#I saw this ask and thought ���yeah why not. I've been meaning to do style studies. Let's experiment.”

[songmingisthighs]

Maudit

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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epilogue

ch. xciv - body glitter

cursed!jongho × reader

genre : mythology!au, smau

rating : mature; crude jokes and filthy language

buy me coffee ?

wc : 2.9 k

a/n : there's a hidden message on this chapter. can you guess what it is?

so long i've been here, so long are the stories i've written. of what i gathered and lost, loneliness becomes me and pain refuse to depart from me. i've embraced that which ate me away so when you came along, i had no part of me left to give.

The business with the realtor was rather quick, thanks to Mingi and his connection (and absolute distrust towards Beomgyu and the people he chose for some reason). Everything was straightforward, but the same can't be said about your emotional state because the moment you stepped into the house, you felt a great sadness wash over you. When you saw the living room, you somehow felt like something big had happened there, something that was significant enough to force a lump to form in your throat.

Headache attacked you just mere minutes after being in the building, and that was when you realized that the experience of coming back to a place you used to call home was rather emotionally taxing. You would pinpoint the pain on your grand uncle suddenly taking off without as much as a goodbye to you, which was rude of him to do, but there was something that made you say that it was not it. Having had enough of the pain, once the business was done, you immediately took off.

It was a rare occasion for you being out and about alone, you decided to take advantage of the opportunity and walk around a little. The problem was, you absolutely had no idea where to go. You thought about looking up places on Naver and just deciding on whichever's the closest (or cheapest), but for some reason, you couldn't find anywhere that seemed half as interesting.

Still immersed in your phone, you didn't realize that your legs had brought you to a street that you swore you had never went to but somehow it felt so familiar to you. When you managed to look up from your phone, you realized that you were in Gwanghwamun, particularly in the area where history was a big thing. The familiarity of the area felt like a confession at the tip of your tongue, waiting for the right time to unveil itself, yet you still couldn't place what exactly it was that got you feeling so.

It wasn't until you bumped into someone that you snapped out of your head.

"Shit, I'm so sorry!" you quickly apologized as you tried to stabilize yourself. The person you bumped into grabbed your arms and you took it as him helping you not to fall, but as you looked to his face, you realized that he was looking at you with such... Intrigue? Longing? Pain? "I... It's fine.... Are you- are you okay?" The guy asked before the two other guys behind him jumped to your sides as well, "I can't believe that you-" the guy on the left was immediately pinched in the arm by the shortest guy of the three, "Yeosang, don't be so harsh, it's not like (Y/)- I mean, this lady meant to bump into San," then he looked at you with a charming grin that was absolutely genuine and welcoming but somehow made you want to cringe and roll your eyes just out of habit. "Are you okay, miss?" the guy you bumped into, you presumed his name was San, as told by the grinning idiot guy, "Y-yeah, I'm fine, I'm just- I wasn't focusing I guess, I'm just looking for somewhere to just... Sit down? I'm not familiar with the area, that's why I was glued to my phone so much," you said sheepishly.

The guy who was pinched, Yeosang? Suddenly spoke up, "If you're looking to go somewhere, might I suggest this cute little tea shop? It's just straight down this road, then you turn into the path right between the Japanese Bakery and GS25, the tea shop is on the right side, styled like a Hanok." You squinted your eyes at him slightly and joked, "This is not a ploy for you to trap me in some cult, right? Because I can call a friend and he'll come in bulldozing and I'm pretty sure he'd actually get a bulldozer." The three of them laughed and you swore you heard one of them muttered 'as if Mingi has the braincell to operate one' which was followed by a smack but you didn't know who said or did what. "No, no, I can promise you we're not trapping you or anything, Yeosang here means no harm. But really, ask anyone in this area and they'll tell you that the tea shop is the best in this area and it's gonna get packed soon," 'San' said.

Hesitance loomed over you because why should you listen to strangers, especially since strangers giving recommendations to other strangers is such an impossible concept in a city such as Seoul.

"Ehm," the shortest guy cleared his throat suddenly, "Well, we need to go now, let's leave this young lady alone unless she'd prefer to enjoy the evening in my company, then I'd gladly drop my friends even if it's off a building," he winked. While the two guys gawked and scoffed, you actually cringed and, without missing a beat, you deadpanned, "Not if you wanna spend the entire time watching me eat shards of glass." The other two men immediately burst into a fit of laughter while the guy who shamelessly flirted with you stood there looking offended. Well, for a moment, before his eyes suddenly turned... sad? Though his lips curled into a small smirk, which was odd for you.

Eventually, the three guys went on their way (the two normal ones dragging the shameless flirt), and you found yourself following the recommendation of the stranger. Walking past the path that you swore was the first time for you, but felt a bit too familiar.

Not long after, you arrived and true to the guy's words, the tea shop was cute, and it was starting to get packed. Luckily, you managed to find a seat, dropped your items to tag the spot before going to the cashier to order something.

Displayed on the right side of the cashier were cakes and pastries that looked absolutely delicious without being obnoxiously over the top while behind the cashier, on top of the wall, was a chalkboard with a list of drinks. The line was moving at a pace that gave you adequate time to make a decision, but still, you couldn't make up your mind, not even when it was your turn to order. You kind of felt sorry for the people behind you and also for the worker who was looking at you like she didn't even have her own soul which was ironic since the tea shop was beaming with life.

"Boss!" The employee exclaimed when there was a sound of a mug breaking, which caught your attention. The person you assumed was the boss was looking at you with his jaw hanging and eyes wide, seemingly really surprised which made you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. "W-Wha- Sorry, sorry, Yooyoung, can you- can you please help clean this? I- I'll handle the order here," he said, sending his grumbling employee to the back, not that he seem to care as presumed by the way he was gawking at you, "Sorry about that, w-what can I get you?" he asked, voice shaking slightly.

Understandably, you were a bit weirded out, but you decided to just overlook the situation and continued ordering. "I actually don't know what to order, so do you think you can recommend something?" The boss guy's eyes practically sparkled as he nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, yes, of course! I absolutely recommend the iced matcha latte and strawberry fresh cream cake; it might seem that the combination could be too sweet, but trust me, they work," he proudly said. "Great, give me one of those, please," you said, handing him your card. As he was tapping, he suddenly paused and looked back up at you, "I... I recommended that because I used to have this, uh... Friend, I guess, who understands my sweet tooth and would often bring me those two when she came by my place, which was usually for work since she worked for- with my other friend so the combo holds a special place in my heart, I guess," he smiled, a bit sadly. You wanted to be weirded out but there was this feeling in your chest and for some reason, you could almost taste iced matcha and strawberry fresh cream cake in your tongue, as if you knew the taste of his memory. "Well, I'll try to enjoy them... I guess," you awkwardly said, not knowing how else to respond. The boss cleared his throat and cleared your payment before handing your card back. "I..." He seemed like he wanted to say something and you waited until he shook his head slightly and gave you a tight-lipped smile, "Please enjoy, and I hope you'll come back."

The interaction left you slightly puzzled, but you completely forgot about it the moment your food and drink arrived. With just a bite and a sip, you absolutely understood why the boss recommended it. The taste was somehow nostalgic; the sweetness of the cake reminded you of pathetic, bitter laughter over complaints about work, and the smoothness of the matcha reminded you of rainy days and art. Immersed in your cake and drink, you completely missed the three huddling figures in the corner of the room. "You just had to make contact, didn't you?" Hongjoong teased, smirking at Seonghwa, who scowled and smacked him with a tea towel, "I couldn't help it, I was shocked!" he defended. "That's pathetic, hyung," Yunho said, rolling his eyes but Seonghwa snapped his head at him and glared, "Hey, I wasn't the one who came rushing in just because San texted about seeing (y/n)." "Hey, I came here because I was already planning to, Jongho wanted to hang here, so who am I to pass on mocking his mopiness?" Yunho stated. The two older men stared at Yunho with eyes the size of saucers. "What?" Yunho asked, oblivious. "Are you saying that Jongho is coming here?" Seonghwa asked, making sure he didn't mishear. "Yeah, why?" It was obvious that Yunho was still clueless about the situation. "Dude," Hongjoong then looked between him and you, trying to clue him in, but it was obviously not working, seeing how he was still looking at the two older men confusedly.

Just as the conversation was happening, you were getting yourself comfortable with your headphones and Spotify playlist. You were just about to settle on a podcast about some music industry conspiracy theory when a playlist caught your eye. "'Absolutely Tasteful Music'?" You muttered to yourself, opening the playlist and saw a list of songs that you didn't remember ever having enough interest to put them in a playlist. But the titles intrigued you, and you pressed the shuffle button and the first song to play was The Chaser by Infinite.

go first, I will win her back Even if you’re ahead for a bit, I will catch up

"Oh my God, you're such a nerd," "Excuse me? Which of us is majoring in history?" A memory flashed the moment you heard the lyrics, and it was so vivid yet so vague. You saw a living room and someone sitting across you on the couch, and it was the same person in the same setting from your other memories, a place that felt like home, but you couldn't even remember.

Protect her, so she won’t forget me I will go till the end to the place where my person is Narrow the streets so I can catch you I will risk everything to find my person

New memories flooded you, this time of a guy sitting in front of your campus library at night, looking guilty and nervous. "You don't seem like you belong. What are you doing here?" "I came to see you... I don't think I'm human anymore". Though the memory made no sense as you didn't remember the whole context, for some reason, you absolutely understood him, and you feel like you... Sympathized with him to the point that you just wanted to hug him and tell him everything will be better, and things will turn out his way soon.

Yes, I tried to cast you out with a spiteful heart As I trampled on my instincts My obsession toward you became faint And I’m calling it all love once again Again today, I can’t let you go or cut you out As if I’m possessed, I chase after you, who is filled in my eyes

"God (y/n) are you being serious right now ??? You hurt me, deeply, (y/n) and you betrayed me. I trusted you so much, maybe a little too much." Without you realizing it, you were openly tearing up in the middle of the cafe. It wasn't the words that stung you, it was the fact that you knew you did something bad and you really hurt this person. It wasn't the guilt of unfinished business that weighed your heart, but it was the unspoken word that would probably be lost forever, the word that you knew encapsulated your feelings for one another, feelings that you shared. Feelings that were left up in the air because you didn't get the chance to tell it to him.

Don’t be sorry, you can abandon me spitefully and leave If that’s what you want, yeah, goodbye But that doesn’t mean I have given up too

Hours that felt like they had just passed turned out to be merely the span of one song, and your thumb just immediately paused it before it could change.

Outside of your flashback bubble, people were enjoying themselves, completely oblivious to the absolute emotional roller coaster that you just went through. Your head spun slightly, and your hands trembled. How can one song bring so many feelings out?

Looking at your phone, one part of the lyric stood out to you the most.

My love wins

Ordinarily, you wouldn't be much affected, nor would you overthink random words that you found by chance. After all, coincidences do happen and sometimes something should just be perceived at face value, nothing much to it.

Visions of flashbacks still played, however, as if telling you that it was important for you to remember them and maybe even find out what they were exactly.

Every day, since the moment you woke up at the hospital with Mingi next to you, you felt like there was a missing part in your life.

So you took off your headphones and contemplated whether you should leave the shop or stay a bit more because there was something, a force you could say, that felt like it was whispering for you to be vigilant, to wait. Not knowing what it was, you convinced yourself that

You opened your eyes, and immediately, you were met with a pair of eyes that looked surprised. You swore you didn't know him, but his eyes looked so familiar, as if you had spent hours staring into them. Strangers were usually of no interest to you, but this guy was different. Something in your heart was calling out to him, as if it wanted to reach out to him and tell him that you missed him. How could you miss a stranger? But as he looked at you with a look that made you feel butterflies in your stomach, you had a feeling that he felt somewhat similar to you.

One minute turned to two, you both kept staring at each other, not knowing what to do as it felt like there was a whole history that unravelled that changed the trajectory of one of your, or even both of your lives. For a moment, the man looked like he was contemplating something, seemingly perplexed as if he wanted to run away. But before he could do anything and before you could stop yourself, you smiled at him. "This may not make sense to you, but would you believe me if I told you that I feel like we should get to know each other?" you asked, nervously because the stranger might think that you were crazy. But oddly, his perplexed expression melted away into a smile as he gave a small nod, "This may not make sense to you, but I feel like we already knew each other somehow," he said. You tapped the empty chair at your table as a gesture to him, "I heard this place gets crowded and as solo visitors, I think I would be wise to just... Share a table," you pointed out, biting into your bottom lip nervously. The man raised his eyebrows in surprise, momentarily taken aback. But he immediately recovered and nodded in agreement, "I guess you have a point," then he moved from his table to yours. "I'm (y/n) by the way," you said, putting a hand out, and he took it gently, "Nice to meet you, (y/n), I'm," "Jongho," you blurted out. His eyes widened, and so did yours. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't know why I just said that, It's just... You have this vibe and the name was kind of itching in my brain and I just-" "That's my name, Jongho," he cut you off. Your heart skipped a beat at the confirmation because you just knew that it had to mean something. The surprised look on Jongho's face shifted to something that was unreadable to you.

"Unlikely as it is, but perhaps fate really wanted us together... Here, I mean," he sheepishly said. You could be freaked out by a stranger saying that to you, after all, you had just met, right? But with him, there was something different, something safe. So you simply nodded in agreement and smiled, "I couldn't agree more."

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[ivegotyourbackbuddie]

The Wrong Buckley. Part One of Six. Ao3 Link.

For once in Buck's life, things are starting to feel normal again.

Bobby and Athena's new place is filled with all his favorite people for what they're calling a "Welcome Home" party - a mix of a housewarming party, a welcome back for the Diaz boys, and a celebration for all the 118 members who are out of their quarantine.

Buck thinks it might be the greatest party he's ever been to, even though he's the only 118 member who isn't technically being celebrated. But with Eddie and Chris filling his home–their home?–with laughter and their own style of chaos, Buck can’t help but feel like, for once in his life, his house is a home. Even with the perpetual crick in his neck from insisting he's okay to sleep on Eddie's couch, this might be the happiest he has ever been.

