#well except for 1 that is a non route

[the-acid-pear]

Y'know this little throwaway gag is so bizarre to me and I know this game is a bit very different to 2 and 3 but look at Matt's reaction when Jack raids the place in 3:

You'd argue he's simply stopping Jack bc he hates this guy and he also hates this job which Could Be True but i highly doubt bc overall despite his virginity and overall cursed vibe, Matt seems to be a good employee, by all means (I mean, Peter literally gave him a vacation instead of firing him in 2, so that says a lot).

Plus, Dave hates this guy as much as he hates him! He literally always calls him creepy and, AND!

This is the only footage you get of the prize corner in 2. Which is also the first game to show Matt and Dave's disdain for one another, Dave being likely more scared of Matt than Matt will ever be of him.

Which is all very curious. 2 does set a drastic change for Matt too with him going from being just strange to outright creepy, so was the old pizza place closing something that actually affected him or was he consistently that creepy all along? And if the later, did he just start hating Dave after that or did they always have beef and they simply had some sort of arrangement (or even higher word from Steven who tended to let Dave do whatever he wanted in general) that let him do so?

[sohighsohaii]

APCA: First this one's on top, and then the other: ITZY(ft. a mystery Guest)

Series Masterlist

(Part 1 of the Itzy Arc: Ryujin, Yeji and Yuna's breaking is begun. Lia and Chaeryoung's breaking begins in the next part. Still not that much smut, I promise it comes soon)

TW! The aforementioned sexual exploitation, pretty much non-con, slight torture, drugging. (DO NOT READ IF NOT COMFORTABLE)

"Send her as soon as you can. She'll be instrumental." You say into the phone, hearing Aegis agree on the other side of the phone.

Hanging up, you looked around the room, ensuring the room was clear, before sighing. This was a part of your life you had hoped not to reignite. Before you joined the force, you had a...troubled past, with problematic habits and compulsions. All that was shed once you donned the uniform, but now, as you shed the uniform, you are also forced to go back to your problematic habits. You knew this was meant for the sake of ending the suffering. That's what you told yourself, you had to insist, because to end this suffering, countless idols had to suffer, and ultimately break. What's worse, it was going to be by your hand. You prayed that this would work, or else the demons you let back out of you would have been freed for naught, and there was no escape.

Hearing a knock on the door, you quickly recomposed yourself. "Come in." You say, a bespectacled man entered the room, his seemingly elegant and posh tone in stark contrast to his bulky build more akin to a wrestler than a noble as his voice would suggest.

"The preparations you've requested are in place."

"Very well, wait for me outside room 4, and enter when I call for you" You command, the man nodding, turning to walk out.

Turning to the table, you look through 4 cameras, your very own dollhouse.

In Camera 1, Shin Yuna sat on a huge bed, you would argue more extravagant then the room in her own dorm. She was clearly confused, looking around the room trying to find any traps, but no, it seemed like a normal bedroom, much more comfortable than the warehouse floor that she had found herself chained down to not too long ago. The only weird thing she had on was a chastity belt, but in her terrified state, she didn't question it. She would rather have it on than be defiled by some asshole. In your few recordings of Aegis' half assed attempted training of her, you knew you needed to play the long game with her.

In Camera 2, Lee Chaeryoung found herself caught in a spider's web, her hands and feet bound to a web of rope behind her, with her eyes impaired by a blindfold, completely naked except for a collar and leash, also a vibrator lightly stimulating her. She needed a more direct approach than Yuna, a perfect whirlwind of shock, terror and protectiveness.

In Cameras 3 and 4, there were two different rooms, though both rooms could see each other. In the first, Choi Lia, held in place by leather bounds, body locked in a kneeling position, hands locked behind her back, causing her tits to jut out. Her mouth was stuffed with a red ball gag, with a large shock collar around her neck, but her eyesight was not impaired, though she almost wished she was. She didn't know what to make of the sight before her.

Hwang Yeji and Shin Ryujin, on a seesaw, but one straight out of a shitty fetish film. Weirdly enough, you did by that from a porn set, well, then modified to suit what you needed it for. On both ends, laid a white silicone dildo, lined up to the honeypots of the two idols in distress, looking at each other in confusion and fear. These two were the ones you anticipated taking the longest, with the most fight. So you had to go the route of protectiveness but also, distrust. It was probably going to help break Lia too. The two idols were bound tightly, strapped securely to the seesaw.

from Putting on a face of a sadistic "master", you walked into the room, the two idols eyes immediately darting to you. You felt a wave of pity rush over you, a shameful rush of excitement too, but you had to push it down. Means to an end, you insisted "What the fuck do you want, bastard." Ryujin immediately spat out, causing you to shake your head animatedly. Pulling a remote out of your pocket, you flourished it in front of the two idols. Pressing a button, you could hear the muffled scream of Lia from behind you as the two idols screamed in fear. After an initial shock, Lia's body relaxed, though her body heaved from the pain, struggling to catch her breath. "What the fuck did you do to her you asshole!" Yeji shouted, as you sighed. Good lord. Another scream emerged from behind you, and you could see tear well up in Yeji's eyes, and fear flicker across Ryujin's face. "Now now girls, no need for name calling. We're here to play a game, and what is a game without some rules. Show some decorum, will you ladies?" You ask almost tauntingly. Realizing what you meant, the two of them held their tongue. They didn't want risk antagonizing you any further. "So, b-. you, what game are we playing?" Yeji asked, her voice almost a sneer. A little close, but you didn't want to hurt Lia too much, so you chose to ignore it. "We're playing a little game called, well, SeeSaw. I'm sure you've noticed the dildos underneath you. In a moment, once the game starts, it'll begin to vibrate, and rest assured my ladies, it'll only grow stronger as it goes." You explain. "That's not a game." Ryujin spat back. "How rude, interrupting me. I wasn't done. So, the game, Miss Shin, Miss Hwang, is a battle of trust, sacrifice, and endurance. Over the next 2 hours, you'll be competing over who orgasms the least. The winner is rewarded, and the loser will be swapped into the hot seat. As you can see, currently, Miss Choi is in the hot seat. Not only does your orgasms determine who wins, it also determines how well Miss Choi will enjoy the game. Whenever one of you orgasms, a shock will be delivered to Miss Choi. It's non fatal, that much I assure you, but I promise you it hurts more than a little." Behind you, you hear a muffled whimper, seeing Lia begin to cry. "So for Miss Choi's sake, I hope you two ladies are well trained. Now for the games element. You'll find in your hands, a remote. The top button sends your side of the seesaw up, and the bottom button sends your side of the seesaw down. Me personally, considering how close you girls are, I'm sure you girls will only be using the bottom button to save the other. However, if at any moment should you choose to grow competitive, the top button is always available for you to relieve yourself of the dildo. Don't fight each other though, sitting on it is probably better than constantly getting impaled by it." You run a hand down Yeji and Ryujin's thighs, lightly patting their pussies as they both lightly growled. "And if it serves as any motivation, this is the reward." You pulled a tablet out, showing them a live feed of Yuna's room. Yuna had made herself comfortable, body clad in a purple silk negligee, lying on the bed watching TV. "Winning has it's benefits." You remind the girls, as you moved to the two girls, shoving a ball gag into their mouths, covering their eyes with a blindfold. "The game begins in a minute. Godspeed ladies." You say Before you left the room, you decided to have some fun, walking up to Ryujin, leaning down as you ran a tongue across her puffy slit, and you could tell she was trying her best not to moan. That defiant look on her face. You had seen it many times before. And you've seen them all break before. Moving to Yeji, you did the same, though Yeji reacted much differently, your tongue illiciting a moan from the leader. You smirk, feeling your emotions overrun you as you lean in, nibbling on her nipples as you felt her contort. That was enough though. The game must begin, and the show must go on

You left the room, seeing the man from earlier. Fishing a controller out from your pocket, you hand it to him. "Let them control it first, maybe around 10 minutes, then, take control, just go crazy with it, make it akin to a seesaw. Up and down and up and down. Understood?" You say as you noticed a gleeful smile crack across his face. "How devious, sir. I understand. About Miss Choi?" He asked. Looking down to the control, you hesitated. "Go easy on her, I don't want her too tired to be broken." You give a quick excuse, which the man bought. You'd join them again in around an hour, but for now, you had to begin with Yuna and Chaeryoung. First, Yuna.

Going to Room 1, you picked up the tray of food left by the man earlier, then knocking on the door.

From behind the door, you heard Yuna hesitantly reply, "Come in."

Opening the door, you saw Yuna curl up under the blanket, not wanting to expose herself to this stranger. "Why am I here, where are my girls?" Yuna asked, slightly defiantly. This trick required some acting, well, it was close enough to the actual truth. "Please, let me explain, Miss Shin. I'm a business partner of the man who...did this to you. He knew I'm a big fan of you girls, and he offered for me to come and, well, sample you girls." Hearing that, Yuna instinctively pulled the blanket higher, inching away from you. "No, Miss Shin, I'm not here to do that, I assure you. I'm not involved in any of this, and suffice to say I was more than shocked to hear what was being done to you girls. I'm working on freeing you girls, but...it's complicated, the man is stubborn. For now, this is all I can give you girls. Comfortable housing, and no one touches you girls until this deal is finally done and I can set you girls free." You say, and you saw Yuna's doe eyes widen, and you could tell what she was thinking. Though a thousand questions swirled in her head, you knew the imperative question was, can I trust this man? "Are you telling the truth?" Yuna asked, and there, she was on the hook. "I promise you Miss Shin. I'l-" You began to say, but she quickly cut you off. "Yuna. You can call me Yuna." She said, with a hesitant but small smile. You felt your heart suddenly flutter, what was this? You couldn't afford to get softhearted in this mission. "Okay, Yuna, I promise you. I'll do what I can, as soon as I can. For now, all I can do is bring you your meals once in a while, maybe accompany you a little to help you pass the time. Well, other than the K Dramas. That was a weirdly hard sell to the man on top." You say, acting sheepish as Yuna let out a soft giggle, seemingly finding a small reprieve from this horror. Turning around, you took the tray you had brought in, opening it to reveal a pizza. Yuna hungrily grabbed at the Pizza, it must have been so long since she had last eaten proper food. "This is delicious" Yuna barely mumbled out, her words muffled by the pizza. You were glad you could bring happiness to her, but you were also secretly happy at your scheme going well. Unbeknownst to Yuna, the Pizza contained trace amounts of aphrodisiac. A small dose for the first day, but it'll slowly increase, driving her insane. As you sat with her, you allowed your fanboy side to come out, allowing Yuna to take her mind off her current situation. After around 30 minutes, Yuna had finished the pizza, and you received a message. She was on her way, you had to wrap it up. "I'm sorry Yuna, I have to go now. I told them to make sure they serve you and your groupmates good food, so eat up alright?" You shoot her a reassuring smile, and she hesitantly smiles back, before leaning toward you, leaving a kiss on your cheek. "I'll see you soon." She whispered.

Going back to your office, you saw a giant metal frame on wheels, the woman bound to it similar to how Chaeryoung was. Smiling in satisfaction, you took a moment, giving into desire as you leaned down, toying with the woman, a sudden burst of impulsiveness leading you to kneel down, shoving two fingers up her moist snatch as you roughly fingered her pussy, causing her body to thrash against the frame. Your fingers toyed with her till she finally came, squirting all over the floor. Coming back to your senses, you try to shake it off, slight shame overrunning you. You didn't want to take any pleasure from this.

Going into room 2, you saw Chaeryoung lightly panting, a light coat of sweat over her skin as she tried to stifle her arousal from the vibrator.

Setting up the woman you had brought in, you placed her right opposite to Chaeryoung, then moving to Chaeryoung, ripping her blindfold off.

As Chaeryoung's vision steadied, she could vaguely make out a figure who she assumed to be Ryujin, or Yuna maybe, but as her vision cleared, she almost screamed in terror.

Across from Chaeryoung, hung in a similar fashion, and in the same exact fashion, was her sister, Lee Chaeyeon.

[themisteriousentity]

"Golden Deer is boring though it's lackluster, the characters aren't as strong as the other paths there's less conflict-"

You fool. You absolute buffon. Golden Deer is perfectly designed. Not only does it feed into the whole "alliance" theme well by having the characters still work together despite their differences and feelings well before hitting those A supports, but it's ALSO the only route that actually puts the focus on YOU the player. Or, rather, Byleth themself

Black Eagle is about whether or not you can agree to Edelgard's ideals of acceptable sacrifice and perspective that there's only 1 way to do things. The branching happens when you decide whether or not you agree, but ultimately it just explores opposing or agreeing with Edelgard. Anything more than that is really just incidental to that main concept, whether it's Crimson Flower or Silver Snow, the entire time you're focused either on helping Edelgard achieve her goals or you're focused on showing her how wrong she is alongside the Black Eagles who think it's their duty to correct Edelgard's wrongs (and I have a whole separate thing in regards to how the cast acts in Crimson Flower verses Silver Snow). It works really well for characters designed around an empire, a domineering form of government where (usually) a singular ruler determines the course and focus

Blue Lions is focused entirely on working on past issues and learning to bring yourself into the present, but it's done almost entirely through the cast more than the player. The Blue Lions themselves all have their own traumas and deep-seated past issues that hinder or help progress. While both Blue Lions and Black Eagles have a lot in common when it comes to traumatized characters and ideology, the ideology is front and center, while in Boue Lions, their interpersonal conflicts are front and center. This shows especially in the final (non romance) scene, where Dimitri decides that his personal attachment to Edelgard and past memories still matter, and he reaches out a hand, despite her immediately trying to kill him. It's fitting for a route designed around a kingdom, which is usually built entirely on interpersonal dealings between the ruling class

Golden Deer, however, is designed very differently. Unlike the other 3 routes, the player, or more specifically Byleth, is put as the driving force instead of the Lord. And this is actually what makes Golden Deer such a good route and one with the best ending of all of them. Claude has ideals, but he isn't a person who wants to force others to follow his path like Edelgard. Claude has lived a life of strife where his past motivates him, but it doesn't chain him the same way it does Dimitri. Instead, he works on understanding everyone around him and working together towards agreed upon goals, while taking on stuff that isn't agreed upon onto himself. But more than that, while all the Lord's value your opinion, Claude is the only one who actually takes what Byleth wants (rather than just what they think about specific matters) into consideration for his plans. Repeatedly you tell Seteth in Silver Snow that you don't want to kill Edelgard, but he pushes that you have no choice. Pretty much the entire first half of Azure Moon is Dimitri ignoring you. And in Crimson Flower, you've all but completely submitted to Edelgard's will with a couple of exceptions (which actually proves my point because it's specifically in regards to the Golden Deer because you can fight the entirety of Crimson Flower while sparing all of them except for Judith). But in Verdant Wind, Claude doesn't hide that he has a problem with the church and wants Rhea gone. In Golden Wildfire, without Byleth, he's more than happy to just get rid of her without a second thought. But when Byleth is the protagonist, he goes out of his way to accommodate your wants into his plans and goals. When you express as the player that you want to reason with Edelgard and ponder if you can't walk the same path, Claude agrees with you and says he'll make it happen if he can, with the other Golden Deer mostly agreeing. When that,can't happen you both lament the fact that Edelgard gave you no choice together. He makes finding Rhea a priority, mostly because as curious as he is in general, he wants to help you find out answers only Rhea can give you. And all of the Golden Deer do this to some extent, with each other but also with you as the player. I think Hilda and Marianne's A supports with Byleth show this best personally, but that's a personal opinion. And it just works so well for a route designed around the idea of an alliance, people coming together and agreeing to work towards a goal bigger than themselves

And that's not to say the other routes aren't as good as Golden Deer, they're all equally well written, but it just makes me sad when I see people giving the Golden Deer route grief just because the characters aren't the same when it does its theme so beautifully

[starry-bi-sky]

Part two of the "Clone Danny" au

The link to the first part is put above!

His friends know that he's phantom, they help him out just the same as before. Due to not having any ghost powers, Danny has to rely on tech and outsmarting the ghosts a lot more than before. He can't keep stealing tech from his parents' lab either, and he can't ask them to fix it if his stuff breaks. He teaches himself how to fix it.

(Its a lot of sleepless nights stealing his parents' blueprints and trying to study them. And a lot of late night research and talking with Tucker on how to build and understand tech. He refuses to rely on Tucker for his gear)

He talks to Sam about fashioning a persona as both Phantom and as Fenton. She's been to a lot of rich parties, she's seen celebrities and how they act. A "careless party boy" won't work for Danny. He's no A-Lister. But coward, feeble Fenton works just fine. Minus his smartass comments, which he can slowly start phasing out of his "civilian" life under the guise of there being ghosts.

