#and now I’m over the moon because I get to update two of my blogs today

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“Kaine,” Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 3/2024), #1.

Writer: Steve Foxe; Penciler: Greg Land; Inker: Jay Leisten; Letterer: Frank D’Armata

[m00njelly]

Hi,

welcome to my little journal! You can call me baby, darling etc! I’m 19 years old from the USA! I had two previous blogs called @/thelittlec0ner and @/pr1ncessjellyf1sh ! Follow my main @softieforeveryone or better @pr1ncessjellyf1sh And I now have a telegram and Throne wishlist, links is at the bottom!

The main purpose of this blog is to journal my thoughts on exploring my sexual side! And I’m letting you see the process! (If you don’t like what I post block!)

What I'm into!

Size kink, breeding kink, age g@ps,daddy/knk, strength kink, cnc, free use, m@sk kink, r@pe Fantasy etc. (will add to it as I explore.)

What I'm not into

R@ce pl@y, extreme violence, sc@t,@gepl@y, anything involving animals etc.

Disclaimer:

I don’t condone anything illegal, this is all fantasy. If you condone anything illegal DNI. THIS IS ALL FANTASY. Anything described is between consenting adults with pre-established limits.

DONT INTERACT IF YOU ARE

MINOR

Age less blogs

Racists

Mysoginist

Pedo

Homophobic

Transphobic

Pro-Israelis

How to interact👇🏽

First and foremost I love to interact with you all but my safety and comfort comes first to me! So I have rules that need to be followed!

I prefer ask over DM's this is because I'm more likely to respond! My DM's in my previous blogs got flooded a lot!

When doing asks please be polite! And when asking a question make sure it's something you would be comfortable asking someone you just met! Even if it's a kink ask, the same thought process applies

If I don't answer your ask it's either because I answered something similar or, I'm not comfortablel

If it's something that might get flagged I'll answer it on my telegram!

If you do DM me understand that it's hard for me to reply to everyone!

if I don't reply please don't take it personally, it's either that I can't reply, or have a reason not to!

Remember this is all in fun, it’s fantasy, don’t take it too seriously

Featured tags!

#moon's psa - my announcements & updates

#moon's answer - my answers to asks

#moon's thoughts - my fantasizes & rants

#moon's pics - my pics!

Physical Description

Long wavy/curly hair black hair

5’0

130 lbs

32 DDD

A bit more about me

I’m a student so I get busy

I’m a virgin

I have two cats

I do weightlifting

I love mangos and pineapples

I’m a foodie (love trying out new places)

Telegram

(Please keep in mind if I feel overwhelmed or in any way uncomfortable I will delete the channel. And understand that this is my first time doing this so please be patient )

[sleepyrxsetea]

blog intro

i'm making a new intro to include my WIP's as well!

howdy! my name is Rose and i've been around for over a year now! i would love to meet more writers and overall cool people! this blog has a writing/book reading focus while also having a few other things here and there (so descriptive, ik)

i have two alt blogs as well. @eye-motive is my fiction podcast blog (The Magnus Archives. at this point it's only tma and tmagp and some Malevolent here and there) and then @sleepyrxserambles is random stuff that is not podcast or writing specific (it's the wild west on there)

DNI: bigots, TERF’s, ableist’s, homophobes, transphobes, interphobes, bots, you get the idea i hope

some quick facts:

-xe/they nonbinary aroace spectrum being

-favorite games are open world rpg games, Animal Crossing and Omori

-i read a lot. most of it is high fantasy (but my true favorite books are actually shitty paranormal romance. 'mostly high fantasy' is a cover up i tell so i don't get judged even harsher by the people in my life for liking the books even though they make me ridiculously happy)

-um...moving on from that rant. i also like gardening (new lore unlocked)

-i like watching anime! some of my favorites are BSD, Horimiya, Banana Fish and Sailor Moon. i also read manga, some of my favorites have been Fruit’s Basket, The Promised Neverland and Sailor Moon

-i like Sailor Moon. i’m not sure if you can tell or not

-i also like watching vtuber’s in my spare time. I don’t have any particular favorites but I do watch Gavis Bettel often

now, the WIP's! i'm only putting one for now because it's the only one i'm dedicated on working on, lol (it's below)

Harrison Weber And The Serial Murder Case Of The Theater Troupe (otherwise known as Harrison Weber And The Serial Murder Case On Oxford Street. i'll also make a better name eventually, promise)

in this WIP it is kinda like Sherlock Holmes with a twist. Oliver Briggs is the newest assistant to the big shot detective, Harrison Weber, known for his expertise in solving serial murder cases. Fresh out of college and still trying not to hurl at the sight of blood, Oliver has been assigned to take the lead on a new case so his boss can see what he is made of. There has been a murder in a local park and the victim turns out to be someone Oliver knows, his childhood friend. While trying to grapple with this loss, unexpectedly his old babysitter passes. Then his cousin. As he looks into their deaths he realizes that they are all connected by only three things; himself, the theater troupe his mother had been a part of and a deadly fire that happened 13 years ago. Will Oliver be able to find the killer before they kill again? Or will he have to suffer the loss of yet someone else he holds dear?

that is my first time writing a summery, lol. also the last two sentences are kinda bad but i needed a hook

also i don't want to say the twist but if you look at my other posts you can tell

but, some updates. i am currently working on fleshing out the characters so that they feel actually human and making a chapter outline. i haven't started to write the first draft yet but plan on doing it soon! i will update more here and on actual posts. i don't really write mystery so we'll see how it goes :D

thank you for reading! i really appreciate it :D stay safe, take care of yourself and remember to take it easy sometimes

[araedi]

I promised an update on my life/activity and stuff, so here it is! I’ll stuff it all under the cut but the tldr is I’m still here just on a super slow. I’m always down for chats and interactions as long as you’re cool with that!

I’m quite private about myself online so gonna keep this brief (lol watch me do anything but), but I feel like I keep circling back to apologising every few months for not being here enough then punishing myself over it when I’m not magically active again. It’s ultimately a hobby but I still feel bad that people writing with me could be feeling let down/ignored, so I wanted to drop this rather than keep on cycling the same apology until it feels hollow.

Life’s a Lot right now: I’m currently juggling two part time jobs, pretty much full household responsibilities for three people, night-school with essays, and an emotionally intensive placement as part of my training which also involves paperwork. Home life is also less than ideal (won’t go into details). On top of this, I have chronic health problems alongside chronic pain so most days I’m just crabby and exhausted; my mental health could be better but rn it just feels like I’m treading water to get to a place where I’ll have fewer commitments.

Ultimately rp and writing/creative stuff in general is part of how I unwind so I’ll always be around because this outlet is so rewarding, but as it stands I’m just so mentally and pysically drained that when I do have the time I’d rather just switch my brain off and play a bit of a game and have a sliver of social life than try to force out writing which is gonna be sub-par. I’ve been feeling kinda down about my writing for a bit and just feel like I’m giving the same post over and over, which also isn’t helpful!

As for my activity and where y’all fit: I’m still around and intend to be; still responding to DM’s on Discord or IM’s on here (unreliable though they are -_-) just being ridiculously slow with replies and popping reblogs or replies out just as and when. I’m not the type to up and quit, hell I’ve been on this blog for years so I’m going nowhere, just on the go-slow with the odd spurt of like 3-5 replies.

Of course I 100% understand if this weird unpredictable activity doesn’t fit for you: we all have different needs and expectations with this hobby and if me only showing up now and again isn’t gonna work that’s totally ok and you don’t have to follow or write with me: it’s been a blast knowing you!

If you’re chill to stick around and deal with my slowness, please know I WILL get to replies, even if it’s at glacial pace. I’ll post a shot of my tracker/a list up in the future so I can be 100% on what I owe and know you can always check in with me/hold me accountable for stuff. Please know you can ALWAYS drop stuff in my ask boxes, whether it’s memes or questions for muses or just crack. It always puts a smile on my face <3 if I received it I’ll reply to it, so barring just a few memes I have nothing else waiting!

This all being said I would LOVE to build up more long term/in-depth character relationships and sustained interactions over multiple threads. I love getting to know my rp partners beyond the muses – it’s just that right now it’ll take six times as long to get anywhere. My door’s open for any chats r.e. any muses here or on the multi.

If you need my disco handle just ask/reply here or whatever and I can send it; if you need to get in touch for any reason and can’t seem to get through to me, just send a ping to the bestie Benevolentgodloki c:

If you read all this and are ok with sticking around know that you have my undying love lmao; I know it isn’t easy trying to build anything with someone who only posts once in a blue moon so your patience is appreciated and I’ll always appreciate having people to come back to on here <33

[luvdsc]

i actually miss you so much here🧎🏻‍♀️

oh honey bee 🥺🤍 i miss you too 😭 thank you all soo much for all the wonderful messages everyone has sent in — there are so many of them, and i have read every single one and cried a little 🤧 i am so sorry that i don’t have the time to respond in detail to each one, but i am so so grateful and touched for all of them, and truly thank you for thinking of me 🌼 i hope you all have been doing well, and life has been treating you kindly 💛💛 it feels like coming home for the holidays after being away for so long 🥹

i finally logged back in today (after needing to reset the pw for this and for the email this blog is linked to oof) but i’m so out of the loop for kpop aside from shinee, bp, and taeyeon 🤧 i heard from alice that nct dream is touring !! 💘 i hope all of you were able to get tickets and i will live vicariously through you :’) and also hbd to renjun today !!!

a life update from me — i’ve been having the time of my life (minus some burnout from work but we won’t talk about that because it still pays the bills very well and then some), and i have long trips to japan with my friend and to australia to visit ti and steph coming up 💕 i have a fun work trip and a keshi concert with my friends including moon next month !! and i have two music festivals lined up for the summer already !!! dpr is coming to hitc nyc and i’m so sad that i’ll be out of the country when it happens but fingers crossed they come for the LA one ! and my friend just texted me a couple days ago about another music festival she randomly got tickets to so vegas here we gooo 🥳 and possibly a second vegas trip too that my other friend brought up today ??? also the usual weekend trips to LA, of course 🤩 omg and i saw jisoo irl up close at their concert and she is beautiful, and i can’t wait for her solo 🥹🫶🏻🫶🏻 and i’m currently blonde 🤧 my hair is really going through it like i first dyed it all lavender, then silver, then blonde, then i chopped it mid length and dyed it pink, then pastel pink, now it’s blonde, and it’ll be rose gold in two weeks !!! also i made like $5k from my investments and stocks, and i’m so incredibly proud of myself even though i know it’s not much compared to others :’) and i bought a chanel bag to celebrate my career milestone when i was promoted last year and got a big raise and bonus !!!! 🥳 i found the one i wanted after checking shops over the span of five months in like 8 cities and 5 countries djjdjkskd OH and i still hang out with els and she is still very much in l*ve with taeyong and jaehyun 💞 also blind boxes, specifically sanrio ones, have taken a chokehold on me thanks to els, and i’m still playing genshin so gacha addiction go brrr

tldr ; i’m really happy and content with where i’m at, and i sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that every single one of you is experiencing the same amount, if not, even more, of happiness in your lives, honey bees 🤍🐝✨ as always, i’m sending you all my love and well wishes, ily all so so much 🌷🌷

[barbwritesstuff]

I posted 2,206 times in 2022

That's 372 more posts than 2021!

