#you know i'm really deep into something when i start building in sims for it

[doom-dreaming]

Little by little we are Getting There

More nonsense under the cut. Eventually I'm gonna make an actual nice post about this build with all my reasoning for Why They Wanted It Like This.

I am staying with my color scheme of wood and various shades of blue. I like it so far. Kelly has a little basket of stuff for her morning runs. There's a secret bathroom tucked off next to it so there's One bathroom that isn't connected to a bedroom and also for easy access to a shower after coming in from the beach. Sand is the enemy.

Changed my mind and decided the front bedroom was gonna be Fred's. Kelly's is the one in back. John and Linda are on the third floor. I do like to think they tried to give their original plans to the architect and there was. one bedroom with two sets of Spartan-grade bunk beds and the realtor was like 'absolutely not, we have to think about resale value. also you are fully-grown adults.' But they didn't say that last part out loud.

Anyway this is so beyond the height of luxury for people who spend most of their time in combat, in cryo, or on a starship.

Laundry. Very important. They're So Efficient About It Too.

Office loft! These are my favorite kinds of rooms to furnish. Still not sold on those desks, may pick a different kind.

I'm pretty much done with the back deck, I just need to put some stuff on the wall behind the bar. Also that little couch may not stay there, we'll see. Kelly's room has a door that opens onto this under the covered part.

I love. making houses with a really tall living room and a loft. It's my favorite thing. And it looks so good.

And the front patio is basically done. Many many social spaces for them as a compromise for the separate bedrooms. Ignore the trash on the beach I don't know if I'm gonna use it yet and that's where it stays until I decide.

[star-suh]

Come Kiss Me and Bite Me

Jake Sim x Male Reader

cw: top jake, body worshiping, marking, semi-public sex, sweaty sex, in the gym, cum swallowing, protected sex, musk kink, blowjob, fingering, mutual masturbation.

—

“okay, two more squats and we're done” jake, yn's personal trainer, try to encourage him to finish his set of exercises. today he was exercising his legs so jake took the opportunity to stare and secretly touch his ass with the excuse of “”correcting his posture””.

as jake trained yn his curiosity increased, especially when he saw that juicy ass. the trainer fantasized about fucking him in the gym showers or having wet dreams with him.

“thanks for today jake” yn said wiping the sweat with a towel, “it was very though” he snickered. “it’s okay yn, you did well today” he pauses to drink water “see you tomorrow then”. “yeah, i can wait to start looking like you, with those defined muscles and abs” yn commented, seeing that tight black tank top on him that is showing his erect nipples. “hmmm? do you like my body that much boy?” an idea appearing on jake’s mind, “you can touch them if you want” a cocky smirk plastered on his handsome face.

yn did as he was told, his hands tracing every defined muscle on jake’s body, his arms, his chest, his abs, hell even his legs. when he was checking the latter something caught his eyes, “oh shit you almost poke my eye with that” yn jokes signaling at his trainer’s bulge. both laughed but from jake’s perspective it looked like his dick was on top of yn’s face, something that made him hornier and his bulge bigger. yn kept praising jake, his finger tracing every defined muscle leaving a burning trail sensation on him. “you're touch is so…” jake spoke the thoughts clouding his mind making him incapable of finishing his line. “so what?” yn looked at him with hooded eyes, the pre-cum smell that was leaking from hake's tip hitting him. and as if he was a cat yn caressed the other's bulge with his face, taking in deep breaths of that musky masculine scent.

yn pulled down jake's shorts and underwear, the latter sat on one of the benches spreading his legs so yn can have more space to do wonders with his tongue.

yn attacked jake's shaft roughly, he was hungry for that dick, he didn't wait a second to put it all inside his throat, deepthroating it and spitting the tick saliva on top of it emitting some squelching sounds. while the shaft was inside his mouth, his tongue rubbing the underside of it. “you really know how to work that damn tongue” jake heaved, the pleasure causing him to roll his eyes, whimpers, grunts and swear words coming out of his pretty mouth.

jake grabbed the edges of the bench so hard that his knuckles turned white, he was trying so hard to hold back his load, wanting to give it to yn later but failed at the attempt. his seed went down yn's throat who swallowed it happily, “so sweet” he blurted out.

yn sat on top of jake who puts his dick in between yn's ass cheeks, then with his two hands grabbed each one to squeeze them tight and rubbed his dick in between them, “oh yn, i'm loving this” he murmurs, beads of sweat building on his forehead causing his hair to stick on it making him look hotter. “put it in already jake~” yn loved the feeling of that warm meat on his body leaving his sticky pre-cum mixed with lube and sweat smeared on his ass but he wanted more, he wanted to feel it inside, opening his walls, drilling his way up as deep as it can, filling him up with his manly sperm. “please~” he slurred. he was needy. “mmm are you that desperate for me?” jake jokingly asked. “yeah, please please give it to me” yn begged.

the top put a condom on his shaft and slap it on the bottom's hole. wanting to rile him more, jake put his tip on the hole, slowly introducing it until it was all inside. yn clenched on it as a way to say that he wanted more than the tip. jake pulled it out and did the same again, just the tip inside. yn's eyes were watery, tears threatening to fall down. his pleas were not heared. jake just did as he pleased, continuing to fuck him just with his tip.

yn became a mess, moaning, sweating, body completely flushed and trembling legs. he rested his face on the bench but managed to keep his ass up. jake leaned on top of him and whispered on his ear “look at you, all fucked up and just with my tip. i can't imagine how it would be with all of it inside you” as he finished the phrase he impaled all his meat on yn. he let out a guttural moan, tears rolled down his reddish cheeks, “what the fuck” he cried. jake's thick shaft reaches deep inside, opening him up. “you're gonna rip me apart” yn heaved, trying to get accustomed to the feeling. “that's the idea”.

something about jake was so sensual, his toned body, his lip bites, his facial expressions. man knew how to use his sexyness in his favor.

the top keep drilling yn’s ass, who was with his face still pressed against the bench, mouth open and a pool of drool forming there. “jake h-harder” he murmured. the skin slapping sounds became louder and louder every second. jake not having mercy with the poor man’s ass. once in a while jake pulls out to watch yn’s hole clenching on nothing and then spitting on it to see how it goes down his insides. his eyes filled with lust and a fucking low kinda quite laugh that would melt everyone who heard it.

in a missionary position now yn could appreciate jake’s body more, how his abs contract and relax with each thrust. his body glistening due to the sweat. yn punched jake’s chest with his fists seeing how hard and firm they were, “fuck! i can finally die in peace after seeing you like this” yn said, already cockdrunked. “don't die. i want to keep using you” jake whispered while hugging yn and speeding up his pace.

yn scratched jake’s thrust, the red marks on his back burning thanks to the sweat but jake liked the sensation. “my turn now” jake said and attacked yn's neck, that was like a canvas for him to decorate it with bite marks and hickeys “you look prettier like this”. the sex was so wild and primal that the bench started moving as if it was going to break. they gave in to their carnal desires not caring about anything else. they just wanted to feel each other. “fuck i'm gonna cum” jake said pulling out and discarding the latex. he grabbed both his dick and yn's to jerk off “let's cum together” he purred. they came, both dick spurting cum that landed on yn's chest and torso. some of it even reaching his chin and lips that he obviously licked and hummed, pointing out how delicious it was…

the days continued as if nothing happened between them, everyone who saw them would think it's just a normal relationship between a trainer and trainee, little did they know that jake's training included more than yn’s arms, torso or legs. every night after the gym closes jake trains yn's hole so he can learn how to take dick in all the ways possible.

[ennysimmer]

Hello everyone :> I was supposed to only pause my queue for a few days to give me a chance to edit the last posts of rotation 13 in my build a city challenge... but here we are, exactly one month later, and it's still paused xD I kinda got distracted by Dragon Age for a while...

Anyway, Neptune will be back starting tomorrow. It's been a few months since I played it, but there are still plenty of posts in my queue so I won't run out for a long time. Hopefully, I'll be back playing it before we reach that point.

I'll try my very best to finish writing some of my 68(?!) uberhood posts that I have saved as drafts. I don't really feel like playing my uberhood right now, but I'll get back to it eventually. Probably.

Also, I started playing in a new custom hood haha. It's set deep in a forest, it's slow-paced, and it's more character-driven than my usual playstyle. Who would have thought it's much easier getting to know the characters when there aren't like 40+ of them to keep track of.. xD I'm really obsessed with it right now tbh. I just wanted to play something with barely any rules and few characters with a long life span. I also wanted to make use of some of the sun & moon mods - and that resulted in The Florence Forest and Claire, shown in the pictures above.

For now, I'll focus on Neptune and my uberhood, but I hope to add this new project to the mix in the foreseeable future.

Well, that's all for this (not so) little update, I guess. I hope you all had a great The Sims 2 birthday the other day! It was fun seeing everyone celebrating :3 20 years is kinda wild.

[stevetown]

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Playtime: 75h00m Completed: July 25, 2023

Tears of the Kingdom is a game that I recognize is technically excellent. It's the closest to an immersive sim that Nintendo's ever gotten. Its world is jam packed with things to do and places to explore. The sheer design of it all is magnificent, from the myriad of uh, promiscuous outfits you can dress Link in to the very core concept of the Depths.

And yet, I gawk at the 75 hours I allegedly spent with the game, because I'm rather hard pressed to think of what I did. The more I sit with the game having finished it, the more I'm left feeling that above all, the game was rather tedious.

Aside from the Wind Temple, whose lead up, design, and boss execution had me so pumped for the rest of the game, almost everything else was a let down in retrospect. I found the sky islands a slog to explore. Walking everywhere never really felt fun. The depths were interesting at first but once I realized the game had shown me all of its weirdness in the first hour or so, I felt no draw to go back. Putting up the President Hudson signs was entertaining when I was playing with the new build mechanics, but eventually I was tired of fiddling with wooden boards. I can't remember any shrines that really stand out. The fuse mechanic helps with weapon durability criticisms but the combat still feels really bad.

Mostly, I was surprised at my ability to put the game down for large stretches at a time. I was hoping to get sucked in, but I found myself perfectly content to wrap up whatever quest I was doing and stop for the night every play session.

It saddens me a bit that I feel this way, because I know this game and Breath of the Wild before it means so much to so many people, including my close friends. I want to know what I'm missing. I think the problem lies with my own disinterest in open world games. I find them overwhelming and if you keep piling on things for me to do - korok seeds, shrines, wells, sky islands, mines, sign propping, frog hunting, Yiga hideouts, memories, light roots etc etc - I start to think of the game as a chore rather than something I want to explore. Tears of the Kingdom feels very broad in its spectrum of activities, but no one thing is deep enough to really draw me in the way I want.

Maybe I'll revisit these two games in the future when there's less going on in my life to really soak it in, but for now I'm happy to let Link rest and dig into some smaller games.

[simswamp]

Welcome to my very first post on Tumblr ever (help me I have no idea what I'm doing), and the opener for a new decades playthrough! I've been Simming since 2000, and this is by far my favorite way to play.