He draws into himself, keeps his head down in class, wears baggy clothing. Ghost fighting at night really does a lot of the work for him, since he's so tired in class that he doesn't bother putting his hand up or participating. He can play the part of "loner, loser Fenton" pretty well, and ups the ante.

Phantom already has a small fanbase amongst the A-listers for being the strong, silent confident vigilante-hunter protecting them from the ghosts. Nothing much changes there other than a few minor things. Anyone who knows ASL knows he's a major fucking smart-ass who keeps cracking jokes and puns at the ghosts.

Danny learns self-defense after getting his ass beat too many times (he also gets Really Good at gym because he runs a LOT after ghosts. He eventually learns to make trackers to stick onto them when they fly away) and even gets a few ghosts to help him after he befriends them while they're exploring Amity at night. Its nothing professional and he still gets hurt a lot, but he knows how to throw a better punch than before. And he knows how to dodge better.

Since he's going for a "get them tfo of here before my parents get here" approach, danny takes a more of a "talk first, fight later" route. this... kinda works. mainly for the non-hostile ghosts. its how he manages to get some of them to help him with fighting.

Danny's honestly really, really clever. He largely relies on his wits since he doesn't have any powers to force ghosts back into the ghost zone.

TUE still happens it just occurs a little differently. Vlad Masters still wants Danny to be his son and Maddie his wife, etc. But he also wants to turn Danny into a Halfa like himself, since he knows that Danny has mild ghost abilities, he thinks he has the capacity to turn into a halfa.

Dan happens when Vlad manipulates a grieving danny into agreeing to become a halfa like himself. Except it kills Danny fully, and in his rage, Danny, now dead and a ghost, rips out Vlad's ghost half and merges with it and creates Dan. So not too different from canon.

….actually i change my mind. Danny’s ghost doesn’t merge with Vlad. Danny’s ghost tears Plasmius apart for lying to him. Dan is entirely Danny, just big and hurting and wanting to hurt others because of it. His emotions are big so Dan is big.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 4.5 (Dani interlude) Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.5 (Dan Interlude) Part 8

[cloveroctobers]

JEY USO x BLACK! READER — Spring Writings 🩵

A/N: I took a stab at writing for roman and now here I am doing the same for jey? Except this one isn’t strongly plot based…Wish me luck! I’m new to the scene so I apologize if this isn’t in his character…But I think I got it? We’ll see 😆

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE + HERE & I’m using:  “did you seriously use the last of the milk for this?” “i thought it would taste good!” +  “well i put it on the grocery list!” “i didn’t think i needed the list!” “you clearly did!!” +  “i can’t find the remote.” “i’m actually going to kill you.” 1. “But look, this is on sale!”

WARNINGS: language + just doing typical bickering couple things.

☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎

In the near future, you wanted to advocate for detaching your head (not on some Black mirror type shit, although you knew there was a 70% chance that it could go that route) and leaving it to get any protective style for yourself, sisters, brothers, and non-binaries while you went about your business before you came back to collect your freshly did head. You originally wanted to go in with some straight backs with the water wave left out towards the ends but switched to boho locs last minute.

Thankfully you had that type of relationship with your stylist so she didn’t mind much.

You were always down to try something new and been contemplating getting some locs after a few of your family members been on their journey for years now. Tending to your head nearly everyday was a hassle especially as a routine to go into the world and work. Hair had a mind of its own and it didn’t need to be explained, if you know, you know.

The last thirty minutes of your appointment, you were reaching out to your husband to see what was on the menu at home or if you needed to pick something up. The snacks your go to girl provided only held up for so long and when Jey told you that he had a taste for Kopai, basically hinting that would be for lunch or dinner—when Jey threw down he made enough for both occasions—you sat up a bit in the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel, while you floated through the streets to get back home.

When you unlocked the white security gate to the bright russet orange home (Jey picked the exterior color and you weren’t crazy about it but at least it stood out from the other homes, which was his main goal), you were already hit with a whiff of spices, thanks to the breezy San Francisco spring air and found the petal pink front door wide open. Which made you quirk up a brow but you were too famished to think too hard about it as you quickly made your way through the small entry way into the master bedroom to toss your things onto the bed.

You sighed with a shake of your head as you made your way up the stairs, hearing Jey listening to Kendrick’s disses on loop again but you also ignored that as you made your way to the right where the kitchen and living room sat. Sneaking behind the man on your toes like swiper, you slapped a hand and squeezed his backside in greeting while Jey legit yelped and yanked himself away.

Grinning at him innocently you say, “why are your clappers clenched?”

Jey sucked his teeth while you attempted to hide your laughter, “yo, what I tell you about doing that man? That’s my job to do to you, not other way around.”

“I thought we believed in equality in this house?” You placed your hands on your hips while Jey just huffed.

You moved towards the stove, where Jey was hovering over. The soup pot was there, steaming but the aroma wasn’t giving Kopai. While jey was distracted on his phone again, mumbling to himself and nodding his head—possibly the lyrics—you snatched up a spoon to dip into the pot.

Wincing against the temperature on your tongue, you managed to get the food down after chewing and sucking air into your mouth. That was enough to get Jey’s attention as he looked at you with a straight face, annoyed that you went and sampled.

“This is not giving dumpling…where are the dumplings?” You managed to get out after your last chew.

Jey folded his muscular arms honestly replying, “that’s because there isn’t any.”

“Huh? But it’s Samoan Sunday.” Which meant each Sunday included something from Jey’s culture, sometimes combined with soul food, depending on what y’all were in the mood for.

Jey lifted his chin, “turns out it’s a whatever’s in the fridge day. That you just rudely sampled behind my back without giving me any proper love by the way, it’s spicy chicken and rice chowder.”

Scrunching up your face, you popped your tongue in distaste at the aftermath. Now that you knew what it was, it could explain this foul after taste because something wasn’t adding up.

“Joshua.”

“Oh here you go,” Jey threw his hands up in the air, “If I wanted another food critic, I’d just call your damn father.”

Your father has his own successful restaurant here in California and back up North where you were originally from. Majority of the time if your family was over, Jey did everything in his power not to be the one who was solely on food duty because your father was very critical especially when it came to food.

That’s that Virgo shit.

“Chowder includes milk right?” You didn’t get the culinary trait but you watched enough cooking competitions and attended plenty to know the basics. You weren’t the biggest fan of seafood, although that was the common type of chowder, there was no seafood in this dish.

It still didn’t taste right to you.

And Jey usually knew what to do in the kitchen, more so on the grill but still he got by and knew Gordon Ramsey would approve of at least a few of his dishes. If not? His bitch ass could certainly see Jey’s hands. Not your pops though, he wasn’t messing with him at all.

Jey scoffed, “yeah.”

“Hey, I’m not feeling your attitude.” You addressed over your shoulder as you went to the fridge to open up.

Jey shot back, “well I’m not feelin’ you sneaking and holdin’ two handfuls of my ass but here we are.”

It was one hand but whatever fed his ego.

He was really about to bring the hangry out of you if he kept it up to be honest. Your hands went to the top shelf, immediately spotting the now empty glass milk bottle. Yanking it out, you held it up in the air for your husband to see.

“Did you seriously use the last of the milk for this?” You questioned, one hand on your hip now.

He blinked between you and the glass and then back again, “I thought it would taste good!”

Your eye twitched, “With expired milk, Josh?!”

He scrunched up his face at this news, “be for real,” he starts as he makes his way towards you to grab the glass, “…how was I supposed to know?”

Jey’s fingers quickly unscrewed the silicone dispenser cap to take a sniff of the inside and recoiled.

“By doing that like you normally do.” You respond, “also there’s a label on the back that aways gets written with the expiration date.”

Jey snarled, “Why can’t we just keep the damn carton instead of this aesthetically pleasing bullshit?”

“That’s rich coming from Mr. Leo the flashy asshole himself.” You tilted your head to the side, sending him the same type of energy.

“Why am I catching strays?” Jey pounded on his chest, voice naturally booming off the walls, “it’s my fault I like nice things?”

‘And that I tried to cook us a meal?’ He thinks to himself.

“No but it’s mine?” You repeat his motions, pointing at your own chest while Jey sighs, “I tried to remind you this morning before I left, that the milk needed to be dumped.”

Jey scratches at his ear with his lips pushed out in thought, “I heard none of that.”

“Well, I put it on the grocery list!” Your voice went up now and you can only blame your hunger.

Jey slides the bottle onto the white surface of the pale blue counter, “I didn’t think I needed the list!”

“You clearly did!” You laugh humorlessly at the fact that you just ate partially spoiled food.

It was funny how your husband picked and chose what he wanted to remember. Granted it was pretty early when you told him this, waking him up from his snoring slumber as you pecked his cheek on your way out. Last night in bed he said he would hit the store for a few quick items you needed for the house and milk was the first thing on the list. He didn’t remember that but he knew you had a hair appointment since he insisted on paying for it, he always loved your fro and didn’t mind seeing you change it up.

He was very vocal if he didn’t like a look either, even if you were pranking him a few times with stiff wigs from Tyler Perry Amazon, which caused many more lashings from the both of you that it sometimes got personal. The both of you could take the shit talking from each other but once it actually stung just a little too much? And if it happened to occur in front of family? Oh the silent treatment was more lethal than the actual words.

“Now I see why your ass was so clenched when I came in here. You were trying to poison me, or encourage me to go vegan, my own got damn husband.” You scoffed while Jey rolled his eyes at your dramatics and that was saying a lot, since he was the number one Thespian.

He makes the noise of a buzzer, “wrong answer forehead! My fatty is too well rounded for it to be clenched. Especially if it was glute day yesterday. There’s no high booties around here and I’m highly offended that you think I would do that to you when you’re my whole heart.”

You stuck your tongue out giving him a thumbs down, “don’t try to butter me up, I’m still aggy and I’m trying to big my back, not make my stomach touch my back.”

And just like that he grins as he moves to grip the sides of your face, “I’m sorry ma, you know I always got you and already have a back up order for dinner if this didn’t turn out too well. Plus, I got something else that could feed your appetite. A appetizer if you really think about it.”

His smile turns devilish now as he moves to place his hips on yours to feel exactly what he’s serving up. You shove at his chest as he goes even further to try and kiss up your neck, “Nope, if you don’t get off me! You’re not getting none of that.”

“Why not? We got at least twenty-five minutes before option B is ready and I can make it work.” He’s chasing after you now.

You’re on the other side of the white and blue island with a shake of your head, “for one, I have no nutrients in my body and it’s really sounding like you want me to cross over to the other side.”

Jey interrupts as he stares at you in all seriousness, “never.”

Holding up fingers you continue, “Two, my laser appointment isn’t until Wednesday.”

Jey caressed his beard in thought licking his lips, “oh word, hump day? That’s even better but fuck all that we grown! Let me get you that jug of fruit water you made and then that ass is mine.”

You laughed, “you think I’m gonna just fold after you deprived me of Kopai? You really done lost your mind and it’s all KDot’s doing.”

“Nah, leave my boy out of this.”

You gasped, “That switch up is crazy.”

‘Guess we know who Jey’s shaking that ass for and it’s not just for me,’ you cackle internally before focusing back on what your husband’s response would be to picking with him. You knew better than to let that slip through your lips because you wouldn’t hear the end of it and your body was already going through it okay!

From getting your hair done and WORKING OUT!

Get your mind out of the gutter you hoes.

“I mean I didn’t say I was going to completely cut BBL—

Your eyes went wide as Jey smacked a hand over his mouth. You pointed at him and hopped up and down to prove your point.

“Be quiet.” He hissed before he made his claim, “I mean sure if im in the car I’ll bump Drake over Kendrick but he had something on his chest so some shit talking needed to be said.”

“And did.”

“Exactly but Drake’s still my guy.” He shrugged.

You shake your head as you pace the floor as if you were analyzing Jey like you were in some courtroom instead of your kitchen, “That’s just like you, taking up for the light skins.”

“Aight now you dragging it.” Jey sent a glower in your direction.

You laugh as you leaned against the counter feeling like a nap but not without facing the issue here, “so…what’s actually on the menu since you lied to me about the Kopai and then flopped the chowder.”

“It wasn’t a complete flop!” Jey argued with a deep furrow of his brows, “the flavor was on point, I just messed up with the dairy portion.”

You stated, “Goat milk would have been superior.”

“Oh hell no, wait until I tell your father about that one.” Jey’s shaking his head in disgust, goat milk was only great for a skincare routine and he could say that based on experience but far as consuming? Jey was good on that.

“Wait until I tell him that you tried to give me food poisoning.” You countered with a heated stare.

Jey deeply inhaled and sucked his teeth, “aight let’s roll before you get my blood pressure up to the point I need to be hospitalized.”

He turns the stove off and moves the pot to the side while it’s your turn to make your way over to the tatted man. You nuzzle your head into the back of shoulders while hugging him, “it’s only fair that we get on each others nerves.”

“You’re lucky I love yo ass.” He mumbles, resting a warm hand on top of your clasped ones.

“And you’re lucky I love you right back and didn’t take a bite out of your behind for depriving me of food.”

Jey scrunched up his nose at that and side eyed as he turned to face you a bit but you held his stare, letting him know that you weren’t joking. “See, I knew it in my spirit that you were one of those kids that liked to bite. I’ve seen baby pictures and that’s something I’ll have to keep in mind when we’re blessed with children.”

“Says the fighter out of the marriage.” You quirk up a brow but Jey just shrugs.

“I own my shit.”

“Whatever bro…where’s your keys?” You remove yourself from Jey to look around the kitchen while the said man follows you.

He buries his forehead against the side of your temple bumping you, “i’m not your bro so I don’t know who you think you’re talking to.”

You push him from your space, “stop playing with me, Joshua. We don’t have time for this!”

“Come correct then.”

You roll your eyes with a flick of your hair, “keys or I’ll go get my own.”

“I’m driving, I don’t need you acting like the streets are Mario kart like you probably did on your way here.” He states before he sarcastically jokes, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

Let’s not talk about driving skills…of course you didn’t say that but Jey could tell you were thinking it. So he steps to you, holding out his hand but kept his eyes on you until you placed yours in his. He led the way back downstairs to the front level of the home, keys already in his pocket as he locked up the front of the house before heading to the garage.

There was tension on the first five minutes of the drive but not to the point where you two knew you wouldn’t get past it. You fumbled with the radio as the wind whipped across your profile and before you both know it, you’re both singing along to music from 2018, which was reminiscent back when things were starting to heat up between you two. Back when Jey was inviting you to family barbecues and being too afraid to ask you to be his girl and making an ass out of himself to his family when they questioned what you were.

It was all trial and tribulations that led to your marriage a year later. This bickering was nothing compared to what the both of you dealt with prior. And what’s a perfect marriage?

“By the way, the new look is sexy.” Jey comments as the both of you sit in his car digging into your food.

He chose Japanese…which was satisfactory since you loved the Wagyu beef tacos here and he was tearing into the BamuBamu wings, licking his fingers and everything that you knew his mother would be slapping the back of his head if she was in the backseat.

“Thanks baby, we’ll call this look: Gaia or Alani.” You posed, hands still holding a taco.

Jey nods, “ooo, Gailani is fire! See how I just did that?”

“Hope you come up with better earthy names for our future crotch goblins.” You told him while Jey frowned at you mid-bite.

“No way you just said that.”

Shrugging you say, “I mean I don’t know how pregnancy is going to make me feel so that’s their potential nickname.”

“I mean…how would you feel if I referred you as a gremlin?” Jey questioned, not liking how you were picking on your unborn children already.

Listen to him being the sensitive parent! He cared deeply for his niece and nephew, he also didn’t play when it came to them either so he can only imagine how he would be with his own.

“…I’d blame the children you played a part of helping create. Like child like father.”

“That’s cap and not exactly how that works, that’s right, I paid attention in biology class! You’ll probably start taking it out on me, I’ll have to have doc on speed dial for tetanus shots.” Jey winked at you while you elbowed his arm, “but nah I’ll love y’all through it regardless because like it or not I’m a pretty great guy.”

You snort, “You say that now.”

“I mean it though and I know you know that. I couldn’t have picked a better person to ride through this rollercoaster of life with and the world deserves to have mini versions of us roaming the earth, plus I’m always down to get to practicing.” He winks at you while you shake your head.

“I can tell, you almost leaped over the counter to take me down.”

He pointed, “You started it by grabbing my ass and the new look isn’t helping my urges.”

“Well,” you shrugged with a smirk on your lips, “it’s definitely not happening since you like to pull hair and you didn’t buy the milk.”

“There’s a farmers market right up the street, they got to have some and then will you chill?”

“I’m chill now.” You chew with a smile as you slump into the passenger seat while Jey deeply exhales.

“Yeah, cause you’re spoiled.”

“You made me this way.”

“I know.” Jey smiles at you adoringly before shaking his head, “my own personal pain in my butt.”

