#also this colouring. she tragic boys

[undiscovered-horizon]

[Although you reciprocate Sanji's affection, you're not quite ready to let yourself be vulnerable with someone. Love, however, is patient - and Sanji is nothing if not loving.]

Enjoying my work? You can leave me a tip on Ko-Fi | Have a request?

Ningyo Archipelago earned its name from a rather tragic local legend: about a boy who fell in love with a mermaid, ningyo, but he was deathly afraid of the water. He stood on the shore, making a small step towards the sea each day. And the mermaid patiently waited for him, promising that he had nothing to be afraid of because she was looking out for him. Now, depending on who you ask, some of the villagers claim that the mermaid is still waiting for her lover while others are convinced they have already united. You're not quite sure which version you prefer.

At first, the myth seemed a bit cliche to you - undying, unconditional, selfless love. It belongs in a fairytale, along with leprechauns and a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. After all, no reasonable human is deluded enough to throw away their life for a love that may be. If Hell is paved with good intentions, then empty promises decorate its gates.

But your dismissal of the local legend quickly dissipates as guilt and longing tighten your chest:

Sanji.

You tried to keep him out at first, out of mercy for your own patchwork heart. Told yourself that each of his sweet words and skilfully crafted compliments were a consequence of his persona and not intimate feelings. But no matter how warily you guarded your heart, he still managed to find a way in. Some juvenile, innocent part of you wanted to welcome his affection with open arms, scream at the top of your lungs that you yearn for him in equal measure as he longs for you. However, the other aspect of you, the one that remembers the horrors you've seen and still feels the dread lingering under your skin after... well, everything - that part begs you to keep your feelings at bay or get a grip on yourself and quit this nonsense. What if you open up to Sanji and he finds you gruesome? Will he see your torn heart only to think its baggage too heavy? Or if... the history repeats itself.

No. Never. You can't let it happen again.

But then, you also can't live like this, hidden within yourself forever. You don't want to. Time goes on, yet you're stuck in place.

This fight with your own mind and soul has brought you to this quiet evening by the campfire. Archipelago's natives are most hospitable people, rejoicing at the handful of guests that have come to their shores. A night filled with delicacies, local moonshine, dances you knew no steps of. It all made for a heartfelt, happy celebration. Hours went by, soon energy dissipated and intoxication kicked in. One by one, both your friends and the natives fell asleep.

The last people standing are, as if fortune smiled down on the island, Sanji and you. He's sitting on the ground, back leaning against a log as he stares at the fire, thinking about something. Once in a while, he takes a sip of his drink. The light of untamted, yellow flames waltz across his face. Staring at him from afar, you wonder whether his hair would smell of campfire smoke if you snuggled to his side. Would the colour of his eyes turn closer to indigo in the darkness of the night?

You shake your head slightly. If you want to finally have this much-belated conversation with him, you need to think straight. You can fantasize about Sanji after he gives you a positive answer.

A playful smile enters Sanji's face when he notices you approaching. "Am I drunk or is that really an angel coming my way?" Despite the amount of alcohol he's consumed, he doesn't slur his words.

"More of a Devil's consort," you answer as you sit down next to him on the ground. Thankfully, your half-serious comment covers well your tension.

It's almost self-sabotage on your part that you sat a mere inch away from him. Something about his presence scrambles your thoughts, turning carefully prepared monologue into disjointed daydreams about the man next to you.

"You can lead me astray if you want," Sanji retorts in a low voice. If only he knew how much you'd love to.

Your breath hitches in your throat as your chest tightens further. Some primal fear residing in your bones tells you to run away, to discard the love you think you're feeling and stay in your safe, alienated shell. So what if he may be the best thing that has ever happened to you if this heartache he's bound to leave will surely be the final nail in your coffin.

"Right, about leading you..." you begin in a trembling voice.

The fear makes it hard to breathe, which doesn't escape Sanji's attention.

"What's going on, sweetheart?" he asks in a soft, concerned voice as his hand gently lays on top of yours.

You clench your other hand into a fist. The only way out of this situation is through and you're not sure if your both brave and strong enough to make the journey. Your fingernails will surely leave marks on the soft skin on the inside of you palm.

"I'm not oblivious to your advances, Sanji," you finally blurt out. The bluntness of your tone is a little too harsh than you wanted. "You're quite up-front about your feelings. And I..." you hang your voice. The words simply refuse to come out of your mouth as though a witch had put a curse on you.

"No, I get it," he nods along. Sanji's expression falls like he's about to crumble. He clenches his jaw before forcefully making himself continue in a sombre tone. "You don't like me in the same way. It's fine, really. I might die of a broken heart first but I'll be fine."

Dear Gods above and below, this is going way worse than your "What can go wrong?" scenario.

"It's not that, Sanji!" you exclaim suddenly. Equally quick you mumble an apology upon seeing Sanji's startled expression. Then, he furrows his eyebrows further, growing even more worried about you. The adoration and pain in his eyes break something in you. It's as if your consciousness has taken a step back and allowed a flood of words to spill out of your mouth. "I wish I could find the words to express how much you mean to me. That you're the only thing on my mind, day and night. But I've been through shit you don't even know about and I just... I think I need some time before we can act on our feelings."

We.

What a nice word. To be part of a union with another; to belong to someone. To never truly be alone.

The worry disappears from his beautiful, blue eyes. In turn, their expression becomes softer than you've ever seen. Sanji moves the hand that lay on top of yours to intertwine your fingers.

"I'll wait for you," he says casually, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Although you did consider this as a possible outcome, you never actually believed he'd say that. You weren't prepared for someone to be selfless towards you. It's never happened before.

"You don't have to," you try to dismiss him. Everything will be easier, but not better, if he changes his mind. "The world is filled with amazing people, I'm sure there's someone else who will love you better."

"I've already found the one I had been looking for, sweetheart," he answers slowly. Sanji brings your hand up to his lips and places a fleeting, chaste kiss on your skin. The softness of it all makes you want to cry and claw your own heart out. Why does it feel so good and so frightening at the same time?

"I don't know how long it will take me to get comfortable and open up." Your throat is too tight to speak comfortably. Tears pool in your eyes. "To be vulnerable with you."

"I will wait for you for an eternity if I have to. Whatever you need, just ask, little love."

Why does he have to love you beyond reason? Why is it so easy for him to break down your walls?

"I'm not sure I'm worth all this trouble," you whisper your confession into the silence of the night.

"Don't ever think you're a burden," he reprimands you. "You deserve only the best and I will be the happiest man alive if you let me be the one to provide. I love you more than you can imagine. I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to you."

Having no strength to hold back, you burst into tears. Is it the relief that he's willing to put up with your fears? Or maybe the happiness that he still chooses to love you? It's hard to say. Your vision is blurry as tears roll down your cheeks. No matter how much you try to control yourself, you can't.

Sanji gently wipes away your tears. His gesture is almost fearful as though the worst thing he could do is force his affection too fast for your comfort. What if he hurts you? In Sanji's mind, there's no greater sin he could commit.

"Can I hold you?" he whispers his question.

"Yes, please," you manage to babble between sniffles.

He puts his hand under your knees and effortlessly places you across his lap. Sanji's arms wrap tightly around your quivering body. His hold feels like a sanctuary.

"Thank you for telling me," he says quietly against your hair. "It was very brave of you."

You don't answer, only further nuzzling into his shoulder. Huh... He does smell of campfire smoke.

#one piece x reader #one piece #sanji x reader #sanji x you #sanji fanfiction #sanji imagine #sanji fanfic #vinsmoke sanji #vinsmoke sanji fanfiction #vinsmoke sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji x you #vinsmoke sanji fanfic #sanji vinsmoke x reader #sanji vinsmoke #one piece fanfiction #one piece fanfic #one piece imagine #black leg sanji #sanji #one piece sanji #opla #one piece live action

[hedgehog-moss]

Inspired by your last ask! What are the best French books you’ve read that have no English translation yet? I read Play Boy and Qui a tué mon père (really loved the latter) last year and it feels so fun to read something that other Americans can’t access yet

I'm too nervous to make any list of the Best XYZ Books because I don't want to raise your expectations too high! But okay, here's my No English Translation-themed list of books I've enjoyed in recent years. I tried to make it eclectic in terms of genre as I don't know what you prefer :)

Biographies

• Le dernier inventeur, Héloïse Guay de Bellissen: I just love prehistory and unusual narrators so I enjoyed this one; it's about the kids who discovered the cave of Lascaux, and some of the narration is written from the perspective of the cave <3 I posted a little excerpt here (in English).

• Ces femmes du Grand Siècle, Juliette Benzoni: Just a fun collection of portraits of notable noblewomen during the reign of Louis XIV, I really liked it. For people who like the 17th century. I think it was Emil Cioran who said his favourite historical periods were the Stone Age and the 17th century but tragically the age of salons led to the Reign of Terror and Prehistory led to History.

• La Comtesse Greffulhe, Laure Hillerin: I've mentioned this one before, it's about the fascinating Belle Époque French socialite who was (among other things) the inspiration for Proust's Duchess of Guermantes. I initially picked it up because I will read anything that's even vaguely about Proust but it was also a nice aperçu of the Belle Époque which I didn't know much about.

• Nous les filles, Marie Rouanet: I've also recommended this one before but it's such a sweet little viennoiserie of a book. The author talks about her 1950s childhood in a town in the South of France in the most detailed, colourful, earnest way—she mentions everything, describes all the daft little games children invent like she wants ageless aliens to grasp the concept of human childhood, it's great.

I'll add Trésors d'enfance by Christian SIgnol and La Maison by Madeleine Chapsal which are slightly less great but also sweet short nostalgic books about childhood that I enjoyed.

Fantasy

• Mers mortes, Aurélie Wellenstein: I read this one last year and I found the characters a bit underwhelming / underexplored but I always enjoy SFF books that do interesting things with oceans (like Solaris with its sentient ocean-planet), so I liked the atmosphere here, with the characters trying to navigate a ghost ship in ghost seas...

• Janua Vera, Jean-Philippe Jaworski: Not much to say about it other than they're short stories set in a mediaeval fantasy world and no part of this description is usually my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed this read!

Essays / literary criticism / philosophy

• Eloge du temps perdu, Frank Lanot: I thought this was going to be about idleness, as the title suggests, and I love books about idleness. But it's actually a collection of short essays about (French) literature and some of them made me appreciate new things about authors and books I thought I knew by heart, so I enjoyed it

• Le Pont flottant des rêves, Corinne Atlan: Poetic musings about translation <3 that's all

• Sisyphe est une femme, Geneviève Brisac: Reflections about the works of female writers (Natalia Ginzburg, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, etc) that systematically made me want to go read the author in question, even when I'd already read & disliked said author. That's how you know it's good literary criticism

Let's add L'Esprit de solitude by Jacqueline Kelen which as the title suggests, ponders the notion of solitude, and Le Roman du monde by Henri Peña-Ruiz which was so lovely to read in terms of literary style I don't even care what it was about (it's philosophy of foundational myths & stories) (probably difficult to read if you're not fully fluent in French though)

Did not fit in the above categories:

• Entre deux mondes by Olivier Norek—it's been translated in half a dozen languages, I was surprised to find no English translation! It's a crime novel and a pretty bleak read on account of the setting (the Calais migrant camp) but I'd recommend it

• Saga, Tonino Benacquista: Also seems to have been translated in a whole bunch of languages but not English? :( I read it ages ago but I remember it as a really fun read. It's a group of loser screenwriters who get hired to write a TV series, their budget is 15 francs and a stale croissant and it's going to air at 4am so they can do whatever they want seeing as no one will watch it. So they start writing this intentionally ridiculous unhinged show, and of course it acquires Devoted Fans

Books that I didn't think existed in English translation but they do! but you can still read them in French if you want

• Scrabble: A Chadian Childhood, Michaël Ferrier: What it says on the tin! It's a short and well-written account of the author's childhood in Chad just before the civil war. I read it a few days ago and it was a good read, but then again I just love bittersweet stories of childhood

• On the Line, Joseph Ponthus: A short diary-like account of the author's assembly line work in a fish factory. I liked the contrast between the robotic aspect of the job and the poetic nature of the text; how the author used free verse / repetition / scansion to give a very immediate sense of the monotony and rhythm of his work (I don't know if it's good in English)

• The End of Eddy, Edouard Louis: The memoir of a gay man growing up in a poor industrial town in Northern France—pretty brutal but really good

• And There Was Light, Jacques Lusseyran: Yet another memoir sorry, I love people's lives! Jacques Lusseyran lost his sight as a child, and was in the Resistance during WWII despite being blind. It's a great story, both for the historical aspects and for the descriptions of how the author experiences his blindness

• The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception, Emmanuel Carrère: an account of the Jean-Claude Romand case—a French man who murdered his whole family to avoid being discovered as a fraud, after spending his entire adult life pretending to be a doctor working at the WHO and fooling everyone he knew. Just morbidly fascinating, if you like true crime stuff

#ask #book recs #the book i started reading last night is The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak and i also didn't #expect it to have an english translation but it does #i'm only at the beginning and so far it's philosophical ponderings about what kind of creature the neanderthals were #if they were humans in a different way than us. with a different kind of intelligence #and how to understand it without projecting our own way of being in the world onto this other humanity #sorry to quote cioran again but it reminds me of when he said every generation misses the good old days and #if we retrace our steps from regret to regret we'll find the original regret #our nostalgia for a time when humans weren't yet human

[nicole-timey-wimey-stuff]

Somewhere only we know

Part 1

Young Daryl Dixon x Reader (no apocalypse AU)

Read part 2 here

Synopsis- No outbreak and modern ish day AU (set in 2007-2010 era) Reader moves to the Georgia mountains, to live with her dad for her final year of school, as her mum is going travelling with her new husband. She meets a shy redneck boy with a tragic background, who immediately captures her heart.