Maybe it's time for a new software update. Buck 4.0: The new and improved happy Buck who has his whole family back.

It has a nice ring to it.

He glances around the backyard, searching for Eddie so he can fill him in on the news, only for his eyes to land on the empty seat next to Karen.

Huh. Usually, he's better at keeping tabs on Eddie, but the new design of the place is throwing him off his game a bit. Plus, he can barely keep his eyes off where Chris is chatting with Mara, Denny, and Jee, still amazed by how much the boy has grown up since Buck last saw him.

Buck clears his throat and wipes at his right eye quickly, trying not to get emotional about how much everyone is growing up.

"You okay, kid?"

Buck glances up to find Bobby, spatula in hand, wearing his "Kiss the Chef" apron Buck had gotten him as a gag gift, looking down at him with an amused smile.

"Yeah," Buck replies, smiling back at him, "Just thinking about how fast the time goes by, you know?"

Bobby glances over at the younger kids before sparing a glance at where Harry and May are talking with Athena and Ravi. His gaze settles on Buck, eyes lost in thought before he comes back to the present moment, searching for something that's no longer there. "I know," Bobby says, nostalgia heavy in his tone.

It all feels a little too bittersweet for such a lighthearted evening, so Buck gestures to the apron and asks, “Why don't I help you with the grill?"

Bobby chuckles and points the spatula at him. "You can man the grill when you have a get-together at your own place."

And isn't that a thought? Everyone gathering at Bedford St. for an evening hosted by him and the Diazes.

"I'll have to ask Eddie about that. Speaking of Eddie, have you seen him?" Buck can't help but ask.

"I haven't. Maybe check inside the house."

Buck nods, ignoring how Bobby's amused smile graces his face again, and heads inside. As soon as he steps in, he hears Eddie's voice from the new living room. "Hey, I've been meaning to thank you for that picture."

Buck frowns, wondering who else is inside, but his question is quickly answered when he hears his sister's voice reply, "It's a good one, isn't it?"

As Buck rounds the corner, he sees Eddie, head ducked down shyly as his face flames red in a way Buck has never seen before. "Uh, yeah. It really was."

Maddie laughs and reaches out, hand settling on Eddie's arm and squeezing his bicep. Buck takes a full step into the room, glancing around to see who else is in on whatever picture they're talking about, only to find the rest of the space empty. "Well, maybe you should actually-"

"Hey, Buck!" Eddie nearly shouts as he spots him.

Maddie startles, hand shooting back as she steps away from Eddie with a nervous smile.

It's... weird. Suspicious, even, but Buck doesn't want to go down that path of destructive thinking. Instead, he asks, "Since when do you two talk?" Okay, and yeah, maybe it comes out as a bit accusatory when he just told himself he's not going there, but it's a valid question.

"Come on, Buck," Eddie says, trying to brush him off with a nervous chuckle, "Is it so weird to find me talking to my best friend's sister?"

Maddie's face scrunches up at Eddie's wording, and she shoots him a look that has Eddie immediately stuttering out, "A-And my friend's wife?"

"Not helping," Maddie whispers under her breath, but Buck, having grown up with ears always on alert for those whispers, catches it immediately.

Eddie crosses his arms defensively and opens his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by Maddie, who calmly explains, "We started talking more when he moved to Texas. At first, I was answering a question he had for Howie since our place was also a fixer-upper, but then we talked every so often about Jee-yun and Christopher. And after the um..." Maddie trails off, hand coming up to trail over the faint scar on her throat.

Eddie finishes the thought for her, "I shared a little bit about my own PTSD, and we found out we had a lot more in common than we thought." Maddie nods, eyes more tired and sad than they were before. "And we've always been family because of you and the 118, but... now we're also friends.”

Maddie's eyes soften as she looks at Eddie, fondness and gratitude overwhelmingly evident in her gaze.

Buck looks between the two of them, unsure entirely what to say and trying so hard to not make it about him for once. "Uh," he starts, ever so gracefully, "Well, I..." He takes a deep breath and tries one more time, plastering on a fake smile and everything. "I'm happy for you guys. I mean, you're the two most important people in my life besides Christopher and Jee-Yun, so of course I'm glad you guys are friends." He opens his arms and says, "Come here," tugging them into a group hug that he thinks may have oversold the idea that he's perfectly okay with their friendship they kept from him for some reason.

But Maddie and Eddie are both smiling when they all step away. Eddie even jokes, "You're not going to maim my ankle over this, are you?"

Buck cringes while Maddie and Eddie laugh loudly, and he suddenly understands why they may have kept this from him. "As long as you two aren't secretly talking about me behind my back, then we'll be okay."

Something about the comment seems to fluster them, but Maddie is quick to distract him by asking, "You mean, I can't tell Eddie the reason why magnets were banned in our house growing up?"

"No!" Buck is quick to yell, eyes darting to Eddie, who is already giving Maddie a mischievous you'll have to tell me later look. "I take it back, I don't like that you two are friends."

They both laugh again before heading back outside, Maddie giving Eddie a discreet look before she goes over to Chimney. Buck tries his hardest not to overanalyze it, but when he sees the way Eddie flushes bright red again, he knows he won't be able to let it go.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Buck, did you hear me?” Eddie asks.

“Hmm?” Buck hums in response. He’s glad that Eddie had suggested he drive the three of them to Grant-Nash’s place because he’s unable to focus on anything other than his internal spiral.

When they hit a red light, Eddie glances at him. “I asked if your neck is okay.”

Buck’s hand drops from where he was absentmindedly rubbing at a knot in his neck. “It’s fine.”

“Buck–”

“All good. I swear.”

Chris chooses this moment to pry his eyes away from his phone. “I thought lying was something we’re all working on not doing.”

Buck’s jaw drops as he looks back at the teen who just shrugs at his betrayed look.

“He’s right, you know,” Eddie says, trying to hide his proud smile. “No lying here.”

Buck sighs and hesitantly confesses, “Okay, the couch has been a little uncomfortable to sleep on for an extended amount of time. But we can just get another couch!”

“We already have two in the living room, Buck.”

“Yeah? And do you want to be the one to tell Margaret Buckley that the couch she chose is terrible to sleep on, so we had to get rid of it?”

Eddie’s face scrunches up into an exaggerated frown, and Buck can see Chris shaking his head out of the corner of his eye. Looks like they’ll be couch shopping soon.

But as Buck pulls out his phone to search nearby furniture stores, Chris drops a bomb on them. “Why don’t you two just share Dad’s bed? It’s not like it’s small. Plus, we won’t have to waste time or money on a new couch. And maybe the walls will muffle Buck’s snoring.”

Buck and Eddie both share a look, wondering if Chris has had this little speech prepared for some time since they’ve gotten back. But Buck can practically see the moment that the words register for Eddie as they come to a harsh stop at another light.

Buck gives him a look.

“Sorry,” Eddie mumbles, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Buck shifts in his seat a bit uncomfortably, trying not to think about why the two of them are so thrown by the suggestion. It’s not like they didn’t share a bed during the beginning of their covid quarantine, but Buck also hadn’t realized he was bi at that point. “I can sell my couch and use the money for a new one.”

Eddie lets out a deep breath and shakes his head. “No, we can share the bed. It was a good suggestion. Thank you, Chris.”

Chris gives him a mhm, and Buck thinks he might hear him whisper, “Finally,” under his breath. They might need to have a conversation about the mumbling at a later time, but right now, Buck is dedicating his time to staring at Eddie while trying to figure out what he’s really thinking. He goes off his tone, which was tense, the words short, and the steering wheel he has in a white knuckled grip that can’t be good.

But now is not the time to pry about it with Chris in the car. Luckily, they’re not far from the house.

When they turn onto Bedford Street, Chris announces he’s going to play some video game with his friends in his room for the night, and Buck is grateful, for once, that it’ll give him and Eddie some time to properly talk. But when they get inside, Eddie is immediately typing away at his phone, asking Buck briefly if he wants a beer, which he declines.

“Hey, Eddie?”

He glances up.

“I don’t mind taking the couch if you feel uncomfortable. I get that you need your own space, and I don’t want to invade it.”

Eddie sets his phone down on the kitchen table and gives Buck his full attention. “You could never make me uncomfortable or invade my space, Buck. If you prefer to sleep on the couch, you can tell me.”

“No!” Buck says a little too quickly. “I mean, I would love to sleep in a proper bed. And your mattress is better than mine, right? That’s why we tossed it out.”

Eddie nods sharply, lips pursed. “Yeah, that’s why we tossed it.” There’s something in there that probably needs to be unpacked, but Eddie is quick to move on. “Let’s get you settled in.” He passes Buck with a pat on the shoulder, heading toward his room.

The whole thing feels a little weird because it’s not like Buck has never been in Eddie’s room before – hell, he was sleeping there for a few months. But now that it’s back to being Eddie’s - with a mix of Buck’s things for safekeeping - it feels… almost off-limits. Maybe because the only moment they’ve really spent quality time in there was to patch things up after Eddie turned his room into a warzone, which isn’t the greatest of memories shared between them. Now, they somewhat share the space in the mornings because of their combined closet and dresser, but it’s all in passing. Buck wakes Eddie up with coffee, Eddie drinks it in grumpy silence while Buck picks out his outfit for the day, and then Buck leaves to shower and get ready while Eddie wakes up.

They’ve gotten used to this routine recently, so Buck can’t help but linger in the doorway now that it’s nighttime.

“You should’ve said something sooner about your neck.”

Buck winces as he realizes he was unconsciously rubbing at it again. “It’s not that bad.”

Eddie gives him a look and waves him inside the room. “Come here.”

He finally crosses the threshold, walking over to Eddie who puts a firm hand on his shoulder and says, “Sit,” as he guides Buck to the edge of the bed. His hand lingers on his shoulder, then trails to the back of his neck, kneading at the muscle. The whole thing makes Buck a little dizzy.

“Damn, Buck. You have a knot the size of Texas back here.”

Buck frowns. “Please don’t mention Texas.”

Eddie chuckles as he shifts onto the bed behind Buck. His fingers expertly dig at the tense muscles, and Buck’s hands fist into the sheets. He hums as he feels the knot loosen, letting out a soft, “Fuck,” when Eddie digs his thumb harshly into it.

“Sorry,” Eddie whispers, voice low.

“Feels good,” Buck groans as Eddie works at it again.

There’s a buzzing noise to Buck’s left, and he glances down, seeing his phone lit up with a text from Maddie. He goes to grab it, only to have Eddie beat him to it, which is when he remembers his phone is in his pocket. It makes his stomach twist a bit.

“What are you guys talking about?” Buck tries to ask casually.

Eddie types away behind him, sending a message before putting the phone on the bed, face down. “Just about how it’s nice to be back is all.”

Buck doesn’t say anything as Eddie resumes the massage. Only grunting and trying to muffle any moans as he wonders if there’s a particular reason why he’s so good at this.

He wants to ask, opening his mouth to say, “Eddie,” only for his name to turn into a breathy moan as the knot fully releases. Eddie’s fingers falter on his neck, gripping hard for a moment before pulling back.

“Bathroom,” Eddie says suddenly, grabbing his phone and clambering off the bed.

Buck turns to watch him leave, getting distracted by the fact that his neck doesn’t protest as he starts to roll his head around experimentally. He wonders if this is something he can request from Eddie more often.

He stands up to get a glass of water from the kitchen, remembering something he read about hydrating after massages to clear the body of toxins released, opening Eddie’s door, and finding the bathroom door cracked open. He’s about to pass it when he hears Eddie mumbling to himself, “Get it together.” Buck cautiously peers into the small opening, catching a glimpse of Eddie staring at himself in the mirror, fingers gripping the edge of the porcelain sink as he shakes his head and says, “I can’t believe I’m in love with a Buckley.”

It's a miracle Buck doesn’t pass out on the spot.

He takes a stumbling step back into Eddie’s room, somehow managing to close the door quietly in his haze. Although it’s entirely possible that he just slammed it because he can’t hear anything over the whooshing in his ears.

He doesn’t know how he didn’t see it before.

Eddie is in love with Maddie.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Buck must have heard Eddie wrong.

Maybe he said something like “I can’t believe I live with a Buckley.”

But Buck knows Eddie. He’s always been able to figure out what he’s saying, whether it’s under his breath on a ride to a call or stuttered through a mouthful of Buck’s lasagna.

And when he came back into the room with a glass of water for Buck, he had put his phone on the nightstand face down again. The only other time he had done that around Buck was right before Kim blew up their lives.

This isn’t a Kim situation, though. Eddie isn’t self-destructive enough to do that so soon after getting Chris back.

…Right?

Plus, Buck knows Maddie. She would never do anything to risk the happiness of the family she’s built with Chimney. Even if that means never being with Eddie.

Buck’s not sure if he could be as strong as Maddie, considering it’s Eddie - he would set his entire world on fire for him.

My god. What if it runs in the Buckley genes?

“Buck,” Eddie whispers in the darkness.

Buck pretends to be asleep.

“I know you’re not asleep.”

He tries a little harder.

Eddie sighs. The bed shifts, and Buck can practically feel Eddie’s gaze on him. “Throw in some snores and you might be convincing.”

Finally, Buck cracks an eye open and squints at him in the darkness. As his eyes adjust to the dark, he catches the exasperated amusement in Eddie’s gaze. “I’m awake,” Buck begrudgingly whispers.

“I’m shocked,” Eddie jokes. Buck opens both eyes to glare at him.

A silence settles between them as they stare at each other. Buck eventually shifts onto his side, mirroring Eddie’s position. “Can’t sleep?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Not with you thinking so loud.”

Buck tries to shift the topic away from Eddie's inevitable question. “I read a study about telepathic abilities. They used an MRI to study the brain of a person who claimed to be telepathic versus someone who didn’t have the ability while they both tried to do a telepathic task.”

“And?”

“The telepathic person’s brain lit up on the right side, and the other person's brain lit up on the left side. I’ll have to show you the article sometime.”

Eddie hums. “I’d like that. Chris would probably think it was cool, too.”

“Yeah.”

Eddie reaches out to smooth the creases on the comforter between them. “So, why were you lighting up the right side of my brain so much?”

There's the question. “You think you have telepathic abilities?”

