#Now I still don't think he produced them the traditional way

[waitingforsecretsouls]

...Is it just me or does this not imply (assuming Traumerei was being honest with Gustang here of course) that Traumerei's reason for having biological children was to provide potential candidates for the Princesses of Zahard? At least at that point in time?

[vaguely-concerned]

how much have the crows actually been sanitized outside of the very narrow view you get of them both in place and in time in veilguard, and how much is caterina deliberately putting her most presentable and pr friendly foot forward because she needs HELP with both the grandson and the antaam situations and is already playing from a weakened overwhelmed position. is she going to show off all the dirty laundry the crows undeniably have in front of the people she's courting for an alliance? is rook going to be looking a gift crow in the beak too closely when help is offered, go digging through that laundry basket on their own initiative on principle, knowing what you might find further down in it isn't pretty and might still be sharp, while the world is burning? is it entirely coincidental that the people caterina picks to interact with you most is teia -- the youngest, most charismatic and notably most weirdly idealistic of the talons -- and viago -- who is perhaps none of these things naturally but is dependable and logical and sharp and also down so cataclysmically bad for teia that when she runs in shouting 'TEIA YES!!! >:D' he sighs with longsuffering resignation and goes '...viago also yes. I suppose. under duress, let the record note' and follows.

surely parts of how each house functions would be left largely up to the individual talons, right? as long as they produce crows capable of doing the job and keeping up with the competition, I doubt the first talon micromanages how they get there (...for good or ill. lots of dead fledglings buried under that laissez faire policy, probably). they're very far away from a monolithic structure, they're constantly competing merchant houses/families striving to gain the upper hand held in check by little except 'if enough of the other houses shake hands and gang up on us for pushing our luck we're fucked, so don't push it too far'. like I believe lucanis says at one point, even calling them an organization is stretching the definition to a breaking point in some ways lol this is fully herding cats territory. all this to say that in this game we spend most of our time in teia's house. andarateia cantori, of the firm genuine conviction recognized as mildly unhinged by all the other talons that the crows truly are her family, who loves them with her whole unstoppable foolhardy thinks-she-will-die-young-and-live-eternally-in-song-and-story heart for it. teia, who won't leave the cantori diamond even to go home to sleep because she doesn't want the fledglings to have to see the place empty. do I think the way teia cantori would run her house is indicative of the average experience of being trained as and living as a crow? no. obviously. why are people seeming to assume that so immediately? sometimes I do wonder if I'm going insane.

between that and the antaam situation -- which turns the romanticized image antiva already is eager to reach for with the crows (the same way european literary tradition through the ages sure LOVES a knight, no matter what knights were actually like when you had one kicking around in real life) into an effective and recognizable symbol of resistance from an outside force (at least these awful little guys are home grown in a way we're kind of proud of despite it all and also they are deeply inescapably cool)... perhaps indeed a symbol of resistance and freedom that momentarily covers for a multitude of sins. I don't think we need to draw definitive conclusions about what the crows are like universially, historically or in different contexts from what we see in veilguard. sort of like the british in the pop cultural understanding being 'the good guys' when we think about WW2, and the sheer ludicrousness of that characterization of the british empire seen in any other context or angle lmao. I DO think there are some genuine writerly '*handwaves established ugliness aside aggressively* just uuuuuh don't worry about it! not important right now! you can feel at least ok hanging out with the cool theater kids but with murder they're like. comparatively chill in this context it's fine and they're fun' going on too. and you know what. they are fun. invenci is unfortunately objectively right, but the crows are sooo much more fun. and in fiction land that trumps all. absolutely baffling writing choice when you read through to the political/ideological conclusion that's reached from it of course (sort of accidentally? I think???), but would it really be a bioware game without a few of those. it's how you know you're home (derogatory and affectionate)

in short there are writing problems by god are there real problems here. obviously. and it'd take smarter and more knowledgeable people than me to properly untangle all of that. glorifying organized crime is a time honoured tradition in fiction that perhaps... shouldn't be quite so much and is uh risky, you're always playing with fire there. but I frankly don't think the 'de-edgeifying' for lack of a better term is that much of an inescapable one or that it erases what we knew of the crows before, we're just getting the angle on them in one very specific time and place in history and with specific individuals involved setting the tone. eight little talons killing off most of the established leadership beforehand so it's mostly only teia and viago who get to keep their full power base (even caterina and the dellamortes takes some losses in the apparent death of lucanis before the start of the game) probably figures into that somewhere too lol

[adventure-time-news]

Now that we've had some time to process today's announcements, here's a slightly more in-depth breakdown of the three new Adventure Time projects.

HEYO BMO

Heyo BMO will be a preschool show starring BMO. The Animation on Max Twitter account says that it "follows little BMO as he approaches each challenge he faces with his unique brand of enthusiasm and a curiosity to learn and fill his database."

This is the only project of the three for which we have received some promo art so far, which might mean it's the furthest along in development and the most likely to premier first, especially if they used rigged rather than traditional animation as is often the case with preschool shows. This promo art was created by 3D artist Crisppyboat, who has previously worked on a handful of web projects and indie games. I don't think this is the style that the entire show will have, but who knows.

Other people confirmed by Variety to be working on Heyo BMO are Adam Muto, who has been showrunner on everything Adventure Time since season five of the original show, and Ashlyn Anstee, who storyboarded on Obsidian and has written many children's books.

This show is especially interesting given that Adam Muto has often joked about the inevitability of a preschool spinoff of Adventure Time, and now that has finally come to pass while he is presumably still running the show.

SIDE QUESTS

Side Quests will be a "prequel series" to the original Adventure Time, likely meant as a return to the early seasons' storytelling style. It will be mostly episodic rather than serialised, meaning episodes will each tell their own story without much of an overarching plot, and it will target the original show's young demographic. Ice King is confirmed to be returning in this series, but that's about all we know about the plot.

Interestingly, Variety did not attach Adam Muto's name to this project. Instead it mentioned that Nate Cash will be involved. Nate Cash was supervising director on Adventure Time between seasons three and five, often alternating with Adam Muto in that role. So if Nate is producing Side Quests and Adam is producing Heyo BMO, this will be something of a return to form for both of them.

One question that I've seen a few fans ask is who will voice Finn in this show. Jeremy Shada can't really pull off the season one Finn voice anymore, and they've run out of younger Shada brothers to defer to like they did after the pilot episode. So a new casting feels likely to me, with Shada continuing to voice an older Finn in other projects like Fionna and Cake and the movie. Speaking of which...

UNTITLED ADVENTURE TIME MOVIE

This is the announcement that we know the least about. To give some historical context, an Adventure Time movie was announced all the way back in 2015 but never came to anything. There was also allegedly a plan to end season five with a TV movie back in 2014. Elements of these two movies were later recycled into the plots of several later episodes, most notably Something Big, and possibly Distant Lands: Together Again.

This latest attempt involves Adam Muto, as well as Rebecca Sugar and Pat McHale, who were both influential storyboard artists in the early seasons of Adventure Time before leaving to make their own shows; Steven Universe and Over the Garden Wall, respectively.

According to MidouMir on Twitter, who was live-Tweeting the Warner panel at Annecy, a brief synopsis was given as something like "Finn and Jake set out to find a birthday gift for PB but their adventure will lead them to world changing stuff." Other than that we know nothing about the plot.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Adventure Time wasn't the only show to get spinoffs announced today. Regular Show, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, and Scooby-Doo will all be receiving new series too. We don't know anything about the Regular Show spinoff, but the Fosters spinoff will be a preschool show like Heyo BMO.

All of this appears to indicate that Warner's current animation strategy is to recycle characters who have already proven popular in order to try and attract a new generation of viewers. Original fans of Adventure Time are beginning to get old enough to have children of their own who might enjoy something like Heyo BMO, plus since the end of shows like Amphibia and The Owl House there has been a vacuum of popular "fandom" shows for the older children to younger teens demographic, which I imagine is what Side Quests is aiming for.

To be fair they have also announced a handful of brand new projects; Lovey Dovey, Bad Karma, and Barbara are all new shows announced today.

What are your thoughts? Is there anything I missed? Be sure to let me know!

[blackhairedjjun]

(love)sick

pairing: choi yeonjun x gn reader | genre / tropes: fluff, comfort, valentines themed! | word count: 1.2k | warnings: pet names (baby, love), profanity, mentions of food, getting sick

summary: yeonjun gets sick on valentine's day. you don't mind, as long as you get to spend the day with your beloved.

author's notes: happy valentines day!! i think - it's no longer valentines day in my timezone lol. anyway, i crammed this fic while i was sick myself and after watching yeonjun's make it happen documentary (which also features him getting sick) and somehow the brain cells crossed and produced... this? LOL yeah

(support by reblogging banner by @cafekitsune)

you know that something is wrong when yeonjun calls you and asks to meet up with him at his apartment instead of picking you up from work.

it isn’t the seeming lack of chivalry that bothers you — you like stopping by your boyfriend’s apartment anyway — but the way his voice sounds on the phone. it’s hoarse and thin, and it wasn’t just the patchy cell signal outside your office building making him sound that way. his words themselves were scratchy, as if it takes him some difficulty to get them out. “i’m so sorry, baby,” he says, the word sorry sounding like a groan. “i don’t feel well enough to drive…”

“jjunie, are you okay?”

