#(I might make an illustration for her too— if you ask very nicely)

[i-really-like-phrogs]

Do you see the vision?

Trophy wife Claire this, supermodel Claire that, I think an older Claire would be a snippy CEO who wears a hot pink suit like Elle Woods.

[backseatsoldier]

My Favorite Story

Pairing: König x Reader/You CW: Nada~ this is just Christmas cuteness! Prepare for fluff! (Ok it's... kinda sad. At first. But for a very important reason. I PROMISE-) Author's Note: Merry Christmas and happy holidays, @machveil! Thank you so much for your Daily König doodles! They're the highlight of my day, everyday <3

He can still hear their laughter. The laughter of everyone who made fun of how he looks. Throughout his entire childhood, that's all they would do - laugh at how he looks. Children can be so cruel. But that's why Rudolph would always be König's favorite. Rudolph was laughed at, made fun of - hell, the poor deer was even shunned. König couldn't possibly relate more to any character.

That's why, with a copy in hand, König intends on talking to the author/illustrator of a version of his favorite Christmas story. He will walk up to her and tell her thank you for giving him a beam of light in his life again and ask for her to sign the book.

He will.

When the line dies down.

During tomorrow's market.

At this point, the poor man is shaking with nervousness as he tries to convince himself to just walk up to her and ask her-

"Hey there! Doing ok? I see you have a copy of my book," she calls to him with a warm smile.

Oh... wow, she's pretty.

König gives her a quick nod of the head. He was going to speak, but he's not sure he remembers how to right now. Instead he's standing there with a copy of her book clutched tightly to his chest and wishing that he'd either find his voice or that the ground would open up beaneath him and swallow him quickly.

Neither seem likely at the moment.

"Well, come on over!" She waves him closer and he obliges, stopping just to the side of her booth. "I mean in here, silly."

She giggled.

König might melt.

Yet he listens, hunching over to step into her booth.

"I saw you at the charity event."

He nods again, shaking even more now that he's so close to her.

"Would you like me to sign it? It's ok. I don't mind."

Gott, she's so sweet. She saw him at the chairty event that was intended for people to have her book signed which means she knew he didn't approach for a signature there. Now she's just... offering to sign it for him? How could he say no?

"Bist du sicher?" he manages to push out.

The author's smile turns a bit nervous.

"Ah... Ja natürlich. Es ist kein problem."

König can't help the little smile that creeps onto his half-masked face. Her pronunciation is a bit... wonky, but he thinks it's cute. So he nods and - shakily - hands her the book.

She seems relieved as he nods and hands her the book. Then she pulls a metallic silver Sharpie from her coat pocket.

"Who should- oh. Wem... soll ich das mitteilen?"

As cute as he finds it when she speaks German, he doesn't want to make her anymore uncomfortable than he feels he already has.

"It is alright," he says softly. "I speak English. But, um... me. König."

Hearing him speak English seems to make her shoulders relax a bit and her warm smile returns, reaching her eyes again.

"Alrighty!"

Without another word she skillfully flips open the book and uncaps her Sharpie with her teeth. As she writes, she starts to hum Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Hearing her humming the song has König relaxing too.

She suddenly scribbles something quickly in the book - her actual signature, he assumes - then passes the book back to him.

"It was nice to meet you, King. See you around the market."

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise over her translating his name. König doesn't have time to respond as she's already back to the line of fans in front of her booth. Not wanting to hover, he silently steps out of her booth and begins walking away.

When he returns home, he opens his book to see her signature- and a message?

"I hope Rudoloph brings you the comfort he always did for me. Happy holidays, König~"

Below her signature is what König can only assume is her phone number. Without hesitation, he sends her a quick thank you text and apoligizes for being so odd at the market.

You're so welcome! I wasn't sure you'd actually text me lol but... odd? I figured you were just nervous - I have social anxiety and your mannerisms felt familiar so I did my best to make things easier on us both :)

König can't help the butterflies in his stomach or the way his heart seemed to flutter at her quick response. And maybe even the fact that she actually responded.

Maybe this will be a merry Christmas season after all.

Translations (per Google Translate so I apologize if it's inaccurate!): Gott - God Bist du sicher? - Are you sure? Ja natürlich. Es ist kein Problem. - Yes, of course. It is no problem. Wem soll ich das mitteilen? - Who should I make this out to?

CoD Christmas (Meet) Cuties Masterlist

[bvidzsoo]

Love Me Like A Rockstar (6)

ー☆ Chapter 6: Spirit

Author: bvidzsoo

Pairing: Song Mingi x female reader

ー☆ Warning: cussing really ー☆ Word count: 8.2k ー☆ Genre: university!au, enemies to lovers!au, rockstar!au ー☆ Rating: sfw ー☆ Summary: Love. You wanted none of it. You had already been heartbroken very badly once, you didn't wish to go through that ever again. But the Universe works in intricate ways and, somehow, you found yourself webbed up in a local rockstar's life, Song Mingi. He was everything you expected him to be, yet nothing like you imagined him he would be. What happens when you find mutual understanding and have heartful conversations? Will he be able to break down your walls? Will you be able to chase away his darkness?

A/N: Hello, lovelies! This is a chill and soft chapter compared to the mess the past few ones had been lol. I tried out something new with the passing of the week in the story, while illustrating it, I hope it's enjoyable and nice. I thought it was a nice little idea. I think we can say that they are finally headed in the right direction lol. Let me know your thoughts! I'll try to update next week, but with classes back again...I cannot promise anything, I was dreading this moment lol. Please listen before or while reading this chapter to Spirit, this chapter's song. I hope you enjoy, happy reading!

Taglist: @orshii @or5i @lovely-red2 @scarfac3 @sunaswifes-blog @voicesinmyhead-rc @teez-the-time @maru-matt @kyeos4ng @deathbyyeekies @chicksmoothie @mjlbn01

⟨Series M.list ↭ Previous Chapter⟩

♫Playlist♫

『But it's nice to hear a voice or two

Something's stirring, my conscience is split into two

And it might be a phase

But I swear this shit is clear-view』

            The noise was too much—well, it wasn’t any different to how noisy the cafeteria usually was—but my head was thumping violently and my eyes were burning. I hated to admit it, but a cold was catching up on me and that brought bigger despair into my bones than it was necessary. I hated being sick, and it really wouldn’t come in handy right now as I had to study for the upcoming test Seulgi wouldn’t stop yapping about. She had been talking about it since we had stepped inside the cafeteria, and it was only adding onto my growing headache, making me sniff loudly as the hot steam of the—somewhat tasty—soup was blowing into my face, making my eyes sting. I had to consume something hot—and healthy—if I wished to recover faster. I couldn’t help but shudder as I wrapped the warm beige and black patterned jacket tighter around my frame. Considering the state I was in—I should’ve probably worn something warmer—but I had assumed it would be warm outside today—it wasn’t.

“I think the professor said something about checking whether we handed in all the assignment, and how that will count for our final grade too.” Seulgi was still going on about that dreaded test, and I groaned as the spoon slipped from my fingers and rattled loudly against the metal cup my soup was in. Seulgi’s eyes snapped up as she looked at me, her own spoon hanging midair in her hand as she looked at me concerned, “Y/N, are you okay?”

“No.” I snapped, holding my head in my hands as I sighed loudly, “You keep talking about that bloody test and I already have a ragging headache—please, Seulgi, for the love of God, shut up!”

“Jesus,” Seulgi muttered at my outburst, very visibly trying to hold back her amused grinned, “when did you become such a drama queen—oh, wait. You’ve always been one!”

I rolled my eyes and flipped her off before grabbing my spoon and scooping up some soup, bringing it to my lips to blow it before eating it. Seulgi just giggled and continued eating her soup. My phone, which was placed on the table, suddenly buzzed, and my eyes traveled to it quickly, reaching out for it with my left hand.

“So, uhm, last night at the concert…” Seulgi trailed off and my eyes lifted to look at her for a second, watching as her cheeks suddenly flushed.

“What about it?” I asked as I unlocked my phone and very aggressively tried to ignore the sudden violent thumping of my heart. Fuck, why was my body acting up so much lately? My fingers were eager as I pressed on the notification from Mingi, opening up our chatroom.

I hate him: how u holding up Me: terribly…my head is on the verge of exploding and seulgi just keeps on going and going

There was a cough and I remembered the soup in my spoon, that I hadn’t eaten yet, and, so, I quickly did as my eyes traveled back to Seulgi. One eyebrow was cocked as she looked at me, but she didn’t say anything just swirled her spoon around in her soup.

“Well, Wooyoung was very nice, he’s—lovely.” Seulgi licked her lips as she averted her eyes when a small knowing smirk grew on my lips, “Yeah, very lovely, anyways, he dedicated a song to me and kept on looking at me while he was singing and—yeah, he stayed by my side all evening.”

Another buzz of my phone, and I had to fight every nerve in my body to not open the message immediately. Besides, I was having a conversation with Seulgi, she was more important right now.

“Sounds lovely, indeed.” I hummed before gulping down another spoonful of my soup. Seulgi’s eyes narrowed slightly, as she leaned forward in her seat.

“Since when did you start agreeing that a man was lovely—let alone Wooyoung?!” She made an expression as if what we were talking about was scandalous, and I scoffed, the phone buzzing in my hand again. My grip tightened around it and I quickly unlocked my phone before looking back at Seulgi.

“If I hate a man, that’s the problem, if I am supportive of the guy you’re hanging out with, that’s the problem. Make up your mind, Seulgi.” I deadpanned, and my best friend just scoffed, leaning back in her seat as she was finished with her soup. I raised my eyebrows at her and she pursed her lips. I couldn’t help it, but my eyes traveled down back to my phone as I quickly read the text from Mingi.

I hate him: seulgi seems like a cool person, wooyoung talks about her all the time is ur head okay? still got a headache?

I have no idea when texting each other become normal, because I still found it weird, and slightly irritating. After last night, I thought things would just…remain the same way. Just because Mingi and I shared some personal things did not mean that we now had to be—like this. Like we were friends or something, because we certainly weren’t. I still couldn’t stand his guts, and my thoughts on him did not change one bit. He was still a self-centered, arrogant, and an egotistical asshole, and yet this morning I woke up to a good morning text from him, eyebrows furrowing, and fingers quickly typing out a text which said that I was blocking him if he sent one more message. And he proceeded to send several more…to the point where I couldn’t ignore him anymore…and just…texted back. And it was weird, because my heart would not settle for one second each time I got a text from him, and I hated this feeling. What was happening to me? Why didn’t I just block him already?

“Y/N, are you listening to me?” I felt caught red-handed as I looked up at Seulgi, who’s eyes were narrowed once again, as she kept looking between me and my phone, suspicion growing on her face. I cleared my throat awkwardly, and despite wanting to ignore it, I quickly typed back to Mingi before placing down my phone and paying full attention to my best friend.

Me: yeah, it’s gotten worse

“I’m sorry, my mom texted me and it was urgent.” I lied through my teeth, hoping that Seulgi would buy it. My mother rarely texted me; she would usually call even for the smallest things, however, there were rare instances and Seulgi knew that, but the look on her face told me that she didn’t fully believe me.

“Okay,” She drew out the word and I went back to eating my, now, warm soup, “I was just saying that…I think I’m falling for Wooyoung.”

I paused as my eyes slowly raised, falling on Seulgi. Her voice had gotten quiet and she was fiddling with her fingers in her lap, cheeks slightly coated pink. I didn’t say anything as I continued looking at her, but she was still avoiding eye contact. In fact, she looked on the verge of passing out and that was very unnecessarily funny—but Seulgi didn’t seem to think the same.

“Stop that!” She snapped, leaning over the table, “I’m serious, I—stop looking at me like that!”

I pressed my lips tightly together to stop another snort from breaking through and looked back down at my half-eaten soup, not feeling like having more of it, but the soreness in my throat was slightly gone, and my body wasn’t shivering as much as before. I had to eat a little bit more.

