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#it's the first time i've been on my pc in weeks
bluehairperson · 1 year
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He doesn't have this problem with Valerius.
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yankee-am · 2 years
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raiiny-bay · 6 months
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halfway through october & i haven't had time to make a single halloween edit...............
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olessan · 1 year
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I am stressed :(
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#IF YOU READ THESE TAGS DON'T SEND ME KOFI THINGS OR ANYTHING I JUST NEED TO VENT BEFORE I EXPLODE#(I do have stickers and stuff on redbubble tho)#my PC's bsods/crashes are worse (1 every week or so and sometimes 2 a day I've had 2 in the past 3 hours)#and I'm pretty sure the root issue is the RAM is bad#which means it has been this whole time because I no longer turn my PC off at the end of the day like I did before ~mid 2022#and I don't have $300 to buy new RAM#and idk if I can get a replacement 3 years after purchase#and even if I do I will have to open it up and pull the RAM out and have no PC for probably a few weeks#and having just my phone will absolutely fuck with me like it did when I first moved in this house#and I need 2 usb sticks to properly diagnose and possibly need to repair some corrupt windows files#which I haven't done before#And meanwhile my fucked up premolar is falling out of my jawbone and is loose and I keep bumping it and it doesn't hurt as much as it shoul#and I am near to an abscess at any given time because of it and I need to get more shots because I don't want to go#without updated vaccinations but also having a tooth removed and one or two more cavities filled is very expensive#and I don't have any income so I have $4.80 to my name#and I need to work from home because of anxiety and I can't do that while my PC is having issues#I got a bsod earlier and got in Minecraft to play a little and got a second BSOD after just 2 hours#they're RAM related (memory_management and faulty_hardware_corrupted_page#but I am worried about the side effects of this many#I can't find any suitable work anyway and I need a new photo ID and those are $50 and my weekly income from studies/surveys/etc is about#about that and I am already living on about $30 of food a week (frozen pizzas and party pies and stuff + liquid breakfasts so I get some#minerals and vitamins) and I would rather scrape by then sign up for social security because of the horrible draconian shit they put people#though just to keep a payment that is 1/4th minimum wage and not liveable in the slightest#(THE PIZZAS GIVE ME FAT PROTEIN CARBS FIBRE AND A LOT OF KJ they are efficient)#(I would love to cook)#(I budgeted out meal prepping and it came out to costing twice as much for the same food if I bought the cheapest ingredients)#( and also same amount of food I eat once a day (1/2 pizza or equiv ~300g/3000kj/700cal) and use chocolate to carry me through the middle)#(the chocolate also keeps me focused and my mood up)#every single BSOD massively spikes my anxiety and it locks me up and I just fret for a while and I am cautious about drawing because it#can happen at any time and I don't want to lose things I've worked hard on
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saberdramon · 8 months
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i double checked my vacay days earlier and i think i might take tomorrow off work, im still awake bc my neck hurts and i've been meaning to check on the raspberries for a while bc jam season's approaching i think that'd be nice
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rowretro · 3 months
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𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬
An enha reactions
Warnings: None I think other than kissing, not proof read saur do tell me if i do need to warn abt anyth
HEESEUNG:
The male had spent the whole day streaming and gaming while you were patiently waiting for him to finally notice you and shower you in love. And exactly how long did your patience last?... luckily for you, Heeseung had just ended his stream, leaving his PC to find you. There you were sitting on the sofa munching on marshmallows...
"Oh darling~ you waited for me?" Heeseung asked with a smile as he leaned in to kiss your cheek. However, instead of letting him, you moved well away from his lips, making him fall forward, and kiss the butt-warmed seat on the sofa instead. "Oh darling, you only just noticed that you r dear girlfriend had waited a whole 5 hours while you gamed and replied to all those girls's comments?! wAh hEEsEunG oPpAr sO hANDsOme~ Oh hEE bE mInE, hEESeUng nOtICe mEEEE" you poutily imitated as Heeseung snickerred.
"God you're so fucking cute baby~" He simply said as you frowned at him. He simply pulled you into his embrace, despite your protests, his lips now pressed against your lips, as he kissed you passionately, pulling away moments later, having you yearn for his soft lips again. "I'm sorry for not paying you enough attention, but I'm all yours now mkay baby?" Heeseung smiled, as he kissed you yet again.
JAY:
It's midnight, and you're alone, waiting on the sofa, yet again. He said he'll finish at 6, he promised you that he will have time for you, but he's still not home. You couldn't be mad at him, if anything, being a CEO is pretty hard, especially after the recent scandal in his company. Jay had a lot of cleaning up to do, even though he didn't cause the mess in the first place.
These recent days, Jay hasn't paid any attention to you, he's become pretty cold and distant, and it's really upsetting you. Your thoughts were interrupted by the front door opening. In walked an exhausted Jay, he put down his items, slipped of his shoes, and hugged you. "You didnt have to wait all night- " Jay said as he leaned in to kiss you, but you pulled away before his lips even landed on yours.
"I did have to- you said you will be here at 6 but its way past the time... Jay- you never have time for me- you know- if you have any problems at work I can help you right, even if I cant- at least tell me, i can listen... you've become so cold these recent days its really upsetting..." You finally blurted as Jay sighed and kissed you slightly with force. "first, dont ever dodge my kisses baby, you know my lips too well to make a ballsy move... and second... i've just been a little to busy dealing with the aftermath of the scandal babe, i swear in a week or so, everything will be back to normal ok?" jay reassured as you kissed yet again.
JAKE:
There was no reason why, this boy is a simp, a lover boy, he's head over heels for you and is there at your every call.  But you, being the oh-so-perfect girlfriend you are, just had to try this prank on him. You were expecting him to be a big pouty baby, get all sulky or be extra clingy, but you also had a feeling... he might surprise you.
The moment he got home from practice, he greeted you with a big hug and a loving kiss, to which you pulled away from him. "wah- I- babe wait let me kiss you-" Jake cluelessly said as he tried to kiss you again, too bad you dodged it again, just the realization hit him, in the mirror he saw your little smirk and boy was you messing with the wrong person.
His arms wrapped tightly around your waist as he trailed open mouth kisses up your shoulder, stopping by your lips. He turned you around and kissed you messily, taking you by shock, he lifted you off the ground and carried you to the sofa. "Would you dodge my kisses again princess?" Jake asked as he tilted his head a little. "If dodging your kisses gets me that  then yes hell yes!" You smiled as Jake kissed you softly, seeing how cute you are.
SUNGHOON:
Sunghoon isnt always a PDA kind of guy, but he's still extremely sweet. There are times he gets very clingy, and those are times that you should cherrish. You were sitting on the sofa scrolling through your phone, when you felt Sunghoon sit right beside you. He rested his chin on your shoulder and wrapped his arms around your waist, making you blush. "What are you up to?" he asked, staring up at your eyes,  as your heart flutterred at the action. Boy he was making it so hard for you to do the prank.
"Just chillin-" you said as Sunghoon leaned in for a kiss, to which you ducked, as he froze "Did you just..." Sunghoon trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at you, within seconds he had your arms pinned above your head "Try dodging this." He said as he continuously kissed you on your lips, bruising them a little, and trailing wet kisses down your chest. "You think your little pranks will work on me baby? you're messin with the pro here missy." Sunghoon warned as he left you gasping for air.
Sunoo
You wouldn't dare do something so stupid without a reason. I mean why would you?! he's Sunoo, he'd always kisses you anytime anywhere, the man showers you with love, he spoils you rotten. However, these recent days Sunoo has been giving you extra attitude, he has become pretty rude and EXTREMELY sassy. It's just getting on your fucking nerves, what happened to "I love you y/n" or those cute, cheesy compliments and texts he spams you with. You had it with his chaos... So you decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
He came back from work a little earlier than usual, coming home thinking he would receive a sweet, loving kiss from his girlfriend... But instead he came back to nothing.  A little confused, he frowned and called out for you when he did find you, he leaned in to kiss you, but was taken aback when you pulled away, going to the other side of the bed to fold some clothes.  "What?" you plainly replied to which he scoffed, he didn't know what you're game was but there's no way you're giving HIM any attitude.
"Oh nothing-" Sunoo smiled, simply pulling out your favourite snack hoping that you'll crack. "One kiss is all it takes sweetie..." Sunoo simply said as You narrowed your eyes at him "If you want a kiss why don'tchu come get it yourself?" you asked as you started running, but to your dismay he knew your game, catching you in the doorframe, his arm tightly wrapped around your waist as he leaned down to kiss you rather roughly. After a little he pulled away and walked off  as if nothing happened.
Jungwon
There was no specific reason why you decided to prank him... well- except for that time he had ruined your favourite Spotify playlist with your favourite songs being replaced by Justin Bieber songs... Ok he's a menace, so you had to get him back, take something he loves and make it torment him for the rest of his life...
It was simple, you're something or well someone he loves, and you can also be annoying. Jungwon had just taken a long shower, slipping into the seat beside you. You were focused on the TV, rewatching modern family. Jungwon rested his head on your shoulder, playing with your hand noticing that you seem a little distant. The male leaned in to kiss you, though his cologne is so alluring, and you want nothing more than to be in his embrace, you had to fight your own urges.  
As he leaned into kiss you, you pulled away, going to the far end of the sofa. Jungwon frowned, clearly not liking your ignorance. He yet again tried to kiss you, getting in the way of your view, but you dodged it again, your focus solely on the TV. Jungwon simply carried you, your legs straddling his waist as you immediately snuggled into his chest. Jungwon placed a little kiss on your forehead, snuggling you close to him. he's a little menace... but he's your menace.