“i’m fine,” he croaks. he does not sound fine. “just need… to rest a bit. we can move the reservation by… half an hour…”

moments later, you tap your foot now and then on the bus ride from your office to his apartment, the rumbling nowhere near loud enough to drown out the frenzy in your thoughts. yeonjun booked a reservation at a fancy restaurant for valentine’s day, which he apparently had been planning since the two of you got together. you barely managed to wrangle out any hints on what he had in store, but you could tell from the shine in his eyes and his mischievous little giggles that he had something grand and romantic in mind. with the way his voice sounded on the phone, though, he might not be feeling well enough to put any of those plans into motion.

the bus gets to your stop and you practically jump off. half-walking, half-running, you head towards the sleek new apartment building yeonjun calls home, your heartbeat thundering in your ears. it doesn’t stop once you get to the building, or on the elevator ride to his place, or even until you turn the knob on his door. please, please, your thoughts echo, please let my jjunie be okay.

as you enter, you spot on the little table by the hallway a giant box of assorted chocolates and a bouquet of roses and carnations, still in pristine condition. your face grows warm at the sight — you mentioned previously to yeonjun that you wanted some pink flowers along with the traditional red — but it also rattles your nerves. yeonjun wouldn’t just leave these by his apartment, he’d usually hide them from you and wait for the right time to present them...

you walk past the valentine’s gifts. when you reach yeonjun’s bedroom door, you give a quick knock. “jjunie, it’s me…”

there’s a low groan from inside. shit, he sounds worse than you thought. “baby, i… i’m not ready yet…”

“i’m coming in anyway, okay?”

you push the door open and your heart drops at the sight.

the room is balmy. yeonjun is sprawled on his bed, half-dressed, all energy seemingly drained from his form. you gasp and rush to his side; upon closer look, his face is pale and the skin under his eyes is dark. 

“hi, baby…” he rasps. “you look pretty.”

“oh, jjunie…” you reach for him and feel his forehead with your palm. “shit. you’re burning up.”

“i burn for you, baby,” he says with a cough. he tries to be smooth about it with a smirk but it just looks like a lopsided grin to you.

you let out a chuckle but it does little to hide your worries. your hand comes up to his forehead again and you brush aside a few strands of hair from there. his skin burns hot.

“you’re sick, jjunie. i can’t… we can’t go out like this. i’m sorry baby, you need to rest.”

yeonjun’s eyes widen at your words. he forces himself to sit up and lets out a low whine. “but it’s valentine’s day! i planned this for months and—”

“i know, but you’re not well enough to go out. i’m really sorry.”

“no baby, i can make it, i一” cough! cough!

he groans and his body tips toward you. you catch him, arms circling his waist, and he buries his face in your neck. even with the heat radiating from his skin, you can feel the tears pricking at his eyes.

“i’m so sorry, baby…” he chokes back a sob. “i wanted to treat you well today, and…”

you feel his tears flow as yeonjun holds on to you, and your hold on him tightens into a full hug. with him in your arms mourning the end of your valentine’s dinner, his love for you pours out of him completely; the disappointment of the canceled date weighs on him more heavily than his illness, and it sinks into him as he clings to you. you think of the flower bouquet and the chocolate box left in the hallway and imagine how eager he must have been to give them to you and see the look on your face. 

“i’m sorry,” yeonjun whispers again. the tone of his voice makes a dull ache shift in your chest.

“oh, my jjunie,” you coo, and he nuzzles into you at the sound of your voice. “don’t be sorry. we couldn’t have predicted this. and all i care about now is making sure you feel well.”

“but… the dinner…”

“we can always have it some other time, okay? like for our anniversary or for my birthday. or for an ordinary day. it doesn’t have to be on valentine’s as long as i’m with you.”

“i know, but…” 

even when he isn’t fully convinced, yeonjun allows you to set him down on his bed. he reaches out for you and you take his hand, kissing it and placing it on your cheek. the gesture causes him to finally smile, and his fingers trace your cheekbone.

“i love you,” he whispers.

“i love you too, my jjunie.” you lean into his touch. “and you take such good care of me every day. i mean, you planned a whole dinner just for me! that’s amazing.”

yeonjun coughs, but you can see him blushing despite his fever.

“and we’ll have that dinner someday, i promise, but not now.” you place your hand atop his on your cheek; it still burns, but you don’t care. “right now all i want to do is take care of you, like you always do for me. i want to see you get better, i want to stay with you here. and i wouldn’t want to spend my valentine’s day any other way.”

when you finish speaking you bend down to give him one more kiss on the forehead. yeonjun remains speechless for a few moments, simply gazing at you, but his eyes are filled with so much affection and tenderness that you can’t look away. even when he’s sick, he’s the most beautiful man in the world to you — how can he be otherwise when he looks at you like that?”

“you’re… amazing,” he says at last. “please stay…”

your heart swells and you smile at him.

“of course, love.”

you sit on the edge of his bed, reaching for his hand and intertwining your fingers together. yeonjun manages to shift his position to be closer to you, then his arms wrap around your side. he leans his head on you, feeling your warmth. 

“the reservation,” you murmur. “i should cancel...”

your words are interrupted by a groan from yeonjun as he snuggles further into you. you let out a giggle.

“okay, okay. i’ll stay.”

[virto-the-weirdo]

ANIMALS OF THE LAND OF KINGS - concept #1 ♤

Call it an AU because it's not a confirmed theory, I'm here to bring you a worldbuilding concept for the Land of kings universe. I feel like it has whay more storytelling potential than it initially seems.

SO, let's talk about animals in the card world!

... there aren't any.

Except for that one brown turtle that somehow got it's way into Zontopia.

Anyways, this fact doesn't sit right with me. Like, shure, the argument for why there aren't any animals is probably:

"Oh, it's because the clones didn't need them for their societies to function, so they didn't create them."

But imagine how much richer the world would be with them!

Now, maybe we are wrong and some clones made animals, which we just haven't seen because we haven't even seen much of their countries yet. My guess is that Kuromaku, Dante and Spade made some. (Taking into account that Gabriel already made at least one turtle, I don't have to guess because we know he did do that.)

And I'll start the theory by suggesting an example of what kind of an animal would Spade create for his country.

BEHOLD!

Spade's warhog!

Why would Spade create such creatures? What purpose would they serve him? Why would it be worth wasting generator energy on them?

I'm glad you didn't ask! I'll explain and give arguments for it anyways!

Arguments:

1. Meat

So far, in the land of kings, we only saw people eating plant-based food (mostly in Felicia and Zontopia). Now, this might as well be the only type of food people eat here because there aren't any animals that would provide meat.

Meaning people in the land of kings are vegan.

Seeing as how Spade's favourite stuff to eat is meat, I have a feeling the prideful King Emperor would rather starve than be forced to be a vegan for the rest of his life.

And we do still want to be reasonable and somewhat teenager friendly in the comics, so I don't think cannibalism is an option. Besides, Spade probably has too much pride to resort to such undignified and inhumane practices.

So, how do we solve this problem? Easy! Create a big animal that you can farm and exploit for meat. For a traditional example, a big boar!

And why stop at meat? Perhaps make few breeds of this animal that give milk, and boom - we got milk based products as well!

Now Spade's country is the least vegan place in the card world, and can finally make a proper sandwich with ham and cheese!

2. Various uses for various breeds

If I remember correctly, in comic it was established that citizens live shorter, or at least age quicker, than the clones.

Now, irl animals usually have shorter lifespans than humans, meaning that in the Land of kings, their lives are even shorter, meaning that the process of making new breeds is much faster than irl.

Making breeds is useful because it diversifies the uses of the animal without needing to waste generator energy on a new one.

Here are sketches of some breeds that I think citizens of Spade's country could make, as well as few notes about their characteristics for each:

I'll tackle some uses more in depth in the following arguments.

3. Materials

The animal and plant based materials are a really useful resource. Not only can it be reused to produce more of itself (example, dead plant and animal matter enriches the soil so more plants can grow to feed the people and animals), but once the species is created with the generator energy, Spade doesn't need to use any more generator energy to create more of them.

Depending on the breed, the warhogs not only give meat, but also leather, wool, bones etc.

Animal materials can be used to make good quality clothes, as well as many household items, like leather covered furniture and wool blankets.

Also, I feel like Spade would find a use for bones in clothes accesories as well because I feel like he'd love to look even more edgy and intimidating lol.

4. Trade

An interesting possibility we haven't seen much in the Land of kings.

Why don't clones trade resources with eachother? Do they think they do not need each other's stuff?

Lack of this activity might make sence if we consider that all raw materials are produced by the generator energy, so they all have basic resources and there is no need to aquire them from others (water, stone, iron, etc.).

What they can trade are products specific to their country, but that also depends on how interested the people of other countries are in those.

However, something a lot of people might be interested in trying that comes from other countries is cuisine aka. food (probably misspelled cuisine but whatever).

Think about it, at one point Felicians might get curious what else is there to eat besides raddish-based products.

Same goes for other countries.

(A possible interaction between a Spade spy and a tratiorous Felician.)

And seeing as how, hypothetically, no other country produces meat-based products, Spade has got himself a humble monopoly in the card world.