Eddie smiles the way he does whenever he thinks Buck says something outlandish. “I think I have the ability to tell whenever my best friend isn’t able to sleep because he’s thinking too hard.”

Buck looks down at the creases between them, taking his turn to smooth them out. Eddie’s hand reaches out and settles over his, stopping the anxious movement.

“Are you okay?” Eddie asks quietly.

Honestly, Buck doesn’t know. He was okay before his revelation – beyond okay, really. And now?

It’s not like he can say, I’m spiraling because I heard you say you’re in love with my sister. And the only person he rants to about Eddie stuff is Maddie which he clearly can’t do now. So, he settles on saying the closest thing to the truth that he can, “I’m happy everyone is back and things are going back to normal. It’s just…” he trails of with a sigh, moving to lay on his back which means regretfully pulling his hand out from under Eddie’s. “I’m scared I might lose someone or everyone, and I don’t know if I can handle anyone else leaving again.”

The bed shifts as Eddie turns to stare at the ceiling, clasping his hands together over his stomach. A few moments pass before Eddie whispers, “I’m sorry for leaving you.”

The words are an arrow straight through Buck’s heart. “Eddie, you… you didn’t leave me.”

“I did, Buck. And I know it was the right thing to do for Christopher, but–”

“There’s no ‘buts’ about it,” Buck easily cuts him off. “You’re right. It was the right thing to do for Christopher, and he will always come first. I would watch you leave a hundred times more if it means you were doing what’s right for him.”

“Buck…” Eddie’s voice sounds watery, but Buck ignores it.

“Plus, it’s not like you abandoned me. We Facetimed and texted more than I’ve done with anyone else in my life, including Abby after she first left for Europe.”

Abby’s name makes Eddie groan, his arms uncrossing with a sigh, causing his hand to brush against where Buck’s is lying between them. He doesn’t move it. “It doesn’t take much to be a better person than Abby was.”

Buck turns his head to look at Eddie. “If it wasn’t for Abby, I would still be Buck one-point-oh.”

Eddie looks back at him, his gaze traveling over him. “Not after you met me.”

He doesn’t know what exactly Eddie means by that, but it makes his heart skip a beat. “Yeah?” Buck asks, the darkness making him feel a little bolder as he presses the back of his hand against Eddie’s.

Eddie’s hand pushes back before shifting over Buck's slowly until their palms are pressing together. Buck holds his breath as Eddie’s fingers slowly intertwine with his. He squeezes his hand tightly as he answers, “Yeah.”

Everything from the day and night goes out the window as Buck’s mind zeroes in on the connecting point between him and Eddie. He thinks he might be dreaming.

“This okay?” Eddie says so quietly that Buck nearly doesn’t catch it.

He nods and squeezes his hand. “Yes.”

The silence between them is tense and drawn out. After a few minutes, he wonders if Eddie has fallen asleep until he breaks the silence. “No one else is going to leave, Buck. Especially not me.” He turns to look at him. "We're going to be okay."

A flash of Eddie at the sink comes back to Buck, filling him with a wave of fear. But maybe, just maybe, Buck heard him wrong. “We're going to be okay," Buck echoes.

“We are,” Eddie states with finality. After a moment, his thumb soothingly rubs over Buck’s a few times before stopping with a squeeze. “Goodnight, Buck.”

“Goodnight, Eddie.”

Neither of them let go.

Part Two

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Ranmaru Main Story Chapter 3

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies. Not a full translation.

[Ranmaru invited Mai on a date.]

Ranmaru: "Alright, we're here."

(Wait—this place is…!)

Beyond the door lay a shop that sold fabrics and accessories.

Ranmaru: "You always pay attention to your appearance, so I thought you might like a place like this."

Ranmaru: "Well? What do you think?"

Mai: "You nailed it! Thank you for bringing me here."

(He really pays attention to people. And wow, there's so much to see.)

A quick glance around the shop revealed bolts of fabric that shimmered in the light.

Mai: "I've never seen this pattern before. And this one's plain, but it feels so smooth—you can tell it's high-quality."

As I got completely absorbed in looking at the fabrics, Ranmaru tilted his head curiously.

Ranmaru: "You're more interested in the fabric itself? Not the kimonos or hair accessories?"

Mai: "Yeah. Before I came here, I was going to be a designer."

Mai: "Um, it's a job where I choose colors and styles for kimonos and actually sew them myself."

(But ever since I time-slipped here, I've had no idea what happened to that job offer.)

Ranmaru: "I see. So it's like a tailor from the future."

Ranmaru: "You know, you seem more alive than usual right now."

Mai: "Huh? You think so?"

Ranmaru: "Yeah, definitely. Do you really like that job?"

Mai: "I do. I love it."

(Even if I go back to the future and the offer's gone, I still don't want to give up making clothes—that's how much I love it.)

I nodded gently, and he gave me a smile.

Ranmaru: "Hey, Lady Mai. You can tell me anything, okay?"

His hushed voice brushed softly against my ear.

Ranmaru: "We're close enough to share secrets, right?"

(Ranmaru…)

(He's probably being extra thoughtful because of what happened last night.)

That kindness filled my chest with warmth.

Ranmaru: "Finally, now you're starting to look the part."

Mai: "Huh? Look the part of what?"

Ranmaru: "Look the part of someone on a secret date. I told you that when I invited you, remember?"

(Oh, right!)

Even after we finished browsing fabrics and left the store, our "secret date" continued.

Ranmaru: "I got permission to pass through here, but let's keep it quiet."

Ranmaru: "Oh, and just in case something happens, can I hold your hand?"

Mai: "But didn't you just grab my hand without asking earlier?"

Ranmaru: "That was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Please?"

(Isn't that way too sneaky?!)

Even at the restaurant—which he apparently rented out just for today—

Ranmaru: "The grilled kamaboko here is really good. Here, say 'ahh.'"

Mai: "Huh?"

Ranmaru: "I wanted you to try it while it's still warm. Is that not okay?"

Mai: "It's… not not okay."

Ranmaru: "Hehe, what's that supposed to mean? Are you nervous?"

(It's your fault I'm nervous!)

It felt like he was deliberately making me confront the meaning of "secret date"—something I'd been trying not to think too hard about.

(He's capable, thoughtful, and knows exactly how to sweet-talk someone.)

(No matter how hard I try, I don't think I can win against someone like Ranmaru.)

As we went from place to place, I kept getting caught off guard by his little devilish charms. Still, we spent a wonderful day together, right up until the sun began to set.

Mai: "Ranmaru, thank you for today."

Ranmaru: "I should be the one saying that. Did you have fun?"

Mai: "Yeah, I really did."

Ranmaru: "Hehe, that's good."

Suddenly, Ranmaru stopped.

When I turned to look, wondering what was wrong, I saw him looking at me softly.

Ranmaru: "I'll make sure you get back home."

Ranmaru: "So let's get through these three months together, okay?"

Mai: "Ranmaru…"

Mai: "It's really comforting to hear you say that."

Ranmaru: "Right? It's a lot better than being alone."

Ranmaru: "When you were looking at the fabrics in the kimono shop, you looked so genuinely happy."

Ranmaru: "That's why I'll do whatever I can to help you chase your dream of becoming a designer."

He looked straight into my eyes.

(He's talented and well-liked by everyone—yet someone like him is on my side.)

Relief and happiness washed over me.

Mai: "Thank you. With you by my side, I feel like I can take on anything."

I somehow managed to get the words out, and he responded with a bright smile.

[The next day: Late at night - Mai couldn't sleep and slipped out of her room.]

Mai's POV

I thought I heard footsteps echoing faintly from down the corridor.

(Was it just the floorboards creaking?)

(But it felt far too distinct for that.)

I crept to the corner and peeked in the direction of the sound. There, moving silently down the corridor, was Ranmaru, holding something small in his arms.

(What is he carrying this late at night?)

(And isn't that the way out of the castle?)

Puzzled, I watched him suddenly pause and glance around.

Ranmaru: "…………"

(Ah—)

I froze in place, hardly even breathing.

Then, the soft sound of footsteps started again and gradually faded into the distance.

(I ended up hiding.)

It wasn't the first time I'd seen that shadowed look on his face.

(But tonight, it was the darkest I'd ever seen it.)

(I always thought I shouldn't intrude, but…)

He had reached out to me—even when I was the one keeping secrets.

He had come closer without hesitation, gently lifting the weight off my heart.

(So this time, I'll take the first step.)

(If he turns me away, I'll just make sure not to do it again.)

Ranmaru: ".………."

I followed him quietly as he left the castle and entered the forest.

(I have to hurry.)

I tried to keep up, but the uneven path slowed me down.

The starlight that had seemed so bright near the castle faded as the trees grew denser.

(What do I do?)

And just like that, I lost sight of him.

(If I wander around blindly, I'll just get even more lost. But still…)

As I stood there helpless, someone gently took my hand.

(Huh?)

I turned around, and there he was.

Ranmaru: "What's a lady doing wandering around alone this late at night?"

(Ranmaru…)

The one I had been searching for was now looking slightly troubled.

Mai: "Sorry. I saw you in the castle and just followed you without thinking."

That alone seemed to tell him everything he needed to know.

Ranmaru: "Being alone in the forest in the middle of the night is dangerous."

His previously tense expression softened.

Ranmaru: "Someone should be by your side on a night like this."

(Ah…)

Still holding my hand, he began to walk.

Ranmaru: "This way."

He led me deeper into the forest.

As we continued, the trees thinned, revealing a clearer view of the stars overhead.

(A field of flowers.)

Under the moonlight, vibrant blossoms bloomed in full glory.

The breathtaking sight put my heart at ease.

Ranmaru: "This spot should be good."

He stopped at the edge of the flower field.

Ranmaru: "I came here tonight to bury this."

Turning to me, he finally showed me what he'd been carrying.

(A small… urn?)

When he tilted it slightly, it made a dry, rattling sound.

Ranmaru: "These are the remains of someone who passed away."

(Wait.)

Mai: "Whose… remains?"

Ranmaru: "Someone who was suspected of being connected to the attack on Lord Nobunaga. They were captured."

Mai: "Ah…"

What flashed through my mind was the day I first set foot in Azuchi Castle.

(That person…)

(I'd heard they refused to say anything and chose death instead.)

I couldn't take my eyes off the urn, and Ranmaru gave a faint, sorrowful smile.

Ranmaru: "I wanted to return the remains to their family, but they said this person had no known relatives."

Ranmaru: "They died alone, so I just wanted to give them a proper farewell at the very least."

Mai: "Let me help."

(It's the least I can do.)

Ranmaru: "Thank you."

A moment later, a soft voice spoke beside me.

Ranmaru: "You're so kind, Lady Mai—even to someone you didn't know."

Mai: "You're the same."

Ranmaru: "Me? No, I just…"

Once again, silence fell between us.

This time, I was the one who broke it.

Mai: "Actually, I saw this person once, back when they were still alive."

Mai: "I kind of know what happened to him."

Mai: "I get that, in this era, things like that were considered necessary, and I'm not trying to judge the people in the castle, but..."

(I get it. In my head, I do. But…)

Mai: "But I still feel guilty for looking the other way."

Ranmaru: "Looking the other way?"

Mai: "Yeah. I thought there was nothing I could do—even if I did speak up."

Mai: "So when I saw him being dragged away—limp and silent—I didn't even try to help."

Ranmaru: "I see."

He nodded slightly, his eyes dropping to the ground.

Ranmaru: "But I don't think he would ever blame you for that."

(Huh?)

He probably said that to ease my guilt.

(But why does it sound like he actually knows that?)

I couldn't bring myself to nod and accept it.

Then—

Ranmaru: "It's okay."

His gaze lifted to meet mine, warm and steady.

Ranmaru: "The real you is someone who follows her sense of justice, even when she's not sure it'll change anything."

Mai: "Um, I don't know if that's true."

Ranmaru: "Hmm, no self-awareness, huh? Yeah, I figured it'd be hard for you to agree."

Ranmaru: "But that's exactly why I admire you."

(Me?)

Mai: "Isn't it the other way around? I mean, I should be the one saying I admire you."

Ranmaru: "No. I mean it. Ever since that day."

Mai: "That day…?"

(What day is he talking about?)

He continued speaking, his voice calm and steady.

Ranmaru: "You know, a page doesn't serve alone."

Ranmaru: "Among the others who served close to Lord Nobunaga like I did, there were a few I was particularly close to."

(Were? Past tense?)

Ranmaru: "They're right over there."

He lifted his arm slowly and pointed.

At first, I didn't see anything. But then I noticed it—a single branch, quietly marked by a tiny flower.

Ranmaru: "The actual grave is somewhere else. I just buried a lock of their hair here."

(A lock of hair.)

A sharp pain jolted through my chest.

Even so, I couldn't stop myself from asking.

Mai: "So… they're already…?"

Ranmaru: "Yeah. They're no longer in this world."

Ranmaru: "When Lord Nobunaga was attacked at Honnō-ji, they fought back against the assailants—but never returned."

Ranmaru's face twisted in pain, contorted with regret.

Ranmaru: "I couldn't do anything. I couldn't stop it."

Ranmaru: "If I had been more like you—able to act without hesitation—maybe none of it would have happened."

Mai: "..………"

(That day… he meant the Honnō-ji Incident.)

Even as a flood of thoughts surged through my mind, I couldn't form a single coherent one. All I could do was breathe, overwhelmed.

Then, Ranmaru gave a smile—so gentle it was heartbreaking.

Ranmaru: "It was my fault. All of it."

This isn't a full translation, as translating a whole chapter would take me hours.