Niki
Riki was overly annoying at times, purposely testing your patience, teasing you for your height stealing your snacks. Moving in with him was rough, but you tried to be as calm as you can. So what are you going to lash out at him? yell at him? argue? no... you were going to speak to him in his language. no mater how much he teases you, you can't deny that you love those things...
You had been acting a little cold the whole day, though he didn't take it, constantly towering over you, trapping you between himself and whatever surface you were near, just to ask you a question. As you were sitting on your bed, doing something on your laptop, Riki sat down beside you, wrapping his arms around your waist lovingly.
He leaned down to kiss your forehead, only for you to pull away and sit on the other end of the bed. "Is this one of those tik tok pranks or are you mad?" Riki asked, as he sat beside you yet again. "what?" you asked not even looking his way. "Whatever it's not gonna stop me" Riki smirked, placing the laptop elsewhere, pinning you down and showering you with kisses, trapping you with his body. "You going to avoid my kisses from now?" Riki asked as you caught your breath.
"Well if avoiding one kiss gets me infinity then yes I will" You smiled as riki placed a soft peck on your lips, snuggling you.
too long?
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l3viat8an · 5 months
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Rooo!!! I have Levi brain rot rn, and I need to share Grand Admiral! Levi thoughts with u :/
As an important figure in the military, Levi has to go out sometimes to check up on the outskirts bases of the Devildom. Make sure that everything is working as they should.
This usually lasts for weeks, and today you had found out how long 2 weeks can feel when your loser gamer boyfriend is out on assignment.
Finding solace in his uncharacteristically empty room, you cuddle up in the bathtub bed, desperate to feel anything that reminded you of your beloved player 1. Using his favorite jacket, watching replays of his old streams, sleeping in his bed, that's slowly losing his scent and feel.
But one day, while curled up in his gaming chair, rewatching his old clips for the thousandth time. Levi comes home. Still in his uniform as he marched into his room, not expecting to find his PC on.
Once you realized he was there, you quickly jumped into his arms, peppering kisses all over him. When you pull away, you expect to see the usual sight; Leviathan a blushing mess, stammering about something you can't quite make out. But now, he wasn't blushing at all. He barely changed his stoic demeanor.
"L-levi...?"
You asked confused, removing yourself from his embrace to look at his attitude. Giving a hurt look as you basically pouted. Throwing a small tantrum that he didn't miss you at all
Unbeknownst to you, Levi was freaking out. After weeks out on field he just wanted to sleep and go back to his shut-in lifestyle. What he didn't know was that what he needed was to see his player 2 dressed in his jacket. Being an adorable tsundere as she pouted.
"On the bed, and strip. Leave the jacket on"
Levi commanded, looking serious as you stood there. Shocked at his words.
"E-excuse me?"
"Did I stutter? Strip, on the bed."
"W-wait–"
Shocked and confused, You stood their unsure of what to do. And why the hell that turned you on so much
It wasn't the first time Levi was in control, but he was usually so sweet and gentle. Not this... demanding. You're not sure if it's the uniform, the attitude, or the fact it was Levi being so assertive. But you followed without hesitation.
And you're so greatful that you did, because the two weeks waiting for him were quickly rewarded. Levi being as merciless with you as he took what he wanted. Leaving you a blushing mess, passed out in his bed, as for the first time in two weeks, you slept with him again on his bed.
The next day, he profusely apologized at how rough he was, while all you could think about was when could you bring that side of him out once more
(AHHH IM SORRY FOR GOING ON FOR SO LONG BUT I NEEDED TO SHARE IT SO BADLYYY 🙏 IDK IF THIS IS SMUT OR FLUFF BUT I JS LOVE HIM AHHHH)
Nsfw!
Looks like fluffy-smut to me- holy shi 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ‘n idk what happened but my add-on is definitely smut helpjdksj
Levi didn’t actually expected you to obey his command so quickly. He watched as you stripped down, leaving the jacket on like he had ordered. Fuck you look so good It took his breath away and he has to shake his head a bit, collecting himself as you climbed into his bathtub bed.
He quickly joined you, climbing on top of you in the bathtub before pulling you closer and kissing you, moaning softy as he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue to tangle with yours.
His hands didn’t stop either, roaming over your body, exploring every inch of it, as if trying to burn it into his memory again.
Honestly there was something about this side of Levi that you couldn't resist. It was as if you were being taken by a completely different person, one who was confident and assertive…the grand admiral....it’s really hot-
You moaned when his fingers finally found their way between your legs, pressing against your already dripping cunt. He thrust two fingers inside you, causing you to moan loudly.
"You- you look so beautiful like this." Levi breathed into your ear, his voice low and husky. "I've been waiting for weeks to feel you again…..and I can’t wait anymore.”
He lines his cock up with your ready pussy, waiting for you to nod before sliding in and letting out a little whine he just can’t stop from slipping out, “S-so, good, messed you so m-much..”
He wanted nothing more than to keep you close, to let you feel how much you meant to him, as he fucked you faster, harder-
It was as if he had been holding back for weeks, waiting for this moment to release all the passion that had built up inside him.
“G-gonna cum soon….need, need you to cum with me.” as he leans down to kiss you, one of his hands slides back down to you clit and his thumb rubs against it roughly. Making Levi moan against your lips as you tighten around him, soon as he feels you orgasm take over your body Levi cums. rutting his hips into yours, riding through your orgasms together.
Panting Levi hides his face in your neck for a moment and he can hear you let out a little giggle, before whispering "I've missed you too, Levi." and Levi laughs, pressing a few soft kisses along your neck~
The next morning you’ll wake up to your, sweet boyfriend acting like his usual self. Looking over your body and apologizing endlessly, he promises he’ll be more gentle next time!! Wait no- he didn’t mean it like that!!- he did-
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kookslastbutton · 7 months
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Love's Remedy ༓ jjk (m) l Ch. III
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✑ Summary: Jungkook is a romantic. He comes from a highly intelligent family who wants him to carry out the lineage. Being this way, he goes to college to be a pharmacist but his friends say college isn't just about studying! With a little persuasion, he goes to his first frat party thinking his hat will help him pick up a girl-or woman he means.
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Pairing: STEM major!virgin!jungkook x STEM major!hot girl!reader
AU/genre: angst, smut, fluff, s2l, college au, mini-series
Rating: M, 18+
Word Count: 4,378
Warnings: jk is very determined to "win" oc, jk a romantic, oc has philophobia (fear of relationships), protective!koo again, oc is an engineering student, PC Bang, jk is a king at LOL (League of Legends), jk lowkey flirts with new person, oc gets cold feet but please don't blame her 🥹, jk and oc get on level ground after hashing things through, themes of stalker-ish behavior (not oc or jk!), feat Jackson and Jae-beom, if i missed warning lmk!
Now Playing: seven, summertime sadness, she’s kerosene, angels like you+
A/N: For reference a PC Bang is: "a type of LAN gaming center and Internet cafe in South Korea, where patrons can play multiplayer computer games for an hourly fee". Also, I am not a gaming guru but I try for this chapter that means I researched haha Enjoy! 💞
<< ch. II ༓ ch. IV >> | series masterlist
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A week later, Jungkook waits for you at your agreed rendezvous point; for over an hour. You promised to meet him near the campus garden at 7 pm but here it is almost 8 pm and you're a no-show.
He checks his phone for the fourteenth time since arriving–no reply.
Jungkook tries not to jump to conclusions but you broke your word and you ghosted him.
He thinks back to last week when he'd stepped between you and Jun-ho. And when you followed him back to his dorm where he told you he could love and take care of you, as you helped patch his wound. Had he come on too strong? Did you get into more trouble that he didn't know about?
He kicks a few pebbles by his feet, sending them flying in every which way, as the number of endless possibilities rattles his brain.
"Stupid," he cusses himself. "You're just so fucking stupid."
How could he believe that after two short weeks of random run-ins with you that he'd earn your interest? You told him you don't do relationships yet he still shows up, anxiously presenting himself as your knight in shining armor. Any sane person would tell him he was barking up a dead tree.
"Might as well get a head start on next week's homework." Jungkook loses hope, trotting back to the dormitory with the wind howling and mocking behind him.
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"What do you mean she ditched you?" The boisterous inquisition belongs to Jackson who's looking thoroughly offended once hearing his new best friend was shown up. He isn't sure how much this woman meant to him, but either way, it makes him livid. Even if you weren't going to go out with him, you should've at least told him like a decent human being.
"I really thought she'd come," Jungkook replies with his heavy eyes. He walks alongside the blonde-haired boy, dirt crunching below his feet. "Guess she had something better to do."
"No." Jackson stops in the middle of the road. "You know who actually has better things to do? It's you. What do you say to hitting up the PC Bang downtown? Play a little League of Legends or Overwatch?"
Jungkook shrugs with less enthusiasm than a snail. "Sure…"
"Hey man," Jackson puts a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. "I'm sorry about you and __. It sucks being stood up. I've had my fair share and you just gotta take it as a blessing that nothing else happened between you both. Nine times out of ten, it didn't have anything to do with you either so don't blame yourself. Take it as a lesson and keep working on yourself until the right person shows up. They'll be the person you can truly give yourself to."
"Hard to believe you've been shown up. You're charismatic, confident, in good shape, have good facial features, and you're getting your MD." Jungkook's aware of his friend's attempt to lift his spirits but he can't fathom anyone not giving Jackson the time of day. Due looks like a pop star in the making.
"Nah, most of what you just said is me bullshitting my way through life. I'm not all that," Jackson rejects, striding forward. "I got rejected by a girl a few days ago myself."
"Had a boyfriend?"
