#there’s an artist on twitter who makes these and i’m absolutely obsessed

[splorpo]

it is with great joy that i announce that i am now a mother

[nctsplug02]

hi can i request for mark smut where he's just obsessed with your boobs and nipples. like he doesn't even care if you're at public place he just needs to touch them. he also likes to play with your nipples at home hehehe

Do Not Touch Mark.L

GENRE: fluff, smut, fwb

WARNINGS: kissing, flirting, banter, FWB, fingering, breast play, nipple play, riding, slight anal play, unprotected sex, spanking, standing doggy, mirror sex, public sex-ish, getting caught in the act, consented recording, possessiveness, and slight food sex play!

AN| i tried being cheesy by using MISAMO as my title.. get it.. hehe.. anyway, the first scene was inspired by a twitter NSFW artist!! this is their account and the art that really was stuck on my mind for a week! i’m gonna make a jaemin ver but i’ll keep itfor valentines… happy readings! ;)

“mark, give up! just face the fact that you’ve used up all the syrup!” you say with your lips pressed together and curved down into a frown.

your brown syrup covered breasts pressed together as mark shakes the bottle and presses it firmly together to squeeze more syrup.

“there’s still a little more, baby. i promise, just be patient and wait with me.” the bottle of chocolate syrup farts and bubbles up as mark uses all his strength as an attempt to squeeze the rest of the syrup out from the bottle.

you sigh as your arms begin to cramp. “dude, my arms are starting to hurt.” you whine and drop your arms, your breasts falling with your arms.

“i know, baby. i know but just.. just a few more minutes, it’s almost all out!” his desperate bug eyes focused on the last tiny drop that teased him by taking its sweet time to drip from the bottle.

“mark, i’m just—“ as you go to sit up, mark pushes you back down and squeezes your breasts together, licking the last bit of the syrup from the tube and mouthing one of your nipple.

you moan and grab a fistful of his short locks. “you’re such a greedy jerk.” you mumble and lock your legs around his waist.

mark throws the bottle and it hits the closet door with a loud thud.

mark moans and moves to your other nipple. you squeeze your arms around his head and kiss his head. “are we done yet?” you ask, playing with his hair.

you give him a smack on the head when he doesn’t answer. “i’m hungry,” you whine. “i want to eat something.”

mark pulls away, his face absolutely covered in chocolate syrup. “eat this dick.” you shove his face and roll the two of you over. “you’re disgusting.” you slide off the bed and grab your clothes off the ground before leaving the room.

“i was just kidding, babe.” mark says while following you to the bathroom. “shut up and go cook me something.” you use a rag and you wet the material, squeezing out the extra water and wiping away the sticky syrup from your breasts.

mark watches with admiration and with a cute grin from the doorway.

“god, how did i let you get away with this idea. ‘such a stupid idea.” you sigh and wash the rag after cleaning your breasts with it.

you hang the rag and slip on your bra, taking little glances at mark who watches you through the mirror. “mind helping?” you struggle with your clips.

“mm,” mark pouts with a smirk. “after you calling me stupid, disgusting and a greedy jerk.. i think you can do it yourself.” his eyes squinting in a taunting way.

you turn to him while holding your straps. “okay, first; i didn’t call you stupid, i just said your idea was stupid. second; i’m hangry and i’m gonna get more angry if you don’t help me. third—“

mark yanks you by the waist and kisses you. “shut up.” he whispers when pulling away. “or i’m gonna shove my dick down your throat.”

before you can protest your angry thoughts, mark spins you and grabs your bra clippings, clipping them together and spinning you back around. “c’mon, i’ll go cook us some ramen.”

mark takes your hand and drags you to his kitchen. “yeah, because that’s the only thing you can cook.” you mumble.

“you should be thankful you’re getting ramen instead of raw, burnt eggs.” you glare at him from behind and you can visualize his smirk.

mark walks into the practice room with two bags of candy and drinks. “oh, finally.” he huffs when seeing the peacefully sleeping haechan on the couch.

“how’d you tire him?” mark asks, removing his black mask and black beanie. “y’know, did what i always do to tire you out.. a little bit of cowgirl.. missionary.. and a blowjob.. whatnot.” you shrug while scrolling on your insta feed.

“hey!” you whine when your phone is snatched from you. “don’t say those type of shit, y/n.” you glare up at him and giggle. “gotcha there, didn’t i?” you stand up with your hands on your hips. “don’t be jealous, remember you’re the one who said no strings attached.”

mark chews the inside of his cheek and watches as you walk past him.

“so, what kind of snacks did you get?” you dig through the bags and pull out a few snacks and drinks. “mm, chocolate covered mushrooms, yum.” you tear the bag open and plop one of the treat into your mouth.

you moan and grab another one. “thanks, markie.” you smacks your lips together and toss a handful into your mouth.

you drop the bag of chocolate when being spun around. “hey!” you’re met eye to eye with an angry looking mark. “if you wanted some, you could’ve just asked.” you go to turn and grab the bag but mark drags you by your ankles so that you’re now underneath him.

“you like donghyuck?” your eyebrows pinch together. “are you actually jealous? really, mark? wow, who knew a little joke would make the mark lee jealous.” you scoff and marks jaw ticks.

mark looks down at your legs and then back up at you. “no, mark. haechan is sleeping right over there— he’s literally six feet away from us!” you didn’t actually know, you just didn’t want to be caught.

“pretty girl doesn’t want to be caught in the act, huh? that’s never stopped you, has it?” you press your lips together and glare up at mark who stands over you with a smirk.

“what, you don’t remember the time you snuck me in your room while your best friend was asleep on the floor next to us?”

you bite your lip. “ugh, you’ve made your point! stop being a jerk and hurry up.” mark watches as you undo your sweats but he stops you.

with frustration burning in your eyes, you glare up at him. “i thought this is what you wanted, no?!” mark shakes his head and quickly glances at haechan who stirs with a moan.

“c’mere,” mark pushes himself off his knees and walks over to the dim corner, he sits himself by the mirror and spreads his legs. “c’mon, brat.”

with a huff, you crawl over to mark, sitting in between his legs with your back against his chest and your knees barely pressed against your chest.

“stay quiet for me, yeah?” mark whispers and gives you a kiss on the shell of your ear.

with your shirt pushed up and exposing your breasts and your sweats pushed down by your knees, mark fingers you with one hand and uses the other hand to tweak your nipples.

his fingers moving fast and curling every time they enter you. his lips softly cursing into your ears while you quietly moan.

his hand curling up and his palm rubbing against your clit. you roll your hips as an attempt to get more pleasure from his palm.

“i’m gonna cum— fuck!” you whimper and gasp when seeing haechans body toss and turn on the tiny couch.

“i said to be quiet, didn’t i?” mark whispers.

you squeal as mark picks up his pace and fucks your pussy with his fingers. the thought of just his fingers getting you off blew your mind, he was talented in so many ways.

“mark,” you pant. “mark,” you roll your hips and grab the back of his neck, bringing his face closer to yours. “i’m cumming.” you whisper before clamping your legs shut and shivering with your orgasm.

you gasp and turn, burying your face into the broad chest of mark. “ooh, fuck!” you cry out into marks chest and dig your nails into the back of his neck.

“ah, fuck. that’s it, baby.” your hand squeezes marks wrist as he tries to keep fucking you with his fingers. “stop, stop..” you pant and push yourself from mark.

mark stares at you, his chest rising slowly and shrinking in the same pace. a worn out grin on his face as he watches your legs twitch and you sitting so breathlessly.

“you’re mean, mark.” you pull your bra and shirt into place and move onto your pantie and sweats. “you know you love it, brat.” you stand and tie your messed up hair into a high ponytail.

“what do you say,” mark stands and grabs you by the waist. “head back to my place?” he bites your shoulder as he stares you down through the mirror.

“we can’t just leave haechan here by himself.” you drop your hands after tightening your pony. “he’s a big boy, he can handle being alone.”

“yeah, i’ll be fine.” haechan says nonchalantly.

you gasp and turn to haechan who lays on the couch with an arm over his forehead. “no fucking way.” you mutter and walk towards the pile of stuff, grabbing your bag and leaving the practice room.

“nice tits and moans, y/n.” haechan says with a small giggle.

mark sighs and chases after you.

“hey, hey, you’re my favorite kind of night.” the song sings while you circle mark with a hungry look in your eyes.

mark grabs your waist and dips you in a circle, gradually grinding his hips into yours. “so, i love when you call unexpected.”

he brings you back up and your noses are barely inches apart. “‘cause i hate when the moment’s expected.” you look at his lips then back at his eyes before smiling cheekily.

you step back from him, slowly and matching the beat. mark follows, curling his lips as he pops his body to the beat.

