#because even back then the prices for those were kinda high compared to other games. but if i had know just how mcuh they would rise

[sonknuxadow]

people hated shadows game and mocked it endlessly calling it one of the worst sonic games ever made for years and saying shadow himself is a cringe edgelord but im calling it now the second the trailer for sonic 3 drops and shadow as a character becomes relevant in the eyes of the general public those same people are gonna suddenly decide that its cool to like shadow now motorcycle and guns and swear words and all and the game will start selling for 200 dollars minimum on ebay . 70 dollars for just the case or manual. 500 for all 3

[ftmtftm]

Can you talk more about the gacha monetization models? I'm unfamiliar with how that translates to "AI" monetization... Also I'm eager to hear your thoughts on gacha since you say you have had the experience they aim for (a gambling addiction which oh goodness sounds so rough)

Yeah so important context here: I'm an iPhone user talking specifically about AI apps in the iPhone app store. This is important because Apple has very strict policies about the App Store pornographic content.

In the couple of AI apps I've downloaded to mess with and try to understand more, there are usually several different ways to generate pornographic images. That's generally the main draw of these apps - create "free" anime porn. But it's not free, because they need to get around Apple's policies.

The app I've been messing with the most has a very clever (and I think actually kinda cool) work around where to view an image it has read as NSFW it makes you click a consent button, basically confirming you are of legal age and are looking at the image for "artistic or research purposes".

But you only have a certain number of clicks before you have to pay for more, because they can't show you free porn because of the App Store policies. Buying more clicks is pretty expensive (but they're also pretty standard gacha prices when compared), but you get double the clicks if you're a pro subscriber. If you're a pro subscriber you also get unlimited generation and no ads! All for a little over $100. Then once you pay that $100 you can even get lifetime pro for almost $200! No your current pro subscription doesn't count as a credit towards lifetime pro! And that doesn't mean you get to stop paying for clicks to see porn! You still have to buy those!

There's also a chat feature in this app - which I have yet to look into in depth- but for that you have to buy credits that give you 30~60 minutes of chat time with a character bot. You have to pay more for porn.

It also limits the number of generators you can use unless you use a paid currency. Some generators are unlimited with the pro version, but even with pro you have to use the paid currency for others. You also still have to use the separate paid click currency to see any NSFW images you generate with the other, different paid currency, which is also different from the chat paid currency.

It's!! Incredibly fucked!! It's designed to get you to spend money to get pretty pictures in a way that explicitly reminds me of spending thousands of dollars for anime jpgs in high school - but at least those jpgs still served a function in a game. These jpgs are just jpgs that you don't even get to see first without paying for them.

In terms of gacha specifically though - Yeah! I'm a long time rhythm game player and was introduced to gacha through Love Live SIF and I've also played Tokyo 7th Sisters, Cookie Run Kingdom, Genshin, Prosekai, several Im@s games, and a good handful of others that I've also dropped money on (though Tokyo 7th Sisters is my favorite series and I've absolutely spent the most on it). I've genuinely probably spent at least an accumulated $100,000 on gacha over the last decade because all my disposable income in high school and college went to rolling for my best girls. It deeply troubles me when I look back at it! Especially because I still get the itch for it!

The models were bad then and they are genuinely only getting worse now. It's genuinely scary to me !!

[clavis-baby]

The (possible) Downfall of Obey Me

5-16-21 (when writing this the event toys out)

(Tbh this post is just be trying to be naïve towards Solomare and at ever aspectthat I mention you have every single right to be upset and mad)

Okay so it’s no secret that Obey me is making bank and is very very obviously trying to make us money on the game with even trying to make us spend money with original stuff that was free to now secretly changing some mechanics behind our back

Here’s a post by @thalfox https://thalfox.tumblr.com/post/653994972840919040/i-just-noticed-a-little-bit-ago-that-the-barbatos that dose a really good job at explaining everything that has changed

(also this isn’t a hate thing fox has actually done a great work explaining everything to good detail of what has changed)

With all the changes I don’t think that it’s shocking to say that players are leavening the fandom because of many reasons to the games getting stupidly harder to even the game development

This is just a heads up this in no way is a post saying “hey this is why you shouldn’t feel this way” I kinda just wanted to see from a business standpoint and be naïve of what’s happening you have every reason to be mad at Solomare because even me I’ve been playing sense week 2 of game released and I’m only on lesson 42 every counter argument that I’m going to make I have complained about at some point

Arguments

(P.s grammar is really bad it’s sort of turned into more of a rant I wrote this at 5 am without any sleep so sorry)

1. Obey me is marketed as a free to play game

First there are many reasons people are mad this main thing that I hear about is from a lot of people is that is a “free game” which lets be honest is ridiculously hard

But still it is still essentially a “free to play game” I personally feel like the main prolog is lessons 1-20 to introduce all the characters to understand and getting the just on how to play the game

Okay and now here’s where I sort of stand with obey me, the gatcha rates are kinda ridiculously lucky when you play for the first week you luck is so amazing and is in my experience with gatchas the best luck I have ever seen for games so it’s not really hard collecting the cards

Now are they the best absolutely no, this I feel like is where you might have to spend money unless they up the skills on the Nightmare A

But what Obey me is technically trying to do is obviously making you pay by releasing your favorite demon card every 2 week which…aren’t essential they are really just hoping that you love your main demon enough to pay

With the high increase on the gatcha rate there really isn’t a pity unless you count the card pieces (but I’m not going to count that because you are more likely to roll your UR before completing the pieces)

Now after lesson 20 once the huge break I feel like Obey me almost expecting the players to keep logging in any doing jobs and some players did do that and boy did it pay off

But those players have not needed to spend a single dollar and are all caught up

Now for everyone else who didn’t the game was so difficult it’s unimaginable and because for that a whole lot of players left the game and personally I don’t blame them because of how much impact the next lessons were

Now sort of like Mystic Messenger you really just have to grind you ass off log in everyday and do JOBS :D and grind but as hard and long as it is you are still able to be a f2p but where obey me fails is that when grinding Mystic Messenger grinding was a lot more fun for me it took about a whole year to just get 550 hourglasses even when I purchased and same with Genshin Inpact it takes a while but with obey me there isn’t really anything else to do once you get to a certain point which I think obey me really lacks and could be part of a reason why people left. Grinding just is not fun (now I do think that on a phone there is so much you can do with a app game but I feel like there could be a bit more they could do)

Personally I’m just going to come out and say it don’t spend your money for one UR card for your favorite demon it’s really not worth it now im one of those Mammon stans but if I ever wanted a specific card for instance the Mammon bunny card when it first came out I wanted it so badly and didn’t get it but I also knew there would eventually be a revival so I saved and did not spend any DV(demon vouchers) until the revival

The events

Some people complain about getting the cards in the events onestly for me this one kinda makes a bit of sense I noticed the first change when the Vampire even came out and how it wasn’t as easy to get the second card but if you think of it it makes sence why

When the first event came out (Santa event) you only had to collect about 30,000 gingerbread compared to the 100,000 in event today but when the first event came out no one was at high enough levels for the AP required and you would every day when times rest to gain gingerbread as well as there was only one part to the story so when people kept leveling up their AP Obey Me had to higher the bar so it wouldn’t be so easy to get all these cards and have a actual reward system but eventually they also added another story lesson starting at the Ruri Chan event

Second thing about the events is that one there started just getting plain out boring.

When lesson 20 finished and we were all waiting for season 2 I was still loving in everyday and logging in at 12 and 8 for the free 30 AP because I didn’t know what else to and would participate in the event but eventually what I think that all otome games that have constant events like Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Revolution they just start getting repetitive and getting real boring so I stoped playing until there was something more interesting

The last thing that some people complain about the events is that you can’t keep up with the story and the events now I can’t find it but I believe that @0beyme said something about the events a long time ago about how you have to pick between the event and moving through the main story which I kinda think isn’t really the games fault and more just a discussion on maybe missing a event

Add ons

Okay so they did this from day 1 you spend a certain amount of Devil point that you guaranteed don’t have and get out a card

Now this is just spelling out a disaster

Yeah so for the first Charge Mission is when you log in which everyone had but essentially what they want you to do is spend $100 on a game that you just logged into and never experienced or played I don’t really understand what they were even thinking with that but it must’ve worked for them to keep doing them

The second time they did it was when the break was over and season 2 came out and they celebrated by doing another charge mission which was the Lucifer and Simon card which would cost again $100 again I really don’t understand what they were thinking

And now this is I believe the fourth time they have done this for the 1.5 anniversary where they know that Mammon is obviously a favorite for many Obey Me players and where smart to put it on the really stupid charge mission but the difference is, is that instead of it costing $100 it would cost almost $200(same with Levi’s) for one thing I don’t understand

But one thing that you do have to remember is is that this isn’t apart of the main gameplay it really just is a mini game if you would even call it that of dress up and optimization so still I guess would be just a add on that has no effect on the actual story and game so you could I guess still call it a f2p game with really really stupidly high priced add ons

VIP

Umm so I am the first one to call myself out I have bought the VIP package first when season 2 happened and I knew how much I loved the game so personally it was worth it to me to support the developers and gain something out of it

Now I haven’t really seen much complaints on the VIP because people more use it as a “hey the game is impossible with out VIP” but the people who say this ive noticed never bought it

For $9.99 each month it is 100%

IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!! Out of everything you get which honestly isn’t much you get some extra free space in jobs and really that’s it and if you choose to use all your job slots for the highest paying you get around 30,500 about a 10,000 difference not really worth it in my opinion

With VIP you also get other things like higher chance of gifts from Jobs which you will not notice one bit, and +20 AP (which if you play the events is sort of useful) as well as extra packages exclusive to VIPs so after paying $9.99 per month you also get more things to buy and that’s about it for VIP now if you really want to get more grim just use your AP and spend it of normal lessons you will get more AP that way

The Story and Kids

This could be all me just complaining and a theory by I wanted to include it anyway

Obviously many people are not even caught up or even playing but as more lessons went on the less interesting the story became to me I don’t know if it’s a me thing but season one was absolutely amazing the once season two came out it was good but not anywhere as good and one

One reason why I think that it to me became almost bland is the amount of kids that is on the app and how sensitive people were if anything bad happens

It’s no secret that the Japanese versions a lot more non-kid friendly for hell’s sake the characters don’t even swear as well as all the colors I feel like to a American audience bright colors is usually marketed towards kids but in other countriesI think many understand that that is not always the case for instance a lot of people will thing in America that anime is all for kids but I mean look at Attack on Titan or Tokyo Ghoul you would not let kids watch that of literal people getting brutally murdered you just don’t see things like that in the West where something looking kid friendly could also be very adult like

Also wtf dose this in the App Store say +12 with Ikemen Vampire and a lot of other games if you have a game rated +17 then there will be a actual pop up that says something along the lines of how “thier could be violence acts and sexual act are you sure you want to instal”

Now the story I’ve seen people point this out but there isn’t really much character development for instance Beel he dose not have a actual personality his personality (fight me on this one) all you really know about him is that he likes food and his family now I could be wrong cuz I’m on lesson 42 but still not much and this is kinda with all the characters except the special ones where the devs really favor and love for story

Some one mentioned how the developers hold back a lot which I agree with 100% they said how when there is character development they all the sudden pull back and never will almost talk about it again like ???? So there’s this constant bland story

——————-

Honestly if you liked this I might do more cuz as much as this post made me especially at the end I kinda liked ranting so...yeah there is also many other things that I want to rant about but I’m tired soooo

feel free to comment your opinions btw

Bye ima go sleep now

[dangermousie]

Something Happened in Bali eps 1-2 rewatch thoughts

It's really interesting, rewatching this. God, I'd almost forgotten how much I love Jo In Sung. LOVE. I mean, I love him and his nervous energy so much that I don't even notice So Ji Sub, who normally I really like. (ide note - A Dirty Carnival was the best Korean movie I have ever seen, and what made me truly and utterly lose it for him - but it was so brutally hopeless, it made me depressed for days. Go watch!) Anyway, back to the drama. 1. I'd almost forgotten how unpleasant the two guys and Other Girl are in this, at the start. None of them are monsters (though by the end the Secondary Girl comes close, IMO, even if I end up feeling a repelled kind of pity for her) but they are all in their selfish shells - it's little things, like not helping Soo Jung with her heavy bag or treating her as an extra in their lives. Even their kindness is this thoughtless kind. It's funny because I am not sure if they change in niceness quotient that much (though both the men become much more desperately vulnerable, especially Jae Min) but I guess I get to know them so well and their reasons for being the way they are, I sort of end up not caring - I end up adoring Jae Min as a character, especially, so much. Even if he is the biggest trainwreck I have ever seen as a kdrama lead in my 15+ years of watching kdramas. 2. Soo Jung. I adore her. You could see how annoyed she is she is dealing with the tour group from hell (the other 3) but the way she pushes and carries on is WONDERFUL. So is her drunken camaraderie with Jae Min. She is in another universe from the poised, iced, controlled Young Joo. But it's interesting, she seems so (relatively) well-adjusted compared to the rest of them but as the drama unfolds, you see that this hard-earned cheerfulness is a facade and she is very broken too - between her and Jae Min, I am not sure, which one is more screwed-up. For him, it's his family, but for her, it's her poverty that has made her so. Ha Ji Won SLAYS in this role (so do the rest of the cast, of course.) She’s rough, she’s desperate, she’s grasping, she’s vulnerable, she’s irresistible - in other hands you would never get how two screwed-up, closed-off men would fall so desperately for someone so greedy, so grasping, so flawed - but here you are drawn to her vividness, to her joy, to her intensity, to her unique combo of sunshine and extreme damage. 3. You know, there are hints about her screwed-upness even this early on - the scene where Jae Min offers her $$$ for a one-night stand and she calls him a jerk (and you see by his reaction he doesn't even understand that what he said was insulting - he is puzzled. In his world, everything can be bought and sold, and there is no such thing as affection.) and then asks whether he is going to pay before or after. In her world, there is no room for the grand gesture, for throwing money in his face. She leaves only because he kicks her out (giving her money but not doing anything) telling her to buy her new shoes (hers are broken) and saying "it's not fun any more" (the first of many instances she really throws him off any usual ways he deals with things). And then she trips on her broken heels walking out, sprawling in the lobby, inelegantly grabbing and picking up money. 4. One of the biggest delights of this rewatch for me is contrasting in my head the way Jae Min is going to be with her later - utterly desperate and "brought down" and willing to beg and beg and beg, and the way he is now - emotionally detached, with all the 'power' on his side - I mean, contrast his propositioning her for that one-night stand and the scene where they finally make love, a dozen eps from now. Though she is totally rattling him even now - I love the scene where he first truly notices her - seeing her in the parking lot trying to fix her shoes, eating, and drinking. She is just so REAL and alive and immediate. No wonder he's caught (and then quickly looks away). 5. Jae Min's father needs to die in a fire after being slowly cut with a myriad of razors - the scene in his office in ep 2 where he is practicing golf in his office and Jae Min flinches any time the golf club is in his vicinity, and almost stutters, just - RAGE. Increased 1000x by what I know he does later. But I confess to being amused in the scene where he is throwing things at Jae Min during the board meeting and a flunkie keeps moving things up to him to throw - folders, bottle of water, so he won't run out of things - a definition of a brown-noser.

6. I love how oddly real this drama feels in its filming - people are not glamorized within an inch of their lives and there is no glossiness, no studied detachment, no appeal to coolness or w/e. It is what it is and it knows it. God, I love this drama!

7. (The below is spoilery for the whole thing) Bali has the distinction of having the most dysfunctional couple I have ever shipped. Years of therapy were needed for those two. Yes, my OTP was Jae Min/Soo Jung, despite the fact that the otp's end was murder/suicide. I don't care, I still shipped them - the ending of the drama is one of my favorite drama moments, in actuality - Jae Min becoming more and more unhinged because of his nightmarish family and then finally he believes Soo Jung just played him in order to scam money and ruin his family with her lover. He tracks them down to Bali and finds them in bed. Ironically, Soo Jung has just finished telling her lover that she wants to leave him and go back to Korea to look for Jae Min because it's him she wants. Jae Min, of course, does not hear her (and he is so catatonic at that point, I doubt it would have registered if he did hear). So he shoots her and her lover dead as they lie there. But while her lover is dead asap, Soo Jung has time to look at Jae Min and tell him 'saranghae' which is about the most awesome thing ever - she has never ever told him she loved him before, not through all his efforts to win her heart, not even when they made love. And now she is telling him as she is dying, because it's important to her for him to know before she dies - there are no games or conditions. And of course, Jae Min snapped out of it as soon as he shot and he is falling apart as is and then he hears her tell him she loves him and his face - oh my God. And he goes outside and kills himself and I sit there bawling and hoping his horrific family all have collective heart attacks and die.

Yes. I ship THAT. I don't care what it makes me. The drama makes no bones that Jae Min is beyond messed up - I am kinda amazed he is walking and talking, to be honest. His father wins the incontrovertible award for the worst kdrama father ever and if you know kdramas you know what a feat that is. The scene where Jae Min is on his knees in front of his father, weeping and begging to be allowed to have Soo Jung and his father beats him half into unconsciousness and then tells him it's Soo Jung's fault and he will go after her next and make her disappear and Jae Min is left pleading that he did not mean it and it's not Soo Jung's fault and he misunderstood? FLAMES. FLAMES WHEN I JUST THINK ABOUT IT. So his love for Soo Jung is no help - I don't think any woman could have 'fixed' him, and certainly the hugely messed-up despite her sunny demeanor Soo Jung, with her own major issues and fragility, was about the last person to do so. However, even if they could have worked out their happiness, with the help of some really high-priced therapy, his family made it impossible - in fact they turned the screws on even worse, not caring that their actions were plainly driving him into nonfunctionality land. But then - how else could it end with all the destruction and damage and desperation on both sides and his having no experience with any expression of love that was not entangled with violence. And in context of fiction, the OTP that has the potential for helping each other but dooms each other instead is my jam SO MUCH!

[dappersheep]

Food Fantasy: An Analysis on what killed a Golden Goose (1/3)

So first things first, disclaimers! I do not claim nor pretend to know every nook and cranny, ins and outs of the history of FooFan's conception, existence and uncertain future. I do not own the game nor its characters, only the opinions and thoughts stated hereon out.

This was born to vent out my frustrations with how a game like this was abused poorly by its own developer and publisher instead of being nurtured to become its full potential that could have overshadowed and remained better than the likes of Tencent's Tales of Food --I could dream, but it honestly had the potential to be.

Out of respect for the main tag, I personally will not be tagging this post and the following two with the main tag. If you want to tag it yourself with it, that's your choice. Only followers of my blog will see this.

This analysis is divided into three parts: Funtoy, Elex, and the Community. It starts under the cut. Well let's get started.

Funtoy

Ah yes, the creator. The developer. You'd think that with their sudden rise to fame during their global launch, they'd have used the massive profits they earned within the first quarter of 2018 to improve certain things about the game and then trickled it down as quickly as possible towards Global, right? Yeah, I thought so too.