"Nope, just didn't like me. And she doesn't go out with first -years apparently."
"Oh," Jungkook's eyebrows shoot up. "She was an upperclassman?"
"Yup, on her third year."
At this Jungkook's mouth gapes open. "No wonder she said no. What the hell are you doing trying to go out with a third-year?” The accusatory tone spins Jackson's head–he's a sad little puppy with you but a bulldog with him. What a puzzling fellow.
"Same thing you're doing trying to convince someone who doesn't want a relationship to go out with you."
Jungkook dials back his previous assertion. "We're idiots."
"Correction. we're dreamers." Jackson slaps him on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go burn some shit up at the internet cafe."
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By the time he and Jackson get to the cafe nearly all the computers are taken. It's no surprise since PC Bang's are quite a rave amongst university students like themselves. You can play the hottest games for hours while stuffing yourself full with whatever food's served on the cafe menu–all for a small fee of course.
"Let's go here." Jackson manages to grab two free id cards from the counter–guiding them to two empty PCs, side by side to each other. "How long do you want to play for?"
Jungkook sinks himself in the leather gaming chair and powers on the machine in front of him. "I'm good until 6 pm, but then I should head back to my dorm and do homework."
"Cool, same for me. We'll play for three hours then."
"What should we play?" Jungkook tosses the headset over his ears and scrolls through the game options. Jackson does the same.
"Kinda in the mood for LOL." He flips to the game's screen card. "Gonna need to join a team though."
"No problem.," Jungkook clicks the game on his own pc until the loading screen covers his view. "So many people play League of Legends. We'll be able to find one in no time."
Jackson nods and opens LOL himself. "Let's kick some ass."
"Fuck yeah," Jungkook mumbles, inaudible to everyone but himself.
An hour passes and he and Jackson have been hammering their opponents into the digital abyss. The thrill and surge of adrenaline cause him to forget previous heartaches–aka you. Plus, after finding a team of three to jump into; one member who happens to be female, Jungkook's been able to turn his attention to other prospects.
"Soomin, how long have you been playing LOL for?" Jungkook decides to learn more about his female teammate after claiming the final victory over the opposing team.
"Five years," her raspy voice comes through his headset. It sure is a unique voice, he notes.
"Same. We should play on a team more often. In fact, Jackson and I are thinking about building an official LOL team so we could use a third person. You're really good so if you want, we'd love to have you." Beside him, his friend gives him a confused look. 'We are?' he mouths silently which Jungkook ignores.
"Wait really?" She pauses a moment. "I've never been on a permanent team before. I guess that'd be cool."
"I play late at night sometimes too. Meaning if you ever wanna jump on with me shoot me a message or something."
"Alright, I'll jot down your username."
"Already got yours memorized," he says, a tad more cocky than he meant.
"Damn," she cusses. "You work fast. By the way, do you go to university?"
"Yeah, I go to Seoul National University."
"No way, what year are you? I attend there too. I'm a second-year."
"What?!" He nearly hits the ceiling once the information is disclosed. He had no idea Soomin would be this close and that he could meet her in person. call him eager but should he ask her out? No…he's already made that move with you and look where it left him. He'll ask to hang out first. "We should meet Soomin. As long as you don't mind that I'm a first-year that is," Jungkook chuckle lightly and looks over to Jackson who immediately gives him a double thumbs up.
"Well I'm kinda busy this week but how about next week? Also, if it's good with you, can my boyfriend come?"
Fuck. If this is some kinda joke he'd like to catch a break any time now. Not that he was as intrigued with Soomin as he was, or still is, with you but he definitely thought it was going somewhere!
"You're dating?" Jungkook watches Jackson lower his double thumbs up, frowny face on.
"Yeah, we've been together for a year. Met as classmates." When she giggles Jungkook has the unexpected urge to roll his eyes. Of course, you did, he mutters, just a perfectly peachy coincidence for you two.
"Well that's nice," he says bitterly.
"Oh, I'm sorry Jungkook. He's actually calling me now so I have to go but I'll talk to you soon. And message me when you want to meet. I'll tell my boyfriend about you!"
Great. Jungkook bids her goodbye and she signs off.
"Sorry about Soomin. She seemed cute." Jackson slides his headset off his ears to rest them around his neck. "But you know what? You're still a force to be reckoned with inside the virtual world. I honestly don't know how you do it."
Jungkook grins shyly and slips his headset on the desk. "I've been playing for a long time. Must be something to do with that." He throws a hand over his abdomen when his stomach rumbles at the same time. "We should order food." He browses the cafe's extensive menu on his pc. Nothing but rows and rows of tasty options flash back at him, urging him to spend fortunes.
Still, he's got to cap it at some point with only about 2,000,000 Korean won (about 1,500 USD) in his bank account. The Jeon family is wealthy but Jungkook is not. His parents are especially careful to inform him that generational wealth is not going to be given to him freely. Instead, he is to earn his own money, starting at the car wash which he worked at over the summer.
"I'm getting an order of Tteokbokki and a soju. What about you?" Jackson punches in his order, sparing a glance at Jungkook who's tapping on his keyboard with one hand while the other rests under his chin.
"The Jjajangmyeon looks good. I'll get that with a soju too." After Jungkook enters in his own order he strolls his chair out from under the gaming table. "Do you see a bathroom around here?"
"Yeah, it's all the way to that far right corner." Jackson points in that direction with his thumb.
"Okay, I'll be right back."
Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom.
Jungkook repeats the simple word to himself. He scans the corner Jackson gestured towards earlier but sees nothing except a giant blank wall. Must have meant the opposite direction. He turns himself around to scout the other side of the floor.
"Excuse me sir-" a voice chimes close behind him.
"Oh sorry." He steps aside to let the young lady by and as soon as he does his whole body jerks forward in shock. "__!"
You turn around with the tray of food in your hand in what looks like a work uniform. "Yes, what can I do–Kookie?" You grip the plastic tray firmer to keep it from shaking uncontrollably, though the clamminess of your palms makes it a challenging task. Seeing Jungkook at the place you work was bound to happen being that the PC Bang is close to the university. You just weren't prepared for it to be tonight during one of your last shifts of the season.
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"I didn't know you worked here."
"Yeah, only part-time." After bumping into Jungkook moments ago, you found it inevitable to avoid him further. You agreed to meet him outside once your break started. "I'm planning on leaving before the semester gets crazy. I have about a week left probably."
It dawns on Jungkook that he doesn't know what you study so with shifty eyes and clenched fists, he asks. "What are you going for?"
"Engineering." You can tell he wasn't expecting that for an answer; most don't be a woman in the field and all. "Jungkook, let's not do this. I'm sorry about what happened the other night." A sick queasy feeling settles in your gut–you're well aware you did Jungkook wrong. You're not proud of it in the slightest and him standing in front of you right now only reminds you of your guilt.
"I waited for you __. You said you come even if it was a rejection." A twinge of hurt laces behind his words and he keeps a controlled stance. He doesn't get in your face, demanding for an answer, nor does he break down and cry. He's more inquisitive than anything else. "Where were you? Why didn't you come?"
"I–" You intertwine your fingers, a nervous habit you picked up in childhood. "I panicked Kookie. I'm so sorry."
Jungkook stiffens when he hears the endearing name drop from your soft lips again. It was nice at first but now it feels like a sharp pain twisting in his side, like a thorn only for his misery. "Can you not call me that, please? It's–It's making me uncomfortable."
"Oh god," you lunge forward out of instinct but freeze when he steps back. "Jungkook I really am sorry. I was planning to see you. I had my shoes on and everything. Like I said I panicked, I'm not suited for relationships. And I'm not suited for you."
The last part stings the most.
"But–"
“There’s no buts Jungkook." You place your hand on the door of the building. " I have to get back to work."
"Wait!"Jungkook moves to face in front of you from an angle. "You say you're not suited for relationships but why did you get ready to see me? Why didn't you just say no to me? And last week when you told me you needed more time to think…was it a lie?"
"Because I like you okay? You're cute, protective, sweet, but you like me too much." you release the handle. "You don't know anything about me yet you've already got into a fistfight with an obscene jerk for me and claim you'll wait for me even when you just met me. If you love me this much now how much more will you love me later?"
" I'll love you for eternity."
"See this is it, Jeon. You saying stuff like this before anything real has happened between us–it's too much. How can you be this devoted to basically a stranger? You'll love me for eternity but have you considered that maybe I won't?"
"What are you saying?"
"What makes you think I'll love you as much as you do me?"
" I don't think like that __. I don't want a relationship so I can see what I can get. that's not how my mind works. I understand that I've been very forward with you. I should have been more conscientious about how that would make you feel but when I say that I love–"
"Please, don't drop the 'L' word. If you're saying love then you don't love me; only the idea of me."
Jungkook pauses, wordless
"Never thought of it that way huh? Guess not. Let me ask you something…do you know what I do? With men?"
He swallows and shakes his head no
"I sleep with them. A new guy a week if not twice a week. People call me a whore, and I'm spreading my legs for everyone and anyone willing. Do you want to get involved with someone like that?" You wipe away an escaped tear.
"I don't care about that at all __."
"Well, you should! This is who I am Jungkook. I can't let you be responsible for me. So unless you want a one-night stand or a friends-with-benefits relationship, I suggest you forget about me. I can't be your girlfriend."
"__!" Your manager shoves the front door open, causing you and Jungkook to jolt in surprise. " Where have you been? We have about twenty orders that need to be served."
"Sorry Manager Choi. I'll get right on it." You spare Jungkook one last glance before disappearing back inside the PC Bang. "I'm sorry," you say with a lowered head.
