#i want to mod it and i feel like id have more luck modding it on switch than ps4….

[samarecharm]

Nintendo mini direct has me like

#SPOILERS IN THE TAGS BE NOSY AT UR OWN RISK #i HAVE royal so i am not getting it for switch #well #i want to mod it and i feel like id have more luck modding it on switch than ps4…. #🤔🤔🤔 #excited for that new rabbids game do not @ me i just like anygame that lets me play as bowser #the uhhhhh #theres a couple puzzle games i want #the murder mystery one is interesting #i wouldve been interested in nier if it wasnt already on game pass #lots of fun things being released :) #oh my GOD how did i fucking forget SUNBREAK I WANT IT I NEED IT #AND they have free updates AFTER the expansion too like i am so excited for it

[quinnkdev]

Just wanted to say, I'm looking forward to when you write about why you stopped using RPG Maker 2003! It sounds like a very interesting read to me, as I myself eventually want to write about why I keep crawling back to it, ha! (It's mostly how it comes with the most out of the box compared to later RPGMs, whose scripting capabilities are useless if one doesn't feel up to learning the code... at that point I may as well start coding from scratch, which is exactly the path you seem to have taken, fittingly enough! It's not satisfying to try and master an RPG engine when know I can't do anything remotely cool with it without learning something completely different.. I boil it down to 'you can't make Yume Nikki with newer RPGM default tools', but I definitely want to expand more on the thought) I haven't had the time or energy to try any of your games yet, but I'm p sure we used to be in a Discord server together, and looking over periodically and seeing how much progress you've made has been really cool, so I'm excited to get around to trying them! Someday I too want to learn a proper coding language and move away from RPG Maker, but until then it gets the job done for me (especially with the recent Maniacs Patch mod that greatly expands what it can do).

Wishing you luck on your current project in the meantime!!

hey, i had this lying around in my inbox for entirely too long - and for that i apologise, i wasnt really sure who you were until i followed a context-cue from your blog to your art-stuff just now. good to have heard from you again, and no hard feelings :,)

rm2k3 is decidedly a development space that makes sense. hell, on the side, i am currently making a small game in it again with a friend (no ETA yet). something nice about a path of less resistence towards something neat youve been thinking about.

the maniacs patch is definitely something i took note of out of the corner of my eye (and in watching riggy2k3's streams on occasion), but having released two games in the engine on steam, i kind of dont think that i can take it on board as the future of my commercial game efforts.

as much as it hurts to admit, i cant think of game development as my fun art anymore - i have to sell the things i make in it now, and rm2k3 games arent very well equipped for that. they dont interlock well with steam, meaning you can't give players achievements or even let them take screenshots through the platform (something a lot of them are VERY unhappy about). that, and tons of QOL problems (one time, somebody refunded a game of mine because it was "too small, hard to see" - rather than realising there was a way to fullscreen it).

regarding yume nikki likes in newer rpg maker versions - i mean, id say "swollen to bursting until i am disappearing on purpose" by december 7th does an admirable job of being one made in rpg maker mv! but of course that one uses tons of plug-ins.

bottom line: programming isnt desperately needed if you primarily like making games for the fun of it (and seeing that you predominantly make fanworks, id wager thats your main objective! good! :] ). if you need to earn a living (like... me :( ) then you may have to bite the bullet.

#quinnterrogation

[thehouseofmorningstar34]

Messy trait

Hey Im Sara Im back at it again with another Rare Trait to add to the collection! I decided that okay we did a serious one lets have fun with this one why don’t we and here we go the messy

trait was born. Have you ever had one of those people that just irked the hell out of you or always stuck their nose in your business or opened their big mouth about everything? This trait is a little on my petty side. I was poking fun not only at some folks a little but I was like oh my gosh I hope and pray I don't get canceled for this trait!! So Simmer grab ya home girls or bros and let's get real messy (I AM NOT LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TROUBLE YOUR SIM

GETS INTO!)

Xxx, Dkitten34

Ok Simmers here's the details on this little old trait of mine:

~It comes with 15 buff replacements (if any are not working let me know!)

~12 proxy buffs to have you and your save on its toes!

ID please! 🪪 Ages for this trait are Teens-Elders

(but hun I got you covered if you want to stay messy for life)

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

~A Rare trait exclusive bonus ;)

~Your Sims' needs will speed up by 1.5.

In terms of relationships in the categories love,friends and mischief

~Your sims will level up by 1.1.

The party doesn't stop right?

~When you have this trait you will never feel embarrassed or uncomfortable ever again!

~Making drinks, mischief, social and dancing skills will increase by 1.5.

Lastly Messy sims love to be cocky and confident so why no double that; so I did

When your sim is feeling confident it will double by 2.

Do you want this lil messy troublemaker to stay around? Well your in luck 😉

With this Rare Trait Exclusive once your sim reaches adulthood aging will be blocked!!

✨All my mods are playtested and are up to date with the latest patch:PC:1.105.332.1020/Mac: 1.105.332.1220 ✨

I hope you enjoy being a little messy!😜

How to Download: 📂

THIS IS IMPORTANT I noticed that in my download count most didn’t download the package file as well 

You need both for the mod to work properly.

Open your file folder folder go to the file named Electronic arts it should be in your documents section of your files. Click it!

Click on the next folder named The Sims 4 after that find your mods folder, that is the folder where you’ll be placing the Messy Trait in.

Go to downloads and drag both of those to your mods folder make sure since its a script file it is no more than one subfolder deep! 

A tip make sure to delete your local thumbcache it has a tendency to store old mod data that is in the same folder labeled The Sims 4 

Also when deleting old mods do the same delete that cache babes

Last step when you load up the game make sure to go in game options and click enable mods and and click enable script mods! 

My TOU:

If you decide to download any and use any of my content, please don’t post them on any other sites.

Do not put them behind a paywall site.

Please if you want to credit me on any posts, I would like to see what trouble your Sims get into with my content

And Please don’t alter or repackage my files in any way.

Thank you again for joining me on my modding journey and enjoy!!

PLUR And in Plumbob we trust!

EA tag DaddysKitten34 (Let's be besties!)

#the sims 4 #sims 4 #my sims #my simmies #sims #ts4 simblr #simblog #simblur #sims community #sims 4 cc #sims 4 community #the sims mods #the sims #the sims community #the sims cc #sims traits #messy trait

[system-comforts]

hey, im having trouble with contacting other alters in my system. i recently discovered that im a system (specifically OSDD-1B), through a ton of research, and i, the host, want to initiate contact with others in my system. how can i do this? id love to talk with them. -sincerely, a host of a OSDD-1B sys

Hi there host anon! I think it's wonderful you've been exploring this and doing research. I can do my best to share some tips for communication.

I've shared a few tips on communication before, but let me try to sum up. There are many ways to try and contact other alters. Internal communication methods can include simply thinking at them and calling their name. Communicating through music or visuals or sounds can also be helpful, especially early on in communication. Sometimes people communicate by having a shared mental space to meet, a headspace. This allows for visualization and to "see" how your alters may present. Some alters may also communicate emotionally. If one doesn't like a certain situation or activity, you might feel that emotional push back, and that's also communication.

There are also ways to communicate in the physical world. Keeping a journal can be helpful for those who have a lot of amnesia between alters or who can't communicate internally. We find writing smaller notes on sticky notes or in our phone to be more helpful, especially for everyday tasks. Some systems will set up personal discord servers to share information and communicate. There are a few other apps that can be helpful for this too, like Simply Plural (it has a text feature and can also track fronting times). It's not as common, but communicating by moving objects around is also possible. Seeing a teddy bear move onto the bed might be a sign a little has been out, etc.

As a final note, be aware that some members may not want to talk. It might be they just don't want to, they might have painful memories, or they might need more time to trust you. All of these are valid. Communication will take time and patience. We wish you the best of luck!

-mod neptune

#mod neptune #ask #plural #communication

[victorluvsalice]

It’s Summer Saturday this episode in the Chill Save, and the final full day of the Valicer Granite Falls vacation! And, as you might expect, it was raining. >.< Seriously, did I manage to choose the absolute wettest time of year for them to go out to the forest or what? *sigh*

Well, I wasn’t about to let a little rain ruin their final full day in the forest, and they weren’t either -- as you can see by Alice’s attempts to practice horseshoes and Smiler, as usual, getting their “showering in the rain” on. Under their umbrella. *facepalm* Anyway, I kept them busy throughout the early morning as Victor caught up on his sleep -- Alice opened up her time capsules that she’d scavenged (getting Chef Gino and Poppy MySims), tried out her new Somber Howl to reduce her Fury, then painted some landscapes before scumming to the Erratic urge to shower in the rain herself, while I sent Smiler inside to do some more yoga (they are just nailing that wellness skill!). Then, when Victor finally did wake up, he for some reason wanted to read a book -- which made me realize “oh hey, I can buy things from the bookshelf here!” So I got him the first Herbalism skill book, and one of the werewolf books (“Beyond Big & Bad: Rethinking Harmful Werewolf Stereotypes” for the curious) for Alice, and had them read those for a while while Smiler moved on to practicing programming (they can make mods for their games now, which feels quite meta). 

And then the “Talk Like A Pirate Day” pop-up holiday appeared, and I figured I should send them out and about to where they could meet other people just so they could successfully fulfill that! However, the “ranger station” in the forest proved to be quite quiet, which I guess makes sense given the bad weather. With no one to say “yarr” to, Victor attempted to ID some of the plants he’d picked up in his previous travels (no luck), then continued studying his Herbalism while Alice napped and Smiler jammed on the guitar. All nice enough. . .

But I wanted to end this vacation with some proper adventure, gosh darn it. And so I sent Smiler off to the vine-covered cave I’d noticed before, having them poke their head in and work their way through the text adventure within to reach -- dun-dun-dun -- the Deep Woods and the home of the hermit! What was waiting for them there?

#sims 4 #the lazy save #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler always #the smiler #gettin' real tired of the 'shower in the rain' interaction going off so often for Erratic Sims #naked people are only so funny #ah well at least I was able to get some good books for Victor and Alice #Alice needs to read werewolf books for XP and aspiration purposes #and Victor might as well know a bit of herbalism #he's taking those plants home for his greenhouse after all #and yes I may have looked up what options you need to pick to make it to the Deep Woods #to be fair they're actually pretty obvious when you see them in-game #slightly tempted to try the 'wrong' options in the future and see what you get #probably nothing exciting but still #queued

[lokeanwelcomingcommittee]

I'm a person who's very unsure of herself. And I know Loki has been working with me, but it's still hard to believe. I've gotten answers through runes, tarot, and especially my dreams. It might stem from low self esteem that has been engrained in me. Does Loki get annoyed when I ask him if it's really him who's working with me? I just want to be sure I'm not making him upset or annoying him, basically. I'm also shocked that a deity would want to work with me and I'm very new to this. I hope this makes sense.

Hey there! With regards to him being annoyed, I don't want to tell you that it absolutely can't happen because I think that's a bit of a disservice to everyone involved, and we of course can't speak for him. That said, not to make light of your situation, but this is a god who once tied his testicles to a goat to save the day, so one has to imagine his threshold for annoyance is far past that of most mortal reckoning.

That's kind of a joke, but also not, because Loki is... not a perfect god nor one who necessarily champions mainstream ideas of worth and beauty, and as you pointed out it's often very hard to break out of old patterns of thinking on that front. As this older ask goes into, though (as well as a bit in this newer one)-- gods do seem to be patient on this front, and as you may be able to tell it's not something you're alone in, either. As you also wisely pointed out, you're very new and I suspect having a lot of new experiences or at the least contemplating things you may not have before, and that naturally takes time to process (although there's no "set" time, mind you). One thought that may help is that it's not wrong of you to have the doubts: if it's to the point where it's negatively effecting you in terms of consistent worry or you're doing ID checks multiple times in a divination session, that's probably a situation that needs a more immediate look, but you don't need to feel guilty or annoying or as if there's anything wrong for having them. Some doubt is in fact a very good thing to have, but you don't want it to the point where your brain is kind of running like a hamster wheel, if that makes sense.

With that all in mind it seems like you've got multiple communication methods that work for you, so this is certainly something you could bring up to him as well at some point if you haven't already-- it's definitely the most direct way to find out his thoughts on the matter, and it might even be helpful on the doubt front. In any case, it's as usual not a magic bullet but try to remember that new things take time to adapt to. I realize that this sort of thing isn't necessarily the most fun, but definitely don't beat yourself up over it taking time or thinking it's some sort of personal failing.

Best of luck, and if there’s anything else you think we could help with, feel free to get in touch.

