We're back! After Part 1 covered the living room area and kitchen, we'll take a look at the bedrooms this time around!
This is Satoru's apartment that I built in TS4 based on my fic series Under the Cover of Shadows, and it's essentially what I imagine what Satoru's apartment would be like!
As a refresher, this is the layout of the place:
Let's go take a look at Satoru's own bedroom now, shall we?
This is it! It's pretty open and spacious (I struggled a lot making it, and I'm not sure I'm 100% satisfied with it even now lmao), and following the same idea that I mentioned in Part 1, that Satoru in general doesn't populate his place with a lot of personal items, it's much of the same here. There are a few every day items scattered around, like slippers, wallet, phone, tablet and whatnot, but most of his precious keepsakes are kept secure and out of sight.
(The photo strips he took with Yura during that one summer vacation are kept in his bedside table drawer. He likes to look at it every now and then.)
(Also Yura tends to sleep on the left side of the bed and Satoru on the right, and as you may notice, it's her side that has an alarm clock on it lol)
Here is Satoru's bathroom, and you can see it was actually built like a western-style one instead of the Japanese-style bathrooms he grew up with in the Gojo Estate. I guess Satoru just wanted something different for once
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(This is also the biggest bathtub I could find to put in there, but I still imagined it even bigger ʘ‿ʘ✿)
Nowadays, there's a lot of Yura's stuff scattered in his bathroom, and while Satoru wasn't too used to sharing a space with someone else at first, he actually got used to it pretty quickly.
And this is Satoru's closet! Just imagine there are a lot more clothes in there lmao, all of it designer stuff because of course.
Those rack/shelves on the right are essentially all Yura's stuff now. She used to bring in an overnight bag when they got started with their "arrangement", but then she slowly started leaving more and more stuff behind so now she doesn't really need an overnight bag anymore. She could comfortably spend several days in his place without needing to go back to her own apartment lol
Now on to the guest bedroom!
This is where Yura stayed in a couple of times, in particular before and after her trip to New York. Not a lot of people have stayed in this bedroom, to be honest. Satoru doesn't usually have people over aside from Yura, Shoko, or the Fushiguros.
(I hadn't initially envisioned the desk there, but actually building it made that area feel so empty lol. So I thought it fit nicely!)
And finally, the guest bathroom. There was a particular scene in chapter 23 (The Aftermath p 1) of Out of the Shadows that has Yura having an emotional crisis in this very bathroom, and I think this must have been the first room of Satoru's apartment that I properly envisioned along with the guest bedroom! We only got to "see" his own bedroom much later, so I also didn't think it up until then.
Alright, there are still a few rooms left for me to post, but this is generally it! And boy oh boy did this entire apartment give so much trouble lmao and I'm not even done with it yet. It was really hard making things look somewhat closer to the picture I had in my head while working within the constraints of The Sims lol. I think this was especially daunting because it's supposed to be a ~luxury~ apartment, so I had try extra hard to make things look ~fancy~, but I was having a lot of fun! And I also downloaded SO MUCH stuff that my game looks completely different now lmao my inner architect was happy.
Foolish: You know what? Fit: it's the perfect alibi. "Just a janitor," going through... just to cleaning around everywhere... talk to a lot of people... and you're just bald and such, you know, no one would think twice that you- may be you'd up to something.
Fit: Foolish that's- that's literally the entire point, we've been over this.
Pac: You like the plumber's work, right? You like to get your hand in the plumber's and- do the stuffs, and plumb [makes a very loud popping sound] those pipes, right?
[Everyone loses it and starts laughing]
Pac: I'm sorry- I'm sor- I'm- [laughs] I did- I didn't mean-
Fit: WAS THE SOUND NECESSARY???
Foolish: No, the sound made it.
Pac: I didn't- I didn't hear myself- sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh my god, I'm so shy right now, I'm just gonna sit.
