#Why Users Leave A Website

[alenamage]

Discover the top reasons why visitors abandon your website-and learn quick, effective strategies to fix issues and boost engagement, trust, and conversions.

Check out the original video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FiJfXpOeThs

[jichanxo]

sunday six 👌

tags! @four-white-trees @passthroughtime @phantasy14 @overdevelopedglasses @skysquid22

despite my complaining about senseific, i did actually end up writing something this week! thank god! (i still need more notes on the dance club to be able to write more, but i at least had enough to write this much...) anyway um. lj school stories spoilers (below and in tags), but i'm not sure anybody really minds lol

Watching them all working hard and having fun as they danced, smiling like this, it was hard to believe that someone had asked The Professor to harm another student in the competition, Norizuki, an ex-idol and Nishizono’s rival in love.

His eyes went to Nishizono again, her footwork confident, and her smile – as far as he could tell – genuine. Amasawa had claimed the request had been made under her account, DancingBunny, and Itokura had pessimistically claimed that he should beware the students who seemed the most well put together, but he just couldn’t see it. She was serious about winning and about her crush, sure, but she also seemed to embody the club's motto the most: have fun like nobody’s watching. And she was, wasn’t she? Just having fun? Would someone like that really make such a serious threat against her competition?

Yagami didn’t want to doubt his judgement (not again, and under far less dire circumstances than before), but Amasawa’s discovery and Itokura’s warning remained in his head nonetheless. That discovery was immovable, and though biased, Itokura was right to question the surface level presentation of their suspect. Was there any way that these facts could coexist alongside Nishizono’s innocence? And if so, who instead should he direct his suspicion towards?

[fiendishartist2]

the bar for "revolutionary" webhorror is so low. what happened

[raiseupyourbat]

Yeah no hard disagree with this post. I'd understand the logic maybe a few months ago, but tumblr is making some EXTREMELY questionable decisions rn that really don't deserve rewarding.

Are they financially struggling? Yes. Is that bad for us? Also yes, but their solution is even worse! We've seen how they're planning to strip down posts, hide notes and move tumblr away from being a blogging platform and more into a twitter-instagram-tiktok mashup. American users are gonna stay stuck with tumblr live (which they confirmed is here to stay), they're stripping away huge amounts of features, and they're telling epileptic people to BUY AD-FREE IF ADS ARE STROBING TOO MUCH.

Honestly, if you'd told me they were in the red and planning to open donations/do crab day last year, I might've even donated. But tumblr needs to learn that pulling this shit is NOT gonna start making them money. If they want to get out of the red they've gotta start caring about their users.

Don't give them a damn penny till they back down from some of this shit. I'd rather watch the site burn to the ground without funding than watch it become a sanitised social media clone filled with advertisers and nothing that makes tumblr tumblr.

[drcyan]

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[withuitservice]

Why Dubai Businesses Need To Partner With a Professional Website Development Company

In the digitally-first world of today, a good website is something that a business can't afford not to have any more. The city of Dubai is known as one of the global innovation hubs and is the home of thousands of businesses competing to receive attention in such a busy market. So, to stand out from the crowd and maintain an effective online presence, there is a need to collaborate with a professional Website Development Company in Dubai. Here are several reasons why the businesses of Dubai should do this.

1. Expertise and Innovation at one's Fingertips

The skilled teams of designers, developers, and digital strategists man the professional website development companies in Dubai. Keeping themselves updated with the latest technologies and best practices prevalent within the industry are all their pursuits. The accessibility of such expertise means having a website which is visually attractive yet functionally adequate, user-friendly as well as technologically state-of-the-art. While digitalizing your presence, one would find all that brought into play by deploying AI-driven chatbots and responsive designs.

2. Custom Websites for Local and International Readers

Dubai companies service diverse audiences, both locally and in other parts of the globe. A professional website development service will therefore understand the characteristics of the Dubai market-place, including cultural sensitiveness, consumer preferences, among others. They can always come up with customized websites responding to your target audience effectively, ensuring a seamless flow of user experience that causes engagement and conversion.

3. UX or better User Experience

User experience determines the success of a website. A website which is not designed well will lead to frustration from visitors, who then leave, causing a higher bounce rate and missed opportunities for sales. Professional developers emphasize intuitive navigation, fast loading pages, and mobile-friendliness of the designs. These together make for a great user journey which keeps visitors engaging and likely to take the desired action such as purchasing or contacting your business.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

However beautiful your website might look, it is worthless if nobody can find it. Web Development Company in Dubai  always factor in SEO best practice when developing, such as optimization of page speeds and meta tags, ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly and also clean coding. They are constantly improving your search engine ranking. More visibility brings more organic traffic or leads and sales.

5. Cost-Effective in the Long Run

A well-developed website minimizes the risk of technical issues, reduces maintenance costs, and ensures scalability as your business grows. Additionally, a professional website helps generate higher returns by attracting and retaining customers more effectively.

6. Focus on Core Business Activities

When outsourcing Web Development Company in UAE needs, you have more time to focus on core business activities. Professional companies handle everything from the initial design and development stages of a website through maintenance and updates, thus providing one with more time and resources to devote to important matters like customer service, marketing, and business expansion.

7. Support and Maintenance

Websites need to update and maintain themselves regularly. Otherwise, they get outdated and insecure. A professional website development company keeps providing support to solve problems, implement updates, and keep your website running perfectly. This proactive approach may avoid downtime and keep running your website smoothly, with a seamless experience for the users.

8. Competitive Advantage

Competition in the market is at its peak here in Dubai, and therefore, designing a professional website for yourself will keep you miles ahead of the competition. Well-performance of the website lends an impression of your business and brand with respectability and professionalism to your customer who tends to associate them. With this, your position further gets stabilized by strengthening their trust on your self.

Conclusion

In terms of succeeding in the currently trending digital world, a company of Dubai would need to enter partnership with a professional website development agency. Starting from providing solutions tailor-suited according to the client's business needs to improving the customer's experience and providing post-launch support so that you lead the market, these professional website development agencies are quite the backbone of your thriving business. This investment in professional website development will help you have a good standing online but also in generating long-term growth and profits.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Kickstarting a book to end enshittification, because Amazon will not carry it

My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me — because Amazon refuses to sell my audio:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

Amazon owns Audible, the monopoly audiobook platform that controls >90% of the audio market. They require mandatory DRM for every book sold, locking those books forever to Amazon’s monopoly platform. If you break up with Amazon, you have to throw away your entire audiobook library.

That’s a hell of a lot of leverage to hand to any company, let alone a rapacious monopoly that ran a program targeting small publishers called “Project Gazelle,” where execs were ordered to attack indie publishers “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”:

https://www.businessinsider.com/sadistic-amazon-treated-book-sellers-the-way-a-cheetah-would-pursue-a-sickly-gazelle-2013-10

[Image ID: Journalist and novelist Doctorow (Red Team Blues) details a plan for how to break up Big Tech in this impassioned and perceptive manifesto….Doctorow’s sense of urgency is contagious -Publishers Weekly]

I won’t sell my work with DRM, because DRM is key to the enshittification of the internet. Enshittification is why the old, good internet died and became “five giant websites filled with screenshots of the other four” (h/t Tom Eastman). When a tech company can lock in its users and suppliers, it can drain value from both sides, using DRM and other lock-in gimmicks to keep their business even as they grow ever more miserable on the platform.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

[Image ID: A brilliant barn burner of a book. Cory is one of the sharpest tech critics, and he shows with fierce clarity how our computational future could be otherwise -Kate Crawford, author of The Atlas of AI”]

The Internet Con isn’t just an analysis of where enshittification comes from: it’s a detailed, shovel-ready policy prescription for halting enshittification, throwing it into reverse and bringing back the old, good internet.

How do we do that? With interoperability: the ability to plug new technology into those crapulent, decaying platform. Interop lets you choose which parts of the service you want and block the parts you don’t (think of how an adblocker lets you take the take-it-or-leave “offer” from a website and reply with “How about nah?”):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

But interop isn’t just about making platforms less terrible — it’s an explosive charge that demolishes walled gardens. With interop, you can leave a social media service, but keep talking to the people who stay. With interop, you can leave your mobile platform, but bring your apps and media with you to a rival’s service. With interop, you can break up with Amazon, and still keep your audiobooks.

So, if interop is so great, why isn’t it everywhere?

Well, it used to be. Interop is how Microsoft became the dominant operating system:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

[Image ID: Nobody gets the internet-both the nuts and bolts that make it hum and the laws that shaped it into the mess it is-quite like Cory, and no one’s better qualified to deliver us a user manual for fixing it. That’s The Internet Con: a rousing, imaginative, and accessible treatise for correcting our curdled online world. If you care about the internet, get ready to dedicate yourself to making interoperability a reality. -Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine]

It’s how Apple saved itself from Microsoft’s vicious campaign to destroy it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

Every tech giant used interop to grow, and then every tech giant promptly turned around and attacked interoperators. Every pirate wants to be an admiral. When Big Tech did it, that was progress; when you do it back to Big Tech, that’s piracy. The tech giants used their monopoly power to make interop without permission illegal, creating a kind of “felony contempt of business model” (h/t Jay Freeman).

The Internet Con describes how this came to pass, but, more importantly, it tells us how to fix it. It lays out how we can combine different kinds of interop requirements (like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Massachusetts’s Right to Repair law) with protections for reverse-engineering and other guerrilla tactics to create a system that is strong without being brittle, hard to cheat on and easy to enforce.

What’s more, this book explains how to get these policies: what existing legislative, regulatory and judicial powers can be invoked to make them a reality. Because we are living through the Great Enshittification, and crises erupt every ten seconds, and when those crises occur, the “good ideas lying around” can move from the fringes to the center in an eyeblink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[Image ID: Thoughtfully written and patiently presented, The Internet Con explains how the promise of a free and open internet was lost to predatory business practices and the rush to commodify every aspect of our lives. An essential read for anyone that wants to understand how we lost control of our digital spaces and infrastructure to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and how we can start fighting to get it back. -Tim Maughan, author of INFINITE DETAIL]

After all, we’ve known Big Tech was rotten for years, but we had no idea what to do about it. Every time a Big Tech colossus did something ghastly to millions or billions of people, we tried to fix the tech company. There’s no fixing the tech companies. They need to burn. The way to make users safe from Big Tech predators isn’t to make those predators behave better — it’s to evacuate those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/18/urban-wildlife-interface/#combustible-walled-gardens

I’ve been campaigning for human rights in the digital world for more than 20 years; I’ve been EFF’s European Director, representing the public interest at the EU, the UN, Westminster, Ottawa and DC. This is the subject I’ve devoted my life to, and I live my principles. I won’t let my books be sold with DRM, which means that Audible won’t carry my audiobooks. My agent tells me that this decision has cost me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put my kid through college. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means that my books aren’t enshittification bait.

But not selling on Audible has another cost, one that’s more important to me: a lot of readers prefer audiobooks and 9 out of 10 of those readers start and end their searches on Audible. When they don’t find an author there, they assume no audiobook exists, period. It got so bad I put up an audiobook on Amazon — me, reading an essay, explaining how Audible rips off writers and readers. It’s called “Why None of My Audiobooks Are For Sale on Audible”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

[Image ID: Doctorow has been thinking longer and smarter than anyone else I know about how we create and exchange value in a digital age. -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock]

To get my audiobooks into readers’ ears, I pre-sell them on Kickstarter. This has been wildly successful, both financially and as a means of getting other prominent authors to break up with Amazon and use crowdfunding to fill the gap. Writers like Brandon Sanderson are doing heroic work, smashing Amazon’s monopoly:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

And to be frank, I love audiobooks, too. I swim every day as physio for a chronic pain condition, and I listen to 2–3 books/month on my underwater MP3 player, disappearing into an imaginary world as I scull back and forth in my public pool. I’m able to get those audiobooks on my MP3 player thanks to Libro.fm, a DRM-free store that supports indie booksellers all over the world:

https://blog.libro.fm/a-qa-with-mark-pearson-libro-fm-ceo-and-co-founder/

Producing my own audiobooks has been a dream. Working with Skyboat Media, I’ve gotten narrators like @wilwheaton​, Amber Benson, @neil-gaiman​ and Stefan Rudnicki for my work:

https://craphound.com/shop/

[Image ID: “This book is the instruction manual Big Tech doesn’t want you to read. It deconstructs their crummy products, undemocratic business models, rigged legal regimes, and lies. Crack this book and help build something better. -Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When Its Gone”]

But for this title, I decided that I would read it myself. After all, I’ve been podcasting since 2006, reading my own work aloud every week or so, even as I traveled the world and gave thousands of speeches about the subject of this book. I was excited (and a little trepedatious) at the prospect, but how could I pass up a chance to work with director Gabrielle de Cuir, who has directed everyone from Anne Hathaway to LeVar Burton to Eric Idle?