5. Sign of power and taming practices

Now, this is a bit more related to the abstract implications of creating this animal, as well as it's nature.

Taking care of an animal is not an easy task. Doing that implies that not only do you have enough resources and power to take care of yourself, but also for a whole other creature! Apply that on a larger scale that is Spade's country and you get the impression that his country is, indeed, incredibly capable and powerful to sustain both a population of people and animals.

However, there is a difference between taking care for a goldfish and a dog.

I imagine, to show off how powerful his country is, Spade would deliberatley make his boars dangerous. He'd give them an inherintly wild nature, big horns and tusks, and make them giant in size.

Why? So he can look like an even more badass ruler!

Anybody can take care of a population of animals, but only Spade's country can counquer these wild beasts and subjugate them to their will!

I imagine Spade's taming practices would be incredibly cruel. In order to get the boars to do his bidding, he'd firsth break their will to fight him, and then manipulate them with fear. Redirecting the animal's agresion could also be a metod he'd encourage.

If the boar doesn't give up easily and continues to be disobedient, it would either end up in an arena (more on that later) or as somebody's lunch.

6. Intimidation and war strategy

Spade's empire seems to be among the more technologically advanced countries of the card world, judging by the glimpse of his country in the Tome of clubs where we see all the construction machinery.

So why WARhogs?

Well, once Spade creates the boars and starts trading meat, a word would probably get around the card world about the scary beasts that boars are and create the already mentioned and calculated image of a powerful country that tamed those creatures.

This can also invoke a subtle fear among other subjects, a glance of what kind of terrifying force other countries might expect shall they ever go at odds with Spade's Empire. For if they can tame the boars, shurley they can use them against other countries.

But would he ever really use them against other countries in warfare, while he has powerful machinery at disposal?

I think he would, but it depends on who he is fighting!

You see, not all countries in the Land of kings are as equally as advanced as Kuromaku and Spade's are.

For example, Zontopia doesn't seem to use much technology ever since the original communication system "broke".

So if Spade goes to war against Brolly's country, not only is Brolly severly outmatched, but Spade wastes so much fuel and resources to get his tanks and machines to achieve the same goal he could reach if he simply sent in an army of Warhog-riders with superior weapons just strapped onto the warhogs.

7. Entertainment and punishment

Allright, let's say Spade has a few disobedient warhogs at disposal that are whay too violent and impressive to be turned into steak.

Like, Spade can see these boars have so much potential but do not listen to him. Shurley there must be a way not to waste it?

Well, boars aren't the only thing that is occasionally disobedient in his country. So are his people!

Traitors, criminals, revolutionarys, scoundrels that refuse to follow the strict order and law in the empire... Death sencence awaits some of them, and knowing Spade, he'd probably make public executions a thing to set an example to others of what happends when you go against the Empire.

Adding into the equasion that his country seems to draw some inspiration from the ancient Rome, it makes sence that he'd take after their entertainment practices...

That's right, Spade would build arenas, very similar to roman ones - but purple, where he'd force his criminals to fight for their lives against the wildest and most dangerous warhogs in his country!

(Imagine the following example, but high-tech and better shade of purple:)

It's a fight to the death kind of execution where the criminal has a slim chance to live if they manage to kill the beast before it ends them.

If the criminal somehow manages to slay all the boars they are pit against, they can become a gladiator whose life is now chained to the arena, where they will fight against other animals and criminals for the entertainment of other subjects untill they are eventually slain in one of the battles.

This not only solves the problem of rouge people and animals, but also creates a spectacle out of public executions, reinforcing the fear of regime in other citizens as well as providing entertainment for them.

Arena fights in Spade's country would probably be regarded as a type of theatre, similarly to how they were in ancient Rome.

This concludes the list of reasons why I believe Spade would create animals for his country.

Also, as if all of this wasn't enough, here is a Land of kings OC sketch based on these concepts:

(Also, some of her expression sketches:)

Her name is general Atalanta, and she supervises any and all activities relating to boars/animals within Spade's Empire, which includes running the gladiator arena. She is a great fighter and and hunter, and is experienced when it comes to animal control. She has an electric whip as her weapon which she uses when the warhogs act out of line.

So yea, thank you for coming to my Land of kings concept talk.

I do have more ideas for more possible Land of kings animal concepts but don't expect me to write a post about it because this already took a few days to write and draw and idk if I'll feel like doing that again. In short, I make no promises.

[witchofthesouls]

Deliciously fucked up way for Team Prime to find out about the supernatural: Have a fae show up in one of the kid's homes. False Artifact preying on Raf's baby/toddler siblings, a Pooka replacing the pet dog at Miko's, or a Kobold decides Jack's place is nice enough to stay. The kids have a feeling something is up but the bots think it's just nothing.

Until they find an old school packet with info that eeriely matches the signs in their respective home. Miko's Pooka Hunting goes a bit awry so Bulkhead ends up seeing her get chased outside the house by something that definitely isn't a dog. Raf barely got one sibling away from being eaten by a False Artifact. Arcee might've damaged the house to grab Jack as he accidentally spook a Kobold.

Cue concerned bot noises upon seeing the packets. I don't think they like the idea of children eating fae in their charges' homes.

Ahhh, this went in a different direction.

Warning: off-screen character death (age-related and car accident), dubcon/noncon body modifications, and underage drinking

Now the Darby household does have a Kobold. It's been following them (and the lineage) for a very long time. Generation after generation, parent to child as the unspoken agreement is held with family traditions, superstitions, and practices that have been ingrained into family lore.

If there's one thing June absolutely misses about her ex-husband, it's his family. While June hadn't cut ties with her own blood, her own kin (even her own parents) never spent time in one place for too long. They welcomed into their home. Treated her well with food and warmth and taught her their traditions as she married a son of theirs.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that time comes for all. Oma survived years of hardship by war and reconstruction, without her beloved husband, and the deaths of her own dwindling family, she died peacefully in her sleep during a visit to see a toddling Jack. His parents, though...

When the call came that his parents were killed in a massive pile-up on the freeway, their lives came crashing down.

Grief manifests in so many ways. June cherishes what was left behind. She uses the quilts and recipes and leaves out a portion of dinner for the 'spirit of the hearth.' Her husband, however, drowned himself inside the hospital; unable to come home and look at the reminders, refusing to do anything with it.

Their divorce comes and it's... amicable. The man who was once her husband stares back with a frozen heart, shrouded by his own grief, and he offers to leave them the house as well. June declines and searches for warmer shadows.

The house is sold. June and Jack move on, and the Kobold follows them.

June is a Darby child, and her son follows her as well. Memories are cherished by them. (Faithfully. Hungrily.) And June dutifully attends to her once-husband's family's traditions: leaving dusty corners, a few dirty plates in the sink, grease on the stove, and many, little things that keep the home running. He may try to escape them, but she won't deny their son the same happiness and joy in it.

Jack was too young to remember his family's faces outside of photos and portraits, but there is a lullaby that follows his dreams, crooning over his head and chasing away his nightmares.

For the longest time, he thought the extra dinner plate was for Oma because it's the same dishes and sweets she once ate, even to this day. Jack was quick to hunt for tidbits about them, and always attributed missing left shoes, misplaced kitchen pens, tipping empty glasses during holidays, and creaking floorboards at night as her mischief. I'm still here, it said. I won't leave.

Jack grew up with the same quilts that consumed him, produce that never spoils (the milk might, but it's easy to make cheese from sour milk), and all the little things that made a house a cozy home.

Much like her own family, June and Jack moved frequently as well. Pests were never a problem for them, nor were mold or leaks. They were strangely lucky in that regard.

The Esquivel home does have Others in their vicinity. It's due to the unknown actions of their youngest member. One day when Raf was far younger and playing hide-and-seek with his siblings and neighborhood kids, Raf came across a pitiful, little creature in a drying puddle.

It flopped and croaked, squirming and clawing at the edges of the barely wet concrete of the patio. Scales flaking in dull, resplendent hues, and its side bleeding a sluggish black ooze. It wasn't a fish. Fish had no arms or torsos, nor had his older brother's books on marine life had anything about fish with two tails. Or fish that scream hard enough to make his nose bleed and cry oily marbles that plink on the ground.

To this day, Raf doesn't know what compelled him to step closer but he did. He saw the strange eyes, blinded and pulsing with veins. Later he'll find out about nictitating membranes, but at the moment it was strange to see how a little, blind not-fish stared back at him, mewling something that skittered across his senses and he tasted blood at the back of his throat.

Mama Esquivel was livid over his son's wet jacket and then concerned when he showed the deep bite on his hand and how his nose continued to bleed.

The birdbath in their backyard does get visitors. Raf rises with the sun to watch strange fish-like creatures splash around the small fountain, singing beautifully to coax birds to eat them whole. His sisters think there's a hawk or an owl nearby that hunting down the smaller birds. Raf knows better. He leaves them lizards and newts, dead rats and mice from traps, and leftover meat and nopales that he can carefully sneak away. Much like corvids, they leave him those oily-slick marbles (pearls), carved sea glass that store whalesong, and beautifully intact shells that contain the noise of a howling tempest and the sea at its most furious.

He knows because they explained it to him. Safety, they said as Raf learns to invoke a flashflood and charm to remain inconspicuous and he understands.