Some things to know:

I go by a different time table than the classic Decades challenge. I don't switch decades until the next generation is born, which is weird and doesn't make a lot of sense, but well same here so this is what we're doing. When playing the traditional way, I find that the game starts moving too fast, and the 18 collective hours I've spent downloading vintage CC seems like a much less effective use of my time. So my playthrough is starting with 1880 (founders), and will become 1890 with the YA birthday of their first child, and will STAY 1890 until the next generations heir has their YA birthday. If this sounds too confusing/dumb, please leave because I am the most confusing and dumb bitch you'll ever meet. But I've spent thousands of dollars on this franchise over the last 23 years and I owe it to myself to do the absolute most.

I'm really not a storyteller, I don't use poses, and I don't edit my screenshots, 50% because I'm lazy and 50% because I don't know how. There will be a paper-thin attempt at something resembling a plot, but that's about as deep as it gets. I love this game the most when it gets weird.

I fill the world with gallery Sims that are hashtagged with the appropriate time period, so that the background characters are still very appropriate without me having to actually make them. Again, lazy. So you may see some Sims you recognize, if you do the same or happened to have made those Sims. The same is true of some buildings, which may be lightly edited on occasion, and which I will never take credit for or pretend to have built. All Sims that see any playtime and all buildings that the legacy family live in will be 100% made by me.

I'm new please be gentle :3 I'm truly just here to dump screenshots and hopefully find people to interact who are also this into this game.

Once upon a Monday around 8pm, an imaginary, immortal cartoon based on a human loser, got extremely bored. Sure; she's immortal, with immortal versions of her partner and pets to keep her company, and also unlimited money and artificially perfect skin. But what's it all about?

And then, a brainstorm. Why not create imaginary people and control every aspect of their lives? But they can't enjoy the decadence that usually comes with being a pretend person, because that's just boring. The best part is when they're stressed out, right? So they'll have to be pretty damn quaint.

She built a church to the only deity she had ever fully believed in: Dibella. Of the Nine Divines, Goddess of beauty and love, from a video game series so 1) appropriate and 2) also very imaginary. From the pulpit, she could call her little sheep to flock, checking in on their lives and encouraging a meager lifestyle. Just because we KNOW the cheat codes, doesn't mean we should USE the cheat codes.

Three newlywed couples were created.

Imogene and Ambrose Merriment,

Mathilda and Vernon Revelry,

and Amina and Roger DeBauch.

After an afternoon spent around their adorable little gathering place, she decided on the Merriment family being her primary focus, receiving the most attention and the least control of their own fates. All three families will be largely controlled, but not to the same obsessive level as the Merriments.

They were given a farm, complete with a barn, cow, chickens, small garden plot with seed packets, and 100 Simoleons. Much more important, they were given a randomized mixed-breed puppy, Llewelyn, for protection and company.

Setup complete, let the great experiment begin!

[frogcraftingg]

Hey i really love your builds and stuff and i had to ask, How do you stay motivated to build? I’ve hit a real block recently and none of my stuff looks right or i can’t even start a build, any advice?

Hi dear!! Love your name btw, and thanks for such a deep question! I'm so sorry you've hit the builder's block- honestly that happens to me from time to time as well! As a creator it can be really frustrating to hit a wall with builds and not know where to go. These tips are generally what I do and sometimes they help, sometimes I just gotta ride the block until it's over.

Keep a list of projects you want to complete. You can do this for survival OR creative. I find keeping lists really helps me to stay motivated though I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I've got an entire iPad's worth of notes for my worlds. Before my iPad I used Notion and handwritten notes to keep track of everything I wanted to do! If you wanna see my lists / inspo organization feel free to let me know and I'll post~

Build something from a reference. Instead of trying to imagine it if you normally do that, open up a cool Sims house, art concept, video game screenshot, photograph, etc., and just try to build the shapes you see there into a cohesive thing~!

Try a brand new style! Sometimes to keep ideas fresh and flowing, I need to take off my texture packs and get back to basics- and building in a gothic or medieval style with different blocks than I normally use generally really helps me get the creative ideas flowing! If you're not really sure how to build that style, go find (and follow!!) a tutorial or browse online (YouTube, Instagram, MinecraftBuilds subreddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.,) for some inspo!! Even if it's something you won't ever build again, sometimes just building the way someone else does can spark so many ideas!

Play something else for a while. This can be super helpful if you are stuck. Sometimes I get stuck because I've Minecrafted too much, and I need to take a day or sometimes even a week away from the game and play something else. But usually I end up seeing some kind of inspo from another game and come racing back to build it 😂 The days where I opened the game, got nothing done, closed it and was frustrated with myself though were harmful to my overall mindset so now I will just see how I feel when I turn my PC on. Feel like building/playing? No-> Alright, let's do something else. Everything else can wait. Videos can be released a day later. Streams can be cancelled. I need to do /something else/.

Switch up the game! There are many times I get burned out from building in survival so switching to creative where I can feel more free has definitely helped! But the opposite is also true, sometimes forcing yourself to gather the resources and really envision the build as you're doing it helps me!

Don't force yourself if you're not feeling it. I burned out hard on Minecraft building a few times trying to keep up with daily build challenges or posting insta reels/tiktoks. Wait until you're feeling how you used to or motivated before you actually jump into the game again. The longest this "recovery" period has taken me is about 2 months, in summer of 2021 before I started streaming.

Honestly the biggest one that helps me is #1, I keep track of everything I want to do and I save lots of different inspo. pictures to give myself ideas while I build. Now, I don't block for block copy stuff-but sometimes seeing a roof shape I've never tried before or a block palette that looks cool can be enough to help me. Overall, I've found that keeping track of what builds and projects I'm working on and ✔ checking things off as they're done has really helped me be more intentional with my game(s) and my time, and the less time I spend frustrated or feeling lost, the more overall I've not been hitting the block as much.

Wishing you the most luck!

[brittpetrova]

Shadow Games Chp 2

The weekend arrived with a welcome sense of relief. The past few days had been a whirlwind of confusion and hidden truths, and I knew I needed to get to the bottom of what was happening. Determined to find answers, I arranged to meet my friends Zoey, Nina, Olivia, Heather, and Miranda at the library.

The library was a quiet, old building with high ceilings and shelves that seemed to stretch into infinity. It was the perfect place to dig into ancient mysteries and hidden knowledge. As I walked in, the scent of aged paper and polished wood filled my senses, grounding me in the task ahead.

I spotted my friends gathered around a large table near the back. Zoey, with her brown hair and dull purple tips, waved excitedly. Nina and Heather, both brunettes, offered gentle smiles. Olivia, the brainiac of the group with her blonde hair, was already flipping through a thick book. Miranda, with her striking black hair, whispered to Nina, but their eyes lit up when they saw me.

"Hey, Britt! Over here!" Zoey called out, drawing the attention of a few other library patrons.

"Shh! This is a library," Heather scolded playfully, but she was grinning.

I joined them at the table, placing my bag down and taking a seat. "Thanks for meeting me, guys. We have a lot to figure out."

Nina nodded. "We're here for you, Britt. What's going on?"

I took a deep breath and showed them the bracelet. "This bracelet... it has some kind of power. And there's a... presence within it. A Queen from ancient Egypt. I need to understand more about it."

As soon as I mentioned the bracelet, the girls shared a knowing look. It was subtle, but unmistakable. My heart skipped a beat as I realized they were connected to this too.

Zoey was the first to speak, her tone serious. "Britt, there's something you need to know. We're not allowed to say much, but this is important."

Olivia leaned forward, her eyes meeting mine. "The Queen within the bracelet... she's your former self. Your memories were locked away to allow you to reunite with your husband again."

I stared at them, trying to process this new revelation. "So, you all know about this?"

Miranda nodded. "We're here to help you, Britt. We've been waiting for this moment. In our past lives, we were your bodyguard court."

I felt a mix of shock and relief. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Nina spoke softly, "We couldn't. There are rules and... timing is everything. But now that you're starting to remember, we can help you more."

As we delved into our research, the hours flew by. We scoured through books on Egyptian mythology, archaeology, and even some obscure texts about magical artifacts. The more we read, the more pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. However, information about the Queen was surprisingly scarce. It was as if records had been deliberately erased or hidden, perhaps due to her connection with the Pharaoh.

At some point, as we were deep in discussion, the bell above the library door chimed softly, announcing a new arrival. I glanced up, distracted for a moment, and saw Yugi walking in. He looked around, clearly searching for something, and then his eyes landed on our table. He seemed surprised to see me surrounded by the five girls he didn't know.

"Yugi?" I called out, waving him over.

He hesitated for a moment before walking towards us. "Hey, Britt. I didn't expect to see you here."

"We're doing some research," I explained. "Yugi, these are my friends: Zoey, Nina, Olivia, Heather, and Miranda."

The girls greeted him warmly, and Yugi nodded politely. "Nice to meet you all. I'm just here to get a book for a school project."

"Maybe you can help us," Olivia suggested, always eager to include everyone in the research. "We're looking into some ancient Egyptian artifacts."

Yugi's eyes widened with interest. "Really? What kind of artifacts?"

I showed him the bracelet again. "This one. It seems to have some kind of power."

Yugi leaned in, examining it closely. "It looks familiar. I've seen similar designs in some of my grandfather's books."

"Do you think he might have more information?" I asked, hopeful.

"Probably. We can check with him later," Yugi said, glancing at the pile of books on our table. "It looks like you have quite a bit of research already."

"Yeah, we're trying to piece it all together," I replied, feeling a sense of camaraderie with my friends and Yugi. We were all in this together, unraveling the mysteries of the past to understand the present.

As the afternoon wore on, we continued our research, sharing theories and discoveries. The presence of the Queen within me felt less daunting with my friends and Yugi by my side. Little did we know, our quest for knowledge was only the beginning of a much larger adventure.

As the afternoon turned into evening, our research began to hit a wall. Despite our best efforts, the information we found was fragmented and vague. It seemed that anything directly related to the Queen and her connection to the Pharaoh had been deliberately obscured or removed from the historical records.

Olivia sighed, closing yet another book with a frustrated thump. "There's just not enough here. It's like someone went out of their way to erase her from history."

Zoey nodded in agreement. "Yeah, all we keep finding are references to her, but nothing concrete. It's frustrating."

Nina frowned, flipping through the last few pages of a dusty tome. "There has to be something we're missing. Maybe we need a different approach."

Heather, who had been silently taking notes, looked up thoughtfully. "Perhaps the key lies not just in the texts, but in the artifacts themselves. The bracelet, the puzzle... they might hold answers that books can't provide."

Miranda glanced at me, her eyes filled with determination. "We'll figure this out, Britt. We just need to keep looking and stay patient."

Yugi, who had been quietly observing our efforts, offered a reassuring smile. "Don't lose hope. Sometimes, the answers come when you least expect them."

As we packed up our things and prepared to leave the library, I felt a mix of frustration and resolve. We hadn't found the answers we were looking for, but we had strengthened our bond and renewed our determination to uncover the truth. With the weekend drawing to a close, I knew it was time to shift our focus back to school, even as the mysteries of the past continued to linger in the back of my mind.

Monday morning arrived with the usual hustle and bustle of a new school week. I walked into Domino High, my mind still preoccupied with the events of the weekend. The halls were filled with the familiar sounds of students chatting, lockers clanging, and the occasional shout from a teacher trying to maintain order.