- Mod V

#katopian

[ahava-suggestion]

shabbat shalom <3 im doing heavy research and hopefully soon, a paper on jewish cultural gender and sex. im a trans guy on testosterone, so i feel that i fit with ay’lonit and the label resonates with me as a queer jew. but i am interested in gathering the perspectives of as many intersex jews as possible, and i see some admins on this account have made posts about it before. what do you think of pre-transition trans jews using labels like saris and ay’lonit? does halacha impact how you make your conclusion? do you think these terms were initially coined to only describe the experiences of intersex jews, or were they also made to describe trans people before the concept of transness as we know it existed?

Sorry this is late! Mod Chiam here, an intersex Jew! Well Ay'lonit was usually used to refer to menopausal women and still is according to my Hasid friends. And the halacha very clearly states that it's sex based and not gender based, so for me, as an intersex Jew, that is very important to me, and I worry abt just saying that it's gender erases that. I believe those who have started transitioning via HRT or surgery can ID as that, or intersex folks, but I think that it doesn't make sense for those who haven't to say that is them. But I don't want that to come off as truscum-y, since I myself am nonbinary and have been a target of Kalvin Garbage and hate truscum.

Since ay'lonit and saris encompass perisex people- menopausal women, eunuchs, etc.- it's not soley for intersex people, but androgynos and tumtum were meant just for intersex people. In fact, because of this, one of the only halachic rulings on intersex people (other than who we can marry, when we pray, etc) is "don't do surgery on your intersex kids, there is precedent for this" which is part of why it is SO important to intersex people in a way I don't think perisex people can relate to- we have so few protections in the secular world that even just that religious ruling is like. SO important. That isn't to say I don't think perisex people can't relate to those words, just that in that way. I don't think you can understand that part. Those rulings and the use of the sexes also isn't super common- I'd say it's gaining traction now, but many of the rules were kind of In Theory as opposed to practice.

Trans mascs on T would more closely be andogynos because ay'lonit is/was mostly culturally used for menopausal women until more recently when trans men started using the term, and trans women on hrt would be saris- fun fact, an intersex friend of mine got to decide whether they would be raised as a saris or a cis man in their community as a kid! They chose cis man so they could be a rabbi- and I do mean choose, that is the language they use and I don't want to change their language. But since trans men have been changing it and using it I'm not going to Stop Them, y'know?

I still believe tumtum is an intersex specific idenity, because it is sex which is hidden/under a membrane, but ay'lonit, andogynos, and saris can be used by perisex ppl imo. I just think that we should follow the meanings of those words because I think saying it's just gender ends up actually equating sex and gender and becomes kind of gender essentialist in a way?

Sorry for the long answer, I wish you luck and would love to read ur research when it is done! Feel free to submit it or @ us so we can read it!

Also this is only My Opinion so no one take it as the end all be all pls!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #Gudako: Gudako

Happy April Fools! We were going to do Scathach today, but this thing crawled into my home and it won’t go away until I make a build of it. So here’s Gudako.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

We’ll then return to our regularly scheduled Scathach.

Race and Background

Ritsuka Fujimaru is a human, but you’re an awful little gremlin with a penchant for lechery. In other words, a Lightfoot Halfling. That gets you +2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma, and makes you Lucky, Brave, Nimble, and Naturally Stealthy. This means you can re-roll ones on attacks, checks, and saves, have advantage against being frightened, can move through larger creatures, and can hide behind them as well.

We’re also making up a Gambler background for you, giving you proficiency in Deception and Insight. 

Ability Scores

Even if you’re a weird awful version of FGO’s master, you’re still FGO’s master, so your Charisma is pretty freaking good. After that is Constitution- I don’t know how you survived the end of that last book but you did, so that’s probably con based. After that is Dexterity. It might just be the art style, but you’re kind of noodly, and incredibly fast. Your Strength isn’t amazing just yet, you’re still kind of a nerd. After that is Intelligence, then Wisdom. You play a gacha game. Enough said. 

Class Levels

1. Sorcerer 1: Mages in the Nasuverse are kind of a weird mix between sorcerers and wizards, but since you never really learned about magic that means you’re 100% the former! 

Thankfully, being a sorcerer opens us up to the gacha of the magic world, Wild Magic! At first level you can cast Spells using your charisma, and first level or higher spells can activate your Wild Magic Surge. After casting such a spell, you roll a d20, and on a 1 you then roll on the big ol’ table and get weird magic stuff. If you’d rather roll more often, your Tides of Chaos can force the issue. You can spend it to gain advantage on an attack, check, or save once per long rest. That being said, you can speed things up at your DM’s discretion, recharging the tides with a mandatory roll on the wild magic surge table.

Speaking of spells, you get a bunch of cantrips here. Friends and Mage Hand will improve your relationship with Mash, Prestidigitation takes care of all of that “actual magic” stuff, and Message lets you use your phone like a phone. Weird, I thought this was a gacha console?

For first level spells, Chaos Bolt brings the gacha into your combat, with the spell’s damage type based on the damage roll you make. It also has a chance of bouncing off and hitting another target for theoretically infinite damage. Expeditious Retreat will give you that gremlin speed you’re known for.

Finally, you get proficiency with Constitution and Charisma saves, as well as the Arcana and Intimidation skills. You just kinda give off this aura, y’know?

2. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, giving them sorcery points equal to their level that they can spend to make new spell slots. You can also do the reverse, but that won’t be useful until next level. You also learn how to bring out a creature’s hidden desires with Id Insinuation, which forces a wisdom save (DC 8+chr mod+ proficiency) or the target is incapacitated and takes psychic damage. There’s a reason your little eggplant has trouble fighting you off.

3. Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get Metamagic, ways to use your sorcery points to enhance your magic. You strike me as a buster meta player, so Empowered Spell will let you get the most damage out of your spells (and also let you cheat a bit on Chaos Bolt). You also learn how to skip the casting animations on your spells thanks to Quickened Spell, turning an action casting spell into a bonus action.

On top of that, Hold Person lets you hold a person down while you have your way with them. By that I mean attack them, duh. Get your mind out of the gutter.

4. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Strength. Trust me, it’ll help out later.

You can also cast Create Bonfire for the survivalist in you, or you can Mind Thrust on the people you’re holding. It’s still nothing lewd, it just deals psychic damage, and if a creature fails the intelligence save it can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn and has to choose between moving, taking an action, or a bonus action next turn.

5. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells, and Conjure Lesser Demon lets you summon Mephistopheles to the battlefield! Actually it’s just eight manes or dretches, but it sounds like it would summon Mephistopheles. Those demons are just as loyal as Mephy though, so... keep your distance.

6. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level wild mages can Bend Luck as a reaction, adding or subtracting 1d4 from any check, save, or attack you wish near you. Now you really have protagonist powers! You can also cast Haste now for additional gudaspeed.

7. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells, and Conjure Shadow Demon does exactly what you think it does. You can conjure a shadow demon- I think Cursed Arm would probably count for this? Also, this demon’s slightly more cooperative, but it will probably turn on you after the fight’s over.

8. Sorcerer 8: Use this ASI for more Charisma. You can also Conjure Barlgura, which also does exactly what you think it does; conjures a barlgura. What, you don’t know what a barlgura is? Yeah right, everyone knows barlguras! They’re so iconic I don’t even have to tell you which servant they’re like!

----------------------------------------------------------

What the hell? It’s been eight levels already and we haven’t even summoned a four star yet! I’m so salty I’m gonna....

9. Barbarian 1: Going into barbarian lets you turn your gacha salt into Rage, giving you extra bonus damage on attacks, getting advantage on strength saves and checks, and you get resistance to physical damage types. You also get an Unarmored Defense, letting you continue your fight even in the nude.

10. Barbarian 2: You can now make Reckless Attacks, gaining advantage on all attacks for the turn at the cost of taking attacks at advantage for the round. Your Danger Sense also gives you advantage on dexterity saves that you can see coming. You might think that’ll help when Berserker of Learning with Manga turns on you. You’d be wrong.

11. Barbarian 3: Did you think the gacha was over just because of a class change? Hah! Thanks to Tasha’s, you can set down the Path of Wild Magic at third level, giving you Magic Awareness, an action to sense magic within 60′ of you proficiency times per long rest.

More gachaly, you get a new Wild Surge when you rage. It’s a smaller table than your sorcerer surges, but it’s more consistent. It’s the friend point gacha to the other’s quartz gacha.

You also get Athletics proficiency from your Primal Knowledge, for better sprints.

12. Barbarian 4: Bring your Strength even higher so hitting people is actually a good idea.

13. Barbarian 5: You get an Extra Attack each action now, and your Fast Movement adds 10′ to your movement speed, making you not the slowest person in the party any more!

14. Barbarian 6: At sixth level, your Bolstering Magic lets you spend an action to either A) add a d3 to a creature’s attacks or checks for 10 minutes, or B) regain a creature’s spell slot, with the level based on the roll of a d3. You can use the second one once per creature per long rest, but your total number of uses is equal to your proficiency bonus each long rest.

15. Barbarian 7: Seventh level barbarians let their Feral Instinct take hold, gaining advantage on initiative rolls. You also can ignore surprise by raging. Your Instinctive Pounce lets you move up to half your speed when you rage. You like pouncing.

16. Barbarian 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for more health, more AC, and stronger rage spells.

17. Barbarian 9: Your Brutal Critical gives you an extra die of damage when you deal a critical hit, as you rub gacha salt in the enemy’s wounds.

18. Barbarian 10: Your last wild magic goody is the Unstable Backlash- when you take damage or fail a save while raging, you can roll on the wild magic table and replace your current effect. More gacha, MORE GACHA! 

You also get more Primal Knowledge for Survival proficiency. I think you kinda ended society as we know it in at least one timeline, so you’ll need it.

19. Barbarian 11: Your Relentless Rage gives you a guts skill of your very own! When you would normally drop to 0 hp you can make a constitution save to say at 1 hp instead. The DC increases each time, but resets on short rests.

20. Barbarian 12: Your final level is another ASI for more Strength. Hit people, it’s real simple.

Pros:

You are just so random, which makes it hard to strategize against you. Your enemy can’t know what you’re gonna do if you don’t!

You’re pretty beefy, but you can also send in a demon squad to cause chaos in your stead when you’re feeling lazy.

Halfling’s lucky is so useful it honestly deserves its own pros spot. Nat 1s are for nerds!

Cons:

Mixing conjuration and rages is never going to end well, especially when those conjurations want you dead.

You’re so random that you can’t really strategize for anything. Yeah, it won’t be boring, but you can’t be as precise as other builds.

For a lot of this build, your shortness can be an issue when it comes to mobility. Being the slowest person in the party when running from demons (that you may or may not have summoned) is a serious problem.

#FGO #Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #Gudako #Fate and Phantasms #Barbarian #Sorcerer

[dramarising-replacement]