"I wish I knew what you're saying to me," a boy told a small fae that was dropped by a red-tailed hawk, far away from any source of water to return home. Its laughter was the sounds of a babbling brook, the river rushing into the ocean's arms. It asked its savior what was the boon he wished for, and the child unknowingly answered. < Wish granted, little Mudman. > And it savagely bit his hand to share their blood for water touched everything and anything, and who else but the fae could bestow the gift of language of any tongue?

Just because Miko is far from Japan, that doesn't mean she doesn't have something attached to her. And of course, it's a cat.

At first, she thought a feral cat lost a match with a cactus or a porcupine and had recently escaped a trap based on all the pins and dragging tail, but not at all. Much to her amazement, it's fast on its paws. Far more agile and durable, she has seen the creature slash massive cacti and easily jump from the ground to rooftops.

The host family she stays at isn't as boring and straight-laced as she once thought. They do enjoy making homemade brews and other fermented goods. They allow the kids to sample it, but only on the weekends and after a good meal.

She gets a little information from her host family. It's a Catcus Cat - a mythical beast; something that isn't real.

Miko leaves a shallow bowl of her own efforts at making mead and other alcoholic beverages, and the Catcus Cat seems to take a liking to the fruitier and sweet drinks.

The Catcus Cat follows her to the Autobot base. Even when she was riding with Jack and Arcee, she was able to spy the beast racing alongside them in the sand, easily keeping pace.

It allows her to pet it occasionally. Purring as it keeps its spines flat and soft, still prickly but leaving no damage. But it prefers chasing games, so Miko cobbled a fishing rod with pieces of raw meat to play 'Fetch' and got a laser to watch it scramble up solid walls and scale cliffsides.

Unlike the Darby's Kobold and Raf's aquatic visitors, the Catcus Cat had interactions with the Autobots. Particularly Arcee and Bumblebee. They enjoy racing in the high-noon sun and dark empty roads at night. It comes along because very few can truly challenge them. And the Autobots think it's a baseline Earth animal. A charming one, even if its yowls are thundering.

Out of all the Autobots, it's Arcee that figured out something is off. Unlike Miko's inability to hide a new car and the Esquivel's already full garage, Arcee can fit comfortably in the Darby's garage. June even partitioned out an area for the Autobot to transform and scavenged large bean bags and thick body pillows as a makeshift bed.

June often works and Jack is either at Knockout Burger or the base after school, so Arcee has no idea how there are fresh meals, hot and ready on the stove as well as how the Pits her pillow nest is fluffed and straightened when there's no one at home!

Arcee thinks there's some sort of weird intruder in their house that likes being domestic, and it drives her nuts that June and Jack are completely nonchalant over the fact.

She's definitely not happy hearing it's been happening for over a decade, and no she doesn't believe it's the ghost of a dearly departed relative!

[jzargo]

Grey Wardens and Broodmothers

So, around a year ago, back on my main blog (before I'd quarantined everything over here) I made a post about how poorly thought out the role of female Wardens was, especially considering the horrific revelation of what Broodmothers are (and the implication that female Wardens would become them if they went down into the Deep Roads and were captured). Since then, I've received replies and comments all claiming, to similar extent, the same thing:

"The Joining makes Wardens immune to the Taint, and Wardens are infertile anyways"

And I'm here to say....neither of these things are true, and female Wardens are at risk of becoming Broodmothers.

So, let's unpack this.

The Joining doesn't make the Wardens immune to the Taint so much as it does give them a very slow exposure to it. It will eventually turn the Wardens into a full-fledged ghoul, the process just takes longer. This is why they respond to the Calling by going into the Deep Roads and dying an honorable death: it's preferable to slowly turning into a Ghoul and joining the Darkspawn hordes. It's reasonable to then infer that this could be accelerated by the process that potential Broodmothers undergo (as that is a much more horrific and invasive process than typical Taint exposure). And even if the Joining made female Wardens immune to becoming Broodmothers, this needed to be said in-game in no uncertain terms, not left to inference.

Wardens are not made entirely infertile by the Joining. It makes them less likely to conceive children, but they still can have children. David Gaider himself has said this (on the now-deleted bioware social forums) "A Grey Warden can have a child… just not with another Grey Warden...Grey Wardens have a limited chance of conception with a non-Grey Warden, but it does happen" And, again, even normal, non-Warden women do not produce babies at the rate that Broodmothers do. Whatever happens during the transition to Broodmother does something to majorly boost fertility in the victim. It is, again, reasonable to assume that this process could entirely circumvent whatever lowered fertility rate female Wardens have.

And this is the most damning piece of information I found...David Gaider himself, when asked this very question, admitted he hadn't thought of whether or not a female warden could become a Broodmother, but acknowledged it was a possibility.

Q: Do Grey Wardens still do the Calling, now that they know about Broodmothers? That was a really terrifying revelation in the first game "Oh my god, any women who are down here in the Deep Roads get taken off to spawn horrible monsters!" DG: They always knew about Broodmothers, but they didn't know where Broodmothers came from. Knowing that…wow, I hadn't really considered whether they'd stop doing the Calling. I think if anything it makes it more problematic for female Wardens to do the Calling. That may be something we could incorporate into the future. It'd be an interesting question. Let's say a female Grey Warden starts to hear her Calling and says "Well, my time has come" and the rest of the Wardens say no, you can't go. You're a woman. You don't deserve to take part in what has been long, for many centuries, held as an honorable tradition, as a way for the Grey Wardens to go out in a way where they retain…I don't know if you read The Calling, the novel. The reason they do the Calling is because there's a tipping point at which the corruption in them starts to affect them physically, so rather than become some kind of ghoul they want to die while they still have their humanity, doing what they've spent the majority of their life dedicated to, killing darkspawn, one last hurrah. To go to a woman and say "No, you can't have this honorable ending because of what might happen to you." I think that would be an interesting story. I think in the end it might be up to the individual Warden. I could definitely see a female Warden who would rather kill herself than allow for the possibility that she could be transformed into a Broodmother.

So, in short, my original point still stands. They writers (or at least David Gaider, and very likely Lukas Kristjanson, who wrote the A Paragon of Her Kind questline) did not think about the implications of this. They should have. They should have let female wardens unpack this horrific information they receive, either with Alistair or Riordan when they find him.

If they've since added something to the lore, if they've retconned this entirely, if a new World of Thedas book has confirmed female wardens do something different than going into the Deep Roads, that's great. They should have thought about that when first writing this, though.

And what's especially infuriating is it almost seems like they're alluding to it when a female warden first meets Alistair! He outright says "I always wondered why there were so few women in the Wardens." It would be so easy to circle back to that off-hand comment he makes that originally just seems like the writers being a little sexist (which, it is).

So. Yeah. Female Wardens can become Broodmothers. The writers did not think about the implications of this.

God I hope we don't see any in Veilguard.

[blackcrowing]

Important Facts about Bealtaine from an Irish Celtic Reconstructionist

Spelling and Pronunciation

OI. Bealtaine (Bell-tin-Na) has more recently been written as I. Beltaine or Anglicized Beltane (Bell-tain). In the Cormac Glossary it is said to derive from the deity Bel and OI. 'Tene' meaning fire.

Dates

Most Reconstructionists celebrate Bealtaine on April 30th-May 1st, sundown to sundown. Iron age Irish (and other Celts) structured their days from sunset to sunset so while we now track this time as stretching over two days, they would have seen this period as one single day, being the first day of the month of May by the Gregorian calendar. Some Reconsructionists might prefer to celebrate by the Julian calendar which would place this holiday on May 13th-14th (by the Gregorian calendar), still of course from sundown to sundown. In the most traditional sense this holiday would have been celebrated when the livestock was moved from the winter grazing fields out to the summer grazing fields.

Importance in Mythos

Most mythological reference to this holiday comes in the form of the movement of peoples or invasions of peoples.

The mythological invasion of Partholon and his people occurred on Bealtaine and the plague that wiped them out also began on that date and lasted a week. The Tuath De Danann are said to have arrived on the island on Bealtine as well and lastly the Sons of Mil are said to have invaded on this date also (Macalister, 1940).

In later times when Christianity had made its mythologies the way of the land and the old deities were moved to the status of Fae this idea of movement and invasion seems to have persisted. Traditions hold that this date is a dangerous time for mortals as the aes sídhe are moving amongst the daoine sí and may stop by unsuspecting homes to ask for butter or perhaps some water, but if this request is granted they will steal the homes luck for the year.

I will make a note here that while the Cormac Glossary notes the deity Bel there is no Celtic/Gaelic deity of this name (though there is a Mesopotamian one) and this seems to cause a lot of confusion, especially when it comes to Wiccancentic ideas and articles. Cormac was likely referring to the Celtic/Gaelic deity Belenus NOT the Mesopotamian Bel. Belenus/Belenos was associated with the sun and healing and during the Gallo-Roman period was often noted to be the Gaelic Apollo. There is evidence to suggest that Belenus/Belenos was known throughout the Celtic/Gaelic world, though we don't have any specific information about how prominently he was worshiped in Ireland itself it is relatively safe to assume that the Iron age Irish would have known who he was.