As I made my way to my locker, I spotted Yugi up ahead, surrounded by Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda. They were laughing about something, and I felt a pang of envy at their easy camaraderie. I was still the new girl, trying to find my place in this school and in the strange world that was unfolding around me.

"Britt! Over here!" Anzu called out, waving me over.

I smiled and hurried to join them. "Hey, everyone. How was your weekend?"

Jonouchi grinned. "Pretty good. Got in some practice at the arcade. How about you?"

I hesitated, not wanting to reveal too much about my research just yet. "It was... interesting. Did some reading and hung out with friends."

Yugi looked at me curiously. "Did you find anything new about your bracelet?"

I shook my head. "Not much, unfortunately. It's like all the important information is missing."

Anzu frowned sympathetically. "That sounds frustrating. But I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

The bell rang, signaling the start of the first class. We all headed to our respective classrooms, and I tried to push my worries to the back of my mind. But it was hard to focus. Throughout the morning, my thoughts kept drifting back to the bracelet and the Queen within it. I felt like I was on the brink of a major discovery, but the pieces of the puzzle just weren't fitting together.

During the break, I found myself wandering the school grounds, lost in thought. I barely noticed when Yugi approached me.

"Britt? You okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

I snapped out of my reverie and gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, just thinking about everything."

He nodded, understanding. "If you ever need to talk or need help with your research, you know you can count on us, right?"

I felt a warm surge of gratitude. "Thanks, Yugi. That means a lot."

We stood there for a moment, sharing a silent understanding. The mysteries of the past were daunting, but with friends like Yugi and the others, I felt a little more confident that we'd find the answers eventually. As the break ended and we headed back to class, I couldn't help but feel that the new week held the promise of new discoveries and unexpected adventures.

I realized that dwelling on the mysteries surrounding the bracelet and the Queen within it wasn't going to be good for my health. As I walked through the school corridors, thoughts of the other Yugi lingered in my mind. Was he my husband from a past life? The connection between the bracelet and the puzzle seemed undeniable, but the details remained elusive.

Amidst my contemplation, I overheard Yugi, Jonouchi, and Honda discussing their plans to visit Burger World. I had heard of the place, but my curiosity was piqued further when Anzu began to react with unexpected intensity. She seemed almost frantic in her attempts to dissuade them from going. Domino High had its share of strange rules, one of them being the prohibition of part-time jobs, which made Anzu's reaction all the more suspicious.

Deciding to follow her discreetly, I observed Anzu's movements. It soon became apparent that I wasn't the only one tailing her—Miho was also on her trail. As Anzu entered Burger World, I noticed a flicker of recognition in her eyes. It dawned on me that Anzu worked there, possibly against school rules.

The previous day, driven by a desire to save up for my dream of becoming a singer, I had boldly applied for a job at Burger World. Anzu's presence there confirmed my suspicions about her employment. The next day, as Anzu left school, I fell into step beside her, intending to learn more about her job and perhaps uncover the reason behind her secrecy.

Yugi and Jonouchi, noticing our departure together, exchanged curious glances. I could sense their suspicion.

I wasn't the only one intrigued by Anzu's secretive behavior. As I discreetly followed her into Burger World, I noticed Miho trailing not far behind. Her presence added another layer of intrigue to the situation. It seemed that Anzu's actions had sparked curiosity beyond just myself.

The next day, as Anzu left school, I fell into step beside her, intending to learn more about her job and perhaps uncover the reason behind her secrecy. To my surprise, Miho joined us, her expression a mix of determination and curiosity. It became clear that she, too, had discovered Anzu's employment secret and was eager to delve deeper.

As we approached Burger World, Honda's unexpected appearance caught us off guard. He had been following our movements closely, and his decision to join us signaled a growing determination to unravel the mystery surrounding Anzu. It seemed that our group was expanding, each of us driven by our own reasons to investigate Anzu's enigmatic behavior.

Yugi and Jonouchi, noticing our departure together once again, exchanged puzzled glances. The unfolding events had piqued their interest, leaving them curious about our sudden interest in Burger World and Anzu's role there.

As we walked away from school together, Jonouchi couldn't resist teasing Yugi. "Hey Yugi, your best friends Britt and Anzu seem pretty chummy. Are they getting into the compensated dating business now?"

Yugi's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and he stammered a protest, "N-no, Jonouchi! It's nothing like that."

Anzu shot Jonouchi a sharp look, clearly displeased with his teasing. "Cut it out, Jonouchi. We're just going to Burger World," she said, attempting to steer the conversation away from the uncomfortable topic.

he next day, Yugi and Jonouchi couldn't resist their curiosity and decided to follow us to Burger World after school. They kept a careful distance, observing from afar as Anzu, Miho, Honda, and I entered the restaurant. The mystery surrounding Anzu's job and our sudden interest in Burger World only deepened their intrigue.

Unaware that they were being followed, all four of us warmly greeted them at the door of Burger World. However, upon realizing it was Yugi and Jonouchi, we exchanged knowing glances and turned to attend to our duties. Despite the situation, I took the time to seat them.

"Yugi, my dream has always been to be a singer," I confessed softly to him.

Even before discovering I was the reincarnation of some ancient Queen, I had held onto this dream. Yugi possessed power over the Yami no games, but what about me? A Queen wields power akin to her King, suggesting that deep within me lies an ancient power waiting to be unlocked.

The atmosphere at Burger World buzzed with a mix of anticipation and curiosity as Yugi and Jonouchi settled into their seats. Anzu and Miho exchanged knowing glances, their secrets veiled beneath casual smiles. Honda, sensing something was afoot, glanced around with a hint of suspicion.

As I made my way over to take their orders, Yugi's gaze lingered on me, silently questioning. "A singer, huh?" he mused softly, his curiosity evident.

I nodded, feeling a rush of determination to confide in him. "Yeah. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to sing. It's like... my true passion."

Anzu, catching the moment, interjected with a playful grin. "Britt here has quite the voice, you know. Maybe one day you'll get to hear her."

I blushed at her praise but felt a surge of gratitude for her support. Miho, always perceptive, chimed in with enthusiasm. "You should join the school choir, Britt! They're always looking for new talent."

Her suggestion sparked a flicker of hope within me. Perhaps it was time to pursue my dream openly, regardless of the ancient mysteries entwined within my life.

After taking their orders and sharing a few laughs, Anzu motioned for us to take a break together. We gathered around a corner table, where Anzu leaned in conspiratorially. "So, spill it, Britt. What's with the sudden interest in Burger World?"

I hesitated for a moment, unsure how much to reveal. "Well, I needed a job," I began cautiously, "and I've always been curious about what goes on here. Plus, it's a chance to save up for something important."

Miho and Honda nodded in understanding, their expressions sympathetic yet intrigued. Jonouchi, ever the jokester, couldn't resist teasing. "Compensated dating pays better than flipping burgers, you know."

I shot him a mock glare, but inside, I appreciated the light-hearted banter easing the tension. "Trust me, it's nothing like that," I reassured them with a grin.

Yugi, ever observant, seemed to sense there was more to the story. "Whatever your reasons, Britt," he said gently, "we're here to support you."

His words resonated deeply with me, reminding me that amidst the mysteries of my past and the challenges of the present, I had friends who stood by me.

Yugi couldn't help but notice how both Anzu and Britt looked cute in their Burger World uniforms, though he kept his thoughts to himself to avoid any embarrassment.

As they chatted and enjoyed their meal, a new figure caught their attention—a stylish girl with confident strides entered Burger World. She had a distinct air of sophistication, her fashion-forward attire catching everyone's eye.

Britt's eyes widened in astonishment as she turned to see Tany approaching their table. "Tany! What are you doing here?" Britt exclaimed, rising to give her friend a warm hug.

Tany grinned, her demeanor as lively as ever. "Mom's setting up the new fashion store down the street. Thought I'd grab a bite and see if you're still around. Didn't expect to find you here, though!"

Introductions followed, with Tany meeting Yugi, Jonouchi, Miho, and Honda. Yugi found himself drawn to Tany's easy charm and striking presence. He couldn't help but admire her confident demeanor and sense of style, contrasting with Britt's more reserved nature.

"So, you work here now?" Tany asked Britt, curiosity dancing in her eyes.

Britt nodded, her expression brightening. "Yeah, trying to save up for something important."

Tany winked playfully. "Keeping it mysterious, huh? Well, if you ever need a break from burgers, swing by Mom's shop. We could use some extra hands setting things up."

Britt smiled gratefully, touched by Tany's offer of support. Amidst the chatter and laughter, the atmosphere at Burger World felt lighter, the bond between friends strengthened by unexpected reunions and shared moments.

As much as I wanted to catch up with Tany, I couldn't because of work. I delivered food orders, watching Anzu serve Yugi and Jonouchi their burgers. I glanced at the message Anzu made, pondering if I should keep this part-time job. Maybe working under the table for Tanya's mom, who often asked me to model for her fashion store, would be less hassle.

Then, an inspector arrived, prompting me to take a breather in the bathroom. Outside, I heard commotion. I splashed water on my face, overwhelmed by everything I was involved in and unable to control. When I returned, I was suddenly blindfolded and heard the unsettling sound of a gun.

What the hell... I thought, disoriented.

Upon being led to a booth, I recognized the voice—it was the manager.

"Now then! Someone's gonna get what I demand!" he bellowed, and I reluctantly took a seat, realizing I was in danger. My thoughts turned to the other Yugi—would he come to my rescue?

"You! The wussy-looking brat over there!" the manager shouted, pointing at me. "You do it! Don't any of you move!"

Everyone, including Tanya, was on the ground. A warning shot rang out, and the manager demanded booze and cigarettes, revealing his habits. I hesitated, then found my voice.

"Yugi? Don't do it!" I yelled, just before feeling the manager's slap across my cheek.

"Britt!" I heard Yugi's voice call out in alarm.

As the chaos unfolded around me, I strained against the blindfold, my heart pounding with fear and frustration. "Let me take over," the Queen's voice urged urgently in my mind, "You must regain control." But trapped in darkness, I felt helpless, unable to see Yugi or assess the situation. I could only hope that Yugi wouldn't comply with the manager's demands, knowing the danger it posed.

I let the Queen take control, her calmness contrasting with my unease, yet I still felt the shift around me as Yugi transformed into his alter ego. Even in darkness, I remained aware of the sound of a bottle being set down, knowing the situation unfolding despite the Queen guiding my actions.

"It's time for a game," Yugi declared.

The other Yugi, the one who had faced Ushio, I thought, listening intently to his announced rules for the Yami no game. I anticipated several rules, but Yugi surprised me with simplicity.

"There is but one rule. Of our ten fingers, we may move only one each," Yugi stated. "You are free to choose which finger. Which will it be?"

As the Queen maintained control, keeping me composed, I heard the manager opt for his index finger—the trigger finger. Yugi chose his thumb. I waited, feeling tension mount until Yugi finally pulled me up from the booth.

"Let's go, Britt," he said.

Untying the blindfold, I saw that the manager had cheated and realized he was about to face consequences. The Queen, still guiding me, smirked, foreseeing his fate.

"The Door of Darkness has opened," Yugi and I declared simultaneously.

