#he was delivered on spring 1 of year 3 which i think is really cool djbdjdb :)

[anatomical-puppet]

The randomized names in stardew are so very special to me. Shane and I now have a lovely infant son named Prumbus

#he was delivered on spring 1 of year 3 which i think is really cool djbdjdb :) #stardew valley #sdv #shane sdv #puppet rambles

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: “Romantic Rail Getaway” Zuo Ran Route, Day 5

Translation Masterlist | Themis Event Masterlist

Zuo Ran Route: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Videos, where applicable, are hyperlinked on the headings in the post.

See under cut!

Part 1 – Forenlo Commerce Street – “Trailing Forenlo Palace”

A warm late-spring wind blew over from the lake surfaces of Forenlo Palace’s banks, brushing over the tips of my hair and bringing a fresh and clear breeze.

The deep green trees shaded the groups of classic buildings, like a romantic picture scroll, making it impossible to look away.

MC: Forenlo Palace is so beautiful… it’s over, I kind of don’t know what I should take a picture of.

Zuo Ran: We can look for a staff member to ask what places nearby are suitable for picture-taking.

MC: Mhmm, I was thinking this too!

--

Tourist Inquiry Booth

Staff: Hello, how may I be of service?

MC: Could you please introduce us to sceneries nearby that are suitable for picture-taking?

Staff: There are lots of gorgeous scenery locations near Forenlo Palace.

Staff: Are you interested in cultural attractions, or natural sceneries?

--

INTERROGATION START

Cultural Attractions

MC: Hm… could you recommend some cultural attractions?

Staff: For cultural building attractions, I recommend you go visit the Noblewoman’s Embankment and Cari Temple.

Noblewoman’s Embankment

MC: Where is the Noblewoman’s Embankment?

Staff: The Noblewoman’s Embankment is on the left side of Forenlo Palace. You can head straight there after walking out the inquiry booth and boarding a tour bus.

Staff: This embankment was built at the time of Rumbaliya’s old nobility and is an example of the combination of classic and artistic design amid the group of Forenlo buildings.

Staff: You could say that it’s an embankment that’s witnessed the historical development of Rumbaliya.

MC: (Hm, taking a picture of buildings with history in their structures… would be an excellent choice.)

Cari Temple

MC: Hm… is Cari Temple the place on the right side of Forenlo Palace that looks a little like an art gallery?

Staff: Yes, that was a Gothic-style palace built by old aristocracy. Now, it’s been converted into an art gallery.

Staff: Cari Temple’s external wall is very particular – it’s one of the popular trip photo targets.

Staff: Right, they often host some art exhibition and cultural exchange events there, and it’s very popular with tourists.

Staff: You might as well go see – I’m sure you’ll get something out of it.

MC: I feel like I’ll be able to take great pictures in Cari Temple.

Zuo Ran: Then let’s go see Cari Temple first in a moment.

MC: Sure, so it’s decided.

Natural Sceneries

MC: I’m somewhat interested in natural scenery.

Staff: Then I think… Angel Garden and St. Nove Flower Garden are the best choices for you.

St. Nove Flower Garden

Zuo Ran: I remember that St. Nove Flower Garden… was originally a private garden that wasn’t open to the general public. Is it now open to the public?

Staff: Yes, it was once the private garden of a duke.

Staff: Before the duke passed, he donated the garden, and after renovation, St. Nove Flower Garden was officially opened to the public.

Staff: There are lots of rare flowers planted in the garden. I’m sure it’ll be a feast for your eyes.

MC: (A romantic flower garden theme… hm, I’ll definitely be able to take lots of beautiful pictures!)

Angel Garden

MC: Angel Garden?

Staff: Though Angel Garden is called a garden, it’s actually the largest arboretum in Forenlo City.

Staff: The most well-known within the park is the tulip sea and the flower tree waterfall attractions within the arboretum area.

Staff: Right now, it just happens to be tulip blooming season. I’m sure that if you go see it, you’ll definitely be shocked by the gorgeousness of the fresh flowers.

MC: (A tulip sea… it sounds really dreamy…)

MC: Lawyer Zuo, I want to take photos at the Angel Garden!

Zuo Ran: Okay, I’ll look up the route.

INTERROGATION END

--

Staff: Esteemed guests, are there any other things you’d like to ask?

MC: No need, I’ve pretty much got my targets set. Thank you.

Staff: No problem, I am very pleased to be of service for you. Then, I hope you have fun.

 Part 2 – Noblewoman’s Embankment

[Gameplay]

Part 3 – Bridge of Angels

[Gameplay]

 Part 4 – Cari Temple

[Gameplay]

 Part 5 – St. Nove Plaza

[Gameplay]

 Part 6 – The Most Beautiful Scenery

Forenlo Palace Cultural Street

On the last day of the trip, Zuo Ran and I checked out all the popular attractions near Forenlo Palace.

The gorgeous Forenlo Palace, the old-style art corridor, the elegant sculpture park… I recorded each view with my camera lens.

MC: Lawyer Zuo, help me see – which set of photos should I pick?

It may be easy taking pictures, but it’s very hard to pick them. After struggling back and forth on the camera preview screen…

I decided to directly seek external assistance from Zuo Ran to help pick photos that I would be sending to Yao Yu soon.

Zuo Ran: Hm…

Zuo Ran tapped at the camera touchscreen and pointed towards a set of scenic photos of Forenlo Palace taken with a wide-angle lens.

Zuo Ran: The view of these photos gives an open feeling.

MC: Our aesthetics really are similar. I actually really like this set too!

MC: Only…

I personally also liked this set of pictures, but I simultaneously had some concerns.

MC: Lawyer Zuo, do you feel like this photoset isn’t all that different from the ones from before?

Zuo Ran: Why do you say so?

MC: Because when we were touring Rumba City, I’ve taken photos from similar angles… but Yao Yu…

Zuo Ran: You’re worried that after sending this set of scenic photos, your friend will still be dissatisfied?

MC: Mhmm…

Zuo Ran: I feel like you don’t have to worry too much. What your friend wants is “the most beautiful scenery that you experience during your trip”.

Zuo Ran: If you see this group to be the most beautiful sceneries, then it is the most beautiful.

MC: (My experience?)

I unconsciously flapped my hand beside my cheeks, trying to calm down and think.

Zuo Ran: MC, let’s find a place to sit and relax.

Zuo Ran: If you can’t decide right now, you might as well let yourself relax. Perhaps you’ll have new ideas later.

MC: Mhmm, sure.

Zuo Ran was right. Struggling the whole time was not a good method. I might as well do something else first and enjoy the vacation.

--

We found a long bench on the roadside and sat down to rest.

The cool, gentle wind increased the feeling of contentment slightly as it delivered a sweet scent into my nose.

Following the sweet scent, I saw an ice cream truck on the other side of the road, with “Only Hand-made Ice Cream for a Hundred Years” written on its billboard.

MC: Ice cream that’s been handmade for a hundred years? What would that taste like?

Zuo Ran: Want to taste it?

MC: Yes!

That billboard really did catch my interest, making me want to see exactly what ice cream with a hundred years of handmaking history would taste like.

Zuo Ran: You can stay seated, I’ll go buy it.

After speaking, Zuo Ran got up and stepped over the road, walking towards that ice cream truck.

I watched Zuo Ran from far away…

Watching him interact politely with the truck booth owner, watching him take the cone, watching him heading back with an ice cream cone in each hand.

The retro-style camel-coloured windbreaker on Zuo Ran’s body cut straight lines, clean and neat, adding a few more touches of outstanding handsomeness to him.

MC: (This piece of clothing really makes Lawyer Zuo look handsome. Weird… how come I didn’t notice a few days ago?)

While I faced him in a trance, Zuo Ran had already walked up to me…

The retro buildings on the two sides of the road served as a background for him, reflecting a peaceful moment.

That was a landscape painting, frozen before me.

MC: (What your friend wants is “the most beautiful scenery that you experience during your trip”.)

Thinking back on what Zuo Ran had said, something murky in my mind became clear, with a distinct silhouette.

I held up my camera and waved at him.

MC: Zuo Ran, look here!

Zuo Ran: Hm?

Through the camera lens, his line of sight collided with mine, the faint smile on his thin lips frozen in this moment.

Zuo Ran: Why did you… suddenly…

MC: Because this shot is excellent. I’ve decided – I’m sending this photo to Yao Yu!

I held up the camera with both hands for him to see. He glanced at the photo, then looked at me.

Zuo Ran: You…

MC: What each person sees and thinks is different. I feel like a happy me should be courageously shown for others to see.

The “most beautiful” was a matter of individual opinion. The sceneries seen by each person are different, so what they see as beautiful will be different.

So, the answer is very obvious.

What Yao Yu wanted was my appreciation in the trip, and what I got during this trip was the bit of happiness with Zuo Ran.

MC: I think the most beautiful scenery…

MC: Is you.

Zuo Ran smiled, looking at me, serious and sincere.

Zuo Ran: In my eyes, you’ve always been that.

His calm voice created ripples in my heart, complicated and surging.

Warmth emerged on my cheeks, and the air right then seemed to become somewhat sweet, intoxicating me…

Zuo Ran: Alright, how about putting away the camera for now – the ice cream is going to melt.

MC: Ah! My ice cream!

I’d only been focusing on taking pictures, and the ice cream Zuo Ran had bought was already starting to melt. A few droplets were dripping down from the softened edges…

I rushed to put away the camera and take the ice cream cone.

MC: Delicious – as expected, a hundred-years’ worth of craftsmanship is superior.

Zuo Ran: It’s very sweet.

Though it was slightly embarrassing to eat the melting ice cream, the rich taste of milkiness brought a wonderful feeling between the lips.

Just like this moment, with the gentleness and warmth flowing between his and my eyes.

That was an indescribable yet true feeling that saturated the depths of the heart.

I was very convinced that that was the most beautiful scenery I had found in this journey…

#Tears of Themis #tears of themis translations #zuo ran #artem wing #mihoyo #未定事件簿 #tot translation #man i had so much trouble figuring out how to spell the foreign names #anyways zuo ran route finished!

[chiaki-translation]

SSR Homare [Wachter of the Holy Night]: Backstage Translation

I heard the news, I’m quite upset with it, so I would appreciate it if no one ask/talk to me about it. Thank you for your understanding~

In the meantime, just enjoy Homare’s story~ Also, I’m not German in anyway, but according to google translate, wachter means Guardian.

Summary: Christmas party becomes a snowball fight tournament in Homare’s vacation home.

Disclaimer:

A3! belongs to Liber Entertainment

Translator’s Note: There are quite a bit of reference to previous events on this story. But mainly being Summer and Winter Troupe training camp and Muku/Sakuya/Kazu knowing Homare’s Grandmother from Luminous Circus.

Troupe Competition! A Serious Snowball Fight!

Homare’s Grandmother:

Homare, you came.

Homare:

I just arrived.

So, Grandmother, what do you want to talk about…?

Homare’s Grandmother:

It’s about Christmas Party.

I was thinking of opening up the vacation home for it this year.

Homare:

Oh, that sounds like a good idea. It’s a wonderful place, I’m sure Grandmother’s guest will be delighted.

Homare’s Grandmother:

No, that’s not the case. I’m not talking about my acquaintances; I’m thinking about inviting everyone from your theatre troupe.

Homare:

My comrades from the theatre troupe?

Homare’s Grandmother:

You have a certain habit, I figured you would have troubled them throughout the year.

Homare:

Grandmother… Are you sure it’s alright?

Homare’s Grandmother:

If it’s not alright, I won’t even bring it up from the first place.

Homare:

… Thank you so much!

Then, I’ll go and tell them immediately.

<Shifts to Dorm>

Homare:

Everyone, listen to me!

We’re going to hold a Christmas Party in my vacation home.

By all means, I’m inviting everyone to come, how is it!

Kumon:

Eh, we’re going to Homare-san’s vacation home again!?

Homare:

Yeah, you’re right.

Citron:

Oh, I heard about it from Summer Troupe and Winter Troupe’s training camp, I wanted to come too you know!

Juza:

Kumon said that Homare-san’s vacation home is really big right.

Kumon:

Yeah! It’s so big, it feels like you’re doing an exploration inside. I had so much fun back then~!

Kazunari:

Ah, but that time, we ended up crashing Aririn’s grandmother’s party!

Director:

Homare-san, are we holding this without your Grandmother’s permission again…

Homare:

You’re wrong. Rather, it’s actually an invitation from my Grandmother herself this time.

Hisoka:

… Is it an apology because Arisu has troubled the troupe throughout the year, maybe?

Homare:

Hisoka-kun, why do you only know such things.

Director:

Ahaha… But, I’m relieved if that’s the case. By the way, when will it be?

Homare:

Oh, I’ve forgotten to tell you.

The party will be held next weekend.

Sakuya:

Will your Grandmother come to the party as well?

Homare:

Of course.

Sakuya:

If so, can I come too?

It’s been a while since I met her!

Muku:

Me too, let me greet her too!

Kazunari:

Hmm, I wanted to come too, but that day seems though for me.

Really sorry!

Kumon:

I’m free!

Can I come too!?

Homare:

Everyone is welcome. Grandmother said that she doesn’t mind for everyone in the troupe to come.

That’s why, I’m going to talk to the others who aren’t here right now too.

If you have some time, please come!

<End of Part 1>

Takao:

Welcome everyone.

Director:

Long time no see.

Pleased to be with you today!

Homare:

Everyone, thank you for coming.

Please enjoy your time here.

Sakuya:

Woah, the place’s so big!

Citron:

The displays are full of wonderful vases and pictures!

Banri:

As expected of Homare-san’s vacation home.

Muku:

It reminds me of the training camp!

Tsumugi:

You’re right.

Fufu, that time, a lot of things happened.

Hisoka:

Arisu tried to use this place without permission, it became a big problem.

Homare:

I was told that I can use it as I want!

It just happened to overlap with my Grandmother’s party.

Tenma:

Regardless, making the script and costumes last minute was a good experience.

Masumi:

Tsuzuru too, he was hurrying the script while talking to Tsumugi and the others on the phone.

Tsumugi:

Ahaha, right. We called Tsuzuru-kun and got some help to make the script.

Banri:

Just from the story, I can tell you guys were in a big trouble.

Juza:

But, I want to be able to act flexibly and adapt like that too.

Kumon:

If it’s Big Brother, I’m sure you can do it!

Also, even if Robert the armor moves, I won’t be scared anymore.

Tenma:

E, even I won’t be scared anymore!

Masumi:

… No one said anything about Tenma.

Homare’s Grandmother:

Everyone, thank you for coming.

Thank you for always taking care of Homare.

Director:

Thank you so much for the invitation.

We’re bothering you with a lot of people today.

Sakuya:

Good afternoon!

I’m glad I can meet you again.

Muku:

It’s been a while!

Thank you for the invitation.

Homare’s Grandmother:

You guys came as well.

Please take it easy and enjoy your time here.

There are a lot of food prepared, please don’t refrain yourself.

Director:

Thank you so much.

Kumon:

Amazing, the table top looks so luxurious!

It’s shining!

Banri:

Oh, this looks like something that Kazunari and Yuki will be happy to see.

Citron:

Over here, the meat looks delicious!

Juza:

The sweets look delicious too.

Hisoka:

There are a lot of marshmallows… I’m happy.

Homare:

Then, we’ll start with a cheer!

It’s daytime though, so I’m not taking out the alcohol.

Tsumugi:

There are a lot of minors too.

Thank you for your concern.

Homare:

Then, for the welcome toast, I’ll deliver a poem.

Christmas is comparable to crystal--

Hisoka:

Arisu, your speech’s too long.

Cheers.

Homare:

Hisoka-kun! I’m still in the middle of it!

Banri:

Nah, that’s enough.

Cheers.

Troupe Members:

Cheers!

Director:

Ahaha… I apologize for them.

Homare’s Grandmother:

Don’t mind.

It’s true that Homare’s speech is too long anyway.

Homare:

Even Grandmother!

Director:

(Fufu, even if he said that, Homare-san looks like he’s enjoying himself)

Juza:

Hisoka-san, that cake is delicious.

Hisoka:

Thank you.

This marshmallow taste great too.

Tenma:

The two of you, why do you eat sweets first for lunch…

Banri:

… Just looking at them gives me the heartburn.

Sakuya:

Citron-san, this meat is so tender!

Citron:

Oh, this sauce’s the best!

Masumi:

Director, what do you want to eat?

I’ll take it for you.

Director:

Really? Thank you.

Everything looks delicious, I don’t know what to start with.

Right, what will Homare-san recommend?

Homare:

Let’s see, I want you to try everything here, but how about starting with buratta caprese.

Director:

Woah, it looks so delicious!

Then I’ll get this. Masumi-kun, are you going to eat this too?

Masumi:

… I’m reluctant to take Homare’s recommendation, but it’s fine if I can see your smiling face.

Homare:

Geez, Masumi-kun, you’re the same as usual.

Tsumugi:

… Ah.

Speaking of which, this vacation home has a wide and wonderful garden right.

Muku:

There are a lot of snow piling up today too, it feels so romantic somehow!

Kumon:

Amazing, if there’s this much snow, we can even do snowball fight!

Citron:

Oh, Japanese snowball fight, I want to try it too!

Sakuya:

That sounds fun!

Director:

But, if a lot of people step on the garden at once, won’t it be a trou…?

Homare’s Grandmother:

I don’t mind, there are no flower beds underneath.

You can do anything you want there.

Tsumugi:

Thank you so much.

Homare:

Then, let’s go out and have a snowball fight after everyone’s done eating!

<End of Part 2>

Tsumugi:

No matter how many times I see it, it’s such a wonderful garden.

Somehow, I’m still pretty excited.

Homare:

Really?

Oh, it looks like the sky will clear out in a bit.

Tenma:

Then, what are we going to do about the team.

Homare:

How about making it a competition between troupe?

The number of people seems to be just right too.

Tenma:

You’re right.

Then, let’s do that.

Kumon:

Alright, I’ll do my best for Summer Troupe!

I want to be with my Big Brother on the second round though!

Hisoka:

… Are we having a second round.

Juza:

Only Autumn Troupe is left with two people though.

Tsumugi:

But if it’s Banri-kun and Juza-kun, it’s like you have the strength of 3 people.

Banri:

No, I don’t think I can do it properly with this guy.

Homare:

Then, would it be fine if Director join the Autumn troupe?

Director:

Eh, me!?

Sakuya:

I see, then everyone will have 3 people on their team!

Director:

I was thinking of cheering everyone instead of participating…

Banri:

It’s fine, isn’t it.

Director-chan, let’s do it too.

Muku:

I’m sure it will be more fun than just watching!

Director:

You’re right, then…

Masumi:

If that’s the case, I’ll join Autumn troupe too.

Citron:

What are you saying, Masumi is in Spring Troupe!

Sakuya:

The number of people will be wrong, let’s do our best with the three of us this time!

Masumi:

…

Tenma:

How about the rule?

Kumon:

You drop out when you got hit by the enemy team, the team who remained through the end will be the winner, how about that!?

Homare:

Let’s go with that.

Then everyone, are you ready?

Muku:

Yep, let’s do it!

Citron:

Okay dayo~

Kumon:

Then, Inter Troupe Snowball Fight, commence!

Troupe Members:

Let’s go!

<Short Time Skip>

Citron:

Fufun, I will defo defo beat everyone!

Masumi:

Sigh… To be in different team from Director…

Sakuya:

Look, it’s starting, Masumi-kun!

Ah, I found Tenma-kun!

… There.

Tenma:

Oh, oops.

Hmm, don’t think that I’ll be that easy to hit!

Sakuya:

Woah, a counterattack…!

Citron:

Sakuya, that’s dangerous!

I’ll assist you! There!

Kumon:

Over here too! I’m going to protect Tenma-san, take that!

<Short Time Skip>

Tsumugi;

Alright, I have to try my best too…

Firstly, let’s make the snowball properly…

Masumi:

Tsumugi, if you’re stoning in that kind of place, I think you’ll get targeted immediately.