Celebration Traditions

Like on Samhain, at the opposing 'end' of the year livestock were transitioned from one grazing area to another. While on Samhain, when the 'dark' half of the year begins and the livestock are moved in from summer grazing to winter grazing, Bealtaine is the opposite. It begins the 'light' half of the year and livestock are moved from the winter grazing out to the summer pastures. At both holidays to ensure healthy animals and protect them from any malicious factors great bonfires were built (most notably on the hill of Uisneach) and livestock would be driven between them.

There seems to be a traditional emphasis on the protection of homes, barns, livestock, peoples, and crops. Generally this seems to be a time when warding against ill luck for the community became a focus. Yellow, specifically yellow flowers (primrose, gorse or hawthorn blossoms), appear to have played a role in this as they have been used to decorate, but when exactly this tradition originated is unknown. The healing wells of Ireland and specifically the dew on the morning of Bealtaine have been thought to be important. Some traditions hold that the dew, when washed with will bring beauty, while others think if drank by the milk cows it would cause them to produce more, but again the origins of these traditions are relatively unknown.

Interesting History to take into Consideration

Given Bealtines long lasting history in Irish mythological tradition of being associated with mass movements of peoples and a need to protect ones family and community in this tumultuous time it is -possible- these ideas persist due to the movements (and possibly famines or plagues) during the "Megadrought" of the Bronze age (1250-1100 BCE). Most studies have focused on the effects of the Mediterranean at this time, but it is reasonable to assume the ripples of effects could have been felt strongly enough in Ireland to leave a lasting impression, especially since it is not outlandish to assume that people fleeing the Mediterranean area, which was no longer able to adequately sustain them, may have fled to the more temperate British Isles and passed on their trauma through oral tradition. This could possibly be backed up by looking at the etymology of 'Bel' not as referencing Beleus/Beleos but as referencing the Irish Balor (or perhaps they are different aspects of the same figure) who embodies not the life sustaining properties of the sun but the deadly and destructive ones. Balor balcbéimnech, 'Balor the strong smiter,' Balor birugerc, ' Balor of the piercing eye,' Balor mae Doit meic Néid, 'Balor son of Dot son of Néit.'

This is obviously only my personal opinion and can be taken or dismissed as one likes.

My Kofi

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #343

Ohhh. Sephiroth. Today was entirely too busy. I had a fun time, but... I had very little time to breathe between everything that happened.

So! I'll start at the beginning!

If you did oblige my small favor to think positive things at our little pumpkin friend, it's definitely working because this morning, I discovered that a THIRD leaf is starting to peek out!! Look!!

I'm excited for the little seedling. Recently, we improved the lightbulb that we use in the kitchen, so now it produces something a little closer to sunlight. I'm hoping that this will be enough to help get it through the rest of the winter.

...Wow. It's only a few paragraphs in and I can't seem to focus for shit. Fwhoof...

...Okay. So. I went to work again today, and it was very good! I was there from 9am until 2pm, on my feet and super busy the whole time! Everyone is trying really hard to make sure everything is well-stocked for the looming holiday. People are going out a few days ahead of time to gather up the ingredients they need in order to make their traditional holiday dishes. And lots of the traditional holiday dishes involve breads, rolls, and glutinous sweets.

Before I went in, it rained, and the water running over the pavement made interesting patterns, so I snapped a picture:

So I was bagging up breads and rolls. I was tending to customers. I was boxing up cookies and pastries. I was applying labels to things and putting them out on shelves. I was all over the place today, and it was good!

Also... I thought maybe everyone would be stressed out all to heck. So I brought in some of the pumpkin brownies I made yesterday to try to give the others something to be happy about. The manager of the whole store was bustling in and out of my department today.

...Apparently, he thinks I'm a delight to work with, and he's very confused about why I don't have more hours, just in general. He's supposedly going to try to fix that. I guess we'll see.

...I have recollections of my mother telling me that in the “really real world”, no one was gonna deal with my clumsiness or slowness or inefficiency. She said that I was lucky that she was my mother instead of my boss, or else she would have fired me. And. You know. Sephiroth... in this space, I'm still kinda new. 4 hours per week isn't a whole lot of practice time. There's still a lot that I don't know. There are still a number of movements that my dyspraxic hands struggle with executing. I drop things sometimes. I print one too many stickers. I don't know all the tricks of the trade yet, or all the most efficient ways of doing these things.

...And. I know that if my mother was my supervisor, she'd be screaming at me and calling me all sorts of things, like “ungrateful”, “oblivious”, “stupid”, and even the r-word from time to time.

...But these people. These “really real world” people that she tried so hard to warn me about. They accept mistakes as part of learning. They accept that I'm not always gonna be maximally efficient. They accept that I'm going to need to ask questions and be reminded of things from time to time. A bit of clumsiness from me is expected by them.

Sephiroth. These “really real world” people treat me a whole hell of a lot better than she used to. Even during the peak stress part of the business year, they still treat me with grace and have faith that I'm earnestly doing my best. And... that's not something she was ever able to give me. In those days, anytime I wasn't perfect, it was treated as a purposeful act of stupidity, ungratefulness, carelessness, or disrespect, and...

...I kind of want to go up to her and tell her to go fuck herself for all the shit she put into my head. For teaching me that I was some kind of insufferable and annoying piece of shit, and that I shouldn't expect anyone to treat me any better than she used to. For teaching me that her “love” for me was the purest and most complete that I would ever receive.

Except. Ya know. All of that is false. The fact of the matter was that her expectations of me were absolutely fucking unreasonable and unattainable. They were ridiculous and wildly developmentally inappropriate. You cannot please someone who resents the very fact that you were born.

Even when I make mistakes, I don't have to fight to be treated with kindness and respect here. All I have to do is earnestly do my best. And that is what I am naturally inclined to do in the first place. I never had to be screamed at, guilt-tripped, insulted, intimidated, or belittled.

...But. Going to people's houses and trying to make them feel small, worthless, and unlovable by telling them to go fuck themselves is not how we do. It is not the way. I could try to have a conversation about these things with her, but she'll just list some 50 bazillion excuses as to why her treatment of me was justified and totally not her fault, and so I shouldn't be upset about the way it affects me now (we've been through this conversational cycle a lot, and... it kinda gets old).

When the person who did wrong by us cannot be reasoned with, the solution is not to try to hurt them or try to hurt ourselves or try to hurt someone else to get them to listen. Because they're not gonna, and because hurting people is wrong. The thing to do instead is to simply walk away from them, in favor of walking towards those people who are better capable of loving you. And... that's what I've done. The notion that no one will ever love you better than your biological family is a fucking myth and a lie, and I am proof of this.

Anyway, so I wasn't able to get many pictures today because I was all over the place. But I did manage to get this one; I put together a bunch of bags of stuffing bread:

Once my shift at work ended, I went home. I snagged this picture on the way out:

M needed to run an errand, so I decided to tag along with him as a means of spending time together. We went and got some snacks at a favorite spot. They have a new kind of sandwich there now – it's called a “chopped cheese” sandwich??? But it's more like ground beef mixed with American cheese and thrown on a roll with some burger toppings – stuff like onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and lettuce. It was REALLY GOOD:

And then, before I knew it, it was time to go to some gathering of people testing the board games they made. In a nearby town, there is a board game cafe that holds events like these. One of the games that some local person developed was a rather interesting take on Plinko – it was simple, yet strategic, and utterly delightful! The other game was some kind of card game with different classes of fantasy characters – a fighter, a bard, a mage, and a rogue. There are challenges, and you have to pass them by pulling cards. I'm having a hard time articulating the rules right now. But it was fun. Not as fun as the first game, but still! I played the fighter:

I heard of this event through a connection I made on the friend-making app I told you about before. M was supposed to go with us, because board games is one of his many passions, but he suddenly didn't feel well, so only J and I went. Still, it was a very good time!

And now I'm home. I've been home since maybe 9pm or so, and then I started writing this letter, and doing a load of wash, and... I also gotta get in the shower before bed, and... fwhoof.

My job wants me in tomorrow for another 9am-2pm. And I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, I feel like I've not had much chance to breathe. I think tomorrow after work, I'm maybe gonna try taking a nap or something.

...Maybe I'll dream about drinking a tea with you. With a version of me whose face is already fixed, and so I won't have to worry about pulling out my braces beforehand and scrubbing out the inside of my face after the fact, hahaha...

...I ought to stop writing now in favor of taking that shower and heading to sleep. I... don't really want to. I could keep writing to you for a long time. But I've gotta tend to my body; bad things happen when we don't take care of ourselves.

Hey. I love you a whole lot. So promise me that you'll take good care of yourself, too, okay? Stay safe, and make kind, loving, and gentle choices while you're out and about, all right?

I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

[mirahuyooo]

Prompt 1 with joon? Throwback in the baby au hehehhe

001. “Can I come over?” + kim namjoon

— Namjoon’s baby now has an actual baby

word count: 1,338 contents: FLUFFY FLUFF, roMANCE, whoLESOME VIBES, established relationship (husband & wife), KIM NAMJOON as YOUR HUSBAND AAAAA, joon calling you baby ✋😩, Jimin & Tae being absolute menaces but they’re your absolute menaces, baby on the way! Y/N is planning a reveal soon uwu (Takes place before Baby) pairing: kim namjoon x reader

[masterlist] | check out more of [Four Years with Mira]!  

