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buckyownsmylife · 3 years

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plagiarism and bullying

I am not sure how much readers of this community know about what’s been happening, but I know pretty much anyone who writes has been going through hell the last couple of months because of authors who have grown too big for their own heads - and have effectively managed to poison the entire community with their behavior, which is precisely what I feared.

And I am sick of it.

I am sick of what can only be described as psychological and emotional harrassment, done privately so people feel isolated and scared to post anything.

I am sick of people thinking they own tropes, alternate universes, clichés, pairings, characters, even GENERAL PLOT POINTS that no one can possibly possess and take ownership of.

I am sick of these same people being the ones who can’t see an idea being thrown in front of them before attaching themselves to it until the original author is forced to pull back on something they’ve been working on because this other person who they considered a friend posted it before (oh yeah. I know all about those of you who are calling out people as plagiarists while stealing WIPs from your friends).

So let me give it to you straight - and this is coming from someone who is actually a victim of plagiarism myself.

Every time one of you points a finger at someone else and shames them privately or even attacks them publicly for writing a story that has the same generic set-up (Steve finds your fanfiction, Bucky loses himself to the Winter Soldier, reader needs to be rescued by one of the supersoldiers) you’re doing all of the people in this community a disfavor, by 1. making everyone scared of publishing anything, because the entitlement for the littlelest things seems vindicated now and 2. you’re taking away from actual instances of plagiarism and authors who are having their entire works stolen.

Think of it this way: can I feel entitled to the concept of sex pollen? only one bed? in vino veritas? why can I feel entitled to this concept that I apparently came up with but that can be rewritten in a thousand different ways?

If someone else can take that generic summary and run with it in a way that’s their own, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TRADEMARK IT. It ISN’T an instance of intellectual property and it most definitely isn’t plagiarism.

You all have common sense. Use it. It’s one thing to copy an entire premise of a series, keep the same AU and character and change the lines of dialogue. It’s an entire different thing to create your own stepfather Bucky series, or mobster Steve series, or Alpha all of Chris’ characters (here, have one of “my own” ideas), with your own premise, your own ideas for each chapter and the other details of their relationship with the reader.

Or are you telling me from now on, there can be no more alpha!Bucky’s heat taking over him suddenly, Steve and Reader have to share a bed on a mission, stories with reader, charles and lee as a pairing or any other unusual one? Is that what we really want? To be the only suppliers of a certain trope, pairing or au? Can you see how your ego is affecting the entire fanfiction community hee on tumblr? Why authors are giving up on providing their fictional universes to welcome us into after a lousy day?

If your work inspired someone else’s, there’s a simple way to resolve it: reach out to the writer, confirm it was actually inspired by yours and ask them to give you credit. Credit is the actual solution for works that have been inspired by other works, but not bullying, not threats, not forcing someone to delete their own versions of a story we’re all actually sharing because bottom-line? We are all stealing Marvel’s characters and placing them on Shakespeare’s plot lines and the only thing we can do about it is add our porn and our own personal interpretations, imagination and developments.

And that means, of course: writers, if your story was inspired by someone else’s, please give them the proper credit. As I’m sure you’re aware, we are very quick to identify when something is similar to our creations, and it’s a fucking awful feeling. It’s what created this whole witch hunt over plagiarism in the first place, but while in 8/10 cases it isn’t actually plagiarism, it fucking sucks and it could have been easily prevented when it was just a matter of recognizing you aren’t the seventh wonder of the universe and actually got the inspiration to write that story from someone else.

In the same way, DON’T STEAL PEOPLE’S IDEAS WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THEM. And no, THAT’S NOT PLAGIARISM either, it’s just common decency. They might even be okay with you writing the same idea, but it’s always nice to let them know and give them credit. Especially if it’s someone you consider a friend, but even more so if it’s something you saw as a snippet of a WIP on your timeline (as a general rule, I wouldn’t work on anything I thought intriguing only after I saw someone else was writing it).

And finally, still keeping that other point in mind: you don’t have the right to stop someone from working on something similar to what you’re writing. Can you imagine how many people are writing, at this exact moment, stories with the same premise? Of course, once it’s out, there’s a high chance the projects will be completely different, since each writer made it their own. I am willing to bet most of them didn’t copy from one another, they just happened to be interested in the same things - which is often the case here, prevented you aren’t an asshole that does what I described in the last paragraph.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am excited to read more stories about magical boading schools and I definitely hope J.K. Rowling won’t stop me from getting that.

Similarly, I beg you. You want to write your mafia!andy series? Please, do. The world needs your story. Just make sure it truly is your story that you’re telling.

tl;dr: plagiarism is a real issue, but never an excuse to bully people and traumatize them from writing. Writers, learn the difference between plagiarism and inspiration. If you do think it’s actual plagiarism you’re working with, please follow the following steps:

Before accusing anyone from plagiarism:

1. Actually talk to them without threatening or manipulating them so you can understand what happened and let them know how you feel. 80% of the times they’ll apologize and give you credit for it.

2. Unless you’re the reincarnation of William Shakespeare (and so being, you have the rights to all of the tropes and plot twists created in modern literature. go you!) - and prevented the “plagiarism” isn’t so obviously truly plagiarism, that it can be proven with two screenshots placed side by side - talk to someone unbiased who will tell you if what you think was stolen was actually stolen. There’s a good chance you’re being delusional and thinking the entire world is aware of your stories and looking forward to take advantage of your hard work on them.

A good rule of thumb? Don’t do to others what you don’t wish would be done to you, and make sure to apply that rule to the way you approach the situation and treat the person you were so quick to consider a villain. I’ve yet to see (in this community, since I got here) a situation where the writer accused of plagiarism when confronted has been anything other than kind and remorseful, ready to remedy the situation once it’s been brought to their attention.

If you’re so certain of being right, there’s literally no reason to be aggressive to someone who’s not treating you rudely.

#eyre rants #i am signing off for the foreseeable future

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ayuuria · 3 years

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Yashahime Translation: Regarding the TV Anime “Hanyou no Yashahime” The Second Chapter (Comments from the Staff)

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

A Hand Written Comment from Takahashi Rumiko-sensei Has Arrived!!

“I got to see the first episode of ‘Yashahime’ The Second Chapter before everyone else. It was an exciting development. The art is also beautiful. Please look forward to the broadcasting!”

Comment From the New Director, Hishida Masukazu-san

“Taking over from Director Satou Teruo, my name is Hishida, officially appointed to be the director for ‘Hanyou no Yashahime’ The Second Chapter. ‘Inuyasha’, the origin of ‘Hanyou no Yashahime’, to me is a memorable work where I made my first production debut with Sunrise, my origins, and developed as an anime producer. In regards to the various chances this time, I feel a sort of predestined, fateful thread of connection. I would like to do my best to repay the fans, even just a little bit. Please treat me well.”

Comment From Matsumoto Sara-san, the Role of Towa

“‘Hanyou no Yashahime’ The Second Chapter, is finally about to begin. With so many mysteries still remaining, as a viewer, I also felt lonely having to separate from the work for a time and I kept wishing from the bottom of my heart “Hurry with the continuation!” *laughs*.

I would be happy if everyone would continue to watch over beyond the developments of interest and what will happen to the Yashahimes and Inuyasha and co. There should... be episodes that go deeper into the innermost depths of each character’s hearts *laughs*. Please treat me well!”

Comment from Komatsu Mikako-san, the Role of Setsuna

“We received a shocking final episode in The First Chapter. The peaceful slumber that was obtained in exchange for Setsuna’s death. At the end she finally said “Towa Nee-chan” too... In the downpouring rain, Sesshomaru’s only wish that he entrusted to Towa.

Towa’s trial once again starts here.

Their fate with Kirinmaru; the life of their mother, Rin; Inuyasha and Kagome’s fate; and how will the daughters’ destinies be carved out...!? The Second Chapter is a development you really can’t take your eyes off of! Please look forward to it!”

Comment from Tadokoro Azusa,, the Role of Moroha

“The First Chapter ended in a shocking way! I think it was an incident that made Moroha and the others keenly feel how weak they were. It would make me happy if you would continue to watch over how they will grow after that (incident)! In addition, Moroha’s cuteness has powered up so please look forward to it~! I’ll give it my all in acting so that it feels more vivid! Please treat me well!

#Hanyou No Yashahime #Yashahime #Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon #translation

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rosesloveletters · 3 years

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Self-Shipping Reference.

I have been debating on creating a self-shipping reference for these two, but since I am certain of our dynamic at this point, I wanted to delve right in; I love Will and Jakob so very much and I wanted to create a little collection of our relationship like I’ve done before in the past. Most of all, this is for me so that I can have it as a reference, so there is absolutely no obligation to interact with this post. If you do, thank you for showing us so much love and care, I really appreciate it more than anything. This community is so welcoming of self-shipping and that means a lot to me<3.

last updated: June 17, 2021

please do not read if you are not interested in or comfortable with self-shipping.

word count: 2,908

Ship name?

Our collective ship name is Grimmrose, for obvious reasons (my poly heart can hardly take it😭✨💛)

I do not feel I should need to say this (as it should already be implied), but since I do not want angry anons in my ask box about this, I will state: Will and Jakob are not romantically involved in our dynamic; the love they have for each other is familial only. They both share me, but that is as far as it goes. There is absolutely no incestuous aspects of our relationship.

Date you got together?

Jakob: May 26, 2021. The open honesty and security within our vulnerabilities were what prompted Jakob and I to jump in headfirst. We knew how we felt almost immediately; Jakob believes in love at first sight and I value that sentiment. It was a mutual understanding that the two of us were meant to be together (even if I hadn’t already known, the darling would have convinced me - he is extremely persuasive and given to a dreamer’s mindset.) The two of us easily came to an agreement on beginning a relationship because of how similar we have found ourselves to be. It was not difficult to access what each other was thinking and how we chose to approach those thoughts and feelings. Jakob is driven by those, after all, and his bright spirit and general interest in the things that cannot be so easily explained drew me to him.

Will:

Platonic: May 26, 2021.

Romantic: June 14, 2021.

Will was, to my surprise, not as difficult to access as I expected. He has a much different personality to Jakob’s; the two are near opposite ends of the spectrum. Will’s mission has been to protect Jakob, mostly from himself, but Jakob does not understand that the reason Will is so hard on him is because Will feels helpless around him. Jakob’s mind is so bright and open, while Will does not understand how to compete with that nor how to understand or fit into Jakob’s world of folklore and mythical, magical beings. He feels weak in comparison to Jakob’s spirit; Will values my ability to cross those lines and connect with both him and Jakob. Will has never known another to be so well-suited for his brother and he is respectful of how we interact, since until now he has been the only one who has been able to reach Jakob. We were platonic for several weeks out of respect for Jakob, but soon entered into a mutual agreement to share the love that we all have for each other; the brothers agreed to share me since they have both developed such strong feelings.

Favorite personality trait?

Jakob: His sense of security within vulnerabilities. Jakob is more given to childlike excitement and the thrill of action whenever it is of a magical quality. He fidgets, has a distinct nervous energy/uncomfortable body language, a clear mind but one that fancies fiction over reality. Whenever he drinks, he’s giddy and excited; the only one who can get through to him in these moments are Will and I. The thing is, Jakob has never tried to be anybody but himself. He is aware that these qualities are not valued by the vast majority and are perhaps seen as weaknesses or even are simply frowned upon (much of this he experienced as a result of the way Will treated him over the years), but even all of that has never caused his personality to shift or made him close himself off. Jakob has always found security within who he is, regardless of whether those around like it or not.

Will: His protective commitment to those who he loves. Even though Will canonically admitted his frustrations over Jakob and how he “hates” his younger bother, stating how Jakob “drives him mad”, he is fiercely protective of him and committed to maintaining their relationship in spite of any disagreements or arguments. Will does not give up on those he loves. Even though it would have made sense for him to toss Jakob into the streets and leave him if he truly hates him, but Will does not. Despite his confession, he has never actually hated his brother; Jakob makes him feel weak, helpless and inferior because Jakob’s comprehension of things beyond Will’s understanding or compulsion to understand or look beyond what is right in front of him is too different and unusual to him.

Favorite physical trait?

Jakob: His eyes. Jakob’s eyes are so expressive; they sparkle in the light and his irises twinkle. His soul appears as if it were made from stardust and every bit of him glows. His eyes reflect the innocence and playful mischief bound within him; he is a dreamer at heart and his eyes mirror that.

Will: His smile. There is a scene when Jakob and Will first arrive at Marbaden and they are confronted by the townspeople with weapons, uncertain of who these two strangers are, and when Will tries to explain who they are his smile is simply dazzling. I believe that was the moment I found myself in love with him; I have not seen a smile so bright in a long time. Here’s a screenshot of his smile (Jakob’s expression in the background is so funny😂):

Couple song

We do not have a couple song yet; we have couple albums.

Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums, so it only makes sense that they are representative of the two brothers respectively: Folklore for Jakob and Evermore for Will.

Both albums are suited to the three of us; the feelings provoked from both establish the tone of our relationship.

Pet peeves…

There is only one: their constant bickering/arguing and fights. It is natural for siblings to fight, but the longer I spend with these two, the more consistently they seem to fight in front of me. I do not believe the fighting affects their relationship as perhaps it did in the past; they seem very content, even after they’ve been fighting a while, and neither of them holds a grudge anymore.

Favorite outfit on them?

I will share photos since it would take some time to explain in enough detail; I am a sucker for older/medieval clothing (perhaps this is why this movie spoke to me in such a way?)

These are my favorite outfits of theirs:

their armor is a close second, because it really makes me laugh:

Favorite meal?

Jakob: This bit is indicative of all of us and I was the one who introduced the brothers to this meal - vegetable soup; beef/broth, noodles, peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes. The brothers are used to eating whatever is being served them at the pubs they visit and the inns at each town they stay and, needless to say, are not often prepared a meal especially one to their specific tastes. The first time I made this for them, they ate heartily and it has been their favorite since.

Will: This is less of a specific meal and more of a eating habit of his, but Will is partial to sweet treats and desserts of all kind. His favorite treat is soft bread with a sticky, sugary glaze (wait until I tell him about glazed donuts😂)

Early bird or night owl?

Neither of the Grimms are particularly one or the other. They both have been known to stay awake all hours of the night for one reason or another; Jakob stays up writing most nights when brand new ideas flood his mind and prevent sleep. He works whenever inspiration strikes and if that is the middle of the night, then Will or I will find him hunched over his desk, pen scratching away across the page as he squints to read what he has written under the low candlelight.

Will stays awake late born out of a habit he has yet to change. He does not like to sleep very soundly until he knows that Jakob and I are either asleep or keeping each other company; Will takes responsibility of us quite seriously. Since we’ve begun a relationship, they do not go out as much as they once had and when we do, they are awake nearly the entire night and whenever they crash, they are both out cold.

If I wake up throughout the night, Jakob sleeps so soundly that he would not know (he wears earplugs if we’re staying at an inn because the noise bothers him.) Will always wakes up whenever I do; the shifting around wakes him, but he does not usually open his eyes or speak to me until I come back to bed and he settles me back into my spot.

Snorer or sleep talker?

Jakob: SLEEP TALKER! Jakob talks in his sleep nearly every night, most especially if he has had something to drink beforehand or if Will has gotten under his skin about something. Stress/anxiety also trigger it; I don’t hear him often, because he only does it in a deep sleep which is usually whenever I’ve already fallen asleep.

