2 Gyuvin Points. Please add +2 Gyuvin Points to your score sheet.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

All Continue Reading Below

“Quick, take a picture of me!” Gyuvin suddenly exclaims, running towards the empty crosswalk and striking the least casual, casual pose you’ve ever seen. “I need some new pictures for the grid.”

You snort in disbelief as Gyuvin poses in the warm lights outside a bar. “Can’t believe you just said that.”

“Zeroses are getting bored of my selfies, I think,” he says with a shrug. You humor him, taking your phone out of your pocket and snapping a couple pictures before he adjusts his pose slightly and signals at you to continue. “I saw a lot of comments asking for full-body pictures on my last post.”

“Can’t say I blame them,” you reply with a smirk, snapping some more photos of your annoying, handsome, and also annoyingly-handsome friend. 

✧ New Wallpaper Unlocked: Gyuvin Hit the Griddy ✧

Jiwoong, through his boozy, delusional fog, isn’t really processing anything he’s hearing. Instead, he takes these disembodied voices chattering about taking pictures in his general proximity outside a bar at night to mean the thing they usually mean: the paparazzi has tracked him down yet again.

“F*ck,” he mumbles, prying himself off of the stranger he’s still entangled with. “How do they always find me? It’s like the company personally hires them to ruin my reputation...”

“What?” A feminine voice asks confusedly beside him. “What are you talking about?”

“You should run,” he answers, running a hand through his long black hair. He’s been growing it out for about six months-- ever since the day the company broke it to him that he was too old to re-debut after ZeroBaseOne’s contract expired. That maybe somewhere down the line, there’d be hope for Yujin and Gunwook, but never for him. He’d known that all along. But it didn’t make hearing the truth any easier. “You don’t wanna appear in a headline next to me.”

“A headline?” The feminine voice asks again as Jiwoong inches closer to the end of the alley. “What do you mean? Are you, like, famous or something?”

“For the sake of my own ego, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that,” Jiwoong replies with a sigh. He peers around the corner, expecting to find several men dressed in dark clothing-- camera flashes blinding him as he attempts to make a break for it.

But that’s not what he finds. 

Instead, there’s just two figures-- slightly hazy through Jiwoong’s eyes as they stroll slowly down the illuminated sidewalk. He squints, attempting to steady his vision until the figures finally come into focus... 

Much to Jiwoong’s surprise, it’s you and Gyuvin.

Gyuvin jogs back over to you, grabbing your phone from your hand and looking through the pictures. “Zeroses know exactly what they want. And they’re not afraid to let us know either.”

“No, they are not,” you agree with a laugh, recalling the time Zeroses once petitioned on Twitter for you all to ‘Show More Arm’ in the Crush music video. The acronym ‘SMA’ trended for a week straight. The company was not amused and ended up putting you all in militaristic long sleeve shirts, pants, and vests in retaliation.

“Oh my god,” a feminine voice suddenly exclaims behind you. “That’s (Y/N) from ZeroBaseOne!"

You and Gyuvin freeze in place, turning around slowly to assess the situation. It’s a pretty blonde girl, lipgloss smeared all over her mouth as a handsome man stares wide-eyed at you beside her. 

“Oh, hyung?” Gyuvin calls as you both realize you’re being graced with the rare presence of your group member Kim Jiwoong in the flesh. You haven’t seen him in awhile. He sleeps all day and spends all night at any club that’ll still let him in. 

He looks much worse than you remember.

“Wait, you know ZeroBaseOne? Oh my god! You--... you thought paparazzi were going to take pictures of you... And you know ZeroBaseOne... That means...” You watch in fascination as the stranger puts two and two together.

Jiwoong turns to quiet his prior makeout partner, the lines of her face still going in and out of focus. He can tell, however, that her jaw is hung open in elated shock... Or maybe... 

“EW! I was making out with some washed-up, has-been idol!?” She shouts in absolute horror, throwing her arms down in despair. “Last week I made out with some weird guy that busks in front of his tteokbokki stand and now THIS? I need to quit drinking.”

“Did she just say she made out with Kim Taerae!?” Gyuvin exclaims; Jiwoong jumping as he realizes you’re both now standing right in front of him. The taller boy’s brow is furrowed in confusion. “I hate to break it to you, but you’ve actually made out with two washed-up, has-been idols. If you’re ever interested in tripling your winnings...”

You punch Gyuvin in the arm, to which he mumbles, “Sorry. Blah, blah: game; blah, blah: player.”

Looking at Jiwoong up close, your awkward smile wavers. He’s clearly sh*t-faced, which comes as no surprise to you and it wouldn’t to anyone else who knows him either. He looks distressed and the dark circles under his eyes are unmistakable. Jiwoong leaves you no choice but to worry about him.

“Y-you...” Jiwoong suddenly begins to stammer, left hand kneading his opposite forearm anxiously as his gaze weighs you down. “You were talking to each other. You were... talking.”

Your head snaps to look at Gyuvin, meeting his panicked eyes instantly. It takes only a moment for you to wordlessly reach the same page. And that page reads: Lie like hell.

“What? What do you mean, hyung?” Gyuvin asks as you type something into your phone. “I was talking and you were using your screenreader. Right, (Y/N)?”

You nod emphatically, your screenreader vocalizing, “Are you okay, Woongie? You look really tired! I think maybe you’ve had too much to drink. How about we take you home and get you to bed?”

The silence that follows is deafening before Jiwoong finally whispers, “Really, (Y/N)?”

The expression on his face is painfully ambiguous. You can’t tell if he’s about to laugh, flip you off, cry, or throw up.

“Gaslighting me? I’d expect that from Binnie, but not from you,” he spits, looking down at the ground. When he looks back up, his eyes are darker than before. “You know, I’ve treated you really well this past year considering you f*cked up my whole f*cking life. Taking advantage of my problem isn’t exactly a nice way to repay me.”

You blink back at him, surprised, but not by his harshness. “Your... problem?”

“Guys,” Gyuvin attempts in vain to interrupt.

“Yeah, my...” Jiwoong starts to echo, but he stops when he realizes what he’s accidentally admitted. 