A/N: ANON!!! I’M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONGGG I’m going through the last of my semester rn and I have to complete some requirements 👉😭👈  I’m back writing again tho!! I also assumed you meant the “Baby” imagine I wrote two years ago lmao I hope y’all like this one! 💖💗💕

The gold band now bound on your ring finger glints under the light of the side table lampshade. The sight of it elicits butterflies in your belly, along with a soft, giddy smile you had to bite back. 

Seven months have passed since you heard the hushed awes and soft piano music. 

Seven months have passed since you saw him waiting for you down the aisle.

Seven months have passed since you became Mrs Kim, wife to your other half. 

Married life with Kim Namjoon, you find, has paradoxically changed and didn't change a lot of things in your life. Love with him is still so consistently devoted and wholesome that you hardly felt any drastic change between the two of you, and yet your heart has never felt more secure, more safe, and more loved than ever before. 

“Joon, can I come over?”

“Of course, baby,” your husband gladly says on the other line. You can almost feel the warmth of his dimpled smile. "Let me know when you're here so I can come down and fetch you, hm?"

It was something of a habit that'll never die, you suppose—one of the many things that didn't and will never change. 

Like before, you would go to his studio if you had time to spare, and like before, you would bring along some food for the both of you to eat while he gives you a little insight on what he's working on. A hand of his habitually rests on your thigh, as the two of you chew on jajangmyeon while one of his latest works play faintly in the background and you both share thoughts. 

"I've been thinking of changing the bea—"

A ringtone sounds through the air, cutting  Namjoon's words short and soiling the serene atmosphere. You lift your head from his shoulder and anticipate what the call meant as he picks it up, especially when you know the ringtone is the one he has for work. 

"Hyung?" he says to what you assume is one of their producers. 

You don't understand much of the conversation aside from the somber expression that seizes your husband's face. Namjoon's brows are furrowed, his tongue prodding at his cheek as he digests the words of whoever was at the other end of the line, humming in agreement and responding once in a while. 

You have a feeling you already know what's going to happen next. 

The apologetic smile he flashes you mid conversation confirms your brewing thoughts, far before he ends the call. “I’m sorry, baby,” Namjoon begrudgingly sighs, tucking his phone away as he rests his head on your shoulder for a moment, not wanting to leave in spite of having to. “I have to go to a meeting about the album.”

As expected. 

Namjoon, ever an artist of his craft, still keeps most of his masterpieces under his sleeve until he’s satisfied with them, the two of you having made a tradition out of spending a night together at home to react to his work in full. (Mostly, the time is spent with you gushing and squealing over his songs while he sits beside you in a mess of bashful dimpled smiles and shy deep giggles.)

You press your lips where you could—the crook of his neck left a bit open by his loose-fitting sweatshirt. “It’s okay, Joonie,” you sweetly assure him, in spite of your crestfallen heart already sick with needy longing. “I’ll just hang around here, until you’re done.”

You two exit his studio, Namjoon taking his time walking on his way to the meeting when Jimin and Taehyung come to the hallway. Their eyes light up at the sight of you, wide grins as they skip towards you both.

“Noona! Hyung!”

Namjoon feels a bit better with leaving you, really, knowing well that the boys are great company until he’s done with his meeting. "I'll be back, baby," he smiles, lips pressing a tender kiss on your forehead before the two boys link either of your arms with theirs.  

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Jimin huffs, light-heartedly rolling his eyes as he tugs you over to them. “We’ll be at the practice room when you need us!”

The two of them don’t wait for Namjoon’s response, pulling you along with them towards their practice room, where the faint thrum of music already reaches your ears. “Noona, I forget your name at this point, really,” Jimin is quick to tease, jokingly sighing and shaking his head. 

“How could you?” you dramatically gasp with a smack to his back, the young man only laughing in response.

Taehyung clearly agrees, poking at your side to join Jimin’s little teasing game. “He’s right though. Namjoon-hyung only ever calls you baby,” he muses, the two of them grinning like they heard the juiciest gossip in the building. “Heck, I have no doubt the baby will think that, too!”

In spite of the blush that sets your cheeks on fire, you merely scoff. "Don't be ridiculous," you say as you shush Taehyung, “and keep your voice down, will you?”

Though you and your husband certainly have your fun, Namjoon assured you he was in no rush to have children. His baby fever has waned in the recent years, but you hardly had any doubts your husband wouldn't step up to the responsibility of being a father, especially to you, whom he swore his forever to. 

The universe, knowing this well, saw it fit to give you its blessing to parenthood. Jimin and Taehyung were the first to know, having seen your pregnancy test results by accident before swearing to keep the news in secrecy and helping you plan the reveal.

Jimin gasps quietly as he realizes it. “Right,” he whispers, leaning in to scold Taehyung in a meager, secretive hiss. “We haven’t made plans for the reveal yet, remember?”

The man in question, too, gasps and covers his mouth, the three of you looking like idiots bunched in a circle together outside the practice rooms. “Oh, shit,” he curses under his breath, “sorry. I’m just excited to be an uncle.”

“Why would you be an uncle?”

It must’ve been ridiculous how your souls left your bodies for a moment, the three of you whipping your heads toward the familiar voice who caught wind of Taehyung’s excitement. Your husband stands, not far from you all, an eyebrow raised in confusion.  “Nothing, hyung,” Jimin—bless him—quickly pipes, covering the fact that their leader and his baby are going to have an actual baby. “What brings you here so soon?”

In Namjoon’s hands were your phone and a hard drive, which he must’ve retrieved from his studio for the meeting. He shows your phone to you, the screen displaying a notification from a missed call. “You left your phone on the table and it was ringing,” your husband says, “It’s from a Doctor Young? Are you still sick, baby?”

You thank the stars your husband doesn’t seem to realize what the call means. He must’ve not been able to answer it in time to know about the ultrasound sonogram you asked for your doctor to print out. “I’m fine,” you assure him as you take your phone, giving his cheek a kiss to further ease him. “I just went to Doctor Young for a check up last week, remember?”

Worry swims in his eyes as he looks at you, some doubt still lingering. If your doctor had to call you back, then there must be something wr—

A squeeze to his hand knocks him out of his stupor. “Trust me, Joon,” you smile up at him, before nodding to the hard drive disk that remained in his hold. “Besides, don’t you have a meeting to go to?”

Reminded of his agenda, Namjoon’s eyes go wide. “Oh shit, you’re right,” he gasps, looking at his own phone for the time. With a fleeting kiss stolen from your lips, your husband sprints off to another direction. “I’ll fetch you as soon as I’m done!”

God, you love that man.

[parismemes]

SENTENCE STARTERS FROM AN ARGUMENT THAT GOT OUT OF HAND: THE SEQUEL

"are there more eyes or legs? in the world."

"i feel it in my bones."

"think about all the beetles and the ants."

"but think about all the fish."

"there are way more bugs than fish. every bug has like 6 legs. but every fish has like 2 eyes."

"how do you know how many fish there are?"

"um i speak to the fish personally they told me."

"i'm just saying i've seen like a million spiders in my house but i've never seen a fish."

"ok well potatoes also have eyes and there are way more potatoes and fish combined than bugs."

"have you SEEN ants? they're everywhere."

"one quadrillion ants."

"SPIDERS HAVE A PROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF EYES AND LEGS."

"110 TRILLION MOSQUITOS."

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH A QUADRILLION IS?"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY POTATOES ARE IN A MILLION METRIC TONS?"

"the bugs will kill your potatoes and then what will you have?"

"consider: every person with glasses has four eyes."

"we're not accepting metaphorical eyes."

"THERE'S SO MANY BUGS YOU CANT EVEN SEE."

"legs are amputated more often than eyes."

"it's called being creative."

"if something is called a leg or an eye it counts."

"source: IT'S A QUADRILLION ANTS."

"there's not 2 quadrillion fanart. that's literally physically not possible."

"oh it must've flew by me because we are going so fast."

"NEEDLES HAVE EYES."

"millipedes. there are so fucking many of them, dude. they have so many legs."

"i'm not talking about needles, ___. i'm talking about real things."

"YEAH MILLIPEDE GANG!"

"needles are real, you fucking pickle."

"NEEDLES ARE FAKE NOW?"

"they are only figments of our imagination. collective mass hysteria."

"i've never seen a needle in my life."

"millipedes are fake."

"look at these religious texts. they prove the millipede."

"THIS is subliminal messaging actually. this beamed the idea of millipedes existing into your brains."

"what does that have to do with religion?"

"bugs reign supreme."

"bugs aren't real."

"YOU BE NICE. THEY'RE LITTLE. THEY'RE TOO SMALL TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST YOUR HATE SPEECH."

"bug bug bug. IT'S BEES BABY!"

"i'm full of bugs so i count."

"HE'S NOT MULTIPLE PEOPLE."

"that's like saying every time i move my leg it's a new leg."

"you sound like a dumb ass."

"eyes are more common because full bodies are a pain in the ass."

"it's not a good measurement because literally anyone can unbalance it."

"you're just mad because millipede supremacy."

"sometimes things don't work perfectly, ___!"

"ANTS ARE TEMPORARY."

"what the fuck is a millipede."