Will: Will does not snore or talk in his sleep; he is unusually quiet, however, he will groan or mumble softly if he’s turning over or something like that. He does not move a lot when he’s sleeping either.

Do you have any pets together?

No, our lifestyle is not suited to pets, unless horses used for transportation count.

Pet names! (Both from them and yours for them)

Will’s for me: little one/little girl, peanut

Jakob’s for me: sweetheart, darling, lover

Mine for Jakob: Jakey, Beanstalk (turning Will’s mean comments into something sweet💕), Dreamer, Sweetie/Sweet One/Sweet Baby

Mine for Will: Blondie, Prince Charming (only in certain scenarios)

Ones Jakob and Will use collectively for me: Briar Rose, Rosebud, Unicorn, Beauty/Belle (a play off my favorite fairytale), Princess

Ones I use collectively for Jakob & Will: Grimmy

How often do you fight? What starts fights?

I have yet to have any fights with either of the brothers (though I have had mild disagreements with Will over the way he speaks to Jakob.)

Jakob and Will fight often and about everything, but more often than not, the source of the argument is their personality difference. Their interests clash significantly and they find it difficult to coexist at times because Will feels he must fill the role of Jakob’s caretaker, while Jakob simply wants Will to be his brother and believe in him.

I usually do not get involved in their squabbles unless Will speaks out of turn. He can be somewhat hateful in the remarks he makes to his brother and I am not afraid to set the record straight. Jakob has gotten much better at standing up for himself; he is not afraid to get physical if things escalate to that point, though I have yet to see them lay a hand on each other. Jakob knows that one swift punch is all that he needs to deliver for Will to fall in line and understand that he is serious; he saves them for when he needs them and has only punched Will outright one time, that I am aware of.

Who apologizes first?

This depends on who feels they are “wrong”. Will does not like to apologize, so usually it is Jakob who initiates the apology. Occasionally, neither will apologize and it is implied that they both have and things will continue on like normal as if nothing ever happened (this is best case scenario.)

I have not known them to simply not apologize to each other for wrongdoing; Will has apologized to Jakob on a number of occasions where I have been present. If Will apologizes, it is usually for speaking too harshly to Jakob or bringing up the “magic beans” he has terrorized Jakob with for years.

Big spoon or little spoon?

Jakob: Jakob adores being the little spoon. Even though he likes to hold onto me at night, nothing seems to compare to being held. Jakob has gone the majority of his life without being shown affection and tender love; he is so touch-starved that he asks to be held almost every night.

Will: Will is the only F/O (aside from J) who I allow to be the big spoon on a regular basis. I trust him implicitly and know that he will keep me safe; he likes to hold onto me while we sleep so that he knows and can feel he isn’t alone. He does not like to sleep whenever it is too cold and he wants a warm body pressed against him.

Dom or sub?

Jakob: Submissive.

Will: Dominant.

Will has had his misgivings over Jakob and I, both being submissives, entering into a relationship together, but it has not presented an issue so far. Most of the time, Jakob and I love all over each other so it doesn’t matter one way or another😂 It is rare for Jakob and I to be sexually intimate.

Will takes on the more dominant role, since he has been so with Jakob over the years of their lives before they’d met me. Will is the nurturer and takes care of us both; he remains protective of us despite certain insecurities and fears. Will takes on more of the sexual responsibilities of their relationship with me because of his experience with women.

What are their kisses like?

Jakob: Jakob’s kisses begin as achingly shy, reverential ones that develop into slowly sensual, spontaneous or exploratory ones. Jakob likes to hold my hands when we kiss and I like the way his facial hair pleasantly scratches my face; he is always extremely gentle and never oversteps. I especially love when he kisses me with such eager impulsivity that our cheeks turn red and we laugh when it’s over.

Will: Will’s kisses can either be covetous and greedy, fervent, and deeply passionate or chaste and flirtatious. He always cups my cheeks, chin or tangles his fingers in my hair at the back of my head while kissing me; his lips often taste sweet or sugary from how often he indulges on sweets. My favorite of Will’s kisses are the languid, open-mouthed ones when he uses his tongue.

What do they smell like?

Jakob: Parchment, books and ink, candlewax, earth just after it has rained, sweet basil, a vaguely sweet musk, warm skin.

Will: Warm sugar, sweat/spicy musk, pine, flame.

What are their hugs like?

Jakob: Bear-like, full-bodied, fiercely affectionate and warm.

Will: Long, tight, unexpectedly powerful and almost needy.

Who is more protective?

Will.

Both brothers are fiercely protective of me and I know that, in spite of their differences, neither would ever let anything happen to me. As long as they are facing danger together, they would willingly take on any enemy (Jakob would never let Will face danger alone and vice versa.)

Interested in children?

No. Will says that Jakob and I are enough like children as it stands😂

Who needs the most TLC when sick?

Will AND Jakob. They are both huge babies whenever they are sick and all they want is to be taken care of. Surprisingly, they bicker a lot more whenever they’re sick; mainly, they fight over who gets to cuddle me first.

Whenever I am sick, I tend to react the same way and the brothers are more than obliged to take care of me in any way they are able. Will takes the more ‘hands-on’ work like fetching me a drink, food, blankets, etc. and helping me move about as I need. Jakob does not like to leave my side and he will not do so unless instructed by Will and he will fetch me whatever is needed and then return to cuddle with me.

Who says ‘I love you’ first?

I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ to either of the brothers. I told Jakob first; we nearly admitted it at the same time. We knew how we both felt upon the first of our meetings.

It took me a while to say ‘I love you’ to Will. Our relationship began platonically; I did not feel comfortable saying so to him until I spoke with Jakob about it first. Intuitive of human emotions is he and he was already well-aware of how we felt about each other and, with his blessing and consent, the brothers agreed to share the love and, well, me.

Which of you is more accident prone?

I bet you’re thinking either me or Jakob. WRONG! It’s Will. Jakob and I are very steady on our feet because we are full of rambunctious energy; Will is more laid back than either of us and he gets more indignant whenever he does accidentally hurt himself.

Bed hog?

Jakob is more of a bed hog than Will or I. He is consistently moving around in his sleep, talking, etc. There is one unspoken rule: Jakob sleeps on the left side of the mattress, I am in the middle and Will is on the right. Both use me as a barrier and do not cross to the other’s side of the bed at any point and they each take turns cuddling with me until we all fall asleep.

Who loves the other the most?

As if it even needs to be said, we all love each other equally, but in different ways. Jakob’s and Will’s relationship and love for each other is strictly familial, while the brothers’ relationships with me are both romantic.

Will understands and accepts that my relationship with Jakob takes priority, as we began ours first and I am unspokenly Jakob’s above all else. Any and all major decisions are made between Jakob and I; we of course always consider Will’s emotions, well-being, etc. but Jakob prefers to take the reins in terms of calling the shots, in spite of Will being the dominant and more protective one. He feels like Will owes him this and Will is happy to allow his brother this courtesy, considering this is Jakob’s first true relationship.

#🌹grimmrose #self-shipping

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meg-noel-art · 4 years

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Why do you believe that Catra never got over her what you called "obsessive and selfish love" for Adora? Because I didn't see that.

-gestures vaguely to all of the show-

Okay, you know what, let’s get into this. Because I’m honestly tired of it all. First let’s start with this: In popular media, is there a common theme of erotic subtext between rivals? Uh, yeah. Hell yeah. Tension between two people looking to one up each other that can be read as romantic or sexual? Oh absolutely. So, let’s, for the sake of argument assume that was the type of dynamic that Noelle and Co. were going for all along, as they’ve stated. Because they weren’t the first to play with this dynamic and they won’t the last.

So again, tension and subtext between rivals that escalates into passion or eventually real love? Yes.

On the other hand: betrayal, emotional manipulation, physical maiming and injury and outright seeking the utter demise and failure of you ‘rival’ because they made you sad by making a better choice than you did? That doesn’t equate to love.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s approach Catra’s motivations as all based around this deep love she has for Adora, which I will argue through this post is more of as passionate and selfish obsession than actual love. (And honestly, that’s a super cool character motivation, but pretending that it’s an epic love story is gross and I hate it.)

So, let’s return to Season 1

One of the first real battles we see Catra and Adora in takes place at the end of the season. This comes after ‘The Promise’ wherein Adora tries again to get Catra to come with her, but Catra doubles down on her desire to spite Adora for hurting her and leaving her, by being as nasty as she possibly can and putting Adora in just as much emotional pain. Here, she not only fights Adora, but cuts her down to her deepest insecurities. Catra knows Adora and she knows how desperately she wants to be a hero. It’s an aspect of Adora that Catra has always disliked because it made her feel lesser. In order to fully cripple her rival here, Catra tugs at the strings she knows will hurt the most.

“You will fail them (you failed me)”, “You’re friends will hate you (Just like I do)” “You will never be the hero you want to be (I will be the reason you can’t)”. If you want to talk about subtext in this scene, Catra’s unhealthy and obsessive desire to be the only thing Adora needs/wants/thinks about is literally all over the place. If you want to argue that she’s saying all of this because she’s hurting, then it’s literally the cruelest possible way she could say it. And the show doesn’t bother selling us on the fact that Catra is in pain here, it just hammers home the idea of how badly she wants Adora to fail so she can feel that pain too.

In no universe, would I call that treatment of someone love.

Next up, this moment in Season 2:

I remember everyone losing their minds over this scene, and again, arguing a sexual tension between rivals, then yes, that makes sense. But in the context of this entire episode and the ones leading up to this point? This statement from Catra is disgusting. And it gets worse.

In the next scene, we see Catra literally planning to use Adora as her own personal weapon (an aspect I find personally icky when considering the struggle Adora has with destiny/her own autonomy at the end of Season 4 being use by Light Hope as a weapon. Catra literally has the same idea.)

And moreso than that, Catra won’t just use her as a weapon. She will use Adora to cut down anyone else who has ever cared about her or shown her affection. It’s a new level of jealousy/possession that is touched on even moreso as the series goes on. But what’s crazy to me is that it seems to have developed from Season 1. In the Battle of Bright Moon, Adora could only fail them. Now, however much later this is, Catra wants her to hurt them too. Adora will hurt, her friends will hurt. Everyone will hurt like Catra does. Because she’s possessive of Adora’s affection. It makes her feel like she has meaning. Which is an entire other can of worms about Catra’s motivations and character, but we’re gonna move ahead to season 3.

This is a fascinating moment to me. At this point, Catra has essentially flunked out of the Horde, but she’s NEVER been more determined to prove herself to Hordak, to SW, to Adora, to everyone. But here, Scorpia points out how truly happy she is when Adora isn’t even in the damn picture anymore. The poisonous environment of the Horde is gone, Catra is claiming respect for her abilities and personality. Adora has nothing to do with it and she’s happy.

And then:

Look, I am remise to sound like a total asshole, but the entire show is pointing this out for me through even it’s dialogue. Catra’s pain and hate and obsession returns when Adora mentions that their shared abuser Shadow Weaver has chosen her yet again. Suddenly, nothing matters. None of Scorpia’s kind words, or the achievments she made in the Waste. All that matters, is beating Adora. Hurting her. Being better and more loved than her.

Honesty, at this point I’m losing the thread of ‘love’ entirely. Now it just feels like a total mission for vengeance. But, once again, okay, let’s argue she’s really just angry and wants Adora’s love back. So what does she do to get it?

She opens the Portal to hurt Adora. As Adora screams don’t, begs her not to, tells her what it will do to their world, Catra does it anyway. Because Adora must hurt. She broke Catra’s heart and Catra must break it back. That’s how love works, I guess.

Once again, if the show was working on selling me on Catra’s motivations being sympathetic and fueled by love all along. It is failing.

Now, let’s talk about the Portal world that it takes them into. What everyone called their “perfect universe”.

So we have this moment, where Adora gets to the heart of the issue and asks Catra about her real pain. Catra avoids it, once again. Yes, of course she’s wanted this, they both always have. I suppose at this moment you could argue her true motivations come through, but it also just emboldens my point that Catra is not growing. She’s not gaining any character development. If she did just always want Adora by her side, this scene shows us that Adora has moved past these Horde induced childhood dreams they have. She has seen a bigger world and a bigger issue and Catra is still holding onto the hope that they will keep this promise to always have each others backs.

Which, is an ironic thing to hold onto considering Catra was the first to break this promise, by not going with Adora when the time was right. And yet she believes Adora is the one who owes her the apology. Now, this would be great set up for an arc about Catra coming to terms with the fact that she is the problem and Season 4 seemed ready to set that up but then... didn’t.

This line in particular has always stuck with me because it broke their relationship entirely for me. At this point, Catra could apologize all she wanted in a possible redemption arc, but the damage was done. She admitted a pain so deep that it would change her and Adora’s relationship forever. Her hurt ran so deep that she would rather die, see everything end, than see Adora find happiness outside of her.

I could stop this post here and honestly, my point would have been made. But we’ve got more to go.

I was so excited after the moment. After an entire season of snapping under the weight of her own choices. It is the image of Scorpia, who loved her unconditionally, who tells Catra that she is the problem and she always has been.

At this point, I was ready. Catra had hit rock bottom, there was nowhere to go but up. She would approach her pain and figure out who she wanted to be as a person. She would team up with the Rebellion because she knew it was the right thing to do, she would atone for her mistakes. By the end maybe she would go on her own adventure to find herself?

And.... No?

She doesn’t.

Season 5 rolls around and suddenly she is right back where she started, scrambling up the ladder for power and respect. It sure doesn’t work for Horde Prime, putting her in real danger. She even gets a few moments to connect with Glimmer (maybe apologize for the Portal...no... oh okay.)

In fact, she saves Glimmer! But.... why does she do it? Certainly not for Glimmer’s sake, a character who has been stated by the crew to be literally her narrative foil, her other half. But...

Like...? At this point I don’t even know what the show is going for anymore, it’s a fucking mess. You could even argue that up to this point, Catra HAS been manipulating Glimmer to trust her so that she could in turn save Adora. Which is all kinds of fucked up, as we see in the conversation with the BFS squad that Glimmer WANTS to save Catra, and trusts her.

And then this memory that incited Catra’s desire to save Adora was:

I could have just answered with this screenshot and saved myself an hour. You wanna argue love? Fine.

Then Catra has NEVER let go of her frankly concerning obsession with Adora’s attention and affection and that is no more clear that this memory where she also physically assaults her and steps on her, and Adora goes crawling after her trying to comfort her.

Oh? Are you, Catra? Well that’s cool. You are allowed to be sorry. But that doesn’t mean Adora owes you literally anything at this point. No one is ever obligated to accept any apology no matter how heartfelt it might be.

At the end of the day, this love story their trying to sell me on is so twisted I can hardly stand to watch the final season. Because it’s never worked out!! Adora immediatedly forgives every moment I’ve listed in this post and more. Catra never apologizes to someone who deserved it most, Scorpia.

And more than that, Catra never grows into who she should have become as a character. She is stuffed into an OTP the show wanted from the beginning but failed for 5 seasons to make convincing or compelling.

Also Adora has such a huge heart she deserves someone who would treat her better than Catra could. Catra can’t. Catra can’t even treat herself right.

Like... Yeah. I don’t even know what to say anymore. Hope this answered your question.

Obsessive, possessive....Gross. I’m tired. C/A won at the end of the day I guess, but at what cost?