After playing the game since launch, I've seen and experienced way too many things that just hammer in the fact that this is one of the most unfair gacha I've played in years. Some reasons being the following:

(Note: These are experiences ONLY on Global's version, it may also apply to CN being the original server)

⦁ The game's gacha model is aimed towards maximum predation on its players. F2p are forced to either spend some money (and thus tempt them to keep spending after getting a taste of it), or risk not even getting a good ascension of the unit to be useful at all. Paying for the event packs also doesn't guarantee that you would be able to secure a spot in the ranks. In fact, if you can't comprehend how the battle mechanics work, you could even de-rank. Fun way to burn that 800$, huh? At least you have the skin from rebates.

⦁ A little less known thing and probably theoretical at worst, the long joked about spaghetti coding of the game along with an outdated spine technology for the sprites could very well be the reason why a 2D game like this experiences the shittiest lags. Also how easy it is to hack this game with the right know-how.

⦁ Speaking of bad gameplay mechanics, did you know you could spend over fifty Mirrors and not get that final enhancement from +9 to +10 simply because there's absolutely no tangible safety net before +10?

⦁ If you're F2P, this game is terrible in giving you resources to stockpile. Because Funtoy certainly doesn't have a lot of weekly/monthly or even friendly events wherein you can get resources without spending another kind of resource. The Hawthorne event's rewards are lackluster at best, Bingo is severely limited in what it gives, and Recall also doesn't give much for a big event that only happens (supposedly) every 6 months. Did I also mention that daily resource rewards also kinda suck compared to how much you burn in just one event?

⦁ Monthly subs are a scam. Yes, you heard that right. My point of comparison here is Arknights. A monthly in AK allows you to have enough to 10-pull after 30 days, on top of a bit of stamina to help you. In FooFan? You have two monthly subs that do different things and even then, you won't have enough to 10-pull by the end of 30 days, nor is the stamina you get enough to even stockpile and ease the pressure of your need to save for the Gates or that stamina event that suddenly popped up.

⦁ A conga line of 'Must procure this unit at a high ascension to do well in the following events!'. You missed the first Pizza event? Missed the first Turkey event? God forbid, you weren't able to 5* your Beer on his debut? Well sorry, that 5* Black Tea of yours isn't gonna do squat to give you good damage. No, your 2* B-52 also isn't going to do much of anything with his lackluster damage capabilities. If you want a chance to get those event URs again, you have to wait for their pool with laughably limited pulls... and a bloated price to even pull.

⦁ The events starting after the first iteration of Turkey event get even more paywalled. As far as I remember, by the time Minestrone rolled around, an F2P with ample crystal resources can only get 2* at best. 3* and above are paywalled.

⦁ The game has incompetent balancing. The devs themselves likely have little experience in gameplay design and balancing, especially for a game with a growing roster of characters . A prime example of them launching a character not knowing it would pretty much unbalance the game? Look no further than Beer. The guy had to have a couple of nerfs done to him because he was just too meta. You know what's sadder? Before the 'switch' to Brave meta, almost all meta units was built to benefit off the Beer meta.

⦁ Artifacts. Do I even have to explain how the introduction of such a game feature so early into the lifespan of this game essentially fucked over the balance even more? Not to mention, all the more reason you'd be crying with the Gates of Trials demanding so much out of your stamina and crystal resources. F2Ps are again, the ones that suffer in this part. What's their reason? Profit, of course.

⦁ The nerf of resto chests. This was the primary source for people who were saving up stamina for the Gates... until Funtoy decided they were being too generous to their playerbase and dropped the stamina probability rate to 1% or less.

⦁ Terrible UI layout and design. Come on, be honest now, you've lost several thousand of your hard earned crystals buying screws in the fishing shop because you didn't notice that shiny warning in small text and a green button with the crystal image slapped on it, didn't you?

⦁ Look at all these SRs! All of them! Wow, they even outnumber the Rs by at least 80! What's that? There's more URs now too compared to Rs and Ms combined? That can't be real. But seriously, you'd think Funtoy could make some of these SRs into Rs and add them to the perm pool/shard fusion so people aren't stuck pulling Macaron or Dorayaki every time. They could have also populated the Team Up rewards with SRs instead of Rs. But you know... that won't bring them profit. Haha... haha.... Oh and I haven't even told you about the SP class...!

⦁ Lore. Yes, I'm sure by now you're aware that the in-game lore is different from the ones in the non-SP Food Soul bios, in the SP Food Soul bios that sort of ties in with the New World story (that global will never be getting btw). At this point, Funtoy handwaves the confusion away by saying, 'they're all different timelines'. Yes yes, an easy and cliche move to explain how shitty the writing direction went after a while. I don't know what happened, all I know is that lore got weird(er) when they introduced SP Rice.

⦁ They. Keep. Adding. More. Characters! They fail to see that a lot of their earlier players have imprinted on the first few waves of Food Souls and they sadly also fail to properly give some of them more story expansion... or skins. At the moment, they're shelling out so many JP-centric Food Souls because... as I see it? They're pandering to the last bastion of whales they have.

⦁ Merchandise. And I mean a variety of merchandise that isn't using the same official art every time. Like they couldn't afford to commission a couple of artists one or two times to make unique merchandise that would sell. They started too late on that train, and they even made it too hard for anyone not in CN or JP to even procure what already exists. Not to mention, they keep using the same 'popular' set of characters for their merchandise and never really expanding out to making merch for other characters.

These are all the things I can list off at the top of my head why Funtoy as a developer sucks ass. They could sweeten their words all they want, it won't change the fact that they've certainly made way too many bad decisions and found out about it too late, and now they're desperate to keep Food Fantasy alive to keep their profits coming in to make whatever that cat girl game they have and that supposedly 'side-game' FF2 they announced.

There may have been problems out of their control that I or you do not see, but one thing is for sure, they were blinded by greed for the money they were raking in on all their servers at the start, and never actually bothered to invest in more manpower in the right places to improve the game, both gameplay-wise and worldbuilding wise. It's actually saddening that this game could have been so much more with several QoLs and a more fleshed out lore, perhaps even spacing out the number of new units they keep introducing while going back to giving their old units more attention.

That's it for Funtoy. We're moving onto Elex in the next part and boy is that also a trip.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 196

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

“You’re also dating Miss Rose?” Glynda asked. “Aren’t you a lucky man.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me. Am I? With everything you know about me?"

"Well…" she didn't have a ready retort.

"Anyway, there just isn’t room in the dorm for everyone. I’ll be buying a house out at Patch and flying in to commute everyday.”

“Is your Mover rating that high?”

“Yeah. It is. And Ruby and Weiss both want kids and there’s no way that will fly in the dorms here.”

“So you’re keeping this job?”

“Looks like it. Ruby and Weiss both want me to so I don’t really have a choice.”

“It does have benefits.”

“They like how safe it is for me. Compared to the sort of work I could be doing it’s really incredibly safe. And the pay is good enough to raise our family, coupled with our savings.”

“But Ruby Rose needs a place to stay while you house shop?”

“An extra dorm, maybe? If one is free. I don’t want to impose and I can make other arrangements if I have to. I’d like her and Weiss to be close though while we shop and plan our wedding.”

“You’re engaged to them?”

“Only recently.”

“You didn’t mention any of this whenever I brought up team RWBY,” Glynda smirked.

“I… tend to keep that sort of thing private. It’s not something I run around bragging about.”

“But you probably could.”

“Look… I could also rip a person in half. Probably shouldn’t do that. Or brag about that just because I can. Probably shouldn’t brag about my relationships either.”

“Those are the same thing to you?”

“Well, they’re both something I probably shouldn’t do. Occasionally the situation merits it. I have two fiancés. That’s pretty slick. They’re both beautiful girls who want my children. They like me more than I like me. That’s nuts.”

Glynda laughed at me. “You poor, poor man. How will you survive a dual pregnancy?”

“Maybe keep my dorm open here…”

“No. You have to pay the piper,” she laughed some more. “I’m glad you have this. I was worried when you told me about your experiences that you had no good things tethering you to this world. I’m glad that isn’t the case. You lost so much. It’s good that you have some bright lights in your life to keep you strong and happy. It’s far too easy to give into despair without something like that. It did weigh on my mind. What would I really do to stop you if the worst should pass? But you have these other hooks pulling you to the world besides your work. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you…” I trailed off. “I hope we never have to answer the question of stopping me. I hope it never comes to that. But I’m glad that you were preparing yourself. It makes me feel a little safer. That’s one of the perks of this job really. You. You probably stand the best chance of getting in my way.”

“But you don’t think I could stop you.”

“Maybe that will change. But no, I don’t think you can. That scares me.”

“I’ll get you the keys to another dorm next to yours. Best of luck with the house shopping and wedding.”

“Thanks.”

“Miss Rose’s presence won’t impede your work, will it?”

“I don’t think so. Our attempts to find a good antipsychotic are more likely to disrupt my work than Ruby is.”

“But that’s important and you should do it.”

“Yeah. It’s important and I really need to do it. But it’s hard. Have you ever been on that sort of medication?”

“No, not me. I was a little depressed after Beacon fell but not so much that I required medication.”

“Yeah. It’s difficult to describe exactly what those meds are like. They change you. They change the way you think and function. Every aspect of your life just becomes slightly twisted and wrong. The way you remember stuff and feel emotions and think in general just becomes slightly off. And that’s the goal. To find the right twist of yourself that causes you to be more stable. But it’s a fumbling and blind watchmaker. They have your genetics which can show them which meds might work. But you still have to try them and that takes months. It seriously takes a long time to go up on a given med, see if it works, and go back down. And your goal is just to survive and get through the day while that happens.”

“Well, nobody has reported any problems with your teaching ever since you started a new batch. So I don’t see that as a problem. I wish you the best of luck in finding the right medication combination.”

“Thank you again.”

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

“You got an extra dorm room?” Ruby asked. “Who is going to want to sleep there? The other two will be snuggling up in this dorm and one other person will be left out in the cold.”

“He obviously planned for himself to be the odd one out,” Weiss interpreted.

“What?”

“Come on. He meant for us to be together and for himself to be out in the cold.”

“That’s so like him. I want to pull my hair out.”

“It’s temporary,” I cut in. “Just while you guys find a house you like out in Patch.”

“So it’s true. You meant for you to be the one out,” Ruby glowered.

“Temporarily,” I reminded. “Come on. There just isn’t room here.”

“I don’t like it,” Ruby said.

“Neither do I,” Weiss agreed.

“Then find a house you like fast and buy all the furnishing you want.”

“What’s our budget look like for that?” Ruby asked.

“Something in the ballpark of two point five million,” Weiss informed her. “That leaves plenty for the honeymoon and wedding and a decent amount of savings. Jaune’s making something like two hundred thousand a year here.”

“Well that should be fine then. We’ll have our pick of houses. We can even build one.”

“If you want to wait that long,” Weiss interjected.

“Oh. That’s true. Jaune will insist on being out in the cold that whole time. He’s such a goofball.”

“I’m right here,” I pointed out.

“Ah? So you are,” Weiss observed. “But for how long?”

“Um…” I trailed. I looked between them.

“You dumb blonde.”

“What am I going to do? Kick one of you two out?”

“We could alternate,” Weiss proposed.

“Don’t be ridiculous. If I can’t alternate spooning you two, you have to see why I have to be the one out in the other dorm. That’s life as a guy. I just have to hold that ‘l’.”

“Goofball.”

“But I’m not wrong, am I? I have to be the one out because the alternative is one of you being the one out and that just won’t fly.”

“And why not?” Weiss pressed.

“You know why not. I can’t kick one of my ladies out into the cold. That’s not okay with me. I’m very much not alright with it. And you wouldn’t have me any other way. That’s just the way it goes. You girls get to be warm and cuddled up and I need to find a way to deal with it.”

“That’s not fair,” Ruby disagreed.

“That’s my job,” I fired right back. “I always automatically get the short straw. That’s the price I have to pay for being engaged to two fantastic girls. You two need to accept that. That’s about as fair as it gets.”

“Ugh. You make me want to hit you,” Weiss decided. “But you like it when I hit you.”

“You’re such a darling. Especially when you hit me. It’s like, wow- how can I even cope without you hitting me in that way you do? Hit me some more, Weiss. Just go to town on me. I can take it.”

“It means I’m mad at you and I want you to stop.”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it means ‘that was clever but I know what you did.’”

“We’ll have to find a house fast then. And set a date for the wedding. And Jaune and I need to get an engagement present for Weiss and Weiss and I need to get something for Jaune. Oh no, we need to get something for Jaune. What do we do, Weiss?”

“I was hoping you would have ideas…”

“He is hard to get things for because he’ll love it no matter what. What are we going to do?”

“Just get me any old thing and I’ll be happy that I’m being thought of at all?” I suggested.

“Shut up, Jaune. This is serious,” Ruby informed me gravely. “No matter what we do he’s going to treasure it.”

“That’s what I thought about you but we managed to pick something out. None of us like material things like jewelry,” Weiss pointed out. “But yes, he’s going to be impossible to shop for.”

“I’m literally so easy. Just get two rings each of which has your name or signature on it and call it good.”

“Ugh,” Ruby managed. “He’s awful.”

“He’s the worst,” Weiss agreed.

“And yet you two are marrying him. Me. Marrying me. Fucking wild.”

“Language,” Weiss chidded.

“Butt,” Ruby reminded. She thumbed her new necklace. She popped the little latch open and closed as she worried it. It clicked and clacked minutely. “Well I don’t know. I have no ideas about what to get for him. This is going to take some serious brain storming. And it can’t be his ring idea because that will just gratify him.”

“He’s seriously horrendous about it. Could you imagine if we actually have to resort to that idea?”

Ruby shuddered.

“What’s wrong with the ring idea?” I asked. “I’d love it.”

“You suggested it. That’s what’s wrong with it,” Ruby pointed at me with venom. “We can’t use it for sure now.”

“She’s right. We can’t. It could have worked but because you came up with it, it just won’t fly,” Weiss agreed.

“I don’t get it. Is this just one of those girl things?”

“No.”

“Kinda,” Ruby informed me.

Weiss sighed. “We can’t let you win.”

“So it’s a game?”

“No,” Ruby informed me.

“A little,” Weiss said. But somehow they seemed in total agreement.

“This is super serious,” Ruby told me. “We have to make sure our idea is original and good.”

“But we can’t take your word because no matter what we get you, you will say you like it. And we can’t take any idea that comes from you because it has to come from us. So it’s kind of a game but it’s a fun and serious game. And you keep entrapping us more and more.”

“So if I come up with more suggestions-”

“Don’t you dare,” Weiss warned.

“Got it,” I said but I didn’t really at all. “I was just trying to make your lives easier.”

“We know. But that makes our job all the more difficult,” Ruby said. “You’d do anything to make our lives easier. You’d love a crummy gift and cherish it forever. So we have no way of knowing if our idea is any good.”

“And you coming up with suggestions just limits the things we can actually do because we have to be the ones to come up with it without your help. It’s honestly a little like why you think you always deserve the short straw. It comes from a gentlemanly place but it’s frustrating to deal with and we can’t even really be mad at you for it because it’s gentlemanly. Do you see?”

“A little better now. I’ll send you guys a list of suggestions.”

“Don’t!” Weiss ordered.

“No!” Ruby begged.

“I don’t know. I sort of like this strange power I have over you.”

“I’ll give you head if you don’t,” Ruby bargained.

“You’d do that anyway. You’re such a bottom. You do whatever I tell you in the bedroom.”

“Maybe I’ll take charge and be in control for once,” Ruby threatened. But she was threatening me with a good time.

“Sure. Yeah. Go ahead,” I agreed. “Whenever you want, sweetheart.”

Ruby’s gaze wavered then fell. “You butt.”

“Don’t bully Ruby. And don’t come up with any more suggestions. You basically eliminated our ability to choose rings as a gift at all,” Weiss informed me. “Just like that. In one fell swoop you demolished so many possibilities. Don’t make our lives any harder by trying to make our job any easier.”

“So if I just started listing jewelry items you would be screwed.”

“Seriously do not. I’ll give you head,” Weiss somehow made that sound threatening. “We’ll both give you head.”

“That would seriously be a good enough engagement gift,” I told them both. “Like honestly I don’t want anything and time spent with you would be priceless. Weiss could sing for me and I would be like, ‘this is enough.’ Ruby could look at me with those eyes and it would be a job done for you guys. I really don’t want anything more than what I already have.”

“We know that too!”

“That’s why you’re so hard to get a gift for,” Weiss explained. “No matter what we do it will be ‘good enough,’ and you know what? Maybe we want to do better than 'good enough.' But we have no way of knowing if it really is better than ‘good enough’ because you belong to us so completely that all you really want is a tandem blowjob or the sound of my voice or Ruby’s gorgeous eyes. We want it to be more special than that. We want it to be something you carry around and always feel to remind you of us. A blowjob just isn’t it. Or Ruby looking at you. Or listening to me sing just won’t cut it.”

“I think that depends on the blowjob. And therapy costs money but listening to you sing is priceless.”

“Aw.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Don’t ‘aw’ that, Ruby. That’s how he gets you. He’s just trying to flatter me.”

“Yeah. I am,” I agreed. “And you can’t take that away from me. Because you’re my darling and I want to flatter you. I would be honored if you were flattered by me. It would be my special, privileged pleasure.”

“You’re such an asshole,” Weiss decided.

“It’s shameless how you flirt with me,” I swooned. “Insult me. Hit me. Abuse me. It only shows that you care.”

“I can’t win with you,” Weiss decreed. “No matter what I do you get to walk away from this the victor. I can’t reward you. I can’t punish you. There’s nothing to be done because you take it all in stride.”

“You could come give me a hug,” I suggested. “Let me scoop you up in my arms and kiss your neck.”

“I bet you would like that wouldn’t you. I bet you would just love that.”

“Yeah. I would. I really would. And so would you. Don’t rebel against your desires, Weiss. Would it really be so awful to get swept up into my arms and kissed around the ears.”

“You plague me. Just because I told you not to bully Ruby, you harass me instead.”

“But you’re so adorable when I trap you. It’s like when Ruby blushes. I want it so bad. It ought to be criminal how you enslave me. But no, you walk around as a totally free woman to tease and taunt and make me into a dog. That’s what is really not fair.”

“You give me that power over you. Of your own free will.”

“You give me this power over you. You could deny me. You could deny me and shoe me off. But you don’t. You like it.”

Weiss’s cheeks turned rosy and she looked at Ruby for assistance.

“What? I would also like to kiss your neck. I’d like to watch him eat you for lunch. Don’t expect me to bail you out. Tell us, Weiss.”

Weiss sighed resignedly.

“Look how red she got around her ears,” I pointed out to Ruby.

“Careful. You’ll melt her, Jaune,” Ruby agreed.

“I told him not to bully you and this is how you repay me? You’re supposed to have my back,” Weiss demanded.

“I do have your back. Just not how you want me to.”

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[shrike-nest]

D&D Character Ask Post

In Honor of D&D, Here are 100 Questions answered about my character Alistair. Done from a prompt reposted by @mechmech and @scatterpatter , and also gonna tag my DM @aerial-ace97

What Does He Smell like: Ozone, Sandalwood, Pine

Voice: A light baritone, sometimes slipping into a bit of a lit from his native island (similar to a Scottish brogue/Irish lit)

Motivator: Before he met his group? Power and Adrenaline. Now? Redemption.