[httpisaoki]

model! ningning x stylist! reader

(part of the billionaire! aespa series)

-> short drabble thingy cuz VERSACE NINGNING SAVE ME?!

you had been her stylist for quite a while now, taking care of her outfits and styling her the way any model could dream for. now, in ning's flirty and confident nature, it wasn't wrong to flirt a little right?

people would notice the look of pure happiness on her face whenever she saw you, hell, even you noticed. maybe she did have a tiny feeling that you were attractive, in her eyes, you were perfect. you had a good reputation, known for your impressive styling, being a former model yourself, you had taught ningning the basics when she was just starting. once she realizes her feelings, she would be in denial. i mean, no one could even reach her standards-- but how did you manage to get her flustered?

after pfw 2024, where she had walked the runway, she came back into the styling room with steam practically over her head. you wondered what got her so stressed, her eyes cold and angry. her mutters of, "That asshole shouldn't have said that," and multiple curses followed by a name, hyunjin. it amused you to think what could have hyunjin, one of her many persistent admirers in the industry, done to make her so upset. As she ranted in a fit of rage, completely forgetting she had an interview in less than 20 minutes, you stood there listening to every word, every emphasis on her anger towards the man. "ningning, deal with him later, okay? I need to get you dressed." you softly said, rubbing her wrist with your thumb as a sign of assurance. in a matter of seconds, her gaze turned soft, almost forgetting why was she so angry.

it was what she liked about you, your calmness, how you managed to make her laugh even if you only saw her for short times.

she nodded, embarrassment in her eyes as she realized that she had been rambling. "yeah, sorry about that." she muttered, a sheepish smile on her lips.

you gave her a look of amusement, chuckling at the sight. seeing her sheepish smile was adorable, and the fact that she had so much trust in you, was better. "it's alright, you just focus on your interview." you softly replied, patting her shoulder.

while you were getting her outfit together, you took the chance to ask her, "so what exactly did hyunjin do that got your blood boiling like that?"

she took a moment to gather her thoughts, before finally answering. "he's just… really annoying, you know? he keeps insisting that I should go out with him, but I keep refusing him. it's getting to the point where he's acting like we're dating to the press,"

she groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration. not only was hyunjin one of those persistent suitors, he was getting aggressive with his flirting, which had her blood boiling, and she just needed some way to release it.

you couldn't help but to feel pity for her, hyunjin was a known playboy, and she was clearly tired of him and his antics. the fact he was going so far, just to get the attention of one of the industries most well-known models, was funny.

it was getting him nowhere, and that was a good thing. "why won't he stop? does he really think this is going to get the attention of a girl as famous as you?" you asked with a laugh, trying to lighten the tension a bit.

"he really thinks he has a chance," she replied with a scoff, "he said he's going to take me out on a date after today, and when I said no, he said that the public deserves to know our 'date'." she rolled her eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed in annoyance. "he thinks I'm his girlfriend when I've already told him no multiple times. I just… I really dont know what he's thinking."

you hummed, scoffing at his ego. "I know it must be hard, but you do know that you can always report him to your agency and whatnot?" you give her a comforting smile, leaning closer to your lips before adding some blush onto her face. "he may think that he's all that but it's extremely annoying that he thinks that you'd actually like him." you rolled my eyes, fury in my eyes, making her chuckle.

her lips curved into a smile, she didn't expect you to be so protective over her, not when she was the model and you were the stylist. the fact he was so persistent, and how he had the audacity to call her his girlfriend infuriated her, especially when you were the one styling and taking care of her.

her gaze fell onto your lips, taking a moment to admire them before looking away. in that moment, all those times you helped her were all that kept rushing in her mind. she didn't expect to get infatuated with her stylist, but there she was.

as she stared down, her thoughts became interrupted as she suddenly felt her cheeks burning hot, realizing you had put blush on her. she gave a small giggle, trying to act like she was fine and normal, like you weren't noticing how attractive she was finding you. her heart was pounding as, out of nowhere, a spark of curiosity sparked in her mind. "c-can I tell you something..?" she murmured slowly.

"yes? of course," your reply was quick, wanting to know what she had to say. it may have been her first time asking you permission to say something, and you couldn't help but to feel your heart skip a beat. you could feel heat rise in your cheeks, making it slightly hard to hide a smile. you waited patiently for her to speak.

she paused, taking a moment to really think of how she wanted to say this. her eyes glanced to the side, her cheeks flushing as her heart raced. "what if i told you that i had a confession.." she spoke softly, the words catching in her throat as she struggled to get them out. she couldn't believe she was actually going to confess, especially after months of just ignoring her feelings. her heart was beating out of her chest, all while her mind screamed at her to do it, say it.

ningning hesitates, not sure on what to say, which in her point of view, was getting ridiculous because why was she so nervous? she breaks the silence with a sigh, a slight pause before finally saying:

"what if i told you that i liked you?"

[ask-postcrash-curly]

hi curlster!

this may send late and you might have already gotten your answer?

i thought the word was familiar. esquizofrenic seems to mean schizophrenic in another language, google translate’s saying it’s from portuguese and when i look it up it just gives schizophrenia articles. i have this disorder!

i didn’t really want to bring him up, and i’m very sorry, but, i’ve never heard anything about “Jimmy having schizophrenia” up until that ask. i’ve only heard about like, you guys experiencing psychosis symptoms and whatnot, which could be from many different things, right? i don’t know much about what goes on over there other than what you’ve told us. does he have it?

err.. um. hmm.

circling back to the disorder. something funny. ish. forgive me, this is personal, but in this moment i hold no shame. a few of the symptoms i experience are “thought insertions and thought broadcasting”, which are self explanatory- i believed thoughts were being sent to me from external sources, and that my thoughts were being, well, broadcasted. it used to be like, really bad, but i’m medicated now, so it’s not as prominent and i’m much more aware of what’s going on.

on occasion, when i see other people communicating with you, i get a very strong sense of deja vu. particularly when people send you things you don’t like. and sometimes the funnier ones. i get “sent” really awful things and the thought stays very prominent in my mind. it’s awful that they do that to you.

anyway, like, for the actual funny thing, i do still experience these symptoms, though i’m aware they’re delusions. so, as an inside joke with myself i tend to quote you in response to these thoughts, or just think about you, and i feel better about it. so like. thank you. genuinely.

i know our situations are very, very different, and that the messages you are receiving are very real, but i say all this because i want to give you context for my gratitude. you have helped me a lot. [AND THANK YOU MOD AS WELL. love this blog. makes me smile forever.]

moving on, i did want to ask you something. i’ve been trying to draw, uh, landscapes? places. instead of people. i’ve been drawing people too much. if you can, could you describe to me a place you want to see? anything you want. i’ll try to recreate it. can’t promise any accuracy. it’s gonna be in this pixely-vector style, if you know what i’m talking about. a friend told me it reminded her of some of the first 3d vector games.

above here is this ask’s Mind Object. this is my friend. i have made myself acquainted with this friend very recently. and today you can get to know them as well.

how do i conclude these? they always feel incomplete!!! whatever.

yours truly, nonsensechemicalsster

Hey, Nonsensechemicalsster!

Oh, no, I hadn't gotten an answer to that one. So thank you for that! ...Why does the dragon know Portuguese?? I have to admit I don't know that much about schizophrenia. Or why Jim would have it, honestly. If you're willing to share I'd like to hear. Only if you're comfortable.

No, it's okay. I mean, I brought him up too— Right, time delay. Yeah, uh, I saw the video of the game, and I know it... looked like he was hallucinating. Not sure if it was meant to be real hallucinations or, what do you call it, a narrative tool. Not like I can ask him... Ha, ha... He's never been diagnosed. I would have known if he was. But I've never been diagnosed with insomnia and I've definitely got that, so not having a diagnosis doesn't mean shit. I don't know. I'll never know now.

Hey, c'mon. You don't have to ask forgiveness for that. Honestly, I'd like to know more about you. You're an interesting character, you know? I think this is the longest I've heard you talking, uh... Saying "normally" sounds bad, but for lack of a better word, that. Not that I mind how you usually speak! Was just taken aback to hear you talking so differently from that. ...Okay, uh, thought broadcasting... I know the feeling. Not the same, obviously! But, you know. Glad it isn't as bad for you at least!

Ah, jeez, sorry if this is bringing back any bad memories. ...Thank you. I'm sorry that you can relate. The bad things... Once they're gone from my mind, I still remember them. So in a sense they never leave. And while they're there, not thinking about them is impossible. Can't look away, can't make it stop. It's all-consuming and I hate it.

Hah, really? Thanks. I'm... That's actually very nice to know. I'm glad I could help in some way after how much you've helped me.

Yeah no you've helped me a lot too. The things you tell and show me are unpredictable and frankly often bonkers, but I can count on them to be sincere, friendly, and never cruel. That means a lot. You'd always bring a smile to my face if my face still had the ability to smile.

That's a very kind offer. Let me think of a good one...

Got it. Here goes. Hope I can do it justice. There's, uh... My sister and I went to Alaska once with a couple friends. (Jim among them.) We did this dogsledding thing on a glacier. Completely brilliant time. The ground was all white and snowy in every direction. Seemed to go on forever. Aside from the dogs' footprints, it was really smooth, too. Absolutely freezing, only the sky was this really bright blue. Nearly cloudless. And there were these mountains on either side, huge dark cliffs and chunks of rock doused in even more snow. Practically glowing in the sun. Everything was so damn bright. (Luckily, we were warned to wear sunglasses.) But it... it wasn't like this room, you know? All white and bright, but not painful. Not empty or lonely or awful. It was really, really great.

Thank you for asking.

Hah, wow, I love it. Thank you so much for the mind object. I love your friend and look forward to getting to know them.

Again, thank you!! Talk soon!!

[gingersnaptaff]

Headcannons about Lleu Llaw Gyffes?

Hi anon! Monsieur Llew, he of the fuckin fair hair and skillful hand. Idiot eagle boi of my heart. Dylan's younger twin brother and Gwydion's... well, we'll skip that part.

LLEU, LLEU, LLEU. Okay, so I should preface this with the fact most of this is my book universe because yes. But I do really like Lleu even if I think he's also an idiot. 🙂‍↕️

Obvs because he and Dylan are separated both in my book and the branch 4 it's difficult to get an idea of their relationship, but I do think it would be a bit fractious. Lleu is under Gwydion's thrall for much of branch 4 whereas Dylan is a lot more free-flowing (although I do hc he's with his uncle Gofannon as a smith apprentice which is what leads to their eventually falling out. Aranrhod asked Gofannon to look after Dylan when war broke out between Gwynedd, Rhos, and Dyfed. I don't think Aranrhod outright hates her kids but that's for another hc/essay.) but Dyl absolutely recognises Gwydion is Bad News. Why do u think he fuckin JUMPED INTO THE SEA?! Man looks at the family of Dôn and thinks 'Fuck That!' and I can't respect him enough. Lleu, meanwhile, feels indebted to Gwydion. He gave him his name, a wife, and arms and cared for him when his mother wouldn't. That would, I think, make him.more malleable to doing whatever Gwydion desired.

Lleu's spear is Rhongomyniad! (Yes, Arthur's spear!) It was his first.

Absoluteky loves being an eagle. It was an escape for him. I believe that's probably the only time he was happy. I mean, he was near death but it was a respite from all the fuckin Crazy Shit.

Knows a tiny bit of magic. His wand is willow (because it's great for deception, and glamour magic. Thank u Mhara Starling for that info! She's great! Pls watch her YouTube channel because I adore it and she's an excellent resource for Welsh gods and such and sundry.) like Gwydion's. Also because bless u Lleu but u are legit Thee Most Naive Boi I've ever seen. I think he'd learn magic because Gwydion expects it of him, not because he wants to.

When he and Blodeuedd got married I think he thought their marriage was gonna be all plain sailing and lovely. He forgot they are actually cousins (incestuous magic being A Thing in Branch four because Math, Eufydd, and Gwydion created her) and also she's nature. She's flowers. (Actually, fun fact, NONE OF THE FLOWERS SHE'S MADE FROM GROW AT THE SAME FUCKIN TIME) so he was utterly blindsided when she ALMOST MURDERED HIM. (why has nobody made NCIS: Mabinogion style? I ask u.)

He always used to go down to the sea whenever he lived with Gwydion. He liked it because it reminded him of Dylan. Both twins were desperate to see the other because they had a twinge in their hearts (bit like a stitch) because they weren't together. Plus, it's that thing of sun and sea. The push and pull of the tides, and the way the sun glints off the sea. You can't have one without the other.

Before he got Blodeuedd he fell in love with a dark-haired maid who he saw walking through the forest when he was hunting. She was picking medicinal plants and locked eyes with him and Lleu stumbled back into the undergrowth like hed been shot. He never got her name, but he does still think about her. (Her name is Tangwen. She later married a knight called Efrawg. 👀)

Is an insanely good shot with bows and arrows and also slings and spears (as Gronw Pebyr can attest.)

His childhood was ummm shit. Yeah. Gwydion was very much consumer with one-upping Aranrhod and so only saw Lleu as a means to an end. He gave out affection sparsely and only when he deemed it warranted. Lleu still hunts for affection wherever he can. It's probably he's biggest weakness and Gwydion knows it. They're heavily intertwined and Gwydion also sees Lleu as an echo of his twin brother, Gilfaethwy. (Celtic mythology loves twins and so do I. I'm hitting ur fave with the twin beam.)

If u ask him what his fave food is he'll say roasted venison but in reality it's defo honey fritters. He will eat them constantly (pls don't, Lleu, you'll get sick!)

When he takes up his Cantrefi he's a really good ruler. It's just a shame that his uncle and the guy next door are warmongering and have to team up.

Has tried to send his mam a letter. She always sends them back.

Actually really loves his uncles' and grand-uncle! Amaethon always treated him kindly and sent him various plants as a birthday gift, Gofannon actually fashioned Rhongomyniad for him! (Before he took Dylan on as an apprentice.) And Eufydd* always magicked him up some toys when he was a baby. Lludd and Llefelys are busy ruling Llundain and Gaul respectively but ask how he's doing and send him some cool af armour. And Penarddun fosters him for a lil while, so Lleu becomes besties with her first born son, Bendigeidfran. (Everybody is interconnected. That's the true Welsh myth experience.)

*Eufudd is mentioned in a few of Taliesin's poems but not sure is really known about him. We know he's a son of Dôn and bro to Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, Aranrhod, Amaethon, Penarddun, Gofannon, and Lludd and Llefelys but we don't have much about him other than he's a magician. So I imagine he aided his big bro and grand-uncle in making Blod and the exeunted stage left the fuck outta there when everything went tits up.

