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#since i was actually picking between this and the other lyrics and a lot of people were putting this in the tags
frieschan · 11 months
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bangtan with an idol gf // bts hcs
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➳ member/s featured: kim namjoon, kim seokjin, min yoongi, jung hoseok, park jimin, kim taehyung, jeon jungkook x f! reader (separate)
➳ unrequested | headcanons // fluff/crack
➳ TW:
➳ summary: how would our bangtan boys be like with a girlfriend who is a fellow idol?
➳ AN: decided for a small break between workin' on querencia, if you have the time, pls check it out here! its a hybrid ot7 x m reader fic :) i hope more ppl would like it since its mainly my first time to create a full story.
➳ extra info: y/n's filler name will be yona as an abbreviation from 'your name' (yona), she is also around the age as vmin except older than the V
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—KIM NAMJOON ; rap monster !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: yojoon
-ˋˏ ღ library dates are a must, or even a hole in the wall cafe/library
-ˋˏ ღ listening to him ramble about a new book he read because he's ur baby
-ˋˏ ღ having plant kids that the both of u post about
-ˋˏ ღ you usually have to drive for him or the two of you bike to your destination, a few fans catching the two of you
-ˋˏ ღ he loves writing lyrics or poems about or for you, actually some of his songs are about you
-ˋˏ ღ cleaning after him was part of your resume in becoming his girlfriend.
-ˋˏ ღ he's broken so much shit in your house it's not even funny
-ˋˏ ღ he's your clumsy little boy
-ˋˏ ღ he also has rizz. very good rizz
-ˋˏ ღ always knowing when you're nervous around him with that fat brain of his (smart boy also)
-ˋˏ ღ he always gets so strained as a leader of the biggest kpop group and then having to translate for his brothers, he ends up just collapsing to you and sleeping for a while to recharge his battery
-ˋˏ ღ sometimes you think about the time he brought his bike inside his producing room
-ˋˏ ღ "jagi that's not a good idea-"
-ˋˏ ღ "army needs to see my bike!"
-ˋˏ ღ sometimes he doesnt even understand his strength cuz one time when you were on his favorite spot on the couch, he picked you up so fast
-ˋˏ ღ HIS FACE WAS SO SHOCKED
-ˋˏ ღ "YAH! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?"
-ˋˏ ღ "Why are you so light? Are you sure you're eating enough?"
-ˋˏ ღ "DID YOU FORGET YOU GO TO THE GYM ALMOST EVERYDAY?"
-ˋˏ ღ you and bts work together on babysitting namjoon always
-ˋˏ ღ you also know about the fact he watches porn.. a lot
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—KIM SEOKJIN ; jin !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: jinna
-ˋˏ ღ you two are such a handful oh my god
-ˋˏ ღ even though he's the oldest, he acts like a baby with you and whines about everything
-ˋˏ ღ but then he can also baby you
-ˋˏ ღ he loves feeding you food or cooking with you on camera
-ˋˏ ღ He has 'Eat Jin' while you have 'Cook Yona' which is honestly really cute omg
-ˋˏ ღ whatever you cooked on Cook Yona, Jin would mukbang it in Eat Jin, sometimes he even shared! (barely)
-ˋˏ ღ you honestly love trying to fatten him up cause he's a sucker for food
-ˋˏ ღ usually once you guys are full, it's either you start cleaning and he starts gaming or other way around
-ˋˏ ღ one of your cute habits is whenever his break cheeks show up, you pinch them a lot
-ˋˏ ღ also he scolds (raps) you like every other member
-ˋˏ ღ you were with that one cooking episode where jungkook and taehyung were cooking, you felt so bad for them but it was hilarious to watch
-ˋˏ ღ whenever he games, you always make little snacks for him because you know he gets really mad at the game but its even worse when hes on an empty stomach (you dont want his yelling to disturb your sugar gliders)
-ˋˏ ღ you like to have jungkook over sometimes so he can play with jin since you THOUGHT that would make him yell less (no the yelling doubled.)
-ˋˏ ღ you recorded the two of them playing together and caught jin smacking jungkook for snatching his food (IT WAS FOR THE BOTH OF THEM.)
-ˋˏ ღ just dance nights are very common for the two of you after that one in the soop episode
-ˋˏ ღ fishing dates are suddenly also a thing now because he said so
-ˋˏ ღ his dad jokes make you sob on the inside, but then again the boys think of you as their mom since you worry your head off like one
-ˋˏ ღ "JAGI, IS KOOKIE OKAY?!"
-ˋˏ ღ "that brat is fine, he does dumb stuff a lot"
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—MIN YOONGI ; suga !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: yoona
-ˋˏ ღ to start this off, you bullied yoongi with the others.
-ˋˏ ღ BUT ITS REALLY FUNNY BECAUSE HIS REACTIONS ARE HYSTERICAL
-ˋˏ ღ YooNa moments are really hard to catch on camera, because yoongi has a preference on keeping a lot of your vulnerable moments private but when they do come up, THEY'RE ALWAYS LIKE A KDRAMA
-ˋˏ ღ there was this one scenario, both of your kpop groups were attending an event and were sat next to eachother (totally not on purpose uhuh)
-ˋˏ ღ the thing was, your company failed to think that your outfit wouldn't give you enough warmth, and the even was out in the open so you were freezing to death (BRUH)
-ˋˏ ღ and yoongles was kind enough to shrug off his coat and put it over your shoulders
-ˋˏ ღ he got rewarded with a kiss in private :)
-ˋˏ ღ whenever he has birthday lives, you're always there with him or well- you're in every live he has
-ˋˏ ღ he was wearing some goofy shades and a party hat while you were just watching
-ˋˏ ღ "you look like a clown, pabo (fool)"
-ˋˏ ღ "someone doesn't want cake"
-ˋˏ ღ you both glared at eachother after, even though you couldn't even see his eyes
-ˋˏ ღ the armies were just laughing their asses off in the chat
-ˋˏ ღ anyway, you honestly love his gummy little smile or the way he's an old man in a young body
-ˋˏ ღ your relationship reflects that statement, the both of you prefer being traditional most of the time
-ˋˏ ღ sure he loves watching movies for hours and taking a nap, but nothing would ever beat just watching the moon together
-ˋˏ ღ when he was nervous about releasing his first album, you were with him every step of the way! the production of music, drafting of ideas, the photoshoots
-ˋˏ ღ when you were gone for months on end because of a tour and press conference across the world, yoongi was absolutely depressed
-ˋˏ ღ he ended up releasing his frustration through music specifically, so far away that featured Suran
-ˋˏ ღ when you listened to it, your heart honestly shattered
-ˋˏ ღ that day, you promised yourself that you would always be with Yoongi, you will never be far from him for over 2 months, it was what made your relationship grow so much
-ˋˏ ღ you had seen every side of him, the raw energy of agustD, the creative and sweet Suga, then the truthful and reflecting Min Yoongi
-ˋˏ ღ and he had seen every part of you, Yona's love for her fans, and Y/N's truth
-ˋˏ ღ the both of you are absolutely in love, soulmates even
-ˋˏ ღ everyone is convinced that the two of you were made for eachother
-ˋˏ ღ OKAY BACK TO CRACK
-ˋˏ ღ the both of you love arguing with eachother as a joke and he just starts being a baby
-ˋˏ ღ you remember the one time you stole his last tangerine and he was so upset (not really but he wanted to be petty) that he THEN finished all the ice cream in your freezer
-ˋˏ ღ yes you ranted about this to your fans and yoongi heard, so he just walked up to you and started clinging onto you to annoy you
-ˋˏ ღ "YAH! Get off you man-child!"
-ˋˏ ღ "What if I say no"
-ˋˏ ღ "god!"
-ˋˏ ღ "Yes?"
-ˋˏ ღ you hated him being such a smart ass too but like it's okay i guess....
-ˋˏ ღ one time you slapped cat ears on his head and he was just flabbergasted while staring at you
-ˋˏ ღ (you snapped pics so fast and sent them to the guys)
-ˋˏ ღ ANYWAY you bullied him by constantly calling him cute and whatever (maybe even ahjussi)
-ˋˏ ღ ok but then he calls you a grandma too
-ˋˏ ღ sitting on his lap or on his sofa while he produces music is really calming for u
-ˋˏ ღ just baskin in eachothers presence <3
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—JUNG HOSEOK ; j-hope !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: yo-hope
-ˋˏ ღ he's your sunshine and you're his moon omg
-ˋˏ ღ it was such a 'sunshine and the moon that protects it' trope and the fans loved it
-ˋˏ ღ hobi was always there to cheer you up after a really stressful day at work and you loved him so much for it
-ˋˏ ღ it was absolutely amazing to come home to him after a bad day since he knew what to do to cheer u up and make u happyyy
-ˋˏ ღ when some antis were hating him, you couldn't care less if you had gotten backlash, you defended him in every way you could
-ˋˏ ღ at this point, hobi was all you could ever care about since the two of you had supported one another since day one
-ˋˏ ღ when you two announced the two of you were together, the positivity that came out was overwhelming and the both of you were absolutely overjoyed with it
-ˋˏ ღ yo-hope was one of the favorite ships in the k-pop community because of the contrast between the two of you
-ˋˏ ღ you were actually the one that got hobi to start doing lives again!!! you always encouraged him and made sure he heard the things youd end your live on
-ˋˏ ღ "Okay guys, if Hobi ever goes on live, please show him as much support and love you can! for me!"
-ˋˏ ღ and on hobi's first live, you were there and made sure to check if some of your fans had actually showed support and sure enough, it was full of usernames that were referencing your kpop group
-ˋˏ ღ you and hobi are almost inseparable unless absolutely necessary because whenever you arent around, sweet boy feels so incomplete
-ˋˏ ღ there are like hundreds of compilations of Yo-Hope moments, a lot of the time you would just walk up to hobi and cling on him cause you need your charger
-ˋˏ ღ HIS JOY IS YOUR JOY
-ˋˏ ღ You love watching the boys kinda just grab hobi and hug him too, cuz he really is bangtan's sunshine
-ˋˏ ღ when the maknaes mess around with hobi, you swear hobi should be in the maknae line
-ˋˏ ღ whenever hobi is about to collapse laughing, you always catch him while laughing yourself (you cant deny it, there are 10 minute compilations of it)
-ˋˏ ღ you know when he has his moments when he's really stressed and down, overthinking about a lot, but you're always there to keep him up
-ˋˏ ღ you'll always be his moon, his partner, his soulmate :)
-ˋˏ ღ okay not going to lie, you and yoongi have beef over who gets jhope more (literally glaring at eachother from across the room)
-ˋˏ ღ it's okay though! the both of u decided to glare at anyone who messes with hobi
-ˋˏ ღ (i'm totally not buttering u guys up bcuz jimin's hcs r so funny)
-ˋˏ ღ Jack in the Box was a wild experience for you, Jay was a whole other entity when you watched him perform
-ˋˏ ღ hobi wanted to show armies that he wasn't all smiles and that he also struggled, YOU WERE ALL FOR IT!!!!
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—PARK JIMIN ; jimin !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: yomin
-ˋˏ ღ jimin.. the punching bag of bangtan for the amount of funny and embarrassing stuns he has pulled
-ˋˏ ღ the both of you are such lover girl x lover boy though
-ˋˏ ღ jimin could care less about the cameras around, he wants his baby!! the editors can deal with cutting it out!!!!
-ˋˏ ღ he loves to just like.. snatch you away from everyone and like keep you on his lap
-ˋˏ ღ "jimin, can I get off-"
-ˋˏ ღ "No"
-ˋˏ ღ In terms of man child-ness, he and taehyung are verrryyy close
-ˋˏ ღ sometimes the three of you hangout, taehyung ends up being like the sibling you bring around while you and your s/o go out and buying the kid so much food
-ˋˏ ღ at this point, you don't know if taehyung comes for the food or for the companionship BUT ANYWAY back to jimin
-ˋˏ ღ you and jimin act like such a married couple (hes totally not planning to propose uhuh mhm yessir on god)
-ˋˏ ღ the two of you bicker and then end up having a whole kdrama scene and I think the other BTS members are really tired of it but who cares you two love eachother
-ˋˏ ღ the way you two guys met was the funniest part
-ˋˏ ღ you and him were hosting together, and while interviewing someone at a table and sitting down, jimin immediately fell down on live
-ˋˏ ღ you were fighting for your life to not laugh while the interviewee was just there flabbergasted
-ˋˏ ღ that's how you two became such a lover girl and lover boy couple
-ˋˏ ღ when his new album came out, he absolutely demanded you would make a cameo in the 'Like Crazy' mv and you ended up in it
-ˋˏ ღ so now you're in the theories for the music video but like it's okay cause they're entertaining
-ˋˏ ღ jimin probably reads fanfics of YoMin and he loves to be shameless about it when he's with you.. what a brat
-ˋˏ ღ speaking about brat, he has such an attitude sometimes oh my god
-ˋˏ ღ out of everyone, he also has such a strong satoori and it's funny and scary at the same time
-ˋˏ ღ HE SOUNDS SO CONDESCENDING- he loves using it when a guy tries harrassing you while the both of you are out
-ˋˏ ღ You know that one video with Taehyung and Jimin together, and Jimin starts threatening you in Satoori? Yeah imagine that 💀
-ˋˏ ღ he's so mean sometimes too I swear- he loves teasing and bullying you
-ˋˏ ღ In the name of your stans, you will beat Jimin up one day, just not today
-ˋˏ ღ when the both of you are live and you find yourself without your indoor slippers he's yelling at you like:
-ˋˏ ღ "WEAR YOUR SLIPPERS PROPERLY"
-ˋˏ ღ "URUSAI (SHUT UP IN JAPANESE FOR SOME REASON?)"
-ˋˏ ღ The armies and stans were just watching this happen like it was normal. They're all used to how you and Jimin are like when the two of you are together
-ˋˏ ღ They saw you smack jimin and then Jimin stared at the camera with his mouth agape
-ˋˏ ღ "ARMYYY SHE JUST HIT ME"
-ˋˏ ღ and then the messages were like "BEAT HIM UP Y/N" "GO OFF QUEEN" "MOREEEEEE 🤾🏻‍♀️🤾🏻‍♀️" "let her COOK"
-ˋˏ ღ and suddenly jimin was lying down on the floor while you scrolled on your phone
-ˋˏ ღ yeah you made him beg for forgiveness
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—KIM TAEHYUNG ; V !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: taena
-ˋˏ ღ "tan-ahh don't keep Y/N all to yourself!!"
-ˋˏ ღ you were yeontan's momma ever since you and taehyung got together and it was obvious who was tannie's favorite
-ˋˏ ღ you loved to take pictures with yeontan and post it on social media, showing the world the adorable teacup pom with his popular momma! all with taehyung's permission of course
-ˋˏ ღ in one of taehyung's very much rare lives, the three of you were in bed with acoustic music playing in the back
-ˋˏ ღ though the live was very short, armies could fully see the love and admiration taehyung had for you
-ˋˏ ღ actually- he even decided to kiss you in front of the cam 😭
-ˋˏ ღ the next day, the clip was all over social media, taehyung personally thinking they're just overreacting about the whole ordeal like he's not one of the most powerful men in Korea 💀💀
-ˋˏ ღ but tae is your baby tbh (he's the goofy little dork in the relationship and you have to take care of him)
-ˋˏ ღ taehyung has this one cute habit where if he goes on live, he HAS to talk about your idol career or you in general at least.. like three times
-ˋˏ ღ everyone needs to know the beauty of Korea is his of course!!
-ˋˏ ღ you honestly love listening to his deep husky voice in their songs.. you love all of them but nothing beats taehyung's solo songs for you (they are in your everyday playlist)
-ˋˏ ღ the both of you love to wear matching outfits when you have to go out, and the fans go wild for it!
-ˋˏ ღ I swear to god you've seen a shirt with a picture of u and taehyung matching on it 😭
-ˋˏ ღ whenever your schedules let you, the three of you like to go out in the early morning to walk around the empty streets of seoul like a little family
-ˋˏ ღ this doesnt stop taehyung from wanting 3-5 kids in the future though
-ˋˏ ღ you and taehyung absolutely value time together since the both of you are constantly doing someone with their idol career, but at the end of the day
-ˋˏ ღ the both of you still lay in the same bed just admiring eachother
-ˋˏ ღ taehyung maybe locking yeontan out of the room if he was feeling a bit frisky that night
-ˋˏ ღ but anyway, this little dork loves showing you the random stuff he buys and it's honestly concerning and funny at the same time
-ˋˏ ღ and he's so freaking blunt about it omfg
-ˋˏ ღ "look at that chair with an ass on it" "tae, jagi, what the fu-"
-ˋˏ ღ AND THE HAS LIKE 10 RAMEN COOKERS IN HIS HOUSE HELP SAVE Y/N
-ˋˏ ღ even then, he still wants you to cook for him cause he's a lil baby that can't take care of himself omg
-ˋˏ ღ taehyung loves to abuse his tata mic face on you and it makes it so hard to say no to him, the situation goes like:
-ˋˏ ღ "Jagi, I want a bread maker"
-ˋˏ ღ "Tae, no, why in the name of Bang-PD would we need a bread maker??"
-ˋˏ ღ *tata mic face*
-ˋˏ ღ "oh my god- you are such a baby, fine ugh"
-ˋˏ ღ tae also has this one habit of like making up his own language or something, and the fact that you've spent years with him and as his soulmate, you are his translator alongside Suga
-ˋˏ ღ you find it absolutely endearing and adorable though
-ˋˏ ღ you know how taehyung is blunt yeah? he has said with a straight face before the following:
-ˋˏ ღ "If this idol thing doesn't work out for us, we should become a farm family and have an army of 5 kids and then an army of chickens to attack jimin-shi when he visits us"
-ˋˏ ღ lord have mercy on Y/N- WAIT 5 KIDS? 💀
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—JEON JUNGKOOK ; jungkook !