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That night Jungkook lays on his bed, thumb hovering over your name in his contacts list. His logical side whispers for him to delete it. His heart says to call, text, or do something to–no. He remembers your pained facial expression; on the verge of tears as you explained to him that he'd been too quick in making his mind up about you. But then he replays your final words.
"…unless you want a one-night stand or a friends-with-benefits relationship, I suggest you forget about me. I can't be your girlfriend."
Well, he doesn't want the first two but if it meant he could be in your life longer–stop. His logical side intrudes. "You don't want to go down that path," he matters to himself. "It's better if you just delete the number." Jungkook moves to tap the trash can icon on your phone contact, a pang in his chest. Just as he's mustered up enough strength his phone buzzes off, screen lighting the entirety of the darkened dorm room. His roommate groans at the sound and rolls over in their bed.
"Jungkook," said roommate rubs his face. "I have an 8:15 tomorrow morning. Please speak take it in the hallway."
Jungkook quietly jumps out of bed not solely because of courtesy to his roommate but also because it's from you.
"Jungkook… can you um…"
"__?" He eases the door shut behind him and paces up and down the hallway. "Are you there?"
"Can you meet me at the bus stop near the campus library/ I'm sorry to be asking you it's just that…Jun-ho's–"
"What is it? Are you okay? What about Jun-ho?"
" I'm taking the bus back from work and he's on the same one he keeps staring at me and I'm scared of following me back to my dorm. Please Kookie-Jungkook I mean. I don't have any right to ask you, I know. He won't try anything with the bus driver here but once I get off I'll be alone. I have some pepper spray in my bag–"
"Yes, yes I'll be right there. How far are you out?" This isn't about pursuing you, impressing you, or anything like that anymore; it's about your safety. Jungkook leaps into his room, grabs his wallet, and shoves the sneakers on his feet. "__? Did you hear me?"
" I'm five minutes from the stop. Oh, he's, he's still staring at me."
"Don't look at him __. I'm walking down right now. Stay on the phone with me. I'll be waiting for you when you get there okay?"
"Thank you Kook. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. If Jun-ho's tracking you down like a wolf, it'll be his funeral." The icy tone in Jungkook's typically warm, milky tone sends a shiver up your spine.
The bus you're on pulls up in exactly five minutes, as you estimated. Jungkook frantically searches for you through the window glass, growling when he sees Jun-ho standing up a few rows behind you. He makes sure to be as close to the bus's exit doors as possible so he can grab your hand as soon as you step out.
"Hey!" He greets you loudly. "How was your shift?"
"Great! We were running around like crazy but thankfully, I didn't have to work through the night." You cling his hand tighter, slinging your other arm around his.
"That's a blessing." Jungkook and you walk faster, putting more space between you and Jun-ho. "You must be tired."
"Oh yeah, I can't wait to slee–ah!" You trip over a ledge on the sidewalk. Jungkook grips you before you completely fall flat on your behind.
"New feet?" He can't help but joke and you slap his arm. Jungkook helps straighten you back up, your hands remain interlocked. When it comes to a split in the road, you and Jungkook filter to the right side towards the female dorms. You hope to god Jun-ho takes the left.
"He's such a fucker." Jungkook curses, peering over his shoulder just enough to see Jun-ho faltering at the intersection. He burns holes at both of you so much that it makes Jungkook feel like kneeing him in the gut but he doesn't want to provoke the bastard–putting you in unpredictable danger. "I'll get you to your dorm. Which one is yours?"
"Up ahead." You gesture at the brick building with the number 318.
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"We can let go of our hands now." You're the first to speak after arriving outside your dorm.
Jun-ho thankfully did not follow you any more than back at the split in the path between male and female dorms. The fact that he still attends school here makes your skin crawl. You don't exactly like calling people a mistake but Jun-ho is by far an exception. You messed around with the guy one time while you both were a bit tipsy and he keeps hounding you. If you need to, you will make him stay away from you permanently.
"Promise me you'll get a restraining order on him if this happens again or gets worse." Jungkook ignores your suggestion to release your hands. "That idiot has no right to be around you."
"I will. Thank you for coming out. I was nervous to call you being what happened earlier. I truly, from the bottom of my heart, am sorry. And I know having to go back to work left things hanging so if there's anything else you wanted to talk about or tell me, please feel free."
"Anything for you–" slips out of his mouth before he can stop it. He slaps a hand over his mouth instantly, you chuckle softly.
"It's okay Jungkook," you reassure. "I can tell you wear your heart on your sleeve. You're naturally very accommodating and flattering."
"And you're beautiful. Damnit, I did it again. I'm sorry __, but whenever I look at you I feel butterflies and I say a lot of fluffy stuff. I'm not trying to flirt or impress you by using what can be in the right context, shallow methods. But yeah, I was thinking about what happened at the cafe earlier tonight and I think get it–I've been too quick to the draw. I'm honestly not sure why I'm so attracted to you other than the fact that you're breathtakingly gorgeous in literally every way, both physical and non-physical. It makes me want to know you more. And the fact that assholes like Jun-ho won't leave you alone makes me want to be your personal bodyguard or something. I don't lift as much as him but fuck, I can keep him in his place. I'm starting to sound crazy, aren't I? It's like you said, we're strangers after all…right?"
Jungkook waits for you to respond. The cool autumn air is crisp against your cheeks, not cold enough to see your own breath, but enough to have you secretly grateful for the warmth that comes from his hand. That's right, you've been clinging onto his hand for dear life for the past fifteen or more minutes. You should probably let go now if weren't for the fact that he's also clinging onto yours just as hard.
"You really want to know me Kookie?" You brush a few strands of his hair that have blown in front of his eyes. He's incredibly handsome now…how did you not see it before? Sure he's cute with his bunny-like smile, mole on his button nose, and his adorable voice that makes you oh so soft and comfortable inside. But he's also handsome with his piercing oak tree-colored eyes, perfectly sharp jaw, and eager yet tenacious energy that always seems to show up for you.
Jungkook takes your other hand in his, swinging them between you both. "Of course," his earnest voice chippers. "It’s next to impossible for me not to want to know you. I'm sure I'll eventually move on if that's what you really want, but if there's another alternative that can avoid that I'd like to take it. You seem to be in deep thought about something…" he switches up his response when he notices you don't look as alert as you usually do. “__.”
"I'm here," you say, the tiniest bit dazed. "I was just thinking about something."
"Yeah I know, but about what?"
You swallow before replying. “…You.”
Jungkook smiles sheepishly. You're unsure if he's pleased or nervous. "Is it–is it something good or should we leave it here?"
"Are you free tomorrow?" You bite the inside of your cheek, begging yourself not to take it back. "It's Sunday so I get if you have some last-minute studying to do. Just thought maybe we could do something….together." Jungkook goes to reply, cheeks more than raised but you continue speaking before he sounds a word. "It's not a date per se. I'm being crazy annoying but I'd like to be friends first with something extra."
"You said no to friends before though. This isn't an offer to be friends with benefits is it?"
"That was when I wasn't sure what I wanted with you if anything. I didn't want to take advantage of you or anything. I want to start as friends so we can see if we can somehow be more. I'm interested in you Jungkook so no, not friends with benefits but rather, friends with the potential to be more."
"Okay," Jungkook squeezes your hands. "I can do that. What do you want to do? What time do you want to meet? What do you want me to wear?"
"First of all, if we're going to do this I'm going to need you to treat me like your bro. Wear what you want, we can meet afternoon and we'll figure it what to do along the way." You think your suggestion is fair yet it's crystal clear that it's not ideal for Jungkook, given the pout on his face.
"I don't want you to be my bro though," he whines.
"We start as bros or we're not hanging out." You're firm because you want this to work but you know yourself, and you need to take this slow.
"No wait, okay. Bro it is. You'll be the prettiest bro of mine."
"Jungkook," you snort, undignified. "That sounds weird."
He shrugs, "I'm weird when I'm with my friends. Especially when they're as pretty as you, it makes me all dumb because I can't seem to think straight anymore."
"Alright Romeo," you say, face flushing. "Save the rest for tomorrow."
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<< ch. II ༓ ch. IV >> | series masterlist
A/N: This was originally going to be three chapters but it will be extended 😶 Lmk what you think and if you wanna to be tagged fill out tag form or ask 💞
Masterlist
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@hoseokteardrop @skzthinker @igchochi @jksjx
no reposting, copying, or translating my work– © kookslastbutton
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I've never listened to/Watched naddpod, not yet anyway, and it sounds good like all the dnd stuff out there. Is it multiple campaigns with different people, or how does it work?
Oooh my favorite type of question!
So NADDPod has long campaigns with the same players and DM plus a few bonus campaigns where the same four people which roles (like who DMs)
Murph is the DM for the main campaigns and Emily Axford, Jake Hurwitz, and Caldwell Tanner are the players. There are three main campaigns at this point, campaign 1 started in 2018 and ended in 2020 and has 100 episodes, campaign 2 started in 2020 and ended in 2021 and has 41 episodes, and campaign 3 started in 2022 and is ongoing, currently with 50 episodes.
Caldwell DMed a mini campaign that spanned several months and was then part of the break between c1 and c2, which is called Trinyvale and has 22 episodes. Emily DMed a mini campaign that was also during the c1 to c2 gap with 7 episodes called the Mavrus Chronicles. She’s also the DM of the 4 episode mini campaign that is starting to drop today and will come out between this week and next week.
There are guest PCs in campaigns 1 and 2. Lou Wilson, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Brennan Lee Mulligan have all guested and been part of arcs in the campaigns.