[Full transcript ↓ ]
Foolish: You know what? Fit: it's the perfect alibi. "Just a janitor," going through... just to cleaning around everywhere... talk to a lot of people... and you're just bald and such, you know, no one would think twice that you- may be you'd up to something.
Fit: Foolish that's- that's literally the entire point, we've been over this.
Foolish: Have we?
Fit: I said I'm- I'm trying to find out more about like, the Code Monsters!
Foolish: I thought you just wanted- liked being a janitor.
Fit: Well, I actually do kinda like it, I'll be honest with you, I like getting paid, but-
Foolish: Wait damnnit, Philza's doing it right.
Pac: You like the plumber's work, right?
Fit: Yeah.
Pac: You like to get your hand in the plumber's and- do the stuffs, and plumb [makes a very loud popping sound] those pipes, right?
[Everyone loses it and starts laughing]
Pac: I'm sorry- I'm sor- I'm- [laughs] I did- I didn't mean-
Fit: WAS THE SOUND NECESSARY???
Foolish: No, the sound made it.
Pac: I didn't- I didn't hear myself- sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh my god, I'm so shy right now, I'm just gonna sit.
Spotify Playlists: Top 20(+1) ♡ Top 100 ♡ 2023 On Repeat (<- the unabridged favorites list [19+ hours])
tagged by @xiaojuun @dongkwan @hohowonho & @yangsminho thank you beloveds 💜
So I have learned that I am incapable of picking a reasonable number of favorites throughout this whole process and I even kept an extra song bc I wanted to make the gfx for it. Also the layout. But here are some of my favorites from 2023!
Some thoughts: I still don't know the purki members even tho I was OBSESSED with cabin fever. Busted top song of 2023? Multiple hags had comebacks this year & teen top's tt stood out to me when I was looking back (I don't count exo as hags even tho they are...)! Infinite's & tvxq's cbs were also really good! I still think knock knock by reve should've been the tt of chill kill. Loved my soloists in 2023 (jo yuri, kim sejeong, woodz, b.i, tabber, onew, d.o, kai). Several of whom were new to me. WayV may not be kpop, but their album was too important to me not to list. I joked that my top 10 was just the omy album, but it really was very good. EXO returned!! And we probably won't see them again until 2026 😭 Perfume best debut of 2023 /hj. I still don't technically stan the boyz somehow even tho I tuned in to all of their cbs this year and now know all the members. Also 🕯 pls let a.c.e drop a full album (as a full group 😒) in 2024 🕯and ilu everything I didn't mention but made the top 20. ok enough outta me 🤐
tagging (if you've already done this pls tag me!! I'd love the see it 🫶🏻 & if you're not a cc, I'd still love to see a list if you want to do one! 💜): @jwooyoung @lee-minhoe @bethereforme @possession1981 @honeydewtual @28reas0ns @sunminshine @sunghanbin @awek-s @jeonwon-wonwoo @zuhoz @kimsmingyu @jaebeomtual @okaysign @onmywayv @goblinvern @baekhyunonlyfans @wifehwa @flaredpantsagenda @haechannabelle @kihyunsgf @sunmisbf @neonsbian @wayvmp3 @duovxq @tipannies @pinktaeyeon @jftk @ninqz @nfly5 @talksaxy @baekslight @byunbaekhyunie I'm going off memory and definitely forgot people (I'm sorry🫣) but I think most people who are gonna do this have done this already anyway 😅🤷♀️
"Don't get me venting on friends who resent you
'Cause all you've ever done is been a noose to hang on to
They thought was a necklace and reckless they fell into hell
Where you both hang with nothing to do but
Scratch, kick, let gravity win like
Fuck this, let gravity win like
You could leave it all behind
Even the Devil needs time alone sometimes"
Meeting Leonie again was so exciting and then meeting Zarenyia again was even better
Zarenyia has big sapphic energy oh my god
I’m really glad I listened to the short story audiobook first, but I haven’t read Christmas at Maple Durham. I know a user here was saying it was on Patreon; I probably should have read that before we meet Leonie here, I didn’t realize she was in that short story.