Tsumugi:

Eh, Masumi-kun!?

Since when were you this close--

Masumi:

I’m going to show Director my cool side…!

Tsumugi:

Wa, wait a minute!

Woah!

Masumi:

… He avoided it successfully.

Then next--

Homare:

Tsumugi-kun, I’ve come to help you!

Take that!

Masumi:

… What kind of throwing method is that.

Tsumugi:

Homare-san, I think you won’t hit anyone if you keep throwing that way…!

Homare:

Hmm, really?

I thought it was a good stance.

Juza:

If it’s from here, I should be able to take Masumi down.

--There!

Banri:

…What the! You hit the back of your own teammate, where the hell did you even aim at, no-con! (T.N: No-con is short  for no control)

Juza:

It’s your position that’s bad.

Banri:

What the hell was that!

Director:

The two of you are in the same team right, don’t fight!

Banri:

Ah, whatever, the one I want to hit with the snowball the most right now is him.

Director:

Well well… Ah, Muku-kun.

Muku:

Ba, Banri-san, Ju-chan, Director-san, prepare yourself!

Banri:

Oh, oops… Safe.

Director:

Me too, I managed to avoid it somehow…

Juza:

But, I think it will be better for people from the same team not to gather in the same place.

Director:

Then, I’ll be going to that direction!

<Short Time Skip>

Director:

… Phew, I think I’ve lost Muku-kun for now.

Homare:

Oh, I don’t think I’ll see Director-kun in this kind of place.

Director:

Homare-san…!

[

[

Choice 1: The garden is a really nice place

Director:

Umm… The garden is a really nice place!

Homare:

You’re right!

It’s the prided garden of Arisugawa family.

But, it’s too wide, it becomes hard to make a hit in a snowball fight, it might be the only drawback it has.

Director:

Ahaha, it’s true, meeting Homare-san here was too much of a chance to pass…!

]

]

[

[

Choice 2: The snowball fight is fun

Director:

I’ve never really played snowball fight with this many people before, it was fun right!

Homare:

Yeah. What’s more, I got the chance to confront Director-kun like this. It’s really an exciting situation.

Flying snowball, cool heel on the useless rule, the rose…

Director:

Homare-san, is it alright for you to show me so much opening?

I’m in the Autumn Troupe team you know?

Homare:

Hmm, I thought I can distract you when you’re entranced with my poem.

If it doesn’t work then I’ll have no other choice.

I’m going to hit you with the snowball with all I have!

]

]

Director:

… I’m going in with all I have!

Take this!

Homare:

As you wish!

…Take that!

Director:

(Ho, Homare-san’s form, what is that!?)

Homare:

Ah, Director-kun, you got me!

I guess I’ll have to drop out now... What a pity.

Director:

I, I did it! I can hit someone too, with this, one person’s down…

???:

… There’s an opening.

Director:

Eh?

Homare:

Director-kun, now you need to drop out too!

Hisoka:

Director, you were wide open.

Director:

Eh!?

Homare:

Hahaha, you were off guard, Director-kun!

Director:

And I thought I actually did well…!

<End of Part 3>

#a3! act! addict! actors! #a3! translation #a3! backstage #arisugawa homare

[everwitch-magiks]

dance with somebody (ch. 5)

(ch. 1) (ch. 2) (ch. 3) (ch. 4)

Whiskey takes the stairs two steps at a time.

His heart is racing as he turns the corner, immediately heading for his own room. He barely registers passing by a vaguely curious Hops as he practically runs the last few steps. As soon as he's made it inside, he closes the door firmly behind himself and then locks it.

Whiskey's pulse is frighteningly close to a level that's comparable to mid-game in the playoffs, when the call finally connects.

“... Connor?”

Whiskey tries to take a breath – not even a deep breath, for fucks sake, if he could just fucking breathe at all-

“Beth. Hey.”

For some reason, Bethany Whisk almost laughs.

“For someone who did not just come out to our entire extended family, you sure sound like shit, Connor.”

Whiskey let’s himself sink down onto his bed, his head in his hands.

“What, uh. When’d you… How bad is it?”

The text hadn’t exactly clarified much. just outed myself to my parents and yours, over sunday dinner. everything a lil yikes. thought u should know

“Pretty bad.” Beth’s voice is strangely calm. “Although actually, not quite the worst case scenario? But close, yeah. Real close.”

“Shit,” Whiskey mutters.

“Yeah. My dad’s gone off somewhere – he sort of just got up and left, pretty soon after I’d said it? So that’ll be lots of fun when he gets back. Mom’s a lot calmer, comparatively. Said she needs to think. Which I’ve classified as ambiguous, but not completely hopeless.”

“What about…” Whiskey begins, his tone hoarse, and then he doesn’t finish the sentence.

He can’t finish the sentence.

“Oh, your folks weren’t too bad.” Beth pauses for a moment, as if to think. “I got the feeling they weren’t really angry – it was more like pity, I guess? Which wasn’t super fun either, gotta admit that. Your mom said it’s so sad I’ll never have children, and so of course I had to deliver the news that many lesbian women have plenty of kids, and then she looked, like, super confused. I’m so fucking relieved she stopped asking questions, after that.”

Whiskey gets up, only to sit back down again. He’s trembling all over. It’s almost like he can feel the way his whole world has just shifted, like there’s an actual, physical change between right now and five minutes ago.

"Are you… D'you need anything? What can I do?"

"Oh, Connor." Beth's tone is uncharacteristically soft. "You know, I pretty much knew I’d never have to worry about your reaction. Because actually, I have a feeling you get it – like, really get it. Don’t you?”

Whiskey freezes.

"Considering your hockey team," Beth continues, completely oblivious. "Your captain is the first out something, isn’t he? Which is so cool, by the way, even though I don’t give many fucks about hockey.”

It takes Whiskey a moment to find his voice again.

"First out NCAA men’s hockey captain,” he rattles off, and it’s lucky that’s something he could quote in his sleep, or he’d get the words all mixed up. “Yeah, uh. That was Bitty. He graduated this spring. But our captain this year – Dex – is actually dating his defence partner, so.”

"Defence what now?"

"Another player on our team."

“Wow,” Beth says, and there’s something not unlike wonder in her tone. “I guess it’s all true, those things they say about Samwell.”

“Yeah,” Whiskey returns unsteadily. “You have no idea, Beth.”

Beth is quiet for a moment.

“So I’m flying back tomorrow,” she says, and for some reason her voice sounds a little different from before – more determined. “You know, Samwell is less than a four hour drive from Columbia.”

“Is that so.”

“It is. We could, y’know. Hang out sometime? Anyway, you should meet Melanie.”

“... Oh,” Whiskey says, and it’s like he has to pause and process all over again. “Melanie. Huh.”

“You’ll like Mel,” Beth says eagerly. “And I could meet your team, maybe? That’d be fun.”

“That would be fun,” Whiskey says after a beat – it surprises him, that he actually, genuinely means it. He’s missed Beth. “Yeah. We should do that.”

“See, this is why you’re my favourite cousin.” Beth sounds extremely pleased. “Josh and Amy haven’t even returned my texts, yet.”

“To be fair, they kind of always sucked.”

“You speak the truth, my friend. Nothing but the truth.”

“Seriously, though,” Whiskey says. “If you, like, need anything? Anything at all? Let me know. We’ll figure it out.”

“Thank you.” Beth’s tone is warm. “I think I’ll be fine. Like I said, I’m flying back tomorrow, and once I’m back at school there’s not much mom and dad can do, even if they try. I’m on a full scholarship, plus I’ve already got a paid internship lined up for next summer, so I’m basically financially independent at this point. And I’ve made some really amazing friends at Columbia. They’ll help me out.”

“They’ve got your back?”

“Definitely.”

“Okay. Good.”

“So,” Beth continues, her tone for some reason a bit sly. “Your mom told me you’re back together with that girl from Phoenix? That was right before I dropped the big lesbian bomb on everyone, so I didn’t get to ask her, like, anything.”

“... Yeah,” Whiskey confirms uneasily. “We got back together during spring break last semester, yeah.”

“That’s nice.”

“I guess.”

“You guess? Don’t you know?”

“I mean, I don’t see her a lot,” Whiskey tries.

Beth hums. “Long distance, huh. That’s tough.”

“No, that’s not…” Whiskey draws a shaky breath. It’s so much easier to lie to everyone else. “Beth. Can I tell you something?”

“You can tell me anything, C.”

“Right.” Whiskey tries to keep his voice steady. “Just, can you promise me to… To pretend like I didn’t actually tell you? To just never bring it up again. Ever.”

“I mean, sure.” Beth’s tone is kind, if a little surprised. “If that’s what you want, sure.”

Whiskey closes his eyes, and breathes in.

“I slept with a guy.”

For a moment, Beth is quiet.

“All right,” she says gently. “You know that’s not the end of the world, right?”

“No, I guess.” Whiskey’s voice is shaking. “I’m just… I don’t know.”

Beth hums. “You want to do it again?”

“We uh, we did.” Whiskey clears his throat. “A few times. Last semester.”

“Hold up,” Beth says, her tone startled. “You’ve been sleeping with a guy? Frequently?”

“Not since last semester,” Whiskey reminds her quickly. “But, uh, yeah. For a while there it was every now and then.”

Beth is quiet for a moment.

“Is this the part where I smoothly change the subject and we never speak of this again? Because I’m, like, dying to get all the details.”

Whiskey almost smiles.

Somehow, breathing feels a little easier than before.

“He’s on the lacrosse team,” he supplies, surprising himself.

“Athletic,” Beth concludes, her tone giddy. “Fit? Hot?”

“Really fit,” Whiskey admits. “And like, tall?”

“Fucking get it, Connor!” Beth laughs. “But you’re not seeing each other, anymore?”

“I’m back together with my girlfriend,” Whiskey reminds her tersely. “And me and that guy weren’t ever officially anything.”

“Right,” Beth agrees easily. “Still. Glad to hear you’re getting the full Samwell experience.”

“You could say that.” Whiskey sighs. “I just. I’m not sure… I don’t think I can ever do what you just did.”

“Okay,” Beth says gently. “Do you have to, though?”

“I mean, eventually,” Whiskey tells her uneasily. “Right? People come out, eventually.”

“Not everyone does. Some people don’t.”

Whiskey blinks.

“There’s really a lot more to being gay than coming out,” Beth continues. “I would know.”

“I’m not gay,” Whiskey says reflexively – and really, he isn’t. Not strictly.

“No labels, then? Cool, cool." There's warmth in Beth's voice as she continues. "You'll figure all of this out, Connor. I'm sure you will."

"You're not the first person to tell me that."

"Let's hope I won't be the last," Beth says brightly. "So. How many people know?"

"Noone," Whiskey says quickly – too quickly. "Well, you know now. Bitty found out accidentally, and I almost told Dex. Plus I guess that guy I was with has a hunch."

"Right," Beth says, and there's no judgement in her tone. "So when we come to see you, this conversation never happened. Obviously, I'm not telling Melanie."

"Yeah," Whiskey agrees. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Beth."

"No problem. And on that happy subject, when’s a good weekend for me and Mel to drive up for some Samwell shenanigans?”

“I can send you our game schedule," Whiskey suggests.

“Connor, you know I love you, but please tell me you don’t expect me to sit through an entire game of sports.”

“I mostly meant so you’ll know when we have away games,” Whiskey says, and to his own surprise he’s grinning slightly. “You know, so that I’m not in fucking New Jersey when you show up here.”

“Okay, fair point.” Beth pauses. “By the way. Are you any good?”

“What, at hockey?”

“No, at table tennis.” The eye-roll is near audible.

“I am,” Whiskey says. “Good, I mean. I’m the top scorer on our team.”

“Well, that’s only good if the team is.”

“You know, maybe you guys should actually drive up for a game weekend,” Whiskey tells her. “It’s really not a complete Samwell experience without a proper post-game kegster.”

“A what now?”

“A party, Beth. A huge party. At the hockey frat.”

“See, now you’re talking,” Beth says excitedly. “Hey. Mind if I bring some friends?”

(ch. 6)

#check please #omgcheckplease #omgcp #checkpleasespoilers #connor whisk #OC: Bethany Whisk #dance with somebody #at it with the angst again #a bit lighter than the last part #hopeful #mentions of parents not reacting well to their kid coming out #evie writes #fanfiction

[amphtaminedreams]

S/S 2020 Fashion Month: A Basic, Uneducated Fashion Heaux’s A-Z of Everything Noteworthy (Part 3/3)

Hi to anyone reading,

I’m finally at the end!

It’s only taken me, like, over 2 months but I’m finally about to review the last 5 shows I wanted to talk about from this year’s RTW offerings for S/S 2020. It’s very frustrating that I couldn’t include them in the last post and make this a nice, neat, equally sized two part thing but Tumblr was being difficult and so here I am. On the plus side, I guess I can also make this post a bit of a round-up of my ultimate favourite collections of this year and some of my absolute favourite looks!

To quickly finish my review though, I’m gonna start this post with Vivienne Westwood’s S/S 2020 collection!

And I hate to start the post on a downer but I wasn’t wild about it. The bridal look worn by Bella Hadid and the similarly structured red dress are the only pieces that I really love. The accessories are beautiful, especially the shell necklace, and the fitted corset upper halves are very flattering, however, there’s just nothing particularly exciting about this collection for me.

As for YSL’s S/S 2020 collection, my opinion is pretty similar. Don’t get me wrong, I personally love the embroidered pieces, and the jewell tones, and the whole art teacher/female Russell Brand vibe (I’m aware this is my second Russell Brand comparison of this review, don't @ me) but why does there have to be SO GODDAMN MANY FUCKING SEQUIN SUITS? I included a couple of the more interesting ones just for reference and can you believe that’s only about 1/10 of the sequin suits that were actually shown. I feel like they genuinely made up a good 33% of the show. It’s so boring and overdone from Saint Laurent, like you really can’t convince me that they didn’t do this exact same thing last year and the Eiffel Tower being in the background and the presence of the goddess that is Naomi Campbell and all the fancy lighting in the world isn’t a distraction enough because they DID THAT LAST YEAR TOO. It’s just disappointing from a brand like YSL who really has the money to take it to any wacky and inventive place that they want, and who has drawn on so many historical and cultural references in the past; the bohemian looks I am here for, everything else can go.  

Next is Zadig and Voltaire, which is obviously more of a pedestrian brand than YSL, but still...disappointing. 

I guess disappointing is the wrong word really because it’s not as if I had especially high hopes, it’s just that in comparison to a collection like Off-White’s, which was also a lot more of a “wearable” line, this is very Stradivarius/Zara/H&M/any member of the Inditex group. I like the ruffles, but we’ve seen them done in a much more interesting way in pretty much every other show and same with the blazers and suits. Even the styling of the teal faux fur coat, which I adore, is meh. Even Emily DiDonato can’t save it for me and that’s saying something because she honestly might be one of the most beautiful women on this planet.

On a more positive note, Zimmerman was beautiful. In a collection inspired by the ocean, the tranquil colour palette, the ornate, frothy ruffles and the flowing materials are dead on, and indulgently so. I can see most of these pieces having universal appeal and looking good on anyone, and yet this wearability doesn’t make the collection boring by any means; I think it really is a matter of having a clear concept and attention to detail that save more subtle shows from falling by the wayside. 

And lastly, Zuhair Murad, which is always a designer I look forward to; I love a good princess dress and on that, he always delivers.

However, whilst there’s a similar feel and colour palette to Zimmerman, I’d say this collection doesn’t have quite as clear a direction. There’s definitely a lot of recurring themes of the ruffles and the high necks and the bohemian prints and suits that we’ve seen throughout fashion month, but this still doesn’t feel like the most relevant or current collection I’ve ever seen from Murad. It goes without saying that the dresses are beautiful but in the context of a red carpet where every dress is a princess dress, I can’t imagine any of these taking my breath away which is usually the case. 

I really WANTED to end on a positive note, I’m sorry! And there were so so many amazing moments this season. In general, I’m excited for a lot of the trends that are seemingly going to be coming up: more of the milkmaid thing, peasant blouses, bohemian influences and a shit load of gorgeous suits!

I was going to try and do a top 10 but I honestly have too many favourites so I’m making into a...top 20. It sounds like a cop-out, but when there’s THIS many shows to go through I think a top 20 is perfectly fair. 

1. Gucci

It has to be my favourite overall. The clearest concept, the most beautiful colours, and a whole range of interesting accessories and structures. Blew everything else out the water. Might make like Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade and just start randomly saying Gucci out loud at totally inappropriate moments to express my love.

2. Marc Jacobs

Kooky and in your face but also thoughtful and delicate. Every piece is a statement. 

3. Moschino

The intersection where art meets fashion is always my favourite place to lurk and so it’s not surprise that Moschino’s Picasso inspired collection ticked so many boxes for me. Aside from that, the structures are gorgeous and on trend and I love the accessories.

4. Valentino

So. Many. Heavenly. Dresses.

5. Mugler

Definitely the sexiest S/S 2020 collection.

6. Paco Rabanne

I mean, yes, it is a little primary school teacher-y (it’s probably the coloured socks), but a fashion-y, wear-it-to-the-club version of primary school teacher style.

7. Ralph and Russo

A prissy pastel dream that channels the Sandra Dee sleepover scene from Grease in the modern day, the only thing that could’ve added to the Ralph and Russo show would be a more diverse group of models.

8. Brock

There’s never going to be an appropriate moment to wear any of the garments from the Brock collection. Does that mean I’m going to stop thinking about it? Never.

9. Balmain

I know Balmain didn’t go down too well with the fashion critics but the noughties pop girls obsessed child in me loveddddd it.

10. Etro

Not the most high-fashion but I would wear.

11. Dion Lee

Dion Lee took corsets and suspenders and harnesses and turned that whole dominatrix trend on its head by pairing them with androgynous silhouettes, fresh whites and subtle nude tones, and I’m here for it!

12. Alessandra Rich

Eighties presidential candidate’s wife/sorority queen realness.

13. Dilara Findikoglu

Definitely my favourite of the more “avant-garde” shows we saw this year.

14. Oscar de la Renta

These dresses speak for themselves, do I really need to say any more?

15. Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane made galaxy print cool again for the first time since it was murdered by 2013 “hipster” Tumblr and then buried 6ft under by the plethora of £5 and under wholesale retailers who thought it would be a good idea to mass produce leggings with said print on. 

16. Loewe

Delicate, purposeful and refined, Loewe put out a practical yet very, very pretty and season-appropriate spring collection.

17. Thom Browne

Thom Browne brought Marie Antoinette onto the runway. ‘Nuff said.

18. Louis Vuitton

I will never turn my nose up at anything 70s influenced and Louis Vuitton’s collection was probably the most authentic (and thus kinda ugly at times) that I’ve seen.

19. Simone Rocha

If I ever became part of some modern day witchy, forest-God worshipping cult, I would expect us all to be wearing Simone Rocha’s 2020 S/S collection and nothing less.

20. Vera Wang

Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl for the 2019 e-girl xoxo

SO.

3 parts and 3 months later, this is my review of fashion month 2019 coming to an end. I mean, it’s actually closer to A/W 2020 fashion week now than it is to S/S 2020 buuuut let’s just forget that little detail because I had NO FUCKING IDEA it would take this long.

If there’s anyone out there who read this to the end (and I highly, highly doubt there is and I don’t blame you) or even anyone that looked at the pictures (which is probably what I would do), please let me know! It got a bit long at times but I have generally reallllly enjoyed doing this and more than anything it’s got me sad that I’ll never see these shows in person :( sad times :( oh to be on the benefiting end of nepotism :( 

Thank you sooo much!

