#optional bias blurbs

[decantingstxrs]

sneaking around was so sexy to you.

you loved waiting till your roommate left for classes to sneak into your other roommate’s room for some fun. was it the risk of getting caught? or maybe the fact that you shared this dirty little secret with just him? whatever it was, did it get you going.

luckily it was an early day. your roommate left for a grad school interview while your secret lover took a ‘sick day’ from work.

“so. i’ve got a couple quick questions for ya,” you ask, placing a hand on his chest. he eagerly responds to your body language, reaching behind to cup your asscheeks in his hands.

“shoot.”

“how long do you think he’ll be gone?”

“i’d say a couple hours.”

“right. and how many rounds is that?”

“two, maybe three.”

“four?”

“five if you can cum quick enough.”

“i’ll take that bet.”

[iken]

not long, but long post ^^

“hello?”

you relaxed at the voice of your f/o on the other line. you had listened to the phone ring for a good minute, silently waiting for your lover to answer.

you sighed, leaning your head onto the cold device. a faint smile grew on your lips knowing that they are always just a call away.

“hi baby.” you call out.

you can hear your f/o smile through the tone of their voice. they reply with another term of endearment, cooing.

the stress on your chest disappears gradually. it’s been a long day between work, hobbies, saving the world (if your oc/self insert does such a thing haha)… all you wanted was your f/o by your side.

“do you wanna come over?” you ask. their eyebrows pinched together. they could pin your exact emotion just by the way you spoke.

“uhh…” they thought for a moment. “i just got off work, but of course i’ll come over. why? is something wrong?”

your f/o’s reassuring response was pleasing to hear.

“no-“ you muttered out. it was true that you were feeling a bit down, but there was also another reason.

“i ordered food and the servings are way bigger than i thought, and i don’t think i can eat it all by myself.” you answered.

they chuckled on their line of the phone, immediately making your heart warm up. though it’s only been a few hours since you two have spoke, it felt like a century since you’ve heard them laugh so joyfully.

“i’ll be there in a few, my love.”

[pudding-parade]

So, I'm now curious...

There's a bit of a discussion going on about Sims players and their sex/orientation, particularly on TheBleedingWoodland's blog, who has now, apparently, blocked me from replying or perhaps from his blog as a whole, but whatever. I'm still curious.

In my experience -- which is mostly participating here on Tumblr and before that on the Modthesims forums for the past...16?....years or so -- Sims fandom seems to me to skew female and fairly strongly queer in some way, and, of the players in the fandom who are male and who've talked about their orientation at all, they seem to also tend to be queer in some way. There also seems to be a good number of enbies, or at least people who, according to their profile blurbs, use or are OK with they/them pronouns. But perhaps I am experiencing some sort of ongoing sample bias. So, I thought I'd do a poll and see what shakes out. (Which, of course, doesn't necessarily escape inherent bias at all, but it's the best I can do. 😊) Maybe the results will be educational for some folks, but mostly I'm just curious. So here we go:

Note that for the purposes of this poll, I've lumped orientations together and that "gender" refers to your identity, not what your physical plumbing is. So for instance, if you're a trans man who's generally attracted to women as romantic/sexual partners, such that you'd label yourself "straight" in that regard, you go in the "heterosexual man" category. If you're a straight-ass cis guy, you, too, go in the "heterosexual man" category. If you're a pansexual cis woman like me, you go in the "non-heterosexual woman" category. If you're an ace trans woman, you go in the "non-heterosexual woman" category, too. And for this poll, it doesn't matter what your orientation is if you're non-binary, so y'all only get the one option. It's not that your orientation doesn't matter. It's just that for the purposes of this poll, it's not something that's being measured, but I am curious as to the percentage of Sims players who are non-binary. And, of course, if you're not sure about any of this stuff and/or you don't feel you fit in any of the listed categories, you go in the "Unsure/Other" category.

Clear enough, I hope? I'm hoping that by condensing categories this way we can get results that aren't all over the place, with perhaps some meaningful percentages.

For those who have sims blogs (or even if your blog isn't sims-dedicated), please feel free to reblog this, so that as many Sims players as possible, hopefully across the entire franchise, see this and have the opportunity to participate.

[harrowreads]

❥ Yoongi Fic Recs

❣ Each blurb gives a glimpse of the contents of each fic, but be sure to read the warnings before proceeding! ❣

Yoongi is my main bias + main obsession so plz don't perceive the length of this list, okay. It's going to be absolutely ridiculous.

❥ 12 Lays of Christmas: Day 2 by minisugakoobies | drabble, tumblr ↳ Gift wrapping with your boyfriend goes a little awry. ❣ Gender Non-Specified Reader ❣ smut, pwp | established relationship ↻ read my review

❥ All That Holly Jolly Sh*t by daechwitatamic | oneshot, tumblr ↳ You haven’t seen or heard from Yoongi since he broke your heart five years ago, laying out a logical list of reasons why you were better off breaking up. When a Christmas Eve blizzard traps you together for the night, you have no choice but to examine how few of those reasons are still true. And if they’re not… where does that leave you? ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, fluff, angst | exes to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Best Served Cold by anotherbtswriter | series, tumblr ↳ Yoongi shields his eyes from the flames. Smoke coats his throat, and he pants for breath. As he lies on the wet pavement, he realizes that this Molotov cocktail, this cheap-ass, dime-store intimidation tactic currently burning through his club, is a plan to intimidate him. First, he was annoyed. Now he’s pissed. ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, fluff, angst | exes to lovers ↻ read my reviews: ch. 1, ch. 2, ch. 3, ch.4

❥ Blackthorn by sweetestofchaos | series, tumblr ↳ Min Yoongi, the last Emperor of the Joseon dynasty was betrothed to a foreign Princess from the time he could walk. The two exchanged many letters and gifts over the years as their love bloomed. Emperor Yoongi loved his Princess and it was on their wedding day that he was finally able to express his true feelings with his actions and not just his words. The love story of Emperor Yoongi and Empress Keena has been passed down from generation to generation; a love story so strong that it had surpassed the passage of time. Now a millennium later, the Emperor and Empress have been reborn at the same time…will history repeat itself or will the two become victims of the difficulties placed in their path? ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, fluff, angst | strangers to lovers, arranged marriage au, soulmate au, fantasy ↻ read my reviews: ch. 1, ch. 2, ch. 3, ch. 4, ch. 5, ch. 6, ch. 7, ch. 8, ch. 9, ch. 10, ch. 11, ch. 12

❥ Cybersex by gimmethatagustd | oneshot, tumblr ↳ The whole point of being a phone sex hotline operator is that you’ll never have to meet your clients. So what are you supposed to do when you find out your favorite client is your brother’s best friend?  ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, fluff, humor | brother's best friend, friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Defrosting Ivy by moccahobi ↳  In a world where the 3 apex predators (humans, vampires, and werewolves) have been in a long standing power imbalance, Y/n is tasked with going undercover as a diplomat for the start of peace talks. What do they need to do? Find a talisman their organization has managed to identify as vital in resolving the conflict and ensuring the safety of all humans. ❣ Female Reader ❣ fluff, angst | supernatural au, enemies to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Devil Town by park-jimin-isnt-real | series, tumblr ❥ Chapter 1: Somewhere Lost - the guide ↳ You wake up on a bench in a forest, with no memory before then or recollection of how you got there. The person greeting you gives you three options: going into the Great Unknown (to never be seen again), wandering the woods (until you become an Edelwood tree), or spending a month in Devil Town. ❣ Female Reader ❣ platonic, light angst | over the garden wall au, speculative ↻ read my review