When Lleu is fostered with his aunt Penarddun she and her husband, the sea God Llŷr, manage to contact Dylan! Because, y'know, sea and waves. Dylan - who is about eight - comes and hangs out at Harlech for a while! When they go to the Menai Strait for a bit of R and R Dylan declares he has a pondering rock! (It's actually a big ass boulder on the seashore.) Later, when everything kicks off and Dylan is made to go with Gofannon, Lleu spends a few hour s a day sitting on his brother's pondering rock and wondering where he is.

Also, I know all these he's include Gwydion, Blodeuwedd, or Dylan but these are the two he's most intertwined with in my view. You can't have one without the other. Anyways, anon, I hope you like these he's!

[uxorico]

Helloo I've been meaning to ask!! You've posted about watching droners recently, do you have any particular thoughts about it? Some opinions about where the plot went, character arcs and such? (I'd ask who your favorite is but I think I can guess lmao.) There's so few active fans, I'm really interested in hearing the opinion of someone who came back to the show recently

Hi thank you for the ask !

I love rambling about this silly show and I got nobody to talk to about it lol

I've started the show like 3 years ago, so I thought maybe I wouldn't be the same person, the concept wouldn't interest me anymore. I was so wrong. I couldn't watch the second season as soon as it came out sadly BUT THIS YEAR WAS THE YEAR 🌟🌟🌟

I didn't expect much cuz it's a kid's show, i saw some spoilers about something between Corto and Manta and I really couldn't see these two together. I saw the spoilers out of context so it didn't help, but then I saw the context and mmmmh yknow what. It does work. I was pretty happy with that. They get along well I like that. But honestly I thought they would keep Hannah more around, she and Corto got along well too. They didn't interact as much as in the first season I feel like, but maybe I'm wrong I have to re-watch it (I've only been replaying the last season over over and over again lol)

I also liked what they did with Mina, gave her a bit more lore that was fun. I'm a bit sad we didn't see more of the pirates and Adam but that's okay they're still in my heart.

I have to admit, Corto annoyed me a bit lol. Every episode she DOES something. Next episode I think ''maybe she understood that she has to keep some distance'' SHE DOESN'T 😭😭😭 but at the end she fixes her mistake but girl please have some decency I'm begging

And yea my favorite character has to be Manta 🌟. Since s1, idk he's got a pretty good design and I'm happy we got to see more of him. I love his drone. For a good while I thought it was named ''Joe's''. It took me a re-watch to understand it was not ''joe's''. But yea I PREDICTED A SHARK SHAPED DRONE DURING MY DRONERS PHASE BACK IN 2022. Kinda proud of that. But it was for some ocs so I was really surprised when the first pictures of s2 came out. I'm glad the cold kings quit the academy, they deserve that. I thought they would keep the mystery around the white tiger longer, for the drama, the peps, but no, second episode identity reveal. Fun nonetheless.

But I also really like Hannah, she's really cool. I love Egyptian themed designs, gold is such a pretty color yknow.

I was not surprised for the planctons, they seemed weird to me since the beginning lmao. But I still had my doubts. But in the suit episode I was pretty sure they were not terras.

The queen looked SO COOL, I liked her piloting style. I thought they would make her become a nice classic character at some point but no she wanted to steal the ship of Maelstrom even when she knew what it represented for Mina. That's nice, we need more characters like that I think. It surprised me.

AND NOW THE PLOT. I liked the races on this island, and also the fact that the island people could be against the pilots. Like yeah they're so right to sabotage Corto when she didn't respect their culture and traditions. I stand by that lmao. I liked that the queen and Wale knew each other and why they were on bad terms, it made me understand what kind of character the queen is (she's great, a slay).

I was not expecting Pavel to play a bigger role in the season but hey it was well done. I totally forgot about Adam 😭😭. I had suspicions about Cold (was that his name ? Can't remember rn) but, he has a mask, and I have bad memory. And I was focused on OTHER THINGS 👀👀 REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS DURING THE SEASON 👀👀👀👀 (listen the Corto/Manta dynamic GOT ME OKAY. I AM WEAK.) I expected Tech to come back but no she didn't.

And I'm skipping over the boomer race. That was hard to watch. If it had another name it would have been excellent. I am weak.

I was expecting Oro to stay a random guy with memory loss, but no he's a whole army guy that was surprising. I thought he would have left the tikkis at the end of the season to discover his identity but he stayed yay.

It was a good season, really liked it. My favorite episodes were the pocamourus race (FOR OBVIOUS REASON 😳) and the predator race. There was this shot in the predator race that's just stuck in my mind. You see the moment where Corto and Manta are the last standing, Corto decides to go down in the abyss and the shot is just the two drones going down with the ocean around them. The soundtrack there is my favorite too, I sadly can't find it anywhere 😩 . The closest thing I found was droners audio books in German 😩😩😩. But I often re-watch this episode just for that very short moment lmao, I'm a simple girl.

I think I covered a bit of everything lol, since I finished watching the season the first time I've been drawing a lot and searching for any fanarts online. There are so few 😩😩😩. I also wondered if there were fics or something but last time I checked there were 9. NINE. I have never seen that before lmao. So the show kinda got me acting and I've been making what I want to see, someday maybe I'll post my silly comics online but idk if I'm a good enough writer for that, we'll see at some point ig :'))

I also tried to get into writing fanfics just because. There's not enough stuff. I need more. I wish that someday more people get into this fandom, I need new stuff please I'm begging.

I don't interact much with the fandom cuz I'm super shy 😭 but I always keep an eye on what comes out 👁️👁️

However I'd be happy to talk more about the show if anyone wanna talk about it with me lol

[bromcommie]

for the wip ask!! who is origins 👀 she’s intriguing …

Ah, Origins. Or as I like to call it, Why Am I Doing This. Or alternatively, The Latest Baby in the My Own Personal Goncharov Series.

Basically what happened was I made these silly mockup posters for an in-universe HBO show about Steve's life pre-ice, and then the lovely @booksandabeer made a joking comment in the tags of her reblog about me writing the script for it. And I saw that and thought, "Haha! Yeah, that'd be fun. Would be nice to write a script again. I'm not actually gonna do that though I don't have the time and it's definitely an insane thing to do anyway". And went to bed without a care in the world. And then, well. It Compelled Me for like a month straight. Both because I'm always thinking about just how much better those movies could've been lol, but in this case more specifically the story-within-a-story element, considering that that's already a major part of the whole Steve Rogers vs. Captain America dichotomy.

Anyway flash forward, I'm manically layering post-its on my desk trying to map out the timeline and structure and style for this fucking fake meta Emmy bait-esque biography miniseries (say that five times fast) and its in-universe ripples. It's still in its very early stages and slow going so I don't wanna jinx myself out of getting at least the first "episode" actually done lol, but basically: the series itself is supposed to be around 5-6 45-minute episodes that span Steve's life concluding with the Valkyrie crash. I'm currently playing with the idea of making it a not-strictly-linear narrative with each of the episodes possibly centering around a different theme/aspect, but we'll see. It's also supposed to be a little too dramatized and not a 100% accurate, but close enough to the real thing that it attracts some mixed opinions from the general public as well as Steve himself. Which is really the toughest part right now, because I've decided it means having to a) settle on some kind of outline of what's supposed to be the "real" course and nature of events in the first place and separate it from how the "real" Steve remembers those events, and b) then figure out the context of when this is being made and released in-universe, who this filmmaker is, what their sources/influences would be and how they'd frame it all, and with what goal in mind.

So. I have no idea who this is for honestly or what I'm doing with it, exactly, but. I might've gotten too invested. There are playlists and pinterest boards and possibly a bible. It's all great fun, and it also makes me scream internally because whyyy.

[archivalofsins]

I am excited to see the T3 sprites of the Prisoners, I've been thinking about how they may look (Yuno w/ different hair? Mikoto w/o restraints? Etc) and wanted to ask you what you thought they may look like for T3

WE GET TO MEET THE KING OF THE MASQUERADE!!!

We get to finally see behind the act- I know you brought up Yuno with different hair and Mikoto without restraints but I saw this ask a day ago and immediately went we finally get to see! He's finally gonna introduce himself- WOOOOOO! Yeah let's meet the king of the masquerade baby!

We did exactly what he asked so I'm expecting a proper introduction.

"Lick that sin and oppose punishment, until you can meet the king of the masquerade."

We opposed punishment alright,

I want to meet him soooo bad. No one has any idea. I'm sooo excited to see him now- I hope he's let it all slip. I wanna hear,

"All those things I wanna do that I can’t say out loud."

I'm soooo happy about it this is why I wanted him innocent this is why i said nothing during his trial. I wanna see sooo bad. The fact that he teased it like that was soooo mean. He was like,

Kazui: You're almost there, you're almost at the finale don't you want to see what happens if you keep indulging my bullshit come on~ Just follow the king of the masquerade.

My ass,

Me: Oh god he made it sound so tempting... My one weakness curiosity. Innocent just innocent him again. No, I don't care that she fell backwards which is more indicative of being pushed than actively choosing to commit suicide. I need to see the whole act okay. We can talk about everything else later. I don't care if he's pulling a pied piper- I don't give a fuck! Fuck it we ball. I'm an adult and I can make bad choices in the comfort of fiction if I want to. I'm gonna shut my mouth not say anything and do whatever I can to get this man innocent.

Kazui,

"Heh, heh got another one."

Well as they say curiosity killed the cat and I don't think satisfaction is gonna bring it back in this case.

But got damn if I'm not gonna be satisfied. All that to say i have no clue how Kazui will look but I am here for it.

Mikoto I expect to be unrestrained. Futa I'm kind of expecting him to not have an eyepatch any longer possibly for his eye to have healed. Since the person to have examined him was Shidou and they may use Futa's eye healing to hint at Shidou's dishonesty/malpractice. I thought Yuno may cut her hair. She may do it to have a style reminiscent to Mahiru's like a way of remembering her. That would be really cool.

I'm hoping and somewhat expecting Amane's hair to have grown out and possibly a uniform change if they decide to show their in real time ages this trial. I don't know which way it will go with her restraints though. I'm thinking there will be some visible injuries on a few prisoners much deeper bruising. Depending on how the deaths happened i.e if there was a struggle or not there could be no visible injuries.

I'm interested in what clothing changes we'll get. I wonder if Mu will still be wearing her jewelry. How Kazui's pants and shoes may change. If Futa will take the hoodie off or change his shoes and pants to fit the salvation thing he's been pushing. I'm wondering if Mikoto will change his hair a slicked back look would be nice.

I'm also interested in the trial three sprite art to see Amane standing up straight again to check her height. Plus I wonder if she'll have her hat back or a new one. Those are just things I'd like. I think to extent we all expect them to look broken up or weathered. Though I expect some of them will be looking as though nothing had happened if not all of them.

It would be interesting if they drew some inspiration from their fourth anniversary funeral art. When it comes to the designs. I'm sorry this isn't much of answer just food for thought. There's so many direction they can take it- It's impossible for me to settle on what would be the most interesting or what I'm expecting.

Since I am really just taking it in stride. I could make some guesses but it would be more so about their demeanors. I'm kind of expecting Mikoto to be a bit cocky similar to how Mu was trial two. Everyone innocent trial one was smiling trial two but Kotoko. However she wasn't really smiling to begin with.

I think it would be interesting to have a few more innocent prisoners not smiling. I could imagine Yuno, Futa, and Amane being the one's not smiling. In contrast I could imagine Kotoko and Mu smiling despite being guilty. Mikoto and Kazui are up in the air for me.

But that's all my thoughts on that. Sorry, again that this wasn't that in depth.

[kokoasci]

Heyooo, I'm new here, and I just want to say I absolutely adore your art so far. It's such a beautiful style; honestly, I'm incredibly jealous of the skills you've acquired as well as impressed.

I mostly came on here to ask for advice(if you're willing to give any, of course, it's your choice):

Are there any tips you have for getting started on making comics/stories online??

I saw that you're working on a comic to get out soon - I know it's not yet debuted , but I was just curious about your process and time with it so far? I myself want to start making my own writing public, and I wanted to ask others who have a bit more experience than me if they have anything to say that they think could help confidence and just general tips wise?

Apologies for all the yapping and the sudden question! 😓😓

hi !! first off thank you! that really means a lot :) <3

i feel like i'm definitely not the most qualified of people to give any sort of concrete advice, given yeah this comic isn't out yet, but i can definitely share what's helped me get more confident in posting my original stuff

probably everyone's going to tell you the same thing of like "just start posting it" but like yeah. literally just start posting it 😭 i've always kind of had my ocs as like characters i would use to test story and worldbuilding stuff since 2020, but i didn't actually consider making a comic until like last year-ish. i think i got lucky where a lot of people following me are just also tolerating the fact that i post oc stuff here, and drawing actual colored pieces and character art has helped grow that audience a little bit (i think?) to people who are interested in the original stuff rather than fandom stuff

the best advice I think i can give right now is to definitely just try it out. start small, maybe character introductions or sketches, etc., and then branch out to whatever you feel comfortable with, until you figure out what kind of style you want to share your stuff in. I was in the exact same position where I was incredibly shy to post my OC stuff on here, since it felt very private to me (these are my children that i've had for five years...) but after posting character introductions and a few sketches I got way more comfortable with finally sharing actual rendered pieces and written skits that i would have probably never felt anywhere near comfortable sharing online if i didn't just start at some point. I think that's helped me a lot, and helped grow the interest in the original stuff I make too! plus, seeing people's responses to this stuff has been incredibly motivating. I probably wouldn't have made so much progress and even thought about making a comic if it hadn't been for the incredibly kind reception i've found here

my personal style for trying to organize this comic is I'm trying to hold off on an actual debut until I'm completely happy with the first few chapters, which is taking me a long time...you obvs don't need to follow this, but I think I get more engrossed into a media if there's quite some content to start with. bottom line, i'd recommend to make and post the story/art that you'd be most interested in seeing, which i think helps motivate a bunch since ppl interested in it are also part of your same tribe.