-ˋˏ ღ shipname: yokook
-ˋˏ ღ the only thing he likes about the two of you being idols is that the both of you have a gigantic privilege
-ˋˏ ღ he absolutely hates the fact that the two of you lack privacy and the hate that comes from some 'army' (bruh)
-ˋˏ ღ other than that, he still is absolutely in love with you, full of adoration in his adorable doe eyes
-ˋˏ ღ you know how he's the ambassador of Calvin Klein? You're also an ambassador so CK decided a couple shoot with the both of you would be good coverage for them
-ˋˏ ღ another pro about the couple shoot is that you can make it clear to your fans that the both of you are very much devoted to each other
-ˋˏ ღ weekly training together is a must! an absolute must!!! or else kookie will get sulky and sad for the rest of the week and cry to bam or something
-ˋˏ ღ on one of his late night lives, you had walked into the room while he was talking to army, he had the galaxy doohickey on and a candle next to him
-ˋˏ ღ "hi tokki" you greeted him with a soft smile
-ˋˏ ღ "noona!" he immediately took his attention off the chat to walk to you and give you a kiss
-ˋˏ ღ the army were going crazy in chat with "YOKOOK!!" "MY SHIP SAILED" "Love to YoKook from ___!! <3"
-ˋˏ ღ after the small kiss the both of you sat on the couch and you greet the army with a wave and lazy grin
-ˋˏ ღ you and jungkook made some small talk while some music played on the tv, you could only assume that he was doing some karaoke before you got home
-ˋˏ ღ while the two of you talked, you caught a glimpse from chat that includes "Kookie looks so inlove with her🥺🥺", "He grew up so fast and now he has an amazing gf 😭", "His eyes tell so much!!!!"
-ˋˏ ღ the smile that appeared on your face couldn't be contained, the moment jungkook saw your smile, he turned to look at the source and he couldn't help but smile himself at all the comments
-ˋˏ ღ "Thank you for all the support, Army. I'll always hold Army, BTS, and Y/N close to my heart"
-ˋˏ ღ honestly you made him pull out the slight busan accent (its so hot bruh wtf the little sigh at the end) and you loved the way it sounded
-ˋˏ ღ You went to go do a quick errand in your shared bedroom so you left Kook alone in the living room to do whatever he was doing
-ˋˏ ღ what you came back to was absolutely adorable and hilarious.
-ˋˏ ღ you saw a kookie in slumber, a chat going wild the moment they saw you, and the candle still burning.
-ˋˏ ღ you laughed as you read some of the comments from chat and blew out the candle, you bid army farewell with a promise that you will take care of the golden maknae
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copyright © 2023 | frieschan
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justmeinadaze · 1 year
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Pushing the Barrier Part 3 (Eddie X Reader) 
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A/N: Like you guys I am extremely invested in their story. My brain has been all over the place so please excuse any grammatical errors. Holiday seasons are always harder for me. I love you guys and your thoughts on this story. I read them all <3
Warnings: I don't want reveal too much and spoil things but still got stripper Eddie here. He does talk and break down in great detail his trauma and the things he deals with. :(. Word Count: 3967
You slipped out of his apartment early in the morning while Eddie was still sleeping. You couldn’t sleep at all. The entire cab ride to your apartment you thought about last night. Everything about Eddie and the way he made you feel was amazing. That look in his eyes and the tone in his voice though remained front and center in your brain. 
“I’m waiting for you.”
No matter what, you would end up hurting him. Hell, you were hurting him now. You were married to someone else. Your last name was someone elses. You did not belong to Eddie. Yes, your husband was an asshole but he was a good man once, right? Why else did you marry him?
“Excuse me, can you take me here instead please?”
You gave the cab driver the address as he swiveled around. 
#############
When you walk into your husband’s office, his head is buried in paperwork. His eyes flick up towards you as you enter but he doesn’t move to greet you. 
“Must have had a good time last night. You didn’t come home.”
“I stayed with a friend.” He answered with a sarcastic hm. “What did you expect? You yelled at me and said I looked like a whore.” Your husband exhaled as he leaned back in his gigantic chair. “Honestly, I’m surprised you even noticed I didn’t come home. You’re never there.”
“Here we go again. Look—”
You raise your hand to silence him. “Please. I… I’m your wife. I miss you, honey. Don’t you miss me when you’re here?” His eyes softened as he watched you speak. “Do you remember our first date? We stayed out all night walking around the city and just talked till the sun came up.” You both chuckle at the memory. “I miss that. I miss how we used to be. I’m so sick of being alone.”
You husband rose and walked to your side of his desk, leaning down on his knees to get to your level. “I miss you to, baby. I know I’ve been really busy here. I’m trying to make it to where soon I won’t have to work so hard. I promise I’ll do better, sweetheart.” 
Eddie flashed in your head at the name and you tried to shake the image. You craned your neck, planting your lips on his. “Ok, I trust you. I love you.”
“I love you to, baby.”
###################
“Hello?” You answer the phone and are surprised when Mira’s lyrical voice comes through. 
“Hey mama. It’s been a couple of weeks since you’ve come by. Is everything ok?”
“Yes? Do you do this check up with everyone who stops showing up?” You try to keep your voice low so your husband doesn’t wonder who you’re talking to. It was a Saturday and to your surprise he was actually trying to make good on his promise. You two had been watching television when the phone rang. 
“No, baby. I actually have a favor to ask. Can you come by and see Eddie?”
Your heart dropped to your stomach. “Wha…I…um…”
“I don’t ask questions. I told you; we pride ourselves on privacy so I don’t know what happened between you two but since you stopped showing up his entire attitude has changed. He’s a lot more feisty than normal. I actually had to give out a refund for a client experience and send him home the other day. He’s a good man but if this keeps up I may have to fire him.”
“No! Mira, don’t do that.”
“He’s working a short shift today. I don’t have anyone booked for him and I won’t even charge you for this little counseling session. Just please, get his mind right.”
You sigh as you hang up the phone. 
“Who was that?”, your husband asks as you head back towards him. 
“One of my friends needing a pick me up. Her boyfriend broke up with her.”
“Oh no. Well, baby, you should go check on her. Bring some of the hard stuff.”, he points toward your liquor cabinet. 
You climb into his lap and kiss him on the forehead making him chuckle. “I’ll be right back.”
#################
You feel extremely nervous as you open the door to Eddie’s room. When your eyes land on him your heart breaks in half. While he still looks handsome in his jeans and Metallica shirt, his eyes look worn as if he hasn’t slept in days. His head was leaning against his fingers as they pressed into his temple. He stared into his own reflection angrily. 
“Hey Eddie.”
His eyes widened as he quickly got to his feet and marched toward the glass in front of him. 
“Turn this fucking thing off NOW.” When you don’t respond or do what he asks he slams his palm into the glass causing you to jump. “You snuck out of my apartment. No note or anyway to reach you. You disappear for two weeks. I think I earned the right to see your face. Unless you’re too much of a fucking coward.”
He laughs to himself as he sits back down. “God damn, Sweetheart. What the fuck was I thinking? I guess we both had each other pegged wrong, huh? I thought you were different but, nope, you’re just like everyone else. I’m surprised you didn’t leave some money on my nightstand before you left.”
“Eddie, please. That’s not what this was.”
“Then what was it!?”
“I really do care about you but I owe it to the man I married to try.”
“Y/N, what the fuck are you talking about? He doesn’t give a fuck about you. With everything you’ve told me what makes you think this time is going to be any different?!”
“Eddie, you don’t know me or my relationship! He was a good man once and he really has been trying.”
“Oh yeah? Then why are you back here with me?”
“Because Mira told me that she was going to fire you if you didn’t get your shit together!”
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Eddie, you can’t afford to lose this job.”
His eyes angrily turned towards the front of the cube. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pretend like you care about my well-being. Just get the fuck out of here and go back to your ‘blissful’ marriage.”
You flick the switch, turning off the two-way mirror and meet his fury filled stare. “I’m doing this because I care, Eddie.”
“Naw, baby. You’re doing this because you care about you. I should have known better. Selfish just like everyone else who enters my life.”
“I don’t want you to wait for me.” His head turns abruptly at your words. “I can’t have you waiting for me. It’s not fair to you.” You hug your arms around you. “You deserve to be with someone who puts you first.”
“So do you…” He sighs before you notice his eyes light up with an idea. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Can you grab Mira for me?”
Without question you leave the room, grabbing Mira, and bringing her to Eddie. You wait outside in the hallway as the talk. After a few minutes she exits, smiling. 
“Man is crafty; I’ll give him that. This way my dear.” She takes your hand in hers and leads you towards the back of the building but instead of going out the back door, you two pass it looping around to another hallway. Mira digs in her pocket for a set of keys and opens the door in front of her gesturing you inside. “If at any point you feel uncomfortable, you can just open the door and leave. It’s only locked to keep people out, not in.”
When you step inside the lights above you automatically turn on. You glance around taking note of the familiar throne chair and the guitar leaning next to it. Taking a seat, you look in front of you and are met with only your reflection. 
“It’s a bit odd at first, I know.” You glance above you at the sound of Eddie’s voice. “I have to admit, I’ve never been on this side before. It’s kind of empowering.” You smile softly as you stand up and move towards the front of the glass. 
“I thought maybe it might help a bit to put you in my shoes. In the corner there is my jacket. You can put it on if you want to.”
You do put on his leather jacket, inhaling the smell of his cologne. 
“Go ahead, Princess. Take a seat.” Doing as he asks, you sit in the throne again, gazing at your image in the mirror. “Now, picture this. You’re a 20 something year old man from a small town in Indiana. You left your friends and uncle, the only family you care about, behind to move to New York to make something of yourself.”
“What about my parents? Where are they?”
His silence is tearing you apart. You would give anything to just be able to see his face. 
“Your parents don’t talk to you anymore. Your dad is an abusive dickhead who’s in prison for pretty much the rest of his life and your mom surrendered you over to your uncle when you were a kid because she didn’t want to deal with you.”
A tear escaped your eye and you quickly wiped it away. You suddenly hear a soft knock on the glass in front of you and your eyes move towards the sound. 
“You’d been struggling to make ends meet so you do some research and find Mira’s place here. You start doing this gig for strangers and 98% of them you can’t see. Some of them are extremely dirty.” His tone changes to much more gruff, authoritative one. “Take off your pants.”
You look up at the glass, your eyes searching frantically for him. Eddie’s voice comes through a bit more sternly. “I said take off your pants.” You do as your told, rising off the chair and pushing off your jeans, kicking them to the side. 
“Good girl. Keep the shirt and jacket on. You look fucking sexy like that.” You felt your pussy start to drip at his words but something still felt off. It wasn’t the Eddie you had come to know. He wasn’t in front of you with that soft voice, telling you how beautiful you are. This really felt like someone else behind a window that only wanted one thing. 
“Spread your legs open. Atta girl. Move your panties to the side so I can see that pretty cunt.” You did as he asked as his heavy breathing echoed into the cube
“Eddie, please tell me what you’re doing over there.”
“Oh no, Princess. You don’t get to ask me questions. I tell you what to do. Come here, babe. Crawl to the front on your hands and knees for me.” You hear the sound of his grunts as you move towards him. You place your palm against the glass and you can’t see it but he does the same. 
A string of expletives including words like “slut” and “whore” leave his mouth as he pants. You suddenly hear his breathing slow and then nothing but silence. 
You feel yourself start to panic. “Eddie?” You smack the glass. “Eddie, are you still there?!”
“Now, imagine,” you breathe a sigh of relief as he continues in his soft Eddie tone. “One night, this beautiful voice comes through. She just wants to talk to you about things. Mostly about how her husband abandons her at night to fall asleep alone. Sometimes he doesn’t come home and one night when she was feeling particularly beautiful, he told her she looked a whore.”
You feel the anger slowly rise into your chest as your bottom lip begins to tremble. He knocks again a little further to your left so you shuffle towards it, knocking back. 
“This beautiful voice finally allows you to see her face, taste her lips, feel her body. She falls asleep in your bed but then the next morning you wake up and she’s gone. You could try calling her but you don’t have her phone number and Mira won’t give it to you because ‘we pride ourselves on privacy’,” he mimics her voice. “You can’t go to her apartment because you don’t know where she lives. The only place you’ve ever seen her is in there,” Eddie points to the glass, “and at a restaurant. Every day for the next two weeks you check in that restaurant thinking she may show up but she doesn’t. You play your gig at the bar she saw you at praying she may show up looking for you but nope.”
“You sit in that glass confinement for two…weeks… waiting,” Eddie flips the switch and his upset eyes meet your sad ones. “Then she finally shows up and says she owes it to her husband to try because she cares about you.” He tilts his head, watching your face.
“Eddie, I’m… I’m so sorry.”
“Why do you stay with him?”
You shrug as the tears start to fall. “He’s my husband. I—”
“Don’t say that again. Don’t say you owe him. You owe him shit especially with how he treats you. Do you honestly believe he’ll change? You need to leave him.”
 “Would you?! What if the tables were turned?” You stand up and tower over him. “What if I told you this bothered me? You being naked and jacking off in front of people made me angry? What if I said I couldn’t be with someone who does something like this? What if I said ‘Eddie, it’s me or this’? What would you do?” Eddie glares up at you as you yell through the glass and you don’t even wait for an answer. 
“Yeah. That’s what I fucking thought. So don’t you dare stand there and tell me what to do with my life!” You watch was he turns with clenched fists and exits the room slamming the door. “Oh, that’s nice. AND I’M THE FUCKING COWARD!” You scream after him as you repeatedly slam the barrier in front of you.
The door behinds you suddenly opens as Eddie flies through it until he’s in front of you. His hand reaches out to grip your chin, making you look directly at him. 
“I would choose you. I would choose you every fucking time. No questions asked.” His hand released you but his body remained where it was. “If you want to go play house with your husband go ahead. That’s not going to stop me from waiting for you.”
Your jaw tightens as you swallow and Eddie sees it. “Oh yeah? And how many girls have you said that to? How many times have you sat in here and said something that to someone you’re attracted to?”
His face visibly flinches as his chest rises and falls heavily.
“I’m not going to stand here and pretend like I’ve never found other women I’ve seen in here attractive. The ones that have actually allowed me to see them. You, Y/N, are the only person I’ve actually ran after when they walked out of this room. You are the only woman ever since I moved here that I’ve invited to see me play with my band. YOU are the only person on this fucking planet that I would stick around for even though I know I’m her second choice.”
“Eddie, fuck! It’s things like that. You deserve better than being someone ‘second choice’.”
“And so do you. Look, whether it’s work or…something else that man is always putting you second. No matter how you choose to defend it.”
Eddie reaches his hand out to gently caress your cheek with his thumb. “Y/N, you were just gone.”, his voice comes out barely above a whisper. You tackled your arms around his waist and his arms came down around you, pressing you against him. “If you want to try with your husband, I respect that. I don’t agree with it but I respect it. Just… please don’t disappear again.”
####################
You left Eddie that day with a mutual agreement of remaining friends. You even exchanged phone numbers with him and on days you were home alone you called him, telling him about your day and vice versa. 
One day you invited him to your school to have lunch with you. Eddie marveled at you from outside your classroom door. You looked so cute sitting on your desk swinging your legs as you talked to the glass. When you glanced towards the door and saw him, you eagerly waived him in. 
“Who’s that?” a girl near the front row giggled as he came in.
“Guys, this is my friend Eddie. Eddie, these are my pain in the butt freshman.” They laughed at you as he gave them a small wave. “Go ahead and sit down. The periods almost over.”, you whisper to him. 
You continue with your lesson on the book in your hand and after a few minutes a bell chimes. “Please, for the love of God, keep up with your reading. On Monday, we’re going to talk about your next project, okay?! Have a good weekend!”
You smile as they murmur goodbyes before speeding out of the room. 
“You good at this stuff.” Eddie grins as he grabs the book from your hands. You take the food out of the bag he brought, crossing your legs on your desk as you dig in. “The Great Gatsby. Did we have to read this in school?”
“Well, I’m not sure about Indiana but here it is part of their freshman curriculum. Have you read it?”, Eddie shakes his head as he places the book on the desk. “It’s about a man named Gatsby who loves a woman named Daisy. She’s married to this rich aristocrat guy so Gatsby spends his life trying to become rich enough for her. Her cousin moves in next door to him so he uses him to his advantage.”
“Oof. Sounds complicated as hell.” He laughs as he starts eating his own food. “Tell me more. I like hearing you talk about it.” You flash him a questioning look. “The way you talk about the material, you get more animated. If I was their age and you were my teacher, I may actually have read the book.” Eddie smiles as you laugh at him. “What happens in the end?”
“It doesn’t end happily. Long story short, Daisy stays with her husband and Gatsby dies.”
You both avoid eye contact as you pick at your plate. “So, um, how’s work been? Better?”
Eddie chuckles. “Mira didn’t fire me if that’s what you’re asking. Yeah, everything’s gone back to normal, I guess. What about your husband? Still being good?”
You scrunch your nose at his word choice. “Yeah. I mean, there have been a few nights he’s stayed late at work but it’s not as bad as before. He actually took me out to this really nice restaurant the other night.” You dare to sneak a peek at him as you talk. Eddie continues looking down at his food, nodding his head. 
Reaching towards him, you tenderly place your hand on his arm. “Thank you.”
He gently grazes your fingers with his own, almost as if he’s afraid to touch you too much. “Not a problem, Princess.”
#################
“Honey, you alright?” Your husband taps your arm. 
“Yeah, I’m sorry I just zoned out for a bit.” You laugh at yourself as you shake your head. 
The phone on the wall rings and he leans back to answer it. His eyes flick towards you before he makes a small mhmm noise and pulls the phone from his lips. “It’s my boss. I’m going to take it in the other room. Would you mind hanging this one up for me?”
“Yeah sure.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He doesn’t see your face cringe at the name as he kisses your forehead before jogging down the hallway. “Ok! I got it!”
“Ok!” You don’t know what possessed you in that moment but instead of hanging up the phone, you put it up to your ear covering the mouthpiece with your hand. 
“I can’t, baby. Not tonight. I already told you. I’m on thin ice with my wife.”