❥ Drip by here2bbtstrash | oneshot, tumblr ↳ When Yoongi makes the bold statement that any girl can squirt, you decide to call him on his bluff. ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, pwp | friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ F*ck Christmas by sailoryoons | oneshot, tumblr ↳ Making hating Christmas your entire personality was never the plan. Then again, it seems bad things only ever happen around Christmas - like discovering your fiancé cheating on you, forcing you to move back to your sleepy hometown. But Min Yoongi happens to love Christmas, and if there is one thing your very stubborn childhood crush is going to do, it’s try to reignite your Christmas spirit. Even if he has to force-feed it to you with gingerbread cookies and too-sweet eggnog. ❣ Female Reader ❣ fluff, smut, humor | friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Good Fortune & A New Beginning by moonleeai | oneshot, tumblr ↳ Grumpy neighbor Yoongi is secretly a softie. ❣ Female Reader, 1st person ❣ fluff | strangers to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ If Walls Could Talk by btsrunmyiife | unfinished oneshot, tumblr ↳ You’re part of a web series of paranormal investigators that take cases from clients who believe their homes are haunted. While working in such close proximity, it’s only natural for some of you to gravitate toward one another – whether it be for stress relief or more. ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut | coworkers who fuck ❣ warnings: paranormal themes, mention of suicide ↻ read my review

❥ Invisible String by btsrunmyiife | series, tumblr ↳ Sometimes the hardest thing in life is letting yourself be seen. ❣ Female Reader ❣ queer, smut, fluff, angst | social media au, college au, strangers to friends to lovers ❣ warnings: topics of sexual assault & racial discrimination ↻ read my review

❥ Kick Up the Fire and Let the Flames Break Loose by ffion451 | series, tumblr ↳ Years after you gave up on him, Kim Taehyung appears back in your life: Are you the same person you were back then? Do you still love him? And why is it, with the supposed love of your life back, that you can’t stop thinking about the taciturn rapper who you has just come into your life? ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Taehyung ❣ smut, angst | friends to enemies to strangers to ?, strangers to friends to ? ↻ read my reviews: ch. 0, ch. 1

❥ Let Me by sailoryoons | oneshot, tumblr ↳ You’ve been friends with Yoongi for as long as you remember. When he tells you he’s never - and he means never - received oral in his life, you take it upon yourself to lend a mouth hand. ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, pwp | friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Nothing to Hide by gimmethatagustd | oneshot, tumblr ↳ It’s your boyfriend’s first Pride Month since coming out, and you’re determined to make sure he has the time of his life. ❣ Female Reader ❣ queer, smut, pwp | established relationship ↻ read my review

❥ Obsidian by sailoryooons | series, tumblr ↳ You remember everything. The first time you radiated at garnet, feeling the power of the jewel rushing through you. Remember the energy pulsing at your command. And you certainly remember the face of the man who ruined your life. Then there’s Min Yoongi, the Chaotic who is the key to your revenge.  ❣  angst, eventual smut | strangers to lovers, urban fantasy, crime syndicate ❣ warnings: graphic violence, morally grey characters ↻ read my reviews: ch. 0, ch. 1, ch. 2

❥ Please Linger by matchy6812 | series, tumblr ↳ After terrorizing the villagers with one too many pranks, you’ve been locked away in The Tower to atone for your petty crimes. As far as you know, The Tower is impenetrable. Nobody can get in, and nobody can get out. It seems you’ll never escape—until one night, a man named Yoongi barges in… ❣ Female Reader ❣ humor, slow burn, smut, angst | fantasy au, strangers to lovers ↻ read my reviews: ch. 1, ch. 2, ch. 3

❥ Right Here Right Now by hobidreams | oneshot, tumblr ↳ What if little red wants to be eaten by the big bag wolves? ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Hoseok & Namjoon ❣ group, smut, pwp, humor | werewolf au, college au, friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Suga's How-To Guide: How to Tr(eat) Them Right by sailoryoons | oneshot, tumblr ↳ Min Yoongi has been a cam boy for a few years now. The work is easy, the money is good, and he has loyal viewers. When he approaches you and asks if you want to be his muse for a ‘how-to’ series, your view on the infamous Yoongi changes. ❣ Female Reader ❣ smut, pwp | friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Taste by 7deadlysinsfics | drabble, tumblr ↳ Hoseok is in a sharing mood and his best friend is so, so thankful. ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Hoseok ❣ threesome, implied smut | established relationship, strangers to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Taste So Sweet by btsrunmyiife | oneshot, tumblr ↳ Yoongi is helping you experience something new, something you’ve always wanted to try. All you wanted to do was kiss a girl. You should have known it would be so much more than you imagined.  ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Hwasa ❣ threesome, queer, pwp, smut | college au, established relationship + friends to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ The Earth, Your Butt, and Other Big...Flat Things? by matchy6812 | oneshot, tumblr ↳ When your world-famous boyfriend reveals himself to be an apparent flat earther, you decide to hold a modern exorcism—as in, you’re gonna try to fuck the stewpid out of him. ❣ Female Reader ❣ humor, smut, pwp | idol au, established relationship ↻ read my review

❥ Twirl for Me by gimmethatagustd | series, tumblr ↳ You’re perfectly content with admiring your ballet student’s father from afar, until he discovers the secret of your second job when he pays for a VIP room at the local strip club. What’s worse is your new knowledge of his secret life that won’t let you get him off your mind, no matter how awful it is. ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Jungkook ❣ smut, angst, slow burn | stripper au, strangers to lovers ↻ read my review

❥ Versus by minisugakoobies | series, tumblr ↳ Supervillain exes Yoongi and Hoseok are sick and tired of having their plans for world domination wrecked by you, aka Vitality, the world’s most powerful superhero. When fellow villain Jimin suggests a little competition to see who can bring you to your knees, they both eagerly accept. Now the battle is on as both men engage you in fight after fight to see who will conquer you first. Will you finally defeat these two, or will they destroy you - and possibly take each other out in the process? ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Hoseok ❣ smut, humor, fluff, angst | supervillain au, enemies to lovers ❣ warnings: some violence, use of weapons, fighting ↻ read my review

Yoongi x Reader as a side pairing:

❥ Business as Usual by blog-name-idk | series, tumblr ↳ The first thing Jin noticed about you was that you were hot. The second was that you were fucking brilliant. The third was that you were kind of a bitch. Basically, you were perfect. | The first thing you noticed about Jin was that he was hot. The second was the professors already called him by name. The third was that he was an insufferable prick. Basically, you hated his guts. ❣ Female Reader | Feat. Seokjin as main pairing ❣ smut, fluff, humor | college au, enemies to lovers ↻ read my reviews: masterlist, ch. 1, ch. 4

❥ The Love Witch by gimmethatagustd | oneshot, tumblr ↳ Despite being a popular romance blogger, Yoongi isn’t interested in finding love. He only summons a demon boyfriend to prove to his followers that it’s possible. He’ll send Taehyung right back to Hell once he’s done with him, obviously. ❣ Yoongi x Taehyung ❣ smut, fluff, humor, hint of angst | modern fantasy au, fake dating, strangers to lovers ↻ read my review

Namjoon | Seokjin | Yoongi | Hoseok | Jimin | Taehyung | Jungkook

[supertrainstationh]

Why I Quit “Pokémon Violet”.

I'm officially done with playing "Pokémon Violet".

No, I didn’t complete it.

Sadly I found my enjoyment of it so deeply sabotaged by lack of basic quality control, that I gave up on the game fairly early on, though I did put in a number of gameplay hours.