I am a full-time student, so this is just a side project that i work on in my free time. that's mostly why I usually just post quick rendered art and sketches on here, and i've found that finishing small things helps keep me motivated to do the big things. it's easy to get lost in the big picture, and I highly recommend just drawing/writing whatever you feel inspired to do in the moment. just put it down on paper first, and you can fix it later. i find that it's easier to tweak stuff into what i envision rather than stressing about making it perfect the first time :)

[salty-dracon]

My thoughts on the Hundred Line demo

First, and most important question: Did I enjoy it? My answer is, YES!!! ABSOLUTELY YES!!!! I am beyond hooked. This game's got its claws in me. I've got theories cookin', man!

And yes, the EN dub is fine. In fact, I'm very excited to hear more from it!

Under the readmore are further details about the demo and my thoughts on them. Please note that this contains major demo spoilers, and I ask that if you comment, you avoid dropping any information about leaks. Thank you for reading!

First, let's talk presentation- encompassing art style, music, and engine quirks.

I think the presentation is superb. The visual novel engine carries over some quirks from Danganronpa V3 such as having the protagonist's expression on display when they're speaking, which was one of the best things about that game and Rain Code. Not only that, but they allow movement to the side and use interesting angles to display different features of each room, while billboarding the sprites around. That's so freaking cool, and it gives the illusion of having the characters in the room around you as you're looking around, not looking like paper dolls. The art style is predictably a little more grey and mechanical than the colorful psycho-pop DR1 and DR2 and psycho-cool DRV3 and cyberpunky Rain Code. I mean, they're in an army base. That's to be expected. I think it does well to set the tone for the game.

The more colorful floors felt a bit lacking in some respects, and I disliked the sidescrolling. It didn't work for Rain Code either, and I'm curious as to why they went with this format instead of the usual DR Open World wandering. Maybe otherwise you can get stuck between the rooftop micro-habs? Or maybe there will be a horror scene later on which will require you to walk through the halls while bodies line the floor?

The music is very similar to Danganronpa, but I can't complain. DR music is almost 100% bangers, and the battle theme is original. And also a banger. TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO-

Voice Acting

This may be controversial of me, but I like it. (Same guy who loved Triangle Strategy's dub, btw.) First, we do have some big names in here from games like Metaphor ReFantazio and various Fangans. And yes, I think of the ones we've seen, they're really good! I'd say every issue I had with the voice acting was just caused by poor voice direction. But I'm not going to let it hamper my enjoyment of the game, no matter how many assholes yell at me on stream about it. Shoutout in particular to Sirei's voice! It sounded just like an army sergeant with a little bit of Cave Johnson thrown in, and the lines were read with so much pomp and personality! Also shoutout to Darumi, Takemaru, and Hiruko, who we saw a lot of in the demo, and whose performances were all full of personality. I kept comparing Darumi to Jinx from League of Legends (not Arcane- important distinction). It helps tremendously that the localization was written so buttery smooth that every VA could take it in stride.

Oh yeah, localization. It's 10/10. That's it.

Characters

I've been following the marketing since the beginning, so I've already come to adore this cast. Everyone's a standout in their own way, but some of them defied my expectations in interesting ways.

Eito is supposedly a sickly boy who gave me Major Sus Vibes on account of his weapon being a scythe and that one CG with Takumi- you know the one. People in my circle are calling it Komahina 2 But They Actually Do It This Time. Oh god. Anyway, Eito standing up and calling out Sirei, and proving to be unpopular enough with Hiruko in the mix? I didn't expect him to be the first one to get into interpersonal drama! He seems so reasonable and so nice, but I know that facade is going to be crushed later on- I strongly suspect he'll develop some kind of one-sided obsession with either Takumi, or based on his moveset, justice and group unity, and cull anyone who poses a threat to those things. Which is to say, he's my favorite and I hope Takumi keeps interacting with him!

Hiruko was long thought of as the group's first obstacle to achieving any level of unity, and I'm definitely seeing that here with the way she threatens the others and treats them as worthless unless they're fighting with her. Girl, you may be strong, but you have 0 range- you'd get swarmed by the real baddies if you didn't have the rest of us with you! I don't see any attempt at humor with her yet- which is good, I'd hate to have that illusion shattered so early.

Darumi and Takemaru, as Takumi's first allies, are wonderful! We saw a lot of Takemaru's personality on display- he's weird, but honorable. Same with Darumi. She talks a lot of trash and acts pretty scary, but she's not just a character made to mimic a Danganronpa fan. She seems fun- and moreso, that she cares about the others enough to help them out in a pinch like with Eito's rescue.

If there are two members of the cast that may get annoying, Gaku is one and Shouma is another. WRT Gaku, this is just my own past talking but I hate characters that play Oppression Olympics to win. That being said, they asked us not to write him off as he's very kind when he locks in. As for Shouma, I just hate characters who have 1 line of dialogue followed by 2 lines of self-deprecation. But I trust the team's character writing. I trust they'll do both of them justice.

As for characters that just suck, it is so much fun watching Ima suck. Like, please stop making your sister so uncomfortable, dude, but depending on how far you go, we'll be cheering even louder when Kako hits you with a brick. (Also, not the worst guy I've ever seen in a Danganronpalike. That one goes to a certain sexist Italian Catholic.)

Anyway, I look forward to seeing more of these guys.

Gameplay

It would help if there were a clearer aggro mechanic. I don't fully remember which character had a taunt move in the first place, but it would help if I knew anyway. Otherwise, I find the gameplay super interesting, with lots of opportunity for potential strategies. Paying attention to the movement, range, attack, armor, AOE capability, etc.. of each character will be very fun in a game that's mostly mooks with one big tough boss at the end. AOE characters aren't the best in games like Fire Emblem, you know? So to be able to wipe out enemies quickly feels powerful, a bit like Unicorn Overlord.

I still feel bad about having to kill the scrunklies for enemy reasons, but they revive anyway.... won't be that bad, right? Right?

That "Finishing Blow" sequence? THAT WAS FUCKING CRAZY!!! I didn't think this game would have PVP, but GOD DAMN!!! (Can't wait for the inevitable "Shouma, you're behind on EXP, go kill the commander" moment.)

Anyway, can't wait to play Tsubasa and hit people with my car. I know we have some ideas of movesets for characters that weren't in the demo like Yugamu and Kurara, but... Tsubasa Hit and Run. Please.

I wonder what the school stats will be used for.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of board game mechanics... I was actually hoping for some brassy-sounding penis music to fit the funny looking character sprites. Didn't get that...

And most importantly, plot!

As a fan of Danganronpa, Akudama Drive, Rain Code, Zero Escape, and AI The Somnium Files, I like to think that I know enough about both Kodaka and Uchikoshi to know what the markers and cinchers are.

In three words, I am hooked.

This plot so far is very Kodaka, but I see some Uchikoshi on the horizon and sprinkled here and there, especially with the potential way they might handle 100 endings. Identity issues are very Uchikoshi, for instance, and I'm wondering if Takumi switched bodies with the ghost boy somehow.

We had our Danganronpa divergence with the complete disappearance of Sirei and his subsequent death at the end of Day 7. Who knows WHERE the plot will go from here, now that the students are essentially self-governing? And we have some interpersonal drama in there with Hiruko vs everyone who won't fight and Eito vs. Hiruko.

And what is "Cryptoglobin", the key word that appeared at the end of the most recent trailer? I know what Hemoglobin is- it's the protein that carries oxygen on your red blood cells- so... what does that mean here?

All I know is that Eito is sus. He's gonna have a serial killer arc. He's gonna somehow commit worse crimes than everyone else in the school and still do absolutely nothing wrong.

Anyway, some theories based on what we've seen:

Every character has been ripped out of their own time somehow. Takumi is from a different time period than everyone else, which is why some characters feel so old-fashioned and why almost everyone is completely disconnected from everyone else. It's because they didn't exist then- or only existed as adults.

The ghost boy is the "heart" of the Undying Flames. They appear to have a consciousness, and that consciousness wants to protect the school from the Invaders, hence why it tries to keep them out.

The flames burn through spacetime. This would explain how Takumi could see a boy he'd never met as well as why the flames only incinerate organic matter- rock doesn't deteriorate as fast as a plant, so if you sped up time around a plant, it would wither away faster than a rock would.

Rather disorganized, but those are my thoughts on the demo! I hope you enjoy!

[butterflydm]

wot deeper dive 2x4: daughter of the night

This specific post I am going to avoid any spoilers from the books! I will be doing another post later today that includes those spoilers and related thoughts.

I feel like I can safely call him 'Ishamael' now. The information is all there in the episodes.

I do like this initial 'calling' scene, though we got a lot of it teased to us before the season aired, so I've talked about it before. But we hear the word 'Lanfear' here, though it's followed by a lot of Old Tongue, so it might not have stood out too much to people who didn't already know that it's someone's name.

Given what we saw of the flashback last season "3000 years ago", I feel safe in saying... yeah, looks like Ishamael is among the ruins of that older civilization. Probably brings back some memories. Also, time-stamp note: it looks like he's wearing the black buttoned outfit that he wore last season, not the blue with the gold tie-clip-like design that he's been wearing this season.

3. The bloody woman! I wonder if she's bloody (and naked) because that's what she looked like when she got sealed up or if it's something that happened due to the process of unsealing. It looks like the seal was already partially damaged, so maybe that's why Lanfear was bloody when she woke up.

4. I loved Anveare's plotline through this episode. I really enjoy what the show is doing in showing us the downside of being a channeler -- outliving your friends and family, watching them grow old and die. Having children is a crapshoot -- if they're a girl, and they can channel, then it's a relatively normal parental relationship. But if they're a boy or if they're a girl who can't channel, then they will inevitably die before you. We're introduced to Anveare again by showing us her signs of aging -- she looks at the lines on her face and puts on an elaborately-styled wig to cover how white her real hair is.

5. Here's a question: given the age of her butler and how she talks later about needing to ask friends for food (and the general vibe of the manor house itself); it sounds like their house truly is fallen, as Moiraine mentioned in s1, and is having serious money issues (though in the way that nobility has money issues rather than the way that the people in the Foregate do -- she's not poor, she lacks funds) and Anveare seeks to fix the problems both of money and of her house's image by marrying her (unnamed for now) son to the Cairhienin queen (also unnamed for now). The interesting thing to me about this is that it means that her conversation with Rand in the last episode probably did have an element of genuine sympathy for the Foregaters in it -- it sounds like she's also felt like she could lose her home and her place in society. And it's implied that she's an artist! I really loved seeing the sketches and paintings in her study.

6. The conversation between Lady Anveare and Moiraine is so painful! Moiraine is NOT here to engage emotionally with her younger sister -- she is here to find Rand and to try to keep Lanfear away from him, and she has no time or patience for anything else (as we saw with her behavior with Lan as well). It's clear how frustrated Anveare is with Moiraine's behavior. I'm assuming that she guessed straight-away that Moiraine's appearance here had to do with the mysterious redheaded boy who visited Logain and made an appearance at a party (because it's also made clear in this episode that Logain being sent to Cairhien was not 'business as usual' with male channelers but an oddity, which means that Anveare has probably been keeping an eye on the sanatorium ever since he arrived) -- if Moiraine actually had been willing to slow down and take tea with her here, I wonder if Lady Anveare would have just told her about Rand. But Moiraine "my loyalty is to the Dragon Reborn and him alone" Sedai does not have the patience for such things. I like that we're really seeing the damage that Moiraine's singlemindedness has been doing to her relationships with the people around her. It's not targeted at Lan! It's everyone who gets in the way of what she thinks she must do! The way Moiraine sweeps back into the house and just immediately starts giving orders!

7. Guilty Rand and Selene ready to take advantage of it (twisting the knife by blaming herself for the fire when of course she knows how it really started). She's so manipulative! I love how effective she is as a villain here. She's good at finding weak spots and exploiting them without giving away that she's aware of what she's poking at. And the facial expressions are just... on point, always. But Rand is worried that he'll hurt anyone if he's around them, and the more he cares, the more he worries.

8. Poor Nynaeve. The Accepted testing really put her through the wringer. I like that we only hear the flashback here and that we don't actually flash back to the test. It just happened last episode! We can remember it fine. They did a good job of showing why Nynaeve is currently feeling more emotionally connected to Liandrin (who also has a child, like Nynaeve has the memory of having a child) than to Egwene, who has not experienced anything like what Nynaeve has gone through. And Nynaeve needing to take that moment to remember and go back to put her ring on. Egwene is trying to hard to connect with Nynaeve but Nynaeve just... she was essentially 'trained' by her time as a Wisdom not to want to burden 'the kids' with her troubles (we see that in the very first episode when she launches her Bel Tine lantern separate from the rest of the village, not letting them see her mourn the people she's lost).

Also: the Accepted rooms are a big upgrade from the novice rooms!

9. We transition from Nynaeve feeling out of place to Lan feeling out of place. He has his hair down, similarly to how he had it in her vision of her AU future, but the quiet happiness that was on his face in that future isn't here now. This is a slower-paced episode for Lan and he doesn't get a big reveal at the end of the episode like we get in most of the other plotlines but if I think of it as an Alanna-focused plotline rather than a Lan-focused plotline, there is a reveal -- the poem and, potentially, the worry that Lan and/or Moiraine might be Darkfriends (we'll maybe find out next week if that's where her thoughts went or if she instead assumes that Moiraine is hunting Darkfriends or something similar).

I mean, thinking about the information that Alanna has:

a. discovers this poem which references the Daughter of the Night -- she doesn't even want to believe that Lan knows who it's referring to! Because of the Implications.

b. talks about how Moiraine changed twenty years ago, very abruptly (this is also likely when Moiraine and Siuan had their very public falling-out) and became colder "like ice".

c. Moiraine was willing to use Alanna to threaten Lan with a forced bonding, which Alanna went along with because Moiraine is her friend, but she may now be thinking about that in a different way -- why would Moiraine want to push Lan away that hard? (this would be leaning into the idea that Moiraine is a Darkfriend and Lan isn't)

It's pretty suspicious, when you think about it! So... if I think of this plotline as less about the show trying to tell us about Lan and more about Alanna: Investigator (mirroring Moiraine: Investigator in Cairhien) in Cairhien, then I feel more patient about the slower pace. And Alanna: Investigator has two co-conspirators that she trusts absolutely, which is a big contrast to Moiraine, as is her relationship with her family! Where Moiraine is cold and pushes away her only relative that we meet, Alanna is warm and teasing and clearly has maintained strong bonds with her large and loving family.