“so, i’ma care for you,” you stop and look to the side. “you,” mark snakes his hands up your waist and under your breasts. “you.” he smirks and gropes your breasts.

you shove him off you and walk away from him, shutting off the music and turning back to the mark and the crowd.

“damn, you guys choreographed this?” taeyong asks while slipping on his beanie.

“yeah,” mark smoothly fixes his hard-on while staring you down.

“the tension is there, it’s sexy.. hot.. hungry.. just a sexy type of tension is what i’m getting from this routine and i love it.” johnny says.

you snatch your water bottle and unscrew the top. “that’s what we were going for, weren’t we, y/n?” you nod while chugging down a few gulps.

“we’re still working on a few things. i’m a bit rusty and mark has to.. loosen me up a bit.” you screw your lid back on and wipe your sweat away with your backhand.

“although,” you set your water bottle and catch everyone’s attention. “the boob grabbing wasn’t apart of the routine, now was it, mark?”

everyone turns their attention to mark who turns into a tomato. “uhh.. it wasn’t.”

“i think it looks amazing right now.” jungwoo comments. “thanks, pup.” you wink and jungwoo who giggles right after.

“i think you guys should keep that part in, it makes the tension and chreo look more better and attractive.” one of the dance instructor comments.

you look at mark while biting your thumb. “i guess we could make it work, can’t we, markie?” mark lifts his eyes to you and slowly his lips turn into a smirk. “yeah, i guess we can.”

you sigh and clear your throat. “well, i have to go. need to go feed my friends cats and turtles since he’s on vacation in italy.” you grab your things and leave while bidding everyone, excluding mark, a goodbye.

excluding mark; you were going to see him later anyway.

“yeah, yeah. see you guys later!” you could hear marks faint voice while you turned a corner.

feet hitting the floor and loud pants have your head turning. it was mark obviously.

“mark, go back to practice. you’ll see me later.” mark grabs your hand and turns you. “he?” your eyebrows pinch confusingly. “what are you talking about?”

“you said he earlier in the practice room. who is this he dude?” you roll your eyes and fix the strap on your shoulder. “it’s just an old friend from my high school.”

when you try to walk past mark, he pushes you against the wall. “old friend, huh?”

you could hear faint voices from the next hall and it triggered your brain. “mark! get off me, do you want people seeing us like this?!” you whisper and push mark.

mark looks toward the direction where the voices could be heard and sighs, taking your hand and dragging you to an empty dance studio.

“i don’t care, y/n.” mark says after shutting the door, he hits the lights and lights the room in a dim way.

“what do you mean you don’t care, mark. what’s been up your ass this past week? being possessive, obsessive, clingy, bold and letting us get caught by haechan? you’re the one who started this, mark. sure, we fuck but you said no strings attached. stop tugging me in different directions and give me a full on answer!”

after your little rampage, mark grabs you by the jaw and slams his lips against yours. you kiss back and moan, ignoring the taste of blood mixing with his sweet watermelon chapstick.

marks hands move down to your breasts and he tugs down the stretch fabric. exposing your breasts and letting your nipples grow hard.

“fuck,” you mumble in between the kiss and drop your bag, it hits the floor with a thud.

mark grabs your leg and pins your thigh against his waist. you moan when feeling his hard bulge pressed against your thigh.

mark pulls away, biting his lip. “you taste so sweet.” he lifts you off the ground and brings you over to the couch.

“can you be a good girl and ride me?” you bite your lip and slide off marks lap. you kick off your shoes and undress yourself all while mark pushes down his sweats and frees his hard-on.

with excitement bursting through every part of your body, you climb back on marks lap and sink yourself down his cock.

with moans coming from both you and mark, you bounce your hips slowly. taking in the thickness and length of mark.

“you feel so good, markie.” you moan and hide your face in the crook of his neck.

you squeal when mark lands a spank on your ass. “you’re doing so well for me, baby.” mark groans, cupping your ass with his hands and giving your ass more spanks.

you roll your hips side to side and in circles. every now and then, clenching around mark who’d groan every time you did that.

mark reaches in his pocket and pulls out his phone. “wh— what’re you doing?” you ask while panting and slowing your hips down.

“can i record this?” you look behind you to see your ass pushed out with mark inside you, the view in the mirror was amazing.

“yes,” you turn back to mark.

mark hits the record button and spanks you, you let out a moan and jerk forward. the head of marks cock stays out inside you before mark pushes down your hips.

“oohh, fuck.” you sigh, the thickness of mark filling you up oh, so perfectly.

you bounce your hips and hug mark to your chest, his mouth collecting your nipple. you moan and arch your back, pushing your breast more into his face.

mark brings his hand up to his mouth and sucks on his finger. you gasp and slow down your hips when feeling mark push a finger into your ass. “mark,” you whisper. “i’m sorry,” he pulls his finger away from you. “i should’ve asked first.”

you look down at him. “no.. it’s fine, i.. liked it.” mark smiles a little and circles your rim before pushing in gently.

you pick up your pace and bounce your hips in the same pace as before.

“fuck,” mark growls and stops recording. he tosses his phone aside and picks you up, gently setting you aside and then pulling you off the couch with him.

mark kicks off his shoes and steps out of his sweats.

“i want you to watch me fuck you.” mark pulls you in front of him with his hands on your naked hips.

mark knocks your legs apart and bends you forward. he grabs his cock and looks at you through the mirror. “watch, alright?” you nod and stumble forward when feeling mark push into you.

“oh, fuck.” you moan, hands on your knees while you watch as mark lifts his shirt, tucking it under his chin and showing off his shaded abs.

mark holds your hips with both his hands and fucks into you. his hips already roughly pounding into you. your loose hair bouncing with every thrust.

“you feel so good, y/n. so fuckin’ good.” mark moans and tilts his hips to the side, giving himself a good view of his cock slipping in and out of you.

mark hisses and pinches your hips while thrusting his hips. his hands coming up and grabbing your shoulders, pulling them back and tucking his arms under yours.

your back to his chest, your breasts bouncing freely, you on your tiptoes and your hands grabbing marks nape.

“fuck, baby.” mark hugs your waist with one arm and uses the other hand to rub your clit.

your knees buckle and your moans fill up the room. you free mark and you fall forward, knees bent and hands on them while mark still fucks you.

“you’re so perfect.” you clench around him and squeeze your knees together. “i—i’m cumming.. god, i’m gonna fucking cum.” you mumble, eyebrows pinching together as you frown.

“yeah, baby. cum on my cock. show me how good i fuckin’ make you feel.” without being told another time, you cum.

creaming all over marks cock before he shoots into you without warning. “fuck— mark!” he pulls out and jerks himself on your back.

mark pulls you up and turns you to him. “so,” he sighs and holds your waist. “how’s that for an answer?” you bite your lip and look down, trying to hide your flushed face.

mark grabs your jaw and makes you look him in the eyes, his eyebrows flicking up once, asking you to answer.

“it’s a.. good way to answer.” mark kisses you with a giggle. “exactly, now let me clean you up then we can go get dinner and talk about this whole situation.”

“so, you like me.” you say, chewing down your chicken drumstick.

mark snorts, “and, you like me.”

you look to the side and grab your cola can, chugging a bit down and sighing at the fizzy after taste in your throat.

mark sets down his chicken breast and grabs a small onion ring. “miss y/n,” you look down at his hand and snort. “will you do the honors and be my one and only girlfriend.”

mark holds the onion ring with two hands and touches his chin to his chest. “i, (last name) y/n, will do the honors and be your one and only girlfriend.” you hold out your hand and mark slides the onion ring on your middle finger.

“cute.” you examine the onion ring.

“look at me, baby.” you look up to see mark holding his phone up in a position that said he was ready to take a photo.

you hold your hand with the onion ring next to your face and you smile big.

“say, cheeseee!” mark says.

“cheeseee!” you repeat after him with a giggle.

when seeing mark lower his phone, you lower your hand. “you’re so beautiful.” mark giggles and shows you the photo. “you’re good at taking pictures.”

“i’m even better at taking videos. you should see the one i took earlier.” you gasp.

the video he took earlier in the practice room!

“you better delete that, mark lee!” you whisper in a hushed tone. “but, send it to me before you do.”

mark reaches over the table and rubs your cheek, you lean into his touch before he hands disappears. “wha— mark!” you tsk and smack his hand away when feeling his hand cup your breast.

“we’re in public, you perv!” you repeated push his hand away when mark comes back for more. “that’s never stopped us before, has it?”

“oh, shut up! do not touch, mister mark lee.” you back up with your hands crossed in front of your chest.

“i’ll always have access later.” mark says with a shrug.