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maxismatchccworld · 4 years

Photo

Welcome back to our latest - and last! - Deep Dive into the gameplay of The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack. I’ve really enjoyed sharing the designs and development of this pack with you, and I hope to continue doing these sorts of posts in the future. It’s been a super cool experience, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these! In today’s post I’ll talk about the feature that is core to everything in this pack, Knitting! Once again, I have to remind you that we’re still in active development on the pack and so some things may change between now and the final game. Now, let’s talk about some nifty knits!

READ IT I PROMISE YOU GONNA LIKE IT!

In order to start knitting, you’ll need to purchase a Yarn Basket from the Build/Buy catalog. You probably remember voting on these baskets a while back. This was the winning design, presented to you now in all its colorful glory! Don’t like color? That’s okay, because we included a solid black and white variant.

We have one more knitting basket coming too! Remember this one?

The basket acts as the crafting catalyst(neat term, huh?) similar to the Easel or Woodworking Bench in The Sims 4 base game. But unlike those examples, the Yarn Basket is meant to live in a Sim’s inventory so that they can take their knitting anywhere they want to go. Knitting itself is relatively straightforward: click on the Yarn Basket in your inventory, OR, with the basket in your inventory, click on the chair you want to sit in while knitting (perhaps a rocking chair?) and select the Knit interaction. Your projects are saved to your Sim, so you can pause your progress at any time and resume later, and even juggle multiple projects at once. Starting a project costs a small amount of Simoleons for the cost of yarn, but nothing too outrageous.

(Children can knit too!) As a Sim levels up their knitting skill they’ll have access to new patterns. They’ll start with knitting socks and beanies, but as they grow more skilled they can tackle more challenging projects like sweaters and toys for kids. But if you only want to specialize in one thing - perhaps knitted mailbox cozies? - that's fine too! Just keep knitting anything and everything, and you’ll be level 10 before you know it. Speaking of knitting skill, sometimes your skill is reflected in your knitted work, or rather your lack of skill. Knitting projects can fail, and when they fail they can get weird. But it’s all subjective, and maybe you’ll end up accidentally knitting the cutest derpy companion, or the perfectly itchy sweater. No mistakes, only happy accidents!

(Just own it.) One of the niftiest parts of the knitting skill is unlocking the ability to Teach to Knit, where Sims sit down together and have a knitting pow-wow. We wanted this to feel special, so we got a really sweet animation for it (Thanks Haeju!). Now that you can infect other Sims with the knitting bug, no yarn ball will be safe!

(The knitting needles aren’t finished on the Teach To Knit interaction yet, but trust me it's SUPER CUTE.) So, what can you do with all these knitting projects? Lots of stuff! Not only can knitted objects be listed on Plopsy, but you can also Donate them to charity. If you want to surprise a loved one, try Gifting a knitted object too. If you want to destroy all traces of your knitted failures, you can Frog the object and start again! If it's a particularly nice Sweater that you made, consider Adding it to Wardrobe to make it available in Create-A-Sim to all family members.

(Everyone appreciates a nice gift!) We want Sims to be able to knit something for their whole family. Not only will Sims be able to knit Toddler Onesies, but Baby Onesies as well. So put your little grubworm in a handmade knitted outfit. I’m sure they’d thank us if they could! (And if they didn’t like it I’m sure they’d be polite about it.)

(Here’s a sneak peek at some of the concept art for new clothing for the littlest of Sims!) It also felt like a good idea to add an Aspiration to tie this passion for knitting all together. So if you want to master the fuzzy art of knitting, consider signing your Sim up for the Lord(or Lady) of the Knits Aspiration. With yarn running through your veins, there will be no knitting mountain too hard to conquer! Master the Aspiration and you’ll be rewarded with the Sacred Knitting Knowledge trait. What does it do? Lots of stuff! What does it unlock? Something special! Am I being vague? I am! Come on guys, I can’t share all the secrets quite yet.

As I’ve mentioned previously, we’re trying to get as much cross-pack functionality for knitting as we can. Cats can play with Yarn Baskets and Yarn Balls, there will be new Club rules for Knitting, new class electives at University, and knitting counts for Emotional Control, just to name a few. I’m hoping Knitting feels nice and snug alongside our other gameplay systems. Now let's have a chat with our lead Object Modeler, Beth Mohler! Conor: Can you tell us a little bit about what an Object Modeler does on The Sims 4? Beth: As an object modeler I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make objects work in The Sims 4. This is actually a very involved process, and somewhat different from the wonderful work our environment team does. We work with designers, concept artists, engineers, animators, vfx artists (basically everyone!) to make sure that Sims can use an object properly in an animation, or that all of our objects will work with each other. Once we understand the design for a new object, we will create a rig, a block model (a very generic version of the object used to help us make more of the same object in the future), and a footprint (tells us where the object can go and how Sims move around it). Once those are tested by animators and other disciplines we can model the final version, create UVs, and add textures. We also hook up and test everything in the game to make sure it all looks good. There is a lot to think about when it comes to making objects because we know players can find so many interesting ways to place and use them in game. That makes it a very fun challenge to make them work with everything else we’ve built before. Conor: What feature are you most excited to work on in Nifty Knitting Stuff? Beth: I’d say I am most excited to work on the rocking chairs! I love that we are bringing them to the game and can’t wait to see them in some cozy living rooms or on porches. Conor: What are some of the challenges you are facing working on this pack? Beth: One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the knitting itself looks good and is fun to watch! This is a challenge given that it needs to work for everything you can create. Figuring this out takes a lot of iteration between modeling, animation, engineering, design, and art direction so that we come to a conclusion that will work the best given our time and technical constraints. Another interesting “challenge” is the fact that I crochet as a hobby myself! When you are knowledgeable about something (yarn!) in real life, working on it in the game it can sometimes be hard to separate the things you know and may expect in reality from what is possible or best within a video game. I have to make sure to keep a balance and to conceptualize how we can best convert the knitting experience into The Sims 4. As someone who also generally enjoys interior design and architecture, this is actually one of my favorite challenges and one of the things I love about working on objects in The Sims 4. Conor: What is your favorite feature you have ever worked on in The Sims 4? Beth: I think it has to be a tie between the mini fridge or the robotics table in Discover University. That pack was the first time I got to really take an entire feature from start to finish. I’ve been with Maxis for a while, but I’m relatively new to The Sims 4. Both of these objects had some complex features we wanted that required a lot of iteration. I learned a ton about the technical aspects of our game during the process as well. I’ve also worked on a few very cool things between then and now, but those can’t be shared yet ; ) As a fan of The Sims since the very beginning I am so happy to be able to share a little about what I do on a daily basis on The Sims 4 with you! I haven’t been on The Sims 4 for quite as long overall, but some of you may also recognize me from my time on Sims Mobile where I shared some of our workflows on Twitter for making a juice bar. Thanks! Conor: You shared a screenshot of the In-Progress Rocking Chair in our Rocking Chair Deep Dive. Can you share an updated screenshot now that the Rocking Chair is further along? Beth: I would love to! I hope everyone has been enjoying seeing the progress on this object so far! Here it is a little further along. This program allows us to set the rules for the object materials, footprint size and rig it should use, as well as all the color variants and swatch colors you see in the catalog.

Thanks Beth! By the way, Beth is on Twitter @SimGuruBeth, so be sure to Follow her! And thanks to all of you Simmers for following this pack’s development, this has been a really fun project in a very crazy time. A big thank you to my Stuff Pack teammates, and especially SimGuruSarah who edited my inane ramblings and wrangled the miscellaneous bits for these posts. While this concludes my design Deep Dives, we still have more forum posts with development insights on the way! Keep checking the Community Stuff Pack forum and we’ll have more fun stuff to show off in the weeks to come. Until next time, SimGuruConor

Source: The Sims Forum

#s4cc #s4mm #ts4cc #ts4mm #maxis match #thesims4 #S4 news

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nightsh6de · 4 years

Text

small killing eve rant

since season 3 of killing eve started, i’ve seen people all over twitter bitching and moaning about it. people who say that they’re fans of the show are actively shitting on this season. hey, i’m not saying you have to love everything about every show you watch. but y’all are seriously getting on my fucking nerves.

these people complain about the show more than they praise it; they whine that the “editing seems off” or that there’s “no purpose for the new characters & they’re soooo annoying”. if you weren’t just some rando on stan twitter, and actually a film/tv critic, i might listen to your complaints about the editing and casting. but you’re not critics, you’re just a fan. please know your place.

if you actually cared about anything more than villanelle/jodie (because she has some really wacky stans all of a sudden), you might be able to see that this season is absolutely fucking fantastic! we all sat through season 2, and i saw many people complain a LOT about that season. suzanne came in on the heels of an objectively mediocre season and has masterfully moved the plot and characters forward, giving them more development in four episodes than emerald gave them in eight.

the editing isn’t an issue. the plot and characters aren’t an issue. YOU are the issue. i can’t believe that people are seriously complaining about this season when we legit got a VILLANEVE KISS??? it makes me so furious to still see people whining when i’ve been here from the very beginning of this fandom & i’ve waited for villaneve since the beginning. twitter stans nearly ruined that moment for me too, and i’m still angry about that.

so please, don’t sit there and shit on a season that is funny, tension-filled, highly emotional, SUPER gay, and seems to be moving us closer and closer to villaneve (oh yeah, and that gave us a fucking kiss, if you don’t remember that). this season has taken us back to everything that was wonderful about season 1, while adding even more to it & giving us full-on villaneve canon along the way.

i can’t stress enough how important this show is, not only to me personally, but to so many other wonderful people i’ve met/know through this fandom. if you’re going to be a fan, make sure you at least respect the work done by both the cast and crew of the show. we get shit on enough by (mostly male) reviewers as it is; we don’t need people in the fandom to spread more negativity. this show is pushing boundaries and making the cishet men angry! we should be singing its praises from our rooftops!!

so, if you still want to complain, i kindly ask you to unfollow/block me. i want to enjoy this season just as much as we all enjoyed season one, and i can’t do that if i’m still seeing complaints from “fans”.

if you don’t agree with my view, there’s no need to attack. you feel free to do you, but i beg of you to reevaluate your place in this fandom: if you really aren’t enjoying the show at all this season, why are you still watching? if it’s not making you happy or excited anymore, why not do yourself a favor and just stop watching? that applies to all forms of media, not just killing eve.

i don’t get on tumblr that often, so i have no idea if this has been a problem on here, but if anyone wants to screenshot this and share it on twitter, i think it would have a bigger effect there. thank you for reading.

also, as i already know someone will try to come for me for a couple things i said above, let me make a few things clear: i absolutely adore each and every character (except for most of the men, they can fuck off lol), i love all of the cast and crew, and i have no hatred towards emerald or season 2. objectively, between season 1 and season 2, i think most will agree that overall, season two was much weaker. i’ve still seen it more than once, i still have several moments from that season that i adore, but it isn’t the best season of ke. that’s just my two cents there, and my view on the characters/cast & crew. please don’t accuse me of hating on anyone/anything from this show; i’ll just be forced to block you.

#killing eve #villaneve #villanelle #eve polastri #sandra oh #jodie comer #killing eve season 3 #killing eve season 2 #killing eve season 1 #suzanne heathcote #emerald fennell #phoebe waller bridge #gay #villaneve is endgame #can y’all please just chill on your over-the-top hatred of this season? it’s not needed

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thesims4blogger · 4 years

Text

The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting: Knitting Deep Dive

SimGuruConnor has released a forum post providing details on The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting!

Welcome back to our latest – and last! – Deep Dive into the gameplay of The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack. I’ve really enjoyed sharing the designs and development of this pack with you, and I hope to continue doing these sorts of posts in the future. It’s been a super cool experience, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these!

In today’s post I’ll talk about the feature that is core to everything in this pack, Knitting! Once again, I have to remind you that we’re still in active development on the pack and so some things may change between now and the final game.

Now, let’s talk about some nifty knits!

We have one more knitting basket coming too! Remember this one?

Your projects are saved to your Sim, so you can pause your progress at any time and resume later, and even juggle multiple projects at once. Starting a project costs a small amount of Simoleons for the cost of yarn, but nothing too outrageous.

(Children can knit too!)

As a Sim levels up their knitting skill they’ll have access to new patterns. They’ll start with knitting socks and beanies, but as they grow more skilled they can tackle more challenging projects like sweaters and toys for kids. But if you only want to specialize in one thing – perhaps knitted mailbox cozies? – that’s fine too! Just keep knitting anything and everything, and you’ll be level 10 before you know it.

Speaking of knitting skill, sometimes your skill is reflected in your knitted work, or rather your lack of skill. Knitting projects can fail, and when they fail they can get weird. But it’s all subjective, and maybe you’ll end up accidentally knitting the cutest derpy companion, or the perfectly itchy sweater. No mistakes, only happy accidents!

(Just own it.)

One of the niftiest parts of the knitting skill is unlocking the ability to Teach to Knit, where Sims sit down together and have a knitting pow-wow. We wanted this to feel special, so we got a really sweet animation for it (Thanks Haeju!). Now that you can infect other Sims with the knitting bug, no yarn ball will be safe!

(The knitting needles aren’t finished on the Teach To Knit interaction yet, but trust me it’s SUPER CUTE.)

So, what can you do with all these knitting projects? Lots of stuff!

Not only can knitted objects be listed on Plopsy, but you can also Donate them to charity. If you want to surprise a loved one, try Gifting a knitted object too. If you want to destroy all traces of your knitted failures, you can Frog the object and start again! If it’s a particularly nice Sweater that you made, consider Adding it to Wardrobe to make it available in Create-A-Sim to all family members.

(Everyone appreciates a nice gift!)

We want Sims to be able to knit something for their whole family. Not only will Sims be able to knit Toddler Onesies, but Baby Onesies as well. So put your little grubworm in a handmade knitted outfit. I’m sure they’d thank us if they could! (And if they didn’t like it I’m sure they’d be polite about it.)

(Here’s a sneak peek at some of the concept art for new clothing for the littlest of Sims!)

It also felt like a good idea to add an Aspiration to tie this passion for knitting all together. So if you want to master the fuzzy art of knitting, consider signing your Sim up for the Lord(or Lady) of the Knits Aspiration. With yarn running through your veins, there will be no knitting mountain too hard to conquer! Master the Aspiration and you’ll be rewarded with the Sacred Knitting Knowledge trait. What does it do? Lots of stuff! What does it unlock? Something special! Am I being vague? I am! Come on guys, I can’t share all the secrets quite yet.

Now let’s have a chat with our lead Object Modeler, Beth Mohler!

Conor: Can you tell us a little bit about what an Object Modeler does on The Sims 4?

Beth: As an object modeler I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make objects work in The Sims 4. This is actually a very involved process, and somewhat different from the wonderful work our environment team does. We work with designers, concept artists, engineers, animators, vfx artists (basically everyone!) to make sure that Sims can use an object properly in an animation, or that all of our objects will work with each other. Once we understand the design for a new object, we will create a rig, a block model (a very generic version of the object used to help us make more of the same object in the future), and a footprint (tells us where the object can go and how Sims move around it). Once those are tested by animators and other disciplines we can model the final version, create UVs, and add textures. We also hook up and test everything in the game to make sure it all looks good. There is a lot to think about when it comes to making objects because we know players can find so many interesting ways to place and use them in game. That makes it a very fun challenge to make them work with everything else we’ve built before.

Conor: What feature are you most excited to work on in Nifty Knitting Stuff?