Reader, I fucking nailed it. I went back to those daily recordings fully prepared to hate them, but they were good — even great (especially after my engineer John Taylor Williams mastered them). Listen for yourself!

https://archive.org/details/cory_doctorow_internet_con_chapter_01

I hope you’ll consider backing this Kickstarter. If you’ve ever read my free, open access, CC-licensed blog posts and novels, or listened to my podcasts, or come to one of my talks and wished there was a way to say thank you, this is it. These crowdfunders make my DRM-free publishing program viable, even as audiobooks grow more central to a writer’s income and even as a single company takes over nearly the entire audiobook market.

Backers can choose from the DRM-free audiobook, DRM-free ebook (EPUB and MOBI) and a hardcover — including a signed, personalized option, fulfilled through the great LA indie bookstore Book Soup:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

What’s more, these ebooks and audiobooks are unlike any you’ll get anywhere else because they are sold without any terms of service or license agreements. As has been the case since time immemorial, when you buy these books, they’re yours, and you are allowed to do anything with them that copyright law permits — give them away, lend them to friends, or simply read them with any technology you choose.

As with my previous Kickstarters, backers can get their audiobooks delivered with an app (from libro.fm) or as a folder of MP3s. That helps people who struggle with “sideloading,” a process that Apple and Google have made progressively harder, even as they force audiobook and ebook sellers to hand over a 30% app tax on every dollar they make:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

Enshittification is rotting every layer of the tech stack: mobile, payments, hosting, social, delivery, playback. Every tech company is pulling the rug out from under us, using the chokepoints they built between audiences and speakers, artists and fans, to pick all of our pockets.

The Internet Con isn’t just a lament for the internet we lost — it’s a plan to get it back. I hope you’ll get a copy and share it with the people you love, even as the tech platforms choke off your communities to pad their quarterly numbers.

Next weekend (Aug 4-6), I'll be in Austin for Armadillocon, a science fiction convention, where I'm the Guest of Honor:

https://armadillocon.org/d45/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/31/seize-the-means-of-computation/#the-internet-con

[Image ID: My forthcoming book 'The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation' in various editions: Verso hardcover, audiobook displayed on a phone, and ebook displayed on an e-ink reader.]

[rubisthrace]

Zepotha will never be Goncharov because when it comes down to it, tumblr culture is collaborative, while tiktok culture is merely iterative, and those are not the same thing.

[jjjjisun]

Younger sis minji (newjeans) having an OF. Reader found it and instantly subscribed, getting himself off multiple times a day and uses it to chat with minji. Minji then finding out that it was her brother (from his pc, phone, or username) and then gets turned on but she doesnt know why. Chats w her brother and asks for cumtributes or just video sex (starts with just jerk off instructions so there’s no video, and minji decides to masturbate as well and turns on her cam, saying hello to her bro) and eventually inviting him to make a breeding video with him

Million-Dollar Experience

NJZ/NewJeans Minji x Male OC | 2663 words

TW: Incest

—

Buy me a Ko-Fi.

Book commissions here.

—

In the quiet of his sprawling penthouse, Jae poured himself a generous glass of Scotch, the amber liquid casting entrancing shadows in the dim lighting. He was a man of detailed observation, a skill honed by years of handling high-stakes business deals. Tonight, however, his attention was not on market trends or acquisition targets but on a curiosity that had piqued his interest over the past few weeks.

His laptop screen displayed the homepage of OnyFans, a website known for its risqué content. He'd stumbled upon it while investigating a potential business venture, but one name had caught his eye: Minji. His little sister, nine years his junior, was a mystery to him. She'd left home at eighteen, pursuing a life he'd never quite understood. Now, here she was, living in Seoul and working as a model and an idol. But in the dark, intimate world of OnyFans, she was "Minki," an irresistible blend of innocent and sultry.

Jae clicked on Minki’s profile. The image was evocative: Minji lying back on velvet, her hair a dark cascade, eyes coyly peeking over her shoulder. The video thumbnails promised a captivating mix of sweet and sensuous. He felt a pang of guilt, of betrayal, but Crimson had always been his refuge, his secret place of escape. He'd figured out Minki's account, just as he figured out everything. Besides, he rationalized, he was just looking out for her.

Jae settled into his favorite armchair, the leather creaking softly under his weight. He selected a video titled "Wicked Whispers" and clicked play. The room filled with Minji's soft humming, the sound of a shower running, and the rustle of fabric. She was getting ready, her body visible in glimpses, a tantalizing dance of flesh and shadow. She was gorgeous, a fact he'd always known but had never quite acknowledged like this.

Suddenly, a chat window popped up. "Miss Minki, you look ravishing tonight," a user typed. Jae felt a twist of jealousy. He knew it was irrational, but he didn't want anyone else complimenting her.

Minji laughed, a sound as bright as a laugh could be in the intimate setting. "Why, thank you, handsome. You're making me blush," she typed back, her fingers dancing over the keyboard.

Jae saw his opportunity. He'd been watching, observing, and now he wanted to participate. He created a new user account, "J-regex," and sent a message, "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Minji's eyes widened slightly, and her face showed a hint of surprise. She took a moment before typing, "A girl like me? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Jae felt a thrill. This was going to be fun. "A girl worthy of better company," he typed, his fingers flying over the keys with an ease belied by his serious demeanor.

Minji smiled a slow, intriguing smile. "Is that so? And who would you suggest?"

"Someone who can appreciate the delicate balance you strike," Jae replied, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Minji leaned back, her body stretching in a way that made Jae's mouth go dry. "Well, J-regex, you might be just the company I'm looking for."

The room was silent except for the soft hum of the laptop and the clink of ice in Jae's glass. He felt a stirring in his loins, the first tendrils of arousal. He was playing a dangerous game, but he'd never been one to shy away from risk.

Over the next few weeks, their exchanges became a routine. Jae would watch, would chat, would tease. Minji would respond in kind, her smoldering looks and suggestive words driving him to the edge of madness. He'd never felt so alive, so recklessly drawn to someone. And yet, he was painfully aware that this Minki was not his little sister. No, this Minki was a temptress, a siren, a woman he couldn't help but crave.

One night, as Minji lay back, her body glistening with baby oil, she looked directly into the camera and whispered, "I wonder what it would be like, J-regex. Would you be gentle, or would you take me hard and fast?"

Jae's breath hitched, his cock straining against his pants. He knew he was playing with fire, but he couldn't stop. Not yet. Not ever.

"I'd start slow," he typed, his fingers trembling slightly. "Let you feel every inch of me. But once you're begging for it and breathless and needy, I'd give you everything. Hard, fast, until you're screaming my name."

Minji bit her lower lip, her eyes sparkling with desire. "I like the way you think, J-regex. Let's make that a reality, shall we?"

Jae's heart pounded. He'd crossed a line, a forbidden one. But he couldn't stop now. He was too deep, and Minji, Minki, whoever she was, was the most intoxicating woman he'd ever known.

Their relationship was evolving, becoming more than just a chat in a dark room. It was dangerous, delicious, and utterly forbidden, and Jae wouldn't have it any other way.

Jae stretched out on his king-sized bed, his laptop propped open before him. Minki was just coming online, her "Busy" status flashing to "Available." He felt a familiar thrill course through him, a dangerous mix of anticipation and guilt. But tonight, he decided, he would push the boundaries.

Minji appeared on screen, her hair damp from a recent shower. A towel wrapped around her hid what Jae knew were tantalizing curves. She blew a kiss at the camera, her smile mischievous. "Hello, everyone. Who's ready to have some fun tonight?"

Jae typed out his message, his heart pounding in his chest. "Say 'Oppa,' Minki." He knew it was a risky move, a taboo and intimate demand. But he wanted to hear it, wanted to feel closer to her.

Minji's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed, a hint of a challenge in them. She knew it was him. He'd hoped, had feared, but now he was certain. "Is that what you want, J-regex?" she typed back, her voice sultry as she spoke aloud, "Oppa, is that what you want to hear?"

The sound of it, the way it rolled off her tongue, sent a jolt of lust through him. He knew he should stop, should pull back, but he couldn't. Not now. Not when they'd come this far. "Show me," he typed, his breath coming faster.

Minji's lips curled into a slow smile. She stood up, letting the towel drop to the floor. She was naked, her body a work of art. She sat back down, spreading her legs, giving the camera, Jae, a perfect view. She started to touch herself, her fingers tracing a path from her collarbone down to the curve of her hip. "Like this, Oppa?"

Jae gasped, his cock straining against his pants. He should stop this, should put an end to it, but he couldn't. He was addicted, enraptured, entirely at her mercy. "Yes," he typed, his hands shaking. "Touch yourself, Minki. Make yourself come."

Minji moaned, a soft, sexy sound that seemed to envelop him. She followed his command, her fingers finding her clit, circling it slowly, then faster. She threw her head back, her hair cascading over her shoulders, her body writhing on the bed. "Oppa, I'm so close," she whispered, her voice ragged.

Jae couldn't take it anymore. He unzipped his pants, his hand wrapping around his cock, stroking it in time with her movements. "Come for me, Minki," he growled, his voice barely recognizable.

Minji's breath hitched, her body tensing, then she cried out, her orgasm coursing through her. Jae followed her, his release ripping through him, his body shuddering with the force of it.

As they both came down from their high, Minji looked directly into the camera, her expression serious. "We need to talk, J-regex. Or should I say, Jae Oppa?"

Jae felt a jolt. She knew. He should never have crossed that line, but it was too late. He typed a response, his heart pounding, "What do you want to talk about, Minki?"

Minji smirked, a hint of triumph in her eyes. "I know who you are, Oppa. And I think it's time we took this... relationship offline."

Jae felt a mix of shock, fear, and exhilaration. He'd always been the one in control, the one calling the shots. But here, now, he was at Minji's mercy. And she intended to use that to her advantage.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he typed, a lame attempt at denial.

Minji laughed, a sound as musical as it was taunting. "Really? Because I think you do, Oppa. And I think you'll like what I have in mind." She paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I want you to make a video with me. A special one. A million dollar experience."

Jae's eyes widened. He knew what that meant, the kind of content she was suggesting. It was explicit, intimate, entirely forbidden. But the thought of it, of being with her like that, made his cock stir again. He wanted it, wanted her, even if it meant risking everything.

"What kind of video, Minki?" he typed, his curiosity piqued.

Minji leaned in, her voice low and seductive. "A breeding video, Oppa. A million-dollar experience that you will get for free. All you have to do is say yes."

Jae stared at the screen, at the woman who was his sister, his seductress, his temptation. He was standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump. Prepared to risk everything for this forbidden dance with Minji. Because even though he knew it was wrong, even though he knew it was dangerous, he couldn't stop. Not now. Not ever.

"Yes," he typed, his heart pounding in his chest. "I'm in."

Minji smiled, a smile that promised a world of pleasure and danger. "I'm glad you are, Oppa. Because this is going to be one hell of a ride."

The door to Jae's penthouse clicked shut behind them, sealing them off from the world outside. Minji leaned against the cool, hardwood door, her breath coming in short, excited gasps. She looked up at her big brother, whom she'd once idolized. He stood tall, his eyes fierce with desire, a wolf ready to devour his prey.

"Minji," Jae growled, his voice hoarse with need. "Get on your knees."