AN| pt.2 | just like my PUNCH post, it literally has ALMOST nothing to do with the title. i tried to including it but i only tried to include it after i wrote everything and it just didn’t work out for me. but, omg i’ve been so obsessed with ‘Do Not Touch’ by MISAMO. it’s me and sneakylinks current new song beside ‘New Jeans’ by NewJeans. anyway, i hope you enjoyed reading this even though it got very sloppy in the end (i really wasn’t feeling the ending). love you all and thank you to the anon who sent this in a while ago.. i only just answered this now.. sorry, love you! <3

[ohbo-ohno]

Hi Bo!! I hope you’re having a great day!

I was thinking about your writing and how you depict Simon - I’ve seen a few other artists on here give him similar characteristics which I am obsessed with, by the way. And I was just wondering:

Would you ever want to talk about how you came up with your version of Simon? I’m always a little blown away at how complex of a character you made him into. I mean, I know we all know how offensively large he is (physically, canon and all that), but the way you molded his personality to be almost tangibly unsettling and complicated is so fucking impressive. His size just makes it even better 😂

I would just love to know how you came up with the idea to make Simon this way! Like if there was anything he did/said in the comics or games that inspired you 😊

I know there are several other artists on here who have also given Simon a more sinister personality, (I’m a huge fan of their work as well) but you’re the first writer I came across who wrote him this way!

omg hi babe ilysm!!!!!!!! i'll ramble a bit beneath the cut but the short answer is honestly i just think he's hottest when he's intimidating and mean lmao

someone pointed out on twitter once that reboot simon has never said that he went through the same trauma (torture/buried alive) as 09 simon, and it kinda completely reshaped how i saw the character. there's a big difference between "man who has only known the worst kind of violence and so is only violent" and "man who is just an asshole and is violent anyway". taking away all that trauma simultaneously makes simon less complex and wayyy more intimidating, to me at least

i think simon has never once cared about playing by anybody's rules but his own. he sees no reason to - at least as like a 35+ year old man - not just do what he wants, always, regardless of the consequences. whether that's (in my fics lmao) kidnapping a pretty girl or emotionally tormenting johnny, he does it because he wants to and no other reason. doesn't care how anyone else feels, he's only working/thinking for his own gratification, anything else is incidental

also with the large thing like you said - simon probably sprouted up to six feet tall at like, 13 lmao. that man has been the tallest person in the room for like two decades. he started working out as a teenager (in my head), and he was probably the biggest cadet when he first joined the military. i think always being the biggest and most intimidating person in the room (and everyone in said room knowing it) probably gives you a massive complex. it's effortless for him to fill a room, because he doesn't really know how to not to bc he's been doing it for so long. does that make sense?

but honestly, i write mostly porn-what-plot, so pretty much every dialogue/personality choice is made because i think it's the hottest option

like in dlmliyh, i just thought the hottest version of him would be one who is in complete control of every breath being taken around him. there's absolutely no question of who's in charge when he's in the room, yk? sure johnny brought you home, but it's clear as day that he's not the person you really need to worry about

in ltts, it was more fun to focus on simon getting something for himself. dlmliyh is him with everything he wants (and dealing with what johnny wants), ltts is him not giving a single shit about what he has to do to get what he wants. he doesn't care how much he hurts johnny, doesn't care how much he destroys his life, as long as johnny is completely dependent on him, yk?

if (when, hopefully) i give plot-writing a try, i might come back to this and say a little more on how i decide on his motivations :') like conqueror!simon works on a completely different level in my head

[maoam]

Ramblings stemming from frustration with this fandom sometimes. ( Naruto. )

I know Naruto fandom has always been a tad toxic ever since it started becoming popular and such, but something about these newer fans who are so comfortable with d3ath threats, body shaming, sa threats, and d0xxing other people for the sake of a character. Fandom discourse is truly never that serious and the fact that they’ve become so obsessed with “ratioing” or “owning” other people that they’re willing to say absolutely vile things all for what… some likes? Validation from other gross people?

And then for these people to still say they’re the “good part of the fandom” or “the sane part”. It’s almost narcissistic for lack of a better word at the moment. ( not diagnosing anyone or speaking as if I’m some sort of mental health expert. Just can’t think of another word right now because of the headache this phenomenon is causing me as it is becoming much too common. )

They have this obsession with demonizing “the other side.” To the point of making false claims, which is insane. Or maybe they actually believe them? I can’t tell. They just spread whatever makes them feel good about what they like and don’t care about the source.

This is mainly a lame annoyed rant about the Hinata fanbase which have become somehow even worse within the past few days with their weird obsession with trying to get the Boruto artist (I think he works for sp? Unsure as he says most of his art is fanart but he made a like two or three official pieces that were on the official boruto/naruto page.) fired and sending him death threats for I guess just not drawing Hinata as much as they want? Like to the point where they were literally saying she was being “oppressed and bullied” by this artists. It was insane to see in person because you really would like to believe people WOULDNT compare a character not being drawn in a way they approve of to the oppression the people of Palestine are facing but hey, I suppose it’s a competition now to see how much of a bad person you can be for the sake of a character.

Also I know this is not just an issue in the hinata fandom, although the recent need to fetishize how “Asian Hinata is compared to that white girl sakura.” Is irking me a lot more than what other fandoms have done as of recent that I’m aware of. The Sakus seem to be their usual level of delusion and crappy attitude. Which is easy to ignore for me.

Does it sound like I’m making stuff up at this point? Because as I’m writing this I’m seeing just how insane this really is. This *shouldn’t* be real. This *shouldn’t* be things people say without shame. And yet, people just throw their morals for… what, internet points? The self validation that they defended to their favorite character? Who knows.

You might not even read this, I wouldn’t blame you lol. Just me being annoyed with how comfortable people within the naruto fandom have become so comfortable with being bad people.

My only real question is have you noticed an increase of toxicity within the fandom? Do you think this behavior has gotten worse with the ending of Naruto and beginning of Boruto?

I kinda get what you mean. I remember even before the manga ended there was apparently aggressive fights between Narusaku/Naruhina shippers, like the body shaming towards the other ship's girl and so on. And SS also were aggressive. But nowadays it indeed seems worse. I'm not sure if it's because we have new big platforms? Twitter and Tiktok I mean, both have really cancerous fandom spaces.

SS/NH harass official staff all the time, as well as other parts of the fandom. And then they act like victims because some people think Sakura and Hinata are shitty characters lol. Meanwhile they treat real people like shit. I think it might be because everyone makes fun of their ships/girls all the time, because it's so easy, so they become even crazier in trying to compensate, they try to harass the staff for more content for their ship, to get back at the people who say their ships suck. Also because so many popular content creators keep making content on Naruto and Sasuke being gay and Sakura/Hinata being their beards it's also humiliating to them.

Of course, they also need to fight which girl is the best girl. Which girl is less of a single mother for example. XD

"Or maybe they actually believe them?" Considering how many SS have convinced themselves that some moments that happened between Naruto and Sasuke actually happened between Sasuke and Sakura, I can believe them being that delusional.

"Does it sound like I’m making stuff up at this point?" No because I have witnessed it myself, plenty Sakura and Hinata stans on twitter have that toxic "bad bitch" attitude that they think makes them queens or whatever, they harass people and are extremely aggressive and think female character doing the bare minimun = queen behaviour. It comes off as very childish and narcissistic. No wonder Sakura and Hinata as characters appeal to them.

[kukuandkookie]

Might copy and paste the text here later from my Twitter thread where I expressed why I enjoyed it, but I recently read My Little Poplar and ended up liking Bai Xinyu and Yu Fengcheng quite a bit!

Yu Fengcheng’s eventual regret was honestly written really well, and the relationship between the two leads has good chemistry. 👌

Even better is that it features Jian Suiying, who I also have gotten weirdly attached to???

Like objectively the book Jian Suiying comes from, In Love With an Idiot, has its flaws. Or rather, it employs tropes that really aren’t for everyone, which includes the main couple fighting constantly (so it’s basically fighting and then fucking and then fighting and then fucking and you get the idea), and it gets kind of overdramatic at times, as some very angsty-type stories can be—whether they’re from China (known as “dog blood” stories) or not.

I even found it a little silly that so many were so obsessed with Jian Suiying, and yet…

Here I am now, sliiiightly obsessed with him. 🤡😂

It’s just that! As I mentioned on my Twitter, he’s so unique for a shou/bottom/uke character!! Before he met Li Yu, he was always the top, and he’s sexually confident and pretty intelligent and ruthless and…well, temperamental. He does admittedly have a charm to him that works and I find it pretty amazing the author managed to predict that, since so many characters in her novels adore him BDMGIHSKD.

Even his red flags give him charm, because while he is problematic, the red flags make him an intriguing character. The author does a pretty good job at balancing the different aspects of him that make him technically infuriating and yet also compelling.