“He’s too sweet and caring, I can’t help it.” Seulgi went on, voice still quiet in the loud cafeteria, “And he treats me well. Like…he pays a lot of attention to me and remembers everything I say. You should’ve seen him last night, up on the stage, I try not to think about it, but I think the song he sang was…a confession or something.”

“Why don’t you ask him out then?” I found myself asking as I finished my soup too, not having an appetite to eat anything else.

“Well—” Seulgi sighed and leaned back in her seat, “I’m scared I’m just reading too much into things, you know. I might be overthinking everything, and it turns out he sees me just as a friend.”

“I highly doubt that,” I said with a chuckle as I placed my left elbow on the table and my chin in my palm, “Would someone who isn’t into you dedicate a love song to you?”

“I wouldn’t.” Seulgi muttered, cheeks turning pink again. I grinned at her as my head continued throbbing, I tried to ignore it. Now that I had eaten, I could finally take my medicine. This morning when I woke up there was a note on the counter in the kitchen and three pills placed on top of it, instructions on the note from my mother as to when and how to take them. She knows me too well.

“Exactly, you wouldn’t, and neither would Wooyoung.” I told Seulgi and I watched as a small flustered smile made it on her face. It made me chuckle, I felt happy for her. Seulgi deserves someone who treats her right and loves her a lot, her previous relationships have been all close to terrible, her partners not understanding her fully. Seulgi was an artistic soul trapped in a fragile, but warrior body.

“You think I should ask him out?” Her voice was small, I knew she was scared of ruining something which brought her so much happiness. I didn’t want to see her suffering either, so I didn’t want to give her the wrong advice, but sometimes we had to take a leap of faith and see how things work out.

“I mean, at this point I’m convinced he’s into you, so…” As I trailed off, a sudden, and weird, thought popped into my head. I could always ask Mingi about Wooyoung’s feelings towards Seulgi, but that implied two things. One, I was giving away Seulgi’s feelings towards Wooyoung, and perhaps that wasn’t a smart move as Mingi would surely tell Wooyoung about it. Two, it implied that Mingi and I were now on a level of friendship where talking about our friends feelings was alright. And it certainly wasn’t, because—Mingi and I weren’t friends. I don’t like Mingi, and he—just enjoys making my life hell.

“I’ll think about it.” Seulgi said with a hum, and then her eyebrows suddenly furrowed, “But��enough about me and Wooyoung. Are you okay?”

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at her and shrugged, “Well, my head is on the verge of exploding, but other than that, I think I’m fine.”

“You didn’t sound fine yesterday, Y/N.” Seulgi had a knowing look in her eyes and I realized she figured it out that I had lied on the phone when I told her I had a family emergency, hence why I wouldn’t go to Outlaw with her. I just sighed, feeling smaller as I pulled my jacket tighter around myself.

“I was just—” How was I supposed to tell her that I pretty much had a breakdown and felt like dying because I found out that Yunho was Mingi’s best friend, and that I damn nearly lost my mind when I saw Yunho happy with another woman on Instagram? It sounded crazy even to me and I didn’t want to embarrass myself even more. I knew Seulgi would understand and never make fun of me, but I felt pathetic, and I refused to make a fool out of myself again, “Tired, and stressed. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Are you sure?” Seulgi asked softly, her hand reaching over the table and grabbing my arm, her warmth seeping through the fabric of my jacket. It was comforting, “You know you can tell me anything.”

And suddenly I felt like telling her that Mingi and I had been texting since last night, since—since he witnessed the aftermath of my breakdown, and drove me home because it was raining too hard. But it didn’t feel real, I knew it wouldn’t last. Whatever this was—whatever Mingi was trying to do, it wasn’t real. It wouldn’t become anything real. And so, I forced a smile on my lips and nodded at Seulgi, patting her hand with my right one.

“Of course, and I do tell you a lot of things, you know?” Seulgi just rolled her eyes and retracted her arm, making me chuckle. As she leaned back in her seat I heard some commotion happening behind me, but I didn’t turn around to check. Today was not the day where I fed my curiosity, all I wanted to do was go home, get underneath the thick blanket, and sleep for a whole week so that the sickness would be gone.

“I always feel like you know more about me than I know about you—and we’ve been friends for years now, Y/N.” Seulgi shook her head and I chuckled.

“That’s because you talk a lot more than I do.” I teased her with a chuckle and she rolled her eyes, until they suddenly widened and she was sitting up straighter in her seat, making me furrow my eyebrows. I noted the way she subtly tried to fix her hair as they were in two low ponytails, and before I could ask her about what she was doing, I heard two male voices behind me, one of them shrill, while the other one was raspy. I should’ve hated myself for how quickly my body reacted, my heart in my throat as my ears suddenly started ringing due to the rapid thumping of my heart.

“Hi, girls!” Wooyoung’s cheery voice was loud as he suddenly appeared to my left, going around the table. The chair to my right was drawn back and my body stiffened as a backpack was dropped at the foot of the table. Wooyoung pulled a chair out for himself and plopped down in it messily, leaning towards Seulgi, making her eyes slightly widen. Wooyoung pressed a loud kiss against her cheek, and I couldn’t help but stare back at her just as surprised as Seulgi was looking at me. And she’s afraid that Wooyoung doesn’t feel the same for her?! Before I could say something inappropriate and something Seulgi would kill me for, the deep chuckle to my right distracted me, reminding me of my own rapid heartbeat all of a sudden. I turned my head and came face to face with Mingi, who had a soft smile on his lips. My left hand turned into a fist as I didn’t know how to react—how to act. What was he doing here? Why was he here? And why was he looking at me like…he was actually happy to see me?

“Hi.” He greeted quietly as his smile widened and I gulped, trying to ignore the glasses sitting on his long nose. They were close to slipping off, but it didn’t seem to bother Mingi as he didn’t do anything about it, his dark and fluffy hair falling in his eyes, giving him a boyish look. He was wearing casual clothes, light blue jeans paired with a dark purple hoodie, and a few silver necklaces peeked through from underneath the fabric as it fell close to Mingi’s collarbones. I cleared my throat and averted my eyes, noticing that neither men carried trays with themselves. Were they not going to eat?

“Hi.” I greeted back quietly and pushed my shoulders back as I turned my head away, suddenly becoming extremely aware of the two pair of eyes watching Mingi and I with intrigue, but also surprise. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at Seulgi, but she didn’t react. Mingi seemed nonchalant as he noticed the two sitting across from us being weird, and suddenly, a yellow thermostat was pushed in my direction.

“I got you some wild berry tea,” He said as my eyes snapped back to him, growing wide, “since you’re not feeling too well. I hope it helps with the headache and sore throat. Imagine how much worse you’d be feeling if you didn’t listen to me…wanting to walk home in the rain—”

“Yeah, thank you, okay!” I didn’t mean to exclaim, nor blush as hard as I have, but Seulgi’s eyes were boring into the side of my head, and I was scared Mingi would say something which I would have to explain to her later—and I did not want to do that, like at all. Mingi’s smile was amused as he nodded once, resting his hands on the table as he watched me fumble with the yellow thermostat as I tried to put it away in my bag. God, this was mortifying—why would he embarrass me so badly?!

“Now it makes sense why you kept carrying that around with you,” Wooyoung chuckled, and his next words made everything worse, “You hate tea.”

Of course Mingi hated tea, why would he like it? Like any normal person does?! And the knowing smirk on Seulgi’s face was certainly not helping as I cleared my throat, and pushed my hair behind my shoulders before crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Who hates tea?” I found myself muttering with a scoff, trying to diffuse the weird tension, but I really should have just shut up.

“I do.” Mingi muttered back, jutting his lips out into a pout, and my eyebrows furrowed as I looked at him, hating the way my eyes lingered on his red, plush, lips.

“Whatever.” I found myself saying as Mingi chuckled, angling his body towards me. My eyes darted to Seulgi alarmed, but thankfully it seemed like Wooyoung and her weren’t interested in us anymore as they fell into conversation, their voices loud and eager as Wooyoung explained something to her and Seulgi nodded enthusiastically.

“Did you sleep well? I never got to ask you this morning…” Mingi spoke up again, and my eyes were back on him. I sighed and shook my head no, trying to ignore the weird feeling in my heart. Why was Mingi sitting with me when he could be entertaining his baboons—fangirls—right this second? Somehow that thought was a little more infuriating than it should have been, so I quickly pushed it away and answered Mingi instead.

“Not really, but it’s fine. I had a rough day yesterday.” I found myself explaining, and Mingi hummed, “And you…did you sleep well?”

My voice sounded hesitant, and I found myself feeling unsure suddenly, wondering where this conversation would lead to. What even was the meaning of it.

“Yeah, but it was short lived.” Mingi said with a chuckle, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“I got inspired,” Mingi’s cheeks suddenly flushed a light shade of red, and my eyes narrowed as he suddenly avoided eye contact, running a hand through his hair, “So I stayed up to write lyrics.”

“Oh, I see.” I pursed my lips and found myself wanting to say more, “I know the feeling. I get inspired at the worst of times. I’ve stayed up countless nights just to draw or paint. It’s really a pain in the ass when you have class in the morning.”

Mingi laughed and nodded, “I know, I can’t tell you how often I skip those classes.”

“I wish my professors were that lenient.” I chuckled as I rolled my eyes, making Mingi smile as he leaned slightly closer, making me stiffen as his glasses hung on for dear life on the bridge of his nose. I was itching to push them up his nose—and since when did I get such urges?! I’d rather die than touch Mingi.

“Mine aren’t lenient either, but—” He leaned even closer, and my jaw tightened as I fought every nerve in my body wanting to lean away, “If you’re smart about it, they’ll let you off.”

“Are you calling me dumb?” I narrowed my eyes at Mingi and he chuckled, finally leaning away, back in his seat. It felt like I could finally breathe, but my heart still felt like it would fall out of my ass any minute.

“There it is—I’ve missed her.” Mingi’s words were sarcastic, but the teasing smile on his lips told me he wasn’t necessarily bothered.

“What.” I huffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest again, “You admit that you act like an ass just to piss me off?”

“I don’t act like an ass, doll,” There it was, that stupid nickname he’d called me by once today already through text, “It’s you who gets bothered by me being simply myself.”

“Yeah, ‘cuz you got a shit personality.” I found myself huffing, finding this exchange a lot more familiar, less unnerving compared to the weird amicable conversations we’ve been having since last night.

“Well, that I did not miss.” Mingi’s eyebrows were in a frown, and I suddenly felt—bad. Since when did I care if I hurt his feelings or not? I bit back a groan and sighed loudly instead, licking my lips.

“Whatever, I—thanks for driving me home last night.” I found myself blurting it out despite having thanked him once already, “I would feel a lot worse now if you had let me walk home in the rain…”

Suddenly the yellow thermostat placed on the table next to my hand felt like it was burning my skin, and my cheeks grew hot. No way in hell I was blushing because of a bloody thermostat right now.

“Yeah, I told you so, didn’t I?” Mingi wriggled his eyebrows playfully, and before I could stop and think, my right hand was balled into a fist and I was hitting Mingi’s bicep, scowling at him. It made him laugh loudly as he pushed my hand away, his palm warm against my fisted hand, and I realized my cheeks were even hotter now. Fuck, where can I bury myself right now?! And if seeing the satisfied smirk on Mingi’s face wasn’t bad, the sudden silence coming from Seulgi and Wooyoung certainly was worse as they gaped at both Mingi and I. I knew why, of course, but Mingi seemed not to catch on as he looked at Wooyoung with a confused frown, raising his eyebrows at him. They were very probably shocked by the sight in front of them—Mingi and I being cordial for once? Never heard before, never to be imagined up until this point. And when Seulgi opened her mouth to say something, I just knew nothing good would come out of it, and I quickly kicked my left foot out underneath the table, my boot coming in contact with her shin, making Seulgi yelp loudly as her eyes grew into saucers. Wooyoung looked at her confused and she grit her teeth, brushing off the concerned questions rolling off Wooyoung’s lips, Mingi looking between Seulgi and I confused. I forced a tight smile on my lips and gave Seulgi a warning with my eyes, thankfully successfully shutting her up as she started speaking about the test we’d have tomorrow, coercing both Mingi and Wooyoung into a conversation as I sneakily unclasped the yellow thermostat and took a small gulp of the tea made by Mingi. It was sweet.

