#I've literally never drawn her expect once

[xcometstarx]

Finally, finally made my main WoF oc, Stardust!

She's never had a exact design, it always changes. She was supposed to be a night/sand, hence her name, but...yeah. She's a sky/night now.

Mindreader + animus

I'll make the rest of her winglet, brother, and Siren are some other time

[longsufferingcritic]

The Light Fury: A Needlessly Thorough Character Design Analysis

Let me start by admitting I'd actually quite like the Light Fury's design if only it were completely removed from the context of HTTYD. If I saw the piece of concept art below in a freelance artist's portfolio, I'd think it's wonderful; same with a lot of the fanart I've seen. And for the record, I also have a soft spot for SilkWings from the Wings of Fire series and Skydancers from Flight Rising, so it's not like I expect every dragon design to be spiky and ferocious-looking.

But in the HTTYD films specifically, dragons being spiky and ferocious-looking is consistently a key part of the art direction, so the Light Fury looks extremely out of place compared to literally all the other dragons. Toothless was always somewhat sleeker and more mammal-ish than the other dragon species, true, but not to such a jarring extent. Unlike the rest of her kind (Toothless included), the Light Fury has completely smooth skin with no textured scales or spikes; all her features (even her teeth!) are completely rounded with no pointy or rough edges; her wings are shaped more like a seabird's than a bat's; her tail fins are distinctly heart-shaped; and she literally has pink glitter on her hide, for fuck's sake. Juxtaposed to the films' art style for every other dragon species, she sticks out like a sore thumb, hardly even resembling a dragon at all -- more like an alien invader from Planet Gender Roles.

…Yeah, about that. In the art book the filmmakers explicitly stated that they didn't want her to look reptilian like other dragons, because she's a feeeeemaaaaale and therefore has to look like one. Never mind the fact that the other female dragons in the films like Stormfly and Meatlug have never had that issue.

So let me be blunt: the Light Fury's visual design is misogynistic. She is designed with the sole purpose of being "feminine" and "pretty" as a male character's love interest, and on top of defying the films' art direction just to make her more conventionally beautiful, her design checks off the majority of the clichés used to impose human gender stereotypes onto animated female animals: lighter color, blue eyes, heavily rounded features, smaller paws/claws and nose/snout, less cartoony exaggeration, and an inexplicable smoothness in the way she is drawn/rendered. (Once you're consciously aware of those clichés, you'll start noticing them in nearly every animated animal film, so HTTYD is far from unique in that regard… but that just makes this widespread pattern in Hollywood all the more concerning.)

All these design choices are also counterproductive to her supposed narrative purpose of being the "wild and untamed" foil to the "domesticated" Toothless -- if that's the case, shouldn't she look more reptilian and ferocious, not less? Many of her traits like big blue eyes and a short rounded snout are actually associated with domestication, so shouldn't she resemble a wild animal instead? Nah, gender roles are clearly the priority here.

And no, despite the popular fan theories, the filmmakers have never confirmed or even hinted that the Light Fury is aquatic or based off belugas. The head of character animation has stated that the design was largely inspired by snow leopards as a contrast to Toothless having been inspired by black panthers; this is more evident in a piece of early concept art which depicts her as pale gray with a dappled pattern, but she ultimately ended up being pure iridescent white, very far removed from the most recognizable features of snow leopards. Reportedly this was because leopard spots look too much like scars, and scars are obviously unbecoming of a giiiiirl dragon… you can't make this shit up!

Axolotls were also cited as an influence, which would explain the smooth skin and unbroken dorsal sail, but the extreme smoothness still grossly clashes with the rest of the films' dragon designs and her own supposed personality so I don't think that actually justifies it. It's also worth noting that axolotl features are much more apparent in the below piece of concept art, with gill-like head appendages and cleft wings to match, but those didn't make it into the final design either, because I guess anything even slightly pointy-looking isn't "female" enough. (Terns were the final cited inspiration, which purportedly explains why her wings couldn't have a batty shape like literally every other dragon in the films.)

As I've said before, if they just wanted to have the black/white contrast for the night/day yin/yang motif (which isn't necessarily a bad idea on its own) the least they could do is still make the Light Fury look properly dragon-like even with white scales. There have been tons of fanmade drawings and edits of what that might look like, as well as examples of well-designed white dragons both in the films themselves (Valka's Bewilderbeast) and other media (Queen Snowfall my beloved).

So why does this all matter? Is a crappy design really that important? I'd argue yes, because despite many fans looking at the franchise through rose-tinted glasses, HTTYD has never treated its female characters particularly well, and the Light Fury is the most obvious/egregious culmination of that. In addition to the sexist tropes in her visual design, she exists for the sole purpose of being Toothless's beautiful love interest and "call of the wild" to separate him from his human best friend, with no depth to her character -- "Why is she so wild/aggressive to humans?" and "How has Grimmel's cruelty affected her?" are just two examples of basic character development points the film is uninterested in exploring -- and almost no screen time to herself. She doesn't even get a canon name, supposedly because she's just so wild, but all three of her children get names despite being equally wild so that's just a cop-out. (And even if she would never live with humans, Berkians could have still referred to her by a nickname, since real wild animals are often nicknamed by the locals who see them or the zoologists who study them -- shoutout to my favorite California Condor, 1099 "Yarrow".)

This is all part of widespread misogynistic patterns in fiction: animated films designing female animals with human gender stereotypes in mind, and fiction in general constantly mistreating and neglecting female characters. I love the HTTYD films so much, but at the same time, there are some aspects that legitimately warrant criticism, and misogyny is definitely one of them… and the Light Fury exemplifies that better than anything.

[denial-permanente]

Hi, I got my partner into the idea of chstity and she agreed. I've been locked for a couple of months and my release date is another 6 months away. My only niggle is that while she is happy to deny me and give me the duty of all household chores, washing, ironing, cleaning etc, she has zero interest in any form of teasing or of arousing me sexually. It's as if by locking the cage she has switched off all sexuality from our relationship. To be clear, I'm neither expecting nor asking for teasing sessions, outfits, bondage or anything special. But my entire sex-life is now cunnilingus, grudgingly permitted, once a week if I'm lucky and that's it. No talking about the subject, no flirty comments, no strap-on sex, literally nothing. I've tried to ask about it but she won't be drawn into discussing it. I can only feel that she has no interest in either chastity play or me really. I'm hoping you might tell me I'm wrong to feel this way, but don't expect you will. Any thoughts?

You did not mention what your sex life was like before you convinced her to try it out. The fact that she immediately went for the chores with an 8 month lockup period makes me think that at least on her end, your relationship or at least the sexual part was not the best. You don't mention anything about how your relationship was before being locked, so I can only assume that you got just what you asked for.

🔏 Tom here. Once again, we have to mention that being locked up - like any kinky play - is not going to fix a poor relationship.

The trope that locking up your husband will make him the perfect partner is a fantasy, as is the idea that women who don't have to do laundry or the washing up will want more sex.

It really does sound like you and your wife need to work out communication issues inside your relationship before you get into being locked.

Hi, Mrs Edge again. I just wanted to add that if you gave your wife the idea that being locked is "all about her" then she may have taken it to heart and feels that she does not need to worry about your concerns.

Also, worshipping your wife once a week sounds pretty normal. Honestly, I never do any "teasing" or anything like that. Tom is locked up for my benefit, not for his own sexual fantasies. Our sex life is totally on my terms. Maybe you should stop complaining and stick it out for the next 6 months. If your relationship has not improved then you may need to have a break and talk about it.

[breakfastteatime]

As I am once again a querying writer™️, I thought I would share some general thoughts, feelings and tips about how to cope with what can be a long, drawn out, and incredibly hard experience.

With every query I send out, I expect rejection but hope for the best. Pessimistic perhaps, but I've found it really, really helps. To be clear, rejection never feels great (not even the personalised ones), but by expecting agents to pass on the submission, even from those who seem so perfect for the book, takes some of the sting out of it.

So, here we go: Breakfast Tea’s querying advice!

Ignore stories about other people’s querying journeys. You’ll hear about people who get signed by the first agent they query with the first book they ever wrote. Good for them. A friend of mine won a competition and agents came to her begging to represent her. Amazing for her, but those examples are also highly unrealistic for the majority. I’m on my sixth attempt (4 YAs – three of which were not good enough to be submitted in retrospect, and 1 adult thriller I’m still kinda bummed about but oh well!) and though I’m feeling really, REALLY good right now, I also don’t expect to get anywhere. I’m gonna shout from the hilltops if I do, buuuuut I also don’t expect to land an agent (as explained above). And if I don’t, well, onto attempt number 7!

Start writing something new as soon as you can. Ideally original fiction because agents will ask you what else you’re working on – and sometimes even ask you to outline this in the query letter (although I don’t think I’ve submitted to anyone like that in *years*). That friend of mine from above says agents also expect you to be in the same genre with the next project, so don’t query an adult thriller and tell them you’re now working on a picture book for toddlers.

If you can't write something new yet, find other distractions. Anything to take your mind off waiting for responses.

Have a rejection coping strategy in place. I find the first few don’t really bother me because of the whole ‘expect rejection’ mindset I try to have, but after a while they really, really, REALLY start to bring me down. Mine is usually eating cake and/or other little treats. Something that just reminds me I exist beyond my writing.

Accept the loss of control. Oh man, I hate this. I haaaaaaaaaaate this. Once that query package is sent out, that’s it. You’re out of control of the whole situation and you’re waiting either for a rejection, a full request, or just eternal silence. Thankfully most agencies are better now at specifying that silence = rejection. Patience is essential. I’ll let you know if I ever get any better at it.

You will get silences on full requests. You shouldn’t, but you will. I’ve had several. It is incredibly rude and exceedingly frustrating, but that’s querying for you. Even after chasing some agents just will not respond.

You may also get really rude rejections. Back in the 2010s I had one post about my story ON HER TWITTER PAGE after she rejected me. Like literally, I got the rejection and then I saw her tweet. Arsehole. And no, I can’t remember her name because I would publicly shame her. I’ve had rejections that were a sentence, I’ve had rejections that made no sense, I’ve had multiple rejections from the same agent on the one book I sent, I’ve had agents reject me by the wrong name, I’ve had agents reject me using the wrong pronouns (my name is traditionally masculine so my pronouns are in my submission). If you get something like that, blacklist them from any future projects. You deserve better.

I prefer form rejections to silence unless the agency specifies a timescale for ‘silence = rejection’. I personally prefer the certainty of a rejection. I know, weird.

Always chase agents who say it’s okay to chase them. You never know!

Personalised rejections are nice to receive. Oh, they still suck, but it’s a sign you’re on the right lines. And if an agent says ‘please submit your next project to me’ take them up on it.