His charm is further boosted by the fact there’s actually a clip of one of his VAs just trying to cheer you up if you’re sad?? Like hello??? 🥺

It is no longer a surprise to me that Li Yu ended up so obsessed with Jian Suiying. 😆

Also I’ll note now the last image is actually by the My Little Poplar manhua artist while the others are from the manhua adaptation of Jian Suiying’s own novel! I like how the manhua artist draws him quite a bit since it feels so him. I’ve seen fan art and they sometimes feature him smaller and thus not domineering enough, even though they usually show him with the same hairstyle—which makes for a fun tangent on its own since danmei designs can be a bit “basic,” so when one specific design becomes a recognizable look for a character, I find it pretty cool.

In fact, one of my favourite details in My Little Poplar was watching Yu Fengcheng be very frustrated with how much Bai Xinyu looked up to Jian Suiying. 🤭

Also just seeing him show up always made me go “yay!” because it’s so fun getting to see him again, especially as part of his story aligns with My Little Poplar (as in the plots of both novels happen somewhat concurrently).

Similarly, the manhua adaptation, My Beloved Fool, has a really nice art style and I really like that the artist always lets Jian Suiying shine by really dressing him up. He and Shi Qi from Trap a Vicious Dog (another series I want to ramble about on why I’m enjoying it so far) are two manhua protagonists I know of who are like…confident smart corporate bosses that get stylish fits almost every manhua chapter, which is a nice detail ahaha.

My Beloved Fool has recently hit the heavy angst section of the novel so it’ll be depressing to follow for a while since you’ll just watch Li Yu fall apart as Jian Suiying suffers absolute hell. 😔

Someone even uploaded the first season of the vomic version of the manhua on YouTube. 👀

Similarly, I’m really excited for the My Little Poplar manhua to get to all the good bits of the story there, since Bai Xinyu develops a lot as a character and I find Yu Fengcheng’s regret especially well done. But evidently it’ll take quite some time to get there; first we have to get past the military bullying alfndkfjjss.

Anyway the actual reason I started typing this out before I spiralled into another huge ramble asjakfl is that I found In Love With an Idiot and My Little Poplar audio dramas on YouTube!!

I’d heard some In Love With an Idiot audio clips from something that some fans had shared to YouTube before, but it sounds like those clips were from a completely different audio drama than the one I landed on. I’m especially excited about the My Little Poplar one. Even if it’s not extremely high quality (I think Bing Xing Xia Deng aka Inferior by Nature aka The Selfish Gene has admittedly spoiled me because it was so high quality 😆), it’s still fun hearing these characters come to life aurally.

Even more so since iirc I saw a Twitter post saying the My Little Poplar and In Love With an Idiot got taken down officially, so they may only be accessible via online reuploads right now. I can’t find the post to confirm, but if true, I’m glad someone preserved them. 🙏

Update: I did find the other version’s VAs of the In Love With an Idiot audio drama! Except it’s maybe a…sequel? Where a Li Yu of the past transmigrates 5 years into the future when Li Yu and Jian Suiying are a couple?? It’s on MaoEr FM…and it’s for free. 👁️

In fact, I could totally ramble about the Bing Xing Xia Deng audio drama—which I already have for a friend, so I can just copy and paste that long-ass (slightly more incoherent because it’s a lot of fangirling) wall of text here haha. I am currently very obsessed with that series too because it really is high quality and I like how it evolved the novel it’s adapting, but my friend is the expert on it so I feel a bit more shy about sharing my thoughts sometimes.

Welp that went on quite a number of tangents but yeah. I’ve enjoyed these novels and I’m very happy they got audio dramas and that they are still out there to be enjoyed after everything. 🥺💕

OH and final note but…the fun fact about the 188男团 aka 188 Group, which is the overall series Jian Suiying and Bai Xinyu belong to (so-called because it’s 10 novels that share a universe and all feature (scum) gongs of 188 cm) got sort of made into an “actual” 男团, aka a boy band/group! I found the couple (?) songs they released and some fan songs and it’s nice seeing them all “singing” together alfjskfjs.

An English translation can be found here!

An English translation can be found here!

Me when I spy Jian Suiying, Li Yu, Yu Fengcheng, and Bai Xinyu especially in the MVs: 🥺

[infinitemonkeytheory]

I can’t believe they let Lizzo [play a flute owned by James Madison / twerk even though she’s not skinny / continue to exist as a Black woman].

I found this event [triggering / in violation of my need to only ever see thin white women on my timeline]. As someone who spends a fair bit of time yammering on about our nation’s heritage, it deeply offends me that [Lizzo seems to care about our nation’s heritage / a Black woman is now the Librarian of Congress].

Clearly this horrible event was a form of racial retribution. I know this because I believe life is a zero-sum game where [there are only winners and losers / only white people should put their lips on white people flutes / Lizzo should be as sad and lonely as my white nationalist substack subscribers].

Some people saw Lizzo playing James Madison’s flute and thought, Gee, what a nice thing that any normal person can enjoy. But this is the wrong reaction. Whenever anything happens in the world involving a prominent Black person, the correct thing to do is [immediately make it about myself / have a knee-jerk reaction I will never honestly explore / interpret it through my precious and lucrative lens of white grievance].

I don’t care if Lizzo is a [classically trained musician / popular and beloved artist / cultural icon]. Those things don’t matter to me, because when I look at Lizzo perform, all I can ever see is her [skin color / gender / body size], the three things that matter most to me when I judge a woman.

Speaking of which, what is a woman? Having given this question an unhealthy and inappropriate amount of thought, a woman is someone who should be [a virgin until she is married to a man / forced to give birth against her will / white if aquatic]. A woman is not someone who should [feel entitled to dress the way they want / dance the way they want / behave in ways that don’t please me personally].

I am absolutely qualified to make judgments on Lizzo’s performance, musical talent, and clothing choices because my only talent is [whining about white victimhood / obsessing about trans kids / podcasting about the scientific validity of Black mermaids].

James Madison is one of our most venerated forefathers, and in my anger over this Lizzo abomination, I’ve never once stopped to consider that President Madison [owned slaves / believed women didn’t deserve the right to vote / never once played his crystal flute]. And now that I’ve learned about the existence of this crystal flute, it seems very important to me that it should remain hidden away, just like [women who don’t conform to a Barbie standard of beauty / honest historical accounts about slavery and its enduring legacy / the truth behind my knee-jerk disgust response to Lizzo].

There are those who might take this event as an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Lizzo [actually cares about American history enough to tour the Library of Congress / is bringing welcome attention to the Library of Congress’s collection / is a multitalented artist and musician using her fame and powers for the good]. Me? I’m taking this opportunity to [embarrass myself, yet again, on Twitter / expose myself, yet again, as a petty and pathetic human being / enrich myself, yet again, off the dollars of people who still believe Trump “drained the swamp”].

At her Washington DC concert, Lizzo thanked the Library of Congress for preserving our history. She sparked international interest in its archival collection and inspired band kids everywhere to play their instruments with pride. What a sad episode for anyone who cares about this country. In fact, I feel quite ill. In a minute, I’m going to need [some smelling salts / to write yet another think piece about the catastrophe of wokeness / my comfort Confederate flag].

The Library of Congress should never allow someone like Lizzo to touch their archival instruments again. And that’s because [these instruments, which I’ve never given a thought to before today, are very important to me / Lizzo living her best life is something that makes me really mad / when I talk about our “heritage,” this is just code for “white people”].

[dopamineband]

Did you follow me because oyu actually like my blog or to shamelessly self promote in hopes I'll look at *your* blog :/

(TL/DR at the end)

To be as transparent as possible, This is a band account, so literally everything we post on here Is promotion in some way shape or form, even just us saying “hi” would be promotion if that made 1 new person check us out you know? we all have our personal accounts on social medias to post on personally buuuut

Faking niceties to build an audience is something that no one in dopamine agrees with and from day 1 we have tried our best to make sure we were only following and connecting with people that also interested us, wither it’s someone in the band having shared interests to you or because we just like what you post because tbh who wants to scroll through a feed that’s boring 💀

We are new to tumblr but our instagram & twitter followers know this well and truly because honestly, we’re a bunch of big fandom emo band obsessed kids too, always have been always will be and I absolutely love interacting with everyone and building this community, a lot of the best people in my life started as dopamine listeners, I am and will always do my best to be a friend to our fans above and before just an artist for them to listen to.

So if we follow you it’s because I enjoy your content or have seen you in the likes of a post of something I also liked so I hit the follow in hopes of some more quality content making its way to my screen, the chance of anyone checking us out & liking us from that is honestly just a plus for me.

TL/DR: I followed you because I like bands and I wanna see more band stuff when I’m scrolling apps & if people just happen to want to listen to us as well then that’s an extra win.