Here's a refined version with grammar corrections and rephrasing:

The Queen receded, allowing me to regain control. I had wanted to ask the other Yugi about our connection, but before I could, Yugi appeared. I was shocked and somewhat disappointed—I yearned for answers that seemed just out of reach. Deciding to quit Burger World after that incident, where I had unwittingly worked under a potentially criminal manager, left me unsettled. The restaurant closed temporarily due to the fallout.

As I collected my final tips, we all exited together. I shuddered at the realization that the manager could have endangered my life. "Are you alright?" Yugi asked, concern evident in his voice. I nodded, realizing that a big burger joint wasn't where I belonged; I needed to find a safer path.

Tanya caught up with us, panting slightly. She looked at me earnestly. "Britt, become my mom's model. You'll earn enough money to pursue your dreams freely," Tanya suggested.

The offer was tempting, coming from someone I trusted. "I'll consider it, Tany," I replied cautiously.

After leaving Burger World for good, I went home for a brief respite, needing time to process everything that had happened. The incident at the restaurant lingered in my thoughts, but I pushed it aside temporarily as I headed out to the park. Under the soft glow of moonlight, I unexpectedly encountered the other Yugi. His presence brought a mix of curiosity and uncertainty—I knew he was seeking answers just as I was.

"Yugi," I began tentatively, "what do you think connects us?"

Yugi looked thoughtful, his expression serious yet contemplative. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted quietly. "But I feel something... familiar about you, Britt. Like we've known each other for a long time, in another life perhaps."

His words resonated with me, stirring a strange mix of emotions. "I feel it too," I confessed, uncertain of where this revelation might lead us.

He offered his hand to me, and I placed mine in his as we walked. The park around us seemed quieter under the moonlight, amplifying the weight of our conversation. "According to my friends, it was another life... I was... your Queen," I revealed tentatively, watching his expression for any sign of disbelief.

Yugi remained calm, his gaze steady. "I believe you," he said softly, surprising me with his earnest acceptance. "It explains a lot, actually. Like why I've always felt drawn to puzzles and games, and why I can't shake this feeling that there's more to life than what we see."

I nodded, relieved that he didn't dismiss my revelation. "Do you think we're meant to remember more?" I wondered aloud, thinking of the mysteries still locked away.

Yugi squeezed my hand gently. "Maybe," he mused, his voice barely above a whisper. "But maybe it's enough for now that we've found each other again."

As we continued walking, the moonlight cast long shadows around us, illuminating a path forward that seemed both uncertain and promising. Suddenly, we came upon Zoey, who was waiting under a lamppost nearby.

"Hey, Britt, Yugi," Zoey greeted us warmly. "I've been waiting for you. I have something for you." She held out a small ring with an intricate design.

"What's this?" I asked, intrigued by the unexpected gift.

"It's a communicator ring," Zoey explained. "With this, you can communicate with Yugi even when he's in the puzzle, and vice versa. It's a way to stay connected no matter what."

Yugi looked at the ring thoughtfully. "That's incredible," he said, impressed by the idea. "Thank you, Zoey."

Zoey smiled. "Consider it a gift from all of us," she said, glancing at Nina, Heather, Olivia, and Miranda who were standing nearby, watching with curiosity. "We're all here to support you both."

I slipped the ring onto my finger, feeling a sense of gratitude and determination. "Thank you, everyone," I said sincerely, feeling a renewed sense of purpose in our shared journey.

With the communicator ring on my finger, and Yugi by my side, we continued our walk under the moonlit sky, ready to face whatever mysteries and challenges lay ahead, together.

[with-love-from-hell]

Hi...I hope you don't mind I ask on anon. I've been reading for awhile and have seen you mention the brothers' trauma processing a couple times...could you expand on that in headcanon form? I'm really excited to see your take as someone who's also just starting to learn about trauma.

YAY I'm glad someone finally asked! I will go off so bare with me this will be a longer set of headcanons (also sorry this took so long, the past few weeks have been really tough. It took me forever to write these out lol).

The Brothers’ (+ Simeon) Trauma Responses

Genre: Headcanons, Character Analysis, Angst?

Characters Featured: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor, Simeon

CW: spoilers for lessons 16+, discussion of trauma and trauma responses, grammar errors likely

Author Note: The reason I am writing for this is because I have a clinical background in Psychology and Trauma is one of my areas of specialty. As someone with trauma as well, I couldn’t help but think about the brothers’ reactions to the fall and the war, especially with how it relates to their sins. This is something I have had floating around my game when playing ever since I started about a year ago. Hope you all enjoy!

Belphie

Belphie primarily responds to the trauma of the fall and losing his sister with resentment. He holds a deeply-rooted feeling of contempt for humans, and resorts to blaming them for everything rather than accepting the loss and his sister’s autonomy to make her own choices. The hostility he feels toward humans leads him down a destructive and spiteful path, where he is determined to do anything and everything to enact revenge- which he succeeds in, obviously. 

However, throughout the canon game, we see him shuck off most responsibility for his actions. Before killing Mc, Belphie is insistent that his actions are the fault of humans, rather than taking ownership of the way he feels and behaves. Even after “making amends” with Mc, his ownership of his own feelings and actions is pretty piss poor, and in future Devilgrams and events, can be inconsistent. He flips back and forth between telling Mc how he actually feels, and burying his emotions so that resentment builds. 

Overall I feel like a lot more could be done with his character in this regard- especially in his relationship with Lucifer, Diavolo, and Mc- but ya know. Its a dating sim, they aren’t gonna spend much time on that lol. My own headcanon for Belphie is when he “makes amends” with Mc, he becomes frustrated with the fact that they still aren’t as close to him as his brothers, and he also feels jealous of the way his brothers will spend more time with them than him. I feel like the hatred of humans wouldn’t just vanish at the snap of someone’s fingers, so there may still be some deep-rooted biases he will have to address, and some unpacking of his tendency to shove his emotions down in order for Mc to have a relationship with him ((I did a small drabble with these components)). 

I would also believe he would eventually have to actually atone for what he’s done in other ways as well, be that guided by Mc’s emotions and distancing from him, or by Beel or Mammon. I think that eventually, once he gets past the jealousy, the guilt and shame for his actions would set in, and would also make him begin to act out in anger, just as the jealousy had. This is something I have seen in a lot of fics, and I definitely share this headcanon. I’m sure the guilt eats him alive inside, and I can also imagine Belphie eventually drawing some sort of trauma from killing Mc, especially after they become closer ((I think specifically of the fic where the brothers relive Mc’s worst memories of them)). Belphie’s guilt also manifests as isolation and fatigue, relating heavily to the sin he holds.

Beel

Beel’s primary response to everything that happened is a greater sense of guilt and shame. Beel feels 100% responsible for everything, and even states this multiple times throughout the game - especially in the arc where Mc is forming a pact with him. He insists that if he had been a bit quicker, maybe he could have saved both Lilith and Belphie- but we all know that this isn’t true. Beel feels a strong sense of urgency to protect his remaining family- especially Belphie- as he seems to feel that’s the only thing he can contribute to the family unit. As the protectorate, Beel needs to have strength and energy to fight against threats, which the devs end up pushing as his primary character traits: that of constantly eating and working out. 

After Belphie is freed from the attic (in the original time line), Beel’s response is to immediately take Belphie’s side, again acting as the protectorate. He also pulls Mc along side him, insisting that Lucifer’s upset over them meeting Belphie puts them in danger. Beel is torn after this point, feeling betrayed by the eldest brother, which we know he is also very close to next to Belphie. In the alternate timeline, Beel’s response is that of hopelessness and again, guilt, because he failed to protect Mc from Belphie’s wrath. 

We also get a bit of glimpses of Beel experiencing denial about Belphie’s emotions and demeanor after the fall, and even throughout the interactions with his brothers. He is often seen minding his own business during fights/arguments, as if everything is totally fine. We also hear him say to Mc that “Belphie would really like them” and vice versa, when we all know that Belphie was very vocal about his hatred of humans since the fall, and even moreso after Diavolo announced the exchange program.  

Asmo

For Asmo, his title of “Jewel of the Celestial Realm” was difficult for him to give up. In turn, he developed his sin by trying to uphold that title in Devildom despite now being a demon. For him, the ability to maintain control over how he is perceived by others is so important that it often supersedes his relationships with his brothers, and comes across in the form of vanity. Underneath Asmo’s beauty lies insecurity about everything- the war, his relationships, his likeability beyond his appearance, etc- and he manages this by trying to gain more and more control over his appearance- engaging in more elaborate beauty routines until it takes up a majority of his time. 

This is displayed in many arguments between him and his other brothers- namely Mammon. I theorize this is because Asmo sees Mammon as competition. He is obviously just as beautiful, and has his own contracts as a model. Because of this, I’m sure it feeds into Asmo’s insecurity. I imagine the vanity he experiences is a cover for his deeper fears- and one of them I can see as being alone. 

Obviously, his sin comes in as the form of hypersexuality. I can see how it began as primarily a coping mechanism, but evolved into something he does enjoy. However, I do think he uses his sexual prowess as a way to cover true emotions, hiding the fear behind letting people too close and then abandoning him like the others in the Celestial Realm did when he and his brothers fell. This also makes sense why he does and says things that keeps his brothers at arms length, and then experiences regret and becomes extra affectionate to reel them back in. 

Satan 

While Satan doesn’t have direct links to trauma from the war or to the Celestial Realm, he does have remnants of Lucifer’s memories, which is part of the reason why their processing of anger is very similar. For Satan though, his response appears as more resentment in game- particularly toward the trauma of being formed from Lucifer’s wrath. Obviously, this trope is leaned into very hard by the devs, and often Mc is forced to mediate arguments between Satan and Lucifer and try to manage Satan’s crippling fears of just being a carbon copy of his brother. 

I headcanon that Satan deals with this in a variety of ways. Primarily, his emotions related to this sore subject come out as anger. However, Satan has many insecurities related to being treated like a monster just because of that reputation, and his efforts to be part of the social elites proves he is making a conscious effort to re-form his image. In some sense, this is how he takes back control. Satan also strives to be different from Lucifer, the attempts at being seen as someone else bordering at obsessive. I headcanon that Satan’s natural hair is black, and he dyes it blonde (a starkly contrasting color) in order to be perceived differently. Also, the obvious ones in games that are leaned into are Satan is more into reading whereas Lucifer is more into Music, Satan is more into cats and Lucifer is more into dogs, etc. This desire to be different continues to fuel his resentment, and there are points in game where it clearly boils over. 

I think one of the other parts of this is the fear of being abandoned, which is why Satan tends to be more aloof than his brothers (outside of Levi) and why he makes so many different connections with others. He is known to have many different acquaintances- and that’s why his relationship with Mc is so starkly impactful. His fears result in him pushing everyone away, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts where he doesn’t have to fear abandonment if there is no one close who could abandon him, and this is clearly shown whenever Mc spends time with Lucifer over him. He gets very jealous and possessive after any interaction they have with him, as displayed in a few chats. 

Levi

For Levi, already having insecurity about being needed in the Celestial Realm was bad enough. After the fall, this insecurity manifests worse and results in him  isolating from everyone- including his brothers. The negative, intrusive thoughts he experiences about himself wrack him with anxiety whenever he has to leave his room, and it gets worse if he has to interact with anyone other than his brothers. He finds comfort in material possessions and fictional characters, as they wont judge him like real people do. 