“But I do appreciate the effort…although my stomach might feel different in a few hours.” You pout a little, feeling it flip just a smidge.

Jey widens his eyes at you, just hoping that didn’t happen, “nah we getting probiotics or some type of cleanse at this market, let’s go before they close. Seatbelt please.”

“I’m eating.”

The side eye he gives you makes you do so but you hold onto your taco a little tighter in the process. Driving across the street to the open parking lot that sat to the side of where the market was set up, he’s ready to hop out the car, door tossed open, without you since you were still eating but you call out to him to wait for you.

The farmers market was one of your favorite places to be, especially on a Sunday and there was no way he was going without you. He was the main one that said the both of you were always going to be by each other’s sides wherever you went. When it came to grocery shopping, Jey was the type of shopper that wanted to get in and get out. Anything else? Clothes? Cars? He could spend all day there.

Yes he was huffy as you took your time, knowing they were about to start closing up in the next fifteen minutes. You had to search his car for your gum, lipgloss, and micro wallet that you stored in here just in case you didn’t have your purse (which was sitting pretty back at home on your bed) and stole Jey’s car for the day.

“C’mon,” Jey says your name impatiently, “what’re you doing?”

“Where’s my green mini wallet I had stored on the side of the rati?” Your hands are going along the pocket of the black Maserati.

Jey answers, “that little thing? I been took that out and threw it somewhere in your drawer back at the crib. What do you need that for when you’re with me anyway? Let’s go, ma.”

Then he questions why you’re a pain in his butt!

Checking your lips once more, you get out the car dusting off any crumbs from your lap before you circle around the car to intertwine your fingers with Jey’s. You huddle closer to him as the wind is at your backs before you enter through the tarps of set up sections. He’s on a mission while your eyes are wide, trying to look at any and everything to the point he lets go of your hand to keep searching for what you’re mainly here for.

Usually it’s mostly food here but occasionally they’ll have a few clothing, accessories, and even home decor shops set up as well. It really was the best of both worlds when that happened. Jey already knew that you would search for one of those while he stayed where the food was at. He chatted with the elderly man who had his own farm about forty miles from here, got three jugs of milk: oat, goat, and coconut. Along with a nice tip before he bid his farewells then began checking for you around the sizable space.

“Hey baby,” you greet as he eventually finds you at a vendor that wasn’t selling food yet you’re holding a few fruits and fruit juices in your hands, “I got us some more papayas and pineapples. It’s already paid for since the lady took Zelle but I want to show you something else.”

You finally shift the items into the netted bag onto your other wrist as you reach out for Jey’s wrist to drag him back to a few vendors over. It was some shop that was selling antiques and he’s now standing in front of two figurines.

“Wouldn’t this be cute for the mantle above the fireplace?”

Jey glanced at you, “yeah if we wanted to be murdered in our sleep at some point.”

“Joshua!” You shushed him, “I thought they would add more color to the mantle since the fireplace is black.”

“And the marble on the bottom is white along with the rest of the furniture that’s light and the walls except for that one kitchen wall that’s a chalkboard.” The man blinks as he vividly remembers your shared home, “We don’t need anymore unnecessary stuff, especially no dolls that look like annabelle and her possessed friends.” Jey tells you while you frown as he grabs your wrist now.

You’re being dragged away while the woman laughs and sends you a wave as you attempt to persuade him one last time on one other decor piece sitting on a table, “But look, this is on sale!”

Jey mutters, “there’s a reason why majority of her items are. I know evil when i see it.”

“Not the judgement. You don’t know that lady, Josh and you need to stop watching so many scary movies lately, they’re making you so paranoid.” You sassed while you two made it back to his car.

He peeked at you before he grabbed his seatbelt, “did you see her pet possum on the leash sleeping underneath that dusty red chair?”

“Her what?!”

“Uh huh.” He nods, starting the car while going into detail about how the vendor felt off the moment you dragged him closer to it.

By the time the two of you get home, you’re heading into the master bedroom to grab your floral bonnet while Jey heads up stairs with the food. He does the clean up of the soup, finishes up his wings while you eventually make your way upstairs to eat your own food. When you meet Jey’s brown eyes across from the dining table, the both of you share a laugh at your matching low-lidded eyes. The Itis. You’re the first to move, discarding your food since Jey finished way before you and pull at his hand for him to stand.

Wrapping your arms across his shoulders before moving one hand to play with the end of his hair, he leans down to grasp your back before slipping his hands down to your ass to lift you against his hips. “That’s how it should be,” he tells you as you kiss his lips and he makes his way over to the couch.

You warn your husband, “Watch my head, we know how heavy handed you are.”

“I got it, I got it.” Jey mocks as he protects your head, laying you down first before he climbs over you to rest against the couch.

He loops an arm across your shoulders as you move around trying to get comfortable thanks to your new do. Finding that your left is less painful than your right, you face the coffee table, two living chairs, and tv instead while Jey lightly wraps his arm around your neck instead.

And you’re fine just like this, well fed and in the arms of your man ready to get a nap in until…

“I can’t find the remote.” Jey breaks the silence that makes your eyes peel open with a flare of your nostrils.

You want to fling your entire body back but your neck said different, leaving you to only side eye Jey as he sheepishly smiles at you.

“I’m actually going to kill you!” You inform him, “i said leaving the remote in the drawer of the coffee table makes it easier so we don’t have to go crazy looking for it.”

“And I may or may not have done that.” He says nonchalantly, not bothered that he was pushing a button again, “I like to leave it tucked in the cushions along with my leg in there because you know how that stupid thing likes to overheat sometimes and it’s always cold in there.”

Only Jey y’all.

Only Jey.

Once you go quiet and manage to face the brown eyed man again, you smile softly at him as you caressed his face, “that lady at the market that you were shook over, ain’t got shit on me.”

“Whatchu mean? Aye!” Jey yelled as you started to playfully ring his neck.

The only way to get you to stop was for him to slap his hand right on top of your sore head and wiggle it and what did he do that for?

“OW! Why would you—I’m done.”

You hop off the couch and circle around it but not without yanking a pillow and slamming it against Jey’s stomach, “disrespectful ass.”

“So I’m just supposed to take you son-ing me?” Jey sat up on his elbows, grunting at the attack before shoving the pillow to the floor.

You snapped over your shoulder, “I don’t know, I thought you might like that since you like your ass grabbed, although you try to deny it as much as possible.”

“What?! Now you just saying shit.”

“And you’re always doing shit!” You yell back, out of sight now and heading back downstairs.

Jey sighs as he settles back against the couch again, “Where you goin’?”

“To bed!”

“It’s 4pm.”

“Goodnight mullet! You play too much.”

Jey felt his chest bubble with some laughter but said back, “I LOVE YOU!”

“So?!”

“I SAID, I LOVE YOU!” Jey called back out but when he didn’t get any response, he jumped up to his feet and raced down the stairs just to see you laughing waiting to slam the door in his face.

Yet you were too slow, making Jey barge into the room to latch onto your body to pepper your face in kisses.

It was the little things that he did that he knew would get on your nerves (which was mutual) but ultimately you loved that man down no matter what.

Jey could say the same even if you got on his case majority of the time.

You were his everything and more.

☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎༄·❅☘︎ ☀︎

[sariels-world-ella]

Can we see more characters from UTY if they were in Sw!Fallenswap? (I think you're Ceroba design and AU's lore is very cool btw)

Sure and thanks! I'll even expand on each of them, though none of it is 100% canon to Sw!Fallenswap, and thought up quickly as they aren't canon.

I couldn't settle on a Azimuth Dalv design but I did make a pacifist route Starlo design, he reminds me of a power ranger for some reason? (It's probably the mask.)

I had to do some math to get it to fit in the Timeline, get everyone's ages and get Martlet's life expectancy and to get Dalv's persumed age by finding the life expectancy of a Fox Anthropomorphic (there is an equation I use to find life expectancies of all the Anthropomorphic races) to see if it lines up in the timeline for Kanako's grandparents to be alive in 1013, as that is the most notable year in the timeline where Anthropomorphics did kill a bunch of Undeads matching Fallen!Dalv's description on why he has beef with the Ketsukanes (though Dalv never mentioned a year). The life expectancy number came out to be 950, then by adding Ceroba's age of 39 (assuming either Ceroba or Chujin's parent(s) had their child near the end of their lifespan) minusing it by 1985, got me 996 which did check out timeline wise.

Character notes:

Clover Notes: Clover doesn't change much from their UTY appearance, changes are they are much more verbal, Clover can save and load, doesn't have Flowey/Temmie because Temmie wasn't made animate until the 90s and they carry around a Polaroid Camera (which was very popular in the 80s), which there are certain spots that you can take a picture of giving you the Achievement "Picture Perfect" and doing them all gives you the achievement "Photographer's Eye"

Clover will become a Myling with the other souls and kill Ultra Temmie in Chara's non-canon neutral ending still. Clover is one of the 11 characters known to be from Gen X.

Unlike Genocide UTY Clover, Genocide Fallen!Clover does die still, due to Sans ripping Clover's heart out and eating it before Clover was able to shoot Toriel, meaning the Clover’s Genocide Route in Sw!Fallenswap could technically be canon if it wasn't directly stated Sans only killed Patience, Bravery, and Perseverance.

The fact Sans was able to sneak up on Clover implies he was expecting Clover to show up, even though Clover managed to enter the castle undetected, so it's likely Dalv conversed with Sans beforehand.

Since Temmie didn't exist yet when Clover was alive, you can wait for Asgore to drop a rope for you gaining the Achievement “Patience is Virtue”, which will cause you to skip the Martlet fight and proceed like normal Undertale except you have to sneak out of ruins which is difficult but worth it as you also skip most of Snowdin as well, because Papyrus saves you from Sans and teleports Clover away,  Papyrus gives you a medallion and tells Clover to show it to Dalv and say “Papyrus sent you” which can skip the Dalv fight (if you so wish) which will get you straight to the portion of attempting to travel to Hotland, the medallion can actually also be used to instantly spare MOST random encounter enemies which will give you the achievement “VIP”

If you don't wait for Asgore to drop the rope the playthrough plays similarly to UTY, but without Flowey or Temmie, if you do a genocide route Dalv won't shapeshift into a wolf and swim you down the river, instead The Boatman (Wingding Gaster) does, but Clover still ends up falling off the dam, but instead of Sans causing a wave from striking a bone wall into the water, Wingding purposely knocks you off the dam knowing what you did.

Either way, you wash up on a Dunes’ shore on 1 HP, which makes the medallion very useful to have if you waited for Asgore to return and got the medallion from Papyrus as it can instantly spare most enemies, so you won't get killed by them before you reach a save point.

Martlet Notes: She's a hermit that lived in the ruins before they were abandoned, she met Chujin before and due to her age she is old enough to have met the Integrity soul who fell down in 1936. She likes jigsaw and logic puzzles, as well as reading textbooks.

She's the only known character from the Cavalier Generation. Her personality seems to be a blend of her original personality and Dalv's

Dalv notes:

Dalv (or Sir Alucard by Ceroba and Officer Alucard by Starlo) His personality is similar to his original and Martlet's, the most notable difference between his personality and UTY!Dalv’s personality is that Fallen!Dalv has much more of a spine when it comes to advocating for himself and speaking his mind, he is much more willing to stand his ground and overall is much more brave, he is also much more willing to use profanity, albeit not in English, usually in Romanian or Monstarian when speaking to another Monster (adult monster that is, as he doesn't swear at children).

Judging by the fact he is stationed in Snowdin but doesn't wear the Snowdin Guard Armor, means he was either off duty when he ran into Clover or not apart of the Snowdin police force, but he is also not wearing a deltarune so being off duty is more likely.

He has beef with The Ketsukanes due to Kanako's Grandparents role in the 1013 Mass Undead Racial Cleansing, but doesn't have that same resentment towards Kanako as she tried to right the wrongs. Judging by the fact Dalv mentioned having parents and a younger sibling, it means Dalv is either a traditional variant (parents are the Elden Variant) as Elden Variants are naturally spawned, or Ancient variant if his parents were Ancestral Undead (once Elves)

Dalv is seen to shapeshift into a bat and a wolf before, bat when trying to escape with Clover and when they dropped over a waterfall and a wolf when swimming in the river with Clover on his back to try to get to Hotland.

As a Vampire, like all Undeads, he does have telekinesis and teleportation, so in his fight Blue Soul Mode is used for some attacks. Instead of Puzzles in Snowdin, he sets up riddles due to his love of storytelling.

It’s implied Dalv likely conversed with Sans before the Azimuth Dalv fight due to the fact Sans was able to ambush Clover before Clover could kill Toriel, which isn't unlikely as they are both on the royal guard and Dalv seems to be on a first name basis with Sans as Dalv said “Sans, you're a tâmpit!" instead of “Sir Gaster, you're a tâmpit!” (tâmpit which in this case means "asshole" in Romanian) when Sans causes Dalv and Clover to get washed over the dam, this is notable because Royal Guards only refer to each other by first name if A.) They don't have one (which Sans does, it's “Gaster”) or B.) They are on frequent speaking terms outside of the Royal Guard, this means Dalv and Sans must converse frequently outside of guard duty to know each other's first names.

Genocide phases:

Dalv is in his normal form, and his fight is a harder version of his pacifist/neutral fight

When Dalv gets low on HP he injects something (either DETERMINATION or SPITE) into himself, which turns him into Azimuth Dalv

Once killed Dalv's Shade spawns, like all Shades in Sw!Fallenswap, it has high attack and defense but only one HP, meaning you have to do all the shots perfectly with the wild revolver to actually kill him, any mistake won't be enough damage to get through the Shade's Defense.

He seems to inject himself with either DETERMINATION or SPITE at the end of Genocide, due to the fact in that scenario DETERMINATION will turn a monster into a Draugr and races in the Undead Monster Type will not have that reaction to DETERMINATION but neither would SPITE as it creates a Shade after dying and doesn't put them into a temporary state, so it's unknown what caused that reaction, but it's still likely SPITE instead which explains why Dalv was able to handle it so easily and not melt as SPITE destroys light mana in a Monster’s soul while DETERMINATION melts it, but since Undead Souls have Dark Mana instead, SPITE doesn't harm their soul. It also explains why phase 3 Dalv is a Shade. It is also more likely to be SPITE instead of DETERMINATION, as that would be easier to acquire, only way Dalv would get his hands on DETERMINATION is if he extracted it from Undyne, though he does know her, Undyne would likely try to stop Clover herself. The way Dalv could get his hands on SPITE would be extracting it from Sans or another Undead, though Dalv did call Sans an asshole and Sans did cause a massive wave which caused Dalv and Clover to get washed over the dam and fall into the Dunes area in a Pacifist and neutral run, Sans would likely be willing to extract SPITE from himself to give to Dalv, and not go and fight Clover instead like Undyne would, as he is more likely to stay at New Home to defend Toriel which Sans does successfully in Clover's genocide run as he does very graphically and violently kill Clover.

Starlo Notes: he seems to work with Ceroba in some way, despite not being in the royal guard, he is either a part of the boomer generation or Silent generation in the case Starlo is a year older than Ceroba. Like his original counterpart, he had a crush on Ceroba and knew her since childhood, though unlike his UTY!Counterpart as he doesn't have this North Star Persona, he is more open about his nerdy side and seems to be rather intelligent when figuring out how to defeat the robots in Steamworks. Since Starlo has no attachment to Kanako's robots, killing Axis or Guardener will not abort the pacifist route, he's just relieved you made it out okay.

His personality is similar to UTY, but his temperament seems much more like UTY!Ceroba, he injected Chujin with the serum made from the Kindness Soul, because Chujin tricked Starlo into injecting Kanako's concoction into Chujin thinking it as harmless leaving Starlo into believing he accidentally killed Chujin, but he never told Ceroba this. Starlo also only tries to kill Clover as a mercy-kill-last-resort type thing because if Clover makes it to Toriel, Toriel will burn Clover alive resulting in a painful death, if Clover isn't handed over to Toriel, Clover will die of heart failure due to vitamin D deficiency, and if Clover somehow manages to kill Toriel the underground will possibly go into anarchy, so Starlo attempts to kill Clover in Pacifist route realizing these 3 outcomes.

Ceroba notes: Ceroba (or Sherif Ketsukane by Dalv) is an abrasive personality, and unlike UTY!Starlo she is affiliated with the Royal Guard, as Sherif and Dune's Police Chief are the same occupation in the Dunes region of the Underground, and unlike UTY!Starlo but like UTY!Ceroba, she has an antagonistic role. Ceroba will lash out at Clover if you kill Starlo, but Dalv will call her out as a hypocrite, as she was willing to condone murder of other people's loved ones, causing a short  altercation between the two, which Dalv does end up over powering Ceroba pushing her off the edge, which she survives after being found by some other royal guards.

