#I discovered it when I got to the very end of it

[starseungs]

to love you like the snow melts. ksm.

kim seungmin x gn!reader — if seungmin wanted to be loved like a planet being discovered, he wanted to love you like the snow melted during the cusp of spring.

GENRE/S — fluff, maybe kinda emotional (or is that just me), slight college au mentioned in passing, he fell first trope • 1.1k words

WARNING/S — nothing really unless you're not into lovesick pining, story told in seungmin's pov, slightly unedited cz idk

( ✒️ ) happy seungmin day !! i think i dissociated while writing this fic cause man... i barely remember shit 😭 i originally had a plan going into writing this but it just got thrown out the window by my brain apparently (also this fic is inspired by one of the results in this quiz cause i loved the prompt i got so much) this fic is a bit short but i hope yall like it <3

2024 ⓒ starseungs on tumblr. do not steal, repost, or edit.

Seungmin’s eyes love to rest on you. 

That was an undoubtable fact in his life—one that he, himself, doesn’t even know how it started. Yet, the acknowledgement of this unknown didn’t bother him at all. If anything, it was a source of comfort for him; a way of reminding himself of the joy in living. To Seungmin, one thing was for certain: He was given the gift of sight to experience you in your entire beauty.

He first met you in a university lecture, where you simply happened to frequent the seat just a row behind and two chairs away from where he usually sat. Perhaps he was enamored from the very beginning. It was like his gaze would always find a way back to you whenever you were in his immediate vicinity, reminiscent of a magnet longing to cling to metal.

That was also the way he took in your presence as a whole. Seungmin was a man starved for knowledge, desperately clawing for anything he could get to broaden his desired expertise that was you. He particularly loved the way your eyes drooped whenever the lecture of the day bore you, as well as your tendency to make origami on available paper during the times you could care less to listen. The latter always ended up with you blinking endearingly after a successful craft, glancing around the people near you to figure out who to present it to.

Oh, how he wished he had been over there instead, happily receiving a paper star to keep. However, it was your friends that surrounded you on a daily, barely giving you time to be alone. And maybe you didn’t want to be alone—another thing about you that he’d like to discover the truth to. But he thought that until the day he somehow found himself stumbling into your life, he’d have to be grateful to your friends for making you shine the way you deserved every step of the way.

So, imagine his surprise when he finally got the chance to make a mark in the vast expanse of your world.

The opportunity came in the form of a group project with you; the catalyst in which his whole life began to change. Friendly introductions of obligation quickly turned into incessant strings of conversation, bringing the two of you closer. The sheer pace of the development was overwhelming. Seungmin never thought his presence bore enough weight for gravity to grab him by the neck and lock him in the system of the star that was you. 

It was a trip and a half, consisting of countless miles to lap around with seemingly no end. So much, that he feared falling out of your grace—to be like a passing asteroid who foolishly dreamt of becoming a planet. Seungmin was endlessly yearning to solidify his place in your world, just like he always wanted. And still, despite that all, he didn’t show it. He merely laughed when you laughed, stayed silent when you needed silence, and experienced anger on your behalf when you couldn’t show it for yourself. 

Because Kim Seungmin knew that you needed to be loved patiently.

Even throughout the tightrope of uncertainty he walked months on like his life depended on it, he never once made it seem like he was waiting on a move from you. If Seungmin wanted to be loved like a planet being discovered, he wanted to love you like the snow melted during the cusp of spring. 

Seungmin knew that even with the shows of your cheery demeanor, your heart still remained frosted over from your previous winters. That even when your fingers danced their way to intertwine with his, there was still that moment of hesitation. He was forever thankful that you caught him from falling when he did, refusing to let him disappear into the abyss. Yet, who was lighting up the skies of which you lay under to stare at each day?

He longed to give you a love that was true. One where he showed you how warmth creeped in with small trickles of heat, giving you enough time to decide whether you truly wanted it or not. Love that was considerate in the way that it willingly warned you of its presence, but in a way that cupped your cheeks and sang you lullabies. To love you gently as to not sully your shoes with messy, muddy soil of the ground peeking out from beneath the snow. 

To Seungmin, there was no greater gift than being able to be the sign of your spring.

“Baby?” You called out to him softly, a flash of concern twinkling behind your gaze. “Is anything wrong?”