Levi’s obsession with anime and video games can be seen in both a healthy and unhealthy light. On one hand, he has things to keep his time occupied, and his interests greatly comfort his insecurities. Further, having something for him to call “his” amongst his brothers is great! It makes him unique and there’s nothing wrong with that.  On the other hand though, his interests in and of themselves create another insecurity for him, resulting in him feeling further “othered” by his belongings. Levi also struggles with assigning a form of irrational sentience to the things he enjoys (particularly Ruri-chan and the bands he is a frequent listener of)- and what I mean by that is he feels a source of failure if he isn’t “#1″ in their fanbase- as if he’s “disappointing” them. So ultimately, his strength and weakness are one in the same. And in my headcanon, I see him as forming some sort of attachment to the material possessions he has, and seeing them as more “friends” than “items,” which makes it difficult for him to part with them (which I suppose is less of a headcanon and more of a canon thats just not explicitly stated, but implied...but oh well). 

Levi finds it hard to connect with others in real life as a result of this. His disconnection from other people- including his brothers- result in relationships with people online- where he can hide behind a screen and a fake username to avoid what he could only assume to be ridicule and extreme judgement from others. Once meeting Mc, he has a chance to mend relationships with his brothers and slowly come out of hiding, but as we see throughout the main lessons, it takes a lot of time. 

Mammon

Mammon’s trauma takes on probably the most obvious form given how much we are bombarded with his personality in game right off the bat- that being compulsive risk-taking. The clear addiction he has to gambling as a result of his greed- no matter how much he loses- is repeatedly emphasized in game. The resulting financial deficits lead him to more unsavory tactics of repayment, such as theft, which the devs also heavily lean on. Another is his difficulty in concentrating, which is especially emphasized in the anime and at some points in the game, which makes school work difficult. 

However, one of the traits seen less so, but is still canon, is Mammon’s need to protect others despite all of these difficulties with compulsive risk taking and inabilities in concentrating. Despite it all, he tries hard to do good upon his brothers and Mc when they need him, which he passes off as “not a huge deal” because he sees affection as a weakness- which could either be attributed to lessons on gender rolls taught in the celestial realm or what he has learned from Lucifer- at least in my headcanon. Even with Mc, he does things for them and truly does try to protect them throughout the game, even though he ridicules them constantly. 

One of the other things I headcanon about Mammon is that he has a lot of insecurity surrounding being “good enough” that I definitely think started in the celestial realm as a result of Michael’s punishments. I feel like Mammon definitely has a lot of feelings of inadequacy compared to Lucifer and not meeting his brother’s expectations- and this often results in him trying to be distant from his brothers (and initially Mc). With this insecurity comes the fear of being abandoned by others (similar to a few of his other brothers) and having intimacy taken away, which is why he grows more distant when Mc has to leave in season 2. 

Lucifer 

Second only to Mammon, Lucifer’s trauma takes a very transparent form: control. We see this very clearly in how he covers up for his brothers antics and doles out his own punishments to them rather than letting them face the natural consequences of their actions- namely Mammon. Presumably, given Lucifer is said to have a “soft spot” for the second oldest, Mammon would be in a significant amount of trouble if his debt ever caught up to him, but we never really see true consequences of this in game other than when he owes money to his witch associates in the human world- as Lucifer has no control over the favors he owes to them (and we see this in the “Masked” Halloween event where they send the cursed masks and threaten him to repay his debts. It is also presumed he keeps many of these dealings hidden from Lucifer’s eye). 

Lucifer’s need for control seems, to me, to come from a place of fear. In my headcanon at least, I see his control coming from a need to prevent harm from coming to his family- and I know many others in the fandom would agree. For himself, that would be fear of losing honor more-so than he already has. Its no coincidence that Lucifer’s strict obedience plays through his fall as he transitions to Diavolo’s right hand man. Lucifer was- and has always been- a good ally to have, given his skills at organizing, planning, and ability to follow through. After the fall though, his guilt about betraying his former values would eat away at him, so he upholds them as best he can in his newly-acquired demon form. He is organized, loyal, and skillful in his delegating, and his instinct to go for punishment of his brothers is no coincidence. Part of it, yes, is upholding his own image. But a deeper part of this comes from the fear of losing more family than he already had during the war and his eventual fall. His ability to fully trust others is very miniscule, and we see this in his initial interactions with MC in season 1, all the way up until the body-switching dilemma. 

As Mc’s bond grows with all the brothers, it heals a peace of them that holds onto these trauma responses- and the most stark change I feel comes from Lucifer. You can clearly tell which devilgrams were made in the first season with how he acts, and which ones are reflective of his character in Season 3 and 4, and even at the end of season 2. Lucifer becomes more merciful in a lot of his dealings with his brothers, because Mc’s presence (and everything that occurs in game with them) begins to make him more keenly aware of how little control he actually has over things, and moves him to a place of acceptance, which is why he was so willing to sacrifice himself during season 2 to save his family. He knew he is their primary source of safety, and in sacrificing himself he would only be able to guarantee that as long as they stayed out of trouble from then on (which we all know is unlikely). Season 1 Lucifer would not have hesitated to kill Mc in cold blood to protect his family, but his inability to even see it as an option in only season 2 shows stark character growth. And as we continue to see him set his walls down with his affection, it only furthers that point. 

I relate to Lucifer’s need to control heavily, and perhaps that’s why he’s my favorite character. I truly loved seeing his growth and depth as a character throughout the game. I honestly could go on more about the need for control and the 5 trauma responses, but that can be more of an education-y thing if people want to know more about them!

Simeon

For Simeon, I know a lot of how I see his responses are theoretical headcanons since we don’t see *too* much of it in game, though I will preface this by saying Hey, there are spoilers for season 4 ahead. So read at your own discretion. 

Simeon is displayed throughout the game as a very docile, simple angel, but we know from the Hard Lesson extra scenes that Diavolo doesn’t care for him given his passive-aggressiveness that he can display, particularly when irritated or annoys- and therein lies my headcanon that Simeon’s response was more of a passive, people-pleasing one. Simeon is often a mediator whenever we see him involved in some sort of conflict, and often takes on the role of ensuring that everyone is happy- especially if it involves Luke. His detest for conflict, in my mind, stems from the Celestial War in which he had to choose between the entire Celestial Realm, or seven of his brothers and one sister. In the end, the passive route that would denote the least amount of guilt for him won over, and that is something that festers still a significant amount of guilt, particularly when he comes to Devildom for the exchange program, and we often see this coming out as small, petty one-shots at Diavolo or some snide remarks. 

I also feel that Simeon’s character development beyond people pleasing is slow-building, but the traits still remain in his relationship with Mc. He says and does things to get them to express their feelings back to him- and even stealing the ring of light seemed to have that motive in mind. Part of the reason why I depict him in the way that I did with Vermillion Skies and Melancholia is not because I hate him, but because I wanted to depict this character trait ultimately failing him when the “pleased” response from the people he’s aiming to fawn for doesn’t come, and the despair and disappointment that comes along with it. I love Simeon so much, and I hope for so much more development with him, along with the other brothers we haven’t seen much of yet. 

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

If y'all want further in depth conversations about characters and trauma and stuff, my ask box is always open. I always have thoughts about this stuff and I enjoy deeper conversations about trauma. I like putting my degrees to use outside of my job, and psychoanalyzing fictional characters is right up my alley lmfao.

[cheesy09]

I'm so grateful for your words of logic and comfort ;~; And also glad you said the whole "best friend" thing that the rest of the fandom seems to dislike. I never got that, is that relationship not the dream??? Date your best friend? If Kiro was real and we were *only* best friends, that be a big enough win. Random side question: did you do the animal personality test in the game? If you did, what did you get?

Hello again, nony! I'm so glad my words were able to put your mind at ease.

I'm really glad that you brought this point up. I wanted to talk more about the whole best friend turned lovers trope in my previous post, but I decided to leave it out because it was getting too long, lol.

Actually, not wanting to date your best friend is something I find a bit strange as well (but hey! People have their own likes and dislikes, I guess 🤷‍♀️). I understand in real life things would get seriously complicated if your feelings aren't reciprocated, but personally, falling in love with the person you can share everything with - fears, sorrows, joys and even your most embarrassing moments - is something I find very romantic. Nothing gets awkward between you two because you know that this person wouldn't judge you no matter what you do or say. Your best friend will always be your best confidant, and imagine how strong the bond would be if that person also ends up being your significant other.

What I find absolutely hilarious (and a bit sad) is that in real life, many girls actually end up dating guys with Kiro’s personality but when it comes to a dating sim, his type are considered as the ‘best friend’ or ‘little brother’ figures. Weird? 

Just in terms of Kiro and MC's relationship, it is a bit disappointing that people write Kiro off as nothing more than a best friend/little brother when they haven't even read his dates. I mean, this is a romance simulation game for crying out loud! There obviously won't be any platonic relationships no matter how the relationship first starts out HAHA.

I've seen a lot of players brush Kiro aside because his first few dates are completely ‘chaste’, but that is to be expected! The two of them were only starting to get to know each other. The relationship had to build, a bond had to be forged. And I love the way their relationship transitioned from mere acquaintances, to best friends, to lovers. Plus pair that with their forgotten history and their twin-flame connection, and it makes up for a delectably angsty, steamy romance between the two.

This is just my personal opinion, but the thing I absolutely love about Kiro and MC’s relationship is that they just have so much associated to them, and yet their relationship doesn’t come off as boring or cliche. Usually when you put too many generic tropes into a single story it gets a little stuffy. But the way Papergames executed their writing is so well done that it doesn’t come off as unnatural or forced at all. 

Like I’ve said before, they follow the best friends to lovers trope, the soulmate / twin-flames trope (to be fair, @keliosyfan and I did a little digging and found out that they completely fit the twin-flames concept as compared to soulmates, but twin-flames also comes off as another type of soulmate pairing), they also have a bit of a star-crossed lovers thing going on (not as much as LucienxMC but with the whole Black Swan thing and Kiro being an international superstar, it kinda comes with the territory), they are also partners-in-crime (hehe) and there’s this line in Chapter 1 of the main story (MC’s first meeting with Kiro):

I turned my head, and the person beside me turned to look at me as well.

A smile was hidden in his deep eyes, I could not help but be attracted. 

...and Kiro’s R&S: Top Experimental Subject (unfortunately, I can’t link or quote it because the post got deleted :<) that makes me think they’ve also got the love-at-first-sight trope. His Visiting Hours Date also verifies this. 

Kiro: (With the sweetest smile on his face) Ever since we first met, I’ve been absolutely, totally head-over-heels.

(Besides, if they are twin-flames, it’s only natural they fall in love at first sight lol)

It’s sad that Kiro is so underrated because the connection that he has to MC is just so good! Plus his role in the story is epic! By no means is their relationship not flawed, but that’s what makes it richer, because the two of them are also growing up together and exploring their own selves along the way.