Kanako Notes: Kanako was an intern, to whomever J.A River's Successor and Undyne's predecessor was and got cryogenically frozen, due to Undyne being non observant and the true lab access keycard being lost, it's unlikely Kanako will ever be found.

Kanako got her internship at 14 years old by submitting her idea of Steamworks to be a backup power supply if the core ever breaks, the robots were made in collaboration with a younger Undyne who was also an intern between 16-18 years old at the time.

Kanako wanted to make amends with Dalv Alucard as her ancestors killed his family during a massacre and wishes to right that wrong, which makes Kanako the only Ketsukane that Dalv doesn't have beef with.

Chujin notes: Very little is known about Chujin other than he tricked Starlo into administering the serum and that Chujin was a stay-at-home parent, we also know he's not a boss monster like he was in UTY, as Boss Monster is a specific race of Monster and not category. We also know like Ceroba and  unlike Kanako, he is unwilling to try to make amends for his ancestors wrongdoings in the 1013 Mass Undead Racial Cleansing, as implied by what Kanako said to Dalv, further supported by Ceroba's predisposition of hating Dalv. We can assume he had a lot of faith in Kanako's abilities as he was willing to try her concoction on himself, which ended his life and due to Undyne not being the Royal Scientist yet, he wasn't used in Undyne's experiments and died in hospice.

[nitrowyverine]

I think I write dating sim/VNs/etc reviews now? Anyway,

LOST IN LIMBO REVIEW/THOUGHTS

This VN piqued my interest, so I gave the demo a shot! This review will follow the same general format as my Obscura/Touchstarved review, except there's 7 (!!!) romance options.

Since I totally loved this game, I'm going to put the conclusion promo up here too: if Lost in Limbo interests you, consider playing it Here, Here on steam, and/or backing it Here!

ALSO! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE DEMO!

My (long winded) thoughts are below:

(Banner image courtesy of the Ravenstar Games tumblr account pinned post. Individual character pics courtesy of tumblr posts from the studio. Individual posts are linked in character titles.)

Gameplay design thoughts:

the plot immediately sucked me in, I'm pretty invested in whatever the hell is going on with the protag, the realms, the lords, etc. I think the setup/land are deep enough to draw me in, but not so intimidating in it's depth that I'm afraid to explore more.

I always enjoy a little bit of nightmare fuel in my games, so the voidbound are perfect. They're so gross and horrible, but not just a stock zombie/nightmare creature design. Whenever the voidbound pop up, it makes the back of my neck itch, which is perfect.

I have no idea whose route I'll pick first. Usually I have one candidate that I can pick out as number 1. This game however? I go back and forth all the time, since I love all of them. I do think I have bias for Ara/Gael/Amon/Envy, maybe?

I really want to design an MC to doodle for this, but I feel like I don't know enough about other people in the realm. (Mostly, I'm assuming that standard humans don't have pointy ears? how close to our reality is the regular world?) I might say "screw it" and design an MC anyway (with some speculative clothing for once they get cleaned up)

The backgrounds have been great set pieces so far. Sometimes I catch myself just kinda staring into space at them. They've got a fantastic flavor.

Misc. Thoughts written during a replay

Fun touch to have Evie's rock image from the beginning fortune shop scene line up with the 7 LI's color schemes.

Each of the VA's does a lovely job with their voices. I've been turned off of certain dating sims because of bad voice acting, but the acting in this game is superb so far. It really helps set the richness of the story.

I have a theory that the LI's (and possibly people in Limbo in general) experience pain differently. The characters seem largely uninterested in the MC's stabbed, weakened state, beyond a "Oh that sucks....we'll clean you up later" mentality. I wonder if they have different pain tolerances, or are just less attached to such things. (Then again, Amon and Raeya have full missing limbs/eyes, so they probably have a decent perspective on pain altogether)

What does wielder/non-wielder mean? Xal says the MC "Can't wield, can't see." What do the LI's see that we don't? Ara mentions that the MC seems "Completely normal". Many mysteries.

I need those monster forms like crazy oh my goodness. Please devs PLEASE SHOW THE MONSTER FORMS

Now, to the lovely love interests!

Amon

WHO LET THIS MAN BE OVER 7 FEET TALL? PRIDE YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

I only just noticed he also has a few freckles, *chefs kiss* (Waaaiit do all of them have little freckle skin textures??? Oh this is a glorious day.)

It's hard not to love a big friendly guy. I was honestly relieved when he first showed up, because I did Envy's route first, and I was thrilled to see a friendly face in the big dark scary woods.

This does not mean, however, that I'm not excited to see what this guy turns into when he's mad.

I like that he has pity for MC when they first show up, but I do worry it makes his resolve weaker. I'm not as confident that he could handle society/reality breaking down as well as the others. Can he put aside his affable nature for when shit hits the fan?

Question: What level of fight had to happen for Amon to lose his eye? He's already huge, and has some sort of telekinetic powers. My theory is that he was taken by surprise, maybe by someone close to him.....(Envy I'm looking at you)

RIP Amon you would have loved Hawaiian shirts

Conclusion: Most likely to be the camp counselor who hurts his back from always giving piggy back rides. Least likely to keep his composure during a badly timed pun/dad joke.

Raeya

I'm fighting for my life whenever shes on screen good LORD

Similarly to Amon, I GOTTA know the story behind her prosthetic arm. Its so rad looking, but how did she lose a whole arm? (I am also considering that she was also not born with one)

Playing the demo again, she makes a specific comment about the monsters having not "infected a limb" of the MC. My bet is that's how she lost her arm.

I wish I could have spent 1:1 time with her, but it wasn't offered in the demo. I'd love to have like, a sit down discussion with her about history. (Well I'd be fine getting lectured about history and drinking tea and hanging out)

Out of everyone's motivations, I think I understood Raeya's the most. Even if she was against MC, I think her concerns are completely valid. If an alien fell out of the sky from a different reality to earth I'd ALSO be taking every precaution

She and Amon have matching ear chains, that's adorable....

I hope I can take her on a nice date and spoil her and let her relax in the full game, pretty please. Nothing bad will happen right???

Conclusion: Most likely to gently remind the waiter that you said NO pickles with your order, thank you very much. Least likely to admit to being the one who farted in a crowded room.

Envy

every other line from him is "UGGGHHH" and i love that for them.

After playing, I think I've finally realized that I've got a soft spot for grumps. just grumpy lil friends with their pouty faces

I want (vivi's) Envy's nails SO BAD. I need him to do my nails because theirs are perfect. Envy, envy PLEASE

They pretend not to care, but are already getting attached to the MC by the end of the demo. I can't wait to see what they're like when they actually DO get attached

Elephant in the room, what could he have possibly done to get himself demoted so severely? Everyone seems to be fine with him being demoted except Amon, who sheepishly vouches for him when he can.

I just wanna wrap him in a blanket burrito like you do with a spicy kitten. and then give him little smooches

Conclusion: Most likely to be they guy who gets one drink at a party and sits in the corner with the dog/cat all night. Least likely to allow their partner to willingly boop their nose with any regularity.

Pride

Old man yells at cloud? No....old man IS cloud.

The dev's tumblr has mentioned that he's a pathetic old man, but for now at least, I am afraid of his authority and power. since hes like. yaknow. the big god of this world

The VA did some fabulous work for his voice. I definitely got actual chills in certain parts. 10/10

Okay, so WHAT is this guy's deal with mirrors? He looks great, why is he worried about it. I sincerely doubt he's just 52 though, if he's a god. (as a note for all these interests, I have a feeling that the ages are their physical ages, and not their actual ages. Or at least, age relative to ours. I think they're much older in our years than in their years.)

We also didn't get any 1:1 time with Pride in the demo, so I'm fascinated to see what alone time with Pride would be like. Is he quiet? a chatterbox? Just a guy??? does he only play piano and not talk to you. (power move)

Conclusion: Most likely to show up WAY over-prepared for Parent-Teacher conferences. Least likely to understand and survive the cinnamon challenge.

Ara

Certified CUTIE PIE

We got a pretty clear demonstration of everyone's powers in the demo, except for Ara. Unless it was too subtle for me to realize, I'm not actually sure what her cool powers are yet.

If she DOESN'T have plant powers I'd be very surprised.

I keep wanting to think things like "I have to protect her" or "keep her safe at all costs". But then I remember she's likely absolutely terrifying, and I honestly should be actually afraid for anyone who gets in her way.

I would like to remind/inform everyone that so far, she is the only member of the cast who is visibly armed at all times. (Raeya doesn't count even if her arm claws look really really sharp.)

If I have to pick anyone to party with, it's probably Ara. I know she'd throw an absolute rager, but would also make sure you stay hydrated. I wanna hold her hand too. Please?

I'll go butch for her, i'll do it if thats what she wants. I'm weak

Conclusion: Most likely to be able convince you to give her your kidney. Least likely to let you skip a bloodthirsty game of monopoly because you "Have a headache"

Gael

where did he find pants long enough for him.

Okay. So its HIS fault that Amon has the deepest V-cut since time immemorial. Do you think Amon and Gael had an extensive argument about the minimum amount of clothes Amon has to wear at any given time? Because I do.

His powers certainly did not. Awaken anything in me. Nope.

he has the shortest and most perfect arc from stranger -> friendly -> ???? -> BETRAYAL

I am MASSIVELY curious about his dissociation/spacing out during the demo. He was 8 million miles away in the tower for some reason, and I HAVE to find out why. I just KNOW this man is doing some questionable shit with good intentions and I can't wait to find out what it is.

So, he has SOME issue with touch. No idea what it is, but I can't wait to find out what it is. Also noting he's the only one with full-coverage gloves in the cast. Interesting...

Conclusion: Most likely to cry after being sent those sad FB/insta animal stories. Least likely to let you open your own car/carriage/etc door under any circumstances.

Xal

He looks so soft. I have to bully him, in a good way. (Like grim from Date with Death)

I am fascinated as to why he would lie for MC. That's such a great hook to his character. What does a guy who so desperately wants to be left alone have to see to stick his neck out for a stranger?

SOMEONE get this man a NINTENDO DS POST HASTE

THIS GAME HAS TO GET FUNDED BECAUSE XAL SAYS HE HAS A CAT AND I WANT TO SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will do it, I will be the one to tuck him in when he is too eepy. I will carry him to bed and kiss his little head good night

Wait, if he can "Figure something out" by touching it, he could be like, the worlds greatest doctor. Xal please get off the couch and help me diagnose mystery ailments in a medical sitcom

Conclusion: Most likely to injure himself rigging up a Rue Goldberg machine to scratch his back. Least likely take it easy on you once he learns how to play super smash bros. (He's a fox/falco main)

Concerns:

What the Ravenstar team has already been able to accomplish is incredible. I'm worried that with 7 whole love interests (with a possible two more on the way if the kickstarter goes well), i'm worried the devs are taking on a whole lot of work. I think they're fully capable of taking this on, but I hope they don't burn themselves out in the process.

I'm pretty happy to see the kickstarter is moving along, but there's always the chance that something happens, and/or the kickstarter goal isn't met. BY THE TIME I FINISHED WRITING THIS IT GOT FUNDED LETS GOO!!! I still hope this project makes it all the way to completion beyond the kickstarter. Things can always happen, so Ive got my fingers crossed for the Ravenstar team!

OVERALL CONCLUSION:

I loved the demo, and I have now backed the project! The team is trying to hit stretch goals now, so share Lost in Limbo with your buddies! I crave content for this game like nothing else.

[cerastes]

Whats the logic behind the enemy pathing in rr? On the base i mean? I got to day 30 with the big boss raid and i thought i had a decent setup (which admitedly was copied from someone online) but the moment the raid started the enemies just said fuck it, went straight into my walls and i gave up. Do i need to have everything surrounded by the level 3 barriers? Are level 1 and 2 platform/urban barriers useless? Sorry for all the questions i just want to understand what im doing wrong.

A number of things could have gone wrong, it’s hard to ascertain without looking at the set up.

On your base and outposts, hordes, with one exception, will always take the shortest route available to the point/core, respecting Urban Style Barriers and only Urban Style Barriers as modifiers of said route. The exception is the Crab Horde, as they use Wildlife AI even in horde mode, meaning they will target anyone that attacks them even if it means going out of their way.

Additionally, if enemies have ranged attacks, they’ll attack non-lv3 Urbans because they are not Camo’d. If enemies are pushed into Urbans, via shift for example, they will attack it, even lv3s, because they are being blocked by it. This makes any shift skill, such as Phantom S3 and Eben S2, bad for base and outpost defense because it wrecks your structures by pushing or pulling enemies into them. Enemies will go through Battlements as well if it’s in the shortest route available.

I don’t use lv3s and I’ve never had an issue, I just intercept hordes with ranged capabilities instead of defending against them. I really can’t diagnose your situation without knowing your set up or what enemies did it.

[bestworstcase]

brief preliminary list of things i am going to be unhinged about for the indefinite future:

MYSTERY KINDRED LINK. WHO. WHO?!

"and when it turns out to be just another run-of-the-mill patrol..." HBHKSDFHG god. the fact that mysterious important top secret missions regularly turned out to be non-issues... salem was IGNORING HIM LMAO

implied time-skip but i think not a very long one; we have amity plonked onto a carrier ship and what's left of the atlesian air fleet, plus a handful of ships from other kingdoms, but no grimm. salem isn't here yet. tyrian and mercury probably are. loose estimate, probably a couple weeks? qrow et al being in solitas still at the end of v8 makes the quick turnaround logistically plausible

salem routed the fleet lmfao

"one brother [light] believed they had disrupted the balance, while the other [dark] refused to condemn their creations for their mistakes" hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

in the ever after's terms, dark's purpose is destruction for the sake of new life—i was dead to rights on him being a god of cyclical change—and the conflict with his brother began with dark defending the lives of their creations. light decided that they [the brothers] made a mistake and wanted to "fix" that mistake by getting rid of it, dark said no.

dark is unambiguously the good guy here.

the annihilation of humanity was essentially dark recanting his original stance and accepting his brother's position that their creations are "mistakes" that must be eradicated

except he didn't (or couldn't) eradicate salem, humanity rose again, and light is still on the "eradicate the mistake" train with dark nowhere to be found. either 1. dark completed his ascension by coming to understand his brother's perspective and became something new [the relics?], or 2. dark regretted this after the fact and directly had a hand in bringing humanity back, or 3. if he left salem alive on purpose the whole thing was a gambit to repeat the ever after's solution to their conflict, leaving remnant behind because remnant could not bear their experiments any longer.

dark + humanity vs light endgame real

unless dark ascended and light did not, in which case the ultimatum is probably coming from a place of grief—light doing the very thing he condemned salem for.

the immediate narrative rebuke for turning their backs on the cat:

in juxtaposition with ruby's overt sympathy and concern for neo, and the blacksmith's sympathy for both neo and the cat, and the implication that the cat can now ascend [note the hawker's statue too—neo's jabbers couldn't permadeath people]... juicy

raven and summer stayed in touch. raven was summer's confidante; she doesn't just know what happened to summer, she knew well in advance what summer had planned and was herself integral to that plan. and in the ten+ years since this night she hasn't said a word about it to anyone.

raven trusted her

raven was probably closer to summer than to her own brother

whatever raven learned, whatever horrors she brought back, she told summer. and summer believed her. and they kept it to themselves, and made this plan.

"if i do this right, there's nothing to worry about. trust me." you sound just like your mother (derogatory). oh raven absolutely got a team salem recruitment pitch from summer after this.

and she's keeping that secret too

this is how they're looping raven back into the story btw

ruby knows that raven knows but she doesn't know exactly what raven knows so she's going to need to find raven to ask

raven: summer is a better mom than i could ever be

also raven: [continually dragged kicking and screaming back into the story by inescapable motherhood]

"you're really leaving them?" "you're one to talk" oh that's JUICY

even taking into account raven's heels, summer is fucking tiny

[lorei-writes]

Character Thoughts: Chevalier #1

Contents:

The Queen -- reasons for motherhood,

How did the beast come to be internalised,

Importance of Clavis,

Wish to be seen as human.

Vaguely non-descriptive spoilers for Chevalier's route and event stories may be present.

Do you know how the way one was raised influences their perception of themselves? I think that shows quite profoundly in Chevalier... and that it is possible to theorise about the Queen's intentions based on it as well.

So, Chevalier is born. The Queen's marriage is loveless, but she did bear a heir and that clearly is something the King wanted. He should be happy with her now, no? She has fulfilled her duty. She has done well. Maybe now, now that they have a proper family, he will forget about the Belle and will love her instead.

But this doesn't happen.

It may just take time. Maybe she is not good enough. Maybe just any heir is not good enough. So, Chevalier is taught -- and surely, now the King must be satisfied. His son is a genius, after all.