『And I'm standing at the edge

I'm just trying to pretend that I want you so deeply

'Cause your spirit sings sweetly to me

Think I'd rather be alone』

Monday

Me: mingiii i passed my test!!! I hate him: omg really?! that’s great, congrats!! Me: told ya, i’m too smart bby lol I hate him: who’s the cocky one now? Me: u

Tuesday

I hate him: can’t remember the last time i ate mashed potatoes Me: lol that’s random? I hate him: lol ik…i’m over at woo’s and his mom made us some fancy dinner everything is mouth watering i think i reached heaven finally Me: aren’t u a bit dramatic rn? u acting like u hadn’t had food in a year I hate him: food t h i s good i certainly hadn’t have also, i’m not dramatic side eye Me: shouldn’t u be paying attention to whatever’s going on there? i mean…woo’s mom did prepare all the food for u don’t be ungrateful, put ur phone away I hate him: yah, why are u trying to get rid of me? i’m in the bathroom, btw so i’m not being ungrateful to anyone dumbass Me: firstly, ew. secondly, asshole I hate him: i’m only washing my hands chillax oh—woo’s calling for me ttyl Me: no, actually don’t text me ever again.

Wednesday

I hate him: have u seen the moon? it’s so pretty Me: mingi?? it’s literally 1am I hate him: i know, but have u? Me: yeah, i’m looking at it rn I hate him: isn’t it so pretty? Me: it is but what’s gotten into u? I hate him: nothing…i just can’t sleep Me: me neither I hate him: so what are u doing then… Me: was trying to draw but it’s not coming to me rn hasn’t happened in long so i was on tik tok scrolling what are u doing? I hate him: idk i’m just… idk i was jotting down some lyrics but it’s not coming to me either i’ve been just restless all day long Me: ik, u’ve said so during lunch did u get to eat that hot dog, btw? or did wooyoung steal it again I hate him: nah, i let him have it then made some for myself when i got home it’s too quiet, i hate it Me: play some music the one you showed me yesterday that one was good I hate him: u liked it? i thought u didn’t Me: i was just fucking with you i’ve been listening to it on repeat I hate him: oh, that’s cool it’s one of my faves i’m glad u like it too now Me: mingi i’m becoming sleepy now… I hate him: it’s okay go to sleep we’ll talk tomorrow Me: sweet dreams, mingi I hate him: u too, y/n … i miss Yuyu so badly

Thursday

Me: i think i’m stuck I hate him: u need help? Me: with my assignment, mingi… I hate him: yeah, still need some help? Me: what does a music major possibly know about impressionism?? I hate him: i thought that’s ur favorite style? how come u’re struggling?? Me: even the most talented prodigy’s struggle sometimes mingi I hate him: my apologies ur highness, for i have committed such a treacherous act by assuming u are not enlightened enough for this assignment may i propose a recreational method that might help such torturous process to come to an end faster? Me: pls stop talking like that I hate him: i’m actually typing but ok wanna know??? Me: yes, idiot just say it already I hate him: say it out loud Me: i can’t belive u just made a twilight reference i’m blocking u like rn I hate him: so anyways wanna hang out? Me: i thought u had something smart to help me out with… I hate him: t h i s is that smart thing Me: i gotta help mom with dinner in half an hour so i can’t I hate him: and tomorrow? Me: mingi… I hate him: okay, fine…at least i tried… again and again and again Me: told u to stop but u never listen I hate him: ofc i don’t wooyoung told me not to give up u’ll say yes eventually Me: wooyoung is literally the worst person u could accept advice from stop I hate him: he just read this and now he’s crying thanks Me: not my problem ur friends look at ur phone when we’re talking wait— what?! I hate him: lol u’re fucked did u not tell Seulgi? that we’re talking… Me: why would i? we’re not friends I hate him: ouch that one hurt but ok Me: tell wooyoung he’s dead if he says anything to seulgi i mean it, bro I hate him: ok, bro.

Friday:

Me: min are u mad at me? I hate him: why u asking Me: cuz u’ve been ignoring me today and u haven’t answered my texts and u’re still dry is this… because i said we ain’t friends yesterday? I hate him: took u long enough to figure it out dumbass Me: well u are the dumb one, idiot if u don’t talk to me how am i supposed to know?! I hate him: how would u feel if i said we ain’t friends? Me: idk but i certainly wouldn’t overreact because we really aren’t friends min I hate him: pff ok bye Me: are u serious rn?? mingi??? ???????? MINGI?! SONG MINGI?!?!?!? I hate him: stop blowing up my phone Me: mute me then I hate him: ok Me: wait don’t omg fuck okay mingi i’m sorry I hate him: wasn’t that hard to say it was it Me: are we actually friends then? i said that because idk I hate him: yeah we’re friends Me: ok but just for the record I still hate your guts u’re insufferable self-centered egoistical selfish annoying an asshole arrogant and you always piss me off idiot I hate him: weird way to confess but ok ig love u too bestie Me: song mingi.

Saturday

I hate him: y/n the world is spinning Me: lol are u drunk? I hate him: not drunk tipsy definitely fuck i can’t see the letters Me: for someone who claims they can’t see the letters u’re typing extraordinarily well I hate him: autocorrect exists thank fuck damn i need water Me: go drink some then idiot I hate him: ok will u pick me up? Me: lol no get ur ass home i don’t have a car I hate him: u could drive mine Me: did u drive there when u knew u were going to drink??! I hate him: nope lol this is funny i almost slipped off my seat lol woo is so loud and hwa thinks we can’t see but he’s had his hand on hong’s thigh all night long it’s disgusting—not like that! i love them— yn maybe i’m drunk hey, i should probably stop typing doll? Me: mingi u’re shitfaced and funny stop texting me ttyl when u’re hopefully sober take care and… text me when u get home

Sunday:

I hate him: god…i’m never drinking again Me: lol welcome back to the land of living I hate him: haha aren’t u just s o funny rn? Me: i’m always funny my sense of humor is immaculate I hate him: u wish i’m the funny one hongjoong drove me home last night sorry for not texting, but the second my head hit the pillow i fell asleep Me: it’s fine glad u made it back safe and that u’re alive ig I hate him: aww did you worry about me? missed me? omg u’re so cute!!!! Me: blocked I hate him: ik u can’t do it cute Me: fuck off

『Shut the lights

Lock my phone

Close the blinds

Here we go

I'm in motion

So long 'til the dawn』

            Today’s theme in Professor Yoon’s class was a painting of your imagination following a style you really love. Impressionism has been a painting style I’ve been obsessed with since a young age, always begging my mother to take me to art galleries which displayed said style. There is something about the fusion of colors, the tracing of lines soft yet accentuated. Perhaps it was the bloom of colors which attracted me to it when I was younger, but as I started practicing it, I realized it was actually the freedom I loved about Impressionism. You could start out with something small, which would lead to something big and beautiful. It looked like it followed no system, yet everything came together once you looked at the whole picture, once you took in the beauty of it all. I had chosen the painting Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet as inspiration for today’s class, the blues and greens dominating the painting, the lilies having a light purple yet pink hue, never outshining the greens and blues though. It was a color play, giving depth to the painting by using a darker shade, or just drawing over it with the same color until the shadows were created. The painting was a masterpiece, and I was the happiest when my mother gifted me the painting—of course it had been a fake one, but an eight-year-old didn’t care about such things. And I would still not care about it. Of course, owning an original like that is any painters dream, especially mine, but unless I had the money and connections to actually own a Claude Monet painting, I would have to suffice with the fakes that could trick non-art lovers into believing it was real.

The class had been a pleasant one, with classical music playing in the background and with Professor Yoon walking around and helping his students by giving advice or by taking their paintbrushes and sweeping over their canvas, patting their backs with a small smile as he encouraged everyone to keep on going. Mr. Yoon is probably one of my favorite professor’s, always dedicated and soft. Never too rough or demanding. He had always helped out those who needed it and it was very clear he loved what he was doing. Each class he’d bring something new, an idea or a project, and he’d let us explore our creativity and evolve in areas we didn’t think were our forte. If only more professors like him existed, perhaps my years at university would’ve been a little bit more pleasant. But the class came to an end earlier than I wished for, bringing me back to reality as Mr. Yoon clapped his hands twice, a bright smile on his face. He had long light blonde hair swept behind his ears and soft features, he almost looked angelic in the right lightning.

“Very well, class. Today’s lesson is over.” There was a rumble of thunder in the distance as I sighed loudly, “You can bring your paintings to the backroom to dry and we’ll see each other on Friday. We’ll be continuing with today’s project, so have no worries if you couldn’t finish it today.”

There was a murmur of thanks in the classroom and my serene bubble was popped when something to my left crashed loudly against the floor. Seulgi had knocked over the little metal can full of her paintbrushes, and she cursed silently as she bent down to pick them up. A few of the girls around us helped her as I got off my stool, handing her a stray paintbrush as it had rolled over.

“Are you in a rush?” I asked confused as she snatched the brush from my hands and hastily thanked whoever helped her.

“Yes!” She exclaimed, eyes wide, as she took a peek at her wristwatch, “Fuck. I have a date with Wooyoung in an hour and I need to get ready!”

My eyebrows raised. A date with Wooyoung? She never told me they were going out now. Strange. I could’ve sworn she would’ve called me screaming her head off if Wooyoung had asked her to be his girlfriend.

“When did you ask him out?” I managed to ask as I started packing away my own stuff. The chatter in the class was slowly dying down as people were leaving. There was another rumble of thunder in the distance.

“I didn’t ask him out.” Seulgi huffed, pushing her wavy hair out of her eyes. My eyebrows furrowed as I paused to look at her. She glanced at me and rolled her eyes.

“We’re hanging out, it’s not a date date.” Seulgi explained quickly, putting her bag around her left shoulder, “But I think I will ask him out today. I’ve had enough of beating around the bush. If he likes me, good, if he doesn’t—we’ll see what happens.”

“He likes you, trust me.” I gave her a reassuring smile and Seulgi’s expression softened for a second before she became panicked again. I chuckled and grabbed her arm, steering her towards the exit, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your painting too. Get going if you don’t want to be late.”

“Oh my God,” Seulgi exclaimed, pouting, “I love you!”

I cringed away when she pressed a sloppy kiss against my cheek, making her chuckle before she waved and basically bolted out of the classroom. Mr. Yoon chuckled at her antics and I got to work, grabbing both canvas to bring to the backroom before I would leave. This was our last class for today and I couldn’t wait to get home. With the thunder loud in the distance, I would love making it home before it starts raining. I didn’t want a repeat of the night when I got soaked in the rain. It’s been a week and some days since, and I was back to being healthy. Besides, Mingi certainly wouldn’t be here this time too to drive me home. We haven’t spoken yet today and I haven’t seen him in two days. It wasn’t unusual, but lately him and Wooyoung have been hanging out with Seulgi and I during our lunchbreaks. Mingi had said he was busy producing two new songs for his final exam, so I understood he was busy, but it still felt a little weird. I didn’t know where exactly to put this whole ordeal, but if he thought we were friends now, then…I guess I could give in and entertain that thought as well. It didn’t help that we’d been constantly messaging each other, and I tried to ignore the giddy feeling it left in the pit of my stomach with everything I had in myself. I didn’t want to accept the implications of what this could mean. It felt weird. There was no reason for me to overthink something so simple as Mingi and I talking and getting to know each other. If he viewed me as his friend, then I perhaps could put a little more effort into getting to know him and opening myself up as well. My mom—and Seulgi—would certainly be happy to know that I was making friends. Not that I would tell either one about Mingi—because—because. Because it wasn’t anything serious, and even if we were friends, I didn’t expect this friendship to last. Mingi was still a guy, an egoistical and self-centered guy, who could ditch you at any random moment. And he was also Yunho’s friend. That was also saying something about him—but I pushed away the menacing whisper in my head which reminded me that Mingi could be just like Yunho, that he would hurt me just like his best friend did. It was like a never-ending vicious cycle and it felt like it wouldn’t come to a stop. As if the ghost of Yunho would never truly leave me alone. Somehow he was still part of my life unwillingly, and I was letting it happen. It had been going on for too long.