Warnings - mentions of abuse, tragic upbringings, mentions of injury, feelings, friends to lovers, judgemental town people, readers dad is a sweetheart, reader has good relationships with both parents, but her mum is described as flakey and free spirited. My terrible writing as always (this is me practicing 🤣) slow burn, no outbreak, not cannon at all obviously, love confessions, reader sticking up for Daryl, both reader and Daryl being protective, smut in later chapters but not this one.

Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything

Word count - 3.8K

It was the start of fall, leaves were beginning to change and a cooler breeze was starting to hit the small town you were now going to call home. Green valley resided in the mountains of northern Georgia, population 680 people. It was where your Dad had bought a mountain cabin, just outside of town with a 100 acre orchard. He had purchased the property just over a year ago, in hopes of a slower life. He sold his Californian condo, and made the lengthy move to Georgia.

Your parents divorced when you were 12 years old, it had been a long and lengthy process, and they hadn’t left on the best of terms. Your mum took sole custody of you, but you stayed holidays and the summer period with your dad. Even so you had a great relationship with both your parents, growing up had been pretty uneventful, though your mum was somewhat of a free spirit. Now you were 18 years old, in your final year of high school and full of life. You’d inherited the free spirit of your mother, but the hard working mind of your dad.

Your mum had moved on with her life re marrying a lovely man called Ari, he was also very much a free spirit, and they’d planned a two year travelling trip together. This is what had lead you to leave your shared home in Arizona, and move in with your dad at his new mountain home. You had a good feeling about this move, maybe small town life would suit you? Would it be quieter life or an adventure? You didn’t know, but you were excited to find out.

Perched on the passenger seat of your dads Chevy truck, you drove through the valleys and mountains in comfortable silence. Taking in the sights, the gorgeous autumn colours and breathing in the fresh air. You wound down the window letting your arm fall out, pushing your fingers through the wind.

“It’s good to have you home kiddo” your dad admitted, “It’s going to be nice having you with me again” he continues, nodding contently to himself.

“Yeah” you smile, “I’ve missed this, the two of us hanging out”. He turns to give you a genuine smile, it must be lonely being in the mountain lodge by himself, you decide. Pulling up outside the cabin you gasp “wow” you exclaimed, it’s much bigger and prettier than the pictures he sent you showed. A beautiful stone wrap around porch and neat log exterior, there’s a few planted trees out the front, and gas lamps adorning the entry way. It looked like something out of a fairytale, and you were incredibly excited to see the inside. Taking your phone out, you quickly snap a few photos to send your mum.

Your dad smiled at your childlike wonder as you admired the cabin. “I’m glad you like it honey bee, let’s get you all settled in”. The inside was just as lovely, large brick fireplace and open planned living downstairs, three large bedrooms with en-suites and a study upstairs. Your dad showed you to your room, then gave you space to unpack and settle in. Once unpacked and showered you came down to your dad serving dinner, “I don’t know if your hungry, but I made your favourite, at least I hope it’s still your favourite?” Your dad asks with a small laugh.

“It most certainly is! Thanks dad”

“Good” he nods.

“Ummm God, this is amazing” you groan happily. Your dad huffed a laugh, “I forgot how good your cooking is! Mum’s terrible, we end up with burnt dinner or takeout most nights” you laughed.

“Well I’m glad to get a proper home cooked meal into you then!”

“Soo I spoke to your new head teacher and the school is giving you this next week off, to you know settle in. Then you start a week Monday, so I thought you could spend some time this next week, getting to know the town and the area. We can go for lunch tomorrow in town if ya like?” Your dad explained.

“Yeah that all sounds great dad” you agreed.

One whole week to settle in, yeah that sounds ok you thought. Gives me time to maybe get to know some people too, get to know the route to school. You ate in comfortable silence, before helping your dad clean up and get an early night, it had been a long day and you were exhausted.

_______________________________________

The next morning you woke to birds chirping and leaves rustling. Golden rays were casted through your window causing a warm glow, floating dust particles visible in the streaks of light. A soft breeze was filtering in through the small crack you left open last night, hoping to remove some of the evenings humidity. You determined right then that waking up like this in nature was wonderful, no cars honking or children screaming like the busy neighbourhood you lived in back in Arizona, just peace.

You spent the morning folding your clothes into draws, setting up your laptop and organising your desk space. Before getting ready for lunch out with your dad, you decided faded jeans and a band tee would work, it was exciting to get out and see your new local town, but a little overwhelming too. It was a big change from your life before, and an adjustment period would definitely be needed. Nonetheless it was nice to be spending some quality time with your dad.

“You ready to go kiddo?” You dad calls up the stairs.

“Yeah! Now coming” you yell back, bounding down the stairs.

Driving to town didn’t take long, you watched out the passenger window paying attention to the area and the amenities. The lakes, mountains and colourful leaves were so picturesque.

The town centre was small but well equipped. From what you could tell there were a few restaurants, at least three coffee shops, a hardware shop, a post office, a supermarket, a couple of convenience stores and a surgery. Not including the school and garage on the outskirts.

Pulling up outside a small timber clad diner your dad parks and grins at you, “Your gonna love this place! They have the best pie and great views of the lake” he stated. “Awesome!” You reply hopping out the truck.

Walking inside you take in the place, there’s large windows placed all along the back of the diner, looking out directly onto the lake, there’s warm lighting and the whole place has a very cozy feel. An older woman about 60-65 years old you guessed came bouncing over. “Well hi Allan it’s good to see you, this must be your beautiful daughter I’ve heard so much about?!!” She gushed

“Hey Susie how are you? You’d be right, this here’s my daughter y/n” your dad replied to the bubbly woman.

“Hey it’s nice to meet you” you added

“Isn’t she a sweetheart Allen, you must be so proud, you know y/n your dad here hasn’t shut up about you coming for weeks now” she sang, playful glint in her eyes. You smiled kindly back at her, feeling relatively embarrassed by the attention. “Well you choose a seat hunni, and I’ll be right over to take your orders” she continued before walking off.

“She seems friendly” you stated. Your dad lets out a laugh at your uncomfortableness, “Yeah, small town honeybee. Everyone knows everyone here and they all talk, a lot” he emphasises. “Hmm” you sigh this was something you’ll need to get used too.

You chose a seat with a view by the large windows, and as if reading your mind he hummed “You’ll get used to it.

After lunch you both walked through the town, while your dad stopped at the convenience store to collect some necessities, you busied yourself looking through the aisles, choosing some snacks for yourself. You could hear your dad chattering to the woman on the cashier, everyone in this town really did know everybody. When you looked up your eyes met a pair of bright blue, belonging a boy around your age with scruffy light brown hair, worn clothes and a couple of cute moles adorning his face. You smile at him, he offers a small smile back before looking away bashfully. “Hi, I’m y/n” you offer, “Daryl” he mumbles back.

“It’s nice to meet you Daryl, do you live around here?” You ask.

“Yeah umm not too far, jus down by da creak” he replies. You offer another warm smile, “I’ve just moved here with my dad, maybe I’ll see you round?” You add. Daryl nods looking at his feet, he seems incredibly shy you think.

“Y/n, you done?” Your dad calls, you follow his voice to the checkout and hand him the two candy bars you’ve chosen. “Just these please” you confirm. You look back to the other end of the shop seeing Daryl chatting with another guy, probably in his late 20s.

“I wouldn’t talk to that boy if I were you” the lady on the cashier interrupts your thoughts. You take the time to read her name tag ‘Wendy’ “Hmm” you reply “why not? He seems nice enough, awfully shy” you continue.

“They are the Dixon’s the taller one is the older brother Merle, he’s always causing trouble, in and out of jail. Their dad is a drunk, and lord knows he hits those boys. The older ones left home now but comes back frequently. Daryl’s in school still so he still lives with his dad. It’s only a matter of time before he starts behaving the same way, I’m sure of it” she rants in whispered hush. You frown, you don’t like that. He’s done nothing wrong yet, but already branded by the town because of his family. But before you can say anything your dad pipes up “Well we best be going, lots to do before this one starts school”. “Well good luck sugar just pay mind to what I said, you seem like a sweet girl, and this town talks” the cashier lady implores. You give a tight lipped smile before leaving with your dad.

The walk back to the car is deadly silent and you are stewing your inner monologue ‘how dare she’ and ‘if she knows he’s hitting the boys, why hasn’t anything been done?’. Your dad turns to you reading you like a book, “Hey I get it, you don’t like injustice I know that” he interrupts your thoughts, looking up at him you sigh “It just doesn’t seem fair”. “I know baby girl, if you want to befriend that boy, you do it. I know we raised you to be kinder than that, and hey you could use a friend” he replies. You smile at him “Yeah maybe I’ll see him at school” you nod agreeing with your dad.

_______________________________________

Three days pass in a blur, you sign up to the local surgery and check all your medical details have been passed over correctly. You find the local library and spend most of Monday getting lost in books, you try a local cafe and enjoy drinking your coffee while walking around one of the lakes. You even chat to a few locals, getting to know the town better. But your mind keeps reeling back to the boy with the blue eyes, Daryl Dixon, you’d never met someone so painstakingly shy before, and your a bit shy yourself hating being the centre of any attention.

Wednesday comes around and you need to pop by the school to get your class schedule, your dad takes you so he can get any needed information too. Stood in the principles office, going over everything you’ll need, your mind wonders off. While your dads chatting up a storm, your gaze wonders out of the window.

You spot him sitting under a tree with a sketch pad or writing book in his hands, it’s too far away to really make out. But he’s sat all alone, while all the other kids hang out in their favoured groups, Daryl just sits by himself quietly. This boy has really intrigued you, does he not have any friends to sit with? Are the kids in this school as cruel as the narrow minded adults who roam this town.

“Excuse me miss” you interrupt, “Could I please have a wonder round? Get my bearings before Monday?” You ask politely. “Yes of course you can dear” she replies handing you a piece of paper “Here’s a map, so you don’t get lost, take half an hour or so, there’s a lot I need to go through with your dad here anyways” you explains. You nod thanking her before exiting the room, one mission in mind, finding your way over to Daryl.

Navigating the schools corridors wasn’t too difficult, and you found yourself by the back doors which lead the the playing field fairly quickly. You spotted the large tree smiling to yourself when you found he was still sat underneath its shady branches, lost in whatever he was doing. You slowly approached trying to not startle him, when your figure casts a shadow he looks up squinting from the suns rays, slight frown between his brows. “Hey” you hesitated, worrying now that you had overstepped. But once he realised who you were he visibly relaxed, “Hey yer the gurl from da store Saturday rite?” He questions, his southern drawl thick ‘and adorable you find’ “Yeah that’s me, do you mind if I sit?” You ask, he gestures for you to go ahead, so you ungracefully plop down next to him. “What year are you in if you don’t mind me asking?” You request, smiling at him slightly hoping to put the shy boy at ease.

“I’m in ma final year, tho this is ma second time tryin’ I’m nineteen. You?” He replies, he’s nervously fiddling with a small twig on the floor, cheeks tinged pink. “I’m in my final year too, I’m eighteen. I’ve just moved here from Arizona. I was living with my mum, but she and her new husband wanted to go travelling, so umm I came here to live with my dad for a while” you explain.

“So wat ur ma just made you leave?” He questions small frown returning.

