#(i want to try and get every prime empire set - a personal goal of mine ive had for a while - i only have 1 so far 😔✋️)

[helpmyinterestsareverywhere]

True fan-behaviour is looking longingly at the Ninjago pages on Amazon and Ebay while there's like £10 and a few crumbs sitting in my bank account

[sleepylixie]

The Gumiho God-King (Bang Chan)

\\ 구미호/Gumiho is a Korean folk legend of a nine-tailed fox. It is said to have magical shapeshifting abilities, a knack for mischief and an almost seductive nature in some legends. The Korean gumiho is believed to have similar characteristics to the Chinese huli jing and Japanese kitsune.//   

Word Count: 1.4k

Genre: A bit of Angst, a bit of warm fun, a lotta Supernatural

Warnings:  Betrayal, mentions of stabbing, blood and attempted murder. NOT EXPLICIT AT ALL.

A/N: The GO LIVE poster had me feeling some kind of way, with that hanbok and that eye scar and the double coloured eyes.. Chan makes me feel some type of way all the time, eh well. To be clear, I’ve taken some liberties with the historical and mythological details of it all- This is entirely a work of fiction so please don’t come for me T_T  ( @rebecca-noona you said you’d want to read it if I ever actually wrote it so >.<)

Requests Open for SKZ and BTS! || Masterlist

//He was the first prince of the Goryeo dynasty, the first son of a king who rose from a bloody past to set the foundations of a dynasty that lasted almost half a century, the inheritor of a new world- until suddenly he was nothing at all.\\

Prince Bang Chan was the doted-upon son of the Queen mother’s undivided attention, the apple of the emperor’s eye, the beloved young royal of the palace and the country he would one day grow to rule. 

He grew up unconfined, learning more from the wild outdoors than the teachings that his father’s brood of scholars could try to impart. He’d sneak out of the palace at the early hours of the night, climbing the highest trees in the grove beyond the western gate and watch the falling of the night’s moon. 

People watching fascinated him- he’d wander the crowded marketplace with guards in disguise, watching the uncountable faces betray and hide emotion as they passed by. 

Chan, the name the palace fondly called him, was as quick on his feet as he was with his mind. Sword fighting, archery and wrestling came to him easily and so, when he was of age, he left his home to fight wars with his people. 

The war taught Chan even more- everything that was wrong with his country. The festering politics, the blatant bias and nepotism, the plight of the downtrodden left an effect on him, a fire to fight the injustices his people faced.

Determined to make a change, he rose through the army’s ranks, commanding respect, trust and power because of his seemingly endless skills. There was not one soul, general or soldier, who was immune to the Crown Prince’s incredible charm.

He took lovers almost as easily with that exact charm- He’d grown up well, the young Crown Prince. Along with the mysterious dark eyes, sensuous lips and broad shoulders, he brought wit honed like the gold-hilted dagger he always kept on his person.

Maybe it all worked too well, for the love he received from the world brought him enemies who were not happy with the changes that the headstrong, quick-witted young prince could bring to the country and the court- the foremost of them being his younger brother, the 2nd prince.

Chan was posted in the particularly volatile western border, it wasn’t too difficult for the 2nd prince and the prime minister to arrange for an accident in the melee that ended with Chan stabbed in the heart and left in a copse of bamboo trees to bleed to death.

It was the entirety of a heartbroken army that sent a message back to the Goryeo capital, mourning the loss of the beloved Crown Prince who had his whole life and ascension ahead of him. Little did they know the betrayal that had brought them to that day. 

If only Chan had died that night, his own gold dagger in his heart and his blood in his mouth. 

//

It was Autumn’s Eve. The full moon night and the spiritual significance of the day brought together the elusive Gumiho clans every year, at a spot not too far off from where Chan’s almost dead body lay. 

The scent of blood brought one particular young Gumiho named Jihyo to the bamboo copse and to the armored, bloody of the crown prince. It didn’t take even a second of thought for her to notice the goodness and the streak of willfulness in him. 

Jihyo decided to give him part of her magic, healing Chan and effectively turning into a Gumiho himself. Contrary to the mortals’ beliefs, the gumiho was a race of benevolent, if not slightly fun loving half-humans with supernatural powers.

Maybe it was the strength his body and mind held or just sheer luck, but Chan survived the worst, biding through his injuries under the care of Jihyo’s Gumiho clan. He took days to recover even otherwise, his body still accepting the new magic that ran through his veins. 

Chan awoke 2 weeks later in a whole new world from the one he closed his eyes on- eyes that were now one blue, one black. He was no longer a crown prince, no longer a royal, no longer entirely even human. 

It was all too new for him, too shocking, to be something that he had believed to be figments of bedtime stories until then. It was almost impossible for him to look at the back of a shiny copper plate and see the fox-like tilt to his eyes, the sharp tips of his ears, the canines looking slightly longer than before.

The weight of the tails near his tailbone left him imbalanced and struggling to walk for days after he woke up, even more before he could understand his new magic enough to hide them. 