Seungmin feels like he was just coaxed out of a trance, previously being too occupied studying the details of you at the moment, as if he hadn’t already spent the past hour doing just that. A string of golden celebration banners made its presence known in the corner of his eye, briefly acknowledging the once-a-year greeting printed on them. The slight smell of smoke fully brought him back to his senses, finally glancing down towards the cake with a small lit-up candle you were presenting him.

Right. It was his birthday today.

He chuckles, shaking his head. “No,” he replies truthfully. “Everything is perfect.” Your eyebrows scrunched in confusion, having trouble making sense of the situation. Seungmin has half a mind to think if you would forgive him if he tried to straighten it out with his thumbs as a tease.

“But, you’re not blowing out your candles,” you purse your lips in contemplation. He feels an unstoppable force creeping up to turn the corners of his mouth upwards. Did you even know just how much he loves you?

“I was just enjoying the view, that’s all.”

Your demeanor visibly brightens up. “Is the cake that pretty?” Was your smug question, clearly feeling proud of yourself. “I worked hard on that, you know?” 

Seungmin only smiles. Like he always does whenever it concerns you. That warm boyish grin he had paired with a certain fond look in his eyes that his friends never failed to point out just to fluster him into oblivion. But he lets them anyway. There was no way he could ever deny the truth of how strongly he felt for you.

“I know.” 

Because he always does. 

And as he leaned forward to feel the last heat of the flickering candle before it went out, he couldn’t help but think that the snow had finally melted. His wish had already come true.

“Happy birthday, Seungmin!”

Spring has come.

MASTERTAG ━ STATUS: OPEN — ASK OR COMMENT 🫶

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[rafaelsilvasource]

Husbands (we love typing that as much as you love reading it) T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) are coming into the fifth and final season of 9-1-1: Lone Star (premiering Monday, September 23 on Fox) already dealing with the unsolved murder of the latter’s father. But there’s more drama to come.

Carlos’ obsession with that investigation is going to put their marriage to the test. T.K.’s half-brother, Jonah, is coming to Austin (which is sure to affect Rob Lowe‘s Owen as well). Below, co-showrunner Rashad Raisani previews that and more that’s ahead for the fan-favorite couple.

Carlos is investigating his father’s death. What can you preview about that investigation? That’s also going to involve Campbell (Parker Young), right?

The way we’ve been talking about Campbell and Carlos is that they’re like two brothers, the big brother and the little brother. Carlos comes along, and in Campbell’s mind, he got kind of a free pass because of who his dad, Gabriel Reyes, was, the legend, and to go to the front of the line and become a Texas Ranger. The first episode is about these two brothers both fighting for daddy’s love and daddy being Chief Bridges, their boss. But what’s gonna happen is they learn to respect each other and they’re gonna discover that they’re so much better when they work as a team and they really complement each other brilliantly, not just as investigators, but as characters and frankly to me, as actors. I think just they have a wonderful dynamic that only gets richer as the season goes forward.

Carlos’s father’s murder is a thing that Carlos is not giving that up. It is the central driving force in Carlos’ life. And there’s no way we’re going to end the series without giving that poor guy some answers. So there will be some answers at the end of the day on that.

The season description says that T.K. and Carlos’ marriage is put to the test because Carlos becomes obsessed with solving his father’s murder. What can you tease about how we see that play out and how tough things are gonna get in the middle of that for them? I do have faith that they’re gonna be okay by the end.

A big part for me about their marriage was I really wanted to treat it like a real marriage, and by that, I mean that even though these guys are so wonderful to each other and they’re so handsome, life isn’t perfect no matter who you are and everybody has real struggles that affect even great relationships. And the true strength of a relationship isn’t the absence of challenges and problems, it’s how you grapple with them and encounter them and if they make your relationship stronger or weaker.

And so for Carlos, this burden of his dad’s murder is going to sit there and take up a lot of oxygen in the room and T.K., who is an incredibly supportive husband, is gonna try and be patient and graceful and allow Carlos to have that space. But at a certain point, he’s got to advocate for them to have a future together, and that’s part of what you were talking about with Jonah. I like to think that little boy, in some ways, represents the future of their relationship and Gabriel’s murder represents the past of their relationship, and there’s gonna be a tension between those two things and that’s gonna be their central dynamic this year, is that one person is struggling to get answers in the past and the other person is struggling to move on and build a future, which I think is a very relatable human experience.

All of this makes me think about kids, and that has been a bit of an issue for them in the past. How does that come into play?

