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abeautifulblog · 10 months

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Thoughts on the Radovid romance

A couple people have asked about the Radovid/Jaskier relationship, and I thought it was... fine? As fine as anything in this show gets?

I wasn't expecting it to dethrone Geralt/Jaskier, because 20+ years of Jaskier building his life and legacy around Geralt is a lot more compelling than Some Twink He Met Yesterday, but I did go into it with a genuinely open mind. Everyone on tumblr was gushing over their chemistry, and I was like, Yea I'd believe it, given that this is Joey Batey we're talking about. So I was expecting to enjoy it the way I'd enjoyed the Yennskier content in S2, the rare treat of two characters having a real emotional connection.

And then I watched it, and it wasn't bad, but the relationship was a lot more disjointed (and their "chemistry" a lot less compelling) than tumblr had led me to believe. (Lol, mea culpa, I should have known better than to take tumblr's word for it.) Also it’s unclear whether it’s supposed to be a cute romance, or whether it’s two people using each other for their own ends?

But it did brush up against some interesting thoughts I'd had before about Jaskier and his patrons, and got me to thinking about consent and power dynamics again, because I am THEE MOST predictable little beastie in fandom. 🤣

First off, I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of Radovid. Obviously he's ~hiding his true self~ in some way, but I can't tell if we're meant to take at face value the side of himself he shows Jaskier -- that he's more intelligent than he's been letting on, and is actually deeply lonely in the empty-headed partyboy role he's been playing, desperate for genuine connection and for someone to truly see him for who he is -- or whether that is yet more deception, and this is all part of some big ambitious scheme that he'll whip out in a mustache-twirling villain reveal. There are elements that make me think it's the latter, but Hugh Skinner's acting is also just weird (and why are his eyes so wet o_o), and I can't tell whether that's supposed to be deliberate foreshadowing, or if, once again, the people making the show are just clueless about how their creative choices are coming off.

(I assume this will get answered at some point, possibly already has in part 2, but I haven't watched that yet.)

Honestly, the part that caught my interest the most was when Jaskier showed up at Radovid's salon wanting to talk about new intel he had on Rience, and Radovid was blithely uninterested, just wanted Jaskier to sing for them -- and then proceeded to casually, completely disregard Jaskier's No.

gremble: Oho? 👀

That's a red flag! 😊 Jaskier tried to set a boundary, and Radovid brushed right past it. And in any competently-executed piece of media, I would expect that to be deliberately signaling something. It doesn't necessarily mean that Radovid is evil -- could just mean he's a crown prince who doesn't have much experience with people telling him No -- but seeing him blithely override Jaskier's wishes in a low-stakes situation sets a bad precedent, and foreshadows how he might behave later, when the stakes might well be higher.

...Except that this production team is so HILARIOUSLY bad at writing healthy relationships -- for three seasons they've been feeding us the most toxic slop imaginable and telling us that's what love looks like -- that I have no idea whether that was on purpose or not. 😂😂😂

The Radovid storyline does touch on some concepts that I've long found fascinating, about Jaskier's system of patronage and how he trades on his sexuality. How his work is canonically sex work, or at least sex-work adjacent (that's made explicit when he talks about the Countess de Stael, that they were involved sexually while she was supporting him financially), and the balancing act of keeping his patrons happy when they are always, always going to be second in his affections to Geralt -- and how they probably wouldn't be too happy to learn that.

Because for all that S3 tells us Jaskier is developing a crush on Radovid, Joey Batey's acting says something very different. He did not come off as a man in love, to me -- he came off as someone who's acutely aware that when the crown prince of Redania rolls up and tells you he's your biggest fan, you fucking smile for him.

(Why yes, Moulin Rouge is my all-time favorite movie, why do you ask? 🤣)

Jaskier's interactions with Radovid feel very... 'calculated' isn't quite the word for it, but Jaskier is conscious of the power differentials there, and always carefully choosing what he does and says in light of what he knows Radovid wants from him. He's conscious of having to keep Radovid happy, yes but he's also conscious of what he stands to gain from having a crown prince clamoring to win his affections, and what he could leverage out of that. (Like, say, having the entire Redanian army to protect his little found family.)