In terms of total concrete plot progress, I completed a single gym, and then briefly went into a Team Star base just to see what it was like.

The gym was by orders of magnitude the most easily completed first gym I ever encountered in a Pokémon game in terms of field-based challenges and Pokémon battles.

From what I heard, the gyms in this game can be approached in any order, but that they don't actually scale with your team's levels, or based on how many badges you already have.

If this is true, this is laughably lazy design for what is supposed to be an open world game in which you can approach challenges in any order, but if this is not true, then pardon me on not knowing in advance whether or not this is true, as I went into the game as spoiler-free as possible in the hopes of experiencing this game without outside bias coloring my experience.

The concept that gym leaders choose to face challenging trainers using a team selected based on the challenger’s current experience level is something that had already been explored in official Pokemon material more than a decade ago, so the failure to deploy it here when the game’s open structure obviously calls for it is inexplicable.

I did the Cortondo Gym first. My levels were similar to the Gym Leader's own Pokémon, but I effortlessly crushed them, and had more difficult encounters with ordinary Trainers out in the overworld in the areas I had been exploring near the city hosting that gym.

I'm someone who will ALWAYS peruse "easy mode" options if they are available. I am completely illiterate in regards to competitive Pokémon battles, and don't even have the full type advantage chart memorized. But even for me, Cortondo Gym was disappointingly lacking in difficulty.

I also want to comment on the pre-gym minigame, which was set outside the gym itself in an area on the outskirts of the town.

The olive roll maze was a neat way to tie in some of the cultural elements of the actual locations the games setting, the Galar Region, is inspired by, but the mechanic of moving the inflatable olive ball felt lame.

Though it is only a minigame which is supposed to be inconsequential, I am harsh on it because it seemed like minimal effort was put into it, regardless of its overall importance to the game.

The playable character's in-game model does not act as though they are interacting with the olive ball, and I would go as far as to say that it appears that they are unaware that the ball even exists within their universe.

Compare this to "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker", released decades earlier on far less advanced hardware of the standard definition Nintendo GameCube, in which the player character automatically looks toward objects of interest in the immediate area that can be interacted with, and the characters arms and face actually change to reflect the effort and intention of moving that object as the player makes this action happen.

But in this olive roll minigame in “Pokémon Violet”, you just walk at the ball to make it move in the direction you want, while the character mindlessly gazes forward as though nothing is happening. It doesn't feel like a minigame meant to entertain or challenge the player, it looks and feels like a collision detection demonstration assembled with minimal care or game design theory put into it.

And even so, the minigame was completely effortless to win, and I didn't even realize it was over, and that I won, until it took me to the result screen.

There wasn't even an on-screen timer to add any sense of urgency to the minigame, and I have no idea if being penalized for taking too long was even a possibility.

I've been interested in Pokémon since I first read a blurb in a gaming magazine in the mid-90's about a monster collecting and battling RPG for Game Boy that was becoming popular in Japan, and I was enchanted by its world and characters since the video games and anime first hit North American shores.

This franchise shaped my life for the better in ways too extensive and detailed to discuss here, so I'm not happy to be in a situation where even after counting down the days till release and roaming from store-to-store to find a copy, that my interest in "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" has deflated.

In spite of how much I wanted to give this game a full playthrough, in spite of mounting frustrations, my final straw was when I actually stopped looking forward to streaming on the days I announced I was to play “Pokémon Violet”, and felt regret that I "had" to play it on my show in order to fulfill the schedule I promised to my Twitch viewers to stream the game.

The mere complexities of modern games already made me feel a slight disconnect from this title.

Going from traditional 3D Zelda games like "Wind Waker" and "Twilight Princess" to the new style introduced in "Breath of the Wild" was an extreme learning curve for me, especially in regards to operating the more sophisticated interface, though over time I was able to get the hang of it and enjoy the game.

I never imagined that I'd be in a situation where a Pokémon game of all things had a more complex user interface than the latest major Zelda release, and that I'd be mashing one button after another trying to activate nested and cryptic functions that were accessed in very simple menus even as recently as the Nintendo 3DS era.

In addition to that, this game forces the player into tutorials for the simplest of things universal to most modern games of even the mildest complexity, yet leaves tutorials for mechanics newly introduced to the Pokémon series restricted to completely optional and easy-to-miss places tied to special events.

The real killer for me is the extreme lack of polish in almost every aspect of the experience. Characters even just a single body-length away from the player's character are frequently animated with frame rates resembling a flip-book in which half the pages have been torn away.

Obvious shortfalls in the timing and pacing of Game Freak's cutscene animations lead to thinly veiled shortcuts such as cutscene text scrolling unreasonably fast even for a literate adult with an above average reading speed.

Static screenshots are sometimes used during otherwise fully animated cutscenes, and at other points cutscenes loop clumsily and unconvincingly on a particular moment as the scene waits for a player prompt to continue the narrative

Other times the graphics fail to accurately depict things that players are expected to believe are taking place within the game world. Important details essential to gameplay or story beats are sometimes not shown on screen, are mentioned only in interface or character dialog, or are rendered in outstandingly unconvincing ways.

In the first decade of the 21st Century, I owned Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube, and enjoyed games on all three systems.

Since then, I have focused my gaming habits on Nintendo systems.

I chose Nintendo DS over PlayStation Portable.

I chose Wii over PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,

I chose Nintendo 3DS over PlayStation Vita.

I chose Wii U over PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

And today, I own Nintendo Switch, but not PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

If I was concerned with enjoying ultra high-resolution visuals and maxed-out frames-per-second, I would not have been choosing Nintendo systems in spite of them being the lowest performance hardware options on the market.

But even within the limitations of the Nintendo Switch, which is running a low-power-consumption mobile chipset that was arguably already out-of-date when it first hit the market six entire years ago, “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” completely fail at taking reasonable advantage of what the system is capable of.

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" are 2022 releases, published exclusively on Nintendo Switch, the same system that launched in 2017 with "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild."

"Breath of the Wild" was was a game designed with the intention of being launched as an exclusive for Wii U, an even less powerful console released closing in on five years earlier than the Switch, and more than a full decade ago as of the time I'm writing this, with Wii U itself having been widely considered under-powered at the time of its 2012 release, being in the performance range of high definition consoles that entered the market as far back as 2005.

"Breath of the Wild" had its technical shortcomings, but even the Wii U version of "Breath of the Wild" completely annihilates "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" in terms of rudimentary technical proficiency, and when examining "Breath of the Wild" in terms of overall presentation in comparison to " Pokémon Scarlet and Violet", the comparison is such that I'm amazed that Nintendo, who founded their brand as a video game manufacturer and publisher on industry-leading high quality, would allow their name to be associated with the latest Pokémon entries.

I can not overstate the extent to which “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” fails to deliver on the promise of basic quality control. Games with far fewer technical problems than this game have been criticized severely by review outlets and the gaming community, and I am convinced that these new Pokémon titles are being excused for their incompetence based on good will alone in ways that no other franchise would be permitted to get away with.

In-game tutorial screens featuring screenshots for illustrative purposes are from the Japanese versions of the game, and had this text censored out with a very crudely applied distortion filter in an embarrassing and ineffective attempt hide this fact. This is something appropriate for a work-in-progress demonstration build of the game, not the final product.

The first time I caught a Pokémon, the Pokéball animation froze in mid air, leaving me to think that this was the game's way of depicting Pokemon catching, and that these new Pokéballs hovered in the air rather than falling to the ground as Pokéballs in previous games did.