1,047 posts created (47%)

1,159 posts reblogged (53%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@threewolfboon

@barbwritesstuff

@thebibliosphere

@weirdwerewolf-deactivated

@unpretty

I tagged 136 of my posts in 2022

#fanart - 10 posts

#which celebs give you paranormal vibes? - 8 posts

#not werewolves - 7 posts

#oc - 6 posts

#werewolves - 6 posts

#for the sergi fanclub - 6 posts

#youtube - 6 posts

#submission - 5 posts

#writing - 5 posts

#werewolf - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 111 characters

#i had to make some aggressive editoral changes to my first book both before and after signing with my publisher

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I made a fake Classic Penguin Books cover for Blood Moon. No one liked it over on twitter, so now I'm giving it to you, a much more deserving audience.

I am an artist.

270 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

#4

414 notes - Posted March 26, 2022

#3

A Sad but Happy but Sad Update

Hello everyone. I hope you’re all having a wonderful evening and that the full moon is shining as brightly and beautifully where you are as it is here.

This full moon is a bitter sweet one for me. After close to two years of development, Blood Moon is finished. It is time to submit it to Hosted Games. That, unfortunately, means it’s also time to take down the public demo. I have removed the game from Dashingdon and will send the files to Hosted Games, hopefully soon (there are still a few pieces of art I’m waiting for, but I don't think that will take too long).

I wish I had more to say but I’m a little lost for words right now… I suppose I’ll just say what I always say, which is thank you. This community has been absolutely incredible and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the help and support I’ve received over the last couple of years. Without this community, Blood Moon would not be the game it is today.

Thank you for playing. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time running with wolves. I couldn’t have asked for a better pack of players.

🐺💙

In the meantime, I hope you guys will stick around. You can find me in all the usual places.

My email is BarbaraTrueloveWrites[at]gmail[dot]com.

My Twitter is @barbwritesstuff

If you like, you can support me either by leaving a tip on KoFi page or by buying my book, Crying Wolf by Barbara Truelove.

Next full moon I'd like to do a little cover reveal for Blood Moon's cover art. I hope to see you guys around for that. I'd also like to share some other writing projects I'm working on, if anyone is interested in that.

Oh and... eh... the final word count for Blood Moon is 442,290 (excluding commands). If you're wondering where those extra words come from... it's because I caved to all the anon messages and gave Sergi a sex scene. You just can't read it yet. Sorry about that.

453 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

#2

Okay... so I've been thinking... werewolf slang.

What are some words or phrases that you think werewolves would use? Here's some ideas I've had:

"Stray" - a werewolf without a pack. Eg, 'There is a stray wandering around the edge of our territory'.

"Moon mad" - a werewolf who goes totally berserk under the light of the full moon. Eg, 'Some of us just can't control anymore, especially in old age. My old man went moon mad near the end.'

"Showing fur" - to transform either fully or partially into wolf form. Eg, 'Frank had to leave quick. He got angry and started showing fur.'

"Pup" - a minor insult typically coming from an older werewolf and directed at a younger one. Eg, 'Back up a step, pup. You're out of line'.

"Cub" - a werewolf child. Similar to the human word 'kid'. Eg, "Who's going to pick the cubs up from school?"

Feel free to add your own! I want this post to turn into a werewolf urban dictionary.

See the full post

894 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

9,304 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[1863-project]

I posted 1,757 times in 2022

That's 1,161 more posts than 2021!

856 posts created (49%)

901 posts reblogged (51%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@neon-moon-beam

@gummycore

@chingaderita

@autisticwolfesbrainisautistic

@shotsofnovacaine

I tagged 1,757 of my posts in 2022

#reblogs - 902 posts

#pokemon - 699 posts

#replies - 628 posts

#submas - 492 posts

#i like trains - 276 posts

#drawing - 88 posts

#art - 88 posts

#actuallyautistic - 71 posts

#autism - 71 posts

#paleontology - 64 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#seriously this is what i wake up to every morning except unlike emmet i have an abnormally large cat instead of an abnormally large spider

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Update to this post: I’m trying to actively figure out whose windup they gave him.

See, they’ve been doing this for a while now. Most famously, Volo has Hisashi Iwakuma’s extremely recognizable windup, but Hop throws like Hideo Nomo and Kabu throws like Choji Murata.

Larry has more of a sidearm throw, which is an uncommon delivery in baseball. You can see it in action here:

See the full post

1,112 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#4

Ingo and Emmet Are Both Autistic and I Will Die On This Hill, Thank You Very Much

Hey, remember over a year ago when I wrote that post screaming into the void about how Emmet is autistic? Consider this an updated version of that post, because I really should have talked about how they both are.

Disclaimer: I am an autistic adult who went undiagnosed until age 20 despite a blatant love of steam locomotives so I don’t know how I was missed considering I had the single most stereotypical interest on the planet. (I’ll touch on that later.)

Anyhow, I’ll try to keep this brief (and will likely fail), but let’s get into how both Ingo and Emmet are autistic, actually.

this goofball Emmet

Emmet’s the more obvious one, which is why I wrote the initial post linked above. He clearly scripts, has trouble containing his sheer excitement about things (read: Doubles) to the point of bothering other people, has no filter, will happily infodump about strategy or the MTA rules if asked, and in the manga has an arm-swinging walk that’s visibly a stim if you know it. 

The scripting is evident when you fight him by himself, as his dialogue often feels stiff (in Japanese it’s more informal to contrast with his hyper-formal brother), but the line that always seals the deal for me is actually this, when Ingo asks him to put in a few words before a Multi Battle:

See the full post

2,056 notes - Posted February 15, 2022

#3

A Brief Submas Primer

Did you just find out about the Pokemon franchise’s most popular battle facility since the Battle Frontier because of a plot point in Legends: Arceus? Were you curious because your friends were talking about some weird train man and you have no idea what they’re on about? Worry no longer, because this mole person has you covered.

What the hell is Submas?

The term ‘Submas’ is a portmanteau of their Japanese trainer class title, Subway Masters (in English releases, they got the trainer class title Subway Boss). Note that I’m saying “they” - there are, in fact, two of them, and they’re twins.

Ingo (Nobori) is the older of the two of them, specializing in Singles. He speaks overly politely/formally (more obvious in Japanese), has no indoor voice, will yell “BRAVO!” the second anything remotely good or exciting happens, has an overbearing sense of responsibility (it’s an older sibling thing, trust me), and became an accidental sex symbol on Pixiv (don’t ask, he probably doesn’t know either). He’s best known for being the “serious” one and notably has not been allowed to smile in-game to this day, although he was allowed in the anime and manga to be more expressive. He makes up for this by being very, very loud.

See the full post

4,080 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#2

Nintendo NYC had an egg incubator bag so I am now hatching Joltiks in the NYC Subway, just as Emmet would want us all to.

7,019 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

In case anyone is wondering what real-world train drama is going on, there’s this.

The tl;dr is that Amtrak wants to run two passenger trains per day round-trip (4 runs total) between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, restoring a service that hasn’t been there since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. CSX and Norfolk Southern, two major freight train companies, have resisted this idea, saying it would mess up their traffic, especially since Amtrak’s passenger trains would get priority (by government decree, believe it or not).

So now Amtrak is on Twitch streaming the line to prove the line isn’t too busy for them to run passenger trains.

I’m wheezing.

41,186 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[stepswowdsen]

JuAli rambles [6-22-2023] UPDATE

*Note: Wait I’m just gonna repost this again cuz I had more thoughts while I was out and it doesn’t let you reblog posts on priv Tumblr blogs hhh

LITERALLY JUALI ADKLSKLSDKLSDKL /pos /endearing

Lumen you’re so right this is just JuAli LMFAO

Seeing Lumen’s tweets activated me fr

Magi: Vol. 27 - Ch. 266

EN Fan-TL by Sense Scans

Official EN TL by Viz

Magi: Vol. 29 - Ch. 288 (Omake)

Vol. 29 (Ch. 288) Omake Fan-TL by arashidono

AND YEAHHH LUMEN YOU GET IT SO WELL!!!

And the JuAli and Hakuryuu-Aladdin confrontations after the Kou Empire arc fights ended me it’s just so good /pos /endearing

Also the 2nd page really serves my JuAli and AliHaku crumbs teehee. Many thoughts.

I mentioned this before but it’s so interesting that Judar picks up on the fact and recognizes that Hakuryuu is charmed by Alibaba but just can't understand why...

And they're forced to learn to understand each other. And JuAli spend 2 years together :) Hehehehe

It reminds me that my friend Jaqui mentioned before that because Alibaba is so different and the complete opposite of him, it makes sense he doesn’t understand it, but it only shows that he’s curious and that deep inside he wants to know

The gay radar. The gaydar

I love the composition of the 2nd page so much like how AliHaku has the inked action lines on the ground (Shadows? Beams?) pointing towards each other and connecting each other, and Judar-Aladdin too (the ones who mainly fight and oppose each other in the narrative)

Even the composition is interesting because the action lines surrounding Alibaba emphasize how he’s radiant just like the sun (Ooogh my son... My sun...) and he’s clearly the focal point of this page like when your eyes follow the page’s composition flow, it leads to Alibaba. Because of the size of the action lines and how they emphasize his radiance and bright personality.

But there are also action lines pointing towards and connecting JuAli and Hakuryuu-Aladdin, the true opposites, as Lumen described. Additions:  One thing I noticed is that the black action lines underneath Hakuryuu and Judar are darker.

And it does remind me of their narrative roles in the story as black rukh users who've fallen into depravity

Like it could be because of how those duos are the main ones who are put against each other in the narrative (have the most plot significance)

Could also be because Alibaba radiates such a bright light that he casts a giant shadows over the moons (Hakuryuu and Judar). 