Lauren x

#nyfw #pfw #mfw #fashion #fashion month #ss2020 #2020rtw #vera wang #moschino #gucci #high fashion #spring 2020 rtw #rtw #louis vuitton #thom browne #loewe #oscar de la renta #Alessandra Rich #dion lee #marc jacobs #balmain #valentino

[prettywordsyouleft]

Mistletoe Manor - Part 1

Summary: Christmas is the most important time of year for all those who live within Mistletoe Manor. From the staff to the Hawthorne family themselves, everyone works hard to ensure that the festive season is a success every year! We invite you to see if everyone can pull off another  magical Christmas at the manor this year.

Pairing: Park Seo Joon, Bang Yongguk, Brian Kang, Jung Daehyun, Jung Jaehyun, Lee Taeyong and OCs.

Genre: regency au / romance / christmas au

A/N: Becky ( @noona-clock​ ) and I wanted to create a magical Christmas for everyone and what  better way to do that than at Mistletoe Manor! Because of the nature of having several idols, we chose to work with OCs and we hope you love them as much as we do.

Mistletoe Manor will be posted daily at 10am NZST / 4pm EST daily.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

With an estate title of Mistletoe Manor, it was evidently expected that Christmas was the most eventful time of the year. Although the leaves had only just begun to fall now that the summer sunshine had moved on, preparations for the end of the year were well underway. Staff were buffing up the finest silver, examining the most expensive china and preparing long in advance the types of food that would be served over the entire month of celebration. Mistletoe Manor was home to Lord Hawthorne, his wife and three daughters, Cassandra, Evie and Josephine, all in whom helped with the running of the township below.

The celebrations would last for a month, and with the annual winter festival to also prepare for, it seemed there was an increased flurry of events for everyone.

Except there was one member of the family who wasn’t quite ready to celebrate Christmas again.

Last year had been the first time Cassandra Hawthorne had felt overwhelmed by the festivities. Not only did she participate in organising the entire winter festival, but Christmas had even more guests than usual to entertain as she was to be married come the start of the New Year to Earl Daehyun. Along with his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Steerbury, Daehyun had travelled to stay with the Hawthorne’s. It hadn’t been nearly enough time to learn much of the man she was betrothed to and she had spent most of their stay just reminding herself to keep breathing when it all felt too much.

“Cassie, why are holed up in a corner here?” Josephine questioned, looking down at her eldest sister in confusion. “You’re being quiet, whatever is the matter? The most wonderful time of the year is almost upon us and we have so much to do!”

Some days, Cassie wished to live a much simpler life. Although she had faced her own set of hardships with her status, she longed for a journey much different than this. Her hand gripped at the letter she had read for the fifth time since receiving it yesterday, and the subtle movement caught her youngest sister’s attention.

“Have you heard from your husband again?”

“I have.”

“And when will he be back from his expedition?” she inquired, her gaze softening when Cassie didn’t immediately respond. “He will be back in time for Christmas, won’t he?”

“I do not know, Joey,” Cassie answered, her voice shaking ever so slightly. She attempted to smile, heaving herself up out of her chair. There was plenty of time left to dwell over Daehyun’s return. Taking the hand of her sister, she gestured to the exit of the parlour room. “Come, did you not say we have much to do?”

If anyone had told Cassie that this time last year she would be anxiously awaiting the return of her husband, she would have thought them as mad. Her parents had only wanted what was best for their daughters, and although all three girls were raised to strive for their own goals in life, an arranged marriage could be likely for any of them. It was a trend during these times, true love being left for fairytales. Of course, there were exceptions to every rule and had Cassie been actively looking for a suitor, perhaps they would have left her to her own devices.

Marrying the Earl looked wonderful on paper. As a business transaction, both families unifying together was prosperous. It would bring more revenue each year to Mistletoe Manor, which would help fund the ongoing agricultural woes the farmers were having with their crops.

Within the affluent circles, it would lend Cassie a lot of power as well. Daehyun was known to support a lot of communities, and that would put her at the forefront of organising events in their name.

And yet all the good that came with marrying Daehyun meant Cassie would give up her quest for true love. It was foolish really, to desire to fall in love with her choice in a husband. She had dreamed ever since she was a little girl that the man she married would love her wholeheartedly. She hoped for sincerest confessions and whispered intimate moments where love blossomed even in the harshest of winters.

Whilst Daehyun was very agreeable, she barely knew him before becoming his wife. And when she would have been expected to move into her new home, Daehyun had been given orders by the King to join his expedition for almost a year. Back then, Cassie had been grateful for this sudden change whilst everyone else lamented.

“How will your marriage even begin if your husband is overseas? Had we known, I wouldn’t have agreed to this!”

“Mother, it’s fine. Daehyun will return and then we can get properly acquainted. I’m not aged yet either so there is plenty of time for us,” Cassie assured with a smile that felt too reckless for a newlywed. She should have been more forlorn, worried about the distance put between them so quickly.

Cassie was relieved to not have to play wife to a man she barely knew five facts about, and all in which she had learned as information from others.

“Still, waiting for an entire year before you consummate the marriage feels a bit-”

“Prudent?” Josephine offered, trying to keep a straight face as she half-heartedly worked on a cross-stitch across the room. She soon abandoned it with her growing glee, looking towards her other sister reading a book. “Evie, you’re awfully quiet over this. What do you think of Cassie’s situation?”

“It’s only a year apart.”

“So much can happen within even a month!” their mother exclaimed and Evie sighed, returning her attention to the book. “What if he finds himself lonely and takes a-”

“Mother!” Cassie implored and the woman lifted her handkerchief to her mouth dramatically. The eldest daughter moved over to take her hand in her grip. “I promise I will fulfil all that is expected of me in due time. Please, stop fussing when it was only just a week ago where you were complaining about my departure from the manor. Surely, this is a good delay, yes?”

“She’s right; you were a blubbering mess. Isn’t that so, Evie?” Joey pointed out with a laugh and Evie barely nodded in acknowledgement.

Cassie couldn’t hide the pleased expression upon her face at the sudden change in her predicament at all. Choosing to continue on at Mistletoe Manor until her husband returned had definitely eased her worries upon hearing of the news the night of her wedding. She had feared living in some large estate all by herself, except that of the staff, and she wouldn’t even have the ability to take her lady maid Lydia with her either. Here, she could continue her studies and improve her merits before wistfully leaving the place she had known as her home for all of her life.

Another year of freedom felt deliciously wonderful.

 As the wintry air warmed with the calling of spring however, Cassie was not as exuberant about her situation. She had started to entertain many thoughts of what her life would truly be like when she moved into Daehyun’s grand estate. He had seemed every part of a gentleman whenever she had crossed paths with him during his stay, and the brief moments she spent alone with him had been less awkward than she expected. However, she longed to have a better understanding of her husband and how she could best support him. Cassie had no desire to be an accessory to Daehyun’s accolades; a wife who did her best to silently promote her husband never suited her. And yet, she didn’t know whether Daehyun would care to hear of her thoughts. Even if it weren’t a marriage built on love, she at least hoped to compliment her husband to the best of her abilities.

This newfound worry led to many sleepless nights and fitful dreams in where she found they had nothing in common, or worse, barely spoke two words at one another. Had she signed herself up for a lifetime of misery, looking the part of a well-groomed wife and daughter of such a prestigious family, but inwardly dying from lack of fulfilment? These thoughts plagued her day and night and soon she fell ill, concerning all those within Mistletoe Manor.

“My Lady, it’s not like you to be this weak,” Lydia condoned as she placed a damp cloth to her fevered skin, cooling upon contact. “Whatever has worked you into such a state?”

“I’ll be fine, Lydia.”

“And I know that you will be,” Lydia agreed, despite her grim expression. “Yet, I don’t fancy being the one to tell your husband either. He’ll worry over you.”

“Will he?” Cassie whispered, blinking back her emotions.

“He looked enamoured by you, My Lady, why would his wish for such a beautiful bride to fall this ill?”

“I hope you are right,” Cassie murmured, closing her eyes and wishing for the return of her willpower. Right now, she was weighed down with too many doubts to even know where to begin to solve them.

Her answer came two days later, thankfully a day after her fever breaking. She had heard Taeyong’s voice long before she had even laid eyes upon the footman. Usually, it would be up to Percy to deliver mail in person to any of the family members, and so when she noticed the way in which her childhood friend had rushed inside, she knew he would get a scolding later for ignoring protocol.

Still, Cassie was intrigued, especially when Taeyong held out the letter in a breathless state. “Why, it must be important if you ran throughout the house to locate me.”

Ignoring her teasing, Taeyong thrust the letter forward repeatedly. “Surely, a letter from your husband should ease your lonesome heart, My Lady.”

“From my husband?” Cassie echoed, barely acknowledging Taeyong’s farewell as she sat down in the closest chair, pulling out the letter hastily.

As she read over his words, her smile grew. Daehyun came across as nervous in his letter; he even stated it at one point, mid-sentence. Cassie found his little additions to his sentences endearing and as soon as she reached the end of the letter full of questions and a promise to provide for her as her husband, she gathered up the pieces of paper and then hurried to quarters, picking up her pen and putting it to paper immediately.

Letters travelled back and forth regularly between them, their uneasy beginnings soon bringing forth great laughter and a sense of understanding. Daehyun wrote fantastical tales of his journey and he equally held no qualms in divulging his feelings. It didn’t take Cassie long to shyly reply with her own, with each letter received, her heart would thud in her chest more erratically and she would send off a piece of it along with her response. Daehyun’s sentiments, even sent as far away as he was from Cassie were sincere.

He wanted to fall in love with his wife and from how their written relationship had transpired so far, Cassie was certain this could be a reality for them both. She would often lay awake rereading their correspondence, clutching at moments where her heart felt as if it would burst out from her chest with how much his words affected her.

But that was all she had so far, words. Would being in one another’s company after the expedition feel as intimate as writing to Daehyun did currently? Would he utter his feelings as earnestly as his pen wrote them? A new wave of emotions had risen within the eldest Hawthorne daughter, and she hadn’t expected any of it.

Plans for the winter festival were well underway. For the village of Mistletoe Manor, this festival meant everything. It not only rewarded all who had worked hard year-round in their livelihoods, it also signalled the beginning of Christmas. On the twenty-fifth of November, the festive lights would be lit around the Christmas marketplace and the Hawthorne’s would announce the start of the magical month ahead.

It was important to Cassie to ensure everything went according to plan, especially since her father had handed over the responsibility of running the event to Cassie and her sisters last year.

After helping Josephine and Evie earlier until supper was served, Cassie had forgotten about Daehyun’s latest letter. Perhaps, she had filed it away in her head and heart for that time, knowing it wouldn’t serve her to be distracted whilst busy making plans. Her cousin Grace would be arriving within the week to help with the festivities and before bed, she had managed to ensure all was set up in the room she would use before retiring to her own.

It was after Lydia had left her to her own devices when Cassie finally moved back to her desk where she had left the correspondence from Daehyun, her eyes falling to the last page as she chewed on the bottom of her lip. With a sigh, she moved towards her bed and climbed under the covers, hopeful that her mood would brighten enough to reply tomorrow.

 I fear the King wishes to extend his tour out here and we may not return until the flowers bloom. My love, please know I am trying everything to get back in time for Christmas. I know how much this time of year means to you, and since spending last year in your company, I long to be there again for this year’s festivities.

Until I am truly yours,

Daehyun.

_________________

Part 2

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#kwritersworldnet #pwyl; mistletoe manor #b.a.p imagines #b.a.p scenarios #b.a.p fiction #b.a.p fanfic #b.a.p fluff #b.a.p au #daehyun imagines #daehyun scenarios #daehyun fiction #daehyun fanfic #daehyun fluff #daehyun au #b.a.p #daehyun #park seo joon fiction #young k fiction #youngguk fiction #jaehyun fiction #taeyong fiction #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fiction #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff #a noona-clock and prettywordsyouleft collab

[abigailnussbaum]

Legends of Tomorrow, Season 5

I was going to write weekly reviews of this season, and then with one thing and another ended up dropping it in the spring (hey, remember when there was so much weekly TV that you couldn’t keep up with all your shows? Wonder how long it’ll be before that happens again). I caught up with the entire season this weekend, and honestly, that feels like a better standpoint from which to write about it - I think if I’d stuck with weekly reviews, I would have ended up saying the same thing week after week.

A couple of years ago, Emily VanDerWerff suggested that there is a standard lifecycle for high-concept, large ensemble, off-the-wall genre shows: 

Season 1: still figuring this whole thing out 

Season 2: now we’re cooking with oil 

Season 3: we can do anything! 

Season 4: whoops, no, we’ve gotten a bit over our skis here 

Season 5: ??? 

Legends, I think, encapsulates this progression to a T. The show’s second and third seasons were some of the best and most exciting genre storytelling on television, but last year was a bit of a mess. That’s not entirely the writers’ fault - Nick Zano’s limited availability due to family obligations forced them to beef up the Time Bureau’s role in the season, and their desire to keep Maisie Richardson-Sellers on board even after Amaya’s story had wrapped up led them to create a character, Charlie, who had no real reason for being on the Waverider. But a lot of it was self-inflicted. The cast was too unwieldy, the Time Bureau story seemed designed to expose the thin spots in the show’s self-presentation as irreverent but fundamentally compassionate (it certainly didn’t help that the decision to rewrite Nate Sr. into a good guy was made almost at the last minute, requiring the entirely unconvincing argument that forcing magical creatures to perform in a circus act is somehow morally superior to forcing them to be secret agents), and some of the character choices felt entirely parachuted in (Zari/Nate, anyone?).

Season five, therefore, had a lot of clean up work to do, while also demonstrating that the Legends formula had more life in it than just those two transcendent early seasons. And while this is undeniably a more successful, more enjoyable season than the one preceding it (which also does a great deal to address some of the show’s structural issues, chiefly the overlarge cast), I also can’t help but notice that instead of finding new places for the show to go, what the fifth season delivers instead is a hodgepodge of story elements from seasons two and three. So we’ve got a mystical object that can rewrite reality (The Loom of Fate vs. season two′s The Spear of Destiny); a token hunt across time and space in which the Legends face off against the estranged relatives of one of their members (the totems in season three vs. the search for the pieces of the loom, Amaya’s evil granddaughter vs. Charlie’s evil sisters); a late season loss that forces our characters into a nightmarish alternate reality in which they don’t even remember who they are (the Legion of Evil rewriting the Legends’ lives to make them ordinary and unsatisfying vs. being stuck in TV shows in a world run by the Fates); which comes about because of a betrayal by a member of the team (Charlie in season five, Mick in season two) whose eventual return to the fold enables to Legends to win in the end. There’s even an abandoned, abused girl who has turned evil, and has to be won back to the side of good through the offer of true companionship and understanding (Nora Darhk vs. Astra Logue).

This isn’t exactly a bad thing - a lot of these storytelling beats cut to the very core of what Legends is and what makes it work, so it’s not necessarily wrong for the show to repeat them. And even if the basic structure is the same, Legends just keeps getting more adventurous in how it delivers that structure. I’ve already written about how well done the season’s mockumentary episode was, and the same can be said for the 80s slasher movie riff, the Mr. Rogers parody, and of course, “The One Where We’re Trapped on TV”. Like the multiple universe episode in season four, these are things the show couldn’t have done when it was just a few seasons old, and they’re proof that whatever other issues it has, Legends is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of the kind of tropes and genres it can graft onto a superhero template. That said, there’s a very real possibility that this is all the show will ever be - a standard story template, enlivened by increasingly gonzo riffs on existing tropes.

Some more thoughts on where the season worked and where it didn’t below.

THE GOOD:

I really hated the decision to make Nora a fairy godmother in season four, not least because it felt like yet another way of infantilizing her (it certainly didn’t help that it was a choice she was forced into, and that she spent the remainder of the season catering to the every whim of Gary, a character I still have very mixed feelings towards). But season five really reclaims that choice. Having Nora embrace the fairy godmother life as a way of both helping children and working through her own issues makes a lot of sense, and the character feels happier and more confident than we’ve ever seen her (certainly a step up from how gloomy she was last season). I even like the wardrobe change - once the fairy godmother dress was ditched except for specific occasions, having Nora dress all in teal is a nice touch, and certainly an improvement over her rather boring season four wardrobe. I still think Legends missed a lot in how it handled Nora last season (I will never stop being annoyed that she and Sara didn’t develop a deeper friendship, given how similar their life trajectories have been), but this was a good way of righting the ship, even in a very limited timeframe.

I already mentioned this in the episode review, but watching the rest of the season really cemented my admiration for how quickly the show embeds Behrad into the crew, and makes it feel as if he’s always been there. That’s all the more impressive given that Behrad doesn’t really get an arc in season five. Most of that storytelling energy goes to establish Zari 2.0, and Behrad is, of course, absent for much of the latter half of the season. And yet he feels almost instantly like a fully-rounded character who is integral to the show, so much so that you’re heartbroken by his death (and convinced that it will be rolled back, even though Zari could easily take over his superpower). That’s really excellent work by both the writers and Shayan Sobhian.

I was a bit nervous when Zari 2.0 was introduced, because replacing a heroic, cool-girl-coded, nobly self-sacrificing character with a version of herself who is extremely femme-coded and obsessed with things like fashion and social media is the sort of move that is ripe for easy misogynistic point-scoring in the guise of feminism - of course the Zari who is good with machines and eats donuts is superior to the one who has a perfume line and spends hours in the bathroom every morning! But the show very quickly established that Zari, though certainly not without her flaws, is awesome in any guise, and it did so without trying to change her into “our” Zari, eventually even establishing that they are two completely different people, each with a right to exist (though not simultaneously, unfortunately). I get why the show didn’t keep both Zaris around - it would be asking a lot of Tala Ashe to play two characters, much of the time against herself, not to mention a production nightmare - but I appreciate that it didn’t decide that Zari 2.0 was the lesser version. (Also a nice touch: Behrad, though obviously fond of Zari 1.0, doesn’t think of her as “his” sister, even though to us she’s the “real” version of the character.)

Similarly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Ava moved to the Waverider full time - obviously, it would be an improvement on her playing a tinpot fascist at the Time Bureau while the show pretended that this wouldn’t really bother Sara, but at the same time Sara and Ava are both so similar in their functions and abilities that I worried they’d step on each other’s shoes. Instead, the show leaned into their differences and made the season about Ava finding her place as captain of the Waverider, a role she fills in very different ways than Sara while still doing a good job at it. It also allowed her to expand her point of view a little - bonding with Zari 2.0, or reaching out to Astra, both things that would have been outside of her comfort zone in the past. Obviously, this is setup for Ava taking over as captain in season six now that Sara has been abducted (though I hope not for very long - Legends isn’t Legends without Sara), but good on the show for taking the time to bring Ava to a point where she’s ready for this, and in a different way from Sara.

And speaking of looking ahead, the show takes the wise step of thinning out its cast. Personally, I would have kept Ray, Nora, and Mona and written off Constantine and Nate (and possibly also Gary), but either way, it’s good that the writers realized their cast was getting unwieldy. I was concerned, for example, that the show figuring out what to do with Charlie and giving her an elaborate backstory was a sign that she would stay on, but instead she leaves once that story is resolved. And I think that in an earlier season, Astra would have been positioned to stay on the Waverider after the end of the season, but instead she’s clearly a one-off character, who goes off to live her own life once the show has brought her story to a satisfying conclusion. (This also, however, means that Legends has written off two black women in a single season, not to mention Mona, and in fact has only one WOC main character remaining; I hope that’s something season six addresses.)

THE BAD:

I realize that I am very much in the minority on this, but I’m sorry: John Constantine does not belong on Legends of Tomorrow, and certainly not as a main character. Season five feels, in fact, like a perfect demonstration of this simple truth. The early parts of the season feel like two different shows, the Legends show and the Constantine show, that happen to have some points of intersection and shared characters. And even once those storylines converge, it’s notable how John’s quest for the Loom of Fate very quickly becomes Astra’s quest for it, and then Charlie’s, and how they both feel more grounded in that story and more affected by it than he was. What it comes down to, once again, is that John Constantine is a character who can’t change, and putting him on a show that is all about change and growth can’t help but feel unsatisfying for both the character and the show. Season five tries to suggest that change is possible for him - he finally comes clean with Astra and make a real apology to her; he admits that his pursuit of magic has cost him relationships and a chance at happiness; he reaches out to his friends when he thinks his life is about to end; he even quits smoking. But the character just doesn’t have that much give in it. To be John Constantine, he has to be the cynical, arrogant, self-destructive fuck-up we’ve always known. On a show like Legends of Tomorrow, that can work in small doses, but not as the main character that Constantine has been positioned as.