G1 Hoarder Revamp and the Mountain of Salt

Can we all just acknowledge how much of a total fuck up the new G1 ping system is? I feel bad because they obviously went through so much work and beta testing for this system but it’s absolutely garbage in practice. This isn’t meant as a huge roast (even though I do think the creators could do with getting knocked down a few pegs given how poorly they’ve treated people through this entire process, oops) but I hope they at least see this and see things that they can work on. Obviously, going to them and sharing this stuff in person isn’t possible since L from arcane is notorious for gossiping and overall not super trustworthy, so anon route we go. I’ll give credit where credit is due: they definitely tried to go on the right path and the coding is good in theory. The big issue here is that they tried to fix something that was not great but worked with something that is not great and barely works. Sure there are some good things about the new ping system: if it’s not busy it’s not longer than six or seven minutes to do all of it for a few dragons, which, compared to the previous method? Pretty good timing. Helps automatically tag some colorgroups without having people confused about if their dragon counts or not, and uh... probably something else. The cons far outweigh the pros though: -sheet can only be used one at a time: terrible in theory, terrible in practice, there’s no queue system either so you’re not even guaranteed to go next even if you’ve been waiting ages. This becomes a nightmare around any holiday, as we’ve seen around notn, since everyone flocks to the ping generator and then quickly abandons after seeing the mess there. This should have been something that they found a way to work with from the start, especially since the previous spreadsheet, despite how long it took to sift through if you were actually assed to do all the specifics, could still be used by multiple people. -userface issues: going into the spreadsheet and it may all just be blank, does this mean someone’s using it? Someone isn’t? If you go ahead and assume not you’re going to get warned that you overrode someone since they get the ID to your dragon, if you don’t assume then you end up waiting for ages like an idiot and someone else swoops up the opportunity. The loading bar on the side doesn’t help give that info either since it constantly reloads due to the poorly planned code. Where users have their cells selected also doesn’t help since that isn’t always accurate. There are many times where the loading bar isn’t seen going, there isn’t any visible text on the screen, no comment in the box, but it’s still in use. This isn’t viable for anyone, especially not people who don’t fully understand how the system works. If you’re going to make it for only one person’s use at a time, you need to ensure it’s easier to see what’s going on for everyone. -laggy as all get out: sure, I don’t have to go through 15 pages of different types of pings on the old G1 pinglist and shovel through all the duplicates and specifics list people, but having more than 13 dragons or even doing a bigger lair sale (or even just anything during notn) means you get to wait for the program to chug away for ages (as well as the easy chance for someone to just cut in halfway through a load and have you start all over again or wait) and hope that the three people behind you don’t get impatient or angry as you have to do three separate input sessions rather than massing them all together as you could with the previous spreadsheet. -poorly designed aesthetically: maybe this may sound petty to some, but the design of the system is pretty terrible in terms of layout and color choice. This isn’t to say it’s just ugly though; after speaking about it with people who aren’t neurotypical, have disordered thinking processes, and/or have generalized issues reading things (autism spectrum, dyslexia, semi-visually impaired, etc.) it’s pretty clear that the entire thing is not accessible whatsoever for anyone who can’t immediately decipher what anything is. Black text on bright red is not a good thing for most people beyond old MySpace edgies. If you, as someone without reading or comprehension difficulties, are having a difficult time focusing on it: maybe consider how difficult it’d be for anyone else. The way the rules or tutorial section is laid out also does not help in terms of accessibility! It’s clunky and hard to read, does not flow well, and doesn’t explain as thoroughly as you may think. If you’re someone who uses coded spreadsheets often? Yeah sure, it might be understood. If you’re not? Welp. Good luck kiddo. -very poor user help: this is on the mods or creators more than the spreadsheet itself. If someone has a problem, the first thing you should do is talk with them to find the difficulty and tackle it from there. I’ve seen, multiple times now, where either N (plague) or L (arcane) straight up tell people that they can’t help them and that they should just read the guide on the front page. Like sure, they read them, but something is tricky for them and they’re asking for help. They can read the rules and guide again but without outside help, guess what? Not gonna help them. If you just keep linking them the forum or telling them to read the first page it won’t actually help anyone! One of your jobs as the creators here is to help the community that you made it for, not just parrot that they need to read. Be better. Add that to a system which is not forgiving of any mistakes whatsoever and it becomes a terrible little cocktail. Also does not help that, despite their sugar attitude about having people test it in discord servers, the creators l and r/p (both arcane) don’t actually help people who need help using it. -wait times/queue: this ties in to an earlier point, but there’s no way to organize who goes next. Sure, it might sound strange, but when you have to wait ages to get access despite you being there ahead of anon llama/drama/dingdong/animal because they can all hop in ahead of you, it becomes frustrating. People don’t always type in that itty bitty box to say what they’re doing, and people easily erase it or write over it, or they just outright ignore it. Obviously not everyone is going to do that, but it’s way too easy for people who are greedy/entitled to step over those who are being polite and patient. -no quick ping options this is also kind of minor, but at least with the old spreadsheet you could just click in and say “okay, I just want to ping XXY general for this because I have a quick sale.” Guess what: nah. You have to go through the entire chugging process and queue and everything else just to get that snippet of information on who to ping. What once took maybe five clicks is now five minutes to thirty depending on how many people are using it. Wanna quick check if a dragon with XYZ colours you hatched is one that someone wants specifically? Nah, fuck you. You have to input all the data and wait instead of just doing what was once a super easy quick search. There is so much other shit wrong with this system and I’m honestly surprised N (plague) allowed them to do this. Sure, the old pinglist could have done with some updating, but that should have been done in the form of clearing redundant double pings, maybe a way to sort through specifics like ‘male only’ and mass copy names there. Quality of life things, not this just... total mess. I understand that L and R/P got it into their heads that they needed to fix it and that they wanted to take over the entire system themselves, but they should have kept their pride out of it for once. The sheet to input what dragons you want is also another entire nightmare. It’s frustrating to go through the google poll a dozen times to say exactly what colors/eyes/gender/pasta-shape/siesta-fiesta under the sun you want rather than have a quick way to input it by drop-downs or even just a text based option like the old one had. It’s so easy to forget what you put in or which one you want to put in this time, so easy to end up making mistakes that you don’t see, etc. It’s just not an effective system. It’s great in theory, and sure, it’s all sparkly and new, but it’s like admiring an aluminum trash can. Shiny and sparkly under the sun, still holding a whole lot of hot garbage though. I understand that some people may find it easier, and that’s great! I’ve used it for a few things and yeah, it’s okay, but I wish the old one was back given all the grief and frustration this one has caused. Obviously I’m not in the place to be like DO THIS OR DO THAT since I’m not the one making the sheet here, but I do feel like the people who use it have every right to give commentary and feedback where possible. Even moreso when the creators and team aren’t actually as welcoming as they try to appear to be. As much as it sucks, a lot of L and R/P’s (primarily L) false niceties have kind of come to the surface lately which makes this whole situation just that much more awkward. If people don’t feel like they can approach you because they know you’ll rip into them here or on the anon site immediately, maybe you shouldn’t be a main creator of something for the user base or a mod for a bigger group. Just some side-thought to all this other stuff. Big post, big rambles, I can’t bring myself to organise it though because I’m pretty fed up and tired. Take from this what you may, but basically fix your shit new G1 Hoarder peeps.

#Drama #Rant #Flight Rising #Long post #Shady #User #submission

[unambiguouslybi]

I (AMAB) consider myself to be bigender/genderfluid, and have been thinking a lot lately about what that identity means to me, especially because I want to start HRT. It's like, I'm fine using male pronouns and my given name, along with female pronouns and a more androgynous name, but I also want to have the body of a woman. Sure, sometimes I'd like to present as a guy and sometimes a girl, but I know I'd feel a lot more comfortable with all the changes estrogen would cause. Despite this, I'm pretty sure that if I was AFAB as I often wish I was, I would just be in the opposite but ironically the same situation. Wanting to take testerone, wishing I had a man's body.

My two genders are sometimes at odds with one another and sometimes in perfect harmony, like I'm an old tv with two channels that sometimes bleed together. Somedays I worry that I'm just a trans woman who's too scared and sentimental to let go of the male identity that she's been using all her life. Other days I worry that I'm just a cis man who happens to like crossdressing a lot.

It's all very confusing, and tbh I'm still kinda new to all this, but does anyone else ever feel like that?

before i even fully finished this i said to myself "mood. I used to feel like this."

what really resonated with me was: "Somedays I worry that I'm just a trans woman who's too scared and sentimental to let go of the male identity that she's been using all her life. Other days I worry that I'm just a cis man who happens to like crossdressing a lot." because this is exactly how i felt when i was 16 and had just started exploring my gender identity. i distinctly remember wondering if i was a trans man who was afraid to fully transition, mostly due to family pressure but also due to the big change it would be or if i just simply wanted to dress and act like a boy while still being a girl.

now, 5 years later i've spent 2 years on testosterone and i'm still working on transitioning but i feel so much happier now. the thing for me was, i wasn't exactly miserable with being a girl until i no longer wasn't. it might be the same thing for you. for me my biggest problem with being a girl was the monthly disaster that would make me immensely dysphoric and the chest lumps that i didn't consent to having. the chest lumps are still there, i still look a bit more feminine than id like but at least the monthly madness has stopped and though the changes aren't huge i already feel so at peace in my body. i have never felt more comfortable in my body in my whole life.

i wanna encourage you to fully think this out, since it seems your following the exact path that i'm on. make sure its what you want, start slow, start small and progress as you get comfortable. you'll realize along the way that yes, you are indeed trans, or maybe you'll arrive at a different answer.

no matter what though, be sure that it's what you want, no one else and make sure that you prioritize your own happiness and comfort above all else. best of luck, and i'm excited for your journey.

-Mod Ky

#ask #answered #this made me happy hihihi #transition #amab #afab

[pmiller1]

Text from the Past! [N:TWEwY/Neo Zeta Earth]

"What are you doing on your phone Rindy?" Shoka ask, seeing him eyes glue on the phone when it supposed to be a hangout date with him.

"Hah?" He look up from his phone, blushing, "Em, nothing! I was just taken some backlogged."

"Really, looking in the past?" Shoka said with a hint of sneakiness, "Gezz, you really can't help going back there."

"I mean, I just not like I can changed them any more." RIndo said, "Beside, I just looking some of your old Swallow account chat logged and to be honest I feel like an idiot for not catching on sooner. Some of stuff starting to make sense in hindsight."

"What? You finally get I was your old online buddy and was trying to help you in the Game?" She ask him.

"Yeah. But." Rindo said. "I'm taking back before all of that. In fact here:"

As he show one of the chat log, One of them show a image of Mr Mew as Cait Sith.

Rindragon: hi i just got this special events mon seem like gn had been ad. Swallow: OMG!!!!! Swallow: gimmegimmegimmegimmegimmegimmegimmegimmegimme Swallow: Ive been looking for that so HARD TTwTT Rindragon: lol ok Rindragon: didnt think you be that excited Rindragon: here you go [trade link] Swallow: you are a life saver Swallow: I own you 1!

Shoka look and starting to cover her face with the hoodie. "I didn't really think you being of a fan of Gatto Nero, I just though you like the special events Mod back then." Rindo said. "You not wrong." She mutter "Just the best of both world, how can I not be excited?"

"That not all." He said, as he show him another chat logged. "Here someone else that made me think about it in hindsight."

Swallow: hey you okay? Swallow: you havent text for a week now Rindragon: sorry it just Rindragon: an0ther haven't been posting for a month now. Swallow: oh Rindragon: tbh I'm not sure what I can do now. Rindragon: an0ther inspired me yknow. Swallow: Rin. About An0ther. Rindragon: what about him? Two minutes pass Swallow: He could be busy Swallow: It not like he can post all the time Rindragon: i guess :/ Rindragon: "i'll wait until I'll died." Swallow: best you dont died Swallow: trust me Swallow: it isn't pity

She had nothing to say to this, giving a sorry look at him. "I guess you didn’t wanna to tell me that he was in the Game or..." Rindo said, "That he was big rotten scam artist?" She said bluntly "I knew An0ther was scamming people with those Copy Quote of his. If I knew he was in the Game, I’d would had beaten him up sooner. Really Rindo, Did you want me to brake your ideal world?"

"I mean, it better late then never." Rindo said "It kind of nice that you didn't, that you care, I mean I'm fine now, he kind of have it coming."

"But this one." He said showing her another chat logged "I not sure if you be okay with this."

Swallow: wgbnfvb vfgb  bfjdb vj Rindragon: what Rindragon: u ok Swallow: sorry a lizard was messing my phone Rindragon: ??? Swallow: my sis pet iguana Rindragon: oh Rindragon: wait u had a sis Swallow: adopted sis Swallow: she taken me in Swallow: n she own a pet iguana Swallow: sometime her love is 2 much Swallow: gtg good luck on u hunt

"Hah. I remember that. I was yelling at Ayano about that Iguana after that." Shoka said having some fond memory, "She been teasing me all day after that."

"Yeah you two was really close." Rindo said "You have no idea how hard for to talk to you on that day. Many Reset just so I can get it right..."

"Good Job, You almost doom the city because you couldn't talk to a girl from get go." Shoka said. "Yeah, Sorry about that."

"Is there any more." She ask him. "Well just this one." He said showing him the last chat logged.

Rindragon: say what youre name Swallow: what Rindragon: it just i doesnt know ur real name Rindragon: like maybe id know u in person Swallow: you sure :/ Swallow: isnt just being your birdy friend good enough Swallow: im dont even know u name 2 Rindragon: it ok ill tell u mine if ull tell me ur minute pass Rindragon: hello? Swallow: im sorry :( Swallow: it just Swallow: id want too but Swallow: does it matter? Swallow: like dont need to be friend in RG Swallow: RL* Swallow: i am swallow to you Swallow: just like you are my rindragon Rindragon: i was hoping Rindragon: that we get to be friend in rl Rindragon: and it hard Rindragon: only being text buddy Rindragon: we could play fango in person Swallow: that sweet ^_^ Swallow: but we just in 2 different world :( Swallow: id wish we could but Rindragon: but what? >_< Swallow: id hate to see on that side Swallow: it better that we been online buddy Swallow: is that okay? Rindragon: alright

"Yeah..." Shoka said "About that..." "Was because you was a Reaper and I was a Human in the RG?" "That and if I did, you would had look up my death report and..." Shoka said "I didn't want to scared you."

"I mean, I can get why?" Rindo said "But I wouldn't really look you up, there may not even be something to look up, you from Shinjuku, in a time where Shinjuku didn't existed in the public."

She giggle at that. "I guess I didn't really existed at the time."

"Witch can be worst is someway." Rindo admitted. "Someone that I been friend for never really existed. I could had gone mad, question my reality, that I could had made up, or...."

"Or I was a bots." Shoka ask him. "Yeah, that could work too."

"It not like it really matter now." She said "I'm here, you know who I am now. And same for you."

"How long you knew that Rindragon was me, back in the game?" He ask her. "Honestly." She said, looking down "From the start of your 1st week."

"I was gonna contact you, to check up on you." She said "But I couldn't, not before I got the text from you about some event. You was linked to the Reaper Networking Service, under Player."