Because the lines that connects Alibaba and Hakuryuu, and Aladdin and Judar, are darker on the end where Hakuryuu and Judar are standing

The two King Vessels and the two Magis. Light vs. Dark.

Or I’m looking too deep into it. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, it’s interesting to think about though

My friends and I have talked about JuAli and AliHaku being the Sun/Moon/Eclipse, and I should make that a separate post but for now:  

“A Lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun casts Earth's shadow onto the Moon”

And considering Judar is themed with both the black sun and the moon, he definitely also seems eclipse themed too because of this.

Fan-TLs and Official TLs: 

Though I should show Viz’s official TL as well. They tone down the "What about Alibaba charmed Hakuryuu?" line on the 1st page, but they keep it on the 2nd page thankfully.

Also, it’s interesting to read both the EN fan-TL by Sense Scans and the official EN TL by Viz, they both have their merits and downsides, though I’m overall pleasantly surprised with the both of them. They’re both interesting. I definitely have some observations to say about the two, as someone currently studying JP. Perhaps sometime soon!

Lumen mentioned it to me before but they said this, "Official TLs are definitely better in terms of phrasing but most of the ones I read are actually outright wrong about the meanings of some lines sometimes, while the fan-TLs tend to always be more accurate and I."

And yeah I agree with this, like official TLs are done by professional translators and typesetters, so they phrase things better in more natural sounding English and the typesetting is much better. Also the pages are much cleaner (obviously) cuz localization companies will have access to the original pages in digital form.

However, I'm used to reading fan-TLs for most of the series I'm into (though I've also been checking out official TLs for series that are more recent, including Magi) because I'm very curious to see the art in HD and an alt TL. 

Also, since fan-TLs are done by, well, hobbyist fans, I'll go easy with fans having to figure out how to translate the names/terms and typesetting. And like with many fan-TLs back from the 2000s - 2010s, Magi's fan-TL was scanned directly from the magazines when they released, which explains why the screentones, etc., are off and why it’s harder to see certain art details 

Fan-TLs are typically more literal, which is also interesting. Personally I prefer fan-TLs most of the time because they have better lines/wording and prose. And because they’re more accurate in terms of line meanings. Having more accurate lines and knowing what the text originally intended matters to me. I wanna know how the nuances of the text was carried over and originally intended to be read.

Also, when I read JP, my head goes through a process of reading the line -> getting a literal TL in my head -> then changing it to more natural English

But I definitely wanted to check out Viz’s official TL cuz it’s also interesting to read. 

Extra:

AND IT’S JUST LIKE... ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH JUALI I AM BURSTING WITH LOVE FOR THEM!!! THEY MAKE ME WANNA COMBUST INTO FLAMES /POS /ENDEARING

I love my black cat and golden puppy sons so much y’know <3

I can think of lots of ship esque text meme posts that fit them too hehe

Anyways, Ohtaka your brain is massive. Magi was a weekly shounen and I literally can’t fathom having to churn out something of this level of art and writing quality almost every week.

It’s insane to me because mangaka deadlines, especially for weekly series, are SO tight. She had to draft story ideas and come up with brilliant dialogue, written with very specific intentions to show characterization (which fits the charas so well), and draft the storyboards and make such gorgeous art compositions with the detailed inking and genuinely superb, consistent storytelling writing which also connects back to the series’ main themes, like... I’m so impressed

[star-lemonade]

Lockdown

Pairing: Astro Moon Bin x Reader

Rating: R

Word count: 6 k

Genre: romance, smut, college au

Warnings: smut, muscle kink??, mentions of being in a strict lockdown

Synopsis: When a strict lockdown is implemented, you can’t leave for home, so you and your two dormmates, Bin and Minhyuk, have to stay at the dorm together until the lockdown is over. You are very touch starved and ask Bin to hug you. Things escalate from there.

A/N: I updated some things on my blog and in the process I decided to officially close some of my wips. However, there was one wip I really feel sorry for bc it was 4.7k words long. It was a request but the story didn’t want to go in that direction and I kinda wore myself out writing it so I never finished it. Here is what I decided to do with it, I only did some minimal editing and the result is this story. (This will probably be my last story for Astro for some time ^^;;;)

On that morning the apartment was busier than you had ever seen it. People were running from the bathrooms to their tiny private rooms, cleaning out their racks in the kitchen, and dragging suitcases down the hallway. Not even the end of the semester had so many people getting ready to leave at once. You tried to stay out of the way so holed up in your room and read a manga, while the storm was going in front of your door.

Just a few days ago you had been at a cafe with a friend and you two had still joked about this "pandemic" but now the situation had turned for the worst. A lot of people flooded the hospitals and the government had acted strict safety measurements.

A knock on the door let you jerk on the bed and the manga fell to the ground. After a calming breath, you said: “It’s open.”

You sat up and your friend Sooyeon’s masked face popped in through the door. She looked rushed, a strand of her long hair stuck to her face at an odd angle and your eyes were not a bright and excited as usual.

“Hey, I just wanna say bye.”

Sooyeon had started packing the previous evening right after the announcement, that the whole county would go into lockdown where people could not have as freely.

“I’m sorry that you have to stay here. Will you really be okay?”

You wanted to wipe away the worry on her face, but inside you were not sure yourself what would happen. This situation was completely new and you were scared, but still, you reassured her.

“Yes, I will be okay. Just call me from time to time.”

Her eyes smiled sadly and she left without even hugging you.

The stomping and running continued until the sunset around 6 pm, about two hours before the curfew. The last people left with their noisy suitcases clanking down the stairs before the apartment descended into a ghostly silence. Your stomach grumbled and you decided that it was safe to go to the kitchen for some dinner. The room you inhabited in the dorm was across from one of the bathrooms, four other rooms lay between yours and the kitchen.

You turned on the light in the common room adjacent to the kitchen that housed three fridges and two freezers. The hum of them was the only sound in this usually loud place and it was almost spooky. The official announcement was still pinned on the bulletin board:

“…Due to the current situation we ask all inhabitants who can leave are advised to go home. Everyone who cannot leave please contact the building management. No more than four people per housing unit will be permitted. …”

You were one of the people who could not go because your parents lived too far away and with traveling restrictions in place you could not leave the greater Seoul area. The building management had put down your name as one of the people who would stay for the time being. For the time this was only until the end of the semester but who knew what would happen afterward.

Your stomach reminded you that why you had come to the kitchen in the first place. Maybe I still have some ramen in my cupboard. The kitchen was a narrow but long room with multiple stoves that could use some cleaning. This housing unit was not the cleanest but also far from the worst and in the upcoming months, it would be easier to hold people accountable if the kitchen was dirty again. You opened the cupboard and inspected your inventory.

“Yes!”

A familiar yellow package was waiting in the back behind the flour for you to eat. With a spring onion and some mushrooms from the fridge, the ramen would be better. You chopped everything and fried the vegetables in a pot. I have to stock up on food. I want to leave the house as little as possible. Unfortunately, everyone else thought so too and the shortages in toilette paper had even made the news.

You took the finished soup to the common room and sat down at the empty table. The large bench felt so empty as you sat on the long side of the table, facing the hallway. The silence in the dorm was uncomfortable and you thought about getting your laptop to watch some video, any video to fill the void when a door opened in the hallway. The light was turned on and someone knocked on a door.

“Hyung, let’s eat something!”

You slid to the side so you could see into the hallway. There, at the end of the hall, stood a guy in front of a door. He knocked again and the sound echoed in the quiet of the apartment.

“Hyung!”

He banged on the door and when nothing happened a staccato of knocks followed until finally, the handle moved. Someone came out and you slid to the side so they would not see you looking.

Moments later the two guys entered the common room. The first one you knew immediately. His sharp cheekbones, full lips, and intimidating eyes made him stand out from most people on campus. Minhyuk was training to be a dancer but because his parents were not very happy with that he also took business classes. You did not know the other man who entered behind him. He was a bit taller and built like a swimmer, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. His face was less angular than Minhyuk’s and his eyes made him look cuter.

“Oh, you are here too?” Minhyuk said.

“Yeah, I guess you guys can’t go home either,” you said.

"No, my parents live in the south and Bin’s parents also don’t live in the city."

Bin stood awkwardly behind Minhyuk, his broad shoulders slumped a bit as if he wanted to seem smaller. You introduced yourself and your hunch about Bin being shy solidified as he talked softly to the point where you had a hard time understanding what he said.

Minhyuk eyed your ramen and asked: “Can we join you for dinner?”

“Sure.”

They improvised dinner with leftover rice from the rice cooker and whatever they found in the fridge.

The silence that followed the moving out of most of the students was both a welcome change to the bustle that always filled the apartment and deeply unsettling. The common room that was usually filled with people at every hour of the day was now always empty and you could not spend time there. The only interactions with other people you had were when you called your parents at home or talked to Sooyeon but it was not the same.

One evening, about two weeks after the lockdown had been implemented, you found yourself standing in front of Minhyuk’s door. Even though you were not very close with him the thought of eating alone in your room again for the who knows how many times drove you there. Would it be too weird if I asked him to join me for dinner? You had not seen him since that first night. Minhyuk always paid attention to what he ate because he should not gain too much weight and you suspected that he ate at odd hours. His compartment in the fridge seemed to get emptier sometime between 10 pm and 6 am.

While you were still battling your doubts, a creaking almost made you jump.

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.”

The door behind you had opened and Bin had come out of the room. His voice was more a whisper.

“It’s okay.”

“You wanted to talk to Minhyuk.”

“Yes. I wanted to ask if you and he wanted to eat dinner with me tonight. It’s getting lonely.”

More like I’m lonely. Bin smiled nervously and you wondered if you were being too obvious, but he nodded and said

“Sure. I will ask him.”

Your room was the closest to the intercom so whenever the doorbell rang, it was usually you who answered. These days more deliveries were arriving because you and the other two barely left the house for anything else than getting food. So when the doorbell rang a few days after your first dinner with Minhyuk and Bin, you got up from your bed and picked up the speaker from the wall next to the apartment door.

“Hello?”

“Delivery for Moon Bin.”

“Okay, thanks, leave it at the door.”

You pressed the button on the intercom and heard the downstairs door open. A rush of air came in through the gap in the apartment door. You walked down the hall to Bin’s door and knocked.

“There is a package for you.”

"Thanks. I will get it."

'A package' was not correct, there were several small boxes, and judging from the sweat on Bin’s forehead they were pretty heavy. Minhyuk joined you in the kitchen to see what Bin had bought.

“What is all this, Hyung?”