In a similar way to D20, it’s a comedy show that kinda focuses on comedy first and dnd second sometimes. It will also hurt you a bit, like all good stories can.
It’s also entirely theater of the mind, because it’s a podcast, but Murph manages to create insanely complex and visual encounters in every campaign and it’s truly so much fun to listen to every time.
If you’re planning to listen (and I hope you are, it’s a wonderful show), the hardest part can be wondering where to start. I personally started with campaign 1, and I do recommend that to people personally because you can miss some inside jokes and they are learning 5e at the beginning so if you’re big into mechanics it can be easier to listen to the parts where they’re not exactly getting things right all the time first. However, you by no means have to! As long as you’re starting with an episode 1 (c2e1, c3e1, trinyvale e1) you won’t miss out on anything and you can move through the campaigns in any order! (C3 does take place in the same world as c1, 200 years after c1 ends, but if you listen to it first you can absolutely consider c1 to be a prequel).
And because I’d be remiss to not mention it anytime I recommend this to someone, sooner than you’d think possible in c1e1, there’s a conversation about dragon pussy. If you think it’s a funny good time, you’ll love the show. If you hate it, the show might not be for you.
Anyway, thanks for the question and everyone should start listening wherever their pods are cast!
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sirfrogsworth · 3 months
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It's hard to be nostalgic about Tumblr without remembering my friend Tru.
Truett McGowan.
What a fantastic name.
We met each other because we were both tech geeks following Leo Laporte. He was the very first live streamer. Originally he hosted a TechTV cable show called The Screen Savers. But once G4 took over and focused more on video games, Leo's show was cancelled and he was looking for a new way to broadcast content.
So he built a studio near his home and created his own infrastructure in order to live stream video on the internet. He called his new show "This Week in Tech" or TWiT for short.
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Along with his new streaming venture he created a TWiT community using an open source microblogging platform called Laconica. It was a form of Twitter that you could create specifically for a single community. Basically a custom niche Twitter feed. I was trying to be a web designer back then, so I created custom themes for Lacnonica.
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This was my own personal theme for a website that I ended up never launching.
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Leo called his custom Twitter, "The TWiT Army." And I was his graphic designer and webmaster. I made all of the cute little graphics for the website.
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I also did fun holiday themes...
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For the Thanksgiving theme, if you hovered over the Turkey it would change to being cooked.
I also took it upon myself to photoshop a little army helmet on the avatar of every single user of the site.
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This was the zombie avatar I made for myself during Halloween.
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The TWiT Army was also where I started posting my first attempts at Photoshop comedy. Many of them related to The TWiT Army.
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And The TWiT Army is where I met Tru. He used a space invader avatar. I made him a couple of different versions.
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You may have seen his avatar on the sidebar of my main Tumblr.
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We became fast friends. We finished each other's jokes. We talked pretty much all day, every day. He loved Apple back then. I was strictly PC at the time. So we debated about that quite a bit. He would probably be astonished I have a MacBook and that I really love it too.
Our friendship lived in a little text box. We never talked outside of instant messages. But it was one of the most profound friendships of my life. I loved Tru just as much as any friend I've ever known in real life.
Tru started blogging on this brand new site called Tumblr. He reviewed apps for the iPod Touch. Not the iPhone, as that wasn't yet a thing.
I made the banner for his Tumblr.
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He kept trying to get me to join Tumblr, but I was busy trying to create my own custom comedy website. But my site kept getting more and more complicated and I could never quite finish it. I was trying to arrange guest authors and create 3 months of content and I was always futzing with the theme and never happy with it.
I was getting frustrated that I could never launch my perfect comedy website and Tru suggested just making a Tumblr and posting funny stuff so I could be creative and have an outlet until my big site was ready to launch.
Little did I know Tumblr would end up being my big comedy website. Eventually I abandoned months of work and just stayed on Tumblr. All of my success here is pretty much because that little space invader pestered me to join when I was being stubborn.
Unfortunately, as some may have figured out already, the story gets sad from there. Tru mentioned briefly that he had a heart defect, but he never said it was serious. He acted like it was no big deal so I never thought too much about it.
We always talked through instant message and email, so we never exchanged phone numbers or addresses or anything like that. Tru was a very private person so he never even published an image of his face online. I only knew him as a space invader.
One day I woke up and sent him a message and got no reply. He usually woke up before me and answered as soon as I said hello. This had been our routine for nearly a year.
An hour went by. Two hours. Three hours.
It was odd for him not to respond for that long. I was really worried but all of my TWiT friends told me I was being paranoid. But there was a huge knot in my stomach telling me otherwise.
But then those hours turned into days. Days into weeks. Weeks into months. My worry grew exponentially as more time passed. I didn't know what to do. I tried finding his family. I even looked into hiring a private investigator. I don't know if I have ever felt a combination of depression & anxiety that intense.
In my heart, I knew what had happened. I knew that heart defect took his life. He was only 26 and it just didn't seem fair. But the not knowing for certain ravaged my mental health. Before all of this I had lost nearly 90 pounds and I gained it all back.
I think maybe a year or so later I found a friend of his who knew him in real life. They were finally able to confirm my suspicions. He passed away from his heart condition. That was my first real experience with grief. But I was so thankful for that bit of closure. I was finally able to let go of my anxiety and mourn him properly.
But Tru gave me such a wonderful gift. He pushed me to just start making things. To stop stalling and just create things to make people smile.
And you all probably know the rest from there.
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Would I be an asshole if I reached out to a DND group I left on bad terms to apologize?
I was part of the group from ages ~17-19(+ maybe half a year on either side? idk man I have memory issues). we met at least once a week, usually late at night for me (one of the players was from New Zealand) and as an extremely sleep deprived, socially awkward, ADHD, mildly suicidal teenager with unmanaged chronic pain, I suffered from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. Pretty much every time I'd try to say something out of character, what would come out of my mouth was unnecessarily hostile or just straight up the opposite of what I meant. (note: this is not what I'm asking for judgement on, I was 100% TA here)
Now, that wasn't the only problem I had with the group (the DM tended to have "main" pcs, and was a big fan of pc death and secret one-on-one channels, so more than once something would go down in secret channels that started an entire subplot and resulted in PC major injuries, death, and massive plot progression, and character arcs tended to only be developed or resolved where no one but the individual player could see it) but it was the one that caused me to get kicked from it.
The DM was really into, and very good at, making actually terrifying villains. One night, another player startled me by sneezing directly into their microphone. What I *intended* to say was something along the lines of "that was the scariest sound I've ever heard," but what I *actually* said was "That noise was scarier than anything [DM] has ever come up with!" The joke... did not come across well, and I was asked to leave, and I did so without making the subsequent spiral the DM's problem. It was honestly crushing, at least at first — that was pretty much my main source of social interaction during the pandemic, and despite our differences in preferred play styles, I'd actually had a lot of fun playing those games.
But looking back, I was absolutely in the wrong with... just sort of most of it. It's been three years, coming up on four (? I think?), and I haven't had any contact with anyone from that group since leaving. I do want to apologize for how I acted, both the incident and my behavior in general, but I don't know if I would be the asshole for reaching out after so long just to apologize (I'm not really interested in being friends, and I wouldn't rejoin even if they offered — the difference in play style really is just too much).
What are these acronyms?
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tikiloowho · 6 months
Text
So, some thoughts I've had while thinking this week over lore we were given.
I belive my theory of fit being some sort of construct has some footing. The pink effect over his screen every now and then and the digitization of his screen is reminiscent of the "missing texture" bug in games but it's also exactly… like a specific bug that happens when a computer has a failing GPU. Pink lines will appear on the screen when the GPU has overheated to the point of total failure. It is not possible to restore this GPU and often this problem will put the PC itself into shutdown or… sleep. What this means for Fit as a character is really interesting as the only way to fix this is to… well.. get a new GPU. This means data loss, file corruption or worse. A fresh start entirely.
Fit told Philza, his most trusted friend, where he would be if something were to happen to him. We can pray that Fit will be alright but I am doubtful. Expect high memory loss if not outright a reset of some sort. This brings me to the connection Fit has to the Code. There are a few people in the QSMP who are extremally tied to the Code entity, The first person to run into the Code was Philza, Fit and Philza took it out with some well aimed arrow's and bombs. Fit being the one to kill it first. Etoiles has his own Code arc [I will delve into further detail on this in another post] and Max with his death early on to the code and progressive "sickness" and code based dreams. Fit however, being the first person to kill the code was also visited a few times by the code with a separate message entirely than one concerning the eggs. The clock. On two occasions, (if i am remembering correctly) Fit was given an old-school Minecraft clock. I specify it being older on purpose as the server has lot's and lots of mods. The code intentionally chose to use a "classic" style clock in order to depict night and day. On or Off. Awake vs Asleep. I feel this detail is important when it comes to Fit's state as a construct and how the code is conscious of his "mechanical" nature. Time was running out the first time fit was given a clock, the second time felt more like a confirmation that fit was heading towards something much worse than just a simple sleep. Fit said just before his deep sleep that he felt as though he was headed for his "Impending doom" Laughed it off and corrected to "my deep sleep". This could have been a bit or... it could have been more than that. After all, when a computer is about to shut down, you do get quite a few warnings of catastrophic failure.
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bobohu4eva · 1 year
Text
Good to You - Part 1
Characters: Idol Baekhyun x Reader
Genre: Maid AU, fluff, smut
Warnings for this chapter: alcohol consumption
WC: 3.2k
A/N: Hiiiii! This is something I've been working on for a while and now that its finally close to completion I decided to start uploading! Let me know what you think, and if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters, which will be up in the next few weeks!