Though I’m glad that the show figured out something to do with Charlie before writing her off, the similarities between her story and Mick’s can’t help but shed a light on how poorly thought out this character has been, and how much her season five story is parachuted in. When Mick betrays the team at the end of season two, it’s barely a season after they’d put him off the ship for being perennially untrustworthy, leading to him becoming their nemesis. They only take him back out of pity for the decades of torture he suffered, and sympathy for the loss of his only friend, Captain Cold. His betrayal is a direct outcome of those cracks in the relationship - he does it because he wants to live in a world where he hasn’t been hurt or hurt others, and where his friend is still alive. When he changes his mind at the end of the season, it’s a culmination of two seasons of character growth, the realization that holding on to the pain in his life is worth it if it means he gets to keep the friendships he formed on the Waverider, and to continue to grow as a person - as expressed by his choice to put Snart back in his timeline, where he will become a better person (and eventually inspire Mick to do the same) but will also die. Charlie’s very similar storyline just doesn’t have this kind of depth. Neither her heel turn nor her face turn feel particularly earned, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it took the writers so long to figure out who this character even was.

For a season of Legends, this was an awfully heteronormative stretch of episodes. Sure, Sara and Ava are still center stage, and that’s fantastic. But every other romantic relationship in the season, and there are quite a few of them, is a straight one. You might blame this on the fact that season five is a housecleaning season, wrapping up dangling storylines like Ray/Nora or Nate/Zari. But even the new characters like Behrad or Lita express only opposite-sex attraction (I guess Astra never demonstrates a preference). I mean, if you give John Constantine two different love interests in a single season and they’re both women, surely something has gone terribly wrong?

And speaking of John Constantine’s love interests, is putting him together with Zari meant to make the old her’s romance with Nate look organic and true to the characters in comparison? Because I can’t think of another reason for it. Do not want.

THE UGLY:

Words cannot express how much I hate the Damien Darhk episode. Not all of it, obviously - the Mr. Rogers riff, as I said, is pretty good (and pays off handsomely later in the season), and pretty much all the Ray/Nora stuff, especially the moment where she realizes she’s not going to lie to her father about the man she loves and the life she’s chosen, are golden. But it is simply mind-boggling that after two seasons in which Nora was firmly established as the survivor of a lifetime of abuse, Legends takes an entire hour to not only rehabilitate Damien, but pretend that he was always a loving father who just made some mistakes. For crying out loud, the man fed his daughter to a demon in order to gain power for himself. It was always an interesting wrinkle in his character that he clearly saw himself as a loving, protective parent, and was even capable of some level of self-sacrifice on Nora’s behalf, but I had assumed that the show realized this was at least partly a self-serving lie. To discover that we’re actually meant to think that one act of sacrifice cancels out a lifetime of abuse is nauseating. I wanted Nora to stand up to her father, but as a victim calling out her abuser, not a loving daughter trying to renegotiate a relationship with an overprotective parent. It certainly doesn’t help that the episode features inexplicably popular wedding story tropes, such as the groom asking the bride’s father for permission to marry her, or the father trying to keep the couple from physical intimacy before the wedding, which are gross in any context but especially so here. I suppose in the end it’s all worth it to be rid of Damien once and for all, but I was squirming with discomfort and rage throughout the entire episode.

#legends of tomorrow

[miniatureclover]

Faraway Wanderers Reading Blog: Chapters 01-05

First post of my attempt at the May 2020 Asian Readathon with Faraway Wanderers!

Just some highlights here, the rest is on my wordpress blog because my ramblings got long.

Chapter 1: Tian Chuang

The first sentences use a common motif in Chinese literature and art to set the scene: our story begins at the end of winter, bridging into spring – the time when plum blossoms are seen blooming in the snow. Plum blossoms have come to symbolize resilience and perseverance as one of three plants that still flourish in the dead of winter.

Despite the emperor’s reluctance to let the last of his old friends go, he allows Zhou Zishu to accept the last nail that will seal his fate. It really is a gory self-inflicted punishment, I mean, it’s best not to think too hard on the fact that the main character is running around with seven nails punctured into his chest. Yeah. Let’s just try to ignore that going forward (also, don’t ask how, suspension of disbelief activated haha).

When I read this chapter a few months ago, I didn’t pay the setting much mind, but looking back on it those plum blossoms really set the scene – marking both a beginning and an end, enduring hardship and adversity to blossom.

Chapter 2: Chance Encounter

A short explanation is in order. Most wuxia stories are more grounded in realism and centered around martial arts, but the whole internal force, meridians, and acupuncture points are also an integral part of many wuxia stories. The internal force distinguishes the average fighter from a skilled martial artist – by disrupting that flow of internal energy, a person can be paralyzed or crippled. That’s more or less how the wuxia genre has been since it was popularized by Jin Yong’s works.

After some exposition on how Zhou Zishu walked out of there alive when most figuratively drop dead on the spot, we are brought along his new journey outside the spying life to…creep around people’s properties, drink wine, and bask in his newfound freedom. He also does a really bad impression of a beggar, despite the looks, because he’s not actually looking for handouts therefore puzzling all the people on the street except for a certain man who correctly guesses that Zhou Zishu is merely sunbathing.

An introspective piece reveals a bit more about our MC: ambitious and arrogant in his youth, but at the end of all his efforts there really isn’t much to show for it. He pretty much gave up his youth in service to his country, and “…anything he ever owned had to become compensation for the acts he committed”. The overarching theme according to reviews is atonement for past deeds, and two chapters into the story there have already been two references to this sort of karmic retribution (the emperor being all alone after ascending to the throne being the other).

Chapter 3: Abandoned Shrine

In which we find out that Zhou Zishu is a bit of a child inside. More accurately, he’s a dying man with no fucks left to give, who wants to live out his final days enjoying life as he never had a chance to before. He’s a bit aimless, though, and flippant about death, even his own, which is only appropriate given his former occupation. Despite his childish way of provoking the fisherman for his entertainment and enjoying his newfound ability to curse whenever he wants to, he is naturally observant, picking up on the fact that the fisherman is likely hiding some shady business, otherwise he wouldn’t be so rude and scare off customers.

As is typical of these abandoned shrine sideplots, the three people are running from their pursuers – who are after the kid in the group, a kid who makes the impulsive decision to leap into battle like a suicidal lemming. Ah, youth.

Zhou Zishu thinks it a coincidence that he keeps running into the same people today, as this marks the third time he’s seeing the girl in purple who threatened to poison a guy who for all she knew was just a random beggar. Personally, I’d been kind of suspicious at this point but that’s just me.

Chapter 4: The Chivalrous

We really need to hit the names before this gets more confusing, but the girl in purple. Is she following an archetype so far? Yes, but I do love her flippant attitude and she can hold her own in a fight. Always stan kickass self-confident girls. She is definitely a prime example of ‘cool but maybe get far away before you get murdered on a whim’ kind of character though.

Anyways, Zhou Zishu was not looking for the start of an adventure, nor a babysitting gig, but it has come calling him in the form of a dying man’s plea to deliver the kid he’s escorting. And this is where it gets interesting. The fisherman tries to guilt trip him by pulling the ‘it’s for your descendants and reincarnation’ card.

I appreciate when characters have a belief system that matches the time period. It’s easy to force characters to adopt modern mindsets, but realistically most people raised and living in X culture for their whole life would share a similar set of values and beliefs. Even if the writer or reader doesn’t believe in reincarnation, the characters definitely would.

So, Zhou Zishu accepts the fisherman’s request and the man dies, at peace (and cursing him if he fails in his task lol). But then the girl in purple asks for his name and this awesome spymaster, master of disguise…gives her the name Zhou. Zhou Xu. Zhou Xu??? Hello, that’s 1) your real last name and 2) ‘xu’ is kinda similar to ‘shu’ (I think – I’m awful at Mandarin pronunciations so I could be misinterpreting). Anyway, what was he thinking?? I know that his real name was kept a secret all these years, but still. The girl already said her master knew he was suspicious.

Chapter 5: The Evils

Just a friendly reminder that Zhou Zishu is basically wandering around the world with a skintight mask on and nails embedded in his chest which cause him excruciating pain at night. Last chapter, we were also reminded that he basically has no internal energy left, which surprised Gu Xiang when he grabbed her wrist. In this chapter, we learn that he’s fading fast due to the nails acting up.

Also, slight spoiler: her master is the main love interest of the story, so the bit about him visiting an old lover to have a one night fling is actually kind of refreshing. A lot of stories make its main characters inexperienced in terms of romance and/or sex before getting together in the story, which is fine, except it’s so popular that it kind of sends an ick message. So, kudos.

In conclusion:

Zhou Zishu is not my favorite protagonist ever, but he doesn’t annoy me, and I like the theme of redemption for past deeds and his drive to leave his old life behind and atone for those sins to the point of severe personal harm. It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds. And hopefully the next 5 chapters will have the main love interest in them lol.

#faraway wanderers #tianyake #reading blog

[mistiedwagonfyre]

M(erry) Monday: Just Some Get to Know You Stuff...

So I got these from moonysmind so I should probably @ them... 

@moonysmind-blog

Ok, let's get this party started! 

1. Do you prefer writing with black or blue pen?

Blue if I'm writing something, black if I'm outlining a paper. But overall, black pens are my go-to just because I have more of them. I seriously need to stock up on blue pens... Also, who uses a red pen for anything other than corrections just because that's the way they've been taught? 

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or the city?

The Country. Or somewhere in the middle. I just feel like I'd be able to manage less people over more people and get to know them more personally. And, let's be honest, the country has gorgeous skies and sprawling fields and meadows. And it feels like you could take a deep breath and just absorb the atmosphere. 

3. If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?

Balance. It would help in everything because yours truly is a ball of clumsy fluff.

4. Do you drink your tea or coffee with sugar?

Heh, I drink hot chocolate with marshmallows so...

5. What was your favourite book as a child?

Anything I could get my hands on. I. Love. Books. My favorite series as a kindergartener was the Magic Tree House tho.

6. Do you prefer baths or showers?

Depends on my mood. Baths are for when I've got tons of time to just relax  and get my mind off things and showers remind me of rain and I love them too. I take showers more often but that doesn't mean anything.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which would you choose?

This is a hard one cuz I love all things mystical and magical... 

My immediate thought was a dragon but they get killed a lot in the myths and they're almost always stuck guarding something. Then I was like, ok then. What about a phoenix? So ya, I'd be a phoenix. Don't get me wrong, I'd totally go with all the mythical creatures and just cycle through them all, just if I had to choose just one it'd be a phoenix. Maybe, since I'd technically live forever, I could meet every single mythical creature ever. That'd be pwetty cool...

8. Do you prefer reading paper or electronic books?

Paper. It's what I've grown up with. I know, classy me. Also, there is nothing quite like the smell of a new book. Just sayin'.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing?

Punny t-shirts. All I'm gonna say.

10. Do you like your name? Would you ever change it?

Yes. If I had to change it, I'd love to be Reyna or Luna. Otherwise, I'm keeping it.

11. Who is a mentor to you?

Mostly myself. I taught myself to draw, anyhow. If not me, my mom or my newest art teacher or my neighbor. 

12. Would you ever want to be famous? If so, what for?

Yes and no. I want to inspire people (whether with art or my quirky personality) but don't want the pressure that popularity and fame brings. 

13. Are you a restless sleeper? 

If being a night owl counts as restless, then yes. If being a deep sleeper when I am actually asleep doesn't, then no.

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic?

Considering I like guys who are chivalrous and funny... yes?

15. Which element best represents you?

Water. I'm chill until all my suppressed emotions rush out. You can't hold back the ocean forever. And you can't prevent the inevitable: Me being weird. Just ask my sister, she thinks I'm insane (which is probably accurate). Also, I may seem shallow on the surface, but I can actually be very deep sometimes. I could go on and on about my relationship with water, but that's a tale for another time.

16. Who do you want to be closer to?

Everyone. I love strengthening relationships with people. It makes the group stronger as a whole.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment?

Always.

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory.

I'd love too, but then storyteller Mistie will appear and this list will become infinitely longer. You'll have to ask me in my questions tab if you really want to hear one. 

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten?

Can't decide which is weirder: Watermelon with taco seasoning or raw onion with mustard... Both are equally delicious in the summertime at a BBQ.

20. What can you see outside your bedroom window?

A ladder, some rocks, and a dead vole. My old room had a much better view... 

21. What are you most thankful for?

My Savior

22. Do you like spicy food?

Not particularly, no. 

23. Have you ever met someone famous?

Alex Boyé. He went to a really unsanitary restaurant before he came to our house one time and puked all over our newly waxed floors. I feel bad for him. Everyone but him knew not to eat at that runofthemill A&W on the way up. He still put on a mini concert for us tho and that was pretty considerate of him, because he did it even though he can't have felt like doing it.

24. Do you keep a diary or journal?

Yup. I've got entries from back in kindergarten, amazingly. Granted, back then I wrote in pictures.

25. Do you prefer to use pen or pencil?

Pencil. I'm human, I make mistakes.

26. What is your star sign?

Well, I was a Pisces. But then they discovered that there are more stars in the sky, just like there are more fishes in the sea, and just bunched a bunch of Pisces together so now I'm Aquarius. I'm still a Pisces at heart tho.

27. Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy?

Crunchy. Better texture. Soggy cereal is oatmeal in my mind and if you want oatmeal, you actually make oatmeal, not let your cereal sit out for who knows how long. 

28. What would you want your legacy to be?

Legacy is a tricky thing. You've gotta know what people are gonna think of you down the line. I want mine to be simple: she wasn't afraid of who she was and what others would think of that. She was herself, and that's all that matters. I feel like that's the best legacy I could have for the future generations who will grow up in a world of trial and tribulation.

29. Do you like reading? What was the last thing you read?

ABSOLUTELY! I just finished Lodestar from Keeper of the Lost Cities. I shoulda read these books years ago but they're still fan-freaking-tastic! 

30. How do you show someone you love them?

I guess my love language is acts of service or whatever. So I'd probably serve them and do tons of sweet things for them. 

31. Do you like ice in your drinks?

No, it makes it all watery. Blegh.

32. What are you afraid of?

Lots of things. I just only realize when they come along and forget what they are afterwards. Sure, it may seem nice, but it makes the terror of coming into contact with them once more infinitely more terrorizing. But bugs are extremely horrifying. And so are arachnids.

33. What is your favourite scent?

Rain with freshly mowed grass and newly printed books at a campfire with Smores by the seashore. No one will ever be able to create this magnificent scent. 

34. Do you address older people by their first or last name?

Depends on how close we are.

35. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life?

Does this mean that everything is free? Well I'm gonna stockpile food and stuff and then ship them off to 3rd world countries. I'd try to save as many lives as possible. Or I could go there in person to deliver said goods... Yup. I've decided that that's what I'm gonna do!

36. Do you prefer swimming in pools or in the ocean?

Pools have a veil of safety but the ocean is much more beautiful and alive. Also, the smell of chlorine is gross. And the taste. Blegh.

37. What would you do if you found $50 on the ground?

If it looks old and worn and dirty like it's been there a while, imma take it. Chances are whoever lost it has been long gone so I can actually take that $50 w/o feeling guilty. Otherwise I'd leave it there.

38. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did you make a wish?

Heh, I used to wish on airplanes, satellites, and planets because I thought they were 'special stars'.

39. What is one thing you would want to teach your children?

To be kind, even when it is inconvenient. I don't know how many times someone has held the door open for me even when it seemed much more convenient for them to just go inside where it is warm and just let me open the stupid door on my own. 

Maybe I'd teach them that even the smallest acts can have the biggest impact. One of the two. Probably both.

40. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it?

Heh, you're talkin' to the girl who doesn't want her ears pierced. No way in heck am I getting a tattoo.

41. What can you hear right now?

Music and the sound of my thoughts.

42. Where do you feel the safest?

In a book.

43. What is one thing you want to overcome/conquer?

Darkness and fear.

44. If you could travel back to any era, which would you choose?

The one with Michelangelo, Leonardo, and all those other guys that the ninja turtles were named after.

45. What is your most used emoji?

It's not even an emoji. It is literally XD. Either that or (^^) 

46. What is your favourite season? Why?

Torn between winter (snow), spring (life coming into bloom), and fall (all the pwetty colors).

47. How would you spend your ideal day?

On a window seat during a thunderstorm either sketching or reading a book all wrapped up in a blanket. Preferably with a cat. Sipping warm apple cider or hot chocolate with marshmallows.

48. Describe yourself using one word.

Me.

49. What do you regret the most?

Not realizing certain things sooner.

50. Invent your own word. What does it mean?

Crushyblushy (adj. n.)

The general mannerisms an individual enacts around people that they like (specifically in crush and/or love situations).

syn: awkward, quirky, shy, blushy

ant: confident, flirty, aplomb, able

#all about me #50 things #get to know the artist #get to know the blogger #get to know me #reblog #me #just me #hi #quirky #dwagon #mistie #love y'all #mistie monday #monday #merry monday

[siriuslycollins-blog]

Parenting 101 For Rockstar Dads

CH. 3- The One Where Everything Is Not Okay Pt 1

Warnings: medical malpractice, child birth, loss of blood, and death

Nessa’s pregnancy wore on throughout the fall and into the winter and spring. Jared and Nessa were having a girl and they had settled on the name Kaela, Kaela Dominique Leto; a lot had changed from the time of the pregnancy announcement such as Jared and Nessa turning the second bedroom of their apartment they used for storage into a nursery, Jared’s older brother Shannon crashing on their couch and Nessa being officially on maternity leave from school and work. She hated it, and with Jared and Shannon at work, she was absolutely bored. With summer in full swing, it was way too hot to do anything, and Nessa had very little energy. Her days consisted (sometimes) making breakfast for herself, Jared and Shannon, watching soap operas as she painted or knitted, fetching the mail, and concluding the day with a treat from the ice cream truck.

Jackie would come by after work or practice to keep her company until the guys came home. One Monday evening, she had stopped by after dance practice while Jared and Shannon were out at the laundromat. “Oh Nessa, I swear on everything I love, I’ll beat the fuck out of Lisa Russell! She gettin’ on my last damn nerve,” Jackie vented. When Nessa announced her pregnancy to the SUSLA dance team, her backup, Lisa had taken her place. It should’ve been a surprise that Lisa had even made the team in the first place, seeing as she couldn’t dance for shit, but she had rich parents, so it wasn’t really.

“The other girls are threatening to quit the team until you come back.” Nessa listened as her best friend cursed Lisa to the high heaven, never once losing steam until Shannon walked in carrying his laundry basket. The two of them were definitely checking each other out, until Jared bumped into him. “Dude, you gotta move. These mosquitos are eating me alive.” Ever since Shannon moved in, Jackie always hung around longer than necessary, and they were getting especially close.

Nessa liked the idea of Kaela’s godmother and uncle growing closer, but Jackie has a boyfriend who is absolutely wonderful, and for that reason, she only hoped that they were only getting to know each other because of the baby. Shannon plopped down in between them and threw an arm around Jackie’s side of the couch. “That’s cool, it’s not like I’m carrying your niece or anything.” They completely ignored her as they launched into their conversation; no matter how many times Jared and Nessa tried to include themselves in the conversation, Shannon and Jackie always managed to drift back to their own world. Jackie ended up staying for dinner, and the only time she and Shannon stopped talking was when either of them took a bite of their pizza.