“Oh no no, not at all” you reply crossing your arms in motion with your reply. “No I decided to live with my dad again, I’ve missed him and it’s quieter here, I was ready for the change” you continue. Daryl gives you a Quick look before nodding at your statement.

“You startin' here soon den?” Daryl mused, “Yeah I start Monday” you reply with a smile, your eyes meeting his blue. Daryl looks forward then his brows pinching together, “Well I wudnt be seen wiv me if ya hopin’ to fit in wiv everyone here” Daryl sighs. “I don’t care what anyone here thinks, and you shouldn’t have to feel like that Daryl” you affirm. He turns to you worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, you can tell he’s not used to this, kindness, and it breaks your heart. He makes a small grunt, before fiddling with the twig again. “Anyways I like you Daryl, I’ll look forward to seeing you again Monday” you smile, before getting up to head back towards the school to find your dad.

Daryl watches after you as you leave, face as red as a tomato. He’s never had someone actively seek him out before, and he doesn’t really know how to take it. But he likes you too, you seem sincere and kind, there’s not many like that in this town. He smiles thinking that maybe he himself is looking forward to Monday too.

_______________________________________

It was Friday morning and by now you were becoming a little stir crazy, your dad was great he really was, but he was aloof at times. You think he was trying to give you some space, maybe you were just so used to your erratic mother constantly talking your ear off, and her demonstrative personality. Therefore making your dad seem rather quiet and distant, he checked in to make sure you had what you needed though, and he always spent meal times with you.

This morning he was tending his orchard, getting it ready for the autumn harvest, you knew he had hired some helpers to help him sort things, he’d said this may take most of the day, so you needed to find a way to entertain yourself.

After sipping your morning coffee peacefully on the porch, watching the trees rustle in the breeze, you decide maybe a hike in the forest would do you the world of good. So you pack up a bag of necessities, grab your hiking boots, a map and set off.

As you walk through the forest trails, the sun casts through the trees causing halos of soft glowing light, dew drops hang off branches and it’s all breathtakingly beautiful. You pause for a moment breathing in the forest air, and listening to the sounds of nature, until you hear a soft sniffle. You quietly pad yourself in the direction of the sound, it was definitely a person softly crying ‘what if someone’s hurt or lost’ you think. So you hastily make your way over, coming to a small clearing, where there’s a beautiful tiny meadow tiny flowers and fluffy dandelions fill the space. But there sat in the middle is Daryl, he has his head in his knees and his arms are hugging his legs.

You slowly walk over towards him treading as lightly as possible to not startle him, but he hears you instantly, his head snapping up in your direction. “Wat do yer want” he snaps, you recoil slightly, however you can see he’s hurting so you swallow it down and continue your way over. “I heard you from back there, I was out on a walk” you reply hesitantly. Daryl nods wiping his eyes with the back of his hands ferociously, you can see he hates to be seen in such a vulnerable moment.

You plonk yourself down next to him “Want to talk about it?” You ask. He debates this for a moment, he hates being open and vulnerable, but he can’t remember the last time he had anyone to talk too, Merle was never emotionally available, hell he was barely ever physically available these days. So he swallows down his pride “Ma dad was out last nigh drinkin, came in about three this mornin’ I woke up from his bangin, tried ta help him ta bed. He didn’t take it too well” he sniffled, Daryl looks at you then and you can’t help the small gasp when you see his eye, which was clearly hidden by his mop of hair before. It was black n blue and very swollen.

“Oh my goodness Daryl! One second I have a iced water bottle in my bag” you swallowed, you search through your back pack pulling out the bottle and the spare vest top you carry, wrapping the bottle in the fabric you place it over his eye as gently as you can muster. He still flinches, like you were going to hurt him and your heart shatters. “Here it will help with the swelling and bruising” you offer, and he lets you help him then, carefully watching you as you hold the iced bottle over his bad eye. He’d never had anyone look after him like this before, never been nobody who cared enough to help him. He finds himself leaning into you then, and you have to hide your smile by biting your bottom lip. You notice then his lips bust too, dried blood around it “Here hold this in place, I have some alcohol wipes in here for those cuts” you affirm, letting go of the bottle and searching you bag once more. Finding your small first aid kit you pull out the wipes, ripping the packet before shuffling closer to him again. “This may sting a little sorry” you sympathised, he lets out a small hiss as you gently place it on his lip, dabbing the alcohol into the cut and cleaning off the blood, before doing the same to the cut on his eyebrow.

“There all done, just keep that ice on your eye for a bit ok” you advise. “Ok” he agrees. You spend the rest of the day with him, chatting about everything, even if it was you doing most of the talking. You find out that the meadow is halfway between both your homes, he tells you more about his dad and how nothings ever been done because people don’t care about rednecks like them, Merle got away, got involved in drug deals and fights, left Daryl to deal with their abusive father on his own.

Daryl tells you how he spends most of his time in the forest when he’s not at school, to get away from his dad, but that his father barely notices when he’s gone. He hadn’t gone into school today after his dad beat him, he just ran here. You decide then you’d do your upmost to help him, there was just something about this boy, he captured your attention that first day in the shop, but just a few days in and he’s already stolen part of your heart.

By then time you arrived home early that evening, you had a unmissable smile on your face, your dad notices straight away “You enjoy your hike honey bee? Thanks for the note I’d have worried otherwise” he comments. “Yeah it was nice, I spent the day with Daryl, bumped into him on the trail” you smile. “Ah I see, I’m glad you’ve made a friend” he answers “You hungry? Dinners almost ready” “Yeah starving!” You declare.

Laying in bed later that night you pull out your phone, you’d exchanged numbers with Daryl earlier and couldn’t wait to message.

‘Hey, fancy a walk around the south lake tomorrow?

Y/N’

‘Yah sure, thnks fer today, 10am ok?’

You grin instantly at his reply,

‘Yeah perfect, meet you there? Or I can pick you up?’

‘Nah I’ll meet ya there’

‘Ok see you tomorrow, goodnight Daryl’

‘Nite y/n’

You were really looking forward to tomorrow now.

_______________________________________

#daryl dixion x reader #young Daryl Dixon #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x reader #daryl dixon #no apocalypse

[bigdumbbambieyes]

Day 25: Your Choice for @harringrovekinktober My choice? Threesome with Chrissy!

🤍

It’s late and the party died a while ago, leaving the Harrington house an empty mess, but Billy’s far from tired.

The party wasn’t like they used to be — it wasn’t quite a rager, but something close to it. Full of old and new friends, laughter and dancing to song after song, drinking and smoking. Typical shit.

What wasn’t typical, however, was Chrissy showing up without Jason.

“We broke up,” she slurred softly when Billy found her with Heather in the backyard, “He’s…too much.”

Yeah, well. Everyone knew that.

So, he’d brushed his thumb across her cheek and said, “Plenty of fish in the sea, Chriss.”

Because they were friendly like that.

Even though he wouldn’t call the flush of heat he felt friendly when she looked up at him with those wide doe eyes, leaning into his touch.

Desperate for touch. Maybe a rebound.

And if he wasn’t involved with Steve, maybe he would’ve. He wanted to. Chrissy was his type: pretty, athletic, kinda tragic. He’s always had a soft spot for her, even before he and Steve got together all those months ago.

But, he wouldn’t fuck around on his pretty boy. No, Steve loved him — like, truly loved him. Flaws and all.

So, he’d pulled his hand away and gave her a smile before leaving to grab the two girls a drink.

Hours have passed since then and Billy can’t forget the glances Chrissy gave him throughout the night. Curious little looks, sometimes admiring his arms and chest where the front of his shirt draped open. The same open window Steve had slipped his hand inside when they’d disappeared for ten minutes, into the bathroom in the basement, sucking on his pretty boy’s tongue and dick until they stumbled back.

Chrissy had seen them then, too, with an understanding look on her face.

And Billy had been sure that would be it. She wouldn’t tell a soul.

But, now, as makes his way into the backyard through the kitchen, he spots his boyfriend with a lap full of Chrissy in one of the plastic recliners, the two of them talking quietly.

There’s a kick of jealousy in his gut for a second, until he approaches them and they both look to him with matching doe eyes — one blue and the other brown.

The hot flare of jealously suddenly smothers itself into an ember of affection. They look cozy, all cuddled up like that. And maybe it’s the weed making his brain fuzzy, or the alcohol that makes his tongue a little loose, but he purrs, “You two look good together.”

It makes Chrissy blush, the colour pretty on her face, while Steve smirks up at him.

Like he knows.

“You think so?” Steve hums, sliding his arms around Chrissy’s hips and pulling her even closer to him, still staring up his boyfriend.

Chrissy smiles a little shyly, leaning into Steve, glancing up at Billy.

“Yeah,” Billy hums, feeling his lips pull into a smirk as he taunts, “You hitting on my boyfriend, Chriss?”

“No, we’re just talking.” She says softly, but her pretty mouth twists a little, like she’s lying.

“That’s too bad.” Billy sighs, plopping himself down onto the recliner next to them, spreading his thighs and running the tip of his tongue along his teeth as he watches Steve’s hand grasp her bare thigh, his fingertips digging in gently.

She squirms, a little, her bright eyes trained on Billy as Steve rests his chin on her shoulder, whispering something that Billy can’t hear.

It makes Chrissy blush, though, and she’s so pretty as she does.

“Why…why’s it too bad?” She asks him, her hands gripping Steve’s shirt just a little, her knuckles pink and pale.

She knows why. Steve knows why. They also know that if either Steve or Billy didn’t want her in Steve’s lap, she wouldn’t be there.

But, subtleties won’t do here. So, he drags his gaze down her body, slow like syrup, taking in her plain white shirt and pastel checkered skirt and the pink cardigan draping over her small frame, and then back up to her face — which is almost red now.

Licking his lips, he says, “Cause I was kinda hoping you’d kiss him.”

She looks between them, clearly unsure if she should, but Steve’s got that stupid soft, earnest smile on his face as he gives her a nod. “Maybe just a little one?” He hums, playful.

Her eyes fall to his mouth, her mind still weighing the options.

As if to encourage her, Steve mumbles, “It’s not like it’s our first time kissing, Chriss.”

It isn’t. Steve had told him about the time he and Chrissy had hooked up, just before she got with Jason. Billy hadn’t been sure what to be jealous of — the fact that Steve got a taste of Chrissy, or that Chrissy had got to Steve first.

But, now? He could have both of them. If they wanted.

The reminder of that night, not even two years ago, makes up her mind. Billy can see it in the way her eyelids flutter and she gently drags the pink of her tongue along her bottom lip, quickly wetting it. He wonders how wet she is now, with both of their attention on her.

Quietly, she leans in, and presses a kiss to Steve’s mouth.

It’s chaste, at first. Feeling it out. Making sure Billy won’t rip her off him and throw her into the pool.

But as Steve grips her bare thigh a little higher, that’s when she collapses into him, her lips parting as the kiss deepens, a quick flash of their tongues sliding together.

It pulls hot in Billy’s gut, makes him adjust the crotch of his jeans as he watches his boyfriend make out with their friend. It's not the first time they've shared a girl in bed - it was what they did before they finally got the balls to admit that they liked each another and finally fell into bed, just the two of them.

Chrissy pulls away after a bit, her eyes immediately going to Billy, half-lidded and curious.

Silently asking ‘is this okay’?

He gives her a nod and tilts his head a little, encouraging her.

She goes back for seconds, licking into Steve’s mouth with a soft sigh. It’s cute. He wants a taste, too.

As if reading his mind, Steve pulls away to whisper, “You wanna give Billy a kiss, too?”

To which she eagerly nods, clumsily crawling out of his lap like a newborn deer. Billy smirks and reaches his arms out to her, catching her as she falls into his lap with a soft laugh.

The laugh quiets as Billy puts a hand on the nape of her neck and pulls her into a kiss, claiming her mouth and humming at her quiet whimper. She tastes like peach schnapps, her perfume sweet in his nose, a tinge of hairspray there, too.

Her hands find his hair and she’s kissing back just as hard, sucking on his lower lip so perfectly it makes him groan.

He feels another pair of hands on him then, along his back and sides, and then a kiss to his neck. In his ear, Steve whispers in that familiar tone when he wants to fuck, “Wanna go upstairs.”

Chrissy pulls back, breathing a little harder as she looks at them both and asks, “All of us?”

“Yeah, doll,” Billy hums, sliding the heat of his palm up her thigh, fingers teasing the hem of her skirt, “If you want. I don’t mind sharing Stevie with you.”

“Yes,” she whispers, want etched clearly across her face as she looks at the two of them, “Please, yes.”