I greeted Mr. Yoon with a bright smile as I got my bag and slung it over my shoulder, bowing my head slightly once I was in the doorway. He returned my smile and waved cutely; his eyes bright but tired. He was always a hard worker and sometimes when I had classes until late in the evening I would meet him at the bus stop, waiting for a man to pick him up. Mr. Yoon was a simple yet elegant man. I have always admired him and respected him, most grateful to him when he had encouraged me after I told him about wanting to start an art club at the university for the art students, but also for those who were simply interested in drawing and painting. Him and Mr. Lee, another professor I completely adored, were quick to proceed in helping me out by finding a classroom suitable enough for our shenanigans. I will forever remain grateful to them.

It was late in the afternoon and the tall stone walls of the building weren’t too helpful in providing light in the corridors as I walked down the art wing, taking a left turn before reaching a smaller circular, but wide, staircase. I quickly ascended the stairs, and was met with a wide hallway where you could head straight, left, and right. In order to reach my exit, I had to turn onto the right narrow corridor littered with doors on both sides. It was the music majors’ wing, their studios lined up on both sides of me with dark wooden doors, each having a small rotund glass where you could peek inside. These rooms were soundproof in order to not disturb anyone, and I let my hands rest in my pockets as I slowly walked down the hallway, feeling my phone with my left hand and picking it up. I took it out of my pocket and unlocked it, checking for any new messages, but there were none. Mingi still didn’t show any sings of life today and I sighed as I locked it and put away, chewing on my bottom lip. I knew he wasn’t mad at me and that I haven’t done anything lately which could’ve upset him, but the sudden weird feeling settling in my stomach felt unnerving. I felt almost restless. Head littered with questions. Was Mingi fine? What was he up to? Why was he not texting me today? I had sent him a meme I found earlier, but he hadn’t even seen it, let alone answered with a silly meme of his own. It was a never-ending whirlwind of questions in my head, distracting me from pressing matters at hand. Like what my essay about the history of arts would be about, because the deadline was right around the corner and I slacked off—once again.

I sighed as I was past the middle of the corridor by now, but the sudden faint music coming from my left catching my attention. I raised my head up and looked towards the dark wooden doors, noticing that the light was on in a studio a little behind me. I pursed my lips and as curiosity overtook my senses, I slowly shuffled backwards, towards the studio, and carefully peeked inside. I tried to remain ominous as one of my eyes looked through the glass, however, soon my whole face was almost pressed up against the small window as I was presented with Mingi’s familiar form. He was hunched forward as he stood, hands pressing against a long table, hands gripping the edge as his mouth moved fast, eyebrows furrowed, and a vein on his neck close to popping. There was a microphone in front of him as he leaned close to it, his lips almost touching it as a headphone was placed over his right ear, leaving the left free. Mingi seemed to be dressed in casual clothing, wearing beige pants, which were a tad bit too big for his form, and a black t-shirt which hung loosely around his form. A longer and shorter necklace adorned his neck, and I gulped as he raised his left hand and starting mimicking something, seemingly hitting the beat as I could feel the muffled vibrations against the door. The sound was very faint, but I could still hear his raspy voice as he rapped, licking his lips once he seemed to be done. I gulped as he was bobbing his head up and down, an attractive smirk appearing on his lips as he started slowly bouncing his body, stepping away from the desk slightly, gripping his left pantleg and then suddenly—our eyes met each other and I gasped loudly as I ducked and swiftly turned around, hurrying off the way I was initially headed towards. The stairs were in my line of sight when I suddenly heard a door opening and then— “Hey, stranger! Freeze!”

 My body froze without my own accord and I cursed loudly, face flushing as I heard Mingi’s deep chuckle behind me. I knew I didn’t have much choice now that I had been caught, and so, I quickly composed myself and turned with an unphased expression on my face. Mingi had a smirk on his face as he was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“Yeah, stranger, haven’t seen you in days.” I found myself quirking an eyebrow, and Mingi chuckled.

“I’ve been cooped up in my studio, working on this track for my finals.” He explained, reminding me that I already knew this, and now I felt awkward, “Don’t tell me you’ve missed me, doll.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” I couldn’t help it but feel furious as Mingi watched me with a smug expression, pressing a finger against his plump lips in mock consideration.

“Hmm,” He blinked innocently, “No, doll.”

I rolled my eyes and went to turn around, but Mingi’s question stopped me, “What are you up to right now?”

“Classes are over,” I answered as I gripped the strap of my bag, “so I’m headed home.”

“By feet?” Mingi’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and my eyes narrowed as I slightly shuffled awkwardly. We haven’t been alone like this despite talking through text, I felt a little awkward, almost as if I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was weird. It was just Mingi. Why would he make me feel like this? I still hated him.

“Of course, idiot.” I rolled my eyes as my answer was a lot snappier than intended, but Mingi just chuckled and looked past me.

“Do you have an umbrella?”

“No, why?” I asked confused and followed his line of sight as I turned around, eyes falling on the big window. It was pouring outside. Again. And I didn’t have an umbrella with me. I groaned quietly and squeezed my eyes shut for a second as I cursed every deity out there for making it rain right now out of all times. I couldn’t catch a cold again; my immune system had barely built itself back up.

“I’ll drive you home.” I heard Mingi say behind me, and when I turned around to face him, he was closer than before, the door to his studio still open. My heartbeat suddenly picked up as I watched his tall frame come closer.

“No need to do that, I’ll just wait for a bus.” I cleared my throat when his strong cologne evaded my senses, “Thanks, though.”

“Don’t be silly.” Mingi scoffed, and slightly leaned down to be eye level with me. The height difference between the two of us wasn’t that great, I’m a tall girl myself, “You’ll catch a cold again, and I don’t have enough tea bags at home to supply you for another week, again.”

“I never asked you to bring me tea.” I found myself all defensive as I looked away, feeling the heat on my cheeks. I refused to acknowledge the fact that I was blushing, but Mingi chuckled, and when I looked back at him he looked amused.

“Yet you never refused me—not even once.” His voice dropped as he teasingly leaned closer and I scoffed, slapping his chest, and pushing him back. He stumbled for a split second, but he quickly regained his balance and gave me a displeased glare.

“Whatever, I’m going—” The warm hand holding me back by my forearm took me off guard as I looked down at Mingi’s ring clad fingers wrapped around my clothed arm.

“I mean it, Y/N.” Mingi’s voice was soft and deep as I looked back up into his brown eyes, “I’m almost finished and then we can go. I promise you won’t have to wait too long.”

I took a deep breath and softly pulled my arm out of his frail hold, biting my lower lip in thought. As if on cue, there was a loud rumble of thunder which shook the building and I jumped, making Mingi raise his eyebrows at me expectantly.

“Fine, I’ll stay. You can drive me home once you’re finished.” I muttered defeated and watched as a bright smile crossed Mingi’s lips, his eyes turning crescent and almost disappearing, his front teeth protruding as he suddenly leaned forward and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, hurriedly yanking me after himself, forcing me to keep up with his long strides as he lead us towards his studio.

The feeling of his arm wrapped around my shoulders should’ve made me feel disgusted and I should have slapped it off, but I couldn’t help but soak in his warmth and the musky cologne, which was even stronger now that I was pressed into his side, the loud thumping of my heart the only sound in my ears that I could hear.

『Yeah, there's thunder in my head

And it rumbles through the dust on my shelf

Yeah, there's thunder in my head

Unfamiliar like I'm somebody else』

❱❱ Next chapter

[thalialunacy]

[for the @calaisreno May Promptasmagorah; cw for schmoop like whoa.]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) 22: (k)night (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31)

John, for a split-second, thinks he's hallucinating. He's knackered to the point of swaying on his feet from a double shift followed by-- because apparently he'd been a bastard in a past life-- a bloody 'morale building' staff meeting that had made him want to gouge his eyes out.

Alright, he also might be a bastard in this life. But the point is, he hears Sherlock's voice despite there being no Sherlock in the room.

'Ibn is a rather naughty horse, isn't he?'

The sound is tinny but discernible, and John fwumps down into his chair to eye the baby monitor. The camera is aimed at Rosie's cot, of course, so it's mostly Sherlock's shoulder as he leans over with a book. John's tired brain flips through the rolodex of bedtime stories until it hits upon the one with a big white horse named, of all things, Ibn Rafferty.

'But he is fun to ride, and nice to everyone while being ridden.'

He hears Sherlock pause. 'Do you know, Rosamund, that's arguably the first definition of chivalry.'

John blinks. Not where he'd thought that was going, but all right.

'The word "chivalry" is derived from the Old French term "chevalerie,"' Sherlock continues. 'And it was meant to describe soldiers who fought on horseback.'

John snorts. His daughter is brilliant, obviously, but there's not a chance in hell she's understanding this. Unless Sherlock is drawing some truly impressive illustrations off-camera. Which, he supposes, is disturbingly plausible.

'These soldiers became standards of good behaviour, you see. On a horse, you're much taller than everyone else, aren't you? And horses can kick, or be otherwise very rude. So, the guideline for chivalry became, essentially, don't be rude to people who don't have a horse.'

'Don't be rude,' Rosie echoes, and John supposes that's what he'd want her to get out of this lesson, really.

But Sherlock's not finished. 'It had many iterations, of course, but eventually became a ritualised outlook on romantic love.'

John's brows shoot up. He'd've thought this subject to be one Sherlock would delete. Courtly love will likely never solve him a case, after all.

'One of the rituals, for example, was the High Minnie.'

Rosie is interested enough to ask through a yawn: 'Minnie Mouse?'

Sherlock chuckles. 'No, m-i-n-n-e. German. "Hohe Minne" colloquially means "high love."'

Yeah, clearly Sherlock is aware John can hear him. Even he's not going to use the word "colloquially" for the benefit of a toddler.

'It's when a knight-- the person on the horse-- goes through a series of trials to prove their love to someone. For instance, being willing to sacrifice themself to save the person they love. Making a long journey fraught with peril and hurt. Taking on a mighty monster.'

John's tired old heart clenches in his chest. Sherlock knows he's listening, all right.

'Now,' the detective continues, 'in the stories, after all these trials fail to win their beloved's heart, the knight finally accepts that their love is unrequited.'

He pauses. Rosie, John can see in the monitor, is languid with sleep, caught by Sherlock's rich voice and about to go under.

'And when love is unrequited, it can hurt very badly. But the knight knows those sacrifices were worth it, in the end, regardless. Because that's simply what love is, sometimes.'

John rubs absently at his chest. It's too much, he's so tired and so in love that it's almost too much.

On the monitor, Rosie's little brows seem to scrunch together, and she moves, rolls a little towards Sherlock. Who chuckles, wry but warm, as he rubs her tummy. 'It's alright, little bumble. Sometimes the knight does get their love, in the end. And it's the best reward in the world.' The shape of him on the screen leans in and kisses Rosie softly. 'Especially when it comes with little girls named Watson.'

John finds he has to look away from the monitor. His eyes are stinging, and now it's not just from exhaustion.

'You're a menace, Sherlock Holmes,' he calls quietly as he hears the stairs creak faithfully under Sherlock's socked feet.

'I know,' the detective says as he crosses the room. He leans on the arms of John's chair and kisses him briefly, their mouths clinging. 'But you found me worthy, in the end.'