“Guys, there’s--...” Gyuvin tries again to no avail. He seemingly gives up with an agitated sigh.

“I’ve never heard you call it that before,” you reply calmly. 

Jiwoong gulps, clearly overwhelmed as he tries to change the subject. “Y-y--... You are talking! You--... you were lying to me and... you...”

“I know. I’m sorry for lying, Jiwoongie,” you apologize sincerely as the rustle of Gyuvin gnawing his nails enters the soundscape. “And I’m sorry for saying what I said. Can we talk about it more at home, do you think? Maybe where there aren’t sensitive ears listening.”

Only now does Jiwoong remember the presence of the stranger who’d he’d been swapping saliva with just minutes before. “Oh, f*ck.”

“Oh f*ck is right,” Gyuvin says, tips of his fingers still in his mouth. “Nobody ever listens to me.”

“Uh, okay, I can fix this!” Jiwoong exclaims, a reassurance that is probably more for himself than for you. He turns to the girl beside him, who is very clearly wishing she never left her house tonight. “W-what do you want? In exchange for... not talking about any of this ever?”

“My dignity back,” she answers with a sigh. 

Jiwoong grimaces. “Oh, um... I guess I was talking about something more... tangible than that.”

“Yeah, I figured,” she replies with a nod. “Well then, I guess a million won will suffice.”

Gyuvin bursts into laughter. “A million won!? You said it yourself: we’re washed-up, has-been idols. I saw Jiwoong hyung buy that shirt from the Target clearance rack last month.”

Jiwoong pulls out his phone with a dejected sigh. “What’s your Naver Pay?”

“WannaOne5Everxoxo,” she answers happily.

Gyuvin nods satisfactorily. “Gotta respect such good taste at least. You know, our group was formed through a survival show too! Maybe you’d like our--.”

“Not interested,” she declines firmly before a suggestion has even been made. “Yay, it went through! Oh... It’s only 500,000 won.”

Jiwoong laughs awkwardly. “Yeah, it’s--... It’s everything I have.”

You can tell he means it. Shaking your head in absolute disbelief at what you’re about to do, you unlock your phone and open Naver Pay. 

“Oh!” The girl gasps as her phone pings. She looks at the notification, finding the rest of the 1,000,000 won transferred to her account. She nods politely at you. “Thanks.”

Jiwoong meets your gaze sheepishly, lips pressed together in awkward shame. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Have a good night, I guess,” the girl calls over her shoulder as she walks back through the door to the bar. “Losers.”

Her absence makes way for a painfully uncomfortable silence, which Gyuvin breaks by suggesting you find your way back to your car. 

“Good idea,” you agree, starting to walk in the direction you’d come from. When you realize only one pair of footsteps is following you, you turn around to figure out what the issue is. Because nothing can ever be easy, you find Jiwoong leaning against a telephone pole-- dead asleep while still standing upright.

“You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me,” you huff, marching back over to Jiwoong and smacking his arm repeatedly. “Wake up!”

“Mm,” Jiwoong groans, his head falling onto your shoulder. 

“We could just... leave him here,” Gyuvin suggests softly and you can’t deny how appealing that plan sounds. But another headline about Jiwoong’s nightly escapades would only create more problems for all of you in the long run.

Throwing one of Jiwoong’s arms around your shoulders, you pull some of his weight onto your frame. Gyuvin rushes to the other side of your sleeping group member and, together, you trudge your way down the street. Eventually, you find yourselves in front of the Total Control building— which means your car is at least somewhat nearby.

“How much further?” Gyuvin asks, breathing heavily as you pull out your phone.

You use your right thumb to search for Naver Maps, knowing you’d placed a pin on the map where you’d parked as you always did. You laboredly type N, then A, then V, the app appearing in the suggested bar below. You stretch your thumb to reach the icon, pressing down on the screen when suddenly...

"BACK SO SOON?"

Your finger slips.

“Oh for f*ck’s sake,” you grumble as the ground begins to shake around you.

"YOU ARE NOW EXITING THE REAL WORLD. ENJOY YOUR TIME IN THE METAVERSE AND STAY SAFE."

A red haze overtakes the atmosphere as the Metaverse settles into place, the glow of the Total Control Music castle nearly blinding in the darkness. You cough lightly, looking at the ground in embarrassment. 

“Huh. I didn't notice all that butter on your fingers,” Gyuvin taunts as Jiwoong starts to stir between you.

“Not another word,” you threaten, trying desperately to get a better grip on your phone. “Can you hold him for a second so I can get us out of here?”

Just as Gyuvin wraps his right arm tighter around Jiwoong, the previously unconscious man abruptly comes to. He looks around, noticing the different surroundings of the Metaverse. 

“Weird dream,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “I’ve really gotta stop mixing liquors.” 

“Yes! Yes, yes, exactly,” you reply, tapping on the MetaNav app when you realize that it hasn’t responded to your vocal command to leave like it usually does. “This is all a dream, Jiwoongie.”

“And you should really stop drinking altogether at this point,” Gyuvin adds with a huff.

“Now let’s get out of here,” you say again, waiting for the voice of the MetaNav app to respond. You’re met with silence. “Oh, this is not good.”

“It’s—… It’s not letting us leave?” Gyuvin asks, eyes wide with panic. 

“What’s not letting us leave?” Jiwoong asks, growing more and more alert. “Where are we? And why is there a gigantic castle where the company building's supposed to be?"

“Doesn’t matter,” you respond sternly, both you and Gyuvin taking turns frantically tapping the MetaNav app in vain. “You’re dreaming, remember?”

“Hey, (Y/N)?” Jiwoong asks again, the slightest hint of fear now present in his voice. “What are those?”

“I dunno, it’s your subconscious,” you respond hurriedly— far too distracted with your current dilemma to properly pay attention to him.

“Kind of looks like big, moving hunks of metal,” Jiwoong continues. “And there’s, like, black fog coming out of them?”

“Sounds really scary, hyung,” Gyuvin takes a turn replying to him. “I would totally unpack some things in therapy as soon as possible if I were you.”