Most embarrassing memory: (TW: Animal Death) He doesn’t really remember this as he was terribly drunk at the time, but he and his crew stopped in a city that held goats as a sacred animal. With a terribly “bright” idea, he wondered how far a goat could fly? Because goats fly. Throws the goat off of the third floor of a building. Then proceeds to have a not very respectful Coffin Dance-style funeral for said goat.

How does he react to pain: Lots of swearing and anger.

What does he wear: He wears dragon scale armor that has three deep gouges in it from where he was previously killed. A faded and slightly ragged admiral style coat on top, leather breeches, and give this man some high calf pirate boots. He also always wears a green headband to keep his hair back, and occasionally an eyepatch to hide his demonic eye.

Most positive relationship: In terms of character development, it might be Torvid, as Torvid inspires Alistair to be a better moral person. In terms of wholesomeness? His partner/hopefully soon fiancé, Atwater. Atwater was able to show Alistair that he can have positive love in his life, without having to fight so hard for it.

The weirdest thing he has ever eaten: Corren’s cooking

Sleep: He suffers from nightmares and now more recently night terrors. Because he technically doesn’t need to sleep from effects of his class, he often chooses not to. However, when he does sleep, he sleeps hard, snores lightly, and octopus cuddles anything in his bed.

Favorite food/ kinda food: He actually really loves a dish similar to pao de queijo (Brazillian Cheese Bread).

Most insecure about: His ability of being a leader.

Like to wear: He enjoys fairly tight fitting clothing to prevent too much flapping when he flies or moves around quickly.

How do they react to feelings of guilt: Denial and self doubt

React to betrayal: A very quick and violent anger that chills to a long lasting and cold hatred. He doesn’t forgive easily.

Greatest achievement: After being mutinied against by his former crew, being wanted and supported as a leader for his current adventuring party

Too little sleep: Pretty robotic, but he doesn’t get exhausted anymore or feel any physical effects of not getting sleep due to his class.

What are they like drunk: He’s a very cheerful and boisterous drunk. Makes and laughs at many jokes. Can fall into a melancholy pretty easily though if he thinks on certain thoughts too long. Deflects with humor!

Music likes: 80s hair band music, and 70s-80s rock.

Right or left-handed: Right handed

Fears: He’s claustrophobic, but also has a fear of being vulnerable and getting his heart broken again.

Favorite weather: Sunny Day with a slight chill.

Favorite color: He really likes blue.

Collect anything: Well technically he used to collect gold and other high priced artifacts. He doesn’t really collect anything anymore.

Hot or cold weather: This man controls the weather. He enjoys his thermostat of life to be at a nice 70 degrees F.

Eye color: His natural eye color is an emerald green. His left eye is a demon cat eye, with a gold iris and black sclera.

Race/ ethnicity: He’s a human in the world of Sekrezia, but in IRL, he’s probably northern UK.

Hair color: Ginger/Auburn, with some sun-bleached streaks in it.

Happy where they are currently: … Well his adopted sister and brother just died in the last game so nah. BUT- as kind of a whole, he’s happy to be where he is now as a person compared to how he used to be.

Morning person: Yup. He tends to wake with the sun if he sleeps, and once he’s awake- he’s awake.

Sunrise or sunset: He loves the sunset. It calms and amazes him that he survived another day.

Messy or organized: He’s messy. Kind of an ADHD procrastination kind of messy.

Pet peeves: Disloyalty, undeserved ego trips, other weather veins that mess with his control of the weather,

Objects of significant importance: O’Malley, his halberd. He earned his weapon when he became a captain, and it has saved his life numerous times after.

Least favorite food: After being stuck in a cave for over a year? Anything with mushrooms.

Least favorite color: He’s not a fan of dark reds or browns. Reminds him too much of dried blood. (oooh edgelord)

Least favorite smell: Cauterized Flesh, Rotting Fish

The last time they cried: Last game. But before that? When he found out that Torvid killed his father. Before before that? When Atwater died. Before before before that? When he woke up alone in the desert after the mutiny.

Were they with anyone when they cried: His party. His party and both sides of the war that was going on. And no one.

One time they got injured: He actually died in a fight with a dragon, not with the dragon, but with a bat crony of the dragon.

Scars: He’s got a scar in the shape of a jagged p on his right cheek, a claw scar from when his eye was gouged out, and he also has the marks from the bat crony when he died. Alistair also has lightning scars on his arms that led to minor nerve damage that occurred when he first was learning how to use his magic.

Mental health issues: ADHD, Depression, Anxiety

Bad habits: Lashing out when he doesn’t know how to process his emotions

Why might someone dislike him: … Lemme get the list. So if we ignore the fact that he used to be a feared sky pirate, earning the nickname “Orphaner of the Skies”… he can be a flippant asshole sometimes. He can often forget to stay in touch and update people on important topics. Also, some may dislike him because he insists on being their dad (*cough* CORREN *cough*)

Why might someone love him: Alistair is very loyal to those he trusts and he can often fall into caretaker type tendencies.

Believe in ghosts: Yeah. He’s seen them and fought them. Also dated one.

Anyone they would trust with their life: Mecha, Corren, Tristan, Atwater, Jerry, Mephistopheles, and Torvid.

Romantically interested in anyone: Atwater!

Dating/ Married: He is currently dating Atwater

Like surprises: Not really

Birthday: His weave day is in Summer, Sibelya 13th.

Celebrate their birthday: He used to. Doesn’t really anymore, mostly because he hasn’t had much reason to celebrate or the time.

Family: His parents are dead, but he still has his adopted aunt Imelda. He also views Tristan as his brother, Corren as his little brother, Mecha as his sister. Atwater is his romantic partner, and he is now the step father of Atwater’s child, Crestwell. He also is the adopted father of Liam (deceased) and Liam’s twin sister, Serana.

Close to their family: Yes

MBTI type: ENTP

Zodiac signs: His Sekrezian Sign is Xamatang, The Coming Storm

Hogwarts house: Gryffindor

Alignment; Chaotic Neutral but he’s steadily making his way towards Chaotic Good

Nightmares: Yes. Often about his ex, Ghost. He also has nightmares about losing those he considers family.

View on death: If it happens, it happens. Once someone is at peace, leave them be.

Something they always laugh at: Seeing his group smile and joke around.

When bored, what do they do: Fly, tinker with magic, practice magic, research magic.

Enjoy the outside: Very much so.

Accent: I can’t replicate it, but I imagine it’s somewhere between a Scottish and Irish accent. However it has faded as he hasn’t been home in a very long time.

Upon seeing a slice of chocolate cake, the first reaction: *Poke it*, *Look at it*, *Look around*… *Shrug*, My cake now.

If they knew they were going to die what would they do/ say: He would find his party, if he can- gives them hugs, and hopefully be able to die watching the sunset. “Find what makes you happy and hold on to it. You all deserve to have happiness in your lives.”

Feelings about sex: He likes it. He also has a pretty damn high libido.

Sexuality: Bisexual

Squeamish around blood: Somewhat. It makes him uncomfortable now because he’s scared that he likes the sight of it still.

Anything they find gross: Rotting bodies and decaying bodies.

TV trope: Father Figure, Tragic Backstory, Anti-Hero

Enjoy helping people: Yes, he finds it comforting, like a form of redemption.

Allergies: Minor shellfish allergy

Pet: Does Meph count as a pet? I mean, he usually hangs around Alistair as a cat.

Quick to anger: Depends on the situation, but yes.

How patient is he: Not very. He gets very jittery and anxious easily. He’s getting slightly better at that.

Good at cooking: Somewhat, he tends to overdo it on the spice.

Favorite insult:” It’s cute when you try.”

How do they act when happy: The biggest doofiest smile, and he can’t help but laugh occasionally.

What do they do when they learn about others’ fears: He keeps it secret, but tends to go out of his way to help them through it, or help them avoid their fears.

Trustworthy: If you earn his trust, yes. A million times in return.

Do they try to hide their emotions: If it benefits him? Yes. And he’s damn good at it. But if he feels it’s not necessary to do so, his heart is on his sleeve.

Exercise regularly: Yes. His constitution is ridiculous and so he often finds ways to keep up and improve his stamina and strength even further.

Comfortable with the way they look: Yeah. He can get a lil cocky about it. But this is a man who uses bar soap on his hair.

Features they find attractive on others: Eyes and hands.

Personalities they find attractive: He likes those that can keep up with him intellectually, but also on a wittier level as well. He really views self-confidence as attractive.

Do they like sweet foods: Yes.

Age: He just turned 42.

Tall or short: He’s 6’0”

Glasses or contacts: Nah

Consider herself attractive: Yup

Sense of humor: Sexual humor, dad jokes ftw, but can also throw in some dark and self-deprecating humor nowadays.

What mood are they in most often: Most recently, a sort of determined melancholia. But he used to be very self-assured, confident, and flippant.

What angers them: Child abuse, betrayal, hurting those he cares about.

Outlook on life: “Just keep going. Roll with the punches. Because that sun is going to rise again, and you’re going to get to try again, try something new, find something new.”

What makes them sad or depressed: Thinking of those he has lost, thinking of Ghost, falling into his own insecurities.

Greatest weakness: He often jumps into situations without thinking them through. He tends to be very “leap before he looks”

Greatest strength: His determination and resiliency

Something they regret: Losing contact with his crew and Imelda, not being a better leader in his eyes, his past of piracy, and in some ways- all his deals with Mephistopheles, even the one that granted him his magic.

Biggest accomplishment: Isn’t this the same as greatest achievement?

Favorite memory: Sitting by the campfire with his group and all of them laughing, joking, and smiling with each other. With the good ol occasional ribbing at Corren’s expense.

[rune-writes]

To Become A Hero

@ffseven #zackweek » Day 5: Dream

The Price of Freedom Part 5

Word Count: 1669

Rating: G

Summary: It is the summer of [ μ ] - εγλ 1997. Twelve-year-old Zack dreams of becoming a SOLDIER.

Note: A look into Zack’s childhood and why he wants to become a hero.

Read on AO3. 

~*~*~*~*~

It was one of those days when the sun burned bright over the barren wasteland and the day was too hot, too humid to stay cooped up in a small stone house, where his mother was making some soup or stew over a blazing fire in the stove. Zack lay on his back beneath the shade of a tree on the cliff, sweat covering his brow and neck and his shirt was already soaked. His jet-black hair plastered to his skin, he fanned himself with one of the bigger, sturdier leaves, but that didn’t do much good when even the air was hot. Summer in Gongaga was a hell of its own.

“And now, for our coverage on Wutai…”

The static voice came from the small radio he’d swiped from the house. No one used it anyway. His father was out working in the day and his mother was always busy, either cooking or up to other stuffs with the village ladies. He had no friends his age. Most kids were either older and leaving to find jobs outside Gongaga, or much younger that he couldn’t ask them to play his games with him. Not that he’d say no if they asked him to play. He was their big brother after all. But, sometimes, being on the cliff’s edge like this with the village’s blue circular rooftops dotting the jungle far below and the gray outline of the Mako Reactor visible in the distance, the vast cloudless blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see, all Zack wanted was to fly.

More statics. One reason why Zack spent a lot of time at the cliff was because the higher ground usually had good reception for the radio. “Usually” being the keyword. Zack hit the top surface with his fist. The static cleared up and a voice came out.

“…saragi has set up defenses. A fight has broken out. Under Sephiroth’s leadersh…SOLDIE…nd infantrym…eak past…………………”

Zack hit the radio several more times. He should try going to the Reactor one of these days. It had to have better reception, right? How else could Shinra monitor it from all the way over in Midgar? They'd told the kids to stay away, but Zack could probably go past security one way or another. He’d done so in the past.

“You’re going to break it if you keep doing that.”

The familiar yet unexpected voice jerked him in surprise. Zack glanced up from his position and saw a young man standing at the edges of his vision, upside-down, by the bushes and undergrowth, coming in from the path leading down the hill. Brown leather boots and pants with green checkered shirt beneath a brown vest, the man wore an amicable grin as he said, “Knew I’d find you here.”

Zack’s mouth broke into a grin of his own. “Rei!”

Rei was a friend and a neighbor. Older by a few years, he had left to join a traveling merchant group that used to frequent Gongaga a lot a few years back. They hadn’t been back here for a while.

“What’s going on?” Zack said, sitting up. “I didn’t know you were coming.” Rei chuckled. Summer breeze parted his dark hair, his skin a darker shade of the brown Zack had been familiar with. Zack patted the spot next to him. “Where did you go? Any new, exciting places? What about Midgar? Is it as big as they say? Tell me of all the places you’ve been to.” Zack had talked so fast he was running out of breath by the time Rei reached him, taking his seat next to him.

“Slow down, kiddo,” his friend said with a laugh.

“For your information, I’ll be thirteen in a few months. I’m not a kid anymore.” He had an air of bravado, as though being thirteen was everything a kid could ever dream of. Though, well, in actuality, it was. Being thirteen meant he would be old enough to make his own decisions, to look for a job, and no one would be able to stop him if he wanted to try his chances outside this backwater village.

The corners of Rei’s lips quirked up. He ruffled Zack’s hair. “You’re still going to be my little brother no matter how old you get,” he said. Zack brushed his hand away with a scowl. Rei grinned. He stretched his legs in front of him and leaned back against his arms under the tree shade. “Midgar, huh…” His dark gray eyes took on a faraway look as he stared across the clear blue sky. “It’s big, all right.”

“And?” Zack prompted when Rei didn’t continue.

“I never really stayed there long,” Rei went on. “The group’s always moving about. But…yeah, it’s kinda cool, I guess. Cool as in a lot cooler in the summer unlike Gongaga, and maybe cool with all the plates and all, too. We spent more time in the slums than the uppercity. Not many people would look at our wares there. They’re 'too elite', if that makes sense. Though, compared to their stores and whatnot, I can’t really blame them. To be honest, I like the slums more. More personality. People are nicer too—most of them. You’d still find thugs, but thugs are everywhere. The only downside I can think of is that you can’t see the sky.”

Zack narrowed his eyes in confusion. “How can you not see the sky?”

“You can, just a sliver bit.” His hand went to draw imaginary plates and walls to indicate where the sky in Midgar was. “The upper plate covered most of the sky. One might even call it a steel sky. But it’s nice when night comes and these lights flickered to life like stars. The central Corkscrew Tunnel is also lit up so bright you can't ever lose your way.”

“Corkscrew Tunnel?”

“This tunnel that goes around the central structure that supports the center of the city. It’s where trains go, connecting the upper plate and the slums below.”

Zack couldn’t imagine it. He couldn’t imagine the scale in which Rei described it. All his world had only consisted of the jungle, the cliff, and the village. Sometimes, people from Midgar would come to inspect the Reactor, but they only spoke to the adults and they’d leave before dusk even came. Other times, Zack would find spots in the cliffs and hills surrounding the village where he could see the vast expanse of greenery beyond the jungle and the sliver stretch of blue where ocean met the sky. The world was so big, yet he was stuck in this small village no one had probably heard about.

“You still thinking of getting into SOLDIER?” Rei asked with a glance from the corner of his eye.

“Of course!” Zack leaped to his feet and puffed out his chest, hitting his torso with a clenched hand like a proud soldier having won a war. “I’m gonna be a hero, the best SOLDIER there ever was.”

“You’re gonna have to take on Sephiroth if you want to be the best.”

“You bet I would.” He’d said it with great zeal and determination. In his mind, he could imagine himself battling the white-haired warrior with his long-bladed sword, a steel blade in Zack’s hand as he rushed in and strike.

Rei’s snort brought him back to the present and when Zack looked, his older-brother figure was doubling over with laughter. The corners of Zack’s lips tugged into a sheepish smile. “Not good, huh?” he said.

“You’re never going to defeat Sephiroth,” Rei said in-between chuckles. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero, or a great SOLDIER.” He grinned, and after a while, Zack grinned back.

They went on to talk about everything, catching up on the last three years Rei had been away. Nothing much had changed. Gongaga was still a backwater village with not much else outside the jungle and the Mako Reactor within. Some of the adults still worked at the Reactor. Others looked for jobs as merchants or fishermen or hunters and foragers.

“Why not stay?” Rei asked one time, arms loosely hugging his knees to his chest. “Work at the Reactor like your father.”

Zack gave him a side-eye. “Why didn’t you stay?”

Rei stared, then nodded, saying, “Good point.”

Any normal person living in the middle of nowhere would dream of going out and having a job somewhere. Some place that actually had life—and Midgar was the best bet. A modern, bustling, metropolitan city—one could say it was the center of the world, with vast technological advances, lots of high-rises and skyscrapers, and, most importantly, job offers. SOLDIER was only one of them.

Zack had heard how difficult it was to enter the company. From the tough screening program to other exams no one was privy of. Only a handful of candidates graduated every year. But Zack would do it. Once he turned thirteen in September, he’d embark on this new quest. He’d go to Midgar, take the SOLDIER test, and he’d come out the winner. It would be the start of his new life. His new self. And maybe—just maybe—if he managed to gain fame and become a hero…

Maybe they’d do something about this place. And for once, his parents wouldn’t have to break their backs every day to earn a living.

“Have you told your parents?” Rei asked.

Zack went quiet. He hadn’t. They probably wouldn’t let him.

Rei drew a quiet breath as he smiled a soft, understanding smile. He gazed back down at the village, where people could be seen mingling around in-between houses. The soft sound of a babbling brook filled the space. From somewhere far away, a waterfall cascaded over rocks and boulders down the side of a cliff.

Rei ruffled his hair, and this time, Zack let him. “Make sure you tell them, all right?” he said.

Zack pressed his lips into a thin line. “Okay.”

~ END ~

[littleredroseonthevalley]

Covered Mirror

Summary: A light bulb creates its own environment, photography creates the photorapher. Does Emma create her relationship, or does it create her?

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Explicit depictions of depressive episodes. Reader discretion is advised.

If those descriptions relate to your or a loved one’s mental state, do not hesitate to call health services operating in your juristiction. It gets better.

Words: 2200

Notes: I vacationed in Noahland, now it’s back to Masonville. Keep the balance or smth.

I’m real proud of this one. I’m happy how it turned out. I think it has weight, but still ends on a hopeful message. I hope you like it too!

Why do I think I’ll be swarmed with anon hate? Is there something I can do that doesn’t end with me swarmed with anon hate?

Marshall McLuhan once said that the light bulb creates its own environment, and Emma Price sometimes cannot help herself but think about it. She creates her photography, and her photography creates a new Emma.

Photography was a visual art. It might have an easier learning curve than, say, sculpting, but it was still an art that demanded perfection and practice. It was necessary to develop an aesthetic sense, an eye for the light. All in all, great abilities to have.

The problem was when that aesthetic sense turned around on her.

After another win for their school football team, Emma stood outside the pitch as the students and their families pass her by, waiting for her boyfriend.

Waiting for her boyfriend to finish talking to Ava Lawrence. The tall, blonde, fit cheerleader.

Emma did not really want to believe that she was jealous of her. Ava was a cool girl; they were friends from the photography club. They even hung out on occasion. Besides, Emma was dating Mason and she trusts him and Ava, so it is not like she should care, but she cares. Too much for her own good.