Beth: I’d say I am most excited to work on the rocking chairs! I love that we are bringing them to the game and can’t wait to see them in some cozy living rooms or on porches.

Conor: What are some of the challenges you are facing working on this pack?

Beth: One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the knitting itself looks good and is fun to watch! This is a challenge given that it needs to work for everything you can create. Figuring this out takes a lot of iteration between modeling, animation, engineering, design, and art direction so that we come to a conclusion that will work the best given our time and technical constraints.

Another interesting “challenge” is the fact that I crochet as a hobby myself! When you are knowledgeable about something (yarn!) in real life, working on it in the game it can sometimes be hard to separate the things you know and may expect in reality from what is possible or best within a video game. I have to make sure to keep a balance and to conceptualize how we can best convert the knitting experience into The Sims 4. As someone who also generally enjoys interior design and architecture, this is actually one of my favorite challenges and one of the things I love about working on objects in The Sims 4.

Conor: What is your favorite feature you have ever worked on in The Sims 4?

Beth: I think it has to be a tie between the mini fridge or the robotics table in Discover University. That pack was the first time I got to really take an entire feature from start to finish. I’ve been with Maxis for a while, but I’m relatively new to The Sims 4. Both of these objects had some complex features we wanted that required a lot of iteration. I learned a ton about the technical aspects of our game during the process as well. I’ve also worked on a few very cool things between then and now, but those can’t be shared yet ; )

As a fan of The Sims since the very beginning I am so happy to be able to share a little about what I do on a daily basis on The Sims 4 with you! I haven’t been on The Sims 4 for quite as long overall, but some of you may also recognize me from my time on Sims Mobile where I shared some of our workflows on Twitter for making a juice bar. Thanks!

Conor: You shared a screenshot of the In-Progress Rocking Chair in our Rocking Chair Deep Dive. Can you share an updated screenshot now that the Rocking Chair is further along?

Beth: I would love to! I hope everyone has been enjoying seeing the progress on this object so far! Here it is a little further along. This program allows us to set the rules for the object materials, footprint size and rig it should use, as well as all the color variants and swatch colors you see in the catalog.

While this concludes my design Deep Dives, we still have more forum posts with development insights on the way! Keep checking the Community Stuff Pack forum and we’ll have more fun stuff to show off in the weeks to come.

Until next time, SimGuruConor

#news #ts4 #sims 4 #the sims 4 #stuff pack

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blue-shaded · 3 years

Note

Hey Dolphin anon! While I respect your opinion, I disagree on some points. I don’t know where the popular sentiment that he doesn’t denounce his stans’ toxic behavior came from but he’s said multiple times that he denounces it (https://twitter.com/PooGnf/status/1399592255657156608/video/1 ignore the user lol :) ) and that’s just what he says on Twitter. Some of it yeah is a little more lighthearted, like when he talks about Detective Dream in some of the tweets, but I’d say that a fair amount of those tweets lack sarcasm and are said in full seriousness. In addition, he’s also said not to send hate on his behalf during multiple of his own livestreams, he said it when he went on Kaceytron’s streams, he said he didn’t condone toxic behavior during Kavos’s video, as well as multiple times throughout various drama like the speedrunning situation and the John Swan situation (for Blue and others, John Swan is a commentary youtubers who basically did a lot of weird shit, who Dream worked with in the past and had a bad experience with. man imitated Dream’s discord profile and pretended to be him while sending sexual things to a minor, and then tried to blame everything he did on his 12-year old neighbor when he got caught, saying he left his computer open and that that neighbor got on Discord and was the one who did all that weird shit. Obviously false and got proven false, but even when Dream was debunking the situation on stream, he said not to send hate). He’s said it multiple times and I agree that he should continue to say it as he continues to grow to remind both new and old fans but he’s said it multiple times and at this point, anyone who Is still sending death threats is aware that it’s wrong and that he doesn’t support it and they just don’t care. I personally think that behavior is disgusting and I know most of the people I interact with on Twitter do as well. At this point, it’s just sort of a question of to what extent do people want him to say it. The most recent time he denounced death threats was on May 31st both on Twitter and on stream, and he’s probably said it at least once a month almost every month since like December, so he says it quite a bit, so going further would be personally DMing each toxic person he sees and telling them to stop which. I just think is a little absurd. I know that others want him to post a video on his main channel about it and condoning it as well, but I sort of disagree? While death threats can be sent on any platform, the platform on which people receive it on the most is Twitter. Anyone who’s obsessed enough to send death threats is going to be following him on all socials so they’ve definitely seen him condemning it as he’s tweeted saying that he doesn’t support that type of behavior multiple times, but of course, others are allowed to disagree with me on that, I just think that it’s hard to find a good course of action past that. I agree that toxic behavior should still be called out, but I feel like a lot of people advocating for him to do it more than he is now kind of don’t understand how out of control toxic behavior is and how they rarely listen to creators themselves.

The speedrunning stuff I kind of agree on, though I’ll just go a little more in depth about the situation. basically, for those who don’t watch Dream’s videos, dream codes mod videos for Minecraft and these mod videos would consist of things like “Minecraft but everything is dark” and “Minecraft but we can only see one chunk at a time”. Now because Dream still runs the dream SMP and did speed running at the time he had to move these mods out of the mod folder in order to do everything else that he was doing when he wasn’t recording videos. This would later on lead to the problem where the speed run moderators would ask for his mods folder and he wouldn’t be able to provide a full copy because he had since moved stuff around because it had been a week after the actual speedrun streams they were inquiring about. The thing that ended up being the problem was a recording mod that Dream had asked a separate developer to create for him and the Dream Team in order to make their recordings smoother. that was sort of it there weren’t any specifics given, he just wanted recordings to be better. Now because it was just for recordings and since the mod ran well dream didn’t ask the developer for the specifics of what they coded into this recording mod at the time. In his mind this recording mod sort of just clean things up visually. And for those who have never really played Minecraft, what I mean by that is if you press F5 in Minecraft you get a whole ton of information on your screen about coordinates and computer specs. When people say that the mod cleaned things up visually, they mean that all of that irrelevant information that clogs up the screen in a video was minimized to just coordinates. he was wrong in this assumption, the Recording mud also included coding that allowed for better trades. again for anyone who doesn’t play Minecraft, Dream and the Dream Team record their videos in the 1.16 version of Minecraft. In this version of Minecraft, it’s a widely used tactic to use piglin trades to get ender pearls. Since their videos aren’t just about beating the game regularly, there’s usually more of a focus on fighting or the specific mod that they’re using for that video, the developer increased the likelihood of ender pearl trades with pigeons in order to make recordings go faster. Regardless of that and his misconception of what the mod actually did, Dream didn’t believe it mattered because there was no record of him having loaded that recording mod during the speedrunning streams in question. This is because Dream uses something that a lot of speed runners use, he uses Fabric. Fabric API is something that both allows your Minecraft to run smoother (which is why a lot of speed runners use it, it’s approved to be used by the speed run moderators) and for those who wish to do so, it also functions as a mod loader. So when I said that he had no record of him having loaded the recording mod, I mean that when he checked the logs of Fabric API, it said that the only thing loaded was Fabric itself. this was inherently a wrong way to go about it because the way Fabric API logs work is that you have to be searching for a specific mod, so you can’t just look at what the log says is loaded on because sometimes the logs don’t show a mod unless you specifically ask the program to look for it. Dream figured this out a couple months ago, he went back through the logs, talk to the developer who coded the recording mod and got confirmation that yes, he did have the recording mod on and yes, the recording mod does increase ender pearl drop rates. He recently wrote a pastebin that has since been taken down by the pastebin staff though screenshots of it are still easy to find. I do wish that he had come out about this sooner because he knew of this information for a couple months before openly sharing, but I do get the situation has sort of faded and that he wasn’t excited to re-open that discussion when he himself had gotten a lot of hate and the threats during that situation.

Obviously as outsiders looking in we will never know how genuine he’s being, if he’s telling the truth, but I choose to believe that he did feel as bad about the situation as he said he did because for a lot of people who do consume his content, it’s been very noticeable within the past couple months that he’s been a lot less active both in terms of streaming and just interacting with the community, but of course, it’s all just personal interpretation and we will never actually know.

Just wanted to explain the situation fully because people who may not play Minecraft and understand it the developing behind it may not understand how he could’ve possibly not seen the mod or not have a copy of the mod folder. I would disagree with you on the point that the controversy around Dream’s speed runs has delegitimized the rest of the speed running community. As someone who still watches well-known speed runners like Bennex and Illumina (TapL and Punz if they count as well), I don’t think any of them have really argued that they think that situation has delegitimize them, though I guess you could argue that they simply haven’t spoken up because they’re a little too afraid to speak up against a big Youtuber, which is fair. But as someone who has spoken to a lot of people who have sort of slightly read up on the situation without actually caring about Minecraft or Dream, none of them have said that they think that the speed running community is not legitimate because of it. Not to sound flippant because I do like watching speedrunners (albeit the already more popular ones) or anything, but the Minecraft speedrunning community isn’t exactly very mainstream, not very many people care enough to actively oppose it or say that they’re not legitimate, from what I’ve seen it’s either just you support the community or you don’t care. Even people who actively thought that dream cheated from the beginning, never used that to discredit the rest of the community (at least from what I saw). They simply didn’t care. anyone making that argument is sort of ridiculous, before the 1.16 speed runs that got investigated, Dream already had a couple official speed runs on his YouTube channel. At the time they were posted, they were approved and legitimate (though I believe one’s been taken down now), so it’s not like even Dream’s entire time in speedrunning was completely falsified, so anyone using one situation to delegitimize a whole community is being a little ridiculous. In addition, anyone who actually knows and cares enough about the speedrunning community to try to claim that all of them aren’t credible, would know that a lot of the speedrunning community didn’t even like dream all that much, even before the cheating out allegations, and they didn’t really associate with him, so they would know the Dream’s actions don’t define the entire community. If you’re talking about Dream’s more general fans, like those who watch his YouTube who may now be skewed against the speedrunning community, you can look at comments in his community tab on his channel and see that people aren’t actively against the speedrunning community, they just say they don’t care and they want it behind them which is very different from thinking that they are all illegitimate. Though if you have substantial proof of multiple cases of multiple people being biased against speedrunning community and believing that they’re all cheaters after Dream’s situation, I’d be open to see them.

I also disagree with your point over Dream being a “professional speed runner”. He says this in responses to claims that speedrunning is a huge part of his career. And he’s correct when people talk about dreams achievements, none of them really talk about speed running that much it’s always about the SMP, his manhunt videos, and his coding videos. He’s not a professional speed runner in the way Illumina and Couriway and Bennex are. His career isn’t based on professional speedrunning. Citing the Minecraft manhunt series as proof that he’s a “professional speed runner“ is definitely a little skewed and ultimately wrong. If you tried to claim those as official speedruns, the moderating team would likely have a little laugh and then reject it. Yes, he has speed runner in the title and yes in a way, it is a speedrun because he is trying to beat the game as fast as possible, but more so he’s trying to avoid being killed by his friends in the game so it’s about both speed and being smart. Everyone within the speed run community and a lot of those outside of it would know that being chased down by your friends during the game isn’t a real category in Minecraft speedrunning and therefore the Minecraft Manhunt videos aren’t official speed runs. So people claiming that dream is an official speed runner and that that’s his career is ultimately false, which is what he was saying. His official speed runs were all done for fun and have never been the main focus of his content.

When you say that the legitimacy of the speedrunning community was called into question, I will admit, I’m unsure if you’re talking about the community itself and the people with in it, like the actual speedrunners, or if you’re talking about the moderator team or both. I will admit, even as someone who hyperfixates on Dream, his initial reaction to the moderators video saying that he cheated was godawful. for Blue and others who aren’t as into this and don’t know, basically the gist was he was lashing out and saying it was total bullshit and calling them idiots. He has since deleted that tweet and apologized for it and admitted that it was incredibly childish and impulsive. While I do get why he was so mad since the video had blindsided him after weeks of radio silence from the moderators and as a kid who didn’t finish high school he didn’t really understand the statistics that were being said in the video and since at the time he genuinely didn’t think that he cheated (a lot of people have said that all this combined led to heavy RSD which is why he lashed out like that), I still think that he could’ve handled the situation a lot better. on the other hand I think the moderators could’ve handled this situation a lot better as well. I don’t want to talk about the whole moderator team but I do want to talk about specifically Geosquare, who is probably the most talked about moderator when it comes to the situation. Dolphin anon, if you’re talking about the legitimacy of the moderator team being called into question, I’m assuming the situation surrounding Geosquare is likely what you’re talking about, which is a slightly different situation from just the speedrunning. So for Blue and others, before the video talking about Dream cheating was released, Dream had been told that there were people on the moderating team who didn’t like him. Knowledge of this bias is also a part of what caused Dream to lash out more in his initial reaction (though again it doesn’t excuse it). The biased moderator in question turned out to be Geosquare. This was heavily proven later on in about March of this year, where Geosquare played a large role in spreading the video of fake ‘dream’ saying the n-word. Geosquare was a speedrun moderator, he Has investigative skills and he got called out for spreading that video without doing any sort of investigating because it was clear to a lot of people that the person in the video wasn’t Dream. There were multiple things that made this video seem not credible, all of which easily could’ve been found by Geosquare.

Firstly, antis of Dream had been saying since January that they were going to try to find a way to accuse Dream of saying the N-word whether that just be through spreading rumors or faking a video or whatever else. Secondly, the video really sounds nothing like dream. Now I will say this video that the clip of someone saying the n-word was from 2016-2017. I’m not saying the video was fake, I’m not saying that someone somehow predicted that Dream was going to become a big creator or time traveled and went back in time to set him up for that. but the most common theory is that and he simply did go looking back through old Minecraft videos in order to find something incriminating. Both the creator of this video and a friend of the person who was saying the N-word in the video have since explained this. so basically for blue and others, Dream has not always on the Minecraft username Dream. He got it from someone else. And so the person in this video is called Dream. Since it was a while ago the timeline’s a little fuzzy for everyone and it’s unsure if this video occurred before Dream got the username or if it occurred after Dream got the username and the people within the video simply still called the person in the video Dream because that was what they were used to calling them. The clip’s a little too grainy to see the usernames and the video has since been taken down by the original poster. Either way, two different people. Geosquare has since admitted that this was bias on his end and that he apologized to Dream and that they’re all good and has given an apology to the black community for using the n-word as a weapon for his own bias and he has since stepped from the speedrun moderating team. so dolphin anon, when you’re talking about the legitimacy of the community being called into question if you’re talking about the moderating team, yes, you’d be correct, it was called into question, but I would say for valid and good reasons because it ultimately was biased (though again, doesn’t change that Dream was the one in the wrong in the speedrunning situation w how he initially reacted). I don’t want to fully blame Geosquare and say that it was completely obvious it wasn’t Dream or make it seem completely obvious to you guys, because things like mic changes and puberty do exist, so I’ll give the clips and allow you all to decide for yourselves.

The clip of someone, accused to be Dream, saying the N-word: https://twitter.com/Tommathyinnit/status/1375395156791336964/video/1 (I am not entirely sure which speaker is being accused to be Dream, which was sort of the first indicated to me that it probably wasn’t him because I don’t think peoples voices change That much, but I think he was being accused to be the person who was saying “well you can bring your friend...”) Again, this video is from 2016-2017.