If an agent forwards your work onto another agent who ‘may be more suited’ get excited but stay realistic. Many years ago, I had a project move between three agents (one of whom I’ll be submitting to again with this project). None of them signed me, but oooh it was so thrilling for a while! It was my second project – a YA sci-fi that actually got the most amount of requests of anything I’ve ever sent out. It will never see the light of day.

Don’t be disheartened if you submit to a contest and don’t get chosen – still query traditionally. Same if you submit to a course and don’t get selected. Agents don’t tend to read the submissions – readers do – so the agent won’t have seen your work yet.

You’re absolutely allowed to feel like shit and to cry about being rejected, but you gotta get back up and keep querying and keep writing.

You’ve got to be in the right headspace for querying. The last time I did it, I had to stop because I’d just started a new job with a huge new learning curve, and I couldn’t manage queries and new job at the same time. I resumed querying a long time later once I felt more settled.

Do not lie to agents. Now, this may be more specific to the UK, but agenting is a really small world and they all talk. So if you try to nudge an agent by going “Oh, another agent has a full request” or “another agent has offered representation” and that’s not true? You’re fucked.

Celebrate a full request – but stay realistic.

Agents will reject the same book for totally different reasons. I had one agent reject a horror novel because it wasn’t scary enough, and another because it was too scary. It’s all very subjective.

Agents are not rejecting you as a human being, they are saying no to what is essentially a business proposal. It’s a really strange way to look at it, but you are more than your writing!!!!!

Okay, I think that’ll do for now! Feel free to drop me an Ask if you wanna know more!

[mayaruffin]

Hello all,

I’ll try to keep this brief but this IS a stream-of-consciousness so don’t get your hopes up 😅.

First, I’ll introduce myself: My name is Maya. I’m 25 years old. I’ve been a fan of The Rookie since early 2022. And what I’m about to say is in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM an insult to ANY of the cast or crew (save for maybe Alexi Hawley). But I need to get this off my chest and since I have no IRL friends that watch/care about The Rookie, I’m posting my thoughts here.

Now I’m no wordsmith (I majored in mathematics) so what I’m about to say probably won’t be as succinct and/or poised as some of the other posts I've seen on here discussing the same topic. But the writing for Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen is abysmal, abhorrent, and any other synonym you can think of. And 5x12 is when it all started going downhill.

What I’ve always been drawn to with Chenford, other than their uber-attractiveness, is the fact that they have never, at least not in the first four seasons, beat around the bush with each other. They’ve never been afraid to say whatever it is they need/want to say to each other. I think them having that type of deep relationship with each other as work colleagues made me kind of forget that they don’t really interact outside of work and therefore they were never actually as close as I had them painted in my mind. I think I’ve now realized that that’s why it took THEM so long to realize the attraction we as viewers saw them have for each other from very early on. So it was incredibly mind-boggling to see them constantly go behind each other’s backs and refuse to have the same deep meaningful conversations we’re used to seeing them have with each other once they got together romantically. I, for one, don’t personally think they GOT TOGETHER too fast. I mean, they realized that they both felt something deeper than friendship and acted on it. It’s not that unusual. However, I do feel like they progressed entirely too fast for two people who, again, were never THAT close. I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I, like all the other fans, was just happy to see these two people I had been rooting for finally get together but the whole “grandkids” and “our kids” thing felt very awkward and out of place, especially considering that they’ve since broken up. I just feel like that’s not something you mention, even casually or jokingly, to someone you’ve just started seeing romantically, no matter how long you knew each other beforehand. Now that the lack of quality content we could have seen in Season 5 has been addressed, we can move onto everything wrong with the steaming pile of shit that was Season 6.

I will admit that I have not seen a single episode of The Rookie since 6x06 but I have kept up with it on Twitter and Tumblr, so I have some inklings about what’s been going on since the breakup. But let’s start with episode 1. While I understand that Lucy was under a lot of stress and that the particular part of her personality that expects sometimes too much of herself is a direct result of how her parents treated her growing up, I truly feel that she was unfair to Tim and that he was right to give her space to cool off. Moving onto Episode 2, which by the way was INCREDIBLY overhyped and not AT ALL worthy of being episode 100 (it needed to be said and this is MY stream-of-consciousness) where they again had an opportunity to have a deep, meaningful, adult conversation, they totally butchered it. They have a real elephant in the room in terms of their relationship with her wanting to be UC and his issues with his ex-wife in the same career field and all we got was him saying that he would “deal with it” with “by himself” being heavily implied. The rest of season 6 up until he ghosted her was forgettable (I literally don’t remember what happened) so let’s get into when shit (AKA the writing) REALLY hit the fan and all 5 (four if we’re being honest) seasons of Tim Bradford’s character development went down the drain.

So you mean to tell me at his jurassic age, this man (Tim, if you aren’t following), after Lucy said that a relationship with him that didn’t work out WAS NOT WORTH risking their friendship for, convinced her to enter into a romantic relationship with him and said that he loved her while hooked up to a lie detector in a tone that implied that it was crazy she even had to ask, ghosts her for days, KNOWS that she’s fucking spiraling (calling, texting, leaving voicemails), and then shows up to her apartment talking about “I wanted to see you” as if she was just gonna be cool with that? Fully prepared to not explain his actions in the slightest mind you! That scene pissed me off more than any other scene in season 6. AND THEN HE DUMPS HER WHILE SHE’S STANDING OUTSIDE WAITING FOR HIM READY TO SUPPORT HIM! AND USES THE OLDEST LINE IN THE BOOK TO DO SO! It’s not you, it’s me? Really? Like, the worst writer in the world couldn’t have come up with that bullshit. Why introduce a whole new conflict when they had so many issues to deal with already? It makes no logical sense. If the purpose of seasons 5 & 6 was show us that the two of them don’t know each other as well as they thought or as well as we thought, congratulations you fucking nailed it. And then to top it all off, you have her risking her life to save his ass AGAIN being reduced to “kindness”. Of all the things Alexi has said in post breakup interviews, of all the things Melissa has said in post breakup interviews, of all the things Eric has said in post breakup interviews, none of that has convinced me that Chenford aren’t endgame more so than Tim saying he would pay back all “the kindness [she’s] shown [him]”. What an insult to Lucy and what an insult to dedicated and patient fans. I’m heartbroken by that bullshit and I only started watching 3 years ago. I can’t imagine the pain and heartbreak suffered by people who’ve been rooting for them since 1x01.

Moving onto season 7, which again I haven’t seen, we have lost the plot even more, which I have to say, I didn’t think was possible. I know we’re only 2 episodes into a 20 episode season but good lord what is this writing?! They’ve written Tim to be an emotional manipulator and Lucy to be an emotional punching bag. I have to say I’ve never once considered any of Lucy’s storylines to be trauma porn, even when she was kidnapped by a serial killer. But the writing for her character in these first two episodes is downright offensive. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON the two of them should be that chummy with each other after what Tim did her without him having done ANY noticeable work towards bettering himself. All she asked for after he played so viciously with her heart was an adult conversation. Call me crazy but I don’t think that’s THAT much to ask for from someone, especially someone, again, at his jurassic age. And instead of giving her that, he’s all smiley and flirty and “let’s make a bet” with her at work. Now, don’t misunderstand. Lucy is not blameless in this particular situation. While he is being emotionally manipulative, she is without a doubt letting him because why she is acknowledging that bullshit at all is beyond my comprehension. Again, this man has done absolutely no work towards bettering himself. He’s still the same “broken” motherfucker that he was when he broke up with Lucy yet somehow they have this entirely different dynamic? I’m not buying whatever it is they’re trying to sell. And don’t even get me started on the payback line during the food truck scene cuz I don’t wanna touch that bullshit with a ten foot pole. Whoever wrote that can kiss my ass.

All that to say, atp, I really don’t want Tim and Lucy to get back together. Tim was right about one thing: Lucy Chen deserves better. You would think that would mean that he should be better but he clearly doesn’t want to so I feel she should cut her losses and be with someone who appreciates her heart.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S02E16 - Flare of the Dog

Ah. Title puns. Okay, fine, that's decent, in my opinion anyway. What a good episode, though. I'm a fan of whump. Did I mention that?

"You know that real cops drink their coffee black". You've only had lattes all season, what the fuck???

Jesse is once again manning the office on his own. I hope they're paying him some overtime at least.

If you actually pause the screen when the arsonist is ready to throw the Molotov cocktail, then it's case closed.

RIP Charlie Hudson.

What do you mean, he got away without a scratch (and a busted ankle)? That blew up on his face! Oh, I know. Rex's tongue has healing properties.

I'll take your word for it, Joe. Since we didn't see it at all.

Dude expects to be instantly fine after that. Again, you're lucky you have your face intact.

Why no Sarah, by the way?

Um, are you serious? He just woke up.

I imagine it was the part where you told him to shake it off. Make up your mind, Donovan.

That might be the most thirsting anyone has ever done in this show.

Bud's wife is so sweet. And the scene is so sad.

That's putting it mildly, actually.

A firefighter who appears for the first time in an arson case AND flirts with Sarah? Yeah, who else could have done it? This is how I mostly find the culprit now. Through extensive experience in crime show plots.

"This is a secure area. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave". We are the police, Miss Red Herring.

We're stealing brownies now. Rex and Charlie are so bored.

Nurse: "Looks like you're diagnosed with lateral malingus". Charlie: "Malleolus". Nurse: "Yeah. Mallegolus. Magolus". I'd be feeling so safe in that hospital after this.

You wish. They're actually from the guy who tried to murder you. Charlie's disappointed "Ah" after that is closer to "ew".

Rex, my favorite judge of character. Except for that one time with Eva, although I believe they said that he was drawn to her because she was sick and he could sense it? Something like that.

Rex: What is your wannabe murderer doing in your hospital room and flirting with my wannabe mom, and also can I bite him?

Charlie: *notices the flirty vibe* I was literally gone for like half a day, what the fuck happened?

Oh I forgot that Joe's shotgun survived until S2 apparently. Might not be the same one, though.

Show, don't tell. In what way, shape, or form has that been showcased so far?

Jesse: [Charlie] would agree that this is a Bible verse. Charlie: I'm guessing it's an acronym. Oof. Tough loss.

IMHO means in my humble opinion? Not in my honest opinion?

It won't hurt you to sit your ass down for a few days. Or, well, it will, but it won't be the rest. Just the murderous psycho.

That's cute.

Good news, Jesse. You get to interview someone.

Oh, he's totally doing this on purpose.

*Charlie sees Sarah's caller ID* Charlie: Hey Sarah ☺️☺️☺️ Rex: ☺️☺️☺️ Sarah: I'm here with *longest pause ever* Asher. Charlie: 🙄🙄🙄 Rex: 😠😠😠

"Maybe the police should stick to investigating and the fire department should stick to inspections". Yeah, I bet you'd love that, Charlie. Jeez, the jealousy.

Charlie: Rex lost a partner. Rex: Don't tell my tragic backstory to him!

I think I can see the makeup cover work for John Reardon's arm tattoo.