Emma Price felt like she was far from perfect, while Ava Lawrence was the epitome of perfect. Perfect hair, perfect marks, perfect personality, perfect social life, perfect figure. If she was honest with herself, Emma had to admit that, on her weaker moments, she wanted very much to be friends with her, just so she could absorb some of that perfection by osmosis. She wanted desperately to be like her.

When Mason first asked her out that day in sophomore year high school, after longing after him for so long, she could not have known that dating the most popular boy at school could feel so lonely.

Mason was not a bad boyfriend, much to the contrary. He was an amazing boyfriend. He would never go out of his way to hurt her feelings, but the decline in her self-confidence seemed to be getting to her. It was not about him, it was about her, and sometimes she had difficulty remembering that.

Once he was done speaking to Ava, he ran back over to his girlfriend. The wind hitting his blond hair in a way that was bound to make anyone have a crush on him. He had the widest smile on his face, waiting to talk to her about the game.

“I didn’t think you’d show up.” He said, with a boyish smile gracing his features.

Emma was a little taken aback by this comment. “What do you mean?”

Mason shrugged. “You just haven’t been wanting to hangout or anything... Or just not coming to my games.”

She tallied the season games on her head. He had a point, she concluded.

“Sorry, I’ve been really busy.”

She did not like lying to him, because she knew that after so many years of close relations with each other, he could tell straight away. However, at this instance, he did not bother commenting on it. He concluded she would tell him if something was wrong.

Or at least she used to tell him everything that was wrong. When they were still friends. Before they made their relationship public, and before she heard what everyone had to say about that relationship.

Teens were vicious creatures. They would be nice to her face, supportive and welcoming, but as soon as they thought she could not hear them anymore, their tongues would run amok.

“I don’t even know what he sees in her.”

“Have you seen her hair?”

“Is it just me or she put on weight?”

“What is she even wearing?”

“He could do so much better.”

She began to compare herself to almost every girl in town that said or thought things like that. She started to believe everything they were saying. Some nights, she stood in front of the mirror on her closet door looking unblinkingly at herself.

She did not like what she saw.

It had gotten so bad, she put a blanket over her mirror and tried not to look at herself at all. There were days she barely brushed her hair, days in which she gave up any thought or care into her appearance, into herself.

People saw Mason, with his light hair, football skills and rich parents and thought he was not that bright, and to be fair, he was not going to make it into any honours courses this year, but he was perceptive when it came to Emma. Deep down, he worried about her. He saw how this year at school has affected her, but he could not figure out how to confront her about it.

“Alright, it’s okay. There’s a house party this weekend, though, at Chad’s place. Do you want to go with me?” He asked, but soon amended, trying to lay off pressure of her. “It’s alright if you can’t. I can go by myself, or we could do something else if you’d like.”

She rolled her eyes, and held his hand with a meagre smile, hoping her tone of voice inspires confidence. “Of course, I’d love to go with you. Why do you think I wouldn’t?”

“The last time we spent the Saturday together was last month, at that midnight showing at the movies, remember? We don’t even go out running anymore.” He pointed out. “I’d thought you might like your space on Saturdays.”

“Oh! So it is.” She said, realizing he, again, had a point. “I don’t mind spending the Saturday with you, Mase. Guess I’ve just been a little overwhelmed these days.”

“Good! It’s a date, then!” The boy beamed. “Would you like me to drive you home? I’m done here.”

Before she could answer, though, a high whistle came from their left. Mason’s teammates were hurdled to the side, signalling for him to come. He ignored them, but Emma felt their eyes on the two of them together.

“N-No…” She stutters, shaking her head nervously. “It’s OK. You’d have to drive all the way to my house and then back to yours. It’s too much trouble.”

“It’s no problem, Em. I want to drive you home.” He insisted.

“No, Mason, it’s better if I walk. That’s OK, really. I like walking. I get to admire the scenery, and you never know when inspiration strikes.” She motioned for the camera hung around her neck.

“Oh, well…” His smile falters. “No problem, then. I’ll text you tonight, yeah? And we can spend the Saturday together.”

The girl smiles toothlessly. “Sure, Mase. You should go, your friends are waiting.”

He sighed. “OK, then, I guess. See you, Emma.”

*_*_*_*_*

When Emma, predictably, did not answer her phone that night, nor made any sign to set up a date on Saturday, Mason decided enough was enough and marched his way to the Price household.

He parked his car on the driveway and walked in large, firm steps to the front door, on which he knocked three decisive times.

It opens.

“Hey, Mason.”

“Hello, Mack.” He greeted, stiffly. “Is your sister home?”

She hesitated. “Yes, she is sleeping.”

“This late?” He commented

“Yeah, it’s… Kinda of her thing on weekends now.” The younger girl responded; lips pursed. “Mom and dad are out. Why don’t you come in? I’ll take you to Emma’s room, and I want to speak with you, too.”

The blond nodded. “OK, I’m all ears.”

Mackenzie stepped aside for him to come in, and motioned for him to walk up the stairs.

“Emma is… Well, she is not herself. I think you noticed.” She began, and with Mason’s encouragement, she continued. “I don’t really know what’s up with her. Dad threw a few medical names at it, but we’re all grasping at straws here. He wants to get her on meds, Mom’s holding him back, but even she’s wavering at this point.”

His eyes widen. “I didn’t know it was that serious.”

“It… It’s something, alright.” They stopped in front of Emma’s bedroom door, and Mackenzie lowers her voice. “Look, you’re her boyfriend. I know she loves you. I don’t expect any miracles, and you shouldn’t either, but… I don’t know, try something? Anything.”

He sighed. “I am, but I think I’m not trying hard enough.”

“Just talk to her, OK? Try not to be too aggressive, she doesn’t respond well to that, and brace yourself. It’s ugly in there.”

Mackenzie opens the door slow and quiet, and Mason walks into Emma’s bedroom. As her sister said, she was asleep. He instantly noticed the blanket over the mirror and all the pictures of her on the desk turned down.

To say it was messy was an understatement. Clothes scattered across the floor, everything atop her dresser was on its side, and the blackout curtains on the window were closed.

He sat on the end of her bed and shook her awake.

The girl wakes up in a jolt. “Wha-…”

“Hey, Em.” He greeted, quietly.

“Mason? What’re you doing here?” She blinked in confusion.

“I came to pick you up; we’d agreed to spend the Saturday together.” He said, looking away.

“Oh, right. We did.” She said, pushing the hair out of her face. “Good morning.”

“It’s one o’clock.”

“Same difference.” She chuckled as she sat closer on the bed to him.

He reluctantly shook her off, giving another glance at her dorm and then he sighed tiredly. “Why is your mirror covered?”

Her eyes went wide and she looked down at her hands. She began to pick at her nails subconsciously as an act of nervousness.

“Oh... It’s nothing.” She responded, avoidantly.

He brought his hand up to her chin so she could look at him. “I’m not an idiot, Emma.”

“I know.”

“Why are you doing this to yourself?”

She bit her lip, looking back at the picture frame on her bedside table that had a picture of her and Mason when they entered high school. It was face down, like all others, but she felt the need to look at it all of a sudden.

“Everyone says all those things...” She whispered. “It’s really hard to not let it get to you. Especially when the voices inside my own head speak even louder.”

He moved his hand from her chin to her cheek, caressing it, and she automatically leaned into his touch. “They’re all full of shit. They know nothing, they hear nothing. Why do you care for what they have to say?”

She averted her gaze, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“Emma, you are the most beautiful girl in this entire school. Of the entire world, I swear.” He insisted.

She chuckled, pulling away from him. “Don’t lie to me, Mason.”

“I’m not!” The boy defended, his body facing her, grey eyes unwaveringly gazing her figure, begging her to look at him. “I mean it, Emma, honestly. There is no one prettier than you to me.”

“There are so many other better girls that would love to be with you, y’know.” She said, quietly. “Like Ava.”

“Like hell she wants to be with me.” He said, humouredly. “She doesn’t even like me that much, and even if she did! Ava Lawrence can’t even compare to you Emma. I can’t believe you would say that.”

She could feel herself crying, and before she knew it, he was wiping her tears away. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” He hugged her tightly.

“I feel like I do.” The girl hiccupped. “I’m so stupid. I just cause trouble and worry, and I don’t want to be like that, but I just can’t help myself!”

“I know, Emma, but it’s worth it. You’re worth it.” He assured her, holding her while she cried it out. “Don’t worry, we’ll fix you up and you’ll be better than ever. I’m going to help you, your parents and Mack, too. It’s all gonna be OK.”

He sighed, kissing the crown of her head and getting up. He walked over towards her mirror and pulled the blanket off. He also opened the curtains and placed the pictures back to their original positions.

Afterwards, he asked Mackenzie to come into the room. She took her sister into the bathroom while Mason cleaned up some of the mess, taking the dirty laundry downstairs, the trash out and organized minimally the mountain of papers and photos scattered on every surface.

When Emma and her sister emerged from the bathroom, she had showered, put on some nice clothes and some light make up. It was not much, but it was enough to make her feel better than she had in a long time.

Her boyfriend beamed boyishly at her, and she could not help to smile back. He offered her his hand and they made their way down to the public park on her neighbourhood.

Sitting on the grass, with the sun warming her skin and Mason’s bodily heat against her waist, it was very nice.

Emma had a long way to healthy, and she knew that, but feeling his presence next to her helped a great deal. She felt hopeful, and perhaps he really had a point.

It would all turn out to be OK.

MTFL Masterlist

[mayiotome]

XOXO Droplets [Free to Play/ ext. ver:$19.99]

My Rating: 💗💗💗💗 ▪️

itch.io game page

Producer: GBPatch 

Release Date: Aug 31, 2017  (Updated: Mar 20, 2020)

Languages: English

Genre(s): Stat Management, Romance, Slice of Life,  

Download size: 279 MB (W/L) 261 MB (M)

Content Warnings: Swearing but it’s censored anyways.

Advertised length: not listed in hours but the completed game is 320,00 words while the free version is 130,00+

My Play Length: a few (3-4) hours to complete all routes (using cheats after the first one and skipping all seen lines). 

Steam Key: YES

Achievements: YES

Demo Available: Technically there’s a free version that’s about half the game.

(There is also a horror version of this game I’ll be reviewing in the future.)

Description/Features from game page:

“The story begins when our nameable protagonist finally transfers into the boarding school of her dreams at the start of her junior year in high school. It would be perfect if it wasn't for that little catch attached to her enrollment: her parents will only let her keep attending the school for her remaining two years if she doesn't make everyone  there hate her by shunning them, like she always does.

Do your best to show just enough interest in the other losers around to appease the folks while still having time to chase after all the attractive guys in the MC's afterschool group, which just so happens to be a group for chronically unfriendable people.

★★★★★★★

No, seriously folks. When we say the protagonist and main love interests are a big ol' jerk squad it's not a mistake and it's not an understatement.”

Default Game

3 distinct jerky main boyfriend options: Everett Gray, Nate Lawson, and Shiloh Fields

6 side characters who'll be your buddies and 6 minor clique boyfriend options, each with a bonus effect that makes the game easier

Partial Voice acting for every significant character by a talented cast

The option to break up with your bf and start dating someone else, if you feel like it

A variety of methods to manage your Reputation with the unimportant students

Part-time jobs, stores to visit, useful items, optional mini-games, an in-game phone to call a guy up and arrange a date at one of several different locations

Over 130,00 words. Hundreds of different events, including a collage-style ending system where you get events for every goal you achieved during the game

Cheat codes for those who don't give a f*ck about gameplay and just wanna see the events

Paid Extended Addition

3 more main jerk boyfriend options: Bae Pyoun, Jeremy King, and Pran Taylor

2 sweet but not-terribly-bright side boyfriend options: Kam Sung and Adrian Wulu

Yet 1 more boyfriend option in the flirtations party boy Lucas Kaiser (New Addition!)

4 Extra Date Events for Everett, Nate, and Shiloh

The ability to unlock all 4 CGs and 12 outfits for Everett, Nate, and Shiloh, rather than just 3 and 10

The ability to unlock all 4 CGs and 12 outfits for Everett, Nate, and Shiloh, rather than just 3 and 10

50 more Random Events, 45 more Text Chats, 24 more Part-Time Work Events

320,000 words in total

An accessory system that lets you decorate the main character with a variety of pieces, plus small events where characters comment on the accessories you wear

The option to change the background of your cellphone to one of 12 different options

Even better cheat codes

My Review:

This game is half stat manager, you have to “work” to get money, choose where you sit at lunch to raise your popularity with different cliques, etc. 

The story isn’t all that long if you use cheats but if you do use cheats you can’t get certain achievements.

The free version only lets you date 3 out of the main 6 guys (The paid extra version gives you those 3 + 3 others that are more side characters but they have their own scenes too, though not many).

It’s not too long or that story rich compared to other games I’ve played. The gameplay isn’t too hard or difficult to figure out.

You can pick the first and last name of the protag but not her looks.

Story/Writing

The story isn’t that long or complex, you have an ultimate end date. Extra scenes take place at the jobs you do every few times you do them. Each job is connected to a character (and school clique) with a few scenes. There are 1-3 date scenes per date location per guy. On certain (calendar) dates certain events happen, depending on who you’re dating certain dialogue will change but it’s not too big of a change (maybe like 3-5 extra or changed lines). 

Most of the game is just slight dialogue changes depending on who you want to romance/who you’re dating and a few original scenes per character.

Characters

So yeah, they’re not lying when they say that the characters are jerks. Kinda loveable jerks after a while but yeah, none of the guys actually want to date the protag but she kinda just says “Hey we’re dating now” or “Hey we’re going on a date tomorrow” and they just go with it albeit reluctantly but she grows on them for the most part.

There are 3 side characters you can date too, for achievements and I think 6 others for smaller perks for the game but no actual game-play involving them and it takes a long time to be able to actually date them as you need to meet certain requirements.

The 3 side characters are only with the paid version but they don’t go to the school the protag goes to so there’s less scenes of them really.

Visuals

The style of the stat raising menu/Weekend Planner is cute, the CGs are drawn in a cute drawing style and the rest are classic looking backgrounds that match the character styles.

The protag has a little portrait in the bottom corner where her facial expression change. With the paid version you can buy her accessories and they show up on her in game (some also trigger random events for each guy, 2 per guy as there are 2 versions for each of those items).

Sound

It is semi-voiced meaning there’s sigh sounds, growls of annoyance, a few lines here and there are voiced, they each have a set of “catchphrases” like the protag will go “Boo” when she is unhappy or a little laugh sound, Nate saying “this is absurd” when he’s annoyed or “You can’t be serious!” Sometimes they say the first or first few words of a sentence.

Stat Raising (Gameplay)

It’s not too hard to keep the stats (clique popularity) even/balanced so you don’t fail the game. It’s easy to earn money via the jobs, if you have a set guy you want then keep doing the job associated with him (where he also works) to raise his stat with you, get scenes at that location and earn more money the more you progress that job. (There’s no mini game for the jobs just occasional scenes.)

Using cheats the stat gameplay goes by fairly quickly and with no possibility of failing. You can get through each route quicker this way but there’s no way to skip the actual weekend planner part (which is good because you can go on dates or the store still.)

My strategy is to use a cheat to raise clique levels to the max, to get money, and buy a bunch of taffy (which skips the weekday choice pages and lets you quickly get to new story events.) that way I can just skip over the mostly tedious parts of the gameplay.

Worth the Price?: In my opinion, yes. You get a lot more content, unlock the other 3 guys, outfits, cheats more, date options, etc. (See above) and clearly time and effort went into this game. There’s no bugs, the VA is decent however limited. I’m sure some people might thing it’s a bit expensive but you have to remember you’re supporting a creator and not some big game cooperation.

Conclusion aka TL;DR

It’s not your traditional guys quickly fall for the protag story as none of the guys actually want to date her when they start dating. All the characters are jerks (So much so that they’re all in a club cause no one else wants them in theirs) but they do grow on you after a while. There’s no way to really skip the stat raising part of the game but it’s also not that hard to keep everything balanced and there’s always cheat codes.

I ended up getting the extra version (meaning paying for the rest of the game) because I wanted to romance Jeremy and Pran (Green and white haired ones).

My Rating:

Story: 7/10 (would score higher if the routes were more different.)

Characters: 9/10 (They’re jerks but they’re meant to be. This isn’t really a game where the characters will compliment yours and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside but they’re well done.

Visuals: 10/10

Sound: 10/10

Gameplay: 9/10 (sometimes you just wanna skip all the stat stuff and just read the story. there are cheats in that case but you still need to actually click through the weekend stuff and keep skipping days until you get to the next event day). You can’t simply roll back on the mouse wheel to change a choice or rehear a line, it’ll bring up the log page where you can click any line that has sound to hear it or read what was said.)

Overall - 💗💗💗💗 ▪️

[dxitydoo]

So... the iPhone SE...

Alright this one is gonna be a long one so scroll on past if you’re not interested. If you are, then buckle up because here’s a multi-part essay about my opinions on the new SE.

For anyone that saw my post about getting a new phone and wondered what phone I got, I got the new iPhone SE (yes, I’m an Apple person. Don’t come for me).

At first, I was seeing videos of people getting excited over the phone but now, as time has gone on, those same people are now making videos criticising the phone.

Admittedly, they have some good points to bring up. The battery of the new SE is not amazing. It doesn’t outlast my dad’s XR which is somewhat annoying to say the least.

My counter-argument to that is that it lasted a whole day of me playing games on full brightness in the sunlight and didn’t die on me once which is honestly incredible after the last phone i had but anywho we’ll discuss this later.

My problem with a lot of those videos is that I feel like they’re getting the wrong end of the stick about what the SE is trying to be and they’re comparing it to the wrong phones.

The Original SE

The original SE’s main selling point (seriously why did Apple name them like this this is confusing) was that it had the newer internals of the 6S (so the faster processor, the better camera, etc) in the smaller body of the older 5S.

That was why I, and a lot of others I’m sure, liked it. Because it was a newer phone but in a size I preferred.

It also didn’t break the bank.

The old SE was praised for combining new and old in a way that complimented the old form-factor and rejuvenated in while also allowing people to access the newer features that were coming out in updates. At the time of writing this (27/04/2020), the old SE still supports new iOS updates and runs iOS 13 with minimal hiccups (not counting the fact that iOS 13 isn’t the most bug-free of updates).

But now, in 2020, the new SE is released and people are criticising it for the same thing they praised it for back in the day. They’re complaining that it has Touch ID, that it doesn’t have a edge-to-edge display, that it’s small, that the battery isn’t good, that the camera doesn’t stack up.

Look.

Everyone is free to have their own opinion. If you don’t like the SE, that’s fine. You don’t have to. No one is forcing you to. Just keep scrolling coz I do like the SE and I’m about to defend it til I run out of breath.

The “Old” Body

The SE combines old and new. That’s it’s schtick, that’s its gimmick. It was the thing for the 2016 SE, its the same for the 2020 SE. Although I would’ve loved to see an SE with an edge-to-edge display like any of the X or the 11 range, I’m not super surprised it hasn’t happened.

In fact, the small changes they have made, such as all colours now coming with a black bevel (and the better colour matching between the bevel and the screen), make it look really high-quality and beautiful honestly.