“Dumbbells, a barbell, and additional weights.”

Bin started to unpack the boxes. Indeed, the long box was a barbell that could be adjusted with weights. The thick metal disks that acted as the weight had been packaged in boxes of maximal 30 kg. You feared the floor in the kitchen would not be able to hold the weight of all of them.

“Can I store them here? My room is too small.”

“I have no objections but why do you need all this?”

“Hyung usually goes to the gym every day but since … well, you know, he can’t go, at the moment,” Minhyuk answered instead of Bin.

“Every day?”

The pout on Bin’s face was almost cute when he looked at his arms that were hidden under his dark hoodie.

“I got so much smaller in these three weeks.”

You were not sure if that was true because you did not remember seeing him that much before.

As you obviously could not cram ten people into a room anymore, classes were held online. Unfortunately, a lot of the professors had no idea how to operate the software. There were delays, terrible audio, and not even talk about video. It was frustrating. After a day of half-baked digital lectures, you needed some fresh air and made your way to the rooftop. The stairwell was empty and silent when you opened the apartment door. Every step echoed from the bare walls as you climbed up. The roof terrace was a big open space that was a semblance of actually leavening the house. You pushed the heavy door open with your shoulder.

The cool air ruffled your hair and the evening sun almost blinded you. You were not alone on the roof. At the railing stood, wrapped in his puffy jacket, Minhyuk.

“Hey.”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “You wanted to go out too?”

“Yes, today’s lectures sucked.”

“Same.”

You stood next to him at the metal railing and looked at the city. From up here, the change was not visible except when you looked closely. Fewer cars clogged the streets as most shops were closed and everyone could work from home instead of going to their offices. The haze of smog that belonged to the skyline like flowers to spring had vanished.

“I miss dancing.”

Minhyuk rested his chin on his hand that lay on the metal. It had been weeks since they had started the lockdown so the last he had danced must have been quite a long time ago.

You nodded as you did not know what to say.

“I hope this is over soon.”

"Me too."

Having dinner together became a ritual. Earlier on you had decided it would be better if only one of you went out to buy groceries each week. If possible you would buy everything you needed for the week in one go. This also meant that you had to plan the meals of the week ahead of time so you had everything you needed at the dorm. At first, this was a big change from the way you had done it before - buying whatever tickled you fancy at that moment -but you all got used to it. Bin was not a good cook, so he just helped you or Minhyuk out with chopping vegetables when you cooked.

Weeks had passed and you started to notice something. You missed touching people. Before you had often hugged your friends, especially Sooyeon, now, however, there was no one to hug. Bin and Minhyuk had grown on you, but still not to the level where you could just randomly hug them.

One day you sat in the common room working on your homework when Bin came in. It was not unusual. He loved to eat and sometimes got a snack from the kitchen between meals.

He opened the fridge and helped himself to banana milk.

“Bin? Can you get me a glass of water?”

“Sure.”

He went to the kitchen to get you a glass. The hoodie he wore was a bit too big and looked very soft. It made Bin look so huggable. You wanted to wrap your arms around his middle and bury your face in the soft material.

“what?”

“hmm?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Oh no. Your cheeks felt warm.

“It’s just… your sweater looks really warm.”

“Are you cold?”

He sat down next to you and put an arm around your shoulder, rubbing your arms. Bin had pretty eyes you noted. The closeness made you feel shy and you looked away. Bin pulled back as if he had touched something hot and awkwardly stood up.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to”

“Can I hug you?”

The words had just burst out of you. Bin did not move. It had been weeks since you had last touched someone and now that you had gotten even the smallest taste of it, the urge was overwhelming. Slowly, Bin lifted his arms and you threw your arms around him. The sweater was indeed as soft as it looked and Bin was warming it from the inside. You let all concerns go and hugged him tightly. Never had you been so glad to touch anyone ever. Your head rested on his shoulder and you could hear his heart beating.

“I miss my parents,” Bin whispered.

“I talk to them on the phone but I want to hug them.”

You nodded into his shoulder. It was a hard and extraordinary time for everyone. No one knew what would happen in the next few weeks and months, and even though this was scary to think about, at that moment the only thing that mattered was hugging Bin. You did not want to let go of his solid body but social conventions started to tell you that you had been embracing him for longer than appropriate for almost strangers. You ran your hands up and down his back one last time before pulling back. It was hard to detach yourself from him but you did and looked into his eyes.

“Thank you.”

He nodded. Apparently, he did not know what to say either so Bin simply got up and mumbled something about his room before leaving.

Online classes sucked. It was hard to pay attention to the small people on the screen talking. Sometimes they forgot to show their screen and no one cared enough to say anything for five minutes until the lecturer figured it out themselves.

Doing homework was not much better. Some of it was hard and you could not do it by yourself, which meant you had to ask people for help aka their solutions. It was a lot easier to get them if people could not simply ignore your text. In stressful cycles of procrastination and last-minute sessions of frantic scouring of the web for answers weeks passed. Every day was basically the same - get up, breakfast, class, lunch with the guys, homework, dinner, rinse and repeat - and you could only tell which day it was by the days when you had to go shopping.

One evening after dinner, there was a knock on your door.

“Come in! It’s open!”

Bin opened the door.

“Hi, what is it?”

“Uhm, I just wanted to say hi.”

You narrowed your eyes. Just wanted to say hi? He shifted from side to side and avoided looking at you directly.

“What is it?”

You sat up in bed and tried to make him talk by staring. Bin looked at you. He wore his glasses and a dark blue hoodie that made you want to grab a handful of it. You had to get one of those sweaters too. He swallowed hard and gathered the strength to say: “Can you hug me?”

The floor was suddenly very interesting and he looked at his feet. Maybe it was just the bad light in your room but it looked like he was blushing.

“Maybe you could watch something with me?”

His brows furrowed.

“You know, ehm cuddling… while watching a movie” - but not Netflix and chill - "I mean just …"

“Yes, I would like that.”

He closed the door and you felt your heart hammer in your chest as he walk over. This time you were sure that he was blushing. Calm down nothing is going to happen. Your parents had gotten you a tv that was too big for a room but they had known that you would not be happy with watching movies on your small laptop. It stood at the foot of your bed so when you could watch while lying down. Bin sat down on your bed, you moved into position next to the wall and Bin laid down next to you. The bed was not made for two people but you did not intend to leave much space between you. Bin wrapped an arm around you and you rested your head on his chest.

You did not know what to do with your hand. Should you just lay them on his stomach? Would that be too intimate? You decided to risk it and rested your hand on his stomach. When he did not react in any way you took that as a sign that it was okay and relaxed. Bin was radiating heat as if he wanted to compete with central heating and you felt a bit cold, so you let your worries fly out of the window and really snuggled up against him, pressing your body against his side. When his hand drew patterns on your shoulder and back, you lost track of what was happening on screen and just focused on the feeling of his fingers on you. It felt so good to just be touched in this innocent way.

The series episodes were only 30 mins long and when the first one ended it felt like you woke up from a dream. You were suddenly very aware of Bin lying in your bed.

When he shifted and sat up, you pulled back, watching as he grabbed the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head. The gray t-shirt underneath rode up and you could see a sliver of skin for a moment but averted your eyes as it seemed inappropriate to look.

“Sorry, I’m just warm. I didn’t want to… err … start anything.”

Panic swung in Bin’s voice.

“Oh no. That’s not what I thought..”

You waved it off. It was you who had felt inappropriate.

“Good…”

In absence of a place where he could store it, Bin put his sweater on the ground and laid back down. He extended his arm so you could go back into position. You rested your head on his chest again but now it felt different as there was only one thin layer of fabric between your skin and his. How could he be this warm when you felt so cold in your sweater? He smelled good, not of anything you could recognize but good. You wanted to bury your nose in his shirt.

The series when on in the background, but it was more ambient sounds to you and your eyelids were heavy. Bin’s steady heartbeat and the exhaustion of the past weeks knocked you out in what felt like minutes. When you woke up, your room was dark and quiet, and you were covered in your blanket while still wearing your clothes. Bin had gone back to his room.

After the first time you and Bin had cuddled in your room, it was hard to not hug him every time you saw him and Bin seemed to feel the same. He casually touched you when you ate together, something he had not done before, and two days after the first session he was back at your door.

Your evenings together all played out much the same way as the first. You continued watching the series and lay on your bed in each other’s arms. During these days you spend most of your evenings with him, not just watching things but also talking and laughing. There was still a hope that no matter how bad things seemed it would be over soon. As the deadline for the lockdown came closer though and the infection numbers climbed steadily that hope dwindled. About two weeks before these extreme measurements were supposed to end it was announced that the current state had been extended by the university at least until the end of the semester.

That evening you knocked on Bin’s door.

"Hey, have you seen the news?"

"Yes."

"You wanna come to my room later? I have drinks."

When if not now was a time to drink your sorrows away? Bin considered it for a moment then he said:

"Yeah, sure."

You were not much of a drinker and during the time since the confinement started, you had steady away because you feared it may become a habit. Drinking alone was dangerous, that was why you dragged Bin into it.

"I forgot how good this tastes," you said between sips of your drink. When Bin grimaced after drinking from the cheap beer he had found in his fridge compartment, you laughed.

"I don’t like the taste that much."

"But the buzz is okay?"

"But the buzz is good."

Drinking is a double-edged sword. It could make you forget your sorrows for a moment but it could also do the opposite; making the things you did not think about bubble up to the surface. Ever since you had started hanging out with Bin your loneliness had become a bit better but you still felt trapped in this building. When you talked to your friends and family on the phone it just was not the same as seeing them in person.

"Before all this" - you waved at the room - "getting a boyfriend was my biggest problem. It seemed like an impossible thing but now it seems so dumb. I feel lucky that I’m alive and healthy."

The drinks had loosened your mouth and it got a bit too real for a moment. Before you could say anything Bin asked:

"Why would it be impossible for you to get a boyfriend?"

"I don’t know. Guys don’t like me."

You shrugged.

"I guess I’m not good-looking enough."

Bin pouted and gave you a once over as if he saw you for the first time.

“I don’t think that’s true. You’re really smart and beautiful. I don’t get any of the stuff you do. ”

His eyes sparkled behind his glasses but he looked away when you giggled. In a more sincere tone he added:

“I love spending time with you.”

Your heart hammered in your chest and warmth rose from your neck up to your face.

“You’re very cute.”

It came out a bit clumsy but Bin looked at you again. Yes, he was cute and something was pulling on you when you saw his flushed cheeks. You leaned closer. He leaned closer. Your faces were so close you felt his breath brushing over your skin. As if magnetic your lips snapped together in a sweet kiss.