And the power imbalance isn't entirely one-directional either. Radovid wants Jaskier's affections, something that can't be bought or coerced, and wants his specifically, which means Jaskier has all the power to give or withhold it... while also being aware that toying with a prince's affections is a dangerous game.

........Or maybe I entirely misread that, and Jaskier's feelings for Radovid are meant to be genuine, and the whole thing was supposed to be a cute little romance. The way that Joey & the production team have talked about that relationship makes it sound like that's what they were going for, but what's onscreen is very ambiguous.

It will surprise no one to learn that I think the more interesting option would be the one that complicates Jaskier’s motives. That even if he likes Radovid well enough, he's still deliberately leveraging Radovid's crush on him to get help for Geralt -- and that if he oversteps, he's risking the wrath of a very powerful man. (And that as the perceived rival, Geralt could wind up as the target of Radovid’s retribution.)

Anyway, it's a fascinating situation, and almost identical to a fic premise I've been tossing around for years. It's never quite coalesced enough to get written, but it does compel me.

(Alternately, if you wanted Radovid to be noble and tragic, @coffee-mage-sans-caffeine suggested a situation in which Radovid and Geralt are in peril together, one of them is not going to make it out of this, and Radovid sacrifices himself so Geralt lives -- because he knows which of them Jaskier loves more.)

#witcher shit #radskier #witcher meta #twn season 3

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ithisatanytime · 5 months

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When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings - Official Lyric Video - The Ba...

DLCs are inherently shit always, literally everytime, there has never been a good DLC released for a game. i play games the way i watch movies, you might think i play a lot of games or a play them frequently but this is just not true, when i do actually decide to try a game, or watch a movie, its only after word of mouth has reached me that this is amazing and even then its only some of the time, im picky, ill admit, but what ends up happening is when i DO watch a movie or play a game and it hits with me, i talk about it passionately. as a result of this, ive been “lucky” enough to only have been exposed to some of the best most widely regarded DLCs in gaming history and i have without fail hated every single one. the first DLCs i ever got my hands on were the bloodmoon expansion and tribunal that came with the morrowind GOTY edition, i gush endlessly about morriwind its one of the greatest of all time, it might actually just be the best game ever made its close, and i remember when i got the GOTY edition with two entirely brand new landmasses to explore i was thrilled, for about five minutes and then i just went back to the mainland, ive played the entirety of both DLCs and beyond the functionality that was added in the form of enemy HP bars, and a difficulty slider i completed the DLCs just to say i did and i was bored the whole time, both mournhold and aww fuck what is it? solstheim thats it, both of these brand new landmasses felt ERIE to explore, they were supposedly connected to the main game which i loved, but they felt like their own pocket dimension because they fucking are lol, but its beyond that, it feels like fan fiction it feels like starwars extended universe bullshit, they felt like mods. my next encounter with DLC’s were in fallout new vegas, and this is another contender for best game of all time, and i ran into the exact same issues, whenever i wasnt exploring the main map of newvegas and was instead exploring one of the sectioned off DLC areas i only wanted to return, whatever made you initially fall in love with the game, the characters, the setting, the atmosphere, hell even the gameplay style would be tossed out the window for something that was meant to feel brand new, but what you get instead is four disjointed sort of minigames that arent big enough or fleshed out to be proper sequels but also had basically no bearing on the world you spent most of your time playing in. of the four dlcs, honest hearts is the only one i can stomach and its the one with the lowest reputation because guys who like DLC have very very bad taste in general, the fact that either dead money or the divide are rated above honest hearts is a travesty, old world blues i can sort of get even though its reddit tier cringe and feels more like a mod than all the others combined. even in games like rimworld where DLC should work, hey more items and shit whats not to love, they always fuck it up buy making the bulk of the new content thematically different from the main game i guess to make it feel special but often times it ruins the game. with the DLC content rimworld might already be in the modern terraria “ive got too much shit on me zone” where so much crap got added that was thematically inconsistent with the initial setting and premise of the game that it feels muddied and washed out. i literally racked my brain trying to think of one good dlc and couldnt find one, i settled on rimworld but i realized that the dlcs were so incongruous with the initial concept of the game as a space western colony sim that the moment they came out is the moment i had a serious drop in my interest for its development. none of this is important or consequential but i just needed to say it somewhere.