It has the same body as the 6, yes, but it doesn’t look like the 6 because of that colour-matching. And I appreciate that.

Oh! And the back being the non-metallic colour? God that’s sexy. The back is more reminiscent of the 11 (or the XR, I suppose, depending on what colour you got) than the 6 or 7. So it’s not unchanged?

Touch ID and Haptic Touch

Again, a controversial topic. The Touch ID in the SE is like the 3rd Gen or something?? I don’t actually know. But it’s several generations in at this point and it shows.

I came from the original SE, which had one of the first ever generations of Touch ID (if not the first) and the speed with which this new phone unlocks is incredible compared to the older model.

I tap the button once and the phone unlocks instantly. That is it.

Maybe it’s cumbersome to have Touch ID back again after all this time but if you’ve come from a Touch ID phone, especially one of the older models (which really... I think that’s probably the intended audience), it’s a big improvement.

And look no further for someone who was viscerally against the fake button Haptic Touch thing.

I hated the idea of it. My view was I either wanted the real button or no button at all. Full stop. End of story. You’d never change my mind.

Yeah... the new SE changed my mind.

I have the haptics turned up to the highest setting and it actually feels like a real button. Its less spongy than a real button, of course, and feels stiffer (kinda? Maybe just shallower) but its actually a really satisfying feature.

I remember first trying the fake button on the 7 and it vibrated at the wrong time or you’d try to press it to do one thing and it’d do another. It was confusing and made it very difficult to use.

I will say now I haven’t actually tried using an 8 so I can’t pass judgement on that but i like the SE.

And the Haptic Touch is really really nice.

I never thought I’d have a phone that has built-in rumble when playing games but here we are. This is the future.

Aside from being kinda nifty to feel the vibration in your hands when something happens on-screen, the Haptic Touch vibrates under your finger when interacting with the rotating dials to set timers or reblogging posts on tumblr. It’s a weird experience but not an unpleasant one and I like it way more than I was expecting to.

The Small Size

As for the size?

I really like it.

It’s big enough that it feels like a step-up from my old phone but not so big that I’m struggling to hold it (*cough cough* the XR *cough cough*).

Okay so my touch-typing is suffering a wee bit at the moment but tbh I started to struggle on my old phone before I upgraded coz the screen was just a little too small so it’s more a me thing than an it thing. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

The camera.

I feel the need to mention that my last phone was the 2016 SE so, maybe it’s because my standards are really low, or maybe I’ve never owned an 11 and, therefore, have no comparison for it that way? But I don’t think the camera is bad.

In fact, I would even go so far as to say the camera is really fricking good.

After using a phone with a front-facing camera that could barely shoot 480p, stepping up to 1080p on the front is Wild™. The difference between this new camera and the old one is incredible.

If you want a camera that shoots good quality photos, has good colour balance, can actually show the sky as blue when shooting through a window (yes this is how low my expectations are), then omg this phone is incredible.

Obviously, its never gonna beat the 11 with its two cameras and its not gonna be able to contend with the 11 Pro series with their three cameras but hey, the phone is like half the price so??

The Battery

Okay, so lets talk about the battery.

I know this is a bit of a sore spot with people because iPhones recently have been coming out with bigger and better batteries every year.

I did a quick check through and, according to Apple, the battery life is about the same as both the 7 and the 8, which makes sense as they all share the same body. Unfortunately, that means that its probably a size issue. As in, thats the longest a battery of that size can last in a phone. Which is kinda annoying.

But, this is a post about my experience with the SE and I haven’t ever owned a 7 or an 8. My mum owned a 7 and the battery on that was god-awful and I’ve had a much better experience with my SE than she did.

First of all: some context.

Again, a friendly reminder my last phone was a four year old SE. It was a 64GB one as well, so you know I’m being legit (they stopped selling the 64GB (in the UK at least) about a year after the phone’s initial release).

So the battery on my old phone was absolutely fine. At first. As time went on and the phone got older, it did, unfortunately, begin to struggle.

As a reference, a few months before I replaced it (given lockdown doesn’t give the most accurate overview of what it was like to use on a day-to-day basis), it wouldn’t make it through a day at school without dying at least once, sometimes twice.

I had to carry a portable charger with me everywhere I went.

I left my house when it was on 100% and, by the time I got to school after an hour on the bus, it would be on 60-70% on a good day.

Letting your battery die everyday is really not good for it but, try as I might, I couldn’t stop it from happening.

I tell you this to let you know that my criteria for a good battery is literally just “lasts me through the day”.

I’ve had my new phone for about three days now and it hasn’t died on me once.

I played games on it in bright sunlight with the phone on full brightness for several hours straight yesterday and yet it still lasted me through the day and then some. After being off charge for 11 hours, it just about hit 20% before I put it on charge.

Today, I was on social media: tumblr, instagram, youtube, for the majority of today. Both tumblr and instagram had an uncanny ability to completely decimate the battery life of my old phone. They could reduce it from 50% to 40% after 5 minutes. But, again, no problemo for my new phone.

It got to about 50% today before I put it back on charge to go have dinner.

I’d say that lasts through the day quite nicely.

Especially given it’s getting a lot more use than it would normally because a) I’m stuck inside with nothing to do and b) shiny new phone!!!

But I digress.

So, Why Does The SE Exist?

I’m gonna be real. I don’t think the iPhone SE (2020) is trying to be anything fancy. It’s not trying to be the next iPhone 11, it’s not trying to replace the XR. If anything, it’s replacing the 8.

I don’t think the SE is a bad phone. It does everything it says it does and it does it well.

I think the YouTube reviewers have it slightly wrong. I don’t think they should be comparing the SE to the 11 or the XR because, realistically, the people who own those phones aren’t gonna be buying the SE for themselves.

The people who are gonna be buying the SE are the people who have the 5s or the old SE or the 6s or even maybe the 7. (I’m not sure how noticeable the jump would be from 8 to SE, given they have very similar specs).

They’re the kind of people who want a new phone but don’t have the money to go for the more expensive XR or 11 range.

Or maybe they don’t want a giant phone because idk bout you but I have small hands and the XR is both large and heavy and that’s not practical. Plus, the XR with women’s jeans? Really? Not happening.

So, while I understand why reviewers are comparing the SE to the 11s or the XR—because the SE has the internals of those two and is closer to them in terms of release date—I don’t think it’s actually realistic.

TL;DR

YouTube reviewers are comparing the SE to the recent phones when they should be comparing it to the older ones, which is the more likely transition. The iPhone SE has a lot more going for it than people say and I really like it.

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

The Many Stories

A spn au with the story of two brothers

Kim Seokjin and Kim Jungkook; Hunting monster and Saving people

wc:1616

“Okay so I’m going out to the bar right now. I need a break from all the books about how a demon can enter someone’s body.” Seokjin said as he shivered at having remembered one specific way they enter the body of someone.

Seokjin, Jungkook and you were doing some research about a certain case that they were working on at the moment and then you all got side tracked and chose to start a game. Whoever could read the grossest sentence from any random book wins ice cream. Yea it’s a dumb little game, but that’s what makes spending time with the boys enjoyable for you. They’re your family, yea you were with the other angels when you were up in Heaven, but everyone didn’t feel like family to you. Most of them took their certain task too seriously; you were technically just a soldier for God and Heaven.

...

You were never one to medal in other earthly affairs if they weren’t needed for your attention, but something about the Kim’s drew you into them and their MANY problems. You were just coming down to Earth to look into them and then leave...but you never did, and when the angels started causing plots against your boys they asked you-

“The Kim’s or us? Your family (Y/n), you belong on our side.” One of your very few angel friends said.

“Jimin, you know I do care about you- but...just something about those boys draws me towards them. I’m sorry, but I’m going to be on their side during all of this. So you can either respect my decision or you were never my friend.” You started standing your ground.

With your head held high and your heart sinking just a little with the look Jimin was giving you, you started forward. As you were walking past, Jimin reached out and grabbed your upper arm stopping you abruptly. You kept your face set not wanting to give in easily to Jimin.

You know what the other angels have said about you behind your back, come on just because your ‘angels’ doesn’t really mean you're all nice. They call you ‘weak’ ‘easily manipulated’ ‘soft hearted on the humans’.

‘Weren’t we supposed to be kind to the humans if God created them?’ that always bothered you whenever a fellow angel would call you weak. You can still kick their ass easily. 

“Of course I’m your friend (Y/n) I just want you to know what the consequences will be for choosing the humans over us.” Jimin reasons with you getting to soften up a bit understanding where he’s coming from.

Jimin has always had a big heart, especially towards you mostly.

...

 “Listen bird wings, you came to us. So why don’t you just tell us why you are here and we will decide what to do going forward.” Seokjin talked back to the angel who randomly appeared inside of the Men of Letters bunker.

Seokjin and Jungkook were back home after their case in California went sideways. Turns out, Lucifer is deciding to rise from Hell and wants to start the apocalypse, and he needs Jungkook’s body for that.

...

“Why are you telling us this again?” Jungkook asked when the demon- Taehyung told them what was happening with everything; the angels, Hell, Lucifer, apocalypse.

“Because stupid, I don’t really want Lucifer back. He’s a terrible ruler for Hell, he throws tantrums for no reason- well mostly having to do with his family to outcast him for eternity, but that's not my business. Look, I’m trying to get to the throne right now in Hell, but there is someone who is blocking my way. Another demon named Yoongi is currently on the throne taking over Hell’s management. He’s a dick.” Taehyung spat coldy.

Jungkook just looked to Seokjin to see he had his face in his hands like he wanted to just drink himself to death at this very moment. Jungkook turned back towards Taehyung and was just eyeing his body- well the body that he’s possessing at the moment. Jungkook didn’t trust him, why would a demon not want Lucifer back to rule Hell, it is his place after all.

“Well there isn’t really much that we can do about this whole situation Taehyung, we didn’t even know of this whole thing so not much is going to change.” Jungkook just stated.

Seokjin raised his head out of his hands and started forward towards the demon hoping to pin him against the wall, but Taehyung blinked out of the way appearing behind Seokjin instead. Taehyung kicked Seokjin hard in the butt causing him to hit the wall instead. Jungkook ran over to his hyung and helped him back up to his feet.

“Look, I’m here as a warning to you guys. I have information that can possibly help you if you ever get stuck on certain cases, but there will always be a price that comes with that. I’m a expensive guy after all. Oh also if you ever need to call me, just don’t let (Y/n) hear about it. She's the jealous type.” Taehyung smirked.

...

Jimin looked at the two humans and just took in their features.

Seokjin. He was just a bit taller than Jungkook, he had black hair that was sweeped back from his forehead, his cheeks were slightly chubby, they probably were holding onto the baby fat. His lips were plumed, but Jimin knew that they were kinda small compared to his lips. (Y/n) used to call them-

“You look like a Bratz doll with those plump lips of yours.” She would say out of nowhere and giggle knowing that Jimin had no idea what she was talking about.

“A what doll?” He would reply with confusion just like she knew he would.

“They are a doll brand down on Earth. They have very plump lips, you probably give them a run for their money.” She giggled

Jimin snapped out of his moment of sudden memory and turned to Jungkook.

Jungkook. Almost the same height as Seokjin, just a couple of inches shorter than him. Although Jungkook was looking like he was packing on a bit more muscle than Seokjin was. He also had black hair that was sweeped away from his forehead. Jimin noticed Jungkook had a tiny scar on his left cheek.

‘Now I know why (Y/n) liked these humans so much.’ Jimin said to himself, smirking slightly.

“Look I’m here looking for (Y/n). She hasn’t reported back to Heaven in a few days and she would always come up everyday to tell me she was safe. So what I want to know is what did you do with her?” Jimin’s voice deepened at the last statement. 

...

The storm outside was raging, the wind was howling causing the shutters on the barn to blow up and down causing a loud disturbance. There were symbols of all types of religions and spiritual origins spray painted on the walls, floor and ceiling of the barn waiting for whatever type of monster that was coming for them.

Jungkook was left behind because Seokjin was doing...whatever Seokjin does if there isn’t a case going on, but Jungkook kept feeling something with a strong presence around him. So he had his hyung drop him off at one of their fellow hunter’s houses since he was a really close friend of theirs he was basically another family member, which was kinda funny because of his last name.

“Namjoon hyung how have you been doing?” Jungkook asked as he walked through the door to give his friend a big, warm hug. 

Kim Namjoon has been a friend of the Kim brothers for a couple of years, Namjoon is just two years younger than Seokjin and he is three years olders than Jungkook. Namjoon became friends with Seokjin first because they met during a vampire case that was happening in Nebraska. Jungkook met Namjoon about a year after that case when Seokjin brought him to his house so they could look for research on demons (since they didn’t own a home at the time).

Anyway Jungkook and Namjoon were out in an abandoned barn that was on Namjoon’s property so they could try and lure in whatever creature Jungkook was feeling around him. As the wind was picking up speed both Jungkook and Namjoon looked towards each other.

“Hey Jungkook maybe we should head inside, this could be a storm coming.” Namjoon tried to reason out of Jungkook.

Jungkook shocked his head and turned back towards the entrance of the barn keeping his gaze steady in the doors and his hands on the shotgun he was holding cocked and ready to be fired if needed.

There was a loud CRACK of thunder and a flash of lightning before the doors of the barn opened and there stood a person.

Jungkook couldn’t make out their figure, couldn’t tell what they were. The figure just started to walk towards the two Kim’s and when they didn’t stop when they walked past a demon trap on the floor, Jungkook had his gun ready if they got any closer.

When they just kept walking, not taking a single second to stop, that's when Jungkook started to fire off shots along with Namjoon and his pistol. As Jungkook was cocking his shotgun to fire off more rounds a flash of lighting lit up the barn allowing for him to get a glimpse of the figure and what they were.

It was a woman, and behind her on the walls was the shadow of-

“Wings?” Namjoon whispered to himself like even he himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

[hardeepcox]

Visa Run #3

 Before I start this, I want to add that during Visa Run#2 my dad, Poomi and I found May at the Foxzee’s bargirl place. Business was dead though because of Chinese New Year and actually it felt pretty awkward. I also want to add May had acquired a laugh that seemed more like a maniacal cackle, true story. Seems hilarious now though oh my god. May and I had been messaging every now and then so we stayed somewhat in touch, but when we met this time the atmosphere just felt really awkward. She told me how less fat I now looked and then invited me to play pool. She destroyed me in the first game. We had a re-match, and the bar boss then told her to let me win (thanks for the intel Poomi [he understands Thai]). Dude I am so bad at pool that I actually sunk the 8 ball too early and managed to lose again. I give up at pool, another awkward beer later, I can hear Poomi’s soul faintly saying “true…. yup….” (this is his catch phrase and also the mantra that I mentally tell myself to be chill). He’s bored, and honestly so am I and my dad. We end up spending that night roaming around and drinking beer in random places, pretty chill.

  Okay the ACTUAL Visa Run #3

This was my third and final visa run thus far. And for some reason I found myself going to Bangkok ALONE.

 The dumbass company that I work for (whose name I won’t say but rhymes with ee em gee) said we had to go to a capital city to get our new visas, we couldn’t go to the Cambodian border and get new visas like literally every other English teacher in the city. This then became my one shot at exploring Bangkok again on my own and getting to know this city better.

 Day 1 The first stupid thing I did.

 I didn’t know that there was a metro train going straight from the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok to my hotel, so I got stuck in multiple cabs during rush hour, got sent to the wrong address, and walked for over an hour while dragging my carry-on luggage. Yeah it sucked but dammit it looked so cool. After walking under and over a sketchy bridge or two, I finally got to my hotel. Damn it actually looked pretty nice, well on the outside at least. I definitely killed a few roaches in my room that night. I only had 2 nights so I planned to make the most of it.

 The second stupid thing I did.

I went to the one place that I had only heard about in legends… Nana Plaza. I was now experienced in the partying ways of Thailand, these guys don’t fuck around. I took a Grab motorbike taxi to the place, and the driver drops me off right outside the beginning of a street full of bars. They seem to be stemming from this big place that looks like an outdoor shopping center at your local suburban neighborhood, except for all of the stores were replaced with strip-clubs. Read that again, and nope I am actually not exaggerating. Imagine an outdoors shopping center where you would expect to see Baby Gap, Auntie Annes, Toys r Us Express, Hallmark, CVS Pharmacy, and a local tae-kwon-do dojo, but they have all been replaced by strip-clubs. Yeah and lots of red colored lights. I took a lap around the bar in the center, and the music was absolutely pumping in every single one of the surrounding rooms. I walked up to the second floor, and it got a bit more intense. I think or at least it seemed to me like this floor was the ladyboy floor. Two ladyboys would stand by the entrance to the bars and hit you with something, like a small whip or something. Not my thing, if you’re into this kind of stuff, well then hey you do you bro. Nana’s Plaza is a bit much for me at the moment so I step out to see some of the smaller local bars. My method of choosing which bar to enter first is to listen for the one that starts playing reggaeton first. A couple beers later I’m kinda tipsy, so I go BACK into Nana’s Plaza. I somehow stumble straight in and a lady tries to pull my arm. “Real girls here in this bar” she says. I reply, “what about that bar straight ahead?” She goes “I don’t know.” My drunk logic says this person is trying to reverse-psychology my ass, I’m going straight into the ‘I don’t know room,’ fuck it. She lady is surprised while I zoom past her into this unknown abyss.

I walk into this room, and I see a stage with a pole with a bunch of girls dancing. I take a seat right in front of them, which I usually refer to as the “splash-zone.” I sit down and order a local beer, probably a Chang, and suddenly all the girls that were dancing began to line-up in a horizontal line in front me and give me the sad puppy eyes. They want me to choose one to sit next to me. I go “hey actually I just wanna drink my beer.” They try to look even sadder and bummed out. I try to ignore them. After a couple awkward sips of my beer I figure well I guess I’m supposed to actually choose one in this place. So I pick the one that I think is the hottest. She’s happy that I chose her and she sits on my left. Immediately she grabs my left hand, puts it over shoulder, under her bra, and suddenly I’m holding her boob. I was like damn that was quick uhh I’ll just keep chillin and sipping on my beer. She tells me she’s a university student, and some point makes a comment that I find confusing. I don’t remember what she said, but my response to that was “wait…. Is this a ladyboy bar?” She says yep and laughs her ass off. I go “wait so all those hot girls on-stage are actually dudes?” She says yep. I go “ohhhh… okay then cheers!” And we have a beer. I look across the room and I notice that the bartenders are also ladyboys, but not the kind that look like supermodels. They are just regular dudes, with guts, who want to be women. At that point I realize that being a ladyboy is not necessarily just about transforming yourself into a supermodel, some dudes just want to be chicks. And hey I can respect that. You do you bro. Anyways, my ladyboy then says, “hey I have milk too.” I say, “shut up no you don’t.” She goes, “wanna see?” I reply, “um fuck YES.” The ladyboy pulls down her bra, squeezes her nipple, and a few drops of white liquid come out. I’m like “duuddeeee that’s fucking awesome!” and I give her a high-five. She asks me, “wanna taste?” I say “dude fuck youuu” and we are hysterically laughing our asses off. Then she decides to take it up a notch and asks me if I wanna take her back to my place for 3000 baht. I say nah sorry I’m not into that. She replys, “oh it’s your first time? Okay then half price.” I say, “nahh sorry I’m not down.” Eventually she gives up and start to go back with the rest of the ladyboys. Before she leaves she says “can I get a tip?” I had already paid for the beers so I was like, “why?” But I just want to leave so I give her a 100 baht so she can go away. She then says, “can I have 200 baht more? I want to buy food.” I say “uh hell no.” She smiles and slithers back into the darkness. And I proceed to get the hell out of that place.