I think that’s another pressure point because Carlos was very upfront with T.K. about, “Hey, I’m not ready to have kids and I don’t know if I ever will be,” and then now that his dad’s been murdered, in his headspace, that’s the last thing that he’s got the bandwidth or the emotional energy to deal with. But like I said, T.K. is feeling like life is happening right now, like we don’t get moments back, and especially as a first responder, they see that you can’t take anything for granted. And circumstances are going to align that are going to [lead to] a situation where T.K. is like, I know that you were uncomfortable with taking this next step as a father, but I feel like it’s something powerful that I need to do, and to make that a crisis point for them as well.

I hope that the audience can see the argument from both of their points of view and just go, “S**t, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I would do either.” That’s what I hope because I feel like people have real problems that aren’t so simple as to say, well, he’s right, he’s wrong, whatever. We just wanted to put them through that.

[miles-edgewords]

short rant about stanford pines because i need to talk about him

(content warning: mentions of abuse/cults/etc.)

ford is not evil, and i will not be convinced otherwise. he definitely struggles with emotional empathy in high-stress situations, but he’s got plenty of cognitive empathy when he’s given time to process. journal 3 made it extremely clear that he felt remorse for his actions, and ultimately he ended up admitting that stanley was the hero in the end. obviously feeling remorse ≠ earning forgiveness, but by the end of the book he’s very clearly taking steps to make amends for his mistakes and doesn’t expect forgiveness in return.

a lot of the shit ford did was also during the time he was being heavily manipulated by bill. again, this doesn’t excuse anything, but you have to remember that bill is so good at manipulation that he was one of the most feared entities in the multiverse for an enormous amount of time. bill used tactics commonly used by abusers and cult leaders to make their victims easier to manipulate (ie. enforcing severe sleep deprivation, waiting until the victim is at their lowest to make a move, isolation, love-bombing, etc.) and even when ford finally discovered the true nature of his “muse” he was effectively still being manipulated. during his 30-year dimension travels he was so worried about being used again that he agreed to have a metal plate surgically installed in his head and was still devoting 100% of his time and energy to bill—he just saw him in a negative light now instead of a positive one. again, bill’s manipulation doesn’t mean ford is exempt from accountability, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

another thing i’d like to mention is ford and stan’s parents. we don’t see that much of them, but between what we see and what’s implied we know that their father was pretty much the pinnacle of toxic masculinity. ford was raised believing that the only way he could be respected, not to mention loved, was by keeping his flaws to himself and strengthening his redeeming qualities. ford loved his research, yes— but it was also the only thing he could let himself focus on. without his assets, he was nothing (or so he believed).

ford is, at heart, someone who desperately wants to be known and loved. it took him a long time to realize that the solution to that was not awards or fame or glory, despite what he’d been led to think. it wasn’t by being the smartest kid in the classroom, or the toughest guy in the interdimensional battlefield. the best way to feel fulfilled, as he would eventually discover, is by being with people who love and trust him, and loving and trusting them in return. and he got there. bit by bit, he got there.

[chickenkurage]

Possible new AU? (Duck Alan AU?????)

Where in canon happens, except around Showdown, Alan got extremely worried that Second and the others hadn't come back yet. So he uses his brand new VR headset that he had bought (was planned to use it so he could finally meet and talk with the stick figures, but forgot)

He hadn't set a model for his VR so he used his ROBLOX character as his model, except the VR had twisted it and turned his whole model as a Duck. (His ROBLOX model is a duck head XD). So he sets his way towards the portal and was able to stop Second before he could kill Dark.

What he thought he would look like.

Versus what he turned into.

Second was confused when he saw Alan, cause why was there a random Duck trying to get his attention?

Alan is swimming through the water so he could get to Second and the others (He still has not noticed he was a duck, he thought he was just extremely good at swimming, and awfully small for some reason)

Now onto some doodles! Duck Alan with his kids!

VICTIM

Here Victim discovers Alan was in the outernet and kidnapped him, and instead he was disappointed to find Alan looking like a Duck instead of the "Scary Cursor" form he had. So now his revenge was in shambles and forgotten since Alan had disappointed him so much in such a short time.

(Alan bothers Victim frequently by sneaking inside Rocket Corp)

Alan sad mode because he got kicked out of Rocket Corp again.

CHOSEN

Alan also fell asleep behind the VR as well (thank goodness he was laying on his bed) He totally did not sneak around and carefully laid himself down on top of Chosen.

DARK

Initially, after the Showdown and Alan saving Dark from Second (by distracting him for looking like a duck). Alan has now fixed Dark's code, and he is much more chill now, since he has no voices telling him to destroy everything.