“And there’s something behind them,” Jiwoong observes, confusion in his voice. “Wait… Is that President Kim?”

Your eyes meet Gyuvin’s and then dart towards the castle doors, but your attention comes too late. President Kim is grinning evilly at Jiwoong, seemingly delighted by his presence as he taps his fingers together.

“COME FORWARD AND GREET YOUR KING,” a shadow guard bellows. You and Gyuvin stand your ground, but Jiwoong starts to climb the steps.

“Jiwoong-ah, don’t,” you hiss at him, but he doesn’t listen. Why would he? You’d just told him this was all a dream.

“President Kim?” Jiwoong asks, head tilting to the side. “What’s going on? Why’re you dressed like... that? This is literally the weirdest dream I’ve ever had.”

The “king” nods, smiling eerily. “I assure you, Jiwoong-sshi… This is no dream.”

Jiwoong’s breath hitches in his throat. He’s silent as President Kim takes a few steps forward. 

“This is really bad,” Gyuvin whispers, looking to you for your next move. “I could try that ice thing again? Maybe we could try to do some more damage this time.”

You start to nod, but a familiar voice rings through your head. Do I really have to remind you of this again? Just stand still, my friend. And make sure your pet Gyuvin doesn’t misbehave, Arsène commands.

“Wait,” you warn, grabbing Gyuvin’s raised hand and forcing it back to his side. “I think we should just see what happens first.”

“What!?” Gyuvin replies with furrowed brow. “He’s gonna get himself-- and then us-- killed.”

“Just watch.”

“Kim Jiwoong-sshi, can you even see straight right now? Aigoo, you create such problems for me,” President Kim continues as Jiwoong stands still in shock. “No matter how many times I call the paparazzi on you, you never learn your lesson! Dispatch has photographed you in so many compromising situations that they won’t even respond to my requests anymore. You’re so predictably sleazy that even the paparazzi are bored of you!”

Jiwoong’s hands shake lightly at his sides. “I think I want to wake up now.”

“Can’t even tell when he’s awake or asleep! How did this happen to you, Jiwoong-sshi? Did it cut that deeply to hear the truth? To hear what everyone, including yourself, already knew? That you’re no longer valuable in this industry? That your prime has come and gone and anything salvageable went to sh*t with your group member’s scandal?” President Kim ruthlessly berates. Gyuvin squirms next to you and you keep squeezing his hand to hold him back. “You wanted some control back, didn’t you? You decided to let no one’s scandal ruin you but your own.”

You can only see the side of Jiwoong’s face, but the shade of sickly white he has turned is hard to ignore. His skin is clammy and his lips are parted in horror. He’s starting to claw at his arms, like his skin is crawling.

Like it’s happening to him.

“You used to be sought after in a club. But now they all know better-- don’t they, Jiwoong-sshi? You’re desperate now. If I knew you’d play the part so well, I would’ve framed you instead of (Y/N)-sshi that night,” President Kim continues with a malicious smile.

“What?” Jiwoong exhales, growing more and more unsteady. “You--... Framed!?”

“And now, Jiwoong-sshi, you’re nothing more than a wh*re on the street,” President Kim twists the knife until it's poking at his heart. “Nothing more than a pathetic, penniless... drunk.”

“I AM NOT!” Jiwoong screams, falling to his knees in agony. Gyuvin gasps next to you as his hyung writhes in pain on the steps of the palace. “F*CK, make it stop-- MAKE IT STOP!”

Hey there, handsome. I'm Carmen; seductress of legend. I've never had a vessel as gorgeous as you! I could just eat you right up. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

“No, no, no, I don’t want to die,” Jiwoong rambles deliriously as a disembodied, feminine voice echoes through his head.

“It's--... It's happening to him, isn't it?” Gyuvin asks, face scrunched in confusion. "Could it happen to all of us?"

You’re not gonna die, my love. Not if I have anything to say about it! It’s you and me forever from now on, so let’s lure some villains right into our irresistible trap...

A mask forms around Jiwoong’s face, a feline shape melding to his delicate skin. You throw a hand over Gyuvin’s eyes as Jiwoong rips it off, an anguished scream ricocheting off the palace doors. As a new mask forms and hovers in front of Jiwoong’s healed face, you grab Gyuvin and pull him up the steps.

New Confidant Unlocked: Lovers *ੈ Kim Jiwoong

Jiwoong pants heavily from the torment he’s just fought through. You wait patiently for him to regain his focus until he finally lifts his head, a deadly smirk on his lips.

I guess you're right about me. I hope you can relish it while you’re rotting in hell. ‧ ₊ ✫ ˚・

Jiwoong’s hands open at his sides, balls of hot, orange fire forming in his palms. He throws them wildly at President Kim, one burning a giant hole in his red, velvet robe.

New Skill Unlocked: Homme Fatale ⋆☀︎｡

President Kim stomps his foot in anger, a lightning bolt aiming right for Jiwoong’s head. 

You run up behind him, blowing a gust of wind from your hands towards President Kim and tackling Jiwoong to the ground. You both narrowly avoid the lightning bolt as your wind power knocks President Kim backwards. Jiwoong’s wide eyes meet yours through his mask-- yours and Gyuvin’s now having formed across your eyes as well. “The fire thing is really f*cking cool, Woongie.”

“Thanks,” he says with a soft smile as Gyuvin shoots a wave of icicles towards the shadow guards. “So is the wind thing.”

“I know,” you reply as you sit up, offering Jiwoong your hand. Clambering to your feet, the three of you continue to attack the shadow guards with your elemental powers as President Kim stomps his foot for another lightning bolt. It lands between you and Gyuvin, but he pulls you out of its reach in the nick of time. 

As President Kim begins to retreat through the doors of the castle, your team starts to back down the steps as well. You notice that President Kim has left behind a shoe and your eyes widen when a familiar-looking man rushes out of the castle quickly to retrieve it. 

“Manager Sang?” Jiwoong asks as you realize why this man looks so familiar to you.

The man looks up, shoe in hand-- his eyes glow red, but his expression is ambiguous. This is, in fact, your manager; the only one who stuck around after the fallout. What’s he doing here?