#youtube

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stargirlkatara · 4 years

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Just finished my rewatch of Avatar: The Last Airbender and here are my thoughts that no one asked fo

Zutata was meant to be and no one can tell me otherwise

Katara is one of my fav characters and she holds a near and dear place fo my heart you can be both loving and caring and scary and shit and i stan forever

Season 2 was the most solid season and i wished we got more of the propaganda and inter-workings of the Dai Li

I have always questioned which character i relate to the most and i have come to the conclusion that i am sokka through and through

The final Agni Kai is still the most beautiful and heartbreaking scene

I love Iroh with all my heart and is one of the best tv characters

I think season 3 could have been the best season but some of it felt disjointed

Zutara should have been canon

Also i felt like aang got dealt a shitty hand because even his friends were like hey we know you’re 12 but you have to save the world, like i know they had his back but damn that’s so much pressure.

They did a great job balancing fun and humor with tough themes and topics

Also almost all the episodes start off fun and a little silly and then the plot happens and things get more serious and that’s how each season goes and the entire series and that’s pretty awesome writing.

I wish we got more lore about the lion turtle so it didn’t feel like a cop out

Zuko’s character growth is still some of the best

Zuko saving katara from lighting?!?! damn Zutara is real in my heart

Aang grew as a character but i don’t think he truly grew up if that makes sense... he needed to put the world first but he still put his spiritual self first... something he struggle with throughout the series which is good. Zuko, who was often his parallel, was always battling the good and bad within himself and we saw the conclusion, and we never saw aang truly battle within himself. We saw it with Katara and even sokka. i think the story gave him a lot of cop outs and didn’t force him to truly humble himself?? And that’s not to say he’s not a good kids who carea about others because he does we see it all the time Idk i feel like there was something left to be desired with his character?? We saw some lashing out but i felt like where was so much more and it was constantly covered up with oh look at these fun games, which i know it’s a kids show anyways i could do a whole separate post on this and ramble some more lol

The actor who played toph in the play screaming might be the funniest things ever it kills me haha

Zutara really was that good

I thought the series was much longer than it actually is... i thought so much more happened but it really is quick and i want more of the world and the lore and seeing more development

Please send me questions about the show i’d love to talk and gush about it!

#atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #zutara #katara #zuko #aang

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eccacia · 7 years

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Favorite Snowbarry Fics

So I have a bit of free time before things get busy again, and being Snowbarry Trash™ I thought, What better way to spend it than rereading my favorite SB fics????? At first I compiled all the links in one place as a reference for myself, but what the heck, it won’t hurt to put these fics out there again and send the writers some love.

Before anything, a caveat: this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the best SB fics. There are a lot of other great fics out there. Also “favorite” here probably more accurately means “fics I reach for when I’m having a bad day,” lol. So to these writers here, THANK YOU. Your fics really get me going again. (And to other fanfic writers out there, keep writing! You’ll never know when a fic will make someone’s day a little better, as these did for me.)

The fics are below the cut, arranged alphabetically. I put in the summary and a brief gushing of what I liked about them. Happy reading, everyone! Don’t forget to give the ones you like some love!

& If It Never Ends then When Do We Start, by @ttinycourageous

Far too soon, a common occurrence for them, their time together is up. Looking up at him Caitlin wonders how long they’ll be able to keep this going; Barry gone on a mission, she back to the lab ignoring Jay’s advances, both of them under the scrutiny of the agency they work for. How long before her heart gets broken?

“Can you keep a secret?” Barry asks.

[00Q au in which Barry's the spy, and Caitlin one of the scientists providing the gadgets. The two grow closer over the course of several months, mostly due to Barry's insistent inquiring after her real name.]