[its-ashley-95baybe]

The shippers just don’t understand how advertisement works! Everything we see from a celebrity is calculated because they too are a brand that could easily be cancelled for stepping the tiniest bit out of line. And when t and z do “break up” it will be the shippers who are first to cancel them. I’ve seen some of their blogs and it is clear that these people have no morals and would be the mean girls in high school who have not a high enough IQ to insult anyone properly but choose the first thing that can think of which is to call someone a racist loser. (I’m not trying to be mean here by saying this it’s merely a fact of reality which they are too toxic to be able to see)

Every story we have seen z and t post is advertising something including their stories. They advertise the movie/ game that they are watching in their stories and make it seem spontaneous and genuine because that’s what people want. No wonder why TikTok advertisement where influences walk into shops is getting higher. People are sick of being screwed over by advertisement so the advertisement companies spend more money to create other types of advertisement to make them seem trustworthy. You really think that the billion dollar companies t and z work for are just putting out posters and not looking at advertisement data? No, they have multi million dollar teams. They see the demand and they supply.

T and z posts together even got on the highest Insta likes page of course this relationship has benefited their fame! Because people buy into the cute aspect.

Hate to say it folks but no celebrity interaction or interview is genuine. If a celeb was really friends with someone why would they post about it online and not text them? It’s just a shoutout and more advertisement, more fans liking the post, thinking they’re cute. Everything we have seen of z from her stories this year is advertisement eg the nails. Shoutout for the nail artist, shows z in good light bc she is supporting small business and the biggest one of all it keeps the shippers interested because it’s taken in toms house (probably)

Or if it’s not blatant advertisement it’s PR. Eg some people actually do think if someone has a dog they are nicer.

Every time the shippers have nothing left to talk about something happens. You can understand why the general public think it’s s real relationship because they aren’t obsessing about every breath they take but the shippers have no excuse except for being stupid/ denying reality.

Trending on Twitter is what t and z teams want to happen.

The more the shippers talk about their crack theories, which really are just what t z and their people want to happen, the more evidence you have for what I say. The teams obviously stalk the shippers and just do what they shippers are saying because presumably they aren’t creative enough to come up with better ideas (they are after all working for people , two adults who spend their days pretending to be in love, it sounds a lot crazier when you look at it outside a lens of advertisement.) Some of z team even replied to them from what I’ve seen.

And for those shippers who think they’re manifesting t and z, are you really that deluded that you think the whole world revolves around you?

Also, all of the interviews t and z did together were scripted and cut. Having an interviewer on a different screen is a good way to cut away from bad takes. Every moment the shippers think t and z were doing a cute thing, someone off to the side of the camera was telling them what to do. I’m good at body language and can tell he at least did not want to be there pretending to be in love with her. She looked awkward about it too. And the recent interviews he did, he absolutely didn’t want to be saying he loved her. Sure he looked like he was in love but he looks at everyone that way. And no shippers I’m not in love with the man, I couldn’t ever love either of them, they so spineless. Sure, there might be someone threatening to sue them if they break up early but at the end of the day you’ve they’re lying to millions of fans who are going to be broken-hearted when this ends. When John Lennon died some of his fans committed. The shippers are unstable so we just have to hope that they won’t also do the same. If so, we know where the blood falls.

I recommend for people to look up the history of advertisement, even the way the grocery stores are planned out, where the food goes is based on making people spend more money. Sweets up the front, things you need like milk up the back, so you go through the sweets to get to the milk. It was invented by a guy called Gruen. Start to realise it’s all calculated.

Hate to break it to everyone but you’ve all been used like a pawn in the media/ advertisement game. That’s why you should never trust a celebrity or any of the Hollywood business people. They prove once and once again that they will do anything for money.

Dear shippers, please twist my words in a way that actually sounds somewhat interesting or believable. I’ll give you a hit, I’m not sexist, racist or homophobic. No, shippers this isn’t a conspiracy theory, this is called how the world works. I bet you also think prime ministers and presidents have compete control over the country to change what they like and aren’t dictated by the party system and expect radical change every time a new government is elected. (They won’t be able to understand what I mean by that and call it a conspiracy theory).

People educate yourself and you can get out of being conned and manipulated.

Sorry, for the ramble Ashley but someone had to say it.

Anon I don’t read a lot of these messages through because you can tell quickly when they’re just rambling but I appreciate this one. A lot of great points were said. Thanks for this!!!💙💙

[kimtaegis]

Maybe you just don't want to talk about this with anyone, so feel free to ignore it, I'm glad if you only read. Please please take control of the people you follow, the people you interact with and have on your blog or in any other site or social media that you use to share your interest in BTS... Our experience in the fandom will depend 100% on that, the way you see armys will be entirely affected by it. Don't follow anyone just 'cause they're nice if what they say upsets you, don't be afraid to block or unfollow anyone who makes you uncomfortable. There are many types of armys and accounts you can engage with, there are fanbases sharing beautiful projects and kind actions from armys around the world, there are artist armys (just like you!) who show their creations, armys focusing on gathering votes and streams (this will be forever important) and overall many many armys who just care about what BTS have to say, trusting their messages and trying their best every day. I'm afraid that you may start to see armys in a negative way, I'm afraid that you can believe that this fandom isn't a good fandom, that this doesn't feel like home... This is not true, please remember that? Ever since I becamy army I never thought bad of this fandom and I always could understand why BTS love armys so much, 'cause armys have been comforting me too and I don't even have friends... I'm comforted just by "strangers". Even on Twitter, where things are much bigger and easier to trigger us, I've found my "safety zone". It's all a result of whom you follow. This doesn't mean I haven't found mean people, stalkers or antis, I did and sometimes I kept looking for them, even knowing how it made me feel, but I do my best to control what and whom I search for. Please take care of this ♡ life is already so hard, this part doesn't need to also be. Our fandom is the biggest in this world and of course that it means there'll be more toxic and obsessed people, the bigger it is it can be scarier, but I hope you can always see that this number isn't even close to all the kind armys who learn a lot with BTS, all the armys chasing for their future and trying to be better human beings. You're one of them!

oh you’re very sweet for sending all this, I appreciate it. I just think that it’s pretty much impossible to avoid any of this simply because of how today’s social media works; I have a tiny twitter account, only follow a very small bunch of fans (mostly mutuals from here and editmys/fanartists); the algorithm still suggests super problematic tweets to me. Which is sad in itself because those tweets get so much traction that they’re suggested to me, do you know what I mean? I do block and mute every single one of these accounts, have a mile-long list of muted words, and yet. And just leaving or disabling these functions would let me not see the stuff I would like to see anymore, so that’s also not great. Tumblr is comparably fine but is also absolutely deserted and boring. I’m sorry to say this but ever since I joined the fandom two years ago, I had my opinion on the general vibe of armys and this didn’t change at all. I’ve never seen this fandom as a healthy community or a home, I’m only in it because I love the group. Yes there are definitely amazing (and sane) people I’ve met here on tumblr through the boys and I’m so grateful for that, but unfortunately it’s really just a very small number of people who I truly get along with (probably my own fault but yeh). Also it’s not just the negativity by the way, but also the infantilism, or the other extreme, sexualisation of the members, the absolute obsession with chart and streaming numbers, awards and records, the “quantity over quality” way of thinking, the list goes on. There’s just so much I can’t vibe with, don’t want to. I’m trying my best to keep curating my own fandom experience and I don’t see myself not following bts’ career at any time soon, but it still sucks that such a big part of loving them feels so.. corrupted at times.

[theeangeltimes]

some current favorites 🫧

Kiss of Life

I thank the heavens that I went on twitter and saw someone I follow retweet their Midas Touch teaser because I have now fallen absolutely in love with KIOF! They had been on my radar since I listened to Sugarcoat by Natty, but it wasn’t until now that I actually put in the time to listen to all their music and watch all their MVs (whose premises are always good, I especially love how they’re always getting back at some creepy guy lmaooo). They’re great! Midas Touch and Nobody Knows are exquisite songs and the members are all so incredibly talented and likable. I even love watching their YouTube content, which I normally don’t care about when it comes to most kpop groups.

They’ve given me hope for the future of kpop 🙏

kaavikiwi on YouTube

I stumbled upon Kaaviya’s (gorgeous name btw) channel while looking for a Victoria’s Secret Angel inspired makeup tutorial and was instantly enamored. She’s very entertaining and her content is so nice and calming. Motivating, even. She mainly does fashion and beauty videos, along with vlogs. Such great vibes all around, love her!

the Claidi Journals series by Tanith Lee

Tanith Lee has officially become my favorite author with this series. I’m currently making my way through Wolf Queen, the third book. Lee’s books are just so creative and inspiring. I can feel my creative well being fortified whenever I read her work, lol. She’s an absolute master at worldbuilding and I find myself loving and resonating with all of the protagonists from the books I’ve read of hers.

adult coloring books + alcohol-based markers

Looking for a way to not be on my phone as much, a way to decompress, and another way to express my creativity, I landed on getting into adult coloring books to kill three birds with one stone. The first book I’ve been making my way through is K.Y. Craft’s absolutely beautiful Myth and Magic, which is comprised of illustrations of fantastical women and creatures. And what has made this experience even more enjoyable is how it’s fulfilling my childhood dream of owning alcohol-based markers. I used to be OBSESSED with artist youtubers who used Copic markers when I was little. So while these aren’t Copics, it’s close enough, and has been so fun!!!

