#give me buttons that i can differentiate by touch!!!!

[anarchopuppy]

man we rly fuckin need gamecube style face buttons back or something. these days i cant go back and forth between multiple games bc the face button functions always feel so arbitrary and i cant keep track of which one is jump or dodge or attack in each game. no such issue on the gamecube, every game had a primary face button, a secondary face button, and two tertiary face buttons, and that forced them to actually think about which functions make sense to put where

nevermind the fact that different systems have different orientations of abxy so i cant even physically find them on the fuckin controller when im playing on multiple systems. its so frustrating and we literally already had a solution that worked fantastically

[call-me-rucy]

Do you think Professor Layton and Sycamore are color coordinated? I suppose Descole and Layton have a cool vs warm color thing going but I wasn't sure if Sycamore's design related to Layton's design in any obvious way. I think I may be over looking something.

Hey, thanks a lot for this ask, this kind of questions are right up my alley! :D

Before diving in, a disclaimer. I'm not a character designer (although I draw as a hobby) so my info/insight on this matter is merely from the unhinged Layton fan perspective ^^

Second disclaimer: I have already a post that touches about this topic, which can be read here: link. But I believe I will be able to better articulate my thoughts on the topic this time, thanks to the question.

Basically, I believe Layton and Sycamore are indeed color coordinated! And I rise the bet: Sycamore had no right to have the same colours as Layton, but he does.

Here is an image where their palettes are compared. They’re identical!

I think it’s pretty clear they have the same colours, now let’s think, why??

Think of Luke, and Emmy, and Aurora. They all have their distinctive, separate colour patterns. Luke is designed in blue so it can even in tiny pixel distorted form be distingished from Layton at a glance. Emmy follows the same pattern. So why on earth would a character designer so worried about character differentiation give two characters the exact same colours? And more so when one of them is the very main character?! In other words: why isn’t Sycamore color coded green?? (Or white?? Or any other colour??)

And it’s not like it didn’t occur to the character designer. Look at the Decapolice cast, also by Nagano:

The answer I propose is this:

AZRAN LEGACY SPOILERS FOLLOW:

I think this is because the main character of the Professor Layton series is Hershel Layton. And that’s the character that owns the orangey-red and black pallette, the one who screams to us “main character”.

Let me explain: According to the story, the main character of the Layton series was going to be Hershel Bronev. And it is because of this original role of main character that he has the orangey-red and black pallette. And that's so fucking smart.

It would have been so easy to just give design pre-Hershel Layton as the one with the red-black pallete and give the other character another colour. But instead!! The colour goes with the role!! So when Theo takes the role of "Hershel" and "main character", he takes the colours associated with those things, too!!

And this is a bit more watsonian but Hershel gives up the name and the role but not the red-black combo cause they are no other colours for him. So Des keeps his colours (which from a doylistic perspective, he doesn't strictly have to) and Hershel uses Hershel's colours so they both use the same, and also they have the same hair colour and skin colour which totally makes sense. And the Bostonius is the same colour as the Laytonmobile. Because of course it is, they're the same thing!

So here's Desmond Sycamore, a design that copies the professor's main character energy on the basis that he was supposed to be it but is also inspired by Descole's design (see the purple buttons and the shoes) so you see him and he looks like the ultimate rival. (But also Nagano managed to despite using the same colours, make it enough visibly different?? Which is so hard??)

Meanwhile, in a darker timeline where they didn't think the designs as much:

Would still have screamed rival, yes, but it doesn't say "we're made of the same thing" as the true design does.

I think it's impressive, honestly. It's peak storytelling STRICTLY IN COLOUR CHOICES. I wish to be half as good writer/designer as whoever it was that made this call (Nagano or Hino).

And this concludes this session of infodumping. I hope you enjoyed if you stuck enough to read this far.

Thanks again for the question, sweet anon! <3

Please, everyone feel free to send more Layton inquires and/or add your own thoughts to this post. Cheers!

[tokiro07]

That reply I got on my last Zelda post made me realize that I was only thinking about the story elements for potential Zelda-led games and not the mechanics of those games. I touched on it a bit in my reply, but I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into it here

As in Echoes of Wisdom, the goal here is to find gameplay styles that de-emphasize direct combat or physical dexterity, though we don't need to completely eschew them either (even EoW Zelda throws boulders around, after all)

Skyward Sword: a common complaint with Skyward Sword was the lack of content in the sky, so I think revisiting that through Zelda herself would be a great idea. Getting to spend more time with the Loftwings would be fun too, so I'd like them to play an active role within the dungeons. To that end, I'm thinking something inspired by Team Ico's The Last Guardian would work well, with the goal being to guide and instruct the Loftwing to perform tasks, requiring the player to pay attention to its mannerisms in order to gain some semblance of control

Minish Cap: the shrinking mechanic in the original was already a game-spanning puzzle in and of itself, so revisiting that could work well for Wisdom gameplay. To differentiate it, though, I might recommend expanding it to include shrinking and growing other objects, maybe a little bit like Superliminal but on a smaller scale. Or Zelda could just be shrunk down the entire time and needs to figure out how to navigate the world around her

Four Swords/Adventures: FSA ended with Zelda talking about learning a lesson about teamwork and some such, so this could either be another co-op game where the players need to coordinate with each other, or one player would be given multiple characters to work with at once and need to keep track of them all, like the single player in Tri Force Heroes. Honestly, my problem with TFH was that it was clearly not designed for single player, so if they revisited that concept with that explicit intention, I think they could have something solid

Ocarina of Time: obviously this would be Sheik stealth game. Oracle of Seasons already had minor stealth segments, so if you expand that concept into something more akin to the classic Metal Gear games, being more focused on observation, reaction and improvization than pure memorization, I think you'd really have something

Link Between Worlds: again, the 2D/3D puzzles of the original were already exactly the kind of thing we're looking for, so if the developers felt in any way that they hadn't fully explored the concept, like giving Zelda the ability to actually perform actions in 2D rather than simply moving, I think it would be worth revisiting

Zelda 1/Adventure of Link: similar to my idea for Four Swords, I think this one would best focus on the dichotomy between the two co-existing Zeldas, so perhaps an It Takes Two approach with each character having unique abilities would be best. Again, this is a good opportunity for co-op, but I'd like it if they could be controlled simultaneously, like in FSA. Maybe something more like Mario & Luigi's overworld segments, where they're both moving at the same time and different buttons are assigned to each character to activate their unique abilities. We don't really know enough about either of these Zeldas to conjecture what powers they'd have, but if we go off of Zelda I being under a sleep curse, maybe something to do with stillness vs. motion? Like one can make things stop and the other can make things speed up? It would take some workshopping, but I see potential here

Twilight Princess: knowing so little about the Twilight Realm, I'm envisioning labyrinthian architecture, where pathfinding is the name of the game. Given the predilection for darkness, perhaps light-based puzzles would be in order

Wind Waker: this one has the best reason to expand into combat for sure since Tetra is a fighter, but coordinating with her crew to perform tasks either for puzzle-solving or combat would be a perfect way to incorporate her Wisdom into the gameplay. Maybe there would be naval battles where steering the ship in the right way or firing the cannons at the right time would help fend off enemies. Maybe on land, resource management of ammunition and other supplies would be something the player has to be mindful of, or Tetra can bring two or three of her crew along at a time like the Sages in TotK to use their abilities

Spirit Tracks: the Phantoms were already pretty much exactly what we're looking for, so I think just coming up with new Phantoms and level designs would be sufficient. Rearranging the Spirit Tracks themselves for more efficient navigation could also be fun, but I don't know if most fans want land development in their Zelda games

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: I already said in my last post that the Ancient Power system in TotK would have worked as a Wisdom mechanic, so again, any enhancement or refinement therein should probably go to Zelda

If I were a professional, I'm sure I could come up with something a lot more workable than these high concepts, but my main goal with this thought exercise was just to see how the extant stories could be used to make new ones, and I definitely see a lot of areas of opportunity

Of these, I personally like the Skyward Sword idea best, I like what Last Guardian was going for and would really like to see the concept explored by other developers

[rebornologist]

omg ghostie (can i call you that I'm sorry if not--) but for the NSFW asks: 🛌 with abe pls i need more abe content 🤲

-ramey

UM YES LOVE I'm here for abe anytime!! You can 1000% call me ghostie ! hehe :)

warnings: 18+ utc duh!! exo/monsterfuckin hehe, nothing else. he's a softie and we love on him softly..

♡ soft sex HCs w/ Abe Sapien ₊⁎⁺˳✧༚

༚✧⁺˳₊˚‿︵‿︵‿୨୧ · ˳ · ♡ · ˳ · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿˚₊˳⁺✧༚

I think he’s always a fan of soft sex because his brain is huge and his heart is even more humungous!! His dick? Hung.--I mean what?!

He’s so so so sensitive and always so sweet and receptive to a lover’s touches! His hands are everything and if you so much as hold his hand and rub your thumb over the back or trace your fingers gently over his textured palms while your mind wanders into sexier territory, you’ll get the most dramatic reaction from him.. ;)

He’ll gasp and a ragged oh will slip from his lips as his breathing picks up and his limbs involuntarily tense and flex in anticipation. He has no reason to be surprised that you find him irresistible, but it’s always such a cute reaction every time.

SO YEAH 9.5 times out of 10 he cannot resist your siren call >:) you being horny instantly works him up and the blood rushes out of his deliciously wrinkled sexy brain and straight to his nether regions.