“Don’t you baby me. I thought you said you loved me!”
“I do, Sarah. I do but—”
“But you love her more!”
*sigh* “Look, don’t move, okay? I’ll be right there.”
You hang up the phone and thirty seconds later your husband rounds the corner. “Honey, I’m so sorry. They need me to come down for a few hours to work on this project. I shouldn’t be there to long.”
You stare at him with wide eyes as your brain runs a mile a minute. “You should go. Definitely don’t want to keep your boss waiting.”
##################
The moment Eddie opens his front door your lips are on his as you jump into his arms.
“Whoa! Sweetheart…hang on…a minute.” He barely gets the words out as you keep trying to keep his mouth on yours. “Please…Jesus H. Christ.” 
He somehow manages to tear you off him, placing your feet on the floor. Eddie’s long fingers brush your hair back and out of your eyes. They were extremely worn and heavy from crying. The whiskey on your breath hung around you like a storm cloud. “What happened, Princess?”
You reach towards him attempting to run your hands along his bare chest but he catches them in midair to hold them in his own. “Talk later. Fuck me now.”
“Okay, that would be the alcohol.” You swayed drunkenly in his grasp. Rolling your eyes, you pull away from him and throw yourself down on his bed. You reach for him with little grabby hands. “I’ll make you deal. You take a nap and then when you wake up, we’ll revisit this conversation, ok?
You giggle, nodding your head as your heavy eyelids start to droop. Eddie sits on the edge of his mattress beside you, delicately removing your shoes and socks. “I’m going to take off your pants to make you more comfortable, ok? This is not a sexy invitation.” He smiles and you nod again.
After he completes his task, he maneuvers your body so you’re under the covers. “Should I call your husband and let him know you’re here? I can say your friend is with you and I’m her boyfriend or something.”
With your eyes still closed, you scoff as you turn your head towards the sound of his voice. “Fuck him. He won’t even be home. He’s with Sarah.” You giggle but Eddie notices your bottom lip shake as your voice cracks. 
He blinks into the void as his mind pieces together the little information he has in front of him. “Oh Princess. I’m so sorry.”
You were silent so he assumed you had fallen asleep. He rose with the intention of sleeping on the couch when your hand flew out in his direction. “Eddie… please don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just be on the couch right over there.”
You shook your head, pulling at his arm. “Please. I’ll fucking break the glass if I have to.”
It took him a moment to understand what your drunk mind was trying to convey. “Y/N, there’s no glass here.” Eddie crawls into the bed beside you and you immediately press your small frame to his side as your head falls to his chest. He reaches for your hands and intertwines his fingers with yours. “No barrier. I’m right here, Sweetheart. I’ll be right next to you when you wake up.” ###################
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project-sekai-facts · 2 months
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What is your favorite commissioned song for each character? (Sorry if you've already answered this before)
this has been sitting in my inbox since december because I was waiting for all characters to get their 4th song... so minori has 5 songs now screw waiting it's not massively likely that Ena4 or Toya4 are gonna beat my top comms for them.
Ichika: either the WALL or Ryuusei no Pulse. I keep changing my mind on which one I like more. I don't really have much to say about them because I don't have either ranked particularly high, but Chiirurin is always a good vocalist, her high note in the WALL is really good.
Saki: Stella. This has been my favorite L/n song since I started playing. I'm not entirely sure why, it just really struck a chord with me. I love the lyrics as well. I'm actually listening to it while writing this lol.
Honami: STAGE OF SEKAI. I really love the emotion in this one, especially in the final chorus. The instrumental is really good too and you honestly can feel the emotion in the song through that alone. Regulus is really good too.
Shiho: Voices. It's just a total banger. The guitar solo is probably my favorite part of the song if I'm being honest. I hope they recommission yuyoyuppe at some point.
Minori: Tenshi no Clover. All her songs are really good, so this was hard to pick. I love energetic idol songs like that and it fits Minori really well. Zenshin zenrei MORE MORE JUMP!
Haruka: IF. rip haruka for not getting her 4th song. I'm not massive on any of her comms to be honest. I do like IF and Float Planner, they're just quite low on my ranking comparatively. Also I keep going back and forth on which one I like more but right now it's IF.
Airi: MORE! JUMP! MORE!. This was my original favorite MMJ song. It's super catchy and fun. Even if the lyrics are nothing to do with the event or Airi, I still think it's a great song.
Shizuku: Metamo Re:born. My favorite MMJ song! Really catchy and has a nice beat to it. I like how 'sparkly' it sounds as well.
Kohane: Hitsuji ga Ippiki. The instrumental is so good, and this is probably one of VBS' best songs vocally. Akina especially sounds amazing.
An: Awake Now. We had to wait so long for this but it was so worth it. Again the instrumental is great and Jiena sounds so good in this song, I love An's solo version. I have this ranked just above Hitsuji on my tierlist lol
Akito: CRaZY. This song made my change my top 5 songs for the first time since spring 2022. It's just so good and all of VBS sounds amazing as always. I also like how it reflects Akito's character development from the event. My favorite rotation 4 song so far.
Toya: RAD DOGS. My original #2 song and current #3. I love the combination between classical and EDM, and HachiojiP did such a good job considering he didn't have any experience with classical. Also the Bad Dogs rap section is so good.
Tsukasa: Mr. Showtime. If I'm being honest I don't usually like showtunes like this a whole lot, they can be very hit or miss for me, but this is very much a hit. Daichan did really well in this song. My favorite part though is the lyrics, I love how Yama used different meanings for certain phrases in parentheses.
Emu: Hoshizora Orchestra or Niccori Chousa-tai no Theme. Again I keep changing my mind and they're pretty much tied for me. I like them for completely different reasons as well; Hoshizora Orchestra is pretty melancholic despite it's cutesy tune, and Niccori is just really fun to listen to.
Nene: Hoshizora no Melody. Easy pick for me, I love the instrumental a whole lot and listened to the preview over and over at the time. Also the lyrics are so good, I love how they tell the entire story of Wandasho and show how much they mean to each other.
Rui: potato ni Natte iku. Still my favourite song in the game, I'm really never moving on from this one. I just really like the instrumental. Showtime Ruler is an incredibly close 2nd place though (really close. guitar solo at the end goes hard and also "I will never feel lonely ever again")
Kanade: Samsa. It's just an amazing song, but I also appreciate how teniwoha managed to connect the novella to Kanade and Mafuyu's story. Probably my favorite song from rotation 3.
Mafuyu: Bug. I know it's a boring choice but it's a good song, it's popular for a reason. Also RUIRUI'S SOLO VERSION. She's such a talented vocalist and is really good at conveying Mafuyu's emotions.
Ena: Kagirinaku Haiiro e. I've actually always liked the instrumental of this one. Also the lyrics fit Ena's story really well. However the final chorus totally steals the show, I loop that part of the song specifically a lot. Favourite Niigo song.
Mizuki: IDSMILE. I actually didn't like this song much at first because it's not the sort of thing I usually like. The lyrics are what got me to like it as much as they do. I've mentioned before that Mizuki is my favorite niigo member, so I'm slighly biased in that regard, but they really struck an emotional chord with me.
If anyone's interested my top 10 is potato ni Natte iku -> Showtime Ruler -> RAD DOGS -> CRaZY -> Beyond the way -> Cinema -> Kagirinaku Haiiro e -> CYBERPUNK DEAD BOY -> IDSMILE -> Gekkou
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benkyoutobentou · 8 months
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How to study languages without studying
Whether you're just starting out and have had bad experiences with textbook learning in the past or are getting burnt out from prepping for the next proficiency test, it's never a bad idea to put the textbooks away for a time and just enjoy your target language. If you're new to the world of immersion, here are a few ways to get you started.
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Follow along with the lyrics of a song. Spotify's not-so-new-anymore lyrics feature is great for this, especially since it has timed lyrics, but it doesn't have every song.
Expert mode: Write out the lyrics and underline/highlight/make note of all the words and grammar structures you don't know. Learn these unknowns until you can understand the whole song!
Extra challenge: Translate a song from your target language. I usually tend to stay away from translations in my study, but for those of you who aspire to be translators (or already are!), the poetic nature of song lyrics can be a fun challenge.
Watch a show or movie. Netflix has now introduced a feature where you can sort by language! If there's nothing made in your language that you're interested in, it also gives the option to sort by shows and movies that have the audio or subtitles available. Internet Archive also tends to have lots of foreign films that I'm looking for.
Easy mode: Watch with English or your native language subtitles. When doing this, try to still listen to what's being said and pick up on words and phrases that you know, or match new words with their translation in the subtitles. Note: reading one language and listening to another is a skill in and of itself! Don't be discouraged if you can't do both at the same time yet, you're brain is still making the connections in intonation and cadence of the language.
Hard mode: Watch with captions in your target language. This helps you connect listening and reading, especially in languages where the spelling isn't exactly phonetic, or it uses a different alphabet than what you're used to.
Expert mode: No captions or subtitles! But who knows, maybe you're better at listening comprehension than I am. Make sure you're getting comprehensible input here; some shows and movies are much harder than others. But above all else, watch what keeps your interest. A movie where you can catch half the dialogue but is super engaging is better for you than an "easy" movie that you're going to spend your time ignoring.
Polyglot mode?: Watch something in your target language with subtitles in a different target language. This adds just one too many layers of obfuscation for me, but if you're into the challenge, more power to you.
Watch YouTube. You can change your language preference on YouTube, and with that, the Explore section will give you recommendations in your target language. Going into the trending tab with your target language can give you a good idea about what people are interested in in the countries where your target language is spoken.
Read something. It can be a book, it can be a comic. There are plenty of webcomics out there in a number of languages! There's also probably an English language listicle with recommendations of easier to understand webcomics for learners, too.
If you're just getting started in immersion, you can choose whether you focus on intensive reading or extensive reading (this actually goes for all kinds of immersion, but is easiest to control with reading since it happens at your own pace). Intensive reading is reading with the goal of understanding everything 100%. If you don't understand a word, or a grammar point, or the reading of a character, look it up. Extensive reading is reading just to get the gist of things. Look up words and grammar points only if they stop you from understanding the general meaning of the sentence or section. And of course, the more you immerse, the less you'll have to look things up, but remember that difficulty varies between materials, even within books of the same age range, genre, and medium.
A small digression: If you decide that you never want to open a textbook on your language learning journey, more power to you! It can be done and I know people who have gotten to proficient levels of their target language without textbooks. If you want this to be you, extensive immersion is your best friend. You also might want to get comfortable with the flashcard program anki, because, if this is your goal, all those unknown grammar points and words will probably end up there. But at the end of the day, language learning is an intensely personal journey, and what works for others won't necessarily work for you. Finding what works for you is just part of learning a language.
Play a game. Lots of games are region locked (hint: Pokemon Sun/Moon isn't! If you start a new game, you can choose which language you want to play it in), but there are plenty of free online games still lurking in the corners of the internet. With a bit of googling, you can probably find something in your target language. Just the other day, I went out to find one of those hidden item games in Japanese and ended up finding an entire site dedicated to user made browser games.
If you're learning Japanese or Korean, picrew might be fun to look through as well. I noticed that plenty of picrews have basic anatomy vocabulary. I'm not super familiar with picrew myself, but the ones I've seen tend to be in Korean and Japanese
And lastly, don't fully give up on textbooks before trying them out. Don't be discouraged if textbooks truly aren't your thing, but studying a language on your own time can feel much different than studying for school. Don't put too much pressure on yourself and just have fun with your language. Additionally, if you'd rather learn in a video format, many languages have full courses uploaded to YouTube for you to try. Finding these can be difficult for some languages though, so don't hesitate to reach out to other learners and see what they recommend!
Got your materials ready? Great! Now go forth and immerse!
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yukidragon · 1 year
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Remember that pic that voltageous Posted of Jack all angey. Do you think Alice would ever be in similar situation like that? Btw I love your character Alice and all the headcanons and stories that make!
Aww! Thank you so much! I'm really happy that you enjoy my writing, ideas, and Alice. 💖
I presume you're talking about this lovely picture, right? Jack's pose is very appealing, but his expression in particular is striking. Between that, the composition of the scene, and the lyrics, a story is being told that has sparked so many thoughts.
I actually made a short thread on twitter discussing Alice and this picture's scenario. I think this is the perfect opportunity to expand on that idea with a bit of a ramble, and maybe do a bit of writing.
Quick reminder that this fandom is for Adults Only. Mature topics will be discussed like sex, cheating, and such.
In that spirit, let's really look at the picture and talk about it, shall we? I think the main thing that really caught my, and a lot of other people's attention is the look Jack is giving the person standing in shadow in the doorway, presumably MC. We've never seen Jack actually show such an angry expression to his sunshine outside of fan art.
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I mean look at that face. Jack is glaring daggers, at his sunshine no less! That is the look of a lover betrayed by their cheating partner if I ever saw it. Sauce does great work with their art and expressions. Full credit goes to them as always for their awesome work.
Speaking of which, consider joining the SnaccPop Studios patreon for more cool art that they haven't shared on twitter. Just remember not to share anything that's privately posted there.
Something I actually only noticed when really looking at Jack's face in close up, he has a slight distortion going on similar to what was applied to his sprites earlier in development. You can really see it in the slight blurring of his red marks.
As was mentioned on the official tumblr, Jack can touch and interact with things the more attached he is to his sunshine. In the demo, Jack picking up MC and making food is treated as a new development, showing how close they've become. MC can't touch him anymore when they distance themselves from him in the "no" route. When they could choose to "not make things weird" and keep Jack at arm's length emotionally, he started to feel cold and distant from them even though he was holding them close.
It was mentioned that Jack was given an intentional 3D/VHS distortion in earlier builds, which I think was to further emphasize that he wasn't quite real. MC is the one making him more real with their love and attachment. I suspect that the blur would've lessened and disappeared altogether as he became more real.
So now we see Jack with a hint of that distortion, glaring angrily up at the person casting a shadow over him in a darkened room. I think we can all guess this is supposed to be MC, and the lyrics give us a very strong hint as to what's going on here and why he's so upset.
It would seem that this picture is implying that MC was out all night at another love interest's place, likely having sex with them. They're choosing someone else to love, and Jack is probably barely keeping himself together as their attachment towards him wanes.
Jack has every reason to be pissed off in this scenario. Not only does this put him at risk, but this would make MC a cheater in the "yes" route. It's debatable if they would be one in the "no" route, since they did have sex, but it would no doubt still sting even if MC just regarded him as a friend with benefits.
It can leave Jack feeling hurt and betrayed. Remember how he questioned what more he could be doing in the "no" route? This is even worse. He tries to give MC everything - his love, patience, understanding, acceptance... even physical pleasure if that's what they want. Even still, they chose someone else to have sex with, showing even that wasn't enough to keep them.
So, yeah, this seems to be Jack having trouble remaining in MC's life while also feeling hurt and betrayed by them... and no doubt possessive and dangerous.
The lyrics might ask where MC was last night, but given Jack's supernatural abilities, I suspect that he knows exactly where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing... or rather who they were doing instead of him.
I suspect that Jack can go greater distances than a normal person can by walking while using his supernatural abilities. He might be able to track down MC or others he's targeted even at a distance. After all, he was haunting Nick for a while with those nightmares. If MC didn't come home one night, I'd expect Jack would go out looking for them.
MC probably got swept up with another love interest while Jack was at home waiting for them. They were late, so Jack went looking for them... and found his worst nightmare. He could've confronted them there and then, tried to stop them from what they were doing, but, as we've seen in the demo, when other people are taking MC's attention away from Jack, he has a difficult time bringing it back to him until they're alone or unless he exerts a little more pressure like the yes/no choice.
Given the situation, MC might have been way too distracted by their lover to even notice Jack... and I'm sure that it was emotionally devastating to Jack.
So Jack goes back to the apartment. He waits for MC, tries to figure out what to do, but he's hurt, betrayed, panicked... What more can he give them? What more can he do for them? What more do they want from him? What can that other man give them that he can't? He has to do damage control, make them feel the need to make it up to him and want to be closer to him, but he's also hurt.
Jack can't even confront the rival at that moment while they're with MC. His sunshine might see. Even if his jealousy and betrayal might make him not care, he can't risk them wanting him to go away.
So Jack waits for MC to come back, to confront them. No doubt he'll play his few remaining cards of guilt for leaving him behind and forgetting him for a night, while struggling to keep himself together, both emotionally and metaphysically.
Finally, when MC comes home the next day, it's to the scene in the picture.
Now... with all that said, considering how I've repeatedly stated that Jack and Alice are my OTP and I want to give them a happy ending in Sunshine in Hell... I think you can guess that this cheating scenario isn't going to happen between Alice and Jack, hahaha.
I did a post before about what a fight between Alice and Jack might look like, and how far it might go. It's very unlikely that it's going to go as far as what Jack's face is telling us here with all that anger he's showing, especially for such an implied awful reason.
For one thing, Alice wouldn't cheat. She wouldn't do it even before Ian cheated on her and showed her just how much it hurts to be cheated on. She also wouldn't be having sex outside of a relationship. Alice is on the aro/ace spectrum. On top of that, she has issues when it comes to sex. Between SA trauma and her first and only consenting sexual partner being, shall we say, less than attentive to her needs... she isn't interested in sleeping with people after the breakup with Ian. She needs to take it slow in order to trust a partner enough with that level of physical and emotional intimacy.
For Alice, sex with another person is something she can only do with a partner that she loves with the intention to make them happy and feel good. Sure she enjoys masturbation, but when other people have been involved, the sex has been, well... not great. The primary satisfaction she got from sex with Ian was his pleasure. Sadly, he never managed to make her orgasm, and it was actually uncomfortable and painful for her at times. She really did herself a disservice not advocating for her wants and comfort, but she didn't want to make Ian feel bad for a poor performance when it was too easy to hurt his feelings. Really, their troubled, one-sided sex life and lack of open and honest communication are a couple big reasons why her relationship with Ian deteriorated like it did.