"I just thought something bad had happen you that got you killed." She said "But then it click on me, Rindo, Dragon, RinDragon. Oh my fucking gosh. I even look up your icon and it yeah that was you, alright. I was feeling really dumb that I just met you and didn't do a good job getting you into the game. "

"So you knew all this time?" Rindo said. "Yep." "Even when I was being rude to you?" "Totally." "It must be hard for you." He said to her.

"It was. But I put on a brave act." She said "Really Rindy, I want you do push me away, I didn’t ready want you to catch on that I was your online friend."

"Yeah, you said can't we couldn't be friend in the game." Rindo said. "But I did my best to help you, with recruiting Nagi, giving you the answers, having Kaie and Riko into giving hint along with bribing some of Reaper to go easy on you on that day."

"Don't forget that you did lead us into finding Beat, or where he would end up at. Replayed, you told us that he was at Shibuya Hikarie." Rindo said, "Ah, good to know."

"And look what happen when I try to help you, I got suspended to a Swallow account, been strip of my Reaper power. And being use a spy to reclama my Reaperhood." She said and looking down. "I-I didn't really think you let me join your team."

"You did help us, I didn't really want to leave you behind." Rindo said "There so many reason to be Honest."

"Must be hard for you do so." Shoka said "More so with me wanna to stay by your side and wanna to save Shibuya."

"Rindo. I was gonna tell that I was Swallow when I joined you." Shoka said "But with Motoi, I didn't you want to worry about it."

"I thought so." Rindo said "If they one thing we had in common is that we had a hard time making decisions, I'm proud of you, able to pull yourself together make the call in the end."

"Sometime it feel like it wasn't the right choses." Shoka said. "I know right?" "Even if it wasn't, we still manage to pull thought it." Rindo said "We all can't make the right choses. We all can't turn back time and make the right choses in the end."

"Said the one that had that power back then." Shoka said. "It wasn't really mind to begin with." Her remind her.

"Still no point mopping about the past what we could had done." Shoka told him, "We got our happy ending." As she kiss him on the noise. Making cover his face with the mask, hiding her blush. "Y-Yeah, guess we did."

#RinShoka #Shoka Sakurane #Rindo Kanade #Neo-Zeta Earth #Zeta Earth #Fanfic #Neo The World Ends with You #Neo TWEwY #NTWEwY #Neo The World Ends with You Spoilers #Neo TWEwY Spoilers #NTWEwY Spoilers #rindoka #The Dragon Swallow

[fanpro]

id like to run fanpro2, an unofficial successor. its starting from 1 and will be tagged fanpro2 to differentiate it from the original. it will be the same kind of public character roster.

Hello, @scumbigula​! Sorry for the late response. There already is something that exists like that, actually, but it is also on hiatus.

If you want to make your own public use design blog, I can give you some advice. Please don’t use a name that includes FanPro in it, though! Feel free to take inspiration from the name and our FAQ if you’d like, however, like how ComPro (Community Project) did.

Make sure you clearly state that all designs submitted are open to the public to use as inspiration and do whatever they wish with it, including using the character design for commercial use (say, making stickers, ect. A member of the FanPro community and a mod of ComPro has actually been using a handful of designs for a game they are creating!) The original submitter cannot sue someone for using their design(s) that have been accepted by your project. 

Make sure no signatures are on the submitted artwork, as well, and make sure to check that it is the submitter’s OWN work and is not a character that already exists in something. Legally, a signature in artwork submitted is open for other people to use, as it is considered part of the design. (One time we had the Skype snail submitted to us and neither me nor the other mod at the time realized and the community had to tell us LOL.)

Running FanPro, especially towards the last 1000 designs, was EXTREMELY STRESSFUL. I cannot emphasize this enough! 😩 Also, if you have multiple mods, the more you have, the harder it is to be organized and agree on things. Despite it being tough, we worked best with just two mods. It helped we were bestfriends, too.

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a lot of traction and designs submitted to your project at first or for a while-- FanPro was extremely lucky to get the attention it did, it having been created at just the right time and seen by the right people. Over the years it had died down in activity, though. 

I will absolutely promote your project on the blog and in the official FanPro discord server to help out! 

So many people had voted yes on whether or not I should open up submissions again and take FanPro out of hiatus, but I’ve not decided on whether or not I can put that effort into it with how much time and mental capacity it takes to run. I’m sure they would all love to know something fresh and new exists!

Good luck! 🙏 - Arkie

#fanpro #scumbigula #fanswers #fanofficialpro

[the-ss-zemyx]

PVP(umpkin Spice Lattes)

Zexion and Arpeggio are Discord friends. They chat in private messages, raid in Verum Rex together, and may or may not have feelings for each other.

Ienzo and Demyx are college roommates. They hate each other, for the most part. At least they can both agree on pumpkin spice lattes.

Happy 2nd Zemyx Day of 2020!!

Specifically for today, the S.S. Zemyx Discord Server hosted a collaborative fic-writing event! Over the course of the past five days, four of our writing members teamed up on a Google Doc in one glorious, inspirational, chaotic, frankenstein-esque fic-writing bonanza! That's right, the fic you're about to read is the product of -four- people's efforts!  Enjoy!! :D

(A HUGE thanks to my co-writers: Aliceslantern, Ennarcia, and Carbonpixel. This was a hell of a lot of fun to do and I'm immensely proud of us!! - Mod Arxsia)

Also available on AO3!

__________

      Demyx hated his roommate. Okay, no, hate was a strong word, and Demyx did his best to be a friendly, outgoing sort of guy, so ‘hate’ was definitely too strong a word. He liked to make friends. Having friends was nice. Having friends was very nice, and so, he tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But his roommate was a different story, and Demyx did not like his roommate very much at all.

At least he was easy on the eyes, because everything else about him got on Demyx’s last nerve. His name was Ienzo, but his name might as well have been "Jerk," with a capital J. When he wasn't hogging the Internet bandwidth doing God-knows-what on a chunky Alienware laptop, he was lecturing Demyx on the virtues of keeping the floor free from dirty clothes and giving empty soda cans a proper burial in the plastic wastebasket by the door. Lame. Also, he was a little condescending. That jerk . 

One day, Ienzo burst into their dorm room with the gusto of a hurricane aiming to speak to a manager about a botched coffee order. He swung his laptop bag onto his mattress. It bounced when it landed. "Out," he commanded.

Demyx looked up from his phone. He sat with his legs crossed on his own bed, his Discord app open to a private message thread on his phone. In a few minutes, one of his server friends, a guy with the display name "The Cloaked Schemer" but going by his Discord handle, Zexion#1309, would be starting a voice call with him. It was kind of a big deal--they had been chatting in their shared server for almost a year, and in private messages for almost as long, but they had yet to actually speak to each other. "I'm actually busy," Demyx said.

"I don't care. Out."

It turned into an argument, of course, neither yielding and probably disturbing their neighbors with the yelling. Yep, Demyx didn’t like his roommate one bit. 

He ended up in the lounge by the kitchen, utterly fuming, cursing his idea to “go rando” with a roommate all the while. It’s the best way to make friends, Demyx , his mother had told him. What better friend than a roommate?

Very funny.

At least he’d been able to grab his phone. Of course, Zexion was wondering where the hell he was. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you need to reschedule?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: roommate’s being a dick and kicked me out. Sorry!

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, I too am having roommate troubles. I can sympathize. I know too well what it’s like when one’s privacy is denied.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: he’s driving me NUTS! 

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you tried talking to him about it?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: He didn’t exactly uh seem receptive to talking

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s always a good idea to try for maturity first.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I did! Not my fault the guy wasn’t having it.

Anyway. Id hate to let that guy take up any more time.

Hru?

The Cloaked Schemer: Doing as well as I can, I suppose. I’m enjoying my classes so far. It seems a little easy, but then again, it is only one of the first weeks. Things should pick up more by midterms.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ure too smart zexy. And didnt you skip a grade?

The Cloaked Schemer: A year, yes. I don’t think they call them grades in college.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Considering some of the people ive met, couldve fooled me.

The Cloaked Schemer: If I’m hoping to have a grad degree within five years, I have to fast track it. I’d rather not spend much more time in undergrad than necessary.

Though I am especially resentful that, despite the fact that I am technically a sophomore, I’m considered enough of a freshman to still be required to dorm.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: That blows

But dude, ure here. Might as well try to enjoy the journey, yaknow?

The Cloaked Schemer: Oh, Arpeggio. Your naivete is too obvious sometimes. It’s sweet, I think.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: har har

The Cloaked Schemer: I am disappointed though. I was looking forward to meeting you--in a manner of speaking. You’re probably one of the most sane people from our Verum Rex server.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Issa game, bro. Some of them, idk, take it a little too seriously

The Cloaked Schemer: Well, aspects of it are worth being taken seriously, but I understand what you mean.

Though the ship wars are grating.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha! Yeah.

The Cloaked Schemer: We’ll have to find some other time, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Mann i was hoping to see if you sound as smart as you type

The Cloaked Schemer: You flatter me.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do you think if we lived near each other we would hang out?

The Cloaked Schemer: If it’s all the same, I’d prefer to keep my location anonymous.

At least for now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know. Just a hypothetical question

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d like to say yes.

But for all I know, you’re actually a forty year old serial killer who lives in his mother’s basement.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: harsh

You listen to 2 many true crime podcasts 

Anyway, I g2g. See if the roomie will let me back in. Got homework.

The Cloaked Schemer: Enjoy your night, Arpeggio.

Hopefully one of us has a good one.

Demyx closed the app and repocketed his phone. He flopped back on the lounge couch, eyes squinting at the fluorescent lights above and his limbs ragdolling in uncomfortable directions. A good night, huh? It’d be better if he could spend time in his own room without having to engage in guerilla combat whenever he wanted to exist in his own space. Wishful thinking, he thought.

__________

      Ienzo stared at the chatlog open on his computer screen. The circle next to Arpeggio’s icon turned a dull gray, and the remaining bits of Ienzo’s hope for decent conversation dulled with it. He had finally caught up enough with his classwork to have some free time to spend, finally arranged to voice chat with Arpeggio, finally gotten Demyx to leave the god-forsaken room so he could have the one conversation he’d been looking forward to for weeks , and now… nothing. All that planning, gone to waste. Another wave of irritation hit him, and suddenly he was out of bed and grabbing his keys. He needed some tea.

Ienzo didn’t get tea at the coffee shop, despite his plans. The alluring, hipster scent of pumpkin spice hit his nose instead, and he caved before he could stop himself.

The college employed students as baristas in the campus coffee shop, as part of the work-study financial aid, so it wasn’t uncommon to see one’s peers at the shop. “Hey, Ienzo,” Riku said. It was getting late; chairs were already on top of all the tables. They’d met in Ienzo’s anthropology class.

“I’m not too late, am I?”

“I can bend the rules for you.” He went back behind the counter. “What’ll it be? Your usual?”

He blushed guiltily. “Pumpkin spice. Please.” Curse that glorious, wonderful scent.

He smirked. “Coming right up.”

“I know it’s dreadfully popular.”

“Yeah, cause it’s good ,” Riku said. “As long as you’re not one of those “half-caff, no whip, vanilla and almond, five shots” type of people.”

“Why complicate coffee so much?”

Riku handed him the paper cup. “At that point, just drink coffee-flavored syrup.” There was a pleasant lull for a moment. Riku began cleaning the espresso machine. “So why are you out so late? Don’t you have an early class tomorrow?”

Ienzo grimaced. “My roommate and I got into a fight.”

“...Again?”

“We are not well suited for each other.” A sigh. “I went to the Residence Life office to try and apply for another room, but the period for that is over. I was told, and I quote, “unless he’s hurting you, tough it out.””

Riku chuckled. 

“He is simply-- obnoxious ,” Ienzo continued, the pressing need to vent taking over. “Slobby, loud, and always around at precisely the most inopportune times. I was supposed to have a call with a good friend of mine, and it took some doing just to get him out.”

“Right, your Discord friend.”

“You have a good memory.” Ienzo swished the coffee around a little; it was slightly too hot to drink.

“The one you have a crush on,” Riku said with a grin.

Ienzo flushed painfully. “I do not have feelings for him,” he said.

“Dunno. You managed to bring that call up in almost every conversation we’ve had. If he was really just your friend, would you be that excited? Enough to hype about it for weeks?”

Ienzo shrugged. “I do not know where he’s from, I don’t know his real name, I don’t even know what he looks like. For all I know, he only uses he/him pronouns online.”

“And?”

“I just… see no reason to desire something I cannot have.”

Riku wiped at the counter. “Oh, don’t be so doom and gloom,” he said. “If the call matters so much, it’s going to happen eventually.”

“I know.” He smiled. “Well, thanks for the tea and sympathy. Er, coffee and sympathy.” 

“Any time.”

“Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“You too. Play nice.” 