Manager Sang retreats back into the castle without hesitation, leaving you alone with no one but the shadow guards. They look angry, per usual.

“Do you think the app will let us leave--.” Gyuvin doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before the voice of the MetaNav app booms:

"THANKS FOR BEARING WITH US WHILE WE EXPERIENCED SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. NAVIGATING YOU BACK TO THE REAL WORLD NOW. CIAO."

“Ciao?” Gyuvin repeats with a huff as the red haze of the Metaverse fades away around you. “Who does she think she is? Abandons us in the Metaverse and all she has to say for her robot-self is ‘ciao’?”

You glance at Jiwoong, whose complexion has paled once again. “Jiwoong-ah? How are you holding up?”

“I--... I think I’m gonna be sick,” Jiwoong replies, his face turning green before he doubles over and throws up all over the sidewalk. You and Gyuvin let out pained sighs as Jiwoong wipes his arm across his mouth and stands back up. He’s woozy and you grab his arm to keep him upright. “Can we please go home now?”

“C’mon, hyung,” Gyuvin replies, grabbing his other arm-- both of you helping him a bit further down the street as you finally spot your license plate. You grin at Gyuvin sheepishly. “Seriously? We were, like, fifty feet away from your car this whole time?”

“Sssssh, ssh, ssh, ssh, ssh,” you coo, opening the door to the back seat and helping Jiwoong inside. He curls uo on the leather interior, closing his eyes and snoring lightly within seconds. “You know, he’s actually quite cute like this.”

“Like what? Unconscious?” Gyuvin asks with a snort, throwing open the passenger door and climbing inside. You run around to the driver’s side and start the car. “I guess he is pretty cute when he’s not single-handedly destroying his own life and reputation.”

“And when he’s not blaming me for it either,” you add, pulling out from the curb and driving down the street in the direction of your dorm building. “What are we gonna do about him?”

“I have no idea,” Gyuvin answers, sinking into his seat. “We don’t even understand what we’re dealing with. And now we’ve gotta add a whole new person that doesn’t even really like us to the mix?”

You’re driving five miles under the speed limit like you always do after getting your license back, which gives you extra time to realize the street you’re on. To your right is Taerae’s tteokbokki stand, which he’s sitting in front of on the sidewalk while strumming his guitar. On the left, there’s just one building with its lights on: Hanbin’s dance studio.

“Can we make a quick stop? I’m really craving...”

Mini-Decision: Are you craving a snack or a waack?

If you chose "a snack", read below:

“You understand me on a cosmic level,” Gyuvin says with a smile as you pull up to the curb beside Taerae’s tteokbokki stand. Gyuvin glances towards the back of your car where Jiwoong is currently out cold-- his head lolling off of the seat. “He’ll be fine here, right?”

“Eh, he’s slept in worse places,” you answer, opening the car door as Gyuvin follows suit. The sound of Taerae’s hypnotic voice and an accompanying guitar melody fill the air as you make your way towards him. You both stand in front of Taerae, his eyes closed as he finishes the song. After a brief round of applause, you pull a 1,000 won bill from your pocket and throw it in the cup next to him.

“That was my coffee,” he says with a frown, fishing the soaking wet bill out of his drink. You smile at him apologetically, looking down at your feet in embarrassment.

“You should be grateful, hyung,” Gyuvin defends, sticking his hands in his pockets. “It’s not like anyone else is giving you money. You know, I did just hear that you had some fun last week though...”

“What do you guys want?” Taerae asks, rolling his eyes. “Are you here to get back at me for helping Ricky yesterday, or?”

You tilt your head to each side as if you’re considering it before finally pointing to Taerae’s tteokbokki stand. You pat your stomach and bat your eyelashes cutely until he gets the hint.

“Ugh, you’re really gonna make me work?” Taerae asks, already standing up and walking towards his stand. “What can I get for you?”

“Spicy, spicy,” Gyuvin answers quickly, shifting on his feet excitedly. Taerae packs him a hefty portion of the spiciest tteokbokki and then packs another hefty portion of cheesy rosè rice cakes all the way on the end. You grin up at him.

“I know you,” Taerae says, the corner of his mouth turning up in a reluctant smile. “I know what you like.”

“What do we owe you, hyung?” Gyuvin asks, starting to take out his wallet as Taerae hands the plastic bag of food to you. 

The older boy looks at the 1,000 won bill on the counter next to him, then at you. “It’s on me,” he sighs, shaking his head. “And I'm sorry about the other day, (Y/N). Enjoy.”

Your bond with Taerae has strengthened. +1 Taerae Point. Please add +1 Taerae Point to your score sheet.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

If you chose "a waack", read below:

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Gyuvin asks, suddenly incredibly flustered. “A waack? Is that some sort of euphemism, or--.”

“You’re disgusting,” you reply, pulling up to the curb on the left side of the street next to Hanbin’s dance studio. You turn off the car, throw open your door and step outside-- making your way to the studio entrance. Gyuvin follows you, slamming the passenger door behind him.

“I was just kidding, by the way,” Gyuvin asks as your hand wraps around the door handle. “I knew you meant you wanted to watch Hanbin... waack.”

“Mmhm,” you dismiss wordlessly, pulling open the door and stepping inside. You were glad that Hanbin had founded a fairly successful dance studio in the months after ZB1's downfall. You were not as glad that Hanbin stayed there day and night, like he was hiding from you. From all of you. He made you dinner several times during the week, but you felt like it was out of guilt. Guilt that he'd quickly rebuilt at least some semblance of a career when the majority of you had yet to do so.

You’re greeted by the sound of c*nty, slayful music-- the image of Hanbin freestyling reflecting back at you off the giant wall mirror. He’s so into the beat that he doesn’t notice you until the song stops.

“Oh, hey kids!” Hanbin greets, lowering the volume of the studio speakers as he runs over to you. “What brings you here so late, my loves? Is everything okay?”

Typical for Hanbin's first instinct to be to worry about you. And to his credit, you and Gyuvin often required a lot of worrying. 