A clip of Dream talking, also from 2016-2017: https://twitter.com/Onciescumbucket/status/1357440678909923335/video/1 (okay so. again ignore the user 😭 but it’s confirmed to be Dream by the fact it does sound like him and his long-time friends Sapnap, who used to go by PandascanPvP, and BadBoyHalo being in the video. I believe the video has captions so even for those who don’t know Dream or what he sounds like, it’ll tell you which one’s him and you can compare that voice to the one in the other clip)

But yeah. aaaaa I’m sorry for such a long submission, I’m hyperfixated on Dream and the Dream Team, though I do understand that there are legitimate criticisms on all of them and that no one’s required to like them, and people don’t need real reasons to dislike them because people are allowed to dislike whomever they want. Definitely not any hate towards you dolphin anon, I think that you do have points, I just wanted to express my disagreement with some of them and it’s nice that you do acknowledge that the toxicity goes both ways for both stans and antis. I think a big problem is that a lot of the creators who condemn or speak against Dream (people like Slasher and Noah Hugbox and Kavos) don’t openly condemn the toxic behavior of their own fans as much as Dream does, so it becomes a very hypocritical cycle where they’re making videos about the toxicity of Dream stans and yet their own fans send death threats to Dream and his community. And since the death threats towards Dream come from multiple different fanbase rather than one centralized fanbase the way it is if toxic people from Dream’s community are attacking someone, he can’t really pin it on one person and ask them to denounce their fans so it just becomes a thing where he’s both receiving a ton of death threats while being asked to denounce death threats towards others when there’s no one really denouncing death threats towards him, which is just discouraging for his community to see, but that’s just how the Internet is, I suppose. Again, no hate to you dolphin anon and I’m sorry if any part of this came off as such, and again Blue, I’m sorry for such a long submission

MY GOODNESS WHAT A SCROLL Not gonna read all of it cuz its clearly dedicated to my dolphin anon.

#long post

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sally-mun · 4 years

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(Sorry anon, Tumblr screwed up my draft of your ask, so you’re a screenshot now.)

I hope you realize what you’ve done, because this is going to be a VERY long story. Get a drink and strap in.

Before I can get into this too deeply, we first need to talk about Ocarina of Time. There are a lot of issues I had with OoT that I was VERY excited to see were later addressed by Twilight Princess, whether it was an intentional link or not. There are a handful of things involved here, but for me the biggest one by far is the Temple of Time.

Waaaaay back in the late 90′s/early 2000′s, the internet was still relatively young and, in a way, more simple and innocent. The standard for using it largely boiled down to, “I like [x], so I’ll search for [x]” and just seeing what mess of crap you ended up with. I did this mostly with Sonic and anime stuff, but every now and then I’d do it for things like LoZ as well. One of the sites this brought me to was called The Odyssey of Hyrule, which at the time utterly blew my mind with its content. It was a hotbed of Zelda oddities, glitches (some of which I now see often in speed runs), hoax debunks, and most importantly for this discussion, screenshots from early builds of the game.

We can probably trace the origin of my fixation back to this screenshot:

Those of you that know Ocarina of Time well can probably tell right of the bat that this is not an area that appears in the final game. The website posited that this was perhaps an area behind the Temple of Time, since the setting elements all look the same and the camera appears to be in a fixed location. After all, when you look at the building from the front, there’s a clearly visible path running along the side, and it does appear that the fence has a “gate,” although we can never open it.

See it there, behind the second gossip stone from the left? There’s a gap on either side of that bit of fence, right where the path happens to be. The rest of the fence on the right side doesn’t have gaps like that, suggesting that this bit of fence wasn’t originally there and the path was once traversable; my personal hunch is that the “gate” is actually a copied instance of the smaller bit of fencing on the left to save themselves the headache of redoing the fence entirely. The gossip stones, if they were originally there at all, were probably supposed to start from the far right wall instead of the left, which would also open up access to the path.

The longer this stewed around in my brain, the more it drove me absolutely crazy, because I realized that this could possibly explain a lot of seemingly disparate elements. For example, there’s a peculiarity in the Temple of Time that’s easy to miss if you’re not taking your time and paying close attention. After you remove the Door of Time to gain access to the sword chamber, the initial view of said chamber is actually much smaller. It’s especially easy to see when you switch to first-person, because you can more easily see how close the walls are on the left and right.

(My apologies for the shitty quality of these pictures, I took them back before we had decent digital cameras. I’ll get better ones when I post this as an actual article on my other blog.)

As you run into the chamber, the tight walls abruptly disappear and give way to the massive chamber we’re all familiar with. In fact, if you take your time and walk forward through this hallway, you can easily see the moment when the room changes from small to large before your eyes.

When comparing this oddity with the beta screenshot and the website’s suggestion that the path may have allowed you to go behind the temple, I became convinced that something else was supposed to happen back there, but was cut from the game for one reason or another. My guess is that the sword chamber really was originally very small as it first appears, and the larger chamber was a separate area behind it, which was used for... well, what? It obviously wasn’t something small and simple, like a chest with a heart piece; not for a room that grand. It was clearly for something big, something important, because it had to have a large enough scale of work that the designers looked at it and realized they couldn’t finish in time. After a LOT of mulling it over, I became convinced that it was most likely the entrance to the Light Temple.

You see, something else that always struck me as odd was the fact that you’re just given the Light Medallion as soon as you become an adult. You do absolutely nothing to earn it; it’s all part of the same cut scene that plays after you remove the sword for the first time. You meet Rauru, the Light Sage, pretty abruptly as he infodumps about what’s going on, and then he just forks over the Light Medallion without hesitation.

From a narrative perspective, it sticks out to me because Rauru is the only person you do not interact with at any point in the game. You don’t meet him at all as a child, and as an adult you only see him within the Sacred Realm. All of the other sages are people you have both a child and adult connection with in some way, and it’s up to you to awaken them to their powers by ridding their respective temples of evil. Why would they just skip that process with Rauru?

Perhaps they never meant to; maybe you were supposed to go through that same process, but the Light Temple got cut. When you’re designing a video game, there’s a practice that’s recommended before you start actually building it where you make a list of all the elements you want included, then you organize it by importance, and then you cut it in half. The top half is the one you focus on first, because it’s stuff you absolutely positively have to have in the game in order for it to work. The bottom half is stuff you get to include if you have enough time, and it’s added in the order you listed it because top items are more critical. It could very well be that the Light Temple was either on that second half of the list, or it was never on the second half at all but development time simply ran out and it got bumped.

Either way, at some point in the process I think they realized they weren’t going to be able to complete the Light Temple, so they blocked off the side path and expanded the sword chamber to eat up the extra space. After all, you can see how long the building is from the outside, so it wouldn’t make much sense for it to be a reverse Tardis and be smaller on the inside. Once the back path was removed, I imagine they reworked Rauru to reduce his role; my head canon has always been that he was some kind of high priest who oversaw the Temple of Time, since it IS essentially a church. I mean, just look at that garb. He certainly appears to be some kind of holy man.

Having him as a priest at the Temple of Time that you could actually meet and talk to as a kid would’ve finally made his presence make sense. It would explain who and what he is at all, since he just kind of appears out of nowhere as the game currently stands, and it would’ve aligned with the other sages insofar as meeting them when they don’t realize their powers, then saving them as an adult and awakening them as a sage. In fact, Rauru disappearing from the Temple of Time would’ve been the game’s first big red flag that something has gone terribly wrong in the last seven years, versus having to go outside to see all the decay and the dark energy around Death Mountain. Furthermore, each sage is someone that the game explicitly positions as a person that makes sense TO be each temple’s respective sage, and to me, a priest from the Temple of Time is the obvious choice for the Light Sage when you consider that the Light Temple is probably part of the same building.

Speaking of the Temple of Time, it has a lot of clues of its own that it may have once doubled as the Light Temple. For one thing, consider the songs that warp you around the game: The Minuet of Forest takes you to the Forest Temple, the Bolero of Fire takes you to the Fire Temple, the Serenade of Water takes you to the Water Temple... but what song takes you to the Temple of Time? It’s not a song with time in the name anywhere, it’s the Prelude of Light. This would make perfect sense if the Light Temple was supposed to share space with the Temple of Time, right?

Another clue is the warp points themselves. Each time you warp to one of the temples, you land on a large pedestal bearing the Triforce. However, there’s another image overlayed on them too: That temple’s medallion. If you play the Prelude of Light to warp to the Temple of Time, the pedestal you land on features the the Light Medallion, as though this is where you were supposed to have earned it.

I later discovered that this is even more prominent in another old beta screenshot, which is much more heavy-handed with the symbol on the pedestal.

Something else to consider is the fact that the Temple of Time is actually where you acquire the Light Arrows, the final item that you need before you take on Ganon at the end. Like the medallion before it, the Light Arrows are again just given to you without requiring any work. The other temples all have a critically important item inside that you must obtain to not only finish the temple itself, but that is then needed in other areas in the game. Doesn’t it seem like you’d have to complete the Light Temple to get the Light Arrows, and they’d follow the same pattern of being used to finish the temple and then go on for further use elsewhere (namely, Ganon’s Castle)?

Getting the Light Arrows last also lends credence toward the idea that the Light Temple was in fact lower on the development list, because it would’ve necessarily been the last temple you visited in terms of game progression. They’re not going to give you the ultimate holy weapon early on in the game; they have to save that for the end so you don’t blow through the rest of the temples without a sweat! Additionally, the Light Temple being last would only increase the tension of wondering where Rauru went, since each time you warped between the past and the future you’d have to pass through the Temple of Time and note once again that Rauru is missing.

If it were me making the priority list, the temples would be listed in the same order that you play them in-game, because obviously you need to go through [dungeon 1] before you can go through [dungeon 2] or [dungeon 3].* In this particular instance, chronological order and order of importance happen to be the same thing, and if the development team used the same reasoning, then yes, the Light Temple would be much lower on the list than the others. It’s entirely within reason to think that they had planned for it, but realized they weren’t going to have time to fully implement it, and instead blocked it off and handed over the items you would’ve obtained there so they could focus on getting other, more critical things done.

It’s also worth noting just how much infodumping happens at the Temple of Time. As the game currently stands, there’s very little to actually do at the ToT, but there are many long conversations that take place there. You talk to Zelda, both as herself and as Sheik, you talk to Rauru (as that technically happens while you’re at the ToT), and even Ganon monologues a bit there at the end. You end up spending a LOT of time spent standing around while other characters pelt you with information in this particular location. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t have been any big conversations here, but rather that I feel like there are more than there probably should’ve been. Some (possibly most) of that information could’ve been obtained more gradually and actively if the Light Temple had managed to be a thing.

And look, I’m not saying that what we ultimately got in the game doesn’t work; there’s nothing specifically wrong with the way Ocarina of Time handles the Temple of Time. I agree that getting the Light Medallion and Light Arrows in the ToT isn’t completely out of nowhere since the ToT is connected to the Sacred Realm. I’m only saying it doesn’t come across as the original design to me; as far as I’m concerned, it clearly, obviously screams that what we got was a back-up plan. It works just enough to make sense, but it would work so much better if they did it this other way. Everything just clicks together a little more snugly when you consider that there may have been a sixth temple. It’s not that what we got doesn’t make sense, it’s just that I believe these ideas make more sense.

This topic is something I used to go on and on about back in the day, to pretty much anyone who would listen to me. I was met with about as many different kinds of feedback as you can imagine; some people agreed that I was on to something and had maybe solved a mystery, whereas others thought I was reading way too much into details that just don’t have that deep of a meaning. Unfortunately, it’s obviously not something I could take that far in an argument because there was no way to prove my hypothesis. It’s all just a guess, and even though I think there’s some pretty strong evidence to back it up, in the end I have no way to actually verify it. Sure I could contact Nintendo, but I highly doubt they’d tell me anything one way or the other.

SO NEEDLESS TO SAY when Twilight Princess eventually came along and had a Temple of Time that was a for-realsies playable dungeon with monsters and puzzles and items to collect, I went through the fucking roof.

At the EXACT moment that I realized that this is what the game was giving me, I literally screamed and shouted and cheered because I felt so... vindicated, in a way? It felt very strongly like a soft confirmation of what I’d been saying for all these years -- ESPECIALLY since the Twilight!ToT ALSO makes heavy use of the Light Medallion symbol. I feel like that’s about as clear of a connection as you can get.

Like, I know the Temple of Time being playable in Twilight Princess doesn’t absolutely confirm that it was supposed to be that way in Ocarina of Time, but it gives me that vibe because it feels like Twilight makes a point to ‘right’ a lot of ‘wrongs’ present in Ocarina. It gives me the sense that they were making up for some of the things they didn’t (or couldn’t) do the first time around. The fact that they were willing to delay the release of Twilight Princess just to make sure everything was just right also gives me that vibe. They could’ve just cut things again, but this time, they wanted to make sure everything was there, and that it was good.

One other thing I’d like to mention before completely moving on from this topic is something that I admittedly can’t confirm, but it’s another point that’s been on my mind: Back when I was playing Twilight Princess for the first time and I was screaming about the Temple of Time, a guy I knew back then mentioned to me that the ToT that we see in Twilight is, canonically, the same ToT that we see in Ocarina. He said that he’d heard somewhere that the Ocarina world map actually fit perfectly when overlayed against the Twilight world map, and the major world features/locations from Ocarina of Time lined up exactly with landmarks and ruins in the Twilight Princess world. I did attempt to look this up for myself before writing this post, but most of what I found was a big mess; I may attempt to line the maps up myself sometime if just to be able to better wrap my brain around what might (or might not) work here. What I can definitely say, though, is that the idea is at least supported by the theme of the series in general, given that it’s based around the notion of history repeating itself. Zelda games reference other Zelda games all the time, so it’s far from unheard of.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier the Light Temple isn’t the only thing that makes me feel like Twilight Princess is trying to make amends for things that were missed in Ocarina of Time; it just happens to be the one I was most prominently fixated on. Another big thing that Twilight Princess appears to be rectifying is the City in the Sky. Going back again to my old stomping ground The Odyssey of Hyrule, there was another beta screenshot that got a LOT of attention back in the day, because it 1) was an animated gif, 2) involves the Triforce, and 3) appears to be some kind of ‘Sky Temple,’ as it was known.

(Once upon a time that gif was reasonably sized, but since computers have roided the fuck out since the days of Windows 95, I realize it’s not the biggest or clearest thing in the world and I apologize.)

As I recall there were a couple of other screenshots that appeared to also be from this alleged Sky Temple, but sadly I don’t seem to have any of them myself, and although The Odyssey of Hyrule technically still exists, it looks like its images are all broken. In any case, the question of whether or not Ocarina of Time was supposed to have a sky temple was a HUUUUGE hot topic among Zelda sites for years. So many people spent enormous amounts of time and energy trying to find the so-called Sky Temple, largely because there was a sizable sect of the fanbase convinced that the Triforce HAD to be hidden somewhere in the game. Amazingly enough someone did eventually find the Triforce obscenely hidden in the game files (I wish I still had the pics of that, the amount of glitching needed to get to it was insane), but nothing was ever ultimately discovered about the Sky Temple. It just became one of those bits of gaming folklore that got passed around from person to person over time.

Which, of course, is why the inclusion of the City in the Sky in Twilight Princess, much like the expansion of the Temple of Time, feels a lot like Nintendo is making up for something they may have intended to do but were unable to complete.

Not gonna lie, when I played this area for the first time I couldn’t help thinking that the small glimpse in the gif above feels like it could feasibly fit in here, and it was just the coolest feeling of, “I knew it!”