'In the end, in the beginning, in the middle,' John counters. Sherlock raises an eyebrow. 'Alright,' John concedes. 'Maybe not in the middle, there, for a bit.' His smile is slow but genuine. 'But you prove yourself with every nappy, every boring case, every time you think before you throw yourself to the wolves.'

'I do try,' Sherlock deflects, his skin heating up. They've both about reached their limit for sentiment for the evening, John thinks.

'Then shut up and try this, you bastard.' And he pulls Sherlock down once more.

[❤️]

[I did mediaeval re-creation for 15 years, so this is where my brain went when I saw the prompt. The book Sherlock's reading from is 'Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm' by Alice & Martin Provensen. I learned of hohe minne in Leverage 4x15, 'The Lonely Hearts Job.']

[vellichorom]

I really like your headcanons for Cori and totally agree with them!

And if you don’t mind my asking, what did you dislike about the recent episodes of Chikn Nuggit? Because personally I dislike a lot of it too…the whole shift to lore has been kind of jarring for me and I also think things were resolved too easily.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, THAT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY!

& OMG THANK YOU FOR ASKING because god i've been pissed. with one episode they made me hate that stupid yellow dog

HERE'S THE THING, RIGHT. i don't even mind the shift from slapstick shenanigans in youtube short format to something that illustrates a bit more lore. in FACT, i thought the way they were going about it was very interesting! having chikn realize his ultimate power & being due to a moment of vulnerability & having been manipulated some by bezel therein,

however,

this is all cheezborger's fault. for some fucking stupid reason

LET'S BACK UP A MINUTE. cheezborger got the girl! she's all excited about it & prioritizing her girlfriend above all, as i think we all do when we're excited; we make whatever we're excited our entire worldview for a bit, it happens!

chikn, at least from my perspective, sees this - sees that all of his friends are busy doing stuff without him or have their " significant other " where he does not - with cheezborger, his best most important friend, caught up in the moment, & he feels left out. he feels like a " third wheel " &- with all of his friends occupied with something or someone else, he's all alone & feels bad. i've been there a few times, i get it. in that moment of vulnerability does bezel take advantage & PUSH chikn to realize his power & potential, to control his friends or control the world & make things how he wants them to be.

suddenly the plot goes from " chikn suffering from third wheel grief " to " chikn coming to terms with the fact that he's a god & his powers have unintendedly warped his friends. we're taking all the nonsense seriously suddenly " okay. interesting. so chikn ascends to god form & starts fucking up the whole world because he believes that's what he's MEANT to do. the conclusion of his spiraling is realizing that he was meant to cause chaos & rip apart the world? ok. i think we jumped a bit far, how & when did he decide that

now we're leaning really hard into the ' i have to do this because it's my DESTINY ' trope. okay. did you come to this conclusion after deciding you don't need your friends? or realizing that you're the god of everything & therefore such menial things don't matter? did bezel coach you more than we see through the shorts? i don't remember there being an episode dedicated to chikn's sudden snap of character, thus we just never find out where that leap in logic came from.

so the world's ending but fwench fwy & iscream manage to trap chikn for 5 seconds. chee intervenes & tries to get through to him, despite all his bullshit ramblings of " go away i'm a god this is my destiny, " this WORKS. chee pulls him from his divine spiral & all's fine now.

except chikn, IN FRONT OF EVERYONE MIND YOU - NOT IN PRIVATE, blames cheezborger for it. he's like " you ditched me & that wasn't very nice, you need to make time for all your friends "

LIKE OH OKAY. BUZZFEED YOU JUST KILLED THE VIBE.

cheezborger's excitement for her new girlfriend might have been the tipping point & the technical catalyst of this all, but not at any fault of her own. she did not do this maliciously or purposefully & i hate the way chikn says she " ditched " him. no she did not you horrible mutt she politely declined your offers to hang out because she was busy with her girlfriend, & YES IT CAN BE UPSETTING WHEN YOUR FRIEND CAN'T HANG WITH YOU BECAUSE THEY GET CAUGHT UP IN SOMETHING THEY LIKE, BUT SHE DID NOT DITCH OR ABANDON YOU SHE JUST GOT BUSYYYY

it's circumstances. chee didn't do anything " wrong ", things just happened & chikn couldn't take being apart from his friend or not having what all his other friends had & downspiralled + got manipulated by bezel.

chee gets called out in PUBLIC for " ditching " chikn when she really didn't & this is turned into a big lesson about " managing all your friends " ( kiss my ass buzzfeed your usual social lessons aren't going to fly with this one ), in essence blaming chee for the apocalypse despite the initial start of the arc having gone unaddressed since the beginning.

OH & GET THIS, we blame chee for being excited but bezel, THE ONE PUSHING FOR TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD & ACTIVELY MANIPULATING CHIKN TO DO IT, gets a literal slap on the wrist chikn nor anybody else calls him out for being a gigantic prick, he's just like " i fowgive u let's be fwiends " & we leave it at that apparently. are you fucking for real. that straight up smells misogynistic & straight up shitty regardless. this COMING from the stupid little youtube shorts series all about validating everyone & equality & being kind to people too just feels a PARTICULAR kind of rancid.

& yeah whatever it's a rinkydink silly buzzfeed show where every character is named some woobified or joke rendition of a food product ( chikn nuggit, cheezborger, fwench fwy - so on ), BUT I FEEL LIKE THEY WERE DOING A VALUABLE SERVICE & DOING PRETTY GOOD FOR BEING A RINKYDINK SILLY YOUTUBE SHORTS SERIES !!!!! they had such good intentions & good lessons in mind...

& then this happens. it just puts SUCH a bad taste in my mouth now, you know? & it's honest to god so disappointing! & INFURIATING

that ending was a total BUST & relaying it back now, THE PLOT OF THAT ARC IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. it can't at all decide what the point of itself was & ended SO poorly. i'll forgive the pacing because this is a youtube shorts series MEANT to be done relatively quickly & chikn nuggit isn't necessarily a show you're going to expect a masterpiece of, right. it's endearingly imperfect

but god that ending. this entire arc. fuck it all man fuck that dog

oh wow i wrote down a lot but YEAH. VERY UPSETTING. hopefully this was an entertaining read or i just look insane to my friends

THANK YOU FOR ASKING! been LOOKING for an excuse to be upset on main

[theonewhonothingknows]

Power Rangers (2017) fic rec list: (UPDATED: Jan, 2024)

Hello there, as someone who loves this movie, I decided to make a list of fics that’ve read, or am about to read, to anyone who is interested:

Note: I’m only putting here fics that I’ve read. So if someone knows a fic they might want to recommend, let me know! XD  There are currently almost two thousand works on the power rangers 2017 tag on AO3, so be sure to look around and dig for stuff you might like.

NOTE: Remember to check out the author if you like their stories! Leave comments and kudos and reblog stuff you like, apreciation is always important

Illustrated Story: @theone-with-thestuff​ ‘s power rangers sequel: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 , part 6, part 7 , part 8

MultiChapter fics (post-canon)

Rangers with Attitude by SmokeyCut : A sequel to the movie that is very in synch with the power rangers universe, both in how the story is told and how light it feels. THat doesn’t stop the drama from happening though. Awesome battle scenes and a very engaging take on Tommy, and the 2017 universe as a whole.

Power Rangers 2: Sythesis by SatanSpeaks (mature) : This fic is a piece, it’s another sequel to the movie, but with a much more bleak look on the universe as a well, however, it doesn’t dive too much into it and it has plenty of hopeful moments to spare. It’s a fic that leaves you on the edge of your seat, start to finish, biting your nails hoping everything will work out.

we gladiate but i guess we're really fighting ourselves by sunnydalehart: “The rangers don't really know what they're doing, but they really are trying their best.” -- Another post-canon fic with good romance, and team-bonding, check it out!!! (Trimberly) (Billy/ Jason/Zack)

Power Rangers 2: Rise of the Green Ranger by IzzyIniguez: Rita loses her coin, but finds a new power.  The rangers learn to be a team and meet the Tommy and Tamsin Oliver, the new (twin) kids in town. Sparks fly and tempers flare between Kim and Tommy, and Trini and Tamsin. I think this might be one of the most original takes on 2017 Tommy Oliver out there.

Short-stories:

 5 Times Jason Scott Was Protective of His Team by notawriters: Jason-centric goodness!!!!      

Zack Taylor Designated Driver Squad by iwasnthere622 : Zack didn't have the best school record. His friends help him fix that. -- This isn’t as much a sequel fic as it is a Zack sequel fic, exploring his life after becoming a ranger, and how he relates to his new friends. The chapters go through his bond with each of the rangers, and it’s an amazing piece of Zack Taylor fanfic, enriching what we already saw in the movie. One of my all time favourites!!

Been There, Done That by TaikoTurtle: The team has a bonding camping trip up on the mountains, but after a series of unfortunate events, Kimberly has to figure out how to make things right, including her feelings.

One More Ride by magimumu: (NEW!) : Uber driver Trini picks up Kim on a rainy evening. (TRIMBERLY)   (This short one is amazing! Like poetry! Can’t recommend enough!)

One-Shots:

***NEW!!!!! - (This is) Good Weird -  by Laslus -----  Poly Rangers fic!!! -  Or: The Huge Colective Denial of FeelingsThe first time Trini notices, they are around the fire. She looked at the whole picture, feeling the warmness she usually felt when hanging with them, how she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. She should focus on that, on the happiness she felt as they sang off tune, how they were a picture together. Oh.

All of the Above  by songofsunset : This short one shot is a perfetc mood setting piece, with rangers hanging out. In a few senteces, it grasps both each ranger’s personallities and the nature of their both. Sweet fluffiness all around.

Just let me love you when your heart is tired by milkyegg_carton: A cure little fluff about the aftermath of the battle with Goldar!!

walk me home by twoorangecookies: A nice little, well, it’s canon complaint but it’s sort of a missing scene, but it’s also sort of an AU where Kim asks Trini to walk her home.

Campfire Dance-Off by Skyland2704: team bonding fluffiness!

we carry each other (we’re just different colors) by hearden: This is a fascinating fic, about the rangers before being rangers! Seriously! There are so many character beats, and a very good grasp on the characters!!

am i the only living soul around by younglegends: A story told backwards,going from the aftermath of the movie to the very beginning. Again, another rich story exploring the characters and their core! An awesome read about the power rangers that really makes a point about their evolution and their bond in face of their sttrugles. I always go back to this fic for inspiration.

Do Better by iwasnthere622: One of the best jason centtric fics out there, exploring his role as leader and the way he shoulders the burden.

Dildo Wars  by cabooseachievables : I think this is one of the most fun pieces of fanwork I’ve ever read, seriously, just pure delight from start to finish as the rangers start a prank war between themselves.

**********NEW!!!!!!!!! Riding Shot Gun by zipzipnada:   --Kimberly finds out her new friends have never tried weed before, and knows for a fact Jason is a shotgun king.