“So Jackie, how’s Will doin’?” Nessa asked; she briefly wondered if her friend forgot that she even had a boyfriend. “Oh! Uh... he’s okay. Just really busy with summer practices so I haven’t been seeing him much lately.” Nessa saw the disappointed look on Shannon’s face but he still asked, “who’s Will?” “Just a guy she’s been seeing for a while.” He didn’t say anything after that, and the rest of dinner was quiet and a bit awkward. 

Jackie let at almost eight o’clock, saying she had to get up early, which was a lie, and even after she left Shannon was still quiet. “Shan, are you okay?” Jared asked his brother carefully. “What? Yeah, I’ll be fine, I’m just tired. I just want to go to bed. Had a long day.” Nessa and Jared went in the back to their bedroom and got ready for bed. “See Jared! I told you he has a thing for her! And she definitely likes him too!”

“Nessa baby, we’ve been through this. Shan and Jackie are going to be Kaela’s godparents. Of course they’re getting close.” Nessa only rolled her eyes as she put her hair up and put on her bonnet. “You saw how upset he was when I brought up Will.” She wasn’t even sure if Jackie even liked Will the way he liked her as she always seemed annoyed by him. “Let’s just go to sleep. You have your last doctor’s appointment before Kaela comes, first thing in the morning.”

Nessa still couldn’t believe that she was going to be a mom, that she was going to bring a child into the world with the love of her life; absolutely mind boggling. Everything was ready for her, the crib assembled and filled with stuffed animals and other things she might need, and a closet filled with pink outfits. She went into labor on July 13th, at 5:30 am which threw Jared and Shannon into a frenzy. They were both running around like chickens with their heads cut off as they made last minute plans; Shannon grabbing the hospital bag and putting in more things that might be needed and starting the car while Jared called everyone he knew. Turns out that Kaela was a very impatient baby, and by the time they made it to the hospital, Nessa was just about ready to push.

Finally, at 7:30 a.m. Kaela Dominique Leto made her grand entrance, weighing in at four pounds even. She had brown skin, a head of dark curls and the biggest brown eyes Jared had ever seen, and for the second time in his life, he fell in love. The placenta was delivered soon after, and that’s when everything went to hell. Nessa’s regular doctor was out of town due to a family emergency, so her replacement was a balding white man in fifties who brushed off Nessa’s concerns about bleeding after delivering the placenta. “Don’t worry Miss Arceneaux, the bleeding will stop soon.” The doctor had the nurses put some gauze to stop the blood flow but Nessa was losing her color and energy, fast. Jared was getting pissed; clearly there was something wrong with his girlfriend. Why wasn’t the doctor taking this seriously?

“Dr. Archibald, there is something wrong with her! Do something!” By this time Constance and Jackie had made it to the room, only to see Shannon holding Jared back as he was yelling at the doctor with Nessa running a finger over Kaela’s soft cheek; neither women had ever seen Nessa look like this. Of course it was normal to not look your best after giving birth, but it looked like someone had dimmed the lights from within. Nessa gave them a weak smile and they slowly walked over to her. Shannon had escorted Jared and Dr. Archibald into the hall, closing the door so the women wouldn’t have to hear it.

“Nessa, she’s absolutely beautiful,” Constance whispered. She couldn’t believe that she was a grandmother, but here she was, holding her new granddaughter Kaela. Surely this had to be a dream; she and Jackie took turns holding the baby, and it was a while before Shannon and Jared came back. They had plastic bags of food and they sat them down on the rolling table. “Nessa baby, you need to eat something, get your strength back up,” Jared told her.

Eating seemed to do something good for her, and her blood pressure seemed to return to normal after drinking a few ounces of orange juice. Nessa’s family came later in the day to fawn over the baby while Jared went to see about a birth certificate; when he came back, his eyes were red, he looked tired and a piece of paper in his hand. Jared looked over and saw his daughter in one of those makeshift cribs, sleeping peacefully. “Jay, why are you crying? Everything is fine. I’m okay,” Nessa assured him. He wiped the remaining tears away with the back of his hand and began kissing her face. 

“I thought I almost lost you Nessa. It was horrible.” Jared was shaken to his core, and the thought of losing the love of his life scared the shit out of him; he wanted to live out the rest of his life with her. Which reminded him... he still had the ring in his pocket, a ring he’s had for months. Of course the two had never talked about marriage, Jared had been too chicken to bring it up, but now that their daughter was here, now was a perfect time. “You’re not gonna lose me Jay.”

Jared felt like crying again, but his eyes were sore and he didn’t know if he could produce more tears; he felt like he’d done enough crying to last him twenty years. “Nessa, it was bad, and that doctor, I wanted to fucking punch him.” He could feel his throat close up again, and he focused on Shannon holding Kaela, with Jackie begging for a turn again. “It’s my turn Shannon. You’ve had her for ten minutes already.” Constance, Jared and Nessa had to step in to get the two to stop bickering.

“Come on you two, knock it off! She’s only three hours old and these are not the first sounds she should be hearing!” Constance’s tone was enough to make Shannon be quiet after Jackie called him a name. “Shan, Jackie’s right, you’ve had your turn. Give the baby to her.” He settled his niece in Jackie’s arms who had the biggest smile on her face. A few hours later, everyone had to go back to work, except for Jared who had some time off, so now he and Nessa finally had time to themselves to admire their daughter alone. 

The new parents couldn’t believe that their baby was real, they were actually looking at her, and yet it still felt like they could wake up at any moment. Kaela was, without a doubt the most perfect baby in the world; as Jared watched over his sleeping daughter, he felt a flash of anger. Here he is, holding this miracle he helped create, the thought of leaving her behind too painful to even fathom, and yet Tony Bryant had no problem leaving his two boys behind. He looked over at Nessa, who was staring at him holding Kaela. She looked tired, tired but happy, and Jared knew that now was the perfect time to ask her to spend the res of her life with him.

“Nessa, I love you so much, I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I won’t question it.” He sat Kaela back down in her cradle thing so he could get the ring from his pocket, and when Nessa realized what he was doing, she gasped. “Jared, are you doing what I think you’re doing?” Jared didn’t answer her, instead getting down on one knee at the side of her bed. “Vanessa Dominique Arceneaux, will you marry me?” 

Nessa had a smile on her face, the kind of smile that reached the eyes. “Of course I’ll marry you! I love you so much!” Jared slipped the ring on her finger, and they kissed as Kaela made some noises in her cradle. “Yes, pretty girl, your momma and daddy are getting married,” Jared cooed at the newborn. Jared didn’t expect that their celebration would abruptly end.

Nessa died two days later in her sleep sometime in the early morning. Jared was awoken by the heart monitor flatlining, thinking it was his alarm clock back home before he remembered where he was. It was dark in the room, the curtains drawn and the only light in the room was the monitor and the little sliver of golden light under the door coming from hall. Jared leaped from the couch and into the hallway. “Nurse, nurse! I need a nurse!” The monitor had to be wrong, she was only sleeping...

Doctors and nurses began to rush into the room and Jared was quickly jostled about as they tried to get to her; it took two security guards and a male nurse to calm him down, to assure him that they were doing everything they could to revive her. He was dragged into the waiting area kicking and screaming and crying. He tried to take his mind off what was happening by pacing the floor, listening to the early morning news, but none of that was helping. It was another fifteen minutes before a nurse came into the waiting area to tell him the news, but she didn’t need to, he could see it on her face.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Leto. We tried everything we could. There was one time where we tried the paddles and it worked, but only for a second.” Jared could feel the hot tears streaming down his face and he dropped back into a chair, bending over and grabbing his head, then rocking back and forth. He knew that he should go back in and say goodbye to Nessa but he couldn’t, it would be too real, but his feet moved on their own accord. There she was, his new fiancée lying on her back, eyes closed as if she was sleeping peacefully. Jared grabbed the hand he put the ring on, squeezing it and he just cried.

taglist: @llfd1977 @blackreaders-assemble @itsmeauntie

#parenting 101 for rockstar dads #jared leto x daughter

[acequeenking]

At Times, Love Is...(T)

Summary: 25 One-Sentence Ficlets of various scenes through Hades and Persephone’s marriage.  Written for the Hadestown week on Tumblr for the Favorite Couple prompt; rated T for some implied sexual references. At Ao3 here. 

At times, Love is....

1. [...a final image of the sky, disappearing as he swept her down to the world below]

Her first thought of the Underworld was that she missed the skies above; there was no sky there but dirt, and for a moment after she went down with him, she could see why her mother had forbidden her from ever coming here, but then Hades had taken her hand and led her deeper into his kingdom and she knew it would be home, because he was there.

2. [...an island, carved by shaking, desperate hands]

Hades knew that the Underworld was not what she wanted, even at the start, but he thought once that she might get used to it, if he made it suit her — he made tropical islands in the darkness, Lethe lapping at their shores, and dared to hope it would make her happy — but he caught the way her mouth frowned as she looked up at his false sun, even if his stubborn pride wouldn't let him admit to himself that she'd never stay with him for good.

3. [...A tradition among Gods, or sacred rites even more ancient than that]

It was tradition, even among Gods, to have a wedding celebration — but Persephone couldn't say that she minded the way he made her his wife, pressing her into the dirt of her mother's garden, raining desperate kisses on her mouth, tracing molten gold into a ring around her finger.

4. [...a moonlight smile, teeth glinting in the dark]

For a while, they were happy in moonlight; six months, give or take, but sooner or later, she'd start tapping out a melody he couldn't follow, and he'd be left watching her saunter out the door with a kiss on his cheek, telling him she would be back in the fall.

5. [...a heart, stopped and still]

It wasn't that she wanted to leave him, it was that she had to — she had a job to do, and she couldn't do it underground; he never noticed that when she left, her heart stayed, dead and buried in the ground with him.

6. [...subtle gifts delivered on a nondescript Wednesday]

Every so often, a little trinket found its way upstairs to her, carried on a crow's wing; no one could figure out exactly how he'd done it, and there was foolish male pride in that: after the third broach he'd made winged its way to Persephone one summer, his rarely-seen seasonal sister paid him a visit, fire on her mouth as she told him to stay away, that he was a distraction — still, Persephone wore them all coming back in the fall, and seeing her in his handiwork, he felt seized with a passion that could break Olympus wide open, on her command alone.

7. [...an image of an unknown and unwanted grandfather]

She never knew her grandfather, not really; he'd been in Tartarus since long before she had been born and no one up above talked about the rebellion anymore — but she knew him immediately when she saw his picture at the Museo del Prado during one of her trips up top; grandfather, silver-hair slick with sweat as he devoured the world, eyes mad; Saturn devouring his son, the caption said, and she realized which son it was and left, sick with shock; winter came early that year, and she held him for a month in their bed, hands curled around his many scars, trying not to notice that the possessive madness that gripped Hades often looked all too similar.

8. [...a jump into a lake, one hand held in the other]

She could never get him to the ocean, but she took him to a lakeshore once — he'd stood there fully dressed in a black swimsuit (and it was a suit in every sense of the word despite his grumbling insistance of how naked he felt), awkward despite his bulk, but she'd pushed him into his brother's domain and saw him crack just a hint of a smile before he pulled her down with him into the sweet freshwater, holding her close as they bobbed in the water's current, exploring a new domain together.

9. [...Failing to stop yourself from going over a cliff, even knowing you should]

He knew he shouldn't resent it when she was gone but he did, always, and over the years, the accusations thrummed hotter and hotter in his mind; in spring, the poison built up in his blood, and even knowing it was driving her away, he could not stop it from spilling from his lips.

10. [...Breaking your own heart, and trying desperately to mend the cracks]

She didn't want to go home anymore because she could always see those months above ground burning with a jealous fire in his eyes; he could not follow and he judged her for going without him, and the guilt that burned deep in her heart was fire hotter than any fury he could produce.

11. [...An entire winter spent wishing things were different, somehow]

They made up, after a while — as they always did, when she softened enough to drape herself over him, to promise him that he was her lord and her star, and he knew it was his fault and that he should apologize but it was easier to simply be relieved when she made the effort for him, to kiss her his wordless apologies and hope she understood. 12. [...whispered rumors, following in your wake]

Persephone hated Olympus because everyone threw themselves at her as if she was a particularly fine piece of meat; she wasn't interested in being someone's side dish, and when they tried to convince her by insisting Hades (conspicuously never on the guest list) was doing the very same in hell, she laughed, refusing to be baited by the rumors — Persephone knew death had the patience to wait forever.

13. [...i miss you, whispered by one absent party to another]

When she was gone, Hades turned to countless inventions as ways to keep busy, and tried not to think of his wife, free from the yoke of him around her shoulders as she laughed her way through the upper world and the viper's nest called Mount Olympus — but the simple tune and steady beat of machinery did nothing to drown out the sound of jealous laughter in his mind.

14. [...the goal, but it is hard to reach]

When she came home, he started to make little changes; he had started building a furnace, then a mill, then a refinery — "I wanted to make it a little livelier for you, lover," he said, and she tried to ignore how profane it felt, to hear an above-ground whistle yell for dead workers.

15. [...yesterday, obvious in hindsight]

He was frustrated by her complete inability to understand how he was doing this for her, all of this, for her, trying to make his underworld into something that resembled the modern world up top: factories, light, heat, life — and still she frowned and still Hades wanted nothing but to go back to that garden, all those years ago, and try again, and still, as crafty as he was, he had no idea how to do that.

16. [...shopping for something you cannot buy]

Sometimes, as a distraction, she had him take her shopping upstairs; he took pride in dressing her in all the fineries that he could afford, which was all of them — but nothing had made both their hearts tremble so much as when he had tried to buy her a diamond ring to replace her golden one, and she refused, preferring the one he made her with his own fingers to anything he could buy.

17. [...coffee in a summer cafe, sweet and bitter]

He tried to go up for a date with her on the other side when he was strained, when the lightning in his blood needed an outlet because he was ready to burn up from missing her so much; blinking into sunlight he hated, sweating in a coat that felt too heavy for the weather, he thought about nothing but how much he hated the upper world —  but then she was there and she pulled him into a dark, cool cafe and he knew he never loved her more as she smiled and handed him a frothy latte, the color the same gorgeous cafe-brown as her skin — of course, it was a lovely distraction, but all too soon the underworld called him home, and he came to a cold bed with an ache inside nothing but her could fill.

18. [...friends, family, and the little lies we tell]

She wanted kids and he wanted kids but nothing grew in the realm of the dead, and she knew if she had a sunshine child with him, she would have to stay longer in the light, and knew he would die of jealous neglect in the darkness; when he started calling their charges their children instead, she went with it, even knowing that it was a lie, and tried hard not to show her disgust — but he, who missed nothing, saw it anyway and then things got much, much worse.

19. [...a horse, so desperate for the feedbag it never notices the blinders sliding over its eyes]

At their most fragile point, Hades seduced Eurydice in a vivid revenge fantasy; wanted to make his simultaneously beloved and bereaved wife cry as he rutted the girl like his brothers had done to other women, but in the end, he couldn't go through with it —  she was little more than a mare trying to eek out oats, the dumb child, and he passed his hand over her and sent her to the factories with only his shame on his mind.

20. [...champion over all, for a moment, anyway]

She knew Orpheus would win over Hades heart, because he was so much of what Hades had been, once —  an awkward but passionate thing, pleading his case for a love he held beyond compare; when she clung to her King's arm, she felt his heart race, and knew a taste of victory —  Orpheus did too, before his own doubts snatched it away, history repeating itself in a bitter note; mortals didn't get to try again, as they could.

21. [...cat-like grace, predatory and powerful in surprising places]

She was like a cat, his wife, stalking his bed after the boy left; he watched her as she carefully unfolded her clothing, sitting naked and alone on their last winter's night together, but however distracting she was, he couldn't be dissuaded from his mission: "I want to start over with you," he'd blurted out, and she'd purred, stalking him like the prey he'd always been as her lips closed over his, and the words me too were whispered into his scars as she pulled off his clothing and his doubts in one wide swipe, and he said "I'm sorry," as he took her down and she gasped quietly, and their ancient rings clinked against one another in the darkness as they whispered I love yous in thousands of languages, and they both knew it was different, this time.

22. [...a pretty picture]

They'd awoken on the vernal equinox, curled up in one another's arms for the first time in years, and Persephone took the time to admire every bit of him as he slept; relief at his drowsy smile flooded through every part of her — in those last hours, she threaded her fingers through his hair, and he murmured half-awake but wholly-felt love-songs into her breast, and she decided maybe winter could be a bit longer this year.

23. [...evening-song, melancholy but full of promise]

When the time came for them to part — in May, and only because all-father Zeus had loudly insisted — he held her close and asked if maybe she'd mind if he took her out for a dance upstairs during the summer-time and he kept this promise by showing up uninvited on Olympus a couple of months later; they danced the tango past his gawking brothers and her tutting mother and all the whispers about them, and wound up horizontally giggling in one of Hera's peacock gardens, and he couldn't think of a time he was happier in the summertime than that.

24. [...the sound of the heart at a loved one's arrival, akin to bumblebee's buzzing]

The feeling builds in her gradually each summer, a thrumming vibration that buzzes through her soul like a hummingbird's wings, vibrates like the wail of the train as it come down the line; when he throws open the door, it's all she can do not to explode with energy into his arms.

25. [...an alarm clock, disabled]

He's slowed down Hadestown, stripped it until nothing is left but the kingdom of dirt he led her to all those years ago, with its dripping caverns and asphodel fields; its gloomy and cold but there is still warmth between them, and she regrets nothing of it, and when he asks if there's anything here she likes, she takes his hand and just leads him deeper down, way down under the ground —  after all, it's not perfect, but it's always been home.

 Notes:

The prompts were borrowed from One Sentence Only's Table 25/C, but I bent the rules a bit to add in the structure: each of the headings is meant to follow "At Times, Love Is..." and the prompts are the words in bold.

The picture Persephone sees in the Museo Del Prado in #7 is this one by Francisco Goya (warning: this painting is really graphic and not for sensitive audiences, which is why I'm only linking it here). It's not mentioned what son it is, but I'm taking creative license in saying that it's Hades. *shrug* 

#Hadestown #hadestownweek #Hades #Persephone #Hades/Persephone #my fic #AQK writes fanfiction

[bennguinfest]

Spring 2019 Fan Fest Prompt List

Hey fan-festers! 

We’re happy to say that we received 81 prompts this time around, and we spent the last few days distilling all those amazing and creative prompts down to a list of 63 prompts! (If you’re keeping count, that’s far more than last year’s 48!) 

As with last year, we had some repeat prompts and prompts that were similar enough that it made sense to condense them under one item. Additionally, most of the prompts we distilled down to a few words for the sake of having a concise list! Again, like last year’s fest, we’re providing the full text of the original prompts under the cut, in case you’re looking for more details to get started!

You’re free to create any kind of fanwork based on the below prompts! There’s no minimum word count and no rules on what to create, or even how many - if you want to combine prompts, that’s cool! If you’re called to make more than one thing, that’s awesome too! The only limit is that this fest runs from now until April 15th - so if you’re creating something, make sure you post it and tag it with #bennguinfanfest so we can share it to this tumblr! If you’re posting to AO3, the collection is now open for submissions as well, so make sure to include your work there so everyone can find it!

One final thing: even if you didn’t submit prompts, feel free to participate and join us on the discord! We’ve set up a discord server here: bennguinfest on discord to stay connected, inspire each other, and have fun! It’s a great group and really active, so don’t be shy!

That’s it! On to the prompt list!

Matchmaking dogs

Space AU

Birthday gifts

Coming out/being together in the NHL

Acting like a couple (but they’re not actually a couple)

Tyler as a WAG

Transported to a parallel universe

Abducted by aliens

Superhero/Superpowers AU

Amnesia from an injury

Soulmate AUs: Color-based, name-on-wrist

Thirst follow/Met online

Drag AU

Time loops

Alternate histories

Cop AU

Reality show AU (Survivor, the Bachelor, Married At First Sight)

Jamie Poppins/Single dad AU

Supernatural races (vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, etc.)