[vawsculturecorner]

My Musical 2023: Musings by a girl who can't stop getting high and tweeting.

PART 1: People don't know what "A weak year for Music" means.

End of year time chat - you know what that means, everybody and their mother wants to tell you what the best, most valuable per minute piece of funny sound waves was in the year of our lord 2023. Cynicism aside, I like year-end lists! Despite my immense disdain for attributing any form of hierarchy to art, they are good fun to put together when we throw out any notions of objectivity. It's a way to preach how much we love something by measuring it against other things that we love.

Attempting to not be brazenly hypocritical, I’ve taken a “Mic the Snare” approach and grouped albums together under categories that make some sense to me and probably none to you. The hope is that if you like one thing on this list, you find something similar that you haven’t heard to try. The ultimate takeaway I want people to have after reading is “fuck I should listen to this aye”.

I am nowhere near a skilled enough writer (or observer, frankly) to make meaningful commentary on everything (or anything depending on who you ask). For the sake of brevity and our collective sanity I’m only going over the standout stuff from this year, my absolute favourites and whatever else I deem relevant/vaguely amusing. Consider anything mentioned here to be an album that I think of positively. If I don’t include it here, I didn’t hear it or I forgot because unbeknownst to you I am capable of making mistakes. If I don’t go into depth on something, assume I love it but I possess insufficient skill to do it justice/not quite obsessed enough with it to make an ass of myself trying

Herculean Hip-Hop

Goyard Comin': Exordium - Goyard Ibn Said Y'all gotta stop annoying the shit out of my man on Twitter and let him make his music. Yes, the artist who you may know as Ghais Guevara has put out some high-quality conscious hip-hop but man's also makes fucking bangers. To quote the album, you can't even go a yard without collapsing - hit the gym and bump tracks like Blood on My Grails whilst you are there. Faith is a Rock - MIKE x Wiki x The Alchemist MIKE, Wiki and Uncle Al link up for my favourite Alchemist-produced project of the year. Bleeding New York to the bone, this intergenerational meetup runs seamlessly across its brief runtime with the signature Alchemist production and intricately spun lyrics from MIKE and Wiki. Listen to Be Realistic.

Voir Dire - Earl Sweatshirt x The Alchemist Whilst we are talking about Alchemist, his long-awaited collaboration with Earl Sweatshirt is another solid addition to his discography. You really can’t go wrong with these two, and I feel like Alc’s beat really lend visibility to Earl’s pen and avoids intrusion, providing a clearer spotlight to the labyrinth of Earl's rapping. Undoubtedly My Brother, The Wind and 27 Braids are the two tracks I find the heaviest hitting.

14K Figaro - Wiki x Tony Seltzer Wiki had a fucking year hey - of his releases this is pretty handily my favourite, with Tony Seltzer's more digital production adding a “vintage in the modern” feeling with more synthetic sounds and beats contrasted with naturalistic and lively rhythms. Goes without saying that Wiki brings his A-Game to the mic as well. Fried Ice Cream would be my go-to track for the project.

Notorious Dump Legends 2 - Mach-Hommy x Tha God Fahim You really thought Hommy wouldn’t be here? Mach-Hommy and Tha God Fahim link up again, the legendary duo delivering on what they do best. A great appetizer before RAH next year - check out lead single Olajuwon. Glockoma 2 - Key Glock This album was my introduction to Key Glock and it is just a mixtape-style project packed with murky southern bangers. His deep, rolling delivery lends himself to a broad span of topics and emotions whilst maintaining a cold-blooded bluntness that is as cool as it is compelling. Sucker-free got an immense amount of play in the car this year. The Estate Sale - Tyler, the Creator. Hear me out - I know this is much smaller than CMIYGL and sure that album is tighter because it's more fleshed out, but on purely a song-for-song basis? I think I prefer these songs. In a decade where Tyler has released his best music yet, tracks like Dogtooth and Wharf are some of the strongest showings in his catalogue so far. Sorry not Sorry is also his best closing track period.

Soul of Too Birdz - Too Birdz Too Birdz defy genre in a blistering kaleidoscope of jagged noises and sounds that are increasingly difficult to pin down or label. All the better for it, Soul of Too Birdz introduces a cavalcade of phantasmic futurism to Australian music that mesmerizes the mind as the group's lyrical mantras are enveloped by folds of digital madness. Blood Money Millionz is a must-listen. (An addendum - this probably should have made relentless replays because I think this is one of the best albums to drop this year).

Decay - Fatboi Sharif x Steel Tipped Dove If the Too Birds album is the phantasm jolting from the street lamps at midnight then Decay is the poltergeist haunting abandoned homes in transient suburbia. The lethargy of a dying world has manifested in the voice of Sharif and the prowling soundscapes of Dove. As Sharif proselytises the apocalypse, you can hear the buzz of flies infesting corpses on key tracks like Brandon Lee. A stunning project from both artists.

Melodic Amazement and Terrific Trunknockers:

Straight up, I found it really hard to write about these ones but you should listen to them so I am including them here so again you have stuff to check out. Melodic Amazement: Ooh Rap I Ya - George Clanton George Clanton follows up his legendary "Slide" with another solid serve of hypnagogic warbly audibles. Manages to sneak in a couple of classic tracks for his catalogue too with tracks like I Been Young and For You, I Will featuring Hatchie. Filth - Collarbones The Swansong for cult-classic outfit Collarbones, the band goes out with a bang as Filth is pumped with ethereal yet driving euphoria, with Marcus Whale's singing oozing with sensuality and intimacy. The album is packed with essential tracks but I want to give a special mention to God is Here for being such a triumphant close to the beloved Australian Duo. Muscle Memories Vol 1 & 2. I saw these guys at SXSW this year and whilst I had heard tracks from them before, their set was the pure definition of mesmerizing. That same crystalline funkiness is here in spades across the two EPs that they put out this year and I am hotly anticipating their next moves. 5D dub is an excellent track to start with. What Colour Is the End? - Nikodimos Speaking of artists I found by watching them live, Nikodimos was the first artist I caught at Big Sound 2023 and fuck me was the bar set high. A jack-of-all-music-trades, there is no genre or instrument or musical crevice that Nikodimos does not excel at - case in point, What Colour Is the End? Lathered in psychedelia and warm jazzy tones you could lose yourself forever in the layers of these songs. IT HURTS! is a standout track for its emotional vocals and groovy percussion. How To Capture Playful - Pink Navel x Kenny Segal Coming off last year's EPIC, Pink Navel's earnestness and slightly dorky energy is the type of thing you would expect to be grating, but in fact, it just fills your heart with warmth and sugar. They team with the one and only Kenny Segal for an album about video games, and the results are endlessly endearing. Lead single Present Vendor is a great introduction if you are a newcomer to their music. In The End, It Always Does - The Japanese House Ok, I have to admit something that is going to have my queer femme card revoked - I am not really that enamoured with Phoebe Bridgers. She's an incredible musician, but the emotional connection that most people have with albums like Punisher I think I'm starting to have with this album here. Touching Yourself is pure saphic bliss and I swear to god if I don't meet a beautiful femme woman soon to have an emotionally charged intimate situationship I might just kill myself.

Terrific Trunknockers: OPPBOYZ - SOLLYY x Dxvdre Seriously this lil fuckin album is non-stop anthems and tracks that will make you non-stop bop. Hard on the car stereo and on the decks this album will have you yelling OPP BOY DOWN OPP BOY DOWN on top note, irrespective of the time or place. Also special shout-out to that CK line it was a bit of a cultural reset. Definitely check out OPP BOY DOWN. STRESSOR - Teether x Kuya Neil Look I'm still pretty new to the underground Australian music scene but if there is one thing that became clear to me pretty quickly, it's that Teether is one of the godfathers of this shit. Another artist who had a jam-packed year (even ending up featuring on Backwoodz release plus one from the multi-talented Fielded), this link-up with Kuya Neil is one of the most critically acclaimed underground hip-hop records of the year for good reason. Kuya Neil offers a masterclass of production here with smooth textured production riding on top of punchy, breakneck percussion. Closing track RENO is already a classic.

The Spiritual Meat Grinder - Zheani Zheani is just an incredible man - I did not expect the pivot into more electronic, dancier takes on her signature occult alt-metal-rap stylings but it's executed immaculately. How can I not recommend Bring Wet Cunt, honestly, it's such a banger.