If you run hot, the temperature differential between y’all always gives you gooseflesh, and Abe absolutely revels in the feeling of your skin under his soft touch. He is warmed up by you soon enough. You bask in the way he takes his time kissing every inch of your gorgeous vessel.

You also often want him to really feel the love, and that means climbing up on top of him and grinding down over his hips until his thighs are drenched with your combined fluids, the whole time trailing wet open-mouthed kisses over his smooth flesh. With each nip and lick of his skin, he knows exactly how you feel and what your thoughts are, and it is not long until he’s whimpering and begging for you to give it all to him. And you give him just that. You can’t quite interlock your fingers, but he loves holding your hands while you ride him, knowing just how full your heart is and how hot the fire in you burns for him. No matter how soft and sweet the mood is, it’s always very intense from the sheer need for one another. Abe feels emotions quite intensely, so it’s not often for him to just have casual quickies because it takes him some time to re-equilibrate himself.

You almost love it even more when he holds your hand when he’s situated right between your wonderful thighs and licking and sucking at your wet heat like a form of worship, his other hand either gripping your thigh or dipping into you to rub at your sweet spots. He knows exactly how to push your buttons and work you with his mouth to bring you to completion over and over, until you whine sweetly and urge him to crawl up and wrap his arms around you so you can taste yourself on his tongue. He is so the type to hold you and whisper quiet praises and silly little nerd facts into your ear while he lovingly runs his hands through your hair or over your warm skin until you doze off, because he wants nothing more than to keep you safe in his arms.

If you’re a morning person, he’s usually up before you and enjoys peppering your face with kisses until you stir from your slumber. You take that opportunity to roll over him and run your hands all over him, swallowing all of his soft moans with your plush lips, nonverbally expressing just what you’re in the mood for this morning. He heads off to work with a grin that he absolutely cannot shake, set for a good day.

thank you for the ask my love!! I rly rlyyyy need to get into the abe comics bc he is so.. spicy in it.. and movies abe is rly a softie through and through hehe

[j2zara]

thinking so hard about j2 looking and acting like jace when jace isnt pretending for anyone or putting on a show of being cool girl. dirty blonde hair, comfortable baggy clothes in pastels, soooo sweet and willing for anyone who’ll show him a soft touch. maybe a pair of glasses. he literally Is jace before porter and jace haaaaaates his ass so much.

J2 IN BIG OL' GLASSES AGENDA FINALLY WE'RE STRONGER TOGETHER!! Also pastels Bluejay trutherism. He would look so cute in pastels. Jace doesn't understand bc i think he's a jewel tones person. But. J2 is so cute i love him so much.

The funny thing is that Jace HAS all the clothes from his slutty college phase and his grunge phase and his emo phase whenever even *I* write cloneverse stuff but actually? This might be the truest thing ive ever seen. Something about IYWD paints pre-shatterstar early aguefort jace as. Almost a Goodboy. Like. Very much deconstructing from either of his religious upbringings but i do think there is even a shy, slightly buttoned up conservative vibe. Like. Literally buttoned up. Porter is the one who convinced him to stop wearing his scarves so tightly wound lol. Held in place by a family heirloom with a symbol his mother's galicaean faith. Replacing one god for another. That's J2 to me. He's so 25 year old green new hire jace coded it's not even funny. Desperate for direction. For someone to tell him he's getting things right, maybe even give him a little guiding hand.

(And how much does Porter dictate? Porter told Jace he liked his scarf undone. Sure J2 gravitates toward blue, but did Blue become J2's thing because it was the one thing that Porter was able to pick up as well? Was he bluejay before, his own person from jace, or did he become Bluejay for porter?)

For the record. I still think jace can have those rebellious phases that we love to use to give the clones fodder for dress up so i will chalk this up to like. He's at a new job he's kinda falling back onto what he knows and what he knows is putting on that perfectly cultivated Jace Stardiamond Personal (Lights Camera Bitch Smile)

Anyway. I honestly think out of the clones J2 is probably the most like myself (not really in personality but maybe when it comes to things like personal taste and presentation). That wasn't really on purpose I think I just needed thing thats differentiate him from Jace. But. Like. He's very oldest daughter he's very like takes on all the responsibility for himself and i wouldn't exactly say perfectionist but I do think he just. He takes on a lot and is terrified of failure, desperate to prove his worth, his utility. Like off the clock you know he's changing into sweats immediately but when he's on the clock you know he doesn't crack.

Again the differentiation from jace i guess. I liked this idea of someone who was actually kind of frumpy and laid back in his downtime, as opposed to Jace who is always on always performing always perfectly cultivated (which is why J2 feels so manic pixie coded so You Belong With Me Frumpy Next Door Neighbor Taylor to jace's Bitchy Head Cheerleader Taylor). And i don't think these traits are too distanced from jace, Jace is very preoccupied with his own comfort (and like i love the autistic headcanons, particularly abt him dressing for comfort especially because i relate to that so hard i wear the same halter top in different color every day fjkldjakfjla) but that's why jace is willing to put in the work sometimes right? Work to maintain the comfort. Or at least the illusion of effortless, the cache of being a hot and fuckable elmville 9. And Again that idea of everything being effortless and the illusion of being laid back while Jace has this white knuckle grip on everything.

And like. Jace takes all that one willingly, that's self imposed, but if you had to perform being perfect all the time, if you were told that was your job, wouldn't you want to escape a little? Relax on your downtime? Be a creature of comfort? That's J2 to me. And tbh i do think there are a lot of instincts in J2 that might be his own thing but also might be Of Jace. Would jace be a more relaxed and carefree if he didn't feel the need to be On all the time?

Tbh i am compelled by Jace's dislike of J2 b/c like. I get it but also you created this and he thinks he created his perfect replacement for porter and you WANT him to be able to take care of porter while also resenting him for taking care of porter while also seething because J2 is a low rent knockoff but also look at him he doesn't even CARE about playing the part of the cunt porter married and Porter still likes him (Jace does not know the extent to how much J2 is obsessed with wanting to be the cunt porter married. J2 is willing to put in the work for that and that alone. Otherwise he is a dirty blonde in old badidas shorts cardigans and slides w/ socks. with a gender he thinks is probably not cis but does NOT want to unpack rn).

I do also wonder if Jace resents how soft J2 is and does want to push to see if there is that underlying cunt porter married in there somewhere. Like. This guy CAN'T be as sweet and perfect as everyone thinks he is. (it comes out sometimes. Cunty j2 is something i hold very close to my heart bc it doesn't come out nearly as often as cunty j3 or j4 but it does exist)

[drh3nryj3kyll]

Eww another ask ewwieeee

So i read about your likeeee platonic relationship thingies and I’m wondering if this is related, or something completely different

So I’ve had this friend for almost the whole school year. She’s my best friend and I hang out with her as much as I can. I started to feel things such as wanting to hold her hand or to be close to her and things like that and she when she gives me compliments I get butterflies. She also wore a really awesome button up today and when she started to walk over to me with it on I didn’t want her to see the weird goofy smile face I was making so I turned around. She looked so pretty,,,

But that’s besides the point, I feel like I do like her but sometimes I’m kinda like no she’s just a friend. I also sometimes am like kissing her would be awesome and some days I’m like no that’s weird but I still wanna be close to her.

Idk if this is like some kinda weird just like I like her as a friend but not kinda thing or I’ve heard some things about being aroflux which seems a bit fitting but I’m not sure cause I’m like today I would totally kiss her if u could and some days I’m like I ain’t doin that shit or sometimes I’m like I’d hug her and be close but no kissing

Idk you seem like you would know this stuff,,

There's a few possibilities here! The words I'm thinking of when you describe your situation are aroflux, and queerplatonic, alterous, and physical attraction.

Do you think you might be confused or in denial about what you want to do or be with her, or do you think it actually fluctuates? If it's the first, give yourself sometimes to think and experience what you're feeling with her, if it's the latter it could be that you are aroflux.

How would you describe your attraction? Personally, it's difficult for me to tell so I get if it would be confusing for you too. A lot of the time it seems that if you have more difficulty telling whether it's romantic or not it's usually due to being aromantic in some way.

Platonic attraction, obviously, is when you want to be friends with someone, or really enjoy being friends with someone. You might want to be close friends, but not to the extent of queerplatonic attraction.

Physical attraction is merely the desire for physical closeness like cuddling and nonsexual touching with the person one is experiencing attraction towards. There doesn't even have to be any romantic or platonic attraction, but they can co-occur. The thought process for physical attraction goes something like "I really want to cuddle with that person" or "they look like someone I'd want to cuddle", and such.

With queerplatonic attraction, think of it as all the commitment and closeness that comes with a romantic relationship, but without any romantic attraction. Some people in QPRs (queerplatonic relationships) might even marry their QPP or indulge in physical affection with them.

Alterous attraction is something that feels . . . in-between romantic and platonic. I think that might be the case for you. It's not necessarily romantic all the time, it's not necessarily platonic all the time. Alternatively, alterous attraction could be when you feel like you want to be in a platonic and a romantic relationship with someone at the same time!

Romantic attraction is something I don't really have much experience with, but I do have two boyfriends. Being aromantic, romantic attraction is very confusing and irregular for me. Personally, I'll think of typical romantic relationships and the actual label of a romantic relationship and go "Hm, that actually seems like something I'd like with this person." I'm still not sure how exactly to differentiate it from queerplatonic, since I've only had romantic crushes once or twice and most of my significant attraction is queerplatonic. You can try asking alloromantics what romantic attraction is like to them, though!

I hope this helps you!