 The third stupid thing I did.

 I was hungry, and I was determined to eat some mozzarella chicken at Family Mart. I walked around Bangkok drunk as hell, through random streets, looking for a Family Mart. I find nothing but back to back 7-elevens and I am so incredibly annoyed. I eventually give up and get some basil rice with chicken at a 7-eleven. After over an hour of roaming around the city and looking for Family Mart, I hail a street taxi and head back to the hotel. Day 1, complete.

 Funny enough… in the morning I walk outside my hotel and there is a fucking Family Mart literally across the street. I scurry my way across the street and go into Family Mart, mozzarella chicken here I come! I then realize, they only serve this dish in Vietnamese Family Mart… not Thai Family Mart… fuck me.

 Damn Bangkok, you always find a way to surprise me you sly bastard.

 *I forgot to mention that earlier during Day 1, I had to stop by the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok to get a new Visa. This was the whole reason of me being in Bangkok in the first place. The office which handles Visa applications is literally a hole in the wall, literally dude. And what’s funny is that it’s located in a reallyyyy nice part of town. It honestly felt like Northwest Washington DC, but of course the hole in the wall just felt like an actual hole.*

  Day 2

 I decide to explore the city on foot. As I stroll around, I see my hotel is located on Sukhumvit 71, near a Muslim community on one side and a bargirl community on the other side. Super interesting, I hadn’t seen this often in Asia except for in some streets near Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City. I ordered a coffee, I think the lady was a Thai Muslim and she was super nice. But of course… no coffee will ever compare to Vietnamese coffee, the best in the fucking world. I only drink milk-coffee, for some reason it tastes like home. I explore a bit more and I notice the metro station is literally next to my hotel. Jesus I’m an idiot, but okay lesson learned. Anyways I can walk for hours, so I keep going like the energizer bunny. I get some spicy Thai food near a gas station, it was like spicy garlic chicken with rice, veggies, and a fried egg on top. Dope. I crushed it. My mouth was on fire and I was craving caffeine again so I walked to a nearby coffee shop and sipped on some damn good local coffee. I used the coffee shop’s wifi and I called a Grab taxi to take me to Sukhumvit road near the Hilton to reminisce the good old times I had previously had with my dad, Paper, and later on Poomi. I get there and I am walking for hours again, enjoying every second of it. I get lost, and suddenly come across different streets that I have seen before during my previous trips. I am absolutely loving this, downtown Bangkok is becoming more and more familiar. Also keep in mind that I am eating random foods along the way. Damn downtown Bangkok is amazing, I estimate it’s about 20 years ahead of Ho Chi Minh City in regards to development. Sky train, subway, and advanced technology every step of the way. As I continue roaming around I start to feel tired and I think about going back home, also I’m full. SUDDENLY. I find myself resting on a walking bridge in between two shopping malls, and I see a fucking TACO BELL! Dude! My first Taco Bell outside of the US! I rushed in there and ordered a taco combo meal with beef. So full but so worth it. I decided to keep walking so I could burn at least 2% of the calories I had been consuming that day. It starts getting dark out, and I can feel the vibe of the city changing. When the lights go out in this concrete jungle, the night beings come out to chill. I only have this evening left in this trip so I decide to make the most of it, let’s go to Soi Cowboy!

 I start walking towards Soi Cowboy on foot (soi means “side street” in Thai), and now it’s dark. Tons of working girls are sitting on the sidewalks, all trying to get your attention. The streets definitely feel more intense than in the morning and afternoon. I keep walking and walking, and eventually I make it! I start walking towards Soi Cowboy and along the way there is a little bar next to the street playing some rock music that catches my attention. I decide to keep this spot in mind. I walk into Soi Cowboy. This shit feels really intense when you go alone, and the strippers or ladyboys are out on the street pulling people into their bars. I decide that I had enough of this shit last night, I’m going back to that street bar I just walked by. I walk to the street bar, get a chair, and start sipping on a Chang beer. Two older ladies are working there and letting the customers choose the songs. Dude if you let me DJ at a bar you KNOW I’m gonna play reggaeton, 100% chance. One lady has good English so we are chatting, the other lady doesn’t speak much English so she sits behind me and starts massaging my shoulders. This lady massaged my entire upper body while I sat there that night, I never even asked for a massage. These ladies are bar-ladies, so they will ask you to buy them drinks. I figure ah hell why not, it’s my last night and I am actually having a good time! We must have been like 4 or 5 beers in when the massage lady says, “hey choose any bottle and I’ll buy you a shot.” I know what’s going down… these ladies are trying to get me to blackout! I, having much experience in blacking out, have an idea. Most Asian girls that I’ve met don’t know much about the strength of liquor/spirits, whatever you want to call it. I look at the options: vodka, tequila, gin, absinthe, jagermeister, you know… the classics! Somehow, I notice a lonely bottle of Malibu, this is a fruity flavored rum with a relatively low alcohol percentage. These ladies don’t know the difference between Malibu and Jose Cuervo, so I order a bitch shot of coconut Malibu and gulp it down. The ladies then expected me to blackout any minute…. Any minute now….. umm…. Anyyyy minute now?! Nope. I was just tipsy and feeling good! So I decide okay I’ll call it a night, time to call Grab. I get the bill it was about 3000 baht! Ouch, but I had a good time so it’s cool. Then the lady with good English asks me, “would you like to take my friend home?” She was referring to the massage lady, who by the way had already digivolved a couple decades ago. I kindly refused. Then, the massage lady asks me for a tip, she had massaged me over an hour non-stop. By now I was tipsy, but I remembered the ladyboy last night asking me for a tip at Nana’s Plaza twice, and this time I was like aw helll nooo. I didn’t tip the massage lady and she was angry as hell, she wouldn’t even say goodbye to me. I called a Grab bike, and he was out there waiting for me in a crowd full of cabs trying to pick-up other drunk, idiot foreigners. Cab drivers of different ages would stand in my way as I walked to my Grab driver, and me being a drunk asshole was actually shoving them to the side! Haven’t done that ever before or since, but I think I was just drunkenly annoyed at people trying to constantly scam me. I finally find my Grab driver and I hop on.

A slight drizzle begins and I don’t have a raincoat, but damn does it feel amazing. As the motorbike speeds up, the light rain hits my face harder. I open my arms wide like wings and I feel like Leonardo Dicaprio in Titanic. I survived day 2, and the next day I had to catch a flight back to Vietnam with a new Visa. Success!

I was supposed to visit Thailand again in June, but yeah goddamn coronavirus hit so… that’s not gonna happen. Until next time Thailand!

[writingonjorvik]

Can We Discuss What’s Up With SSO’s Pricing

So I wanted to bring this topic back up because it’s important to me. Also, this one is gonna be formatted weird because of those pictures, but they’re kinda central to this whole thing. But before we dive into this, I want to remind folks that I absolutely believe SSO’s devs should be fairly compensated and that MMOs are expensive to run (somewhere around $20+ million to run a year). However, I do think the pricing is dangerously high, and I think long term, it’s bad for the game. Let me explain. To start, these pictures.

The picture on the left is a calculation of SSO’s current Star Coin prices and how much you spend a year if you buy them. If you’ve done this survey for me before, this is where that data collection comes from (it’s also about to hit 100 entries and when it does I’m gonna send all of this math to support). If you want to see the findings of that survey broken down, the whole sheet and the math is here. It’s the key tab for these tables, and the SSO’s Current Pricing for the math.

The picture on the right is a table of calculations based on what SSO’s price would look like if they were based on other MMOs in the industry. I started this by looking at other MMOs that have mounts that aren’t just reskins but actually serve a purpose, like GW2 and RDO, and found the average cost of a mount in those games, about $10. Setting 1000 SC, the average about SC you need to buy a horse in SSO, at $10, I worked backwards and built the rest of the table to make a cost speculation of what SSO’s prices would look like if they followed industry standards. 

I think the color alone says a lot just by the decrease in red. To explain, the average gamer will spend about $125 USD on an MMO a year. SSO backed this up with a $120 figure for their average spender in an interview a few years ago. There are resource links peppered throughout the sheet as well, so I’m not going to repeat source a bunch in this post. So, the color coding works like this:

Blue is an underspender, spending less than $50 a year

Green is an average spender, spending between $50 and $150 a year

Pale red is an over spender, spending between $150 to $500 a year

Dark red is a whale, spending over $500 a year

The difference it would make to knock down Star Coins to $10 for a 1000 would mean that someone who wants to buy a horse a month would go from being a whale at $359.88 to exactly SSO’s average spender at $120. That’s an over $200 difference, not to mention that right now spending $120 would only get you 4 horses, where on this new chart, it would get you 12, not counting allowances. That is a massive difference in buying power.

This is why the cost is problematic. The costs are egregiously high when compared to other games in the industry, meaning we have less content to engage with for the money we do spend. Player buying power is a quarter of that in other games, in a game targeted at preteens. I don’t know about you, but preteens aren’t the group I think of when I think of having a lot of money to spend, which makes this system make even less sense.

I did want to be fair though, so there are calculations in that math about the profit loss SSO would have and if this system would be sustainable, so I also did that math. It’s on the MMO Standards tab, and my findings based on the information y’all polled was yeah. So long as players bought about 10% more Star Coins and the group of players spending increased by about 50%, this model would make as much money as the current one, and its distribution of spending looks a lot more like what a normal MMO spender distribution looks like.

That math may seem kinda wild, but I’d like to remind folks that SSO’s last reported group of monthly active players was 400,000, with only 200,000 spending regularly out of 13+ million accounts. That’s 1.5% of their player base. That’s not a huge ask. It’s an increase of about 100,000 people, and asking folks to spend about $40 a year on SSO. Again, check out the math in that spreadsheet, I ran a bunch of tests on this and I’d be happy to run some more. It’s all in color coded boxes to lay it out.

What’s even more, based on all of the bundles you guys averaged at buying, most of you dropped to underspenders on my speculation chart. Most of you would be spending less than $40 for the content you’re already getting if SSO had a system that looked like most other MMOs. Some of you dropped as far as over spenders to underspenders, and I already pointed out the whale comment. Overspenders and whales were actually cut in half as a spending group.

Look, I want SSO to make money, but their current model is short sighted on taking advantage of their current high population of overspenders and whales, which based on early polling from my recommendations poll, also is one of the bigger reasons a lot of you aren’t recommending the game. Further, it’s incredibly dangerous when talking about how this game is marketed towards kids and preteens who don’t need to be trained into overspending.

I know there’s an easy argument that SSO gives us free Star Coins with the allowance, but also, look at SSO’s main demo: preteens, a demographic not well known for its abundance of cash or copious amount of patience. Waiting three months for a new horse doesn’t sound like a good model to encourage people to keep playing, particularly when they’re likely broke and easily distracted, or their parents aren’t willing to pay for that habit. It certainly doesn’t help SSO’s monthly users if most of their players just park their accounts to wait for enough coins for a horse they want instead of logging on, or leave because they don’t want to keep investing in a game that makes them wait with no meaningful reward.

Further, all of the games I used to model my speculation chart on allow you to either buy mounts with ingame currency, earn the premium currency in gameplay, or convert the ingame currency to the premium currency. That is just as free as SSO is with its allowance, if not more “free” since you can actively grind for premium currency without needing to wait weeks at a time. There are guides in GW2 to grind enough gold to buy a mount in a weekend. Those devs still have their premiums at $10 for their average mounts.

I want SSO to make money, and the devs absolutely deserve to get paid well, but this system is abusive to players and wildly overpriced when compared to other games in the same genre with the same or similar types of mounts. By all accounts too, SSO is an indie publisher (or was? There’s some gray area with one of their investors right now). But the point being, SSO is charging at a rate that is triple the industry average, and that if a triple A game asked for this kind of money, it would be laughed for being so comedicly high. And as an indie company, with no prior games besides some old CD-ROMs to back up their credibility, they’re charging nonsensically high for their market. And a lot of the time they can get away with it because their players have no base of reference or because they’re already super passionate and able to spend. This is your base of reference.

Only 1.5% of SSO’s audience wants to spend money on the game regularly. The average business analytic of people who are willing to spend extra on a company is 10%. I love SSO, but something has to give.

[the-fiction-witch]

You Perv P6

REAL LIFE: COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: SMUT AF!

"so, what did you want to get up to today?" I ask her as I sat her on my kitchen counter top "Snuggling" she smiles hugging me tightly "Just snuggling?" I ask "Maybe" she smirked with an innocent giggle as I started making her some breakfast "I thought maybe we could snuggle up in your bed, me you and your computer" she smiles "Why my computer?" I ask and she shrugs "alright keep your secrets you little minx" I laugh giving her her breakfast and having my own "Thomas?" She asks "Umm?" I ask "I love you" she giggled as she finished her food "Awww I love you too angel" I tell her giving her a cuddle "you wanna go back to bed?" I ask and she nods nuzzling her head into my chest so I picked her up and took her to my room laying her on my bed laying beside her with my laptop. We sat for along while just playing a few games even if she beat me most of the time unless I cheated "you sit and play y/n I'm going to put some better clothes on" I tell her as I got up starting to get dressed I know he's watching but who cares what hasn't she seen at this point I did as I got dressed noticed her bag and how much bigger it seemed then usual "y/n what have you got in there?" I ask and she giggled putting the computer down and sitting on the edge of my bed so I brought her bag over and sat beside her "I wanted to compare collections" she smiles "Collections? Of what?" I ask "Toys" she whispered nuzzling into my neck "You don't mean like Thunderbirds and star wars toys do you?" I ask cautiously "No tommy" she giggled "Humm well then ladies first" I smirk and she smiled undoing her bag getting out a box about the size of s pillow she sat it beside her and smiled "Go on go get yours" she says "Okay, but uhh just to mention...mine arnt at the moment completely clean" I warn "That's okay," she shrugs "you must have been using them all lately" she smiles "Well I used one last night" I smirk going around and gathering all my toys in a basket I use for laundry and dumping them all on my bed "so uhh, how are we doing this?" I ask "Smallest first" she smiled opening her box but I couldn't see in she dug around for a bit and got s little thing about the size of s finger maybe even a little smaller then that "What?" I began "Cliterous vibrator, it's the smallest I have I don't use it too much" she shrugs turning it on and it vibrated a little property a nice little stimulation for her it didn't look very used "I call it baby" she smiles "Baby? Because it's your smallest one?" I ask and she nods "Your turn" she smiles "Right uhhh" I stutter looking though mine "I think this is the smallest" I shrug "What is it?" She asks "A vibrator, it's a little thing but it's pretty strong" I tell her turning it on letting it vrrr across my hand "What do you use it for?" She asks "It uhh" I stutter "Come on Tommy tell me" she giggled "It uhh...goes up" I stutter "I thought you weren't into that stuff?" She smirked "I'm not, I have no desire to put my dick up your ass and I have no desire to shove a dick up my own ass but... I kinda like just that little bit of vibration inside me" I explain and she smiled giving me a kiss "How do you do that though?" She asks "I'm suprisingly felixible" I shrug "so next?" I ask "Humm this one" she smiles and I knew that one her sexy little bullet I found the other day "I know this one, your little bullet" I smirk "umm I don use it for that though" she says "So what do you use it for then?" I ask and she giggled "For little places" blushed "Like wear my little angel?" I smirk she nuzzled close rubbing her chest against me "ohhh? You use I to get your nipples hard? And stuff like that?" I ask and she nods "dirty girl" I smirk taking it from her turning it on as high as it would go and slipping it down her shirt do it sat in her bra vibrating between her breasts making them move a lot "ummm you should have that there all the time" I smirk and she turned it off "your turn" she says "Next one would be this" I sigh "What the?" She asked a bit confused "Jack recommend it to me, he says they feel so realistic like fucking a pussy or s mouth, it was super expensive though and the first time I used it" I sigh showing her where the plastic ripped "Clearly your cock was too big for it" she giggled running her hand across my crotch making me jump "did it feel real?" She asks "Not sure a little but no more then anything else I've tried. Course I wouldn't know what a pussy feels like so" I shrugged "I only know what your mouth feels like and nothing compares to that my angel" I tell her giving her lips a kiss "so... What's next?" I ask her

"well next is Thomas" she giggled "Ohh I'm finally going to see this monster you need after me?" I smirk making her blush hard getting it from her box and it was a very realistic cock with vains and a head the plastic bright purple but it was tiny "this? This is what you named after me?" I laugh "Well it was before I saw it, when you wear skinny jeans everyday I assumed it was smaller" she explains "So this tiny thing you where riding in last night, and you fuck yourself with it imagining it's me?" I laugh and she nods so I took it from her hand and undid my jeans "you pussy is going to have a shock when I really fuck you" I smirk letting her see that even in my half hard state I was bigger then her toy and she smiled taking it from my hand so I did my jeans back up "But you don't vibrate Thomas" she complains "I will find a way my slutty angel" I smirk "maybe with this?" I smile getting the next toy "Umm I knew you'd have one of those" she smirked "Why? Am I that perverted darling?" I ask but she got one from her box too "ohhh? My dirty girl, what you put it on your toyboyfriend?"I smirk and she nods "babygirl likes her little toy to much I think" I smirk "No more then you like your toys" she smiled "Well I only have one left," I smirk showing her my last toy "now this one is definitely dirty as I still haven't cleaned it out since last night" I warn And she giggled so I put all mine away as she got her last one out it was huge I'd seen them online a magic wand "you have one of those? Aren't they like really expensive?" I ask "But there worth it" she giggled turning it on it vvvrrred so loud it sounded like a drill I took it from her hand and gently put it on her crotch though her dress and panties and she screened pulling me to kiss her so I stopped "Whoa, I like this one... Maybe I should play with my angels little toy" I smirk and she just grabbed it from my hand turning it back on and rubbing it on the obvious bulge in my jeans it felt so good! I've never known pleasure so hard and so fast before I kissed her to stop myself from screaming already feeling close. I snatched it from her hand and turned it off "I uhh I think we need to use this carefully, else were going to over stimulate each other, so let's agree to put the wand down and not torcher each other with it" I tell her and she nods and we both put it down "I want one of those" I complain "Well let's see if there are any deals anywhere?" She suggests so I smirked as we sat back on my bed with my laptop perfectly shared so both of us could see and I wrapped my arm around her to keep her close as we went online having a look at a few sexy sites "there all like £60.00" I complain "Umm I got mine on sale for 40, I had wanted one for ages" she smiles "I can tell why" I smirk "I kinda wanna by you a new vibrator something a bit bigger" I smirk having a look "Ohh mine" she smiled pointing to the one she has "See 4 inches angel, thats not nearly big enough" I laugh as I read the page about it "maybe we should get you a nice 8 or 9 inch one" I smirk giving her head a kiss "hey would you like that my slutty little angel?" I ask "Well not to big, don't want my toy to be bigger then you" she giggled "It won't be" I smirk looking around for one at s decent price "there we go, add to basket. Anything else my sexy lady wants?" I ask And she searched something up "no" I tell her "Pretty please" she begs "No y/n, what is the point of having a sex machine? You've got me" I smirk "I am your sex machine" I laugh hugging her tighter "But what about when your not around" she complains "Then you can have the one I just got for you, no your not having a sex machine y/n. It's expensive it's noisy, and you don't need it" I laugh "come on something else" I tell her so she got something else up "ohhh? A collar and chain well... Alright you promise if I buy this you will actually wear it?" I ask "I promise" she giggled "might even make you wear it" she smirked "Okay" I laugh "Come on your turn pick out two things you want" she giggled "I'm happy I don't really want much" I shrug "Come on, I'll get them for you" she smiled opening another site and opening her own account on it "Anything I want?" I ask and she nods so I went around having a look "can I have...this?" I ask nicely and she looks "Umm course you can Thomas" she smirked giving my cheek a kiss "didn't think you'd be the sort of boy who was into that sort of thing? What's next a whip?" She asks "No... I just like the idea of having a riding cropt it has lots of uses" i smirk moving my hand to rub on her clit "Okay" she smiled adding it to the basket "one more thing" she says moving my hand away "I already know" I smirk going to the clothing "Really?" She asks "Please my angel" I beg "it's so hot please, just the idea of you wearing them and being able to just bend you over and fuck you" I growl "I thought you liked when I don't wear panties?" She asks "I do but... Crotchless panties are perfect so your wearing something to keep yourself covered if the wind was to get up or something but if I bend you over it's like your wearing nothing" I smirk "best of both, sexy underwear and fuck ability" I smirk "Alright" she smirked we both checked out our stuff and it said it would be here tomorrow "So... what do you wanna do now?" I ask looking at all our sexy toys