Inconsistently Incredible and Future Funhouses:

(slightly) Inconsistently Incredible: Am I going to say these albums are perfect back to front? Not really, but there are enough moments of brilliance that go above and beyond that I think it's a disservice to skip over them.

And Then You Pray for Me - Westside Gunn W$G continues to prove he has this curation shit down fucking pat and continues to indulge his creativity with a datpiff tape-styled trap-ier take on his signature Griselda sound. Let this man executive produce a Tyler the Creator album please. Kitchen Lights is the stunner for me on this album for sure. Utopia - Travis Scott Mr "Play FEIN Ten Times in a Row" has become a more difficult sell for me as of late (and very little of that has to do with his album output) but UTOPIA manages to make good on a few moments of dusty, garish pop-rap constructed on a level of grand spectacle (I mean this as a good thing). I KNOW?, TELEKINESIS and DELRESTO (ECHOES) will probably go down as some of my all-time favourite Travis tracks. Burning Desire - MIKE MIKE continues to almost click with me (the closest I’ve come thus far is Tears of Joy) but moments on this album are like portals to a dimension where he is one of my favourite rappers working right now, with a distinct realm of abstracted explosive creationism that I genuinely struggle putting into words. Plz Don't Cut My Wings is absolutely my favourite song he has put out and has this distinct melancholic grain that wraps around MIKE's lyrics of memory and making it to the light at the end of a rough road. Something to Give Each Other - Troye Sivan Personally, I don't come back to this album in it's entirety as full listens can sometimes drag a bit, but individual tracks like the singles and a few deep-cuts like Can't Go Back Baby are undeniable gay boy summer smash hits and I am so fucking here for them. 

Future Funhouses: These are albums that I did hear this year but didn’t really dedicate enough time to properly sit with them. That said, I feel pretty confident these will grow on me with more listens. Obviously, because of this I'm not gonna write anything on them because I would be talking out my ass! HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock Never Falter Hero Girl - Katie Dey - ok but this one is really good and is probably the one you are most likely to have not heard of these albums listen to Katie Dey shes incredible Lahai - Sampa Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Rey Again - Oneohtrix Point Never

[rcmndedlisten]

The Late Great Gold Dust, the excellent sophomore effort from Stephen Pierce’s Gold Dust, solidified the Western Massachusetts artist who in the past has been prolific with heavier work in the screamo band Ampere as well as dense shoegazers Kindling as his own force of quiet loud psych-folk nature.

Pierce is also an artist immersed within the kindred work of the independent music community, and his list of favorite music proves that his complete body of work finds inspiration in surroundings near and uncovered, spanning uncanny songwriting craftmanship, heavy pillars of slowcore and punk, and fully amped zoneouts. Check out his list below, and revisit The Late Great Gold Dust as well...

Stephen Pierce of Gold Dust's Favorite Music of 2022

Bill Callahan - YTI⅃AƎЯ [Drag City Records]

Highlights: “Coyotes”, “Natural Information”

Finally, a Bill Callahan record grabs me entirely. I'd been real casual on his prior stuff, appreciating it and all, but this is the first that's been on pretty nonstop around here, mostly on the strength of “Coyotes”, and the directness of “Natural Information”.

YTI⅃AƎЯ by Bill Callahan

Chris Brain - Bound to Rise [Big Sun Records]

Highlight: “Flying on Time”

It's like if Nick Drake made a record that seems to be all about birdwatching. There's an uplifting melancholy to this LP. Hat tip to Henry Parker for putting Chris' record on my radar. I was going to add Henry's "Llamas Fair" LP to the list too, but turns out, that came out in 2021.

Bound to Rise by Chris Brain

Chris Forsyth - Evolution Here We Come [No Quarter]

Highlight: “You're Going to Need Somebody”

“You're Going to Need Somebody” might be my favorite song of the year, and it's very much from the Richard Thompson school of songwriting and delivery. Familiar but new. Chris sure knows his way around a fretboard.

Evolution Here We Come by Chris Forsyth

Daniel Bachman - Almanac Behind [Three Lobed Recordings]

Highlight: “Recalibration / Normalization”

An unsettlingly beautiful and wildly visionary elegiac reflection on climate change.

Almanac Behind by Daniel Bachman

drowse - Wane into It [The Flenser]

Highlights: “Mystery Pt. 2″, “Wane into It”

I just heard this last week. It ended up on my radar because someone on twitter recommended this record and my new one together. One of the cooler things about putting a record out is finding out what your music makes people think of, what their reference points are. This isn't to say this sounds anything like The Late Great Gold Dust to me, but I think there's a really cool common thread there, and I'd bet that Kyle is just as obsessive an assembler as I am, and probably just as into Low and Bedhead and Early Day Miners as I was. He's built a zone here, some specific world of his that you enter when you hit play. That's a huge accomplishment, I think.

Wane into It by drowse

Dungen - En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog [Mexican Summer]

Highlight: “Om Det Finns Något Som Du Vill Fråga Mig, Nattens Sista Strimma Ljus”

I didn't know this was out until I saw a copy for sale at Autumn Records in Winooski VT. I've been completely "in" on this band since "Ta Det Lugnt" made it onto my radar and they continue to put together a wildly consistent and unique body of work, always pushing forward. Reine's guitar sounds incredible as ever.

En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog by Dungen

Elkhorn - Distances [Elk Lag Music]

Highlight: “Train”

This record absolutely rips and is such a thorough "level-up" for a band that was already operating on a plane above most others.

Distances by Elkhorn

Garcia Peoples - Dodging Dues [No Quarter]

Highlight: “Here We Are”

Another band, like Dungen, that I'm "all-in" on. It was love at first listen with "Cosmic Cash" and it's just been up and up from there. Sure doesn't hurt that they're among the sickest live bands you could hope to catch.

Dodging Dues by Garcia Peoples

Ivy Wye - Hope's Convenience EP [Self-released]

Highlight: “Stone to a River”

Sounds like a labor of love private press from the early 70's, made on an island in the North of the UK, a.k.a. "absolutely exactly my shit.”

Hope's Convenience by Ivy Wye

Jeff Tobias - Recurring Dream [Self-released]

Highlight: “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror”

Highly talented Jeff makes a highly catchy pop record that's both accessible as fuck and transcendently inventive.

Recurring Dream by Jeff Tobias

Joan Shelley - The Spur [No Quarter]

Highlight: “Like the Thunder”

I'm not sure I've ever hit "preorder" so quickly. 2019's Like the River Loves the Sea was and continues to be in heavy rotation around here, this one too. Beautiful follow-up to a perfect record.

The Spur by Joan Shelley

Lou Turner - Microcosmos [S P I N S T E R]

Highlight: “Empty Tame and Ugly, You Got Under My Skin”

This one just seems to radiate an amber warmth. It's air is electric.

Microcosmos by Lou Turner

Milkweed - Myths and Legends of Wales [Devil Town Tapes]

Highlight: “Winifred and Caradog”

Trad folk that feels punk as fuck. This is the most exciting new band I've heard this year.

Myths and Legends of Wales by Milkweed

No Trigger - Dr. Album [Red Scare Industries]

Highlight: “Coffee From a Microwave”

Unexpectedly living for this gritty pop punk record by old friends from Central MA. It's beyond nostalgia for me, though. This thing is sincerely incredible: It's as smart, stupid, funny, political, and poignant as you'd want something like this to be. Submit to the Acid Lord.

Dr. Album by No Trigger

Upapayama - The Golden Pond [Self-released]

Highlight: “Cuckoos From the House of Golden Tin”

Light as a feather, heavy as a brick. There are moments throughout this LP that remind me so much of Far East Family Band, particularly in how traditional instrumentation is made to feel like it's being transmitted from outer space.

The Golden Pond by Upupayāma

Wild Pink - ILYSM [Royal Mountain Records]

Highlight: “See You Better Now”

John's talent is supernatural. Fun thing about J's solo in this one, it was recorded in the same sitting as the one in "Larks" from my record. It was an honor to have had the opportunity to sit in with them playing that solo at our show together this fall.

ILYSM by Wild Pink

The Late Great Gold Dust by Gold Dust

Gold Dust’s The Late Great Gold Dust is available now on Centripetal Force Records.

[crabonfire]

more random tf2 headcannons :) (modern addition!)

Engineer likes Lego’s. He LOVES the fact that there’s a toy out there that empowers kids to create, he loves the Lego typewriter and is obsessed with the Lego creators sets. (Bonsai tree, sky wars mask, etc.) if you ask him about it he’ll be like “I think it’s great kids are learnin’ to build such things.” But he will never admit he actually wants the legos. Give him legos? So happy. In general, he likes puzzles. He loves games that have puzzles like Portal.

Pyro loves video games. Any game he’s up for it. I can see him as a MAJOR Kirby fan. He’d probably play Kirby games all day long if he got the chance to. Sometimes when he notices Engie working a little too much, he will drag him to their room and play Mario kart together. Sometimes he asks others, like scout!