No matter how good this game is, when malfunctioning animations are mistaken by an experienced player to be representations of what is actually taking place in the game world, that is a serious problem, and anyone paying money for this game deserves better.

Shadows of environmental objects regularly flicker in and out of existence in a way that's not only unconvincing and an obvious malfunction of the graphics system, but in specific instances may pose an actual safety hazard to players susceptible to seizures triggered by blinking lights, which is something a product in the Pokémon franchise in particular should have been exceptionally aware of after similar light patterns in an early episode of the Pokémon animated series triggered seizures in children, which became an international news event, but a cause of widespread condemnation and ridicule aimed toward the franchise and the companies behind it.

The seizure incident caused by the Pokémon anime so impacted the culture of the franchise’s brand management that a particular Pokémon creature featured in that episode was never again depicted in animated form to avoid even the slightest association with the public safety disaster, and references to that particular character have been kept to an absolute minimum in the decades since, so the fact that glitches which cause blinking and flickering patterns being permitted to exist within the newest Pokemon game is mind-boggling.

Characters and objects within immediate sight of the player character frequently vanish and re-appear without warning.

The player character is liable to sometimes phase through the ground, or pass through what are meant to be solid walls, breaking immersion and sometimes causing the game itself to become impossible to play.

It's been amazing to watch Nintendo fans point and laugh for years at slipping quality standards for headline games on competing systems that were significantly more powerful than Nintendo's, using them as proof that more powerful hardware and better graphics alone don't make for better games, only to see them now accuse those who point out the shortcomings and fundamental deficiencies of the newest Pokémon games of being "haters" who are holding Game Freak, The Pokemon Company, and Nintendo, to unfair and unreasonable standards.

The more extreme and irrational defenders of the state of the game have gone so far as accuse critics of lying about quality control issues to make Game Freak look bad, and claim that that the ample footage of these easy to encounter malfunctions was either manipulated by hoaxers using video editing software, or even filmed using deliberately altered copies of the game that were made to suffer glitches.

I feel I am being generous to Game Freak in saying that everyone working on the game had the best intentions, but should have spent (or been allowed to have spent) at least another year on this title.

My already stated observations of the elements of this game which are obviously struggling to function properly don't even begin to address the parts that are simply reflections of either laziness, a rushed development cycle, or both.

When exploring the game's world, I encountered  multiple duplicates of the same stores selling the same items within eye-shot of each other within the same city, or even directly next door to one another.

This was so blatant that it made me speculate if these choices were cheekily made by rebellious lower level Game Freak employees to see how far they could push the limits of corners they were instructed by their superiors to cut, before they were actually confronted over them by their employers.

What's worse, the interiors of most shops are represented in the game only as text based menu interfaces, which pull me out of the game world just as much as laughably bad character animations that resemble fan-made parody cartoons posted to the internet.

Poorly rendered, poorly applied, and obviously repetitive surface textures that make certain objects such as cliff faces and buildings resemble assets lifted from a Nintendo 64 game are just the cherry on top.

"Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon", itself a Nintendo 64 title, has every single shop in the game rendered as a location with an interior that can be entered and explored. No matter how inconsequential those store interiors were, they helped to convincingly portray a living world that is real to the characters within the game.

Menu based shops do NOT do that.

My continued fascination with the Pokémon world, and its creatures, locations, lore, and characters, can not overcome the fundamental incompetence demonstrated by "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet", which completely demolishes my ability to enjoy it, which is a shame, because the intent to create an imaginative world thriving with lively creatures, memorable locations, and characters worth helping or fighting against, is clearly present, and in some cases the heights of care put into these elements match the lows of the bad quality control.

Unless an obvious revolution in The Pokémon Company's standards of ambition and quality is reflected by the next generation of Pokemon games, it breaks my heart to say that "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" will be the last mainline entries in the series that I will be excited for, or interested in.

I pushed myself to play "Pokémon Violet" in spite of all its bad points.

I'm regretfully ending my time with "Pokémon Violet" in spite of all of its good points.

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

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[monako-jinn-stories]