Shipping Fics:

BY THE WAY, THE AUTHOR tworangecookies has plenty of Trimberly works if you’re interested, I can’t recommend enough to check them out, you’ll definetly find something for your tastes, both on AO3 and on tumblr @5ivebyfive. Another tumblr with fics in this universe is @magicmumu2

you’re my sunshine by titaniaeli: Short, fluff, and engaging, basically a tale of Jason falling in love with his team. (RANGER POLYCULE)

 in a hopeless place by twoorangecookies: (AU) This is one of my favorite fics. It’s an Outsiders AU, and I never had contact with The Outsiders, but I do love how consistent the rangers are even in an Alternative universe. This fic is well paced, and leaves tense with each cliffhanger, not to mention the forbidden romance, which is just *cheff’s kiss. (TRIMBERLY)

The Heart part 1 by The Otter Limits: While this fic is a sequel to the movie, I’m putting it here, because its main focus is the relationship between Trini and Kimberly. I really love this fic because it has a very heavy dose of Angst. I’m not sure it’s everyone’s cup of tea, but I do love the melodrama involved. Also, there is some neat world building about the rangers’ powers and the universe they live in. (TRIMBERLY)

The Hunt For Love by magicmumu: Awesome Valentine’s day Fluff, what else can you wish for? Honestly, the dialog between the characters as they go on an scavenge hunt it’s so amazing, you can’t help reading this with a smile on your face. Can’t recomment enough. (TRIMBERLY)

Fire meet gasoline by twoorangecookies: (mature) A cute little soccer AU, with that good old rivals to lovers premise. What more can I say? Go check it out!! (TRIMBERLY)

Clarity by thebrightestbird: I think this was the first time I read about this ship, and interestingly it immediately spread to be fond of it in the tv show universe as well. Great stuff!!!  (ZACK/JASON) 

with my feelings on fire (guess I'm a bad liar) by movingforthesakeofmotion: The one where a date night turns into exposed secrets and discoveries. (TRIMBERLY, CRANSCOTT)

We can have all that we ever wanted by theshipstorulethemallwrites: 5 Times Someone Thought The Rangers Were Dating and 1 Time They Were

EXPLICIT FICS:

Turning sweet love into poison by twoorangecookies: (EXPLICIT) this fic is Intense, and I really advise you to look into the tags before going in. It deals with heavy subjects like body dysmorphia, so be mindful. Now that that’s out of the way, this fic is delicious to read, two traumatize characters navigating a complex situation, it has all those spices for those who love some heavy Angst in their romance. (TRIMBERLY)

Legacy of Power by Hearden (Mature, but the collection has Explicit fics): (INCOMPLETE) .This fic is interesting because it’s sort of a nice multiverse mix between the tv show and the movie, with the simple premisse of having TV Kimberly and Tommy meeting the 2017 rangers. It’s one amazing fic, very well written with an awesome premisse and solid character work. It’s specially awesome to see two versions of Kimberly knowing and interacting with one another.

*****NEW !!!! -- Shut up and Drive -  by Twoorangecookies --  (Sort of a power rangers meet Fast and Furious, but R rated 😈)  Trini is looking forward to start her new career as a rookie cop. She isn't the best at relationships, so she goes out one night just looking for a thrill. Then she stumbles on a scene that is not her scene at all and more thrill than she asked for, and she meets a woman that is the most annoying, obnoxious woman she's ever met. A woman she wouldn't go for in a million years. At least...that's what she thinks.

PS: I have to say, it’s really interesting to go through fandoms, not only to meet how diverse people’s interpretations can be, but how rich and creative they are as well. Just the ammount of Tommy Olivers I’ve seen for the 2017 universe is stagering, not one version is the same, and that, I think, is also very precious.

Anyway, remember to comment, reblog, and all that stuff that shows authors your apreciation. Feel free to add fics you might’ve read and are not here, I’ll sure try to do so as I find new ones. I tried to categorize stuff as best as I could.

[acroagoraphobe]

Hi! ❤️

How do you think the companions romanced or not (and Maxson) will react if you give them a portrait of themselves that you drew?) maybe Sole is artist or smth like that)

OOoooo good Idea!

(Im not the best with *all* the characters, but im tryin here!)

Because I mainly Write for like just deacon and a few others, also I did it in my usual format so I hope that's good enough!

(Also I did both romanced and non-romanced because HEHEHEHEHEH also non romanced is assumed Sole reached Idolized with them.)

Cait:

(I don't know that much about Cait, so I'm trying my best [: )

Non-romanced:

Would probably be irritated, but also flattered

"What're ye given me that for?"

Secretly thinks thats pretty nice but she's not telling Sole that.

Romanced:

Would be a bit more appreciative of it openly, but still act tough about it.

"Its alroight, eyh guess-"

Would probably fold it up and secretly keep it stashed in her corset or something.

But if anyone asks she never had it.

She sneakily gives Sole a quick smooch on the cheek.

Maccready:

(Idk that much about him but Ik he's a dork)

Non-Romanced:

"Oh that's pretty cool-"

Probably hasn't had a friend draw him before.

Probably pretty impressed because I think he likes to doodle too.

Romanced:

Probably would ask for more drawings after he sees that.

Like a drawing of him and Duncan

Keeps that drawing in his pocket, happily.

Smiles like an idiot, then gives Sole a little kiss.

Danse:

Non-Romanced:

"What is the purpose of this, soldier?"

Genuinely confused on why they drew him, Is it because they're just practicing their drawing? Is it a symbol of affection?

He would be critiquing the details and where Sole can improve, even if they didn't ask him to.

But thats just him showing he's interested in Sole's improvement.

Romanced:

"Oh, Thank you. This is a rather detailed depiction of my likeness."

He would be more invested in Sole's improvement if romanced, 100%.

Keeps that drawing in a nice safe place, he doesn't want it to get lost.

When he realizes it's actually like.. a sign of affection, he's got a big ass smile on his face.

Deacon:

Non-Romanced:

"Guessing you like my face then, huh? Don't get too attached it though!"

Actually very flattered that he's being drawn and not just on wanted posters because he goofed off too much.

Pretends to throw it away, but actually sticks it in his pocket.

Romanced:

"Damn, you must realllyy love my face then, huh?"

Trying so hard to not giggle like an idiot at that moment.

Smiling like a dork, big goofy grin.

Maybe blushing a little bit, but definitely trying to hide it.

Hancock:

Non-Romanced:

"Suprised you got my ugly mug is so much detail heh-"

Taking a nice good look at it, definitely putting it on the wall later.

Where everyone can see it, like a public buletin board.

Romanced:

Sole's 100% getting a big ol' kiss from him for this.

Still putting it on a public buletin board but will like publicly announce that theres a cool-ass drawing of him done by his partner on the bulletin.

"Thanks, Sunshine. Looks just like me-"

Piper

Non-Romanced:

"Thanks Blue! This looks great!"

Putting it on her wall next to her terminal.

Really appreciates it, she might even consider getting Sole to make illustrations for the Publick.

Romanced:

"Aww, Thanks Blue! I love it!"

Sole's getting a smooch on the cheek for this.

She's definitely showing it to Nick and her sister.

Nick Valentine:

Non-Romanced:

"Huh. Thanks kid, looks great."

Would probably get lost in his files and papers.

But he still appreciates that Sole took the time to draw him.

"Maybe you can take the time to make some wanted posters. The ones around here ain't the best".

Romanced:

He's putting it on the wall, immediately. Right over his desk.

"Thanks, Sweetheart, I love it."

Really happy Sole took the time to draw a beat up old Synth like him.

Longfellow:

Non-Romanced:

"Huh? Whatcha draw me for?"

Doesn't really think it's worth the effort for Sole to draw him.

But he's flattered. Probably keeps it on a table in his cabin somwhere.

Curie:

Non-Romanced:

"Oh thank you! Zis is very nice of you!"

Puts it in with her medical notes, folded up and paperclipped in the folder.

Big ol' smile.

Romanced:

About the same, But gives Sole a sweet little kiss on the cheek.

Codsworth:

Non-Romanced:

"Thank you Sir/Miss, I shall treasure this drawing always!"

Doesn't have a place to put it really, so he just kinda holds onto it for a while and maybe puts it with his cleaning supplies.

X6-88:

Non-Romanced:

"I do not understand why you would draw me, Sir/Ma'am."

Really doesn't get it.

Even if sole explains that it was a sign of affection and appreciation.

He really tries to understand why, but logically it doesn't make sense to him.

Romanced:

Still doesn't really get it, but he's trying his best.

"Thank you, Sir/Ma'am."

Keeps it in his pocket anyways.

Very tiny little smile.

Preston:

Non-Romanced:

"Thank you General, This is really nice of you-"

Keeps it in his coat pocket happily.

Big ol' smile on his face.

Blushing a bit that Sole took time and effort to draw him in such detail.

Romanced:

"Oh wow, Thanks babe!"

Sole is getting a smooch, right on the lips (:

Gage:

Non-Romanced:

"What the hell, boss. Why'd ya waste yer time on that?"

Throws it away, he's a raider, ain't got time for sappy touchy-feely shit.

"Tough shit boss, suck it up." when Sole gets mad at him for throwing it away.

Romanced:

Same kinda reaction, but he picks it up outta the trash later and sticks it in his pocket.

Ada:

Non-Romanced:

"Oh. Thank you. This is rather nice."

Doesn't have anywhere to keep it, so Sold holds onto it for her.

Maxson:

Non-Romanced:

"Well, Soldier. That does catch my likeness very well, doesn't it?"

Cocky bastard about it, but in a "Im your elder" way.

Thats getting put into his man diary (That he 100% has because I said so.)

Romanced:

"Well, that is very nice.. Thank you Soldier-"

Puts it into his pocket for later, with a smile on his face that goes away once he walks away from Sole, because it's serious time now.

[entropicbias]

Nice to meet you, entropicbias. I'm televisedanime (better known under my alias televisedanime.tumblr.com). Your johndave work is spot-on and you knock them right out of the ballpark. There's a certain level of versatility to your style and you are both a peerless flower and ingenious innovator in the field of yaoi. Thank you for your contributions. I'm going to keep it concise and get to the meat and potatoes of this ask: do you have any criteria for determining who the goat(s) in terms of homestuck fanartistry is/are? What, in your perspective, makes a veritable juggernaut in the homestuck sphere (or even in a broader sense)?

hello, televisedanime! thank you so much for the commendations. the way you talk about my depictions of them makes me feel like i have a phd in hammertime. i might as well at this point. it makes me super happy to see other people agreeing with my work because this is the one romantic/normal pairing in homestuck that means a lot to me personally, so i feel like i really do get them. i'd be really devastated to hear it if i didn't! ok, to answer your question... i don't really have the time to peruse old homestuck content. i'm trying to, but it's really hard when most of the art i like of one creator is from de-activated accounts and most of the other ones draw incest art on the side. what makes someone stand out for me, is probably mostly in their style. having a really good sense of depicting the characters is equally as important but sometimes people just have art that's like eye candy to me. so, for now, here's a list of homestuck artists that have really stuck with me and are sources of inspiration myself. -unforgivablecontent really great animator. lots of their stuff is on youtube but my personal favorites are the homestuck funnies comps and that tavros dave rap battle.

-radicaldude42/mars-gallavanger great artist, very unique style, and an incredible mspa comic artist.

-vintagefoods has such a phenomenal creative eye. one of the best homestuck artists. i love the use of colors and the eye for great attire.

-deaconblues awesome guy, even more awesome art. great writer and illustrator, i trust him with everything john egbert. that guy just gets him. read everafter on mspfa, the moveout zine, and a big man on campus. he's a brilliant comic artist too. has been on my list of great artists for a good while.

-toreodere talented in every retrospect. toreo nails the homestuck style and to top it off she's like, multitalented. check out her tumblr she does it all.

-feengoid my goat who also has such a unique and fun art style. i love the way she draws and how inventive she gets with her art. she's also really fucking funny.

-pinballhazard ASTOUNDINGLY good artist! an absolute gem in the homestuck community. amazing comic author and has a really unique and weirdly nostalgic style. he's like, a child prodigy i dunno how this kid is 16. -bloobydabloob i don't even want to talk about morris i just want to show you our stupid fucking egg beef.

-tempestousstocking a wonderful artist. been in the johndave community for a while and totally gets it. -leon i forgot his username we all know him also a great artist. i'm running out of things to say i just like his art. -jumblefriend this person is on twitter for all i know but they draw the best nepeta ever. their style is so hilariously good and cartoony. i'd love to see them make comics or something one day they're very talented. michael- i forgot his handle but he makes great music too. hello michael. crazy stuff! -tentapillar/mariboo doesn't make a lot of homestuck art currently. i think they've moved on from their old account too. not sure but their old homestuck art ruled. amazing amazing artist.