Chuckling softly, he gives her thigh a little smack and says, “C’mon, then. Gotta take my princesses to bed.”

🤍

It’s fucking unreal.

They’ve got Chrissy upstairs in Steve’s bed, in his ugly ass wallpapered room, laying back against the pillows as she asks, “Can I…watch you two makeout? For a bit?”

“Abso—” Steve starts, but Billy’s already pulling him in, pressing his lips to his boyfriend’s like he always does, and tugs on his hair until Steve’s jaw drops with a moan. That’s when Billy slides his tongue into his pretty boy’s pretty mouth, tasting him with a moan, grabbing his ass with both hands and pulling Steve against him.

Grinding his dick into Steve’s hip, he feels how hard his boyfriend is, too.

Shifting his mouth down to Steve’s neck, he growls there, “You really got hard just from kissing a pretty girl, hm? What are you, a virgin?“ Because he can’t help himself, he can’t help the way he degrades Steve a little in bed, only because he know how much the other likes it. How often he’s cum from it.

Steve moans and bites back, “You got hard just from watching us kiss, I don’t think you’re one to talk—ah!”

Billy pulls his teeth away from his boyfriend’s neck and eyes him, satisfied with the blush Steve’s got on his face and how it’s bleeding down to his neck and chest, until their eyes meet and Billy smirks.

He looks to Chrissy on the bed, her eyes wide and lips parted, her hands gripping her skirt. His eyes linger there as his mind works, pulling away from Steve but grabbing his hand to lead him to the bed, his eyes still trained on her.

“I think I’m not the only one getting excited from watching people kiss,” he smirks, letting go of Steve’s hand so he can crawl onto the bed and hover over Chrissy, pinning her there with his gaze as he asks, “You wanna show me how wet you are, Chriss?”

Her breath stuttering, Chrissy pulls the hem of her skirt up as her thighs widen, revealing a pretty pair of pink panties, wet from her arousal.

The sight makes both boys swear under their breath.

🤍

They take turns spoiling her with their mouths - Steve licking the damp spot on her underwear while Billy kisses her pretty lips, the two of them slowly and carefully undressing her in turns, until she's got nothing but her socks on.

Billy brushes over the soft swell of her breasts, thumbing over her pink nipples and smiling at the way she moans into his mouth, gasping as Steve finally pulls the panties off her and slips his tongue between her folds, sucking gently at her clit.

"O-Oh," She whimpers, moaning again as Billy kisses down her neck and chest, sucking one nipple into his mouth while his boyfriend presses his tongue inside her, moaning in between Chrissy's thighs happily as she trembles, cums on his tongue with a gasped 'fuck'.

"Feel good, sweetheart?" Billy murmurs into her skin, looking up at her and watching how she nods eagerly, their eyes meeting in the dim light as he mumbles, "You want Steve to fuck you?"

"God, yes," she breathes, pushing her hair back from her flushed face as she and Billy watch Steve rifle through his bedside table, pulling out a condom that he hasn't touched ever since he and Billy decided to forgo them.

Billy's glad he didn't throw them out like he had teased.

"Mm, look at that," Billy hums, his eyes taking in the way Steve rolls on the condom over his dick, the girth of him making Billy's mouth water. "You remember what he feels like?" He asks Chrissy, smoothing his hand down her stomach slowly.

"Might need a reminder," she whispers playfully, smiling up at Steve, who smiles back down at her in amusement.

He grips the base of his cock and gives her slit a playful little smack with the tip, swiping it through the mess of spit and excitement there just to hear her moan, before slowly pushing in - stretching her around him, impossibly tight.

"Oh, fuck, Chriss," Steve moans as he watches, Billy unable to help himself as he leans over to watch, too - and slide his hand further down to rub a gentle circle over her clit, listening to her shaky breaths and quiet gasps.

"He's fucking huge, yeah?" Billy smirks, flicking his gaze up to Steve, who looks down at him with his jaw dropped, managing a little smirk in return. He hears Chrissy's little 'mhm' as he pushes himself up, his mouth seeking out his boyfriend's, kissing him filthy as Steve moans.

He feels Chrissy's hand on his thigh, then - her nails gently digging into the muscle as he pulls away to look down at her and hum, "Yes?"

Her eyes, wet-lined from pleasure, look up at him as her hand reaches further and wraps around his dick, giving it a little stroke.

It's cute.

"You being greedy, sweetheart?" He teases with a grin, "Steve splitting you open isn't enough for you, hm? You want me, too?"

Her blush deepens and she shakes her head 'no', pauses, and then nods. "Wanna make you feel good, too," she says softly, thumbing over the tip and it takes his breath away a little.

"How considerate," he hums, pulling away from Steve - who had begun kissing his shoulder - and moves closer to her, "How do you want me, then?"

"Could...use my mouth," she suggests, licking her lips and Billy's eyes flick down to watch her do that, "Until Steve cums and then you can...have your turn."

She's gone tomato red with that, embarrassed, but it only makes Billy adore her. "You're dirtier than you lead on, aren't you?" He grins, "If you wanted us to take turns, maybe I should've invited Munson up, too?"

Chrissy fucking squeaks at that and yeah, Billy wishes he had, because she's clearly into it.

"C'mon, then," he says, looking to Steve, "Flip her over, baby."

She gasps as Steve pulls out and flips her over easily, Chrissy pushing herself up onto her hands and knees as Billy settles back against the headboard, gently pulling her in with smile as they all settle into their new positions - Steve grabbing her hips while Chrissy lowers herself to her elbows, Billy spreading his thighs for her to settle between.

He loves this. "Now I get to watch both of my princesses," he teases with a smirk, petting over Chrissy's hair gently as he looks to Steve, watching his pretty boy line himself up and push inside again - feeling Chrissy moan as she takes Billy into her mouth, eager and sloppy.

It's fucking heaven.

"Fuck, look at you," he breathes as he watches Chrissy, her pink mouth stretched around him, "Such a good girl, taking both of us so well, aren't you?"

She whines around his dick and attempts a nod, looking up at him as she sucks and sucks.

"Fuck, she's so wet," Steve groans as he fucks into her, his fingertips digging into her pale skin, bruising, "Better than I remember." He chuckles softly, giving her a little smack on the ass that she moans at, soothing it with a rub right after.

"You hear that, sweetheart? You're driving him crazy," Billy chuckles softly, carefully pulling her hair back from her face and gathering it in one hand, "You want it harder, hm?"

Chrissy pulls off him just to rasp, "Please," before taking Billy back into her mouth.

She tries to blow him after that, but Steve grips her hips and quickens his thrusts, the sound of their skin slapping filling the room along with her moaning as she pulls off Billy's dick and presses her cheek into his thigh, her brows pinched as she takes Steve's dick, whimpering and begging with soft 'please's under her breath.

Billy can't look away - he wishes he had a fucking camera, they both look so beautiful like this, flushed and panting, fucking just for him.

As if it couldn't get any better, Chrissy gasps, "Fuck, fuck, I'm gonna cum--" and bites Billy's thigh, which makes him groan as he locks eyes with his boyfriend, seeing that familiar face Steve makes when he cums, so gorgeous.

"Fuck," Billy breathes, letting go of Chrissy's hair so he can pet it instead, watching his boyfriend pull out and he eyes the condom, spots the cum inside and licks his lips. What a waste.

"C'mon, Chriss, on your back," Billy instructs as he and Steve put her on her back, the girl groaning softly in relief as she stretches there, smiling, all too pleased with herself.

"You okay?" Steve asks her as Billy crawls over to him, the two of them kissing and mumbling their own little check-ins while Chrissy hums a soft 'mhm'.

"Although," she mutters, her eyes down at his cock, "Billy's still hard..."

Billy looks over his shoulder at her, smirking again, "Greedy little girl," he teases, "Don't forget, it's my turn."

Steve flops down next to Chrissy on the bed with a huff of amusement while Billy crawls between her legs, hooking his hands under her knees and spreading them - just so he can see the state of her pussy, puffy and pink, wet and messy.

"Fuck, I don't think I'm gonna last," he admits with a chuckle, lowering his mouth to swipe the flat of his tongue through the slick of her folds and up into the coarse hair that matches the strawberry blonde of her hair, groaning at the scent and taste of her - musky and salty.

He hears her whimper again, feels her squirm, and the bed dips as Steve leans over her to whisper 'this okay?' and connect their lips again after she nods.

Billy takes his time, eats her out like she deserves because he's pretty sure Jason probably didn't, until she's shaking apart under his mouth and pushing his head away with a gasp of his name.

"Jesus, Billy," she gasps with a disbelieving smile, "You two are gonna kill me..."

"That's kind of the point," Steve hums, nosing at her jaw, his eyes meeting Billy's then, "Your turn, baby."

"I know, I'm just trying not to fucking cum right now," Billy says pointedly, wiping his mouth and chin with the back of his hand as he reaches over to the bedside table to grab one of the condoms from the pack, his dick aching at this point.

But, it doesn't stop him. He rolls the condom on and lines himself up, doesn't bother to play and tease like his boyfriend did because he's so fucking close, but the tight, wet heat of her makes him stop and he forces himself to think about other things, closing his eyes to think about anything but her or Steve or how they looked earlier--

He reaches down and grips the base of his cock, pants a quiet breath as he stops himself from cumming, so desperate for it but he's not going to cum like a virgin -- he's not even buried deep yet.

When he opens his eyes, he sees the delighted look on Chrissy's face as the pleased one on Steve's, both of them looking up at him knowingly.

"Shut up," he sighs, feeling a smile pull on his own lips as he pulls out and looks at Steve, demanding, "C'mon, baby, taste her on me. I know you wanna."

"It's not really on you if there's a condom," Steve bitches softly as he crawls over, lowering his mouth take Billy in it, groaning at the familiar weight and feel as he sucks the taste of Chrissy off the condom.

It's fucking hot and definitely not helping Billy's situation, so he pushes his boyfriend away with a huff of 'enough' and watches his smug ass pretty boy settle back down next to Chrissy.

Grabbing her hips, Billy hauls her up into his lap a little lines himself up again, gripping her thighs as he pushes in, deeper and deeper until she's arching her back a little and moaning, clenching around him tight.

"Play with her clit, Stevie," Billy breathes, "Suck on her pretty tits, too - I wanna make her cum again."

A soft mewl is what he gets from her, and a look of disbelief, but her face twists into pleasure as Steve does as he's told and he rubs at her sensitive clit again, his mouth going to her chest as she cries out, bucking her hips as Billy drives into her, unrelenting as he watches the two of them again.

"Oh, oh, shit," she gasps, "I'm--I'm--"

She tenses, nearly stop breathing, as she cums around him and Steve rubs at her clit, a small splash of wet coating them and the bedding as they fuck her through her orgasm, until she's begging them to stop and Steve pulls his hand away as Billy pulls out, panting as he look down and watches her squirt again, spilling onto the sheets.

"Oh--my god, I'm sorry," she breathes, embarrassed and still trembling, but Steve's quick to shush her with a kiss, pulling away to murmur, "That was so hot, Chriss, holy fuck..."

She looks to Billy, her eyes wide and imploring, and he nods in agreement, "Stevie's right, that was hot as fuck."

Soothed, she nods and relaxes, her lips trembling gently as she eyes the ceiling, letting Steve pet over her body and kiss at her cheek while Billy ties off his condom and tosses it towards the garbage bin in the corner.

"My princesses need anything?" He asks gently, watching the two of them from where he's standing beside the bed, hearing Steve's request for a cloth and Chrissy's request for some water.

With a nod, he grabs both of those and returns, cleaning both of them up carefully while Chrissy sips her water and Steve steals some, handing it to Billy, who finishes it and sets the empty glass on the nightstand.

Settling back into bed, on the other side of Chrissy, he smiles down at her and presses a kiss to her forehead before pulling Steve over to give him one, too.

After a moment, Chrissy clears her throat and starts to say, "I should g--"

But, Billy throws his leg over her to stop her and Steve quickly says, "You don't have to go, Chriss -- you can sleep over with us. Billy will make us breakfast in the morning."

"Why are you volunteering my cooking?" Billy grins, as if he wasn't already planning on doing just that.

Steve shrugs with a smirk, feeling Chrissy relax into the bed again, "You like spoiling me, and you clearly like spoiling her, so...it only makes sense."

"Mm," Billy hums, looking at her again with a soft smile, "How's that sound?"

And on Chrissy's face is a sweet little smile, maybe even relief, as she murmurs, "Sounds perfect."