I've mentioned before in some past posts, but the sexual intimacy Alice shares with Jack is going to start off slowly, and only after they're together in a romantic relationship. Because he takes her needs and comfort into account, she's pleasantly surprised to discover that sex with her partner actually can be pleasant, especially with a partner who makes sure she has multiple orgasms, and her libido increases as a result.
However, this newfound interest in having sex only applies to Jack, since Alice falls into the demisexual part of the ace spectrum. She loves him, and he's her partner. He makes her feel safe and good enough to actually want and enjoy sex.
If someone else hit Alice up for a one night stand, that would be a big pile of "NOPE!" from her. Even a friend propositioning her would make her feel wildly uncomfortable. She's just not comfortable with casual sex or sex without romantic attachment. Without that deep emotional connection of love, trust, and intimacy, sex is something intimidating and unwanted for her.
While I did consider a what if scenario where Alice and Shaun get together, that was a slow burn that took a long time for Alice to trust Shaun that intimately, and she never even knew of Jack's existence. How he would be as a lover and how that would affect her relationship with sex would be speculation best left for another post.
Jack isn't about to give Shaun or anyone else a chance to win Alice's heart when he's around, and with how much he fulfils her needs emotionally, she doesn't feel the need to consider getting into a relationship with anyone else.
Would Alice potentially get together with Nick if circumstances were right? No idea. I'd have to see more of how he interacts with others, especially his partner. I do know that him asking her out at work made her wildly uncomfortable and was definitely working against him. It's hard to say if it could work out between the two in an AU, even without Jack around.
Would Alice ever sleep with Ian again, even if just "for old time's sake" or "to say goodbye" and end things between them for good? Oh hell no. The only enjoyment she got out of sex with Ian was making him feel good because she loved him and trusted him with that level of intimacy. Needless to say, the trust is gone. Even after she tried forgiving him for cheating, she couldn't handle sex with him anymore. Ian is never getting into Alice's pants ever again.
That's all to say that even though Alice might improve her relationship with Ian, stay good friends with Shaun, and possibly befriend Nick if things go favorably... she's not going to think about sleeping with any of them, and certainly not with someone she doesn't know at all. Even then, she wouldn't even consider cheating on her partner.
So this situation of Jack waiting for Alice to come home, furious and upset that he caught her cheating, just isn't going to happen.
It would take a lot to make Jack angry with his sunshine, and I can't think of anything Alice would do to provoke that sort of glare from him.
Now, with all that said, would there be a scenario where Alice didn't come home one night and made Jack worry about where she was... maybe even worry about what she might be doing and who she was doing it with? I think so. Some places don't have landline phones, and Alice can't afford a second cell phone for Jack, so if she winds up unable to go home, she can't call him to let him know. It certainly provides some potential for drama... especially when Alice has a chronic illness that sometimes flares up beyond what her medication can handle.
So, as I said in the twitter thread, it sounds like a scenario just begging to be written out in a flashfic, so how about we do that now, shall we? Funny enough, as I was writing it, I wound up with something of a sequel to a previous flashfic I wrote a little while ago. I hope you enjoy this piece of hurt/comfort fluff between Jack and Alice!
@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur
...
Alice was late. She should have been home over half an hour ago. The dinner Jack made with love in anticipation of her return had already gone cold.
Jack tried not to let the ticking of the clock get to him. He tried not to overthink what it could mean. He tried to ignore the twisting inside his gut that kept him looking at the clock despite himself. It hadn’t been that long since Alice was supposed to be home. It wasn’t strange to be a little bit late like this. After all, that gosh darn manager of hers was always springing overtime on her after she was supposed to clock out, or she had to stay longer to clean up some mess Carol left behind for her to take care of.
But Alice wasn’t at work. She wasn’t a mere ten minute walk away. She left in her car after lunch, saying that she had errands to do without ever telling him exactly what those errands were.
Like a fool, Jack let her go anyway. He let her kiss distract him from asking questions. Her, “I love you,” left him feeling too happy and flustered to think too much about why she wanted to go alone. She promised to be home in time for dinner, but that promise had been broken half an hour ago.
Jack wished that he could call Alice and check on her, find out what was keeping her and when she was coming home to him. He had her cell phone number memorized, but he didn’t have one of his own that he could use to call her, and the apartment had no landline phone.
Where was Alice? What were the errands that kept her away from him? Why was she late? Jack could kick himself for not getting a straight answer before she left, or for not trying harder to go with her. She could be anywhere by now, be with anyone.
Including that darn Ian.
The nightmare from the night before flashed through his mind. Jack could still vividly remember the helplessness he felt trapped behind the screen as Alice kissed Ian and professed her love for the fake pretending to be him. The memory made his insides twist into knots.
Jack gave himself a hard mental shake. “What am I thinking?” he muttered under his breath, chiding himself for the very thought. It was almost as if he was suspecting Alice of cheating on him. That was absurd. How could he, Sunny Day Jack, think something like that of his sunshine? Sunny Day Jack didn’t get jealous or possessive of anyone, and he certainly wouldn’t suspect his beloved sunshine, the sweetest and kindest person in the world, who loved him just as much as he loved her, on the basis of her simply being out late.
He wasn’t a fake pretending to be Sunny Day Jack like Ian intended to do with that farce of a reboot that lied about being the first and only SunnyTime Crew Show.
Ever since Jack heard about the show and Ian’s part in it, he had been on edge, and the nightmare he experienced didn’t help. The only bright spot in everything was Alice. He still vividly remembered the way she comforted him that night, promising to always be there for him as she held him close and sang the sweetest song to soothe away all his woes and worries.
So why wasn’t she here now?
“I better check to see if she’s okay,” Jack mumbled to himself. He promised to be there when Alice got home, but she also promised to be home forty-five minutes ago, so it was only fair.
A rest stop was far from an ideal place for a woman traveling alone to lie down in her car, but at least it beat pulling over at the side of the road in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately, Alice didn’t have a lot of options at the moment. At least the tinted windows blocked prying eyes as effectively as they did the scorching Texas sun.
Pain tore her attention away from potential threats outside the car and turned her attention inward. Alice bit back a whimper, instead hissing ragged breaths through gritted teeth as she did her best to ride through the intensifying sensation of jagged blades cutting and twisting through her insides. The pain rolled in like the tide until it flooded her senses and made her eyes sting with tears, leaving her helpless but to wait for it to recede again to something a little more bearable.
Eventually the pain lessened, at least enough that her breathing came a little more easily. Still, Alice took care to move as little as possible from the reclined front seat while she carefully lifted up the cell phone that she held in a death grip. Through watery eyes she saw that ten minutes had passed since she took her medicine.
Only ten minutes. Fuck. It was going to be at least twenty more before Alice started noticing any real difference. She wished that she had better, faster acting painkillers for these attacks, but there was nothing she could do about that now.
Shit. It had been weeks since Alice last had an attack like this. Why did one have to happen while she was out on her own like this? Why couldn’t it happen at home? At least there she wouldn’t be alone and so vulnerable. At least Jack would be there to take care of her.
Alice was supposed to be home almost an hour ago. If it wasn’t bad enough that things had dragged on way longer than she anticipated, her chronic illness decided to flare up at the worst possible timing - right when she was driving down the middle of the highway. It was all she could do to force herself to keep driving until she was someplace at least relatively safer to park.
“Fuck,” Alice hissed as she carefully lowered the phone, wincing how even speaking made her insides twinge in pain. Jack was probably worried by now, and she couldn’t even call him. She was too used to having him always around; she never considered something like this happening. She could kick herself for taking for granted that it had been so long since her last attack.
Helplessly, Alice couldn’t do anything but wait for the medicine to take the edge off the pain. As another intense wave rolled over her, it was all she could do not to give in to the instinctive urge to double over as pain tore through her insides without mercy. She knew well from experience that any pressure on her abdomen would only make this hell even worse. She clawed instead at the seat’s cushion and her thigh in a desperate attempt to distract herself from the pain as she tried to keep her breathing even.
I wish Jack was here.
“Alice?”
Alice flinched at the sound of her name. For a moment, she thought that she only imagined it, but that unmistakable voice came again from just outside the car.
“Alice?” Jack repeated a little louder this time, his worry only increasing. He could feel Alice’s pain leaking through their connection even before he saw the agony twisted in her expression through the car’s tinted window. “Are you okay? Can you unlock the door?”
Relief washed over Alice almost as intense as the pain as she realized that Jack really was there. She tried to keep her movements minimal as she dropped her phone on the center console beside her car keys before pushing the unlock button.
No sooner than Jack heard the click than he threw the door open and leaned inside, practically covering her like a blanket, though he was careful not to put any of his weight on her. “Don’t worry, sunshine, I’m here.”
“Jack…,” Alice forced out through ragged breaths, her voice cracking with pain. “I-I’m s-sor-”
Jack shushed her gently. “It’s okay.” He touched her cheek delicately, afraid of making things worse. “You don’t have to talk if it’s too hard for you right now. I’m not going anywhere, sunshine. Don’t worry… I’ll take care of you.”
Alice held her fist up and bobbed it up and down, which Jack recognized her as signing, “Yes.”
Jack managed a small but encouraging smile at that. “Is it your illness acting up again?” When Alice nodded her hand again, his heart went out to her. He knew about her chronic illness, particularly that it couldn’t be cured. Her medicine managed it most of the time, but sometimes it wasn’t enough to stop an attack from leaving her debilitated. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Alice grimaced and brought two fingers up before bringing them down on her thumb in a definitive, “No.”
“I see… that’s good at least,” Jack said, the words coming out in nearly a sigh of relief. “Do you need me to bring you any medicine?” Another negative indication. “I see… You took some already, is that right?” A nod of her fist. “Good, good… Then we’ll just wait here until you’re feeling better.” When her fist moved again in the affirmative, he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere.”
Alice returned the gesture, but her gentle squeeze quickly turned into a crushing grip as the pain intensified again. She forced herself to release him, but Jack refused to let her go and placed his other hand to secure her grip on him.
“It’s okay,” Jack said soothingly. “You can keep squeezing me if you need to. If it helps you deal with the pain, you can squeeze as hard as you like.” He offered her a lopsided smile that would have been more playful if his eyes weren’t so filled with concern for her. “Don’t worry, I can take it.”
Reluctantly, Alice tightened her grip on his hand again until her knuckles turned white as she rode through the latest wave of pain. When she could breathe a little more easily, her hold on him slackened, and her mind began to focus on the situation.
How did Jack find her? How did he get here? She was in the middle of nowhere, miles from home. Was this part of his supernatural abilities too?
Upon remembering where they were, Alice felt a shiver run through her, and her eyes darted to the darkened parking lot. She could see Jack with her, someone big and imposing, but anyone who happened to come by would only see a vulnerable short woman lying down in her car, illuminated by her car light. It was practically an invitation to rob her, steal her car, or worse. Could Jack stop someone if they decided to take advantage of the situation?
Jack caught the frightened thought right away. “Hold on, let me get inside.”
Just like that, the car was soon locked and dark once more, with Jack seated in the now reclined passenger seat so that he could be as close to Alice as possible. He took her hand in his and with the other hand he stroked her forehead, brushing sweat and strands of her hair away from her watery eyes.
“There now,” Jack said, his voice soft and soothing. “You’re safe here with me, Alice. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything bad happen to you. We’ll wait here until the medicine starts working. When you feel ready to go, I’ll drive us home.”
Alice furrowed her brow before deliberately raising her eyebrows as she pointed at Jack.
Jack chuckled as he caught the simple signed question. “Yes me, silly. You’re in no shape to drive, and you need to rest. We’ll switch seats as soon as you’re feeling a little better.”
Alice frowned a little, as what she wanted to say required too much movement for her to accurately convey her meaning without the risk of causing the pain to intensify.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to, as Jack picked up on her fears immediately. “Don’t worry, it’s too dark for anyone to see who’s driving the car.” He paused to chuckle. “Or ‘not’ driving.” He bent down to kiss her forehead and smooth the furrows from her brow. “You don’t need to worry about anything like that. All you need to focus on right now is feeling better.”
Alice sighed at the gentle kisses he pressed upon her flushed skin, though her breathing was still ragged and harsh. She nodded with her fist again as she focused on Jack, his gentle presence soothing her far more than the medicine.
Jack leaned back just enough to see his sunshine’s face. He wanted to hold her close, but he knew about her condition, particularly how pressure on her abdomen, especially in the wrong spot, could make it so much worse. It made him careful how he touched her, softly stroking her brow and letting her squeeze his hand until the pain subsided.
When silence settled in between them, Alice grunted. She wiggled her fingers in front of her mouth before pointing at Jack and raising her eyebrows.
Jack nodded in understanding as he smiled gently at her. “Of course, sunshine. I can talk as much as you want. Don’t worry about needing to respond either. Just focus only on me and my voice. Don’t pay attention to anything else.”
Alice squeezed his hand again, but gently and intentionally this time. His voice, soft and smooth, flowed over her like water on a burn. It didn’t magically make her pain disappear, but hearing him talking to her and feeling his gentle touches grounded her, reminding her that she wasn’t alone and vulnerable. She had Jack with her now.
“That’s right, Alice,” he said. “I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you, sunshine.” Gently, he dabbed away at the wetness that still lingered in her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about anything anymore. I promise, I’ll always take care of you… forever.”
As the pain started to ebb again, Alice managed a weak smile. She held up a hand in a particular gesture that made Jack’s heartbeat quicken when he realized what she was signing.
“I love you too, Alice,” Jack said before pressing a soft kiss on her lips, which she weakly returned. “I love you so much, Alice… my sunshine.”
The pain radiating from Alice was horrible, and it took all of his acting skills to make sure that she didn’t realize that Jack felt it too. He could feel it even more clearly with how close they were like this, but he refused to leave his sunshine to suffer alone. The worst part was that he was sure that the pain he felt at that moment was only a fraction of what she was experiencing.
“You’re so strong,” Jack said, his voice hushed with admiration. “You’re doing so well. I’m so proud of you.” He kissed her forehead again and was rewarded with a soft, but pleased sigh from her in return. “That’s it, just focus on me. You don’t have to face this alone anymore. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Alice squeezed his hand again in gentle affirmation as she closed her eyes to focus on his soothing voice and gentle warmth.
Despite the situation, relief washed over Jack, and he could feel some of the same emotion coming from Alice as well. A small pang of guilt crept in underneath it, but he hid such feelings from her. She didn’t need to worry about the irrational fear he had before, that silly split-second when a part of him feared the worst, no matter how impossible that was. It felt laughable now to think that this precious ray of sunshine in front of him could’ve been doing anything as awful as cheating on him, not when he could practically taste her love and gratitude for him as clearly as the pain that - mercifully - was starting to wane.
Jack knew that it was silly to let some stupid nightmare influence him like this, no matter how awful it was. Alice didn’t deserve to be suspected of such a thing, not even for an instant, and especially not during a time when she was suffering so much. She needed him. For as much as he hated that she was suffering, he couldn’t help but feel relieved by that simple truth.
A flash of inspiration struck Jack, chasing away his gloomy thoughts. “Oh! I know. How about I sing a song for you? Would you like that, sunshine?”
Alice opened her eyes again and answered with a soft smile and another bob of her fist.
“Now how did it go…?” Jack turned his eyes up towards the roof of the car as he thought back to the song Alice sang for him. He didn’t remember the first part, but he could improvise, making up new lyrics for the same sweet melody that she shared for him. It was their song now, in his mind, and he made sure to let his sunshine know with his version of the lyrics that he would be here for her no matter what storms and pain may come to help her shine bright with happiness.
Alice couldn’t help but smile crookedly as Jack changed the song, but somehow she liked his version better. She made a mental note to tell him later when she felt well enough to speak again. For now though, she let his gentle voice cast its soothing spell over her, filling her with love and slowly chasing away the pain.
Jack continued to sing until he was certain that Alice had fallen asleep. He pressed another sweet kiss to her forehead and used his influence to make sure that she wouldn’t wake up until she was safely back home in bed with him.
“Sweet dreams, sunshine.”
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iolypse · 11 months
Text
primarily english speaking qsmp members as D&D characters because I can't help but fuse both of my current fixations together
Philza — species for this one was tricky, class and subclass a little harder, but I ultimately decided on aasimar ranger (horizon walker). kept trying to pick between aasimar and air genasi, almost put air genasi because I felt like qfoolish fit aasimar better, but they can both be aasimar it's fine. by the time I finish writing this, foolish might not even be an aasimar anymore, im still thinking. regardless, qphil has always been a bit of a tactician and a bowman, hasnt he? classic traits of a ranger. from there, it felt like horizon walker was the only subclass that fit. protecting from otherworldly threats, preserving life and other planes. yeppp sounds like this paranoid motherfucker right here.
BadBoyHalo — now that's a tiefling if I've ever seen one. class is a little more complicated. I've deliberated between paladin and warlock before eventually settling on paladin, making him a tiefling paladin (ancients). I don't have to explain the tiefling part (have you seen his everything?), but the paladin part could use it. we're yet to really see qbad make any real deals with any powerful forces, so that took out the warlock part for me. I wanted to make sure he had at least a little bit of magic though (c'mon), so I immediately went to paladin, and it worked out. he's a dedicated man! he'll make a promise and he'll fuckin stick to it. I debated between devotion and ancients after that, but devotion tends to have a more lawful side, which ended with me choosing ancients. they fight the darkness because they love life, plain and simple, and you're dull if you can't see how much this dude loves life.
FitMC — alright, I'm sorry, I had to do it, but this is a human fighter (rune knight) right here. I simply couldnt see him as anything other than human, and rogue and artificer didn't fit since there's other characters that fit those classes so much better, so fighter it was. still, qfit has a lot of cool gadgets and bits and bobs, and I wanted to recognize that in this adaptation of him, so I decided to show that through the rune knight subclass. rune knight fighters can do a lot of cool shit with their runes, enhancing pretty much anything they put their mind to. probably some shit he found scrawled in the horrors of 2b2t and decided to study.