Meeting the Prodigal Daughter

Count Dooku meeting y/n Jinn for the first time

Angst? Fluff? Idk just kinda a blurb

Master List

Oh? What is this? Jinn posting a fic? Who is she? What is this?

~~~

Dooku straightens his robes as he stands, brushing out the wrinkles so that he looks presentable. His hands subconsciously drift to his saber hilts, double checking that they are safely secured and hidden at his hips. He glances out the viewport, taking in the planet outside his shuttle. 

Dohbar is a place Dooku has only ever heard of, he’s never seen its beauty for himself. Ever since he’d heard about it years ago, he’s always longed to have a reason to make the journey over. Unfortunately, his duties with the Jedi Order never allowed him the chance. But now, Darth Sideous has asked him to make a diplomatic mission to the mysterious and unaligned planet and convince the rulers to join the Separatists. 

The planet holds many secrets, including the one his former Padawan safely kept here. Qui-Gon had not even trusted his former master with knowing anything of his child, only that they exist. No name, no family, only that they had been raised here on Dohbar. But Dooku is not here to find this child, he is here to try and win over a new member of the Separatist Alliance.

He waves a hand, pushing the button for the ramp to lower. A chill runs through his core as he takes a step towards the outside. Glancing over his shoulder, a quiet comment escapes from him.

“If that is you, Qui-Gon, know that I am very sorry for who I’ve become. I am not here to hunt your child, I am here on peaceful terms.” The chill leaves, and he shudders as warmth refills his core. Taking a steadying breath, he again begins his descent.

The empty hangar around him spurs curiosity within Dooku. Slight offense briefly runs through him as well. Surely a diplomat deserves a security detail when at an unknown location. 

“Perhaps they’ve grown too comfortable with their lack of infiltration,” Dooku mumbles. A door suddenly swings open, and a young man and young Twi’lek woman walk into the hangar.

“Our apologies, Count Dooku,” the woman says, “we meant to already be here when you arrived.”

“That is quite alright, miss…?”

“Caree. Senator Ahnimaka Caree,” she replies. “And this is my husband, King Kwol Barren.”

“Senator…” Dooku repeats, keeping the sour tone from reaching his words. So Dohbar has already sided with the Republic. Perhaps he can change that. “And King Barren. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Our Queen should be here soon,” Kwol says, “she’s recently been at Coruscant. But please, let’s head somewhere more proper.” Dooku nods and walks through the door behind Ahni, Kwol after him. 

“So, Count Dooku, I’m not entirely sure of what you have come here to discuss today,” Ahni says, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Dooku. He takes it and nods, sipping briefly before responding.

“I am here to discuss where Dohbar’s loyalties are going to lie in the war between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance. Specifically, I am here to present you an offer of a position within the Separatist Alliance.”

“Ah, well, with my being a senator, I am not sure I should be a part of this conversation, as my bias will certainly lead me to want to side with the Republic. You can understand, I’m sure.”

“Yes, of course, Senator Caree. If you would feel more comfortable, I can talk with the king and queen without you present.”

“Yes, I think that would be the better option,” Ahni says, rising from her seat. “I will make sure that when she arrives, the queen will come straight here.”

“Thank you, Ahni,” Kwol says, a smile on his lips as her hand briefly touches his cheek before she leaves. “Shall we get started, then?”

“I would prefer to wait until all parties are present,” Dooku responds, setting his cup down on the table. 

“Uh, well, I don’t want to keep you waiting for too long,” Kwol says, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “You see, with Queen Monako, you never really know when she’ll get here.”

“That is alright, King Barren. I have no other tasks planned for the day, I do not mind waiting.”

“If you say so. Is there anything you would like to discuss? Perhaps something you were curious about?”

“Yes, actually. Your planet is a mystery to many of those outside of it. Not much is known about it, other than the tragedy that befell the royal family years ago when the rumored sith attacked.”

“It isn’t just a rumored sith, it is a real one.”

Dooku turned to look at the new voice, and in the doorway stood a woman he’d never seen or heard of before, but instantly knew who she was. This isn’t just Queen Monako. There’s more to her than royalty.

“King and Queen Monako were killed by a sith lord. I saw his red saber with my own eyes. I was trapped on a balcony, forced to watch them slain before my eyes. When I finally was able to go to them, there was nothing left to do other than prepare the funeral and ascend to the throne.”

“Queen Monako,” Dooku says quietly, “it is an honor to finally meet you.”

“Count Dooku, I presume,” you say, moving over to your seat. There is something strange about Dooku, a familiar yet dangerous sense creeps from him to you through the force.

“Well, since we are all here, finally,” Kwol says, throwing you a side eye, “shall we get started with our meeting?”

“Of course,” Dooku replies, sitting up a bit straighter. “I am here on behalf of the Confederacy of Independent Systems-”

“You mean the Separatist Alliance?” you interrupt, raising a brow in question.

“Some call it that, yes, but it gives a negative air to our cause.”

“You mean disunion and anarchy?”

“Far from it, actually. The systems within CIS only want equal and fair representation, and to be heard. Most of them were abandoned by the Republic, only to pay heavy taxes and have none of their needs met.”

You stare at Dooku in silence, because you know he isn’t entirely wrong. The Republic isn’t fair, and doesn’t treat all of its members equally or justly. But the CIS is just another form of government and treaty that will eventually be revealed as corrupt.

“I come today with an offer,” Dooku proceeds, cutting to the chase. Something inside him is telling him that this is a fight he won’t win. “Join the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and we will protect you from the corruption of the Republic, high taxes, and unfair treatment.”

“Dohbar is historically an independent system. We have never, and will never, align with an outside government to rule over us.” 

“You have my words mistaken, Queen Monako. The CIS does not intend to rule over its members-”

“But it wishes to have them in an alliance that is secretly in control of them. It is actually very clear in the agreement and treaty documents, but only if you know what to look for. The wording is tricky, but it’s intended to hide the true meaning. I may not be a very well known diplomat, but ever since I could walk I was sitting in on political meetings, and since I could form coherent sentences, I was trained and taught how to speak in tricks and read them out of any document.” When you finish speaking, you see something flicker in Dooku’s eyes. It almost resembled pride, and internally you wonder what could he possibly be proud of. “I’m sorry, Count Dooku, but if your only point to discuss with us was to join the CIS, our answer is no. If Dohbar is forced to align with a power, we will align with the Republic.”

“I am very sorry to hear that, I was hoping we could get more acquainted with each other.”

“You’re welcome to stay and chat, but this meeting is over, as I have given our answer.”

“And do you agree with this answer, King Barren?”

“Yes. It is the tradition of Dohbar’s independence that has kept us from major conflict and war. As both the King and the Commanding General of the Dohbarian military, I agree with Queen Monako that it is in our best interests to remain unaligned, and if ever forced, to align with the Republic.”

“Very well then,” Dooku says. 

“If you stay around, Ahni makes amazing dinners. I’m sure she’d be happy to make something for you.”

“That sounds lovely, thank you, King Barren.”

“Please, call me Kwol.” 

Dooku nods, a small smile coming to his lips. He glances over at you. It fades, however, as he notices your strange expression. It looks as though you’re trying to figure him out. Perhaps you feel the flow of the force moving through him as he feels it move through you. And perhaps you sense the similar dark force that flowed through the sith who killed the King and Queen flowing through himself. But before any more analysis of your expression can be done, you get up and exit the room without a word.

“She is quite the mystery,” Dooku comments, and Kwol lets out a laugh.

“Yeah, she’s pretty secretive with strangers. She also doesn’t really trust politicians.”

“And how does she feel about you and your wife?”

“Well, I’m a royal, not a politician. And she grew up with us both. We’re all best friends, really, so she trusts us fully.”

“A privilege it must be.”

“In a way, I guess,” Kwol says before standing, “if you’d like, I can show you around the palace. I have nothing more on my schedule today.”

“That would be lovely,” Dooku replies, standing from his seat as well. Kwol smiles and leads him from the room, beginning his tour of the palace.

~~~

Something about the Count feels highly off to you. The way he had looked at you had sent a shiver down your spine. It’s almost as if he knows who you really are, and had figured it out after only seeing you for a second. You can sense the darkness in him as well, and it has you feeling unsettled. But there’s also a strange familiarity about him, something reminiscent of what you had felt when you’d met Qui-Gon.

After you leave the meeting room, you head out to the palace grounds. Sitting under your meditative tree, you try to clear your head of all your mixed feelings. You and the men of the 17th battalion have been on near constant missions with your newly assigned position in the war. You hadn’t anticipated it to be so tiring, but perhaps it was clouding your judgment and how you perceive others through the force. 

“I must admit, your presence was a surprise to me when I felt it.” The words float to you, through the small passage you had left open in your mind for Dooku. “And then when I saw your face…it was as though I was looking into his eyes again.”

“Former Jedi Master Dooku, the mentor of my father, Qui-Gon.”

“Yes, and you are his secret child, y/n Jinn.”

“You knew of me?”

“Only of you, and what planet you were born on. I never knew who you were, or what you looked like. I often desired to come here and search for you, and that desire only grew when Qui-Gon was slain.”

“By another dark-force user, like you.” You open your eyes then, and watch as Dooku opens his, but they remain lowered at his hands.

“Qui-Gon’s death is what truly pushed me to the dark side. Had he survived, had I known what my involvement would lead to…” He takes a breath, moving his eyes up to meet yours. “Had I known you, perhaps things would be different.”

“I can’t save you, Dooku,” you reply, “and I can’t be the one thing that holds you to the light. Because in the end, that attachment will only keep you in the dark.”

“A wise girl, I see. And I sense you are a very strong Jedi.”

“I am. I trained most of my life with Codo Daawa, and then when the war began, I moved to Coruscant, where I am the general of the 17th clone battalion.”

“Tell me, y/n,” Dooku says, “would it be possible for us to be acquaintances, or possibly friends? I am sure there is much you would like to know about your fathers youth and training.”

You see the small bit of hope swirling in his gaze. You see a man who lost someone who was like a child to him, someone he felt love for. A man lost to his emotions and ambitions. But war surrounds the both of you, and you’re on opposite sides of the battlefield.

“There is much I would love to know and hear about my dad,” you begin, and you see the brief flash of delight fade away to realization, “but I cannot accept your offer, Dooku. I am a Jedi Knight, I have a duty to the Order and to the Republic. I cannot risk my position or the safety of those that I fight with for a friendship with you. I’m sorry.”

“I understand,” Dooku replies, and you watch as he stands. He holds his hand out to you, and you take it gently. He pulls you to your feet, and bows to you. “It would have been an honor to hold a position in your life.”

“In another life, you will.” 

Dooku straightens up, and you hold eye contact for a second before he reaches into his cloak. You wait and watch as he holds a closed fist out towards you.