We get three very distinct and different types of ways that Aes Sedai deal with being Aes Sedai and how that affects their family: you can be the cheerful guardian angel of your extended family, like Alanna is (and Maksim and Ihvon are clearly fully part of the family as well, and adored by the children); you can cut them off entirely, like Moiraine has; or you can keep them a secret so that your enemies can't use them against you, like Liandrin has.

10. Alanna always being hungry is such a great character choice. I think I may have read that it was initially the actress's idea? But they are definitely playing into it this season and it works so well, on so many levels. She is a woman of strong appetites, who isn't ashamed to show it. And, like she did with Egwene and sex in 2x1, she's assuming here that Lan also has large appetites (for food, in this case).

11. This scene with Alanna does feel like it gives us a lot of information -- Maksim and Ihvon are on suicide watch for Lan (suicide is a big theme in this episode, actually), but Alanna doesn't think that's the issue here. We learn that Alanna plans to return to the Tower the next day, and we get the info drop about Moiraine's abrupt change twenty years ago. We also have Alanna feeling Lan out about his current plans. Despite what other characters say, Alanna herself doesn't much behave like she's planning to bond Lan imo. She mentions Nynaeve to him here and presents Nynaeve as the potential new option for him. But Lan was just told in 2x2 by Moiraine that he failed her as a Warder and he felt that too -- he wasn't able to protect her just by himself and so he's doubting himself.

In... certain ways, what Moiraine did to Lan over the last few months is not dissimilar to what Liandrin did to Mat, in terms of making them doubt themselves as a person. Their motivations were different but the results appear somewhat similar -- both Lan and Mat are adrift and not certain which direction to turn. "Where would I go?" seems to be the question on both their minds. Lan doesn't feel he would be any use to Nynaeve, just as Mat doesn't feel he would be any use to Egwene.

12. Moiraine looking at all the little pieces of her youth -- the dollhouse, the mirror, the books, the music box, the... cigars? And I love her silhouette her in Cairhienin dress. It's so distinctive. She allows herself some softness here, when she's alone, that she doesn't allow when she's around Anveare. Moiraine: Investigator is now out on the town! This scene is even more interesting knowing that Celestin (head of the sanatorium) sends reports to Lady Anveare. I wonder if Lady Anveare has already guessed that the redheaded boy is a man who can channel, given who he was interested in meeting and that Moiraine went to speak with him too.

13. Loved Moiraine and Logain's scene but, wow, very sharp and intense. She tries to bribe him with the wine and fails, but she does successfully bribe him with the promise of being allowed to kill himself if he does want she asks (which really puts it into perspective how terrible it is to lose the One Power). We get our explanation here of why the gentled false dragon was in Cairhien instead of Tar Valon (bait for Rand) and it's so good! Definitely a joint venture between Siuan and Moiraine -- I imagine that Moiraine penned her a desperate message as soon as she was able to, after realizing at the Eye that she'd screwed up by letting Rand leave. I imagine they also probably made it very public gossip that the false dragon was in Cairhien, explaining how Rand found out about it in the first place.

14. It does sound here like Moiraine's current plan is to stay in Cairhien so that Rand can learn from Logain, but it's very possible that discovering Lanfear in bed with Rand at the end of the episode has changed her plans. We will see!

...also I love Moiraine's pockets.

15. Poor Egwene trying to sort through her feelings, while Elayne does her best to be supportive. Elayne is very sensible-head here, which I appreciate. This isn't a situation that Egwene can 'fix' for Nynaeve, no matter how much she wants to help. It's a lovely and sweet moment between the two of them that shows their growing friendship, and we also get to see them doing chores at the same time, which shows us that Elayne is settling with the White Tower routine. Egwene feeling small and useless in the Tower. Baby. *hugs*

16. And then we get the flipside of things and see Nynaeve's discomfort in the Tower and with being Accepted. She tries to go to the Warder's training ground to find Maksim and Ihvon, but only finds a friendly Warder-in-training who has heard the hot gossip about her skills and is interested in presenting himself as a potential bonding option for her. We do see here that it's the specific friendships that she'd formed already that she was seeking out in the earlier episode when she sparred with Maksim and Ihvon, and not simply sword training itself.

17. Liandrin spots this conversation and then receives a message. This is where we get our discussion between Liandrin and Leane about the invaders on the western coast. The conversation is very vague with Leane, but then when she talks to Nynaeve later, Liandrin suddenly has a bunch of information about a specific group that was captured by the Seanchan. Given that we do find out in this episode that Liandrin is working with Ishamael (from the Mat & Min plotline), it's easy to guess where she got her information about Perrin and Loial's capture.

I love Leane's little shoulder wrap thing. The fashion in this show just vibes with me. I enjoy it. We do learn here that sisters were sent to investigate the attacks in the west.

I am very curious about what explanation they'll give for where Siuan currently is. They've made it a mystery and pointed out twice now that it's a mystery (both here and in 2x1, in the conversation between Egwene and Nynaeve).

18. Aw, wolves! This scene is great. Perrin gets some answers from Elyas, we learn about how the wolfbrother business works, Perrin learns that he isn't a werewolf, and we meet Hopper! What a cutie! I really liked the visualizations and the sendings of the wolves. We also learn that the wolves have been seeing Perrin's dreams.

I love how Elyas clearly is trying to help Perrin but his idea of help is just kinda... off from what Perrin thinks of help as.

I really like how seriously the show has taken Perrin's grief over Laila.

19. Lan has been obsessing over the poem, and Maksim catches him putting it away (explaining how Maksim knew where to look in the later scene). So... if I'm thinking about this storyline in terms of Alanna: Investigator, then Maksim talking to Lan here is just as much about trying to get information out of Lan as it is about trying to 'help' Lan get over his 'broken' bond with Moiraine.

"Have you ever known a marriage that is exactly the same another?" I do like that they are establishing that Warder bonds can come in all different kinds of ways.

20. Now we are back with Moiraine: Investigator, who is trying to figure out where Rand might have gone after the inn that he was staying in burned down. (I assume this conversation was also reported to Lady Anveare, lol)

21. Lanfear admits a small lie to Rand here (to get him adjusted to the idea that she can lie to him and it's okay?), saying that her family never came here, that it was actually her and her ex. Lanfear constantly talking about her ex with Rand: haha, I understand why he's just ugh, "Ugh, idk he sounds boring [aka I don't want to talk about your ex-boyfriend 24/7]" especially since we know from the conversation later that Rand has caught feelings for 'Selene' even though he was trying his hardest not to. He's likely assuming that the ex was older and more sophisticated and it makes him feel young and unsophisticated in comparison when she keeps bringing said ex up.

The music here is so good.

22. Mat and Min! This is a cute interaction, though it's colored by the fact that the viewers know that Min is working with Liandrin. Mat is so so adorable here and I'm glad he was able to shed the coat for this scene. Also, Min paying the bartender to get Mat drunk (so that he'll sleep through her 'meeting' later).

23. This conversation with Nynaeve and Liandrin is so good and so manipulative. Liandrin is able to take the information that Nynaeve discovered (about her son) and use it for her own benefit. I do think there's a certain amount of regret for her that she's pulling the trigger on the plan that she was given to follow by Ishamael (from her apology later) but there's no hesitation. We know from the conversation with Min in a little bit that Ishamael makes promises. "I couldn't risk losing the only thing in this world that's truly mine." A reason to make a deal with Ishamael? And she offers the carrot here for Nynaeve to take -- people you love are in danger. She knows Nynaeve well enough to know that Nynaeve will take the bait, and likely assumes that Egwene will get swept along with Nynaeve (she saw how much Egwene cares about Nynaeve last episode).

It's only Elayne that was a 'complication'.

24. So, again, in the context of Alanna: Investigator... Ihvon trying to work out why Moiraine left Lan behind (and being the distraction), while Maksim and Alanna snoop in his stuff. We do also learn here that Alanna and her Warders all agree on their top priorities: the Light winning out over the Dark (and then dessert).

25. Genuinely enjoyed Anvaere successfully playing Moiraine. This is her city! She's the one who stayed! She knows the place and the people. And it's a good reminder to Moiraine that people who can't channel can be just as capable as those who can. She left Lan behind to protect him, but Lan is willing to risk his life for this, just as Moiraine is. Anvaere has been doing the hard work of re-establishing their house and family after their uncle did something that destroyed their reputations (unspecified). And Anvaere got what she was after from the beginning -- for her big sisters to sit down and have tea with her.

26. Elayne and Egwene's conversation here is very cute. Elayne has lived with duty all her life. She's just perfect in this scene (she's perfect).

Nynaeve not expecting Egwene to come with her has to be SUCH a blow for Egwene to hear. That Nynaeve has misunderstood her so badly, that she's believed that Egwene is after power for power's sake, rather because she wants to use that power to help people (and especially the people she loves).

And Elayne following them. So cute!

Of course, then Liandrin shows up. But it was very cute until then!

27. "No one escapes their fate. You know that better than anyone." This dream that Ishamael pushes on her, so that she'll be more receptive to his offer, really is so heartbreaking. No wonder she wanted to escape and travel and go as far away as she could. The show has done such a good job setting up believable emotional stakes for the characters.

The second that Min realizes who she really made a deal with, she wants to break it. And here is where we officially find out where Ishamael wants Mat to be led: to Cairhien.

Of course, Rand is in Cairhien. And Min had that viewing about Mat stabbing Rand. But she doesn't know that Rand is in Cairhien. Interesting puzzle pieces.

28. Once we know that Lanfear is a Forsaken, I feel like we can guess that she set up this entire scenario (ex. why are they sleeping outside? Selene said she wanted to, probably, to set up the scene properly) -- she brought the Fade here, she wanted Rand to use the One Power so that she could act out the part of Distressed Girlfriend Struggling With Learning Her Boyfriend Can Channel. She does such a good job, too. She really plays on his fears and how desperate he is to still feel like himself. You can really see how his heart his breaking when she pulls away from him.

Natasha and Josha are so good in this scene. There are so many levels. She also manages to continue to give surprisingly solid life advice, which is somehow incredibly hilarious to me. But I feel like Rand is, uh, probably going to believe all that advice is terrible now.

We also see that Rand is learning the sword but still isn't very good at it, as the Fade quickly disarms him and he needs to use the Power in order to protect himself and (probably more importantly to his mind) 'Selene'.

29. There is definitely a part of me that wishes that this had just been a romance scene. Rand getting tied up (and liking it)! 'Selene' literally thumbs open his mouth for their kiss! The way she kisses down his body and the expression on his face! It was a very very sensual scene, very well done. "You are the first woman who's seen me as a man" he tells her and I think he means that pretty precisely -- he loved Egwene but he still felt like a boy with her.

But instead of being a romance scene it's, you know, a deeply traumatic moment for Rand and will hamper his ability to engage in emotional intimacy (which will also potentially lead to other delicious angst in the future, though, I hope). We've definitely been getting a lot of trauma for our youngsters set up in recent episodes and we're only half-way through the season, so plenty of time for more trauma.

So far, we have:

a. Mat has been, essentially, emotionally sabotaged by months of Liandrin picking away at his brain; and we know that he's been set loose to follow a plan laid out by Ishamael which is not likely to lead to rainbows and puppies (I will have some theories in my later post with book spoilers).

b. Nynaeve suffered the trauma of the arches and now has been betrayed when she finally had come around to trusting and respecting Liandrin Sedai.

c. Perrin watching one of the men that he's been traveling with killed in an incredibly brutal way and being helpless to do anything about it. He also was told that what he is brings him closer to the Dark One.

d. Egwene has been the main target of all the 'fake-out deaths' in the show -- Nynaeve in episode 1 (which she believed until episode 6); Rand in the current season; and then Nynaeve again last episode.

e. After struggling with his identity all last season, and making the choice to abandon his friends for their own safety, Rand has built himself a new life but couldn't help himself from caring for the new people in it. Just as he'd given in to his emotions about Selene (who he has potentially been sleeping with for months at this point) and she appears to have accepted him as a male channeler! ...he learns that she's essentially a super-charged version of Dana (to simplify things). He literally gets covered in her blood while he watches helplessly, gets hit with incredibly distressing news that he can't question because he knows the person saying it can't lie, and then has to abandon this woman that he's come to love while she's lying dead on the floor and his sword still has her blood on it. Formative trauma centering around emotional intimacy and sexual engagement, table for one!

30. Alanna, Maksim, and Ihvon also realize here that one of the Forsaken is loose, which is gonna confirm their belief that the Last Battle is at hand. Alanna doesn't want to believe that Lan knows he's been carrying around a prophecy about one of the Forsaken, aww.

31. Lanfear reveal! This ending was so intense. Moiraine attacking Selene but explaining that she couldn't kill her and then that blink at the end. So good!

[countrymusiclover]

15 - Reckless Parenting Style

Part 16

The Siphoning Princess

Tag list [ @mystrey101 @melvia-ito @kmc1989 @tallrock35 @onentaien-kwara @maximedallas @melvia-ito @child-of-of-the-sunshine

David and I drove out to the old Toll Bridge where I had saved his life all that time ago. The sun had just completely set with the moon now above our heads. I was curious as to what he was planning on this mysterious date. David held onto my hand helping me over a couple of rocks where I questioned him needing to know what he had planned in mind. “David, what are we doing out here? It’s dark now and we have no idea what kind of animals are out here.”

“I’ll protect you, don't worry. And besides we have to do this at night for me to show you this.” He explained finally stopping and moving out of the way for me to see a candle light picnic set out on one of the flatter rocks by the bridge.

Covering my mouth with a hand I gasped at the sweet gesture from the man beside me. “I can’t believe you did all this. You - you really didn’t have to do all this for me. You already did so much more for my daughter's birthday.”

“This is our first date. I want to treat you right regardless of this being secret.” He looks down at me, leading me down onto the blanket. He popped opened a bottle of red wine, pouring us each a glass and handing me mine.