“Uh, we were on our way home and (Y/N) wanted to visit you actually,” Gyuvin explains, placing his giant hand on top of your head playfully.

“Is that so?” Hanbin asks, grinning at you. “Were you, maybe, looking to do a little dancing...?”

You hadn’t danced in a really long time. There was no way you could keep up with Hanbin, or Gyuvin for that matter. Maybe it’s because it’s almost 2 A.M. and you’ve fought shadow guards and an evil version of your company’s CEO twice in eight hours, but neither of those things matter to you at this moment.

You want to dance. And you want to dance right now.

You nod at Hanbin, a soft smile lighting up your face. Gyuvin tilts your head up to look at him with the hand that’s still wrapped around it.

“Really?” He asks, eyes wide in shock. “You wanna dance?”

You nod again, turning back towards Hanbin. You can tell he’s trying really, really hard not to get emotional-- absolutely beaming from ear to ear with pride. 

“Then let’s dance, baby.”

Your bond with Hanbin has grown stronger. +1 Hanbin Point. Please add +1 Hanbin point to your score sheet.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

Your alarm stirs you awake gently. You stretch your arms over your head— glad that you had the day off from probation work after the absolute chaos of the day prior. Your eyes flutter open peacefully, when:

“AAAAAAAGH!” You scream at the sight of Hao’s face floating inches above yours. It’s clear he had been planning to scare you, but, for some reason, he screams in shock, too.

Hao pulls back, staring at you with wide eyes. “You just… You just f*cking screamed!”

Godd*mnit. Could anything just be easy for once?

Hao was the last person you needed finding out about this new secret. Everything said in the dorms entered Hao’s ears and was reported back to the company immediately. Not to mention he’d become your personal demon this past year; tormenting you, ridiculing you, punishing you for ruining his career.

You weren’t really sure why he was so upset, considering he was the one that had been positioned for a promising solo debut in the coming months. The one that President Kim had thrown all of his money and resources behind when the group’s future went haywire-- hanging the rest of you out to dry.

You frown as you remember something that President Kim said in the castle the other day: “Now I have to pretend to put all my efforts into that Hao kid…” 

‘Pretend’. Interesting choice of words.

“Um, hello?” Hao asks, flicking you on the forehead hard with his finger. “You can’t just play dumb like that. I heard you!”

“Then why did you ask if you already knew the f*cking answer?” You counter as your rub your forehead, your anger getting the best of you. 

“Oh my god,” Hao says quietly, blinking at you with parted lips. He stares at you like this for so long that you almost think he’s about to say something nice. He instead concludes, “You’ve been faking it this whole time.”

“WHAT!?” You shout indignantly. No, no, no. There's no way Hao was going to twist this into another opportunity to dig your grave that much deeper. “That’s not true, Hao. I—… I got it back on Monday! I don’t know how it happened, but I—.”

“When President Kim hears about this,” Hao says with a malicious grin, “you’re getting kicked out of here for good.”

Hao walks toward your bedroom door feverishly, excited for another chance to make you as miserable as he is. If he only knew you already were— that hurting your friends so deeply was a fate worse than death to you. That you’d do anything to change what happened.

But you can’t. And you can’t let Hao spill the beans on this either. 

So, you take a deep breath, muster all of your courage and call:

Mini-Decision: Should you yell "HaoHao!" or "B*tch!"?

If you chose "HaoHao!", read below:

“HaoHao!” 

You bite your lip softly; cheeks heating at the cringiness of using your old nickname for him. It’s disgustingly affectionate— something you and Hao haven’t felt towards each other in over a year. 

Still, desperate times call for even more desperate measures.

Hao freezes in his tracks, turning back to face you in slow motion. His face is flushed from embarrassment. At least you got his attention.

“Don’t—… Don’t call me that,” he says annoyedly, hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck.

“Please,” you basically beg. You know it’s what he wants to hear. “Please, don’t tell anyone about this.”

Hao swallows uncomfortably; blinking rapidly as he stares at anything but you. “I—… Why shouldn’t I?”

“I’ll do anything, Hao. Anything you want, no questions asked,” you surrender.

Your bond with Hao has grown stronger. +1 Hao Point. Please add +1 Hao Point to your scoresheet.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

If you chose "B*tch!", read below:

“B*TCH!” 

You probably could’ve chosen your words better, but at the very least it gets Hao’s attention. He freezes in the doorway; turning around slowly before meeting your gaze— eyes fierce and jaw set.

“I beg your motherf*cking pardon?”

You swallow hard. “I meant, I’ll be your b*tch.”

“I—… I don’t think that made me any less confused,” Hao replies after a moment; the tips of his ears turning red.

“I’ll do whatever you want; whenever you want, Hao. Cleaning, cooking, running errands— whatever you want me to do. Just so long as you don’t tell anyone about my voice.”

“And you think that’s something I want?” Hao asks rhetorically, one eyebrow raised.

“I do, actually,” you challenge; matching his energy. “I think, rather than outright telling on me, you’d find it more fulfilling in that freezing cold heart of yours to be able to hold this over my head for the rest of my life… Am I wrong?”

Your bond has grown stronger with Hao. +0 Hao Points.

・゜゜ . . * ✧･ﾟ・ ✧･ﾟ: ・゜゜・．

All Continue Reading Below

“You—… I—… But—… Ugh, fine,” Hao agrees after a bunch of protestful stuttering; arms folding across his chest in annoyance. “I’ll make sure to give you a very long list of things I want you to do. Every day. For the rest of forever. And don’t think I won’t be trying to find a loophole out of this. If a bus comes, consider yourself already thrown under it.”

“Thanks, Hao,” you say with a nod. “I get the gist.”

He huffs in reply, turning on his heel and walking out of your bedroom. You sigh with cautious relief. You’re safe for now, but you know all too well that this temporary allyship with Hao is unreliable at best. 

A message lights up your phone on your bedside table:

You’re holding a basket full of Hao’s freshly washed laundry in one arm and balancing an empty bowl of sundaeguk in the other when a practically rabid Jiwoong rushes through the front door and falls to his knees in front of you.