The next morning it felt like a dream. You were not sure it had not been a dream. You did not say anything and neither did Bin. Had you just dreamed about kissing Bin? Two days passed without you two talking. You were stressing over the deadline for your homework. On Monday morning you sat in the common room and frantically finished your homework before the noon deadline. You hit send with an hour to spare. When you leaned back you saw that Bin was there too. You had not noticed him coming in or starting to work out.

“How long have you been here?”

His head snapped in your direction. Hair stuck to his sweating forehead. He had obviously not started training just now, you must have been very concentrated not to notice him. Bin was wearing a t-shirt that clung to his body and it was making your head spin. It was a slap in the face. Though you had been aware that Bin was big, your brain had not translated this into “Bin is really built”. It was shocking to see his big arms and thighs. Oh god, his, thighs. He was wearing shorts. How had you never noticed his thighs?

“About 30 minutes ago?”

You felt your soul vacate your body when he picked up the dumbbells again. His arms were huge but when he flexed, it was a very different story. He reminded you of those male models you had seen on your friend’s phone. She liked those huge guys wearing barely anything. The photos did look good, but this was happening in front of your eyes. Bin’s waist was maybe the most spectacular thing. It was not super thin but contrasted his chest and a well-formed behind, so very nice.

Sweet, gentle Bin had that kind of body? You did not know how to function anymore. Unable to move from your spot on the bench you watched as he did his repetitions. His breathing became louder and he scrunched up his face. The layer of sweat highlighted every curve and plane of his skin. You wanted to touch him so bad. It was dumb really. You had touched him a lot. Now that you were aware of him, it felt different.

Two days later came a knock on your door. You opened to find Bin in his usual combination of sweater and wide pants. Today he wore the round glasses that made him look like a cute nerd.

“Hi-”

“You’re avoiding me.”

Bin’s jaw was clenched and his brows furrowed. Yes you had been avoiding him and for good reason. After you had see him work out in the common room the other day you found yourself thinking about him more and it was not as innocent as before.You wanted him badly but you were sure that he was not interested in you and you did not think it was a good idea to be friends with benifits while having no way to avoid the other if it did not work out. Who knew if you could even be FWB? You were pretty sure you already had some feelings for him. His statement still hung in the air between you but as you did not say anything to it he asked:

“Why?”

There was barely concealed hurt in his voice.

“Look, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the kiss. It was just-”

“Bin.”

He closed his mouth.

“I wasn’t avoiding you because of that.”

“So you were avoiding me.”

“I-”

… just get so turned on that ever I see you now, I can barely handle being in the same room as you. Was what you thought but did not say out loud.

“Have I hurt you somehow?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

Being tapped in this apartment with no other people was hard; it was hard on all of you. You realized that you had become important to Bin and leaving him without a proper answer would negatively impact the relationship between you. At this point no one knew when this situation would be over so you had to maintain what where bond you had with him. You looked to the ground and sighed. If you said the words you could not take them back but unfortunately, you saw no other way. You had to tell the truth. At this point lying would only make the everything more complicated.

“I avoided you because I find you very hot and didn’t want to bother you.”

“You what?”

You hoped for the ground to open up and swallow you. Sadly, it did not. Fleeing would be great, but the only way out was blocked by your way too attractive flatmate.

“I’m not bothered. You can look.”

He grabbed the hem of his sweater and took it off, revealing a sleeveless shirt. Not the arms. Please, I’m so weak for that.

You hoped that looking at his face would be better than looking at his arms. Bin was a good looking guy so it did not really help. He was close, so close it would be easy to lean forward and kiss.

“Ride me.”

If you had not seen him move his lips, you would not have believed your ears. His arms wrapped around you and your hands landed on his bare skin as if magnetic.

“I'll do what you want if you ride me first.”

A blush had flushed Bin’s face but his voice did not shake. Ride me. Your face burned. You had thought about Bin so much in the past days and his was a dream come true. You did not trust your voice so you just nodded.

A sigh left his lips as he leaned forward and you met him halfway. It was a very different kiss than the first one you had shared. You were both sober for one thing, but it was really like someone had flip a switch. All hesitation had been thrown out of the window the moment your lips had met. Bin’s arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer. The way his lips moved against your lips was intoxicating. Last time you had been quite drunk so you did not remember how good of a kisser he was. Eventually you pulled back and said:

“Put the sweater back on.”

You closed the door and he looked confused at you.

“You look so cute and comfy in it. Can you lie on the bed?”

Also, I don't know what to do about the feeling your arms give me. He did as you asked and got on the bed. Yes, it looked like cuddle time now. You fell into his arms and you kissed.

You lay on his chest with your legs on either side of his hips. When you shifted it was very evident how affected he was.

“Why did you want me to put the sweater back on?”

“I dreamed about cuddling with you and it turns into sex. I want to ride you while you still have your clothes on.”

You could not look at him while you confessed your fantasy. He swallowed audibly.

“Is that okay with you?”

“Yes”

It was a drawn-out yes as if that was exactly what he wanted. You kissed.

“Bin, I did not expect any … action to happen here.”

He had not caught on.

“Okay…”

“I mean I don’t have condoms.”

“Oh!! I do. In my room. I will get them.”

His walk was a bit odd. Probably because of that huge boner.

He returned with an almost full package and set it on your nightstand.

Lying on top of him and kissing him was exactly what you had dreamed of. Bin felt solid under you and your bed groaned under your combined weight. His hands rubbed your back just like the times when you had cuddled but this time it turned you on how gentle the movement was. You broke the kiss and sat upon his lap. He was still wearing his glasses and looked up at you with wide eyes. So cute.

You ground into his lap and made him gasp. His hands landed on your thighs.

You pulled down his sweatpants. It will feel good to have that in me. Bin rolled on a condom as you got rid of your pants. You straddled him again.

You sank down on him, savoring the feeling of slowly being filled. It could not get any better than this. Bin’s head sank into your pillow. His breathing had quickened.

“Are you okay?”

You pushed a strand of hair out of his face.

“It feels so good.”

He looked so cute laying in your bed wearing his sweater. You ground your hips into his. Bin gasped and his hands came to rest on your thighs. His fingers pressed into your skin and loosed again almost in time with you moving your hips. You changed the angle by leaning forward a bit more so your clit got some action too. Bin's face was red and his forehead sweaty. It must have been very hot in the thick sweater. His hands moved up your body to your breast, gently kneading them. A quiet moan bubbled from your throat. You grabbed Bin by his shirt and made him sit up. The kiss was sloppy but exactly what you needed. Your hips halted and you pulled back from Bin’s lips.

“It’s time you put that nice ass of yours to good use.”

You whispered in his ear.

“Make me come.”

He groaned and before you knew it you were on your back. Bin kneeled between your legs and took his sweater off.

After a few thrusts, you stopped Bin.

“I don’t think the bed will survive this.”

He nodded. The floor was not as comfortable, but with a pillow, under your hips, the position was even better.

Bin set a hard pace and it was perfect. The way his hips snapped against yours made it impossible to think. Your world narrowed until it was only you and him. You held your breath and let the wave of pleasure wash you away.

The next few weeks passed in no time. You and Bin spend a lot of time together now. Some of it was like before, watching movies and cuddling but there were also new activities. It felt good to have your partner so close by and you made much use of it.

One evening Bin was quieter than usual. He sat on your bed when you came into your room with dinner. He scratched his neck, a nervous gesture that you had seen before.

“What do you think about Minhyuk?,” Bin asked carefully as you sat down on the floor where you intended to eat.

“Minhyuk?”

If you were honest you had not talked to him much since you and Bin had started spending more time together. He did not leave his room when you were in the kitchen. Bin sat up and leaned closer.

“I think he feels left out.”

“He seemed fine to me.”

Bin’s lips were pressed into a thin line and he looked at his hands.

“He is the type to bottle his feelings up.”

Bin and Minhyuk had known each other for a long time, so you believed him.

“So what do you suggest?”

Bin licked his lips and sat down on the floor next to you. He sighed.

“I shouldn’t tell you this.”

You furrowed your brow.

“Minhyuk likes you.”

“So?”

“No, I mean he has.. had? has. a crush on you.”

“Oh.”

You had no idea that Minhyuk had liked you.

“I know it’s a bit…”

Bin stopped himself. He looked at the floor.

“Do you want to have a threesome with him?”

This was not going where you thought it was going.

“How would that help?”

Your tone was a bit panicked. You had not seen this coming and Bin’s suggestion had caught you on the wrong foot.

"I mean he knows we … spent time together."

"But if we did wouldn’t that make it worst for him? I mean if he likes me and I’m with you?"

"I don’t know what he would prefer but i didn’t want to ask him before talking to you."

"I will think about it, okay?"

A/N: That's it! Thanks for reading and a happy New Year!

[dallonwrites]

THE RABBIT KNOWS HOW TO BURY ITSELF 

I am so delighted to share my short story The Rabbit Knows How To Bury Itself, which was selected for the White Pube Writer’s Grant and published on their site! I haven’t known what to post on here for a long while, but I wanted to share this one because it was blogging about my messy first draft of Revelations, Revelations, that really got me back into writing and connected me with people who are now dear friends. I don’t plan to publish Revelations, Revelations anymore, so I’m super stoked to have a short story inspired by it featuring my favourite disaster twins out in the world! If you’ve followed the RR updates and have a v good memory, you may notice a lot of the lines from the OG draft were recycled into this story 👁️

I can’t thank Gabrielle and Zarina at The White Pube enough for believing in this story and selecting me for the grant this month. If you are a UK based writer/creative who would benefit from financial support, I totally recommend submitting some work! There’s no formal rejection process (I submitted in May and got selected in August) and the two were lovely to work with. And I def recommend checking out the other grant recipients because there are some super cool artists there!

Whilst I haven’t left Writeblr completely I don’t feel like it suits how I want to share my writing at the moment. I’ve been very slowly getting into Instagram and have started to post on there more, so if you want more consistent writing updates from me then you can follow my Insta @dallonwrites!! 