“Thank you.” I took it from his hand, raising a brow. “So Mr. Nolan. What's your story hmm?”

He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his drink. “I don't really know to be honest. The coma kinda messed up my past life. What about your past, Ms. Hunter?”

“Well a lot of it is a blur. I have worked at the sheriff's department and been raising Tessa on my own for a few years now.” Clicking my tongue I thought long and hard about my past life. “It's kind of sad but I can't remember the last time I've gone on a date with anyone in Storybrooke. So you're my first in - for as long as I can remember.”

David stared at me for a long time before he moved forward connecting my lips with his own. I should have pulled away and told myself to not enjoy kissing him yet I couldn’t find it in myself to force myself to deny the small happiness it brought me.

Threading my fingers into his short hair I deepened the kiss that we had to break to get some air. “So I’m guessing that means you’re giving me a chance - giving us a chance.” He questions me, noticing me not looking away from his baby blue eyes.

“I shouldn’t feel what I feel for you. But yes, I’ll give us a chance.” Nodding my head I grabbed the front of his jacket, connecting our lips a second time. David gently pushed me back onto the blanket, getting lost in the kiss.

Unknown to me at the time my phone was going off with Emma calling me for some reason that I wouldn’t find out until later.

Renae’s house

“And, yes, she was beyond hope. Beyond saving. This was her end. When Prince Charming saw his beloved Jaide Stilskin in her glass coffin, he knew all that was left was to say goodbye. He had to give her one last kiss. And when he did, true love proved more powerful than any curse. A pulse of pure love shuddered out and engulfed the land, waking up Princess Jaide and bringing light to the darkness.” Emma finished the page that they were currently reading in Henry’s book that her son had decided to keep hidden at her friend's house since his step mother wouldn’t think to look there. Emma closed the book feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket. “Yeah, who is this?”

“Where’s my son, Ms. Swan?” Regina’s voice came over the phone.

Emma got up from the couch walking off to the side away from the young kid. “He’s not with me if that’s what you’re asking. He’s supposed to be at your house.”

“Well he’s not and I demand to know why. I know you have something to do with why he’s gone.” The mayor growled in frustration at the blonde.

Emma brought a hand to her forehead. “I swear he’s not with me. I have no idea where he is.”

“I do.”

Emma turns her head sharply to the young eight year old staring at her. “What?”

“He left me a note saying he was looking for proof.”

Emma hung up the phone, lowering herself down onto her knees to be eye level with the kid. “Tessa, where is he looking for proof at?”

“The old mines.” She sweetly replied.

Emma had called Regina and the sheriff telling them what she knew with them all rushing to the mines. Archie’s dog had found an old air shaft that they were now trying to open to see if Henry was down there. Marco puts a hook attached to a trunk around the grate pulling on it until the gate moves slightly. “Okay. Alright – gun it. That’s good! Alright, we got it. Alright.” The grate is pulled off and everyone looks down the shaft.

Regina crosses her arms over her chest. “So, what’s next?”

Marco and his crew had brought over a line machine that could lower someone down in their to bring up Henry. “You need to lower someone straight down, or the line will collapse the side of the shaft.”

Graham headed over to his police car leaving young Tessa to stand with the two mothers. “I’ve got a harness.”

“Lower me down.” Regina declared when he had returned with the harness they needed.

Emma fought against her. “Oh, no way. I’m going.”

Regina snapped. “He’s my son.”

“He’s my son, too. You’ve been sitting behind a desk for ten years. I can do this.” Emma sent her a look taking the harness from the sheriff, beginning to put it on.

Regina sighed at the woman. “Just bring him to me.”

“We may have a slight problem.” Marco cleared his throat causing the three to put their attention on him and what he was saying. “The shaft is rather small. We’d need someone smaller to go down and rescue the boy.”

The sheriff looked around, seeing only adults around him. “There’s no one here that’s as small as the shaft except-“

“Me.” Tessa spoke up standing beside the man who everyone believed was her father.

Regina snapped sharply. “We can’t send a child down.”

“I can go.” Tessa fought back.

Graham and Emma said in unison. “No way are you doing that!”

“Henry is my friend. I can fit down the shaft. Watch me -“ Tessa moved towards the edge of the ground looking down into the shaft until she was yanked back by the hood of her jacket.

Graham put his body in between the open shaft and her body, hands holding her shoulders so she couldn’t run. “Tessa, listen to me. I am your father and when I say you can’t do something you don’t do it.”

“You’re not my daddy. David is!” She shoved him away and ducked underneath his arm. Running to the open shaft and jumping into the hole without the harness on screaming out the other kids name. “Henry!”

Emma and Graham shouted halting to the edge of the open shaft. “Tessa!” The pair watched the small girl with golden hair disappear from their sight.

“Great job, sheriff. Now we have two kids stuck down in the mines.” Regina rolled her eyes.

Graham ran a hand through his hair. “Why would she - what - what do we do now?”

“It doesn’t matter. Strap me in. I’m going to rescue them.” Emma didn’t waste a second and neither did he strapping the harness onto her and attached the hook to it. Marco started the machine lowering her down into the hole. She eventually landed onto a stopped elevator seeing the two kids sitting inside of it.

Henry got up first wearing his backpack. “Emma!”

“Sissy!” Tessa cheered, making the older blonde give her a confused expression.

“Are you guys okay?”

Tessa got up to stand beside her friend. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Okay, let’s get you two out of here.” Emma bent down holding out her hand and Henry let Tessa go first. The eight year old wrapped her arms around her neck before Emma grabbed her son's hand and held onto him before the elevator broke and crashed to the ground.

The three got pulled up and out of the shaft with everyone in the crowd relieved to see no one was injured. Graham picked up Tessa from the blonde’s arms and Henry was taken by Regina. “Tessa, listen to me. You can’t just run into danger like that or talk to your father that way.” Emma bent down on a knee eyeing the eight year old before her. She knew that Renae wouldn’t be happy that she put her daughter in danger.

Tessa huffed scowling at her. “He’s not my daddy. David is.”

“Oh sweetie.” Emma sighed tilting her head to the side. “Your mother should be the one to tell you this. But Graham really is your father.”

The eight year old raised her voice, running away from the scene holding back tears. “Henry is right. Prince Charming is my daddy - not some drunk sheriff!” Emma slowly rose from the ground with a sad expression on her face, knowing the little girl was going through all kinds of emotions.

[melimpostor]

OMG you are one of if not the best aruanie artist i saw, i cant believe i have only found you now!

They were like the first ship ever for me and they still mean a lot, they are so sweet, especially in your style. The ironic thing is, that at first way back around season 1 i started to see aruanie fan art, and at the time i tought it was a bit odd (i guess i missed all the signs in the show), i liked it but i considered it somewhat of a crack ship, especially since Annie was present just for one short season then it seemed like she never actually gonna come back. And then i lost my mind when suddenly in the manga it was just straight up canon xd. It propably helped that from the begining they were my favourite characters even individually.

They are still the best ship ever, like what do you mean in her whole life she was raised for war, but then couldnt kill the one guy who didnt cared about all this conflict and revenge he just wanted to explore the world, and her decicion cost the warriors the whole mission and eventually changed the world 😭

Btw do you know of some fanfictions that you would recommend?

WaaaAAAAAA- (ಥ◡ಥ) I’m not sure i deserve such a title, but thank you very much for your kind words, I appreciate it a lot ! ♥ ♥ This blog is fairly new, i've been active here since january so it might be why -

Haha I feel you! Aruani made me feel things i never thought i would for fictional characters before. I personally shipped them from the start. I guess I was gifted with the vision and carried the curse of being judged by my AOT-enthusiast friends for years. So I understand why it felt like a crack ship at the time for some. I was pretty sure i was delusional myself- but now… SIKE !!!!!!!!!!!! I am unapologetically taking my revenge with Aruani fanart now XD

But yeah, Annie is basically the one who compromised the whole mission because of her affection for Armin. Ruthless Annie. Flawless Annie... Falling for the sweet sweet boy with cute smiles and curious eyes?? aaa i’m weAk..

As for fanfictions, I am actually new to this kind of media. I never really looked for written fan-content in any other fandoms before…well- now... But i’m happy i’m finally doing it because it opens my artistic viewpoint and this community is very talented ♥ I didn't know writing could make me feel so many emotions and keeping me involved like that. I never experienced it to that extend in the past.

That being said, it means I haven't read a lot of them yet, besides work keeps me busy and my reading is pretty slow…So for the time being i 'll suggest you take a look at this post which regroups a lot of work already (and I think reblogs have some updates too ! )

And if you wanted my personal recommandations, maybe ask me again in 6 months or 24 so I have time to catch up ! haha- sorry dear writers, i failed you for so long ;;

[thegreatimpersonator]

Sorry for the notif spam as usual and for the anon but i wanted to know your thoughts on Cowboy Carter winning best album? (Sorry, this is long)

I'm not a Beyoncé fan but this is her best album imo and i listened to it a lot even tho it's not my usual style and i could also appreciate from an artistic point the songs i didnt personally love so i was happily surprised! But it's important to note that im not u.samerican but a lot of my friends are so i see a lot of their gossip/culture/what have you (+ ofc media is very u.s-centered). (If i remember correctly youre canadian).

And then i woke up to a eu based swiftie gc (also full of livies and sabrina and gracie fans, some conan gray and billie fans too) saying "oh yeah, glad she won cause it was about time but damn, for her worst album / no one heard it / all the other albums had way more impact on the people" and i had personal friends dm me the same thing which i disagree with lmao but it also got me thinking that when we talk about cultural impact we need to keep in mind that the grammys are u.samerican awards and therefore mean u.s cultural impact.

Foreign artists can participate ofc (Harry Styles and other brits, Shakira who won this time too, Shawn Mendes and other canadians, Mäneskin I think attended a few times but I forget if they won anything, etc) but they need to leave a mark for u.samerican audiences to do so ofc and idk, I thought people knew that😭.

Like, I've seen other eu folks say Sabrina (whom i Love) had more cultural impact this year than Kendrick and like... yeah, because we're in europe and she's a white pop girly??? Which i say as someone who had her in my top 5 on spotify 2024.

Saw someone ask on tiktok why Doechii's album hasn't been printed/sold in certain places in eu* and a woman replying that no one listens to black artists from europe so how can they share Doechii's album when she's very open about being black + it's foreign music at the same time too.

*important to note i wanted to buy a Cowboy Carter vynil and it's impossible for me to find one even online that ships to my country?? So i guess I'll have to buy it in the u.s when I go there💀.

But yeah. You're very open about your likes/dislikes for celebs and I remember you disliking the grammys so I was wondering your thoughts on this. (For me, I think these were some of the best grammys in a long time lmao and even as a swiftie im glad Taylor didn't win anything😬 bc there were many other deserving albums).

yeah i thought this was also common sense, the grammys are very US-centric. it is an award show solely based on US opinions and measurements. it's never really done anything to prove otherwise.

[liyaphilia]

Sun, 2th Feb.

Boys are cruel. Or atleast they've always been cruel to me, finding any reason to hurt me. I never understood why, I still don't understand why. It's like soon as the bloom of teenage emotions filled their lungs and took root they wanted nothing to do with me.

Boys I used to play in the mud and catch bugs with now look at the mounds on my chest and walk away, not even meeting my eyes. As a younger kid I never cared about gender, I always tried to make friends with everyone, no matter the gender.

Somewhere around grade 5 was when I noticed it. I was talking with him, it was sports period and we were laying on the grass. I had on a sports bra that was barely noticeable under my sports shirt, but he would glance at my chest every few minutes. I didn't mind, I never saw my body as sexual, he was curious, I was curious, I trusted him.

After a bit he said, "Y'know it's weird your breasts are so big. I mean, you're the youngest in our class. Most wouldn't expect it." It made me pause, at the time I was naive, thinking it was just a fleeting thought of his. I laughed, jokingly saying, "Oh, yeah. Alot of people in my family are early bloomers." He laughed too, but his eyes never met mine, the rest of the conversation is forgotten, it didn't matter. It never mattered.

After that the comments started, first it was him, then some other of my guy friends. Rumours of me not being a virgin. It was funny, I was only in 5th grade, I never even thought about my own virginity as much as I do now, yet it was all they could talk about. I was calm. I went along with it.

The comments got worse. They led to touches. First soft rubs of my lower arm, then my upper arm. Then he grabbed them. I was laying on the grass with him again, and he grabbed them. Squeezed. Let out a breathy satisfied sigh. Then. I don't know, I froze. And after that he stopped talking to me. He just left me laying there. I didn't know what to do.

Throughout the rest of the year, I slowly noticed that the other boys looked at me differently. The little boys I used to play with in the lake, eat food with and even bathe with were gone, something more cruel was left in their pupils as they stared. I didn't know them anymore.

It felt strange, I always felt so much more safe and free around boys... Now I don't know anymore. I can't speak to them.

The boys I grew up with often stalked me the few times I actually went out. Some of them were nice, but I've long forgotten their names and faces. Alot of them talk about how close I used to be with them, complaining about how I never visit them or play with them anymore.

I sometimes put each boy in that field in my mind. I ask myself 'Would they have done the same thing?' The answer is almost always yes. The few that I know wouldn't have done that are those who seem uninterested in being friends with me again.

I miss being friends with guys, but I don't know how to start anymore. What do I even say? "Hi, my name is Liya. My body is ruined." Not a very good introduction.

At school I've become better at becoming friends with girls, but boys are an enigma. The only times I've talked with boys was when I was put into a project with them, even then I distanced myself, only helping where I could.

The boys I grew up with are long gone. They died with my pride in 5th grade. I burnt that old sports bra at the lake on my birthday, a small little gift for my younger self.

It's ironic because I'm now obsessed with boys, not even in a romantic sense, just. In a general sense. Their style, their voice, their facial expressions. They're so tall, grotesque and take up so much space. And I want to be like them in every way.

I remember I was hugged by a guy last year, maybe the first time a guy had touched me in a platonic way without any bad intention. He smelt bad, like wood and cigarettes, but it was comforting. I still think about it, I should've gotten his number. I hope he's well, that hug meant alot to me.

From: Liyaphilia.