[slightlytoastedbagel]

Bagel decided to review the new outfits because why not: Leo/Need

I know there will be a lot of people doing this I've just decided to also do it. The general consensus I've seen from the new outfits is... mixed to say the least. For me, the old outfits and new outfits both have their strengths which I'll be going through in this series of posts. Starting with Leo/Need for the sake of order.

I'm just going to say it outright; Leo/Need got the best upgrade of an outfit. The school uniform motif getting expanded upon is great and plays into the School Sekai wonderfully. I do think the blazers could have been darker (however as someone who has to wear a dark blazer to school I would NEVER wish that upon anyone) but other than that I enjoy their new designs a lot. The way they all look more unified and all of them now smiling is definitely the icing on top. They've all grown so much...

Going into individual designs, I'm so happy Ichika got to keep her thigh straps and the shirt and tie not being fully fastened is a great touch. I'm also just really happy she gets to smile now. I sort of wish she got to continue having her blazer wrapped around her waist but that would have made it too similar to the og so I respect the decision to have her wearing it properly.

Saki's yellow works best with the blazer and skirt. I love the double belt and the little star on each of her socks. The choice to give Saki and Honami bows while Ichika and Shiho have ties is a nice differentiation. That's... all I really have to say here. I'm happy the keyboard is no longer in the way.

Honami's (and also Ichika's but I only noticed now) skirts only being half pleated was a good way of making the girls' outfits not all look the same while still keeping the more unified feel of them. I think Hona is my favourite of the group. The star on her arm along with the half belt and buttons on her skirt are great touches. Her old outfit just looks so bad in comparison to this one.

Shiho also got an improvement as she no longer has that bright lime jacket!! It's interesting to note that her skirt and blazer use different shades of green, maybe they thought the darker shade would look better with the blazer? Either way I like it better than her original. Her shirt hanging out is also a nice touch.

L/N Miku is the only one I'm not fully sold on. I like the skirt and think the jacket makes her different enough from the girls but I miss her safety hair clip so much. Oh well...

Overall, I think Leo/Need do the best job of what the outfit redesigns should be like. Showing the development of the unit while keeping their representative colours and themes present enough. In the case of the former this does mean just making the outfits look like they go together but still.

I did say in the tags of that post about Rui facing with his back to us that I liked L/N and WxS the same amount, but looking at them now I definitely like L/N more. My only real complaint is that the blazers would have looked better in a darker shade but it's not a life ending difference.

In terms of if I think it's an improvement to the original, this is the only one I can confidently say is (but I am writing this before Nightcord's release so that may change). Their first outfits may have been more individualised but Honami and Shiho look so much better here.

[gay-victorian-astronomer]

4! 16! 20! 39! :D

4. What do you wear when you have to dress nicely?

The most formal I need to get on a regular basis is academic conference attire, so like... business casual level of formality. My usual conference outfit is black chinos, a button up shirt whose print can only be described as space arcade carpet, and a black blazer with a pronoun pin on the lapel.

For more formal occasions, I don't actually own anything that works at the moment— in the past I would wear some type of long gown for those but subsequent Gender Realizations have made that intractable. I very badly want to get a proper suit, but I am having trouble finding an option that will have the details of men's suiting I want while still fitting nicely on my body while also not being super fucking expensive. My impending graduation might give me some motivation to figure something out though...

16. Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

Strangely I haven't been on a big hoodie kick lately— I've gone through pretty much this whole winter without really touching any of them, I've been blanket-burrito-moding instead. So I guess I'll talk about my favorite sweatshirt at the moment/one of the hoodies that's been with me the longest?

My favorite sweatshirt at the moment is one I got back in October as a free giveaway for seniors at my university. It doesn't have a hood and it's pretty plain except for a large applique of the university athletics logo on the front. I like it because I accidentally sized up more than I should have so it's pretty big and snuggly on me.

One of the hoodies that I've had the longest is a purple one from when I went to Washington, DC on a school trip in 8th grade. Most of my hoodies were purchased while traveling— for a while I had to wear a back brace for scoliosis and the brace would put holes in the backs of regular T-shirts, so whenever we'd travel I'd get hoodies as souvenirs because the thicker fabric would hold up better. That hoodie did in fact hold up— it was my favorite hoodie for most of high school because it was surprisingly thick and good quality for being an impulse purchase from a street vendor, and it was made out of pretty pill-resistant fabric, not to mention the fact that it's my favorite color.

20. What kind of math are you best at?

Going purely by my academic record, I'm generally pretty good at anything that doesn't require me to do proofs.

In terms of math I like doing, I think most parts of multivariable/vector calculus are pretty neat, and they are pretty strongly tied to physics. In a similar vein, doing boundary value problem stuff & solving partial differential equations is pretty nice as long as the problem isn't set up to be annoying as fuck (looking at you, applied boundary value problems homework sets)

Dishonorable mention goes to integrals. I am learning through taking quantum theory that I have very limited patience for dealing with integral bullshit (and there are some truly deeply bullshit integrals that have been thrown at me in that class). Evil little bastards that make my brain hurt >:(

39. What was the best part of your day today?

Not much immediately jumps out at me— I've been sick for the past couple days but I felt well enough to go to class today so it was a pretty normal Wednesday all things considered. My housemate ordered food for delivery at lunchtime and they gave me a spring roll they got as a freebie that they couldn't eat, so that was tasty. I'm debating whether to order delivery for dinner in which case that will also be a tasty treat (but we shall see).

[flaming-o-has-no-dough]

The Chainsaw Man Chooseboth Video Post

For a while now I've been trying to get started making YouTube videos so that I can externalize some of my least absurd thoughts and neuroses in a way which could profitably be added to my "Cool Creative Person Résumé"... but, uh, I've been having a hell of a month and a half. So, add to that the facts that a key component of my microphone setup has been cleft in twain and I'm uncomfortable with my voice as it is now, and I think YouTube is officially going on the backburner.

But I have all sorts of thoughts and feelings about the narrative pieces Chainsaw Man Part 2 has been moving around, and I'm so out of touch with the CSM community that for all I know, my thoughts and feelings might even be uncommon. So I didn't want to just completely abandon my plans to externalize them, so... here, you're getting This. Or you can just ignore the button which says

Chainsaw Man is one of my favorite stories of all time. In fact, even if it were just Part 1 alone, I'd put it in my S-Tier of media, alongside Deltarune (presuming future chapters don't disappoint), Everything Everywhere All At Once, Little Miss Sunshine, Picture of Dorian Grey (unless I ever reread it and it's not as good as I remember it being), and, presuming the third movie doesn't disappoint, Spider-Verse.

you can tell i'm a filthy zillennial because only two of the things on that list are from before the 2010s and only one of those is from before the 2000s

Speaking of Spider-Man, I don't read comics because I'm not a nerd.

But I have seen the original three movies, which is a large part of why the first part of CSM Part 2 which really hooked me was Denji's introduction (and I'm saying that as a massive fan of Asa who DOES like her more than I like Denji). And I do consider CSM Part 2 to have a Denji introduction, even though we already know who Denji is, because it immediately sets itself up as separate enough from Part 1 that I think it's worth analyzing as a separate work within the same franchise. And taking the first sequence in Part 2 which contains Denji as a character introduction makes it very interesting if I do say so myself.

For you see, I have watched that one Spider-Man movie which was just called Spider-Man because there weren't a million other ones yet so it didn't need any differentiators. And in that movie, Enemy Of Spider-Man called Green Person, says “Okie dokie now Spider-Man, choose which one to save, hot lady or whatever this is”.

Spider-Man, rather famously, doesn’t do it. Spider-Man chooses both.

Which brings us to Denji's Part 2 Introduction. In Chapter 102 Save the Cat, his enemy whose name I think is also Green Person says “You are a superhero now. That’s what you are now. Okie dokie now choose which one to save, hot dude or whatever this is”.

Denji doesn’t do it, but he doesn’t do it in the wrong way and chooses neither. He titularly saves a cat, hot dude and whatever this is both die.

Then we get a cut directly from a blood-and-gore-covered Denji saying "That choice was stupid, I did the correct thing rather than accepting either option" to a monolithic wall of televisions talking about how great and heroic Denji is. That’s not Spider-Man, that’s like, Homelander or some shit. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if Denji were a blonde horny manchild.

Basically, that's not how stories introduce their heroes. It's how stories introduce their villains.

So, extrapolating "Denji is the villain of CSM Part 2" to its logical conclusion, I came up with what I'll call the Unbreakable Cycles Theory. I don't want to spend too long explaining that theory because I no longer even think it's correct, so let's just hope you can understand what I mean when I say this:

Part 1: Denji is introduced, and a bizarre and unfortunate inciting incident gives him Devil Powers. -> He saves a girl from the Bat Devil -> He really likes the Control Devil [Makima], but even he can't ignore the fact that she has obvious flaws, too. -> Due to the Eternity Devil being enlisted by one of the major Big Bads, he must break an unbreakable cycle -> A lot of terrible things happen, and in the end, he has no choice but to kill his problematic fave the Control Devil

Part 2: Asa is introduced, and a bizarre and unfortunate inciting incident gives her Devil Powers. -> She saves a girl from the Bat Devil -> She really likes Denji, but even she can't ignore the fact that he has obvious flaws, too. -> Due to the Eternity Devil being enlisted by one of the major Big Bads, she must break an unbreakable cycle -> A lot of terrible things happen, and in the end, she has no choice but to kill her problematic fave Denji

Part 3: The Control Devil [Nayuta? Or a third incarnation?] is introduced, and a bizarre and unfortunate inciting incident occurs, although they already have Devil Powers. -> They save a girl from the Bat Devil -> They really like Asa [possibly non-romantic this time?], but even they can't ignore the fact that she has obvious flaws, too. -> Due to the Eternity Devil being enlisted by one of the major Big Bads, they must break an unbreakable cycle -> A lot of terrible things happen, and in the end, they have no choice to kill their problematic fave Asa (unless they can break the cycle FOR REAL this time, and put an end to the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors/Fire Emblem)

(bolded section is things which have already happened, non-bolded section is a potential extrapolation)

I do think the Unbreakable Cycles Theory is probably wrong, because CSM Part 2 has been playing with so many big moving narrative pieces and thematic ideas, while telling the story from Denji's POV a lot more often than I would have anticipated when making the theory.