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content warnings for the story: drug use, pregnancy imagery, animal death, allusions to death, religious imagery, drowning imagery

[image descriptions: a series of photos and screenshots of writing. the first image is an excerpt: 

Her brother snorts cocaine in the bathtub, so she pretends he’s asleep. Arms over his chest, knees drawn, body curled. Brunette curls feather over closed eyes. Jacket for a pillow. In this reality, she’ll avoid the door only to not disturb him. He’ll be safe, half-wombed in porcelain, won’t hurt himself – and she won’t hurt him.

the second image is a cropped photo of an orange tree, with dark green leaves. the third image is another excerpt:   

This is how she knows him: he’s sixteen and doesn’t know how to hide the stench of cigarettes; he’s five and doesn’t know how to grip a pencil. He’s fifteen and can recite Revelation chapters with his eyes closed; he’s nine and terrified of the sheepdog. He was a better Christian than her because he knew how to worship, how to fear. But he still snuck out with her to read magazines about rockstars and horoscopes. Sometimes, after Church, they plucked clementines from trees and ate them out of their hands. Their first routine, first ritual.

the fourth image is a cropped photo of two hands against darkness, with a strip of light cast over them. the fifth image is another excerpt: 

Before the cocaine, he wanted to look at the stars. They’d grown up on farmland cratered in a pine forest, where the night sky was so clear, stars winked at them. At twenty-three, clouds and city polluted the sky. The moon filtered through like a car headlight. Streetlights and buildings constellated the city. The skyline jutted up and down, up and down like a heart monitor and he asked her, is this what being free looks like? Cold air prickled their skin. He gave her his jacket, she gave it back. She told him, you should get some sleep. He told her, I gave you my jacket because I love you. But isn’t loving someone, she almost asked, just your capacity to be hurt?

/end id]

[thewertsearch]

Asks Compilation 16/6

The best thing about categories like Sburb Titles is that once you have a big enough sample size of Person/Category mappings, you can extrapolate their traits to any character you like. 

Example: I got an ask a while back asking whether I have any Titles for my own OCs, and to be totally honest I can’t stop thinking about it

Oh, that is awesome. I’m bookmarking that for reference, when I’ve finished the comic. Biology is not my strongest suit, but I do find it fascinating, and speculative biology is my jam. 

It’s a balancing act, trying to make a quirk both unique and readable. i thought about a capitalization quirk WHERE i only capitalize common programmINg keywORds, but it looks kind of funky, and I wasn’t sure how to define what keywords to include. 

@capribornio​ submitted: Part 1! Terrible memes to help you cope with what just happened.

Part 2! (Dunno why tumblr wouldn't let me submit you the two images at once, but.)

jettison to the moon drop it on those stupid pawns bye bye kids, you're gonna die now your session's dead and gone

That was made by abysswarlock! Their blog is linked below the main links in my bio.  It’s great, isn’t it? Really makes the Land come to life. 

Man, I’m really mad I missed the Club Penguin craze, because if I’d played it, I would absolutely have answered this ask with penguin designs for each of the kids. 

Classic Tumblr. When you edit you blog description in the appearance editor, it actually scrubs all the HTML you added, and replaces it with plaintext. To update your description properly, you need to do it in the theme editor. 

I fixed the blog description on desktop, but I don’t think it ever worked on mobile, since tags generally don’t work properly on the app. I think it should work if you access the blog through say, Firefox, rather than the app itself? 

So do I!!!

That’s one of my favorite anime tropes, and it’s vary Homestuck-friendly, considering how many characters are bespectacled. I’m glad that my ‘sona is continuing this proud tradition. 

Thank you!  I think a big part of it is just that Homestuck happens to deal with stuff I’m really into. I love time travel and alt-self/identity shenanigans, so I was already looking at the Paradox Clone system from every angle even before the Veil. Once that cursor targeted Nanna, a lot of things immediately clicked into place. 

I didn’t see the paired tubes coming, though. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment. 

Maid! That was the first class I chose for myself, because I liked the connotations around ‘organizing’. 

I’m planning on doing a bunch of Title tests over the weekend. The Official Sally Classpect will be an open question for a long time, but I am interested in how much the various tests will agree. 

We’ve already talked a bit about it on the blog, but Homestuck is a kind of meta story on a lot of levels. 

We saw it with the reader suggestions at first, but there are other things too, like Hussie’s narration interacting with WV. Is that ‘canon’, per se? Much to think about...

[ sent on the 12th! - Cat ] 

Happy belated birthday Carcino ‘Cancer’ Geneticist! May this year bless you with Grist, Boondollars and a successfully salvaged Sburb session!

Honestly!!! 

Hussie is very good at turning on the waterworks. It doesn’t happen much in Homestuck, but when it does, it hits hard. 

True, true. But that was just John’s opinion - now Hussie’s narration is saying she sucks!

These guys really have been great recently. It’s like Hussie has spent a while giving them improvised character traits based on reader commands, and now that their personalities are fully established, they’re actually getting full arcs with awesome moments of development. 

I honestly can’t wait to see what the Windswept Questant’s real plan is. She’s abdicated to PM, and seems to be putting a team together. Did she know WV had the Ring all along? What’s up next? 

[shobioo]

Plus One ❀ 018// Fate

❀START || PREVIOUS || NEXT

How did you two get here? (Nah, it is nothing dirty don’t be gross)

But no, here you were staring down at Tsukishima who was now in the pool completely soaked. You laughed as you watched him glare up at you, “Don’t look at me like that, you were going to fall in at some point.” You say before extending your hand out to him, he huffed. “No, I wasn’t you’re childish.” He said, making you snicker.

You felt a soft tug on your wrist, jerking you forward. Your shriek was cut off by a loud splash and cool water stealing your heat, you quickly emerge from under the water, gasping. Face soaked you rubbed at it with your now wet hands, which wasn’t much help. You looked at Tsukishima who was smirking at you, “Respectfully, I hope you get lost in the deep end.” You laughed as you move your hair away from your face, “You literally pushed me in, you deserve – “You cut him off splashing water in his face and swimming away laughing. Cold water hits your back making you shiver and laugh; you turn over to smiling. “Wait, wait look, I can hold my breath for five minutes.” You declared and Tsukishima chuckled. “Y/N seriously? Five minutes... you’re crazy.”

You roll your eyes, “No watch.” You closed your eyes, covering your nose with your thumb and index finger before dunking down into the water. Water filled your ears, Tsukishima watched as you tried to show him that you could hold your breath for five minutes, which wasn’t true as you quickly resurfaced, gasping, spluttering out water that got in your mouth. “I can tell you for a fact that wasn’t five minutes.”

“What?! That was like five minutes.” You swam over to him, who rolled his eyes. “Y/N, you can’t hold your breath for five minutes.” He stared confused at you, “I know I can.”

Tsukishima chuckled a little, “You vastly overestimate your abilities.” You rolled your eyes, “I think I perfectly estimate my abilities, Kei.” He shook his head, “Yeah, okay.”

You wipe your eyes, “Can I ask you something?” water only seemingly to pile up as you stared at him. Moonlight gazing down at the both of you, water overlapping each other, and crickets seemed to be the only thing happening in the background. “It better not be you asking me If we can get matching tattoos.”

“What? No – that’s tomorrow's question.” You joke, “But no, seriously do you believe in fate?” You asked, Tsukishima chuckled, wiping his face. “No, but I’m guessing you do?”

You nodded, “I do – I do believe in fate.” You sighed as you felt warm in the cold water, “Why?” Tsukishima asked and you hummed, “Well, to a certain degree of course. For me I think everything you do, go through, and endure it happens for a reason. Fate seems like it's designed to make a human grow; there aren't any so called “mistakes,” and they’re only hidden meanings.

Sure, most of the things in the world can be proven to be scientific and not of fate. However, everything happens for a reason, everything you do and say has a purpose and it matters. Yet, in little things where something can’t be proven scientifically like; meeting someone, or getting into the college you wanted, or even landing your dream job. You can say that is fate, there is a reason for these things. “Fate helps people get something that they don’t think they can or should get, it brings you closer to so many new things and it also intertwines in what happens in your life.”, “Then what about a leap of faith?”

“I think it's an expression often misused. It isn’t saying to like go blindly into something, but rather unsure of what will happen, but making the decision on going through with it.” Tsukishima nodded, “What does that have to do with people meeting?” He asked, and you perked up slightly swimming next to him. “Easy, I think It was fate that we both got to meet again.”

“I’m sure we both thought we’d only be high school friends from memories that you can only recall in a small moment. But that didn’t happen, here we are, I'm your plus one and wondering what’s next.”

Tsukishima hummed, “So, basically you can say something good or bad that had happened cause of fate? But as long as you have learned something from it, it matters and as long as you have grown from it?”

“Yes!” You shout, but then laugh. “Sorry, but yeah. It’s like a learning experience.” You say, “And fate also comes in with weddings, I mean I don’t think soulmates are just made. They’re found, found when you meet that person because you just decided to go walking that day.” You sigh slightly, “Fate has so many connections, it’s just amazing.” Tsukishima watches as you laugh lightly at your small rant.

And he’s never felt luckier. You shivered as you swam to the edge of the pool, pushing yourself up and sitting on the side. You looked up at the sky, stars littered the sky and the moon peeked out just behind the hotel building, you hummed the air making goosebumps kiss your skin. You then look back at Tsukishima who was now crawling out the pool himself.

“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”

❀) 🥺 aha, this. But, this is some links that had helped me write this chapter! I suggest you read them, and like tell me what yah think if you want to :))

❀) 1) I Believe In Fate and 2) Do You Believe In Fate?

❀) I might be busy today, since aha life 😔 it’s a whole pandemic how is this hard for me rn. So I don’t know if I’ll have time to update tomorrow, but If that changes I’ll let you all know 😌😌

(TAGLIST): @queerys-blog @knucklestuff @masaquette @ashtheticals @lucyheartfilias-wife @yongboxerrr @1-800-simpingcowbaby @fourcansofpringles @obsidianandturquoise @fuckinuchihas @shawtiie @tsukkis-little-platonic-whore @cvlliesstuff @mirikusashes @haikyuubabygirl @kac-chowsballs @saikishairclip @bluefaeriefury @owlnymph @hisokaoncrack @so-lo-stuff @thechaosoflonging @backwards-bun @ifuknowmenowudont @losertsukki @ryusex-wife @oreogutz @m01k @mer-majesty @definitely-yours @levylovegood @devilkittymusic @hogwarts--imagines @kokogxddess @tanakasimpcorner

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Meet Rebel Cookie

⚙️ Down again?! Something’s gotta be jamming this router, but what?!

🍙 Problems arise?

⚙️ Who the heck are you? And how did you get in here?! I had the door locked and everything!

🍙 You haven’t heard of me before? I’m Rebel Cookie. I steal from the greedy and give to the poor!

⚙️ Everything else in here is just a boring news studio. There’s nothing else here to steal from unless you cleaned out Roguefort’s jewel collection.