The King, however, remains different towards Queen's affection. Worse yet, he hurts Leticia. One question opens up: why?

Now, from the Queen's perspective, she has done everything right -- their child was conceived within the boundaries of a legitimate union; she gave birth to a son; her son was bright; her son was talented; her son was dedicated. All of those can be seen as crucial only in regards to earning the King's love.

Affection was mentioned nowhere on the list. Chevalier was means to an end -- and what does a child do under such circumstances? They try their best. Conditional love is still love, and he is more than capable of living up to her expectations. He is more than capable of becoming all that a perfect king should be.

So he does. And he takes it to the extreme. Killing that assassin? It only aligns with what he was supposed to be. And yet, the King still does not love the Queen. She has only one nugget of hope -- it is not her. It is him. It is Chevalier who is at fault. She has not done a single incorrect thing, so her failure -- through her faulty logic -- is not hers. She couldn't have succeeded with such a son. It's him. It's all him. It's his fault.

Chevalier does everything right. However, the outcomes of his actions only ever earn him fright. In fact, the more correct he is, the more everybody is terrified. His efforts? They are good. His results? They are good. Therefore, it can only be that he is the element that is faulty. That he, inherently, is a fearsome beast.

The belief sits at his core. It isn't a point of pride, however, but of disdain.

---

There were times I was tempted to say that "Chevalier is terrifying" is what every person thinks and acts upon. However, there is one consistent exception we know of -- Clavis.

Clavis' role in preventing Chevalier from fully embracing his status of a beast is immeasurable. As troublesome as he may be, for the longest time, he is the only one to make an effort to actually engage Chevalier on an equal ground. He does not cry when merely in his presence -- he challenges him, regardless of any failures he may suffer in the process.

Clavis nags Chevalier to be more social. He tells him to smile more. He argues with him. Clavis never gives up, and he surely never gives up on Chevalier. What is more, when he sees Chevalier give up on love after obtaining it in his Romantic end? Clavis does not give up on Chevalier's behalf.

Clavis sees Chevalier's emotion. He acknowledges it. He may be getting some enjoyment out of teasing his brother, however, as Chevalier himself says -- Clavis may not have the best logic, but his intentions are always good ones.

--

And lastly, there is one more thing. As I've said, "I am not a person; I am a beast" is one of Chevalier's core beliefs. It is not a neutral one, and as much as he might have buried this desire, all along Chevalier wants to be seen as a person. He just does not allow himself to even hope for it.

It is Emma's insistence that breaks through to him eventually. Her being scared of him after seeing him on the battlefield? It hurts. He'd rather never be considered a person to begin with.

I dare say Emma changing her mind about him is not a concern that disappears entirely. We can see it in True Love & Beauty and the Knight stories. After hurting people, regardless of whether it was justified or not, Chevalier instinctively puts distance between them. He reverts to referring to himself per "beast". He is worried.

This one thing is terribly hard to unlearn. It takes time, effort and tremendous amounts of trust... And trust he does, one awkwardly loving gesture at a time.

[sadiegirl2021]

DAY FIVE - POWERS

GWYN'S HERITAGE

“My grandmother was a river-nymph who seduced a High Fae male from the Autumn Court. So I’m a quarter nymph, but it’s enough for this.”

Gwyn gestured to her large eyes—blue so clear it could have been the shallow sea—and her lithe body.

“My bones are slightly more pliant than ordinary High Fae’s, but who cares about that?”

_______

“My mother was unwanted by either of their people. She could not dwell in the rivers of the Spring Court, but was too untamed to endure the confinement of the forest house of Autumn.

So she was given in her childhood to the temple at Sangravah, where she was raised.

We were the result of that sacred union with a male stranger. She never found out who he was, for the magic chose him that night, and no one ever showed up to ask about twin girls.

WHAT WE KNOW

Gwyn is 1/4 Nymph from the Spring Court, 1/4 Autumn Court and 1/2 Mystery. She's got an invoking stone that provides the power of healing and protection. And she glows when she happy.

WHAT COULD HER POWERS INCLUDE?

Fire: SJM made a lot of hints towards Eris being her grandfather (Rabbit Hole Post), and we do know for a fact she has Autumn Court ancestry. Quotes from the books that hint at fire power -

Nesta meeting Gwyn, her power recognising her (unknown) flames: A crackling sort of energy buzzed around her, and Nesta’s power grumbled in answer.

How Feyre described her rising Autumn court flames: My blood heated, and I took a breath to cool it, to cool the magic crackling at the insult.

Eris talking about the Made dagger: Eris sucked in a breath. Feyre said, “You can sense its power.”

“There’s flame in it,” Eris said...

Her nymph heritage: I think she'll have an affinity for water, but no powers (maybe the ability to hold her breath for long periods of time).

Glowing when she sings: One thing to note when she glows is that she's incredibly happy when it happens. Singing brings her true joy, and that's reflected in the positive language Nesta uses to describe Gwyn singing. Her song is like sunshine and a ray of light. This reminded me of what Rhys said to Feyre in ACOMAF.

"Well, at least now I can gloat that I can literally make my mate glow with happiness."

Right now, singing is the one thing that makes Gwyn happy. She goes off on a rant to Nesta about how amazing it is, and you can feel her excitement in the writing. Maybe SJM is only using light as symbolism for Gwyn's joy, or it could be hinting at other powers…maybe she is linked to the Day Court or another solar court.

Her invoking stone:

“It’s an Invoking Stone.” Gwyn unfurled her fingers, revealing the gem within her hand. “Similar to the Siphons of the Illyrians, except that the power of the Mother flows through it. We cannot use it for harm, only healing and protection. It was shielding us.”

We know it works, but will we see Gwyn use it again the way it's intended? Will she wear it on her head again like the other priestesses? I'm going to guess 100% YES! And it will be used to heal/protect someone important in the next book (I'm guessing Azriel or maybe Emerie/Nesta).

The Lightsinger Theory: We just don't know enough about them to put Gwyn in this box. But it can be fun to write about it from a non-evil perspective (because why would SJM take the evil route!?).

If you look up "Lightsinger," there's no fantasy lore about them, so SJM has made them up. If Gwyn is a Lightsinger, then I highly doubt what Cassian said is 100% accurate. Lore can change as stories are passed down. Cassian mostly describes a Kelpie in ACOSF, which means he knows the name Lightsinger, but perhaps not what they actually are or what they do.

"A kelpie is designed to lure and kill, just as a wolf is designed to hunt its prey."

“There are lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost. Only when you’re in their arms will you see their true faces, and they aren’t fair at all. The horror of it is the last thing you see before they drown you in the bog. But they kill for sport, not food.”

My headcanon is that a Lightsinger is linked to the moon or holy light. When researching Lightsingers, the closest thing I found to them were Moonsinger priestesses from Game of Thrones.

If it's moonlight, and Gwyn is in fact a Lightsinger, then that could explain why Azriel's shadows like Gwyn's light but hate sunlight.

To quote the Moonmaiden Shadowheart from BG3: "You can't cast a shadow without some light."

It's hard to guess which way SJM will go for Gwyn's powers, but there's certainly a lot of potential. SJM spent time fleshing out Gwyn in Nesta's book, so we can expect to get answers in the next one. She's certainly been set up to be very powerful!

Original Image - Ozan Çulha on Pexels

@gwynweekofficial

[lipstickchainsaw]

what are your thoughts on contrarian? not my fav voice exactly, but i thought he was interesting in the ending where you leave with the stranger

Woo, it's been almost two weeks, but I've been thinking about this one.

I think the Contrarian is a very interesting voice, because he's just very much enjoying getting to annoy the fuck out of the narrator, but at the same time, he raises so many goddamn questions.

I first came across him during the Razor, where he (alongside the Broken, but who cares about the Broken) joins the Cheated in Chapter 3, and let me tell you, the Cheated and the Contrarian are an amazing combo, and they played off of each other well, although the Cheated is obviously more emotionally invested in beating the system than the Contrarian.

It was only when I got the Contrarian on his own that, uh, some things stopped making sense to me.

To get the Contrarian as a voice, you have to avoid the cabin as much as you possibly can, which means you don't even meet the Princess in Chapter 1. To the Contrarian, then, the Princess doesn't even exist as a real being; the only person existing outside of you (the protagonist) is the Narrator, and so he makes poking at the Narrator his entire existence.

When he does meet the Princess, he still doesn't see her as a real person, just as a vessel to annoy the Narrator, and this even makes some degree of sense! With every choice you make down there, you break reality a bit and create another Princess! So of course he doesn't think the Princess is real.

It's only when the various Strangers mix into one messy whole, where he realises this was an actual person, and his empathy rushes in to go 'oh shit, what did we do?'

'I didn't think our actions would have consequences.'

And this is really compelling, story-wise! I like it a lot!

It just doesn't make any goddamn sense!

Because the common theory is that you influence the Princess through your perception and belief of her (and your refusal to see her turns the Stranger into a Schrödinger's Princess, so this makes sense), and how the Princess sees you influences what voice you get.

Except you haven't met the Princess.

So where the fuck does the Contrarian come from? What is he? We have good reason to believe the Voices are the result of the messy split between Shifting Mound and Long Quiet, right? But clearly it's not the Princess causing the Contrarian to arrive. There's only one person outside of you who knows how you behaved in Chapter 1, and that's the Narrator, except the instance of the Narrator dies at the end of every Chapter 1!

And anyway, why isn't the Narrator ever confused about the presence of other Voices? He doesn't ever seem to be surprised when they show up, even if he might be shocked at their abilities, but at the same time, he doesn't know what it means for there to be multiple of them, either?

So what the fuck is going on here? Is it really the Narrator's final impression of you that spawns the Voice in the next chapter, and not the Princess?

But even then, the Contrarian is special, isn't he?

He's the only non-Hero voice that can show up in the Cabin at the end, if you started with the Stranger route, and you know what he says?

He says he's 'right where you left [him]'. What the fuck does that mean? Presumably it's similar to what happens when you kill the Shifting Mound and the other Voices show up to join you in the new world, but the Contrarian still plays a different role.

I feel like there's answers to be had here, but I'm clearly not big-brained enough to figure them out just yet!

[glossysoap]

wip roundup!

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! Tag as many people as you have WIPS!

thank you thank you thank you SO MUCH for the tag @ivymarquis !!! i’m sorry it took me some time! i have a million wips so it took me a bit to jot them all down lmao. the order of the wips is tentative, as it depends on what inspires me at the moment (except for the very first one, that’s at the top of my list)

this will be,, an extensive list LMAO

ready to comply, chapter 12 (ghoap x winter soldier reader)

empty on call rooms, prologue (poly 141 x medical resident reader. featuring initial price x reader, sugar daddies/forced gift giving, insta love trope, “you thought this was just a one night stand? you couldn’t be more wrong, you’re never getting rid of me.”, possessive price when you’re not even together yet.)

unknown number, part 2 (stalker keegan x reader, a continuation of my birthday gift for divine!)

saudade, prologue (ghoap x reader, penpal/childhood best friend au)

limerence, prologue (ex husband price x reader)

induratize, prologue (ghoap x reader soulmate au, featuring obsessive ghoap with a reluctant reader who has no soulmate marks. very much independent reader who actually has a backbone.)

good soldier (part 3 to my ghost x reader x price fic) (part 1, part 2)

full moon in the sky (part 2 to crescents in his skin, my best friend obsessive soap fic, featuring soon to be werewolf soap.)

stalker price x reader (untitled at the moment)

stalker simon x best friend reader (untitled at the moment)

stalker soap x reader (untitled at the moment)

bodyguard ghoap x popstar? reader (untitled at the moment, also the readers career is undecided as well. will also be writing an alternate, completely optional route featuring dark/stalker ghoap)

twisted desires, prologue (multiverse spinoff of ready to comply, featuring dark ghoap)

thanks for the tip, prologue (poly 141 x hacker/camgirl reader)

soap x reader, req by 🌻 anon (untitled at the moment. might end up featuring best friend soap. he sees you frowning at your reflection in the mirror so he decides to fuck you senseless in front of it, forcing you to give compliments to your reflection while he’s balls deep in you)

vow renewals and spontaneous proposals (soap x reader, based on the prompt “he slips an engagement ring on while he’s fucking you stupid”)

price x reader (same prompt at the above, “he slips an engagement ring on while he’s fucking you stupid”)

right as rain (ghoap x reader covid sick fic)

sitting on price’s face smut prompt (untitled at the moment, char i’m looking at you.)

soap x virgin reader smut (untitled at the moment, also looking at you char)

ghoap x reader smut , with soap and reader trying to keep ghost in bed (untitled at the moment, req straight from chars brain)

retrieval (ready to comply-verse, ghoap x reader. a peek into how the 141 actually bring the reader back into the base.)

poly 141 x reader smut prompt (req by 👹 anon)

price x reader x nikolai fic (untitled, most likely with sugar daddy dynamics)

price/nikolai x reader and gaz fic (sugar daddy dynamics, with best friends gaz and reader who are also a camboy/camgirl pairing)

pillow prince gaz smut (req by anon)

bloodsport (dark traitor soap x reader fic, inspired by those theories that he was gonna turn his back on the 141 in mw3)

soulmate series for the 141 (untitled at the moment, but there will a fic for each member of the 141 with a soulmate trope in each one.)

multiple soap prompts from @glitterypirateduck ’s challenge!

wowowow i’m sure i forgot some but here you go!

no pressure tags: @divine--serenity @jumbojazzcats93 @violet-phantoms @ghastlybirdie @roosterr @mockerycrow @zittles3000 @warenai @eilidh-eternal @rowarn @groguspicklejar @kitkatscabinet @alwaysshallow @stargirlrchive @sstormyskyess @bunnyreaper @konigsblog @luvecarson @luvmeijii @moonriseoverkyoto @loveyhoneydovey @vgilantee @titaniasfairy @grizzersmamma @lordlydragon @cassiecasluciluce @quietlyignoringyou @darling-answers @glitterypirateduck (to make it even more fun, i tagged non-writing mutuals as well as writing mutuals)

[extralively]

Bringing You Home

Gojo Satoru/Original Female Character NSFW 9,268 words (jfc) Also posted on AO3 Summary: After leaving a boring clan event, Satoru brings Yura with him to his private quarters on the Gojo Estate. Yura gets to snoop a bit in what is essentially Satoru's childhood bedroom, before the two of them actually get started with the, ahem, after-party...

Here's the new oneshot in the Under the Cover of Shadows series! It takes place immediately after chapter 1 of my fic Deeper in the Dark, but it could also be read as standalone. This was also supposed to be just smut, but then I got carried away playing with my headcanons as to what Satoru's childhood was like lmao and it ended up turning into a bit of a character study for him. Also there's smut.

Anyway, enjoy another accidentally long-ass oneshot! I know you guys were asking for this one, so hopefully I can deliver hehe

“Satoru, where are we going?” Yura asked as he tugged her along by the hand. The sounds of the clan event kept getting further away, which—good. Satoru already had enough dealing with annoying clan people for the night, so he was more than looking forward to just being him and Yura alone, and no one else.

“We’re going for a walk,” Satoru told her, shooting her a grin.

Yura had commented a couple of times about finding the Gojo Estate beautiful to look at, and Satoru supposed he couldn’t deny that fact—although, spending most of his childhood confined to this place did little to endear him to it, since for the longest time he simply couldn’t wait until he was free of all this.

He could, however, see the appeal in taking Yura out for a walk around the Estate, especially when there was no one else around. As the head of the clan, the Estate was something that could be considered unequivocally his territory, and there was an odd giddy feeling inside of him at being able to share it with Yura.

“Just for a walk?” Yura asked, an amused glint in her eyes as she looked up at him. She still kept her hand in his as they walked side by side.

“...For now,” Satoru replied, a sly grin of his own spreading across his face. “Let’s just take the scenic route for a little while.”

Yura only hummed in response, looking back to the front. Satoru was guiding them through a covered outdoor pathway, mostly due to the snow piled up on the ground. Small snowflakes still floated down from the sky every now and then, coating everything in a layer of white, and Satoru briefly lamented that the scenery around these parts was usually prettier during the spring.

Well, he would just have to bring Yura here again some other time, he thought to himself.

A chilly gust of wind passed by, and he felt Yura shiver next to him even if she was wearing the new coat he’d given her. She ended up stepping closer to him then, probably seeking more warmth—even though he was a little disappointed when her hand left his, he couldn’t complain much when she grasped his arm instead, first with one hand and then with her other one. And for the second time that night, Yura was clutching at his arm as she stayed glued to his side, and Satoru couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face.

They continued walking almost mindlessly through the outdoor paths, passing by several of the buildings that made up the Gojo Estate. Yura seemed to be curious about everything, asking him what each building was for—mostly different residences, he’d answered, although there were a couple of shrines scattered throughout. Most of the non-residential buildings were in a different area... and he supposed that he would just have to show her to those some other time.