Minji felt a shiver run through her. She should protest, should remind him of their blood tie, but the words stuck in her throat, swallowed up by the raw, primal desire coursing through her veins. She sank to her knees, her heart pounding in her chest.

Jae stepped closer, hisaconda unzipping his pants, his thick cock springing free. He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "Open your mouth, Minji. Show me what a good little sister you can be."

Minji's lips parted, her tongue darting out to swipe at the bead of pre cum at the tip of his cock. Jae groaned, his grip on her chin tightening. "Tease," he hissed, but there was no anger in his voice, only desire.

She took him into her mouth, her lips stretching to accommodate his width, her tongue flicking against the sensitive underside. She sucked him, her head bobbing back and forth, her hands gripping his thighs for balance. Jae's fingers tangled in her hair, guiding her, controlling her. He fucked her mouth, his hips moving in sharp thrusts, hitting the back of her throat with each stroke.

Minji gagged, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, but she didn't pull back. She wanted this, wanted to give him pleasure, to feel his control over her. As if reading her mind, Jae groaned, "That's it, Minji. Take it like a good little sister. Big brother's cum."

His words, so dirty, so taboo, sent a surge of heat between her legs. She moaned around his cock, the vibration making Jae gravelled, "Fuck, Minji!"

He thrust one more time, deep into her throat, his cock pulsing as he came, filling her mouth with his hot, salty seed. Minji swallowed it all, her eyes never leaving his, a sense of power and satisfaction washing over her.

Jae pulled her up, his hands cupping her face, his lips claiming hers in a fierce, passionate kiss. "You're mine now, Minji," he whispered against her lips. "Mine to protect, mine to please, mine to breed."

Minji felt a shiver run through her at his possessive words. She wanted that, wanted to be his, to belong to him. She nodded, barely whispering, "Yes, Oppa. I'm yours."

Jae led her to his huge room filled with dark wood and leather. He sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her to stand between his legs. He undressed her slowly, his fingers tracing paths of fire on her skin. When she was naked, he leaned in, his lips wrapping around her nipple, sucking, teeth nipping gently.

Minji moaned, her hands tangling in his hair, holding him to her. Jae switched to her other breast, his hands roaming her body, cupping her ass, her pussy. He slipped a finger inside her, then another, his thumb circling her clit. She rode his hand, her body seeking release, but Jae pulled back, a wicked smile on his face.

"Not yet, Minji. Not until I say so."

He laid back on the bed, his eyes raking over her naked form. "Come here. Ride me."

Minji straddled him, her pussy aching to feel him inside her. She reached down, guiding his cock to her entrance, then sank, taking him in inch by inch. Jae groaned, his eyes closing, his hands gripping her hips. She started to move, her hips rolling, her body gliding up and down his length.

Jae opened his eyes, watching her, his expression intense. "Fuck me, Minji. Hard and fast, like you want to."

Minji moaned, her nails digging into his chest as she did as he commanded. She rode him hard, her body slamming down on his, their skin slapping together, their bodies fused in a dance as old as time. Jae's hands gripped her ass, guiding her movements, his hips thrusting up to meet her, their bodies coming together in a synchrony that was sensationally intimate.

"Come for me, Minji," Jae growled, his thumb finding her clit, rubbing hard, fast. "Come on your big brother's cock."

Minji's body tensed, her orgasm washing over her, her inner walls pulsing around Jae's cock, milking him. As if that was his undoing, Jae groaned, his cock throbbing inside her, filling her with his cum.

They lay there momentarily, their bodies still joined, their breaths coming in ragged gasps. Then Jae rolled them over, his body covering hers, his mouth claiming hers in a soft, tender kiss.

"Minji," he whispered, his eyes searching hers. "What are we going to do?"

Minji's fingers traced patterns on his back, and her heart filled with a sense of peace and love she'd never known before. "I don't know, Oppa. But I want to be with you."

Jae nodded, his expression serious. "I want that too, Minji. And I promise you, if you lose this legal battle and can't be an idol anymore, we'll face it together. You'll be mine; I can make you my wife, and I will provide for you."

Minji felt a surge of love and desire. She smiled a slow, sultry smile. "And until then, Oppa, we'll make the most of our time together. Don't you think?"

Jae grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischief and desire. "I was hoping you'd say that, Minji. Now, turn over. I've got a date with your beautiful ass."

Minji laughed, rolling over, her body already anticipating his touch. As Jae's lips traced a path down her spine, she knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. With him, in this dance of forbidden love, they were ready to face whatever storm may come their way.

[angelesca]

w.c. ~6.5k me? GONGAGA | (assasin) blade x gn!reader | warning for mild yandere, vague descriptions of injuries, red string of fate, everyone ships you and blade (guardian angel? more like boyfriend), reader fights for their life, xianzhou cast and stellaron hunters being stupid, silly as usual, skott is your (ex)fiance LUL💔exploring blade's past (some character study), reader implied to be yingxing's past lover reincarnated, a sidedish (whole lot) of angst, implied memory loss from mara

footnotes are included at the end of the post, including Chinese myths and proverbs :)

a/n: ignore the fact that the hair and eye is flipped😀and me using proper grammer? insane. happy 100+ followers!!! congrats again to blade for winning the poll, still the man of our dreams huhu BLADE SMOOCHERS LESGOOOOOO!!!

inspired by [touch within the abyss] (ILOVETHISMANGA SOMCUH), listening to [heavens official's blessing's] soundtrack while writing and editing was AMAZING omgg, and blade using butter knives as weapons was def taken from [black butler] lol

https://redstringservices.xzhou/homepage/requests/999

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Leave your request below. Reviews are uneccessary as all jobs are guaranteed to be well within the responder's capabilities.

Scrooooooll.

User 'Lacking_in_everything_but_muscles_General' has requested: Oho? A potential challenger to test the results of my training? Come, fight me! ↳ User 'XxEradicator_Of_Dust360xX' replied: Please stop using Jiaoqiu as a barbell. User 'grandpa!stop_doting_on_me' has requested: Uncle, can you find a pink-haired girl for me? She's skipping her training again... (；⌣̀_⌣́) Oh, leave her alive too, please. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ User 'Mr.ColdFeet' has left a review: Dearest customer, thank you for ordering the '10x "Belobogian-sourced" strawberry milk drink!! Here, I'll leave you a good review as token of my appreciation~ [Deleted by moderator] User 'HealerLadyIsTheBest1': Hey, how is this website legal?😡Cease your business at once, I'm getting too many patients! User 'mostsanestbladefan' has requested: rerun when💔 ↳ Mod 'SW#GU2055#addme' replied: lmao

... Seems trustworthy enough. Although, why is everyone talking as if this was a hiring for a hitman? Wasn't this a fortune teller who can alter red string fates? Bah, whatever. This may be your last chance of escape, and you are desperate.

You press the request button and start typing:

Guest_User#1002 has requested: Hello, may I ask to book a session for me and my insufferable-loser-of-a-fiance?

Ping! A reply already? A private chat has been created. You click on it.

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' replied: Your full name.

You type it out.

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' is typing...

...

...

They completely stop. "Huh?"

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' is typing...

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' is typing...

...

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' replied: Sorry.

“Haha! I like to bully my subordinates, haha! Oink, oink– o–oops, f–force of habit,” Skott, yes, Lyndon Skott, your “insufferable-loser-of-a-fiance” wipes his mouth as if hoping to erase his words. If only it was possible to erase his entire existence too. “Anyways, fetch me my dog feed."

Out of all people, Skott is the worst possible candidate known to man. Stomach and back pains, cramps, coughs, sneezing. Every side effect ailed you anytime he did anything, as if you were an illness and the universe was trying to cough you out of its immune system.

“Here,” you say detachedly, handing it over.

Skott does a double-take. “This is... a ray gun? Where did you even get this?”

Oops. That was supposed to your last resort. “I think we're out, Skott. Your eating habits cost too much, even a dog doesn't eat twenty packs everyday.”

Skott suddenly stands up, hands on hips. “Why, you seem so tired,” Duh. “Well, it's nothing that I, Skott, the best possible candidate known to man, can't solve,” he pushes his lips together, leaning towards you. “C'mere... kissy kiss–”

You pinch his cheek before he could do anything. Skott whimpers pathetically. “I'm gonna go out and buy some dinner,” you grumble, immediately walking off.

“O–o-oink!”

Your phone blinks at you. You groan. Why did they ghost you? What's wrong with your name?

“Might as well buy more dog food too...” you mumble sourly, heading off to your usual supplier around the corner.

The store owner enthusiastically greets you, rubbing their hands together. “My, my, how lovely to see you again, my dear. Here to buy more food for your chihuahua? Haha, he sure does eat a lot for a small breed dog!”

You force a crooked smile, feeling crazy for having to lie about your fiance being a dog. “Yep... I'm here again... sadly.”

“Your chihuahua prefers wet food, right? Why don't you take a look at this new product? The texture of the loaf is incredibly soft—perfect for their jaws—which makes for easy consumption. High-quality lean meats mixed with fats, an ideal diet for a high-energy dog.”

Skott being as insane as he is would eat anything. “I'll try this one out.”

“Amazing!” The store owner beams, grinning. “Your boyfriend seems to agree too!”

“Boyfriend?” Did Skott follow you? No way. Skott doesn't walk; he marches to announce his presence with pride—there's no way you didn't hear his obnoxiously loud footsteps.

Ping! A chill runs down your back.

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆' replied: Behind you.

“AAAH!!” A sching! flies past your ears, a clear sound shot straight, streamlined, like a bullet. You dodge the sword aiming for your head, lodged in the wall against your back, dog food in hand. 

The pathway you escaped along reclined into the shadows the further you ran, a detached wing from the body of Aurum Alley. An abandoned passage. Yet, two pairs of footsteps treaded the ground—one too many.

“W-who are you? I’ve done nothing wrong! I make sure to eat all my veggies- OH!” you swivel in time to miss the sharp object that would’ve hit your ankle. You look down. “A butter knife?!”

“Why are you running from me?” the voice calls out.

“Why are you trying to kill me?!” you shout back. 

A pair of crimson eyes unravel behind the curtain of shadows. Highlighted with a target on your head, the spotlight shines on you, casted as the main character by this stranger.

They approach, way too close for your liking. A daunting waft of smoke and metal haunts the life out of the air, making it almost hard to breathe. Moonlight descends his hair, a silk ladder, ropes of dark strands rolling over his shoulders.

Stuck in a limbo with no escape. Great. “... Anything but the dog food... Skott throws a fit when he doesn't get his daily fix,” you mumble, pushing yourself onto the wall as far as you can, hoping to blend into it.

A smirk on his lips. A phone is suddenly shoved in your face. You groan at the brightness, cutting your vision into a thin strip of magnifying glass as you squint.

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆': Is this the target?

There's picture of you leaving the house.

Guest_User#1001 replied: Yes! Get'em already!!💥

“Me?” You cannot believe your eyes. “Someone requested a hit on me?”

Guest_User#1001: Teehee

You’ve tried everything to escape. Firstly, you ran around the neighbourhood like a headless chicken, yet his legs easily erased the distance, tormenting your back with his glare.

Attempted bribing with berrypheasant skewers? Failed. Songlotus cake? Nope. Steamed puffergoat milk? His eyes flicked to it for a moment. Almost. 

And throughout everything, all you heard was an onslaught of hmphs and grunts rolling boulders over you, crushing your dignity in mocking. Save for the one instance he muttered his name to you, Blade.

Qingque, your fellow co-slacker worker, points a finger behind you, her face puckered. “Who the hell is that?”

“Don’t mind him,” you groan. Surroundings swirl, doused in a liquor poured by the hand of your exhausted mind. “He’s just my assassin.”

“How are you saying that so casually??”

Blade is glued to your side even at your workplace, the Divination Commision. But you are more angry that nobody is mentioning why this very obvious outsider, who isn't even dressed in uniform and is holding a sword, is following you.

“Hey,” You walk up to a random colleague. “Does this guy not look crazy dangerous?” You point behind you.

“Hm?” They blink. “I thought he was your significant other?” ??? Everyone must be tricked by his beauty!