Anyways I’ve rambled enough (again 😱) and also the answer to your side question is... Cat Girl. I got Cat Girl, which is a weird since I don’t see myself as proud or standoffish. And I definitely prefer giving my love to someone as compared to craving love for myself. But tests like these aren’t always accurate so I decided to let it go 🤣

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Taken away' :New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Taken away"

Chapter Summary : Bell is recovering from her gunshot wounds she obtained after her last mission.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +4800

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

In just one night, I had the impressions to revisit my worst nightmares. Things I'm trying to fight for days.....two weeks actually. I'm still facing the memories and nightmares where 'The Winter Soldier' was created and I'm trying at my best to stop thinking to be a brutal person. I tried but that night make me do a step back due to how I did neutralize those guards at the nightclub's bar. I'm trying to fight Adler's control and perversion above me and in one night....I did a step back and he was the one who did this to me.

The worst of it is that he didn't disturb him at all to control, I think that he liked that and missed that for 3 years.....and then, I realized that I was shot just next to my right kidney. I was thinking that I was going to die after that shot, after those traumatisms that came back to me. I was starting to lose control and my blood further once I was brought into the car by Park before we drove away. Before shutting my eyes, the only thing I saw was Park's face worried, fearing to lose me as much I was fearing to die. I slowly passed out on the way back to the safehouse, hoping I will live another day.....

I don't know where I was but by looking around me, I was surrounded by multiple flaming buildings and wrecks of vehicles and tanks. The place....it was situed somewhere in the desert but I couldn't tell exactly where it was, more looking somewhere maybe in the Middle-East or in a part of the Soviet Union. By watching the scene, I was the only survivor of what just happened and it was so fucking bad.

I wasn't standing up at all....because I was wounded at my legs, having a bullet hole in each one of them but it didn't stop here. The left part of my uniform especially the coat sleeve part was burned and I was also shot at my right shoulder, making me suffering so much pain in my body. I couldn't move at all, just looking at the skies invaded by the black smokes of the burning surroundings and hearing the flames consuming the place.

Suddenly, a much louder noise was starting to be heard at my ears until I start to saw a helicopter ready next to me. I didn't move at all, didn't smiled too but I was just trying to  stay alive as long as I can. The helicopter landed before I could see some people running towards me, leaded by....Freya.

"Fre-......Frey-......Freya !" I tried to speak but my voice were hurting me a lot like if I was punched in the throat so hard by someone.

"Yirina !" She exclaimed, getting next to me before she checked all my body and seeing its state. "Shit." She whispered as others soldiers approached me as well, mostly medical personal. "Quick, get her in the chopper !"

I was then transported by 4 fours mens inside the cargo hold of the helicopter before they put me gently on the cargo hold ground of it. I was scared, breathing a lot as those mens were near me and I was thinking that they were going to hurt me so with some part of my strenght remaining, I tried to struggle to move my arms and with so much pain my legs before Freya arrived to put her hands on me, especially on my shoulders, avoiding the wounded part.

"Don't panick, Yiri !" She said, holding my shoulders as I was still moving

"They want.....want to hurt me." I told her, so scared by these mens even she was there for me, I was so lost in that helicopter. "Let me go.....let me go, please." I started to cry in front of everyone, asking to leaving me

"We're here to save you, not hurting you." She explained to me, giving me a good look before she looked at the man at my left. "Stop being brutal with her, you're hurting her !" Her voice was sounding very angry, releasing her anger to that guy.

"It's not my fault if she is moving around and complicating our job." The man defended himself before Freya grabbed him by his collar, in a fury.

"Listen to me..." She started, enraged, holding that man like that with her right hand"If she dies because of you, you're next in line, understood ?"

"Okay, okay !" He exclaimed, Freya releasing him as the others started to hold me with less force with their hands, not wanting to hurt me and to suffer Freya's fury on them. The man started to unwrap some medicals tools out of his medic box "I need you to hold her at her shoulders and give her something that she can put in her mouth." Freya complied and the others too, them, holding my legs. She gave me a tissue that she put in my mouth to contain me.

"It's gonna hurt ?" Freya asked to him, he nodded

"I will first remove the bullet she had at her right shoulder, it's gonna hurt. Hold her still." He ordered as he started to move with his tools to my gunshot wound at my shoulder. I tried to take a deep breath but that piece of tissue in my mouth was avoiding me to breath "Grigoriev, stay still."

It was hurting me as he was, with his tools, trying to remove the bullet of my wound and each movement he was doing to remove it was making me want to move but with the others around me, holding me, it was impossible. I screamed, the tissue in my mouth when the bullet was finally removed from me, making my head move a little.

"It's okay, Yiri." Freya grinned as I was looking worried before she moved to get that tissue out of my mouth. The doctor was getting started to move at my legs as his mens were getting next to my upper body to start wrapping some bandages around my wound,

"You're safe now, no one will ever hurt you !"

Another troubling memory...still fearing to die and that fear is still present today in me but I think I need to fight that fear even if I'm believing that it was in me for a long time, impossible to remove, but I will have to do this anyways, one day. Hopefully, when I opened my eyes again, I was relieved to live another day, awakening in the medical room of the safehouse and like before I closed my eyes, the first thing I was able to see was Park standing at the end of the bed, looking at me, worried.

She was looking more happy when she saw me opening my eyes and I could see that she wanted to take me in her arms but she wouldn't want to hurt me and the others came in, having heard Park saying that I was awake. They announced to me that the bullet didn't do any bad damage on me, almost having hit my right kidney in the process but having me moving quickly allowed me to survive the shot. Adler was the only one to not come as the others explained that Park heard him saying the key-phrase to me and forbidden him to come see me after I was brought here.

I wanted to get up but they advised me to stay in bed for some days, wanting me to recover at 100% and not wanting me to hurt myself at work again like that. They were right as where I was shot was still giving me pain each time I moved my legs even if it was still healing and wrapped by some bandages. During 4 days, I followed their advices to stay in bed, sometimes giving me visit to see how I was, to give me food and drinks and Park gave me my book, allowing me to write in case I've got memories back.

I didn't have big memories coming back...well, I've had nothing coming back to me during these days, avoiding me to write in the book expect for updating some parts of the book like the description of my friends. Apart from that, nothing big actually happened in four days in work as Perseus was still struggling with the loss of 'Bonnie Blue' but her death by Adler didn't stop the arms trafficking, meaning that someone took the lead from it, the 'Nuit Blanche' was closed until further notice. Park was the one to give me updates on the situations and she was also staying a lot with me, trying to recomfort me.

Finally, after 5 days, I was finally able to move my legs and it was better for me to get up and to join the others after I put a shirt to cover myself as I was already in the same pants I had fours days ago. Once I was ready, I started to walk to get out of the medical room to get inside the main room.

"Guess who's back alive." Woods was the first person that spoke, seeing me walking out of the medical room as he started to walk in my direction.

"Finally, we were awaiting that moment for so long."  Mason followed, behind Woods as the latter was offering his hand for me.

"It's nice to see you from that height." I joked, causing the boys to laugh and smile at me as I shook hands with Woods before I moved to shook hands with Mason.

"You are really a damn warrior." Woods affirmed, looking at me proudly "I thought that you will stay in that bed for more days but look at you : in great shape !"

"I can say that." I exclaimed before I looked behind them to discover Park, grinning at me and slowly walking towards me "Hey, Park." I waved with a low voice and without warning me, she put her arms around my shoulders to hug me and to be with her, I reciprocated by putting my arms around her....we were doing a friendly hug in front of Mason & Woods.

"I'm happy to see you back on feet." She whispered to me

"I know, me too." I told her before we withdrawed from each others with an smile, we would have liked to kiss but with Woods & Mason near us, it's better to stay low for the moment. "Where's Sims and Adler ?" I asked to them

"Gone to meet an CIA agent in the city." Woods replied

"For ?" I continued

"It's for having more intels about the supposed buyer in Irak and to try to have some on the politician in the US." Mason finished before I started to walk slowly near the dashboard, followed by them.

"There's nothing else ?" I said, looking at the dashboard, trying to find if there's anything new to it.

"Apart for that nightclub to be closed down because of what happened, nothing big occured except with the part that the arms trafficking is still under way." Park responded, leaning herself on her desk. "We're suspecting that one of those three buyers took the lead." I looked at the dashboard, precisely where I did put the initals of those buyers Park mentioned, seeing each one of them : R.D, A.R and H.S.....Harry Stone, the only one that we know exactly.

"I think Harry Stone is the one who's leading that business now." I suggested, looking at Park who were biting her lips, joining her hands together...looking worried. "An ex-SAS soldier is an expert in firearms and since he travels a lot, he can train Perseus troops and manage that business." I looked at Mason & Woods, wondering what they were thinking about it

"You're maybe right..." Woods started, putting his hand on his chin, thinking "I can't see an Irakian general in the middle of a war doing this, even less for an politician in the United States."

"Same thinking with my buddy here." Mason said, nudging a little Woods for fun, making me smile before I looked at Park, still looking worried and in her thoughts.

"Park, what do you think ?" I questioned and surprisely, she almost jumped from her desk because of me. "You're okay ?" I told her, curious of her

"Yeah, I'm okay." She responded, trying to concentrate back on herself "To answer you, I'm think you're right." Her answer make me look back at the dashboard, thinking that I accidently scared her as she was in her thoughts.

"So now, we have to wait until Sims & Adler come back, right ?" I asked....maybe to everyone.

"Yeap." Woods was the one to asnwer my question first before I started to hear him and Mason walking away, maybe going back to their workplaces or maybe going to take a beer in the fridge. I finally get my eyes off the dashboard.....before I could see Park next to me, holding a jacket in hand and handing it to me.

"What are you doing ?" I asked, confused

"You don't remember what you said yesterday ?" She said in a lovely voice, grinning to me "You promised me that when you will be up that we will get some ice creams." She raised an eyebrow, mentioning a private discussion I had with her yesterday in the night before she left me to go to sleep.

"Oh yeah, I remember !" I exclaimed....semi-enthusiastic "I thought you said that I was joking about it !" I added, never thinking that she really wanted to do that.

"I never said that." She affirmed, still holding the jacket in hand before I finally decide to take the jacket and put it on me. "Now, let's go get our ice creams, I know a perfect place for that."

In less than a minute, we prepared ourselves to go out of the safehouse to get our ice creams, I did take my M1911 in case. We are maybe fighters and spies but if we can just profit of trying to live a normal life for just an moment in our days, could make us happy womens. I think it was cool from Park to organize that for me, maybe thinking that I needed to destress from work a moment since I've been working non-stop for days even if during my days in bed, I didn't work at all, letting the others doing it.

Of course, since she was the one who gave me a chance to have at least a peaceful moment since I woke up, she was the one to drive and of course, she didn't tell me absolutely where we were going, quoting that 'it was a surprise for me'. Each time I was trying to know, she was either saying that or instead, a little lovely 'Ssshhhhh'. During the drive, we didn't put any radios on as she preferred to have her thoughts cleared and not invaded by music for the moment, explaining that she wanted to have a single moment alone with me.

After 5 minutes, we finally arrived at the place she brought me : a typical american diner just next to the border with the GDR called 'Sunny Diner'. The place was looking beautiful to see :very shiny, very....american. By looking at it, I had a weird impression that I did come here before but I couldn't remember when exactly....maybe it was just a dream like that I did about the place or something I can't really explain at all.