Though he is still mad at Alan (It's just hard to be mad at a cute looking duck, even if that duck is Alan himself, or so he tells himself that)

Alan is secretly very happy to see them all in person, so he cant help but stare at them in awe.

SECOND

Alan has no legs, i like to think he just glides around the place since that's just a VR model XDDD.

In the end, Alan had the chance to change his model, but he kept it because the others are much more kinder to him in that form XDDD

Where did i get this AU idea? Uhh *looks at the AvG roblox gameplays* i don't know either tbh. - S

[warrioreowynofrohan]

LOTR Newsletter - September 20

The first of our days using in-universe time!

But I’m going to hop back a couple of days of in-universe time to recap some events.

Gandalf is rescued from Isengard by Gwaihir on the night of September 18th-19th. But there's a very interesting version of this in "The Hunt for the Ring" in Unfinished Tales that gives us a lot more insight on a potential characterization of Saruman.

In Version C, on the other hand, the Black Riders arrived at the Gate of Isengard while Gandalf was still a prisoner in the tower. In this account, Saruman, in fear and despair, and perceiving the full horror of service to Mordor, resolved suddenly to yield to Gandalf, and to beg for his pardon and help. Temporizing at the Gate, he admitted that he had Gandalf within, and said that he would go and try to discover what he knew; if that were unavailing, he would deliver Gandalf up to them. Then Saruman hastened to the summit of Orthanc – and found Gandalf gone. Away south against the setting moon he saw a great Eagle flying towards Edoras. Now Saruman’s case was worse. If Gandalf had escaped there was still a real chance that Sauron would not get the Ring, and would be defeated. In his heart Saruman recognized the great power and the strange ‘good fortune’ that went with Gandalf. But now he was left alone to deal with the Nine. His mood changed, and his pride reasserted itself in anger at Gandalf’s escape from impenetrable Isengard, and in a fury of jealousy. He went back to the Gate, and he lied, saying that he had made Gandalf confess. He did not admit that this was his own knowledge, not being aware of how much Sauron knew of his mind and heart. [Footnote: Earlier in this version it is said that Sauron had at this time, by means of the palantíri, at last begun to daunt Saruman, and could in any case often read his thought even when he withheld information. Thus Sauron was aware that Saruman had some guess at the place where the Ring was; and Saruman actually revealed that he had got as his prisoner Gandalf, who knew the most.] “I will report this myself to the Lord of Barad-dûr,” he said loftily, “to whom I speak from afar on great matters that concern us. But all that you need to know on the mission that he has given you is where “the Shire” lies. That, says Mithrandir, is northwest from here some six hundred miles, on the borders of the seaward Elvish country.” To his pleasure Saruman saw that even the Witch-king did not relish that. “You must cross Isen by the Fords, and then rounding the Mountains’ end make for Tharbad upon Greyflood. Go with speed, and I will report to your Master that you have done so.” This skillful speech convinced even the Witch-king for the moment that Saruman was a faithful ally, high in Sauron’s confidence. At once the Riders left the Gate and rode in haste to the Fords of Isen. Behind them Saruman sent out wolves and Orcs in vain pursuit of Gandalf; but in this he had other purposes also, to impress his power upon the Nazgûl, perhaps also to prevent them from lingering near, and in his anger he wished to do some injury to Rohan, and to increase the fear of him which his agent Wormtongue was building up in Théoden’s heart. Wormtongue had been in Isengard not long since, and was then on his way back to Edoras; among the pursuers were some bringing messages to him. When he was rid of the Riders Saruman retired to Orthanc, and sat in earnest and dreadful thought. It seems that he resolved still to temporize, and still to hope to get the Ring for himself. He thought that the direction of the Riders to the Shire might hinder them rather than help them, for he knew of the guard of the Rangers, and he believed also (knowing of the oracular dream-words and Boromir’s mission) that the Ring had gone and was already on its way to Rivendell. At once he marshalled and sent out into Eriador all the spies, spy-birds, and agents that he could muster.

This is intriguing on several levels. Firstly, that Saruman actually considered changing his mind and begging Gandalf for help after having kept his as prisoner for over two months. I feel like this gets at something important about Tolkien's writings. Many of his evil characters are not completely devoid of good impulses; but those are only impulses, not convictions, and when any barrier or temptation comes up (often, as in this case, related to pride), they don't follow up on them. It's choices, not impulses, that define them.