“How many people live on the Estate?” Yura asked, still leaning against his side.

“Uh...” He stopped to think. “I’m not sure, actually. Mostly everyone with the Gojo name—you know, my uncles and aunts, their kids, their kids’ kids, some further apart cousins, the live-in employees and servants...”

“...Everyone except the clan head himself,” she replied with an amused smile, and she wasn’t wrong there.

Satoru nodded. “Yup.”

He’d had his family breathing down his neck for the entirety of his childhood and then some; this time, he wanted some actual freedomto live his life without their annoying meddling, thank you very much.

Yura let out a sigh, nodding slightly as she leaned against his side again. They continued walking some more, chatting sometimes, and sometimes just staying in comfortable silence. Satoru was too busy enjoying Yura’s presence there to worry about anything else.

But then her voice interrupted yet another stretch of quiet. “Satoru,” she called, and he turned his head to her. “This walk is going great and all... but are we getting somewhere soon? These heels are really starting to bother me...”

As Yura slowed down to a stop, pulling him with her, Satoru ended up getting a bit of déjà vu. That’s right—one and a half years ago, when Satoru had last brought Yura to the Estate with him, he’d also taken her on a walk like this after they’d left the event. He wasn’t exactly sure why he had decided to do that; he had simply grabbed her hand to pull her away from the stuffy ceremony they’d been forced to attend, and then... she just hadn’t pulled her hand away. So he’d just kept walking, until Yura had complained that her kimono had been a little too tight after all the food they’d eaten.

Satoru snorted. “Why is it always something when we go on walks like these?” He shot her a crooked grin. “Why must you interrupt this lovely atmosphere we have going on?”

Yura stuck her feet out, jiggling her shoe. “You were the one who got me these way too high heels to wear. It’s your fault that my feet can’t handle all this walking.”

Well, that was true. But she did look fantasticwith the heels on, along with the dress he’d gotten her for this event.

Satoru let out an exaggerated sigh, fully turning to face her. “Fine. We’ll go,” he said, but then he got déjà vu again as he stared at Yura in front of him.

...Ah. That’s right. That night, he’d also come this close to kissing her—this close. If Yura hadn’t looked away, he would have definitely done it. Back then, he had tried rationalizing it away as a momentary fluke—the way she had sat by his side in front of his entire clan as his wife had certainly done a number on him, and something inside of him had gotten a little too comfortable with the idea as they’d played along.

But to be honest, he now knew that calling it a fluke had only been him lying to himself, because he had also come this close to kissing her multiple times before and after. As it turned out, he had just really wanted to kiss Yura.

His lips twitched up.

And he could do that now, couldn’t he?

Without a word, Satoru simply leaned forward to press a quick kiss to her lips. When he pulled away, Yura was blinking up at him in surprise, slightly taken aback.

“...What was that for?” she asked, a little amused.

Satoru shot her a small grin. “Just ‘cause I can,” he told her.

Yura gave his chest a light slap, even as she was trying to bite back a smile.

“Alright, come on,” he eventually said, stepping closer to her. And just like last time, he wrapped his arms around her, tugging her body unnecessarily close to him. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, feeling her own arms wrap around his torso, before he teleported them both away.

---

Yura was a little confused when they reappeared somewhere still in the Gojo Estate and not in front of his car, like she had expected. They were in a hallway, in front of a closed sliding door, and it did look a little familiar... though Yura wasn’t exactly sure where they were.

“...Where are we?” she asked, stepping away from Satoru as his arms dropped from around her.

Satoru grinned as he moved toward the door. “Why, the party isn’t over yet,” he told her, sliding one side of the door open. “Or better yet, you can call this the after-party.”

As Yura peered inside the room, she suddenly remembered what this place was. These were Satoru’s private quarters inside the Gojo Estate, the ones he rarely used because, well, he didn’t really spend much time around these parts. He had brought her here once, some seven years ago on her first visit, saying that it was the one place where he could be free of his family when inside the Estate.

...Yura suddenly had an inkling as to what Satoru had in mind for this after-partyof his.

“I wasn’t aware there would be an after-party,” Yura said, even as she took off her heels before she stepped inside the room. “That wasn’t on the invitation.” ...There hadn’t really been an invitation.

Satoru was still grinning. “A surprise after-party then,” he said, starting to take off his own shoes. “But, really, you should have seen this coming.”

She really should have.

They both moved inside, Satoru turning on the lights before he helped her take off her coat, hanging it with his. Yura ended up getting a little distracted admiring the place again—this was essentially Satoru’s childhood bedroom, wasn’t it? Well, it was a little more than a bedroom—Yura was only familiar with the main sitting area where she and Satoru had had tea that one time, but there was still one doorway leading to what she knew to be the bedroom, and also another one that she wasn’t sure where it led to. It was almost like he had a whole apartment of his own inside his house, and Yura wondered how much time he would spend in here alone, given everything that he’d told her over the years...

“Young master?” a voice came from outside, following a knock on the door. The voice was familiar—that was Hanae, wasn’t it? Satoru’s old caretaker (read: babysitter), and probably the one person inside the Estate that he actually liked.

“Yeah?” Satoru replied, turning to the door and sliding it open again. Sure enough, Hanae was standing outside, and she gave him one deep bow in greeting before she spotted Yura, shooting the younger woman a warm smile and bowing to her as well.

“It’s good to see you again, Yura-san,” Hanae called, and Yura gave her a similar bow in greeting.

“You too,” Yura replied. She had first met Hanae on her first visit to the Estate, but they had definitely run into each other a few times in the years since. Mostly in Satoru’s apartment, since Hanae was the one coming in to tidy up his place every week; and since Yura had started spending more and more time over at Satoru’s... she had definitely begun to run into the older woman more often in the past year or so...

“I’m sorry to interrupt, young master,” Hanae said, bowing her head down to Satoru again. “But I’m afraid the head of the Kamo clan has requested your presence.”

Satoru’s mood suddenly did a one-eighty, and he let out an aggravated sigh. “Seriously? I’m busy—We can talk some other time.”

Hanae pressed her lips together for a moment. “...I’m afraid that this might be some official business,” she eventually said. “They stressed it was important—I believe it is regarding a possible marriage match between the two clans.” She shot him an apologetic smile.

Satoru was silent for a moment before his shoulders sagged. “Fine,” he caved, and Yura had to wonder if they’d sent Hanae here to fetch him because she seemed to have a way of talking him into things. Yura supposed that the other woman just had plenty of practice dealing with his difficult kid self. “But this’ll have to be quick—I don’t need to be involved in this...” he finished by grumbling out the words. He grabbed his coat with an exaggerated sigh, before he suddenly turned back to Yura and pointed a finger right at her face. “You. Don’t go anywhere,” he said in mock-seriousness. Then his face shifted into a grin. “The after-party is still on.”

Yura was trying to bite back a grin as she pretended to be bothered. “Just don’t take too long,” she said, setting a hand on her hip. “...Also, I can’t promise I won’t snoop.”

Satoru continued grinning as he slipped his coat back on. “Snoop away,” he said.

Satoru eventually left with Hanae, leaving Yura alone there in his private quarters. And as she turned away from the door, looking over the place, her urge to snoop was strong.

To start off, she shot the living area a long cursory glance as she gave the place a once-over. Not much seemed to have changed since her first visit—much like the rest of the house, this room was also elegantly decorated in mostly traditional Japanese décor, with a low table (a kotatsu, actually) in the center where she and Satoru had drank tea last time, a couch against a wall, and a few bookshelves scattered throughout. There was, however, a very modern TV on top of a console against the wall, but otherwise, this place could have passed as something from another time entirely.

And there also wasn’t much Satoru from what she could see, nothing that would really indicate this place as being his. She wondered if that was because he’d long since moved out and had probably taken most of ‘his’stuff with him—but Yura also remembered Satoru mentioning that he hadn’t actually been allowed to redecorate as a child, hence why he ended up going nuts decorating his dorm room after he’d moved into the school.

Yura strolled across the room, glancing at the books on the shelves as she moved past them to peek through the doorway that led to the bedroom. She flicked the light switch on as she walked through the door, taking in the sight; again, there wasn’t much there. A low bed against a wall, a couple of dressers on the other side (even though she was pretty sure one of the western-style doors in the room also led to a closet), a smaller low table with some seats on the far end of the room, and another TV on the wall—nothing very distinct. Was this really how his bedroom had always looked, or had this been redecorated after Satoru had grown up? The bed was way too big for one single kid, although the thought of a kid Satoru sleeping sprawled out on the king-sized bed was pretty amusing—and very on-brand. He did like to spread out; when she would sleep next to him, he would often use her as a mattress instead.

...Or maybe he just liked spreading himself on top of her.

For a little while, Yura busied herself examining the room, peeking in through the western-style doors (one a bathroom and the other, yep, a closet), and then deciding to indeed snoop by opening the drawers on Satoru’s bedside tables. Now this finally felt more like Satoru—mostly normal stuff like phone chargers, a tablet, some candy (she snorted—yep, that’s him); just regular stuff she knew he also kept by his bed in his own apartment. Opening the bottom drawer, however, finally revealed something that seemed more childhood-like: it was an old handheld game console, with a few game cases carefully stored next to it. Yura knew that Satoru must have had multiple different game consoles throughout the years (a few of which she’d seen him using back in school), and that he hadn’t actually kept most of them—so she had to wonder why this one. Maybe it had some kind of special significance, she theorized. She would just have to ask him later.

(She also found a box of tissues and, ahem, lotion, in one drawer, and Yura’s lips tugged up; now, was that a recent Satoru thing or was that a remnant from his teenage days, she wondered...)

Tired of snooping in the bedroom, Yura made her way back to the main sitting area and walked to the unknown closed room, her curiosity not yet sated. This unknown room turned out to be nothing more than some kind of study, or so she guessed—it also had a low table in the middle, but this one felt more like a desk, with the handful of papers and writing implements scattered on top of it. The number of bookcases spread around the room also helped give it that study feeling.

Yura moved further inside as she examined things with a careful eye, briefly noting that a lot of the books on the shelves actually looked more like textbooks. That’s right, Satoru had been largely homeschooled, hadn’t he? At least before going to Jujutsu Tech. Yura looked over at the desk, suddenly trying to picture child Satoru sitting there and studying diligently—and she snorted. Somehow, she had doubts—but he was infuriatingly smart regardless of how much time he had actually spent studying at school, so who knows. Maybe he’d just had a verythorough education beforehand.

As the picture of a young Satoru studying in this room stuck in her mind, though, Yura looked over the room again. Had this been where he’d studied—where he would take his lessons? Satoru had complained several times during school about the amount of time his family had forced him to spend studying (‘And so I can afford to take it easy now,’ he would tell her, much to her indignation as he simply skipped regular classes), but she would have expected his private quarters to have some kind of toy room attached to them, instead of this somber study room. And she somehow didn’t think it was because this room had been cleaned out since he’d moved away...

Yura sighed, looking around.

To be honest, the more she thought about Satoru’s childhood, the more it seemed oddly lonely. Sure, he was the strongest; sure, he had enough money to buy anything he could have possibly wanted... but what good did it do when he could only enjoy it all alone?

Satoru had told her all about his family keeping the fabled Gojo heir confined to the Estate for the entirety of his childhood—‘for his protection,’ they would say. Yeah, that was a reason, but that just meant that Satoru had grown up isolated—if not deliberately being kept away from most people, then just by virtue of being who he was. No wonder he had been such an asshole when they’d first met—that had been his first actual foray into the ‘real word’, hadn’t it? Aside from all those times he had snuck out as a kid (see, that’s what you get for being so overly controlling: you end up with a strongest sorcerer with a rebellious streak instead). It was honestly no surprise that he had been such a spoiled brat with poor social skills when he’d first come to Jujutsu Tech.

And it also shouldn’t have been so surprising to see his quarters so bare, so devoid of personality, considering the controlling nature of his family. Even his current apartment usually seemed a little too clean for someone like Gojo Satoru, so that was definitely a habit that seemed to have been forcefully developed during his childhood regardless of the rebellious nature he had grown to have since then.

...But then as her eyes stumbled upon a figure propped up between a few books, Yura had to smile. Finally, she thought. There he is. That was Digimon, wasn’t it? At last, a little splash of personality inside the otherwise nondescript room, and Yura looked fondly at the worn-out toy that suddenly reminded her of a time when Satoru would sit her down to watch this anime whether she liked it or not.

‘It’s so much better than Pokémon!’ he would insist. ‘I must bestow you with good taste.’

Yura eventually continued looking over the many shelves, her eyes roaming over the titles of all these textbooks. She was kinda impressed at all the advanced reading that pre-high school Satoru had been doing, even though she knew that Satoru was smart-smart... despite acting like an idiot most of the time. But then she stopped in her tracks again.

There was a picture frame on one of the middle shelves, the only photo frame in this whole place. Yura knew that Satoru didn’t have the habit of hanging up pictures in his place, despite them taking many photos together on their phones—so this photo frame in particular immediately piqued her curiosity. She bent down, picking it up—and it surprised her a little, even if it was exactly what she should have expected.

There were two people in the photograph, one that Yura clearly recognized as being Satoru’s father—looking much younger than now—and the other one a boy... who Yura took a couple of seconds to recognize as Satoru himself. The white hair and blue eyes should have been a dead giveaway, but it still took her a moment; maybe it was the fact that Yura had never seen any pictures of Satoru as a kid, or maybe it was the unusually serious expression on his face. And not just serious—scowling, like he didn’t want to be there... which she guessed was probably the case. Both father and son were standing next to each other, facing the camera, his father’s hand on his shoulder in what clearly looked to be an ‘official’ photograph of some kind.

Yura studied the photo closely; this was actually her first glimpse into what Satoru had looked like as a kid. He looked young—very young—but she couldn’t be sure how old he was in the picture, so she couldn’t tell if he’d always been that tall or if he ever used to be of a normal height. His hair was shorter than when she’d first met him, almost choppily messy despite the fact that he was wearing what looked like a formal kimono along with his father, and he also wasn’t wearing any sunglasses at this time. His cheeks were round with baby fat, far different from the Satoru she knew today but not that different from the fifteen-year-old Satoru she had met over a decade ago, and, well... he kinda looked adorable.

She could just squeeze his chubby, grumpy cheeks.

And speaking of which, Yura started to feel the man in question approaching long before she ever heard him open the main door.

“Yuraaa,” she heard him call, moving towards where she was standing. “Where are you snooping...”

Satoru popped up in the doorway, shooting her a grin, and Yura bit back a smile. “You done with... whatever they wanted you for?” she asked.

Satoru let out a sigh as he approached her, stopping right behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “It was dumb,” he replied, pressing his face to her hair. “Some far-removed Gojo clan member and some even more far-removed Kamo clan member were trying to arrange a marriage between themselves, and apparently they needed the clan heads’ approval for that.” He suddenly dropped his chin to her shoulder, grumbling, “Just get married, don’t drag me into it...”

Yura huffed out a laugh, leaning back against him. “Do you need to approve every marriage in the clan or something?”

He shook his head, even as he kept it pressed against her shoulder. “No, just between the three major clans,” he replied. “Something something not wanting a clan’s inherited technique to fall into another clan’s hands. Blah.”

That definitely sounded like something that would be taken seriously by the three clans, but trust Satoru to treat it with the same seriousness as stepping on gum.

“So,” Satoru started again. “Whatchu got there?”

Yura smiled. “You,” she answered, turning the photo toward him. She tapped his face on the photograph with a finger. “You look so grumpy here.”

Satoru let out a sigh. “Official photo time was always boring,” he said, and she wasn’t surprised. He buried his face in her neck again, almost whining against her skin as his glasses poked at her cheek.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of you as a kid,” she told him. She grinned. “Look at your chubby cheeks.”

Satoru huffed out a laugh against her neck. “I know, I know, I was adorable.”

She half-heartedly rolled her eyes. “An adorable menace, I’m sure.”

“I mean...” Satoru heaved out another breath against her skin, shifting slightly behind her. “Are we gonna keep talking about kid me or are we gonna... get to the good stuff?”

And as if to make a point, she felt his lips press against the crook of her neck, and Yura tried biting back a grin. Of course.

---

Satoru felt a little... odd.

It wasn’t like Yura had never visited his private quarters in the Gojo Estate before, but something about having her there now was throwing him for a loop.

These days, there was a very clear distinction between what he considered to be clan life and his regular day-to-day life. It’d started many years ago when he’d left for Jujutsu Tech, finally able to break away from the suffocating grip his family had on him—and over the years, he’d been able to keep both parts of his life fairly well-separated. It wasn’t entirely intentional on his part; it had simply happened that way. His family didn’t bother him when it came to his job, and he usually only had to deal with clan-related business when he visited the Estate.