Recently, in Chapters 133 and 135 (which, uh, WERE a lot more recent when I was initially making the YouTube version of this post, which was my fifth attempt at making my first YouTube video, if you want an idea of how much fruitless work I've been doing behind the scenes) the thematic relevance of a Spider-Man style Chooseboth moment has resurfaced.

(A direct link is even drawn between choosing both and the peace sign that Denji throws up all the time!)

In a lot of ways, it's become clear that choosing both is a major idea CSM Part 2 is interested in, as well as kind of an intersection between two other major ideas it's interested in, those being Western-comics-style superheroics and duality. Most notable as of right now are the duality between Asa and Yoru, the duality between Chainsaw Man and Chainsaw Man, and the duality between the Asa-Yoru-continuum and Denji.

So, with that third duality in mind, let's revisit Denji's introduction and see what it could be saying which is more complex than just "Denji is a villain this time".

Because Chapter 102 Save the Cat ISN'T just about Denji, it IS about that third duality. It doesn't just establish a worrying lack of empathy on Denji's part, but it in fact does the same for Asa.

And Denji isn’t the only one who condemns a nonzero amount of humans to death by titularly saving a cat in that chapter, either. Nor is he even the only one who immediately gets praised for it. The only reason it didn’t strike me nearly as villainously with Asa is, well… just look at her face. She might as well be saying “That was horrible”.

So, thinking about Chapter 102 Save the Cat as establishing a dynamic between the Asa-Yoru continuum and Denji made me wonder where that dynamic occurs in Chapter 127 Save the Asa. Because in that chapter, it really is only Denji who titularly saves an Asa, as far as I can tell. Even keeping the double meaning in mind where "asa" is also the word for "day" doesn't seem to change this.

There is, to be sure, a parallel to be found in this chapter, however.

As you can see in these unedited images, the dynamic has been established.

Asa saves a cat, people die, and she gets praised for it. Denji saves a cat, people die, and he gets praised for it. Denji: :D Asa: that was horrible

Asa doesn't have anything she considers worth living for other than sex. Denji doesn't have anything he considers worth living for other than sex. Denji: :D Asa: that was horrible

Yoru injures Asa to combat despair. Denji injures himself to combat despair (also take a note how blatant it is that he gleefully targets his own brain and remember that for something I'm going to talk about later). Denji: :D Asa: that was horrible

Asa and Denji are really, really similar. But something which has been made clear about Denji as early as In Content Already Adapted By The Anime is that... while he's not as stupid as he seems, he hates thinking. Introspection makes him deeply uncomfortable, so he avoids it by always acting on impulse. This is rarely successful, and he kind of ends up being quite introspective in spite of himself, but it's really not something he wants or enjoys.

Asa, meanwhile, is established as "a goody-two-shoes" in her very first chapter. But it's not long afterwards that she's just as lacking in empathy as Denji is when it comes to complete strangers (so not actually including her mom or what's-her-name). So it's clear that her being "a goody-two-shoes" isn't actually particularly tied to her moral fiber. So then, what is it tied to? Well, the way I see it is, she's striving for societal acceptance. Denji and Asa are both striving for happiness and human connection, but Denji grew up outside of society, and disregards societal norms entirely, but Asa grew up within society, and sees societal norms as the threshold she needs to cross through in order to gain that happiness. She sees widespread acceptance as a fundamental requirement for forming meaningful relationships, and "staying in line", morally speaking, as the way to achieve that acceptance.

Another way of putting it is through this diagram:

okay analysis over. you can stop reading now

[chris-aok]

The Best HIDs for the Mac

HID stands for human interface device. This usually refers to keyboards and mice but can refer to anything that lets you provide inputs to a computing device.

I use the term HID rather than simply saying "keyboard and mouse" because the best HIDs for the Mac aren't a keyboard and mouse: The best HIDs for the Mac are a keyboard and trackpad.

The Mac has evolved a lot over the years, and so has its HIDs. There was a time where mice on the Mac only had a single clickable button in contrast to the PC's two: left mouse button and right mouse button.

I don't know if the Mac did this to differentiate itself from the PC or because Apple had done the hard work of researching to all hell mice and determined that an extra mouse button was superfluous. It might have been both.

While the Mac works very well with a variety of HIDs from third-parties, the best HIDs for the Mac are first-party HIDs, which is to say Apple HIDs.

The Best Keyboard for the Mac

While I enjoy a mechanical keyboard as much as the next nerd, the best keyboard for the Mac is one of the Magic Keyboards with Touch ID. There's a model with a Numeric Keypad and one without. Take your pick. I prefer the one with the Numeric Keypad because it has a Numeric Keypad but also because you can get it with black keys.

You can try to live your life without Touch ID, and while you might be able to accomplish much without it, Touch ID on a purchasable keyboard was a big deal for me when it came out. I had been waiting for Apple to create one for years as a Mac mini user, where BYOK (Bring your own keyboard) was the philosophy. This unlocks Apple Pay directly on your Mac without needing an iPhone or other device with biometrics (Face ID or Touch ID). Additionally and obviously: It lets you unlock your Mac or several applications that would normally require a password. Very cool.

The Best Mouse Trackpad for the Mac

We aren't going to talk about the Magic Mouse 2. And the reason why we aren't going to talk about it is because you can't charge it and use it at the same time, which is a ridiculous and indefensible design decision. Shame on you, Apple.

This leaves us with the Magic Trackpad. In 2024, it's technically the Magic Trackpad 2. The original Magic Trackpad was grey and took 2 x AA batteries and worked great. I liked it a lot; but the Magic Trackpad 2, while being rechargeable, also comes in Black, with a wider surface, feels silky smooth, and comes equipped with Force Touch, giving you more versatility in the input commands you can provide. Plus, as a flex: It has no moving parts. You aren't actually clicking it when you press down, it's just providing force feedback to simulate a click. Groovy.

I find it fascinating that an HID normally designed for laptops would make its way to the desktop and would become the best way to interact with your Mac. I supplement the functionality of the Magic Trackpad with the application BetterTouchTool, which lets you program additional gestures than those available in macOS. With the amount of gestures I can make on the Magic Trackpad, I never once feel like I'm less productive than with a mouse. I say this as someone who rocked a Logitech gaming mouse on the Mac for years specifically because I wanted to be able to do more with my HID. While I won't be gaming with the Magic Trackpad anytime soon (I think Minecraft was vaguely playable with it), I much prefer the touch and feel of the Magic Trackpad.

[deadindeathvalley]

Thoughts on Gen Z

Okay, I've been having a lot of thoughts and feelings lately that I need to get off my chest.

I want to start this off by stating that I'm fully aware that "Gen Z" as they are represented on the internet do not define the generation as a whole. I'm a young millennial ('94), and the Gen Z folks I know in real life I absolutely love and enjoy spending time with. I think they're smart, creative, and refreshingly politically aware. That said, there are some behaviors I'm noticing specifically on Tiktok, Instagram, and sometimes Tumblr that I find VERY concerning and off putting.

There's been this theory floating around the internet that Gen Z are essentially just young boomers. I keep going back and forth on this, because I can't decide if there's some merit to it or if they're just being teenagers and Boomers never emotionally matured past the age of 16. However one thing they seem to have in common is the fact that they can't mind their own business, and feel the need to comment on/make fun of/call out people who ARE just minding their business.

As a teenager, I can't remember my peer group EVER giving a flying fuck about what other generations were doing. We kind of just ignored our Boomer/GenX parents and did our own thing. Millennial teenagers were either stereotyped as apathetic emo cry babies or "preppy" mean girl/jock types. But all of our problems/bullying/call outs were internal for the most part. If anything, we just thought the older generations were out of touch the same way all teenagers feel at one point. But we never made it our personality.

And that's where Gen Z comes in. I remember being excited for the younger generation to come of age because millennials thought we were finally going to get allies after the older generations decided to wage war on us for no apparent reason. I get that it's normal for teenagers to want to differentiate themselves from the older generations, but the way these kids came out SWINGING. I'm talking whole as blogs and tiktok accounts dedicated to calling millennials "cringe" and flooding the comments of creators who were just doing their own thing and not harming anyone. Many content creators were bullied off of platforms just for having a "millennial sense of humor."

It's one thing to think that older generations are cringe, like sure. You do you. Rebel against the norm. But why on earth do we think its okay to go into other peoples spaces and ridicule them just because they're different than you? What happened to just "scroll on and mind your business?" Why are you so obsessed with that millennials are doing on the internet (that we more or less curated) that you have to make hating us your whole personality? That feels like serious boomer energy.

Not to mention this culture of filming people in public? There's a trend going around where people film what other people are doing on their phones and post it on the internet for everyone to see. What on earth makes you think you're entitled to other peoples privacy? I personally find it abhorrent.