Secondly, the fact that the power of Saruman's voice actually is - or was, before the events of The Two Towers - enough to con the Lord of the Nazgul, and to convince him (temporarily) that Saruman is a loyal and prominent ally, and that he got the Shire's location out of Gandalf (rather than already knowing it himself). And also that he's still got Gandalf captive.

Thirdly, the fact that Saruman's already sending wolves and orcs into Rohan on raids. It really gives a sense of how stressful the several months before The Two Towers would have been to Éomer and Éowyn (and Théodred) - they know perfectly well that Saruman's a danger, but they can't get Théoden to agree to do anything about it.

And the last line confirms what is only suggested in the books (but outright stated in the movies): that the flocks of crows that fly over the company in Eregion are indeed spies of Saruman.

On September 19th Gandalf comes to Edoras, and Théoden refuses him admittance on the advice of Wormtongue; on September 20th Théoden tells him "Take any horse, only be gone ere tomorrow is old!", and refuses to listen to his warnings about Saruman.

So, by September 20th, when Frodo's goods are sent off to Crickhollow, the Ringwraiths already know where the Shire is, and are on their way there. The clock is ticking...

[glass--beach]

hi do you like ok computer (1997)

because i really just don't get it (especially as the second-best album of all time) but i reeeally want to & i respect your opinion on that a lot

yea that album kinda changed the course of my life lol. wall of text incoming

first - don’t let rym or aoty or whatever tell you what’s good and what isn’t, everybody’s got their own taste & criticisms that go against the grain are very important!! i will say anything that’s that consistently highly rated across different websites & publications is probably undeniably significant and worth listening to. whether listening feels like discovering a new favorite or sitting through a history lesson is where taste comes in. it’s important to interrogate the canon too as there is an enormous amount of implicit bias in what even gets in front of critics and in the metrics they grade music by. review aggregate sites have democratized this process a bit & all the good and bad of democracy has come with that lol.

so, the album gets praised for a couple of reasons - its innovative production, its commentary on the historical zeitgeist, and the pop appeal of much of the songwriting.

production - the album makes heavy use of cutting edge effects units, digital editing, computer trackers, sampling, and even features little bits of voice synthesis. most of it is stuff that had existed in music before radiohead, artists like aphex twin (and much of the rest of warp records’ 90s catalog) and bjork were ahead of the curve in a lot of the aesthetic aspects of okc and had influenced radiohead a lot, which is even more evident on their followup kid a. radiohead was not breaking new ground in using these sounds, but they were among the first to put it all in a rock context, taking cues from the weirder cuts on the beatles’ white album, the experimental “krautrock” band can, and miles davis’ classic jazz fusion album bitches brew.

context - radiohead had grown up during the decline of much of the social democratic programs that had helped to facilitate the education and performing careers of much of their early influences such as joy division and the smiths. by the time okc was being written they had lived through the austerity of the thatcher era, the fall of the soviet union, and now were watching the labour party turn increasingly neoliberal under tony blair. there was a general sentiment in the west that the progress of history had slowed or even stopped in favor of the neoliberal order. at the same time, tech was booming and computers were starting to find their way into more aspects of daily life. the album imagines a boring dystopia, where machines are rabidly advancing but humans are stuck in stasis. a major connecting theme is infrastructure - the airbag through which thom yorke is “born again,” the “cracks in the pavement,” the family politics that separate romeo and juliet in exit music, the mechanical voice of fitter happier giving contradictory directions for maintaining the status quo. even the escapist fantasy of no surprises comes in the form of carbon monoxide. and then, the record ends with the “ding” of an appliance that has completed its task.

songwriting - the band’s previous album the bends really is a pop masterpiece. i recommend it to anybody who wants to get into radiohead but doesn’t vibe with their later work. okc expands that compositional style through, for one thing, the more apparent influence of classical music on tracks like paranoid android or the Chopin homage exit music; let down even features polymetric layering characteristic of Steve Reich. it also features some songs that are too good to even need to push the envelope much, like karma police or one of my favorites, no surprises, which seems to reference the beach boys’ wouldn’t it be nice or the velvet underground’s sunday morning.

to be honest, i like okc mostly because it really spoke to me at a formative time in my life, when i was like 15 and felt heavily disconnected from the world around me. the album deals with those feelings in a very different context but it’s a feeling many people can relate to for many different reasons - i was closeted in a conservative culture, not a depressed british rock star lol. it also was an excellent gateway into many of the bands’ influences, who are also favorites of mine now. most people who love the album don’t really go as deep as i like to with understanding it, but maybe what i said here will give you something else to listen for, idk. maybe you just gave me an excuse to infodump about an album i love lol :)

[arkanis-englishupdates]

SUMMARY OF ALL ARKANIS POVs

DAY 16 & DAY 17 — 18/09/2024 & 19/09/2024

DAY 16 — 19/09/2024

The day begins with some disturbances for Gabepeixe, who receives a mysterious voice message telling him to go to the factory unarmed and alone. The half-fish goes to the factory, takes the internal elevator and there, he has an argument with Araldo, who insists that he is the only one capable of carrying out automated processes in Valigma. Angry, Gabepeixe confronts him and then leaves.