thank you for the tag story @iwritenarrativesandstuff :D
one song for each letter of my username aka perfect excuse to push my current interests and favorite performances agenda:
j. jue ai – faye (live ver.)
u. uragiri no yuuyake – kiiyan & mamo-chan :) (live ver.)
s. spirit of youth – zhang yuan
t. trigger – jo1 (live ver.)
p. phobia – jo1
l. love & hate – jo1 (live ver.)
a. avid – hiroyuki sawano
g. gradation – jo1 (live ver.)
g. goya no machiawase – hello sleepwalkers
i. ikenai taiyou – orange range (live - laposta cover >:D)
n. negai wa shine on the sea – trigger (+ the solo bc AH)
tagging: @always-a-joyful-note @kimakento @kyouka-supremacy @sableeira @moonlittalk @originalaccountname @nightrayv @elibean + everyone who sees this and feels like joining in!
ok i know everyone says "love like you is soooo xyz shipcore" but i need you to know it's kuwameshicore to me. song's got yusuke written all over it arright. in case you don't have the lyrics memorized like i do here they are
ok thats kind of on me for starting with the hardest character dynamic first
so. cocoa and luci. they're both characters that, narratively, are barely expected to be characters at all. let me explain. im entering unskippable cutscene mode. sorry <333
luci takes the role of the silly lil ai assistant... kinda. shes not supposed to be. shes Supposed to be just a basic guide/support mechanic, but she sure. Isn't. it was an accident. dont worry about it. nobody else did.
cocoa is cocoa. she wasn't always cocoa, but now she's all there is. easypeasy ^w^ she's like if an npc was a person, mostly. she just kinda stands or wanders around until shes needed, rarely speaks beyond basic preset responses, she just goes here :] shes just a silly lil thang, kinda confused but got the spirit, etc. And Also She Happens To Be The Highest Ranked Agent Here. dont worry about it. nobody else did.
they also happen to be, most likely, the two characters to change the most across the entire throughline. with like one exception, maybe. which is what makes this hard. im not going to waffle about too long, dont worry. probably. ill try.
so for a while it seems like...
...aka they dont seem to notice each other much at all. and it stays that way for pretty much the entire throughline! bbbecause everyones too busy running about to worry about The PA Voice and Their Shockingly Chill Coworker. unfortunately, The Problems.
see, they're both burying the lead. Hard.
because luci is The problem. Capital. as something that Super isnt supposed to be conscious (let alone alive,) she has a Lot of shit to figure out. and a Lot of issues. it takes a while for her to figure out her bearings (no thanks to everyone else, who was too busy squabbling about a "data compromise" and ""trying to find a new manager"". eyeroll.) but more or less, she's decided:
1) humans are fucking annoying. they worry about so much mess, care about all the wrong stuff, and insist on shoving it on other people. unfortunately, they're also deeply entertaining. theres 100% a superiority complex going on there.
2) she has Got to become something else. she wants something. deeply and desperately. its just... well, she's still figuring out what that is.
luci, as a character, is obsessed with Character and Relevancy. the deepest throes of passion and hatred, desire and purpose. to know for certain what your place is. (this doesnt say anything about her.) those that burn brightly like that never seem to die. not truly. (this says absolutely nothing about her.) to become a single, unshakable, irreplaceable star. (this means absolutely nothing about anything to her.)
and one of those things that grabbed her attention the most was that of abnormalities. irreplaceable, undying, bastions of Meaning. That was what it was. unfortunately, as Emotion isnt one of the things that she's inherently built with, it becomes a bit of an issue.