Omegaverse: Courting

Delivery boy/Uber driver AU

Tyler gets traded back to Boston

Breaking up & making up

Omegaverse: Bonding drama

Boring office desk job

Road trips

Protective Jamie defending Tyler

College/University AU

Tyler tries to be Jamie’s wingman

Lites’s comments affecting the boys

Taking care of a sick hockey player

Cuddle pile/team bed fic

Harry Potter AU

Fire alarm meet-cute

DnD/Hockey Mashup

De-aged after a fight

Bakery/Tattoo Artist AU

Friends with benefits - and then with feelings

Zombie AU

Homeless AU

Nerds are hot/competency kink

Omegaverse: scents

YouTube channel AU

Bridal shop meet-cute

Beard appreciation

Tornado warning

Figure skater mpreg

Self-conscious Jamie

Wing!fic

Winning the cup and a kiss on the ice

Lifeguard AU

Haunted farm

Animal daemons

Surprise/sudden parenting

Jealousy from dating/flirting with someone else

Secret relationship and almost getting caught

Long-lost childhood friends

"Come here."

“Close the door.”

“I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“It’s three in the morning and you want me to do what?”

“You could’ve died.”

“I thought you were dead.

Full text of the prompts under the link! If you have any questions, feel free to send us an ask - and as always, happy creating! 

1. Matchmaking dogs: Tyler’s dogs want to get their human with a certain cow-eyed captain

“well this is really awkward considering the last time we saw each other, i was screaming at you to never talk to me again, but like, my dog recognized you all the way across the park and literally dragged me over here because she misses you so hi” AU

2. Space AU (ex. Star Trek, Firefly, or something else entirely)

3. It's Tyler's birthday and at first Jamie gives off the feeling that he's forgotten and this hurts Tyler but it turns out that that Jamie wakes Tyler up at midnight on his birthday with two tickets to an offseason trip

4. I want a fic that REALLY captures what it would be like if two NHL players were to come out in 2019. I'm talking teammate reactions, press reactions, social media, family, the whole shebang. I wanna see the real raw reactions and the struggle the guys would have to go through. I would also loooove if you could fit Jamie proposing to Tyler in there somewhere but it isn't a necessity.

Jamie has a hard time dealing with how public Tyler’s life is, with the insta stories and with random people filming him all the time. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before their relationship is exposed because of how much Tyler is in the public eye. Jamie doesn’t want to break up but it seems like that’s the only choice he has. He doesn’t want to do this so much that he calls a press conference and comes out of the closet.

Jamie and Tyler have been dating since 2014 and he’s tired of hiding it. So with Jamie’s consent he posts a cute photo of them being a couple and writes a heartfelt monologue about their story. And the whole hockey community blows up about it. And it’s kinda about how they deal with being and out couple and Tyler posting obnoxiously cute couple photos on his Instagram. Sorry this prompted is a mess I just want Tyler to be a troll and post cute cliche couple photos on Instagram of him and Jamie and the world loading their minds about it.

Jamie and Tyler come out to the team about them dating. Management wants to keep their relationship secret so they make Jamie fake date someone. And him and Tyler struggle with the stress that puts on them.

realistic consequences of being together with the team

5. Tyler and Jamie are super close but super oblivious to the fact that they act like a literal couple. Jamie has a gf and she hates the fact that it seems like Jamie cares more about Tyler than he does her.

6. Fluffy fic where Jamie still plays hockey, he meets tyler and they fall in love and tyler becomes an nhl wife/husband/boyfriend.

7. Parallel universes -- somehow Tyler (or Jamie) finds himself in an alternate universe where his life is radically different (for better or for worse) which makes him realize how much his relationship to Jamie (or Tyler) means.

waking up in the future/alternate reality fic

8. Jamie and Tyler are abducted by aliens and taken to a faraway planet where they are prisoners in a bizarro planet. Is it real or is it a nightmare though?

9. jamie and tyler are in danger and major trouble when their identities as superheroes are revealed and bad guys are after them.

powers/mutant AU (as in pick one, not all at the same time) One hides their ability from the other, and when the other finds out, its...not good

Superhero AU! Are they superhero partners? Is one of them a superhero and can't date the other because he has to keep him safe? Are they both trying to keep their secret identities secret from each other while simultaneously dating in both iterations? Up to you, or anything else!

10. Amnesia angst for the win - Jamie gets a particularly hard hit, wakes up and can remember everyone except for tyler (maybe not explicitly, say they can *remember* them, but not remember that they've been dating for eight months now) cue tyler avoiding jamie because its too hard him to be around him

11. soulmate au! people are born with blackmarks - on their hands, their faces, their skin in general - the black marks is the first place their soulmate would touch them. Jamie was born without a mark. Tyler was born with two pitch black palms. Years after tylers been traded to the stars, Jamie falls asleep, and tyler can't help but run his fingers through Jamie's hair, just once, and then he looks down at his hand and the tips of his fingers are colored, and so are the few strands of Jamie's black hair.

Soulmate au- either abo or name on wrist. No drama, just fluff!

12. Tyler thirst follows Jamie on insta. This can be hockey or non-hockey, but Jamie follows back and they start talking.

13. Rupaul’s Drag Race au. Tyler and Jamie are competing against each other but are constantly talking about how much they like each other/are attracted to each other in the confessional. They’re both single, so why not go for it? Alternatively, one is a queen and the other is a member of the pit crew.

14. groundhog day au (aka, tylers/jamies day keeps getting reset, again and again until they get together finally and wake up the next day)

15. alternate history, tyler is never traded to dallas, but they still somehow meet and fall in love anyway

16. cop AU, where in tyler the rookie transfers and get stuck with Jamie the sorta senior to show him the ropes. Jamie gets attached. And that’s...a problem, in their line of work. Or at least it is for him.

17. Survivor au- same or different tribe, as long as they’re the “showmance”

"The Bachelor" AU

Married at first sight au- either within the parameters of the actual show, or they literally get married the day they meet

18. Jamie!Poppins - tyler is a single father with a new baby and no clue of what he's going to do. enter Jamie Poppins!

19. Minotaur Jamie

The Dallas Stars are a pack of werewolves, and Tyler is the vampire that’s been traded to their team.

Shifter verse!! and ive got nothing else for this other than wanting to see tyler as a tiny lab puppy pls and thanks

20. Alpha Tyler and omega Jamie: “usually when I meet an omega I wanna bone, but with Jamie I wanna fucking hold his hand and feed him bonbons all day, what the fuck”

21. Jamie the delivery boy. Kay hear me out. Like he keeps delivering huge quantities of food to this particular house and it always seems like there should be more than one person. But there’s not. And Tyler orders. All. The. Time. Hopeful it’s jamie. But they’re both too dumb to ask each other out. Lots of pining

Uber driver! Jamie picks up Tyler from a one night stand

22. Tyler gets traded back to Boston AU - Everything hurts and nothing is okay. (except that at least one of them is retiring at the end of the season so it's actually more okay than they think) (also a future fic)

23. breakup and makeup but spanning over seasons - no cheese plots

24. Bond drama (abo) either they bond too quickly, like at the all star game or something and dont know ehat to do because theyre on different teams, or they really want to bond and its not happening as fast as they think it should

25. Boring office desk job

26. road trip to Montreal to visit Jordie

27. while out chilling at a bar celebrating a win, jamie and tyler are having a couple of drinks and when jamie gets up to go the bathroom, a drunk stranger and a couple of his friends decide to harass Tyler, upsetting him. A furiously protective Jamie intervenes and despite holding his own, Jamie is beaten up and him and tyler end up in a dumpster.

28. A University fic where Tyler is out and proud and gay and Jamie is still trying to figure out his sexuality but he's having a hard time. No homophobic Jamie tho please, just a guy trying to figure himself out. Would love if he would rely on his family throughout the fic for advice.

I’m always a sucker for college au, or masters/PhD students etc

COLLEGE AU BECAUSE WE ALL NEED MORE OF THAT IN OUR LIVES

'the cops showed up to a party we were at and chased everyone away. You and I happened to run in the opposite direction of all our friends and got lost in some dark and creepy street.’ - College AU

29. Tyler finds out Jamie is gay (outed/comes out/whatever you prefer) and embarks on a wild but good-intentioned quest to find Jamie his perfect man.

30. Tyler is hurt by Lites' comments more than one thinks and Jamie is worried when he sees Tyler crying in private.

31. sickfic? jamie taking care of tyler is- like just how pathetic is a sick hockey player?

32. team bed au omg someone pls

33. Harry Potter au but not as high school student, just something in the magical world

34. "3am and the fire alarm in our apartment building went off and you look cold here is my jacket"

35. Hockey AU but they’re all dnd races. I would love to see half-orc Jamie, and goliath Bishop, and tiefling Tyler. Please be as creative as you want with this!

Hockey AU where instead of going out, a core group of guys plays dnd in their hotel rooms while on the road. Tyler and Jamie’s characters are getting flirty in game, and it’s starting to translate outside of it as well.

36. Tyler and jamie fight - a *big* fight, and the next day Jamie suddenly got a deaged tyler on his hands and no idea how to fix it

37. Jamie owns a bakery and tylers the new tat artist next door plsplspls gimme that slow burn bullshit with this one

38. ty/jam used to have a whole friends w benefits thing that went oh-so-wrong because one (or both of them) caught feelings—as one does—and the fic is kind of that aftermath and trying to repair the broken relationship.

39. ZOMBIES

40. Homeless AU w/tyler

41. Tyler is smarter than he leads people to believe, and Jamie is into privately nerdy Tyler

42. Abo verse surrounding scents. Tyler smells like the most delicious thing Jamie has ever smelled, but he thinks he shouldn’t bond with a teammate

43. Youtube channel

44. Designer and single friend of client at a bridal shop AU

45. Beard appreciation

46. a tornado warning hits dallas and everybody is ordered to seek shelter. jamie follows tyler back to his house and hide in the basement with the dogs, frantic and terrified.

47. Tyler is a figure skater, Jamie still plays hockey. They meet and fall inlove but whoops tyler ends up pregnant. The world still isn't 100% accepting of LGBTQIA+ people and even less accepting of men getting pregnant. Tyler feels down at some point cause he has to put his career on hold. but it all ends up great in the end.

48. Jamie feels self-conscious about his ass after some chirping from opposing players and it's up to Tyler to comfort him

49. Wing!fic

50. They win the Stanley cup and kiss at centre ice

51. Jamie's a lifeguard. They meet after Tyler basically drowns himself. (It's not an excuse to have Jamie kiss him. Its *not*.)

52. Haunted farm au- Tyler is a witch that lives on a farm where extremely weird things happen. He ends up rescuing Jamie and Jamie pledges his services for one year in exchange for his life. During that year, they fall for each other hard, but there are outside forces in the farm trying to keep them apart.

53. Animal daemons

Goose daemons

54. Marshall, Cash and Gerry turn into human kids (temporarily or not), Bennguin handle being sudden parents

55. Tyler having a serious boyfriend for a while and Jamie is jealous because he wants to date Tyler but he’s not ready to come out. And he’s also upset because everyone is taking it so well and nothing has changed and he realizes he really missed out. But in the end they still get together.

56. secret relationship and how they almost get caught - many many times

57. Childhood pen pal / long distance childhood friends?

58. "Come here."

59. “Close the door.”

60. “I feel like I can’t breathe.”

61. “It’s three in the morning and you want me to do what?”

62. “You could’ve died.”

63. “I thought you were dead.”

#bennguin #bennguinfanfest #bennguin fan fest #hockey rpf

[jaimetheexplorer]

The Long Denial

I can’t help but feel that there is a lot of denial doing the rounds at the moment about the fact that the living won against the AotD and the Long Night is over. 

Partly, I understand why. I was, maybe not sure, but seriously contemplating the possibility that this season would cover time jumps spanning a long time, possibly years, given the fact that the first Long Night lasted allegedly a generation. I was expecting the motivation and underlying mythology behind the NK and the WWs to be more sophisticated and complex than “they are evil ice zombies who want to destroy humanity” (although, granted, I think there might still be something afoot there in terms of them having been created as weapons of mass destruction by the CotF in the first place - could there be a parallel with dragons here, where dragons are the “fire” equivalent of the CotF’s WWs to the Targaryens?). So it can be hard to discard years or even decades of theories, when they all seemed to make perfect sense, and maybe, some of them even more sense than what we got. I had some of my own too. 

Maybe the books will do it in a more extensive and satisfying way than concentrating it all into the NK, but it’s entirely possible that even in the books the WWs are essentially just (a more sophisticated version of ) Death coming for the living. And if the main role of the NK and the WWs *was* to be mainly just a symbol of Death coming to get the living that forced warring factions to unite against a common threat, and all those theories were really overthinking, I don’t see how this episode was so terrible in wrapping that storyline up. 

1) While in this particular season the threat was confronted and defeated in one episode, people seem to forget that this isn’t the first time we see Jon and company face the NK and his army. We had several encounters that begun way back in season 1 and 2 with the Night’s Watch plot and became increasingly bigger with Hardhome and Beyond the Wall. This was the biggest, final showdown between the living and the dead. It took literally eight seasons of preparation to manage to get someone close enough to the Night King to kill him in the right spot. It wasn’t exactly an easy feat. Maybe they could have had the battle stretch across several episodes, instead of one, but the outcome would have hardly been *that* different in the end. The buildup had been done already across the seasons.

2) Logistically speaking, it makes sense for it to end here: this was the strongest and most prepared the living were ever going to be. They were lacking Cersei’s armies, but they had everybody else and two dragons. If the Night King had won here, the survivors scrambled for a retreat south, with more and more holds falling and the AotD gaining more and more soldiers as a consequence, yes, it would have been cool to see King’s Landing and Cersei being affected as well, but the plausibility of the living winning would have been even lower and the sense of a Deus Ex Machina cop-out to defeat the Night King even bigger than people currently feel about Arya.  So I’m sure that, eventually, some (maybe different) people would have been disappointed just the same.

3) Saying “the story was always about X” doesn’t really mean anything, because that’s a personal opinion. For some people it’s about the WWs, for some people it’s about the throne, for some people it’s about power more generally, for some people it’s about legends and prophecies, for some people it’s about Jon and Daenerys... Nobody gets to decide what it is truly, ultimately about, other than the writers themselves. And my feeling is that, to them, it’s about all of these things, not one single thing being more important than the other. Which leads me to...

4) GRRM has complained in the past about not liking the fact that Tolkien glossed over the nitty gritty issues of how exactly Arargorn was going to rule after they defeated Sauron. There’s a good chance that at least part, if not all, of “A Dream of Spring” (if it ever sees the light of day), will be GRRM’s “fix it LotR fanfic” dealing with that aspect of the story. That’s why it wouldn’t surprise me if the second half of the season is indeed about human politics and what do people choose to do after surviving such a threat, just as the question before was about what they choose to do when facing it. I feel like there was an expectation that the War for the Dawn was going to last for most of the season, leaving only the final episode to wrap up the human side of things in a very classic fantasy style, with all the surviving heroes having learned the value of cooperation when facing this apocalyptic threat and therefore able to settle the issues they warred over for years fairly easily, because all the problematic characters were killed off (Cersei, Euron, the Night King). GRRM’s has always been about subverting the style and tropes of classic fantasy, so I would be more shocked had this gone down the classic path of “all the good guys put aside their issues after surviving” than what we seem to be getting. 

5) The story itself has warned us about prophecy since the very beginning. That they’re not straightforward, that they’re not reliable, that they can come bite people in the ass, that they can drive people to terrible actions. I think the biggest point of the prophecies in the story is to provide motive and motivation for characters more than actual predictions of where things are going to go. Azor Ahai motivated Melisandre, Stannis and Rhaegar. Maggy’s motivated Cersei. And maybe there is a certain degree of truth to them, and maybe some of their interpretations will still pan out (one interpretation of Azor Ahai and Lightbringer was that it referred to Jon and the Night’s Watch, for example - which can still fit with what went down, since Jon was single-handedly responsible for bringing together all the people, armies and force necessary to create the situation that allowed Arya to strike that final blow). But given the warnings, it is kind of naive to expect them to play out to a T, and deliver the most predictable outcome.

Now, could there be a twist where in episode 5 suddenly we find out that, actually, that was a false victory and the WWs, or a new Night King or Queen are still a threat to contend with? Maybe. I’m not ruling anything out. But I would also find it kind of implausible at this point and, frankly, rather clunky writing. You don’t spend millions and months to film the biggest battle in cinema history only to go “haha, kidding! this actually didn’t count and now they have to do it all over again!”. You don’t build an entire episode around the big, unforeseen twist that it’s actually Arya that delivers the final blow that saves humanity, only to take it back later and have predictable hero Jon be the one that ultimately, truly saves it from that same enemy. You don’t build up the Night King as the main antagonist north of the wall only to then go “actually, you know what? there’s another Night King*** now that you never heard of before!”. If that’s the route they’d be going down, they’d better have a REALLY good explanation and some pretty powerful reveals, or it will come across just as a story that didn’t have the courage to stand by its decisions and eventually knew it had to gave into delivering what the audience at large expected. It would have been a better look NOT to pull out this “Arya kills the NK and the Long Night is over in episode 3″ in the first place than it would be to cop-out of it later. 

***I do have a half baked suspicion about that scene where the Night King throws an ice dagger/spear at Daenerys when she’s trying to fly away on Drogon after she attempted to dracarys the shit out of the NK. Was that a throwaway scene where he was just trying to kill her and failed, or was that spear capable of potentially turning Dany into his Night Queen? I suspect the former is the most likely explanation, but who knows. 

#got s8e2 #the long night #meta #my meta #got meta

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Disliked About RWBY Volume 2

(Top 5 Likes)

It’s hard to believe that Volume 2 aired over five years ago now. Unlike V1 where I watched it just as it ended, I watched V2 as it was airing and I still remember my excitement over it. It was a different time back then as well as this aired during the Summer, while every volume after happened halfways through the Fall. Ah, the days of innocence. Anyways, IDT that V2 is as memorable as other volumes, which IDT is necessarily a bad thing but it’ not one that you see many people talk about as a result. But ho boy, do I remember the discussions going around during the time that it aired, especially about the finale. Oh God, the finale...

So then, what are my thoughts? Well, I’ve got a few. Let's go ahead talk about my… not so good ones. Which tbh, these are mainly nitpicky cause I really don’t dislike much about V2. It’s overall a good volume. Not as good as others, it’s my five on the list and may drop to six depending on how V7 goes. But I don't have any rela issues with it, but I was able to brain up a few. Therefore, here are my Top 5 Thing That I Disliked About RWBY Volume 2!

#5. The Dance Arc

As I said, this list was hard.  I was able to come up with four things that I disliked, but I couldn’t think of a good fifth one I thought about doing Ironwood and Glynda’s Ship Tease that went nowhere, but… it was a lot minor than I remembered and didn’t bother me like I thought it would. Anything else that I thought of I already had written down and going through my old posts from back when V2 aired provided nothing, so… the Dance Arc was the only thing that I could think of to fill in the spot. Which is kinda unfair because all in all, the arc is fine. It’s more of just dance arcs being a pet peeve of mine. It brings the story to a screeching halt to focus on relationship drama that I nor ally don’t give a shit about. A good example is the Yule Ball in Harry Potter, which single-handedly made Goblet of Fire my least favorite entry in the series, both with the book and with the movie.

RWBY’s arc though avoided most of that. It doesn’t do much in terms of story, but it does have Cinder’ break-in that’ll have consequences later. There isn’t really any relationship drama or nothing that felt overblown. Blake in particular hd some good development and seeing her happy at the dance was really nice. Jaune had some… bad moments. Moments that I’m gonna talk about here in a bit. But nothing so bad that I was annoyed. It did a lot of good character stuff, had the great JNPR dance sequence, and was overall just nice. But it’s not an arc that I particularly care about either, and I’m hoping that V7 won’t do a Ball like I know that a lot of people do half because it likely will focus on relationship drama there and because it’ll just be repeating V2. Still, it’s overall fine, but I needed something to fill in the Number 5 slot. So.. there we go. It was fine, but I could also live without it.