All of this behavior I've been seeing is very disheartening, and I can't seem to escape it. I feel like when we were teenagers the internet had its own pockets where people could just be weird and express themselves to other weird people and foster creativity. Now because of algorithms anything can go viral and someone with a niche interest or a weird interest (or someone who is neurodivergent but not in the "cool fun and spicy way") is being flooded with comments insulting them and telling them to kill themselves essentially. I just hate it and I wish these kids would mind their own business. Not everything needs to be a call to action. Not everything is for their own personal consumption. Sometimes you can just cringe at something and use that nifty old "not interested" button.

Now this isn't even anything that happened to me specifically. It's just getting tiring seeing a video on my FYP and seeing nothing but awful comments insulting the person who wasn't hurting anyone. Or seeing people like Jack Harlow or other artists bullied off the platform for being "cringe." The world is depressing enough, why do we have to add to the cruelty unnecessarily?

Anyway, thank you for reading my rant. I'm done now.

TLDR; Gen Z has a problem with not minding their own business and bullying people off the internet for having the audacity to be "cringe."

[jointimeandspace]

This story was based on such a beautiful drawing by JvdB_art on Twitter. Source at the end.

You Have Me Forever

Three weeks was how long it had been since you went into a coma. Three quiet, painful weeks. Alcina missed your laughter, your feet pattering on the carpet, and the way you'd scream with joy when you were playing with her girls. The only sounds coming from the castle was the rain hitting the window panes; the large stacks of firewood crackling in the hearth. Alcina felt guilty, something that hasn't happened to her in a long time.

She sat at the large bay window that was in her room looking out at the village below. She hadn't eaten. Her pale skin was more cracked than it had usually been and a constant flow of tears wouldn't stop running from her eyes. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?" she said to herself. She looked over to you on her bed. No sign of movement from you yet. She leaned back on the wall with an exasperated sigh. She'd give anything for you to wake up. With Alcina's large size, it usually came with a few problems. One night, when you and her were making love, she drank from you. "Not a terrible way to go out," you always thought, and you had already done it many times before. However, Alcina took a bit much than she normally had and you passed out. She expected you to wake up after a couple of hours of night's sleep; when you didn't come down for breakfast or lunch that next day, panic set in. Nothing would stir you so she sent for Mother Miranda. She was relieved when Miranda said you were still alive, but she didn't know how long it would be until you woke up. Upon her inspection and running tests, she found out you had diabetes. During your activities, you sugar became low. You hadn't told Alcina, which was a foolish gesture on your part; you had been showing signs of low sugar but chose to ignore them.

Alcina stared into the fire as her memories went back to those first 3 days prior to the incident. Everytime she tried to forget, the memory came back stronger and more vivid than ever.

"Did you know about this Alcina? It's not like you to be so careless with your...pets."

"No, most reverent Mother. I didn't! Why she didn't tell me I don't know."

Alcina at the time did not know (and after all, how could she), that while in your coma, you un(f)ortunately could still here everything. You wanted to spring from the bed and protect your mistress, but you were helpless.

"Hmm!"

Mother Miranda turned back to you and walked toward your side of the bed. You couldn't see, but you could hear the condescending tone in her voice, and only imagined that a mix of malice and amusement ran across her face. She had Alcina under her thumb. Miranda knew all the right and wrong ways to push her buttons, and Alcina knew this, especially when it came to people she loved.

"Oh, Alcina! I'm so disappointed! You should've know what disease ailed her when you drank from her for the first time. Or have your senses started to fail you? Maybe I need to run a few more tests on you; get you back to tip-top shape. I can't let my favorite child falter, now can I? You'll let me know if her condition worsens."

Alcina took in a shuddering breath, trying to compose herself. She dared herself to not look weak in front of Miranda.

"Of course, Mother. Thank you!"

With that, Miranda shut the door and you two were alone again. She waited until the front door closed, and then she fell to her knees and wept. To hear her crying and not being able to move to comfort her was terrifying and heartbreaking. You were determined to make it through no matter what.

"Mama?"

Alcina came out of her daydream when Daniela appeared with a bottle of Sanguine Virginis in hand.

"Mama? Please eat! You don't want to get sick....you'll start turning."

Alcina looked back out the window. With a flick of her wrist, she signaled Daniela to set the bottle down. Daniela, always the intuitive one, went to sit beside her.

"Mama, it's not your fault. Certain ailments are hard to pick up sometimes. You'd have to have the same type of blood over and over again for at least a few years before you figure out which ailment is which. We've had so many types that even I can't differentiate plain from diseased. Staleness, though... we can always tell for sure," she chuckled. "Don't beat yourself up."

Alcina brought her hand to Daniela's cheek. Her baby was always there to comfort her whenever she needed. No wonder she took an interest in you. You always reminded her so much of Daniela.

"Thank you, darling! Go be with your sisters. I think they're looking for you."

Daniela nodded as she gave her mama a kiss and then disappeared in a smattering of flies. Alcina got up and moved to the bed so she could be near to you; she distanced herself for too long.

You looked liked Sleeping Beauty to her, waiting to be kissed. She got down on her knees to have a better look at you and took your hand.

"Oh, draga mea, why didn't you tell me? I would've been so careful."

You felt her kiss your hand- that was new! You couldn't feel any touch for awhile. Now, it felt like your entire body loosening up as if you were being thawed out. You slowly moved your toes and could feel the sheets hitting them. Your body was waking up. You were about to try to speak, but Alcina's voice rang out once more.

"Please, draga! Come back to me. I'll never be so careless again. Mother is right! I should've known, as long as I've been drinking blood. I always push, and push others until I break them. I told myself I'd be careful with you, and now here I am, praying for you to wake." Alcina sobbed, "I love you so much and don't want to lose you!"

She laid her head down on your arm as you felt the tears run down your fingers. Before you knew it, you opened your eyes and looked around the room. It was dark except for the fireplace. You rotated your head a bit and lifted your right arm. You felt stiff and tired, but you were determined to touch her- to comfort her. You looked down at Alcina, whispering silent prayers in your hand. To see her so soft, so vulnerable, and scared, was enough to shatter your soul. You reached over and ran your fingers through her hair. She stopped and looked at you, the light returning to her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere! You have me forever. And I promise, none of this was your fault. I should have told you, but I didn't want to burden you with my issues. They've always been manageable, but I guess I should've listened to my body before we started that night. I neglected to take care of myself. Plus, I didn't tell you because I was afraid you wouldn't want me anymore; that I wasn't clean enough..."

Alcina silenced you with a deep kiss. How you missed her touch, her eyes, the pleasure that you two shared together. She kissed your face, your neck, hands and fingers. She was so happy to have her darling back. She brought your hand up to her face once more, kissing it and breathing in your sent. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said.

"Thank you for coming back to me. You too, shall always have me forever. And never, will I ever, not want you. You'll always be divine to me. My most precious little one."

[katnissmellarkkk]

hi everlark-angel👑🙌🏻

if you’re still taking prompts—any chance we can get one of peeta comforting katniss during the “growing back together” phase where he slides his hand underneath her shirt for the first time to rub circles on her back or something? (tbh anything you write will be flawless tho😩👌🏻)

Hi! I just saw this request like two nights ago — along with a few others you may or may not have sent ??? — so I apologize for the wait. 😭😭😭. Also idk if this is exactly what you wanted, I started out with one thing in mind and it turned into something else but I hope you still enjoy it! 🤍🤍🤍🤍 at this point I think I said that for all these requests so I’m basically a broken record I’m sorry 😅

My mouth lets out a cry a beat before my eyes pry themselves open. It’s a pathetic cry, the kind that’s loud but intelligible and scratches at the back of my throat. The kind only comes after nightmares or flashbacks. And the kind that will undoubtably alert my bedmate to my distress.

Sure enough, only moments after my lids open I feel a large, warm hand cautiously touch my shoulder.

But one of the worst parts of nightmares is I can’t tell reality from the dream at first and I cannot consciously recognize who the hand is and all the contact results in is a cacophonous gasp of fear.

“It’s me,” Peeta whispers softly through the darkness — both the physical blackness of the night and the horrors in my mind — and reaches out to encompass me with both arms.

His arms are always there to comfort me. Just as they were on the Victory Tour, his arms are strong and inviting and keep me safe from the terrors threatening me from all corners. At least that’s how it feels in my dreams. Like there’s someone else there, waiting for me to let my guard down so they can attack.

“It’s just me, Katniss,” he promises, rolling me off the edge of the mattress. He curves his body around mine, his breath tickling my throat unintentionally. “You’re safe. You’re so safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you now.”

The tears come then. I don’t know why night to night the timing of my waterworks differentiates — maybe my mind likes to keep things interesting, lest my terrors get too predictable — but for reasons I can’t place, tonight it’s not until Peeta promises my safety, until he whispers in my ear in a protective tone with that sleepy edge I’ve come to know well, that I unravel.

His lips press kisses to the side of my face as I cry out, understanding that there’s nothing else he can say to prevent this.

We’ve both learned the hard way that sometimes the only way past is through. The only way past our nightmares is to let ourselves feel them without trying to numb the pain.

His mouth moves from my cheek to my temple to my hair, before coming to a stop to suck lightly on my ear. “It’s okay, Katniss,” he whispers once more.

My tears die down eventually, as they always do. But either the dream or my upset have disturbed me enough that sleeping again seems futile and I lightly grasp Peeta’s palm resting against my stomach, giving it a squeeze to signify that I’ll be getting up now.

“You haven’t gotten much sleep,” he argues as I kick the blankets back from my side of the bed.

“That’s not uncommon,” I say, because it’s true. Even though it’s not great reasoning on my part, as me and him both know that days with little sleep for me are typically anxiety-filled and unproductive, he still cannot deny that it’s true. It’s not uncommon for me to wake up from a nightmare and not be able to relax again.