Masterlist
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“Byun Baekhyun…” You read the name on the paper, and then you read it again to make sure you’d seen correctly. 
The paper you held was from the company you worked for, a company that specialized in cooking and cleaning services, usually for rich families. A few times you’d been sent to the homes of prominent families whose names you recognized, but when you saw his name, you almost couldn’t believe it. 
This was Byun Baekhyun, the idol singer. In all your time working at the company you’d never been sent to the home of a celebrity. And although you wouldn't exactly consider yourself a fan, you knew and enjoyed a lot of his music and were still a bit nervous to meet him. 
When the day came for you to go, you made sure you were at your best. You were only going to his lavish apartment for a typical day of work, for all you knew, he might not even be there with how busy his schedule must be. However when you knocked on the door, it was him who opened it and let you into his home. 
“Hi, you must be y/n right?” He asked, smiling at you as you walked in, looking around his apartment. 
You quickly nodded, “Yes, the company told me that you wanted someone to prepare a few meals and do a deep clean, correct?” 
You did your best to act professional but this was your first time meeting someone like him, and he was even more beautiful in person than he was in photos and on TV and it was a bit difficult for you to think straight. You also immediately noticed the state of his apartment. It wasn’t dirty, but it was also very clear that he was someone who didn’t have the time to cook and clean like most people. There were quite a few takeout containers you could see, and it was obvious that it had been a while since someone had properly cleaned up. You had quite a day ahead of you. 
“Yes!” He answered. “I’ve been really busy lately, and it’s been hard to find time to get groceries, cook, clean, all that. And I suck at cooking anyways, so I thought it could be good for me to hire someone to help. Just no cucumbers please, I really really hate cucumbers.” 
The face he made while he said it pulled a giggle out of you. You weren't sure what you expected going into this, but he seemed like a nice guy. 
You hadn’t been told anything about getting groceries, so you gave him a bit of a concerned look, but he seemed to catch on right away.
“Here’s my card, for the groceries.” He said, handing you the black piece of plastic. “I know it isn’t really a part of your job description, but could you do that for me? It’s just that it’s a bit difficult, going out and whatnot…” 
You knew what he meant, and you smiled. “Don’t worry about it, it's no big deal. I’ll leave the receipt on the table for you?” 
He nodded, “I have to get going, but I’ll be back before your shift is done. Thank you again.” 
You had to catch yourself when you realized how hard you were smiling and blushing at his words. He hadn’t even said anything that was worth getting so shy over. He was just so pretty and seemed so nice. 
Once he was gone you got to work, starting with all the takeout containers strewn around the apartment. You threw them out, and when you looked into his fridge you understood why he needed someone to get groceries for him. All you saw were more takeout boxes, some soda, and a few condiments.
You went room to room, doing whatever you could to make things nice and clean and tidy for him. He didn’t appear to care much for pricy decor, with most rooms only containing the necessities. The most expensive room in the apartment by far must’ve been the one with his PC setup. He definitely seemed to like his video games. You made sure to put extra effort into organizing the mess of cables and getting rid of all the dust covering his fancy computer. 
The more you looked around the more it surprised you how down to earth he seemed. The place was nice, quite big with floor to ceiling windows facing the river, but it didn’t feel nearly as lavish as most of the homes you went to for work. Baekhyun didn’t seem to care for anything showy or opulent. The only thing you found that came close were a few plaques from his record label congratulating his solo success, but even those were humbly sitting on his bedroom floor, leaned  against the blank wall. You weren’t sure what you expected from someone like him, but you were definitely surprised to say the least. 
When the time came to get groceries, you tried to go for popular and healthy Korean dishes, and things you could make a lot of at once and easily store to be heated up later. You even found yourself googling foods he likes, and threw in a few nice looking cartons of strawberries for good measure. 
Back at his apartment you got to work preparing some of the food. You chopped up the strawberries, putting some into a nice bowl on the dining room table, and when you were almost done with what you were cooking you heard the door open as he walked back into his home. 
You blushed at how pleased he seemed to be with your work. He smiled as soon as he saw what his apartment looked like, complimenting you almost immediately. 
“I really can’t thank you enough, this place hasn’t looked this nice in a while, and the food smells amazing. I don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier.” 
You found it difficult to answer him, not wanting to make a fool of yourself in front of someone as gorgeous as him. You simply spoke a few small “thank you”s as you got all his food arranged nicely before bringing it to him.
You were about to leave when he asked you to sit down with him, thanking you again for your work and telling you how wonderful the meal was. You didn’t object, he seemed so sweet that you found yourself excited to stay there with him a little longer, even though it was technically still work. You found it a little disappointing that your time with him was coming to an end anyway, he’d been a joy to work for. 
“Could you come and do this more often? I know it's supposed to be a one time thing but it would be so helpful for me to have someone to help with this kind of stuff regularly.”
“Oh, well you could just book weekly services but they would probably send someone else.”  
“Could I not request for them to send you or something?” 
“I’m not sure, since we don’t really do regular services I don’t know how that would work.”
 He pouted a little, “I’ll call tomorrow. In case they can’t help me, can I have your phone number? I’d feel a lot more comfortable making this a regular thing with someone I know I can trust.” 
You nodded, and he handed you his phone to put in your number. 
It felt weird giving your phone number to someone like him. Of course this arrangement was strictly professional, but the idea of him wanting you back in his home more often was daunting nonetheless. When you first saw his name on that paper you definitely never thought you’d be seeing him more than once.
As soon as you handed the phone back to him he sent you a text. A strawberry emoji. You tried not to blush and smile too hard again. 
Before sleeping that night you thought a lot about him, and you wondered where this might take you. If he really did want you in his home regularly, you were going to have to set up some hard emotional walls because you knew that without them, you’d only get yourself hurt in the end. Falling for someone like him was too foolish and too easy.
When you woke up the next morning there was a text from him waiting for you. 
“I called the company, but they just recommended a different company that does weekly visits. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you’d be interested in working for me independently, I’d be sure to make it worth your time.” 
You asked him about the details, how much he was willing to pay, how often he wanted you there, and what responsibilities you’d need to fulfill, and in the end you couldn’t say no. Aside from the grocery shopping he didn’t expect any more of you than the company did, and he was willing to pay you quite a bit more, and in cash. 
So, you agreed to basically be his new housekeeper, long term. Living in Seoul as a single woman wasn’t always easy, and this new job, despite how intimidating it was, was too good to pass up. You’d get to work less, and finally have some of the extra money you’d been yearning for. Maybe after your first few shifts you’d even be able to take yourself on a little shopping spree. You were thankful that you’d been the one sent to his home the day prior, and you were proud of yourself for doing such a good job that he wanted to keep you around. He was so much nicer than most of the customers the company gave you, too. 
Your next few shifts with him went more or less the same as the first had. He just needed you to do the same basic household chores he didn’t have time for, and he usually wasn’t there while you worked anyway. He even gave you a spare key. 
When he was there, he was always very sweet to you. He made it clear that he wanted you to feel comfortable there, and he usually did a good job of putting you at ease. He just seemed like the kind of person who always knew what to say to lighten the mood.
It was still hard not to feel shy though. It had been a while since a man as beautiful as him had shown you such kindness, and you had to try your best to keep your emotions at bay. No matter how kind and considerate and handsome he was, he was still your boss. 
This made it all the more difficult when at the end of your fourth day, he insisted that you sit down and have dinner with him. 
“Do you have any plans for your days off?” He asked, pouring you a glass of wine. 
You hadn’t had any alcohol in months but you didn’t want to tell him no. 
“Well… I might do some shopping, it’s been a while since I’ve had any extra money to spend.” You responded, voice quiet and shaky. 
Why did it have to feel so impossible to talk to him? It had been so long since you’d sat at dinner with a man, and now with Baekhyun sitting across from you, you were starting to feel overwhelmed. He was so handsome and sweet, it almost felt unfair to have to be around him so much without getting to touch. You took a big drink of your wine. 
Baekhyun smiled at your words, watching as he swirled the wine in his glass. 
“You know the reason I decided to hire you privately right? Having random strangers coming to my home all the time means more people who could sell my address, or other personal information. I was honestly nervous enough when you came the first time. But I’m really glad that it worked out so well with you. You’re an enormous help, really.”
He’d started talking with his eyes still fixed on the wine in his glass, but as he spoke they shifted to you. 
You stayed quiet for an embarrassing amount of time, not quite sure what to say back. You also couldn’t help but notice the slight stain the wine had left on his lips. They were perfectly pink, and so pretty. They looked so soft, too. You found yourself wondering what it would be like to kiss him. With those lips, he must be an excellent kisser. 
“Y/n?” 
“Sorry!” You tried to snap yourself out of it, realizing just how obvious it was that you were staring. He let out a soft chuckle. He must be used to this, seeing women get all flustered around him. “I’m just really tired…” you lied, still trying to play off your moment of weakness. 
He gave you a concerned look. “Sorry if I’m keeping you late, you can head home if you’d like, I just thought it would be nice for you to be able to eat some of the food you’re always preparing here.” 
“No it’s okay!” You quickly blurted out, immediately regretting how desperate you sounded. “I mean, it’s fine, really. This is nicer than my place anyway, and you’re right about the food.” 
You focused your attention back on the bowl of stir fried pork in front of you, fearing that you’d lose your last string of sanity if you started staring at his stupidly perfect face again. You didn’t need that kind of embarrassment. 
“You don’t have to be shy.” He said, and you immediately went red. Of course you were shy, when he looked and acted the way he did. “I’d like it if we could get to know each other better, if that would make things easier for you.” 
You couldn’t help but smile down at your food as his words reached you. You’d like to get to know him better too, but was that really a good idea? 