Another thing that really bugged me about Ocarina of Time (and in fact still does to this day) is the fact that, even after you beat the Water Temple, Zora’s Domain remains frozen. I never understood how this could be, since every other area reverts back to its original, beautiful form after you defeat the evil in the associated temple. Not Zora’s Domain, though! It’s thoroughly unsatisfying to have gone through what is arguably the most hated temple in the game and not have a full reward for your efforts.

This, again, is something it seems Twilight apologizes for; not only does it actually replicate the original problem of the Zoras getting frozen, but IN THIS ONE YOU ACTUALLY THAW THEM OUT!! And not only that, you thaw them BEFORE you even do the temple! That alone feels like Nintendo practically coming out and saying, “Yeah, we messed up, our bad. Here, have the restored Zoras right away as our apology.” It was such a huge mental release to see that ice melt and the Zoras come back to life! My brain was finally able to let go of a frustration I’d had for years!

My last one isn’t so much something that I felt was supposed to be in Ocarina of Time, but rather something I just plain wanted to be there. I was always sad that, even though you do technically get to enter Hyrule Castle, you don’t really get to go in there. You get an extremely limited and very linear track to follow, and at best you just get glimpses of some of the other areas that probably would’ve been really cool to explore had the game been designed that way.

I always felt like the fact that you didn’t get any real exploration of Hyrule Castle upset some of the balance in the game, considering that you do have to fully traverse Ganon’s Castle as a solvable dungeon. Being able to get a thorough sense of what Hyrule Castle was originally like before evil fell would help reinforce just how much things had changed in the seven years that Link was in the Sacred Realm, especially since that contrast is such a strong theme everywhere else in the game.

So, much like my reaction when I realized I was actually entering the Temple of Time as a level, I had a very similar reaction when I realized I was getting Hyrule Castle in the same way.

I may not have freaked out quite as much, but DAMN if that wasn’t another enormous payoff for me! Getting to really look around inside of Hyrule Castle, and furthermore in a version that’s really able to convey the scale and grandness OF a castle, was an absolutely magical moment of overdue gratification.

What’s even better is that Twilight Princess almost gives you a sort of a fake-out in this regard, since at the very beginning you kind of go through Hyrule Castle but, like Ocarina of Time, it’s extremely limited and linear, so it seems at first like they’re going to do the same thing.

I remember playing this for the first time and thinking, “Well, at least I’ve gotten a little closer to seeing inside of Hyrule Castle, but I really wish they’d just friggin’ let us ACTUALLY go in.” IMAGINE MY CHAGRIN when later on that’s exactly what I ended up doing~ I’m sitting there fan-screaming and the game is going “AH HA I GOTCHA!!”

Soooooo yeah... This ended up being an extremely long post and probably way more than you were ever interested in knowing, but, yeah, I think that’s why Twilight Princess felt like such a bookend for me. Even though I did technically have the original LoZ as a child, my life as a Zelda fan really began with Ocarina of Time, and that game left me longing for several very specific things that Twilight Princess later fulfilled. I’ve never had so many large unresolved issues with any other game, and the fact that Ocarina of Time was the Zelda game that I ‘imprinted’ on, those issues left a very deep impression on me. Having Twilight Princess essentially go back and ‘fix’ those things was incredibly psychologically calming for me, and I think it’s a major reason why I haven’t particularly sought out other Zelda games in the last 12 years. Twilight Princess gave me the things I’d been looking for since 1998 -- a decade of hemming and hawing finally resolved.

I honestly feel like playing Zelda games may be different for me in some way now as I move forward, because I won’t have a part of my brain mentally searching for a way to fill those little voids in the back of my head. I have both Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, which as I said in that other post I’ve actually never tried out, so I guess we’ll find out how I relate to them whenever I finally decide to take that leap!

If you actually made it to the end of this post, THANK YOU SO MUCH and I hope you enjoyed it~

*Fun fact, this isn’t necessarily true when it comes to the Fire and Water Temples. The game wants you to do Fire first, but it’s completely possible to do the Water Temple if you want to!

#I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING TO BE A BIG ONE #Legend of Zelda #Ocarina of Time #Twilight Princess #anonymous

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fmtee12 · 3 years

Text

Top 3 Legit Hookup Sites that Actually WORK in 2021

Finding a hookup near you used to be a great ordeal. You may have depended on personal ads or expensive online dating sites. Luckily for all of us, these days it's easy to find free hookup sites that actually work. Whether you are seeking a love connection or just a casual date, there are tons of exciting opportunities out there. We've put together this list to support you in finding the right hookup site for your needs. Let's get started.

SearchingForSingles.com - Best for men

Bumble app - Best for women

Blendr - Best for international dating

SearchingForSingles.com

Pros:

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Cons:

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● The search function could be better

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Are you ready to get pussy hunting? Sure you are! Let’s hope this SearchingForSingles review helped you realize what you need, who to look for, and how to flirt with the best chicks out there. Get ready for some epic flings, flirts, chats, and maybe sex eventually? Who knows where this site may lead you! Test it for yourself!

Check out SearchingForSingles.com

Bumble

Pros:

● Gives women more control

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Cons:

● Limited search function

● Men can't make the first move

Bumble is a unique hookup app that gives women the upper hand. If you're a woman in the online dating scene, you know exactly how frustrating it can be to trawl through unwanted messages.

Bumble has created a simple yet effective way to tackle this common complaint of online dating. Here's how it works. It uses the ever-popular swiping system to create matches. Once a match is made, the woman must be the one to start a conversation. If a message isn't sent within a specific timeframe, the match disappears.

Now, if you're a guy, this system can be a little frustrating, but it also removes the pressure of messaging first. You’ll no longer have to worry about those cheesy pick-up lines; just sit back and allow your inbox to flood with messages.

If you're wanting a casual hookup, Bumble is an excellent option. Whilst many users on there are looking for long-term relationships, it's still fairly easy to find a hookup or a one-night stand.

Check out Bumble

Blendr

Pros:

● Easy to find friends with benefits

● Dedicated hookup feature

Cons:

● The user base is still small in the U.S.

● Some inactive accounts

Blendr is a new option for millennials looking for friends with benefits. This site has a dedicated "encounters" section making it easy to find a hookup near you.

I must say, out of all the sites mentioned, Blendr is probably the best for finding a hookup whilst traveling. Blendr’s thriving, global community adds up to around 200 million users. That’s a lot of potential hookups!

The only downside— the user base in the U.S. is somewhat limited. If you’re in a major city, you shouldn’t experience any problems, but those of you in smaller towns may have a tougher time finding matches.

Blendr’s users are mainly made up of young professionals just looking for a good time. If you're planning on travelling the world and want to get laid, this is the option for you.

Check out Blendr

1) 1) List Of Features 2) What Is Your Product Vision Statement? 3) Include User Journeys 4) What Is Your Monetization Model? 5) Product & Technical Specifications 5) Choosing A Platform 6) Include Your Maintenance And Upgrade Requirements 7) Dependencies 8) Assumptions 9) Constraints 10) Submission

2) General Assets

Icons of supported sizes (iOS: u/1x u/2x u/3x images | Android: mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, xxhdpi) Splash screens of recommended sizes (iOS: u/1x u/2x u/3x images | Android: mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, xxhdpi) Screenshots in the correct dimensions and required languages App descriptions in required languages Search keywords in required languages List of supported devices and OS versions

2) Apple App Store

iTunes Connect Account access Company/Entity Name App Store app listing name Search keywords Bundle id / SKU Demo account for reviewers Description Support URL Marketing URL Privacy policy App category Copyright information Contact information App icon (1024×1024) App Store distribution provision profile App Store distribution code signing identity Screenshots (correct sizes based on devices)

3) Google Play

Google Play Developer access Store listing name Paid/free Short description Full description App icon (512×512) Feature Graphic (1024×500) App type App category Content Rating Contact Email Privacy Policy Screenshots (correct sizes based on devices.

#news #- google news #yahoo finance #yahoo news #social media

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riskeith · 3 years

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HIIII hope you have been well my dearest last airbender hehe. i have so much exciting things to share <333

so first off, i did two wish rolls the other night and guess what? on one roll i got BOTH bennett AND qiqi!!!!!! (the other one was just weapons but 🤷🏽‍♀️) i love them both so much i literally ascended them the second i got them. i still can’t believe my luck. so now my team looks like: traveller, noelle and those two. i’m having a little issue bc i don’t have a long range combat character but i love them all too much to change anything. which means i struggle sometimes maybe if i roll for someone else in the future i might change but rn i’m LOVING them. have you ever had luck like that?

AND i started watching haikyuu again and i forgot how funny it is. i usually don’t laugh out loud while watching things but i was literally chuckling while watching some moments. i’ve only watched 10 eps-ish but i fell in love with it again at the first ep already. i cant believe i dropped it before i’m so stupid.

ok that’s all the updates i had hahaha ! i was like buzzing waiting to tell you lmaidhdhdbd 🥺

oikawa is SO pretty it’s insane. when he showed up i was like yeah.... that’s him. that’s the pretty boy. but then again pretty much everyone is pretty in haikyuu who the hell are we supposed to focus on hehdhd the art style is just that good yk?

ships that have silent (+ points for angry) yearning are just superior. and usually they fall in the enemies/rivals category which is lovely. nothing is finer than watching people struggle with their feelings like mmmmmm... tasty. also as good as rareships can be, popular ships are popular for a reason yk? like canon content isn’t everything ofc but if canon can back it up in some way more people tend to be interested heh

wanna know something super weird? when i consume content i always fall for the stotic bois with angst backstories first but after i finish the shows i always miss the cute happy babies and that makes me obsessed with them? idk it’s crazy like voltron for example keith is literally my favorite character of all time but when i finished voltron i was literally bawling bc i missed lance so much help

well i guess we’re talking about voltron now HAHA 😭 dude s3 was a fucking blessing i can’t believe we got that and they just cut it off cold. the leader and his right hand man dynamic makes me yell to this day 😭😭😭 remember all the scenes where they continuesly reassured each other 😭 the ‘leave the math to pudge’ scene lives in my head rent free no joke dhdnhdbdud... s3 was just them loving each other tenderly and dw stole it from us.. ALSO PLEASE WRITE THEM AGAIN LITERALLY BEGGING 😭 pls 🥺

dude our government doesn’t give a shit we literally have politics traveling around and chilling without masks. they don’t care at all we barely have any restrictions so people don’t care either. it’s a mess here ngl.. :/

can’t wait to hear from u again... mwah!

hi hi!!!! is this gonna end up being 2 replies in one day for you again HAHAHA i’ll try not to disappear after

!!!!!!!!!! QIQI AND BENNETT??!!?!!!!!!!! oh my goodness… oh my goodness!!! i can’t believe you got a 5 star before me fjskskkdd but big deserve 😭😭😭😩😩😩 i’m so happy for you nejdnskamxlxmm holy shit!!!!! that’s so cute tho that’s such a cute team… and big mood!! who cares about team dynamics/fighting styles all that matters is that you like them 😩 but also does that mean you currently have 3 sword users and 1 claymore on your team jdjsndnsm. i also used to not have a ranged fighter on my team but it just got so inconvenient lolol. and no my luck is actual ass :( so often i only roll weapons, and when i do roll charas it’s like. all the base free ones djdkskdk

haikyuu is SO funny!!! everyone’s humour is so >>>> omg they’re just silly boys… are you restarting it from the very first ep? and it’s all good if you dropped it before bc you’re coming back to it now and that’s what matters 😩 keep me updated tho! i’m so excited to hear what you think

HFJDNSKSN sorry i went mia and made you wait chksjs WHICH REMINDS ME!! omg i’ve been meaning to tell you and keep forgetting but i downloaded genshin on my phone last week for my trip and it’s so??? difficult? like mad mad respect to you for being able to play on mobile omg… maybe it’s just bc i was used to pc already but damn.. djsjjs

HAHA yeah just admiring the visuals instead of focusing on the story.. we’ve all been there 😩 sometimes you just gotta rewind and take 48394993 screenshots of the one scene you know? who let them be so gorgeous..

yesssss the mutual oblivious pining is so good.. like they’re enemies to lovers but they’re also IDIOTS to lovers… or my fave headcanon which hurts so bad… the one person (keith) pining for their rival (lance) but it’s unrequited and they’ve just accepted that and are kinda resigned to it but. they just want them to be happy above all else :’) :’(

and honestly you are so right like if the popular ship are foils and have all these parallels between them and a deep backstory and stuff that’s so good too there’s so much food AHAH

omg that’s kinda cute tho.. like once you’re done you enter the honeymoon phase w bubbly outgoing charas.. (speaking of honeymoons when’s ours 🤪) speaking of lance he deserved everything lmao.. he deserves everything PRESENT TENSE!!! wow we are really talking about vld in 2021 huh

LEAVE THE MATH TO PIDGE!!! I AM SCREAMING JUST THIBKING ABLIT THIS TOO!! WHAT THE FUCK DOCYOUCMEAN KEITH. WHY DIDNYOUCSAY IT WITH THAT SMILE. LANCE WHY DIDNYOU SMILE LIKE THAT IN RETURN. LEAVE THE MATH TO- KEITH EXPLAIN??? WHA WERE YOU WDOIDJGNDKDNSKFKDKFNDNNCMS the way that lance went from ‘despising’ keith and hating being beaten by him in everything to SEEKING OUT HIS ADVICE AND COMFORT???? IF THAT ISNT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS like their relationship progressed so so so so so so so so SO much in that one single season… like. i cannot BELIEVE that was real???? no fucking way. like. we were literally so close.. SO FUCKING CLOSE!!!!!!!! my god the trust they had in each other..… LANCE SEEKING KEITH OUT!!! lance accepting keith as the leader before even keith accepted himself EVEN WHEN LANCE HIMSELF SO DESPARATELY WANTED TO BE THE BLACK PALADIN bUT RECOGNISING IT WASNT WHAT THE BLACK LION WANTED AND i have to stop or else i’ll literally never stop typing chskdkdkndcuksncjxjskcoskosnaksj

hhhhhhh i wanna write them sometimes i get hit with the feels SO SO BAD (like just then? LOL) but i haven’t properly written them in so long i feel like i don’t even know how to anymore D; but anyway do you have any prompts? i have so many wips (i have one fic that i said was gonna be my Final klance fic but lmao i’m never gonna finish it at this stage so i guess i’m also not done writing klance? lmao) but after a while i just. have no desire to go back to them anymore fjdjjx so something new might spark my motivation! but also no promises sorry i always say i’ll do shit but never do JEKSKS altho i will try!! i’ll try bust out at least a drabble even if it ends up as an unfinished wip as well lol 😩

oh fucking rip that’s so horrible i’m so sorry you have to deal with that :((( legit it’s so upsetting to see so many governments just. complacent and not caring about this issue at all like?? this is your job? you’re literally meant to be doing all these things to help us right now and you’re just not. which i guess unfortunately also makes sense bc they’re the ones who would suffer least. it’s so frustrating lmaoooo >:(

:***** i’ve stayed up again bc i am Not intelligent fjskdk but i’m looking forward to your response!! goodnight and sweet dreamssss (for when you next sleep LOL) 💗😘

#cluna cries at 2am over s3 kl potential 😔#marriage anon #wowclunaanswers #long post

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kisskissbanggang · 5 years

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Standby pt. 4

[25Min. Read/6.7K Words – Bang Chan x Female Reader – Idol!AU – Half Plot, Half NSFW/Smut – Unfortunate Pining, Bondage, Face Sitting, Fellatio, Edging, Risky Situations, Acting Professional]

Every step you'd taken to get here was flashing before your eyes and burning to a crisp. Moving with your family to Korea, loving it enough to stay behind and pursue a degree even when they moved away, studying marketing and management in college, working your ass off to pay for school, landing the internship -- all the money, exams, all-nighters were gone. You were sure of it. Hyun-Jae was going to drag you into your shared hotel room and lock you there until she could put you on a plane to Antarctica to manage penguins. She wouldn't even have to worry about blacklisting you; the fans would probably take care of that tenfold. Some of the printed screenshots in the folder you'd been handed hadn't been very nice. Fat, ugly, foreign -- it was high school all over again. If you had been all or none of those things, you still wouldn't be good enough for them. No one would be. Interestingly, though, a rare amount of those screenshots also seemed oddly positive. You both seemed happy, content, smitten -- where were they when you needed the support right now? But, realistically, you knew that wouldn't matter at the end of the day. You weren't in charge of your fate in those regards.