“I’ll do it,” Jiwoong begs, grabbing your right leg and clinging on in desperation. “Whatever it is that I have to do to join the Phantom Thieves... I’ll do it.”

“What in god’s green earth are the Phantom Thieves?” You ask, trying to kick him off you.

You and Gyuvin stare at him for a moment before Gyuvin awkwardly clears his throat. “(Y/N), can I see you over there for a second?”

Your eyes follow the direction that Gyuvin’s finger is pointing, glancing at the corner of the hallway less than four feet away. Shrugging, you walk over with Gyuvin, who immediately pulls you into an unnecessary, two-person huddle. 

“What are the Phantom Thieves?” You repeat annoyedly.

“Jiwoong came to the company today, loudly begging for answers so I had to calm him down a bit,” Gyuvin explains. “He was asking what happened and where we were and if we’re superheroes and all these questions I don’t really have the answers to. Then, I saw a flier on the bulletin board for the new semi-professional production of Phantom of the Opera that President Kim is in and a poster for President Kim’s first hit single ‘Sexy, Magic, Love Thief’ on the wall in front of me.”

“I’ll never get over that title, by the way,” you muse.

“It’s so 2000s,” Gyuvin agrees, his voice growing louder. “So, to get Jiwoong to shut up, I said we were the... Phantom Thieves. And that we’re on a very secret mission to expose Total Control Music and take back our lives.”

“And now,” you draw a conclusion, “he wants in. Well, has he considered that he’s not exactly a trustworthy friend to us? What gives him the right to suddenly care about the company’s wrongdoings? Or you? Or me?”

“Okay, listen,” your tall, hyperactive friend says, no longer even attempting to whisper. “I don’t really want this old, washed-up loser slowing us down, but he does have that awesome fireball-shooting power.”

“I completely agree,” you say, patting him on the shoulder. “But maybe you could lower your voice just a b--.”

“I KNEW YOU WOULD AGREE,” Gyuvin basically shouts. “Jiwoong hyung might not be cool or respectable or funny or useful, but... Since we've got the upper hand, I say we make a deal with him and take him for everything he’s worth!”

“Hey, just so you guys know, I can hear everything you’re saying,” Jiwoong interjects, which earns him a harsh ‘SSSH!’ from both of you. He nods and reattaches his gaze to the floor.

“Fine,” you agree with a sigh. "Leave this to me. And don’t say anything stupid.”

Gyuvin nods at you, a smirk splayed on his lips. “You can count on your right-hand man, Team Leader. Oh, I also told him that you’re the Team Leader!”

With a satisfied smile, you hop back over to Jiwoong, who meets your gaze as you land in front of him again. 

“Okay, if you guys are gonna ask for money, you know I don’t have any...” Jiwoong attempts to reason. “I already owe you a ton of money anyway that we all know I’m never actually going to be able to repay you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” you respond with a sigh. Jiwoong looks up at you, endlessly grateful and soul-crushingly ashamed. “Besides, we don’t want money.”

“We don’t?” Gyuvin asks stupidly. You kick his shin. “OW! What the f--... Um... I mean, ow, what the f*ck, hyung!? I'm so hurt! I can’t believe you think we’d want to take your money. Thought we were friends...”

“Mmhm,” Jiwoong mumbles, devoid of amusement.

You clap your hands loudly to regather their attention. “After our team meeting, we have decided that we will reluctantly let you in after you pay a hefty price. And that hefty price for entry into the Phantom Leaves--.”

“Thieves,” Gyuvin corrects quietly, bracing for impact.

“WHATEVER!” You concede, folding your arms across your chest exasperatedly. “The final price for entry into the Phantom Thieves is...”

⁺⋆✰ Chapter Choice ✰⋆⁺

It's up to you, Player. Will the price be...

CHOICE 1: Lots of Aegyo

OR

CHOICE 2: A Kiss...

[bunpunch]

❝ i  am  one  more  minor  inconvenience  away  from  losing  my  shit. ❞ ｡° ⸻ @dragvnsovl.

Man, and didn't he look like it. Tohma pauses her work   ( hands pinching and folding away at today's bao for lunch ),   gently wiping her hands of the rice flour before padding over to Raditz.

       ❝ Take a break. ❞   Tail flicks idly behind her, a hand reaching up to fix a frazzled lock of his back in place over his shoulder.   ❝ I'm almost done makin' food. Maybe you're just hungry. ❞   Not that she'd want to downplay his frustrations, whatever they were. She'd ask later, or let him talk on his own. First and foremost, she wanted him to relax, enough so that he wasn't a ticking timebomb in her house. A nod to her couch   ( cozy with the fixes of throw pillows and hand made quilts )   and she walks him in, moving back to her spot at her kitchen counter.

       ❝ Can't have a minor inconvenience if you don't do anythin'. So, just... relax a minute. I'm almost done. ❞

[coulsons-fullmetal-cellist]

Kiss the Girl

(Dieter x horror loving female)

Words: 1, 145

Summary: you and Dieter go on your first official date

Warnings: lots of delicious food gets mentioned so don’t read when hungry

Masterlist here

You looked in the mirror for the third time today. You looked at the simple yellow dress with secret pant petticoat underneath to help prevent thigh rubbing, jacket and sneakers. Normally, you’d opt for comfortable jeans, but today you wanted to feel cute.

You and Dieter were going to a food truck festival, going out together for the first time. It was a change from just hanging out on your couch watching movies.

Was it a date? You weren’t sure, the furthest you two had gotten together in a romantic sense was snuggling up together and you gave him that kiss on the cheek.

You checked your bag for the fifth time and checked your phone for probably the millionth time today. Time to head out to avoid being late.

*****

Dieter looked at himself in the mirror. This was going to be Dieter’s first proper date in…he can’t remember the last time he ever went on a date, so the first time in forever.

He thinks it’s a date; you and he had a friendship which he didn’t want to end. That one time you kissed him on the cheek was wonderful; he never wanted to wash his cheek.

He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to keep in under control, make it look less like he’d been electrified. It didn’t really matter though as you’ve seen him at his scruffiest, and you were too nice to mock his appearance.