Jesse: "This is nice. You know, you and I just figuring stuff out together. I like playing the Charlie". Sarah: "I'm the Charlie in this situation". lol. Also, what was it with that look, Jesse?

And now the mafia is involved.

"You could take Rex". Subtle way to get your partner to look out for the woman you like.

Listen, I might be making some shit up but I'm not making this up.

I'd say it actually looks pretty bad but given the very bad makeup work I've seen lately on 911 that should be better than this show, I'll just say this: Either get your actors to agree not to get tattoos in easily visible places or work the tattoo into the story, which is the normal thing to do. There's nothing in Charlie's backstory that suggests he'd never get a tattoo so I don't see what the problem was, and they eventually did it anyway.

"I'm gonna get all the head rubs I can before that guy runs away with my mom."

They took our case! Oh, well, we'll still investigate.

Drama queen Charlie Hudson, everyone.

She declared St.John's to be in a state of emergency for that? Just for that?

Okay, seriously, the "special police" sounds ridiculous. I hope that's not actually a thing, Canada.

Jesse: "And this is where I remind you that every time I go out in the field, something bad happens. I've been shot! I've been drowned!" This is actually a level of awareness that most crime show characters are incapable of displaying. Including Charlie.

"Our greatest weapon is Rex and Rex runs on snacks" lol

Jesse: Rex track! Charlie: Not now, Jesse. Rex: Rex don't track?

You know, yay for the whump and all, but I'm not a foot fetishist and we've seen Charlie's feet get too much screentime.

What's he looking at? God?

Charlie is in danger! *cut to commercial*

Jesse: I'm the Charlie. Rex: Fuck this, I'll just solve the case like I usually do anyway.

I like that in the scene where Sarah realizes Asher is the arsonist, one of our classic background tracks is playing and right on the moment she comes to the realization, it abruptly stops. It's the little things.

Oh, yeah, we're fucked.

Delicious. Finally some good fucking whump.

Asher: "Stop, Charlie. It won't do you any good". Well, he'll die for sure if he doesn't try so it won't do him any bad either.

Ouch. One with the floor.

"I'll toast at your funeral, Charlie". Motherfucker, up until that point you hadn't reached piece-of-shit levels because I've seen too many villains but after that, I wanted to watch you die.

"I'll take care of Rex for you". Like anyone would let you. I half expected him to say "and Sarah".

Sad AU where the reveal didn't happen, Charlie was killed and no one suspected Asher. Asher and Sarah started dating, Sarah adopted Rex, who of course never warmed up to Asher but he brushed it aside as, "he's just missing his partner and he thinks I'm replacing him in some way," which to Sarah doesn't even make sense, because she didn't know that Charlie liked her but Asher had realized it the minute he had stepped into that hospital room. Time goes by, and Sarah is noticing more and more things about Asher that don't add up, odd phone calls, smoke smell when he's not on duty, and such. She goes to Joe to share her suspicions and along with Jesse, they quietly reopen the investigation. The truth is, of course, shocking. That man had been to Charlie's funeral, had dated Sarah for months. There is no good ending, I mean, how could there be in this case? After arresting Asher, he tells Sarah that he's certain Charlie had a thing for her, which makes her feel even worse. Then Sarah goes to his grave with Rex and tells Charlie that they finally got his killer. But even as she tells him, she can't stop thinking of all the times that she'd gone to Charlie's grave with flowers and Asher had insisted on accompanying her and Rex, Rex's low growls and whines every time Asher went with them, and she now knew it was because Rex could tell: Asher had been practically dancing on Charlie's grave. [Sorry about that.]

Oh, I enjoyed Jesse whacking him. It wasn't much but it was something.

And closing the episode by making friends at the fire department and making Rex an honorary firefighter.

We literally never saw them again.

Aside from everything else, I also liked how the rest of the team took up roles that they don't usually do when Charlie was incapacitated. That was fun to see.

[blue-thief]

oh the wonders of realizing due dates are actually farther than i expected

@marcsnuffy this is all basically just based off how this guy is made up of twelve billion contradictions esp when we're considering gender expression.

i've gone over this before, but he's the type of guy who would read dazai, dostoevsky, kafka, etc in a male manipulator kind of way. this type of guy also goes in hand with the type of guy who watches fight club, american psycho, etc with zero self awareness (i'm not much of a film nerd so i can't really speak about his taste in films specifically).

his dad probably had a collection of old films he worked on, and kaiser watched them all on some old cd or cassette player in hopes of finding some with his mom. even though his mom showed up in more dramatic films rather than tougher serious ones, these ones hold a special place in his heart. he's not in denial about this, but he never brings it up to anyone. around the time he was a tween, he snuck into a movie theatre to watch one of his mom's films.

i believe it was mentioned that his parents started off in theater, and once kaiser became rich enough, he took time to see live productions at least once a month. his goal is to catch up on shakespeare since he never got a chance to learn about him at school (i had to check r/askeurope to see if shakespeare is taught there 😭😭).

as much as it's funny to imagine hamilton fan kaiser, i don't think he'd be drawn to musicals that much. he doesn't mind them, but they aren't usually on his radar. he's considered going to the opera though. for the sake of affirming to himself that he's now financially stable.

he canonically reads psychology textbooks, and i think he has read jordan peterson's books. (SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP BECAUSE I HAVE PROBABLY WALKED ON THE SAME FLOOR AS JORDAN PETERSON ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS GET ME OUT OF HEERREEEEEE) i don't think he'd care or agree with jordan peterson but he definitely has read him, maybe even bought some of his works shudders he also read the dictator's handbook + the art of war and has used this in ways that are disastrous for everyone involved

beyond the dazai, dostoevsky, kafka, etc vibe, i don't think there's much fiction he'd be drawn to. at some point, he decided to check out f. scott key fitzgerald, saw jay gatsby, and went "he's just like me fr" (again, zero self awareness)

as for music, i think he would listen to three days grace in particular (i have listened to exactly ONE three days grace song and that is "i am machine" and all i could think was "he would listen to this /neg" then added it to my own liked songs playlist). he might have stumbled across panic! at the disco and he probably vibed pretty well with a fever you can't sweat out. he would not care for any other panic! at the disco album. he also wouldn't care for ryden so he wouldn't read throam. but i need this guy to somehow read throam because throam!ryan ross is literally him.

he probably heard primadonna girl by marina but didn't care at first. it wasn't until he accidentally stumbled across oh no that he was like "i need to listen to the rest of this". he only ended up caring for the family jewels and electra heart, and electra heart is more feminine than most things he would allow himself to listen to, but this is just his way of going "whoa look i'm a feminist i like women i'm listening to a woman and sings about woman stuff". relates to the persona of electra heart once again because AGAIN. THIS GUY HAS ZERO SELF AWARENESS 😭😭 HE NEVER REALIZES THE ART HE CONNECTS TO IS TELLING HIM THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE THE WAY THAT HE IS 😭😭😭

but yeah. electra heart is his limit to willingly admitting to feminine art but this guy is subconsciously drawn to taylor swift but more like in the sense that he's fascinated with her presence in the cultural zeitgeist. which is a strange form of being a swiftie, but his relationship with famous women is strange considering his relationship with his mother. if his mother got big enough that she worked with americans on american projects, there's a chance that she would talk about/be publicly acquainted with a lot of young famous women for the sake of white feminism yk. he consumes their art just through cultural osmosis but his understanding of their personal drama and stuff is weirdly detailed

also these are all totally definitely absolutely not examples of me projecting 😁😁 because i AM self aware and i am better than michael kaiser in every way possible 😁😁😁

[antitheticalmidnights]

Swiftly Speaking: A Deep Dive Into Taylor’s Lyrics - Hits Different

Hello! Welcome to my session of a series of analyses of songs from Taylor's discography. To kick off the series, I've chosen "Hits Different." My idea is to subsequently analyze all the songs from "The Tortured Poets Department," including the songs from "The Anthology." Before diving directly into "Fortnight," I think it's essential to take a step back and start with "Hits Different," which, along with "You’re Losing Me," provides a great context for what would come next (like paving the way for TTPD to be presented). For many fans, I'm sure they noticed the connection this particular song has with "Fortnight." Without further ado, let's get started!

Note: It is important to highlight that this is my personal interpretation as a fan. I do not support speculations about Taylor's personal life, and I have not drawn any inspiration from other fans' interpretations on this particular analysis (but if I do eventually in the future, I will give proper credit).

Hits Different

Contextualization: Taylor is coming back from a club, probably drunk. In a cathartic moment at the peak of her drunkenness, she decided to let everything out, sometimes in an ironic tone, other times more restrained – but brilliantly precise.

I washed my hand of us at the club You made a mess of me

The song opening with a breakup sentence already indicates that the separation has occurred. "I did my part, washed my hands of it, and it's over." At this moment, Taylor gave up. And not just in a private place, but at a club—the last place you would expect to receive the news of a breakup. A place with loud music and many people around. The curious thing about her choosing to illustrate this conversation with her interlocutor in a public place is that her decision is so clear and so certain that she doesn't need another quieter, more introspective place to stimulate reconciliation. She’s already sure it’s over. "You made a mess of me" reinforces that the person she is speaking to is someone she feels pure anger towards. It’s as if she’s pointing a finger at this person’s chest and spitting out the words “you messed me up,” “you were the one responsible for leaving me like this.”

I pictured you with other girls in love Then threw up on the street

The mere thought of this loved one being in love with other girls makes her nauseous. You know when you feel so disturbed by something that the center of vomiting is activated, and you need to throw up? Vomiting can be a response literally. It can also be read as a metaphor for throwing up all the words and feelings she needs to put it out somehow. After all, Taylor emphasized that TS11 would serve as a space with poetic license for her to SPEAK everything she needed to say to everyone, including us fans, media, friends, speculators. "Threw up" is ambiguous, depending on the given interpretation. She's feels sick, and she needs to speak publicly about it.

Note: The reference to the possibility of being drunk comes from the fact that at a certain point, we feel nauseous. But I believe this was purely illustrative. Although extremely valid, when in "Fortnight" she says, "I was a functioning alcoholic," once again bringing this atmosphere.

Like waiting for a bus that never shows You just walking home

If you've ever stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus for hours, you'll identify with this passage. I found it so lyrical, yet tragic. Because that feeling of waiting for the bus really does seem eternal. In that moment of waiting, we only look at the street in one direction, and all we want is for the bus to come. Never mind the messages on your phone, the dry leaves falling from the tree, the bills, the appointment on the 5th. It's as if the world around you has stopped, and there's only you and the wait for the bus that never comes. Even more disappointing is when the bus doesn't show up and you have to give up waiting and walk home alone. Waiting for love to come, and the frustration when it doesn't, is so brilliantly illustrated in this fictional experience. How much we expect from the other: for the other to come, for the promised changes to be fulfilled, but nothing ever comes. And all that's left is to go our own way, alone.