Heavy doesn’t play many video games, but wanna know what he likes? Chess. He loves strategy and often plays with Medic, Spy, and Engineer. Snipers quite good at it, but he likes to watch instead so he can see how much each player struggle against each other. He finds it funny, yet insanely interesting.

Demoman and Soldier shop a lot. for the most random bullshit they can find. On some nights when everyone is asleep, they’ll sneak out to like a target and pick out the most random bullshit they can find. If anyone catches them while they try to sneak out, they ask them to come along. One time Scout and heavy came along and heavy ended up having a migraine over the three men wearing the most ridiculously stupid looking yet expensive clothing anyone has ever bought. He thinks it’s funny but is also questioning the amount of money they’ve spent in one night. He’s never coming with ever again.

Scout is really good at ALL the arcade games. But one thing he’s super good at? Claw machines and fucking DDR. He thinks of it as fun legwork and loves the competitive aspect of it. Trust me when I say he’s full combod all the fucking hard songs. Sometimes he’d just play to let out the stress tho. He’d play songs like Love Is Orange, A, and of course a CLASSIC fucking Butterfly (if u don’t know any of these songs I understand because barely nobody knows these, I just play a shit ton of ddr)

Medic has a twitter account where he just spams about how annoying the other mercs are at the medbay, if they’re treating him badly expect a whole thread on it. It’s private, everyone is on there and miss Pauling likes to reply and absolutely cackles at his tweets.

“These imbeciles get on my fucking nerves sometimes mein gott.” -medic

“I’m guessing you had a rough day?” -missp

“Yes. Scout screams like a final girl from a horror movie and demoman spilled his booze all over my table. If this job doesn’t kill them I will I swear.” -medic

“Wow…uh. I’m so sorry.” -missp

“No need to feel sorry, they might boss me around but I still have the pregnancy pen. If anyone gets out of line I’ll make them go through the worst pain of all, motherhood.” -medic

“OH.” -missp

“wtf” -scout

Spy is one of those competitive sports fans, but not in terms of sport, in terms of music. I can see him talking about his favorite jazz artist then go crazy that a pop artist who’s “nothing like *insert his fav artist*” is at the top of the billboard charts.

“HE IS MUCH MORE TALENTED THAN ANY OF THESE IDIOTIC POPSTARS. HOW THEY MAKE THESE VILE SONGS…ITS NOT ART! Nothing will compare to him, his music is like heaven to one’s ear…*rambles*”

Sniper goes to pet adoption centers to play around with the pets. He has this dog he plays with a lot, her name is Molly and he adores her.

“Your a cheeky girl aren’t cha? Your so cute…yes you are, yes you are.” He says as he’s petting Molly in his arms.

Nobody knows this except Pauling, who caught him while she was in the area. He walked in with a frown but walked out with the happiest grin shes ever seen on any man.

[freebooter4ever]

So what if Jack and Parse coordinated halloween costumes in 2014?

Ok, hear me out, I've been following the comic on/off since year one and recently finally finished year four and then bought like all the huddles/chirp book etc, so apologies if this has already been discussed but its been killing me all day so i had to. Some conspiracy levels of analysis under cut :P

In the official canon comic timeline we never actually see halloween 2014, correct? We just get bitty's tweets about it and the absolutely ADORABLE picture of him in his sweeney todd costume and jack in his Cat(!!!!) costume. And like, bitty's tweets suggest that everyone is super confused that jack showed up in costume for once and nobody knows where he got the idea or the cat ears. MEANWHILE in the huddle (which ive chopped into pieces and made a low res version bc please support artists and go buy the actual pdf!!) we see kent in tacky mouse ears, and very familiar whiskers/nose facepaint. Kent's saying ‘its a group costume’ to someone. When I first downloaded the huddle months ago this utterly baffled me like...what ‘group costume’ would involve a mouse?

Anyway then the tragic epikegster happened and we all know who showed up but we don't know why kent picked then of all times.

This next part is all conjecture cause of course i have ideas \o/ because what better ‘group costume’ than ‘cat’ and ‘mouse’ am i right???

1) the slightly weirder but fits with canon theory is that jack came up with the cat costume on his own and kent being his creepily obsessed self saw the photo on twitter, and since east coast is in a later time zone than vegas that would give kent time to throw together a shitty mouse costume as his own kinda sick joke. This is the kent ‘failing at life spectacularly’ parson theory.

2) assuming that kent and jack exaggerated slightly on the ‘jack cut off all contact after the draft’ story, it would make sense that kent was trying to call jack about joining the vegas Aces even before kent showed up at the haus. So say kent's trying to sweet talk him into it and being conversational and all and casually asks about jack's halloween plans and finds out that jack's bought some dumb cat ears bc he's a cheap boring dude who clearly hates halloween (why are bittle and kent obsessed with this guy again?). And kent jokingly is like ‘going as a cat, are you? well then i'll be the mouse’ with his trademark smirk. Which is a fun role reversal with the whole kent trying to lure jack into his professional hockey team and all. And also we totally know kent wants to be caught by jack haha ;_; why. And these two are so dysfunctional its so great. I also love the idea of two old friends still having that kind of ‘you have to be us to get it’ connection and inside jokes. Cause parse is obviously at a party where everyone around him doesn't understand why the heck he's dressed as a mouse (i imagine its not a typical hockey player halloween costume), which implies that the person he's doing a ‘group costume’ with is not at the party...probably because he's at samwell...making shitty's day/year/life and flirting with a homicidally in love baker.

ANYWAY im so sorry for all this nonsense, please don't take any of it too seriously. I'm just having too much fun thinking of old estranged friends who are supposed to be rivals and fighting, secretly reconnecting and spontaneously thinking up cat and mouse ‘group costumes’ so they can be together but not really together right under everyones nose. ;_; (also if my second theory is something like what happened...jack...that means parse embarassed himself and went as a mouse to a party alone just to tease you with it...that boy is DEFINITELY NOT OVER YOU)

[insipid-drivel]

This is a reminder that parasocial relationships are bad.

Okay, I’m speaking out here because for some reason my feed has abruptly been blasted by grumpy social media users demanding the cancellation of John Mulaney over various reasons, ranging from his recent relapse into drug addiction and subsequent self-admission to a rehab facility, to his divorce of his wife, to whispers that he’s been dating or has started dating another woman. You can google it if it matters to you, but it shouldn’t. If it does, welcome to having a parasocial relationship! Please go to therapy!

What is a parasocial relationship? Basically anything that involves an audience or fan imposing their presupposed beliefs and hopes of an actor or performer’s nature and personality and subsequently punishing them for not behaving following your telepathic transcript of an instructional guide for how that individual you have absolutely no relationship with or connection to should behave. Parasocial relationships give you the feeling that a celebrity or other individual in the public eye is part of your social circle, and blinds and trips you into thinking that you can hold a celebrity or performing artist to the same stringent standards as someone you directly socialize with.

In other words, it’s a potentially dangerous delusional condition that can sometimes lead into a much more dangerous condition called Erotomania, where the delusion that a celebrity or person of a higher social class isn’t just part of your life, but secretly returns your feelings and yearns for you to approach them. It’s happened multiple times throughout history and has gotten people murdered.

But this person is turning out to be a huge moral/ethical disappointment! And? Okay, so let’s say you’re mad at John Mulaney for getting a divorce like 50% of all heterosexual couples do and making his now ex-wife sad as he did the responsible thing, admitted he was relapsing and had a problem that he didn’t know when or how he would ultimately resolve, and checked himself in to a rehab facility voluntarily and for the sake of the wellbeing of himself and his loved ones. He also has some manner of interest in another woman and that interest may have had an influential effect on his choice to file for divorce, or otherwise revealed to him that he wasn’t happy and wasn’t capable of continuing to put the same amount of love and effort into his marriage as he was able to before. He publicly admitted that the lockdowns and the pandemic were causing him a lot of negative psychological issues, and you know what past addicts do when they have a problem they need to cope with and can’t? They start using again. When and if he and his ex-wife reconcile is a decision that has nothing to do with dragging him on twitter and trying to shove your feelings about his personality into the mix. He isn’t your friend. He is a performer you like and have hinged your morals and ethics upon like your personal standard-bearer that must be beheaded if he misrepresents you. Welcome to being obsessed with the life choices of someone who doesn’t know you exist.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference! 

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀 

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked. 

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~ 

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :) 

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore 

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC 

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right? 

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty! 

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe? 

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in? 

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more! 

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch? 

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that. 

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :) 

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else 

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂). 

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha 

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu 

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3 

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4? 

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol 

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc. 

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before! 

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that? 

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever? 

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :> 

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game? 

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1. 

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you? 

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing? 

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc? 

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments? 

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress? 

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.