Foolish — this one was hard! the fuck is this guy? I instinctively thought aasimar, but I already made qphil an aasimar, so I played around with different types of genasi and then goliaths, even minotaurs just trying to find something that fit the semi-inhuman sorta innately magical, physically strong being vibes. I think aasimar fit best, so then it was a matter of class. hes a builder! he builds shit. that's what qfoolish does. but he is NOT a mechanic and therefore not an artificer, not musical enough to be a bard, not angry enough to be a barbarian, so what the fuck is he? took a LOT of fucking around, but eventually I remembered the college of creation exists, and I felt it fit well enough, making him an aasimar bard (creation). he draws his power from his builds— he inspires with sight, not song. it's a unique take on a bard, but I've seen some awesome chef bards, so I think this works just fine. he's an architect bard.
Slimecicle — this one was FUN. 100% that's a fucking plasmoid. he's a goopy guy! then I experimented with different bard and rogue classes, thought maybe warlock for his deal with demon rubius, and then decided i couldn't disrespect the juanaflippa song and said fuck it, he can be a bard. again in correlation with the song, I went with valor, since he's telling her great story through the lyrics, keeping her memory alive with it. I DID consider spirits, however, since he actually managed to bring juanaflippa back, however briefly. still, I felt valor fit the bill just a little better. he's a plasmoid bard (valor).
JaidenAnimations — ohhh this one took some thought. I wanted her to be fairly humanoid while still having some subtle unusual traits, and elf was considered but it felt too regal. I almost considered kenku for how she tends to repeat what other people say, but it wasn't right. thought I'd try something a little strange, and I ended up with shifter! specifically wildhunt. class was just as difficult— she wasnt going to be any primarily martial classes, so that cut out a bunch, and she's not really faithful or super devoted, so that took out paladin, warlock, and cleric, and eventually I narrowed it down to sorcerer, picking aberrant mind for their mystery and influence on others. being the only woman in an island full of gay twinks is tough, man. she's a shifter sorcerer (aberrant mind).
Wilbur — half-elf bard (eloquence). this one came pretty quick to me, actually. the bard part is more than obvious, subclass picked for the number of times qwilbur's casually convinced other people to just go with the bit. he's a man of words, and he weaves them well. he can be damn persuasive, mixing in genuine arguments with small white lies, all while playing your heart strings just right. half-elf is almost entirely vibes honestly— human was too bland, elf too spicy, so we met in the middle.
DanTDM — this dude's been gone since the very fucking beginning pretty much. I almost want to make him a rogue just for that, but man, he's the diamond minecart, alright? I grew up watching him. it'd be a disservice not to make him an artificer. from there, alchemist best suited the vibes, since he never really did much of anything machinery-related. he is a human artificer (alchemist).
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gegengestalt · 2 months
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Katerina Ivanovna Verkhotseva! (For the ask game thingy)
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?
8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?
12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?
14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.
25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?
(You don’t have to answer all of these if you don’t want to, however I love your takes on her and am dying to hear you talk about her more.)
Oooh, finally! Someone sends me something related to the ask game! And about one of my favourite girls, too!
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
If I had to choose just one, it would be how explosive she can be. I love it so much when things don't go her way and she goes from being so doting to resorting to insults and almost throwing hands. This is not simply the rage of a young woman who shows her true colours when she doesn't have what she wants, she really, really seems to be convinced that things are going her way... And then reality hits her.
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
Oh, Katya Ivanovna, you would have loved Me and My Husband by Mitski. Somehow I imagine the lyrics being about her and Mitya at first, but as the song goes on she's actually talking about Ivan.
7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?
I don't feel like Katya is talked about much in general, and I can say so confidently after navigating as much TBK related content on the internet as I could. So I don't really know what to say. When she gets attention, I specially love it when her God/saviour/martyr complex is adressed and appreciated. She is a little weird.
8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?
Tough question, since there is a lot I dislike about how female characters are treated by readers in general (as well as narratives). I'm going to try to be original and say something I haven't said before. I don't really like it when the girls are pitted against each other, like you have to choose one of them or think one is better than the other. I think a lot of the animosity between her and Grusha come from struggles with themselves and their fears and insecurities, and I feel sympathetic towards both of them, both young women who want to feel some control over their lives. So it breaks my heart a little when other people who prefer Grusha put down Katya and viceversa.
12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?
This is half headcanon half character reading, but knowing that she lost her mother at a young age and that there is a theme of absent mothers throughout the book, I like to think that the loss of her mother impacted how she turned out and why she seems to take on some motherlike, overbearing tendencies herself.
14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.
Hmmm, I don't know how I'm supposed to answer to this, but I associate her with elegant, long clothing in green, blue and white, sometimes with gold accessories. Combined with the light brown hair of my design, it gives her a springlike kind of look.
In The Sims, I gave her a preppy, simple look with light colours. Here she is, I don't know why she's loooking at squids on her phone.
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25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?
Katya was a character who had to grow on me. On my first read, I didn't like her much, but I didn't dislike her either. She was, in fact, one of the harder characters to visualize. I had to make several sketches of her designs because all I could think of was "tall slender girl with dark eyes and a lot of hair". Only after processing what I had read for a longer time I started to pick apart everything she said and started to appreciate her more (and started to appreciate her relationship to Ivan as well). In retrospective, the buildup to her introduction was great. It's not as good as Nastasya's, but it's the work of a good writer. I love Katya, saviour complex and all.
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cartooncreature · 5 months
Text
There are no signs whatsoever that cars exist in the bugbo universe and despite this I’m making car related / driving headcannons cause fuck you. >:D
Bugbo
He is always driving exactly. the speed limit.
Not a digit over or under.
And he never accelerates or breaks, the car just. is. in the state he wants it to be.
Everyone in the car has to be buckled up, sitting straight forward, feet on the floor, or the car isn’t moving.
(Fights have broken out because of this, usually between him and Hoppo)
He says it’s for safety
(knowing him it’s prolly a power trip thing)
There is no music. Dead silence. Even the wind outside seems quieter
And in the off chance there is music, there’s no lyrics and it’s probably some shit like
“Kahoot Question Music 1 Hour Loop”
And it’s so quiet you can’t even recognize what it is.
If you try to talk to him he’ll respond in short, almost snippy responses
If you keep trying he’ll eventually just point blank say “You know, it’s not very safe or polite to distract the driver.”
Unless he likes you, somehow, then he might have a short conversation with you.
He does the same when he’s a passenger, but to a lesser degree
He’s usually the one who dictates who drives, and, for some reason, he picks Joe a lot.
(Joe doesn’t mind, he likes driving :>)
Hoppo has accused him of being scared of driving before, which he did not take kindly to.
Gerbo
He tends not to drive since cars don’t fit his… build.
He’s all legs, cars aren’t made that way
But in the case that he does, he’d probably drive really slow, mostly out of caution
He most definitely is scared of driving (but Hoppo isn’t gonna say anything to him)
Which isn’t much of an issue considering they probably have the only car on globe
Like that one Yo Gabba Gabba episode
Music wise, I’m not sure
Everyone infantilizes him so much, it drives me crazy
Y’all aren’t listening to Baby Shark 10hr loop
Maybe once for the hype
BUT THATS IT
He probably would listen to more upbeat music,
I have a very limited taste in music and I don’t think he’d like any of my music (It’s all about drugs and wanting to eat the rich or it’s Jack Stauber)
Actually he’d maybe like some Jack Stauber music! Like maybe Buttercup and songs along those lines! His more happy sounding music?
Idk other people with different/better music taste tell me what you think
He doesn’t mind conversation while he’s driving. In fact, I think he likes it!
He likes the casual small talk type conversations, and if they lead into deeper conversations that’s even better!
He offers to drive anytime, but it’s usually either Bugbo or Joe driving, not that he minds. (Please don’t make him drive)
(He does prefer it when Joe drives, but he’d never say it, especially not to bugbo)
Gradient Joe
He’d probably drive the most
He’s the one most… built? for a car?
He tries to drive the speed limit but he might get distracted and speed up or slow down a little
So like, typical driving? I guess?
His music would likely also be more instrumental, mostly because it is a bit easier to focus
And he’s probably driving everyone around, so he’s gonna need some help focusing
But also when it does have lyrics, y’all can fight me on this but I bet he’d like love songs
Like, this isn’t a “omg he’s a romantic he wants to kiss everyone and marry everyone omgggg” thing, more of a like,
Everything is so- rough? All the time?
I mean, he got shoved face fucking first down a mystery hole that was who knows how deep, then guilted into running for mayor with no prep, and then whitenesses a murder, all in around 48 hours
Everything is so fast paced and bright and so much all the time
And love songs are usually much softer, calmer, sweeter
It’s a little moment of peace, you know? Even if it’s just a little distraction before Bugbo ropes him into another wildly overwhelming adventure
Anyway woah car headcannons hi this is what we’re here for jfc
He kinda prefers it to be a little quieter too
(And I think bugbo might, in one of his brief moments of kindness, remind the others to be quieter so he can focus)
If it’s just him and one other person, he might substitute music for listening to them talk
Even if he can’t respond, he likes to nod along and give other people a little break too. Just let them get things off their chest, yk?
I bet he also likes to drive because it is a little tiny bit of control within this chaos ridden mess of a universe.
Why is this one so long? Where did all the gradient joe angst come from? What the hell?
Hoppo
She doesn’t drive often either
Not because she’s built more bug like and so it’s a little awkward for her, she makes that work.
She doesn’t drive because the others won’t let her.
She is driving at least 15 over the speed limit on a “safe” day
Hits curbs like they spat at her grandma
Probably has at least one leg propped up in the seat at all times
only one hand on the wheel
Music. Is. BLASTING.
Marina, Scene Queen, Mother Mother, Sir Chloe, Girl in Red, Penelope Scott, Hemlock Springs, Mitski, Chrissy Chlapecka, Kiki Rockwell, and the occasional Lemon Demon
She has a playlist called “songs to piss bugbo off”
And she’s just casually chatting with whoever is in the front seat while the car shakes from the bass in these songs
Bugbo doesn’t let her drive because he knows she’s doing her best to piss him off
Joe doesn’t let her drive out of pure fear
Gerbo, ironically, is usually in the front seat because he minds her driving the least
If it was just her and Gerbo or Joe she’d prolly tone it down some, maybe at least turn the music down
But if Bugbo is within five miles, you best believe Pink Rover is gonna be shaking the ground he stands on like an earthquake
She’s pretty much the same as a passenger. If Bugbo is driving she’s being obnoxious and goofy, if it’s anyone else she will tone it down some
If Bugbo’s not around she’ll tone it down a lot, maybe just chatting and laughing
(Let me make it clear, she doesn’t dislike bugbo, in fact quite the opposite. But that’s another headcannon for another day)
Thomas Flyswatter
He has the only other car on globe
(I can’t decide if it’s the helicopter he used and it just doubles as a car or if this bitch just has like a Honda civic parked behind his lair)
Driving wise, he’s similar to Joe
Generally pretty typical, though depending on his mood he might speed quite a bit
He rarely, rarely has anyone else in his car
If you even see his car he trusts you a lot
If he drives you around you might as well be besties
Or he pities you (which if this man is pitying you you’ve gotta get your life in check bestie cause holy shit-)
The music he plays depends on his mood and who he’s with
If hes in a villainy “I’m gonna go do evil things mwah ha ha >:D” he’s listening to Toby Fox (and y’all cannot convince me otherwise)
If he’s in a more relaxed mood he, too, may listen to Jack Stauber (probably different than the songs Gerbo would listen to though, some similarities tho) and Definitely some Will Wood
If you are his absolute bestie, like he trusts you with his life, he may, if you’re lucky, break out the broadway music, but only if you’re very lucky
He may be a little quiet at first, but if whoever he’s driving around starts a conversation with him he’ll talk
And also if he’s not talking he’s subconsciously lip syncing because I’m projecting stfu
He also hits curbs a lot
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127luvr · 1 year
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yoo can i request a mark lee (nct) x male reader where mark is basically the reader’s muse when it comes to writing lyrics and stuff. btw the reader is also in nct and since he and mark are the same age, they go to each other a lot for music advice. basically one day the reader asks mark to fetch something from his studio and then goes cuz mark seems to be taking too long, and like sees mark hold a page full of lyrics that can be read as a full on confession. and it’s super obvious that the subject in question is mark lee. and things get a bit angsty after, and yeah everything is up to you!!
Sorry, Heart
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Mark Lee x Male Reader
No one is prone to Mark Lee’s charms. His soft brown eyes that follow where you go as if you’re the most important thing in the world at any given moment. His sharp cheekbones that carve out the rest of his soft face. And his nose—the faint wrinkles permanently on his face from where it scrunches up when he laughs or when he simply doesn’t know how else to express himself.
You thought you were different—the relationship between the two of you from the start was sweet. It was long nights in each other’s studios sharing unfinished melodies and lyrics. He was always there whenever you felt stuck while producing your own music. Always there when one of your ideas was turned down by management because it didn’t suit the group. And so were you.
You felt relieved when Mark came to you with his music and questions. It reminded you that Mark was human. That you could help him just as much as he’d help you. So you didn’t know when it happened. When the platonic feelings turned romantic.
It was a random Thursday night in your studio. The LED strips all around the small room transitioning from color to color every few seconds. The two of you were sitting on the (f/c) couch, sharing snacks—occasionally brushing hands when reaching for the same ones. Your (e/c) eyes had run up his hand—to his arm—to his shoulder—all the way to his face. His side profile was suddenly different, the blue reflecting off of his cheekbone hitting your eyes as if it were glowing. You felt your heartbeat quicken—a wave of butterflies hitting from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head.
Oh no.
Mark was all you could think about these days—the stack of papers scattered around your studio filled with lyrics that alluded to Mark in every way you could phrase your feelings being more than enough evidence to support it. Channeling all of your romantic feelings into songwriting helped hide your feelings around him. It helped you appear normal in the face of Mark Lee. Even when he genuinely complimented your musical ability and all you wanted to do was kiss his pink lips.
“(Y/n).” Mark waves a hand in your face to catch your attention, the beige guitar in his free hand hanging from his index and middle fingers. “Are you there?” You whisper a small apology, swallowing hard when he offers you a smile. “I was wondering if you had a guitar pick in your studio?”
“Yeah, actually.” You pause, looking around the room. “You’re gonna have to go though, I’m too comfortable. And while you’re there can you get me my headphones—they should be on the desk—if not—”
“I’ll find them.”
Mark is in your studio for a second before he notices the sheets of paper balled up and thrown around the room. A smile meets his eyes before his lips as he looks around fondly, picking a sheet up that seems to be blacked out with ink. The words going from line to line to sideways along the page. He flips the page, the smile faltering from his lips when he gets to read the mix of English and Korean lyrics. These scenarios and descriptions sounding a little too familiar for his liking. Mark sits himself down, picking up another page of lyrics. It puts him in another perspective—one that views him as if he were some godly being.
You kick your feet out, checking the clock in Mark’s studio to make sure that time was passing as you waited for Mark. You let your mind wander for a little, giving him more than enough time to grab the guitar pick—find your headphones and walk back from across the building. After the long hand on the clock passes the five, you get up, sighing as you make sure you lock Mark’s studio before you stomped your way towards your own studio.
“Mark Lee—”
He was sitting with his elbows to his knees—eyebrows furrowed as he read your lyrics before you came in. You snatch the sheet of lyrics from his hand, breath quickening as he got up from the couch trying to get you to take slower breaths. You scan the lyrics with your eyes, balling up the paper before throwing it towards your computer screen. He knew. He was too smart not to figure it out.
“Mark. Mark that was private. That wasn’t—those were my lyrics to share with you when I was comfortable enough.” Mark struggles to string words together, his mouth suddenly betraying every thought that crossed his mind. “Get out.”
“(Y/n).”
“Mark. Get out while I’m being nice.”
He waits outside of your studio door, pacing back and forth as the (Y/n/n)’s studiooooo~ sign stares down at him. He searches the ends of his mind to find what to say to you—something he’s never had to do because everything that concerned you came so easy to him. He chooses to run to his studio, silently thanking you when he turns the knob to find it locked. He walks in and out—carrying a blue journal tightly in his hand as he ran back towards you.
The knocking startles you a little. It’s so faint—timid even as he knocks again to make sure you heard it.
“(Y/n). I have something to show you.” You open the heavy door, choosing to sit back down on your couch instead of greeting him warmly as you normally would. He closes the door behind him and immediately you spot the journal in his hands.
“You have a key, Mark.” He cringes a little, upset at himself for making your voice so small in your own studio. He sits on the opposite end of the couch—one that the two of you had shared many times before so comfortably suddenly so cold and empty. He holds out the journal in front of him, giving himself a pep talk whenever he opens it to one of the first pages.
“I didn’t want to just come in.” He brings the journal between the two of you, leaning it more towards you. “You’re not the only one, (Y/n).”
You read the date on top of the page, surprised to find that it was the day the two of you met. Without taking the journal from him, you scoot closer, squinting your eyes to read the scribble of mostly English lyrics written all around the page. He skips a few pages, making a point to show the dates as he goes deeper into the journal.
“They’re all—”
“About you.” Mark looks up from his journal, again staring at you as if you were the only person on the planet. “You’re my muse, (Y/n). From the start. Those lyrics you wrote about me—I’m so glad that you have found something in me as I have in you.”
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presidenthades · 3 months
Text
Once again, I am doing a series of my behind-the-scenes thoughts for The Golds while I do light edits for formatting, typos, and continuity. Here’s Chapter 4!
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For this chapter’s title, I picked the Crone’s lyrics from “The Song of the Seven” because Old Willow—who is a crone, as a wise older woman—is so important to this chapter.
Detective Aegon was one of the things I was most excited about as I wrote this fic. The idea was born when I read that TGC interview where he said Aegon is “intelligent and has a keen eye for the weak spots for others.” I extrapolated that as Aegon being observant about what makes people tick, which made me think about Sherlock, then I realized my version of Aegon would love being a detective. He gets to run around the city, meet interesting people, and feel a bunch of adrenaline/endorphins/dopamine.