His phone pinged, reminding him that he should not be running late.

*****

You were ten minutes early which was normal for you.

Deciding to scope out the food trucks first, you walked around sipping a lemonade. It was early enough that the crowds weren’t packed, only small queues forming. You checked all the menus days ago online but enjoyed seeing them written out front of the trucks.

Reconnaissance completed, you made your way back to the entrance, lemonade half empty.

*****

Dieter hoped he wasn’t running late. His driver usually got him to places on time. That, or he never knew or cared what time he showed up.

The traffic was making him nervous. He was nervous about being late. He really didn’t want to disappoint you by being late for this date. He hoped it was a date. He was certainly nervous enough for it to feel like one.

He kept fidgeting and looking at his phone, watching the seconds slowly tick forward.

*****

You’d almost finished your lemonade. You weren’t too early, were you?

This was the worst part of dating, the waiting. Not that you dated anyone since…you checked your phone again. No, you were there on time, but you continued to fidget with the straw in your hand. There was nothing left in the cup, so you started nervously chewing on it.

You then smoothed down your dress to give yourself something else to do.

Just as the panic was started to sneak in, you heard your name being called.

*****

“Hey” Dieter came running up, having literally jumped out into the traffic to get here. “I’m not late am?”

“No, no…a few minutes, but that’s okay.”

Gosh, you looked pretty. Well, you were effortlessly beautiful, but today…why did you have to be so pretty? You smiled up at him with that smile which made Dieter melt into a pile of butterflies.

“Should we…?” you gestured towards the food trucks and he gladly followed.

“I don’t know what sort of food you like, but I researched all the menus and found a few things I like.”

“You researched the menus?”

“I like to know what I’m getting into.”

Gosh, you were beautifully efficient. “I’m not fussed, happy to go with whatever you think sounds nice.”

“Do you mind sharing? Then we can get through more food than on our own.”

He shook his head, “Sounds good to me.”

*****

You started light with some cauliflower tacos and Korean Fried Chicken bao buns.

Those were followed with the much heartier butter chicken poutine and so many dumplings with so many delicious fillings.

All were consumed between sips of hibiscus lemonade.

Finally, you ended on a sweet note with your own bubble waffle sundaes, swapping halfway.

*****

“Wow, that was fucking good food.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Dieter did enjoy himself; it was probably the best time he’s ever had sober. Food just tasted so good when you could actually taste things. All his senses felt renewed.

But the butterflies kept coming back. Every time you passed him food or shared a straw with him, he’d feel the electricity of accidental touches. He’d look at your lips and want to place his own there. But then he worried that if it wasn’t the most amazing earth-shattering kiss, then you’d be disappointed and leave him amongst the discarded litter. So, no pressure. Even the thought of asking you made his stomach threaten to return all the delicious food he just ate. He swore he could hear Sebastian taunting him with that song:

Sha la la la la la la. My of my, look like the boy too shy, ain’t gonna kiss the girl.

He wanted to punch that crab in his stupid awesome face.

“So, you had a good time?” your question took him out of his reverie.

“Yeah, best date…day, I’ve had.”

“Same here.”

He swallowed down his fear, “It’d be nice if we did it again, maybe other places with food. Or not food, but food is always nice and…”

His rambling was cut short when you placed a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. The short lip contact sent Dieter into some kind of shock and that seemed to have left you terrified.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t sure if you wanted that. You were staring at my mouth all day and I really should have asked first; you probably didn’t want that at all…”

He snapped out of his just-been-kissed shock, “No, no, I did want that. It’s just the thought of it made feel sick. Not the kissing part, never. No, the thought of you saying no, because I’d ask you first, it’s only polite to ask because I’m a man and…”

“Dieter” you interrupted, “Do you want to ask me?”

“Yes”

“I won’t say no”

“Can I kiss you?”

You simply nodded.

So Dieter gently cupped your cheek with his hand and pressed his lips to yours.

It was earth-shattering and amazing, and he didn’t want it to end but he had to at some point.

*****

Eventually Dieter pulled his lips away from yours, even though you didn’t want him to. It was the most amazing earth-shattering kiss you’d ever had.

“Wow..that was…I don’t want to say nice, that’s not the right word.”

“Can’t think of one?”

“Not right now.”

“Would it help if I kissed you again?”

“Yes”

Lovingly tagging @cevans-is-classic

[starrbuggie]

Hey!! I never finished this little thing talking through how i make my OC's so here have it so it doesn't sit in drafts forever.

(The oc sketches in this are free to use, so you can steal them if you want)

OK PEOPLE, WHO HERE KNEW THAT IN CHINESE MYTHOS DRAGONS ARE NOT APEX PREDATORS!

They have a predator called the Denglong, which just so happens to be a messenger for the heavens and underworld!

so obviously creating an OC based off of a denglong could go in 3 ways

-Really physically intimidating but gentle and kind

Orrr

-Physically cute but a little gremlin

or, last but not least

-Elegant but reaaly passive aggressive and sarcastic

how hard to choose-

anyways,

Ive chosen to also take inspiration from postal workers for 'work' outfits and vintage photos for this character,

Ive also picked out a few different colour pallettes as ideas

See most of the dragons within LMK hold blues and greens as primary or secondary colours, and although the Denglong is technically a type dragon I wanted them to have a different colour pallete that may allude to the danger they put Mei, Bao(oc) and Jian(oc) in by simply being around. (Though most of this may be entirely up to each Denglong and how hungry they are, I dont belive they would go out of their way to attack them but if their REALLY hungry...-Think the demons from Demon Slayer)

They are also constantly traveling between each realm so they would probably need to blend in well with each, so colours are very important.

Full outfit Inspo!

Most of my charecters are quite genderneutral, so I always collect both masculine and feminine outfits for inspo boards!

Testing out designs:

These are some designs I drafted up to help find out what I wanted within my final design.

[stiltonbasket]

a-Lan is teaching all the other baos her chaotic bao ways? the tiger baos now want to eat snacks at 3 am, and the yunmeng baos are putting ducks in all the beds.