They say if it's right, you know Each bar plays our song Nothing has ever felt so wrong

Let's face it, Sarahs and Hannahs always believe in the saying that if it's yours, it will be yours. With that in mind, Taylor tries to play along to feel some sign, and ironically, the music played in the bar actually instigates memories of what once was good, even though it seems so wrong nowadays, because the past no longer fits into the present. Everything feels wrong. The prophecy wasn't meant for the two of them. The music playing in the bar that was once theirs is no longer theirs.

Oh, my love is a lie Shit my friends say to get me by It hits different It hits different this time Catastrophic blues Moving on was always easy for me to do It hits different It hits different cause it's you

This sentence becomes even stronger when we think of its opposite: love should be true, but in this case it isn't. Maybe it was once, but today it's a lie. Here you can hear the voices of Tay's friends - and there will be many of them in TTPD (story for another chapter) - telling her to jump off the train and give up. And it seems to have been advice for years. And it's different, it's not the same as no breakup has ever been. At this point, Taylor confirms in no uncertain terms that this love, which lasted 6 and a half years, is unlike any other. It was big, it was different. It dominated her fragile heart in the beginning as much as it crushed her bleeding heart at the end. This part evokes a Taylor who is resentful and nothing less than tired. It hits differently this time because moving on was easier, even if it was painful (we know they've all been painful - hello? ATW 10 min!). But this one, because it's him, turns out to be a catastrophically painful experience.

In this way, I'm particularly struck by the term "catastrophic blues". Blues has been used by Tay in her compositions for many different meanings, including sadness and the physical characteristic of the loved one, like "ocean blue eyes looking in mine". In the context of the song, we can decipher that she is referring to the sadness of both the lyrical self and the interlocutor. And it's not just any sadness, it's catastrophic (after all, hyperbole is never too much for our songwriter).

According to the Oxford dictionary, catastrophic can function as an adjective: involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering.

Damage, suffering – is demolishing. This sadness has come to destroy something. And what would that be? The relationship, him, Tay herself feeling catastrophically blue? In "Renegade", she says "You fire off missiles 'cause you hate yourself. But do you know you're demolishing me?"

I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost Rip the Band-Aid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw Freedom felt like summer then on the coast Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings And I never don't cry (no, I never don't cry) at the bar Yeah, my sadness is contagious (my sadness is contagious) I slur your name 'til someone puts me in a car I stopped receiving invitations

Here we can immediately identify a relation with "MBOBHT". “I felt more when we played pretend than with all the Kens” x “I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost”

It's even obvious here how Taylor plays with the idea that her ex-boyfriends were her Kens: they may all have been different, but deep down they were all the same. And you could even say that there's a brilliant irony in associating them with Kens dolls from the pov of director Greta Gerwig, who says that they are nothing less than a representation of stereotypical men, self-centered, often egocentric and with a low emotional ability to deal with problems in a relationship.

“Rip the band aid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw”. Outlaw in its broadest sense of the word means person who has broken the law, especially one who is a fugitive ("Getaway Car" idea). In this case, Taylor compares herself as a reckless fugitive who didn't feel the consequences of her choices so deeply. But now, freedom it's not the same.

“Your integrity makes me seem small” x “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky” x “You had turned my bed into a sacred oasis” x “Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in”

These are some of the many passages that demonstrate the sacred value she saw in this love. We could even venture to say that she loved him so much that she placed him in a position of detachment and elevation, as if he were superior than her. Being in this position of giving up this time makes her feel guilty; isn't as pleasurable as a hot evening on the beach, when the breeze blows through your hair and you feel the heat of the sun warming you. The sand that was supposed to envelop your feet in softness, hurts your feelings. The sun that was supposed to warm you, burns your heart. We've seen that this farewell isn't being happy, isn't being a breath of relief. It's destroying her inside, because it HURTS.

Again she brings this drunken atmosphere when she plays with the idea that she is so bitter that no one wants her around. Sluring his name until someone puts her in the taxi to leave is very reminiscent of those scenes from romantic comedy films where friends try to save their drunk friend from embarrassing himself, you know? Just like in "Someone Great", where the main character is going through a post-breakup and is often saved by her friends. It's interesting to note that Taylor actually did a mashup of "DBATC" x "Hits Different", nothing less than at the show in LONDON!

The bridge

This is perhaps one of the most iconic bridges in Taylor's career. And to list the best bridges is an almost impossible task. To unravel it, we need to take it verse by verse.

I find the artifacts, cried over a hat

Here we can immediately see a reference to ICDIWABH, "I keep finding his things in drawers. Crucial evidence, I didn't imagine the whole thing". An artifact is an object made by hand. What could these artifacts she found perhaps be? They are probably objects in fact, but they have a deeper meaning than they are. "Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes", present in "The Black Dog", brings the notion that these objects bring back memories that mean something. It all seemed like a dream, but finding these artifacts, a cap, the clothes she wore while they were together, are all evidence that it all happened.

Cursed the space that I needed

The space she needed was London, where she felt part of for years. A home, a place in her heart, and she reached a point where she cursed it. "A touch that was mine by birthright has become foreign". On the other hand, we can also think of this space she mentions as Joe himself. After all, in many moments of TTPD, there seems to be an intertwining of this place with him, as if they were one.

I trace the evidence, make it make some sense Why the wound is still bleedin'

At this stage, it is pointless to try to find the reason for the breakdown of this relationship; the wound is open and won't stop bleeding. As much as she had actually found the evidence to prove what was missing, or what needed to be done, there was no way it could go on. Let's remind what she said in the poem "In Summation": Lovers spend years denying what’s ill fated/Some stars never align.

You were the one that I loved Don't need another metaphor, it's simple enough

Just as he has been described in countless metaphors in the most lyrical and poetic way possible, here she reinforces, without the need for flourishes or complex explanations, that she purely loved him and he was the one she chose.

A wrinkle in time like the crease by your eyes This is why they shouldn't kill off the main guy Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief In the good in the world, you once believed in me And I felt you and I held you for a while

In my researchs, a "wrinkle in time" is a concept often associated with sci-fi, especially in the context of time travel or distortions in space-time. The term became popular with the book "A Wrinkle in Time", written by Madeleine L'Engle in 1962. This concept is related to the idea of a distortion in the fabric of space-time. A "wrinkle" would be an imaginary way of describing a small curvature or distortion in space-time that could allow instantaneous travel from one point to another. Like an outer space parallel to this plane we live in, metaphorically she saw every detail in him as something out of the ordinary. Something extraordinary. A crease by his eyes, as if it were a crack in the universe that transported her to another place. Love transcended her.

She, as the main character, sets herself up as a person that others should be afraid of bringing down, because Taylor is who she is. We know she is extraordinary, one of a kind. In "You once believed in me", it reminds me of "Delicate", in which she says "You must like me for me". And she laments that for a moment she managed to keep him close, he trusted her, but today he has slipped through her fingers. "Is it really your anxiety that stops you from giving me everything? Or do you just not want to?".

Bet I could still melt your world Argumentative, antithetical dream girl

And then she tells she could still melt his world. Think about the idea of melting, it's a transformation of one physical state into another: a solid state into a liquid. She seems to be saying that he may be being hard on himself and everything that's going on, but if he allows her to evolve him, she will be able to transform him.

Here, she plays with 3 different terms that we can understand as being adjectives about herself. Being an argumentative person is someone who convinces their point of view with all means. An antithetical person is literally someone who opposes you, like there is a contrast, symbolically like light and dark. And dream girl, of course, literally refers to her melancholic and extremely idealistic characteristic. So we can unite this combination of adjectives into the idea that, despite being a completely different person from him at this point, despite her being the beach and him the snow, she is still the girl of his dreams. She is the person, only he doesn't see it.

I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway Is that your key in the door? Is it okay? Is it you? Or have they come to take me away? To take me away

The most interesting thing about this part is that it leads directly to the beginning of "Fortnight". Their relationship is so destroyed that she no longer knows if the person who enters the house and turns the knob is him or someone who has come to get her. We think that she is still in London, far away from home.

And then "Fortnight" begins, brilliantly combining the final course of "Hits Different" with "I was supposed to be sent away. But they forgot to come and get me. I was a functioning alcoholic, till nobody noticed my new aesthetic".

In the end, we realized that neither he nor anyone else came to get her or come to her.

She was left alone at the house by the Heath.

And then, finally, she ends the song by repeating the chorus. ___________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed the analysis, and thank you very much if you made it to the end. It's a pop song, which can often be overlooked as any other song. But it is extremely rich, brilliantly produced and composed along with the other songs on TTPD, Taylor's newest production. I hope I was able to show to you that none of Taylor's verses are thrown around haphazardly. She is a born poet, and she really studies the words that she puts into her compositions very meticulously to create a song as a work of art.

Next up will be "Fortnight"! Stay tuned, bye bye.

[beatriceeagle]

I'm sorry for immediately ignoring the structure of the DVD extras game!! I just came here from the final chapter of THE (and what a triumph!!), and I had three questions, if you'd permit me:

1) Just something simple I was wondering - I couldn't remember if it was mentioned in the text, how old was Eccron when she abused Jasper?

2) How did you come up with/develop the side characters, like Jasper and Eccron and Ange, and their place in the plot? Was it that you first decided which parts of Caleb and Beau you wanted to poke?

3) Veth being very motherly and suggesting Bren/Luc was very funny. How well do you think Bren and Luc actually get along?

<3 <3 <3

Don't worry about it—questions in any format are appreciated! <3 Answers under the cut.

1. It was never said, but she was in her early-mid 20s. Probably 23 or 24.

2. Basically, yes! Ange actually came before Jasper—the very earliest work I did on this fic was when it was still supposed to be a fairly short one-shot, and the first three of four paragraphs are basically unchanged from that version. I basically just modeled her after the four-year-olds I've known personally, and a lot of her specific traits developed organically from the details I happened to choose for that scene. The Tiefling and the Tailor led to the bear-shaped pancake led to her massive stuffed animal collection and so on. As the fic developed, I knew I wanted her to be a mostly cheerful presence, both because Beau and Yasha deserved to have some fun parenting, and also because I wanted the eventual reveal of what Grankton did to hit hard.

In the one-shot version of the fic, Beau didn't really have a plot, but I wanted her to have kids because I wanted to tap into that idea of seeing yourself from the outside. Caleb is seeing his literal self, and Beau is seeing her teenage son, but also her teenage self. So Beau always had a teenage son named Jasper who was into the Cobalt Soul, but in my one shot draft, he and Beau got along.