I think Aegon is also very driven by the pursuit of dopamine. In canon, this manifests in his heavy dependency on wine and sex. In this verse, he gets tons of dopamine from his interactions with Jace. But since Jace is preoccupied with the pregnancy and governance and court, he’s deprived at the moment. So in this chapter, he explores his newfound detective hobby which makes him a bit less dependent on Jace for gratification—but not much. Still a simp for his wife 🥲.
Aegon is a night owl, Jace is an early bird. This isn’t an issue in the early days of their marriage because…well, they’re pretty much having sex whenever they’re in the bedroom, and sleep is optional 😂. But the honeymoon period tapers off right around when they discover the pregnancy, and it’s also when Jace’s LIWs are getting accustomed to their roles. The LIWs in particular are jarring for Aegon. LIWs are supposed to have lots of access to their mistress’ rooms, which isn’t a big deal in a traditional marriage where the husband and wife keep separate rooms, and the husband usually sends a message in advance if he wants to “visit” his wife at night. But Aegon has moved in with Jace, and whereas he views the LIWs as intruding on his private time with his wife, the LIWs view him as impeding their ability to do their job.
I decided that Arryk likes Aegon more than Erryk does (another reason the twins choose different sides in the Dance), and that’s why Aegon thinks Arryk is more fun. Erryk was more judgmental during Aegon’s debauchery days whereas Arryk was more chill. As a result, Aegon learned to tell the difference between them, because he wanted to be sure which twin he’s been saddled with. But Aegon likes to mess with people, so he deliberately gets Erryk’s name wrong because Erryk is annoying/inconveniencing him by dragging him to Viserys.
In the show, Aegon/TGC throws some truly hateful glares at Viserys, but at the same time his dialogue shows he longs for his father’s approval. Here, Aegon clings to that resentment (simmering not burning) but is much less interested in Viserys’s approval. He has plenty of approval and affection from Jace, so even though it stings that Viserys doesn’t care, Aegon can shrug it off more easily because he has something/someone better.
Viserys’s story in the show about the horses and coloring, and various comments about how he would’ve been happier as a simple country lord than as king, inspired me to give him amateur agricultural interests. He’s never done any actual farming, but he likes to read about it and daydream about his alternate universe life.
As I hope I made clear in the scene, Viserys is having this conversation for Jace’s benefit rather than Aegon’s. His favoritism for Rhaenyra’s line continues to abound in this universe, and he follows the old-fashioned school of thought that pregnant woman should refrain from having sex, ostensibly to protect the fetus.
In an early draft, Alicent was the one who had a similar conversation with Aegon to leave Jace alone. Alicent’s desire for this conversation was born from her own experience of being relieved not to have to continue having sex with her husband while pregnant. But I changed it because a) Alicent already has enough haters and I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire, and b) it was more thematically appropriate for Viserys to have this talk, since this is a story about Aegon’s journey to fatherhood and I always planned for him to have some kind of “confrontation” with Viserys near the end of the fic. So I needed another scene that highlights the friction between Aegon and Viserys…also I had a lot of fun with the agricultural metaphors 😂.
When Aegon wanders the city at the beginning of this chapter, he is content but aimless. Although he thinks this is exactly what he wants—freedom to do nothing of consequence and just run around—deep down he wants something more purposeful. He needs some kind of goal/target or he falls into a bored malaise, as he does later in the chapter. The detective adventures eventually fill this need, then later taking care of Jace after her kidnapping, then eventually assuming a role in the game to protect his family.
House Tyrell has no history of being kings, and they still seem like they’re finding their footing as lord paramount of the Reach at this point in time. House Hightower is a very old and revered house with a history of being kings, so I feel like Aegon and his siblings may have inherited an ancestral disdain of the Tyrells 😂.
Jace loves roses, but I imagine a Tyrell lady at the garden party getting snooty about how “roses are so very Tyrell.” Similar to Jace’s feelings about colors, she feels like sigils—especially something as common as a rose—shouldn’t belong to any one family.
I did a lot of research about pregnancy for this fic. I came across a few stories of pregnant people getting nauseated during sex because of the jostling movements. I thought that would be very unfortunate for Jace and Aegon…so I made it happen 🙈. And it adds to Aegon’s growing feeling that his presence is a burden during Jace’s pregnancy.
The LIWs are there to make Jace’s life easier, not Aegon’s. So Jace views them as very helpful while Aegon (who is actually a “private” person at heart re: how he wants to live his life) sees them as intruders. This change isn’t sudden but gradual, taking place over the span of several weeks, like the frog in boiling water metaphor. It doesn’t occur to Aegon to protest until it’s too late, and even then, he sees how the LIWs are helping her a lot and he doesn’t want to take that from her. So he doesn’t say anything to Jace.
The LIWs have a designated solar they could hang out in, but they’re eager to stay close to Jace while she’s ill and nauseated. I also think they’re following Rhaena’s example, and Rhaena is used to having free rein to Jace’s rooms. And I don’t want to throw even more shade on Elinor, but her crush on Aegon is compelling her to go to Jace’s rooms fairly early in the morning in the hopes of catching him shirtless 🤭.
Overall, the line “there was no room for Aegon in Jacaera’s chambers when her ladies occupied it” encapsulates a lot of his feelings of being squeezed out of Jace’s life while she’s dealing with so many other things.
I read in a fanfic somewhere (no idea which fic) the theory that dragons are assumed male until they show signs of gestation or lay eggs. I like this theory because it helps explain why so many dragons seem to be male, and F&B has a line quibbling about the rumor that Vermax laid eggs at Winterfell (I think it’s Eustace who lambastes the theory that dragons can change sex). If Vermax did lay eggs, the “assumed male until otherwise proven” theory jives with him being called male previously. Also, I don’t know how dragon anatomy works, but one can assume that it’s difficult to tell males and females apart as hatchlings, and by the time they develop reproductive parts, you don’t really want to be examining them too closely.
I also wanted to make Vermax female so she and Sunfyre could parallel Jace and Aegon. Jace’s first pregnancy coincides with Vermax’s first gestation, and there’s some foreshadowing with Vermax’s three eggs later 👀. Also, I make the dragons’ personalities reflective of their riders’. Vermax is very docile and calm, while Sunfyre is a horny daredevil.
In this chapter, Aegon is still struggling to come to terms with impending fatherhood. He can’t help but feel like the pregnancy has been coming in between him and Jace rather than bringing them closer together, he’s got a lot of his own daddy issues to work out, and he’s still in a “I do what a want, no responsibilities” mindset. But even now, he secretly wants to grow and mature out of this; he imagines placing a dragon egg in his child’s cradle, and it gives him some warm fuzzies.
I imagine there’s a lot of conflict between the maesters and Targaryens whether it’s safe for pregnant women to ride dragons. The maesters wouldn’t consider it safe to ride horses, and riding dragons seems even more dangerous. Meanwhile the Targs are confident in their dragon bonds protecting them. My headcanon is that Rhaenyra and other female dragonriders, unless they’re exceptionally bold/reckless, at least spend their first pregnancy on the ground to be safe. But if that pregnancy goes well, they’re a lot more confident about flying during later pregnancies. Jace is already a cautious person by nature, so she would abide by the maesters’ recommendations.
Jace honestly doesn’t need to/shouldn’t do so many Small Council things right now, but she’s an overachiever. In the modern world, she’s the kind of person who volunteers for all the extra projects at work so she can prove herself. Aegon calls himself a lazy person with a skewed sense of what is urgent, but in this case, he’s actually right about Jace doing too much. One of his weaknesses: he thinks Jace is so perfect that he hesitates to tell her when she’s in the wrong.
Ever since the witch shouted at Joff during the wedding parade, Joff has been thinking a lot about her. She’s been trying to research what the witch said but she’s reached a dead end, so now the only avenue is going straight to the source. I dropped hints in Chapter 2 of the Handbook that Aegon was Joff’s curse tablet dealer, so she goes to him for help. Aegon is a skeptic about witchcraft at this point in the story, but we know that changes later.
Joff has a talent for insulting Targ men where it hurts. Daemon bore the brunt of it in the Handbook, but now it’s Aegon’s turn with the “big baby” comments 😂.
I’ll probably come up with more backstory for Old Willow in Joff’s fic. I imagine her to have genuine powers of some sort (foresight/prophecy at the very least). She isn’t super powerful, but the people around her respect/fear her as the real deal. She makes her money mostly by doing non-magic witchy things, like brewing moon tea, which is in higher demand and more affordable than the occasional curse tablet.
Joff has a prickly personality, but she can and will fight people in defense of her sisters 🤺.
The puncture wounds on Old Willow’s body are from the longshoreman hook that the Tyroshi sometimes carries around. Her death is over-the-top because, as is established in later chapters, the Tyroshi is a sadist. He decides to kill her because she supplied the love/beauty charm to the whore Daisy, so he deems Old Willow guilty as an accomplice.
Because Joff has been thinking about Old Willow a lot, she’s also been thinking about the curse tablet she used several years ago. I’ve deliberately been ambiguous in the story text about what exactly Joff did with the tablet, but many readers have pieced together that Laenor’s death was involved somehow. So Joff has been thinking a lot about her father’s death, and the guilt she’s feeling seeps into her reaction to Old Willow’s death. Old Willow’s death does greatly inconvenience Joff’s little quest, but Joff is also feeling a lot of things about murder victims and the loved ones they leave behind.
Old Willow’s murder was very different in early drafts. Originally the Tyroshi wasn’t involved at all, and Daisy was the murderer because she blamed Old Willow for the love/beauty charm wearing off, and the random whore on the street played a bigger role in helping Aegon investigate. But as I reassessed how I wanted the second half of the fic to go, I reorganized the side characters’ roles and reduced the unnecessary minor characters so they didn’t distract too much from the main story.
Aegon sometimes makes questionable decisions (is it really a good idea to bring a 9-year-old princess to Flea Bottom without any guards at night?), but he has a few “eldest sibling” instincts that foretell what he’ll be like as a father. He tries to keep Joff out of actual trouble (don’t anger the locals, don’t open the bottle that might be poison), shows empathy to her (realizes this must be the first dead body she’s seen even though Joff acts dark and morbid), and gives Joff time to sort through her messy emotions about the witch’s death (lets her investigate the hut instead of immediately dragging her out—although he could also be criticized for letting a kid linger around a dead body). Basically, as a big brother/uncle/good-brother, he’s pretty indulgent and lets Joff explore her interests so to speak, but he intervenes if he suspects imminent danger. After Cheeseball is born, Aegon is understandably very protective of him. But when Cheeseball grows old enough, I see Aegon as being willing to let him run around and potentially fall and scrape his knees, because that’s just a natural part of life and relatively harmless—but Aegon would absolutely stop Cheeseball from running off the edge of a cliff.
I made Joff an early bird because I wanted to thwart the trope that dark witchy character = night owl 😄.
Bethany likes teasing Elinor about her crush on Aegon, hence the little exchange about Elinor making a good posset. But if Bethany suspected Elinor actually wanted to seduce Aegon (which she doesn’t), I think Bethany would draw the line and might even tattle on Elinor. We see in Chapter 5 that Bethany takes her duty to Jace seriously when it matters.
Aegon is right about Jace not enjoying gruesome murder stories, and telling her about his and Joff’s adventures right then would’ve kept her awake for a long time. But his quality time with Jace is limited so he doesn’t get a chance to tell her about it before the feast disaster. The miscommunication trope can be tricky because it’s so easy to make the people involve ridiculously stupid for plot reasons, so I was trying my best to lay the foundations for genuine reasons they wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk to each other. And the miscommunication doesn’t last for long. I think it’s a week at most between Aegon and Joff going to Flea Bottom and the feast.
Just like Vermax and Sunfyre parallel Jace and Aegon, I wanted Syrax and Caraxes to parallel their riders. Rhaenyra has plenty of thoughts about Aegon as Jace’s husband, but she views it as a good thing if a couple has a healthy sex life, hence Syrax’s lack of concern. Meanwhile Caraxes shares Daemon’s antipathy toward Aegon/Sunfyre 😂.
Gyles is jittery because the Tyroshi has been increasing his demands for payment, which Gyles can’t fulfill. A little foreshadowing for later in the chapter.
I priced a bottle of moon tea at three pennies because that’s the price of a fresh fruit tart during Robert’s reign. Ignoring things like inflation, I thought that was a good benchmark: affordable for the smallfolk, but for a whore who’s barely making it on the streets, she has to choose between the moon tea or eating that day. Aegon has selfish motivations when he gives her the entire crate in exchange for information, but it’s a huge windfall for her, especially if she can sell or trade the moon tea she isn’t using herself.
Old Willow warns her customers that magic always has a price (a recurring theme in ASOIAF). I’m sure she warned Joff when she first bought the curse tablet, and the consequences of that event led Joff to stop digging as much into magic the last few years. But Joff is tempted when she gets her hands on the glass candle, and she learns that lesson again later in this fic.
Aegon compares the whore to a courtier because he’s realizing that all people are fundamentally the same, they just wear different clothes and have more or less money. No matter what level of society, everyone loves gossip/scandal.
The rumors of Daisy’s death are not entirely true, but they’re not too far off the mark, and you can see how the rumors developed based on the true version (as told by the madam). Usually the rumors are worse than the truth, but in this case, parts of the truth are even worse than the rumors.
The description of the Garden’s building is intended to evoke a sense of lukewarm attempts to prettify something miserable at its core, like the girls who work there. I added the detail of the woman drinking on the roof because if she falls and breaks her neck, oh well, it’s not like her life was that great 😢.
Undercover!Aegon is the obvious next step in the evolution of Detective!Aegon. Other than his hair color, he doesn’t have as striking Valyrian features like Aemond and Daemon, and he’s mingled enough with the commoners that he can imitate their mannerisms. (Just imagine Aemond trying to pull off that disguise 💀.)
Even though Aemond is right there, Daeron chooses to run to Aegon for advice on girls/women instead. Aegon actually managed to marry the woman he wanted while Aemond is stuck in a flirty limbo, so Daeron concludes that Aegon is the more successful brother 😂. S2 might change my mind, but S1 Aemond is NOT a womanizer/smooth talker/expert on the fairer sex. The same applies in this AU, although Aemond is fairly well-versed in one particular woman…but even so, he still puts his foot in his mouth a lot.
Aegon is NOT shy about nudity lmao. He seems pretty content to loaf around in various states of undress in canon, and so is he here.
I love writing parallel scenes. In Chapter 3, we got Jace having sisterly bonding with Joff and Helaena, and now it’s Aegon’s turn to have brotherly bonding with Daeron and Aemond. And again, Aegon’s traits as a brother foretell what he might be like as a father. He caves underneath Daeron’s puppy face and indulges Daeron in a city outing so he can buy presents for Joff, but when they’re about to enter a sticky situation with the investigation, he tries to send Daeron home. Just imagine what Aegon will be like when Cheeseball gets his first crush 🥰.
Aegon’s statement “I never make Jace angry” was the universe setting him up to make her angry 💀. But Aegon was also kinda right about how groveling stops Jace being angry, because we see him talk his way out of the doghouse in Chapter 5.
I am convinced by the Episode 8 last supper scene that Aegon and Aemond have some brotherly telepathy going on, and that telepathy is even stronger in this verse where they’ve spent more time together in the Stepstones. Hence their ten-second silent exchange where they plan what to do about the mysterious noise in the hatch.
Notice that Aegon instinctively reassures Ronnel and cleans him up a bit. Big brother/dad instincts coming in 🥰. Aegon categorically refuses to help Ronnel with the bathroom (Ronnel wasn’t asking for help anyway, he was asking permission to go), but when it comes to his own kid? See Chapter 10 and how Aegon very studiously helps Cheeseball pass gas 😂.
Gyles and Ronnel know who Aegon is, but they call him “milord” because they aren’t used to interacting with highborns and they figure that address is suitable for anyone of noble birth. Aegon isn’t fussy about addresses and titles so he never corrected them.
Aemond has been doing his homework about dockworkers while at Driftmark. He wants to impress his future grandfather-in-law 😆.
Daeron and Ronnel are the same age, but Ronnel looks younger. Daeron has grown up on a rich diet and ample physical training. Ronnel has never gone hungry, but he doesn’t get as much variety in his diet as Daeron does, and the physical labor that Ronnel does (helping his father make pies) isn’t very conducive to body-building.
Daemon followed the Targbros because he’s nosy and curious about what would get all three of them out of the castle on an important day for Aegon. He got bored during the shopping trip and but became intrigued again when they discovered the abduction, and now he’s piecing together why Aegon has been acting so oddly the past week. Daemon is sticking around for the adventure so he can gather more information about Aegon’s doings, and because a kidnapping ring in the city is something that would interest most people. But also I think Daemon has been bored with domesticity and he wanted a bit of adventure 😂.
This is the point when Aegon forgets about the feast. His acquaintance/sort-of-friend has been violently kidnapped. That’s a big deal! And this is the kind of adrenaline rush that he enjoys. If he did remember the feast, I think Aegon would still embark on the rescue mission, but he would’ve at least sent a message back to the castle (or convinced Daeron to bring the message back).
I am sorry (not really), but I couldn’t resist making the pun “a stream of grizzled seamen trickled through” the brothel 🙈.
Yes, the madam got very excited by the prospect of three pretty Targaryen men. Can’t really blame her.
The madam mentions her “halfwit” guard. This is actually the brother she mentions in Chapter 6, whom the Tyroshi kidnaps to force her into helping him. I imagine the brother as a sweet and innocent guy, so I like to think he makes it out of the ordeal just fine and returns to the Garden. All the girls there like him, and he’s a large guy (I keep imagining someone like Hodor), so he can intimidate most customers who get too rowdy.
Currency fluctuates a lot in the ASOIAF universes, but at one point a gold dragon is the price of a horse. So that’s a lot of money Aegon is offering the madam, although of course as a prince, it isn’t much money to him. 100 gold dragons is apparently a reasonable ransom for a younger son of a noble family, so when the madam asks for 50 gold dragons for the building, she’s basically saying two of her building is equivalent to a ransom for Oscar Tully or Garmund Hightower.