Fearing punishment for his retaliation, Gabepeixe dismantles all his farms that he had in his laboratory.

Gabepeixe then starts with his plan of making a lunar base so Araldo wouldn't bother him, starting to build rockets for him and his son.

[I'm sorry, but I don't have much information about Day 16. Please, if you have it, send it here in the comments and I'll update everything!]

DAY 17 — 19/09/2024

Quel, Matt, Denix e Gabepeixe they meet and start talking, and Denix reveals that he and his father are going to the moon to build another secret laboratory there (Gabepeixe doesn't want to have any more problems with Araldo, that's why he wants to build his laboratory on the moon).

Matt and Quel decide to talk more about the diaries and Bia Raux. The duo try to decipher the words missing from the diaries, but are unsuccessful.

(It is revealed by Quel that Bia and her other followers [she included] were against Araldo).

Matt discovers that Araldo has been contacting different specialists. It seems that Araldo is planning something against Gabepeixe.

Quel tries to explain to Matt what Bia said about what Arkanya is, but it wasn't very clear what it was. But she believes it is an energy and that you have free will to use it however you want. For example, from Bia's point of view, Araldo and Mayor Jota use it the wrong way and she is the personification of good.

Apparently there is an emergency excavation made by the Mayor and Araldo.

Sheriff Jorge says that Jota and Araldo got together to do this excavation, but they don't know exactly why.

Gabepeixe and Denix invite their friends to watch the launch of rockets that have the moon as their destination. Unfortunately there were complications and both rockets failed, with Gabepeixe landing roughly on the ground. While Gabepeixe was down, Araldo appears in front of him accusing him of trying to escape, leaving the half-fish alone right after.

Quel and everyone who was at the event find Gabepeixe on the ground, with him stating that Araldo had sabotaged the rockets.

Suddenly Gabepeixe disappears, leaving everyone on alert to look for him.

Everyone looks for Gabepeixe around the city, but they are soon teleported to Araldo's office, who was waiting for them with Gabepeixe. Everyone talks to Araldo, accusing him of having more power over the government than he should, but Araldo counters by saying that he has a legitimate friendship with Jota.

While the conversation was going on, Araldo asked Quel about her mask and why she couldn't take it off, he says he would never make a mask that was impossible to remove and that I would never force anyone to use, saying this was definitely something Bia Raux would do.

Araldo says that if Gabepeixe wants some advanced technology, he could give it to him himself, and says he will organize a dinner with everyone as a kind of welcome (With Araldo also stating that if anyone wants a mask, he would gladly do so).

After being intermittently interrupted, Araldo disappears using a type of flash grenade.

(It is said by Gabepeixe that before ending up in the office, the half-fish was in a place completely full of machinery and a type of purple light/magic)

The group goes to the house that Gabepeixe shares with Yayahz and Coreano to theorize and discuss what happened. Quel suddenly receives a book by Bia Raux with the following text:

"Don't worry, Q. This scoundrel will pay when we blow up Valigma... Don't tell anyone, lil kisses."

Choke calls Quel to talk at home, saying that she doesn't like Araldo but likes Bia. Quel agrees with the frog and Choke says she has been talking to Bia for some time, waiting for the long-awaited meeting with her (Quel also explains that Arkanya is a type of energy that flows through some things, like parchments. She says that it changes a lot depending on what you intend to do with the person and that it has to do with free will).

Choke reveals that she got the seed of the giant tree (Samaúma, the tree that sings) from Gnomeu, and that she thinks it could be something from Bia. The duo then agree to keep everything they talked about secret.

Quel says that Samaúma remember her a tree on the island where the boat crashed. The duo decide to go there by boat. There, they explore the tree and then the large mask cave (Quel explains about the mine incident and that Moah ended up dying in the cave).