It's worse that Blade only scoffs, giving no closed answer to their question.

At your desk, Blade is judging you when you quickly switch your monitor off your Celestial Jade game when Fu Xuan enters. In the break room, where there's even less people around, he's shaving butter knives with his sword into weapons of mass destruction as you drink your tea.

Most ridiculously, anytime Qingque—or anyone—does as much as tap your shoulder, Blade brandishes his sword at them. Mumbling and grumbling something about, “they're mine, not yours(?)”

“Ohoho~ what a handsome boyfriend you have!"

“Jiaoqiu, you're facing the wrong way—we're behind you.”

Jiaoqiu, your local coriander supplier—and you, his coriander dumpster—slowly turns around, smiling, as if garbage sludged out of your mouth.

Sensing dread root in your guts, a cold sweat running its tap, you turn to Blade– “HOLY–” You dodge his sword in the nick of time. Blade clicks his tongue, drawing his eyebrows together. Tch. “Did you see that?! He tried to–”

“Ah, how kind of you.” You snap back to Jiaoqiu who is patting his chopping board.

Dumbfounded, you trace the sword that landed squarely on the chopping board, having sliced a once-large-pile of coriander finely. A precision awarded to well-trained chefs who specialise in food and not cutting people up.

“Wow, what a handsome and capable boyfriend. Just like a guardian angel. Ha. Ha.” Jiaoqiu nods in approval.

“You can't even see him.”

“Oh, right.”

You came home with twice the normal haul of coriander, gifted to Blade, who didn't need "such useless sentiments", and stuffed it into your bag. You threw some extra into Skott's dog food.

Moonlight uncovers two figures standing on the rooftops, watching.

“General, is that…” A voice trails off.

“Yes, there's no mistaking him.” Another voice.

“Join me, Yingxing. B◼◼◼◼n◼... she may still live this way. And you... you need to save them too, do you not?”

Yingxing, the name was spat, drawled, torn through teeth, pulverizing the skeletons of each letter, leaving its corpse that would not survive to become a living legend. 

Before his downfall, Yingxing was an exemplary but arrogant blacksmith under Huaiyan, and a member of the legendary High-Cloud Quintet. Drinking partners with D◼◼ ◼e◼◼, sparred with J◼◼◼l◼◼, smiled with B◼◼◼◼n◼, grew with Jing Yuan, who would bust his ears about there being one-thousand-three-hundred-and-fourteen gingko trees to ever live on the Xianzhou Luofu.

And finally, Yingxing was the lover of a free-spirit who walked the path of the Trailblaze. A love he was willing to risk for, because he could not afford to lose again after the devastation of his homeland.

Blade woke up, breathing away the vice around his neck, fingers opening and closing. Reaching for someone who was not there, a phantom. But they were his. They belonged to him. It's all he has, and he won't let go.

You decide to go to an actual fortune teller, explaining all the events until now.

Although they are masked with a hood, obscured in secretive shadows, the candle on the velvet-robed table carves out the frown on their face. “This sounds like a couple's bickering. And I do not want to be treated as a couple's therapist.”

“Why does everyone say that?! He's far removed from being my lover!” You could cough up blood.

“Then what's he doing here?”

“Who?”

Ping!

Mod 'SW_was_here(^_−)☆': Behind you.

Surely not– “AAAH!” you shout, almost having a heart attack. Sure enough, Blade is standing behind you, arms crossed.

“Stop running,” he demands.

“So you can kill me? Nu-uh,” you taunt.

The fortune teller clears their throat. "If you want me to trace your red string, I can do so," they direct the conversation. "Red strings of fate are divined by Yue Lao¹, and are hard to alter as it moulds one's fate."

“So, what does it look like?” You hold up your pinky.

The fortune teller is silent for a moment, rubbing their forefinger against their thumb, testing the unsteady fabric that weaves the air. The both of you are dressed under a skirt of silence until they stop entirely. Tension frays its string, ready to snap.

They share a glance between you and the person looming behind. A long sigh in front of you. A small chuckle behind you. “You really are sure he's not your boyfriend?”

“What's that supposed to mean?” You look at Blade. He looks back. You stare. He turns his face away.

Couples event! Lovebirds get a whopping 50% discount off our menu!

A brilliant idea pops in your head. “Blade, I know we're not on the best terms but– AH?!” You dodge a butter knife. The blade lands by the feet of a young woman, with orange hair tied into a ponytail, who almost collided into you with her tripod.

Blade already knows from the shine in your eyes. “Ridiculous.”

Bring your plus one to our story-telling theatre! Pay the price of one ticket for the value of two!

“How about this one?”

“Absurd.” Blade pulls you away, your feet dragging along. A short, green hair girl had barely missed setting you on fire with her tail.

Buy one-get-one-free steamed puffergoat milk for lovers! Come as two, and leave satisfied as two!

You hand the free cup of steamed puffergoat milk to Blade. "You're a fan of this, huh?"

Hmph. He takes it, face turned away. You think it's the trick of the lanterns, but a dust of red seems to colour Blade's ears.

This will be my breakthrough, Yanqing thought excitedly, General will certainly rely on me more if I catch this sneaky man!

“Boo!”

“AAAH! Y-Yunli?”

Yunli latches onto Yanqing's shoulders, who is hiding behind a wall, observing you and Blade who are sitting at a table outside a restaurant. Blade refills your teacup without you noticing. “Whatchu hiding?”

“Nothing,” Yanqing brushes Yunli off like dust. “Just on a mission.”

Yunli hums, stifling a smile. “Hmm... I'll watch your back then.”

Yanqing nods, straightening his back, and marching towards the table like a soldier. Yunli will be entertained by this for centuries, and will be rolling in her grave thinking about it.

A cough for attention. You slowly look up, meeting a blonde boy in blue clothes.

“Jing Yuan's kid…” A flash of recognition in Blade's eyes. “Did he order you? How bothersome.”

“Of my own accord, I came to arrest you”—Blade stuffs a piece of youtiao in Yanqing's mouth, a spoonful of congee to chase, and a bite of tofu pudding to finish—“Mm, good food.”

“You need to grow taller," Blade says. "Tch. What's Jing Yuan doing with you?”

“Excuse you,” Yanqing says, offended, taking a seat at the table.

“Should I order more?” you ask, confused. Was Blade always good with kids? It's kinda cute.

Behind the wall, Yunli rubs her temple. “Yanqing... were you that hungry to forget your mission?”

“I have to go, Yingxing. The Express is calling my name.”

“Ridiculous. Just stay here, you don't need them. Is there an imperative rule demanding you to board?”

A shake of their head. “Our lives are drastically different,” the voice choked out, “you have a past here with fond memories and companions. You belong in Xianzhou Luofu. But me, I have yet to lay my home.”

He scoffs. “You mean to say that you do not love me as much as you thought?”

“I love you most to search you out before anyone else. And I have loved you too much by entering your world when I shouldn't, knowing that this would happen.”

“Why are you leaving only now, when I have even fewer years to live? Will you not allow me to spend my last dregs of life with you?” Or does he have to force them himself?

“... I do not want to see you draw your last breath,” an inhale. “You would understand too, if you were also a long-lived species. Having to watch loved ones lose to time again and again, it never gets easier.”

How ridiculous, Blade thought, blinking away sleep as he stands guard outside your house, that he would end up in their exact situation.

Since the visit to the fortune teller, Blade's assassination attempts have been null. A change of heart? How charismatic you are. But then why is he still carrying your bags and listening to your rambles? And why is he swatting away people who get too close to you?

You can't bring yourself to ask him so you keep walking ahead, doing random things with your arms to distract yourself. Isn't this like... having a boyfriend? You slap your face.

Blade watches your back, tracing the flex of your body when you stretch, the snippet of your smile when you turn your head to the side, you looking back to check if he is still here.

Blade rarely demonstrates himself with his face. But if he were to release the tense muscles that he forces to stiffen, you'd realise that he's been holding back a smile all along.

He watches you for a bit longer, letting the script unwind past. The future is cast in stone, but dripping water can penetrate the rock with enough time.²

...

...

... Click, click.

Heels click down a corridor, purple hair tousled over her shoulder. She stops in front of double doors. Darkness throws its hunter's net, trapping, a natural selection in place to filter in only those who live to survive.

“Hmm, I see,” the woman echoes. “Yes, in Xianzhou currently.”

“Change of plans? Bladie would... Blade stays true to his name—there's no one he can't cut down.”

“I understand.” A small chuckle. “My regards, dearest Elio.”

“You again?” Blade grumbles, offering Yanqing no more than a short glance. He lends a levitating hand just behind your back as you walk up the hill. “What? Hungry?”

Yanqing points at Blade. “I'm here to arrest you!”

“For what?” you ask, looking back. You notice something quickly retracts, but everything looks pretty normal. Perhaps it was just a bug flying.

Yanqing throws his hands in the air. “He's an assassin!”

“Oh, I forgot about that.” You suddenly have a hard time looking at Blade. In your defense, he's been pretty nice lately. But catching him staring at you? You'll have to get used to that.

Just behind a tree, two people huddle together, cautiously sneaking glances.

“Firefly, why is he smiling like that behind their back? What's with that disgustingly sweet look??”

“I have no idea Silverwolf... isn't that what lovers do?”

Silverwolf tilts her head, tapping absentmindedly on her phone. “Blade... I haven't seen him like that.” She observes the smile peeking on Blade's face, hiding from sight as he stands behind you. As always. “We're supposed to help him with this mission as per Kafka's command, but…”

Firefly, with her gaze, draws along Silverwolf's line of vision, studying. “He must be happy here,” she says. “Oh, I'll miss his driving…”

“Who's a good boy~” you coo, scratching a stray puppy's head. The puppy closes its eyes, tongue wagging.

Blade crouches near you, watching you shower the puppy with affection, completely forgetting him. The dog looks at him, tilting its head. Hmph. “Annoying.”

“Why is that your first word of the day?!”

You see a sliver of a smile as Blade casts his gaze down.

Picking the puppy up, you hand it to Blade who awkwardly holds it in the air. You laugh. “Wouldn't it be so cute if this puppy stayed like this forever?” you say to no one in particular.

Blade pauses, hair slightly dancing in the wind, crested in golden gingko leaves. He finally says, “An eternity is of the same weave as an abyss, to never see an end. Yet, if all lived forever...”

Blade looks up at the gingko canopy, wistful, stern. But he looks at you with a soft crease in his eyes, lifted ever so slightly by the cheeks.

"I... would not mind it."

You hum, studying his face. Trying to distract the heat caressing your cheeks by thinking a million thoughts.

“But this puppy has so much to explore,” you say, taking the puppy into your lap. “Being stuck in one place for so long, the steps we take will always loop back.” You brush the gingko leaves off Blade's hair.

“If I stayed in the same spot with that insufferable-loser-of-a-fiance, and never messaged you, well, we wouldn't have met, right?”

A beat in his chest. Savoured as it ripples through his body. Alive. Blade closes his eyes, feeling the breeze run its hand through his hair, the pulse in your fingers. You were alive too. Opens his eyes.

“... Ridiculous,” he simply replies.

Shuhu's flesh. It writhed, beating its last breath in Yingxing's hand. His other hand drew along a cold arm. One he has touched many times when it was warmer. A mortal separated from their immortal lover, a retelling of Hou Yi and Chang'e.³

A love he was willing to risk for, because he could not afford to lose again, he renewed that vow. A burst of pain, a golden disease invading. A bloodlust riveted.

I hope that in your next life, you will never wish for freedom again.

May fate bind us with its thread and suffocate us until we have to share our breaths through parted mouths, mistake whose hands are whose, and dig our fingers into each other's backs, melting into flesh, draw blood to malnourish the body of weight, just to fit into each other's arms. Because even if I torment your dreams, crush your future, or tangle your tongue until you can't speak, at least, that way, you always have to think of me. 

Hate eventually bleeds into obsession, and obsession will consume your every thought until you can't move. In that case, detest with all your heart, blacken me in your mind, and bite my hand when I try to feed; it will only make me love you more.