Once I committed to writing the long version of the story, that changed, and Jasper's personality developed to fit. I had a few driving ideas: I wanted him to be a basically good kid, helpful and well-behaved, because that would make his antagonism towards Beau much harder for her to deal with. (Beau expects teenagers to have attitudes; she was a teenager with an attitude!) I kept the Cobalt Soul angle, because that drove the plot, but now I had to think about what kind of person Jasper would be to be drawn to monkhood: curious and thoughtful and extremely protective. Very early on, I figured out his relationship with Ange, and that fully unlocked him for me. And then, as with Ange, the more I wrote him, the more the little details accumulated.

Eccron developed as she did almost entirely to reinforce the parallels that I was building between Jasper and Bren, Jasper and Caleb, and Jasper and Beau.

3. Bren has zero feelings about Luc at the moment because they haven't interacted much. Luc, I would imagine, is extremely curious about Bren, but he has Veth's sense of social graces on top of a teenage attitude, so he probably expresses it in weird ways. I think over the course of a lot of Mighty Nein reunions, Bren would probably come to see Luc as something like a lovable, kind of funny but kind of irritating kid cousin. Veth's matchmaking dreams will be tragically thwarted.

[rockybloo]

I'm curious, who would Jack end up with if Nana didn't exist? It's kinda cursed imagining the red beans with anyone except each other

Aight so when I started Beanstalked and was fleshing out Jack, I just KNEW I wanted him to end up with somebody. He had the vibes of a character who needed somebody to be in love with. I dunno how to explain it but that farm boy was the most "bonded pair-do not separate" coded fella but he didn't have another half to be bonded with

This is gonna be a long one

SO I tried to play match maker with some Beanstalked characters. I'mma just put a list and explain each character listed and why it didn't work:

Goldilocks: Very simple reasoning which was just "She's cute and dense-he is also cute and dense". However, because it was so simple it didn't have any meat to it and I just settled on them being pals. Goldilocks eventually became Maple and Maple winded up with her girlfriend Amelia instead.

Unnamed male Red Riding Hood: I went through two designs for Little Red Riding Hood before settling on Nana on a whim, who eventually stuck. The first little red was a little girl who very much fit the expectations of the fairy tale character. Obviously-she was a child so she was never in line for romance because...ew. But the second Red was an antagonist and a wolf boy. He had very Kisshu vibes to him and was obsessed with Jack...I should state this was a character I drafted up in my early teens during my peak time of discovering yaoi so...once again no meat to it. I also just didn't like the bitch because he had no personality other than bully Jack. I eventually scrapped him. Thank god too because just thinking back to him makes me cringe.

Cinderella: So...I was basically like "Well Cinderella is a fairy tale about a peasant who winds up becoming royalty after hardship. And Jack and the Beanstalk is about a peasant who winds up becoming rich after hardship...THAT'S LIKE A PERFECT MATCH FOR SOMETHING RIGHT?" I was fuckin' wrong. I can't even remember if I had any cute interactions planned between them. I scrapped the romance for friendship. Cinderella eventually became Ashe who eventually winded up with Pinokuni and Kai. Speaking Of Pinokuni...

Pinokuni: This puppet got super fuckin' close to becoming Jack's love interest. They literally had the fun dynamic of friendship and the banter and them risking it all to keep the other happy and safe. But the thing that sunk this ship was the simple fact that Pinokuni was and still is an asshole. And Jack is a guy who needs someone who isn't so hard due to him being a sensitive fella. The dynamic of their friendship ultimately would have been healthier for the two. Plus two masculine characters having a close friendship and being comfortable with it instead of questioning their sexualities is always a breath of fresh air. Eventually, Pinokuni winded up with Ashe. I winded up discovering that Kai had a similar relationship dynamic like Jack has with Pinokuni and realized he would work romantically with Pinokuni as well and even better than Jack because Kai, while he is sensitive, isn't afraid to bully Pinokuni back. And rather than ditching Ashe x Pinokuni for Pinokuni x Kai-I just tossed Kai into the mix because Pinokuni has two hands. So does Ashe. Now all three of them are in a happy polyamorous relationship together.

Odette: I dare say her and Pinokuni tied for the closest any Beanstalked character got to holding hands with Jack. SHE WAS SO DAMN CLOSE AS WELL! She was a princess and Jack was a peasant so it was practically a fairy tale romance writing itself. Plus, she is basically a swan and Jack had and still has duck energy to him. And one of the first drawings I've ever drawn and posted of Jack was with a character who is meant to be the Ugly Ducking, who is basically Odette's little duck friend that follows her around everywhere. So there's that cute concept of him being a little wing man. But it didn't work out for the simple reason that around that time, I had gotten around to working on a new Little Red Riding Hood who was more unique and not the same Red we've seen again and again. And what was just a random shot in the dark for a design winded up becoming a character who would eventually be the Nana we all know and love. Odette eventually became Anatina. Unlike the others on this list-she didn't wind up with anyone else romantically. She got pretty close to Kai being the one but it never worked out in my head. Currently she is close friends with Charming because girl and guy best buds is another underrated thing.

I think the major reason Nana won in the end over Odette is because she was just more fun to write for when it came to interactions with Jack. Princess x Peasant is a cute dynamic but it's also very common. Which isn't a bad thing but because it's so common all the possible interactions between Jack and Odette kinda wrote themselves.

For Jack and Nana, it was free range. Especially when I realized I really liked monsters during the early days of shipping them which lead to Nana becoming a Lupine. And that made their potential interactions even more fun for me to write. There's also the added cuteness of neither of them being royalty so they didn't gain anything from being together. And over the course of developing Beanstalked, it actually winded up becoming a point of potential conflict over what they lose ending up together since they aren't part of the same story.

So I am very happy picking Red Beans in the end. I don't know where I'd be without them and I love drawing them together.

I also think it's very funny that Nana is one of the strongest Beanstalked characters AND she literally beat everyone else when it came to holding Jack's hand. She truly is powerful.

[monamourbladie]

The Man of My Dreams - Blade x Reader (chapter 7)

Who said that the man of your dreams couldn’t be real? After having dreams of the same mystery man for 2 weeks straight, the reader sets off on a journey to find the mystery man known as “Blade” that had been occupying her mind every single night. After realizing that he might actually be a real person, and not just a man she made up, she will finally discover parts of her past that had been long forgotten and locked away. (Originally posted on AO3, which can be read here. Also posted on Wattpad, which is here.)

Chapters Masterlist

warnings: slow burn, slight enemies to lovers themes, fluff, HEAVY angst throughout the entire story (not kidding.), soulmates, memory loss, mutual pining, eventual smut, pwp, renheng themes

Tag List: (@ me to be added) @kimura-uzuri

Extra warning: this chapter specifically doesn't include much x reader in it, but it is important to understanding our backstory!

Stelle, Welt, and March sprinted after Kafka, Y/n, and Blade as they jumped off the platform. March screamed in fear as she watched her friend get kidnapped before her, forced to jump to her inevitable demise... The group let out a collective sigh of relief when a Starskiff appeared, and they could make out three figures on it disappear into the sky. "W-What just happened?" March cried, looking at Welt for help. There were tears in her eyes, her worry for her best friend evident. Welt let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head, "I don't know, March."

March turned to look at the glorious tree that now shone across the skyline. "Hey... wasn't that the dead tree that Qingque showed us earlier? How did it grow so fast?" she asked, sniffling as she wiped her tears. It was obvious she was trying to distract herself from worrying about her best friend's fate. Tingyun stood beside her, "Whatever it is, it's amazing! This is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon - I'm beyond lucky to have witnessed it in my lifetime!" she exclaimed excitedly, not understanding why everyone was so worried. "With such an extraordinary energy radiating from it, it must be from the Stellaron," Welt added. "As beautiful as this is, we must let Fu Xuan and the General know what became of Kafka. Fu Xuan left so quickly, I don't believe she knows just yet that Kafka made her great escape."

The Trailblazers set off on a quick walk toward Fu Xuan, with Tingyun leading the way for them. Up ahead, Fu Xuan and the General were already deep in conversation.

"...That is why I'm so worried, General. What I divined... was not what any of us were expecting. It's worrying me greatly. I've never wanted divination to be wrong, but this one...? I'd sleep better knowing I somehow got it wrong," Fu Xuan sighed to the hologram of the General. "Stay calm, Diviner Fu. The Matrix does not lie. The logic you laid out about Kafka makes sense. It's helped me fill in a much-needed piece of the puzzle. The Stellaron Hunters themselves are not the ones pulling the strings. The moment I saw Blade, it was clear to me. But why is he here, and why was the attention of the Astral Express drawn? That's what eludes me," Jing Yuan spoke to her. Fu Xuan glanced up at him, her hand on hip, "Think it has to do with Y/n?" 

Jing Yuan looked amused at her comment. A sly smile appeared on his lips, "I think so. But I don't think that was the full reason." Fu Xuan crossed her arms, "May I ask how you seem to know so much of this woman, General?" Jing Yuan looked away for a moment, deciding if he should explain or not. Before he could answer, he heard March speak up as the Trailblazers walked up towards them, "Yeah! I think we have a right to know - especially since she got taken by Kafka & Blade!" March said frustratedly. Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan both turn to them, shocked. "What do you mean she got taken?" Fu Xuan asked, irritated. 

Stelle shrugged. "After the tree grew, Kafka's shackles broke, and Blade came to rescue her. He saw Y/n, and literally kidnapped her in front of us! I can't believe it!" March huffed. "Not to mention she was stupid enough to run up to him as if they'd known each other all their lives! I feel so betrayed!" she pouted, crossing her arms. Jing Yuan let out a gentle laugh, "Don't feel betrayed, March 7th. Although they are criminals, she will not be harmed. I trust enough of their old selves exist to know that," he replied to March.

Welt looked confused, "What do you mean by 'old selves'?" Welt asked. Fu Xuan looks up at Jing Yuan with a light glare. "Well?"

Jing crossed his hands behind his back as he sighed. "I must be honest with you all. I know things about your friend Y/n that will change your opinion of her permanently. Be it negative or not, I think - seeing as she's been taken - it's important for you to know the true story," he began. "How many of you know about Y/n's true past?"

Nobody said a word. Jing nodded at this and continued. "She is not a human. She is a Vidyadhara that was forced into an incomplete reincarnation cycle, causing her to lose all memory of her previous life. I was close friends with her and her husband Yingxing, in the past. I was in a group called the High-Cloud Quintet. She was close friends childhood friends with the High Elder of the Luofu, the Imbibitor Lunae. I would regularly see her when I was just a young boy. She eventually met her husband Yingxing who was a weapons master. He crafted the blade I wield now." He picked up his sword, showing it to his guests as they listened to his story.

"We all knew they liked each other, we just didn't think their love story would go the way it did. The High Elder, Y/n, and Yingxing would regularly hang out together - they were inseparable. Eventually they got married, and Yingxing chose to retire from weapon crafting. Everything seemed just fine until the Quintet's gathering place was swarmed by a flurry of Mara-Stricken soldiers. These soldiers invaded our home, and the endless army of them nearly destroyed us. We fought them all off, but not without great loss." Jing Yuan closed his eyes, recalling the moment in his head.