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #chrissy cunningham #cheerscoops #royalcheer #cunningroveton #cunnington #Billy x Steve x Chrissy #idk their ship name but I've shipped these three for so long and I finally got around to writing smut for them kkfjngkj #lemon #bambiwrites #hgkinktober2k23

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Nobody understands Lucy Gray Baird like I do. She resonates in a deep part of me, she means the absolute world to me. A lot of characters do, but she's different. I can and will talk about her for hours. She is beautiful and complex and tragic and by the end free and ever a mystery.

She is doing what she has done from the beginning, driving people mad trying to understand her, to fit her into boxes and stories and familiar narratives they can understand. People hate the vague, the ambiguous, the open ended; people hate and fear what they cannot understand. People say they love an enigma, they will use the word positively. They find it charming, endearing, a personal challenge of sorts. But an enigma is only fun when it starts out that way, an enigma is fun only so far as you can learn to understand it, to find a neat conclusion an ending. But Lucy Gray doesn't give people that, and she's never made any pretence to.

Lucy Gray is a girl who was forced to a place that was never truly home. She is a girl who lived by her charms as nothing but a child, she preformed to survive. She is a girl who will constantly adjust her appearance, always making sure she looks her best, who loves colour and who wears her mothers dress to her death. She is a girl who is always preforming, every careful word, every moment, every note she sings. She sings when she has something to say, she sings to have a voice, and she will not be bullied into relinquishing the power of her own words. Because the covey love colour and Lucy Gray more than most, but Lucy Gray also understands the power of words, a power no one can take from her. No capital, no arena, and no boy.

She is a girl who loves wild and dangerous things, she loves a boy she grew up with, a boy who betrayed her. The bet he lost at the reaping. She is a girl who was forced by life to be cautious, to love yes. But to never make the mistake of placing it above trust. She is a girl who loves a lot of things she can't trust; storms and snakes, but they will never matter more to her than trust.

She is a girl who despite all the suffering of her life, all the tragedy and all the betrayal is untimely kind. She looks after the people around her, the younger and older, the children and the the people her age. She is a girl who tries her best to let other children be the girl she was never given the luxury to be. Even the capital children, the very people whose parents and government have her in a cage, who treat her like an animal, who are sending her to the slaughter. It's a tactic yes, it is performance, but it is also kindness. There remains something genuine in her performance, a genuine love and compassion and kindness she shows as she lets a capital child, arm sticky with melting ice cream, touch her mothers dress through bars.

She's not perfect, not always nice and good, she is human. She is a survivor and no surviver has clean hands, but she makes it her life's work to stay on the right side of the line, to stay good. She is a girl who will grieve in private and to the people she trusts, forever preforming, forever observed. Because after all is that not what girlhood is? Is that not what survival takes?

She is a girl who even filtered through the point of view of a man who thinks she belongs to him, who goes from idolisation to contempt to infatuation, to his uttermost hatred, even through the perspective of a man who never saw her as fully human proves herself to be. She is unapologetic, she is alive and she is free and she is loving and bright and hurt and traumatised and she is an artist. She is not the art, she is not the muse, she is the one with the pen, with the voice. She is unabashedly human, and despite everything she retains her humanity, even through a narrator who denied her it.

Lucy Gray I will never forget you. Always and forever one of my favourite characters ever written.

#hunger games #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #lucy grey #coriolanus snow #the covey #thg #tbosas #I am so very normal about her #someone ask me about her please I'm begging I need to talk about her #Lucy Gray my love

[the-far-bright-center]

There's a very annoying trend I am seeing on tumblr lately where people are calling Padme 'crazy', 'insane' or even 'a freak'....all because she chooses to be with Anakin. I'm sorry, what??? Padme is not crazy, nor is she a 'freak' for falling for him. To claim so is to totally misunderstand Padme's character and her love for Anakin. She is not somehow 'turned on' by his flaws and she doesn't view him as some kind of 'bad boy'. Nor does she just pretend he's not flawed simply because she finds him attractive. She sees his flaws quite clearly...but she ALSO sees his good qualities, and GENUINELY LOVES HIM. 

Is someone ‘insane’ or a ‘freak’ for loving a flawed but good-hearted person? Is someone 'crazy' for being compassionate and forgiving towards them? Not only is such a mentality deeply unfair and dismissive, but it also stems from fandom completely misunderstanding Padme’s character, motivations, and the development of her feelings for Anakin in the first place. I get the sense that people want to oversimplify Padme in their minds into some kind of ‘yass queen slay’ girlboss (simply because she’s a fashion icon who cares about democracy), and thus the fact she ‘strays’ even slightly from this imagined ‘girlboss-hood’ can only mean one thing…that she must have totally lost the plot, become unhinged, or gone insane. (Feels so insulting to even type that out, omg.) In reality, Padme is simply a young woman (she is 24 in AotC) who finds herself in a position of great responsibility, and who has been living with the weight of her entire world on her shoulders since she was a CHILD. She had originally planned to retire from public service after her time as queen was over, and only continued to serve in a political capacity because her successor, Queen Jamillia, asked her to. While she certainly cares about the Republic, deep down she wishes she could start a family of her own. All of this is already on her mind before she even reunites with Anakin at the beginning of AotC. Despite the fact that Anakin and Padme come from very different backgrounds, they are both in very similar positions at the beginning of that film. Both have commitments/careers in which they are expected to serve the Republic, and yet both are feeling that something is missing in their lives. Deep down, they are both longing for love and family. And while they care about each other’s respective careers and are supportive of one another, they also wish to be together. And on top of it all, there’s the fact that...Anakin genuinely loves Padme. She senses the depth and sincerity of his feelings, and this is one of the reasons she ultimately decides to be with him. She knows that he truly sees her, and loves her for herself, not just for her position. 

If that is seen as ‘unhinged’ on Padme's part, then that is a very depressing indictment of how hypocritical fan attitudes can be. Somehow fandom can understand and accept various other characters in Anakin’s story as being able to love him, but not Padme? It’s also baffling because fictional stories are FULL of examples of compassion towards monsters, villains, and antagonists, and yet somehow Padme loving Anakin (who is neither of these at this stage in the story) is beyond people's comprehension. Anakin Skywalker is a tragic hero. And as such he has both positive qualities, as well as flaws that lead to his downfall. But the point is that he is not without positive qualities. People need to realise that their view of everything that happens in the Prequels-era is coloured by dramatic irony. We, the audience, know what is going to happen. We know that Anakin will become Vader. But the characters don’t know any of this. They are just reacting to their immediate situations, circumstances, and interactions with one another armed only with the knowledge of the present moment. So even Anakin’s flaws and mistakes are not something that overrides the rest of his positive qualities from the perspective of someone like Padme, who genuinely loves—and is loved by—him. 

#padme amidala #anakin skywalker #anidala #fandom completely misunderstanding Padme and Anakin...what else is new #fandom's all about shipping Anakin with certain *ahem* other people #but Padme's the only one they think is 'insane' for loving him?? #even though Anakin and Padme are canonically each other's one and only true love??? #side-eyeing tumblr sw fandom so hard right now #padme is not insane tag

[kittenshift-17]

I want to know, if you don't mind and if you feel comfortable, your honest opinion, from the bottom of your heart, why you choose zutara over kataang. I'm really curious to know an adult's perspective about this ship.

Hi,

Thanks for asking this. Hopefully, it's with genuine curiosity and not a means to find things to argue with or attack me over.... anyway... I've been thinking about this a little bit, and the answer is two-fold.

The short answer is that I pick Zutara over Kataang because I don't like Aang very much, and I do like Zuko; I think the characterization of both just lends itself more to an appreciation of Zuko and his redemption arc over Aang's hero struggle.

The long answer is a summation of the following:

Aang's a child in the series, not yet even a teenager, and I think we can all agree that he often displays his lack of maturity throughout the series in several places. Now, this isn't necessarily a fair argument to bring to the table, given that he would undoubtedly mature as he grew (we assume) and did some growing up, even during the series. That said, his age - his being younger than Katara, is another reason I prefer Zutara, because most of the time - at least when I'm writing them - the gaang are either in their mid-late teens or early twenties, and I think at those ages, most girls don't want to date someone younger than them. Partially, it's social conditioning, but developmentally, boys tend to be two years behind girls in regard to maturity, etc., so it's a big factor.

We see throughout the series that Katara goes for guys that are... shall we say, more "manly" than Aang? Jet is a sexy schmooze with mixed-up ideals, but he's older than her and well-fit. Haru is buff as hell and kind of adorable (before the mustache makes its debut, anyway). In that regard, Zuko is much more Katara's 'type' than a scrawny, short, skinny bald kid with arrows tattooed all over him. Also, I mean, she seems to prefer men with great hair, and Aang just doesn't fit the bill.

Aang is the Avatar and, by merit of being so, needs to put his connection to the spirits world, his responsibility to the physical world, and his role as an avatar before everything else, including worldly attachments. We see this throughout the series, wherein his unwillingness to let go of his attachment to Katara inhibits his chakra pathways and blocks him from entering the avatar state. We also see him finally choosing his responsibility over his love for Katara, and while that's the right thing to do for the sake of the world, I just think Katara deserves more than that. It's the embodiment of the uptick in a preference for falling for the morally grey villain over the hero because the hero will sacrifice you for the good of the world, while the morally grey villain will let the world burn as long as you're safe.

Now, you could argue that the above isn't fair because Zuko has responsibilities, too, in that he needs to take on the role of Fire Lord, but I think there's more room for love/romance/attachment in that role than there is in Aang's role.

Zuko is so much more interesting than Aang; I don't know how else to put it. He's got the tragic back-story, the anger issues, the redemption arc, that morally-grey-what-can-I-say-grey's-my-favourite-colour vibe about him, and he's just so much cooler and more mature. Like, yes, he has his moments of childishness and temper tantrums - as does Katara - but he's matured far beyond what we witness of Aang and it makes him a more likable character. An example of what I mean is probably best illustrated in the Southern Raiders chapter. Aang tries to impose his own ideals and morality on Katara when she's burning for revenge, which, while he's trying to encourage her to do the right thing, doesn't really suggest that he's supportive of her feelings. I found him quite dismissive in that chapter with his insistence that she just forgave the man who killed her mother without any attempt at growth or chance for closure. Meanwhile, Zuko just grabs his gear and goes with her to make sure she'll be safe and to support her in whatever decision she chooses to make. Yes, it might've meant that he would be an accessory to murder, but at least he was supportive. Also, his reaction to learning Katara can blood-bend - an insanely frightening ability when you really stop and think about it - is alarmed but then accepting, and it's just so much more palatable than the lecture I imagine she'd get from Aang if he learned she'd used the ability for harm and revenge.

There's too much of a brother-sister vibe between Aang and Katara - at least when it's shown from Katara's perspective - and it wigs me out that the writers put them together in the end. Throughout the series, Katara treats Aang much the same way she treats Sokka, often mothering him as opposed to seeming romantically inclined towards him. Whereas with Zuko through the entire series, there's the ongoing thread of parallels between their characters and the underlying unresolved sexual tension between them - put there intentionally BY THE WRITERS, I might add. Like throughout the series, we were SUPPOSED to be shipping Zuko and Katara; the intention was to have them end up together. It's only the last-minute switch of writers and/or change of heart to fulfill the "hero gets the girl" trope that made Kataang canon, and I just think it's a disservice to the characters, the fans, and the series in general, to backflip like that at the last minute for a lame reason.

I could probably go on - and have before, in GCs and sometimes on Tumblr, about the many reasons they're just better suited to one another, but you're probably bored by now, so I'll stop here. Hopefully, the above gives you something to think about and a better understanding of the reasons so many ship the two of them. If nothing else, it's got me thinking about my Zutara fics and maybe even planning an update.

xx-Kitten

#kittenshift17 #fanfiction #writing #zutara #prince zuko #katara #why i ship zutara #author opinion #anon request #anon ask #anonymous

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

starting a tag game for writers

Hi, it's Asmi! Okay, so, I've seen so many people afraid to start/continue writing because they're afraid it'll be garbage. And it's so sad how much joy and creativity is getting lost because of that fear. I've written utter shit before, and looking back on it is actually hilarious, and also, it's a reminder of how far I've come as a writer.

I really, really want people to be less afraid of the written word and of creating, and to get rid of that aura of mystery and elitism that often covers the writing process. Writing is messy and it's hell and it's torture. And it's amazing.

So here's the tag game:

Give me three lines/paragraphs that you've written that you love [fiction, non-fiction, from different works or the same, from completed stories or poems or WIPs, from yesterday or ten years ago] that you love. If that seems hard, even one will do. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can just be something silly that gives you joy.