🍙 That’s exactly what I came for: to return them all to where they belong!

⚙️ Sure, sure. None of us was gonna spend them anyway except for Roguefort themselves. Now leave me alone!

🍙 Something else wrong?

⚙️ DUH! Our main internet router’s missing the wave stabilizer! We can’t do anything major as a news studio if that part is missing! I call sabotage!

🍙 Sabotaging your internet, hm? Must be something wicked that someone unseen pulled off, but is it not a luxury of the rich to have internet?

⚙️ In this age?! Nuh-uh! Almost everyone in anywhere developed has it! It’s practically everywhere, and our’s is being hijacked on and off because someone snatched that stabilizer!

🍙 I see. Something robbing you of an everyday commodity. Allow me to find that missing part to help restore your stolen connection to continue spreading the fair word. I will try to be quick with it, but I will definitely return before three full moons have passed. Before I depart, however, I will spread the word of my presence for the sake of every Cookie.

⚙️ Sure. The setup’s right there. Just do it and leave me to get something to work in here.

The Context/Editor’s Update: Still haven’t been able to get the internet fixed on my end yet, but the signal I am getting has its points where I can safely get on and do stuff for the blog. If I can’t get this public wifi to cooperate further, I’m gonna have to eighty-six the coverage of every other real-time CR event until mid-December. I can still do coverage of literally everything else when I’m not working, but not that. Anyways, back to what this post is ACTUALLY supposed to be about: introducing Rebel Cookie.

🍙 Hello viewers! This is Rebel Cookie, making myself known to everyone and all for an immediate introduction before this goes on any further delays, especially for those that have seen me during the LINE days. Plenty of time has passed, but I have come to purge injustice wherever it goes!

Be aware, greedy Cookies! One swift Cookie might already be going over your fence to fix injustice as we speak! Rebel Cookie, made with newly harvested rice that was organically farmed with just the right method, is bound to make you feel healthier just by looking at him! With self-taught excellency in magic, he is someplace one second, and somewhere else in another, traveling on his cloud to rob the storages of wealthy and corrupt Cookies! Even when he gets locked up by the guards… POOF! He’s gone, leaving a straw doll in his stead. Rebel Cookie equally and fairly distributes the stolen Jellies among villagers, which is why every village loves him! He will never stop fighting for justice! Rebel Cookie will undoubtedly go down in history!

Rebel Cookie’s Abilities

🍙 You see, the secret to my craft is magic and many, many stand-ins in the form of copy dolls. When the time comes, I will send fourth a whole volley of dolls to create alter egos of myself to destroy obstacles and uncover Brass Coin Jellies to throw towards the real me, riding above the fray swiftly atop my cloud. Get too close to an alter ego or pass it by, and it turns back into a straw doll of my likeness. Between these bursts, my prowess in martial arts allows me to double-jump two more times compared to the average Cookie.

❤️ Energy: 170 + 9 per level (Trial 260, Max 296)

💨 Additional Jumps: +2 Jumps maximum

🪙 Brass Coin Jelly Score: 36,000 + 31,000 per level (Trial 346,000, Max 470,000)

💰 Total Brass Coins Thrown: 22 + 2 per level (Trial 42, Max 50)

🕰 Skill Cooldown: 27 Seconds

🍙 With my Magic Candy created with Gray Sugar Crystals and Traditional Hand-made Rice Cakes, you too can witness the art of instant teleportation. A simple double-jump changes the Slide button for a few seconds. Press it and I will instantly appear on the floor while leaving a doll behind. In the wake of this teleportation, obstacles around me splinter into nothing while Smoke Cloud Jellies appear in the aftermath. How can you tell when I am ready? Follow the secondary blue charge bar to determine whether to strike or lie in wait.

🕰 MC Skill Charge Time: 10 Seconds

💨 Smoke Cloud Jelly Score: 88,000 + 33,000 per level (Max 220,000)

🌫 Smoke Cloud Jellies Created: 20

💣 Maximum Charges: 5

✨ Blessings Available: Yellow Bear Jellies, Pink Bear Jellies, All Bear Jellies, All Jellies

Combi Bonuses

💨 Windy: +535,000 Brass Coin Jelly points

🗡 Saber of Virtue: +50,000 points for Sliced Jellies

Relations

🦊 Kumiho (200) Always a pleasure to see you when I visit a new village! 👍 Friendly

🌶 Chili Pepper (300) When you steal treasure, you should share it with the other Cookies! ⚡️ Tension

🐰 Moon Rabbit (450) You seem to know how to enjoy rice cakes! 👍 Friendly

🎄 Carol (600) Thanks for telling the tales of my exploits! 👍 Friendly

🐯 Tiger Lily (750) Watch out for tigers in the mountains! ⚡️ Tension

🕵️‍♂️ Almond (850) Catch the corrupt officials before going for me! ⚡️ Tension

🍵 Ginseng (850) This Cookie tends to all my wounds after I fight the guards! 👍 Friendly

🍡 Vagabond (850) When I return to the Yakgwa Village, the next cup of rice juice is on me! 🤝 Trust

🍙 Do mind me if I appear out of nowhere, but sometimes it’s for a matter of utmost importance in rooting out the most untouchable of corrupt Cookies, as seen right here in my Super Epic costume: as a Skillfully Royal Secret Agent

Windy

If you ever notice a shadow on a clear day, it’s Windy watching over you! That’s also how Windy met Rebel Cookie. A cool breeze woke Rebel Cookie when he was taking a nap under a tree, and Windy was right above him, curious to know what he was doing! When Windy heard that Rebel Cookie travels all over the world, the Pet instantly wanted to join, wishing to see new places. Looks like that wish came true!

🍙 Windy’s gusts of wind slow a Cookie’s Energy drainage rate and carries them along with increased base speed. These winds also tend to blow away obstacles, but that is not quite confirmed.

💨 Energy Drain: -6.5% - 0.7% per level (13.6% Trial, 16.5% Max)

💨 Base Speed Boost: +10

🕰 Skill Cooldown: 22 Seconds

🍙 If you wish to befriend me, perhaps you can spare a Silver Coin Pouch to help spread the wealth and goodwill to those that truly need it. Until next time, I shall return with this Cookie’s missing part to restore order and justice to this studio!

⚙️ …and he’s gone. He left a straw doll behind with a note. What does it say…

“There’s no need to give me a Bent Silver Key, I don’t need it to get past any gate that bars my way!”

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[fracturedmoonlight]

Hi! Aspiring Sims 2 modder here. I'm asking a bunch of my favorite modders. Do you have any advice for beginners on working with BHAVs? Any tutorials you recommend or easy projects to start with? Useful background info? I know there's a lot of trial and error involved, but I was wondering if there's a better approach to learning about them than just looking at other people's mods and trying to figure out what on earth those BHAVs mean. Thanks again for all that you do!

Hello! Always exciting to see people who have become interesting in modding! I can try to help but honestly not sure how good I'll be at it. I'm mostly going to tell you what worked for me and some ‘modding life advice’.

Honestly what helped me the most? Breaking it down. If you find a tutorial you can follow successfully...rewrite it to fit how your own mind keeps track of how to do the steps. For example, this is how I learned to do overlay boxes...and I broke down an 18 page tutorial (when copied over from a blog post and mind you there were pictures included) down to just two pages of step 1 - whatever. Most tutorials are old and haven’t been rewritten for current years, but most are doable as the functions don’t change much. Also, compare them. If you find more than one tutorial on the same subject, see what same steps they’re following.  Picking apart other people’s mods can also help you understand those tutorials. Or see they found a better way to do the same thing. An example here...the code I use for @sunmoon-starfactory​ inventory detection, can be very different from what @mortia-laura​ use. Both achieve the same goal (detecting and deleting/adding to a sim’s inventory), but go about it in seperate ways. If I recall, my way is longer (at least on the data entry side) but I’m more comfortable with it because it’s what I know. Neither is wrong.

Another thing? Understand your limits. It's no secret that I get help from other people on some modding aspects because my brain literally cannot wrap around them. I'm talking things like primitive arguments and other things I deem "math". Which is mostly numbers. I don't deviate from what numbers I don't know, I don't stress out. But add in something new there? Learning curve for sure. Basically, know that you're not going to master everything. Few creators rarely do, and that's okay. Find your niche, improve it, and be happy with it. Of course if you want to branch out after you're comfortable, go fo it!

That being said, have a support circle that does understand what your yourself don't, and ask! I know it's scary to ask other "big name modders" out there sometimes...but honestly, most aren't scary. Personal example...I never imagined @midgethetree would have helped me. She's so smart and seems way above my pay grade if you will, but she's actually super nice (and knows how to explain things to me like I'm five...which I like! I learn best in simple steps!) and is always there to just hear me whine sometimes. It's usually about a misplaced zero where there should be a one. I also know I can count on @davinaojeda, @fireflowersims, @mortia, @veetiesims2, @nixedsims, @gayars, and so many more. To add on to that, find a supportive discord to help connect with others. Most of the ‘new’ or ‘updated’ information seems to be passed around on those.

Now here’s the most important thing and I’m writing this with myself in mind also as I recently suffered a bout of it. Whatever you make, make sure it’s how you want it. There are going to be a lot of opinions thrown at you. Some helpful and some that perhaps make the project such a giant monster it makes you want to rage quit. You won’t please everyone. You can’t. You can try, but it’s going to drive you crazy. So always take a step back, ask yourself why you’re making something and then answer if it meets your original intention. If it does and you’re happy, stick to your guns. Don’t let people push you into something you have no interest in or don’t want to do. The Sun&Moon Woodworking set gave me this problem...it was huge to begin with and was stressing me out and making me anxious because I knew I couldn’t please everyone. Got some advice on how to make it seem manageable, and that’s when I solidified my idea of what products it makes. Upon release, I got A LOT of messages from people who were asking for ‘more types/amounts/can you change it so this item comes from it’. It made me feel like I’d failed to deliver what people expect...but stepping back, it produces exactly what I want it to for my game. That’s what matters. I made something to enhance my game, it does what I want it to do, and sorry if others aren’t happy it doesn’t do more but that’s how it is. If you feel like it, add options for people who don’t agree with your choices (looking at Livestock here...heck even I use the force options!), and if they can’t be happy even then...well that’s just going to have to be their problem. Or if you know how to properly instruct people take what I call the Midge Approach, and explain how to change a particular behavior of the mod.