“I visited your mother, your birth mother, after Qui-Gon’s death. I retrieved this from her. She asked me to promise that I would give it to you someday, as a way to keep a piece of your father with you, always. I have kept it with me since, waiting until I could hand it off to you.” When Dooku opens his hand, a single braid falls into your waiting palm. The hair is intricately weaved together, with a bead at each end. It reminds you of how you’d had your Padawan braid, except yours had had two beads at each end instead of just one. 

“Thank you, Count Dooku,” you reply. 

“Of course, young Jinn.”

You look up and smile at him softly, the most emotion you’ve allowed him to receive from you since meeting. Something in your chest tells you that the next time you meet, it will be on the battlefield, and it won’t be pretty. You can feel the darkness in him, the hatred. But it isn’t towards you, it’s towards the galaxy, the war. The evil that surrounds everyone. As he walks away, you feel inside that you understand him more than anyone else. He wants a pure galaxy for everyone to live in harmony, but he has no idea how to achieve it.

If you enjoyed this, comments, reblogs, and messages are greatly appreciated!

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[aroclan]

the most aro book i have ever read

on a total whim, I borrowed and read The New I Do by Vicki Larson and Susan Pease Gadoua.

Does this story have an aromantic character?

This is nonfiction, so no: it's not a story with characters. It was also published in 2014; polyamory makes an appearance, but the authors do not seem to be aware of the aromantic nor asexual communities.

Was it a good read?

Absolutely fascinating. I wonder how much bias is in the presented data ("infidelity" is consistently quoted at 70% until the Open Marriages chapter, where studies show it at 60-70% or others find it as low as 25%. THAT'S A HUGE RANGE.) But, since the statistics are sort of beside the point... it's a solid discussion of marriage for reasons other than "love."

I mean, listen to these chapter titles:

Starter Marriage: Trying On Marriage to See if it Fits

Companionship Marriage: You've Got a Friend

Parenting Marriage: Truly Planned Parenthood

Living Alone Together: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Covenant Marriage: Extreme Marriage Makeovers

Safety Marriage: Money Can Buy You Love and Happiness

Open Marriage: Why Monogamy?

Also consider the blurb that sells it:

If half of all cars bought in America each year broke down, there would be a national uproar. But when people suggest that maybe every single marriage doesn’t look like the next and isn’t meant to last until death, there’s nothing but a rash of proposed laws trying to force it to do just that.

It has so many aro vibes.

Anything else?

This isn't a story; it's a list of some possible marriage arrangements, with added stories from (a few) people who have tried them, and things to consider... both in making the marriage work, and deciding if it's right for you.

And it's just full of aro quotes like "A purpose-driven marriage is less precarious than one that's emotion-based." Here's another:

Amazingly enough, a 1950s model of family persists today even though so few of us live in those sorts of families, even though we have so many more options than men and women had back then, as sociologist Stephanie Coontz has so exhaustively detailed in her books, including Marriage, a History and [another title] The Way We Never Were.

Wow. I can't really argue with that.

Special mention: the book cover has a yellow heart motif, the color of friendship. Absolutely beautiful.

[obamaphoner]

I hate tournament polls when they don't link the current active polls anywhere easily accessible and I hate tournament polls when the poll only lasts 24 hours and I hate tournament polls when I followed them but still miss the whole thing and I hate tournament polls when everyone tags #BLOMPUS SWEEP!!!!! bc who tf is blompus and I hate tournament polls with criteria that is super undefined and I hate tournament polls that are a repeat of other tournament polls and I hate tournament polls that pit two bad bitches against each other unceremoniously and I hate tournament polls where the funny joke option goes up against a genuine contender and I hate tournament polls where something extremely popular is an option so people vote for it without judging based on the actual criteria of the poll and I hate tournament polls that blatantly ignore canon and I hate tournament polls with a big ego as if they'll be the next sexyman or twink poll for no reason and I hate tournament polls that use memes which will be outdated in a month or which are already outdated and I hate tournament polls that make up unprecedented wild rules when there's a tie or something goes against what the person running it expects and I hate tournament polls where the person running it has a clear bias and I hate tournament polls that reblog things that are only vaguely tangential to the tournament or even worse completely unrelated to it and I hate tournament polls that include a little blurb to describe each contender on the poll itself that was written by the person running it instead of being from any source material so the flavor being added may mislead or skew the voters' perception of the contenders and I hate tournament polls that rename their account to do a new tournament poll especially when the owner still answers asks or reblogs stuff about the previous poll and I hate tournament polls with zero organizational structure or helpful links in their bio or pinned post and I hate tournament polls with unfair seeding and I hate tournament polls that play heavily into nostalgia and I hate tournament polls that use one nice image of a contender and one terrible image of its opponent and I hate tournament polls with too many dull options and I hate tournament polls that don't make it clear what the meaning is of "round" vs "day" vs "group" vs "cup" vs "bracket" vs "stage" vs "cut" and on and on and on...

But I absolutely love tournament polls that don't make any of those mistakes ♥️♥️♥️ data 😍🥰🤩

[daybreakx]

Optional Bias Masterlist

✐ where you are still the protagonist, but you get to choose whoever you like most as your co-lead♡

main masterlist

rules are here

Last Update: Jan 30 2022

𝓂𝒶𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝒶𝓈 ♡

☞ wish you were sober (angst)

☞ if only (angst)

☞ home (fluff)

𝒻𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝒶𝓈 ♡

❊ have you seen my shirt? (fluff)

❊ wrapping gifts  (fluff)

[weuschoiceheart]

Random title: still shy? (suggestive light smut)

I'm so sorry for the late reply anon 🥺 I'm not comfortable writing smut, but this is still suggestive! (Inspired by my convo with @mari-kigold today~)

Genre: suggestive, male optional bias x reader, CEO au

The heat was killing you.

Groaning, you rubbed your eyes and leaned back in your chair, exhausted. It was around midday, just a little after noon, the hottest part of the day that makes work unbearable. You felt sweaty and sticky all over, your mind sluggish and body unwilling to cooperate.

Of course the AC and the fans had to be down today, you thought sarcastically, just when it's the hottest. The computer screen in front of you seemed too dim with the harsh glare of the sun shining on it through the window, yet too bright whenever you raised the brightness. Frustrated, you ignored it altogether and decided to take a break.

Looking around at your co-workers, all just as tired as you and grumbling under their breath, your gaze settled on the CEO office, which stands directly across from your cubicle. Your lips quirked up in a smile when you saw him inside, busy working at his desk, though your eyes widened as he glanced up, smirking at you through the clear glass window. You dropped your gaze to your lap, flustered by the sudden eye contact.

Counting to five, you carefully looked up again, mentally sighing in relief when you realized that he was no longer staring at you. The sigh got caught in your throat, however, when you saw him roll his head back, giving you a clear glimpse of the sweat trickling down his neck. Licking his lips, he loosened his tie, lightly tugging it off, then unbuttoning the top of his shirt. You almost choked on your own spit when he fanned himself with his hand, opening his shirt wider to reveal his collarbones.

Brushing the strands from his sweaty wolf cut aside, he rolled up his sleeves, biceps bulging through the thin material. Fuck him for wearing a white dress shirt, you thought, seeing how the front of it was soaked through with sweat. You can feel your cheeks warming up, and the room suddenly felt ten times hotter, and not just due to the heat. As if he could read your thoughts, the motherfucker had the audacity to turn his hooded eyes to you, raising his fingers and gesturing you to the office.

You looked away, heart pounding and unholy thoughts racing through your mind. No, no, no, control yourself, you have to act professional, you're still at work, you can't think about this, about him, about how good he—

"Y/N?" your coworker's voice jolted you out of your reverie. She eyed your flustered state, obviously concerned. "The boss said he wants to see you, at the back room."