"Her husband was stabbed through the abdomen by one of the soldiers in a last attempt at a fight. There was nothing we could do. He passed on." The room was dead silent except for some occasional sniffling from March, who was crying. She felt awful that her best friend had gone through that - losing her husband in such a traumatic way... Jing Yuan looked back at the guests, "But, that didn't stop her. As you know, Vidyadharians possess a rare ability that allows them to reincarnate if something goes wrong and they're about to die. Y/n was able to manipulate her powers - forcing some of her life energy into the body of her husband. This in it of itself wasn't what caused trouble. The High Elder couldn't stand seeing his best friend dead and the other in mourning, so he made a grave decision to fully revive Yingxing. Because of the mixed powers of two powerful beings trying to bring him back, it caused him to become immortal."

Welt was deep in thought as Jing Yuan explained everything. "That explains her past. But how did she forget it all, and think she's a human?" Jing Yuan frowned at this. "This is where I'm afraid the story takes an even more depressing turn. What they did was an immense sin here in the Luofu. They gave a human, a non-long living species immortal life which is strictly forbidden, and is considered one of the highest crimes anyone could ever commit. Yingxing was taken in by my former master, Jingliu, whereas the High Elder and Y/n were arrested. The pair were forced to separately undergo reincarnation cycles. However, before they could be fully finished, their punishment would begin in the form of near-endless torture: manipulating their reincarnation cycles until their bodies were too weak to continue." Jing Yuan swallowed thickly, "I'm aware this is a horrific thing to do to your friend. But it was... the safer option of the two punishments," he said solemnly. "Because of all the reincarnations, both their memories began to fade until they had no idea about who they truly were, or why they were being tortured. Once we were certain that they had sufficiently suffered, they were banished from the Xianzhou and sent off on their own to live their lives as 'humans.'"

March was clinging to Stelle as she cried. This was more traumatic than any of them could've ever imagined, and their friend had no idea she had even gone through any of that. "W-what happened to Yingxing?" March asked softly. "He became Blade." March and Stelle looked at each other in pure shock. "S-So... she wasn't exactly kidnapped - she just was trying to find her husband again?" March asked. Jing Yuan nodded, "I believe so. I believe she's started to piece together things about Blade and made the connection in some form herself. If you noticed her pendant, she still wears and had kept her jade pendant - her wedding symbol to Yingxing. I'm unsure if Blade still has his, but if he does, then that should be the final clue for her."

"Is it possible for her past memories to be regained?" Welt asked. "And if so, is it dangerous to remind her?" Jing Yuan let out a heavy sigh, "I am unsure. This punishment has only been used a total of 4 times in all of our history, her and the Imbibitor Lunae making up 6. I suppose, since she is already on her way to remembering things about her late husband, it wouldn't harm her to know the full truth. However, she is still considered to be an enemy of the Xianzhou, and should be treated as such. But due to her helping us with the Stellaron Hunters... I can put in a good word to have her banishment lifted - if it is what she requests."

Jing Yuan then turned to Tingyun, "Miss Tingyun, I would like you to continue to guide our Astral Express friends." Tingyun bowed her head, "Yes, General. I am duty-bound," she replied. "I would like you to investigate the Alchemy Commission next, and afterward, make your way towards Scalegorge Waterscape. Both are adjacent to the Ambrosial Arbor's seal, and may have our answers. Through this Ambrosial Arbor is how we gained near-infinite life spans. Before this, however, we only lived a mere hundred years." he let out a soft chuckle at the absurdity of only a mere hundred years to live. "Now, I believe this location would be a solid place for the Stellaron to be. Fu Xuan will guide you on your way to your next location."

"Thank you for the information on our friend, General," Welt said sincerely. "It is refreshing to know the full truth about our once mysterious friend." He let out a soft sigh, "Now if only the same could be said for Dan Heng..." He muttered under his breath.

Fu Xuan walked forward, "Pursuing Kafka will be a waste of our effort. We will get Y/n back eventually, but they are not a priority now. Her innocence in this is evident from the Matrix. Our priority is the Ambrosial Arbor." Fu Xuan motioned for the guests to follow her, "I have a Starskiff prepared for you already. Please follow me."

As they walked, March scurried up ahead to Welt. "Mr. Yang, is Y/n going to be okay? Should we try and peel off to rescue her?" she asked cautiously. "As much as I want to say yes, we have to trust the General's judgment. He knew Y/n in the past. He, out of anyone here, would know if she's truly in danger. Fu Xuan knows Kafka is - shockingly enough - innocent in all of this. I'm sure Blade taking Y/n has only to do with them wanting to figure out their past." March frowned, but nodded solemnly. "And I trust you - so... let's just get this done fast so we can get our friend back."

March pulled out her phone to text Y/n. "Hey - I hope you're okay. Be careful around that dude okay??? and come home soon! I already miss you :("

Message not received. 

Welt let out a soft laugh, "Kafka isn't stupid enough to not disable her phone in case she tries broadcasting their location to us. Unfortunately, this means we will have zero leads on our friend for some time." March huffed as she set her phone back in her pocket, "Damn Kafka. I knew this was a bad idea to come here!"

"You voted yes?" Stelle said to March, her brows furrowed. March scoffed, "Well, I changed my mind. Again. Okay?" She crossed her arms. "We all make mistakes!"

"Well, regardless - we have a job to do, so let's finish this so we can rescue her sooner," Welt said to March. With that, the Trailblazers entered into the Starskiff, and were off to the Alchemy Commission.

[funarisjournal]

The Beginning (Comic Edition, Pt 2)

Saved the rest of this revisit for today's slow periods at work. I liveblogged on Twitter, but this is where I really get to write my thoughts out. No tiny character limits!

Anyway, if you haven't seen the first part, I suggest you check it out first because I'm going in all "Now, where was I?" Style.

[Again, my essays are more for those that have already read the story over once or twice and are looking for some deeper analyzations. Spoilers may be mentioned, so you are warned!]

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Kasuga just opened the door and there was her neighbor, the one she had awkwardly talked to the previous evening.

Repeat photos, yay!

Anyway, there are two things going on here.

Kasuga opening the door to see who it is. She sees it's her neighbor and they had that convo, so she's steeling herself. She knows she can just close the door if it gets uncomfortable, but she is willing to listen because food, you say? She's (warily) listening...

Nomoto, meanwhile, is a nervous wreck because, well, how do you word this?? She is more nervous about the food proposal than Kasuga! Even on the next page, the nervousness stems from the weird-to-Nomoto request for someone to help finish off the meal she made tonight. Like, this is how she's truly introducing herself to her neighbor with little to no prior interaction. "Hi, how you doing? Wanna eat my food?"

She is well aware it sounds weird and maybe even creepy but...but what else is she gonna do with all that food when she's got no social circles or community knowledge under her belt?

We know how she acts when others (especially men) frame her passion as great wife material, but when she has to talk about it? Anxiety through the roof. She's judging herself and being self-conscious. In a way, I like how this isn't "Kasuga is a big, cold, scary woman" and more "Nomoto is super self-conscious and doesn't know how to be social in-person anymore (because she hasn't had friends since her school days and that's almost 15-ish years now, based on what I've inferred from other pages re: her current age and knowing the comic is basically Present Day)

Poor Nomoto has a lot of baggage herself. It's not as obvious in these first chapters, but she was clearly molded by folks who definitely harped on the traditional values and other expectations of adulthood around her too much....NOMOTO'S MOM.

But...I digress. So, there's something interesting to note here. I don't think I've seen people point out this specific panel. Namely, that last one, Kasuga's eye.

Kasuga loves to eat. We know this, even new readers get that impression pretty quick (and the cover, of course). She wants to enjoy all the food in the world, probably even the mediocre stuff (to which she can make future purchasing/eating-out options when she can afford it)

As you get to know her, and you come back to these early pages, you realize this food stunned her.

While we know Nomoto's food is delicious and others have voiced their satisfaction with it, Kasuga was able to taste an extra special ingredient that night. Yes, I'm being a little cheesy here. This special, "invisible" ingredient that has been missing in her life resonated within, and she responded with the most emphatic eating that, in turn, stunned Nomoto in feelings she hasn't felt before.

Fun thing to note with Nomoto in the center of the page here: based on the way it's drawn, this woman is having multiple things firing up inside her at full blast; not just the sight of someone enjoying her massive portion of food, but seeing HOW MUCH they're enjoying it and just never experiencing this before. It's new, it's stunning (multiple definitions)...she is just this side of BSOD-ing.

They have been cooking and eating with something missing all this time. Put them together and it's like something opens up within both. They had what the other was missing and they were LITERALLY NEIGHBORS...but it took a chance encounter in an elevator to start the connection

The next parts are basically Nomoto's raisom d'etre waking up from its slumber. She remembers why she took up cooking in the first place...

And while we can attribute these panels as a little lighthearted, comedic moment as the chapter comes to a close, consider this: the birds, bunnies, and deer never came...and neither did any people as she grew up and began her cooking journey. She found a "workaround" via sharing online, but it's not like her old dream. She said at the beginning how her food is missing an audience that will fully enjoy it (not just as posts). She has never had anyone around to enjoy her food until Kasuga agreed to finish off this plate.

And this is where I realized something.

....Did Nomoto even cook when she lived with her folks? Did she cook back then and they didn't enjoy it? Did she only cook for herself and that's how she learned? Or maybe her mom was like "leave all the cooking to me" so she never had a chance to show off?

Like this raises a lot of questions that I wasn't expecting to have as I reread this chapter. The future nightmare scene in Vol 2 doesn't help matters, though it gives us further insight about her friendships and her being pushed into heteronormative adulthood even at a young age. Sure, it's a nightmare, with some fantastical, nightmareish transitions, but a lot of those scenes appear to be based on past experiences she had, including the orientation quiz BUT I digress. Again! That can be for another essay!

Anyway! Whoo! What a ride, eh? And I still plan to do an essay over how Episode 1 of the drama covered their beginnings, so look forward to that!

[elshells]

Happy STS! I hope you've had a good week! What pokemon would each of your characters have? Is it what people would expect them to have?

Happy STS!! The week has been pretty swell! Just got an official summer job so we're sitting pretty there <3

This is the PERFECT question for me. I just started a replay of Soul Silver a couple weeks ago (my first Pokemon game!), so I've had Pokemon in my brain lately. It's only natural that my WIPs should intersect! So here's what I've got!!

I decided most of these based on vibes, and some characters were harder to decide than others. Let me know if you were surprised by any of these!

Sophia - Lucario

I've come to the realization that Lucario is the perfect partner for Sophia! He would accompany her on her cases, and they would be sparring buddies in their downtime. And with its ability to sense other's auras, Lucario would be able to not only read the moves of their opponents, but it would know by reading Sophia's thoughts when she was in a dark place, and then encourage her to take care of herself.