We entered the diner, Park first, and we installed ourselves in a empty table. There weren't a lot of people at this time : it was after noon and there were just some people at the bar and few at the tables. A waitress quickly came and we ordered our ice creams and by the odds, me & Park chose the same flavor : strawberry. We both laughed about it as we both said it at the same time and once our order were done, we waited at least 2 minutes before our ice creams cup were there.

We started to eat and during our discussion, I could feel her right leg stroking mine all time and it was arousing me by an lot. Of course, I stayed focused in our discussion where we talked about herself as I wanted to know more about her : she told me when she joined the MI6, some of her various missions she has done in her firsts years but also, she opened herself to talk about her family : she has two brothers, one younger as the other....well, he died in a IRA attack in 1973 and that was her reason to join the MI6.

I was touched while listening to her story and I was quite happy to learn more about her. We were nearly finished when something in my mind came in,

"Park, can I ask you something ?" I started, having finished my ice cream cup before as she was still finishing it.

"Sure." She said, almost surprised as she was looking outside, her spoon in her right hand.

"Uhm..." I took a breath, getting my arms on the table, trying to not screwing my question over by my other thoughts. "Well, each time Stone's name is mentioned, I see you getting either troubled or lost....is there something wrong about him that I don't know ?" At hearing my question, she stopped every movements she was doing, looking like I said, troubled.

"I don't know if I can talk about this." She exclaimed, putting her hands on the table and trying to not look me in the eyes, like she hide something. I reacted by gently putting my hand over the top of hers.

"You talked about yourself." I affirmed to her, giving her an smile "I'm ready to know more." I didn't remove my hand from hers, still smiling before she nod to me and took a deep breath

"Okay." She whispered to herself as she redressed herself on her seat "Stone....was an old friend of mine." When I heard that, I understand why she was not okay each time Stone was said. "During an long time between 1975 and 1980 with him, we formed a friendly group composed of me, two others MI6 agent, an BND agent and him, an SAS soldier."

"Something bad happened, I guess ?" I asked, curious to hear that story, she nodded.

"In 1980, one of our missions goes to shit : we needed to destroy an soviet complex used for holding an nerve gas but during the mission, Stone and one of my friends in the MI6 'died'." She responded, breathing at the end of it, her voice cracking at the last word

"Faking their deaths...." I whispered to myself and somehow, she heard me

"During all these times, these two were Perseus agents and I learned it the hard way a year ago when we started to work on a mysterious project called 'Goldeneye'." So, that was the operation Belikov mentioned 2 weeks ago when I go to his place. "Stone was the one in charge and the other.....well, she was her lieutenant for it."

"How did you learn of it ?"  I questioned her

"A anonymous person asked me to encounter 'the one in charge' as he was apparently knowing me and it was at this moment I saw him."  She scratched the back of her head, not giving for me enough details but I preferred to not get too deep in it

"Must be hard to tell yourself that one of the friends you've been mourning for years is in fact a enemy." I admitted to her, moving my hand to get under hers.

"In the old days, Stone was like an hero to us but now, we all know his true state." She looked at me with narrowed eyes, taking my hand in hers "I just want sometimes to feel that he was never like that."

"I said that to myself sometimes too." I told her as it was also something I was dreaming : What if I was never just an Perseus agent ?

"Listen." She leaned from her seat, getting her head close to me "Maybe you did bad things but yourself, you know that you're not like that, you showed it to me and the others."

"I did." I said in a low voice

"Us....me, I will make sure that you will have what you want." She stated, making me things of what I wanted for me for the future

"Seeing my friends again, my path to redeem myself and......to be with you ?" I affirmed, looking at her with lovely eyes and saying the whole

"Everything at once." She said before she finally approached me to kiss me on the lips, putting her both hands on my face, giving a kiss I was waiting for days now since we weren't really able to do it even when we were alone. We broke the kiss after a long minute. "I think we should go back to the safehouse."

"I would have liked more moments like this." I whispered to her before she got up from her

"Me too." She then take a breath as she was putting her jacket back on her "We will have more time, don't worry !" She added, giving me an smile as I got up too.

Once we have finished to put our jacket on, we started to go out of the diner, not forgetting to pay for our ice creams....she payed for me and her....and then, we got back to her car, and once we were fully seated in the car, Park drove off the place as she preferred to drive herself even if I proposed myself to do it. It's not 3 years in a coma that were going to stop me to drive....it was her who did. At least, I know that she will give me one day, the chance to finally drive myself a car or something that I can drive.

In our way back, she finally decided to put the radio on maybe to remove from her thoughts what she said to me about Stone and I can understand that by the tone she has taken when she talked about him to me. We didn't talk too much in the first minutes, either giving each other some smile before getting focused back on the road again. At one moment, we were stopped at a redlight awaiting it to go to green, allowing us to pass and in a second, my thoughts were troubled by something until the light goes to green, allowing us to go through the crowded intersection.....

But at the middle of the intersection, suddenly, a car coming from the left intentionally hit the back of ours at full speed, causing our car to deviate from its path and sending us off the road, the car hitting violently a pole and making us blackout from the accident. When I opened back my eyes, I could see the smoke of our car's engine going out, the window broken down and Park....still alive but unconsious from the shock, I tried to wake her up but nothing was helping me. I could feel a little bit of blood on my face, some parts of the window making some cut in it.

I don't know how I was able to survive that accident as it was pretty brutal and my body was feeling it a lot. The seatbelt protected me but my left arm was in a big pain as it has gone against the door when the car hit the pole. I was breathing a lot, feeling the blood going down some parts of my face, especially on the cheeks and next to my lips.

I started to unbuckle my seatbelt and when I was done, I could see 2 people coming towards us....masked people.....Perseus...By seeing them, I realized that they have been following us since we left the diner to go back at the safehouse but why striking us now instead of having everyone in the safehouse ? When I saw them, I decided to act like if I was still knocked down, taking out my M1911 and hiding it from their sight with my right hand. I closed my eyes, acting....

"Shit, they're alive ?" One of them said, worried

"Of course, they have to be, ducon !" The other exclaimed, annoyed by his friend. He was sounding french and his last word showed me that it was indeed french....a bad word.

"So, we have to take the two of them ?"  The first one asked to the french guy as he was opening the door.

"Are you gonna stop asking questions ?" The french was getting angry as I could hear him finally opening the door widely "No, we only need the british cunt, orders from the top, the other.....she's nothing for us !" Nothing.....really ? They could take me but instead, they take Park away and by that, I couldn't let this happen...Why her ? "Come on, help me out to transport her to the van."  He added as he was getting Park out, helped by his friend and it was at this moment I decided to stop acting.

Once they got Park out of the car, not wanting to hit her in case, I opened my eyes and then I aimed towards the first guy I saw before shooting him in the back of the head, making him fall in front of him. I tried to shoot the other guy but instead, I start to hear some gunshot coming towards me....a van positioned in the middle of the intersection with an guy armed with an XM4 shooting at the car. I reacted quickly, opening the door at my side to get out of the car and to protect myself from the bullets.

I checked my gun mag in case....only 6 bullets and by my no-luck, it was the only mag I have bring with me, meaning that I can't miss my shot at all. During all of that, the guy aiming with his XM4 don't stop firying at me until I waited for the right time as he was reloading to go out of cover and perfectly, from an distance, to have him. At this moment, I could see Park dragged inside the van by 2 others masked persons that I tried to stop but before I could shot any bullet, I was suddenly tackled to the ground by an another person.

"Get the cunt out of here, I'll find you at the meeting point !" He shouted to his friends as he was holding me in the ground, it was the same french guy who was talking bad about Park. I watched in horror as the van left the scene, going away and in a instant, I could feel all the rage inside me growing in.

"You son of a bitch !" I yelled before I give a knee kick right in the nuts and then, I make him go away from me by pushing him backwards with my feets.

"Espèce de salope !" He said, angry in his french voice as he was trying to get up again but I was more faster as I grabbed my M1911 I had in hand by the cannon and I hit him in the face with the stock of my gun, knocking him out.

I wanted to kill him but....he was the only one that could tell me where did they sent Park away and why they took only her and not me too. That was questions I wanted to ask but not right here as they were going to have a lot of witnesses and maybe the police to arrive soon. I had to bring this guy with me back to the safehouse and interrogate him by myself. I looked around to see if there were an empty car that I could take since ours were completely destroyed and smoking.

I found one pretty quickly just at a few meters from me and I decided to steal it. I grabbed the unconscious french guy, dragging him on the ground and when I arrived near the car, I broke the window of the driver seat and open the door from the inside. Then, I dragged the guy on the backseats, making sure that he wasn't acting like me. I managed to start the car engine like if I remembered to steal some cars....that's weird, Yiri !....and then, I looked at him, with an deadly glare before I drove off the scene,

"You and I.....we will have a talk !"

[tinkasims]

Hi, I really love Betterfield. It's one of the most beautiful neighborhoods I've ever seen and I love the way you designed it. I especially love these early summer night pics, they're so gorgeous. I'm also very impressed by your graphics. What kind of graphics card or computer setup in general do you have, if I may ask? I'll need to buy a new computer soon and I'd love for my game to look like yours.

Hi dear Anon! :) Thank you very much for your kind words! 💜💜💜 Actually Betterfield is a remake of @ousmeo’s remake of @criquette-was-here​‘s Dullfield. When I first saw that neighborhood it was love at first sight, and I wanted that map to be the base of Betterfield (which already existed). I modified and redecorated it many times, this version of Betterfield is the 2020 version, but there were many before. I have to say there’s still a lot of work with this to finally be complete. Anyway I’m thankful for all of the wonderful neighborhood deco creators!

And about my graphics setup... Well, it’s interesting you asked it, because yesterday I was about to write a post dedicated to this theme, I’m just not sure about some things so there’s a lot of testing still waiting for me, but here (after a lot of useless talking) I answer your question. 😁

So, I have a Lenovo Ideapad 520, with Intel i7 7500U, 8gb RAM, and two graphics card, an NVIDIA GeForce 940MX and an integrated one, Intel HD Graphics 620. Oh and I run the sims 2 from an SSD. That’s it in general, but if you interested I explain how I manage to run the game with such a beautiful graphics these days under the cut.

Warning! It’s going to be messy and huge, and more like a long boring story than a tip, but can be useful for someone. (I’ll write it down properly someday)

------cut should be here but tumblr refuses to put it here, and put it at the top of post instead where I can’t delete, sorry------

When I bought my laptop I was really dissapointed, because I was only able to play the game with the integrated card, and it wasn’t bad but kind of annoying when I knew I have better. If I tried to enter Betterfield with nvidia, the game crashed on the neighborhood loading screen. Uptil some point I was like okay, then I’ll play with integrated card, nevermind........ but of course I’m dealing with those problems like almost everyone in the community the random crashes and purple flashing.

I’ve dedicated half of my life to solve these problems. :D Sims 2 really is an annoying game! I’ve tried every possible solution what can be found over the internet, there were always some little trick what helped, but after some time the troubles came back. The last year was intense. There are a lof of clever people out there finding new ways to get rid of the crashing and flashing issues coming with new and new solutions and I couldn’t be more grateful to them. When I say I‘ve tried everything I’m not kidding. And I was like okay, I’m going to pretend my integrated card doesn’t exist and I will fix NVIDIA. However there are those annoying issues with both of them........