Stay where I can see you, or be chained to me forcefully... I will not lose you again.

...

...

...

When he awoke again, his body was pierced many times over.

"Remember the feeling of death," Her hair skimmed the moon's surface, an arc of the sword that glimmered silver, as if cycling through the lunar phases in a swift strike, and bloodred eyes. "And bring it to them."

Wounds mended and healed, tightened and closed. His new body is a seamster that weaves the fabric of his skin to fit his flesh again, a blacksmith that hammers out the steel and reforges it into a blade once more.

He does not come back to life—the joy of creation long forgotten in the face of death that has strangled everything else—a dead man walking. Laid his body on a bed of red spider lilies, the petals weeping on his clothes—or, was it a pool of blood? Doesn't matter.

The mara worked strangely on him—memories seldom passed by in his mind. Yet, this person crossed that boundary, weaved inside his head.

A face drifted along the tides of his mind, drowning and resurfacing every few seconds as he tried to fish the fragments. The scales shine, a bright smile, the tails flap, his hand weaved into another, the fins slither, laughter. Like carps, persevering past the strong waves of his mara.

He must've loved them so strongly to the point that it brewed hatred. A desire to blind them with his affection, and then mangle their limbs, so that the last thing they would ever feel was his selfish love.

Blade took you home as you sleeped in his carry, eyeing Skott intensely and scaring the man to make way. He draped you on your bed. It was too long since he's seen you so peaceful and... Blade stopped his fingers from feathering the rim of your lips.

Why couldn't he keep you here? Be chained to him, just stay here, you don't need anyone else. Crush you until you rely on him. This is where you're meant to be, right next to him.

His head lowered for a moment before he got up.

His words to Skott: "You're dead the moment you disturb them," Blade warned as he approached the cowering man. "Or, should I dispose of you here after what you put them through?"

Skott never returned home since, presumably ran away.

Blade went out and walked along Central Starskiff Haven. A simple thing caught his eye—a bobbin of blue string. And then—

"May I have a word with you?" Blade recognised that voice: Jing Yuan

...

...

...

“It was the same then, and the same now; you are fixated on the past.”

Blade studies Jing Yuan. Studies the carp swimming in the water, looking down. “Just skip to what you want to say.” Blade had little patience for the man who knew about the price of sin, yet said nothing.

Jing Yuan shakes his head, leaning on the railing of the bridge, looking up. He will savour every second of this meeting, one he had waited too long for. “Life is finite, grains of sand that slip through fingers. Fragile—for a reason—we are not meant to last forever. Even for us long–lived species, the mara is a cap screwed tightly to stop us, poised to spiral our memories into oblivion.”

Blade could almost laugh. This person before him, who used to reach only his shoulders, now was teaching him.

“Do you think it was only you who suffered all this time?” Jing Yuan frowns, frustrated. His shoulders shake. “We were separated. But the bonds we created last beyond a meeting. And I have have kept our companions in my heart. This way, they are always with me.”

“Fate may be predestined, but when the heart is moved, it becomes unforgettable.⁴”

Fate does not pity. Cruel yet kind at times, it does not know of its own recklessness, which must be why fate executes its job so easily. It feels no empathy.

But, it's exactly this reason why fate can never touch human connections. It does not understand the heart, therefore, what humans use it for are ultimately decisions that they make themselves. Fate is all-seeing, but not all-knowing.

“Hah…” Blade exhales. Words he didn't want from Jing Yuan, but needed to hear.

“And—” Jing Yuan winces, clutching his forehead. His eyes are watery, having recalled something yet lost it at the same time. A small silence. “Apologies, they say... that you are nearing the brink of death when memories start flashing at you, for the last time. Must be true... haha.”

Blade is wordless, fingers digging into palm. “Don't spout nonsense. Save your breath.”

Jing Yuan laughs, knowing that this is Blade's way of caring, the same as he used to, before saying, “I see all five of us. Underneath the gingko trees, where we met…”

Gingko trees... those words stood out. Jing Yuan would always... “Gingko trees... how many are there?” Blade asks, looking at Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan's eyes are open in surprise, unexpecting the question. His mouth moves but does not mutter, on the edge of words, before saying with that lazy grin of his, “How would I know the answer to that?”

Blade walks along the rainy path to your home. Along the gingko trees, past the river flowing carps along, to a door that is open, ready to welcome. But before he could, he felt a presence. “Kafka.”

“Bladie, Elio's a tad bit disappointed,” Kafka steps out of the shadows, holding a black umbrella. “You were talking to General Jing Yuan. But what does he know?”

Blade lets the rain devour her voice. Kafka walks towards him, still wearing her smile. It is often that Blade cannot read her concealed expression. She fondles with something behind her back.

Blade's limbs are speared in place. Spirit Whisper. He steps back—

“Listen to me. I will say the words you truly want to hear.”

“Your desires, why have you been suppressing their demands? Who are you trying to protect them from? They won't live long this time, so make the most of it. Take it all. This is your part of the script.”

Crush. Chain. Claim. The words inject its needle into Blade, piercing skin. Relieving. It feels like a cure, a medicine, his treatment. This is what he needs. The mara suddenly blooms its branches, ripping into his head, splintering it with an agonising pain. Clouds gather its dark feathers, pluming over Xianzhou with its wing-like embrace.

“Sorry, Bladie. I must do this. They were supposed to be dead long ago,” she says these final words, passing him with a smile, sad eyes, before turning into nothing more than another percussive instrument in the orchestra of rain.

...

...

...

Ping! ...

User 'Blade' is typing...

User 'Blade' is typing...

...

User 'Blade': You are mine.

You woke up to darkness placing its blindfold over you, sat on cold ground. Sweat trickles down your neck that bobs up and down, trying to breathe—to live. A musk repeating smoke and metal.

Taking another deep breath, you try to stand up but are immediately dissuaded by the nagging on your wrist, chained. The blindfold slips from the jolt.

“You're trying to escape me again.”

Suddenly, you are pulled into an embrace from behind, your back pressed on a chest. He is cold against your engulfed body—ice against fire. Designed by nature to sabotage one another, destined never to find each other. Caused by a sinner's karmic debt. “Blade, y-your arms...”

Small gingko branches perforate through his skin, the leaves thrumming to his slow breath. Red pearls roll down his arms, as if unhitched from a broken necklace. You notice the deep lacerations that dig past even further than where the branches grew from, as if someone has been trying to gouge them out.

Blade watches you, muttering as little words as possible to save breath, “It'll heal.”

You trace his arm with your finger. The wounds are caught in ebb and flow, between the stricken trauma and the regenerative tissues. Gradually, the bloody gap bridges his flesh together, an infrastructure built and painted over with his skin. “What...?” Your hand retracts but Blade catches it.

“Leaving me again?”

You search for his face, aching. Dark eye circles hung low, Blade is exhausted and just as afraid of what he's become. His hands glides along your arms, landing just above the back of your hands, before lacing his fingers into the crooks. He didn't want to hurt you, and you feel that fragility through the press of his lips on your neck.

“I won't,” you reassure, letting his weight stamp onto you.

His shoulders squeeze in, appearing smaller. As if trying to merge with you so that he may live inside. Know you inside out. Claim. His hand tighten around yours, subduing his desires.

Blade shakes his head, lips dragged down by the weight of the torrent he is trying to suppress inside him. He traces Kafka's words. “I abhor you…”

“You're lying... because eventually you will.”

“What makes you say that?”

“This is the price I pay,” he mutters, “I have willed life into an impossible existence, and I must witness how that very life ends.”

The law of equivalent exchange; to obtain what you so desire, an equal value must be given in return. And life and death always follow each other as equals.

Words disintegrate, melting on the tongue, as fragile as snow falling on skin. You replay the frown on Blade's face, his twitching eyebrows. An animation, flicking its pages in your mind, and your heart leaves it to loop over, and over. You lower your head, hesitant. You didn't understand what he was saying. But it feels like he's talking to you.

He is stood at the edge of the cliff, and you are the last push. But you didn't want him to let go yet.

“Then, it's our fault for choosing each other. Bound not by fate, but by choice, and by heart. And if we don't have much time, then let's use every second of it.”

Blade hears Jing Yuan's words in them. He also hears someone else's words. A final flash of another memory. And then, he repeats your voice that said the words. It comforts him, resting the pain to sleep. The gingko leaves fall, ripened. Maybe it were these words he was waiting for all along—to let him know that he can belong next to you after his sin.

There is no use dwelling on the past. He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey; he who blames himself is halfway there; he who blames no one has arrived.⁵ When moments can be spent with you now, the present becomes hopeful.

Kafka's shackles fade. Spring will come again.

Blade unchains the cuff on your wrist, soothing the red marks with his kisses. He fetches something from his pockets—a bobbin of blue string. Softly takes your pinky, intertwined with his, and he begins wrapping the thread around them. You watch him quietly, heart pounding. The knot is tied.

“Let me keep you for a little longer,” Blade whispers, resting his chin on your shoulder. “I'll let you go after this, I promise.” To sever the string.

You mould into him, and the seamster sewed your stitch into the embroidery, the blacksmith modelled the sword in your shape.

Guest_User#1001: I am expecting good results.

Blade sighed, throwing his phone on the bed. That name they gave, it looked familiar. Nevertheless, he had a job to do.

Guest_User#1002 has requested: Hello, may I ask to book a session for me and my insufferable-loser-of-a-fiance?

... What a coincidence. Blade scoffed.

Tracing your location, he found your home. The first time he saw you, he recognised instantly, and memories began flashing.

“Why are you running from me?”

“Why do you have a sword?!”

“Jiaoqiu, you're facing the wrong way—we're behind you.”

“You really are sure he's not your boyfriend?”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Tch. What's Jing Yuan doing with you?”

“Excuse you,”

“If I stayed in the same spot with that insufferable-loser-of-a-fiance, and never messaged you, well, we wouldn't have met, right?”

“Life is finite, grains of sand that slip through fingers. Fragile - for a reason—we are not meant to last forever.”

“Your desires, why have you been suppressing their demands? Who are you trying to protect them from?”

“I will lock you here for eternity. I will never let you go.”

No, these weren't memories. This was a slither of the future that Elio granted him. The original ending that was supposed to fit Blade.

But Blade had changed the end. He had changed fate with you, by his own choice.

...

Ping!

User 'Blade': In front of you.

You look up from your phone, grinning. Blade smiles at you, walking over. You trace the bandage around his arms, where the mara sprouted. "How is it?"

"I'm fine," he replies, "this will not dull my mastery with a sword. Come." He links his pinky with yours. There is no time to waste.

Aurum Alley blossoms with gingko leaves, vessels for auspicious happiness. Qingque waves at you, having reserved a large table by a restaurant. The signature aroma of Jiaoqiu's spices whet the appetite, Moze swiping the dishes away from Feixiao, Jing Yuan leaning his chin on his palm, dozing, and Yanqing and Yunli playing around Blade. Silverwolf and Firefly said their goodbyes.

“Good thing Master Fu Xuan is in a meeting,” Qingque fills your teacup. “And if she questions me, I can just use General Jing Yua–”

"Qingque," Anyone can recognise that voice. “Jing Yuan, you too... and,” She looks at you. You gulp. “You level one-hundred slacker-offs!”

“Lady Fu~ come join us.” Jing Yuan pats a seat.

However, Fu Xuan, with scrunched eyebrows, suddenly grabs your wrist, scruntinising the pinky. As if it's missing something. She looks at Blade, unsettled. “Your string... it's been…” Blade looks at her, quiet. Fu Xuan then shakes her head, giving a sad smile. “So that's your choice. I'm not a couple's therapist, but... I wish good luck to the both of you.”

You are left confused, but Fu Xuan would glare at you if you pushed it further. “He'll tell you one day,” she said.

After the chaotic meal, you all parted ways. A sea of stars reflect the fishes worming under the translucent skin of the river bank, a mirror. Thoughts race in your head, thinking of everything that happened. You rub your pinky.

The red string of fate, a myth that weaves couples together. But you never needed it anyways. Not a red one, at least.