“Just promise to bail me out if things go awry, will you?”

“Ha, on my salary?” Riku winked.

Ienzo left the coffee shop. He didn’t want to return to the dorms yet, but the fall night was calm and quiet. He checked his phone (maybe Arpeggio was free? Though he did say he had homework…).

As a stroke of luck, he had a message waiting for him.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I have a room again! \o/ 

the jerk was gone when I got back!

The Cloaked Schemer: How fortunate for you. I assume you’re flying through your homework now?

Mel0d10us N0cturn3: nope! :p 

this science paper is kicking my ass!

Im really no good at this sort of thing

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you have any tutors available? Ordinarily I’d love to help but it might be easier and more private to go there instead.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: \o/

We actually do have one of those tutoring centers I think! Thanks for the idea!

Don't want you to waste your special brain-powers on little ol’ me lol

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d hardly call helping you a waste of my “special brain powers.”

It’s not a bad idea to check your local resources though.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7

Don’t think I’m gonna make any progress on this paper tonight tho lol

The Cloaked Schemer: Giving up already? I didn’t have you pegged for a quitter.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww, come on! Don’t guilt meeee

My poor brain!

It’s mush!

;-; will you not spare some mercy for my poor mushy brain?

The Cloaked Schemer: I suppose just this once, provided you use your resources and go to the tutoring center.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7 Yes sir !

First thing in the morning!

My mushy brain thanks you for your mercy and endless kindness!

Ienzo’s cheeks grew warm, but whether it was from the message on the screen or the sip of pumpkin spice coffee currently running down his throat, he neither knew nor was willing to explore.

Despite the late hour, there were plenty of students milling about campus, taking up their little spaces. It had taken him some time to find an empty bench to sit on, but one eventually caught his eye and he claimed it immediately, sitting down with his coffee in one hand and phone in the other.

The sky was inky black, dotted with stars, the sun long gone by now. Nights were starting to grow just a tad chilly, the beginnings of autumn seeping into the atmosphere. It was Ienzo’s favorite season and the aroma of pumpkin spice wafting past his nose was just what he needed to make up for the disappointment of having his voice call with Arpeggio abruptly cancelled.

Well, maybe not entirely. He’d been really looking forward to hearing Arpeggio’s voice for the first time, but this did nicely enough, he supposed. It was better than sitting around stewing in annoyance over his damned roommate anyway.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so what are you up to right now?

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s a lovely night out. I needed some tea. Got coffee instead.

What is it about pumpkin spice that’s so irresistible? 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Never wouldve pictured YOU as a devotee of the PSL.

The Cloaked Schemer: Guilty pleasure. 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: theyre so good. I can’t have that many of them cause caffeine makes me SLEEPY

The Cloaked Schemer: Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: whats that supposed to mean?

The Cloaked Schemer: Nothing derogatory, I assure you.

Though the idea of you being hopped up on caffeine amuses me.

You seem like one of those people who has energy all the time.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: i wish

The Cloaked Schemer: I should--begrudgingly--head back to my room.

You should try working on that paper.

I mean it about the tutor.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: yeah, yeah. I hear ya

Hopefully your roommates not being a dick anymore

The Cloaked Schemer: Fat chance. M3l0d10us N0cturn3: enjoy your coffee~~

__________

      Demyx sat for a long time looking at that exchange. He could’ve heard Zexion say those words. He was just so painfully smart, but Demyx could listen to him say anything. About anything. For hours.

He showered and got ready for bed, hoping that Ienzo would stay gone. But as it was, he was back. Ienzo scowled in greeting.

“Nice to see you too,” Demyx muttered. He noticed the coffee cup Ienzo had set down. Ienzo seemed to live on caffeine and spite. 

“I needed to clear my head, as I do not have the luxury of privacy.”

“Well I gotta sleep somewhere,” Demyx said. He crawled into bed. Ienzo rolled his eyes. Demyx saw him grab his own shower caddy and head out to the communal bathroom. He thought he smelled--he blinked. Slowly, ever so slowly, he got up, crossed over to the cup, and sniffed it.

Of course he likes pumpkin spice lattes, Demyx thought bitterly. Ugh.

He went back to bed and fell asleep listening to music.

__________

      The universe thought it was just so funny. Demyx had taken Zexion’s advice and the tutor he’d met with was his jerk of a roommate. At least Ienzo was unhappy too, if the scowl on his insufferably nerdy face was anything to go by.

“What are you doing here?” Demyx blurted before he could stop himself.

“I work here,” his jerk of a roommate answered in response, “as a tutor, for my work study. I take it your procrastinating finally caught up to you and you need some last-minute help?” Did he really have to be so damn condescending though?

Demyx hiked his backpack strap a bit higher on his shoulder and rapped his fingers on the tutoring center's reception desk. Ienzo could glare daggers at him all he wanted from his seat at the computer behind the desk, but the curious eyes of the other tutors and students around meant that he would have to maintain decorum. They both would, lest Ienzo lose his job and Demyx lose his tutoring privileges. He took a deep breath. "I need help with a biology paper."

Ienzo's expression tightened. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

"No? You said it yourself: this is last-minute." Demyx tapped on the desk. "I need to talk to the science tutor on duty, please."

"It seems like we're both out of luck tonight, then," Ienzo replied dryly, absently clicking at something on the computer monitor. "I'm the science tutor on duty at the moment."

"You? Gross." 

"I'm not particularly happy about it right now, either."

Demyx considered his options, and cringed at his conclusions. His paper was due in two days, and it was only half-drafted. Without a passing grade on the assignment, he would set himself up to fail the class. Petty squabbles were not worth the hit to his GPA. He sighed. "Well, can you help? I'm kind of desperate, here."

Ienzo returned the sigh. "Fine. Follow me."

Demyx followed Ienzo around the reception desk to a square table in the far corner, a plastic chair on each side. Ienzo alighted onto the seat closest to the wall. "This better not be a waste of time."

Demyx pulled his laptop out of his backpack before sitting down across from Ienzo. "Has anyone ever told you that you have excellent people skills? Because if they did, they lied to you."

Ienzo rolled his eyes. Yep , Demyx thought, amazing people skills. They were off to a great start. Getting through this paper was going to be agony. "I'm paid to tutor, not practice social niceties."

The laptop screen lit up as Demyx swiped one finger over the trackpad. A screenshot from one of his more memorable raids in Verum Rex guarded the rest of his files behind his login password. Demyx typed his password as quickly as he could, shooing the image of his and Zexion's avatars away before Ienzo could ask any unwanted questions. Evidently, he did not type fast enough. 

“Verum Rex? You're familiar with it?” 

Demyx nearly jumped, shoulders tensing. He knew Ienzo was there; that shouldn’t have startled him as badly as it had.

“Duh? It's only the best MMO on the market right now. Not that you would know, since you're so committed to the whole 'smug asshole' thing,” He snarked on reflex, feeling slightly guilty about it afterwards. Ienzo was being friendly for once, or was at least making something of an attempt at it. Yikes. Demyx wasn't usually one to make low blows like that. He opened the Biology folder on his computer and selected the draft of his paper, making an effort to get along with Ienzo while they were forced to sit together. "Please help me with this? If you would be so kind, please?" Demyx made praying-hands in Ienzo's direction in apology.

Eyebrow rising - was it just one, or both? - Ienzo shot him a look, obviously unamused in the slightest. “If you’re trying to be cute, it’s not going to work.”

Demyx pouted and opened up his biology paper, turning the laptop toward Ienzo. “Fine, fine, just help me?”

Rolling his eyes yet again, Ienzo was just about to lean in to read what Demyx had so far, when the familiar sound of a Discord ping had Demyx scrambling to turn the laptop back toward himself. Shit. He’d forgotten to close his Discord window before showing up at the tutoring center.

While Demyx closed the Discord app, Ienzo watched him carefully, contemplative. “You use Discord?”

Turning the laptop back, Demyx gave him a look, half in disbelief because surely Ienzo was too much of a nerd, but not in the cool way, to know what Discord was, and yet he did. Shit, it would be really awkward to end up in a server together. “Yeah, who doesn’t use Discord these days? I mean, especially if you play games or are into, I dunno, any fan community stuff.”

For a moment, Ienzo said nothing, slowly turning to look at Demyx’s biology paper on the screen. “Alright, let’s see what we have to work with so far, if anything.”

Demyx sighed. Asshole.

__________

      Was this some kind of joke? Ienzo was being pranked, wasn’t he? Any moment now Demyx would start laughing about wasting his time and walk out, like the lazy slacker he was. Halfway through, he half collapsed on the table.

“This is impossible,” Demyx whined. “You don’t really understand this stuff, do you? You’ve gotta be lying.”

Ienzo felt his eye twitch. “Not all of us are lazy fools who give up after 15 minutes. Why are you even here?”

“Because my friend said I should, and I trust his advice. He never leads me wrong, so even if I have to spend time with you , I’m gonna do this.” 

"Your friend sounds like he has the sense that you very much lack," Ienzo deadpanned, scrolling through Demyx's paper. He took stock of the misformatted section headings, missing in-text citations, and the off-center data table in the middle of the mess. The topic of the paper did not appear in any of Demyx's written work. "Can you tell me what this assignment is supposed to be? I can't tell from what you've given me."

"It's…" Demyx shrank back in his seat. "I don't know what it's supposed to be. My professor gave us all a table of data-results-things and told us to organize and analyze them. I don't know what he wants, exactly."

Ienzo huffed, and almost slammed Demyx's computer closed on the spot. Thankfully, his better faculties kept him from breaking Demyx's laptop. "There's your problem. You can't complete an assignment if you don't know what the assignment is . Email your professor for clarification and request an extension. If you do it early enough, they might grant you leniency."

"Really? That's your advice? Beg my way out of it?"

"Not begging. Requesting. It shows forethought, self-awareness, and emotional maturity, even if you don't actually possess any of those things. The adage of faking proficiency to gain proficiency has some truth to it." Ienzo pushed the laptop over to Demyx. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

Demyx's arms crossed, and his expression took on the quality of a betrayed toddler. "You didn't even help me with what I came in for, asshole."

Ienzo waved away Demyx's indignation with a dismissive hand. "There's only so much I, or any tutor, can do without having a good idea of what your professor expects. Emailing is the best advice I can give right now."

"So if I email my professor, you’ll help me?” 

“I give you my word.” A promise made in haste, if only to appease the barest responsibilities of his job. Hopefully Demyx wouldn’t make him live to regret it.

Not long after Demyx was gone, Ienzo checked his Discord app, surreptitiously on his phone behind the reception desk, to find a message from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy, this worst thing ever just happened!

My roommate is my tutor!

Save meeeeeee

The Cloaked Schemer: That is peculiar. Though colleges are small worlds, so I hear.

What did he have to say re: the paper?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Ugh he couldn’t even help

Because I had licherally no idea what the professor wants

I mean, the dude has an F on ratemyprofessor so

He said to email and beg for clarity and an extension

The Cloaked Schemer: ...That is sound advice, actually.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Youre taking his side???

The Cloaked Schemer: Not exactly.

But in academic situations, it always looks good on you to take the initiative and seek help when you need it.

I guarantee the professor will work with you, and perhaps be able to refine that same assignment in the future.

If he’s worth his salt, he’s seeking to improve himself the way you are.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I GUESS

You wanna do a raid tonite? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Alas, I, too, am a college student with coursework.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: RUDE

Ienzo leaned back in his chair in the campus library. How coincidental, he thought. He’d just given Demyx the same advice. Then again, college papers--especially in the sciences--were not always diverse on the gen ed level. He recalled Demyx’s paper; he should’ve asked him to see the email, or post, or handout with the assignment on it. Chances are the moron had merely misunderstood.

Demyx liked Verum Rex. Perhaps they could have this to talk about. Ienzo wondered who he mained. Probably Yozora, he thought with a sneer. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Actually, I can do one raid.

ONE. Brief. Raid.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Thats more like it! \o/

One raid turned into two, then Ienzo ended up staying in the library, at the tutoring center, until it closed.

__________

      Demyx begrudgingly took Ienzo’s advice. After his marathon raid session with Zexion, he sent a brief email--agonizing over the wording--to his professor, who responded almost instantly with an apology. Several students had already asked him about the assignment, it turned out, so he was going to extend the entire class’s deadline. But if Demyx needed a few days after that, he could have it.

“You were right,” Demyx murmured out loud, as he read the email the next morning. 

“Of course I was,” Ienzo said, not looking up from his desk. “See? All it takes is a little maturity.”

The irony. Demyx grimaced. He looked over at him. “So you’ll help me?”

“When--and only when--I am on duty,” he said. “I have a life outside of work, you know.”

Demyx wondered how true that was. Ienzo spent a lot of the time in the room if he were not in class or in the library. Did he have friends? Did he go to societies? He nearly asked. Then he looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in weeks. He had bags under his eyes, and was washed out, books spread in a circle around him. “Outside of studying, too?”