Hyun-Jae juggled her hold on your arm to her other hand as she slipped her key card out of her pocket and slapped it against the door lock. You'd always suspected Hyun-Jae was partly excited you were a girl so she could split a room with you and make all the male staff share a room for once. It definitely seemed to help in a situation like this. Your room was more like a miniature suite, with two small bedrooms off a central bathroom and living room with a mini bar. Hyun-Jae dragged you into the room and pointed to the couch.

"Sit."

You rigidly sat on the couch as she pulled up the easy chair across from you. She pulled over an in-progress bottle of bourbon and poured two glasses.

"You did this, so you're not letting me drink alone." She took one glass and slid you the other. You took an obligatory sip of the drink. Hyun-Jae shot hers down and slumped back on the chair, rubbing her temples and perching her glasses on top of her head as she stretched. "I thought you'd be different," she yawned. The circles under her eyes matched yours.

"I'm sorry?" You asked, mostly unhearing but also, in a regrettable, small way, meaning it.

"Nothing," Hyun-Jae curtly replied as she stood up, "I'm going to catch the rest of rehearsal. Stay in this hotel, stay in this room if you can stand it. I don't have the time nor the energy to explain to you just how much shit you've created."

And with that, Hyun-Jae ghosted out the door, leaving you in her wake. What could you even do now? Did you even still have a job? You attempted to keep busy, first carefully answering frantic text messages from family and friends asking about bizarre rumors concerning your coziness with some idol. Your parents never really understood this career you wanted in the first place, and now you were stuck trying to gently explain how it might be over before it ever really began. It wasn't until well after rehearsal should have ended that you figured you should eat something. Should you get room service? No, you decided. You needed a change of scenery and a little fresh air.

You were catching the elevator back up after meeting the delivery person in the lobby, your food in hand, when the chime sounding the elevator's calling only one floor up made you flinch. Each dumb decision made in the past 24 hours hung on your shoulders like a cape, trimmed in good intentions and reckless decisions. Why did you have to choose this point in your life to be impulsive and spontaneous?

The doors slid open and you nearly considered running out when Minho and Jisung walked on, still wrapped up in robes and towels after relaxing in the hot tub, but they gracefully cornered you into the elevator car. You all stood in excruciating silence, them exchanging plenty of looks with each other and you just staring anywhere else possible.

"Are you alright, noona?" Minho asked you quietly before Jisung elbowed him in the ribs. You nodded reassuringly.

"I'm fine. Could be better." You shrugged, attempting to look stronger than you felt as you stared at the digital display, the numbers slowly ticking up.

"Not every day you torpedo a job, I'm guessing," Jisung said coolly.

The boys bolted upright as you let out a shaky breath, doing everything in your power to not finally cry, to not finally let go of all this pent up emotion, and especially not in front of them.

Minho smacked Jisung in the arm. "Good job, dummy. Stop being so protective."

Jisung still eyed you suspiciously. "You're not actually a crazy woman who's going to kidnap Chan-hyung, are you?"

"What?!" You and Minho both sputtered.

Minho reached back and swatted him in the arm again. "Now you're being protective and stupid."

Jisung raised his hands in surrender. "I had to be sure! And now I am. Noona," he quickly detoured towards you, "do you really like Chan-hyung?"

Your eyes darted back and forth between Minho and Jisung before Minho hit him one last time. "That doesn't matter; it's pretty obvious she does." He turned back to you, now calmly holding your shoulders. "What does matter is... Noona," Minho implored, "you didn't mean to fall for Chan-hyung, right? Like you didn't go out of your way to develop feelings for him?"

You shook your head firmly. "Like I would want to torpedo my job?" You asked, teasingly raising an eyebrow at Jisung, who was now using Minho as a protective barrier between you.

Minho nodded along understandingly. "Okay. That's all we needed to know."

"Yup," Jisung agreed confidently, "Wait, it is?"

"It is." Minho patted your shoulder encouragingly as the elevator rung for your floor. You watched as both boys turned heel and walked down the hallway, the two of them eyeing Chris curiously as he passed by them, heading straight for you.

You jogged down the hallway and attempted to duck right into your room when Chris bolted over and stopped you, his hand gripping onto yours. "Are you alright?" He asked softly in the hush of the hallway.

"I will be as soon as I get in my room," you struggled, trying to juggle Chris holding your hand while you tried to work around your takeout in the other, all the while attempting to fish out your key card from your pocket.

"I just want to make sure you're okay; this is a really shitty day and a whole mess and I'm worried about you and you won't answer me."

Chris was right. You had exactly five unanswered texts from him on your phone at that exact moment, all with increasing levels of concern.

"This is fine. I'm fine," you babbled, "I'm handling this. We wanted space and we got it sooner than expected but we're handling this. Just take care of you, and I'll take of me."

"Oh my god, would you just let me try to take care of you for once and be there for you?" Chris whispered in frustration.

"Trying to sneak in a quickie before the show?" Came a snide voice from behind the door. You both turned to watch as Hyun-Jae casually swung it open, stepping aside to let you in. You blushed deeply, wrenching your hand out of Chris' grasp and struggling to meet his eye as you followed Hyun-Jae into the room.

"Noona," Chris began warningly.

"Chan," she replied sternly, "you have to be in hair and makeup in an hour. Go relax before the show."

You could almost hear his agitation grow.

"He's fine," Hyun-Jae said, turning back to you, "he'll either jerk off or walk it off." You finally looked back at him as he turned to leave. It was rare to see Chris so frustrated, roughly pushing his fingers back through his hair as he stormed off. You set your food on the coffee table, eyeing Hyun-Jae as she sat and poured herself a drink.

"Oh, don't look so sore about it," Hyun-Jae waved you off as she took a sip, "it was just a joke."

"Excuse me if I'm not in much of a mood to joke about my personal life." You glowered as you paced the room.

"You should be when you drag me into it. By the way," Hyun-Jae noted as she leafed through some notes on the table, her drink in her other hand, "you're international, you're pretty open-minded, so I assume you're on birth control?"

"Uhh," you stammered, slack-jawed, "I am, but I don't need it."

"Because you're using condoms?"

Your cheeks burned.

"Ah." She finished her drink, a knowing smile escaping her. "You haven't actually done it yet. Well, that's good. One less mess for me to worry about."

"That's hardly--"

"What. It's hardly anything to worry about? I doubt it. There's too much time between now and us officially deciding your fate with the company."

You found yourself glaring as Hyun-Jae slipped the notes on the table into one of her folders and into her giant handbag next to your backpack. She'd actually wrinkled her nose when you showed up at the dorm with your backpack a week or so ago. You'd made the switch from your own big handbag for the sake of comfort and preference. She'd said you looked like a student. You'd reminded her you still were.

"Don't make it sound like I'm some animal. I can keep it in my pants." You muttered as you sat on the couch.

She shuffled things around in her bag before zipping it shut. "That may be, but like I said, there's just too many opportunities. And he's handsome, and he's charming, and you'll fall for it like you have been despite all the danger up until this point. He makes you feel special and like what you have is special, and you'll find yourself in bed before you know it."

"Why are you making him sound like such a monster? Or, for that matter, why am I suddenly such an idiot according to you?" You asked, your hands balled up in fists at your sides.

"Oh, don't get offended," Hyun-Jae smirked, "that's not a you thing or a him thing. I know damn well how much pressure these boys are under. I know how stressed they are and how starved for affection they are. It's an expectation of the business. Just, you know, they're usually smart enough to not fool around with the staff. I guess you have him really wrapped around your finger."

You stood up once again. "Oh, just because he acts --" you sputtered.

Hyun-Jae held up a hand so she could continue. "-- He usually acts in a way that benefits him. Do you know how goddamn hard I've worked to make sure fans feel like the only intelligent being Chan sleeps with is his computer?"

She waited only the briefest moment for a response before resuming. "He's married to the job, little sister, which helps when garbage like this happens. Fans have a hard time believing it, and I have less to clean up. At least, that was the theory. I foolishly believed you were married to the job, too. I guess you couldn't help it. Just like he couldn't. Really, I should've seen this coming. Thirty minutes to fix a stuck zipper? Who were you kidding? Who was I kidding? I'm going to get everyone ready for hair and makeup. No wild parties while I'm out."

With that, Hyun-Jae slung on her bag and set her empty glass on the table before breezing out the door, leaving you gawping in her aftermath.

In a matter of seconds, you impatiently tapped your foot as you sheepishly called up housekeeping to clean Hyun-Jae's glass that you had shattered against the front door. This was such an alien sensation. The fury seeping through you felt foreign, like it belonged to someone else.

You attempted to do anything to be productive, to distract yourself from your fear and anger and confusion. You answered a few more texts from family, futilely attempting to convince your parents you weren't going to be homeless and jobless and publicly shamed when you returned to Korea. You’d hoped, at least. Likewise, you ignored the six extra texts Chris had sent you, likely snuck in between stylists and makeup artists putting him through the ringer. Always concerned. Always sweet. Always caring. Each sent you deeper into doubt and confusion. This wasn't just some game to him. You knew it wasn't. So why were you considering it? Glancing at your phone, you considered tuning into the live stream for the show when it eventually started, but thought against it. That in and of itself would be inviting trouble. Instead, you took the first stress nap you'd had to resort to in years, waking up after what felt like ten minutes, only to find out it'd been an hour. How did Hyun-Jae get under your skin like that? How did she shoot through to the core of every dumb concern you'd had about this? It was frustrating that she could sound so right about things you could swear were wrong. You were an adult. You were capable. You were professional. The impatience for some relief, some peace of mind, was eating at you. You spent an inordinate amount of time flipping through television channels.

Even then you were only mildly sated. New texts arose from friends -- was the sex good, was he really that sweet, did he buy you gifts -- and these were too instantly exhausting to even humor. You looked at your phone again. What could checking the live stream hurt? You loved watching the show from the monitors or backstage in the wings. It felt odd to not be there. You wondered how the boys were doing, or how the rest of the staff was doing. For that matter, how could Hyun-Jae turn on you like this? How could she act like you were some dumb slave to your desires and as if she knew best? You couldn't help it reverberated in your head, and you weren't sure what made you more furious -- Hyun-Jae's biting platitudes in general, or the fact that you felt a little exposed from her condescending diagnosis. You spied your phone sitting on the coffee table. It wouldn't hurt to check the stream. Really, it could probably even help you feel better. At the very least it would distract you. Maybe two minutes. Just two minutes.

You snatched your phone and clicked through to the live stream as you sat back down on the couch. The boys were all doing splendid, but your eyes shook as you caught Chris. Chan. Whatever you wanted to call him, his energy was sucking the life out of you. Since when was it possible for him to look this intense and cocky? You were used to a tall level of energy from him, but this was as if he were possessed. He was performing like an absolute beast, grabbing the camera's attention each time it passed. The sweat on his brow, trailing down his neck and down the collar of his shirt, smudging off his foundation as he danced and hyped up the crowd -- you all but threw your phone at the easy chair across from you to calm down. You checked the time. How had you watched for fifteen minutes?!

Fine. He was gorgeous and talented and you were stupid. The joke was on you. Egg on your face, practically frying, you defeatedly got up, grabbed your phone, and exited out of the live stream. You decided to try and take care of some leftover paperwork. Admittedly, this filled enough time until well after the show should be over, but only in that you caught yourself spacing out and reading the same sentence on multiple occasions. It was getting late. You grabbed a beer from the mini bar and headed for the shower.

You couldn't help it, Hyun-Jae echoed in your mind as you simmered under the steaming water, absently sipping on your beer. Having skipped a hair wash and mostly in it for therapeutic reasons, you were able to towel off and immediately hop into some pajamas without dripping too much as you ordered room service. Sure, you could've ordered delivery again, but you didn't want to risk running into Hyun-Jae in the lobby.

Only a few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door. Puzzled, you crossed the room and opened the door, gasping as Chris herded you back inside and clapped a hand over your attempted yelp. You watched, hushed as he softly reached his foot behind him to gently click the door closed.

"It's okay, it's okay," he quietly reassured you, "it's just me."

You peeled his hand off of you. "I can see that, Chan!" You angrily whispered back. "You need to get out! Hyun-Jae--"

"-- Is entirely busy for the foreseeable evening."

You stared, wondering what the explanation could even possibly be.

"Jisung just happened to lose his wallet at dinner after the show."

A commotion passed by the door and you both stopped to listen. "How can you lose an entire wallet, Han?! We were at In-N-Out for five whole minutes! Oh my god the stylists are going to murder you if they find out."

The small herd outside passed the door, Jisung exaggeratedly apologizing all the way down the hallway. You finally got a good look at Chris. He must've been fresh from a shower, smelling amazing and looking cute in just sweats and a t-shirt, his shoes not even tied, and you just wanted to kick him out even more.

"Is everybody going?" You asked incredulously, not sure why you were still whispering.

"Not everyone. Just enough to be annoying. For instance, I'm at the gym right now, Changbin is taking a nap, Felix is reading, and Seungmin is busy doing a broadcast."

"I'm sorry, she took none of the English speakers with her?" You couldn't help but be amused. Hyun-Jae's English was good, but certainly not perfect but any means, and only got worse when she was stressed or frustrated. It was another of those things you suspected she took for granted when having you around.

"Nope, and that was definitely on purpose. Everyone with her is running full distraction tactics."

You crossed your arms impatiently. "For what purpose, exactly?"

"I needed to make sure you're okay," he powered through despite your rolling eyes, "And we need to talk. I mentioned needing time tonight and Minho suggested an entire crazy scheme, so I took a chance."

"Yeah, an insane chance," you huffed. "What is there to even talk about? We fooled around a little and the fantasy is over now. We're being professional about this, remember?"

Chris looked at you, the floor, anything as he attempted to start the fifty thoughts running through his mind, absently reaching for your hand and wincing as you snatched it away.

"It's fine that it happened," you said, softening a little. "We couldn't help it."

You were met with a scoffed laugh as he backed up out of your personal space. "Yeah. 'Couldn't help it.' We accidentally fooled around on multiple occasions now. Couldn't help it."

"You know what I mean. Don't be obtuse." You replied sharply, your eyes narrowing to keep from tearing up. It was hard not to feel miserably vulnerable.

"And I absolutely didn't mean to fall for you," he continued, refusing to meet your eye. You both knew he was a sympathetic crier. "I couldn't help it. I'm just an idiot who keeps wanting to be with you and I -- I'm sorry, but can you please put on a robe or something?"