I do also get the feeling that she would be a Dragon-Type trainer, or at least she would be drawn to powerful Pokemon who hit their opponents hard.

Honorable Mentions: Ampharos, Flygon, Braviary, Kaputops

Janus - Zorua & Gengar

Zorua and Janus would definitely be friends, if nothing else. As a shy, lonely punk kid, he would love the cute shapeshifter fox, and probably even see a lot of himself reflected in the little guy. As an adult, I'm sure he'd still be fond of Zorua, but I can't deny that he absolutely radiates big-time Gengar energy. Change my mind, I dare you!

He'd love Dark-Types and Ghost-Types best, and end up getting way too invested in the game. Everyone from Team Rocket to Youngster Joey is going down!

Honorable Mentions: Houndoom, Banette, Sneasel, Pancham

Harley - Gible

I have so many feelings about this one. Harley would absolutely dote on her Gible, feeding it tons of treats and giving it pets after every battle. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that she needs a baby land shark in her life. They'd be such good friends, plus just imagine them down the line! Harley and Garchomp? Badass. Immaculate. Utter perfection. My skin is clear and my depression is cured.

It's also worth mentioning that part of my decision to choose Gible was that I always thought Harley behaved like Lilo as a kid, and Gible reminds me of Stitch!!

Overall, I think she would be a bit of a wildcard trainer. She was the toughest to match by far, but I've listed my favorite selections down below!

Honorable Mentions: Riolu, Volcarona, Arcanine, Heracross, Aerodactyl

Jade - Buneary & Dragonite

Buneary pretty much represents how Jade is as a person, so in that way I feel like she and the lil' bunny would be kindred spirits. However, Dragonite would be her partner Pokemon, which may surprise people, but hear me out! They would be best buds, and I love the idea of Jade being a shockingly powerful trainer. She looks so sweet and unassuming, until she sweeps the floor with a literal dragon. No big deal 💅🏻

Besides, once you picture them flying above the city and napping together in a sunny field, you will never be the same. I know I still can't get over the cute.

She adores the cute baby Pokemon, and she probably has a pack of Eevees that have all imprinted on her like ducklings. She would be the type of person who would collect every Eeveelution and form a kickass battle squad.

Honorable Mentions: Phanpy, Milotic, Cubchoo, Aurorus, Altaria

Max - Psyduck

When trying to imagine what Pokemon Max would have, Psyduck came to mind immediately. They are one and the same—both plagued by constant headaches (both literal and metaphorical), and both possessing a hidden power that they unleash in times of distress! They understand each other, and so they have each other's backs. It's just Max and his derpy duck against the world.

I think Max would probably have the most Psychic-Types and Fairy-Types. He likes the company of a bunch of strange little guys <3

Honorable Mentions: Togetic, Breloom, Goomy, Abra, Phantump

[victors-grave]

So I have a spin wheel with the names of all my oc's on there.

So I have a fun little game to play:

I will spin the wheel twice and then pair up the two characters as a ship, I will then rate that ship based on whether its good or not, and the ship to get the highest score will end up getting drawn.

Okay? Let's go.

Spin ship 1: Seyla Ay’ven and Arley Syx.

Rating: 1/10

Reason: Seyla canonically dies 26 years before Arley is even born, so it wouldn't make sense timeline wise. Also, Seyla is a species that eat their partners/lovers so it would probably end badly for them.

Not a good start.

Spin ship 2: Elara Xa and Florena Sola

Rating: 1/10

Reason: Again, the same reason for the last one, timelines do not match. Elara would have been dead for at least 100 years before Florena's parents had ever met. Also, Florena is friends with one of Elara's descendents so it would of been a bit weird.

Spin ship 3: Hira and Myla Karden

Rating: 2/10

Reason: Despite the fact that their timelines do not match up, I think they would be an interesting ship. However, relationship wise they would definitely not match, Hira is too power hungry while Myla is too naive.

Spin ship 4: Aldric Hesing and Cialin Inei

Rating: 1/10

Reason: Not just because Cialin is straight, but because Cialin is literally older than Aldric's parents. In fact, Cialin's granddaughter is older than Aldric. No, just no.

Spin ship 5: Talyra Tarick and Jocla Dene

Rating: 4/10

Reason: Surprisingly, it's not the worst and is probably the best so far. They're roughly around the same age and realistically could have met at least once or twice in their lifetimes. Would be higher if it wasn't for the fact that Talyra is happily married and Jocla is unhappily broken up with.

Spin ship 6: Mazen Xa-Qui and Oz

Rating: 7/10

Reason: They're only a year apart in age and would realistically know one another and have met multiple times. Whether they would of had a good relationship is another question but its more likely that they would of had at least a couple few good dates.

Spin ship 7: Rosanet Inei and Thaniea Hio

Rating: 7/10

Reason: I'm not as opposed to this ship than I thought I would be. Realistically, they would have never met in Canon, but it feels so interesting, like? Thaniea dating Rosanet, who canonically has shape shifted and pretended to be Thaniea before? It's kinda good, in my opinion. Plus, Rosanet dated Zena, so there's no reason not to date Thaniea as well. Kinda silly but it's alright.

Spin ship 8: Tala Fein and Kora Xa-Qui

Rating: 2/10

Reason: Kora's marriage is too happy for her to ruin it by dating a saint, and Tala would not give up her devotion to being a saint in order to date a happy married mother. It's kind of like Soren/Kora/Wye. However, there's something more fun about those three over this one.

Spin ship 9: Tiffa Dene and Lecia Hesing

Rating: 5/10

Reason: The age gap is a bit questionable for my taste, but it's still alright, I guess. It could be kind of fun as Tiffa hasn't been seen in years by her family, so her turning out to date the sister of a Prince her brother is friends with could be kind of fun. Again, not the worse, not the best.

Spin ship 10: Aeron Hesing and Nylea Ay’ven

Rating: 1/10

Reason: Aeron, I know you basically get with anyone, but that is a full-blown lesbian who has no interest in you and who is dead during your first meeting anyway. No chance, no.

So, it seems that by the end of the 10 spins, the top rated ship is Mazen/Oz and Rosanet/Thaniea.

Honestly, I expected worse results, but I am glad it wasn't any worse than it already was. I actually tried this when writing a few rare pair ships for a one-shot ao3 fic I was going to do, only to end up spinning and getting sisters 😳 so I'm glad there was none of that this time.

So, once I've drawn what I've promised, I'll probably do another one of these, see you then!

[yoonjinsgirl]

Heyaaaa guys!!! I'm here with Chapter-8 to my series.

checkout series previous chapters: 1💌 2💌 3💌 4💌 5💌 6💌 7💌 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoongi x fem!Reader

Summary: you wake up one day only to realize it's 2026 already & to your biggest shock you are not in your bedroom, not in your house! You try to wake yourself up from the dream! But is it really a dream or the truth of your life?

Genre: idol au, mirror world au, angst, sudden hit of confession and realization.

Taglist: Open

Updates: once a week

Warnings: An au concept, not something that could make sense irl, it could be dangerously delulu. please note all my writings are fictional and has nothing irl to do with any idol/person.

A/N: This chapter has both yoongi's pov & y/n's pov. Also featuring Namjoon, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook.

Request are open & also highly welcomed and appreciated! Check my work until now: Masterlist💌 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡^·ᴗ·^♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've imagined this all night and every day!💕

Chapter - 8

You wake up with bad headache after crying yourself to sleep. Your mood dark and upset with all the memories recollected last night. You drag yourself to get freshen up and do something with your state because how are you going to survive with this state of mind.

After getting freshen up and making yourself a cup of coffee you do what is best for you call your bestfriend and this time you know she'll believe you because you do remember everything clearly to support your words you know why and how the ring ended up in your hands and this definitely is not your hallucination or anything else.

And as expected at first it was hard for you to explain her and make her believe. As well as it was too hard for her to believe you, but eventually she joined the ends and she seemed to believe that is what it seemed to you atleast but you weren't sure.

Even after your ranting to your friend nothing really seemed to work or help you, and 2 days after that night and you were still not able to move on or pass over it, you had to go to work and fortunately piling up yourself with work helped you to stop thinking but the moment you would sit free and idle the thoughts would flying back to you.

The reason behind your problem was that how could you possibly fall for someone like yoongi but not him since according to you he was his lookalike from the mirror world and not him.

Sure you have never met yoongi but you never fell in love with his looks or that he was a global superstar and stuff, those were just a part of bonus that he had. Instead you were drawn to him by his thoughts, by his love for music, by his passion towards his work, by his sincerity towards his work and armys, the way he had love his members so much, the way he would love, care and comfort armys, the way he grew up as the finest man by all means, moreover you fell for his soul and not his face. So why did this happen to you? You were sad, upset and moreover crazily frustrated with yourself blaming and feeling guilty about it. You almost felt like you cheated him and this shit was crazy because when was he ever yours?

The more you would think the more it messed with your mind. You were no more yourself at this point you were letting yourself go! And what were you doing this with yourself! you pitted on you thinking if the boys would have seen army being like this they had hate you for doing this to yourself as this not what they thought armys to do with their self. Like jungkook was literally asking in his latest live to make yourself the main character of your life and live it to fullest and here you were doing the exact opposite of the same. Remembering the live it reminded you the time you spent with bangtan in the mirror world it was so wholesome just the way you had always thought and imagined of. For minutes you unknowingly smiled while thinking about the same.

Meanwhile yoongi on the other side was getting desperate to find a way, to find you.. to find a away he can see you in person or meet you and clear your misunderstanding and do whatever he could to remind of your memories with him. Him and Namjoon were at the mission to find a away to get you back into Yoongi's life. But Yoongi getting restless wasn't helping namjoon at all and that's when he decided it was now necessary to involve the rest of members into this maybe they could have better idea's or might have solution and could helping out. And that is exactly what he did, it was hard in the beginning as all members had a very opposite schedule to follow from each other but they all took out time when they came to know it was important for yoongi. Only his maknaes could join as jin and hobi were already enlisted. As soon they met joon, he made them know the entire situation, as much the maknaes were overjoyed to hear that their hyung had found his love but also sad that there were so many problems laying in between him and you. Soon yoongi joined them. As expected all of them went and gave him warm hug. And undoubtedly yoongi felt much better in presence of his brothers.

"Hyung don't worry we already have an idea to make you meet her", jungkook said excitedly.

"Ye hyung if you had told us before we had so many chances to bring here", jimin said being a little upset that why didn't yoongi told them before.

"It's not like jiminahhh it just that i came to realize things later on so i can't help!", yoongi said as he can't literally tell them the exact shit that took place over mirror world his brothers would be traumatized to know the brand new information and he didn't wanted to create more troubles.

"It's okay hyung atleast you told us now! Don't worry we all will support you", taehyung said consoling yoongi. And yoongi gave him a small smile.