Ienzo opened his mouth, then shut it. “I am not here to socialize. I am here for a degree.”

“But don’t you… have any friends?”

“Of course I do,” Ienzo said, just a little too quickly. 

Like he would honestly tell Demyx. “Sure,” he said, shutting his laptop and tucking it into his bag. “Well. I got class. I’ll see you at the center later?”

“Much to my chagrin,” Ienzo responded evenly.

Demyx’s day was ordinary other than that. After the professor clarified what he wanted in class (and, to Demyx’s immense relief, it was much less daunting than what he’d thought), he stopped by the library to check out some books which might point him in a vague direction. Ienzo could tell him if they were any good. He stopped by the coffee shop to grab a croissant and a coffee, and, on impulse, got one for Ienzo as well. The idea of it made him nervous. Maybe I’ll say they made an extra by mistake, he thought. He already knew Ienzo drank them.

There Ienzo was, sitting in the office. “It’s you,” he said in an unreadable tone.

“It’s me.” He cleared his throat. “Um…” He thrust out the coffee without saying anything else.

“Is this for me?”

“Uh, yeah.” He felt his face heat--though why? 

Ienzo took it, looking confused, and sniffed the small hole in the lid. “Oh,” he said softly.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked--”

“No. I do. That was kind of you.” He blinked, his expression odd, slackened; Demyx realized it was without malice. “Let’s get to work, shall we? I don’t want this to take any longer than it has to.”

Ienzo helped him structure the paper, and reviewed proper citations with him. It would take a little work, but seeing it outlined, Demyx felt a lot less overwhelmed. Something he thought was a mammoth project would maybe take an hour or two to write.

“Once you have it written, come back and I can help you with grammar and syntax,” Ienzo said.

“Awesome.” He took a deep breath. “I feel… a lot better now.”

“One typically does when one stops procrastinating,” Ienzo said. He leaned back in his seat. For a second--but just one--he sounded like Zexion, all firm and proper, genteel without being rigid.

__________

      "You got your grade back already?"

Demyx beamed as he held his laptop screen-out, his browser logged into the university's online grading system. One score was listed under BIO 101, labelled "Paper 1." The percentage displayed next to the assignment name was higher than Ienzo expected from Demyx. "I didn't completely fail!" he practically cheered.

"So you didn't," Ienzo agreed, nodding slightly at the number from his desk. "It's amazing what a bit of work will do."

Demyx dropped himself onto his bed and turned his laptop. He bounced on the mattress a few times while he looked at the number. "This is the best news I've gotten all semester and it's the best feeling. Is this what it's like to be a genius and get good grades all the time?"

Ienzo returned his attention to his own laptop, where a half-drafted essay mocked him with its blinking text cursor and nonsensical thesis statement. He clacked another line of bullshit into the document. It was for English class, he reminded himself. Any answer was correct if it could be argued well. "No, not really. You get used to it."

"I… I should thank you," Demyx said, after a beat of silence. "For your help. I wouldn't have had anything to turn in at all if you hadn't told me to email my professor."

Another line of bullshit trailed across the screen. Ienzo squinted at it, unsure of what he had typed. "Don't mention it. It's my job."

"But still. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ienzo could hear Demyx shuffling on his bed. "So… you play Verum Rex?"

"Fairly regularly, yes."

"Do you do raids or multiplayer at all?"

Ienzo shot Demyx a warning glance. "I already have a raiding group. I'm not looking for another one."

Across the room, Demyx had tucked himself into bed, his Star Wars sheets pulled all the way up to his chin. He blinked at Ienzo unceremoniously. "Jeez, forget I asked. No need to be snippy about it."

Demyx's head disappeared under the covers, and Ienzo returned his attention to his essay. At least, he tried. The Discord notifications in the corner of his screen kept distracting him.

Eventually, Ienzo admitted defeat and opened Discord. All of the messages were from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: hey, do we have an opening on our raiding party?

Zexion?

Oh nvm he said no

What are you up to?

I'm taking a victory nap after getting a good grade on that paper I had to 

write a while back

My roommate is typing something and he's so loud

What is he writing that makes him so angy

The Cloaked Schemer: I am also typing angrily at something

It is a universal collegiate experience

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: still so angy tho

Are you angy atm?

The Cloaked Schemer: I am… frustrated

I'm meant to be dissecting the themes in a short story but I feel like I'm only spewing garbage on the page

Perhaps if I present the garbage with enough conviction, I will be able to maneuver through this class

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: if youre writing it, it's definitely not garbage :P

you need to have more confidence in yourself, Zexy

The Cloaked Schemer: Ha. I think my roommate would disagree

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: well then he's a bum

Tell him that

Arpeggio says so

Ienzo looked back at Demyx, cocooned in spaceship bed sheets and doing who-knows-what under the cover of bed linens. He thought he saw the flash of a phone screen through the fabric, but the light disappeared as quickly as he caught it.

The Cloaked Schemer: I'll pass. He seems busy.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Busy doing what? Bum things?

The Cloaked Schemer: I certainly hope not. We're in the same room right now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: oh. Awkward

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ll say.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so you know ive been thinking

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you? What a concept.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha ha.

Its been a while since we tried voice chatting

Maybe we could try again?

The Cloaked Schemer: You would want that?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I want to hear your voice. To see if youre actually as smart as you write

Maybe youve got, like, a transatlantic accent, or something. Thatd be cool

Ienzo blinked, staring hard at the screen. His heart beat a little faster. It was so hard to determine tone through text. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Maybe I’m not as cool as I seem.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: highly, HIGHLY doubt it

Youve kept me sane

I really appreciate our

Ienzo saw him type “thing” and then frenetically edit to “friendship.” He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

The Cloaked Schemer: The feeling is mutual.

A long, long pause. Ienzo did not know what else to say. His face was burning.

The Cloaked Schemer: Normally I’d rather be caught dead than admit this.

But it does get somewhat lonely here.

It’s nice to have someone to talk to.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know what u mean

Sometimes i feel like i dont really know who i am

And like college is supposed to be about finding that

But its hard.

The Cloaked Schemer: You don’t have to tell me twice.

Part of why it’s so easy to exist in online spaces, in games. Appearance doesn’t matter. It’s like being a more concentrated version of oneself.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do u feel like a more concentrated version of yourself?

The Cloaked Schemer: When I talk to you.

Ienzo’s heart was pounding. He thought he heard Demyx sigh across the room. Was he typing too hard?

Arpeggio started and stopped typing several times, just making Ienzo more nervous. What is he going to say? Did I push it too hard? Was I too forward?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Me too, Zexion

I wish we knew each other. Like, irl

Getting to do raids in person

That would be so fun

And i dunno, maybe do other things

Go out to eat. Go to the movies. Maybe go dancing.

Do u like clubs?

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ve never been.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: it takes some getting used to

But the energy of a crowd is electric

Especially with people you know

Oh god oh god oh god , Ienzo thought. His hands were trembling. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Where would we go to eat?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: anywhere you want

Well. on a college students budget anyway

-laughs in poor

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, so, five star cuisine, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Just dont order the lobster

In all seriousness. We need to vc sometime

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes.

There’s going to be a raid event on Saturday. Perhaps then?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Depends on if i have the room :/ 

Wanna say yes so bad

The Cloaked Schemer: I know the feeling.

I suppose if I get desperate enough I can rent out a study cubicle in the library.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww you’d do that for little ol’ me?

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes, I

His finger slipped, hitting the enter key a moment too soon before he could even finish the thought in his head. His hands felt almost clammy, the inner mechanizations of his mind working on overdrive, as if trying to race against the pitter-patter beat of his heart. Shit. Perhaps… Riku was right after all? Had Ienzo, usually so level-headed, actually developed a crush on Arpeggio? It was utterly nonsensical, and yet he couldn’t deny that he felt a comfort with Arpeggio that he didn’t feel with anyone else he knew, online or offline. Was it possible to fall- ...to develop a smattering of feelings for someone based on typed text alone?

Well, wasn’t that a theme in literature? Two people falling in love over written letters? For all Ienzo knew, there could very well have been instances of it happening in real life, in the days of old, long, long before the age of technology and the internet. A pair of penpals, miles and miles of distance between them, communicating through the written word; it could happen, couldn’t it?

Hold on. When the hell did he turn into a sap ? Frowning, Ienzo ran a hand over his face, feeling like a lovestruck fool.

No. No, this couldn’t be a crush. Just because it was so easy to talk to him, just because they’d been talking for a year or so by now, it didn’t mean-

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy?

You ok?

Shit, how long had he zoned out for? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Sorry. Got distracted.

But regardless, I think we should aim for Saturday.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Great!

Hoping we don’t get interrupted by our dick roomies

The Cloaked Schemer: Quite. It’s a date, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Yes :3

Ienzo took a deep breath. Regardless as to whether or not this was practical, it seemed that Arpeggio reciprocated his flirting.

Wait. Ienzo looked at the screen, cheeks heating up as he realized he’d typed the word ‘date,’ and Arpeggio said ‘yes .’ He couldn’t deny the little flutter of his stomach in that moment.

__________

      Demyx set his phone aside, his heart beating heavily in his chest, his face bright red. He swallowed. There was no way sleep would come easily now, and it probably wouldn’t be until Saturday.

He thought about the nature of crushes. He’d never seen Zexy’s face, or heard his voice, but he was so adept at weaving words in the way Demyx wanted to be with music. He tried to imagine him, what he might be like.

He rolled onto his back. Ienzo’s frenetic, noisy typing had stopped. Demyx sat up, rubbed his eyes, and pretended he’d been napping the whole time. “You good?”

Ienzo shut his computer quickly, like he’d been doing something questionable. “Yes. Fine.” He was a little out of breath. What the hell had he been writing?

Demyx blinked. “I’m gonna go get a coffee,” he said instead. “Want me to bring you one back?”

“Sure,” Ienzo said, his face flushed.

Demyx shook his head. Well. If Ienzo needed to take care of that he had at least a few minutes now. “Cool.”

The whole time he was at the coffee shop, he kept thinking about Zexion, all their little conversations. It was evolving, and evolving fast. Demyx knew from brief experimentation with dating apps that just because a person sent you some flirty words didn’t mean anything would come of it. For all he knew, Zexion lived in New Zealand, or something.

That didn’t stop him from wanting it.

He drew a deep breath, exhaled. Well. Saturday he would find out.

Demyx wasn’t going to let Ienzo ruin his chances of meeting Zexion. He decided to strike preemptively, pausing at the door of their dorm room and sucking in a breath, steeling himself. He could do this. He could ask his roommate for the room for one night, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Hey, so, I have a thing Saturday,” he said vaguely. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t coming off as strongly as he intended, but he could still try. “Mind if I hang here alone for a few hours?”

Ienzo glanced up. The flush was gone, and he seemed much more composed. “Yes, that’s fine. I was going to go study anyway.”

“Study? Don’t you ever have any fun?”

“Perhaps I find studying fun,” Ienzo said.

“Suit yourself.” As he passed on his way back to the bed, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Ienzo had Discord open.

__________

     Friday night, Demyx barely slept. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. Crushes didn’t usually… hit him this hard. It’s dumb. It’s so dumb. His loneliness was getting to him. Even Saturday morning, there were some hours until the events started. He looked at his DM history with Zexion. They’d spoken briefly, only to confirm a time and place for their characters to meet and chat. He sat at his desk, his hands trembling, as the game booted up.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: You ready?

The Cloaked Schemer: Of course.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Cool.

My mic isnt like great

But you can still hear me

He was shaking. He was shaking. “Get it together,” he muttered to himself.

The Cloaked Schemer: You’re a broke college student. I’m not expecting a professional setup here.

Though I will say my booth is pleasantly soundproofed.

Let me connect.

And Demyx thought his heart might stop. I’m so gay, he thought. A second later he heard that familiar call connection. He twitched a little, and his mic clattered loudly on the floor. Shit!

“Arpeggio? Are you alright?”

“I just dropped the--”

A long, long pause.

He knew that voice.

“Zexion?” He picked up the mic and set it down.

“Arpeggio?”

“I dropped the mic.” Demyx swallowed.

“You…” Zexion fumbled for words. “Speak a little more, please.”

“Is that really you?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re in a library right now.”

“And you had an event… Saturday.” 

“Ohh my god,” Demyx mumbled. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, just that he was feeling a lot of it. “Ienzo. You’re Zexion?”

“It’s an anagram,” he said, his tone numb.

“Seriously, this whole time--”

“Evidently.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but at the same time, there was something warm in his chest.

Wait, no. No. This was Ienzo, and they hated each other--

Demyx realized he was panicking. He also, vaguely, in the back of his mind, realized the call had disconnected.

Demyx spent the next few minutes desperately trying to control his breathing, trying to not focus on how Zexion- No, Ienzo- was so disgusted it was him that he’d immediately dropped the call.