“I don’t know…” 
“I promise I don’t bite.” He said softly, dipping his head down to once again catch your eyes. “I just want you to feel comfortable here.” 
Baekhyun already found you quite endearing. He realized that it was probably just who he was that made you shy, but he still hated for you to seem so uncomfortable in his home when he was around. He figured if this was going to be a long term thing, it would be best to get comfortable with one another. Baekhyun was the kind of person who hates awkwardness, and he definitely didn’t want that in his home. And you were sweet, so he made you a proposition. 
“How about we have meals together more often? It gets a bit lonely here anyway, if I’m home while you’re still here we could sit and eat together, so you get some time to sit down and relax too.” 
You wished you could hide the redness of your face as you felt how your cheeks burned in response to him. He was making this very difficult for you. 
“Okay.” You said quietly, and your eyes shot to your wine glass when you saw Baekhyun start to refill it. “Oh- Um, I don’t want to be rude, but I hardly drink, and I’ve already had a glass and still need to get home.” 
 Baekhyun immediately stopped, “Sorry, you don’t have to drink it. I could order you a car to get home though, or I could drive you,  I’ve only had half a glass. I just thought it might help you relax, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable here all the time, just because you work for me doesn’t mean we can’t talk or be friendly, right?” 
“I guess that’s true…” 
“So is there anything you’d like to know about me? Anything at all?” 
He was leaning towards you now, looking at you expectantly and you once again thought that your brain might shut down. To avoid another terribly awkward silence, you blurted out the first thing that came to mind. He did say that you could ask anything, after all. 
“So being an idol, that’s a lot of work right? Do you like it?”
He let out a light chuckle, and you realized what lengths you would go to if it meant you got to see him smiling like that again. 
“Yeah, it can be a lot, back to back schedules get really exhausting, not to mention touring and all that, but I also can’t imagine anything more rewarding.” 
You finally let your eyes meet his and he gave you a small smile before continuing. 
“I could get into that but I’d probably just sound like a self absorbed asshole so I’ll spare you, but you know how fans of idol groups are. I probably don’t deserve even half of all that love and devotion but it’s still nice to see, you know?” 
From the time you’d spent with him so far, you could actually understand very well why so many people loved him so much. He seemed like a genuinely sweet guy, not to mention his undeniable gifts when it came to singing and dancing. 
“I think you deserve it.” 
Baekhyun cracked a small smile and he watched the wine swirl in his glass once again. “Yeah?” 
“I mean why not? You’re great at singing, dancing, all that, and from what I can tell you’re a good guy outside of all that too.”
He was still smiling down into his glass of wine, but this time you swore you saw his cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. He let out a breath in amusement at your words, and you realized that he wasn’t looking up, trying to catch your eyes like he usually would. Somehow, he seemed to be the shy one now. It didn’t make sense to you how someone like him could become so shy at such a compliment, and from little old you, but it had a flood of emotions running through you regardless. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt this way, like a silly teenager. Madly infatuated with the cutest boy in school. Only this wasn’t just some boy, this was a man so beautiful, so lovely, so perfect, that of course he had to be completely unattainable. Yet here you were, as he bashfully gazed down into his glass, pink cheeked at your kind words. 
You saw his head tip down a bit further, and his eyes briefly screwed shut as well. He smiled for a brief second, more to himself than to you, but you noticed nevertheless. 
“I really appreciate that, especially coming from you.” He said, once his eyes met yours again. 
You felt your heart rate pick up a little. Even something as simple as that, was enough to make you feel that lovely giddy feeling in your chest. 
You were so fucked
Next Chapter
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aviyinglet · 3 months
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Pixel Yinglets v0.95 for VRChat! Now available!
Hiya, folks! I've been hard at work the last few weeks making my own yinglet base for VRChat from scratch. Details after the jump!
You can buy it if you like, BUT bear these things in mind first!
1. My yinglets' arms are close to the limb proportions you find in the yinglets of Out-of-Placers, meaning forearms are 2x as long as biceps; it was very important to me that I not compromise on this. For rigging this uncommon setup on PC, controller position is mapped to a point halfway down the forearm instead of on the model's hand, and because of that the model's hands are further out than your own. However, there's a tradeoff: grabbed items snap to the forearm controller position instead of to the hand, and hands/fingers do not move on Quest (this is why I do not recommend Quest-only users buy it for themselves). I have not found a way around this that keeps the proportions and improved elbow IK intact, but I've personally used this solution on my main model for over a year and have grown used to it. A public try-out base will be made available in the next few weeks so you can make a more informed decision; if you're on the fence, my advice is to wait until then rather than risk disappointment.
2. I haven't tried this with full-body tracking, so I wouldn't be surprised if this broke under those circumstances, but I aim to use the revenues from this to get a set of trackers and tweak the rig in this into something that works. This is going to be my main avatar as I continue to use VRChat on a weekly basis, any improvements I make to my own base will roll into the paid version.
3. This is my first paid base, and so some things are rough around the edges. I've made it entirely from scratch with free software (aside from a little bit of time in Aseprite), point-to-point modeling in Blender and painting in Krita; I bring all this up to say, if you'd like to support me beyond purchasing the base, five-starring it afterward and sharing this around to any interested parties would mean a lot. -v-
The yinglet species was created and developed in detail by Valsalia; it's fair to say at this point I owe a lot to the concept. Thanks, everyone. <3
I think that's it for now! I want to add a bunch of stuff to it, and enable all sorts of yinglet bases in VR (among other species), but for now, I'm breaking for a week, after which I'll polish what's here beyond "shippable" status before adding new features. With that out of the way, here's the purchase link:
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ghostoffuturespast · 3 months
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Works In Progress 2023: A Cyberpunk 2077 Year In Review
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I thought for a hot minute about doing one of those snazzy templates that’s been going around, but editing photos just ain’t my MO and rather than going by month I picked 12 favs that I’ve posted in 2023. Some of them were popular, some of them weren't. Overall, I think I did pretty good for just doing vanilla photomode on console.
You might be wondering why there's a picture of a sticky note. I don't remember when I started doing this, and I'm horribly inconsistent as you can see by the dates, but I'll jot down my word count for my wip chapter and then jot it down again when I remember to later.
I write slow. A lot of times I sit down to write and it feels like the wheels are spinning in place. My minutes and hours don't stretch very far, typically don't add up to much. But days, weeks, months. That's when I can at least measure the progress.
Fic: So It Goes 40/44 - 438,946 words
My V x River Ward and tinfoil hat conspiracy theory long fic. I've spent way more hours on this then I have on any of my VP.
I got tagged by @just-a-cybercroissant @therealnightcity and @wanderingaldecaldo to do some WIP Whenevers. I post my VP pretty regularly, so it’s always seemed silly to do work in progress posts for them, and I don’t know when I’ll have any new writing to share since in between work and the holidays, I haven’t had much time to sit down with anything since my last chapter update. And I've been feeling very... stingy, lately. Especially when it comes to mine and other people's writing. So take this WIP/Year In Review as my offering. Both these series, as am I, are all very much still works in progress. 
I confined my reflections for this year below the cut. If you don’t want to read my long-ass essays, you can admire the pictures, maybe check out my fic, or just move along and have yourself a lovely day.
We’ll start with the easy one.
VP
After at least a year of multiple playthroughs (I’ve played all the lifepaths, done all the endings), it only occurred to me at the beginning of this year to start taking VP. Part of the reason I never did before was because I didn’t realize it was a thing and then by the time I did, I figured I didn’t have much to offer. I play on PS5 and only have access to vanilla photomode, so seeing everyone else’s high-fidelity, ultra ray-tracing, modded, posed, full on virtual photo shoot photos, I was like there’s no way. (Not that I’m hating on PC modders, it’s just not everyone has access to mods or a PC capable of running the game, and I’m all for making art and creative endeavors accessible.) On top of that, all I’d ever heard from most other folks was how much vanilla photomode sucked. In the glamorous world of VP, I didn’t think there was any room for me.
But I started snapping pics anyway. And sure, there are a lot of limitations with vanilla photomode. But what that really translates to is opportunities to get creative. I am also a hoe for subverting people’s expectations, and very much believe when there’s a will, there’s a way.
Environmental and landscape shots were my first subjects before I started branching out into portraits and then capturing story moments. Through VP I found an entirely new way to enjoy a game that I’d already played a ridiculous number of times along with also finally being brave enough to share my V with other people too. I’d always worried about that before, if people would like her. Granted, I know Grandpa’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but whether you like her or not, I certainly think she’s made a name for herself over the past few months. Even if most people haven’t really gotten to know her the way I’d hoped. 
I’ve taken hundreds of photos this past year. Most of which I’ll never share. There’s a lot of flops, a lot of weird experiments, ones that didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped, but I’ve learned something from every single one of them. I know how to spot good lighting, frame shots to create optical illusions, get a very limited toolkit to work in my favor, parkoured on all of the things, and heck, I even figured out how to make Grandpa smooch other NPCs. I’ve done atmospheric, mundane, down right goofy, as well as things that most people probably thought weren’t fucking possible.
I can’t say how long I’ll keep doing this, I’m sure I’ll move on at some point, but for now I’m still enjoying myself. There's a lot to explore in this game and I just can’t stop digging Night City.
Now, for the more complicated thing.
Writing
So It Goes… My peace, my war, my greedy and most ravenous of ghosts.
I’m operating under the assumption that most people following me here probably haven't read my fic or aren’t all that interested in reading it to begin with. It’s fine. But you need to understand this fic, my writing, is the main thing that brought me here. This is also Grandpa V’s story. Most of you have met her, but unless you've been reading, most of you do not know her.