"well... We have all these toys here" I smirk she giggled pushing me so I laid on my bed "Pants off now!" She ordered "Okay" I blush undoing my belt and pushing my pants off me "Shirt too" she says as she arranged all the toys on my bedroom floor so I slipped it off too leaving me naked again my bedsheet "So... What's my beautiful angel going to do me?" I ask her and she giggled getting a tie she found from somewhere tiring my hands together and to my bed "ummm... I like the idea of you tiring me up" I smirk as she went looking for something else she got something else I think an old scarf or something forcing me to cross my legs a little and tieing my ankles together, "Have you dreamed about me tieing you up?" She asks "Course I have, your just normally wearing a latex dress and holding a whip when I imagine it" I groan licking my bottom lip as she moved finishing up with my ankles "Ohh am I?" She smirked "and what sort of things do I do?" She asks grabbing my cock hard "Uhhh! You torcher me my angel" I groan rolling my head on my pillow "with toys and your beautiful hands making me beg you to let me cum" I smirk "Humm I did that the other day didn't I? Before class" she smirked "Umm you did" I smirk trying to grind myself against her hand but she forced my hips down flat on the bed so I couldn't grind "you wanna do it again?" I ask "Uhm hum" she nods kissing down my neck but she groaned annoyed "where's the bite I left the last time?" She asks "It's faded... You can give me another one if you want to?" I smirk and she giggled starting her sucking and biting on my neck close to where she let the last one "uhh! What is it with you and hiki's?" I ask "I like them" she smiled as she finished up kissing down my bare chest it felt so heavenly to have her kiss my bare skin this way "they mark you as mine" she growled bitting on my stomach "Oww! Y/n that one hurt!" I complain she kissed where she had bitten like she was kissing it better continuing she stopped as she got to my v lines and began making another hiki there "uhh ummmm! Angel!" I groan "do you really need to mark down there?" I ask and she nods "but your the only girl who is ever going to see it?" I smirk "Just incase I'm not, they'll know he's mine!" She smirked kissing my shaft and I bit my mouth trying not to scream but she stopped me "I like hearing you" she giggled giving my lips a kiss "Yeah? Want me to be loud my angel?" I ask her between kisses "Very" she smirked hopping off the bed for a moment "So... What's my beautiful angel going to do to me first?" I ask she sat on my legs holding the magic wand "y/n... We agreed not to tourcher each other with that" I began "We did... But what are you going to do about it Tommy" she giggled "Y/n please I'm serious don't-" I began but she turned it on and resting the vibrating plastic head on my cock "UHHHHH! UHH UHHHHHH! Y/N" I scream tugging on my restraints already she stopped it letting my breath "you evil girl!" I complain so she turned it on again "UHHHHHHH! Y/n!!! Stop it!" I scream rolling my head on my pillow unsure if I was in pleasure or pain till she stopped it "y/n... Darling... sweetheart...i-i can't! It's to much" I complain "I want this?" She asks sitting up rubbing her pussy against my cock even if she had a very thin pair of panties on under her skirt and I nod like crazy "then you have to cum" she giggled turning it back on but higher "UUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!! ANGEL PLEASE!" I  scream my voice splitering as I spoke "I'll cum a normal way just make it stop!" I beg almost crying from over stimulation and she turned it off I breathed feeling like I'd ran a marathon "you really can't resist me calling you angel can you?" I smirk and she smiled giving my lips a kiss "Something different?" She asks "Please something different...that thing is evil" I complain "I see why you love it so much" i smirk as she went rummaging around our toys she got the little ring slipping it on me and turning on the pleasent vibrating it made my cock throb begging for something better then just this she got something from her box and blindfolded me "what are you up to?" I ask nothing but a giggle returned my sences heightened but I struggled to focus with the vibrations around my cock I sat for ages just enjoying the pleasent feeling till I felt that wand get pushed on the head and turned on "UMMMMMMMM! UHHH UHHH ANGEL!" I scream my back arching off the bed as it did I felt her hands grab my arse so I took the opportunity to shake the magic wand away from me as she wasn't holding it making me relax a little as she gropes my arse "umm? What are you doing there? Nothing interesting back-" I began but I felt her slip my little vibe inside me "uh! Uhhhhhhhhhh! Angel? You slutty dirty girl! Ummmmm! I love you so much! Uhh you torcher me so good" I moan so close already "Humm you like that don't you?" She smirked and all I could manage was a nod before I felt her soft hands on my cock and I insantly got even more excited till I felt her slip my toy around me she moved it up and down riding me with my flesh light "uhhhh! Angel... please kiss me my angel, I wanna imagine your riding me" I groan she happily kissed me so I kissed her back a couple times getting a thurst Up myself but she stopped taking it away and I whined I was so close "Sorry Tommy I dropped it" she giggled "It's okay just... Just finish me baby" I beg I felt her slip me back inside but oh my god! It felt like heaven so warm so squishy and wet! UHHH ummm she must have out more lube in or something like that it felt so good! I've never had my toy feel so good before her thrusting the toy got soft fast her kisses lustful and full of tongue she moved the toy up w little letting me thurst my hips up into it uhhh it felt so nice! So amazing! Maybe it always did and I never noticed? Maybe I need her to do it to me! Maybe it's because it's her hands moving it not mine? But whatever the reason it was also nice! I moaned into her mouth as I came bucking my hips into the toy making sure to get every drop in there and collapsing on my bed she smiled letting me out a the ties and I grabbed her kissing her beautiful lips but I noticed...she was...above me? I slipped my hands down from her waist down her legs and they where around me? I gently moved my hips up into the toy... Still warm wet and sticky now where I had cum in it... I ran my hands close to my cock nothing but warm and softness from her skin to where the base of my cock was no plastic? "Y/n... where's my flesh light?" I ask

"well... We have all these toys here" I smirk she giggled pushing me so I laid on my bed "Pants off now!" She ordered "Okay" I blush undoing my belt and pushing my pants off me "Shirt too" she says as she arranged all the toys on my bedroom floor so I slipped it off too leaving me naked again my bedsheet "So... What's my beautiful angel going to do me?" I ask her and she giggled getting a tie she found from somewhere tiring my hands together and to my bed "ummm... I like the idea of you tiring me up" I smirk as she went looking for something else she got something else I think an old scarf or something forcing me to cross my legs a little and tieing my ankles together, "Have you dreamed about me tieing you up?" She asks "Course I have, your just normally wearing a latex dress and holding a whip when I imagine it" I groan licking my bottom lip as she moved finishing up with my ankles "Ohh am I?" She smirked "and what sort of things do I do?" She asks grabbing my cock hard "Uhhh! You torcher me my angel" I groan rolling my head on my pillow "with toys and your beautiful hands making me beg you to let me cum" I smirk "Humm I did that the other day didn't I? Before class" she smirked "Umm you did" I smirk trying to grind myself against her hand but she forced my hips down flat on the bed so I couldn't grind "you wanna do it again?" I ask "Uhm hum" she nods kissing down my neck but she groaned annoyed "where's the bite I left the last time?" She asks "It's faded... You can give me another one if you want to?" I smirk and she giggled starting her sucking and biting on my neck close to where she let the last one "uhh! What is it with you and hiki's?" I ask "I like them" she smiled as she finished up kissing down my bare chest it felt so heavenly to have her kiss my bare skin this way "they mark you as mine" she growled bitting on my stomach "Oww! Y/n that one hurt!" I complain she kissed where she had bitten like she was kissing it better continuing she stopped as she got to my v lines and began making another hiki there "uhh ummmm! Angel!" I groan "do you really need to mark down there?" I ask and she nods "but your the only girl who is ever going to see it?" I smirk "Just incase I'm not, they'll know he's mine!" She smirked kissing my shaft and I bit my mouth trying not to scream but she stopped me "I like hearing you" she giggled giving my lips a kiss "Yeah? Want me to be loud my angel?" I ask her between kisses "Very" she smirked hopping off the bed for a moment "So... What's my beautiful angel going to do to me first?" I ask she sat on my legs holding the magic wand "y/n... We agreed not to tourcher each other with that" I began "We did... But what are you going to do about it Tommy" she giggled "Y/n please I'm serious don't-" I began but she turned it on and resting the vibrating plastic head on my cock "UHHHHH! UHH UHHHHHH! Y/N" I scream tugging on my restraints already she stopped it letting my breath "you evil girl!" I complain so she turned it on again "UHHHHHHH! Y/n!!! Stop it!" I scream rolling my head on my pillow unsure if I was in pleasure or pain till she stopped it "y/n... Darling... sweetheart...i-i can't! It's to much" I complain "I want this?" She asks sitting up rubbing her pussy against my cock even if she had a very thin pair of panties on under her skirt and I nod like crazy "then you have to cum" she giggled turning it back on but higher "UUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!! ANGEL PLEASE!" I  scream my voice splitering as I spoke "I'll cum a normal way just make it stop!" I beg almost crying from over stimulation and she turned it off I breathed feeling like I'd ran a marathon "you really can't resist me calling you angel can you?" I smirk and she smiled giving my lips a kiss "Something different?" She asks "Please something different...that thing is evil" I complain "I see why you love it so much" i smirk as she went rummaging around our toys she got the little ring slipping it on me and turning on the pleasent vibrating it made my cock throb begging for something better then just this she got something from her box and blindfolded me "what are you up to?" I ask nothing but a giggle returned my sences heightened but I struggled to focus with the vibrations around my cock I sat for ages just enjoying the pleasent feeling till I felt that wand get pushed on the head and turned on "UMMMMMMMM! UHHH UHHH ANGEL!" I scream my back arching off the bed as it did I felt her hands grab my arse so I took the opportunity to shake the magic wand away from me as she wasn't holding it making me relax a little as she gropes my arse "umm? What are you doing there? Nothing interesting back-" I began but I felt her slip my little vibe inside me "uh! Uhhhhhhhhhh! Angel? You slutty dirty girl! Ummmmm! I love you so much! Uhh you torcher me so good" I moan so close already "Humm you like that don't you?" She smirked and all I could manage was a nod before I felt her soft hands on my cock and I insantly got even more excited till I felt her slip my toy around me she moved it up and down riding me with my flesh light "uhhhh! Angel... please kiss me my angel, I wanna imagine your riding me" I groan she happily kissed me so I kissed her back a couple times getting a thurst Up myself but she stopped taking it away and I whined I was so close "Sorry Tommy I dropped it" she giggled "It's okay just... Just finish me baby" I beg I felt her slip me back inside but oh my god! It felt like heaven so warm so squishy and wet! UHHH ummm she must have out more lube in or something like that it felt so good! I've never had my toy feel so good before her thrusting the toy got soft fast her kisses lustful and full of tongue she moved the toy up w little letting me thurst my hips up into it uhhh it felt so nice! So amazing! Maybe it always did and I never noticed? Maybe I need her to do it to me! Maybe it's because it's her hands moving it not mine? But whatever the reason it was also nice! I moaned into her mouth as I came bucking my hips into the toy making sure to get every drop in there and collapsing on my bed she smiled letting me out a the ties and I grabbed her kissing her beautiful lips but I noticed...she was...above me? I slipped my hands down from her waist down her legs and they where around me? I gently moved my hips up into the toy... Still warm wet and sticky now where I had cum in it... I ran my hands close to my cock nothing but warm and softness from her skin to where the base of my cock was no plastic? "Y/n... where's my flesh light?" I ask

"where do you think it is you silly boy?" She smiles giving my lips a soft kiss and slipping off the cover so I could see her she was sat over me her legs around me tightly my flesh light was around my cock but she had clearly put much more lube in then I normally do and she had wrapped s hot bottle around the outside "Ohhh... Sorry y/n when I felt it was warm and all I thought for a moment you had got ontop of me" I smirk "Dirty boy!" She complains taking all the toys away "Can you blame me snuggle bug? I felt you sitting in me and kissing me and a warm wet sexy feeling around my cock? Could you blame me for thinking my slutty little angel couldn't contain her self any longer and had to jump on my cock to see how good it felt" I smirk picking her up and flipping us so she landed on my bed I got my jeans back on and smirked kissing down her neck "Well Thomas your sexy cock is getting hard to resist" she smiled slyly "Ohh is it? Does my angel want me too...do it?" I ask lightly grinding my half hard cock against her "hummm? Does my angel want me to rip off her clothes, shred her panties and fuck her slutty little cunt with my big cock? Till my angel begs and screams for more as I pound her begging pussy... Letting her grind rigfth against my bed as she squirts her sexy juice down my cock and bed" I growl between soft little kisses "No I'm sleepy, I want dinner" she complains "Hummm I could eat darling" I smirk going to kiss her but she stops me "Tommy stop it! Real food come on... Can't we get a take away?" She asks sweetly "Alright, can we ... Play more with our toys after?" I beg "If your a good boy" she smiles "I'll be a good boy I promise, so long as my little devil behaves herself" I smirk kissing her "I thought I was your angel" she complains "Humm after everything you've done to me y/n not sure I can call you an angel" I smirk "Owww" she complains looking all sad "Awww you really like me calling you angel don't you?" I ask and she nods "okay angel, come on let's sort dinner" I tell her getting up and getting dressed again I turned to check on y/n and she was changing her shirt she got I think lube or something on it so she was trading it for one of mine she stood with both shirts on my bed her skirt sat on her waist and her bra on one little hook as the other two had bent over the pressure of keeping those breasts concealed and I couldn't take it anymore "come here!" I growl grabbing her body pulling it tight to mine and tight to my bed I grabbed her soft breasts giving the perfect two a soft grope thought her little bra as I kissed her neck she giggled not paying much attention to me I moved my lips down as I kissed down her back to the one tiny clasp still groping her soft boobs I tried undoing it with my teeth but nothing that little clasp was strong I moved my hands away trying to quickly undo it so I could have my hands on her again but it wouldn't budge "ohh fuck this" I groan grabbing her breasts grabbing the cups if her bra and breaking the little lace between the cups I pulled it off her throwing it on the floor and grabbing her breasts again her soft skin on every inch of my hands her nipples getting hard in the cold air I bit down on her neck leave a love bite rubbing my hard cock against her butt "Thomas Stop it" she playfully giggled trying to playfully swatt my hands away but I kept going grabbing her hard nipples and twisting them a little making her take in a sharp breath she pushed my hands away covering herself with her arms I forced her hands away squeezing her tits hard rubbing and working them so much they felt so good it felt like a fantasy I've had before "ummm bend over" I groan in her ear "Why?" She giggled running her hand around my hair as I groped her breasts "Because I'm gonna fuck you" I smirk "No" she complains giggling "Now!" I order forcing her down on my bed on her knees bending her down on the matress ripping her skirt off her body "ummm I want you so bad" I groan turning her to face me the way she did her back on my bed her hair a mess around her, her face a look of innocent pleasure, her tits out so big and perfect her nipples dark and hard her legs wide exposing the curve of her arse and her pussy with her engorged clit and dripping pussy "god I love you angel" I smirk jumping in her and kissing her as much as I could grinding myself in her and feeling gropeing every inch of her "Tommy stop it! Later" she says Pushing me away "What! No no no no please! I've seen you naked for the first time please let me fuck you my love!" I complain "No, later Thomas" she says "I can't wait till later" I tell her "I need you... I need you now!" I growl but she stopped me "Enough else nothing for two weeks" she warns "Fine" I sigh getting up and sorting myself out she slipped a pair of her panties back on and just my shirt as her bra was broken on my floor, once we ordered dinner I sighed very furstrated "Your not mad at me are you Tommy?" She asks as I hadn't really spoken to her "A little" I shrug "it's not you y/n I'm just frustrated" I sighed "I'm sorry" she says "hey,  no no it's okay" I tell her as I spotted her little tears "no don't cry my angel I'm sorry, it was me for being a dick head, I should have stopped when you said the first time I shouldn't have even got that far... I mean I've ruined It now the first time I got to see you properly naked on my bed and I ruined it in my stupid horny monster mode" I tell her wiping her little tears away and kissing her cheek "It's okay" she smiles nuzzling close to me "I'm sorry I broke your bra" I tell her "It's okay, you'll have to take me shopping to buy a new one" she smiles "Okay, I'm not mad at you angel are you mad or upset with me?" I ask and she shakes her head "okay" I smile giving her head a kiss