Choke says to Quel that at city hall there is a locker with the letter "M" written, and Quel says that "M" is a friend of her, also a specialist who arrived with her 6 months ago. She also says that she doesn't know where "M" is, and that one of her objectives is to care and protect "M".

While exploring, Quel and Choke (accompanied by Gris) head in a direction pointed by an arrow and find a large purple and pink castle surrounded by a dome, probably belonging to Bia.

Gabepeixe and Denix set out to find a new location for their secret base. Gabe decides to create several small secret laboratories spread across the city, making it difficult for Araldo to destroy them. They begin the construction of the first laboratory under Bira's bar.

[l0stfoster]

I would literally kill for everything abt cursed au paul. Like when does his redemption start, when and how do him and darry reconnect, does he ever open up abt his home life to darry or anyone else, how do the socs react to him getting close to darry (or the greasers for that matter by association) . I NEED EVERYTHINGGGGGG 🙏🙏🙏

I’m so glad someone likes him as much as I do I've had him on my brain for weeks OKAY YAP TIME!!

When does his redemption start

- Paul's redemption arc starts out preeetty slow and begins after his powers come to the surface again post-rumble, about 4-5 months later. It was being around such a large number of the cursed that flicked a trigger in his brain. He HAD his powers long before then and used them as a kid, but his mother tried to force him to forget about them with her own because she wanted this curse to die. - Dude has a panic attack when he discovers them because he's suddenly a part of this group of people he's hated ALL his life.. and then there's a very temporary god complex because he might have this curse but he's still a soc, he's not really one of those things, is he? He's still got superiority to them, so who cares if he's cursed as well.. and then his parents find out. - It's the same exact situation he had when he was a kid. His parents were already distant and abusive/neglectful but the magic just makes it worse. His mother tells him to his face that she wished she hadn't had him, and it's the first taste of just what the other cursed go through. He's obviously forced to hide his power from the public for the sake of their reputation, but it's how his own parents respond to this that makes him reflect.

When and how do he and Darry reconnect?

- Around a month after Paul discovers his powers, and it's purely an accident. They bump into each other in soc territory (Darry's birthday was coming up soon, and he wanted to visit an old cafe there he'd visit for nostalgia's sake, Paul was just trying to get out of the house for a while) and they're immediately beefing. Miraculously, though, they both had their sights on the same place and ended up directing inside, still bitching (in reality, neither of them could bring themselves to walk away). The poor workers had these two absolutely at each other's throats for hours. "I hate you and I wish you'd die" as Paul buys Darry's exact coffee order he memorized from years ago. "You're such an asshole." While Darry gives Paul the pieces of his muffin that he doesn't like but Paul enjoys. They leave with bitter wishes of hoping they never see each other again. - Weirdly enough, it keeps happening. This goes on regularly until it turns into making out in back alleys as a goodbye. When I said friends to enemies to enemies with benefits I meant it. They're practically dating but both have convinced themselves that it is casual and that they're just homies. This happens over like six months. Steve and Two find out during those months and kinda don't care, Pony and Dally are THE most offended by it. Soda and Ace are there like "I'm insulted but you're an adult, and you're not stupid, so I can't really tell you to stop?" - There's a lot more forced proximity when Paul gets kicked out and crashes at the Curtis' when sleeping in his car isn't viable.

Does he ever open up abt his home life to Darry or anyone else?

- Not willingly. There's the doodle where he gets drunk and yaps about it to Two and Dally, but that's the most he'd speak of it honestly for a long while. Darry definitely knows that the Holdens aren't exactly great people-- met them once during highschool & Paul's father is the police chief so he's already on thin ice. (yes I nabbed that from Born a Grease <3) - They meet again bc Paul needs to attend something related to the police department for reputation's sake (pre-kicked out) and Paul will only go if Darry's allowed to come. Darry gets another taste of how shitty they are there because they make a scene and Paul's powers are bought up and outed. Paul, defending Darry: "The curse doesn't make people a bad person-" Mr. Holden: "You're right, it makes them not people." Paul: "..Then what the hell does that make me?" Mrs. Holden, shouting: "It makes you wrong." - Paul will never really tell them straight up, but they can make assumptions pretty easily. He gets nightmares occasionally and gets pretty uncomfortable whenever the cops are mentioned due to his dad's relation to them. If he's drunk he'll shit-talk them, The dude's an alcoholic as a coping mechanism. I could see him maybe telling Darry, but it wouldn't be something he wanted to do. He thinks it makes him look pathetic. ( I made a what-if doodle where Paul's hair grows longer each time he overuses his power, and he has a fucking MELTDOWN when he looks in the mirror and sees his mom bc of the length. It's non canon, but it's silly to think about )

How do the socs react to him getting close to Darry (and the Greasers)?