Nie Shiyong: Why are you asking me for snacks? Go outside and catch mice if you're hungry. ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠˘⁠_⁠˘⁠)⁠┌

The tiger baos, who were expecting delicious homemade morsels like the ones A-Lan gets: ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

Meanwhile, Jin Ling has been pinned down under his wife's paw so he doesn't run off to make tastier snacks for his tiger babies. Nie Shiyong wants the baos to stay in the family cuddle pile all night without getting up to steal food, so they'll just have to go back to sleep. 😤

[pinklily7749]

A day in the life (Jan 2023)

I had texted him to wish him a happy birthday and asked him if he had big plans. Instead he asked if I was doing anything Friday night. I told him I was going to buy ingredients for the hot pot and bao buns that I'd make for my cousins and sister on the weekend. I told him I can get the ingredients at lunch or the morning after so we agreed to meet on Friday night. There's always strange butterflies in my stomach every time we agree to plans.

I was ecstatic to finish work to go and see him. It feels different meeting him on a Friday rather during the week because it feels less rushed. We can  also ease into the weekend. It's nice to feel this kind of excitement over a man. I have now officially lost count of how many times we have met like this.

I love getting ready and making myself nice and deciding on an outfit. This sounds like I'm about to go on a date but I'm not even sure if I'm dating right now. What is dating in this decade?

It was a sunny day so it was a nice drive to his place. I love his area because it is by the seaside but may also be just biased because he is there. It took me through the city that day which was strange so I had to do a hook turn. I was eager to meet him.

When I buzz into his intercom and he answers and I love hearing his voice. He welcomed me into his apartment and often always ask if I'm hungry. I like how he always asks how I am! We went downstairs and ordered a pizza and he ran to a nearby wine store to get us a bottle of wine. It's nice being around him and sometimes I sneak a look at him and notice how good looking he is. It is like that crush feeling and I cannot stop this feeling.

We played a few rounds of Pandemic and the wine had definitely given me some giggles along the way. At one point he had reached over and tenderly held my face. It is these quiet moments that I remember more than anything else. We played the first game wrong so we played a few more rounds. It didn't matter because we were spending time together. Somehow I was nervous to look at him. I don't knew why I was feeling this way when I had been in his presence so many times before that? I guess he is a lot older which makes me extra extra nervous.

We ended up cuddling on the couch and I stayed over again.

I had to wake up early to go clean my house to prepare it to have people over but otherwise it would've been nice to eat breakfast together with him.

As much I want to downplay how meeting up, he gives me feelings and affections that I have never experienced before. I never knew these feelings and affections had been missing from my life. I don't know if I'm on the right path but I know for certain that this is the current path that I want. Life is what happens in the middle they say? Or was it life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

And just like that, I noticed I've just written a post living in the present moment with a man without bringing up the past. Maybe I'm recovering?

[doctorguilty]

This is what I ordered for dinner last night btw (ty to my wonderfull partner for helping me out with food money so I can have something nicer than taco bell for once..) it was from a local szechuan place I hadn't tried before but their menu was amazing, I got Peking duck bao, and a chicken and vegetable dry pot, with a side of brown rice... it was all so delicious and filling, like later on I didn't even go back for a full meal I just heated up the small leftover serving of stuffing I made last night, and then a bit later had some crackers, and still I don't feel hungry. I still have rice and stir fry left for today, and after that meal I just took it easy for the rest of the night and I feel physically and mentally so much better than I have the past few days ;m; it's so real how being malnourished just drags you down into worse and worse depression... anyway.. just had to gush.... it just really fixed me up and it was so delicious (and enjoying food is also so important to feel good too!!)

[thealmightyemprex]

Disney Month: Ranking Disney Oscar winning animated shorts part one (20-11)

For the 8th installment of Disney Month I shall be ranking Disneys 20 oscar winning animated shorts from least fave to fave .I will admit I found some of the shorts underwhelming but some are great

Most of these shorts you can find either on Disney +,Youtube and two on the internet archive

20.Bao

Woman makes a Bao baby

HATE.HATE SO MUCH .This was so unsettling to me and I didnt think it worked at all

19. Three Orphan Kittens

Three orphan kittens run amuck in a house

Boring .I like cuteness but this was boring .It was also the hardest to find ,I couldnt even find it on its own,I found it in a compilation film of other oscar winners.

18,Tortoise and the Hare

The old tale of the race between the Tortoise and the hare

So the Hare in this short was an inspiration for Bugs Bunny.....And it just made me wanna watch a Bugs Bunny cartoon instead,I found this very dull

17.Country Cousin

A country mouse stays with his upper class city cousin

....Meh .I dunno a lot of these 1930's shorts left no impact on me

16.Ferdinand the Bull

A bull who doesnt like fighting and would rather smell flowers

This one felt confused as to what it wanted to say ,if it even wanted to say anything .Theres some funny stuff and good character animation ,but its just a bull who likes flowers ,I got nothing

15.The Ugly Duckling

A retelling of the story of the one unusal duckling who finds out what he really is

Its alright.Theres a funny moment between the duck parents where you cant understand what they are saying but ya know whats implied at the same time that was neat but the rest of the short was just OK

14,Tin Toy

A tin toy is trying to escape a baby

Cute concept,no doubt was a break through for early CG .....BUT THAT FLIPPING BABY IS HORRIFYING .Early CG is a little hard to watch

13.Flowers and trees

The first oscar winning cartoon,Anthro trees fall in love but there is an evil tree who want the lady tree

I'm actually surprised it is so high,its very simplistic and while watching I was a bit meh about it ,but the animation is nice and its cute .Plus it is the first technicolor animated short so thats cool

12. Paperman

A guy meets a woman at a train spot,finds her in a office next to his ,and uses paper airplanes to get her intention

I am surprised its not higher,Its a cute lovestory with a magical twist and I like the CG that emulates 2D look ,but on this rewatch....I dunno it was lacking something

11. Feast

A relationship told through the eyes of a hungry dog

This is pretty darn cute ,It charmed the hell out of me when I first saw it.There are just shorts I like better

To be Continued

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