"ants reproduce so fast. they multiply. like rabbits which ALSO HAVE MORE LEGS."

"THEY'RE STILL TEMPORARY. EVERYTHING IS."

"ants live for ever."

"newton's law says that we do know that."

"newton can't tell me what to do. fuck the law."

"oh yeah the one hurricane happening at any given time ever?"

"i feel like you guys don't know how big a quadrillion is."

"THEY CAN'T DEFEND THEMSELVES SHUT THE FUCK UP."

"I CAN'T GO TO COURT FOR AN ANT I DON'T KNOW THE ANT LAW."

"you know what? i'm starting to think YOU aren't real. what living person would be so cruel to little guys like them? no one real that's who."

"that's not even mentioning the beetle and mosquito and scorpion and crab and starfish AND CHAIR AND TABLE."

"no they don't bitch ass."

"stop this anti-ant propaganda."

"i know more about ants than you do genius."

"says the person who thinks OHIO is a place."

"capitalism propaganda is notoriously pretending the midwest does not exist."

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW MY BUGS?"

"if ants were real, they would have five eyes."

"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF CAPITALISM?"

"that's not true 5 is a stupid number for eyes."

"ohio is fake."

"baby. baby boy."

"the midwest IS capitalist propaganda it exists only to produce corn and middle-american families with traditional values, everything else is an outlier."

"he's got little boots!"

"you say that like the people in the midwest were not exploited by the capitalist society of america and by the time certain parts of the midwest became of little use to the capitalist machine, the system ultimately failed them and broke them down. the midwest, especially the rust belt, was a precursor and a warning of capitalist failure."

"LOBSTERS!"

"ANOTHER WIN FOR THE PRAWNY BOYS!"

"iguanas have three eyes."

"it doesn't count for eyes unless more eyes than legs."

"potatoes have zero legs and can have up to ten eyes."

"two is less than a quadrillion."

"okay but tiamat only has four legs and she has ten eyes."

"i was gonna say something really bad. it was about the h... never mind."

"that's what the government wants you to think."

"are YOU a capitalist too?"

"worms on strings have two eyes and no legs."

"THERE ARE JARS AND JARS OF FREE FLOATING GOOGLY EYES IN THE WORLD."

"they probably cost a lot of money."

"i straight up thought you were saying there were jars and jars of actual real eyes and i was gonna ask you how you'd even know that."

"well, when they prepare your body to be buried, they take an ice cream scoop and scoop out your eyes."

"YOU'RE HURTING OUR ARGUMENT. YOU JUDAS."

"i'm going to eat your eyes and then there's gonna be two less eyes in the world."

"oh yeah, the QUADRILLION snakes?"

"beholders literally are not real."

"habushu has a snake in every jar."

"i was just too busy trying not to say human centipede."

"i have so many grass hopping outside."

"cicadas... the sweet song."

"why is your grass hopping?"

"i also have so many house centipedes just living here in my basement with me."

"you said they weren't real."

"you take things i say seriously and that is your issue not mine."

"i have autism."

"we ALL have autism."

"i'm sorry you took my word as god on the realness of a common household item."

"my mental fortitude is unmatched i am a FORTRESS."

"my fortress is only legs. wake up."

"WHAT ABOUT THE BABA YAGA?"

"i made a diagram of the house."

"there are literally two eyes in that picture."

"OH SO WINDOWS ARE EYES NOW BUT THEY CAN'T BE DOORS?"

"ok but are there more windows or doors in baba yaga's hut?"

"I GUESS THE DEFINITION OF A WINDOW IS ONLY FLUID WHEN IT SUITS YOUR ARGUMENT."

"windows are NOT EYES. but they are doors."

"I ASSUMED IT WAS A RABBIT. SO FUCK YOU."

"how can we trust your judgment now?"

"damn even triangles got legs."

"my refrigerator also has legs cuz it's running. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"i gotta go catch my fridge."

"or will your fridge catch you...?"

"no, he's scared of me."

"the most dangerous game."

"i would be scared of you, too, if you opened me up and looked at my insides when you were hungry."

"i can't count all the glasses in the world and history of it."

"do not eat the bees. we need them. they're disappearing at an alarming rate."

"lots of bees. lots of legs."

"ok. don't see how that's more than a quadrillion."

"i literally gave you needles"

"insects don't fucking EXIST."

"in my heart they exist, and i think that absolutely counts."

"i'm sorry you can't afford better glasses but when you get the right prescription everything becomes clearer and you can see the little guys."

"THERE'S LIKE FOUR PEACOCKS. ever."

"name one peacock--- oh shit kung fu panda. name two peacocks!"

"name one of them and DON'T SAY THE ONE FROM KUNG FU PANDA."

"unfortunately, i did know someone in our town who had a pet peacock."

"check facted."

"ok that's not a quadrillion."

"i don't think that's a real number."

"how can anyone possibly count that high?"

"BACTERIA DO IN FACT WALK!"

"see you in a few years."

"the eyes decompose so nobody wins."

"eye socket isn't part of the eyes."

"leg bones are part of the leg."

"leg bones aren't called leg, they have other names."

"leg is connected to the. leg bone."

"put me into orbit."

"bones in the legs are more often referred to by name, such as tibia."

"some of us are stupid."

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. haha microwave."

"so you can count the bones but only if it's a full skeletal structure of a full leg."

"snotelek wins again."

"WAIT THERE'S SO MANY DEAD BODIES MISSING THEIR EYES IN THE GROUND."

"THE SKELETON ARMY COMES THROUGH FOR LEG GANG!"

"oh my fucking god the queen died."

[landinrris]

This is gonna get super long so sorry in advance but I wanted to put it out there that I would pay real good money to know what Lando and Martin's friends think of the whole thing.

Like on Lando's side you have his lifelong friends who are his safety bubble who he spends all his time with, he always tends toward his close known circle rather than throwing himself into a ton of new friendships (Carlos being an exception but the teammate bond plus the covid bubble was a big accelerator there and of the group only Sasha really seemed to embrace that friendship, the others even mock it at times). And since he's been in F1, they've watched Lando gradually start to be more outgoing and lose some of his shyness but its first half of 2022 and he still clings to their bubble, even now he has a serious gf. Also he lets them tag along on nights out with people like Max Verstappen so they're all happy with that. Then come Summer 2022 there they all are on their traditional yacht vacation this time in Ibiza, and Lando takes them to meet a famous DJ that Danny Ric has helped Lando to get them backstage at his gig. They know Lando's getting into DJ'ing so they likely don't think much of it beyond cool, we get to meet Martin Garrix.

And then pretty much from that moment on they would have watched Lando throw himself headfirst into a new friendship with this DJ, going to stay in his hometown after just a few weeks, they see this dude buy Lando a DJ'ing set up even tho he barely knows him, then Lando checks out early from their annual winter Dubai trip to go on vacation with the DJ taking only Martin K with him, he starts hanging backstage at this DJs shows and before his buddies know it they find they've been more or less ditched during any F1 breaks except for the odd bone of a week of attention here and there thrown their way. I remember Fewtrell in early summer 23 on a stream bemoaning with Connor about how their yacht trips no longer happened and Fewtrell was like it will again, I've had words, and I've never heard anything that made me think "ha you'll be lucky" quite so fast. I also remember Fewtrell trying to bring Martin up on stream once when Lando was staying at his, must have been like Feb/March time, Lando mentioned learning to produce and Fewtrell made a comment like 'oh is Garrix teaching you' a little sarcastically and Lando just went 'yes' and shut the conversation down in an instant, like he was saying no, you don't get to go there and Fewtrell's face was a picture, he looked like a kicked puppy for a second before remembering there was a camera on him. They also see Lando getting adopted by Martin's close circle of friends and him adopting them in return. And then having been ditched most of the year, Lando's group find an about turn this winter when Martin actually goes on vacation with them for once and they're permitted to get to know him, before they then watch Lando head off to be glued to Martin's hip for more or less the entire rest of the winter break.

And then on Martin's side you have his lifelong friends who yes have become friendly with some other people around him who Martin's good friends with, they know Danny Ric from when Danny goes to Ibiza and they've gotten to know Max over the years, but here Martin is in late 2022 suddenly parachuting this young F1 driver he's only known a handful of weeks right into their Amsterdam world, not even Ibiza but their hometown. They got to know him in that time I guess, and then just as suddenly Martin is going on vacation with this dude, making an effort to fit spending time with him into his hyper-busy schedule. Lando even makes another visit to their hometown mid-summer. And then come end of Summer 2023 they are all on vacation together in Ibiza, Lando is staying with them in a villa there and they have adopted him to the point he's part of their core group celebrating their birthdays. (As an aside, I can't help but think they must have spent much more time with Lando than we know prior to Ibiza 2023 for him to be staying in a villa with them and them calling him family at that stage and for Lando to look so comfortable and at home around them. There has to have been time they have spent with Lando when he has been with Martin that we have no idea about for them to consider him part of their group that way).

Then this winter they've not only watched Martin be essentially glued to Lando's side for a vast majority of his free time and going on vacation with Lando's close circle but have also been witness to their entire carryon, things like the matching clothing, the vacation couple postcard pics etc all of which seems quite out of character even for someone as affectionate as Martin is. Like I've only followed Martin since he became friendly with Lando but I don't see him doing this kinda thing with anyone else. Thinking about it, his friends have likely been witness to their carryon for a while if those loud shirt & shorts combos from Ibiza were anything to go by.