Aegon claims not to care about royal titles or privileges, but he can still be a snob about things like carrying around a ridiculous amount of money (he’s got people for that). As Queen Clarisse Renaldi once said, “It’s not appropriate for royalty to jingle.”
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“Help me, I’m drunk” was 100% inspired by “Get help” from Thor 3. I feel like all the distraction names are pretty self-explanatory. But in pretty much every variation, Aegon is the distraction because he’s a showboat, while Aemond ninja murders everybody.
One of the warehouse guards uses the phrase “pretty girl,” which is Aegon’s pet name for Jace, so that triggers him in addition to everything else.
The rescue is when Gyles becomes Aegon’s number one hype man. I had to delete some scenes with Gyles later in the fic because they didn’t flow well, but there’s a scene where Gyles says he wants to teach his son good values like loyalty, and he cites his loyalty to Aegon as an example.
The Garden’s girls stick around to watch the arrests. The night’s events improve their opinions of the Targs (Aegon in particular). There are other factors, like Aegon’s chill managerial style and him selling the brothel for almost-free to Liane, but this is part of the good karma that pays off later when Jace needs help.
Aegon does enjoy the gratitude he receives for the rescue, similarly to how in canon he laps up the crowd’s adoration during his coronation. So that dopamine hit adds to the appeal of continuing his detective work.
The Gyles & Ronnel reunion makes an impact on Aegon because it’s the first time he’s really seeing a loving father-son relationship and affection. It’s sort of a turning point that plants a seed in his mind of what sort of father he wants to be to his unborn child, because now he has evidence there’s an alternative to what he grew up with. Also, note how Aegon feels like a voyeur to this emotional intimacy, but he’s entirely unaffected by physical intimacy like what happens at the brothel.
Originally the chapter dragged on longer with a scene where the Targs help Gyles and Ronnel move their stuff into the Red Keep, because Aegon offers Gyles a job on the spot. There was a whole comedic bit where Gyles reveals the giant cheese wheel that got him into trouble with the Tyroshi. But I decided it would be better to end the chapter where it did, with Aegon realizing his mistake 🤭.
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wordsandrobots · 1 month
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Falling for a Fool: Afterword
A confession: I cannot get through episode 45 of Iron-Blooded Orphans, properly, without coming to the verge of tears. I have discovered that if I turn the sound off, I can make it about as far as the back half of episode 46 without that happening. Which made it a lot easier to take screenshots, but it still got me, in the end.
And that's exactly why I fell in love with this show.
It's trite, but I think everyone should have the chance to be moved by something, whatever it is and wherever it comes from. Stories, all artworks in fact, are there to make us feel something. To convey emotion and meaning, to play on the keyboard of our minds and allow us to hallucinate meaningful things in safety. A couple of years back, the thing that moved me was an anime about child soldiers in space, produced to sell model kits. It worked. I did buy a lot of model kits. I also got to have my emotions twisted to bits by a superbly crafted tragedy.
I can wax lyrical about the technicalities of that process. I can do the writerly bit, as I've said before, of pulling apart the mechanics of how this show works and why it hits me so hard. That doesn't change the fact it *does* hit me, hard, and that's why I've spent my time since first watching it writing so much about it. It was exactly what I needed to see, when I saw it, and the inspiration it has given me has been absolutely wonderful.
I guess the reason I decided to run back through the imagery of the series, and specifically that concerning Yamagi and Shino's relationship, is that I wanted to check my working. I'm nearly at the end of the huge story I developed off the back of my first fanfic for IBO, the culmination of two and a half years of work. When I post it, likely at the start of August 2024, I will have approaching 650,000 words worth of 'here's how I would do a follow-up' on Ao3. That's a lot. For me, it's a hitherto unheard-of amount of consistent work.
Yet it started, very simply, with this: how do you save Shino?
Because the end to his arc in the show is a moment of deliberate pointlessness. It's got to be, for the narrative to work. But I have a soft heart and more than that, I'd fixated on what precedes the failure of Shino's daring gambit. Those scenes between him and Yamagi throughout episode 45 and the fundamental, unintentional cruelty of asking someone who adores you to enable what is, however much it wasn't supposed to be, your suicide run.
There are any number of ways to save Shino, in the sense of imagining he wasn't actually dead when Flauros was blown off into space in the next episode. It's easy! But which option allows one to best drill into what he and Yamagi are to each other, in that moment where he finally demonstrates he isn't the totally oblivious himbo after all? What is the method that allows them to come together again, not as comet and tail, but something more equal? Something that, rather than just clicking one's fingers and declaring, 'all is well', admits to everything dire and disturbing about Tekkadan.
Because those things are the point. And to me, they are vital to my love of the original work.
So. My apologies for a couple of days of scab-picking on main. I needed it, I think, to look back and see that, yes. What I have done follows (in my own mind at least) from what's on-screen. As much as my fic is essentially a work of reconstruction -- of redeeming love from hopelessness -- the heart of it remains full of rust and sharp fragments, of blood and pain, and a bitter understanding that the world does not care about you in the slightest.
And that the point is to care anyway.
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zadig-fate · 5 months
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Me and my Poland tour bestie (noriko_743 on ig) were reflecting on our insane week following the guys around and realised that we basically did a speedrun on the entire JO fangirl checklist.
It was Nori's first in-person JO gig ever at Warsaw 1 (!!!)
We got barricade for the first time in both our lives
Nori got photos and hugs with ALL the guys
I got a guitar pick in Wrocław!
We sang Umazane Misli with Bojan at Warsaw 2
Bojan actually recognised me in Poznań and Prague and remembered what we'd talked about in Wrocław 🙀
Nori got handwritten lyrics from Bojan for a tattoo
Nori's ig story got reposted by Kris!
We both ended up in Vita's photos on the band's official account
We ran into the guys "in the wild", i.e. out in the city during the day
We got the live debut of a new iconic outfit (all-white Kris)
We saw all (I think all?) the Stožice outfits in person
We saw the Demoni scream and Kris NGVOT in person
I was the numbers person / unofficial "queue manager" for the pre-wristband queue at Warsaw 2 and Poznań
We participated in fan actions that the guys really appreciated (shoutout jokeroutpolska for organising)
I met lots of tumblr mutuals 🥰
I met a bunch of people I have plans to see again in Munich, The Hague and Amsterdam
Like... it's crazy just how much happened in this last week. And there was no one show where we got everything, or nothing. Every single gig had something special to offer. So if you're wondering whether it's "worth" following JO around on tour... it really, really is. The experiences you have and the people you meet are incredible.
Speaking of, here are some other unforgettable tour experiences that will stick with me for a long time to come:
Nori and I only met at the hostel before Warsaw 1, and she wasn't even planning to come to that show, she only had a ticket for Warsaw 2! But I talked her into getting a cheap resale ticket for Warsaw 1, and she queued with me, and she loved it so much she immediately bought tickets for Wrocław and Poznań too, so we booked hotels together for the rest of the tour.
I literally just met Nori last week?? But we spent nearly every minute together between Warsaw 1 and Poznań, dealing with the highest highs and lowest lows of tour life, and it now feels like we've been friends for ages.
After the fucking absurd queue situation at Wrocław (4:45am and #45, WTF????) we decided that after the show, we would wait outside for the boys and then head straight for Poznań in my car. So we literally drove through the night with our new friend Safursey and formed the start of the Poznań queue.
Our hotel in Poznań wasn't ready until 2pm so we literally just took turns queuing and sleeping in my car. Nori and Safursey let me have the first sleeping shift since I drove us overnight.
I think we only slept between 15-20 hours total over 8 days???
I'm actually glad I got to experience a cursed gig (Prague) where everything went wrong. Seeing how professionally the guys reacted and how smoothly things were resolved made me appreciate just how experienced and calm they are.
Nori and I were unknowingly the centre of a major Twitter outrage after Warsaw 2 because someone accused us of stealing the microphone after Umazane Misli. Neither of us are on Twitter so we didn't even know about this controversy, but someone was clearly accusing us (and it was definitely us from the context) of stealing the microphone to sing, even though we had a sign asking to sing UM and Bojan was obviously pointing at us to get the microphone next (which is clear to see in all the videos of that moment).
Our friend Safursey deleted her Twitter account after Prague because people who were not there were spreading all kinds of insane rumours and unfounded accusations about the queue and Bojan's ig stories and refused to be corrected by the people who were actually involved. She got so much hate for explaining what was actually happening on the ground that she left the platform entirely, so that should tell you how toxic Twitter is.
I was feeling like such utter shit after the drama in Prague that I didn't even want to attend the concert anymore, but Safursey and @thisismyobsessionnow (Nori didn't come to Prague) came to comfort me and convinced me to still come to the gig, and I really appreciate that.
Overall an emotional roller coaster, but one I wouldn't give up for anything. We had SO much fun and met SO many people. I would do it again any time.
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amiharana · 8 months
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and even more revalink hcs from this post part 6
previous hc part 5 x i'm too lazy to tag the other ones, just go through this one 😭 i haven't done one of these in a bit so i'm doing this for funsies 😹
who's the primary protector of the two?
hard to say, since they're both warriors with protective instincts, and link had to have learned some survival skills & instincts in botw
neither of them ever rest really, constantly on their guard because they're not letting anyone get the slip on them
i imagine that maybe they bicker over who gets to protect the other, always insisting that they'll be the one to save the other 😹
who sleeps in and who is the early bird?
i think we should know by now where i stand on this 😹
i am the self-proclaimed #1 sleepy link x coddler revali enthusiast. you know damn well i am tucking that blond twunk into a soft comfy bed (the bed being revali)
who is the least patient?
hard to pin down as a generalization, because it's circumstantial between the two of them imo
like we all know link would stare into a campfire all night just to be able to hunt the best game at the exact crack of dawn
but revali is very thoughtful and methodical to me. i just reviewed his diary and the cb memory, and it's clear that his dedication to the craft warrants a lot of strategy, perseverance, and patience. he can be incredibly patient for the things that matter most to him
(i also really like the idea that revali would be very patient with fledglings 🥺 gordon ramsey type beat)
that being said, both revali and link will have a breakdown trying to assemble a single chair from ikea. they insist that the furniture is cursed but zelda assembles it in less than five minutes
which of the two listens to old music and which one is more into the newer stuff?
to me, revali seems like he would enjoy classical music, and classic pop & rock in general. anything before the 2000's, revali can get into
projecting a portion of my own music taste onto revali, he fucks with songs like 'stitches and burns' by fra lippo lippi, 'i melt with you' by modern english, and 'true' by spandau ballet. i will not be taking any criticism at this time 🙏
meanwhile link's playlist is jumping from 'good lookin'' dixon dallas to 'planet of the bass' to 'ETA' newjeans. and he finds all of it unironically genius
who's the first one to quit a new hobby because they're not great at it on the first try?
my instinct was to say revali, but the thing is, revali holds a great insecurity in wanting to be the best, and it's difficult to do that when you're dating Mr. Link Master-At-Everything-He-Tries over here
so if he's not automatically good at it but link is, you better bet your entire ass that revali is learning that shit out of spite to be better or at least just as good at it as link is
bitches can't even have like a couple hobby, everything turns into a competition if it's revali and link ✋😭
who holds a grudge the longest?
revali of course
a while ago, i made a post about how i hc'd revali to be a capricorn sun virgo rising, and i kinda still stand by that. he'll take anything to be a personal slight against him, will block you on everything, and talk shit about you to anyone. petty ahh mf
link just doesn't seem like the type to hold grudges, he's kinda goldfish brain. he'll forget he was even mad at you 15 minutes later
who secretly knows all the lyrics to the other's favorite songs but refuses to expose themselves?
revali actually 🥺
link soaks up melodies and lyrics like a sponge, so he has no problem picking any one of revali's playlists and knowing every single song on there, he will sing his heart out to each song on that damned playlist
revali is a bit of a music snob and isn't always the biggest fan of link's taste in music (as per #4 in this list LOL)
but he tries really hard to memorize link's favorites even if he fucking hates the song, which results in revali practicing korean just to be able to sing fucking 'gangnam style' psy with link 😭
who's more likely to cry about a plant dying?
link hands down. this guy gets overly attached to inanimate objects fr
bro is the type to bump into the corner of a table and be like "oops, sorry mr. table, didn't mean to hit you"
zelda once sent link a bouquet of flowers she had grown herself, and link put them in a nice little vase, made sure they got sunlight and water every day, and gave each flower names
when one of the flowers started wilting, link was about to have a whole breakdown
revali comes home to link trying to perform surgery on a flower, like why it got a whole iv drip bag now???
which of the two is the most outspoken? which of the two is quick to speak and which one is quick to listen?
these were actually two separate questions but i decided to mix them, bc i think it's pretty clear who's who
revali is more outspoken and quick to speak, he's confidently opinionated and will mansplain to you unfortunately. he's not afraid to tell you what he thinks, because he thinks he's always right. very much the type to tell you he's just being brutally honest as an excuse to a dick skjdhfkdj
link is soft-spoken, reserved, and a listener, he'll let you take the lead on the conversation or listen you out completely before saying anything.
as such, revali is the one berating the cashier for putting pickles on link's burger when he said he didn't want any 😹
and honestly? link just likes hearing revali's voice, so he's content with letting revali talk his head off as long as they get to cuddle or hold hands.
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lil-melody-moon · 4 months
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Year Summary #2
We're here today to talk about music, yeah? Yeah...
Okay, let's do it like that. I've left off the last one with me getting into The Doors and let's pick it from that point!
This is long so...
I really went deep with The Doors. Honestly I'm glad I've got the chance to start my old music journey from them. Their lyrics are everything, music is something no one can replicate. Jim's voice is one of a kind, still sending shivers down my spine whenever I hear him. Not to mention the rest of the guys. Ray's beautiful playing, Robby's amazing guitar which sounds like nothing I've ever heard before, John's incredible drumming - while not paying much attention to his work at the very beginning I started doing so and damn his skill is amazing really. Honestly, I would like to get my hands on his book, the one he released this year.
From there I've stumbled upon The Beatles, just to drown in them. Literally drown. This is where I've started realizing that in the end I was listening to old music since the get go. One of the first two songs I remember hearing is "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles. Even if it was a small fragment, I still remember the commercial they used it in and I could be what, 2 or 3 years old maybe? That's pretty young to remember something, song especially. Anyway, I wanted to give them a solid chance and only recalling that I know that "Yellow Submarine" song, I started from the album with the original score of the animated movie. Once I heard the first chord and words and Ringo's voice I was gone. I literally cried, I didn't hear this song for two years or more, I was hit with so much nostalgia, everything just came back to me. This tiny song appeared in my life when I was a shut in, when my grandpa was slowly dying, when I was close friends with a very toxic person and well, this tiny tune was my light in those awful times. Always managing to make me smile, dance a little bit and you know, I just started searching who sings it, knowing all four were singing on albums. Once I've found Ringo, I settled in the music, loving the old albums, going insane about "Help!" album especially, later "Abbey Road" - luck wanted that I got them very quickly and since then they are at home.
Ringo Starr was probably the first drummer to show me that drums can sound nice when they are not on the first place in a song, although the next phase, which is his solo work - not entire, I still have a lot of albums to listen to - I can certainly say that even if his drumming is tame for the most part, especially comparing to John Bonham's for example, it still is amazing, has its own charm and just makes me swing from one side to the other. And I will say this: Ringo took The Beatles' whole charm of music and put it back in in his solo works, mainly in his band era "Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band". There's a certain shift between the 90s album "Time Takes Time" and his earlier works and this shift came in with full force, making his music even better than it normally was. Now, I might talk about his music like it would be the best thing in the world and you can tell me that it is mainly because I'm a Ringo girl myself, but like... His music is good, okay? Even my mom couldn't say no when I played her some songs - I think I actually made her a fan, but shhh ;3
And then, right after Ringo came Paul McCartney. He was slowly sneaking in from the beginning of my Beatles phase, but slowly, slowly, he finally got to me at May - we're not even half year through! He tried with music, I really started loving his music from "Help!" album - "Another Girl", "I've Just Seen a Face" my beloved <3 - and from there it only went downwards for me. Not only other songs of his started to get stuck in my head, but he started appearing on tumblr, facebook and then it was the day when I saw him in the 90s. Let's make a place for "Hope of Deliverance" here, because that song started it all in this year! And then I saw old Macca and again, I was gone. I'm weak to old Paul, no shame on that, but like... It took this guy so much to get to me! He tried through his solo career - first song I heard by him is "Wonderful Christmastime" - but also through collaborations - "The Girl Is Mine", "Say Say Say" - some Wings here and there - I actually got so shocked that I know "Live and Let Die" when i heard it! - and finally through The Beatles, succeeding just...
To be kicked out by John Bonham and my summer phase on Led Zeppelin. Now, I talked about Led Zep in the last year, but this band is never going away - just like The Beatles and one more band, but THAT later. I was actually still searching for my favorite band member at that time until it hit me why I started listening to them in the first place. Sure, Jimmy got me with "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", sure Robert's voice is incredible - "Since I've Been Loving You", "I"m Gonna Crawl" OH MY GOD - but then I came to realization that the drums always hit where it should and it was when I started listening to the drums closely, just to be blown away for the third fucking time with this band! It was at the end of July and beginning of August and you know, I knew the whole discography already, but I kept discovering new gems and i still do. Mentioned earlier "I'm Gonna Crawl" is the latest obsession of mine, again John's drumming and Robert's vocals, but mainly the drumming! BUT, the PEAK is motherfucking "In My Time of Dying" and that won't ever change. I think only John's drum solos can compete with this one, nothing else can - unless I discover something else, but I talk about this song each time someone mentions Led Zeppelin so yeah. This is how bad it is XD
And here, we are in August... I was getting my ass into The Rolling Stones, when dad came by, saying "Let me show you Deep Purple!" and he did. I liked Jon Lord from the get go, but what actually convinced me to this band was this: I bought the "Made in Japan" album and heard "The Mule". PC went on full, speakers as well, Ian just blew me away! Then I listened to other songs. "Child in Time" getting to me right away, "Burn" album being the first one I listened on my own and the "Sail Away" becoming my favorite song. But that phase was short lived really. I still am up for listening to the rest of their discography, heck I most certainly will, they are amazing, but like... The end of August was nearing, 23rd exactly...