And this division extended to the people in his life as well—his family tended to stay away once he wasn’t around the Estate, and the friends he’d made after leaving for school didn’t usually get involved in clan matters nor frequent the same places his family did.

Which was probably why having Yura there, in the room he grew up in, felt so odd—like two worlds colliding entirely.The only person that had straddled the line between the clan and non-clan parts of his life had been a certain someone that would not be named—the only other person from outside that had ever visited his quarters here.

...But that couldn’t be the reason for this weird feeling in him, could it? At least not entirely. He had brought Yura here once, many years ago, and they’d had tea in his living area—and yeah, sure, it had felt a little strange back then too, but not thisstrange. This was a similar kind of feeling to what he’d felt when he took Yura with him to that clan ceremony a year and a half ago—seeing her there next to him, surrounded by his family and his clan...

It was... odd. Like he had just slotted her in an entirely new place in his life, where she fit... a little too well. Odd, but not a bad kind of odd.

So he decided to just ignore that weird feeling and busy himself by pressing his lips to her neck instead.

“Is this the only reason you brought me here?” Yura asked, amused. He vaguely noticed her placing the photo frame back on the shelf before she tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck.

He’d truly made a wonderful choice picking this dress for her. With her entire neckline bared to him, he was able to trail his lips up and down an unbroken expanse of skin, going up her neck then down to her shoulder and back again. There was only the delicate chain of her necklace in the way, but he hardly minded it considering how she always wore it anyway. “Couldn’t exactly do this in front of everyone...” he replied, letting his teeth gently scrape the side of her neck, and he felt Yura shiver against him. “Even though I kind of wanted to.”

He heard Yura huff out a laugh. “Well, at least you behaved.”

He grinned against her neck—time to finally misbehave, then.

Satoru’s hands had been resting on her waist, and he let them drift further forward. His palms slid over Yura’s stomach on top of her dress, enjoying the way the softness and firmness of her body felt against his hands. As his thumb brushed over the underside of a breast, he was a little disappointed to find that she was, in fact, wearing a bra... but oh well. That would come off soon enough. So he pressed his nose to the side of her throat as he let his hands slide up to squeeze both of her soft mounds, and Yura laughed again.

“Someone’s getting handsy,” she said, letting her head fall back against him. His other hand drifted down again, splaying his fingers open over her stomach to press her body back into his... maybe only proving her point further. His lips pressed a kiss underneath her ear, feeling her sigh against him, and he kissed her there again—if he was getting handsy, then did this mean he was getting lipsy as well?

He grinned some more, but his grin ended up falling when Yura pulled away from him. He straightened himself up as he looked at her in confusion.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get handsy in your... study room,” she said, but she had a smile on her face as she stepped closer to him, her hands resting on his chest as she pressed her front to his.

His grin came back. “Why not?” he asked. His head dipped closer to her, his lips approaching hers.

But Yura pulled away before he could reach her once again, a mischievous look on her face. So she was in a teasing mood huh? Well, at least her hands took a hold of his as she stepped back, pulling him with her, and he let her lead him along.

Yura guided them back into the living area and then tugged him into the bedroom with her, and Satoru’s grin widened. Yura was still holding on to both of his hands, so once they were both sufficiently inside, she simply tugged his body to hers, pressing their fronts together again.

“This feels like a better place to start the after-party,” she said, her head tilting up towards his.

He was still grinning as he nodded. “That’s fair,” he said, and finally lowered his mouth to hers.

A sigh escaped him as they locked their lips together, his hands coming up to cup her face and bring her closer—he’d been wanting to do this all night. Maybe even in front of everyone—his family, the Kamo clan, the Zen’ins, all the elders and higher ups in attendance—he had been wanting to pull her to him and kiss her so everyone would see. He had refrained from doing that, of course, as Yura probably wouldn’t have appreciated it, so he’d had to hold himself back all night instead.

But not now. Now he could let his tongue taste her lips as he wished, enjoying the way her own tongue reached out to brush against his own. He could tilt her head slightly so he could kiss her deeper, feeling her hands tightening on his shirt against his sides as she pressed herself closer. He could just... get lost in her, just like this.

Satoru’s fingers slipped into her hair, enjoying the softness of the strands as he kept her face as close as possible. Yura herself was pressing her body tightly against his, and he could feel her pushing herself up on her toes to get even closer. See? This was why he’d gotten her those heels—Yura was pretty tall herself, but those heels would have helped them get on more even ground.

...Although, to be fair, she wasn’t likely to wear heels in the bedroom. Ah, well.

Yura’s nose bumped against his sunglasses as their mouths moved together, and it prompted her to pull away from him. She herself raised her hands to pluck the glasses off his face with a grin, but instead of tossing them somewhere else, she only folded them back up and slipped them between her breasts, leaving it hanging off the front of her dress.

His eyes, of course, followed along, and his gaze was immediately stuck to her cleavage.

Yura really needed to wear strapless tops more often...

“So,” Yura started, and Satoru had been so entranced by the way her breasts looked in that dress that he hadn’t noticed she was actually stepping away from him. “This is your childhood bedroom.”

Satoru’s eyes finally left her chest, and when they did, the sight suddenly struck him.

The four walls of this room were ones he was intimately familiar with; this was where he’d spent most of his childhood before he was able to break away from all of it and build his own life for himself. To be honest, most of his happy memories had taken place outside of here—even now, after all this time, this place still felt as stifling as it used to be when he was a kid, so he usually avoided it as much as possible.

But having Yura there with him now—why was it making him feel... something?

“What?” she asked, a confused smile on her face at his prolonged silence.

Satoru stared at her for another long moment, taking in the sight of Yura standing right there in his childhood bedroom, before he mentally shook himself out of it. “Nothing,” he replied, stepping closer to her. “Just thinking that you should really let me buy you dresses more often.”

Yura rolled her eyes even if she still had a smile on her face, and before he could get his hands on her again, she turned her back to him. “Well, now you’re gonna have to help get me out of this dress instead,” she said, handing his sunglasses back to him over her shoulder.

Satoru grinned, taking the glasses and slipping them into his pocket. “Happy to oblige.”

The first thing Satoru did was brush her long hair over her shoulder, exposing her back to him. He let his hands linger on her bare skin above the line of her dress, tracing the faint scars there; as much as the sight of her bare legs drove him crazy, he had also developed a fondness for the line of her shoulders, the contours of her collarbone, the movements of her shoulder blades...

Satoru lowered his lips to the crook of her neck again, pressing a soft kiss to her bare skin. He let his hand trace down the dip of her back until he reached the edge of her dress, fingers finding the zipper there and slowly tugging it down. His mind briefly wondered how she had put it on without any help, realizing with an amused laugh that she must have used her own technique to do so. But any other thoughts on the matter were quickly wiped away once he had fully undone the zipper, letting the dress slide down her body to pool at her feet.

Yura was wearing a similarly pale pink matching underwear set, and Satoru had to pull away slightly to admire how the strapless bra and panties hugged her curves just right. He let a hand slide down her back, briefly brushing over her ass as she turned around, facing him; she had an almost knowing smile on her face, but then she once again pulled away from him as she let her smile turn into a sly one.

“You’re overdressed, by the way,” she said as she stepped towards the bed. She sat down on it and then shuffled back towards the middle, and Satoru could only stare once more.

Yura, in her underwear, sitting on his bed at the Gojo Estate—

How many times had he laid on his back on this very same bed, staring up at the sky through the ceiling as he wondered if there was more to life than just lessons, lessons, lessons. If there was anything actually interesting out there for him, away from the Gojo Estate somewhere. Something fun and exciting, something he could look forward to—

Oh, there was definitely something alright, he thought. And it was currently sitting on top of that very same bed, looking up at him curiously.

“You’re really spaced out today,” Yura commented, and he was suddenly brought back to the present. No more getting distracted, he thought to himself.

“Well, you know,” he started, letting his eyes focus on Yura’s bare skin, the fabric of her underwear hiding the most interesting bits from him... for now. “I’ve just never had sex with anyone in here before.”

Yura looked at him with amusement in her eyes, tilting her head at him for a moment. “I mean, you’re not gonna be having any sex if you just stand there like a doofus,” she said. Satoru had to admit that she had a point. “So, strip.”

And to emphasize her point, Yura reached behind her and unclasped her bra, promptly tugging it off to throw it at him.

Ah, fucking hell... what a sight.

The garment smacked him on the face as Satoru kept staring, his eyes completely focused on her bare chest. Then he immediately startled himself into action, quickly pulling off his sweater and undershirt in one go before reaching down to undo his belt. His pants felt tight as he pushed them down his legs, tossing them off to the side as he rushed towards the bed, his eyes set on one singular goal—and he didn’t waste a second as he moved towards Yura, finally landing face-first on one of her wonderfully soft breasts.

Yura gasped as his mouth closed over one of her nipples, sucking on it and letting his tongue swirl around the hardened bud. One of her hands slipped into his hair as she leaned back but still pushed her chest forward, and Satoru hummed in approval—definitely a better angle for him to delight himself there. He could never get enough of the way she felt in his mouth, how it felt when he sucked the bud and some of the softness inside before releasing it and tasting her skin with his tongue. And he couldn’t just focus on one, that just wouldn’t be fair—so he removed his mouth from her before quickly capturing her other breast instead.

This was a much better end to a boring clan event, that’s for sure. This might just be the most fun he’d ever had in the Gojo Estate—ever.

And Satoru could have stayed there on Yura’s chest for hours—if Yura herself hadn’t gotten impatient, grabbing his head and pulling him up to hers. Their mouths met again and Satoru couldn’t complain, and as Yura’s hand found his own chest, sliding over his skin and making him shiver—he could complain even less.

Yura ran her hands over his muscles, squeezing at his skin, briefly pinching his own nipples and making his breath hitch. But Yura wasn’t satisfied with just that, no; as their tongues brushed against each other, her hand moved lower. Satoru’s mind was definitely paying close attention to her scorching touch, but still—as her hand finally squeezed him over his underwear, he almost jumped in surprise, grunting against her mouth at the feeling.

Yura pulled away from him then, and he didn’t have to open his eyes to see the cheeky grin she was sporting. But his mind was otherwise preoccupied, as her mouth had left his but not her hand—she was still massaging him over the fabric of his underwear, and if Satoru hadn’t been painfully hard before, he definitely was now.

“Satoru,” she called, and he eventually opened his eyes to meet hers. Her hand continued her ministrations down below, and his hips were almost rolling into her touch. “You said you had never had sex in here before, didn’t you?”

Satoru only vaguely hummed an agreement, letting the hand that had slipped into her hair slide down her front, absentmindedly squeezing one of her breasts.

Her grin widened. “What about a blowjob?”

Satoru suddenly froze. His eyes opened wider as he stared at her.

Yura, Yura, Yura...

Why was she always so good to him?

Yura’s cheeky grin never wavered as she pushed him back, sadly removing her hand from him, but he still throbbed nonetheless at the thought of what was to come.

What was to come—heh.

Hopefully him. And her. And her again. And them both—

Yura guided him to sit back down at the edge of the bed, rotating his body along with her as she stepped back onto the floor. She shot him a look as she stood in front of him, although Satoru got a little distracted by her bare chest right in front of his eyes. But when she bent down, tugging his underwear down his hips, Satoru eagerly assisted with its removal—almost dazedly watching as she finally knelt down between his legs, her hands on his thighs.

And when she finally grasped his member in her hand, he went a little crazy. Then she took him into her mouth and he almost went full insane.

Truly, he could never get tired of this. Actually, Yura only seemed to be getting better and better at this kind of thing every time she knelt down between his legs—she ran her tongue over him just right, she sucked him in just the right amount, her mouth and hands working in tandem to make him fully lose it.

Satoru threw his head back, one of his hands slipping into her hair but still letting her do whatever she needed to do—she sure didn’t seem to need his help. But then his eyes opened, lowering his head back down to take in the sight between his legs—and he instead ended up catching sight of everything instead, his brain once again struck by just where they were, and who he was with. He had so many memories of this place, of this room, most of them not particularly happy or fun; and now, Yura was there. In the middle of all of it. Her presence warming up this cold room... in more ways than one. (His body sure was getting very hot.)

Yura was bobbing her head up and down on him, and the feeling of him sliding in and out of her hot mouth was definitely getting him close. Too close, but also not close enough—something inside of him wanted to bury himself in her completely, so this wouldn’t do.

Yura shot him a questioning look as he pushed her back, still keeping him in her hands. But he didn’t say anything as he surged forward, wrapping an arm around her torso to tug her to him as he hitched one of her legs over his hip. Her arms came up to hold on to his shoulders as he maneuvered them both around, swiftly depositing her on the bed and positioning himself between her legs.

Satoru had to stop for a moment to admire the sight again, of Yura in this bed, his bed—in this room. It brought a weird, warm feeling to his stomach that Satoru couldn’t quite name, so he decided to push it all aside as he lowered himself on top of her to capture her lips with his own again.

It felt both strange and familiar, being with Yura like this here. Comfortingly familiar was when he let his hand slide down her body, squeezing a soft breast in the process, and found the waistband of her underwear; strange was when he pulled back briefly to tug the undergarment down her legs and caught sight of Yura sprawled out bare in the same bed he’d spent the first half of his life in.

His once home—his clan home. The place he’d thought he would only ever bring his eventual wife to, for... well, this.

Yura’s hands started groping his chest in the best way possible as he lowered himself back down to her, locking their lips together again. Their mouths were sloppy against each other, hands all over the other’s body, and Satoru couldn’t take it anymore—he wanted to be back in her, now. Not her mouth, this time; instead, his hand slid down to grab at his own member, Yura letting out a small gasp as he immediately pressed his length against her, slipping between her folds. He rubbed himself up and down there, coating himself in her wetness, letting the head of him slip down to briefly press against her entrance before sliding back up, rubbing himself against her clit before sliding down again. It was only a tease, really; even as Satoru was feeling a little impatient, his body craving more of her heat, he wanted to make sure it would be a... smooth ride inside, one might say.

But it seemed that Yura herself was also growing restless; every time that he slid down on her folds, pressing against her entrance, her hips would roll up against him as she almost urged him in. And who was he to continue denying her?

So the next time he slid down and found her entrance, he finally notched himself inside and pushed into her.

His forehead dropped to the bed next to her head, the feeling of being continuously squeezed by her walls incomparable to anything else. She felt so hot and so tight as he slowly sheathed himself inside, feeling her fingers pressing down on his back and urging him in further. Which was what he did—he kept pressing in, feeling her walls stretching open to accommodate him. His free hand eventually slid down to grasp at her hip and angle it up, allowing him to finally slot himself all the way inside; and as his hips met hers, feeling himself fully encased in her, he let out a shuddering breath against her ear.

There truly was no other feeling like this in the world. It was like sliding home; not just the way her tight heat wrapped around his member, but the way she was wrapped all over him—her legs bracketing his hips, her chest brushing against his with every breath she took, her hand digging into his back as her other hand slid down to grasp at his buttocks—it was almost like all of her was trying to urge him in even deeper.

So he obliged. He shifted his hips even closer, feeling himself push in just a tad bit deeper.

He really could stay here like this forever, couldn’t he?

Satoru breathed in and out against the side of her head, just basking in the feeling.

...Okay, so he could stay here forever, but maybe not stay still—his body started craving more, so he eventually started to move his hips slowly. He pulled himself out, then slid back all the way in, his nose pressed against the side of her head, nuzzling in as he breathed in her scent. Satoru was enjoying himself a little too much feeling the ridges of her walls drag over his length almost painfully slowly, but somehow just right.

He wasn’t going to continue with this pace all night, of course. There was more fun to be had.

His hips started moving faster, thrusting down into her. Her touch began drifting all over his body as he moved himself in and out of her with increasing speed, and her hands managed to leave both shivers and a scorching trail in their wake. It only drove him further, his hips thrusting into her faster, the continued squeeze and release of her walls around him making his muscles tense as he craved more. More heat, more speed, more space to move—the hand that had been grasping her hip moved up to her leg instead, urging her thighs to spread wider for him, and she wordlessly obliged. Something in his stomach coiled in pleasure as she gave him full unrestricted access to her heat, and he took full advantage of that to thrust into her unimpeded.

Satoru’s mind had long disconnected from the situation, letting his body’s natural impulses drive him along. As his hips kept moving, his nose and lips continued trying to press themselves closer to her, nuzzling the side of her head, his lips finding a combination of skin and hair and more skin as his face brushed against her. As Yura’s thighs fell open completely and he no longer had the need to hold them that way, he was able to free up his hand to happily start exploring her body with his touch... immediately finding her breast again and squeezing her softness in his hand once more.