“I know,” he validates, his fingers reaching up to touch one of my braids now. “Will you still try anyway?”

I sigh deeply but flop — a little too forcefully — back onto the bed, mainly because the sun has yet to rise and I have little to do around the house or in the woods in the dark.

He can’t help but push my buttons. “Such a drama queen,” he teases, shaking his head at me.

And if either of us were in doubt to whether I was cranky or not, my rolling my eyes in irritation and then rolling my body away from him should be answer enough.

Peeta is still chuckling though as he touches my back now. “Come here, Katniss. Let me hold you.”

“Get lost,” I mutter, shoving his hand off me petulantly.

“No.” He continues to smile as he refuses and I’m debating if I wouldn’t rather be hunting in the dark right now than dealing with anymore of this teasing when he makes me an offer I cannot refuse. “Do you want me to rub your back until you fall asleep?”

I turn towards him slightly, curiously winning over my annoyance. “What do you mean?”

He gives me a quizzical look now. “You don’t know what I mean?” His eyebrows knit together incredulously. “Roll over. I’ll show you.”

I turn onto my stomach, my cheek resting against the pillow we share — that at some point in the night I must have stolen entirely because it’s completely on my side of the bed — and wait.

He shakes his head though and smiles again. “You need to get closer, Katniss.”

He says it like he’s asking me to do something but instead of waiting, his hands grasp my waist and tug me until my body is centimeters away from his.

His hand begins to rub circles onto my back, in a slow and incredibly soothing motion. The action, though small, somehow unravels whatever knots had coiled themselves up in my stomach, calming me down almost instantly.

Peeta must recognize that his idea is working because he moves his hand to pet down the flyaway hair from my face. “Is that helping?” He asks but I can tell he already knows the answer.

Still, I reward him with a nod, no longer mad about his teasing. “Keep doing that,” I order, roughly pushing his hand from my hair and towards my back again, sleep now back in the question for me.

He chuckles sleepily again, resuming his ministrations lightly. But I don’t even have to look his way to know he has something else in mind now.

As if reading my mind, he quietly murmurs, “I have an even better idea,” and slides his hand underneath the back of my shirt. His fingertips gliding across my bare spine, spinning in circles over and over again.

The sensation is even better than it was over cloth, eliciting an almost ticklish feeling across the planes of my back, the ministrations raising gooseflesh their wake. The sense of dread in my stomach is even replaced with a warm, happy feeling and I let out a sigh of contentment.

“Is my Katniss happy?” He teases again, leaning over me, propped up on his elbow.

“Yes,” I say, smirking at him without even opening my eyes.

Which is how he surprises me with a kiss to the nose.

“Good,” he whispers before tugging my shirt upwards, bunching it up over my shoulder-blades to give himself better access to my back.

His hand continues to rub circles all over, from the top of my spine to the hem of my pajama pants. He keeps stroking my back, even after my lids grow heavy and I can barely focus on anything but peaceful sleep calling me away again.

“Sleep well, my sweet girl,” he whispers as I slid away to hopefully much more happy dreams now. “You deserve it. And so much more.”

[aliteama]

JJK characters describing what love feels like to them

Itadori Yuji- “It’s amazing! It’s this bubbly feeling and it’s like my stomachs doing whirls and my hearts constantly trying to jump out of my chest to try and touch them..” the grin on his face fades as he reflects on his words, “but it’s also like… getting stung by a bee.. you wonder why it hurts you so much yet all you can do is pull out the stinger and wait for the skin to heal” he stares down at his palm as his fingers fold into a fist “The pain eventually fades but you can’t help but be afraid of getting stung again even if you try your hardest not to provoke it-” he unfolds his fist and holds up his hand to you “-I’ve learned to not be afraid anymore though because there’s always someone there to help me heal.”

Fushiguro Megumi- Seconds of silence pass as he rubs his knuckles with a frown on his face, “It’s an obligation, everyone’s expected to love someone and it honestly feels like a weight on your shoulders” he sighs heavily before bringing the pads of his fingers to his cheek to pull at the skin, “It’s one of those dreams that you can’t differentiate from a nightmare. I’ve definitely taken it for granted” his eyes glaze over when he turns to you “I’d like to see love differently though, I hear it’s a warm feeling.”

Kugisaki Nobara- “If you think I’m going to say sunshine and rainbows, you’re wrong. Love’s kinda painful” a bitter laugh spills from her lips as she shakes her head “But it wouldn’t be fair for me to say it’s entirely bad; have you ever been running and at first you feel really good but then the fatigue starts to hit? And even though your legs hurt and your lungs burn you can’t stop moving because it all just feels so human. That feeling when your heart picks up and you keep pushing towards the goal, that’s the most wonderful part” raising a hand she flicks away a loose strand of hair and offers you a toothy grin, “Well at least that’s just how I feel about it.”

Zenin Maki- “Love feels like.. It feels like leaning against a wall that could crack at any moment, the bricks hurt your back and sometimes your feet slip out from under you but you never lose your footing because the wall keeps you stable” she tips her chin back with a thoughtful hum before meeting your eyes, “I’m not one to lean onto walls for support but I think everyone needs a break once in a while, it’s a nice feeling- having something to keep you upright.”

Inumaki Toge- He spins a pen between his fingers before scribbling inky words on paper, “Tuna” he hands the sheet to you, some sentences are crossed out and some have been switched around but the writing is readable. ‘It’s dreadful, did I use that word right having someone know your darkest deepest secrets, It’s scary because you never know if they’ll think less of you the more you unravel, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope they’ll stay.’ He taps at the paper and guides your eyes farther down the page, ‘But when you finally find someone who doesn’t think any less of you it’s an amazing indescribable feeling.’

Okkotsu Yuuta- The question flies over his head as he laughs loudly, cheeks flushed as he jabs at you with the back of his sheathed sword. “Huh? Oh, Love for me is hard to describe since it’s such a broad term.. but if I had to say..” he chuckles at you once more when you finally rip the weapon out of his hand “..it’s perfect. Sure I’ve been hurt and maybe I’m not the most suitable to fall in love since I fall so wholeheartedly but I adore this feeling” brushing his thumb over the swirled button of his jacket he smiles wistfully “Love is definitely a curse but I believe there’s always good in evil. It makes me feel needed and cared for, it gives me a purpose. I’ve found myself through different forms of love and I’ve cherished every relationship. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

[butcheranons]

Bad Influence

summary: You love Bad more than anything else; well, maybe not as much as The Egg, but he’s up there. 

Unbeknownst to you, he hides his true nature with the kindest human eyes you’d ever seen. 

word count: 2.8k

A/N: this was once a drabble  👍 👍 (no beta we die like wilbur)

warnings: unprotected sex, somewhat exhibitionism (if you count the egg as a voyeur), overstimulation, breeding kink if you squint, too many pet names.

anatomy: gender neutral 

“Bit higher," You raise your hands along with your words, guiding the two men holding the decorative banner. “Perfect.“

“Where do these chairs go?” Turning your head at the new voice, you frown at the state of the furniture.

“What are these?”

“Dinner chairs.”

“They sure don’t like the ones I ordered.”

“What? They’re exactly as you requested, black dining chairs with red cushioning.”

“Red?!” You scoff, “I ordered black iron with crimson cushions! This is cherry! What are we? A picnic?!” You roll your eyes.

“C’mon, no one will notice the difference, just take these we have a lot of work to do.”

Your neck snaps at the sound, raised eyebrows as you hum, expecting him to say something else, but alas, he doubled down.

"I said: Just take em', we have five other deliveries today."

"What?!" There's this little pang of annoyance that sets on your nape, leaving your muscles sore at the thought of having to deal with lazy workers. "I have paid upfront."

He rolls his eyes.

"You insolent little thing..." Gritting your teeth, you look around before stepping forward, "Take these back or you and your bosses will hear from me. I will not let this pass. How dare you?!"

"Man... Why do you have to complicate, it's already paid for, just fuckin' take it."

"Language...!"

You hear a chime from behind and your shoulders relax, turning around there's this heat that creeps up your body when your eyes meet his.

"What's wrong, my little muffin?" His hands wrap around your waist, pulling you into his chest and letting his warmth envelop your body. He never failed to surprise you with how warm he was; constantly.

"Oh, sugar bear," You whine, tangling your fingers into his. "This is the end of the world! I asked for black iron with crimson cushioning and look at this disaster!"

He nods, a bit confused, trying to differentiate between the shades, but feeling your upsetness. "Cupcake, why don't you go manage the catering samples while I sort this out? I'm sure you will love the red velvet cake, I sure did!"

A wide smile breaks out on your lips, you give him a kiss on the cheek before running off to the kitchen, nothing but sweet red velvet cake and cherry pies on your mind. Welcomed by the scent of whipped cream and lemonade you're carried by your stomach to the caterer holding the delicacies.

Your tasting is interrupted by the loud banging of metal outside and you consider scolding your lazy workers, but give your attention to the cake samples instead.

You're sampling the chocolate red velvet with cherry frosting when Bad bursts through the doors, wiping his face with the crimson handkerchief you'd gifted him last anniversary. A sweet smile fills your face, "Honeypie, try this one!"

When his eyes meet yours, your heart fills with a sugary coating that seeps through your veins and directly into your brain, "I've had my filling, which one is your favourite?"

Humming, you let your body rest against his, "Mhm... Chocolate is the best, by far... But lemon is so good!"

"You've got a little bit of whipped cream..." His whispers are hot against your lips before he captures them, tongue flicking across the corners and to your cheek.