Spy AU? Secret Identities?? Forbidden Relationship?????? Uh, count me in. What really gets to me about this, though, is that unlike other spy AUs, the language isn’t punchy and action-packed; instead the story’s told with restraint, and the language pulses with quiet longing. Tension and suspense aren’t so much in the external circumstances as in the internal conflict, so the moment that they finally come together is the climax in both external and internal tension. It’s just brilliant. Also I live for coded affectionate exchanges, that whole saying one thing but meaning something else, and it was so well done in this fic.

at first sight, by @tinytendril

College Pride & Prejudice AU. Literature student Barry swears he hates everything about the privileged side of Central City, including one leggy, doe-eyed, bon-mot tossing, label-worshiping vortex of girly vapidness Caitlin Snow. Until, as these things go, he doesn’t, not even by a small measure, and not at all.

I’ve read this so many times I’ve lost count. But really, wow. Barry as Lizzy and Caitlin as Darcy just makes so much sense, and the rest of the cast were slotted so naturally into their P&P counterparts that I couldn’t imagine it any other way. The dialogue’s also very witty. I love how Caitlin calls Barry out for his pretentiousness. (The pretentiousness is so well-done, by the way. I mean, just look at the summary. It’s a mini-adventure into the dictionary.) I always get this sense of vindictive joy when Barry realizes that Caitlin can match him line for line. Ha, you show him, girl. Serves him right for underestimating you. Anywaaay, I could go on, but in short, I love this fic to bits.

Blind Date, by @chasingblue57

Iris just knows that Barry & her TA are perfect for each other, she just needs to get them in the same room [college au].

Iris as a matchmaker, Barry and Caitlin being set up on an awkward blind date, them talking about awkwardness during said blind date... It’s the most adorable thing, I tell you. Even if the same can be said of nearly all of Blue’s fics, this one’s close to my heart.

cold and paperskin, by @briarsrosie

You're Killer Frost. Caitlin Snow is dead. You deserve to die, too. / Trigger warning.

This technically isn’t SB or even romance. It’s Snowbarisco friendship, and I’m glad it is. It’s also a great rendering of Caitlin’s disjointed, fractured consciousness following her rampage as Killer Frost, and the obsessive repetition of that “you-deserve-to-die” reveals the destructive quality of her guilt. But what really got me was the friendship. I mean, friendship’s usually light and fluffy, but their friendship here is tenacious and stubborn and hopeful, and it’s what saves Caitlin in the end. It’s so precious.

Could End in Burning Flames or Paradise, by NeoNails

Or 5 Times Caitlin Had Sex with Barry & the 1 Time It Meant Something. "She didn't know what series of events culminated in Barry's mood that night, but she did know it began with him pulling the bottle out of her hand and taking a long swig for himself."

This one needs little explanation. I don’t know about you, but one of the first things I did as a new SB fan was to look for good smut, and this one was the first one I came across. It definitely did not disappoint. It was written way back, but it remains my favorite smutty fic.

here is my heart (your love is everything i need), by @roastytoastyprincesss

AU: In a world where soulmates exist, when your first touch with them shall brand you for life, Barry Allen gets marked. By who he's not quite certain, but he's determined to find out. Caitlin Snow however, she knows... she's just not ready to deal with it's repercussions. Snowbarry.

The angst almost killed me in this one. It’s a masterful prolonging of a misunderstanding, with every opportunity to right it consistently thwarted; and when the truth is finally revealed, it’s in the worst circumstances possible. It’s what makes their reunion so cathartic, and their hot make-out scene towards the end so satisfying.

(i know that) we’re cool, by Lint

She hasn't smiled much because there hasn't been anything worth smiling about. But all of a sudden some string bean of a police scientist wakes up from a lightning induced coma, and her facial muscles magically remember how?

Probably the first SB fluff I’ve read. Whenever I reread it my facial muscles still ache from smiling. Also, I’m pretty wordy as a writer, so it amazes me to see how much happens and how much is conveyed through short sentences and succinct dialogue.

If summer is for lovers then consider me in love, by gustin puckerman

When Barry finds out about the kiss.―Barry/Caitlin. Post 1x19 "Who is Harrison Wells". Oneshot.

This has the most adorable SB conversation ever. Barry and Caitlin tiptoe around the elephant in the room in the most endearing, awkward way, but what really gets to me is that behind the innocence of their words, their verbal dancing around each other feels like a strip tease, a slow revelation of the truth one line of dialogue at a time. It ends in the purest way possible, though: not with a kiss, because that would have been a decisive gesture, one that doesn’t quite fit with the atmosphere of the story, but with tentative hand-holding and a walk home. What’s not to love?