“Blade,” you begin, turning around.

“You were protecting me all along, weren't you?”

Blade looks at you, lending his ears.

“That time when you dragged me away from the orange-haired lady who was about to collide into me, same with the girl with the fiery tail that could've killed me.

When we were climbing that hill with Yanqing, I swear you had your hand behind me. It was to catch my fall, wasn't it?

And that time where you were injured—the mara, it's called—it felt like you were holding yourself back.”

Blade smirks. “You've been watching me?”

You smile. “You're like my guardian angel.”

In those few words, Blade witnesses the last flash of memories.

He remembered. And Blade knew then, that Yingxing was trying to move on. Traces of him were left—Yingxing's intense desires—but ultimately, everything was Blade's choice.

The past would stop haunting him. He is Blade, just as you are you. Not photographed to a fleeting memory, but living in a present time. Left with a body to fill with new memories, he now looks to the future.

A dull ache tugs in his chest, a pain so suffocating. His arms wrap around you.

Watching you laugh, cry, be angry, to keep you safe so that you can grow old, and he will love every second of you. Until you draw that last breath, and then preserved in his mind, so you may live on forever this way—immortal in his memories, until the mara grants him finality.

https://redstringservices.xzhou/homepage/requests/999

This site is closed for an indefinite period. Go away.

User 'Lacking_in_everything_but_muscles_General' has requested: Does anyone know where the person managing the website went? They haven't offered me a duel yet :( ↳ User 'HealerLadyIsTheBest1' replied: Good riddance! ↳ User 'Spice-and-Rice-is-Life!xox' replied: Feixiao, if you don't stop adding coriander to my broth, you will end up in the next meal I cook!!! User 'v1ral_m4ster_of_lif3-stre@ms': Oooh, a haunted website!! Let's make a video about this at Fyxestroll Garden, stat! @UserHuohuo @UserSushang @UserHanya @UserXueyi @UserYukong @UserLingsha @UserFugue @UserSunday @GalacticBaseballer111 @UserDanHeng ↳ UserDanHeng#1003 replied: Why am I here? ↳ UserLingsha#1004 replied: Why am I here? ↳ UserYukong#1005 replied: Why am I here? ↳ UserHanya#1007 replied: Why am I here...? (also asking on Xueyi's behalf) ↳ UserFugue#1008 replied: Haha, why not~ ↳ User 'GalacticBaseballer111' replied: Thanks for the invite! Still dead tho^^ ↳ UserSunday#1009 replied: ...? User 'grandpa!stop_doting_on_me' has requested: Uncle Blaaade, let's plaaaay huhu (╯︵╰,) ↳ User 'My_life_is_for_wielding_swords' replied: General Jing Yuan invited you to play starchess with us, wanna join? Invite March 7th too, we need to keep up her training! Guest_User#1001 left a review: WORST HITMAN EVEEEEER!!! YOU THREATENED ME AND TOOK MY PARTNEEER!!! User 'celstialjademylove10': Wait, that guy really was an assassin??? [Deleted by commenter] ↳ UserFuXuan#1010 replied: Qingque, slacking off are we? ↳ User 'celstialjademylove10' replied: ohshizzles [Deleted by commenter] Mod 'Let'sSetOurHeartsAblaze!': Farewell Blade, until we meet again~ Kafka (and me- and SW here😎) gives you two her regards! Mod 'SW#GU2055#addme': welp the story ends here ig. gg guys lets meet in the next story🤫

“Yingxing, do you know the myth of Yue Lao?”

“An old man who sits under the moon, tying the red string of fate for couples who are meant to find each other,” A melodic laugh, intertwining their pinky with his, wrapped in string. “But... even if Yue Lao did not destine for us to be together, as different as we are... a mortal and... a long-lived.” The knot tightened. A sad but knowing look. They continue,

“I believe it is much more powerful that we have loved each other of our own will, without the gods, deities, or aeons. A freedom and choice, entirely derived from our hearts. We love each other for who we are, not because it was meant to be. A love as natural as the carps along the river flow.”

“And with all the autonomy we had, untouched by divine power, I am so happy that you came back to me every time. As if tied by our very own red string—or, perhaps, our blue string.”

“Bound not by fate, but by choice, and by heart.”

... ౨ৎ

footnotes

Yue Lao - god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology, who appears to people as a old man under the moon. Carries the "red string of fate" to tie the destinies of couples who are meant to be together.

“Dripping water can penetrate the stone.” - proverb about how perseverance can help overcome obstacles.

Chang'e and Huo Yi - in Chinese mythology, Chang'e drank the immortality elixir, taken from her husband, the legendary archer Hou Yi. As a result, Chang'e was separated from her mortal lover, residing on the moon for eternity with her Jade Rabbit.

“Fate is predestined, but when the heart is moved, it’s unforgettable.” - proverb about how true connections that last beyond a fated meeting are what make the encounter unforgettable.

“He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived.” - proverb about accepting the situation and moving past.

a/n: what if i wrote a time-skip epilogue so everyone can cry. what then. since blade is an older character, he has a lot of development. i tried my best to incorporate most of his story ^^ i teared up thinking abt the high cloud quintet, they were such a cute family before tragedy striked :( they were raising jing yuan, but jing yuan being the only one to have made it out made me even sadder :(( ALSO i apologise to any skott fans huhu. husband!skott but you're having an affair w blade forbidden love WATCH ME IM IM IMGON DO ITT!!!!1! im out of words now. i will now attempt to type the alphabet with my eyes closed. abcdefhjidkl,mnpqweribcxyd (i suck) thanks for reading!!🎀

[star-suh]

Lights, Camera, Action !

Park Jisung x Male Reader

cw: camboy park jisung his nickname is song, big dick jisung (11”), established relationship

—

park jisung or song – how is he known in the av world – is a famous content creator, he’s always on the top of users on the platform. many people would ask why that is. it only takes some clicks to realize why – an 11 inch dick hanging in between his legs – is massive, girthy and veiny. it’s like a dream for the people out there, they want it inside them claiming they can take it all.

-”please let me ride it, i promise i’ll take it balls deep” he read in one of the comments on his livestream.

-“hahaha guys i’m not planning to do collabs, just solo things for now”.

crying emojis flooded the chat, why is he forbidding everyone the pleasure of touching and feeling such massive meat. it’s a question that every subscriber and fan asked themselves, if he did collabs he would escalate spots and be the number one on there. would be a lie to think he hasn’t thought about it but he doesn’t wanna do it with anyone he has just one person in mind, his boyfriend.

they met back when they were living in the university dorms, as a way to pay his fees jisung took advantage of his little friend down there an opened an account on the website, the first video was of him just jerking off, ‘first video’ was the title of it and it quickly gain recognition in between the platform users. ‘so big’, ‘i need him so bad’, ‘until the room stinks’ were some of the comments he received.

the next video was of him squeezing an entire little bottle of lube, coating his shaft in beads of the liquid that rolled down towards his balls and made it glisten in the light. moans and little whispered fucks can be heard in the recording, once again the video was a hit for him, making subscribers eager to know when the next video is gonna be reuploaded. in one of his recordings he made loud noises that disturbed the student next door, yn, who angrily storm his way out towards his neighbour. he opened the door without knocking catching jisung spurting ropes of cum all over his body, he has a ski mask on – to have at least a bit of animosity – after he rode his high he turn his head to the side to see yn standing there, mouth agape and in shock. he just saw jisung orgasming but not only that, he saw that big ass dick hard as a rock. 

“what the hell jisung?” he said surprisingly, a whispered shout, closing the door immediately.

“why do you think i’m jisung?” the man questioned, trying to act fool. “these aren’t shared dorms dumbass” yn turned around breaking eye contact, face flushed and his dick threatening to get rock hard, “cover that monster please” he says as he leaves the room leaving a dumbfounded jisung lying on the floor, tired, “ahh shit i feel so tired to get up and clean myself” he uttered while staring at the ceiling.

next day was awkward between the two jisung apologized for the situation and yn did the same because at the end of the day it was his fault for not knocking first. “ok then but you have to accept my invitation to go eat something”, “i would accept but to be honest i don’t have enough money right now” yn muttered lowly, ashamed. “don’t worry, it’s on me”.

days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the dates became something regular in between them, in one of them jisung confessed to yn how he gets all that money and the av job he had now. “are you disappointed in me?” jisung asked –pouting.

“uhmm… i’m not. it’s your life man do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t affect your well being” jisung looked at him surprised, “besides… you umm… have a really nice thing down there” yn look everywhere around but jisung, his cheeks turning into a pinkish hue, the same happening to jisung, “thanks i guess”. next thing they knew was them on jisung’s bed letting all the steam and sexual tension go.

soon jisung asked yn to be his boyfriend and he accepted, jisung’s content creator side job wasn’t a problem at all for yn because after all is just videos of him stroking his dick. they can fantasize all they want about it but would never have it.

“come on baby, let's do it”, jisung tried to convince yn, “i'll put a ski mask on you too, no one would know it's you”. “i know jisungie but i don't know, you're fine doing it as a solo. what if they stop supporting you because they're seeimg you fucking someone else” he sighs, “their fantasy would fall down” he adds.

“i don't really care prince, plus, this is what they want” jisung walked closed towards yn, handps gripping and kneading yn's ass, “they'll go crazy seeing this slutty ass engulfing 11 inches. such a hungry pussy, almost ☆☆☆☆ if you ask me”. he kissed yn's neck then went up towards his lips brushing them with his tongue. yn opened them up letting him go inside and explore it with it. yn uttered a little "okay” agreeing to do it.

jisung was setting his camera ready while yn got ready when a notification popped up, someone just subbed to his page. happy he opened the app cheering a bit, he opened the camera of the app to record a thank you video for his followers. “are you ready?” yn came into picture, with the black ski mask on him and wearing only a thong, the piece of clothe was so little that the backside was barely covered, it was just a finger-thick string that sat pretty right in the middle of yn’s hole.

“fuck, look at this” jisung smacked his ass, “are you so eager that you are already eating the thong?” he said pulled the string to then let it go smacking yn's hole, drawing a moan out of him”. jisung didn't remember that he was on the platform's camera, he was ready to press the record button when yn sat on top of him, making him slide his finger setting to the live button. he then pressed the red button thinking he was recording.

*SONG IS LIVE* 

song and his boyfriend were making out not noticing the live chat, in their minds they haven’t started recording yet so why bother checking out?. 

-”damn he decided to do collabs”.

-”me next”.

-”finally an ass is bouncing on that pole, we cheered”.

-”so hot, i’m gonna nut so hard!”.

his followers were going crazy, jisung’s heavy dick staying still in between yn’s cheeks, a fat drop of precum forming on the tip. while they were kissing jisung applied oil on both yn’s ass and his dick making them shine. yn pulls the string on the thong up so there’s nothing in between the warm, throbbing dick of his boyfriend and his pulsating, eager hole. then he releases the string for it to fall and stays taut on jisung’s dick, securing it. the string working overtime trying to hold in place such a thick piece of meat.

the precum started to roll down his shaft, landing on yn’s hole. coating it with the clear substance, mixed with the lube poured before. “ufff” yn sighed, eagerly to take the first inch inside him. their fucking is always tortuos for them, not because of the pain but because they have to restrain themselves –yn wanted all of it inside at once while jisung wanted to fuck his brains out. the tip is already inside, loads of precum coating yn’s walls. the head making its way inside in charge of stretching so the rest of the dick could enter with no problem.

yn’s insides stretched to the max, every inch that entered hurt like hell but iit was delicious, a pain that yn loved, soon it will turn into pleasure anyway. sinful noises coming out of his hole, engulfing his partner’s cock, the viewers going crazy in the live chat.

-”woah look at that, he could take it all”.

-”craving that boypussy”.

“you’re taking it like a champ” jisung praises, kissing the pain away –his lips covering the other’s collarbones with kisses and some hickeys here and there. finally jisung bottomed out, his dick bulging the other’s tummy. “tell me when to move” jisung reassured, smacking both his hands on each oiled cheek leaving his handprints on there, then grabbing a fistful to jiggle them around his cock, yn whimpering thanks to the sensation.