#4. The Season Finale

To this day, I can STILL remember how much the finale was derided by the fanbase when it aired. Kinda funny now since people seem to get bad if RWBY doesn’t end with a massive brawl, but people hated it when they did it here. I didn’t min the finale when it aired… and tbh, I still don’t. But I do have a better understanding of why people disliked it now. Part of it is something I’m going to get into later, but… what did the finale really wrap up? Not much. It was just a bunch of fights just to have a bunch of fights. Monty maybe went a little overboard with it here and it really feels like nothing truly wrapped up as a result. But IK how else they could have done a proper finale without messing up things that happen later, so… meh. Again, the finale doesn’t bother me and I do think that it feels more like a finale than V1 at least. But it certainly is one of the weaker ones and I don’t blame people at all for not liking it.

Oka, so 5 and 4 only barley count as dislikes. They’re more nitpicks than anything else tbh. Can’t say the same about the other three though. Speaking of…

#3. Jaune Cringe

In this volume, we see Jaune trying hard to get Weiss to go out with him. He continues to fail and makes himself look like an idiot. Now in itself, this isn’t so bad… but IDT that it’s aged well. Mainly because the narrative kinda feels like Weiss is int he wrong for continuously rejecting Jaune’s advances. It’s kinda hard to say how much that’s intentional because she doesn’t get punished for it or anything. And it does end with Jaune essnetially letting it go, calling Neptune out on his petty reason for rejecting Neptune despite liking her, and getting him to quit worrying about looing cool to make Weiss feel happy. It shows that Jaune can realize his mistakes and make it right and that he isn’t into Weiss just because she’s pretty or rich. He did have genuine feelings for her, and gave it up once he finally realized that Weiss wasn’t interested and was looking at other people. He hasn’t repeated it since aside from RWBY Chibi, where he suffers for his idiocy, so I do think that he learned. Which is good!

But… ti is really hard to watch. The narrative frames it like we’re supposed to find Jaune an idiot, but also sympathize with him. And we’re supposed to find that Weiss is being cold and harsh in how she keeps rejecting him. Again, this has not aged well. I don’t think that Miles and Kerry had any bad intentions whatsoever and would probably do ti differently nowadays, but… Weiss was completely in the right to keep turning Jaune down. He refused to get the hint and just move on. Sure, he knows how stupid it was now, but the narrative makes it feel like we should feel bad for Jaune. But.. why should we? He kept being an idiot. He refused to just get the hint no matter how many times that Weiss said no. Do I hold him against him? No. He’s no Adam. As I said by the end, he seemed to let it go and his part with Pyrrha greatly redeemed him. But I do wish that Jaune got called out for it and that they did a better job at painting him in the wrong because he was. Weiss could have maybe been nicer about it, but we saw as early as V1 that Jaune acted like this, so she’s been dealing with it for a pretty good while so… yeah, I don’t blame her in her reactions.

Again, I don’t hold it against Jaune. His character has grown greatly since this volume and he hasn’t repeated his cringe since. If anything, I appreciate how far he’s come after seeing this again. But it was not fun to revisit and I’m glad that we’re past this part for good.

#2. The Post-Credit Stinger

UUUUGGGGHHHH! This stupid stinger! So… as we all know, at the end of every volume, they put in a scene after the credits. These have all been canonical in some fashion...except for this one. This one ended with Yang finding Raven at the Beacon Courtyard, in which the unmask herself and says that she and Yang have a lot to talk about.

And then Yang doesn't meet Raven in person until Volume 5, three volumes later… okay!

So… I know that some stuff changed when they began working on V3. For example, the Maidens thing was created by Monty in between Volume 2 and 3 and when he passed away, they decided to keep it. I can only assume that after they decided to make her the Spring Maiden, the plans for Raven changed, so whatever the plan was with the stinger got tossed aside. I don’t mind that so much since I was perfectly happy with what they did go with. But every time that I watch V2 and we get to this, I just get… annoyed. Really, really annoyed because this scene exists, and is apparently non-canon.

It’ hard to get mad about it because I get it. Plans change. But at the same time the show pretty much promised us something and didn’t deliver it. It’s like if Volume 4’s stinger that showed Oscar meeting Qrow suddenly got tossed out in V5, making a promise that they ended up not upholding. It’s frustrating as a viewer, especially since you gotta figure out what to do with that scene after. I guess we can just say that Yang dreamed it, but still. It’s not that big a deal now and so far, they haven’t repeated that mistake with the later stingers. Still, I remember how much this frustrated me all the way up to V4 when I finally realized that the stinger was non-canon now, so I still hold it against this volume. Hopefully, this won’t happen again, but you never know what’ll happen.

#1. What Does This Volume Accomplish?

Each volume of RWBY has a clear goal… except for this one. V1 introduced us to the world and characters. V3 had the Fall of Beacon. V4 was reaching Haven. V5 was the Battle of Haven and getting the Relic. V6 was reaching Atlas. We can argue about how well the volumes accomplished those goals, but they did accomplish them. Volume 2… what is the end goal? Hat does this volume want to be? I didn’t think about it much back when it aired, but now? I… honestly don’t know what this volume’s purpose was.

I guess it was to bring Team RWBY closer together? Flesh the girls and their motivations out? Which is fine… but the story itself doesn’t seem to have a clear place where it wants to end. It’s why I think that the finale was how it was, there was nothing to truly wrap up. The girls couldn’t figure out the villains’ plans because then V3 shouldn’t go the way that it did. But since finding out what the bad guys’ plan was their goal and they don’t do that… it just makes you wonder why you invested our time in it. The girls’ reaction makes it seem like they know that the ending is flimsy, but that the viewers are just going to have to accept it. The good guys didn’t make any progress. The villains were no closer to being defeated than they were before, and none of the hurdles like the bombs going off early did anything to affect them. Which makes them look OP as Hell.

Volume 2 is not a bad volume. In the character development department, it is very good. It’s pacing and flow is better than Volume 1, hence why I place it above it. But it also doesn’t feel like it 100% knew what it wanted to be. At least, it didn’t know where the final destination was. So I still pace 3-6 above it since all of those knew where they wanted to end. Even if some had bumps in the road, they did accomplish their primary goal and I could see what that goal was. IDK what Volume 2 was meant to do outside develop characters. I guess it did do that, but it didn’t really progress the story. I guess it made V3’s impact all the greater, but still… it makes me conflicted.

Okay, that’s one post down. One more to go. Likes will hopefully be up later this afternoon. So I hope that you’ll all enjoy that~!

#rwby #rwby reviews #top likes/dislikes

[kaijuzilla]

MOD REVIEW: Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

*This contain spoilers so if you want to avoid it then please do no continue reading this post.*

“Which of these Titans are here to threaten us, and which of these Titans are here to protect us...”

Where can I start.... The moment when I saw the trailer in college in spring time 2019, I was excited and hype for this film. And when me and my friend went to see it and got out:

THIS MOVIE IS AMAZING!!!

I really don’t get it whats with critics on this movie but as a fan and going all honest this movie is a good Godzilla movie! The director or the person behind this movie Mike Dougherty, took all the problems from the 2014 film, fixing it, added some awesome stuff, and this movie was born! Along with that we got Mothra who looks more insect appearance but still majestic beauty, Ghidorah who is freaking terrifying and making this the scariest and coolest Ghidorah, and Rodan who is on fire and is hot! Also he gives me a starscream vibe as well which everyone said same thing.

The plot tells that things are happening and citizens are blaming the Godzilla and Monarch for this disasters which they go on a riot to say that all of the monsters must be destroy. But Monarch refuses and wanted theses creatures to live because “they deserve the right to live” since they live here before us. Basically which one is here to live with us in harmony and which one is here to kill us. The people still think they should kill them but Serizawa still believes theses creatures are good on the inside and not monsters and wanted humans and monsters in a symbiotic relationship. Suddenly one of the scientist broke the Monarch code by releasing Ghidorah and is up to Monarch and Godzilla to stop the Monsters from creating disaster.

I also think the humans are actually alright in this movie than the 2014. But the 2014 film has one great actor who delivers it well but die later which kind of lost the character knowing them well because he’s like the most recognizable character and so does Serizawa. But this movie we learn about (some) of the characters more! Yes there are alot of characters in this movie and I think they’re all alright. 

There’s also this Eco-terrorist group who wanted to free all these monsters from their cages and take their DNA for black market like those people from Pacific Rim. Also their goal got to success t release them all when Ghidorah calls all of them when crowned himself king. TBH do they even think that when these monsters are destroying every humanity they are gonna be kill too? Like really Ghidorah is the one that causes the planet Venus lifeless and you’re it’s next target.

One thing that got me like shock is that Serizawa assistants just die early int he film which just shock me alot. I kind of wanted to know about her character and why and how she became Serizawa assistant.

I’m also glad Mark Russell who is played by Kyle Chandler, who is a zoologist gets a character development in the film because from the beginning he hated Godzilla because he lost his son in the disaster of 2014 if San Francisco from the MUTOs (I’m not only one who notice those red military light guys falling from the sky from the beginning of the movie right?). Which close to end of the movie he learned that Godzilla is good and began to accept him. (Also makes me learn how alpha or hunting packs work)

Dr Emma Russel who played by Vera Farmiga, where her character is she is good (1) but she thinks she’s doing a good  which made her the villian (2) thing but turns out bad so go back to being good (3). (1) she made this ORCA where it help control the titan by doing an alpha frequency thing which works on Mothra and Rodan and Ghidorah, (2) when she was caught by the Eco terrorist and see that releasing titans and radioactivity in San Francisco making plant life grow back which see human are infection decided to release and try release all titans to help restore balance to humanity and think this is what her son wanted (Ghidorah was second), (3) Ghidorah turns out to release all titans and controlling them all to destroy everything and learn that this isn’t good and Madison (her daughter) straight her out that this isn’t what will bring harmony or give what her dead son want to the world.

Did I mention there’s a prequel of this movie before it was released and it’s a comic? This is a same thing like Godzilla Awakening which we learn that Godzilla is an ancient apex predator that loves for many years that went to the center of the earth for radiation because the radiation on the surface of Earth is low. BUT THIS MOVIE TELLS US THERE ARE 17 TITANS/KAIJUS AROUND THE WORLD!!! They also involved in histories like mythology creatures  (because they’re named after them or some) where it’s goes to saying that people sees them as gods. And this is reveled when Godzilla is laying to rest in this underwater city which is probably Atlantis? Where it show that people back then sees them as gods which is really cool and i want to know more about this. TBH if this happens in real life this could possibly happen in the past if these monsters exist.

One thing it’s very strange we see a bigger hunch spiky back Femuto again. It’s because we thought those babies and the two MUTOS are last of their kind from the 2014 film, and the Prime was killed in the comics as well. And this one isn’t pregnant which also bow down to Godzilla too. But I will say out of all Kaiju the Behemoth is the strange but one of my favorite kaiju design. Maybe because it’s a mammal and it’s so rare to see a mammal kaiju since it’s mostly Insects, Aliens, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, and Reptiles. We do see some on screen but in the novel tells us what the other titans are doing around the world. Surprising fact the Leviathan outpost in in Loch Ness meaning that Nessie is a kaiju or something!?

One thing that make the monsters amazing by their designs but also their facial expression which gives them more life and not Disney Lion King live action movie lifeless expression. We understand their emotion by their facial expression and not their voice.

We see Godzilla just showing intimidation to people and King Ghidorah who they both showing high level of intimidation! Also Ghidorah head that represent their personality are good and there’s reason why Kevin is the dumb one. Because the heart is on the right side of the body the right and middle get more blood to their brains while the left side aka Kevin get less blood in his brain (My friend explain this after the movie). And when Rodan got stab by Mothra stinger (which my friend also explain that Moths do have stingers IRL but never uses them because they don’t harm any creature and are like butterflies and bee hybrid like insects) he was showing that “anime pain gasp shock eye facial expression” because DAM right into the shoulder!!! Which then when he tries to challenge Godzilla for the throne he was like “aw hell sorry my king please forgive me I Starscream knee before you Megaton!!!”

Before I close to finish it off I want to say again Ghidorah in this film is the most scariest and terrifying monster of all time! The moment he survive the oxygen destroyer was so suprise he survive and Godzilla has a heart attack. The moment when Kevin head grows back after ripped off was just horrifying and just HOLY SHIT moment. Even seeing him as he crown himself the king now as he roar so lod showing the church is like we’re seeing the Devil begin the end life on Earth! Even when his history was meant to be erase and forgotten in the past is a surprising. Just glad they stick to alien and not bio genetic creature from the future that makes him look like a vampire furby baby face (I will admit the Dorats look cute).

Also one question....how dafug did the government military manage to make the Oxygen Destroyer. Yes it’s a prototype but if this is a prototype does this mean the perfect Oxygen Destroyer become Destroyah later on. Also you think the monster causes problem, that bomb kill alot of fish population right there! But during the film Serizawa sacrifice himself to save Godzilla by bringing the atomic nuclear bomb to blow up to help recharge his nuclear energy aka giving him some juice to make him stronger. 

What make this movie fun is jsut there’s so many easter eggs in this movie! I spotted some but i bet there’s more somewhere that youtube explained see: Roidan is making nest at MT Fuji (Rodan movie), Twins and Infant Island (Mothra), Kong is poted and mention alot in the film which also leading to Kong vs Godzilla, Monster Zero, (again) The Leviathan is Nessie from Loch Ness, Mecha Kevin, 2014 sky falling scene, Mothra wing represent Godzilla eyes, Mothra egg after she die but chances maybe minilla or junior, A mysterious skeleton at Godzilla lair. That’s all i got so far. but idk if the sphinx would count because that is actually like a cancel 1998 Godzilla aka Zilla movie sequel.

What also surprising is that Godzilla and Mothra are actually a thing together! And tbh for the longest time I ship theses two (haven’t ship for a long LONG time)! it explain it’s a “symbiotic” relationship but still it’s cute.

Ok now the probably the best part of the movie is the monster fight scene. It’ss just so amazing what theses things can actually do on screens. Just when Godzilla and Ghidorah fight the third time they just charged to each other causing this huge shockwave boom that shook the sky! Rodan just peck the HELL out at Ghidorah when they first met! Mothra (again) Stab Rodan giving him the worst pain of his life on his shoulder! Kevin head ripped off! (Kevin nooooo), and the final part of the movie. Mothra Die from Ghidorah when protecting her Lamp Husband!

But the part when Godzilla when thermal nuclear aka BURNING GODZILLA!!! HE FUCKING BURNS THE WINGS ON GHIDORAHS WINGS LEAVING NOTHING BUT IT’S FINGERS THINGS!!! GHIDORAH TRY TO FIGHT BACK BUT IT’S NOT WORKING AND GODZILLA PULSES AGAIN DISINTEGRATE KEVIN AND RIGHT HEAD LEAVING THE ALPHA HEAD ALONE AND JUST CRUSH IT’S CHEST OPEN KILLING IT AND  CREATE HUGE A EXPLOSION!!!!!!

Ok we’re at the ending a- OMG HE SURVIVED!? NOPE!!! GODZILLA RIP THE HEAD OFF AND SMACKING IT DOWN AS IT STILL ALIVE WHICH HE IS EATING THE NECK! TO FINISH IT OFF IT CHARGES IT’S ATOMIC BREATH AND SHOOT THE HEAD TO THE SKY!!!!

THIS IS WHY GODZILLA IS THE TRUE KING OF THE MONSTERS!

He fought something that could out class him and dominates it, No matter how must of a pain he’s in he still stands tall, he continues fighting and not retreat and rematch again (Gamera)!

That is the coolest death kill ever and turns out the spark from the mouth was actually a burp which is funny. Don’t believe me? go to Mike Dougherty twitter he tells everything about the movie.

Now the one part that makes me want to react with the other titans too which i feel like all Godzilla fans did too in the theaters because i got the same feeling to just wanting to bow down to Godzilla for some reason? Just when Madison (Mark and Emma daughter who is Millie Brown from Stranger Thing as Eleven) uses the ORCA to bring all titans to Boston. They all arrive seeing their king to be dead by Godzilla which looks liek they’re all about to challenge him, even Rodan look piss off for he want to fight for his fallen king death. He tells them to back the fuck down which Rodan being the Starscream dude he is bows down before his true king and so does (mostly) everyone, even the Femuto who is the natural enemies to his species bows before him! This turned all the titans good and help bring amazing impact around the world: Amazon Rainforests that was wiped out are growing back, endanger animals are off the endanger list, stabilized world sea levels from Antarctica, fish population rises too, etc...

Then there is the after credit where the leader of the Eco terrorist finds Kevin and is going to take his head. And also show many hits saying seismic activity at Skull Island and show cave painting of Kong and Godzilla fighting each other!

This is what “which titans is here to threaten us, and which titans are here to protect us.” from the beginning. There are two kings and one of the is a false king who call himself king and wants to bring destruction to everything it sees. Godzilla job as an apex predator is to bring balance to nature and humanity as a True King to the throne. If any one of them go out of Godzilla rules then they will be slap to their head.

So then that is King of the Monsters and it still a great film! I still can’t believe critics say “too much monster fight scene” and blah blah blah they don’t know what a Godzilla film actually is tbh! This movie did amazing and even thought there’s some problems it still make a good movie. I will give it an:

8 or 7 out of 10

If you want to watch this I would recommend watching old godzilla films which also count kong, mothra, and rodan before you see this film but for a quickie i would recommend Godzilla Awakening, Godzilla (2014), Skull Island: Birth of Kong, Kong Skull Island, and Godzilla Aftershock to get to know the movie and the Monsterverse. There’s also the novel too which holds more information that didn’t get on screen and it’s low price and it’s good. I really wanted to get off my chest and it just so good! i think next review I might do Endgame maybe?

#Godzilla King of the Monsters #Godzilla #kaiju #mod #mod review

[arrianna21]

~Freedom Aligned~

Life as a Runner is not as easy as everyone thinks. While mostly consisting of being a courier that run on the rooftops to deliver packages and messages, it was important to always keep moving. When your hard ass mentor tells you to practice at the crack of dawn, he makes sure you put in the effort.

Game: Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst

Word Count: 4,742

You run.

Vaulting over the glass wall, you run past the fancy black couches accompanied by white tables.

Stopping at the outdoor patio, you admire the city skyline, the large bodies of water and trees unavailable to the rest of the citizens. It was beautiful. Unlike the quiet breath of life, neon billboards and neverending power of technology could not compare to the sight in front of you.

Tranquil environments, like the one before you, was something ordinary Employs did not experience; it was something you’d only seen once, maybe twice in your life. It had been some time since you made the choice to leave behind the life you once knew, only to give it all up to become an outcast.

You didn’t regret it. Not because you hated your life, no not that, rather it was because you didn’t want to be molded into whatever civilian society wanted you to be. Not after witnessing a Runner hide in your home while the police looked for them.  The blond’s nonchalant and almost cocky attitude was something you would never forget. While you had threatened to call the authorities, he called your bluff instantly, and patiently waited until said authorities called off the search. That had been five years ago and it was only until you became a Runner yourself that you would run into the same Runner again.

“Are you there yet?” an impatient voice asks in your earpiece.

“Almost.” You automatically respond, breaking out of your reverie as you continue making your way to your destination.

“Hurry up, it’s going to be morning soon.”

“It is morning, 4:30AM to be exact.” Thankfully the weather isn’t too chilly despite you being on the rooftops.

Yoongi, one of the best Runners, and also your mentor, wanted you to practice one of the dashes in Ocean View, a more affluent area in the city. Dashes were time trial exercises for Runners. They had to get to a certain point within a set time, but where that point was no one was told how to get there. It forces them to look for alternate routes when on missions.