Knowing the Flows of Time, by @christinafalls

There is no greater pain than knowing. Barry travels back in time to save his mum, that single event is the catalyst that allows him to have a life with Caitlin he never expected he'd want. But could he truly fight destiny when he knows they were never meant to be?

I was an emotional wreck after reading this fic. I was in tears by the end. Everything hurt. I was in a daze for the rest of the day. This story, I remember thinking to myself then, is one that knows how to end. The storytelling was beautiful, with not one scene out of order. I still reread this from time to time just to marvel at how seamlessly everything unfolds.

Lifeguards’ Summer, by @destianac

This was going to be the longest summer of her life. First, she had to work instead of travelling with her best friend. Second, she was paired with that tall brown-haired guy and his cocky grin. Snowbarry AU one-shot. Summer Lovin' 16 - Day 2 - Lifeguards AU

My favorite SB summer read. Destiana pulls off a Barry with boyish charm, cocky and goofy at the same time. The dialogue is light and funny, and there’s a ton of fluff. Not just any fluff, too — it’s sexy fluff. Destiana practically invented that genre for SB. I read this on bad days to cheer up, and it always does the trick.

Swimming Lessons, by chasingblue57

The gang heads to the beach so Barry can teach Caitlin to swim, things get a bit handsy.

This is one of my favorite tropes of all time, and Blue just nails it. The moment when he first sees her in the bikini. The tickling. The not-so-accidental, lingering touches over bare skin. The “Don’t Worry, I Won’t Let You Drown” speech. The innocent flirting contrasted with the fact that they’re both half-naked and, well, wet. I grin like a fool every time I read this, especially when I reach the last line, because it recasts everything in a different light. Read it if you haven’t yet and you’ll see what I mean. It’s just delightful.

somebody sweet to talk to, by tinytendril

Isolated and jaded, executive assistant Caitlin finds an unexpected companion with a stranger, or her IT specialist, Barry. Except, they’ve only got a single phone line to connect them.

AUs are usually more difficult to ease into, but in this case I’m in awe of how I already have a feel of the setting and the characters from just the first paragraph. I also love how Caitlin and Barry’s relationship progresses through dialogue, how they initially get in touch because of professional necessity, and how that professional necessity soon (d)evolves into a sly ruse for another kind of necessity altogether. I’m a sucker for those things, and this one was beautifully done.

text me a heart attack, by @shyesplease

Caitlin texts Barry because she needs a little bit of saving, but Barry might be the one having a heart attack.

One of the best things about reading drunk!Caitlin is watching how she (and the author) comes up with ways to reduce Barry into a flustered, tongue-tied mess, and in this fic it’s done so deliciously: drunk!Caitlin sends Barry a hot pic of herself that he receives during a nice, wholesome family dinner... and, well, you can read on to enjoy the hilarity that ensues. I also love the devious twist at the end, during the post-drunk!Caitlin conversation in the morning. Barry’s teasing her mercilessly, as expected, and Caitlin endures it... until she turns the entire conversation on its head with a single line, and then saunters away leaving Barry simultaneously confused and turned on in her wake. Poor Barry. Good thing there’s a sexting sequel...

Untitled, by @snow-bellarke-barry

Barry sneaks into Caitlin’s house at night & asks for her help.

My favorite Caitlin-nurses-Barry-back-to-health fic. I just keep going back to the scene where Barry, after two days of being knocked out by an injury, finally wakes up to see Caitlin dozing off, and then he correctly surmises that she hardly slept for the entirety of those two days while keeping watch over him. It just seemed so Caitlin to worry to the point of forgetting to care for herself, but at the same time not exactly revealing or broadcasting the extent of her worry (except probably in the form of a warning, or in this case in eliciting a promise from Barry). And the scene at the end when they kiss after the culmination of all the anxiety was definitely a wonderful bonus.

wanna be around, girl, by tinytendril

1960s Snowbarry AU - Marrying into wealth isn’t Caitlin Snow’s idea. It takes an annulment and a pool boy with a smart mouth to break out of her perfectly colourless suburban lifestyle.