I wrote around 185,000 words and posted 10 chapters this year. 2022 was about 253,000 words and 30 chapters, along with several unrelated one shots. However, I don’t think I’ve done a single chapter this year that was less then 10k, and my longest managed to hit 27k. As of the last update I posted, the fic is currently sitting at around 439k words, 40 chapters, and still isn’t done.
I have four more chapters to write. I have written a metric shit ton of words. This is, by far, the longest and most intense creative project I’ve ever endeavored to complete.
When I started writing, I was expecting this fic to be around 100-150k. That seemed to be the average for most long fics. I did not plan on being an outlier. I'm not sure you can ever really plan for that, but I guess I enjoy subverting my own expectations too.
For those of you who are reading my fic, it is my sincerest hope that it shatters every expectation of where you think it’s going. It’s not a joke that I tagged my fic “#an ode to my tinfoil hat”. An ode it has turned out to be. I’ve been sitting on this theory for two years. I have told no one about it. I hope it sticks the landing and hits the way I want it to. I don't know if it will. But fuck, I just want to be done with it so I can move on with my life, take a break, and give myself the opportunity to make and focus on other things before I have to get back on the damn horse.
I wrote less this past year then I did in 2022. I had a lot of life changes, most of which were good, but with times of change come times of adjustment. Along with some realizations that maybe you don’t understand as much as you thought you did. Looking back, I’ve been in a state of unsettled, kuzushi, for a really long time. Which is not a good place to be. It’s how your ass ends up on the ground with a knee knocking out all your teeth. I thought I knew better. Thought I had enough practice to get away from it. But bad habits have good memories.
I think given the circumstances, I accomplished a lot with my writing this year. I don’t know if my writing is exactly where I want it to be. I doubt it every will be, but it’s evolved, grown, and I wrote a pretty hefty stack of words considering I started working full-time again, bought a house with my partner, moved, and have been dealing with the millions of other beans that life tends to throw one’s way. That being said, and for full disclosure, I’ve also been dealing with some of the worst cases of jealousy and envy I’ve had since I was a teenager. 
Frankly, it sucks. They walk with me every fucking where I go, hold my hands to whisper back all my doubts. Try to persuade me to my baser instincts, to be cruel and lash out. But that's not aikido. Luckily, I’m not 16 anymore so it’s at least been easier for me to identify the problem. Though I’m still coming up short in terms of actually being able to do anything about it, and will be for at least a few months more. 
Yeah, I keep talking about it because I don’t know how many people know that I've been feeling this way. And I’m tired of not talking about it in a room full of creatives, because yeah, I know I’m not the only one that feels this way. And not talking about it just makes all that pent up resentment worse for everyone.
Don’t get me wrong, I love writing. But with the way I work and think, it’s a slow, tedious, and incredibly time-consuming art. With how much my fic has snowballed over the course of writing, it’s left very little room for the other hobbies in my life. And as my fellow writers probably already know, writing is an incredibly insular craft. And unlike a picture or an image, which only requires a glance, reading a bunch of words requires time and commitment.
So, when you put yourself out there and share what you wrote, it’s a lonely feeling not knowing whether or not anyone connected with what you put on the page. Especially, when the people who do read aren’t compelled to voice anything and when the people you’d hope would read don’t. And then you're stuck in the dark, not knowing, because neither of us says a goddamn thing.
I started writing this fic prior to actually joining the CP2077 fandom. And I joined the fandom because I felt alone. I’ve been here a while now, albeit in a few different places, and that feeling still hasn’t gone away. I’m still trying to find camaraderie with my fellow writers and carve out something that kinda sort of resembles a home or a sense of community. I watch my peers around me as they seem to build that with each other, except me.
I’m envious of the things that people make and jealous of the relationships those have created and fostered between said people, because for the life of me, it’s been a struggle to cultivate that since I got here. I know it’s selfish, but I also don’t know what about me makes people so hesitant. There have been a handful of strangers that have shown up for me regularly, but as far as people I call friends in this fandom that have shown up and actually stuck around, I can only name one right now. (I know we're all busy. And I acknowledge my writing's not for everyone. I know maybe some of you are quiet, or shy, or probably a thousand other things. I get it. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt any less. People will never know unless you say. Never know unless you take the time to interact or engage. Be brave. And that's true for a lot of things.)
The propensity is for the negative to outweigh the positive. I've got a lot of numbers on my fic, so you would think things would be fine, but at this point they just feel empty. They don't bring me any comfort or real satisfaction. And I hate feeling like the people I know don’t care and that most of you are just talking around me. That I’m some kind of annoyance not fit to interact with. Which may or may not be the case. I don’t know. Again, most of you have never said anything. And maybe I need to accept the fact that most of you never will.
But this is me trying to start conversation.
It’s really shitty, knowing that the thing I want the most is also the thing holding me back. I know how to work on it too, not that it’s any guarantee. The problem is I’m still writing and in a needy state of greed. And because I’m slow, I don’t have the time or the energy to be generous. I can only take right now. I can’t give. 
Relationships require both.
I can’t bring myself to read other people’s writing. I can’t comment, or like, or share if I haven’t read anything. I'm desperate for conversation, but I also don't have the time or assurance to facilitate it with other people right now. And for some reason people never seem to want to talk to me, especially when it comes to writing. I want to be part of conversations, talk deeply with other people. But I can’t speak right now, I'm not in a place to offer generosity without someone first giving it to me.
And generosity and grace is what we all need.
Four more chapters and I hope my ghosts will finally let me read in peace.
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dduane · 9 months
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After knowingly being a fan of your Star Trek work since the 90s, and having pushed Young Wizards on as many folks as I can for the last (how long have I been on here?) dozen years or so, and having bought the full download pack just before UK sales went on hiatus due to taxes, I have finally, finally started reading SYWTBAW. I'm instantly in love. The character introductions are perfect. The system explanations are natural, fitting with what the characters know themselves. I'm so happy! But that's an aside, a happy bonus...
I have been a fan of the X-Com/UFO game series since I first discovered it, which was when they brought the game to the Playstation in '95? Wow, that game was wild. I would go visit my friend and play with him, working on tactics for missions for hours on end, then come home and boot up my own system and run more missions on my own. I had multiple memory cards so I could save while engaging the enemy and also keep a save safely back at base if things went pearshaped. When I finally entered the PC-owners market in 97, it was one of the first games I installed there and I still have a copy on every computer I've owned since, and play regularly. I have the official strategy guide, and (the point of this message) I have the tie-in novel that you wrote! Finding that was a lucky thing, I've never seen or heard of another copy. I love what you did with the story, how it ties in well to the mechanics and spirit of the game without remaining constrained to the specifics of the game engine's limitations due to programming requirements.
When it came to writing about games, and writing for games such as Wing Commander, did you (do you still) play (m)any of them to learn more about the systems and lore?
Firstly: thanks for the nice words about my work. :) Much appreciated.
In answer to the question you wound up with: I'm not gaming actively at the moment... there's too much other stuff going on locally that requires my attention. But when I've been asked to participate in a game-based project, I absolutely spend as much time playing it as possible before I get down to work. I'll never be able to spend as much time on it as any given game's major enthusiasts would. But I do my homework, and make sure I have the data I need to handle the story issues and to drive a decent plot.
When I was working on Privateer 2: The Darkening, this wasn't so much of a problem, because I came in as cold as anyone else: nobody outside EA had played the game before. :) That said, I hadn't been hired for my expertise as a gamer, but as a screenwriter. I did spend a lot of time with the game designers and engineers, watching how gameplay was supposed to go and working out how I could best reinforce that rhythm in the way the scenes I was writing played out. It was a really enjoyable collaboration, as the engineers were as fascinated with what I was doing as I was with what they were up to. If there was a downside to the experience, it was having to be more or less a prisoner in Slough for six weeks while the writing and rewriting happened. But this kind of thing is an occupational hazard, best taken as gracefully as possible. (Though that wasn't hard in retrospect, especially considering the cast who wound up speaking the lines I'd written. Clive Owen, Brian Blessed, Mary Tamm, David Warner, John Hurt, Mathilda May, David McCallum, Jürgen Prochnow,... my God, what a lineup.)
X-Com: UFO Defense, though, I'd known for a long time and had played quite a bit: so when asked to pitch, I more or less came in hot with a bunch of issues that I felt needed more attention than they'd had in the actual game. I was delighted to get more or less carte blanche to handle them, and to create a bunch of edgily professional characters to run around destroying the bad guys. It was also, frankly, a ton of fun to use the narrative to blow up or drop alien spacecraft on things that (in real life) were annoying me in that timeframe. For example, in the culmination of one battle I dropped a big alien ship through the beautiful Renaissance Revival roof of the main rail station in Zurich because I was cranky about some slippery floor tile they'd installed downstairs in a refurbishment of the ShopVille shopping center. (I mean, seriously, people track huge amounts of snow and slush in down there when they come off the escalators from street level: why would you not put nonslip tile on that floor? It's deeply irresponsible. So they had it coming.) :)
...Anyway, it was really enjoyable having a chance to play around with what I imagined Earth's geopolitics to be doing under gameplay conditions, while also enacting a more than usually complex game scenario in prose. I don't know if or when I'll be doing that kind of work next, but writing the X-Com: UFO Defense novel definitely left a good taste in my mouth.
Thanks for asking!
(ETA: and here are those tiles. ...The cubical affair in front is an art installation: an illuminated "fountain". It was originally made of wires or strands of plastic cable, down which drops of glycerine, or something like it, slowly slid. But they seem to have swapped that out for water. And, oh look, there's video!)
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