"So coming to the point hyung! We have decided to call y/n here to me..", even before namjoon could go any further yoongi interrupted him in between.

"Mwoyaaa? Waeee! Waeee! Waeeyo? Why...why would you directly call her namjoonahhh! I told you she might not get things! If it was as easy to talk to her call we would had done it the same day!", yoongi said sulking.

"No hyung it is not how it sounds! Basically tae will help us to bring her here", namjoon said

"How? Taehyungahh do you y/n?", yoongi asked questioning him.

"Aniyeo! hyung I don't know her! But I can help you to bring her here", taehyung replied.

"Ughhhh you why are you guys making it complicated taehyungahhh, namjooniee hyung", jimin said getting annoyed as none of them were telling yoongi the exact plan.

"Exactly hyung just tell him in detail", jungkook agreed.

"Ye exactly my point you guys are confusing me", yoongi said.

"Ne! ye, so hyung as we know taehyung is having a fan meeting right! So we came to know that y/n has also entered the raffle so we can call her here by selecting her in the raffle and after fan meeting we could grab opportunity to let her meet you, infact jimin also would be there so it will be easy hyung we will be back stage, we can approach her afterward", namjoon explained yoongi.

"Aishhh no namjoon how is this making sense fan meeting is after 5 days from now how can you select her now, I'm sure mails were already send a week before regarding location and for selection mails were send a month before, this makes no sense. What if other fans comes to know about this? No this is risky just for me I can't risk it all", yoongi declined.

"Aishh aniyaaa hyung hear us out! It's not like you think we have send 9 more invites to other fans making it look like it was a technical issue from our side and remaining all we will handle hyung! Please don't back out now! We have already took chance and done it all. Also this is perfect opportunity hyung we won't be having any opportunity like this coming any soon so please hyung!", taehyung said trying to convince yoongi.

"This is a mess you don't understand! Armys are gonna have hard time how will the manage to come on such short notice? It would be so wrong with them", yoongi said with serious concerns for Armys, no matter what yoongi could never put fans in discomfort.

"Aniyaaa hyung! We have kept things in are mind! We have offered them some vouchers to flights for international armys as a form of compensation since the fault was from our side, if they want to participate. We have asked them to reply us through mail if they could come or not. We understand your concern for armys hyung but don't worry we won't let them go through any trouble, we also equally love and care for them hyung! Also This is the best way to bring her back to you hyung besides even we are excited to see her! So please don't say no", jungkook requested him.

"Okay fine!", yoongi said finally agreeing and earning giggles from the younger one, surely yoongi could never say no to jungkook.

"But there is a tine tiny possibility that she might not come", namjoon suddenly announced as everyone's face turned towards him.

"What?" "WHY" "WHY NOT", the maknaes questioned whereas while yoongi was just freezed.

"I mean it's not confirmed since we haven't received any confirmation mail from her so we have to wait i guess!", namjoon said.

"Ofcourse she'll reply hyung! She must be at work hyung let's wait we are in different time zones than her", Taehyung said trying to lighten the mood.

"Ye right Taehyungieeee! I guess he's right yoongi hyung, I'm sure she'll reply", jimin said to yoongi.

Meanwhile you were still frozen and shocked to read the mail that you had received since early morning, meeting bts only seemed like dream to you! Never did you thought you could win a fan meeting or fan sign event, also flying to Seoul was fucking expensive afterall, but here you were having a mail that said as they had system failure and some unknown technically issue so they couldn't inform earlier about the fan meeting and to compensate they had send you vouchers for flight tickets like what in the bangtan world was happening? At first you thought this was some sort of joke but you checked their website, sns accounts and it said they had failed to mail 10winners and as they had faced some technical issue, only after that you could believe it, that it wasn't a prank or some fraudulent mail! It has been a whole day at work now and you're still so shocked and surprised to send a reply mail to confirm that you are willing to attend the fanmeeting and you will be able to make it.

You decide to call your friend on your way to home and she was as much as surprised as you were, but more than that she was insanely happy for you and told maybe it's a sign of universe telling you that you will meet yoongi again, too which you only replied in small hmnn, because seriously you were now scared to meet yoongi, your whole life you waited for this moment, for infinite times you had recreated millions of scenarios in your head about how one day you will meet yoongi accidentally across the street, and now when you might actually get a chance you were nervous because now that you remember everything that took place in mirror world you had seen love for you in his eyes and what if you meet him and see nothing in those eyes for you it would tear you apart, also the fact that for you that even wasn't yoongi whose memories you carry in your heart. Maybe you could just not roam around and return back to your country after fan meeting ends you thought, as you sat down sending your confirmation mail.

Meanwhile boys left after talking for a bit leaving namjoon and a very nervous yoongi waiting for your response. Until they actually saw your mail and a tear rolled down from yoongi's eyes as he quickly wiped it away happily that finally he's one more step closer to meet you. As namjoon hugged him almost having a quick little scream of joy and informed members about their success in their gc.

Meanwhile you laid down on your bed thinking you have only one day to shop for some necessities and book a hotel for your stay and also mail to your boss about your sudden leave for few days. As much as you were nervous about all this, you were equally excited about the same, you never thought this day will actually come in real life when you'll get to meet any of tannies.

Next day soon came and surprisingly everything was going just fine, your leave was accepted, you got a hotel with a great deal, you got all your necessities, bought few clothes within your budget and most importantly your packing was also done and luckily it's just afternoon yet! So much more time left to get your mind right, you know this is those once in a lifetime moment and so you need to act sane. You had informed your parents about your trip and they were directly gonna meet you at the airport.

That day you slept early as you a had to travel through train to get to international Airport and meet your parents and finally fly to your dreams! The next morning you took the train and spent some time with your parents at Airport. As soon as you checked and boarded in, you posted a small post on your insta and twitter sharing a picture of tata.

needless to say yoongi was checking your accounts desperately as he wanted to be assured that you've been on time and took the destined flight! The flight that will take you one more step closer to him! He was excited and nervous to see you in person but most importantly he missed the feeling of you in his arms, he missed the way you would call his name, the way you always called him 'yoonieee, yoongsss' and by other pet names, he loved to hear his names sounding so perfect just like a melody dancing on your lips as you would call him! He missed you wholly!

The time on flight surprising passed quickly as you had some good sleep and kept binging on run bts.

Your heart for some reason was beating so fast as you heard the announcement your destination arrived and flight is gonna land, as soon as your flight landed you felt so happy and excited about your trip to finally the place, the country where your angels lived, which meant you where breathing in same air as them and were also in the same time zone as them. But that also meant yoongi was there too and how would you face him! Did you betrayed him by falling for his lookalike in mirror world? Your expression suddenly changed as you bit your lip to control your tears and put on a fake facade smiling, of course you were overthinking why would you bump into yoongi this wasn't kdrama that you would bump into him or anyone else, you told yourself and kept moving to collect your luggage, your cab was already booked so there was nothing to worry!

Little did you know yoongi was there the whole time, looking out for you. Early the morning he and namjoon came to airport dressed casually to blend into the crowd so that no one could recognize them so they rented a car to avoid getting attention or making things tough for you, it was yoongi's decision to go to airport and namjoon was totally against it thinking it was seriously risky for them to go out like that when people would recognize them left and right! And in his defense dispatch probably lived 24x7 in airport trying to film and get bytes. But yoongi was adamant, and told him he would not stand a minute now without getting a glimpse of you! So namjoon at the end accompanied him anyways.

As soon yoongi arrived he easily spotted you and the next minute he felt a pang inside his heart seeing you hiding your tears and biting your cries and putting on a happy facade for world. His heart broke at the thought of letting you go alone and then you breaking down as soon as you reach down your room. Not like yoongi was thinking any wrong that was your original plan to just finish your formalities and checking in your hotel room and cry your heart out!

Yoongi was about to approach you and stop you but namjoon pulled him away just in time! For a minute you felt yoongi's presence and could smell his scent, at that moment your heart almost forgot how to beat and time stopped as you carefully stopped and turned around to see, your mind not wanting to see him whereas your heart longing to see him, but as you turned there was clearly no one, maybe your heart is just playing games with you, just like you your heart is a betrayer too you thought and chuckled bitterly.

To be continued....

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Also since there was a huge delay with this one I'll be uploading the chapter sooner than you might think! ;)

As I always say, REQUEST ARE OPEN!!!💌

Categories I write for are: imagines/reaction, scenarios, thoughts, text post, drabbles and timestamps.♡

So if you've requests please go on and submit it! I'll be happy to write one. Also your feedbacks are highly welcomed and appreciated.💜

[pipperoni32-blog]

White Horse Black Nights

by Evie Marceau / 4.5 stars

Wow, wow, wow! I loved this, and I cannot wait to see more.

I'm at a loss for words with where to begin. I was drawn in by the cover and the description, but even then I wasn't quite prepared for what awaited me.

The magic of this dark fantasy world stems from the remains of when the Immortal Fae ruled as gods, before their inexplicable slumber. Now those gods have been asleep for a thousand years, but their magic can still be found in those with the mark of a godkiss. The strength of a godkiss varies, but for the Valveres, any mark is worth coveting. And if it's worth wanting, it's worth possessing.

After her father sold her in marriage to cover his debts, Sabine is forced to travel to Duren to meet her betrothed, Rian Valvere. Sabine's godkiss gives her the ability to communicate with animals, an ability that has kept her sane in her 10 years spent locked away in a convent. Despite her knowledge of the Immortal Fae, she is not happy to be forced to live one of the legends of the Immortal Solene, who journeyed to her own marriage naked on horseback. With only her horse Myst - Sabine's most constant companion and only friend - and Rian's most trusted godskissed soldier Wolf Bowborn as a bodyguard, she makes the 21-day journey to Duren, where her fiancé and future await.

Most of the book takes place on this journey. The dual point of view is an excellent way to introduce the world, through two very different voices with vastly different experiences. Sabine wants nothing more than her freedom; for the ability to finally choose the course of her own life. With the help of her animals, will she be able to escape her marriage? To come into her own strengths, and find a way to defy her circumstances even as she's stripped down to literally nothing. Meanwhile, Wolf has bigger concerns than escorting the vulnerable naive girl, but he owes Rian his loyalty - and his life.

Despite the long journey, this book never feels stagnant or too unnecessarily repetitive. The pacing and world building, along with action and attraction along the way, keeps you drawn in and curious for more. Once they reach Duren, the intrigue speedily grows, before leaving you at a perfect opening for the next installment to start with a bang.

I feel like this could definitely be a 5 star book in the future. Once I've had a chance to read more of the series, and revisit it on what is sure to be multiple re-reads, I have a feeling it will take up a new place of pride on my bookshelf. Right now, it's a great start to a series with intricate world building, but leaves a lot of questions and expectations!

I was lucky enough to get an ARC through BookSirens, and happy release day (November 6, 2023)! I can't wait for people to start picking this up, and hopefully be as eager to talk about it as I am.