Oh my God, I live for this fic. I have a soft spot for heroines who go through their lives having everything externally but feeling a diffuse, unnameable restlessness inside, and then meeting someone who finally, really sees her behind all the glamor. I’d like to think it goes beyond just romance, this seeing; it’s like being acknowledged and respected and accepted as an individual... Or is that what romance is? Lol anyway, I love how the choice of setting further emphasizes the importance of appearances. It makes Caitlin’s developing relationship with Barry all the more deviant, and it becomes an important stepping-stone to her questioning of societal expectations and finally breaking free of them; it enables her to not only choose whom she wants to be with but also what she wants to do with her interests and talents. Other than that, I also love the progression of their relationship: how rigid their interactions first seem, marked by the obligatory proprieties; how they slowly shed those proprieties; and then how, during the climax, they just throw all caution to the wind. A really wonderful, engrossing read. I always feel so content after reading this.

Well, that’s it for now. I might add more in the future when I’ve read more fics or if I’ll suddenly remember one that I’ve missed. If you liked anything, don’t forget to let the writers know, or reblog with your comfort fics if you like :)

#snowbarry #snowbarry fanfiction #snowbarry fic recs #barry allen #caitlin snow #barry x caitlin #fanfic appreciation #favorite snowbarry fics #fic recs

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halalhyungwon · 5 years

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ahh did you get results back for the writing one? i hope that one is at least okay!! dude that’s a lotta languages that is so cool, are you fluent in korean and spanish then? but yeah i’m studying arabic rn (part of that online course) but w language it really just is practicing often enough 😅 i’m currently doing an islamic studies grad diploma ~ and i’m super into it like i love the subjects and the readings but time management is the hardest thing, i legit have exams in 2 weeks and... (1/2)

need to catch up on half a semester worth of material... but it’s fine i’m a pro-procrastinator at this point! emphasis on the jihoon is !! i love that smol man (even tho he is taller than me). KYUNGSOO THO!!! im just a Big Sucker for vocalists and im obsessed with kyungsoo’s voice. what is perhaps your fave exo b-sides? oh my was a BEAUTIFUL era, all the colours and the softness really propelled my career as a carat. my sis stanned before i did! so she kept playing their songs... (2/3 oops)

she kept playing their songs and they’d get stuck in my head... i think i was in denial to stan then... buT I SHOULD HAVE. anyway im sorry these asks get so chunky and disjointed almost?? we’re having like 7 conversations at once so feel free to take it slow, you totally dont have to respond to everything i say 😅😅😅 hope you’re having a dandy day 💗 - 🌟 (3/3)

---

i haven’t gotten the results back yet and i’m really anticipating it lol i was really worried going into it but once i took the test and wrote my responses i don’t think i did too badly?? but i guess we’ll just have to wait and see

oh i wish i was fluent sdfhjk i have a little bit more than basic understanding but i wouldn’t say i’m advanced either lol like for spanish i can read something and usually figure out the message it’s getting across but i also think part of that is just bc of how similar english and spanish can be. korean,, i have a pretty good understanding of basic sentence structure as well as some particles, but i still have a lot to learn lmao my listening skills suck all around tbh lmaoo like i’ve been watching these sf9 videos that don’t have any subs and i have to re-listen to what they say like 3 times before i’m like, okay, i think i know what they said. but i can usually get the gist? it all depends on the content tbh lol

ooh that’s cool omg? it’s awesome that you enjoy what you’re studying! i’m the same. i can enjoy the content but just,, managing time to study/practice..i’m terrible lol but good luck on your tests, i have confidence in you, you can do well!! ♥

BIG SAME i love vocalists like,, i usually end up biasing based on vocals. and if a vocal isn’t my bias, theyre probably my bias wrecker lol my favorite b-sides include white noise, first love and walk on memories. but also heaven, what if.., and xoxo.. they hold special places in my heart. what are yours?

i had a friend who would always tell me to get into seventeen but i would brush it off like no exo is enough for me and now,,, i’m sure she laughs every time she sees me gushing about them on her dash 😂

LOL it’s fine i don’t really mind tbh!! i hope youre having a dandy day, too sweetheart ❣

#ask:replied #🌟 anon

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