There was nothing else at that moment but him and her, together. And Satoru would have liked it to stay that way—so when he sensed a familiar energy approaching, his Six Eyes glancing through the walls to the outside on instinct alone, he suddenly snapped his hips into her with an annoyed grunt and stayed there.

Yura, in turn, let out a gasp at the sudden roughness, her walls squeezing him briefly and making him realize just what he’d done. Oops would have been his thought if it hadn’t actually felt good.

“What?” Yura breathed out, half confused and half dazed at the feeling. “What... is it?”

Satoru’s eyes briefly glanced at the figure of his father standing outside of his quarters before sliding his gaze away (this was not what he wanted to be looking at in the middle of sex). But when he raised himself up slightly on his elbow to meet Yura’s eyes—the sight of her flushed face as he stayed buried inside of her had him pause for a moment.

“Just...” he eventually said. “An annoying visitor. He’ll go away soon enough.” Satoru had long made sure that his family were not to go inside his quarters without permission, so his father would eventually just leave once he got no answer.

Yura glanced up in the direction of the bedroom door before looking up at him. “...You don’t think they can hear us, can they?”

“Probably not,” Satoru answered, and immediately snapped his hips into hers again, making her bite back a gasp. He grinned.

Yura shot him a mock-annoyed look, but when he thrust into her again, she definitely looked like she was enjoying it.

He wasn’t worried about anyone overhearing them—his quarters were at the far end of this building, and there was still the whole living area between the bedroom and the outside... even if the walls weren’t really all that thick.

“Besides,” Satoru said, his voice coming out a little breathless as his hips continued the harsher thrusting into her. “I told you... my family would probably throw a party... if they knew what we’ve been doing.”

Yura’s face was scrunching up in pleasure as she tried keeping her eyes open to look up at him. “I don’t think... I don’t think it’s the sex part... they’re interested in.”

“No...” Satoru agreed. His mouth was slightly parted as he stared down at her flushed face, and he was pretty sure his was the same way. “They just want the resulting bit.” And he thrust himself into her again.

Yura’s eyes met his, a strange look passing between the two of them. “...That does have to come... from somewhere,” she said, her voice amused.

And when he thought of where that somewhere might be, it made his hips immediately snap into her without his permission, his head suddenly spinning.

Following this new pace, Satoru’s hips continued moving in rough, deep thrusts, while he still kept himself raised slightly above her in one arm. This meant that his eyes never left hers, despite their occasional fluttering, that same strange look still lingering in the air.

“So...” Yura let out, her eyes fluttering more and more as he increased his pace. “Is that what they would think... that we’re doing?”

“Yep,” he replied, his eyes never wavering from her face as his mouth worked on its own, seemingly disconnected from his brain... “That this is me putting a baby in you.”

When the words finally registered in his own ears, his hips suddenly snapped into her harder. Well, shit.

And it took him a second to register the fact that Yura’s own hand had drifted down her body, reaching the nub there and rubbing. Her eyes had fluttered closed, but she managed to force them open as she stared up at him. “...Well, you can try,” she breathed out, her voice a mix of amusement, defiance, and a simple statement of a fact.

It drove Satoru insane, and his hips only matched the state of his brain.

Yeah, he could try.

Satoru’s gaze locked on the golden flecks of her eyes as he pushed himself into her, the only thing going through his head was her name on repeat like a mantra going Yura, Yura, Yura—

He only vaguely noticed her hand increasing speed between her legs, as her face started to shift and scrunch up more often. He matched her pace with his hips, driving himself into her again and again and again—

Until when Yura suddenly cried out, throwing her head back and arching into him. The sight, the sound, the feeling—it was all too much, immediately pushing him over the edge, and he drove himself in as far as he could go with a cry of his own. His hips were pressed flush against hers as his climax hit him, and he finally released himself fully inside of her.

As waves of pleasure crashed over him, Satoru buried his head against the side of her neck again as he curled himself into her. He could feel himself spilling deep inside of her, her walls spasming around him and milking him for all that he’s worth. The head of his length was definitely pressed against something inside as he tried to push himself in even further, and if he knew enough biology, considering what they had just been saying—

Well, the thought of his release slipping into her womb was already getting him ready for round two.

(...If it weren’t for birth control, his family would have definitely already gotten that heir they want so much.)

But for the moment, Satoru allowed his muscles to relax.

The way their chests moved against one another as they both caught their breaths was almost hypnotic as he came down from his high. His senses were overwhelmed with Yura—all Yura.

...He wasn’t complaining. He only pressed a kiss against her jawline when he had finally recovered enough.

“That’s... one hell of an after-party,” she eventually breathed out, and Satoru had to huff out a laugh as he raised himself on one arm again.

“Much better than the party itself,” he added, peering down at her. Her cheeks were still flushed, her hair wild around her head, and he raised his free hand to brush some stray strands away from her face.

“I mean...” Yura looked up at him, her lips tugging up into a cheeky grin. “That’s not saying much...”

Satoru’s mouth widened into a grin of his own. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure the after-party lasts as long as the actual party did,” he said, and to punctuate his words, he rolled his hips against hers, feeling him move inside of her still.

Yura huffed, amused. “Of course,” she said. Her legs came up to wrap themselves around his waist, locking him in.

This was, one hundred percent, the most fun he’d ever had inside his family home.

End notes: So, what we've gathered from this oneshot and the previous one (Movie Night) is that yes, both Satoru and Yura have developed breeding kinks. Yes, that is his family's fault for bringing up heirs so much. No, they're still in denial over their own feelings even though it was staring at them right in the face.

Anyway, I really like exploring Satoru's character, and I really like writing smut lmao. Best of both worlds! Throw in a lot of Satoru completely glossing over his own feelings and we've got a wining combo here!

I did have to rush to get this out before I could post the next chapter of the main fic, because the vibes...... might shift a bit in the near future in the main story. So the main fic will still take me a little more time, but have this as a treat until then! 

[anomalocaris2hu]

Heaven in Touhou and its Relation to Buddhism

I've been reading a lot about Buddhism lately, and I'm finally coming to an understanding of how that informs the depiction of Heaven in Touhou Project. First, I will summarize some of the official descriptions of Heaven within Touhou, and then cover the elements of Buddhist cosmology that influenced those depictions.

Some notes on terminology. I prefer the Sanskrit forms of words to Pali when possible. Exceptions are when the Pali form is overwhelmingly used. I will give the Chinese/Japanese translations of Buddhist terminology in parentheses. Translations of Japanese text from Touhou is my own original translations rather than taken from the wiki or other fan translations.

Finally, a warning. I am not a Buddhist and am approaching the religion from an academic perspective. Therefore, I will not endorse the religion, nor will I explicitly attempt to refute it. Take everything in this post as a summary of Buddhism based on my own readings, and check out the references as they are written by actual scholars who study Buddhism, or practicing Buddhists.

Heaven in Touhou

Heaven in Touhou is constantly referred to as 天界、the first character meaning "heaven" or "sky," translating the Sanskrit word deva meaning "god," and the second character meaning "world" or "realm," translating the Sanskrit word loka meaning "world" in most situations.

Most of what we know about Heaven comes from the story of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. In general it seems to be based on the Buddhist concept of the devaloka, but is not equivalent to it and not completely accurate to Buddhist cosmology.

In Tenshi's story in SWR, Tenshi states:

天界は成仏した霊が住む処

"Heaven is a place where spirits who have reached nirvana live." As we will see, this detail contradicts with established Buddhist dogma, and is something that serves to distinguish Touhou's Heaven from those of Buddhism.

Heaven being the destination for souls released from saṃsāra has consequences important to the world of Touhou. In a footnote to Yuyuko Saigyouji's article in PMiSS, Akyuu describes the situation in heaven:

＊４　天界は輪廻転生を断ち切った者が行くので、現在飽和状態である。

"Since heaven is the place that individuals who have broken free from saṃsāra, it is currently overcrowded." This is backed up by Yukari's route in SWR, where Yukari states the same thing, as well as Youmu's route.

Denizens of Heaven are referred to as celestials（天人）in the fan translations of Touhou, as well as in most translations of Buddhist literature. According to Akyuu in PMiSS,

天人は修行を積んだ仙人が、不老不死を得て生きたまま天界に行った天人と、死後、成仏して天界に行った天人が居る。

"Celestials are either hermits who have achieved immortality and ascended to Heaven, or to those who reached nirvana and went to Heaven after death."

Akyuu also describes the location of Heaven more precisely:

天界は雲の上に存在すると言われるが、本当はそうではない。冥界の中に存在し、冥界の遥か空の上に存在するのである。

"It's said that Heaven exists in the clouds, but in truth this is not the case. It actually exists in the Netherworld, and more precisely is located far above the sky in the Netherworld."

The last important detail about Heaven we are provided is the existence of a location within it known as bhavāgra or 有頂天 (uchouten). In Yukari's story in SWR, this is said to be where Tenshi lives. In fan translations you will often see this spelled Bhava-Agra or Bhavaagra.

Heaven in Buddhism

Buddhist cosmology is complex and differs from sect to sect. I will follow the description of Gethin, which is based on the Nikāyas and the Abhidharma [2]. The Three Realms doctrine is also expounded by Yogācāra [4]. The jargon will be coming fast here, so please turn to the glossary at the end of the post if needed. See [1] for a fuller picture, as I will omit details for the realms and worlds that aren't considered heavens.

Three Realms and Six Paths

The three realms or dhātus are

Ārūpyadhātu or Arūpaloka（無色界）- The "formless" realm, a non-corporeal realm where one who has attained an arūpa āyatana is reborn.

Rūpadhātu or Rūpaloka （色界）- A realm of forms, where beings who have attained dhyāna are reborn.

Kāmadhātu（欲界）- The realm of desire. This includes the Six Paths where beings are reborn based on their karma.

The Six Paths (confusingly also called realms) are

The Path of Deva（天道）- Rebirth as a deva, who lives a life of pleasure but is unable to practice the dharma due to being distracted by their pleasurable life.

The Path of Humans（人間道）- Rebirth as a human being, who experiences both pleasure and suffering.

The Path of Asura（修羅道）- Rebirth as an asura, a demi-god who experiences pleasure but also constantly fight among themselves or against the devas.

The Path of Beasts（畜生道）- Rebirth as a non-human animal, considered to consist of more suffering than life as a human.

The Path of Preta（餓鬼道）- Rebirth as a preta, who live in constant agony experiencing extreme hunger and thirst.

The Path of Hell（地獄道）- Rebirth in a naraka, a hell where one is tortured until one's negative karma is exhausted.

In non-Japanese sources, I think it's common for the Asura realm to be placed above the Human realm. Only the Path of Deva is considered to be a kind of "heaven," but sometimes the Asura and Deva Paths are combined to give a Five Path system.

Whether the three realms are referring to psychological states or actual locations (or in the case of Ārūpyadhātu, non-locations) one can be reborn in is debated in the academic literature I could find [3]. At the very least, the Six Paths are often described as physical locations, e.g. the devas have their own world they live in which is separate from that of humans, but some of the worlds can overlap. Humans and preta experience the same world, but the way they perceive it is vastly different.

The highest abode of the formless realm is bhavāgra, sometimes translated as "the peak of worldly existence" or "the peak of cyclic existence" [5]. It is the highest mental state one can attain; to go any further is to reach nirvana. In Touhou, bhavāgra is the peak of Heaven, and where Tenshi Hinanawi lives.

Overall, Touhou simplifies the cosmology of Buddhism for its depiction of Heaven. The Form and Formless realms are combined with the Deva path, and Heaven is reinterpreted as the rebirth destination for beings who reach nirvana. Unlike in Buddhism, where one can only enter a heaven by being reborn in one, in Touhou one can enter Heaven while alive through ascetic (hermit) practices after gaining immortality. This is a Taoist influence, where the Chinese concept of tian（天）is combined with the kinds of heaven in Buddhism.

The complex psychological description of meditative states, the dhyānas and arūpa-āyatanas, are not mentioned in Touhou (at least not when it comes to Heaven as a location). However, bhavāgra, the highest of the arūpa-āyatana, is present as a physical location within Heaven. The Japanese word for bhavāgra, 有頂天、can also describe a state of ecstasy, so it's likely ZUN would be more familiar with that word than the other arūpa-āyatanas.

I might do more of these posts in the future. I need to look more into Taoism and the Chinese influences that appear in the depiction of Heaven, as I know little of them. I avoided mentioning the Dragon Palace for this reason. I could also write about Hell in Touhou, since its structure is a lot more developed than Heaven.

Glossary

bhavāgra（有頂天）- an alternate name for the "Sphere of neither perception nor non-perception"（非想非非想処）. The highest plane of the Formless Realm（無色界）、a state where beings who reached the fourth formless dhyāna (arūpa-āyatana) are reborn in. In Touhou, a physical location in Heaven.

devaloka（天界）- a world of devas (Gods), i.e. heaven. In Touhou, a physical location above Gensokyo where beings who achieve nirvana are reborn.

dharma（法）- in this essay, primarily refers to the teachings of the Buddha and Buddhist belief more generally.

dhyāna（禅定）- meditation to achieve a mental state of concentration, equanimity, and awareness, or the resulting mental state. Beyond the four rūpa dhyānas are the four arūpa-āyatana. Attainment of these eight levels determines one's rebirth in either the Formless Realm or the Realm of Forms.

karma（業）- an action or its effect. In Indian religions, including Buddhism, karma is a cosmic principle whereby actions and their intents produce positive or negative results in this life or even after rebirth.

naraka（奈落）- a world in Hell, where those who performed bad deeds in a past life are reborn and tortured until they have exhausted their negative karma and can reenter saṃsāra.

nirvana（涅槃）- the cessation of the activity of the grasping mind, which results in liberation from suffering and saṃsāra.

preta（餓鬼）- a being that undergoes suffering greater than that of humans, being always hungry and thirsty. Often translated as "hungry ghost." Rebirth as a preta is a result of committing wicked acts in a previous life that don't merit rebirth in a Hell.

saṃsāra（輪廻転生）- the cycle of death and rebirth, where individuals are reincarnated into one of Three Realms, including the Six Domains of the lowest realm.

References

Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. OUP Oxford, 1998.

Gethin, Rupert. "Cosmology and Meditation: From the Aggañña-Sutta to the Mahāyāna." History of Religions 36, no. 3 (1997): 183-217.

Burley, Mikel. "Conundrums of Buddhist Cosmology and Psychology." Numen 64, no. 4 (2017): 343-370.

Woo, Jeson. "On the Yogic Path to Enlightenment in later Yogācāra." Journal of Indian Philosophy 42 (2014): 499-509.

Higgins, David. "A Reply to Questions Concerning Mind and Primordial Knowing." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (2011): 31-96.

Touhou Sources

Perfect Memento in Strict Sense - Yuyuko Saigyouji

Perfect Memento in Strict Sense - Celestial.

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (SWR) - Yukari's scenario

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (SWR) - Tenshi's scenario

[andreajep]

I made a new alien world in CAW! I've been working on this since last summer. I made the terrain in World Machine and spent hours working on the routing data. My own playtesting had the occasional routing error, but no lag. There are dive lots, ports (but no prebuilt residential houseboats because we know how that goes with sims), and a base camp so you can use this as a vacation world, if you wish.

World Name: Opal Bay, Moon Alpha, Exoplanet Z271

Description: From the mystical bioluminescent glow of the ocean, to the colorful structures of old town, Opal Bay is a sight to behold! Join LlamaCo Realty in developing this exciting new frontier! Will you choose a renovated house in old town as your new domicile? Or will one of LlamaCo's own beautiful prefabs become YOUR forever home? Don't wait another day. Lots are being claimed fast!

(The Exoplanet Z271 Board of Directors advises residents to not consume the waters of Opal Bay and to shower thoroughly after swimming or diving. Planting non-native flora outside of a greenhouse is strictly prohibited and punishable by a fine of up to 25000 simoleons per infraction, and/or expulsion from the system.)

Partially Populated: Includes 5 households, 17 sims

Custom: moon, starfield, weather (sky and water tinting, not Seasons-specific), terrain paints, road textures

Routing: Everything is camera-routable except for the edges of the map. Steep areas, as well as the entire volcano, are sims non-routable.

Spawners: all should be available somewhere in the world, though most "Earth" plant, seed, butterfly, and insect spawners will be indoors. Wildlife will still spawn, depending what packs you have, unless you turn them off.

Custom Content: Jynx's rabbithole rugs Pets-fix version (required and included, in case you don't have them), terrain paints for build mode (included, optional)

Essential Expansions: Late Night, Into the Future, Island Paradise, Showtime, University

For more info on lots, packs used, known issues, etc. see this Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-eouYdzAJeGaH2KrwUzvh09f7FtxBDxGlXjkbiybQJg/edit?usp=sharing

Download here from SFS: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/4012043/