And you know, I was minding my own business on tumblr, really. Not searching for anything to get obsessed about, like I had whole Deep Purple to listen to, Rainbow came back as well - Cozy Powell, my beloved! - I just passed by the chance to buy "Brainwashed" by George Harrison and I was quite sad about that. I think I was listening to "Deep Purple in Rock" by that time, getting familiar with it when I started seeing someone on here. And you know, it never happens that I fall for someone only by seeing pics - I actually started listening to The Rolling Stones like that, seeing Charlie Watts and immediately getting interested - but like there has to be an exception once in a while and this one was none other than Keith Moon.
Let's go back to May or June real quick. Sometimes when mom is using pc I'm watching a music channel with dad and it happened that they played "My Generation" by The Who. Dad was complaining, he doesn't like them, but I was listening, came the end of the song, the drummer just going fucking nuts and I was like: "Fuck, he's good". I recalled that at that freaking day in August, finally having the chance to see him and I... I was blown away by one gifset. I actually didn't want to believe it was him. First time seeing Keith all elegant in a suit, that did things to me, but like then it calmed down, only to come back at September. And during this time I kept seeing "Who's Next" album in the record store, something telling me to buy it, but I didn't for some weird reason. The album disappeared at mentioned September, but like, this is exactly what fucking happened:
Keith Moon appeared on my dash again because it was 7th of September so like this is when I accidentally learned when he died
Then, when I was listening to music at night at the 10th of September spotify decided that it will randomly play me "Love Ain't for Keeping" and I, after hearing for years from parents that The Who isn't a good band, I was fucking blown away by this song. I had to check on spotify who plays it and I couldn't fucking believe it XD
Skip ahead to 13th of September and me saying "Alright, I will listen to this freaking album". I literally felt like "Who's Next" was haunting me - first at the record store and then when it was gone on spotify - so I gave in eventually. I recognized two songs from it immediately: "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" recalling them from a tv series, freaking knowing there was one more they used, but that wasn't what was important at that day to me
I literally had to pause after it ended, I was fucking shaking and that like never happened to me after listening to the album. And sitting in that silence I heard a sudden voice in my head: "Finally back home"
A week later I've found the third song they used in the tv series "Who Are You" and that made me realize something. That my whole interest in music, my whole love towards drumming, my specific taste in it, that I love when drummers go crazy on them is because of Keith Moon
This crazy idiot was the first drummer I heard, who got me mesmerized by his playing. I remember to this day the moment I walked in the living room when mom was watching the tv series and the opening played. I was standing in the hall, mesmerized, so imagine my reaction when I finally made a whole loop back, after saying in the last year that I want to come back to my old self, finding it right there. Yes, i cried. Yes, I got attached to Keith Moon so much so that it's almost insane. And you know what? I'm fine with how things are right now. I feel like I stopped my search in music and I'm fine to settle in with Keith as my favorite drummer and for The Who to became the third band that I will come back to all the time, just like with Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. I'm feeling like at home with them, with him mostly, so I'm staying. I'm not moving my ass anywhere.
And just like that you thought it'll be over? HAHA, NO. Right after that came rolling The Police, Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues. Each band I enjoy a lot.
The Police for the drummer - Copeland, you're an amazing drummer!
Pink Floyd for the mood and lyrics - I'm more in the Waters and Gilmour era, but Syd Barrett is my baby <3 Also Rick Wright <3
The Moody Blues for everything - I might have only listened to one album, but "Nights in White Satin" is a MASTERPIECE!
And THAT, all of THAT concludes this year. With addition to dropping out of heavy metal, but I've mentioned that in the last post. All drummers who are responsible for that thing are named above!
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artist-emerald · 2 months
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Trollstopia: I Never Stopped (Trollsona x Canon Fic)
Trollstopia, midday, another harmonious day for all the Trolls. A day filled with singing, dancing, and hugging. Queen Poppy was doing her rounds, making sure everyone was doing okay before she met up with her friends for Girls' Night. As she was finishing up, she noticed Branch carrying a bunch of supplies back to his bunker. She happily skipped over to him to see what he was up to. "Hey you, watcha up to?" Poppy said cheerily. "Oh, hey Poppy. Just some stuff to keep some of my bros busy while they're visiting." Branch said, gesturing to the wagon full of activities.
Poppy and Branch chatted for a bit before being interrupted by the sound of an accordion. They looked around, searching for the source of the noise. Then, from the brush, appeared a country western troll dressed in gray overalls, and a large white hat cowboy hat with an arrow through it. His skin was a light, pastel green, and his hair was a bright golden blonde, large and sticking out the back and sides of his hat. In his hands he held a chocolate colored accordion, the unique sounds being played from it.
When the troll looked up form his playing, he stopped in his tracks. His ears perked up and his eyes shifted between Poppy and Branch. "Howdy! This wouldn't happen to be Trollstopia, would it?" the troll asked in a friendly tone.
"Why yes, yes it is! Welcome! I'm Poppy, queen of the pop trolls. This is my boyfriend, Branch." Poppy was very excited meeting a new troll, even more so since he was looking for Trollstopia. "Well ain't that just powdered sugar on a deep fried donut! My name's-" but before the troll could finish he was cut off by the excited cheer of another troll.
"Yeeeeeeehaw! Emerald Waters, is that you!?" country western troll, Holly Darlin, called out excitedly from behind Branch and Poppy. "Holly Darlin!? Shoot, I didn't know you were here!" the troll, now revealed to be named Emerald Waters, quickly stuffed his instrument into his hair and rushed over to Holly and greeted her with a tight hug, picking her up and swinging her around.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, ya'll, but I heard the sound of an accordion and I just had to check it out! Poppy, Branch, this is a dear friend of mine from Lonesome Flats, Emerald Waters!" Holly said excitedly, her legs doing a small jog in place. Emerald blushed as Holly talked about him. "It sure is great to meet ya'll. And I'm pleased as punch to see you again Holly!" Emerald said.
"Holly, how come you never told me!?" Poppy asked. "I guess it never came up? A lot's happened since I moved here, sugar, and I haven't been able to yell ya my whole life story." Holly said. "Buuuut, Emerald's a friend of mine who's been traveling for a while. I used to get his letters from his travels every now and then, but since I moved we must have lost contact."
"Well any friend of Holly's is a friend of ours. It's always nice to meet another country western troll." Branch said, extending his hand for a handshake. Emerald's face winced, "Well actually, I'm not technically a country western troll. I'm actually a parody troll!" Emerald shook Branch's hand, and then Poppy's. Branch and Poppy looked at each other confused, and then back at the other trolls.
"I can see that, that's a new concept to you. Allow me to explain! I specialize in changing lyrics to existing songs, or putting different songs to together into one big melody to the sweet sound of polka!" Emerald explained with a big smile on his face. "Oh! Well in that case, I, Queen Poppy, welcome our first parody troll to Trollstopia!" Poppy exclaimed.
"We'll have to throw you a welcome party and do a tour tomorrow, but you've gotta be tired, sugar." Holly said rubbing her hands together. Poppy and Branch glanced at each other briefly as they noticed how Holly and Emerald acted around each other. "I will admit, I am a bit beat." Emerald said as he stretched out his back. "I'll take you back to Country Corral, so we can get you a place to rest! Later ya'll! I'll see you at Girls' Night, Poppy! Oh, everyone's gonna be excited to see you again!" Holly said as she led Emerald back to Country Corral where the other country trolls lived.
Poppy and Branch waved as they watched them leave. "Hey Poppy?" Branch began to ask, "I get the feeling that those two have a lot more going on than just being friends." Poppy held Branch's hand, "I think so too, heart. Quick couple's scrapbooking session theorizing about?" Poppy said, giving Branch a sly look. Branch nodded excitedly as they rushed off.
Hours passed, and the girls met up at Poppy's for Girls' Night. They were swapping gossip, braiding hair, scarfing down snacks, and just enjoying each other's company. They had noticed, however, that Holly was a lot more cheerful and bubbly than usual. "Wow Holly, you seem pretty tonight. Anything interesting happen today?" Smidge asked. "Oh didn't you hear? An old friend of Holly's from Lonesome Flats came into town today." Poppy chimed in, a tight grin on her face.
After hearing that, the girls stopped what they were doing in hopes to hear more about it. Holly told them about what happened earlier that day, and how excited and happy the other country trolls were when she brought Emerald back with her. "He must be a pretty special friend for you to be so happy to see him." Val teased. Holly's face turned red, "whaaaat? I don't know what you're talking about." Holly laughed nervously as she fidgeted her fingers around.
The other girls kept giving her eager faces of varying degree, wanting to get some kind of answer from their friend. Holly sighed in defeat, "okay okay. We used to date." The girls' jaws dropped, "he's your ex-boyfriend!?" they shouted. "Yeah. We used to date back home, but when he decided to leave to pursue his dream of being a parody troll, we broke up. But we still stayed friends, and I'd get letters from him every now and then, talking about his adventures." Holly's words seemed to bittersweet, and her smile started to fade.
"But?" Poppy asked. "I...I still have feelings for him, but I'm so scared of hurting our friendship that I don't have the courage to say anything. He's just so cute, sweet, and he really knows how to make a troll feel special." Holly stroked her hair as she reminisced. Her friends all looked at each other with a bit of worry.
"He said he'd be staying for a few days before leaving again. And I know those looks you have on ya'll's faces. Don't you be trying anything while he's here!" Holly scorned. The girls promising not try any sort of convoluted plan to try and get her and Emerald back together.
The days went by, and Emerald Waters was introduced to the other trolls and their cultures while they got to meet and learn more about him and his ways as a parody troll. He was master on his accordion, and really brought out the joy and whimsy to a party. Then the trolls learned that, even though Emerald is great at parties and in large crowds, if he's left alone with any single troll, he gets incredibly anxious.
The country trolls explained he got lost in a mine when he was younger and found a monster that disguised itself as a troll. Since then, he gets anxious and scared when being left one on one with other trolls. And then there were the cute, but awkward situations between him and Holly. At a glance one would assume they'd been friends forever, but whenever they got too close or a bit too affectionate, they'd get all shy and pull away from each other.
On the final day of Emerald's visit, Branch got a confession from Emerald that he still had feelings for Holly too. That leaving her behind at Lonesome Flats was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Traveling by himself was difficult, but thinking about Holly and writing her letters put him at ease. While he wrote and played such happy music for others, when he was alone he'd play some of the saddest songs you'd ever hear.
One thing led to another, and Branch told Poppy, who tried to tell Holly. Holly, on the other hand, was having a hard time believing her. "Holly please, just listen!" Poppy pleaded. "I thought I told ya'll to butt out of our business. When he left, he told me that he couldn't see us anything more than friends! That he had to leave to find his calling, but that I would always be his best friend! I went home that day and cried my little eyes out, my heart broken. The most important troll in the world to me, only wanting to be my friend. I will not go through that again!" Holly's voice cracked, her face turned red, and her eyes welled up.
Poppy gave her a hug to console her. "I won't force you, but if he leaves now, who knows when you might see each other again. I don't want to see you wind up regretting this in the future." Poppy left to meet with Branch, who tried to convince Emerald to try the same thing, but to no avail.
The day went on normally, albeit with a bit more awkward tension between Emerald and Holly. They barely spoke, they'd stare longingly at each other but look away if the other looked, and they weren't as energetic as they were at the beginning.
Then the time came for Emerald to leave. He stood in front of her at the entrance to Country Corral. "Well, I guess this is it." Emerald said shyly. "Yeah, I guess it is." Holly replied, her hands fidgeting behind her back. "Promise you'll write?" she asked with a blush. "Cross my heart, dust in my eye, till the wind takes my hat and makes it fly." Emerald said without skipping a beat, staring into Holly's eyes.
They embraced in one final hug, and Emerald turned to leave. Holly watched as left, her feelings churning inside her, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach, and a pain encroaching on her heart. She couldn't do it, she couldn't let him get away again.
"EMERALD WATERS, YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!" Holly yelled in protest. Emerald stopping in surprise and turning around, face red. Holly ran towards him and grabbed him by his overalls. "I still love you, you goofy man! I never stopped! I never stopped thinkin' bout you, and I don't want you to go!"
He was speechless, his face red, and his heart racing. He looked down at the orange country troll, tears forming in her eyes, and lower lip quivering. He placed his hands over her's, "I never stopped thinking about you either, Holly. Truth is, I never stopped loving you either. I just...didn't think I'd make a good boyfriend for you, what with my anxiety troubles."
She smiled, reaching up to the brim of his hat, grabbing it, and pulling it down. She pulled his hat down revealing an enormous mass of hair, bigger than her's. "That doesn't matter to me, it never did! I love you because you're kind, sweet, considerate, and seeing that smile on your face makes my heart flutter something fierce. Don't push me away this time. Let me help you through them hard times." Holly said assuredly.
All the other trolls watched in anticipation, some of them holding their breath. Emerald began to chuckle, which turned into a laugh as he picked up Holly Darlin and swung her around in a warm embrace. "Well dang, Holly, now I just feel all silly." Emerald said as tears fell over the smile on his face. "After that, I ain't going nowhere!"
Holly jumped and cheered in excitement before pulling Emerald in for kiss. The spectating trolls cheered and applauded, happy for the two love-trolls. Holly and Emerald went off, hand-in-hand, to spend their time together, as a reunited couple.
One, that never stopped loving each other.
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sapphic-luthor · 1 year
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different anon here but does your gf have any good lesbian media/book recs (since she read so many lesbian books in such a short amount of time lol)!!
gf said, and i quote,
“i’m going to take the rest of the day off to work on this list”
so without further ado, here is her short list of recs copied straight from her (and with my own comments in italics for the ones i know):
Okay! So here’s my book recommendations.
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Loved this book, love all Sarah’s books (haven’t read the non-gay one though, sorry not sorry). Sarah is a great one for the twists and I enjoyed this one so much that I actually recommended the book to my mam and she also loved it. The story is gay + set in the 19th century + lady/handmaiden trope so what’s not to like. Also really recommend. For related media, there’s a BBC miniseries based off of it, and a film by Park Chan-wook called The Handmaiden, which is honest to god one of the best films ever made. It is harrowing, but it is brilliant.
- Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Again, gay + set in the 19th century. Explores the queer scene in Victorian London to its full extent. A real page turner. GREAT fun, a little dark at points, but good and raunchy.
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Gay + 1920s + yearning + tense + murder + dramatic. My recommendation when it comes to Sarah’s books is to give them time. Do not put them down because I promise you they will get GOOD.  Slowburn of slowburns. Gorgeous.
- Affinity by Sarah Waters. Gay + Victorian prison + disgraced spiritualist. Compared to the other three this one is actually a little bit… boring? You’re kinda waiting for something to happen for a long time but WHEN IT DOES boy is it worth it. And that part that’s worth waiting for actually made me want to read it again.
- The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. This was a bit like Affinity for me in that I was waiting for it to pick up a bit but once again, Sarah did not disappoint and I finished it wanting to read it again. The story is told backwards through third-person narrative, takes place in 1940s London during and after WWII and follows ‘Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians; Viv, a straight woman; and Duncan, her brother, whose sexuality is ambiguous.’
- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. This was my favourite book of 2021 because I read it as a baby gay and it’s set in modern times and is so full of life and found family and fun but also considers life for gay people in the 1970s and things that they didn’t often get to experience (loudly, at least). It tugged at my heart this one. For the “sort by top kudos” “filter for fluff” fanfic reader. Not really my style.
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. This is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. As Madeline Miller said, ‘this book has it all: treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling superagents.’ This story is truly gorgeous. Unbelievable. Not even words to describe how good this one in. Possibly my favourite read of all time.
- Afterlove by Tanya Byrne. This book made me cry! In…a good way? I’m not sure. But I enjoyed it. Set in modern day when MC dies and joins ‘a clan of fierce girl reapers who take the souls of the city’s dead to await their fate’ but can’t forget her first love who she’ll do anything to see again. This one just tugged at my heart a lot.
- Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Epic fantasy. Dragons. Follows many characters in GoT style so it requires A LOT of focus. This isn’t a light read but it’s very good (and a prequel is coming out in 2023). IF YOU LIKE FANTASY AT ALL READ THIS ONE IMMEDIATELY.
- Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden. Okay this one will definitely not be the most well-written book you’ve ever read buuuuut there’s something VERY precious about it. It follows the relationship between two 17-year-old girls, Annie and Liza, in New York. As far as I know, when this book was published in 1982, it became the first YA novel ever to depict a main character’s same-sex relationship in a positive light. (In the 90s copies of this book were burned on the steps of a school in Kansas and there was a whole court case about it).
- Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Oh these are great. I was about 100 pages in to the first two before I could grasp what was going on but the story is intriguing, the characters are great, there’s good humour, and the world is fascinating. The first one, Gideon, is almost like Hunger Games meets Cluedo. I’d highly recommend these and I can’t wait until my gf reads them so I can talk to her about them.
- Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour. This one is a nice, light read. MC is interning as a set designer so I found this aspect of it really interesting actually. Has some mystery, some gay love, so like why not read it.
- Matrix by Lauren Groff. ‘Born from a long line of female warriors and crusaders, and cast out from the royal court, Marie is sent to become the prioress of an abbey.’ This is a bit of a dreary, grey read (probably due to the setting and period, think Wuthering Heights), but there was something about it that fascinated me and kept drawing me back in.
- The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth. Lesbian rom-com set in modern Ireland. Very light, easy read (with some serious topics too).
- Not my Problem by Ciara Smyth. Again, a very light and easy read for the most part, with a touch on some heavier issues. Quite funny too!
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. Set in 1950s America and tells the story of Lily Hu, a teenage daughter of Chinese immigrants as she begins to explore her sexuality. This time period was really interesting and the incorporation of Chinese culture into the story was something I hadn’t read before.
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