As soon as we had dinner we sat on my bed cuddling close "Tommy I love you" she smiles "Awe I love you too y/n" I tell her giving her a kiss she kept kissing me back peppering tiny tickly kisses down my neck I felt her bite going to give me another love bite "hey!" I complain moving her away "what is it with you and hiki's? Little vampire" I laugh "I like them, they mark you as mine" she smiles hugging me tightly "But surely you know I'm all yours I wouldn't ever want to be with anyone else" I tell her giving her head s soft kiss "your all I've dreamed about for years why would I even consider fooling around with someone else" I explain "What if she was prettier than me or mad bugger boobs then me or-" she began but I kissed her lips making her stop "it's just with your level of hormones I assumed you would try to jump anyone" she says "Only you my angel" I tell her "he only wants you" I smirk picking her up to sit down on my lap hugging her soft body tightly nuzzling her head into my neck "he likes her to much to want anyone else." I smirk lightly grinding on her "Does he love her?" She giggled grinding back "Humm of course he does" I smirk pulling her to kiss me she happily kissed back our lazy lustful kisses echoed in the quiet till I pulled away "your all mine aren't you? There won't be some sexy buff boy with a bigger cock come and steal you away from me?" I ask making her giggy "Never I promise" she smiles cuddling close into my neck "I love you only you Thomas" she smiles "I love you too y/n" I smile "so... What do you want to get up to now?" I ask "Hummmm... I have an idea" she smiles jumping up and turning the light of plunging the room into complete darkness "What are you planning?" I ask her a little confused as she turned the little lamp on Just illuminating the room with a fire like orange glow she smiles standing infront of me so I held her hips softly pulling her close to stand between my legs resting my head on her tummy she giggled stroking my hair she ran her hand down tugging on my shirt so I moved away and pulled it off letter her fingers explore my skin I smirked giving her tummy some kisses tugging on my shirt with my teeth she smiled slipping it off leaving her in just her little purple panties the rest of her body completly exposed "ummmm you're so beautiful my angel" I tell her between kisses she pushed my head away gently and got on her knees nuzzling her head on my thigh I smirked down at her playing with her pretty hair she smiles and undid my jeans pulling them off me to leave me naked "you always love getting me naked don't you" I smirk grabbing the base of my cock "come on... He wants a kiss" I tell her she giggled taking the whole head of my cock I in her mouth lightly sucking I grabbed her hair wanting her closer but she didn't move she just keep sucking "uhh ummmm ohh angel" I moan trying not to buck my hips into her mouth till she moved away standing back up and slipping off her panties I went to kiss her exposed skin but she grabbed my hand tugging me up to stand with her I smiled as she cuddled into my chest her arms wrapped around my torso often giving me a tight squeeze as she got close to me so much I could feel my cock against the mound of her pussy so I wrapped my arms around her too holding her as tight as she was holding me resting my chin on her head "what are you up to my love?" I ask her "Snuggling" she smiles "We can snuggle with clothes on, and in bed, and with the light on" I chuckled but she ignored me she moved away tugging my hand with her as she walked over to my mirror she stood perfectly in it so I was able to see every last beautiful inch of her body I smirked cuddling behind her closely giving her neck a kiss "hmmm look at that, there's a sexy girl" I laugh looking at her in the mirror "Humm and there a sexy not" she giggled "My sexy girl" I smirk stroking her soft hair and moving down to grab her big breasts it was amazing to watch the reflection able to see my big hands squeezing her perfect breasts watching her face heat up as I did "these are all mine" I smirk biting in her shoulder as I groped them hard "Uhh! Thomas!" She groans a little annoyed with me for squeezing to hard "Humm sorry y/n" I smirk "if only there was a way I could mark them as mine?" I smirk and I can tell she already knows what I'm going to do to her I smirked turning her to face me and kissing down her chest between her breasts I went to the right side first licking her hard nipple a moment making her tug on my hair wanting more but I moved up s little kissing the soft skin and sucking lightly biting making her giggle at me as I made sure to leave a dark purple mark on her breast I moved to the other side doing the same trying my best to get it in the same place before turning her back to the mirror I smirked seeing her breasts with those big marks I smirked running my hands down gently rubbing a finger on her clit I watched her face as she melted into the pleasure my finger was giving her I moved my other hand back slapping her butt making her groan a little frustrated "no need to whine and groan my angel, daddies gonna make you cum don't worry" I whispered running my hand down and slipping a finger inside her still while my other hand rubbed her clit she rolled her head against my shoulder often going up in her toes as she groans in pleasure I slipped another two fingers inside her and used two to rub her clit and she was putty in my hands moaning and groaning tugging in my hair biting on her mouth her legs shaking as he pussy begged for more I slipped another finger inside her but it didn't stop her being like this "ummm my angels so desperate, four fingers isn't enough? Humm would she like him to go inside see if that makes her feel better?" I ask rubbing my hard cock again her butt she shook her head "why not? Come on he's been watching you the whole time, he just wants to make his babygirl cum" I smirk rubbing on her clit much faster "Uhhhh UHHH Thomas please" she moans "Please what?" I ask "Please I'm close don't stop Thomas please!" She screams "I won't don't worry, but ... Eyes open" I smirk making her face the mirror properly "I want to to watch yourself cum, I want you to watch that dirty slut in that mirror as she begs for her orgasm, no looking away and no closing your eyes else I'll bend you over and fuck that desperate pussy of yours till you can't walk" I tell her "Uhhhhhhhhhh!" She moans keeping her eyes open "Humm good girl" I smirk getting faster finger fucking her and rubbing her clit like crazy I know she's close it was amazing watching her face so close to her orgasm "UHHH uhhhhh master!" She screams making my cock throb hearing her call me that "Ummmm" I groan sucking on her neck "you call me that again I'm pushing you against that mirror! And fucking you senceless you understand me angel" I smirk and she giggled so I lubbed up my hand with her juices rubbing harder and faster on her clit it twitching getting very close I saw an dirty smirk creap on to her face "Umm master" she groans "You dirty girl" I smirk "you asked for it"

"Tommy stop it" she giggled trying to make me stop as I pushed her against the mirror "I told you if you did it again I would fuck you so I will" I smirk "Why? Why when I said that?" She asks "Because I like it" I smirk "Tommy no" she complains "not yet...it's not special" she complains turning and wrapping her arms around me "I know you want it to be special my angel... I'm just horny" I complain "I know you are..a little longer Thomas" she says "Okay," I smile giving her lips a little kiss "want me to finish you off?" I ask and she nods "humm good girl" I smirk turning her back again and rubbing on her clit hard pounding inside her with my fingers she grabbed my arm digging her nails into my skin as she got closer "UHHH uhhhhh Thomas!" She screams her hips bucking into my hands "Come on angel...cum for me my darling" I smirk Kissing her skin softly "Uhhhhh" she moans grabbing my face pulling me to kiss her as she orgasmed I kept going letting her ride out her orgasm before she almost collapsed into my arms "Awww, your all tried out now y/n?" I ask and she nods nuzzling herself close to me "alright come on then, let's get you tucked in" I laugh picking her up and setting her softly on my bed and wrapping the duvet around us tight "Thomas?" She asks "Yeah?" I ask "I love you" she smiles cuddling close to me "I love you too" I smile giving her soft lips a kiss we sat cuddled up for a while I'm pretty sure y/n has fallen asleep on me but I didn't mind if she's comfy and happy I tried to move to get my phone gently moving so I didn't wake her but she sturred making me stop"ohhh I'm sorry angel, I didn't mean to wake you" I tell her "It's okay, I needed to get up" she smiled standing up and sorting her hair I couldn't help but bite my lip looking at her naked body "what?" She asks "Just... looking at how sexy you are" I tell her "Would think you'd be used to it I've been naked almost all day" she giggled "I'll never get used to it, you'll always be unbelievably beautiful and it won't ever not drive me crazy to see you naked" I smirk giving her a kiss "Good" she smirked dragging me with her and she stood behind me I looked seeing my naked self in the mirror my cock of course hard and y/n behind me running her hands down my chest "because it's your turn" she smirked "What?" I ask "You made me do it ... I wanna watch you do it" she smirked grabbing the base of my cock I bit my mouth trying not to moan shutting my eyes in pleasure "Eyes open" she says forcing me to watch as she slowly pumped my cock it was hot watching her do this to me in the reflection as well as seeing her reaction to my moans snd groans often pressing little kisses on the love bite on my neck I watched her face in the reflection for the smirks and sly smiles as I felt myself getting close of course I was after everything she's done to me today "Ummmm faster please" I groan "faster my angel" I beg she obliged pumping fast and hard "Do you want to cum Thomas?" She asks "Yes! Yes please my angel" I groan "Humm when you do I want it to hit the mirror" she smirked "Ummmm okay!" I smirk "uhhh! Y/n please more please!" I yell "He gets what he's given else he doesn't get anything...I thought you where going to behave yourself" she smirked "I'm trying... Please please my angel I need you it hurts please" I beg

"how had does it hurt Thomas?" She giggled "Uhh! Everything hurts my angel, from your beautiful torcher" I groan "ooohh god!" I groan getting closer "Humm how bad does he hurt?" She giggled slyly "Huu! He's in angony my angel" I moan "you hurt him so bad, but he loves it to much to make you stop" I groan "I love your anganizing torcher, it just makes me what that pussy even more" I smirk moving my arm back to garb her arse groping it and when I could giving it little slaps but she forced my hands away from her and moved away herself "no no no please! Just finish me please!" I scream as she moved to the bed "Stay" she orders so I didn't move my cock throbbing begging to be touched I could almost see it in the mirror I gently and secretly took hold of my base lightly pumping myself to keep my pleasure going "bad boy" she giggled slapping my hand away "that's all mine isn't it?" She smirked grabbing my arse hard "Umm it is my angel...I'm sorry I couldn't wait" I beg she took both my hands and tied them behind my back "No touching" she smiles "Ohh you slutty little thing" I groan but she forced my head back to watch the mirror as she kept harshly pumping my cock "uhhhh! Angel! Please! I'm close I'm close please my angel" I beg "Who owns you Thomas?" She asks "Uhh! You do my angel" I answer trying to almost force my own orgasm out of me I was so desperate and she sped up again "UUUHHH! I'm yours, I'm yours! every inch of me please just make me cum my angel!" I scream "Hehe Tommy's very desperate today" she giggled "maybe I shouldn't let you cum after all the bad things you've done today" she smirked "No no no please Im sorry for anything I did just finish me please!" I beg "Well how would you feel if I ripped off all your clothes bent you over my bed and tried to fuck you" she smirked "Ummm I would let you my angel..." I groan "because I'm yours, and I'd let you have very inch of me my love, if it's what you wanted." I smirk "uhh I might like the idea of you bending me over and having your way with me...." I groan  "Uh uhh! Y/n!" I whine starting to peak "I like you taking charge of me" I smirk and she smirked biting my neck and getting faster which got me where screaming her name as loud as I could I broke the rule and shut my eyes as I did so much pleasure overwhelming me I couldn't help it once I was done and she untied my hands I looked and saw the very in parts blurry reflection where my jizz had landed on the mirror I cleaned it s off with a tissue or three before laying in bed with y/n "you are a very evil little Devil when you wanna be" I smirk giving her lips s soft kiss she happily kissed back for a while till I noticed her hand going for my cock again "aww angel, I'm sorry... I've had enough for one day not sure I have the strength for another one" I tell her "Ohhh but Tommy" she complains "I want more love" she whines "You can have lots of love, kisses and cuddles and that kinda love, I wish I could go again my angel but it's to much" I tell her "I can't do anymore I'm sorry" I smile fixing her hair "why? My little angel still horny?" I ask and she nods nuzzling close "well... As I don't have the energy, how about you ride on your toy? Give little Tommy a last go before your big new toys get here" I suggest and she giggled so I got her little toy she named after me and laid down properly with her I go her thigh wrapping it around my waist keeping an arm around her I smirked getting the little tie she put on my eyes and putting it on hers "now... Let your imagination run while darling, you've been imagining this little bit of plastic is me? Well I'm here for you to cuddle and kiss and grope now, and I'm gonna fuck you with your toy as if I was making love to you" I smirk "ready?" I ask running the toy along her clit making her groan and she nods "answer me" I smirk "I'm ready Tommy... I want you" she groans kissing my neck

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Yume Twins May 18

See, I’m already making progress. It’s been a while since I’ve done two reviews in such a close span... hasn’t it?

Theme of the month: (U・x・U) Pom-Pom Sunshine

Before we get into this, I thought It’d be kinda fun to look over the description of this months box to help get a feel for the theme. It does play a large role in judging and I usually don’t elaborate upon it outside of name. Keep in mind that I took out the non-important stuff.

“What does Pompompurin and sunshine have in common? They both have a kawaii pastel yellow color! Pompompurin also loves going out and enjoying the outdoors making the most of his day. In this box, you can find many cute yellow items that represent May’s nice weathers and Pompompurin!“

Not to be a downer but I don’t like yellow.

But the point is not to judge the box on it’s color choices but its content, so please keep that paragraph above in mind.

Contest & Yume Prize

As usual, we have a contest featuring some very randomly chosen Sailor Moon facial masks, earbuds, and a puzzle. I’m not complaining though, who doesn’t like Sailor Moon? 

The Yume Prize caters more towards the theme however, which I do appreciate. They usually do pretty good with that. Although, without sounding like a brat, I don’t see how this stuff can cost over 500 dollars other than the high quality being on a name brand product that belongs to its brand; you know, like if you find a toy at an official Disney store, it’s probably going to cost more than like it’s Walmart Disney toy variant?

In fact I can guarantee it because one of my favorite bloggers did a comparison on them a few times....  

Kawaii Culture

I really should be including this more often, so here it is now :3 May’s Kawaii Culture celebrates the very first permanent Pokemon Cafe in Nihonboshi Tokyo back in March. You can shop for Pokemon-themed goods like accessories, toys, figurines, and even get some cute themed food.

Okay! So let’s get along with the review shall we?

Pompompurin Roll Cushion

The second of 3 Sanrio Roll within Yume Twins, last month we got My Melody in the easter-themed box, and next month we’ll get the third and final one of the set. You’ll have to wait for that review to see who it is-  but in the mean time feel free to guess or think up an answer. I wish the image within the booklet didn’t spoil each one though because the shapes made them very obvious. There wasn’t a surprise element for us who subscribe to it.

As I mentioned in the prior box, I love these cute Sanrio, tube-like tsum tsum cushions. They’re so cute and soft.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

These are very simplified, but well made roll plush/cushions. Comfortable enough to snuggle with and use for the head or to rest a limb on. They even go full out with details... by that I mean they included his button.

and by button I mean... button; you know, typical Pompompurin inclusion. If they didn’t want people to know it was there they wouldn’t put it <3<

Kawaii Leisure Sheet

Ironically I just reviewed one of these in the Doki Doki April box. I think this one may be a bit bigger, I didn’t think to compare the two to see like I probably should have. Anyway... as a rehash of DDAB’s sheet, this sheet is for activities you would probably down sitting down outside. The bottom half has a thin layer of Styrofoam, while the top is textured (I assume to wash off dirt or stains).

This game in four styles, featuring Rilakkuma, My Melody, and 2 different Sumikko Gurashi. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Rilakkuma is always cute and I love this design! It feels so.. spring-to-summer vibey. But I also feel like this could work in the fall too. The mat is thin, but it still feels comfortable sitting down on. It could also probably work for several other things, like putting shoes on, or as a plate mat for a room or something. If I was going to the park or on a picnic or something I’d probably bring it.

Japanese Canvas Tote Bag

A mini-tote bag made in India that apparently costs 1,000 yen. It’s not very big but it gets the job done no problem and offers a lot of space. It also has an inner-pocket, which I like because I hate bags that have no storage compartments and just make a mess you need to waste five minutes digging through. There was 5 designs, including this one, two with cats, and two with sumo wrestlers.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

For a bag to get in one of these boxes I’m actually pretty impressed by it. It’s extremely well made and you can fit necessities and more in it, so it’s very practical for all sorts of occasions. I also like the simplistic and colorfully repetitive design, it makes me feel happy.

Cafe Holographic Stickers

I love sparkles, and food stickers! I got pretty excited seeing this in the box, you can see just how holographic the packaging is alone. There are 6 types (Honey toast, a drink, pancakes, a frappe, cheesecake or fruit tart, and a donut), 8 for each. There is also 2 large stickers with a design based on the front of the package.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

First I want to say adore this packaging. It’s so sparkly and shiny, and I just think it’s really cute looking with the cafe items covering the front and back. I like the variety and the stickers are like average stickers, but they do have that holo that everyone loves and makes everything better~

Taiyaki Squishy

Everyone’s favorite item in these boxes (I assume anyway), a squishy! Taiyaki is a baked pastry filled with things like red bean paste or chocolate. They’re super-popular and can be available fresh (which seem more cake/dough-like from what I’ve seen) or crispy pre-packaged ones (which I’ve tried before and really liked).

This was available in strawberry, chocolate, regular, matcha, and... white. Sorry, I’m not sure what a white one would be. It’s like they knew I wouldn’t be a fan of the Yellow color theme for May and gave me my favorite color to appease that.

I know that isn’t really the case, but it’s ironic isn’t it?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥  

It’s very cute, and I’m happy I got this strawberry-colored one. But I did notice mine has some air bubbles in the rubber/fabric (?), and around the mouth the coloring is lacking. What really killed it for me though, is the fact that it smells like body odor. I have no idea why it would, it’s been in the box and the box doesn’t stink. The inside of the box actually smells good...

Oh, and if you’re curious its a like a... 8 out of 10 in terms of rising speed. It’s quick but not instant.

Chick Kitchen Spoon

This is our final item of the box, and also the featured one. It’s an adorable chick-themed spoon perfect for stirring soups and sauces, scooping rice, tossing a salad, etc. It’s feet are removable- I assume for easier holding and washing.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love cute kitchen items, so I instantly took to this one. It’s pretty much like any other large spoon you’d have for making foods, but it’s just unique in design- so there isn’t actually much I can say about it. I do like that it stands though, because I hate laying spoons down on various surfaces and either making a mess or worrying over germs and having to get a whole new one.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 4 out of 5. I liked everything enough, I’m not sure what of it I’ll actually end up using because for me personally, it kinda feels like this is one of those “put it aside and come back to it“ boxes. I didn’t instantly say “I’m gonna put that out right away!“, except for the chick spoon for obvious reasons.

Price - 5 out of 5. Unlike the past two boxes I feel like this one was definitely worth the price we pay for them. Two items were small, in comparison to having a bunch of small and cheap items.

Quality - 4.5 out of 5. Everything is spot-on, nicely detailed, etc. I’m only marking this down because of that smelly Taiyaki squishy.

Theme - 2.5 out of 5. The theme was yellow, and two of our pre-picked non-randomized items were indeed yellow. By some dumb luck one of my items is mostly yellow. But two ended up being multicolored, and one was pink (but had a yellowish one in the set). Another portion was pompompurin, who could have been represented more, as well as sunshine, a summery vibe I honestly didn’t feel with this box outside of the vibrant color.

Total Rank: 15/16 out of 20 Cuties. Lately I’ve had complex and uncertain feelings about boxes, but with this one I felt like I liked it more/better even if it left me without that excitement that I look for in a new box.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Leisure Sheet -  Not only did I feel like this embraced the theme the best, but in general it’s just a super-kawaii design!

2. Cafe Holographic Stickers - I was quickly won over by the sparkly, shiny rainbowness of the packaging- plus the stickers are cute. 

3. Pompompurin Roll - Very cute and squishy-soft, but generic Pompompurin you know?

4. Tote - A repetitive and simple bonsai plant design, but it’s charming.  

5. Chick Spoon - It’s cute but in a generic sense to me, so I thought the other items were much cuter.

6. Taiyaki Squishy - It’s a stinky, but still kind of cute squishy. And Pink, so...

Alrighty, we’ve come to another end of a review. Wasn’t so bad was it? Next will be the usual NMNL, followed by Kira Kira crate. I’m hoping to get those both done within the next few days to try to get myself back on track of posting more often- especially since I got so behind >3<

But if anyone sticks it out with me and continues reading then I’m happy. So until next time stay warmly pompompurin cute!