Jihyo and her Gumiho clan watched the vigour with which Chan’s strength came back to him, the willful streak pushing him to learn more about his new form; it was almost like he was pushing himself to the limit, to some goal that he wasn’t ready to voice aloud. 

Chan did have a goal: To get back to his old life as fast as possible. It didn’t matter that he’d have to expend his magic to keep a pretense alive for the rest of his now immortal life, he had too much to go back for. 

“You shouldn’t go back,”Jihyo reasoned with Chan. “Mortals aren’t very.. accepting if they find out about our true forms.”

and she was met with a glint in his eyes and found herself levelled with a gaze that belonged to a future king, the jilted leader of a bloody empire.

 “It will kill me if I didn’t try.”

And try he did- the guards fainted when they set eyes on him. What else would they do, when the crown prince they’d mourned for weeks suddenly appeared, beyond hale and hearty in the dead of night? 

His mother welcomed his back with tears in her eyes, already looking years older in the few months he had been away. 

Before he could meet his father who’d been sent to his deathbed, he was stopped by the same person who had put him in this plight. The second prince, his own brother sneered at him, asking him what black magic he’d used to survive the dagger he’d poisoned himself.

The shock ravaging Chan’s system almost made him lose control over his carefully constructed mask. In the seconds of him processing the betrayal, the 2nd prince drew his sword on Chan, leaving him no option but to retaliate, the military training over the years kicking in. 

A fierce tango ensued and soon, they found themselves with locked blades, snarling in each others faces, until his younger brother uttered the most atrocious sentence. 

“The throne will be mine, brother. I even poisoned our father for this.”

The snarl of pure rage that rippled from Chan’s throat had his magic exploding outwards, destroying his human face and throwing his brother backward. 

The terror that chilled the 2nd Prince’s spine at the sight of the Crown Prince growling at him with double colored eyes and fangs had him screaming for the guards. 

and chaos ensued. 

It was a miracle Chan even got out alive, as injured and broken as he was. 

It was all too much for him, the hope he had for being a change in the world melting away with the realization that he was too late, humanity was too far gone already, that he would never be part of that world again. 

He found his way back to Jihyo and her clan who accepted him with open arms, allowing him to find solace in the company of souls who had felt the same as him in their past. 

The clan healer’s magic was enough to remove any scars that his injuries could leave, but Chan asked for one to not be touched- a single wound that swiped a thin red line down his left eye, cutting through his eyebrow and stopping just below his eye.

It would serve as a reminder of everything he’d faced and lost as a mortal, and an assurance that he’d never allow that kind of ice-cold corruption to mar the society he was now a part of.

//

Now almost 900 years old, Chan holds a position of power in the supernatural world, not too different from the one he was meant to hold all those centuries ago as a mortal. 

Everybody knows the story of the Gumiho King from a forgotten era, a cautionary tale for the evil and a legend for the downtrodden, a half-mortal with a moral compass that would never stray from the light. 

[inexcon]

RSI Comm-Link: Something Every Tuesday: Finding Fiona

[ Music ]

Announcer: The other days of the week will make you blue, but that’s why we bring you Something Every Tuesday with your host, Esen Landari!

[ Applause ]

Hello everyone! Thank you … enough, you’re embarrassing me. What a great audience we’ve got tonight. We’ve got an amazing show for you. We’re almost as loaded as Ellroy Cass at the Crimson Tower premiere last week.

[ Laughter ]

If you’re a Cass-fanatic, like me, it doesn’t get much better than this. If you haven’t seen this yet, you are in for a treat. Cass stumbles out of the theater right in the middle of the Crimson Tower premiere, and as you can see, he might be a little high. Maybe that’s not the right word. He’s stratospherically high. At first, he tries to play it all cool. You know, not wanting to draw any attention from the few paparazzi still there. But they start calling his name, asking if he’s all right, until he stops dead in his tracks …

After a moment, he looks directly into the nearest camera and smiles before suddenly tackling one of these prop “Crimson Towers” they had lining the red carpet. Everyone nearby was just stunned. Mainly because that was easily the biggest hit Cass has been a part of in years.

[ Laughter ]

I adore you, Cass. Would love to have you on the show. Just have your people comm mine. I’m sure we could fit you in anytime after we finish bolting everything to the floor.

[ Laughter ]

Now, Cass wasn’t the only one who had a rough week. Diners at a brand new Xi’an restaurant in Prime flooded a nearby medical facility, claiming that they had contracted severe cases of food poisoning. Food inspectors investigated and guess what they found? Xi’an food.

Apparently no one told these people that’s what it was supposed to taste like. How ridiculous is that? That’d be like getting angry at Herschel Foods because one of their “Too Much Soup” vending machines literally gave you too much soup.

[ Polite Laughter ]

Speaking of feeling sick to your stomach, how about that leaked report showing that the Senate committee on Economic Development was actually considering a proposal to rent prisoners to companies in a ‘work-exchange program’?