While you had only seen Yoongi run a handful of times, the first one being your chance encounter, you knew enough to know that he was good and had definitely earned his high Runner status.

Running up the next wall, you stop in the shallow pond, having reached your destination. “Okay, I’m here.” You report.  

“About time. I sent the location to your map I want you to get there as fast as you can. Start whenever you’re ready.”

Checking the map, you pinpoint the little red arrow that wasn’t far from your starting point. Just jump across a couple of buildings and you’ll be there in no time.

You take off running, the clock starting automatically as you jump down onto the little walkway and barrel roll, ducking under the first vent. On the other end, there’s another vent you have to duck under and then you springboard off the glass railings.

Landing on the next building, you run through an extravagant waterfall, glowing lights changing colors as you pass by. You follow the hidden Runner symbols scattered along the path, inconspicuous red arrows guiding you. Running past more couches decorated with luxurious purple pillows, you hop over the glass barriers and run down a set of stairs, climbing up a wall and turning to springboard off of a potted plant. You run up another wall to get to the next floor, sprinting in between two glass gardens before grabbing on to a zip line. Sliding between the gap separating the section of buildings, you let go and climb some shorter walls until you turn the corner, finishing in another gorgeous glass garden.

“Done,” you pant.

“2 minutes and 10 seconds. You followed the arrows, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah. I can’t take a shortcut on the other side of the building because there nothing there besides windows. It’s not like I’m going for 3 stars or the fastest time.” To be honest, you never really cared about being the fastest Runner, you just wanted to do some delivery and covert jobs because you enjoyed it. The Scrip that came with it was also nice too, as having some money helped keep you fed.

“Change of plans, your goal is to get 3 stars. To do that your time has to be 55 seconds exactly.” Yoongi tells you.

“55 seconds! How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“Get creative,” is all he says.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” You mutter to yourself, but he still catches it. “Trust me, brat, I most certainly am not.”

And he very well meant it.

                                   ~*~

“Again,” Yoongi tells you.

“I got it down to 1 minute and 3 seconds! Isn’t that close enough?” you complain, slumping against the window of the white garden. Your body feels extremely hot from the workout and the cool glass feels wonderful on your skin. You didn’t know how many times you’ve run back and forth between the buildings.

“Close, isn’t going to cut it. Now get your ass back to the start and go again.”

“Considering the fact that I found the quickest, and possibly the only way to get here, I count that as a win.” You retort.

“After how many attempts?” he dryly asks. “It’s not my fault it took you so long to figure out that you should go through the building instead.”

“Do you not remember the last time I tried to take a shortcut through a house?”

You had been doing another dash similar to this one and you tried to save some time by going through someone’s apartment. Needless to say, you had accidentally destroyed their kitchen by landing on the dining room, which resulted in expensive dishes being broken.

“That was pathetic,” he snorts. “You should be lucky no one was home.”

“At least I didn’t take a break and lie in some poor girl’s bed,” you huff.

“You were fine. I’m sure you probably washed those precious sheets after I left anyway.” He counters. “At least I hope you did because they sure as hell didn’t smell pretty.”

“Oh, shut up!” you yell as you make your way back up to the start.

A few more tries later and you were finally under a minute, clocking in at 56 seconds. It was an improvement to say the least, but that was the fastest you could get, fluctuating between 56 and 58 seconds. Unless you stumbled or didn’t land a jump properly. You were very certain some parts of your body were bruised.

“Keep going.”

“Ugh, Yoongi.” You whine.

“Suga,” he interjects. Everyone had to call him Suga when talking online because the more notorious Runners had to remain anonymous in their identity, just in case.

“Suga, I can’t get any faster. I’m taking all the shortcuts and even perfected the landings. It’s not possible.”

There’s silence on the other end. “Fine. Then you’re not going on the mission.”

“What?”

“If you can’t get 3 stars on a simple dash, then you’re not cut out for a mission.”

You say nothing before you sigh harshly, breath turning into a low growl as you run back to the start.

“Asshole,” you grumble.

“Brat,” he fires back.

Using your MAG rope to grapple the side of the building, pulling you up so you can go back to the start. At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised if you could do the run blindfolded. Almost blindfolded, you correct to yourself when you climb up the enclosed garden and step around the open gap in the ceiling, remembering how you missed seeing it that last time.

“You know I have to do the mission for Agust,” you say to him, running up the wall.

“Yeah, I know. Why do you work for that prick again?”

Agust was the underground crime boss of Glass. There was speculation that he was Dogen’s successor to help keep the business alive, but no one knows for sure. From what you could gather from the few times you’ve been in contact with him, was that he has no allegiance to anyone. Granted, he seemed to be a little more lenient/sympathetic to the rebels, but again, it’s only an assumption. Everything about the man could only be guesses and rumors because no one has ever seen him, not even the people who exclusively work for him.

“Isn’t it obvious? He pays good Scrip and money is money. Plus, I think I’m one of the only Runners he trusts, considering the others rarely do missions for him. At least someone has faith in me.” The last sentence being muttered under your breath.

“I do have faith in you,” he argues, “I just push you because I know you’re capable of doing better. Besides, if you need Scrip-”

“No!” automatically shooting down his offer. “I’m not desperate and I don’t want to take money that you earned. I’ll get to 55 seconds one way or another so don’t worry about it.”

Once you get back to the start you immediately begin running the way you came. This time you adjust your route along the way. While you enter the building and jump down, when you get to the glass gardens you instead hop over the railing before it rather than vaulting up to the roof. You land better as a result, rushing to get to the zip line and spring boarding past the tree before scaling another wall. Running around the corner to get to the end, you immediately check your time in anticipation.

55.27 seconds.

“Yes, I got it!” you cheer, though your happiness is short lived by a crackle in your ear.

“Not quite. You barely missed the 3-star mark so do it again.”

“Oh no, you don’t You said 55 seconds and I would be done! Do you not see the two fives next to each other?” you point madly at the numbers even though you know he can’t see them.

“I told you that to get 3-stars, you needed to get 55 seconds exactly. And even then that’s cutting it close by a few milliseconds.” Yoongi informs you.

“You’re mean.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

Half a dozen attempts later and you were still stuck. Even going through the same motions wouldn’t reward you with a victorious finish. It wouldn’t be long before people and guards start moving out and about, going on with their day or surveying the area for Runners.

At one point, you even waited 5 minutes before starting the stopwatch and stood around for 55 seconds. Your scheme doesn’t last long, being foiled 15 seconds later.

“If you were remotely smart, you would go off camera and pretend that you’re not trying to cheat.” Yoongi drawls.

You curse your stupidity, forgetting that Runners could hack into the cameras across the rooftops. It was even more embarrassing because there just so happened to be one pointed directly at you, your mentor watching through the lens.

While you walk back to the beginning, you make sure to flip your middle finger as well before disappearing out of the screen.

“Yeah, fuck you too, brat.”

As you return to the start, you remember the pathway and wonder how else you can improve your time. Going through the motions, you slide under the same two pipes you’ve seen plenty of times, but you change things up by staying to the left and jumping over the small glass barriers at the waterfall instead of going through the open middle. It results in getting your clothes wet, but you don’t care as long as you could save time.

You run past the same couches, cutting across the patio with big umbrellas and running through the same building. Leaping over the guardrail, you roll when you hit the ground and sprint past more fancy black couches. Vaulting over another barrier, you slide down the zip line and go in between familiar white trees before running up the last wall.

Your shoes slide on the slick floor, dislodging the leaves as they flutter around you as you run to the center of the garden. Panting, you check the time with mild trepidation.

54.57, a 0.70 difference.

“I did it. I actually did it, Suga!” you laugh breathlessly.

“Good,” is his praise. “Now I never want to hear some stupid bullshit about you not being able to do anything.”

“Got it. Wow, holy shit that was insane, but so exhilarating.” You let your body drop onto one of the sofas, pure relief overcoming you as exhaustion creeps in.

While lying down on the thick cushions, you watch the white leaves, colored pink by the purple lights, flutter through the gentle air until they touch the ground. The gentle wind breeze glides around the now tranquil and quiet space. No one was nearby, no voices at all, and you feel at peace.

If things were different, you might have envied the families who lived in these extravagant homes. Even though Runners have the ability to run and hide through the wealthy and modern houses, the owners didn’t care. Almost as if they enjoyed showcasing their fortune and wanted people to know it.

“Suga, do you ever wonder what it’s like to live on this side of town?” you abruptly ask, turning your gaze to the rotating camera scanning the area.

As much as you enjoyed the view, you would still rather live your life as a Runner, wanting to keep your freedom no matter what. Despite the money and fancy parties along with the high social status, you had no interest for it. These hiCastes were under heavy surveillance just like everyone else, if not more, being kept under a watchful eye by each other, enemies, and KrugerSec alike.

“Not really. Too pretentious if you ask me. Why, you thinking of moving to the rich part of town?” he scoffs and you snort in return.

“Hell no. I was just asking.”

“I’m sure it’s nice and all, but no thanks.”

“I don’t blame you. Living like a normal Employ while your every move is being watched and tracked? I’ll pass.”

You continue to bask in the early morning, relishing it while you can until the door leading to the rooftop garden slams open, the loud noise startling the birds in the trees and causing them to fly away. A group of men walk out and you climb over the back of the couch, hiding behind the furniture.

“What the hell?” you say when you see the group of guards surround a disheveled man in a suit.

“What is it? Why’re you hiding behind the couch?” The door is right under the camera so the Runner can’t get a good view.

“A bunch of KrugerSec are messing with someone, a hiCaste I think.”

“Can you get out of there without being seen?”

You take a quick peek around the side before quickly reeling back upon seeing the figure shrouded in black.

“No, I can’t. There’s a Sentinel.”

Sentinels were the highest trained guards in KrugerSec and they were extremely difficult to fight. Not only were they strong, they were also fast, easily able to dispatch a person or Runner in the blink of an eye.

“Shit! Stay out of sight. Wait till they leave and then get the hell out of there.”

“Why would they be messing with a hiCaste? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know, but it’s not our problem.”

“Please, just give me more time. I can get all the information, but it’s not easy.” The man tells them, fear evident in his voice. It was shocking because you’ve never heard a hiCaste beg. Then again their lives were hardly ever in danger.

“We don’t want to hear any more excuses! You’ve already the Conglomerate once and it’s rare that they give second chances.” One of the guards tells him and you hear a grunt as the man is shoved.

Leaning around the arm rest you count the guards. One Sentinel, one Enforcer, and two Guardians. Minus the Sentinel, you could take them out easy.

The man rights himself and stands up straighter, an act of faux bravery, as he glares at the guard. “You can’t do this. I’ve given almost all the documents, pulled all the strings I can, and used over half of my resources. I may work for the Conglomerate, but I still have power.” His words are meant to be threatening, but his voice undermines them by wavering.

“Unless the Conglomerate think you’ve gone deviant. Then your services would no longer be needed.” The Enforcer pats his gun lightly, a menacing reminder not to rebel. “Come with us peacefully and we’ll sort this out shortly.”

“They’re gonna take him away.” You whisper frantically at the realization.

“Don’t even think about.” Your mentor’s words cut off any thoughts of stepping in, or at least they try.

“You can’t do this, this is illegal!”

“An innocent man is about to be taken away, I can’t just sit and watch.” you whisper to Yoongi.

“I don’t care who it is. A Sentinel is there, Y/N, they’re not going to play nice and they near impossible to fight.”

You knew that, of course you knew that, but it felt wrong to not at least try to help.

When the hiCaste refuses to comply, one of the Guardians nods to the looming Sentinel who approaches the man, grabbing ahold of him as he proceeds to drag him towards the door.

The man begins screaming and fighting back in return, flailing madly as he yells. “Help me! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Suga, I have to do something.”

“Y/N, I’m serious. Stay out of this.” He growls darkly, a strong warning you were meant to listen to.

“I’m sorry but I can’t,” is all you say.

As much as the hiCaste looked down on you and the Runners, they were still civilians just like everyone else. So you do what you have to do.

You vault over the couch, wall-running on the side of the greenhouse and kick the first Guardian, knocking him out as he runs into the other wall.

“You are in breach of policy, submit now!” a guard yells though you ignore him, responding by simply attacking him.

Pointing his gun at you, you disarm the Enforcer before he gets a chance to shoot you, kicking him in the head.

Only two guards are remaining, but before you can take out the lesser challenging one, the Sentinel strikes first. He hits hard, the force sending you to the ground and you scramble to your feet before he can retaliate. Shots ring out as the other guard picks up the gun and begins firing at you. You run around the glass enclosure to try and put distance between you and them. Running up the wall, you do a 180-turn and kick hard at the Sentinel. He stumbles briefly, but it’s not enough to bring him down.

Going back around, the Guardian starts shooting at you and you jump, getting ready to kick until the Sentinel yanks you back. You roll backwards and dodge the incoming punch, nearly running into the hiCaste who ducks out of the way while you turn to run up the wall but the strong guard is one step ahead as he grabs you by the shirt and pulls you down. Legs flailing, you try to get out of his grip while the other guard prepares to shoot you.

Surprisingly, he is stopped by the hiCaste who tackles him and they begin fighting for the gun, pulling it back and forth between them. Bullets fly out through the struggle spraying around you and the Sentinel though the guard doesn’t seem to mind at all. The Sentinel eventually throws you to the ground, kicking you harshly and you cough, struggling to crawl away. More bullets ring out and they hit the camera above the door, destroying it in the process.

You can hear Yoongi cursing in your ear as he loses visual of you and the fight, but you can’t do much to reassure him when you are backed up against the wall of the garden. The Sentinel swings at you and you barely move out of way, his gloved fist punching into the glass and causing it to shatter. Maneuvering around behind him, you repeat your previous actions and run up the wall so you can spin around and kick him. This time you actually manage to break his helmet, the plastic cracking, revealing a green eye and a nose through the hole.

Running around the space to gain momentum, he chases after you and after doing a loop you spin around to wall run while you hit him with all the force you can muster. The punch is enough to knock him unconscious and the guard falls over. You do as well, panting as sweat pours across your body while you slide to the ground. Through the adrenaline, you barely hear Yoongi shouting your name in your ear.

“Y/N! You need to get out of there, now! The Wire is going crazy with chatter and there are reports of a hostile conflict in Ocean View. What the hell did you do?” Yoongi screams.

“It’s okay, the Sentinel is down.” You pant tiredly, rising to your feet unsteadily as you prepare to leave before reinforcements come.

“Thank you.”

You look at the sound and see the man drop the Enforcer’s gun, looking even more disheveled though he seems relieved.

“If you hadn’t stepped in, they would have interrogated me for information and then killed me afterwards.” He explains, confirming your worst fears and yet his words also solidify your interference. “Let me repay you.” The man says, stepping towards you.

“It’s no problem really.” You tell him, but he doesn’t stop until he abruptly shakes your hand. There’s something in his hand as he passes it to you and you see it’s a piece of paper.

“Here’s some money as compensation.” He tells you before walking away and going out through the door, leaving you confused in the broken garden.

“Kid, they’re sending another Sentinel. You need to get the hell out of there!” Yoongi’s desperate voice yells.

His voice disrupts your train of thought and turn to see more guards gathering on the rooftops. You don’t need any more incentive as you stuff the paper in your pocket.

Already exhausted from the fight, you run through the open apartments you had been previously admiring, dodging around more tables and luxury sofas. When you get to the wide gap between Ocean View and Eden Village, you know they won’t be able to catch up as you swing across with your MAG rope. You can hear the blades of a helicopter as the VTOL approaches. Sliding down the incline inside the museum, shoes skidding down the orange interior until you crash through the window at the bottom.

While you run across Eden Village, you hear the crackling static of radios and see a group of guards patrolling the area.

“It’s that Runner!” One yells when he spots you and then immediately begin coming towards you.

“Don’t try to fight them, kid, just get home.” Yoongi tells you upon seeing the group on the cameras.

You shove past them when they approach, not slowing down at all while you splash through the various waterfalls on top of the building. The VTOL’s spotlight shines down on you, the bright light reflecting in the windows, a contrast to the still early morning sky. Taking a shortcut through Crystal Valley, a small area clustered with buildings, where you proceed to lose the guards and the helicopter by moving inside the bright blue buildings until they can’t find you.

When everything quiets down, you eventually emerge outside and make your way through Shimmering Heights as you run towards the lair. Running past the blaring billboards and loud televisions, you are reminded of the stark contrast of Ocean View. While this area shared the same colors of purple and blue as the hiCaste city, its environment was loaded with technology galore instead of having trees and infinite waterfalls. You knew you were close to home when all you saw were white buildings and nothing more.

Going underneath the transit tunnels, you run along the metal grates, and swing across the giant gaps where trains raced by. Spring boarding up some boxes before going through a doorway, up a flight of stairs and you were safely in the Lair. Safe in the sense that KrugerSec couldn’t get to you.

When you turn the corner, you find Yoongi already there waiting, pacing back and forth across the large room until he sees you.

“What the hell were you thinking?” His low voice only makes his dark expression even more terrifying as he stalks towards you.

“I was thinking of helping someone who was in trouble.” You reply, getting upset at his accusatory question.

“And for what? A damn hiCaste?” he scoffs.

“They were going to take him away and then kill him after they got what they wanted.”

The blond breathes harshly in frustration. “Y/N, they had a fucking Sentinel. KrugerSec doesn’t just send one out for no reason.” He pauses, raking a hand through his hair, messing up the bandana around his forehead, as he continues to glare at you. “Why did you do it, huh? Was it to prove a point?”

“No! Yoongi, you know it’s nothing like that.” You say, walking towards the open window, leaning against the wall so the breeze can cool you down.

“What about money? Figured you do this good deed and the guy would pay you some big money as a reward?”

“What?” you look up and find Yoongi’s narrowed eyed staring at the note the man gave you before he left. “I didn’t do it for anything, I did it because it was the right thing to do. That’s it.”

He shakes his head before crumpling the note and tosses it on the desk. “No, that’s not it. You went up against a Sentinel even though you’ve had no training. You’ve only fought the Shock Protectors once.” Crossing his arms, he regards with disappointment and you feel irritated at the helpless feeling it gives you.

“Why are being like this? Yeah, I’ve never dealt with one before, but I took care of him. And even if I hadn’t I know how to get away.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is? Enlighten me.”

“The point is, you acted irrationally.”

“How, by not listening to you?” you smart off and the glare he sends has you wishing you could take back the question. Any more prodding and his face would be the same color as the red bandana on his head.

“No,” he replies, upper lip curling into a sneer, “by not fucking planning. You immediately started a fight without thinking and it almost got yourself killed.”

“Well, I’m sorry! Next time I’ll be sure and take 5 minutes to think of a plan when I’m in a dangerous situation.”

His eyes close as his fingers dig into them and he sighs heavily. “This isn’t a game, Y/N, you need to start thinking about the rest of the Runners instead of going around playing hero.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do. And I would never put the other Runners at risk. If I got captured, then it was because it was my fault and I’ll do better next time.”

Yoongi stills, his fingers stop rubbing his eyebrows before he directs his gaze to you. “You’re an idiot if you think everyone gets a second chance.” The air seems to chill as he stalks out of the room, his blond hair is the last thing you see before he disappears around the corner.

Sighing in exhaustion, you wish the release of air would help relax the tightness in your chest, but it doesn’t. Walking to the desk to retrieve your crumpled note, you see another piece of paper next nearby.

Congratulations and good luck, Brat

-SUGA

A/N: So…this is longer than expected. Can you tell this is the idea, the story that started it all? When I was playing this game for the first time, I could not get Yoongi out of my mind. For some reason I could just imagine him in this world and I couldn’t get out of my head. Then I started thinking about other members in other games and lo and behold, VideoGame!BTS was born! I really hoped you liked it and please leave me feedback, it really helps and I love hearing your thoughts! Thank you so much for reading!

#suga scenarios #bts scenarios #bts imagines #suga #bts #videogame!BTS