And give me three lines/paragraphs that you've written that you dislike and find shitty. Anything at all as long as you wrote it. If you think it's ridiculous or absolute fucking garbage, even better! That's the point of this game. To see that we all write good things and bad things. Yeah? You can do this. And remember that both these categories are subjective.

I'll start. It's not as scary as it seems, I promise.

Things I've written that I find shitty:

The first man grabbed him by his collar, pinned him against the wall of the cave in which they were standing, and spat, “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before. If the Queen’s not in the graveyard tonight, King Baza’s going to plan a most delightful execution for you. And even if he doesn’t, you being his nephew and all, I will arrange an accidental blowing up of your house when you are, tragically, inside.” [discount wall slam scene courtesy of 2016 Asmi, you're welcome]

“Overreacting?” said Dextor in disbelief, staring at Jay like, ‘What is wrong with you, dude?’ [sigh. my serious-scene-writing left a lot to be desired.]

“Don’t go,” I said, fighting tears. “Please, don’t leave me, too! You’re all I have left.” Strange thoughts for a child, but I meant every word. She looked at me with anguish. “I am sorry, Phil. Believe me, you are all I have, too, and this hurts me more than it does you. You’re like my son.” [I'm hysterical rereading this melodramatic shit, which was NOT the intended effect]

Things that I've written that I love:

He dropped the books onto a nearby chair and pulled her into his arms as he’d been longing to do all day, the smell of blueberries and hair product and her. The books she was holding were pressed against his chest, and he didn’t care. Why did he need to love the stars when he could love her, why did he need to look up at the sky for answers when they were right there in his arms? [I love this because when I first wrote it, I thought it was romantic, but I realised later that the boy, Ant, is aroace, and it doesn't change a thing about this scene, except that their love is platonic]

"Maybe being happy is the best that we can do. Maybe that’s more than most people manage, anyway.” They stood in front of the entrance, over puddles that reflected all the broken skyscrapers and the colours of the street and the grey-yellow sky. “Whatever you do with your parents,” she said. “Don’t let your guilt get in the way of doing ballet. It’s not wrong to be happy. It’s not.” [This is from the book I finished and I published, and I just really like this paragraph. It's not my favourite, but it makes me smile.]

The last you may leave wherever you please, wherever it is birds land to die. [A line from a poem I wrote in 2022, I like the rhythm]

(It took effort to find ones that I wanted to share, oof. If you find this difficult just know you're not alone. I usually like my writing, but turns out it's hard to take something you created and go hey, look, I'm proud of this. But we can do it.)

Alright, of course anyone who sees this is welcome to join, and tag the writers you know so we can all be uh writerly together :") but to start it off, no pressure tags @howmanyholesinswisscheese, @1800ineedshelp, @queermarzipan, @thescholarlystrumpet, @madfangirlontheloose.

Oh, and also tagging @neil-gaiman, @dduane, @drchucktingle just because maybe if you see this and join in, new writers will find comfort in knowing their role models have ups and downs, good and bad days too :")

Have a lovely day, everyone, and keep writing.

#asmi #weirdly specific but ok #writing #tag game #writers on tumblr #writerblr

[oneatlatime]

The Boy in the Iceberg

58 seconds in and I can already see why people say this show is gorgeous. Look at those colours! Although the double image around some of the line art is distracting.

Can water do that? Just have random fast currents in an otherwise pretty still ocean? Also, Catara couldn't have grabbed a spare paddle and helped? Actually they seemed screwed anyway. If they were going any faster they probably would have landed harder, or not on ice at all.

Judging by Sokka's lack of reaction to Catara's temper tantrum, I'd say she has that exact rant at least three times a week.

It's a face!

Maybe the giant orb created the current to summon them there?

Catara has no self-preservation instincts at all. Giant glowy orb washed up in front of you, don't poke it!

Tiger seals.

Solitaire. Neat.

That haircut is not good. Also a very unique choice for a voice. Wait this is Zuko? The guy everyone's obsessed with?

I love Appa already.

"this is Catara, my flying sister." A man after my own heart.

They really would have been stuck without Aang to offer a ride. What was their plan to get home?

Zuko is a prince? Hunting the avatar to reclaim his honour. Not sure how those two go together but ok. I guess 100 years ago the avatar stole a time-travelling Zuko's honour.

Appa can swim through the night? Why does he have six legs?

I didn't know this was a dream sequence at first and I was wondering where Sokka and Catara were. For future reference: dreams are brown.

Aang should have frozen to death by now. That's nowhere near enough clothes. And Catara can't be only just noticing the blue lines now.

Seems like the village has hit a rough patch.

If this is how catara reacts to a bald child, she's gonna spontaneously combust the first time she meets a teenage boy who isn't her brother. And how is an air bender going to teach her water bending?

Between the Appa snot and the watchtower gag, I sense Sokka will become the butt of many jokes.

You know, if you want him to actually learn, maybe tell him what he did wrong rather than reciting philosophical stuff and then shooting fire at his face? His presumably scarred face? Scarred presumably by fire? Kudos to Zuko for not flinching.

Is there a stick in Zuko's hair that's supporting it upright or does his hair just do that? Does Zuko have Pippi Longstocking hair? Speaking of hair, why does Catara have her hair like that? Surely that gets in the way of seeing stuff? It does look good when her hood is up though.

Good sneaky exposition dump Zuko. Didn't notice it until I thought about it after.

There's something hilarious yet tragic about Sokka spouting the wartime equivalent of live laugh love quotes and losing the battle with potty breaks. He has no idea what he's talking about but he believes in what he's saying so much.

Did Aang spend an hour in there?!?

So pretty.

Appa has six legs and penguins have four wings. Is the rule in this show that animals have 50% more appendages?

Last airbender smothered by penguins, more at 11.

"I haven't done this since I was a kid!" "You still are a kid!" That line feels like something that's going to come back.

Was the whole 'being a bender is showing no fear' or however that line went actually about bending, or do you really just want to explore the ship, Aang?

Gerbils at the south pole?

Would the fire nation send people back to rig a lost ship or are all fire nation ships rigged at all times and the crews are just used to working around the traps? Actually that would be a great way to catch spies.

I would jump to brain-damage induced amnesia from being trapped in an iceberg for a few hours before I'd ever think of a century long cryo-sleep. "it's the only explanation." Really?

All of these backgrounds are so pretty.

Air bending gets you some serious air. Those hops are stupid big, even accounting for cartoon physics.

I really like the end credits music. And according to the credits, I've been mispelling Katara's name this whole time.

Some final thoughts:

Katara (with a K) is too idealistic and trusting and Sokka is too cynical and suspicious. A perfect sibling pair. Also I love Sokka's sense of humour.

I like Aang's specific flavour of goofiness. He seems secure in himself and genuine. He has attention issues though.

Appa is a sea bison actually. Common misconception.

I like that they introduce the antagonist like 10 minutes into the first episode, but they're going to have to flesh him out way more before I read Zuko as anything other than an asshole. Also the voice is going to take a while to get used to. It's not that it doesn't fit the character design, it's just that I've never heard an actual human talk like that naturally. It's kind of muppet-like. Maybe he damaged his throat when he got that scar?

The voice acting is just superb. Even single lines like Gran Gran have distinct character. I did have to rewind a couple of times to catch what the old man with Zuko was saying.

The shading on the snow, the clouds and the skies, it's all so beautiful. You could watch this episode on mute and still be satisfied.

Katara is the only waterbender in the whole south pole, Sokka is the only man in the whole village, and Aang is the only air bender in the whole world. Gonna be a lot of lonely kids in this show. I sense a theme. I bet Appa is the only sea bison too.

Sokka is my favourite so far, but I think Aang is going to grow on me. Katara is a little bit too much of a Little Sister (TM) and Zuko just feels flat. But that just means more room to grow for both of them as characters. Of course Appa reigns supreme. I hope there's more of him in the next episode.

Even though this was half of a two-part episode, the cut off didn't feel abrupt. Maybe not a full self-contained story, but they left off at a perfect place.

Rereading this before posting, I asked a lot of quetsions. That's good! So many hooks to get me into the show, all in the first episode. I'm looking forward to the next one.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #the boy in the iceberg #avatar the last airbender

[cerealforkart]

The third round of dress up dolls take us up to date!

Design notes under the cut

[part 1] [part 2]

Lincoln

* A fun fact about Lincoln’s dinner party look is that you’re never going to see any part of it again because it got ruined by Tony Pepperoni’s blood! He threw it all out

* Lincoln has entered his depression sweatpants era. Tragic. You’ll also notice that both he and Scary stop wearing their friendship bracelets at this point

* I’ve got an extra bullet point so I’ll just talk about my general style guidelines for designing outfits for each of the teens here (excluding Papa John’s/Black Parade looks because Papa John’s they were all given uniforms and Black Parade they were all trying to fit in rather than dress in their own styles) Link’s clothes are obviously sporty, prioritizing comfort and ease of movement over style. Given the choice he would wear his soccer uniform, but he doesn’t really have that choice anymore

Scary

* Maybe the jacket or skirt for Scary’s dinner party look could come back someday, but the shirt got ruined when Link shoved her with his bloody hands so we probably won’t see it again unless she wants to upset him (which is possible lol)

* I love my Scary’s most recent outfit. I wanted to completely change her silhouette, which meant the dress and a big coat, and most notably the braid sorta reminds me of a scorpion tail, just ignore how her hair grows a couple inches to make it work

* Scary’s usual style is obviously dark colours, black, greys, purples, etc. and in the past I liked to keep to very segmented outfits, usually a sorta baggy t-shirt tucked into pants or a skirt, but as mentioned above, I wanted to completely mix up the silhouette, hence the big coat and single piece dress

Normal

* Normal’s been getting back into the Teen High spirit, he isn’t wearing the mascot suit again, but a Teen High hoodie is fair game

* Will’s mentioned Normal’s time at Summer camp a couple times now, so I thought a tie-dye camp shirt would be fitting in this time as he’s trying so hard to play councillor for his friends

* In contrast to Scary, Normal gravitates towards bright colours, and like Link, style is not a priority. I like to put Normal in clothes promoting his interests or things he cares about ie. Teen High hoodie, camp t-shirt, he’s probably got some Swallows Ice Cream merch I’ll put him in at some point

Taylor

* Didn’t Taylor lose that jacket on Earth? Yes, but like a good anime protagonist, he knows the value of iconic costume pieces and has seven of the exact same jacket

* I actually really love Taylor’s little coveralls with all the pockets. I sure would love to draw it. You might also notice that his glasses were briefly fixed upon returning home, but they broke again when Link kicked him in the face through the portal to Hell

* The jacket is a must for Taylor, both because I like it and because it’s his iconic anime protagonist costume. Keeping in line with Taylor’s survivalist thing, he usually sticks to earthy colours, with the exception being the bright yellow shoes which are so colourful to contrast with all the browns and greens. He also probably doesn’t own a shirt that doesn’t have an anime on it

Hermie

* No Hermie fit for the dinner party, he was busy

* I knew I wanted Hermie to wear the mismatched suspenders with one being Mr. Freeze’s ice theme and one being Poison Ivy’s plant theme because he got those characters at the same time in the Undergrove, the rest of the outfit fell into place around that

* Hermie’s style is overdressed nerd attire. Suits, vests, suspenders, I’ve never put him in a shirt that doesn’t have buttons, etc. tbh it’s the kind of outfit pieces that if I was back in highschool and saw a real teenage highschool boy wearing, I would start praying he doesn’t try to talk to me, but then it turns out he’s not wearing a blazer to school because he’s a wannabe business major, he’s just a Joker cosplayer! And that’s definitely worse.

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #lincoln li wilson #scary marlowe #normal oak #taylor swift dndads #hermie the unworthy #doodly #I've gotta redo the art for these sometime

[wishesofeternity]

what do you think of show!alicent vs book!alicent?

book!Alicent, like all the Greens, existed to be a caricature to oppose Team Black more than an actual character in her own right. She was written as the evil scheming stepmother trope, and she was hated accordingly

But I also found her so much fun? She is unapologetically ambitious - she wants her son on the throne, she wants her family in power, and she hides it from no one. good for her.

she's also so spectacularly competent, probably one of the most competent people in the Dance. her image politics was off the charts, her handling of the situation at King's Landing before Aegon II arrived was clearly well done, and her having pre-plans should Viserys die to immediately crown her son and keep Rhaenyra in the dark? I love it. gaslight gatekeep girlboss your way to power, it makes one hell of a story. and she's also beloved by the smallfolk, which is a small but nice detail.