- Paul's pretty much thrown into association with the greasers (and by proxy, all of the cursed) as eventually, word gets out that he was kicked out, alongside that he's cursed. He loses most of the soc friends he has, save for Cherry & Marcia due to their own associations (Randy wouldn't turn his back on him either, but for his own safety has to keep a distance publically.) - And since it's related, Paul and Cherry (maybe Marcia, but hers is 50/50 since she has no power) become free reign for getting jumped by other socs due to their powers & associations with the greasers. The girls target Cherry and vice versa for Paul, but we still haven't figured out how they do it without powers getting in the way. (Our running idea for Cherry is that her hands are bound so she can't spark & they butcher her hair so it can't either </3)

[onenerdroaming]

[e-the-village-cryptid]

my arrangement of the andor main theme for flute!

[milkweedman]

not gonna lie i am once again getting real sick of having a migraine every second of every day forever

[brionnnne]

HC that Sebastian SDV listens to a very broad range of music, like he's kind of all over the place. He likes classic emo stuff (MCR, Panic!, PtV, La Dispute, Movements, [Nineteen is a big one,] etc.)) with goth and new wave stuff in the mix, as well (Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Sisters Of Mercy, etc.) Lots and lots of instrumentals in his catalogue (HOME, LUNE, etc., the sorts of songs you find on YouTube searching for playlists); just a bunch of things to play while he works (ex. Isolation by Ichika Nito). Listens to jazz, lo-fi, ambiance, etc. It doesn't have to be when he's working, but that's most of it. If he's writing, coding, probably even if he's reading, honestly. Real thinkin' music. Listens to the music that plays when you take exams in P4 (Specialist) P3 (During The Test...) and P5 (Life Goes On) unironically. Type of person who needs music on to work, so he's almost always got headphones on and something playing lightly in the background. Also listens to dream pop and darkwave. Coldwave, as well, definitely. Them Are Us Too. Molchat Doma. Can see him liking Gost, Carpenter Brut, and similar things; likes the horror inspo. Tons of video gamey things, of course; OSTs and covers aplenty. Listens to songs with titles like for when i feel better (zenshou) or lonely again (Ichika Nito) or fool (frad) or sleep it off (leon chang) or i need to be alone (girl in red). Freaks (Surf Curse). Sleep Through Ur Alarms (Lontalius). The whole of Youth by Citizen. When You Die (MGMT). Feel like he listens to Vocaloid, as well. Kikuo, mostly. Dark Festival, or Song of the Night. Things that are kind of freeing, if spooky. Probably Utsu-P. For the angst. When he's happy, listens to things like Friday I'm In Love (The Cure), Til Now (potsu), or It's U (Cavetown).

Goes easily towards mood music in general. If he's listening to music that sounds happy, then he's happy, and if he's listening to music that sounds angsty, then he's likely to be upset. Enjoys immersing himself in whatever he's feeling, and also feeling as if someone understands. I think he only starts listening to the sweeter stuff, especially in the sense of relationships, after meeting the farmer, though. Before that, I think he kind of cringed at it and wouldn't let it touch his playlists just because he was very cynical about all that. After he gets to know them, I think he definitely changes his mind; finds himself gravitating towards that stuff. Makes a couple playlists that make him think of them. Things he feels or things that remind him of you.

[astro-inthestars]

Hi guess who feels like he just experienced 8 consecutive days in a matter of 2?

[tamaharu]

ive inherited a copy of lolita from my parents (i.e. i stole it from the library in our basement and started treating it like its mine) with the 1989 vintage international cover and i think its actually not that bad. better than the 50th anniversary one with the lips anyway imo (which is the cover for the library ebook vers ive checked out).

like i think any cover that incorporates the "only convincing love story of our generation" quote anywhere kind of sucks on principle, and the fact that it features a photo of a girl at all really goes against nabakovs instructions, but compared to other covers that break those two rules, the haziness of the photo creates a really evocative atmosphere i feel matches the book more or less.

[roanofarc]

i was technically a fan of tma during the first instance it seemed to really blow up, at least on tumblr (2020) and so experienced that growth in real time but the fact that the fandom continued to grow after the podcast ended is. something i do not think i have fully comprehended

[princessmyriad]

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