"Th-the back room?" It was an adjacent room connected to the CEO office, away from the public eye, and is known for the place where the CEO pulls people in to give them "the talk." In other words, yell at them for slacking off, disobeying directions, or firing them. It had basically became a taboo place, and your hands started to shake at the thought of meeting him there. Did you do something wrong?

"Better hurry up and go, you know he's impatient," your coworker whispered. "Good luck."

Good luck indeed, you thought as you got up and made your way to the door. The CEO office was empty, and sensing your doom, you lightly knocked on the door of the back room.

"Come in," his sultry voice ran out, sending shivers down your spine. You had barely closed the door when you felt yourself pinned to it, hands on either side of you. Gasping at the close distance, breath hitching, you felt his lips trace down your neck. Tangling your fingers in his hair, bringing him closer, you sighed as he lightly bit and marked your skin, slowly making his way up to your lips, kissing you hard.

He suddenly pulled away, prompting a whine from your lips at the loss of contact. Chuckling, he flashed a mischievous smile at you. "Still shy? I think not." Strolling over to the couch at the center of the room, he sat down and laced his fingers together. "Let's get down to business then."

Eyes widening, you realized what you came here for. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what I did wrong, but I assure you that-"

"You think I'm here to punish you?" he interrupted you, an amused smile gracing his face. More stunned then ever, you blinked in surprised, confused at his demeanor. "Well, I think I do need to punish you for not coming to my office fast enough....ignoring my signs..."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he beckoned you to sit on his lap. "We got 15 minutes before I have to get back to work, let's make it productive, shall we?"

[iken]

he’s so cute i just wanna marry him

[dazz-linglight]

Some good fluff optional bias for the ones out there stressed with school/uni/work.

He knew that you've been stressing for the past days. It felt like you needed a recharge, so he provided one. He took his time building a blanket fort on your shared bedroom with fluffy pillows and blankets inside it, notebook ready to watch a movie of your pick and turned on a galaxy lamp and turned off the white lights, the room now filled with dark blue light and constellations.

If he could describe your mind in one picture these past days would be one where someone is sitting on the ground, papers all around them and their hands tangled in the roots of their hair.

“I’m home!” Your voice sounded through the apartment, taking off your shoes and letting down your backpack and walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of juice.

“I’m in here.” He called out from the bedroom and you frowned, wondering why he didn’t come out to kiss or hug you .

“Can I come in?”

“No no, here,” He replied walking into the living room and gave you a set of clothes composed by your favourite pyjama shorts and one of his big shirts.

“What do I need to do?”

“Did you know that people wear clothes? So you’re going to have to undress yourself and put on these.”

“Alright then. Turn around.” He wasn’t surprised that you asked him to turn around. Even though you’ve seen each other naked plenty of times you still get a bit shy, so he did as you said and waited for you to change clothes.

“Alright, what now?” He turned to see and admired you for a second, taking you by the hand and guide you back to the bedroom.

"Follow me." Moments later he opened the door and you could finally see inside, the ceiling shining in a beautiful scenery and you felt your worries going to the very back of your mind, this being too good to think about any problem.

"Surprise!" You smile and pull him in a tight hug, touched by his gesture. He patted your hair and giggled from your cuteness, satisfied to succeed in helping you out of your stress. For the rest of the night the two of you had snacks, binge watched movies on Netflix and shared cuddles and kisses until feeling tired enough to close the notebook and sleep with a calm smile on your faces.

[charlieswrities]

[ 2:43pm ] 🎄

in which your male bias want to wear matching ugly christmas sweaters.

wc: 317

genre: holiday fluff

pairing: reader x bias

warnings: christmas-themed

"No. Absolutely not."

"But why not?" Your boyfriend whined, pouting. "Red is totally your colour. And besides, they're not even that ugly!"

You and your boyfriend had been arguing about what to wear to his group's holiday get together for almost 10 minutes now. While you wanted to opt for subtly matching cozy sweaters and black skinny jeans for you both, he had another idea.

Before you, he held two of the most... colourful... and, honestly, mildly obnoxious Christmas-themed sweaters you had ever seen. They were a cherry red knit and had thick white fluffy cuffs, mimicking Santa's suit. Had it ended there, you would've likely accepted the sweater. But the tackiness only continued with a decorated tree, the green too vibrant for a pine tree, and the ornaments were made of sewed-on pompoms. To finish it off, for good measure, the tree lights continued past the tree to create a cheesy, misspelled season's greeting on the back.

"The fact that you have to justify saying that they're not 'that' bad frightens me." You state with crossed arms. "We both know they are."

"But (Y/N)!" He persists, eyes begging for you to cave.

"Why? You said it wasn't an ugly sweater party."

He sighed, dropping the sweaters. "Hyung said there would be a prize for both best and worst dressed, and I heard it was new AirPods for one winner and a free all-you-can-eat buffet certificate for two for the other."

A small smile graced your lips, pleased that he had finally told you the truth. Was it reason enough for you to wear the sweater? Not necessarily. But seeing him happy—with or without a prize—was.

"Done."

Before you could reach for the sweater, your boyfriend tackled you in a hug and swayed your bodies from left to right.

"We're so gonna win. I love you," he muttered as he pressed a kiss to your temple.

I may or may not love the holidays... I hope you enjoyed 💕

[etherealkdy]

[00:00] when the clock striked 12:00, you and him connected lips in a loving kiss that expressed all the love you have for one another.

[atinyidea]

[17:42] [M] (female reader)

〘BONNIE〙 so i was in the bath and uh, reading some stuff and uh, this happened? also i don’t think i named the member so it’s one of the boys? optional bias away! tell me who you can picture!

warnings: bath sm*t, consensual s*x, fing*ring, dom themes, breath play, underwater breath play, oral (receiving), explicit sm*t: 1 8 +

words: 2047

It was too hot. When you had gotten into the bath the water felt just right, in fact you could’ve had it a little hotter. You sank right into the water, the only light provided was from the ring of small candles you had around the edges of the bathtub: the soft scent of vanilla and apples.

You hadn’t tied up your hair, wanting to wash it later, so the bottom strands that fell around your neck and lower were almost submerged into the water with you. You didn’t mind it though, since all your hair was behind you and none of it lay on top of you to annoy you.

You usually took baths when you wanted to relax yourself and your muscles, bringing a book with you to read since you would spend hours in the water and you didn’t trust yourself with electronics. Your newlywed husband had left just minutes before you had gotten in the bath, kissing you on the forehead and wishing you a “good bath,” and that he would be “home it a few hours.” He knew you liked long baths and while he was extremely happy you took care of himself he was a self-proclaimed ‘attention whore’ and couldn’t stand to be without you for more than a couple hours, especially when he knew the two of you were in the same building. So you relished the fact he had to work today, sinking lower into the bubbly water. 

You were almost seven chapters in when you noticed how hot you were, eyes lifting from the pages to the tiled wall across from you. You could feel the dampness on your arms, that hadn’t been submerged in the water at all. In an attempt to cool down a little without wasting water you pulled you hair up off of your neck and shifted your body down in the water so that most of your arms were now submerged, lifting a leg out of the water to rest against the side of the tub, knee bent and high in the air and your foot situated itself comfortably.

It was only ten minutes later when you felt the beads of water on your temple. As soon as you focused on this fact you could practically feel your pulse thrumming through your body, a steady -if slightly faster than usual- beating. It didn’t hurt you at all, like how you could feel the pulse in your temples trying to throw itself out of your head when you hurt yourself badly no, you knew why you would hear your pulse this time.