I also find her so tragic? I don't pity her - she knew what she was getting into - but to outlive the war, outlive your children, outlive your generation? developing an aversion to the colour green and repenting your sins before your death? that's self-awareness and genre-awareness, too little and too late. it's absolutely fascinating.

I don't like how she does low-key fall into the "woman goes mad after the loss of her children and has to be locked up" trope, though. especially since it applies to her daughter Helaena as well.

in the show ... oh boy

I was so, so excited when they were recentering the Dance around her, and her and rhaenyra's relationship. I know they were changing her character, but I loved it. they were taking a wicked stepmother caricature and humanizing her, making her sympathetic, probably making her queer. It was fantastic.

But they've also completely removed her agency in favor of victimizing her again and again. I also hate their decision to make her, a child bride and rape survivor - the most disempowered woman we've seen from the main ones - the Enforcer of the Patriarchy, because that reeks of victim blaming (Rhaenys's speech to her in the last episode), overlooks the fact that Alicent's rapist and abuser is Rhaenyra's primary supporter and enabler (they seem to think that Viserys didn't rape her, so what can I even say?) and is just ... a shitty writing choice that honestly doesn't come across in the way they intended it to? They keep TELLING us that alicent has internalized misogyny, but what they SHOW us does not prove it. And again - they've removed her autonomy completely. Like Rhaenyra, she's declawed and defanged and turned completely into a victim, only it's worse with her because they STILL seem to want to portray her as some kind of conversative powerful oppressor who sides with men against women, only ... it doesn't hold up lmao? And they're doing this while blatantly absolving Rhaenyra of any of her wrongdoings and holding her up as this enlightened badass feminist to root for (in contest to poor brainwashed Alicent, who they clearly think they've done a very good job with) (except Rhaenyra and Rhaenys are also subservient to the men around them lmao, all of Rhaenyra's self-made problems are resolved by her doting father and groomer husband, and don't get me started on Rhaenys, so who the hell are they to talk? Most women aren't Targaryens, don't have dragons, and aren't the privileged crown princesses of nations who can do what they want, so they have to make do with the limited options that they have) These writers really don't understand how feudal societies work and aren't interested in actually exploring the lives and trauma and power of women - they're just interested in holding one up as a generic but passive badass to root for, while victimizing and deriding the other. It's a joke.

#hotd #anti hotd #alicent hightower #queue

[pbaintthetb]

Lol watched Book of Mormon (and hoo boy possibly actually one of my faves I've watched on stage. Plot is average at best but the goddamn choreo and the lights- the act 1 finale? I digress) thoughts

You can never go home again, or more accurately, You can never go to Orlando again. Anyway Price probably needs a few years to resort his head and life before he can go to Orlando and appreciate it because currently I don't think he can seperate what he wants (needs) Orlando to be from what Orlando actually is...

Orlando and Salt Lake City are the same in the sense that neither of them actually exist and they're metaphors (ignoring the fact that they do, both exist). Both Nabalungi and Price songs about their favourite fictional (real) real (fictional) place are kinda tragic because it reveals the things they view about the world as fact. Hence why this place is so special. Yes comparing Price's pretty first world problems with Nabalung's concerns is a bit of a stretch but also it kind is the same thematically.

I do hope Nabalungi can get what she wants from Salt Lake City though, although not necessarily in Salt Lake city idc.

The vibe I had in the interval was that it was possible out of district 9 Price is the only one to have actually read the Book of Mormon, cover to cover. Cunningham explictly hasn't, the conversation about "latter days" made me wonder if the other mormons only kinda read it which-

leads onto my thinking that like Price's relationship with Mormonism is, in many ways, more academic/clinical. Like he's got that kind of obsession with religion that I personally associate with people who don't actually believe but either A. really want to or B. really want to disprove it. Price is firmly in A, but yeah like I feel like Price needs Mormonism to be real where he is in the plot (Orlando. If mormonism is real he can go back to Orlando. And it's worth it.) But he doesn't necessarily actually have that spark of genuine belief the other District 9 elders have ya get me? Like he knows it back to front he knows the logic, adn in the coffee scene talks about how a lot of it has always seemed nonsensical and incoherent to him. It's a set of rules and guidelines but idk if Price actually has like core real belief/faith.

When those extra rows of lights came down for Man Up near the end of act 1? Oh yeah you bet we were all in for a fantastic time then, you know good stuff is gonna happen

The lighting in Sal Tlay Ka Siti was beautiful, like I mean the actress's performance and voice were great too, but the lighting really sold the like kinda hopeful tragic nature of the song. She's so happy most of the time but that song, ugh, the tree branch gobos, the visible beams, the colour KSJDFJS:LKDF

Lol disco ball.

The set? It's so detailed? And they get it up so fast? LIke I know they drop blacks in "You and me (but Mostly me)" so it's more than the black out, but STILL?

Again, how do they get the waistcoats on so bloody fast in "Turn it off"??? (I do actually have theories about this but that's not the point, it's stilll so cool)

Maybe this is just the run i watched, but like the Mormons, other than being dressed the same are all roughly the same height (except Cunningham) so their numbers are so extra cool because they really do kinda blend and move as one unit and it's so cool to watch. Especially Hello and Two by Two where they all have black ties.

Did they just start a new cult at the end? Curious what most of the mormons are gonna do when they leave Uganda. Also curious if their parents got an angry phone call from the mission president and are just like.... why aren't they home yet???

BFN is an elder now? Okay... not gonna touch that and how that happened

Nabalungi's dad is fucking hilarious omg his delivery this guy

The only song I'd heard was "You and me (But mostly me)" but I had been told of the spooky mormon hell song. The latter slapped. Did not have Atilla the Hun playing flute on my bingo card that day.

^I loved the blacks coming in from all sides to trap Cunningham out of "You and Me (But mostly Me)" and leave Price as the star also like I knew the song but teh first "but mostly me" cracked me up

One of the incorrect names Cunningham called Nabalungi was "Nigel Farage" lol. Couldn't hear much of the dialogue after that.

About the incorrect name, Nabalungi has the patience of a saint for sure.

Oh during teh play i couldn't watch half of it because I was too busy watching the district 9 elders, but mostly Price reacting to it. It was hilarious. Price looked so fucking happy but like he was trying to hide it and was clapping Cunningham on the shoulder at one point.

As a musical, it's incredible, and it properly contextualises a few things people have said about it and how long it's been running. By "as a musical" I mean the general production of it n shit. The plot is pretty average, the songs have funny lyrics but a lot of the numbers probably won't hold up so well on sound track for me personally- but when you're watching it??? oh yeah. Oh yeahhh.

Oh, the pipes on the guy playing Cunningham, man. MAN.

You can never go to Orlando again.

#Book of Mormon #this is more for my personal reasons so I can recall my thoughts on it in the future #you can never go to orlando again #I don't think price lost his conviction or faith in mormonism but rather his conviction that mormonism was worth having faith in

[raytorosaurus]

wait, did the umbrella academy have a step sibling romance subplot?

under a cut for discussions of the above content and also mild comics spoilers if you care about that lol

yep, the comics are very textually about reactions to extreme trauma (familial trauma but with the extra layer of being famous and under scrutiny from the public eye since childhood - its own kind of isolation) and the characters are intentionally flawed and do fucked up things. the whole point is that it's a dark subversion of the superhero team genre, which was a lot more original/groundbreaking in 2007 than it appears now (definitely not the first one ofc - gerard was inspired by watchmen and doom patrol, and the boys came out not long before etc, but it did win an eisner back then for a reason). in the comics, rumor goes through a divorce and loses custody of her child, then reacquaints with her step-siblings who she hasn't seen in years after hargreeves's death. because she feels incapable of giving or receiving real love or human connection, has been taught from infancy that her power and her physical beauty are the only worthwhile things about her, and has nobody else in the world, she uses her power to make spaceboy fall in love with her. it's textually a non-consensual relationship right from the start and is acknowledged as a fucked up & harmful trauma response and treated as such. these aren't comics for kids lol.

imo the fundamental issue with the show that makes it unpalatable to me is that it tries to water down the content for a netflix (and preteen) audience, but then they still left in parts of the allison/luther plot, only they took out the whole 'rumor' aspect and ended up portraying as. romantic. and not tragic and disturbing lol. so the show had to backpedal and didn't textually denounce it as anything more than harmlessly cringey until like season 3. a similar thing happens to the seance's addiction storyline, which is a big deal and has very real consequences in the comics but kinda got played for laughs in later episodes of the show, and with portrayals of genuine disability, almost all of which are erased in the netflix adaptation (spaceboy requires a full-body mechanised assistive device to move, rumor is missing an arm and the kraken an eye, and vanya acquires a traumatic brain injury which impairs her motor and cognitive functioning etc.)

i'm certainly not saying the comics are perfect - their biggest issue is how white they are (which gerard has acknowledged and said he regrets) and some (presumably) unintentional racist imagery/stereotypes (e.g. the bodyguard abhijat who feels tokenised, and most other characters of colour being background non-speaking roles etc). those are things the comics can, should, and have been criticised for, but i don't see the step-sibling incest as it's portrayed in the comics as ~problematic - it's definitely supposed to be uncomfortable, at least in my reading of it. much more than it is in the show, in any case.

so overall like. the comics are super not for everyone, even beyond gerard's unconventional pacing/writing style that i know some people don't vibe with. they weren't meant for a wide audience. they're very dark and are primarily about fucked up trauma responses more than anything else - luther and allison's relationship is just one of these. i personally love the comics but it's totally understandable if other people find them unpalatable - but yk, dark media isn't immoral when it knows what it's doing. imo if the show was going to leave some of those darker plot points in they should have made the entire tone of the show darker and raised the rating; otherwise, they should have left out aspects like the step-sibling incest.

but yeah, tl;dr yes there's step-sibling incest in both versions, but it's treated very differently in both and imo is so much grosser in the show becuase they tried to make it palatable at first for some fkn reason lmao.

and beyond your question and just in general, the tv show being attributed to gerard when it's not his artistic content bothers me so so so much skdkffk. even if i totally loved the show, i can't staaaand things being miscredited, especially creative things. gerard's given steve blackman his blessing to make the show his own vision, and says he considers the comics and the netflix version entirely separate entities and has made a conscious effort to distance himself from the latter.

#i enjoyed tua s1 when it first came out #but i would delete it from the public consciousness if it meant i didn't have to see someone saying gerard way wrote it ever again ddkdkdkf #again it's just not a story intended or appropriate for pre-teens SKDKFKD #answered #tua

[absolutelyfibulas]

It's the Dutchpinions On Red/Pink post!

Under a cut due to length, this is the result of me struggling to sleep at 3am, and wondering about the potential red/pink pairs possible in post-2000s Sentai.

Behold, my incredibly incorrect (but also completely right and infallible) bad takes!

(Warning: There's spoilers all over the place, because it was kind of hard to avoid in certain cases.)

Timeranger

Canon red/pink and total asspull. They already had Domon and Honami for the star-crossed Can’t Be Together tragic pairing, and Tatsuya/Yuuri seemed to just manifest out of nothingness. It’s like the writers realised they’d forgotten to have the sole woman on the team fulfil what we ALL KNOW THAT SOLE WOMAN’S PURPOSE IS and threw a dart at a wheel of the remaining guys.

Rating: Ugh.

Gaoranger 

Being an inoffensively forgettable series I don’t remember much about the team and their dynamics. I do remember that they have white instead of pink, and that white is way too young for red. 

Rating: No pair up, good call.

Hurricaneger

Doesn’t have a pink, unless you consider Ikkou’s colour pink-adjacent enough to count. In which case it’s a top notch match up. Those boys are in homosexual love. 

If we’re counting “woman on team” as the pink, then it’s Nanami, and I think she and Yousuke would murder each other if they tried dating. So they lose points for that.

Rating: A+ for potential gay. B- for potential murder.

Abaranger

I don’t like pairing any of the adult men in their twenties with the girl still in high school. Obviously red and pink aren’t a thing here, but my point still stands for the canon blue/pink they huffed paint and decided to go with post-canon.

Rating: 

Dekaranger

The red/pink here wouldn’t be awful, I don’t think? But Ban is too Like That, and Umeko has a sweet canon thing with green. They managed to make a complementary colour contrast combo work in a whole other way.

Rating: Not the worst. Which isn’t exactly an endorsement.

Magiranger

Not applicable for obvious reasons. Does get bonus points for the canon last minute pairing being so hilariously stupid (complete with magical shotgun wedding overseen by a catholic cat) that I can’t even hate it.

Rating: Houka’s bi and Tsubasa’s gay and that’s all that matters.