The heat in your body is noticeable.

"Thanks..."

"Mhm... This one is the best."

You giggle, slapping his chest, "You're so corny–"

"Only for you, my little blueberry muffin."

When the workers leave, the hall is a dazzling ruby tone all over, the vines seem to almost glow in pride, cascading from the ceiling like a blood waterfall. You wade through the floor they carefully polished, carpet over the dining room muffling your steps.

"Oh, it's perfect, honey bun!"

Bad gleams in joy, rushing to your side, admiring you almost as much as he adores the vines. "I was worried they wouldn't make it in time, but it's perfect."

"What about the mechanisms?"

"Ah, yes, Ant did a great job, come, look..." He holds your hand, pulling you through the hallway leading to the the egg. "We'll have them step right here," pointing to a large tile on the ground, he pulls a lever, which quickly raises it about two feet above your head. "And then it's just, wack!" His hands swing around in an attack motion and you smile.

Your heart palpitates at the thoughts of watching the sacrifice, having the best seat. From the raised position, the blood would splatter all over the watchers, a cloud of beautiful crimson falling at their heads.

"Oh...my almond cookie, this is beautiful! The Egg will be so proud!"

Bad chuckles at your praise, letting himself blush. He pulls the lever to lower back the platform as to leave everything in place.

You take a step forward, the heels of your shoes announce your movement. Standing at the centre, you face the egg, an unnatural warmth fills your chest. You pull at your blouse to appease your brain, though you know it wouldn't help. When your eyes meet Bad's, you can see his breath hitch, he makes it out as a cough.

"Join me, sugar bear!" You reach out your arms, eyes reflecting the red of everything around you.

Bad doesn't hesitate to follow your orders, pulling the lever and running across to catch the platform as it rises above the ground. You catch him in your arms, hands gliding across his chest and nape, he shivers under your touch.

"Do you want to give The Egg a show, muffin?'

Your pulse is so fast you believe anyone would be able to hear it, human or not. "Yes..." You nod, voice too breathless for the lack of action. The smile that catches his lips is almost demonic, and your chest craves him. His hands tease at your chest and you melt into his touch, "Please..."

"If you ask so nicely..." His whispers fall deaf in your ears but cut deep into your skin, burrowing in goosebumps along your body. "...Then I can't refuse."

When your lips meet his, it's sweet.

Sweeter than anything else you could ever wish for and you want to get lost in his kisses.

He holds you gently, but below the delicate fingers, there's this firmness that makes your heart stop. You know no one else could ever pry you off his arms and you're not opposed to the idea of being with him, on him 24/7.

Tongue exploring your mouth, you moan, hands occupied with fistfuls of his white dress shirt. You tug at the golden buttons, wanting nothing but to feel his chest on yours, let his body heat consume you and lull you into comfort.

"Do you trust me, muffin?"

You nod, your eyes glazed in lust can barely focus on his at this point. Bad smiles, placing a kiss on your forehead, he inhales your taste, your scent, your everything.

And then, he pushes you off the platform.

You feel the way your heart immediately jumps at the sight of danger, there's this cold that pools in your stomach and runs through your body, lowering your body temperature.

And before you know, you... fall?

But you don't meet the ground.

When you open your eyes, you're met with the under view of Bad's prideful grin. The vines around your arms feel hot, too hot. But they lift you up until you're in his reach again.

"Hi..." You breathe out, your heart still too unsettled to spot pounding in your chest.

You thought you'd die, or at least, get badly injured. Not that you didn't trust him, but maybe he made some errors in his calculations.

But then, again, if he wished for you to fall without the vines this time, you probably would.

And Bad pulls you in his arms, nose brushing against yours and you wonder how would ever doubt your little muffin?

"Did I scare you too much?" He caresses your cheeks, brushing your hair away from your face with so much adoration in his eyes you feel like a deity.

"No... just a little jumpscare."

He chuckles, kissing your nose softly, "Good."

You smile, wrapping your arms around his neck, letting his body flush against yours and fit you so perfectly. But you know you wish for a little bit more; after so much adrenaline, you feel some little... cravings.

And as if he read your mind, his hands wander your body, reaching for your waist with a little bit more force than usual. His fingers have no difficulty taking care of your belt or pants, he picked them out, anyway.

You let yourself loose in his kisses, your own fingers lost in his hair, pulling around the corners you know he likes a bit too much just so you get to hear his sugary moans. You devour each and every noise that escapes his throat.

Before you know, he’s got you in just your underwear. His lips leave yours for a second to take your hand and spin you around.

You don’t let go of the glisten in his eyes as he looks you up and down, tongue grazing over his lips hungrily. He could eat you up and it’d never be enough. No time with you would ever be enough.

Bad spins you just enough so now you’re facing the egg once again, back pressed tightly to his chest. His breathing bounces off your neck, making you swallow dry, hands nervous down your sides, wanting to touch him and feel him up—

“Look at how pretty you are, my little peanut,” His tongue glides along your cheek to reach your earlobe. “The Egg is so pleased with how beautiful you are... Let’s show your even prettier faces, should we?”

You nod, melting into his arms as his hands graze along your body; from your chest to your waist to your hips. His long fingers play with the band of your underwear, torturing you just so he can have the little whines that escape your throat unconsciously. When you reach behind your shoulder to pull and tangle his hair he chuckles along your skin.

His fingers are on you, skilfully reaching for the most sensitives places of your body. And you arch into his touch, leaving your neck fully exposed for him to nibble and suckle.

Your skin, otherwise perfect, is blemished with the traces of him.

Your lips crash against his, this time, more passionate than ever, all while his fingers don't lose their pace.

You're near your climax, your stomach churning around his fingers but it's worthless coming if it's not on him.

"Bad... Pudding, I need you..." It's a needy half-moan.

"Tell me the magic word, bombon..." His lips graze along your shoulder and you know, you feel it in your back how much he needs you, too. His face is completely flushed, the heat spread across his cheeks only rival your own heat, throbbing and needy.

"Please, baby, please... Give me–.... Please, I need you. Fuck me–"

The lustful smirk that takes over is by far not of his nature but you were his little bad influence.

"Mhmm..." Bad sings along your skin, one hand placed over your stomach and another on your shoulder blades.

He bends you over, the vines quickly tightening their grip over your arms; letting you hang as if you were laying down. While busy with his buckle and pants, he let his eyes fuck you over and over, the way your back looks to him, the faint red glow that touches your skin; You turn your head around and there's this lust, this yearning that grows on your belly.

Because Bad's otherwise kind, honey-brown eyes have now turned a devilish crimson.

His hands are rough when they pull off his pants, soon, coming around his cock, rock-solid and bright red. You wrongly assumed it might have been the redness of the room bouncing off his pale skin. There's a part of your brain that believes he's even bigger than you remembered though you chuck it to the amount of time it has been since your last.

You watch the inhuman amount of precum that drips from his glande and over his fingers, your mouth watering, tongue unconsciously running over your lips. Your reaction makes him chuckle.

Positioning himself at your entrance, his other hand leaves marks across your hips, holding you more firmly than he'd ever had. Not that you were complaining.

The tip goes in effortlessly, leaving behind this stretch that fills every particle of your being and clouds your thoughts with the ache of his cock. You hear him hiss, hands curling around your skin, leaving fingerprints all over. You're sure you will be admiring them tomorrow.

"So tight–" He hisses once again, "So, so tight– Just for me..."

Your eyes are rolling around in their sockets when he finally bottoms out, seemingly infinite in your canal. His fingers drag along your spine, ever so kindly letting you adjust before moving, even if his instincts are begging him otherwise.

When the expansion settles, you're unknowingly rolling your hips toward his, the grip of the vines making it harder to take control. But he lets ouch a soft chuckle, an adoring look sweeps his eyes for a second, so proud of your boldness. You were always a go-getter.

He is painfully slow, taking in every second of it, hitting your walls with a determination that makes you moan out incoherent strings of what you believed were words.

The sounds that erupt from his throat are feral and inhuman by nature, settling in every inch of your bones and activating your flight or flee instincts. You wondered if the third instinct was fuck.

Your chest dips down, the vines now holding your arms above your head while Bad's grip on your hips don't falter, instead, the new angle allowing him to speed up his thrusts; not losing any of the strength. Your brain is filled only by him and how amazing he feels in you.

He moans your name along with praises of how well you're taking him and you wonder just how in the world could he make such a sinful sequence of words sound so heavenly. Alas, you don't give much thought, your brain once again being quickly clouded with his cock and only his cock.

Bad pulls your waist, letting your back meet his chest. This position only heightens every touch of his, you’re so close, so warm, so good...

"The Egg isn't liking how quiet you are, sugar plum..."

You smile, stuck between watching the hypnotic crimson and the eyes of your adoring lover that swallows your moans.

His name leaves your lips like a prayer,

You will show The Egg how good Bad is to you.

"Bad, honey– Uh– I'm–"

"I know, muffin," His whispers are a caress along your ears, lulling you into your release.

You scream his name, the moans bouncing off the spongy walls of the cave and returning to your ears, you feel the way his grip tightens around your hips, the way you're milking him doesn't help how hard he's trying to hold back, prolong his time with you as much as he can.

"You're so good for me, just one more, babycakes..."

Every inch of your skin feels hot to the touch, even more than before. It's like you're on fire and freezing cold at the same time, each part that touches his body is a million times more sensitive. You feel each and every millimetre of his moves, the pleasure echoing around your body in waves.

"I don't know if I can." You shake your head, barely being able to think at this point, overwhelmed by the pleasure.