[miracleandplagueau]

So I just stumbled across your page, and I absolutely love your redesigns for the characters.

I was wondering what your rough plan for Chloe's character was? Since I saw that you're not using Zoe.

Chloe....

My plan for her isn't all that complicated, It's literally to give her her well deserved redemption arc.

First of all, I'm keeping all of the episodes before Queen Wasp that featured some sort of development from her, ending on Style Queen where we find out why she was being a mean bitch. After giving up the miraculous, Miraculer (or an episode similar to that) will happen to explain to Chloe why she can't be Queen Bee anymore. But that's basic stuff, let's talk about bigger changes.

Obviously, being raised with everything given to her on a silver platter, she won't be able to compeltely get it out of her system. She's not going to be super encouraging or nice, but she'll be tolerable to others - especially Sabrina. Over the episodes, her and Sabrina are going to grow closer. Sabrina at one point will have a very heated argument with Chloe which will result in a break-up of their friendship, but I really want Chloe to work on that - to realize that she's better than her habits and need for attention and will actually start seeing Sabrina as a true friend and will even start trying to enjoy the little things. The scene where Sabrina brought her cookies but she rejected them for sushi? Nah. She takes that cookie. Visibly apprehensive, and she starts asking for the contents, explaining she doesn't want to ruin her diet, but she takes a bite and maybe even enjoys it!! Sabrina could ask her to come to her favorite shop, but Chloe is so disgusted with the cheap shops, she just takes her shopping in one of the shops she buys clothes in. It's kind of the little things, you know? I might not be able to fulfill all the potential she has, but honeslty anything's better than whatever the fuck happened in canon.

Now to her superhero persona. Obviously, she won't be able to play superhero too often after Queen Wasp, but that doesn't mean she won't get to do it at all! In one of my previous posts, I illustrated a short, little concept with her, Volpina and Monarch and It's probably going to happen! I won't extend how, but a situation like that is likely to happen. I really hate how the whole "we know that Chloe is Queen Bee" wasn't extended in a really cool way where Chloe could further trick Hawk Moth... they instead did Miracle Queen.

My writing might be a little bit messy and very spoiler-avoidant in case I start making the comic, but in short: Chloe goes from a bully to a sassy friend and there's no need for her to have a Mary Sue sister to replace her :D

She is sass, she is the moment, she is Chloe (I'm a severe Chloe apologist)

[deyasworld]

Deedark heacanons?

I loved the ones you made a while back and was wondering if you had more!

Awww! Thank you, you’re very sweet! 😊💕

Sure! Let me remember them.

• I used to headcanon that Dee Dee snores, but when rewatching the show I noticed that Mandark is the one that Canonically snores, and they usually write Dee Dee as a silent sleeper. Now that I think about it, it might make sense, since he has a very narrow neck lolllll Edit: I forgot to mention that Mandark canonically Talks In His Sleep!!!!

• I also used to headcanon that Dee Dee is an early bird and that she sleeps early, and that Mandark was the night owl, but now that I think about the kinds of jobs they have, maybe their sleeping schedules should be the other way around 😆. I mean, ballet studios tend to be an after school activity, meaning that she would be working in the afternoons, and he runs a laboratory, so his office hours would be from 8 AM to 5 PM, but he stays up late working extra hours. I like to think their sleeping schedules sync because of it.

• They live together by 23, but have probably been roommates since before. I don’t know why I’m fixated on 23, I came up with this when I was 19, and 23 sounded like a very exciting age at the time. I’m turning 31 in June, and giving this some thought it still feels like a good age! It’s a challenging time for many, there’s so much societal pressure to get your shit together after college, but you still want to enjoy life ““before 25””, so it would be very nice if they’re together through it.

• They probably don’t marry until 25 though, because it feels like a “serious” age to them, but mostly because I want them to still call each other boyfriend and girlfriend for a while ( and Fiancé for a while too lolll ). Although 25 is still young! Don’t hurry things just because that age sounds scary 💝 People will think you’re 21 at 30, and 16 at 21. There’s always time; take things slow. ( I’m only keeping the headcanons because they feel lived in ).

• For Dee Dee’s job, I like to think she joined a ballet company, so in her early adulthood she’s doing a lot of performances. She gets the instructor job later, to get a steady paycheck. She begins to suffer muscle pains because she’s not 10 anymore, so I like to imagine that Mandark helps monitoring her muscle health and he’s Very serious about it, I’m talking massages, 3D diagrams they update every week, keeps a journal and plans a diet for her. At some point she retires from the performances and dedicates herself to be an instructor, but she returns to the stage every other year. Edit: I’ve been following ballerinas on social media and watching documentaries to learn about their life styles, so I think she’ll be healthy for a very long time. Mandark is still concerned about her health though.

• I have several AUs for these two, but most of my headcanons for them are in the FusionFall verse. I really really like that Universe! It inspires me a lot. I should illustrate some headcanons someday. If you want to hear any FF specific headcanons, let me know!

• From their personalities in canon, I like to think they’re both very clingy, in particular Mandark. He’s very needy, needs lots of validation and has tendencies of low self-esteem, and she’s too cuddly, she’ll walk in on you when you’re busy to shower you with attention. I think it makes them perfect for each other; they’re both smothering with affection, and it makes them natural outlets. They probably tire each other sometimes, but they’re back at it again afterwards.

Thanks for the ask! Hope these work for you! 🫶💖💕

Have some Milk and Mocha, they’re my go-to DeeDark mascots 🐻‍❄️🐻

[bedtimegiraffe]

My personal ranking of the the LI's reactions to the upcoming battle

I know I would be a damn mess about all the near-death experiences and want to talk about it. So I've ranked all of our love interests by how well I think they handled your character's obvious trauma!

Starting with the worst...

Pros: Mal, I appreciate that you don't want me to die and want to protect me.

Cons: My guy. My actual primary love interest. I get that you're depressed. I appreciate the honesty. But this is just more pressure! Now I'm responsible for both of our lives!

Pros: Aerin, it's nice that you're not also freaking out. Not about this anyway. That is reassuring. Fighting for the people we care about and each other are strong motivations I can get behind.

Cons: You do not at any point ask if I'm okay. Maybe you don't realize how bad things have been, or you feel like you have no right to ask. And I also don't love 'we might all die tomorrow' coming out mid-make out and immediately before asking if we should take things further. You can just make the offer! Don't act like you wouldn't be into it regardless!

Pros: Valax, I appreciate that you want me to fight back against you. The fact that you wish things were different makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. There are some big obstacles here and I acknowledge that. And you apologize for causing some of the trauma!

Cons: I don't love the energy that we can't figure out a solution. I get that you're very stuck in one way of thinking, but this seems like a great moment to figure something out other than 'We'll wait and see which one of us dies.'

Pros: Nia, I'm very glad you don't want to lose me. And I appreciate the acknowledgment that something might actually manage to kill me this time. I'm perfectly happy be scared together.

Cons: This scene is mostly about making her feel better. Which is fine, a lot of them are. And it's partially MC's fault for not having an option to say, "I'm scared too." But not my favorite.

Pros: Tyril, this is some solid reassurance. You'll be there with me. I'll gladly take that as comfort. Just being with me is probably the best thing to do. It's very practical and in-character.

Cons: I'm slightly confused how you thought armies worked prior to this, but we can get into that another day. As always, you could stand to ask about my feelings more.

Pros: Imtura, I love you. I am so enamored with the way you acknowledge that we could die while not being worried about it. Incredibly reassuring once we get into it.

Cons: You're not in a place to be 100% supportive because you've got your own stuff. But that's life! Overall, excellent work.

Screenshots for illustration purposes taken from Neckrone Shen's very good 4 parallel playthroughs of Blades on youtube. Because these games are so dang hard to replay when I have an idea. I hope using screenshots of someone's posted playthrough is acceptable? Tell me if it's not!

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Groupread. Book Four, Chapter I

𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔉𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔇𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔫

(clickbaity title. Did you know Borel’s Irish Priest DILF was a real person, you can see him here and wonder with me about Borel’s taste in men)

Berentz Christian, Still life with bohemian chrystals, cups and a pocketwatch , oil on canvas, 1700-1720

{ @sainteverge + @counterwiddershins }

The King and Pompadour are sitting by the fireplace (in shape of an arc d’amour. this is romanticism, anything that can be symbolic will be so. I choose to believe this is a tacky, slightly pinkish vaginal adjacent architectural creation, because sometimes my brain gets art directed by Ken Russel's team. I looked up the term to see if this is an architectural term, and it still might be, but it also could be a Roman de la Rose reference, a degraded reference to the arc of pure love that appears in the novel’s House of Fortune)

Madame P and her King act like a parody of bourgeois domesticity. She knits, he tries to tolerate a heavy indigestion. they both yawn because yawning is contagoius. We see the King has changed shapes once again, as a character whose physical form relfects his inner emotions, he is back into his grotesque, weak, flaccid, deflated frame. His mistress playfully suggests a requiem might be in order. She chides him for being so uncultured (the King believes music to be harmful for adult males) Mme P is an enjoyer of the Luminaries of the Enlightenment, as we know, on a shallow level, so she chooses to entertain the King with some base gossip instead of a selection of arias in languedoc. Father Dillon, Patrick’s old would be protector, reappears, at least in name only. It’s fun to see him again, this time not through Patrick’s naif vision… why do we see him again though? He is an example of an assimilated irishman, and being so high up in the clergy he is well connected enough that mm p and pharao casually gossip about him and his money. He is not alone but an atom in the circles of aristocratic libertinism, and although this game is harmless and stupid (basically here to illustrate how base the people high up are, and how money mixes up into their sexualized games, mme p fake reads the enlightenment and her partenaire claims music is harmful, and both can only bare talk about sex and money. Once again the supervillains of this novel are as banal as they can be, nothing is remarkable about them-mme p is as least a skilled social climber/a good lover etc-and these mediocre beings are tasked with destroying the lives of the much worthier novel’s heroes)(which honestly makes them very Roman and very contemporary) borel seems to be saying, no one so high up is clean.

But not even Mme P’s boob size contest story can disipate the clouds of annoyance darkening Pharaoh’s brow. She notices this, and her tone shifts to a submissive one -we understand how clever she is in testing the royal mood’s waters- The King confesses he’ll break under the weight of the scepter… He wishes to abdicate, because governing a people is too much work. What caused this crisis? His nightime snack wasn’t served, lunch had been detestable. So, the people he governs are basically, only his servants, the royal scope is as narrow as a long-lens. He governs to be served. Simple as that. The people, he complains, no longer have a vocation of service, and it’s all the fault of those meddling Philosophers who desacralize everything.

To highlight how deflated the King is in his current presentation, Borel displays him completely helpless or unwilling to exert direct violence as we have seen before. He asks mme P to avenge him because the new girl on “the Parc” has affronted him. Deborah’s curse, and unsubmissiveness/resistance to him, have left an impression on the King. Are we to believe most women on the parc choose to be nice to the King, play the game in hopes of a confortable life/social ascent?

Pompadour suggests Deborah cannot stay in the Parc, but, being also unfit for life in society, she must be locked in the most secret royal prison. Madame P assures the King his people haven’t forgotten how to serve him, Deborah is after all, a foreigner, which should explain her uncouthness/ignorance. She is a virago and a savage. She is worth much less than the average french subject. Like a new Scherezade, Pompadour prepares some coffee (distracting the royal baby with the shiny marabout) and resumes her role as a story teller.

[valeriefauxnom]

And now the last fantastic new illustration by WillofWinnie!

Now, WillofWinnie had some additional thoughts that went into this that I figured I ought to let you guys know, since it adds that extra little touch! In short, the background on Euden's side is darker, Zethia's lighter, because, well, Euden's still kinda in a 'darker' place, and she decided to make that more literal. Zethia's also being the representation of the rest of the family, as shown by the Alberian flag behind her. So in that aspect it's Euden hesitantly reaching out to see if the royal fam is 'safe' again, also reinforced by the fact that he's only holding his new poem with one hand, 'testing the waters'.

