imaginetheabsurd

I posted Fool for your belly in 2022 and Make it last forever about a year later in 2023. Since then, I received a good number of messages from readers about its characters, plot points, and story setting. It was really nice to have a reason to flesh out that verse. I remember I gave answers about Mina as a teenager and Jie's rank. I spoke a bit about the events before the story begins, during dongren's college years. Now it's 2025 and those answers I gave on retrospring, curiouscat, and neospring are gone.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to put it all here! To the anon that asked about more snippets to the dongren family verse, you caught me on a good day!

Here we go :)

Fool for your belly begins four years into Renjun and Donghyuck's marriage. They mated and married four years after they met, so by the time we meet them, they've been together for 8 years. At this point they're 29-30ish. I don't think it's ever explicitly stated in the fic.

Dongren before meeting each other

Renjun kind of had a reputation for mystery and aloofness around campus; involved with some student orgs, had a steady friend group and an active social life, but rarely dated; known for having high standards and turning people down (hence Jaemin's comments about dh's low chances of getting with renjun)
Somewhat stunted by his upbringing and his own desire to appear prudent and "pure"
A big part of dongren's first years together is Renjun maturing sexually (this is hinted at in Make it last forever)(which i'm now realizing is shortened as MILF lmao)
Donghyuck had an easy way about him; wasn't a top student but wasn't slacking either. The fics don't reveal a lot about dh's past or his personal journeys; but we do know that he tends to, like, over-promise or be more spiritual than rj; I think dh's life had a straightforward ease to it, which is partly why he butts heads with renjun at times, who tends to overthink and suppress his own emotions
A lot of the big hiccups in their relationship those first few years was largely due to rj kind of underestimating dh's intelligence or brushing off his judgment bc rj did see himself as smarter/more grounded (i'm projecting my own feelings of superiority onto renjun's character as a humanities major who generally thinks is smarter than non-humanities majors hehehe)

First years and Mina's birth

The fic mentions it: the first pregnancy was a big nine month party. Everyone was happy for them and generally supportive.
A fun thing I thought about but didn't include was renjun's career trajectory. he decided against grad school to start a family. He ends up really growing in maturity as a teacher; it was a personal low in a way because he had to let go of these projections he had about his future. But he's an excellent educator, and great with kids. so he continues teaching. when we meet him, he's already been teaching for a few years. Dh helps him value himself through this transition, and being a parent also helps him see himself differently. it helps his self esteem. it also helps dh prove himself even more and heal some wounds he has about his own childhood.

Years after FFYB/MILF
(I got a lot of questions about the future of the family so I did my best to remember what I shared a few years ago lol)

Mina presents as an alpha. We see a hint of this in MILF when she tries to conjure up a scent to pacify rj when he begins to panic about possibly miscarrying. She presents young. She's ten at the end of the story. So probably about a year later, at age 11, almost 12.
Jie is an omega and is verrrrrrrrry protective of renjun, very attached to him. He'll later have issues with his rank. I think bc rj, in trying to enforce this like open and forward way of thinking about omegas, ends up kind of looking down on omegas, which jie takes to heart. It's a whole thing. but ultimately they learn to address it and it becomes a nice teaching opportunity. Even renjun ends up learning something about his own internalized feelings for omegas.
(I love omega identity politics I can't help inserting it everywhere!!!!)
Hyeju is a riot! her sibligns are significantly older than her so she learns things really fast in trying to keep up with them. she learns to walk early, to speak early. she's a peach. also very adventurous and a lil cooky. dongren get some grey hairs trying to keep up with her. extremely attached to dh. looks exactly like renjun. brings up being a preemie to get what she wants lksdjlfskjf
dh gets his ruts for years which prevents rj's cycle from fully stopping; they get up to some kinky shit as the years go by...like roleplaying lol

Okay that's all I got!
The title for Fool for your belly is from this song by Rhye.
And Make it last forever is from this song by Beyonce.