[ Boos ]

Just when you think our elected officials can’t get any worse. Of course Senators have been falling all over themselves to state that it was just a staffer’s draft proposal and there’s no way it would’ve been approved, but I am making a pledge here and now that if such a heinous act ever gets passed then I will be extremely nice to our new heavily tattooed writing staff.

[ Laughter ]

We’ve got a great show for you tonight. The Dardanelles are warming up backstage to play their latest single, Empress of Sol, and will be making a very special announcement a little later on in the show. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it.

But my first guest has achieved Empire-wide fame thanks to her performance as Commander Salana in Lost Squad. Tonight, she’s here to talk about her portrayal of Fiona Messer in the controversial new vid Sparrow. Let’s welcome the accomplished and enchanting Jasmine Dupree to the show.

[ Applause ]

Jasmine Dupree: Thanks for having me!

Well, we’re excited to have you here. You’ve been on quite the ride recently. The first season of Lost Squad was a huge hit and your portrayal of Commander Salana is one of the main reasons why.

[ Applause ]

Jasmine Dupree: Thank you. Being on Lost Squad has been such an amazing experience, but to be honest, I just showed up every day and did what Jenna and Hadrian told me to do. I have such faith in their vision, and I’m just lucky to be along for the ride.

And the second season of Lost Squad starts soon, right?

Jasmine Dupree: Yeah, we’re almost done shooting it. Luckily, there was enough downtime between the seasons for me to sneak away and shoot Sparrow.

Since you already know what goes down in the second season of Lost Squad, maybe you can settle a bet for me here. Is your Lost Squad character, Captain Salana, going to be show’s lone survivor?

Jasmine Dupree: You know I can’t answer that.

Why not? I promise I won’t tell anyone.

Jasmine Dupree: The less I say about it, the better. The entire series hinges on this secret so I’d hate to be the one to spoil all the fun. Plus, Jenna and Hadrian would send me to Vanduul space if I gave anything away.

Well, I respect your discretion, but just so you know, I’m not above bribing you so I can win the office pool. How about this, you tell me who it is, and I’ll split the winnings with you? Just saying.

[ Laughter ]

Now, let’s get back to the business at hand. You have a new vid coming out called Sparrow, which has drawn criticism for its portrayal of Fiona Messer. How hard was it to go from playing such an honorable character in Lost Squad to such an odious one in Sparrow?

Jasmine Dupree: That’s part of the reason why I found the role so intriguing. Fiona Messer is completely different than Commander Salana. It’s been fun playing powerful women who use very different tactics to accomplish their goals.

Among many other ghastly allegations, Fiona Messer was accused of orchestrating the Khanos Stadium bombing that killed thousands in Angeli. At any point were you worried about painting Fiona in too sympathetic of a light?

Jasmine Dupree: Actually, I enjoyed the challenge of trying to make someone who’s inherently unlikable, likable. There’s the cunning, ruthless and duplicitous Fiona Messer that dominates the textbooks, but like anybody, there was more to her than that. It’s just that these other nuances of her personality get overshadowed by all the terrible things she did.

So is your portrayal of her based on any real evidence or is it purely speculative?

Jasmine Dupree: I actually spent almost a week at The Ark with experts and historians reviewing old comm messages and vids related to Fiona. I must say, despite her many, many shortcomings, people liked her. Fiona was known to be extremely charming and personable, so I wanted to show that side of her to people. It was necessary, actually, to help lend credence to the vid because she uses her connections and charms to escape the UEE following the revolution that overthrew her family.

Yeah, for those who don’t know, most of the vid takes place after the revolution, and imagines Fiona Messer’s life as she tries to stay one step ahead of a UEE government that’s willing to do anything to bring her to justice. Was any of that drawn from the research you did?

Jasmine Dupree: No, all of that was fictionalized. Even the experts at The Ark have no idea what really happened to Fiona Messer. That’s why it’s one of the great mysteries of the past few centuries. Considering all the crazy conspiracy theories out there, it was fun to explore what might have happened.

What if she became just another person trying to get by with a new identity while hiding a dark secret? That’s what Sparrow explores. Is it possible for someone like Fiona Messer to reinvent themselves, or even find redemption for all the terrible things she did?

So, I gotta ask, did you grow to like Fiona Messer while playing her?

Jasmine Dupree: It’s hard to ‘like’ someone who did all the terrible things she did, but for most of the vid, I’m playing a fictionalized version of Fiona. One that’s seen the error of her actions and is trying, in some small way, to right the wrongs both she and her family did. I grew to like that version of Fiona Messer.

Well, even with all the controversy the vid is generating, your performance is still receiving rave reviews. So congratulations on the accomplishment.

Do you have a few minutes to stick around and play a few rounds of “Spin Cycle”?

Jasmine Dupree: Spin Cycle? Is this my punishment for not saying who the survivor is?

I’m not gonna say. SET has its secrets too … But yes, it absolutely is.

Now, we need to take a quick break, but don’t go anywhere. There’s more with Jasmine Dupree followed by an exclusive performance and special announcement from The Dardanelles when Something Every Tuesday returns.

[ Music ]

http://bit.ly/2l61Y1c