"Shh... You can, you're so good for me... So tight... You take me so well."

"Fill me up, pumpkin... Please, fill me up to the brim, let me feel you–", you moan, "–Fill me up so much I'm dripppin'!"

Oh, your Bad was too good for you.

His words are what tip you over the edge, getting him to catch his own climax. His hands don't leave your body, his lips coming to kiss all over your neck and jaw.

You melt into his touch, the vines releasing your arms and legs so you can collapse into him. He catches your body, coming to a sit and letting you sprawl over his chest, your hands reaching out to caress his hair.

"My little naughty cookie, if you spill one drop I'll have to fill you all over again..."

You giggle into his kisses, "Oh, no!" you exclaim sarcastically, giggling in between your words. He laughs, kissing your cheeks and forehead and everywhere he can get his lips on. Because you deserve so much, heavens, you're just perfect and you take him so well and you were made for him–

You feel loved.

You watch the glow of the vines brighten for a second and you both hum knowingly.

The Egg has been fed.

After all, there is a reason why orgasms were called "The little death."

[noritoshiikamo]

reality vs fantasy 

bonus part 3.5 of the noritoshi kamo story; im just spoiling u brats enjoy [passes holy water] thread lightly, sexual content ahead

tagging: @unabashednightmarepizza @sassyeahhhh @dok-ja @sukirichi [bold means i cant tag u idky :( lemme know if wanna be tagged in the next part] directory: read the first part | second part | third part | bonus

fantasy

“does that feel good?”

he asked as his lips traced her sharp jaws, spreading kisses as his hands steadied her hips. she took a sharp breath, nodding in pleasure as moans escaped her parted lips as she lowered herself down back on his hard dick. through his opened eyes, he watched pleasurably as her tight cunt swallowed his dick inch by inch so easily, like she was moulded to fit him and only him. her long hair covered half of her face, as she flipped it to the side, sweats dripping down her chest glistening her swollen breasts. 

she looked so ethereal riding him. 

her pace was slow, and his hands were roaming all over her body. 

he whispered encouragements, how beautiful she looked sucking in his fingers hungrily, her perky titties and the way she hugged around his length made him feels so good made her roll her eyes back to her skull. feeding her kink so well. pulling her against him, her back resting on his chest, she let him take over the pace, loud moans fillers the room as the sound of her skin slapping against his with wet squelching sound echoed their bedroom. 

“you’re so needy, my wife.”

she was beyond needy, she was desperate for release only he could give, “fuck me, please, just fuck my brain out.” grabbing her chin, he smiled pleasingly as he kissed her lips so passionately. his rough hand palmed her breast, nipple swollen and hard it made her legs bucked.

“you want me to fuck you?” he teased.

she nodded vigorously, trying to move her hips to meet his pace. his other hand moved lowered below her slightly bulging abdomen, finding her swollen clit immediately. 

“please just fuck every inch of me,” she cried out, tongue lolling out, her eyes stared deep into his eyes, “i’ll be very good, i promise.” with every bat of her eyes, he couldn’t decide whether she looks adorably innocent or just a devil in disguise. 

but when he had her pressed on all four, begging for all holes to be filled, he couldn’t deny his wife’s wishes.

reality

she panted. sweaty and sticky, she looked down on the pillow tucked between her thighs. her face flushed red as guilt washed over her. the effect of the orgasm had left her legs shaking and she cursed.

noritoshi had not returned to their house for almost three days. 

she missed him dearly and she was losing her mind slowly. 3 days alone to heal from the mess from the attack at the stadium and to deal with the fact that she’s growing their child inside her reduced her to nothing but a mess. she fell on her side, pushing her sweaty hair up as she kicked the pillow soaked with her fluid to the floor. she fixed herself, not that it helped with anything; she lowered his shirt down her chest back. she has been wearing it for 3 days straight. 

enveloped by everything that reminds her of him but not able to have him physically hurt her chest. he hadn’t call, text, or even send her a letter. she was alone. 

whenever she missed him, she hid in their walk-in closet, nose buried in whatever that belong to him that her eyes caught first. when she has enough energy, she would brew the tea just as he likes it, sat at the balcony, and just not even drink it. she isn’t even a tea person; she prefers coffee but holding a cup of warm tea during the cold night makes it feel like he’s around.

she’s an addict but the drug is gone.

she felt tears prickling the corner of her eyes and before she knew it, she was sobbing on his side of the bed. she remained there, beating herself for being stubborn, blaming herself, blaming him even every single god that existed in the world for fucking her life up. she missed him; his smile, his voice, his touch, his kiss, she missed everything about him. 

shoko explained that she was 7 weeks pregnant, and her baby is as big as a blueberry. 

“i think the period you are describing last month might have been implantation bleeding, something normal that might be mistaken for period. you need to listen to me. your body is adjusting, you should stay home and rest. don’t stress yourself out.”

she felt wave of nausea bubbling in her belly triggering her gag reflex. kicking herself off the bed, she made it to their bathroom, throwing her head into the toilet and she quickly emptied her stomach out. they should rename morning sickness because the sickness haunted every single hour of her day. she spent more time in the bathroom, head in the toilet than the other part of her house. she stared through her teary eyes at the content of the bowl, clear disgust on her face when she realised it was nothing but the liquid she’d been having. she has been struggling with food, only able to tolerate porridge and juices and she was growing tired. 

weak, her mind mocked. 

she unlocked her phone and dialled gojo’s number. she waited for him to pick up, breaking into sob as she felt so exhausted, she couldn’t even move. 

“gojo, i’m in the toilet, i just can’t get up anymore i feel horrible i want to eat but i can’t i want to get out of here please-”

“y/n?”

she startled.

-

there was a lot of cum.

noritoshi was glad that he chose to release his pent-up stress in the bathroom, feeling the water showered down all over his body. all cooped up in their room back at the kamo estate for almost three days, he didn’t expect to feel a sudden wave of horniness crashing over him when he accidentally turned over to her side. 

it’s not like he wasn’t already thinking of her. she was literally all he could think about. 

her scent overwhelmed him even when he tried to push the thought of her away; but she’s still his beautiful stubborn wife and his heart ached when he thought of her. he always has a good control of himself, he believed that sexual urges should just be solved by a traditional fucking but for tonight, it was just him and his left fist. 

the way she smiles, the way her body moves, the way she ties his bangs or the way she always makes sure he wakes up with a cup of tea waiting by the bed; she missed every single thing she does. the way she teases him and the way she begs for more and more always reduced him down into a simpleton. 

he wished nothing but to run back into her arms. 

he quickly washed up, removing traces of him from the floor and exited the shower immediately. his phone suddenly blowed up. without thinking, he pressed the green button and what greeted him surprised him. 

“-the toilet, i just can’t get up anymore i feel horrible i want to eat but i can’t i want to get out of here please-”

his breath hitched and he stood there. “y/n?” he called, and he could feel the slight tension in the air. she had realised her mistake. 

“m’sorry, i-i want to call satoru. i didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“are you okay?”

he sat on the edge of the bed; phone pressed hard against his ear. talk to me, their hearts screamed. she let out a nervous laugh, trying to mask the sniffles, “i-i’m okay. i’m sorry for disturbing you. i thought you were gojo.”

gojo had been telling him how he has been taking care of her. told him that she was more than weak, could barely hold her food in without gagging. 

“she’s miserable. she’s 7 weeks pregnant. we suspected that the reason her body didn’t fully succumbed to the poison that cursed spirit had infected her with was because of the the baby. the higher up thinks that it’s carrying the same inherited technique as you. the fact that it was able to protect its host; your wife is impressive.”

he rubbed his forehead, nervousness overwhelmed him, and he felt like a child about to ask his crush out.

“you’re not disturbing me. you don’t need to call gojo, i can come over,” holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder, he immediately slipped on his pants, “do you need anything? are you hurt?”

“i’m just stuck on the bathroom floor. i can’t get my ass back up and out of this bathroom.”

“you called gojo for this?”

her face reddened, “i get overwhelmed easily. i’m sorry,” she rambled, “you know what? forget i called. bye,” she ended the call immediately. she slummed her head back against the wall, groaning at the discomfort of her abdomen pressing on her bladder whenever she sat wrongly. she closed her eyes, covering it with her arm before soft snore escaped her lips. she’d pass out on the floor of her bathroom. it felt like hours until she heard soft pitter patter of feet on the cold cement, arms around her body lifting it up off the floor. she was too tired to open her eyes, soft noise coming out of her lips as the arms laid her on the soft bed. she sighed in relief; the cold bathroom floor was giving her back ache. 

she opened her eyes and she let a nervous laugh. her shaky hand reached out to touch his cheek, it felt soft to touch, too realistic. no, he’s gone, he won’t come home, you’re not real, she reminded herself. “my hallucination is getting realistic nowadays” she stifled a yawn. 

he smiled, his finger brushing her stray hair back, revealing her watery eyes, “you think of me often?” 

“don’t you?”

she gasped when his warm hand cupped her cheek, another touched her neck as he straddled her. boldly, she tugged on his leather jacket, pushing it off his broad shoulders, confused when the jacket fell on the floor with a loud thud. this sounds too real. the feeling of his breath tickling her cold skin, his lips tracing kisses after another, she was drowsy. 

“i’ll take care of you,” he whispered, “i promise, i’m here.”

“nori,” she called out eagerly.

“yes, my wife?”

the hair on her body stood, shivers caused her back and toes to curl in pleasure. she couldn’t differentiate if it’s just fantasy or reality; not with his hands roaming all over her bare skin.