You lifted your other leg out of the water, crossing it over your other leg that had fallen so it was resting flat against the edge of the bath. You didn’t care if the floor got wet from the water on your leg as it hung over the bath, knowing the mat would catch the water, and you went back to reading your book — ignoring the small almost unnoticeable ache that grew in your crotch.

Unbeknownst to you, the position you just put your legs in had crossed your legs, putting pressure right where your body wanted it the most.

You couldn’t tell how long it had been when you finally had to move your leg so the one it was laying over could regain some blood flow. Not being particularly bothered about appearances anymore you let your leg rest on the other edge of the bathtub, opening your core up like a flower just bloomed. It was then that you realised you had been biting down so hard in your lip it was beginning to sting, the last chapter of your book completely forgotten. You let the book fall from your fingers and onto the floor, landing with a slight thump you hardly even heard all of your concentration directed to how absolutely needy you felt, clenching around nothing but hot water. It was no wonder you hadn’t heard the front door downstairs, or the footsteps that were getting closer to come and investigate the noise he had heard.

You had decided to sit up just as he entered the bathroom with a curious expression, darkening as he took in your flushed and damp face. Your eyes met his and you gave him a smile — one a mix between the innocent eyes you knew got him riled up and the sultry smirk you couldn’t keep from your lips.

“You’re home early.” You stated not bothering to cover your exposed breasts from his view as you reached to the dink’s basin where a facecloth hung.

He nodded, leaning against the doorframe while loosening his tie. “We got done quickly, still took almost four hours though.”

You were a little shocked that you had been in the bath for four hours but not terribly since you knew your longest bath was around the seven-hour mark.

“You look a bit hot.” He said, his tie falling from his hands and flying to the floor next to his feet. He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt, watching you watch his fingers as he played at his neck. When you shifted your gaze to his eyes and tried very hard to keep the smirk from your face, only the corners of your lips tweaking up into a smile. You ran the dry cloth over your face, collecting the water from your temples and forehead before moving down to your neck, leaning it back to give him the clear sight of your collar and chest, your eyes closing as you threw your head back.

When your eyes met his once more he was closer to the bathtub now, his long sleeves cuffed and rolled up to his elbows. He plucked the facecloth from your fingers as you sank back down into the water, the bubbles completely gone giving him such a crystal-clear sight of your body. One hand made its way behind your neck and lifted you up slightly, so he could thread his fingers through your hair and capture your lips with his. His other hand found itself at the knee closest to him, tenderly pulling it up and out of the water and letting your left leg rest against the side of the bath once again. As his lips left yours you found yourself biting down on your bottom lip, staring up at him through your lashes as your breathing became harder: your chest visibly lifting up and down. He tutted slightly both hands moving at the same time. The one at your neck twist round to the front, his thumb pulling your lip from your teeth as he gripped your throat gently. The other slowly made its way from your knee down your thigh. You almost wanted to buck your hips up so his hand would descend faster, but you let the thought go as your lip popped out from your teeth and a whine followed, almost echoing around the room.

He let out a low chuckle, eyes darkening as he let them wander down your body. “You look like heaven to me, must be my lucky day,” he spoke, voice deeper than it was mere minutes ago. You would’ve blushed, words ready to leave your lips as you cut yourself of with another whine — his palm finally cupping you right of your throbbing core.

The thumb at your mouth raced your bottom lip slowly before sinking into your mouth just as the fingers at your center did the same – a singular digit entering your sensitive hole. His motions were agonisingly slow, pumping into you through the water like it was so dense his hand had no choice but to move slowly. Your mouth closed around his thumb, teeth threatening to bite down gently as he thrusted a finger back into you.

He tutted at you as your teeth grazed the knuckle of his thumb, pulling his hand away from your mouth to hook back around the front of your neck. His hold wasn’t tight and tender like you were used to – a common practice the two of you partook in during sex – and by the look in his eyes you could tell he wanted to try something different this time.

“Take a deep breath, baby.”

His voice was deep, his eyes were dark and stern. They watched your face for any indication of discomfort but all you felt was the familiar tinge of excitement. After a few seconds you sucked in a deep breath only catching a glimpse of his grin before you plunged underwater. You weren’t sure if it was you who had sunk into the water or if it was him who had pushed you down by the neck – not hard enough to bruise, he knew his strength – that had made the action so quick some water splashed out of the bathtub and on to the floor.

As your top half was submerged, your bottom half had raised, coming out of the water slightly. You shivered at the feeling of the cool air of the bathroom outside of the warm water, the feeling of cold air against your clit almost felt heavenly and then he thrusted another finger inside you. Your back arched, your breasts breaking the water’s seal, nipples hardening even more as they came into contact with the cool air. The hand closest to him as come to meet his bare arm, your fingers digging into the skin as you defeated the urge to open your mouth.

The hand around your neck loosened a little, like his concentration was lost to something else. You didn’t have time to wonder where his mind was because in the next second there was a heat against your clit you knew could only be his mouth.

The position he was in must’ve been uncomfortable, you were sure of it, but you really couldn’t care less. Your jaw dropped, water rushing to your open mouth, as his speed picked up amicably. Your other hand wrapped around his hand at your neck, not yet too far gone to use your safety touch. The two of you had determined a special touch you would give his arm if you felt like you needed a break or if you felt like you weren’t going to come back safely. Your lower body shuddered as you felt an orgasm build up, his fingers moving inside you with speed and power while his hot breath and skilled tongue tipped you over the edge. You tugged on his arm in a certain way, needing to come up for air. It happened almost instantly – something you were always grateful, you had been with other men who would take a few seconds to register what you needed but with him, he never hesitated to make sure you were safe – his hand left the front of your neck to twist to the back, helping you emerge from underwater.

You couched a little, chest breathing heavily as you blinked at him, waiting for the water blurring your vision to clear. Once he made sure you were alright his attention turned back to his fingers in your core, thrusting in and out with enough pace to let you ride out your orgasm. Your arm wrapped around his shoulders as he slowed his fingers, your legs twitching as your core become over sensitive. As you calmed down you lifted your other hand, cupping his face to pull him into a gently kiss. You could feel him smiling against your lips as they connected.

“Such a good girl.” He practically purred into your ear as you pulled away to rest your head in the crook of his neck. His arms slipped underneath your legs, pulling you out of the water as he stood up – a little awkwardly but you couldn’t blame him, he was knelt down when he picked you up – and exited the bathroom, not caring for the trail of water puddled you left as he entered the bedroom. Once on the bed, laid out before him, you felt the swell of excitement building back up in your tummy as your gazed connected and his hand had travelled to unbutton his trousers.

You were ready for him for now, you felt all too cold without him. 

[kpop-bg-musings]

You knew it was a bad idea from the beginning. Thinking that you could be with a man that was out of your league. But you said yes and you fell anyway. You fell for his smile, sincerity, kind nature, and everything other beautiful thing about the man. H was your kryptonite. Your Achilles heel. But you didn’t care. You were just happy that he seemed to care about you. Seemed to actually love you. And when he left, you dared to be hurt. You found yourself having the audacity to question why he left. Because, not that deep down in your soul, you knew exactly why. He was a light. A beautiful, blinding ;Ishtar that craved, no, needed, to be seen. While you were a shadow caused by that light. And when a light shines bright enough, the shadow has no place to settle itself. So you accepted the fate of a shadow when he was shining his brightest. Days turned to weeks which blurred into months. Squelching the feelings you should have never allowed yourself to have. Because you knew it was a bad idea. But you did something you shouldn’t have. You hoped.