You were thrown off by the request, looking down to see why on earth he would ask. Admittedly, you preferred to wear comfier pajamas when you were sharing a room with Hyun-Jae than what you normally wore when you slept at the dorm. You hadn't thought much about your flimsy tank top and shorts when you first put them on, but you suddenly felt exposed. You shot Chris a quizzical glance as you ran into the bathroom to pile on your robe.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging there as he gathered his thoughts. "I'm sorry. I've been dying since this morning, and especially after yesterday. The show only made it worse; I'd rather not be distracted. It's not your fault."

You couldn't help but smirk at his brazen confession. Honestly, it hurt to see him so distressed. He deserved a break, anything to lighten the mood. Gently, playfully, you nudged his shoulder, trying to lift him back up a little. "What," you smiled, "couldn't just take care of it yourself?"

His smile returned as he nudged you back, pretending to get all choked up again. "I tried! I really did. I think I'm developing a problem preforming under pressure."

"Is that so? I'm sure you're just being a baby--" you laughed, stopped short as you noticed what you were doing. It's like you were watching from outside your own body as you saw yourself playfully grab Chris' dick. Every voice in your head that knew better started shouting over each other as it throbbed at your touch, but the moment your eyes locked all the noise dampened. Even though you quickly grabbed your hand away, he got ahold of your arm and kissed you, softly, once on the lips, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, like you'd been dating for years and this was just another night. This should stop. You knew you should stop, that this was a slippery slope for both of you.

So how was it you found yourself backing Chris against the wall, kissing him fervently, giggling and playing with each other like this was Seven Minutes in Heaven? You couldn't help it, Hyun-Jae condescended in your mind. Fine. Couldn't help starting it, couldn't help finishing the job.

Your pushing and pulling at each other led Chris to easily nudge you back, his hands in your hair as he kissed you hungrily. He was just as easily turned to step back, a few easy steps to send you both tumbling over the arm of the couch and onto the plush cushions. Laughing into each other, you resituated yourselves, Chris sat up with you resting on his lap, your tongues eagerly wrestling as you caught yourself firmly rolling your hips against his, his growing hard-on pressing up against you.

"Mmph, no-no-no, wait," Chris half-pleaded, half-laughed, his hands holding tight onto your thighs to still you, "be careful or I'll cum. I'm near death, remember?"

"Oh? I thought that was the whole point," you cooed, "isn't that why you kissed me?" Your hands trailed down his arms, a cute shiver running through him as you laced your fingers into his.

"No," Chris chuckled, but not without an edge of seriousness, "I kissed you because I really want you and --"

"Oh, so you don't want to cum?"

Chris gave a nervous laugh, his eyes wild at the implication. "Nope, not what I said whatsoever."

You quickly shushed him with a kiss, raising his hands in yours up over the top of the couch. Sitting back, you admired how cooperative he was, still keeping his hands in place as he watched, mesmerized by you untying and opening your robe. "Still distracting?" You asked cheekily, satisfied as he silently nodded. "Oh, no, I guess it's easier to get distracted than I thought. Looks like I'm getting distracted, too."

Chris watched, momentarily excited and curious as you lifted the hem of his shirt, his intrigue turned to shock as you quickly pulled the shirt only halfway back over his head, acting as an improvised blindfold and binding, as minor as the effect may be. It didn't cease to impress you that he could be so compliant, dutifully waiting in place. "There," you marveled quietly as you let your free hand drift from his collarbones down to his navel, "See? Now I'm plenty distracted."

"Don't think this is making me forget that I wanted to talk about this whole mess," he breathed, waiting for your next move.

"Gee," you pouted sarcastically, "aren't I so lucky you're dying?"

The smallest whine escaped Chris' throat as you resumed grinding your hips against his, the pathetic sound pretending to be an exasperated chuckle on its way out. "It's so bad, I feel like I'm buzzing."

"Oh yeah? Let's see if we can't make that any worse." He couldn't quite see your sly smile as you let your robe fall from your shoulders and onto the floor. His skin was smooth, cold as marble as your fingers danced down the graceful lines of his torso, teasing and winding their way into his sweats to fish out his blushing, leaking length. The sight almost made your heart stop, Chris heaving for breath and practically sweating as he obediently waited for you to give him some relief. It was so easy, so natural to lean in and kiss his lips, to savor his shivers and wavering breath as he let you take control.

You pulled off your tank top, the cool air of the hotel room making your nipples rub pert against him as you resumed kissing him. "You're so warm," he marveled quietly against your lips. He hardly registered you raising your hips a little, just enough to slip the crotch of your shorts to the side and tease the head of his member against your soaked entrance. Instantly, he went rigid under you. "So warm," he repeated, shuddering through a hearty moan. It took so much restraint not to just drop yourself onto his length, but you knew better. Predictably, your resolve proved stronger than his own, unable to stop his shallow thrusts up into you until you bucked him back down.

"You're going to have to slow down if we're going to enjoy this."

"Oh, come on, baby, please help me," he begged.

"I thought you wanted to talk, though," you teased, subtly grinding down on his length. Thankfully, he couldn't see just how much you adored him in this moment, just how pleased you were with how he stretched and filled you just right. It was a little frightening, dealing with the reality that it might not be so easy to let go of these feelings you had, especially with him underneath you and so ready to be yours.

"I do, it's just--" Chris struggled, a clandestine drip of perspiration catching your eye as it rolled from his neck and down his chest, "I do want to talk, I just need you so badly right now."

The cute desperation in his voice helped keep you on track. "Good. But you definitely can't cum yet. Won't it be so much nicer to earn it?"

"Tell me how to earn it, baby," he offered quickly.

"Count." The command was so simple, he looked so cute being understandably confused.

"What, I --" he stammered, desperate for whatever would make you do something as you lifted yourself almost entirely off his length, "One... Two, three," he carefully counted. You barely bobbed the head of his cock in and out of your pussy, the soft ghost of pleasure making his voice waver. "Four, fi-- ah, fuck!" Chris' jaw clenched, hissing as you dipped him full into your depths.

"Good job," you praised sweetly before lifting your hips back up. "Now start again." The counting achieved just what you were hoping: Chris was creating so much anticipation for himself that one of these rounds you could drop on the count of one and probably kill him.

Chris swallowed hard, his Adam's Apple bobbing in his throat. "One, two--"

You were both startled at the sound of the door knocking.

"Hyun-Jae?" Chris gasped, well out of breath for more than one reason.

You took a second to come back to earth, sighing in relief as you figured it out. "Room service. Sit still and be quiet. In fact..." You plucked his shirt the rest of the way off before pulling your tank top back on. Moving quickly, you snatched the bathrobe off the floor, pulled the plush tie from it and fixed it around his eyes, binding it to his wrists up behind his head. Next, you swiftly dropped your shorts, grabbing your panties and stuffing them between his teeth. His shock thoroughly muffled, you admired your handiwork as you bundled the bathrobe closed over you and answered the door just enough to thank and tip the porter before snatching the tray of food. You kicked the door closed once again and set the food on the table, casually nibbling at a french fry as you shed the robe once more. The sight of Chris tied up and waiting for you on the couch really was something to behold, something that filled you with a sudden sense of doubt. All this over you? Would he be this person for anyone, so eager to please and be pleased? You shook yourself out of it. You were chosen each time before this, you were chosen tonight, so it would be you and you would enjoy it, no matter how much your conscience told you this was a dumb fantasy to play into.

You strode over to Chris, his chest barely trembling under his regained confidence, having apparently taken a second to calm down. You gently tugged your panties from his lips, amused by his persistent and goofy smile even amidst all this.

"What took you so long, babygirl?" He chuckled, muffled again as you playfully shoved a french fry in his mouth.

"You definitely don't get to cum if you say that again," you laughed as you set yourself back on his lap.

"Speaking of cumming..." he alluded with a smirk. How was he still so cute even while blindfolded? You stroked his hair, your fingers gliding back to the improvised binding behind his head. You grabbed ahold, pulling him down to lay flat on the couch.

"Since you won't stop asking about it," you lightly scolded, "then we can work on you again after you learn to hold your tongue."

Just as he began to ask, you got up, smoothly turning and swinging a leg over to slowly rest your pussy down against his lips. He quickly got the idea, licking you hungrily as you quickly got his length just as hard as you had previously left it. He groaned and whined under you as you barely stroked him, barely licked his length, only occasionally bobbed him deep into your throat like he seemed to enjoy so much just that morning. His thighs were shivering as you clutched them still, and you once again couldn't help but get distracted. Chris, still wearing his untied shoes and sweatpants, gladly eating you while you sat on his face. It was hard not to feel smitten again. How did you keep getting consumed by this feeling? You earnestly shook yourself out of it, getting the hell over it by jerking his cock perfectly for just enough strokes for him to sound devastated when you stopped. The sound brought you closer to a peak you hadn't expected but gladly welcomed, allowing Chris to rush you to an orgasm with his quickly learning tongue. You decided he more than earned a little affection, sitting up to reach back and lace your fingers into his hair as you ground down on him.

"Chris, Chris, please don't stop," you sweetly begged, letting yourself fully give into your infatuation for just a moment. If you couldn't enjoy it now, when could you? For all you knew, you’d be fired the moment you touched down in Korea, if not even sooner. Your moans reached their own peak along with your orgasm, practically silent with the force of your convulsions on top of him. You collapsed off of him, regaining your breath as he did the same. You sat yourself back on his lap, lovingly kissing his lips as you slowly teased his length back inside you. "You did so well, baby boy," you soothed with only a hint of a laugh, stroking his hair as he got used to being deep inside you again. "Your turn now, right? Remember how to play our game?"

"Count?" He asked quietly, almost unsure of himself.

"Yes, baby boy, count."

Your excruciating game lasted three rounds before you gave him a short break, Chris flushed from his cheeks to his chest in the prettiest way when you heard a faint buzzing from deep within the couch. He was practically in tears when you finally took him fully inside you, only ever truly fucking for just enough thrusts to torture him when you stopped. You started him counting again as you dug around, finding that his phone had fallen into the couch cushions. Six whole missed texts from Minho.

>Hyung

>Hyung!

>HYUNG

>get out of there noona got a phone call and says she has to get back

>get out of there NOW we're pulling up to the hotel

>i don't know how long you have we only managed to hide her key card hurry up

You quickly sat up, barely noticing that Chris had taken the opportunity to surreptitiously grind his length into you.

"Baby," you urged, your adrenaline already rising, "we have to--"

A knock at the door.

"Room service?" Chris laughed.

"Hyun-Jae." You replied in horror.

"God damnit!" He growled, quickly pulling his arms back forward and untying himself, easily showing how much of his restraint had been pure obedience. The door knocked again and you hauled Chris off the couch, pulling him across the room. "What do we do?!" He whispered.

"I'm figuring it out!" You replied, your hushed tone still revealing too much anxiety. Sprinting into the bathroom you turned the shower onto the hottest temperature. You pulled him along and swung open the hall closet door. Chris didn't even protest as you pushed him inside. "Be quiet, hide, and I'll get you out of here."

A knock sounded once again, more intense this time as you could hear Hyun-Jae rummaging through her bag on the other side of the door. You were both breathing hard, nervous out of your minds, and you hurriedly grabbed his hand to squeeze it. You leaned up, giving him one more reassuring kiss as you returned his phone to his pocket. "We're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. I got this."

"Don't forget we need to talk," Chris reminded you, quickly cupping your face and kissing your forehead. "There's important things that I've been thinking about that I want to tell you."

"Of course we'll talk. I promise. But just hide for now."

He nodded and you quietly shut the door before you ran back into the bathroom, stripped, got under the stream, then jumped back out and into your robe the next time Hyun-Jae knocked. One big breath, and you opened the door.

"Took you long enough, little sister," Hyun-Jae teasingly clucked as she walked in, still rifling through her bag. "You missed it, that was the most chaos I've been put through all at once in a long time. First Han loses his wallet, then I.N. asks if we can stop somewhere for milkshakes, long after we'd already left In-N-Out. Lee Know and Woojin will not stop bickering about something I couldn't figure out, and Hyunjin is just there, asking if we can do a million things at once. What an absolute nightmare. I have no clue what got into them."

You watched warily, seating yourself on the couch and picking at your tray from room service, the food now cold from sitting. Hyun-Jae sat in the chair across from you with her bottle of bourbon and two more glasses. She poured you each a glass and offered you yours.

"I'm sorry, for what it's worth. For being so hard on you."

You took the proffered glass and cautiously sipped at it.

"It's just, I guess, I was always under the assumption that you were going to be different."

Your eyes narrowed. "You said that earlier. What does that even mean?"

Hyun-Jae sighed. "Of course, you're aware that you're not the first person I interviewed for your position, or even my first intern. I read your profile and application and fell in love with the idea of mentoring you. But I had to be sure, and I was lucky you worked downstairs. So I brought the group to the cafe one day, and you're there, and you make these googly eyes at Bang Chan, and I wonder if this will spell trouble. I gave you too much money while he talked to you, and you chased me down and gave me my change after I walked away from the register. So, I think, you're definitely worth interviewing."

A blush had crept over your cheeks. You never remembered ever making any sorts of eyes at Chris before you formally met, but Hyun-Jae was good at her job for a reason. Maybe she saw something you didn't.

"And I interviewed you," she continued, "I'm good at interviews, because they're fun for me. I'm sure you remember. I came on real strong and real hard, but the important thing was we held the interview while going out for lunch. I had you look up directions and make reservations while we talked, and despite all the multitasking, it didn't faze you. And I was so impressed, little sister. I still am. So I thought that was a perfect omen, that even if your eyes wandered sometimes, that you would always keep your priorities in order."

"They are in order... Unnie."

"I'm glad," she sighed. "Because I got a phone call from management. You're okay for now. I pulled some strings and you should be good as long as you lay low for a little bit. Social media is starting to quiet down, and it seems that only the positive stuff is persisting. So for the time being, you’re in the clear."

A deep sigh escaped you, a giant weight lifted off your chest. But you still felt like you were in hot water. "I'm really grateful, unnie. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I just," Hyun-Jae fidgeted with her glass, "I know how easy it is to fall for. You get close to these idols and you really feel for them. I've seen it happen a lot. But it's never destined for anything good. I've been around long enough to know that much. What did I tell you when I hired you?"

You stared right into the floor as Hyun-Jae rose from her chair. "You said you'd always do right by me, unnie."

"That's right." She strode over to you at the couch, petting your hair before setting a hand on your shoulder. "I'll always do right by you, even when you let yourself do something as reckless as fall in love."

Your heart sank in your chest as you downed the rest of your drink. "I'm not in love, unnie."

"Good," she gave you a reassuring smile, "I'm glad you're keeping your wits about you. Let's get ready for bed. We've all had a long day."

With that, you were sure Hyun-Jae leaned down to give you a rare hug but, to your horror, she reached lower, grabbing Chris' shirt that had fallen just under the couch. You watched, speechless as she casually walked straight to the hall closet and opened it. Chris' eyes darted from her to you, back and forth. He looked sullen, heartbroken and even frustrated as he met your gaze. Wordlessly, he grabbed the shirt and walked out of your hotel room.

You felt the air punch out of your gut. Why did he look so devastated? Everything fell into place as you let yourself fall back into the couch. Hyun-Jae walked back over, refilling your glass.

"Everyone does it, little sister. You just need more practice."

[To be continued.]

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