thus begs the question: how do you bring out that spark in something? and well, that's not a question she has the information to answer. however, if theres one thing shes good at, its Fucking Around And Finding Out ! and well, if there's some collateral damage or casualties about it, well. oops. not like they ever cared about death and the like here before. soooo whatever ^w^
and well, she has to practice her ominous dialogue with Someone who won't rat her out, soooo...
cocoa, on the other hand, is... well, she's different, for sure. that wasnt always her name, for one. or i guess, it always was. if i tried to explain her entire deal id be here another 10 paragraphs or so, but to make a long story short... living under the specific pressure that the city pushes onto its residents is taken better for some than others. cocoa is not one of these. the constant pressure of needing to provide and prove your worth to forces beyond your control put a ridiculous amount of strain on her, and even still, it could decide to snuff you out without a moments notice on a whim. and well, there's little you can do when you're someone like her.
its something she tried to bottle up for a long, long time. unfortunately, making it into Lcorp did not, in fact, help with this At All. and all of that dread and paranoia, the misguided self loathing, and the sheer inescapability of it all... well, of course she snapped. it wasn't anything loud, bombastic. just quiet. quietly, whoever it was that she used to be had vanished in an instant, snuffed by her own hand, before anything else could get the chance to do it first. and what remained was cocoa! a name to an absence. more Function than Person, she simply... became what was needed of her. and nothing more. and unfortunately, with how everything else was... this change slipped completely under the radar. for all except for one witness.
it doesnt mean anything to her. (it cant mean anything to her. not yet.)
all of that happens before the story even begins.
unfortunately, a superiority complex + the inability to process your own flaws + being allowed to be in control completely unchecked for an extended period of time allows luci to. spiral. to put it bluntly.
it becomes a horrible little race to figure out what exactly is going on before too many people end up dying in horrible ways. luci simply watches them run in circles like little mice. by the time they manage to scramble together enough to confront her, its a tiny group of maybe 4 against luci... and also cocoa. who, in trying to avoid thinking too hard about the meddling that luci was doing and the holes poked in her persona by the rest of the cast over time, has once again completely shut off in favor of simply doing whatever was asked of her. and well, luci was technically the one who had the authority to be dealing out directions, so... well. not gonna think about it too hard. shes had to suppress other agents before, so...
this, ultimately, becomes where cocoa's arc comes to a head. as stable as she seemed, turns out she was constantly teetering on a very dangerous edge. that edge between allowing outside influence, the bravery and will to push, to face uncertainty and risk... and erasing yourself entirely, forgoing the harms of failure and performance in favor of becoming something more akin to a tool, unable to perceive, but also unable to be hurt.
luci believes she knows cocoa. she's seen the depths of her-- she thinks-- has seen the dissatisfaction, the fear, the rage, the desire to reach and tear what she wants from anyone she can reach. for just a brief moment, she'd seen all of it, just before cocoa became... cocoa. and she sees herself in that. sympathy was not something that was afforded to her. it was not in her capability to feel that attachment. (it doesnt mean anything to her.) they were the same, werent they? held back by things out of their control. (it means absolutely nothing to her.) so it would be a kindness-- no, an act of pity, to grant this one the ability to truly Feel that, to Understand the self in its entirety. grant her that freedom. (it means absolutely nothing about anything to her.)
but to cocoa... this was just another will overriding her own. the reason something snapped-- she wanted to do good. to be good. but this world does not allow it. shes angry, yes. more than anything. but shes angry because of her own perceived uselessness. more than anything, she's exhausted. that buildup of anger and resentment-- it was something she desperately didn't want to inflict on others. so instead, she turned those teeth inward, and tore herself out for the crime of feeling. she doesnt want to act. she doesnt want to run. she doesnt want to be anything. she just wants to rest.
luci, insistent on her correctness but inherently oblivious, convinced she is giving a gift to someone she has done nothing but harm. and cocoa, afraid to let down the veneer of distance, to allow herself to want and hope-- afraid to take on the responsibility of being a Person again. but these two werent the only players in the game.