-“he definitely trespassed his second hole”.

-”the perfect fleshlight”.

some viewers said on the live chat. “you’re being so good for me” jisung mutters, “a good cocksleeve”. “your good cocksleeve” yn corrected him and kisses him, his tongue licking jisung’s lips. he then moved his hips, rocking them in a circle motion, squeezing his hole around jisung’s throbbing cock. “fuck prince keep doing that” jisung expressed, his hands on yn’s hips to guide him. the bulge on his stomach moving along with each movement. jisung locked his arms around yn’s torso to keep him steady and he started to thrust upwards slowly at first but the pace started to accelerate little by little. his thrust went from slow almost sensual to fast, brutal ones. 

-”is he a bottomless pit? how is he able to take all that?”.

-”I’M CUMMING FUCK!!”.

jisung withdraws his dick leaving just his swollen head still inside, then gripping yn’s hips with force he sank him down his rock hard meat. a guttural moan came from yn’s mouth, every viewer excited about the show their looking at. “fuck, love this greedy boypussy” jisung grunts, “so eager. starving for my big thick cock”. “whose this pussy belongs to?” jisung jiggled his globes with his veiny hands, nails being buried on the skin, “belongs to you baby” yn whimpered. once again jisung pulled out leaving only the tip inside and made another brutal thrust, yn’s body jerked due to the overstimulation. thankfully yn could handle jisung’s dick if it was another person they would surely be broken already. 

yn’s hole clenches on it, with all the strength left in his body. the lube turning creamy white for all the friction created by the merciless thrusts given by the top. “milk me dry baby. swallow it all with your whore boypussy”. yn kissed him while putting his hands on jisung’s shoulders –to gain leverage. then he plops himself on top of jisung leaving him the rest of the job, using yn like a toy to pursue his orgasm.

jisung used yn’s hole like his cocksleeve, giving him gently thrusts that signaled he was close, “cum with me”, jisung uttered latching his lips on yn’s nipples while one of his hands coated in spit jerked him off. yn’s body trembled, being stimulated on both sides was overwhelming him but he loved it, especially if it’s jisung doing it. the top pulled out, giving his cock a few strokes that made him spurt his sperm, ropes of it were expelled like a fountain, covering yn’s back and glutes. meanwhile in the front yn’s sperm was being scooped by jisung who then smeared it on his softening cock to put it inside the bottom, “cockwarm me baby” he demanded and yn nodded.

“we got carried away that i forgot to record” jisung laughs and stares at his phone, his smile fading immediately when he saw the live sign on red, “oh fuck” he uttered quietly. “umm guys, i hope y’all liked it, it’s a teaser of what is coming next on my page so stay tuned” he managed to disguise his concern as if everything was planned. it worked tho, his followers were loving his content even more, now they can see that 11 inch cock in action, drilling on poor asses that are brave enough to take it.

[reccyls]

A Summary post about Ikemen Sengoku: Eien

Official Website | Official Twitter | Official LINE

What is Ikemen Sengoku: Eien?

Ikemen Sengoku: Eien (Eternal Bonds) is a new application for Ikemen Sengoku, using updated UI and architecture to modernize it and serve as a continuation for the story of Ikemen Sengoku. Act 3 will continue in the new app, and Act 2 sequels for current characters are also being planned to be included in Eien going forward.

Why is it being made?

According to the dev team, the current Ikemen Sengoku app is showing its age. In April of 2022, the app was inaccessible for approximately one month due to server issues caused by unauthorized third party access to the game's servers which caused damage to user data. Although steps have been taken to update the systems and strengthen security, there is only so much that can be done with a program that's 10 years old. A complete revamp of the existing app will take too much resources and time. Therefore, the decision was made to create a new app using more moden practices and capability.

What are the features of Eien?

Eien is presumably going to be modeled after the Ikemen Prince and Ikemen Villains apps. A list of features is below:

Updated UI

My room/avatar customization that allows for freely placing avatar items

A bond system with fully voiced stories

A gacha system with cards and avatar gachas similar to Ikemen Prince/Villains. This also includes a beginner gacha with standard cards that you can select

There are further improvements to presentation with things like blinking sprites, among other improvements, in order to improve immersion

When will Eien be available?

Eien will be released in the fall. No conrete date is available yet. Preregistration is currently ongoing.

Will Eien have old stories?

It is planned for all routes to be ported to Eien eventually, but not all of them will be available at launch. Some will be available at launch, while others will be added over time. As of right now, there are no specifics on which routes they are or what the timeline for this is.

After all existing routes have been ported, there are plans to add an archive where assets from Ikemen Sengoku can be viewed in Eien. At the moment, it is unclear what is meant by assets.

What is Act 3? What is the plot?

In Act 3, a new enemy force the Ashikaga army faction seek to travel back in the past in order to change the childhood of the warlords. You, as the protagonist, will experience conflict as you witness the pain of their childhoods with your own eyes. This is a tale of the past, present, and future, about a search for happiness that transcends time itself. Act 3 is a tale of love more dramatic than anything before, as you find yourself shaken by the appearance of new enemies that leave you questioning your values.

Act 3 will begin with Nobunaga's Continuation Route.

Continuation routes also feature route splits. One of the route splits will contain CGs of the suitor as a child.

Furthermore, after fulfilling certain conditions when finishing a Continuation Route (likely to be maximum points, just like getting epilogues currently), you can obtain a story where you marry the suitor. This story also contains a CG.

Who are the new characters?

There are 5 new characters:

Ashikaga Yoshiteru (Doll x Obssession) - CV Yamashita Daiki

Matsunaga Hisahide (Allure x Immorality) - CV Sakata Shogo

Kuroda Hanbei (Benevolent Ruler x Pet) - CV Sato Takuya

Kirigakure Saizo (Death Wish x Demon) - CV Kobayashi Chiaki

Sen no Rikyu (Psycopath x Abnormal Love) - CV Dojima Hayato

I have translated their profiles here

What will happen to the old app?

Starting from fall, the old Ikemen Sengoku app will only have reruns. By the end of December 2025, the app will stop updating entirely, with no more events running at all.

Can you transfer your data over? What will be transferred between the old app and Eien?

There is a data transfer capability but not everything can be transferred. There is a campaign going on where your total Beauty and Glamour will grant you items in the new app based on how much of each you have, and some things will transfer. At this point, we don't have any information on what will be transferred to the new app. More information will come at a later date.

What about the English version?

I don't know anything about that at this point, it's best to wait for official announcements. Please also do note that all info that I have is specific for the JP version, I do not know if it applies to the EN version.

xx

Miscellaneous Info

Announcement trailer

Detailed Information about the Beauty/Grace redemption

The cutoff for counting Beauty/Glamour is August 25, 10 AM JST. Based on your final recorded beauty/glamour amount at that point in time, you will receive certain in-game items when you link your account in Eien. The specific amounts are below:

Detailed timeline of old app/new app

[insertdisc5]

i saw you use cohost. would you recommend is as a good/active twitter alternative? im getting tired of the hell hole that this bird website is

i really love cohost and the community there but it is absolutely NOT a twitter alternative. if anything it's a tumblr alternative.

here's my small speech about cohost and why i like it

it's a mix between tumblr and livejournal which is fun

the community is very fun and active! when i made my intro post i had a dozen people leaving a comment welcoming me to cohost which is a very nice feeling

it is very much NOT about likes and follower counts. in fact, there is no way for anyone to know how many likes a post has, or how many followers someone has. YOU dont even know how many followers you have

the only visible number is the number of comments on a post, which is where the community comes from: if you want people to know a post is great, you gotta leave a comment saying so!!!

you can have as many links as you want on your profile, AND you can have links be only visible to logged in users, only to people following you, or only visible to pages you follow... so it's a great way to have your discord only be visible to certain people for example

if you DO want a more twitter-like experience, there is a tag that's The Global Cohost Feed, so you have a bunch of posts from a lot of people

when you first join you will have a few days where you can't post anything, but you can still look at posts and share them. a lot of it must be so cohost can prepare code to bring you in or whatever, BUT it also means you get those couple of days to get to know the culture of the website a bit more! it's lovely

chronological feed my beloved

no algorithm my beloved

cohost does have some issues (adding images is a PAIN), but the staff is working really hard to fix them and is always listening to people's feedback! i like cohost a lot. join me

[jupitersfall]

CAM-GIRL | N. SCATORCCIO

summary: nat needs money. when she signs up for a website, she meets a certain user on there that has no problem giving her their cash. smut

a/n: i was listening to radiohead during this, that’s why ok computer is r’s username btw 😭😭

nat wasn’t entirely proud of this.

but she did need the money. and she knew she looked good. she knew there were people on the internet who would do crazy shit to get a glimpse of her tits.

and when she had heard about this website, she did get a little curious. so, she’d taken a look.

it wasn’t anything too surprising. girls sucking dildos or fucking themselves. guys jerking off, or groaning and whimpering into their microphones.

it had taken her a few days to come up with a decision. she needed money, sure, but did she really want to do this? i mean, it’s not like she didn’t have a job. although, the record store didn’t pay much.

one night, she had gotten a little too stoned. she was scrolling through that website again, after having decided on making an account. it was only when she stumbled across a girl who’d received $50 for just saying hi to one of her viewers, that she’d do this.

she’d make a video. just one, and see how it went.

it’s not like anybody would actually watch her.

okay, maybe she’d hide her face.

and after coming to the conclusion that she would indeed make a video, a few day’s later nat sat on the edge of her bed, her phone camera positioned below her eyes by a half-broken phone stand that she’d found at the thrift store.

she had started recording, and the minutes ticked by. each second was agonizing, if she had to be honest. this was a terrible idea, wasn’t it? god, she should end the live before some-.

her eyes widened as she watched her viewers go from 0 to 1. great, now someone was watching her. she cleared her throat awkwardly, licking her chapped lips.

“hi,” nat said, her voice uncharacteristically shaky, “thanks for…joining.”

her hands twisted in her lap, nails gently digging into her thighs.

user57282: hey

user57282: u should take ur top off

that definitely didn’t help nat’s nerves. she took a deep breath, eyes fluttering closed as she grabbed the hem of her shirt and began to tug it up over her head, leaving her in just a simple red bra.

user57282: god damn

her viewers had begun to rise from one, to five, to twelve. nat hadn’t taken anything else off, and she’d only got a couple dollars so far. then one comment came in that caught her attention most.

okcomputer11: you’ve got a nice smile

okcomputer11: not just nice lol it’s pretty

the casualness of the message took nat by surprise, and she let out a laugh, before raising a hand up to cover her mouth. ok computer…god, wasn’t that a radiohead album? she nearly laughed again.

ping!

okcomputer11: touch urself for me

okcomputer11: please

nat’s eyebrows rose slightly at that, the message ‘okcomputer11 sent $20’ popping up at the top of her screen. her cheeks flushed a little, a strange feeling stirring in her stomach.

well, she did just get twenty bucks. and you at least had manners.

she raised one of her hands up, fingers grazing the top of her tits before she began to awkwardly grope her chest, fingertips gently digging into her flesh.

okcomputer11: good

okcomputer11: but just a little lower :)

ping!

another twenty.

she shuffled a bit, lowering her camera as best she could so that her thighs were in the shot. her viewers had raised a lot more, now sitting at 57. there were other comments being sent, but she was mostly concerned with this ‘ok computer’ person.

she shuffled back a bit on the bed, being mindful not to show much of her face. her thighs spread, and she leaned back on one of her elbows while her other hand began to rub over her covered clit.

okcomputer11: holy

okcomputer: don’t tease

ping!

god. fifty bucks.

nat couldn’t help but grin. she grunted a little as she began to tug her shorts down, hips lifting off the bed a bit, and then she tossed the fabric into the corner of her room. she pushed her underwear to the side, her eyes slowly fluttering closed as she let her fingertips circle her clit. with a little moan, she gently eased her middle and ring finger inside her entrance.

okcomputer11: that’s good

nat wasn’t really paying much attention to the comments now, preoccupied by the feeling of her fingers pumping in and out of her cunt. she felt that familiar tightening sensation, and knew it wouldn’t be long before she came. her eyes slowly peered open, narrowing a bit as she made out some more of your comments.

okcomputer11: fuck

okcomputer11: are you gonna cum

nat took a few deep breaths, licking her lips as she nodded— but then she remembered that her face wasn’t in view. so, she let out her best ‘yeah’, which came out as a bit of a whisper.

ping!