So when you do start modding and people ask you questions like this (which is still weird for me honestly) remember that you are not indebted to anyone (unless you take a commission of course but that’s different), you own no one anything, and in any particular way. No two simmers play their games the same and you can’t account for it all. Create for YOU first, and share when you’re happy with your results. Don’t feel bad if you don’t answer messages that make you angry because you suddenly feel like you didn’t do what other people wanted. Yeet them and continue to create what makes you happy. Create to make your game better, don’t create for the sake of people pleasing or popularity.

I know this post isn’t full of links and such to old/new tutorials but I still feel these are important pieces of “background information” to have when you get into this modding scene. I still struggle to remember some of this stuff and have to remind myself. We’re all our own worst critics and judges already, no need to let other people add to that.

[phoenotopia]

The Last Phoenotopia Blog Update

(Date 2021 MAR 01)

I debated how to open this blog post, but perhaps the main crux of this blog post is the best place to start. The blog is being retired.

The purpose of this blog was to be a "development" blog for Phoenotopia, and well, Phoenotopia's development is done. I'll still be doing bug fixes and maintenance on the PC and Switch versions, and playstation and xbox ports are underway (by a publisher). But I'm not going to be making any more major changes to the game. At some point, you put the paintbrush down and say it's done. Blemishes and all.

Recent Events

The game launched on Steam last month, and like any launch, it was hectic. Bugs Galore. This is our first commercial PC launch, so it was a real baptism by fire. Unlike Switch's one configuration, the PC has multiple configurations and factors to account for. The game needed to be able to handle multiple control schemes, screen resolutions, refresh rates, and more! I had a 60Hz monitor going into launch and didn't know anything about Hz (I do now). There was a troublesome stutter that some players were sensitive to that my whole team didn't notice since our eyes compensated it away. There were a few times where in fixing something at one party's behest, it introduced problems for another party. A few times, due to disorganization, I unwittingly rolled back a fix that was meant to be applied. For some, the game couldn't play at all (really glad Steam allows refunds).

It was messy. It was tiring. I.AM.BEAT.

I think the worst of it is over... I'll still be around to do the last updates and bug fixes, but I'm ultimately ready for what's next.

SO what is next?

What isn't next... is Phoenotopia 2. As you may have heard down the grapevine, the game couldn't be what you call successful. No one's earned even minimum wage on it.

Maybe there's hope in the game's long tail. A year or two down the line... maybe. I won't hold my breath though. At some point in the past few months, I finished processing (or grieving) and it's time to move on.

The game has at least earned enough for us to continue our modest operations. As long as we don't expand the team, and we don't take another monster six-year dev cycle like what Phoenotopia took, we can continue. We'll have to be smarter and faster. Perhaps the most valuable thing we gained from all this is experience.

The Experience

It is a dev blog. Here are some of the lessons I've accumulated from this game's development.

- Have a good menu design. Menus aren't just that in-between fluff before you get to the good stuff. Menus are KEY. Your menus need to be robust, expandable, and *understandable* (to you, the developer). Because once the game's out, you will invariably be asked to add more options. And if your menu design is bad, every time you have to add a new menu option, it becomes a whole new pain all over again. Support mouse from the get-go, etc.

- Focus on features that people will actually care about. For instance, I've never seen anyone praise the camera's zoom feature. In practice, people try that feature a few times and then never use it again. But that feature was a constant consideration factor for every level. Run through it multiple times to make sure the level didn't break, think about which zoom levels made sense, resize rooms because they worked at one zoom level but not the other, and so on.

- Don't do boxes that you can move around. Other 2D platformers avoid movable boxes because they're a huge headache to program and they really complicate the game space. Enemies need to respond to boxes you throw in their path and either navigate around or attack it. When you're moving the box, you have to worry about constantly changing your collision size and reconciling when the box gets snagged on the environment. The boxes were also a constant source of bugs because people can manipulate them to soft-lock themselves and more.

- More focused script. Phoenotopia's 100,000+ word script was panned more for being bloated than it was praised for being lengthy. Long scripts take a long time to write and make the game more unwieldy, increasing the costs of translation and upkeep. Every update we're addressing some textual error or mistranslation. There are some highly renowned games (e.g. Hyper Light Drifter) that do without a script at all!

- Be flashy! A bat and a lightsaber take the same amount of work to program, but the lightsaber will draw a lot more attention and interest.

- Slopes, surprisingly! Six years ago when I started, Unity was ill-equipped for 2D games. If you used the physics that Unity provided you'd have a really floaty character that wouldn't adhere to the slope when going downhill. There were a hundred different tutorials saying different things (use forces, use move position, use translation, etc). You can get rectangular collisions done in a day, but to do slopes took weeks. Meanwhile, games can actually get by fine without slopes. Most people won't even notice. Did you know the Phoenotopia flash game didn't have slopes? Neither does Hollow Knight or Rogue Legacy. You can save yourself a lot of work by avoiding slopes.

(big entities look weird on slopes. Bad slope!)

I could write enough little knowledge nuggets like this to fill a book! But I'd rather just make the next game. 

So… what IS next?

As mentioned previously, it's not Phoenotopia 2. Pirate and I are mostly just tossing some ideas back and forth right now. We'll go silent for a year (or two). Our next game's scope will be more modest in some ways, more ambitious in others. It will definitely be more smartly designed. (There will be a map!)

We'll announce it when it's ready for the public. It might be necessary for us to do a kickstarter. I've tried to avoid kickstarters having been burnt on quite a few myself and also because I worry that mismanaging a kickstarter would earn the ire of backers.

But I did keep this blog regularly updated for six years. So I've gained some confidence in my abilities to at least manage a kickstarter well.

Is it really the last Phoenotopia Blog update though?

Okay, not really. There is some news that I'll need to announce, and this blog is one of the game's main outreach channels. Here are the events that will cause me to update the blog:

Announcing the launch of the xbox/playstation ports when they're ready

If a physical edition of the game happens

If a new language is getting introduced into the game (Korean is a high possibility)

When we're ready to talk about our next game

If (BIG IF) we begin development on a Phoenotopia sequel. I do want to do a sequel one day if we have the means and the demand is there. 

Those updates will be more on a "when they happen" basis, rather than me reporting in every couple months.

Fan Art

As always, I'm very happy to see fanart of Phoenotopia. Major thanks again to Pimez for collecting all the artwork from the corners of the internet! Since this is the "last" blogpost, Sir Pimez can finally take a rest from collecting the fanart :P

ÆV made a series of pictures that tell a story. A Pooki is humanely sheared of its wool to create a hat. The Pooki is unharmed. Nice! Gotta love Gail’s expressions.

Amagoo Mazeru makes a stunning landscape shot of a full moon and shooting stars. It’s a sharp and clear vector art. I like the faint glow of the moon and the fire and the subtle gradient in the night sky. Very skillfully done!

Hah hah. I got a chuckle out of this one. I imagine this is how Gail's enemies see her by the end of the game. CaESar made this image based on TerminalMontage's famous youtube videos. Nailed it!

CrownStar drew two pictures of Gail. I'm a big player of JRPGs, so the first shot instantly reminded me of Persona 4's art style. (Hmmm... Phoeonotopia as a JRPG... there’s potential there...) Next, Birdy is shown carried off after her defeat. I really like Birdy's expression here - she just seems mildly uncomfortable.

There's a bit of a story behind the first image. As Firanka shares it, she wasn't able to defeat the Big Eye monster at the end of the flash game, so she believed a tall tale that what awaited after was a 6 armed Kobold boss. Hilarious! The second is a rendition of the lonely Anuri elder. A rare subject. The loneliness is portrayed well here. I feel lonely just looking at it!

Koo_chop draws the clash between Gail and Katash at the top of the towers. I really like this interpretation of the game's art style. It’s faithful to the in-game graphics. And the lighting, from the glow of Gail's bat, to Katash's sword, and the lightning in the background... Amazing!

Lime Hazard shows Gail with a salute pose. Very appropriate for this occasion. I also like how there's a slight tilt in the angle that Gail is portrayed. Those dynamic angles are always hard to get right, and Lime Hazard pulled it off very skillfully. See you next mission!

Lyoung0J with a digital painting of Gail posed sitting on a rock. I like how it almost seems like she was caught in a candid moment - she’s smiling, but also feeling self-conscious. Cute! The art style really pops, and I like how Gail is sporting what I call the old anime style nose. 

MyUesrNameIsSh*t with a sketch of Gail performing a skillful slingshot. I like how Gail is depicted with her tongue out in a mischievous manner, the way all mischievous people with slingshots do.

Niitsu Kentaro returns with a 2021 Happy New Year picture. That happened didn't it? A New Year... Gail's pose gave me a chuckle with how she seems to be waving the bat around as casually as one would wave hello. And "Phoenotopiyear"... Well said! One day we'll have our Phoenotopiyear...

Ochan Nu breaks all records with a stunning NINE pictures in one session :O

There's so many goodies here. My favorite would be the one with Gail staring intently at the screen - it's like she's looking directly at you. You almost feel uncomfortable.

Next, there's an Animal Crossing villager dressed as Gail and sporting her pink hair. It even looks like a house Gail would live in. Gail is a connoisseur of the arts and likes Mona Lisa. Yes :)

There are various comics of Gail pointing out Gail's weird food habits. A picture of Fran looking really cool, and even Gail rocking a bathing suit. (bathing suit image linked here in case NSFW). Wow!

Pimez didn't just collect the arts, he creates them as well! This one, which he aptly named 'The Year 175' is a depiction of when the dragons invaded the towers as told by an elderly Daean woman. Great pixeling skills! I got a good chuckle from the ice dragon leaving with its stuff slung over its shoulder.

Quo made a stunning picture of Gail playing the flute surrounded by the 5 musical notes and the Phoenix logo behind her. The theme seems to be "fire" and it works really well. Gail herself looks awesome depicted in her red suit - it's like she's leading a marching band!

Rai Asuha depicts Gail in the late game with her red suit, and night star bat, and holding a lamp. She looks ready for adventure! I really like the white outline here and Gail's poofy shoulders here - the art style feels reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Seri also draws Gail bearing her late game equipment. Unique to Seri's drawing is how all of Gail's equipment is accessible from a pocket on her shirt. I also like how Gail is depicted with her lucky earrings - that accessory is often forgotten.

Treedude depicts Gail with a bat and wearing a funny smirk. She looks like she's ready to hurt someone!

Warotar returns with everyone's favorite Great Drake, Bubbles! It seems so happy to be featured!

I'm really grateful for all the fanart this game has received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Closing Notes

Pirate drew a picture to mark the occasion. It shows Gail enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a pumpkin muffin. A rest well-earned...

Goodbye! Until next time!