I’m trying to mention everything what helps me these days to run a smooth and beautiful sims 2 with a huge CC folder (67k+ file lot of them really high poly). First the 4gb patch and the Graphics Rules Maker. These two are pretty common.

There’s one solution what seems like to help a lot of people but for me it never worked, the DXVK method. It looks really useful, and time to time I give it a shot, but somehow never works out for me, my game crashes whenever I try to use it. But the tip @episims made is one of the most useful things I’ve ever seen, and the one by @dramallamadingdang as well.

Absolutely useful, but somehow never enough. Maybe because of my huge CC folder, or some broken mod, or my computer specs, or just windows 10 or sims 2....... whoever knows....So I was messing around with nvidia profile inspector according to iCad’s tip, trying to reach beautiful garphics with low ingame settings. It was a complete failure. Maybe my expectations are too high but those looked terrible! I decided to turn everything to the best in nvidia control panel (profile inspector seems too complicated for me), and then checked the game again. It was still ugly as hell with low ingame settings. Then I thought what the heck, and I’ve turned every settings to the best and highest, and went on checking Betterfield.

It was something I’ve never seen before. A completely smooth, lag free, purple flashing free, crash free wonderful game, with beautiful textures, smooth edges. With the highest graphics setting in and out of game! I loaded my biggest lots which are always crashing or flashing, none of them did! That was the time when I first posted about Betterfield.

The next day I was really happy, started my game thinking it’s going to work... well, I was wrong, but not too surprised. It crashed when I loaded Betterfield. I took a deep breath and started to think through what have I done yesterday what helped. And after I’ve tried some method I guess I found the little trick what helps me from that day to reach that “dream state of sims 2” again.

So, I have an almost empty neighborhood which I named “stop crashing b**ch”, that I use for testing and etc... I did the graphics tests I mentioned above there as well. So my first thing when my game loads up is to load that neighborhood and a household in there. In the household I set all of the graphics settings to the lowest (expect smooth edges). Then, I load up Betterfield. I have to mention here Betterfield is really a huge city, with tons of decoration, lots, and households (which could be corrupted as well XD). So, at that point Betterfield loads up just fine, but remember the settings are on the lowest. Then I enter one of my biggest lot, which used to be nothing more than a purple flashing. And in the household I turn the garphics settings to the highest again. And that’s it. Ugly textures are refreshing, becoming high res and beautiful, Sims 2 runs like a dream, and beautiful as a blooming flower! At this point I usually test night mood and turn on and off some lights just to see everything is fine for real. After that I can enter to my other big households, lots, without any crashing or flashing. Once I look around everywhere in 360 degree it’s absolutely lag free. Same goes for the neighborhood itself. Beautiful in day and night. :)

The only reason I haven’t share this little discovery of mine, because there’s one lot (Betterfield High School) which is still causing the purple flashing (even if it’s just a huge unfurnished building...), and sometimes there are some objects here and there randomly flashing... but according to the purple game I had before it feels more like a small bug or something :’)....

Okay, what I got is Sims 2 with highest graphics settings in game and in Nvidia control panel (like 8x edge smoothing and stuff...), working beautifully, the only thing I have to do before playing my HUGE neighborhood with my HUGE and high poly CC folder is to load up an empty neighborhood, enter a family, set the graphics to the lowest, then enter my big city, enter a big lot (or whatever, I’m not sure about this part), and set the graphics to the highest again!

I’m not sure if everyone have read this or if it makes any sense (bc of my crappy english), but I promise after some more testing, if I think it’s actually useful, I’m going to share a proper, understandable tip about this. ^^”

[justine-the-guillotine]

Hey there! I saw your post (about Mystic Code) on LucyDream's tumblr. Love how you're in your 30's but still playing otome games! I'm the same, but I'm in this world just recently. Can you make a list with your favorite visual novels and otome games? I love those ones with a more mature MC. I mean your can be cute/fun and still be sassy/adult hehe I miss it sometimes...

Okay Anon first of all I’m trash because I told you I would have this out the day you asked it and I totally didn’t so I’m sorry I don’t even know if you’re going to see this. 😩 But you need to know that THIS IS MY MOST FAVORITE QUESTION I HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED AND I LOVE YOU A LOT. 

Anyway, I have a lot to say about this and here’s what I’m gonna say first - there’s a lot of layers to this question so let me just... write a novel. 

Important Note #1: I don’t know that you necessarily want to consider me some kind of expert on otoge with adult MCs. My favorite VN of all time is not an otome game and it is also not with a “mature MC”... you play as a 16-year old boy in Fate/Stay Night. But it’s such a good VN, if you can find it I totally recommend it. I will rave about it for DAYS so if you also want an essay about that please let me know. 

Important Note #2: Some little, technical things... - there is a difference between “mature MC” and “older MC” so I’m gonna kinda do a mix of both... but also going to include “older suitors” or “suitors with no canon age” in this criteria as well.  - I prefer PC games to mobile games but play mobile more often due to convenience... -I own a lot of games that I’m super interested in and have actually never gotten around to playing because I have both a time management problem and a shopping problem. So there are probably some even better choices than what I’m about to list from personal experience and maybe I’ll just come back and update this in a few months.  Moving on...  Here are my current top favorite VNs (otoge or not):  1. Fate/Stay Night (PC) 2. When the Night Comes (PC)   3. The Arcana (Mobile) 4. Amnesia (PC and Mobile) 5. Mystic Code (Mobile) My favorite mobile VNs:  I’m gonna tell you right now this list is gonna change on July 1st when Ikemen Vampire comes out... watch that immediately jump to the #2 spot but as of right now I haven’t played it so I can’t do that.  1. The Arcana 2. Ikemen Revolution 3. Mystic Code 4. Mystic Messenger (this is iffy to call this a VN in my opinion but VNDB lists it so I’m going go with it) 5.  Mysterious Forum and 7 Rumors  My favorite PC VNs (otoge or not): This list is a big oof to be honest because there are so many games I am really interested in but haven’t yet played. For example, I have 20+ unplayed games in my Steam library right now.  1. Fate/Stay Night 2. When the Night Comes 3. Amnesia: Memories  4. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 5. Cinderella Phenomenon  Now those are my favorites, but here instead are my actual recommendations for you personally Anon:  Recommendations for VNs with a More Mature MC:  1. When the Night Comes (PC, Free to Play) I absolutely adore this VN. It is the best otoge/dating sim I have ever played (thus far). But that’s because it caters to a lot of my interests - it’s definitely not going to hit the mark for everyone! The MC has no canon age or gender. You can date a human, witches, a vampire, a Lycan, and a demon. There are even two route options for poly romance. THE WRITING IS PHENOMENAL. I mean the story is great, yes, but THE FUCKING LANGUAGE is totally everything I love. It is very snarky, witty, and British. Swearing in places one would swear in real life. Sarcastic, “roll my eyes at myself” jokes that one would make in real life. Things are dark but with a sliver of hope. MC is a fucking badass and very much a mature adult. It’s currently being updated monthly (chapter 8 comes out tomorrow - 6/29) so we only have two more months left and then we’re done :( 2. The Arcana (Mobile, Free to Play, with Premium Options)  Please be cautious when interacting with this fandom, especially right now. But besides that warning, The Arcana is amazing. It is also currently still updating. But the MC again has no canon age nor gender. And as a plus, as far as I am aware, the suitors do not have canon ages as well. I wish all games would have no canon suitor ages but I digress. The story sorta starts as a murder mystery but evolves into something much more. It is magical. It incorporates tarot so well. The art is absolutely gorgeous. The MC is not at all helpless and definitely holds their own. 

3. Cinderella Phenomenon (PC, Free to Play)   Okay so MC in this one is NOT an adult. She’s 17, I believe. But she’s a bitch and I love her. I genuinely love the plot of this VN. The art is very pretty - very art nouveau. If you like twists on fairy tails, some snark, and a story of... uh, learning how to be less of a bitch ... this one is a great play! 

4. Mystic Code (Mobile, Free to Play, with Premium Options) I’m not gonna elaborate on this here since Anon already knows about it but I want to remind people reading this that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS VN... I believe it is the best game to come out on mobile thus far this year.  5. Love Tangle in the Niflheim+ (Mobile, Free to Play with Premium Options, Abandoned)  So... normally I would never recommend a Shall We Date game as a top choice, however, this game is SWD’s only exception. It, of course, has the god awful mechanics that all SWD games have, which could make it a bit annoying to play. This game has also unfortunately been abandoned by SWD so there are NO updates to it. Luckily, all the routes (save for one, I’m pretty sure they were planning to release Sunny’s route prior to abandoning) are out and in full. MC has no canon age and it doesn’t matter because she’s fucking dead. Your suitors are also dead. This is the best premise of a fucking story I have ever seen. As with most SWD games, the writing is a hit or a miss depending on the route, but the MC is mature and strong-willed - never helpless. (One thing I will give SWD is they tend to write their MCs with a bit of *bite* in them.) The writing has some well-timed comedic moments so it definitely keeps you entertained!! I originally started playing just for the novelty of it but I actually genuinely love it. Plus MC has the best hair of all the MCs I have ever seen. 

Additionally, I recommend both Ikemen Sengoku and Ikemen Revolution (Mobile, FTP w/ Premium Options). The MC usually has her shit together although she does have her moments of “oh no baby what is you doing?” And in both games, she’s a young adult, not anywhere near 30 but I still find I have no problem self-inserting.  Other games:  -  Hustle Cat (PC, $) - I have yet to play, but it was recommended to me by two people I trust when it comes to these types of games. It seems to be geared toward adults and as far as I am aware, MC is customizable in not only pronouns but build as well.  - Mr. Love Queen’s Choice (Mobile, mostly FTP) - I do play this and I enjoy it. I wouldn’t really recommend it for a “mature” MC (even though she is a young adult who runs a company), but I mod a MLQC discord server and noticed a lot of our members are in the late 20s-30s. So obviously this game appeals to an “older” market (har har, I just mean “older” than 21). It’s a VN at its core, but it’s got so much extra shit going on that it can be overwhelming unless you like those sort of games. The story part of it is really, really good. And the MC gets equal time with all the suitors (instead of specifically just choosing one route to date).  - Food Fantasy (Mobile, mostly FTP) - this isn’t a VN and I don’t think it’s technically an otoge either- it’s a JRPG-  but oh my goodness the art is fucking gorgeous, and the backstory that sets up the game is WILD, dark, and deep. It blew my mind. It’s cute! So I had to throw it in here in case you were looking for something fun. :)  And finally, VNs on my “To-Play” List:  - Ikemen Vampire (Mobile) - this is coming out in just a few days and I have been waiting for 8 months, so I’m super stoked! - Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly (PC and Vita, $) - The House in Fata Morgana (PC, $) - Clannad (PC, $$)  - Tokyo Debunker (Mobile) - as far as I know there’s no official release date yet, unfortunately! :(  Anyway please message me more if you have any more questions or want to know anything else, I love this shit thank you!!! Depending on the question I’ll try not to write a thesis paper next time :[