Of course. Of fucking course. The universe hated him. The universe had it out for him, surely. Why else would this have happened? He finally meets this sweet, smart, wonderful guy who takes him seriously and actually likes talking to him, on a regular basis , and then… And then… It turns out to be the very same roommate who hates him. That would just be his damned luck, wouldn’t it?

Grabbing his pillow, Demyx face-planted into it, pressing it furiously against his eyes to stop them from burning, to stop the tears that threatened to spill. Of all the people it could’ve been. Why Ienzo ? 

Demyx had been nervous enough as it was, afraid the person on the other end would think him annoying - his voice, his tone, the way he just couldn’t fucking shut up sometimes when he got excited about something. Alternatively, the filter between his brain and his mouth was immensely weaker than the filter between his brain and his fingers, and he could’ve said the wrong thing, unable to stop himself in the same way his hand can catch itself on the enter key before hitting it, or quickly delete the message before Zexion could read it.

But this was so much worse, because Ienzo already knew him, already had an impression of him, and that impression was far from good. It’s no wonder he disconnected the call so suddenly. He likely couldn’t stand hearing the truth any longer, stomach churning with disgust, head filled to bursting with regret, and not just regret over the voice call, but everything .

An almost entire year’s worth of conversations, soiled now, because Demyx was, well, Demyx . A slob. A slacker. An idiot. He wasn’t worth Ienzo’s time, and now he knew he wasn’t worth Zexion’s.

A sharp ache spread over his chest, cold and numbing, all of him tense with it. He… liked Zexion. He very genuinely liked him, so excited to get to talk to him, his bristling nerves aside. All week he’d thought about it, daydreaming, wondering what the person on the other end would sound like, if he’d love that voice as much as he loved the text on his Discord screen.

It no longer mattered, not when it was now clear that Zexion - no, Ienzo , was utterly disgusted with him.

It was over. It was all over - their friendship, a year’s worth of personal conversations, these budding feelings he was beginning to have, or that he’s been having for a while now…

On the flipside, was Demyx disappointed that it turned out to be Ienzo? He… didn’t know the answer to that, still reeling in the fact that Zexion, his dear friend and crush, hated him. The pillow was starting to suffocate him and he instinctively pulled it away from his face, eyes still burning. He sucked in some deep breaths and just when he was finally on the cusp of calming down, his door swung open so fast Demyx feared it’d break off the hinges. 

Ienzo leveled him with a determined stare. “You.”

__________

      Ienzo sat.

And sat.

And stared, and sat some more.

He was dizzy. Slowly, so slowly, all the pieces clicked together. The coffee. The references to Verum Rex. How they were always just missing each other. The whole tutoring scenario. Good god . So this person he’d been harboring feelings for this whole time was--

He pressed a hand to his forehead. And yet, a small part of him… was relieved?

It could be…

No, it couldn’t be anything! They hated each other! They’d complained to each other about each other more times than Ienzo could count. They had--

Ienzo felt the walls of the study booth begin to close in around him, pushing the breathable air out of the room. His ribcage constricted around his lungs, and his heartbeat pounded at his temples. He gathered his laptop and microphone in his arms and burst out of the room, chest heaving.

He braced himself against the outer wall of the study booth and willed himself to breathe normally, his head tilted all the way back to rest on the door. This was real life, and he was fine. He would be fine, anyway, with a bit of finessing. Okay, perhaps a little more than a bit.

Ienzo retrieved his backpack and stowed his equipment inside as he analyzed the situation. Arpeggio and Demyx were the same person. A strange revelation, but not world-ending. He could find another raiding party. He could join another server. There was more than one person with whom to play Verum Rex.

But--

Ienzo caught himself zipping and unzipping the top pocket of his backpack, more forcefully than necessary each time. A new server didn't sound appealing. A new raiding party, even less so. He would have to chat with new people, learn their idiosyncrasies and fighting styles, learn their pseudonyms and remember how they differed from their usernames. It all sounded so… hard, and boring, and unnecessary. 

He zipped his backpack closed for the last time and held it at his side by its tiny top handle. Its back straps kicked at his calves as he raced out of the study area, through the main lobby, and into the courtyard. His mind was set. His choice was clear. The only thing to do was follow through.

Ienzo made a beeline back to the room. He found Demyx sitting cross-legged on his own bed, his computer accessorized with a small budget microphone and his face awash with something that looked like guilt. His eyes widened when Ienzo crossed the threshold. 

"You." Ienzo's statement rang out like a gong.

Demyx swallowed. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk." Ienzo shut the door behind himself. It slammed closed, though Ienzo had not intended for that. 

"...yeah." Demyx turned back to his computer, fiddling at the USB port where his microphone connected to the rest of the machine. "Ienzo, I--"

"Shut up." Ienzo stalked into the room, single-minded. He stopped at the edge of Demyx's bed. "Shut up and listen, for once."

Demyx's shoulders rose to his ears. He stayed quiet.

Ienzo dropped his backpack to the floor. Though his fingers trembled, his resolve held firm. The moment of reckoning was upon him. "Did you know?"

Demyx shook his head.

"Did you want to know?"

He responded in a whisper, pained and hushed. "I wanted to meet Zexion."

Ienzo's hands trembled faster. He balled them into fists to compensate. "And now that you know," he said, "do you regret it? Wanting to know? Learning the truth?"

A tear trailed down Demyx's downcast cheek. "No."

Something deep inside Ienzo wanted to reach out and wipe away the tears that followed, while Demyx's breath caught in gasps over his laptop keyboard. Ienzo steeled himself. "I… don't regret it, either."

"You don't?" Demyx looked up and met Ienzo's gaze with caution. Aside from the red tinge at their edges, his eyes looked almost hopeful. 

Ienzo softened, relaxed his fists. "I don't want to find a new server, or a new raiding party."

Sniffling, Demyx nodded. "I don't, either."

"I don't want to stop talking to Arpeggio," Ienzo continued, his heart playing timpanis in his chest. "He is a close friend of mine."

"He's also your lazy roommate." Another tear escaped, this time going down the side of Demyx's nose. Demyx wiped at it with the heel of his hand. "Ienzo, I--"

"We've had differences. We've also had commonalities, albeit in virtual space. There's no reason we cannot bring the two together."

"Ienzo--"

"There's no reason we should be at each other's throats. We--"

"Ienzo!" 

He blinked. The drum performance in his chest missed a beat, then started from the top at full speed. "Yes?"

Demyx unplugged the microphone from his computer, sighed, and tossed it to the far edge of his bed. "I don't think that will work."

Ienzo frowned and crossed his arms. He was beginning to remember why he and Demyx didn't get along in meatspace. "Why, pray tell, is that?" he asked.

Demyx swallowed again, more conspicuously than before. "It's just… I…"

Ienzo leaned forward, his head cocked to the side. "You what?"

"I, um, I…"

"Go on. I don't have all night."

Demyx pushed his computer aside and drew his knees into his chest. "I… shit. I had a thing for Zexion." His shoulders hitched with sardonic laughter. "Shit. Fuck. This sucks." He reached behind himself for his pillow and buried his face in it. "This is so embarrassing," he whined, his voice muffled.

Ienzo's budding anger deflated. "You… you did?"

Demyx nodded into his pillow. "Uh-huh. And now you know, too."

Ienzo opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't make the words in his head form coherent phrases. His throat sputtered with half-formed consonants instead. Words. For fuck’s sake, wasn’t he good at words? Why was this suddenly so damn hard?

"This is the worst," Demyx groaned. "Just kill me now. Make it look like an accident. Tell my family I loved them. Don't let my sister take my bedroom at home."

Ienzo's faculties returned in the bumbling, clumsy way that drunkards stumbled home from dank local pubs. "I... don't think that will be necessary," Ienzo managed, through his own confusion.

"No?" Demyx put his pillow back in its place, and faced Ienzo with dried saline clumping in his eyelashes. "What, are you gonna torture me instead? Make me regret being born? Because you're a little late on that front, buddy, I already do."

Ienzo took a deep breath. His crossed arms dropped to his side, then held each other at the elbows. "I may have developed… similar feelings. For Arpeggio." Ienzo's mouth went dry. The drum performance upgraded itself to a full marching band drumline, twenty-five snare drums pounding paradiddles and rolls in synchronized sweeps. 

A silence consumed the space between them, interrupted only by Demyx's sniffling and Ienzo's heartbeat. It stretched into the abyss and the stratosphere in equal measure, and stung more acutely than the idea of never speaking to Arpeggio again.

Demyx broke the silence by clearing his throat. "So…"

Ienzo coughed. "So..."

"Are we…" Demyx unfolded his legs and swung them over the side of his bed. His hands grasped at his mattress, and his head hung from his shoulders  "Are we, y'know… do we still, like…"

"Do you want to be?" Ienzo shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Friends, cohorts, party members, server mutuals? Or…"

"Or what?" 

"Or…" Ienzo trailed off. Or what, indeed? Friends with benefits? Significant others? Boyfriends? The mere thought made Ienzo's palms sweat. "Or…"

In the moment between Ienzo's efforts to name his emotions and act on them, Demyx had sprung up from the bed and slipped his hands around the sides of Ienzo's face, his thumbs resting just below the apples of Ienzo's cheeks. His breath tickled at Ienzo's nose and lips. "Or… this?"

Heat seared at every inch of Ienzo's face. If he could feel Demyx's breath, Demyx could feel his as well. "...I suppose, yes."

"In that case," Demyx murmured, somehow purring and wavering at the same time, "tell me no." He rested his forehead on Ienzo's. "Tell me no, and we won't. I promise. Things can go back to normal."

A whimper, wholly undignified and unbidden, escaped from Ienzo's higher register. "I can't," he whispered.

Demyx leaned forward, and Ienzo followed. At some point, they met in the middle, and the world's axis shifted two degrees to the left. It was a tentative press of lips, but Demyx’s hands on his face kept him anchored. It didn’t feel like Ienzo thought it would, and self-consciousness invaded. Suddenly Ienzo felt very young and immature; vulnerable .

But… after a moment or so, not so much. Demyx was so warm against him, and Ienzo realized it was a learning curve, one he was picking up with his usual speed. He was shaking a little in disbelief. It was so-- nice.

Demyx pulled away and brushed his fingers across his cheek. "You're trembling."

"Forgive me. I--" He swallowed.

"No, it's cool." Demyx pulled away and smiled, brighter than Ienzo had ever seen someone smile before. "Do you… want to go again?"

Ienzo did, very much so. "I'm not opposed, per se, but I think we should… explore our relationship a bit. Perhaps starting with our mutual interest in pumpkin spice flavors." 

“Sounds like a plan to me, Zexy,” Demyx grinned.

__________

      Riku set the pair of pumpkin spice lattes down on the little square table in the back corner of the coffeeshop, glancing at Ienzo, then Demyx, then back at Ienzo, one eyebrow shooting up into his hair. “Is the world ending? Did I miss a memo on the corkboard in the back room?”

Ienzo coughed. He was vaguely aware of the heat rising in his cheeks. Damn it all to hell. Of course Riku was here, why would it have been anyone else? Sighing, he gestured to Demyx, bracing himself for the inevitable bit of humiliation, courtesy of the one friend who knew about his very apparent crush on his Discord friend. “Riku, meet Arpeggio.”

Riku’s other eyebrow shot up into his hair. “You’re shitting me.”

Demyx looked across the table at Zexion, clearly trying to fight the incoming of a shit-eating grin. “You talked about me to people?”

"Only the unimportant ones," Ienzo said, picking up his cup and sipping loudly.

“Psh,” Riku spat with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, and every damn minute of the day. If I had a dollar for every time you made heart eyes at the ceiling while talking about him, I could quit this job and pay off my tuition.”

Ienzo balked at that, nearly choking on his latte. “It was not that often.”

Waving a hand, Riku corrected himself, looking pointedly at Demyx. “Wait, no, he’s right. I’m forgetting that half the time, he’d be complaining about his horrible room-”

“Shouldn’t you be behind the counter?” Ienzo hissed, glaring at Riku. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Demyx’s gaze flicking between him, like he was watching a game of ping-pong. “Or should I text Sora and Kairi about all those little hearts you like to draw around their names on the garbage receipts every time they come in?”

"Go ahead. I'm ninety percent sure they're both into me, anyway."

Ienzo pulled his phone from his pocket and brandished it at Riku. "Are you willing to test that theory?"

"Make sure you write it down," Demyx chirped, blowing into the hole in his drink's lid. "If you write it down, it's science. I learned that in Biology this semester."

"I'll do more than that," Ienzo said, tapping on his phone screen with both hands. After his phone played a short 'whoosh' sound, he placed it face-down on the table. "Images sent. Now we wait for our results."

Riku scoffed, then balked, then turned beet-red. "You're an asshole," he hissed through his teeth.

"Relax. I was just kidding,” Ienzo said with a glint in his eye that Demyx barely caught.

"Forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical." Riku scowled for a moment, but eventually softened into a smirk. "Whatever. Enjoy your Discord date, Casanova." He knocked on the table once before returning to the checkout counter.

"Discord date?" Demyx asked, taking a swig of his pumpkin spice latte. "I thought we were hanging out in real life."

"Let's not split hairs. We're about to see a show." Ienzo jutted his chin in the direction of the cafe's front door. As if on cue, Sora and Kairi burst through it like a duo on a mission.

“Oh Riiiiiiiiku!” they chorused in sing-song at the top of their lungs.

"Sometimes," Ienzo said, turning back to Demyx, "I like to watch the world burn."

“Yeah, I know. That’s actually kind of hot,” Demyx admitted, taking another sip of his latte. "Remind me not to piss you off again, though."

#Zemyx #Demyx #Ienzo #Zexion #Kingdom Hearts #fanfiction #Zemyx Day #Zemyx Day 2020

[magica-witch-project]

(1/2)hello! my wish would be to be able to have a clear mind in general(i tend to sometimes be scatterbrained). i am unknowingly selectively apathetic and caring, therefore i cannot control what my reactions to situations can be. i can look from any point of view and understand it, the catch may be that it can result in me being flaky and change personalities?? or emotions fairly quickly. at times when i have the energy, i can change it at will.

"(2/2) i usually tend to want to please people, or not, there is not in between(im fairly bipolar). the way id fall into despair is because i couldnt control other outcomes the way that id like them to and/or a decision to make was too hard, making me not being able to keep my sanity and becoming completely emotionless with outbursts of random emotion out of nowhere, spiraling into despair and loneliness, because i couldnt accept it. sorry if this was complicated, thank you!" 

Your magical girl from is pure white and very elegant. Your dress is made of fluffy ;ayers of chiffon with a ruffled square neckline, puffy sleeves, and a small, corset-like belt. On your head is an equally pristine ruffled bow. The only color on your outfit is your soul gem, which appears as a crystalline blue pendant necklace. Your weapon is a silver basket-hilted sword. You have also gained the ability to float, giving you a nice height advantage over your opponents. Your fighting style is startlingly quick and to the point- it may not be showy, but it certainly gets things done. This makes you a respected member of your magical community, as your level-headedness and no-nonsense fighting is honestly formidable. In your normal life, things are quite different. You are much less unpredictable, and tend to be very good at helping others make tough decisions. You also find that you are much less prone to mood swings and rapid personality switches.

Unfortunately, being level-headed doesn’t prevent you from getting trapped in impossible situations. During a battle with a particular though witch, you were forced to make a decision to either aide your comrades in the fight or help rescue a bystander that had been drawn into the barrier. You chose the latter, but this decision cost the life of a weaker magia who desperately needed your assistance. The guilt of her blood on your hands breaks you, and you throw yourself into your work harder than before. Your emotions are gone, and you begin to wonder if you can even feel pain anymore. Every so often, a burst of anger works its way out of you, causing you to fight even more recklessly before. It is one of these such moments that causes you to use up the last of your power, forcing you to fall into witchdom. You are now Rasina, the witch of still waters. Her nature is undisturbed. Rasina’s barrier is a small, stony shoreline surrounding the most still lake anyone has ever seen. The green-brown of its water is so flat that it looks like a large sheet of glass. Anyone who enters, however, will have the irresistible urge to touch the water- just dipping a toe in won’t hurt, right? If the water remains untouched, nothing will happen, but the smallest ripple in the water will cause the witch herself to appear. She is a large, many-limbed being pulled together by the water of tehlake she resides in. Her body is full of the debris in the lake, and the water froths when she moves. She will attack with these long, watery tendrils that can pierce through armor, so it is best to move quickly. The best way to defeat her is to piece her body straight through the middle. When she is defeated, Rasina will splash all at once back into the lake, creating gentle waves that will lap until the barrier fades from view.

Thank you for the wish! If you want anything changed please let me know. Dealing with an… uncooperative brain is rough, isn’t it? I myself deal with pretty severe ADHD, so I DEFINITELY get the whole scatterbrained thing. I find that the best way to help keep your thoughts together is to write everything down by hand, and take a few minutes any time you feel yourself slipping to verbally talk yourself through what you’re trying to accomplish before getting back to work. Of course, everyone has their own ways of getting by, so that may not help… Either way, I genuinely wish you the very best of luck in the future.

-Mod Mami

[grisdidthis]

The Glenn Legacy: G1, Entry #2

START HERE | PREVIOUSLY ON: Bimby Glenn, a nice, shy girl who loves painting and lives on instant meals, moved to the all but empty city of Kleinestad. After a brief attempt at making it in politics, Bimby discovered that she DGAF about that crap (and they weren’t paying her anyhow!) and quit her thankless job. Will she find success as a (???) freelancer and finally get the moneis for a roof? Stay tuned and discover!

It’s Day 10! Bimby managed to finish and sell a couple more paintings, which earned her just enough funds to cover her bills and keep the Repoman at bay. (Keeping those bills paid is a priority - it’s not like she has furniture she can spare for repossession.) In fact, her paintings are selling so well now that she has maxed out her creativity, that she even has the extra cash to buy a desk with a computer. Meaning that she now has a way to chat with the one human she knows (Nancy has no phone but is ALWAYS online, bless her millennial ass) and rack up relationship points so that love may eventually bloom.

The computer also opens up a new money making venue: having her creativity skill maxed out means that Bimby will do very well at novel writing, perhaps even pen a bestseller, without the need to practice. I’d side-eye this, as painting abstract weirdness in the rain has little to do with writing skills, but we can cheat and say that it was all that diary writing she did previously to meeting Nance that turned her into a wordsmith. Alright, then. What will her first work be about?

Channeling Michael Bay there, I see. Ah, well. It should sell like hotcake-

NOOOOOOOOOOO DID YOU FORGET TO PAY YOUR BILLS, BIMBY, I’M NEAR SURE THAT I WAS KEEPING TRACK OF THEM FOR YOU, PLEASE DON’T LET HIM TAKE THE TOILET-

Oh, wait! It’s just the delivery guy coming to bring you your complimentary author’s copy of "EXPLOSIONS”. Whew! That’s the price to pay for having all those default replacements. Perfectly benign delivery trucks make alarm bells start ringing. And “EXPLOSIONS” DID turn out to be a bestseller! She got 3k for it, hot damn. (IRL it would be a tremendously shitty advance. Then again, most novels aren’t written in 5 hours only and HEY THIS MEANS WE CAN DO SOME MORE BUILDING, WEEEEEEEEE!!!)

A ROOF! WALLS! WITH PAINT ON THEM! Our Bimby is moving up in the world!

(For anyone wondering, the object that looks like an Elixir of Life dispenser is ... not. It’s a lot time tracker that I’m using to keep on top of how many days it’s been since we moved Bimby in. VERY USEFUL when you have sims that will live a long ass time, like mine do.)

Sadly, there wasn’t enough money left after taking care of the newest helping of bills (and ordering some groceries, since the stock was running low) to make Chez Bimby have proper illumination. So she’ll be ruining her eyes texting Nancy in the dark, but hey, anything for a chance at acquiring a wife, right? 

The next day, having cleaned out all those old newspapers she had lying around, Bimby ambushes Nance to see her in person.

Aaaaaandddd all that late night chatting paid off! Bimby is SMILING! I think it’s the first time I’ve seen her having a genuinely good time since we moved her in and she was jumping rope, all carefree. Awwww, look how cute they are! 

(Yes, Bimby’s body mesh makes her clothes look weird and glitchy in some positions, but that’s the price to pay for wanting variety in your sims’ physiques.)

(The OTHER price you pay is that depending on the body you give them, the wardrobe options run from “meh I guess SOME of these are wearable” to “complete and utter shite”. I lucked out with the Momma Lisa shape, since there IS a decent-ish selection of clothes available for it and some even fit my preferred game aesthetic. Bimby’s pink pajamas DEFINITELY don’t fall under that, but they fit the preferred aesthetic of Bimby Glenn, so what can you do.)

Nancy Pasang, you saucy minx! 

Bimby’s stomach and bladder end up forcing her to cut the encounter short. After taking care of her basic needs and getting some more writing done (Bimby has at this point sold three novels and made around 8k in royalties, so we may soon be overhauling her for now humble abode) she decides to relax and do some light reading ... but can’t stop thinking about Nancy. 

So she goes online to chat and what do you know, immediately this prompt pops up. Yes, yes we DO want to invite Nancy over. 

YEEEEsss. 

Sweet! And, look at that. The relationship points are high enough that tonight could be the night that we start romancing this chick. I know that Bimby has more than enough time that she doesn’t need to hurry up on the making of heirs (do I have the girls can get pregnant from girls mod installed, I can’t even recall) but she seems to be getting antsy about babies. And there’s no argument that she needs some love in her life. So, quick bathroom break, then back to charming Nancy’s pants off. 

And it’s at this point, while I’m running through the kissing options and wondering why all the romantic interactions Bimby can have with Nance are filled under “casual”, squinting at their size difference, which I hadn’t realized before or subconsciously attributed to, well, Bimby has the Momma Mia shape, and feeling this something-you-have-forgotten-is-relevant-and-important itch in the back of my brain, that it hits me. 

The newspaper deliverers are always teenagers in The Sims 2 and children in The Sims 3.

Well. That’s right. SHIT. 

BIMBY. BIMBY! NANCY IS UNDERAGE! DO NOT KISS HER! YES THE MOD WILL ALLOW YOU TO DO IT BUT WE USE OUR BRAINS AND SENSE OF PROPRIETY AROUND THESE PARTS. ABORT ABORT ABORT ABORT!

BEGONE, BILL REMINDER, WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS AROUND HERE! We’re in the process of friendzoning this kid and and sending her home!

Bimby is understandably upset about the entire situation. Nancy seems to be all “Eh?” and not quite understanding or minding what’s going on. Off she goes. We’re never recycling newspapers again to ensure that she stays far, faaaaaaaar away. Maybe sell the computer too, to ensure that Bimby can’t chat with her - but no, Bimby needs it to write her next novel, tentatively titled “CHECK ID FIRST”.

Yeah. This is definitely not the once you are starting that family with, girl. Better luck next time.

#ts2 #theglennlegacy

[trans-advice]

hi um. i know i'm agender and i just recently realized my ideal body has no breasts, but i don't think i have gender dysphoria, and i don't want hormones for certain business reasons. assuming i'd somehow be able to have access to it and that doctors would let me get it without proven dysphoria, would it be bad to just get top surgery? would real trans people hate me? i have a lot of friends who need stuff like this way more than i do and i feel so confused. thank you.

First of all, it's your body your choice. Secondly, you're a valid transgender person. If anything, all of this amounts to not needing as many handicaps/accommodations to transition. So be it. When I asked mod Lake for some feedback on this advice that I'm writing to you, they mentioned this advice about finding healthcare providers, which I will quote here:

>

"A good therapist will okay you for top surgery even if you don’t experience dysphoria the way most trans people do. Living in your body fairly contently but experiencing gender euphoria at the thought of top surgery and having a body that feels more right should be enough. If the therapist you go to says it isn’t you need to just find another because a truly good gender therapist will not have the same prejudice toward non-dysphoric trans folks. Though depending on the top-surgery surgeon they may need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria specifically. That could be sorted out with the therapist or healthcare provider, by taking a lack of gender euphoria as enough to qualify."

> As for whether your surgery prevents someone else from getting theirs basically requires that you live in a healthcare system with a queue. So first of all, learn how your healthcare system works because your withholding of getting top surgery might not actually help others get theirs. Assuming you live in a queue system, I would still apply. this is because based on UK news I've been hearing for like a year or so now, the wait times are super long anyways. So I don't even know whether your one case would make much a difference in the wait times for others at this point. If y'all are actually concerned about wait times & such, then y'all need to organize to get your healthcare system to actually properly fund it.

For an example:

>

out here in Illinois, USA, we literally had like 300,000+ new applicants go thru IDES for unemployment & it's been like a month & people are already scared & fed up with the wait-times & the forms they got to fill out. Well, circa December 2017, I applied for Medicaid & by Federal law the state is supposed to process applications within 1+1/2 months (6 weeks give or take), but it took Illinois about 6 months. and my application wasn't during an economic crisis! In fact, it turns out, the state had gotten sued before & they had to send to me (when I got my acceptance letter) a "Cohen court order" explaining to my medical providers that I needed receipts from during that 4+1/2 months  in order to get the state to reimburse me. Point being, Illinois was behind on that because those offices haven't been properly funded for years! (if not decades!!!)

>

Long story short on this example: the system is broken, Not you.

So basically, pursue it. Double check how your medical system works & help people who want to improve it. On top of that, find an affirmative doctor, therapist, surgeon, etc, and go from there. If you get an unaffirmative professional, then leave them.

Good Luck, Peace & Love,

Eve