100 dollars?

okcomputer11: please cum

if this were any other situation, nat would’ve laughed at the sheer absurdity. but she felt way too good right now with her fingers fucking herself.

nat’s eyes squeezed shut, her pussy tightening around her fingers as she came. she let out an almost pornographic moan, her mouth hanging open as she slowly rode out her orgasm.

she took a moment to catch her breath before she pulled out of herself. she was just about to wipe her hand off on a nearby mcdonald’s napkin, when another one of your comments came in

okcomputer11: taste urself

ping!

another twenty.

nat hesitated, eyes flickering down to her fingers which glistened with her wetness. she licked her lips, slowly bringing her hand up to her mouth. her lips parted, tongue darting out to graze the tip of finger. she slowly brought her fingers into her mouth, cheeks hollowing a bit as she licked herself clean.

when she finished, she simply watched the comments. there were more people asking for things, but to be frank, she was tired. and…well, that had been enough for one day.

“i think im gonna go,” nat said to her audience. she glanced up at the viewer count. 103. not bad. “but i might go live another time. for now, bye.”

okcomputer11: bye :)

nat ended the live, tossing her phone down on her bed. she began to search for a new set of clothes. she needed a shower, especially after that.

thirty minutes later, when she was stepping out of her bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, she checked her phone to see a new notification.

‘okcomputer11 has followed you’

[mariacallous]

My earliest memory of 4chan was sitting up late at night, typing its URL into my browser, and scrolling through a thread of LOLcat memes, which were brand-new at the time.

Back then a photoshop of a cat saying "I can has cheezburger" or an image of an owl saying “ORLY?” was, without question, the funniest thing my 14-year-old brain had ever laid eyes on. So much so, I woke my dad up by laughing too hard and had to tell him that I was scrolling through pictures of cats at 2 in the morning. Later, I would become intimately familiar with the site’s much more nefarious tendencies.

It's strange to look back at 4chan, apparently wiped off the internet entirely last week by hackers from a rival message board, and think about how many different websites it was over its more than two decades online. What began as a hub for internet culture and an anonymous way station for the internet's anarchic true believers devolved over the years into a fan club for mass shooters, the central node of Gamergate, and the beating heart of far-right fascism around the world—a virus that infected every facet of our lives, from the slang we use to the politicians we vote for. But the site itself had been frozen in amber since the George W. Bush administration.

It is likely that there will never be a site like 4chan again—which is, likely, a very good thing. But it had also essentially already succeeded at its core project: chewing up the world and spitting it back out in its own image. Everything—from X to Facebook to YouTube—now sort of feels like 4chan. Which makes you wonder why it even needed to still exist.

"The novelty of a website devoted to shock and gore, and the rebelliousness inherent in it, dies when your opinions become the official policy of the world's five or so richest people and the government of the United States," the Onion CEO and former extremism reporter Ben Collins tells WIRED. “Like any ostensibly nihilist cultural phenomenon, it inherently dies if that phenomenon itself becomes The Man.”

My first experience with the more toxic side of the site came several years after my LOLcat all-nighter, when I was in college. I was a big Tumblr user—all my friends were on there—and for about a year or so, our corner of the platform felt like an extension of the house parties we would throw. That cozy vibe came crashing down for me when I got doxed the summer going into my senior year. Someone made a “hate blog” for me—one of the first times I felt the dark presence of an anonymous stranger’s digital ire, and posted my phone number on 4chan.

They played a prank that was popular on the site at the time, writing in a thread that my phone number was for a GameStop store that had a copy of the ultra-rare video game Battletoads. I received no less than 250 phone calls over the next 48 hours asking if I had a copy of the game.

Many of the 4chan users that called me mid-Battletoad attack left messages. I listened to all of them. A pattern quickly emerged: young men, clearly nervous to even leave a message, trying to harass a stranger for, seemingly, the hell of it. Those voicemails have never left me in the 15 years I've spent covering 4chan as a journalist.

I had a front-row seat to the way those timid men morphed into the violent, seething underbelly of the internet. The throbbing engine of reactionary hatred that resented everything and everyone simply because resentment was the only language its users knew how to speak. I traveled the world in the 2010s, tracing 4chan’s impact on global democracy. I followed it to France, Germany, Japan, and Brazil as 4chan's users became increasingly convinced that they could take over the planet through racist memes, far-right populism, and cyberbullying. And, in a way, they did. But the ubiquity of 4chan culture ended up being an oddly Pyrrhic victory for the site itself.

Collins, like me, closely followed 4chan's rise in the 2010s from internet backwater to unofficial propaganda organ of the Trump administration. As he sees it, once Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 there was really no point to 4chan anymore. Why hide behind anonymity if a billionaire lets you post the same kind of extremist content under your real name and even pays you for it?

4chan’s “user base just moved into a bigger ballpark and started immediately impacting American life and policy," Collins says. "Twitter became 4chan, then the 4chanified Twitter became the United States government. Its usefulness as an ammo dump in the culture war was diminished when they were saying things you would now hear every day on Twitter, then six months later out of the mouths of an administration official."

But understanding how 4chan went from the home of cat memes to a true internet bogeyman requires an understanding of how the site actually worked. Its features were often overlooked amid all the conversations about the site's political influence, but I'd argue they were equally, if not more, important.

4chan was founded by Christopher “Moot” Poole when he was 15. A regular user on slightly less anarchic comedy site Something Awful, Poole created a spinoff site for a message board there called “Anime Death Tentacle Rape Whorehouse.” Poole was a fan of the Japanese message board 2chan, or Futaba Channel, and wanted to give Western anime fans their own version, so he poorly translated the site's code and promoted his new site, 4chan, to Something Awful's anime community. Several core features were ported over in the process.

4chan users were anonymous, threads weren't permanent and would time out or "404" after a period of inactivity, and there were dozens of sub-boards you could post to. That unique combination of ephemerality, anonymity, and organized chaos proved to be a potent mix, immediately creating a race-to-the-bottom gutter culture unlike anything else on the web. The dark end point of the techno-utopianism that built the internet. On 4chan you were no one, and nothing you did mattered unless it was so shocking, so repulsive, so hateful that someone else noticed and decided to screenshot it before it disappeared into the digital ether.

"The iconic memes that came out of 4chan are because people took the time to save it, you know? And the fact that nobody predicted, nobody could predict or control what was saved or what wasn't saved, I think, is really, really fascinating," Cates Holderness, Tumblr's former head of editorial, tells WIRED.

Still, 4chan was more complicated than it looked from the outside. The site was organized into dozens of smaller sections, everything from comics to cooking to video games to, of course, pornography. Holderness says she learned to make bread during the pandemic thanks to 4chan's cooking board. (Full disclosure: I introduced Holderness to 4chan way back in 2012.)

"When I switched to sourdough, I got really good pointers," she says.

Holderness calls 4chan the internet's “Wild West” and says its demise this month felt appropriate in a way. The chaos that defined 4chan, both the good and the very, very bad, has largely been paved over by corporate platforms and their algorithms now.

Our feeds deliver us content; we don't have to hunt for it. We don't have to sit in front of a computer refreshing a page to find out whether we're getting a new cat meme or a new manifesto. The humanness of that era of the web, now that 4chan is gone, is likely never coming back. And we'll eventually find out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"The snippets that we have of what 4chan was—it's all skewed,” Holderness says. “There is no record. There's no record that can ever encapsulate what 4chan was."

[vuesitalo]

Behind Closed Screens.

OF user!Se-mi x fem!reader

𐙚₊˚🪷⊹ ᰔ

synopsis: When you discover Se-mi’s secret OnlyFans account, your world shifts.

word count: 836

a/n: my next fic is definitely gonna be either Nana Osaki or Kang No-Eul :3

warning(s): suggestive

Your first clue was the late nights. Se-mi used to disappear into her office, shut the door for her job, and would not be heard from for hours. You'd imagined she was working on something important—a project at the office or one of her endlessly creative side interests she didn't actually share so often.

But now, as you "picked up" after her, you found out the truth.

Her laptop was on, the screen buzzing with a soft glow, displaying a website that made your heart skip a beat. OnlyFans.

It wasn’t just any profile—it was hers.

Sleek promotional photos of her in a bra and panties, soft videos with her voice topping the captions, and tens of thousands of likes and comments thanking her.

You felt your cheeks burn as you realized just how many people had watched her this way while leaving enormous amounts of tips and pleading for more.

"Enjoying the show?"

Her voice sent a jolt through you. You turned quickly, finding her leaning casually against the doorframe, her arms crossed, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. She wasn't ashamed—in fact, she seemed to have been looking forward to this moment.

"Se-mi," you stammered, stepping away from the desk. "I—this isn’t what it looks like."

Her giggle was soft mumble as she approached you. "It’s exactly what it looks like," she teased. "You found my page."

"Y-you’re on OnlyFans?" You held it together, absorbing all flood of data.

She pressed back into the desk, out arched her finger across the laptop computer monitor and shut it down. "It’s a little hobby of mine," she admitted. "Something to keep life interesting."

You blinked, your heart pounding. "And you didn’t think to tell me?"

"I was waiting to see if you’d figure it out," she said, her smile widening. "You’re clever. I knew it was only a matter of time."

You weren’t sure whether to feel shocked or impressed. "How long has this been going on?"

"A few months," she said. "It started as a curiosity—something fun. But people really seem to like me." Tilting her head, she fixed her eyes in the darkness of her gaze. "You’re not mad, are you?"

Mad? No. Flustered? Absolutely.

"I don’t know," you admitted. "I just… I didn’t expect this."

Her hand found yours, her touch warm and grounding. "It’s not a big deal," she said softly. "It’s just me having fun, expressing myself."

"Expressing yourself?" you echoed, glancing toward the closed laptop.

She giggled and her other hand continued to hold it firmly on the arm, and so on. "You’ve always said I’m good at being confident," she murmured. "Turns out, other people think so too."

You choked, and your heart raced as it hit the sweet spot. "And what exactly do you… do on there?"

Her smile widened and she edged in, her breath warm under your ear. "Why don’t I show you?"

Her cheeks flushed as she flinched, the stare glittering with dark whimsy. "Unless, of course, you’re too shy."

I'm not shy", you blurted, to which a cute laugh escaped from the girl.

"Good," she murmured. "Because I’ve been thinking about involving you."

Your breath caught in your throat. "Involving me?"

She nodded and, using fingertips, lightly stroke over your chin to lift the head upwards to meet hers. "You’ve always been my biggest supporter," she said. "Why not let everyone else see what I see?"

You couldn't help but be drawn to her, the strength of her voice, which began to run down your back. But, it was a beginner's trip, a somewhat exhilarating and a somewhat overwhelming journey.

"I don’t know if I’m ready for that," you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

"That’s okay," she said, her tone softening. "There’s no rush. But maybe… you’d like to see how I work?"

You blinked, your pulse quickening as she grabbed her laptop, flipped to the next page of her notebook and logged in. She managed the page without difficulty, retrieving her drafts.

"Here," she said, tilting the screen toward you.

The video was simple but captivating: Lying in bed in a silk robe. She wasn't making much progress—just fiddling with the hem of the robe, letting it fall off of one shoulder, her voice a bit of whisper every now and then, something you couldn't quite make out.

"People pay for this?" you asked, incredulous.

"Of course they do," she said with a grin. "It’s not just the visuals—it’s the attitude. The confidence. That’s what they’re here for."

"Still think it’s weird?" she asked, her voice low.

"No," you admitted, glancing at her. "I think it’s… incredible."

Her expression softened and she took your hand. "I’m glad you think so," she said. "Because I’ve got plenty of ideas—and you’d be perfect for them."

with Se-mi, life would never be boring.