Boukenger

Another canon red/pink. This is one that I personally was completely blindsided by, but have had mutuals tell me that it was built up over time so I have to take their word for it. I actually thought if anyone was getting paired up it’d be yellow/black, which would have been weird on its own given they’re more like siblings. 

I suspect I was just too distracted by pink being an autistic gun lesbian to even remotely consider her having any romantic plot with a dude, and I sure as hell don’t remember her interacting with red for anything non-work related at any given point. God knows what they talk about on that rocket. 

Rating: This is the sentai version of that movie where Jennifer Lawrence is trapped on a starship with Crisp Rat.

Gekiranger

Jan legally can’t date anyone, and there’s no pink. So let’s instead take a minute to think about Mele/Rio, the canon pairing who miraculously made me like a pairing that uses a trope I cannot stand.

Rating: I know they’re off having the most Addams Family Goth romance in the afterlife. I feel it in my bones.

Go-Onger

Everyone on this team is homosexual. The only way red/pink is happening is if Gunpei persuades Hant to engage in roleplay.

Rating: They literally have an entire episode about Sousuke’s tragic summer romance with Kento Handa.

Shinkenger

We did it. We found the milquiest of toasts. He’s a boy, she’s a girl. The only other girl option is 15, so red/pink it is. 

Rating: I don’t think Takeru knows what a girl is.

Goseiger

Another inoffensively forgettable series. I do remember that the red and pink in this are kind of sweet? Like they’re not canon, but I wouldn’t hate it if they were. They actually get to be friends onscreen and are both Cute Chipper 20yos, so sure, go ahead.

Rating: Eh, 's fine.

Gokaiger

I have to admit I never really thought about Marvellous/Ahim romantically at any given point. They’re friends, they’re bros, they have the Sweet Princess Meets Snarky Pirate thing going for them. Not really my bag but sure why not. That said...

As a last minute pairing they would have been annoying as fuck.

Rating: Luka gets REALLY salty for like three months after they get together and no one’s brave enough to bring it up.

Go-Busters

No pink, but also the only girl on the team is Yoko. Refer back to my Abaranger “20yo men dating girls in high school” notes, and consider that they’re siblings, Your Honour.

Rating:

Kyoryuger

Canon red/pink, and the last minuteiest of last minute pair ups. I have legit no idea why they decided they needed a romance in this show. It’s perfectly okay without it and even as someone who doesn’t particularly ship it, Nossan/Candelira is very cute! They didn’t need to add another romance!

Daigo spends the whole thing about as interested in Amy as a concrete brick, and Amy seemed way more concerned with Yayoi in a Not Heterosexual way. 

Rating: Whatever the writers were on, I want no part of it.

ToQger

I don’t really think about shipping for this one (again, for obvious reasons), but I wouldn’t be particularly bothered by the red/pink here having a similar puppy love crush situation to blue/yellow. I’m just not really interested.

Rating: They have better things to do. Like drink apple juice.

Ninninger

Another team rendered Not Applicable. I mean technically it would be legal but it’s. Y’know. Still weird.

Rating: You stop that.

Zyuohger

White instead of pink again. I think these two repel the idea of romance between them so strongly that if they’d got them together the universe would have suffered a minor meltdown and just erased the franchise from existence.

Rating: ????

Kyuuranger

Lucky and Raptor would be a wild pairing, if only for how out of left field it would be. Morbidly fascinating, if nothing else.

Rating:

Lupat

Pairing either red with Tsukasa would be punishable at the Hague.

Rating: 

Ryusoulger

My opinion is going to be biased by the fact I didn’t really buy the team as being particularly close anyway; this series’ red/pink would be…fine. In the way breathing nitrogen with my oxygen is fine. I didn’t ask for it, I don’t particularly want it, but also it’s not going to kill me instantaneously. These two do at least have an onscreen history of friendship, and aren’t hideously ill-matched. 

Rating:

#dutch rambles #notice me sentai #i was tempted to do one for heisei rider but that one would be a LOT bitchier

[morbidology]

It was the 7th of July, 1960, when Freda Thorne kissed her son, 8-year-old Graeme Thorne, goodbye and sent him off to school. Tragically, it was the last time she would ever see her son alive. He would become the very first victim of kidnap for ransom in Australia’s history.

Graeme went to wait at a nearby street where family friend, Phyllis Smith, would collect him to take him to school along with her own two sons. When she arrived as the designated spot, Graeme wasn’t there. Phyllis drove to the Thorne residence to check if Graeme was there. Freda immediately called police to report her son missing.

At around 9:40AM, Freda received a phone call. “I have your son,” said the voice down the line. He demanded £25,000 before 5PM, adding that if she didn’t get the money, he would “feed the boy to the sharks.” Sergeant Larry O'Shea, who was with Freda when she received the call, took the phone and pretended to be Brazil Thorne, Freda’s husband. He told the kidnapper that he didn’t have enough money to pay the ransom. Larry was clearly unaware that just the previous month, Brazil had won £100,000 in the Opera House Lottery. His win received extensive media coverage which included the Thornes’ names and addresses.

The kidnapper rang again around 10 minutes later. He gave instructions to put the money in two paper bags before abruptly hanging up. He never called back. Investigators scoured the area in search for clues. They searched every house and apartment in the vicinity. Several days into the search, they found Graeme’s empty school case in a bush near where he was to meet Phyllis Smith. Several days afterwards, they found his lunch bag and school books approximately 1.5km away.

Then came the grim find that his family dreaded from day one. On the 16th of August, the body of Graeme was found on a vacant land in Grandview Grove, Seaforth in Sydney. He was wrapped in a tartan blanket and tied up with a string and gagged with a scarf. He had been dead within 24 hours of his abduction. The pathologist could not determine if he had died from asphyxiation or a skull fracture of a combination of the two of them. Forensic analysis found two types of cypress foliage on Graeme’s coat, pants and scarf. Soil samples also showed minute fragments of a pink-coloured substance identified as limestock mortar.

An investigation into these findings led police to the home of Hungarian migrant, Stephen Leslie Bradley. By the time police went to arrest him, he had fled to Britain. He was apprehended at Colombo, Ceylon, on the 10th of October. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison on the 6th of October, 1968.

The tragic case led to lottery procedures in Australia changing. Winners are now given the opportunity to remain anonymous.

#true crime

[skzhera]

Hera’s background.

EARLY LIFE- TILL JOINING THE COMPANY.

Hera’s parents:

Her mother was born in India, completed her primary education in India itself, and later moved to the UK for her further studies, independently.

Hera’s father was born in the UK to a completely Indian family. His family moved a whole bunch which resulted in his primary education being all over USA and UK. Later, in college was when he met Hera’s mother.

Hera’s father, Changbin’s Mother and Lee Know’s father studied in the same primary and school and were known to be the best of friends. Coincidentally, they all got into the same university for their higher education. That was also where they met their own partners.

(To summarise, Hera’s parents, Lee Know’s parents and Changbin’s parents were quite close knit since before their kids were born.)

The Lee’s and Seo’s loved the little things they learnt about the Armani’s’ Indian culture and had a strange list of habits they had picked up from each other. Throughout their years together, they had been to India a couple of times, wanting to learn more about their colourful and beautiful history. In fact, they had even learnt their language, Marathi, as to speak better whenever they visit India.

The three families had settled in the USA for almost seven years when Lee know was born. Just four months later Changbin was born to the Seos’. The three families brought up the boys like real brothers. Not a thing more or less, not a second apart. The boys were around four when the Armani’s announced their pregnancy with their first baby. Without a doubt Hera was the little princes all three families wanted, and the three of them were attached by their hip ever since. Sadly, when Hera was around two months old, her parents passed away in a tragic accident. Both the boys’ families were in absolute distraught. Lee Know and Changbin painfully unaware of how their little best friend would be brought up with her parents. Without a single thought, the Seo’s took her in and nothing changed for the three of them.

Ever since then, they went to same school, same classes, had similar interest and most importantly, cared about Hera like no one else. It was an unspoken pact between the two of them, to care for Hera like none other.

In school, at around first grade was when the three families befriended the Bang’s as a new half Korean family that had moved near their block, from Australia. Now the trio had become a group of four. Soon they met a quite little mischievous genius by the name of Seungmin and developed an instant liking towards him. Then they met the other Lee’s, Felix’s family and by the end of their schooling years, their group was complete after they met a lovely boy by the name of Hyunjin. Besides school, they had a couple other friends by the names of Yunho, Soobin, Mingi, Seonghwa, Gaon, Yeonjun, Wooyong, Jungsu and so many others, but their little trio was indestructible, through all the tests of time.

For further studies, they even travelled together to the UK when Chris left to join an entertainment company in Korea. Till the very minute he left, he tried convincing his friend circle to join the company. It was only once Lee know finished his education, he had managed to convince Changbin to audition for the same company. By this time though, almost of all their friends had left UK and joining some company, or at least knew where or what they wanted to do with their lives. Hera and Seungmin, on the other hand, did not know what to do. They were quite sure that they did want to join the entertainment industry the way their friends did. Hera was an incredibly skilled artist and wanted to purse a career in fine arts but somewhere at the back of her mind, she wanted to own her very own tattoo parlour with Changbin. Seungmin was blessed with an angelic voice and took training under a professional, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to join the boys just yet.

Gradually, by the end of their education the Kims’ and Seos’ managed to change their minds and at least have them audition for the company. That was how Hera joined the great infamous JYP.

PRE-DEBUT/TRAINEE LIFE

Hera was blessed with beautiful voice and the three of them had even trained for dance professionally together, but her real liking lied towards rapping and playing the drums. Her and Changbin would spend countless hours together, on top of his car, listening to music growing up. That was how Hera auditioned and got selected. It was since childhood that Changbin had always toyed with the name 3racha, but he never really knew what or how he wanted to work towards it.

Once auditioned and accepted, the group of seven was inseparable around the company, all the trainees knew of them and nothing seemed to have caused any sort of problems between them. The boys specialised in their areas of liking and so did Hera, alongside training. They met a number of other groups through their years of training and made countless more friends. Chris introduced two new adorable members to their gang. Them being Jeongin and Han. Gradually, Han, Bang Chan Changbin and Hera began hanging out and Changbin decided to throw the idea of 3racha. They were all in. The boys and Hera spent countless hours working on their music. But just as they proposed the idea of their group debut on Soundcloud to JYP, he rejected the idea, saying he did not like the idea of a rap group with just a single female member and that was not something JYP’s label would stand. BUT he forgot that they were not the ones to listen to him. Hera still forced the boys to launch their group on Soundcloud but without her. She became their honorary member.

That was until one little fact began bothering them. It was when all their staff would try to separate them apart. They would force Hera to go on diets that would make her unhealthy and the boys were not about it. But not to worry, Neither was Hera. She ate what she wanted, did whatever she liked, and was what set them apart, they were infamous for being revolting and rebellious. The staff began noting on it and started pushing them further apart, till a point then Chris finally decided to have a chat with JYP himself. He asked him if he could put a group together for their debut.

DEBUT WITH STRAY KIDS

Through the countless retorts, snap backs, taunts and discouraging remarks from her own company, Hera had stably decided to be a part of Chan’s group and in 2018, they had successfully debuted as Stray Kids.

Almost instantly she became well known in the industry for being the only female member of an otherwise, all boys band. Besides that people were very quick to comment on how insanely talented this new group was. On stage as well as off stage, she was always faced with criticism and backlash for her skills, talents, charm, good looks, or simply for being the only girl, but not once did any of the boys let her feel alone. If they sensed any kind of disagreement between the staff and her, she would always handle it professionally, if not Chan being the amazing leader would always save the situation.

Behind their backs, they were constantly fighting off dating allegations and other rumours that were quick to spark up. Hera being Hera, loved to stirp up every single time the media would come up with something new.

Because Lee Know, Changbin and Hera basically grew up as a single unit, they knew their friendship was something the Korean media would have a field time over. Every now and then, their handsy touching, their constant flirting, them picking on each other apart or them simply existing, would spark up rumours they would love to instigate. Honestly, only Chan and JYP knew what they had signed up for, putting these three together. They were the definition of notorious rebels.

#skz Hera stray kids 9th member #stray kids #stray kids 9th member #9th member of skz #9th member of stray kids #bang chan #lee know #changbin #hyunjin #han jisung #lee felix #felix #seungmin #i.n #bang chan imagines #lee know imagines #changbin imagines #seo changbin #hyunjin imagines #han imagines #felix imagines #seungmin imagines #i.n imagine #stray kids oc #stray kids female member #kpop female oc #kpop imagines #skz hera