So yeah, that's very cool and I thought it was important to tell you too!

That being said, our last little relevant exert!

Still, she greeted him with a warm smile. “Euden! How have you been?” She did not say ‘it’s nice to see you again’ despite how true it was to avoid placing that potential stress on him to make them happy, nor did she try to make her study of him too obvious. He looked…a touch different. For one, her sibling’s claims that they rarely saw him in the courtyard sunbathing appeared true, as he no longer had quite the same shade of pallor she’d last seen.  Zethia got a faint smile in return, though it did hide a touch of nervousness and uncertainty. That was another thing, and she would struggle to describe it, but it felt as if he was both calmer and more on edge. Maybe it was just the reminder of the last encounters she had with him coloring her perception of his current mood.  “I’ve…been doing alright, I suppose…” As she debated what to say in response, he hurriedly continued, in halting tones, “I just…wanted…to give you this. I- I’m not, I don’t think I’m ready to try and be with everyone else again, but…I just hoped, maybe, this might explain why?” 

I will ask though, for anyone who does care, are you wanting me to split up the last chapter into two? Together, both hypothetical 'parts' will easily be over 20k (as each member of the family is getting their 2k+ section), and I've still quite a bit of work to do despite having a good chunk of it done. That 'chunk' is predominately the earlier parts of the chapter, so I theoretically could have that up very soon if you guys would prefer having the first part of the ending up, either because you don't want a single chapter to be that long or just want that extra treat early? Please let me know somehow if you've a preference either way!

And, thanks again to WillofWinnie for working as hard as she did to give an illustration to every published chapter of Scaling!

[wasongo]

Edit: Found someone to help me out! Thanks for the reblogs!

I put up a notice on my website for this but I'm gonna try putting out a call for help here too.

I am currently looking for people to help me format and design a KomuBak fanbook and/or a 58k illustrated novel for printing. I've got a terrible eye for font and color design and would really appreciate some help. I've never printed a book before and could use some tips.

I plan on printing a very small batch of these in memory of my late friend Eden with whom I had originally planned these projects, and who wrote the novel. She always dreamed of having The Three-Ringed Path printed as a nice book so I'm hoping I can make that a reality. As such I am not looking to make a profit from them. I plan on donating most of the digital sales of the fanbook (if any, cause let's be real there's like 5 komubak shippers out there) to charity.

I am still willing to pay or offer art/commissions for any help given (though please keep in mind that I can't pay professional hourly wages since I barely make a living wage myself), if anyone feels like giving me a hand. These two books I want to print will be a labor of love for my late friend Eden, so ideally I'd love to have someone who loves DGM or KomuBak help me with this.

Details for the books:

Novel : The Three-Ringed Path

5-9 color illustrations

58k word count

fancy cover with shiny spot gold or silver foil accents

KomuBak Fanbook

page count TBD

collection of my artwork and some of Eden's fics

simple cover with maybe some spot gloss areas

For the fanbook I want to make both a SFW and NSFW version, so if you'd like to help me with this you'll need to be comfortable with NSFW artwork.

I realize formatting a 58k novel might be very different than formatting an artbook, so if you might want to help with just one of the books and not both, that's fine.

I don't have a deadline for any of these projects, so any help given will be on your own time with no pressure whatsoever. I've put off working on these projects for nearly 3 years since Eden passed away because of grief, but I would finally like to put them together and have them printed in her memory. If anyone can help me out, even if you can only spare a few hours every month, I would really appreciate it.

If you want to reach out about this please contact me at wasongo.art@gmail.com with the subject "Fanbook/Novel Help"

Reblogs are appreciated! I don't really run in any fanzine circles and have no idea where to ask for help with this.

[erenozturk]

setting: the wolf bbq, in the timey wimey soup that is after capture the flag

featuring: eren öztürk & aiyla baysal @aiylabaysal

He did not wish to linger for long. It was not because of some disappointment over losing — that was just the nature of games, someone would be victorious and someone would be the loser. Eren didn’t care anymore about the loss, or any sourness that came before it. But he had overextended himself the past couple days, pushing his comfort limits in certain games and tiring himself using his powers where he could to help his fellow court members. He knew he did not contribute much, his discomfort enveloping him in many of the group activities. Dodgeball was an extra hell as both balls and bodies chaotically moved about him. It gave him a heightened level of anxiety, to the point he began to wonder if he’d ever be okay again. And after capture the flag, and all the mental and physical exhaustion it brought… Home, where his records and hi fi awaited, sounded very nice about then. With his car back in commission, Eren was debating seeking out his beloved Peugeot and dipping from the barbecue, but then his eyes landed on Aiyla, seated alone, and he felt an uncomfortable tug in his chest. He heard through whispers about what happened, and given he’d stopped by when Van Doren had been sneaking out of her cottage before, he had an inkling about what transpired. While she could be so graceful, so kept together, he feared there was more going on behind her dark eyes. Just stay a little longer, he told himself as he looked at her. Say hi. With a sigh, Eren approached.

“Aiyla,” he started in a soft voice, approaching the lonely table where she sat. He decided to not come empty handed, stopping at a dessert table and grabbing what looked safe and not potentially laced in something, to bring for her. “A gift,” he said politely, placing the small paper plate and dessert on the table, just beside her so she could decide if she wanted it or not. “May I sit with you?” He asked. When she gave him confirmation, he slid into the chair beside her, careful so as not to bump shoulders. With his gloved hands neatly folded before him, Eren settled into a comfortable silence beside the Fae Queen, watching the merriment around them for a stretched moment. He was not talkative by nature, something she knew about him. He found a comfort in the stillness of the quiet, one he thought often helped him through hard feelings. But he knew this wasn’t so with everyone. Still, he wasn’t sure what to say, and chewed on the inside of his cheek as he debated how to approach the subject.

“You know,” he started without thinking much, “He has a mug shot from a trip to Ibiza. From about 18 years ago, early into his college years. Got into a fight at a club, nasty thing…. Hadn’t fully grown into his ears yet. So it’s just this narrow face with a big swollen eye, then two saucers on the sides of his head.” He motioned to his own face, sucking in his cheeks to make his face slimmer, sealing one eye shut and cupping his hands behind his ears to illustrate. “Found it for a cocktail waitress, about a year ago. She printed a ton and plastered them all over his car… I don’t think I had ever heard a grown man squeak before that day.” He made the smallest bemused noise, a sigh of a breath, while recalling it. How many spurned lovers asked him to look into the gallery owner in the past two years? One too many, he reckoned. “…I might still have it, if it would amuse you to see it,” he shrugged, “We can print even more copies and make an art installation out of it.” Falling back into a stretch of silence, he moved one of his gloved hands over, ghosting over a moment before gently lowering it onto her hand. He could feel the warmth of her, even through the leather. Still just a vague impression of body heat, always so vague. “Are you okay?” He lowered his voice then, only audible to the two of them, switching to their mutual native tongue to keep it as private as he could.

[theneptuneviolin]

Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping? Credit due to @the-forest-library. I was tagged by @drasnianfrank (a while ago… ooops)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - If I had to narrow down a single favourite book (not list off about five) I would probably choose this one.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I spent a while deciding which of the Locked Tomb books I wanted to keep and it could be any of them really but I think that Gideon is the most fun of the three of them so far.

Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend - The Nevermoor series really itches the part of my brain that still wants to go on a whimsical adventure like i did when reading fantasy adventures at age twelve. While lots of them still work for me, many of them don’t and the ones that do, I’m coming at from a different perspective now. This series is a rare new-to-me series from the 8-12 shelves that does work for me and Hollowpox in particular unlocked the not-often seen part of me that got properly obsessive and immediately wanted to read the book again from the start as soon as I finished it the first time.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - My copy is one of the books I’ve had the longest and honestly looks its age. I’ve lent it to so many people and now the spine is held together with tape, the cover is crumpled and curled and it smells of cigarettes. It’s definitely not the strongest of Riordan’s books and it’s not my favourite (that might be The Hammer of Thor) but the physical object is special to me - it was also one of the rare spur-of-the-moment gifts from my mum.

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso - Caruso is really good at fast-paced, compelling novels with interesting characters and I love her stuff.

W.i.t.c.h. vol 6 (Yen Press versions) (this is arc 2 vol 3 containing issues 21-24) - I have several versions of the W.i.t.c.h. comics so it was a matter of deciding which versions counted (I am keeping all of my magazines & single issues in this hypothetical) and which one I wanted to keep. I decided not to go for something after my magazines end (shortly after which the comics get bad) but for an alternate translation of my favourite issue (21; I love this version of Cassidy).

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - I listened to the audiobook of this recently from the library (I would not recommend the audiobook because the worldbuilding is so intricate that a spent a long time being confused about things that i don't think would have confused me in print) and it’s the first new (to me) thing in a long time that has made me want to read fanfiction. I asked for the physical book for my birthday so I could reread it.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott - I originally read this in secondary school and it was the first thing I read that dealt with depression so it did things to me. I read it again a few years ago and it doesn’t hold up (but is still okay if your expectations aren’t too high) and there have been criticisms of one of Marriott’s later books that also apply to this one but I have some emotional attachments to this one and don’t think I could let it go entirely.

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire - While I think most of the Wayward Children series is enjoyable but not amazing, this one got me in the gender feels, which is something that I don’t get very often (I know i need to read more indie/self published books) and I had a very good time with it.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I have not read this book and probably never will. My copy was a gift from my grandma from her collection because she thought it might be useful for my English lit A-level. It was not. But it’s still a really nice copy and the copyright date for the introduction and illustrations make it the oldest book (as an item, not oldest from first publication date) in my collection (possibly excepting the matching edition of Jane Eyre, which she gave me at the same time but contains no copyright dates).

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas - Knowing her current reputation for smut and what a lot of my friends know about me (not into romance or shipping) this might seem an odd choice but let me take you back to 2012 when the first Throne of Glass book came out: It was in the teen section of the discount book catalogue my mum got in the post, which I read and asked my mum to get me the book with the cool-sounding assassin plot, which she did. When I read it, I loved it (I have long been easily pleased by fast paced plots) and yeah it had a love triangle - but what girly teen books at the time didn’t? (also I still had some stuff to figure out) - but I was still desperate for the next one. I did read the rest of the series as soon as I could but Heir of Fire was my favourite for a long time. Some of it was it was the last book where (on first read) it was still what I wanted it to be (I think there was a definite shift post ACoTaR’s success but some of it was absolutely there in earlier books) and some it the book’s own strengths and some of it was that I went to see her give a talk and a signing session. Also I spent years in the fandom; I still have a sideblog even if I don’t use it and am slightly embarrassed by my old interest.

A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M Harris - We have definitely reached a zone where all these books are somewhat tenuous. 20 books is somehow too many for me under these rules to fill with books I feel strongly about. I read this one on my first trip home from uni when I was sat at the train station for an hour because I missed my connection. I really liked it then (it was not as good on reread but still enjoyable).

Killing the dead by Marcus Sedgewick - I remember this being excellent when I read it as a teenager. I keep meaning to reread it and I don’t know why I haven’t because it’s one of those tiny world book day short stories.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot - Another book I read as a teenager and had strong feelings about. I reread it a few years ago and it still holds up (unlike the movie lol).

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gale Carson Levine - I read this book as a kid and still have strong feelings about it. I reread it a few years ago and it still mostly holds up (although the rest of the Disney Fairies books that I (re)read mostly do not).

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr - I also read this series as a teenager and had strong feelings about it. I also keep meaning to rereading it.

Ketchup clouds by Annabel Pitcher - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

Candor by Pam Bachorz - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusack - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

Acid by Emma Pass - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again. It’s also one of the few teen dystopian books I read in the post-Hunger Games boom that wasn’t set in North America.

I'm tagging @keeperofthetongatooth, @stormykindofgrey, @tiskycat, @satohqbanana and anyone who fancies this.