I'll end this now as it's got out of hand (Sorry!) but I really truly would love to know what both sets of friends thoughts are on it all. Like I wonder if they all just realized gradually over time the way things were going or if they've actually had moments of sitting back and going wtf??!!

While I love the idea of an outsider's pov on the insanity of the trajectory of Lando and Martin's relationship, I hesitate to make it sound like Lando's older friends are leaches or that he's abandoned them, and that's something they feel spite for.

Lando did spend time with Max F during the first bit of Summer this year, and I believe Tom was in Ibiza at one point. He's had dinner with Max and Pietra and Pietra's family a few times. We've also seen them together (Tom specifically) in Monaco a few times during non-race weeks with a few of Lando's newer friends. As practically lifelong friends who find themselves on different career and relationship paths, it probably takes a bit of adjusting to changes in plans (e.g., Lando and co not going on the yacht this year).

Meeting someone new and involving yourself with their friends to the point where they become your own doesn't necessarily mean you drop your childhood ones. Sometimes friend groups don't mix and you do different things with each one.

I'm sure both parties though recognize how important each of them are to each other, especially when Lando is so firm with his boundaries and not wanting to talk Martin up. Martin bringing Lando into his group and introducing him to everyone in itself seems to be a very pointed and powerful stance on what he thinks in the first place. It is indeed a little crazy to think about when you stop moving for a minute and let your brain run.

[baroquespiral]

hello. i saw a video featuring aella then saw your twitter through it. i immediately stopped watching the video as i do not agree with many of their takes, but i would like to understand them without watching a video about kinks through the lens of the political compass. could you possibly explain what gender maximalizing is, what a gynocratic traditionalist is, and what the sphere you operate in is called? Thank you. (there was an article when i looked it up but im not going on medium)

wait what video with Aella am I in lol. anyway most of the things in my Twitter bio are at least partly a bit, do not represent any kind of relevant external movement or phenomenon, and you are not going to find explained anywhere else anyway so. "gender optimizationist" is a kind of contrarian response to the formerly popular position of "gender nihilism", a framework that tried to decentre the discourse of innate identity in justifying/accounting for gender fluidity, transition etc. by basically adopting the maximally deflationist position that gender is entirely an ideological construct covering material oppressive systems but letting people identify & do whatever they want with it is truer to the premise of its abolition than restricting specific behaviours and identities as actually existing "gender". I actually do find this useful to bring up when TERFs claim stuff like "trans people believe in innate gendered souls or what role you fit determines your gender" etc. but still think it concedes too much so my own position of "gender optimization" is like, gender is real at least insofar as something we consciously construct, people's identities aren't less objective than their historical origins and we can and should continue the project of shaping and rebuilding it until we make it something that can accommodate the maximum of everyone possible (and leave exits for people who don't want it)

"gynocratic traditionalism" is not entirely compatible with this and while I didn't take either completely seriously I used to struggle with this more before I got into Thelema and clarified my spirituality & ontology in a lot of ways. for completely personal poetic/psychosexual reasons I was simultaneously inclined to read gender as actually real in a metaphysical/spiritual sense, albeit one that doesn't map to biology or patriarchal gender roles and mostly derives from reading The White Goddess by Robert Graves way too young. almost nobody remembers it now but that book was part of the broader "matriarchal antiquity" trend, a huge influence on Wicca and the New Ageier side of second wave feminism, and argues that the original religious/magickal tradition was the essentially henotheistic worship of a Great Goddess of life, death and nature, who was self-sufficient but produced for her own pleasure a secondary male god who dies and resurrects with the agricultural cycle. human gender is then a reflection of this higher metaphysical order, with woman as the superior term in the hierarchy, and the "warrior" dimensions of masculinity being descended from a form of sacrificial kingship ritually representing the life-death cycle of the Goddess' lover. I'd basically argue the "gender optimizationist" position relative to left queer theory but this relative to right-wing mythopoeic traditionalist accounts of gender, which as an intensely capital-R Romantic personality I did at least get the appeal of and offered it as a "feminist" alternative to. people like RFH have kinda picked up the baton of that now although I have some obvious issues with her framings. I used "gynocratic" instead of matriarchal bc one of the interesting things about Graves' version of this hypothesis is it doesn't actually focus on motherhood and reproduction as much as the wombyn TERF stuff; for instance instead of the more famous Wiccan "maiden/mother/crone" formulation for the Goddess' three aspects he uses "maiden/nymph/crone", implying that the default adulthood stage wasn't necessarily settling down and popping out babies but a freewheeling sexuality where reproduction was an individual choice supported by the community, controlled by abortifacents etc. should probably clarify that, after quite a bit of going back and forth on it and my Twitter presence was designed to be plausibly deniable in either direction, I am pretty much a low-Kinsey bisexual cis guy who socialized into predominantly queer, especially trans spaces mostly just due to neurodivergence and general nonconformity. a lot of my weird gender politics is subtly in dialogue with MonetizeYourCat-era Tumblr stuff (imo the more honest version of today's mainstream heteropessimism) about whether it's even possible or ethical to exist as that you didn't mention them but just to have on record re: the other stuff in the bio, "presuppositional leftist" applies the idea of presuppositional apologetics to my left commitments in the sense that they're not premised on any descriptive claim about reality but rather presuppositions of why politics would even matter to me in the first place, and "Canadian materialist" is a joke on Canadian idealism. my Substack bio is more up to date with where I'm at now but I like keeping the Twitter one around bc every now and then someone has a really funny reaction to it I don't really have a "sphere I operate in" so much as I float around the edges of different subcultures, study them and make friends with people I find interesting. currently I feel like I'm kind of in tpot, kind of in the "irony left" and kind of in parapolitics/esoteric "schizoposting". and also trying to carve out a niche in the online subcultural arts scene: my major passion project rn is my indie press and in particular our serial fiction journal (new issue coming out this month!) featuring two of my novels

[fantisyoflove]

So You Wanna Play With Magic - Part 19

WC: 3,146

You had planned to head back to work after seeing Draco and Harry and Draco insisted he come with. You were mildly amused because the feelings washing over your mind from him were very much ‘protect’ and ‘fear’ mixed together.

You all sat around the breakfast table for a quick bite before heading out. You watched, bemused, as Harry and Draco split up the Daily Prophet between themselves. Harry took the sports section and Draco took the front page and gossip column. 

You notice a photo from your engagement party at the top of the social section. 

‘First Pureblood Pregnant Bride?’ 

“Do I even want to know?” You ask with a raised eyebrow.

Draco scoffs flipping the paper around to see what you were looking at, “Apparently Skeeter has abandoned the ‘marrying for money’ angle seeing as how you are still working.” Draco says bitterly. “We now are getting married because I need a legit heir and you are pregnant already.”

“Congratulations, by the way, for your little bundle of joy!” Harry says, smiling at you around a bite of food and lifting his mug in cheers. You tap yours against his with a wide grin.

“Also, the first pureblood pregnant bride? She must not know a lot of purebloods.” You snort, plenty of marriages have produced out of wedlock heirs. People tend not to look too closely at dates. The only pureblood child you know of that wasn’t born 9 months or less after their parents' marriage is Draco. You knew from Severus that Narcissa struggled with pregnancy, all Black women did. The Blacks were one of the few pureblood families who held a curse on their lineage. You felt awful for thinking it but years of inbreeding didn't help matters either.

“Yes, well when there isn’t a baby come this September readers will be very disappointed.” Draco said dryly.

“Will there ever be a baby?” 

You choke on your next sip of tea at Harry’s inquiry. “I.. well… I didn't don't I don't think we've discussed it.” You sputter. Both of them are looking at you with mirroring looks of curiosity. Harry’s face is open and patient while Draco is more subtle and pretends to not look at you while he waits for your answer.

“Oh will you look at the time! I better get going.” You announce and shove back your chair from the table. 

Draco sighs and follows you out his hand catching yours just as you open the front door.

“I am still coming with you.” He looks like he is ready to argue with you if you deny him. You just nod and disapparate with him.

[]

You decide then that the conversation from breakfast didn't happen. You don't have time to think about children and honestly you have never thought it would happen to begin with.

A camera and a reporter were waiting outside the ministry and started taking pictures of you and Draco as soon as you walked near enough.

“Miss y/l/n any comment on what you'll name the new Malfoy heir? Gunna stick with the stars? Something like Equuleus or Scorpius?” The photographer waggled their eyebrows and then ducked behind the camera to keep taking photos. 

You stuck your hand out in front of your face and kept walking without comment. The reporter tried grabbing onto your arm but you dodged him just barely. 

It didn't stop the reporter from trying to cut Draco off then, getting in his face, “Mr. Malfoy, any comment on the sudden pregnancy? Isn't it tradition to wait until the wedding night? Or atleast to have a child by the person you are going to marry?” 

You are just about to open the door when the reporter asks this and you turn in time to see Draco shove him back out of his face.

He looks like he wants to punch the pushy reporter but with the camera snapping pictures left and right and from all angles he refrains. Pulling himself up to his full height, Draco straightens his cloak and then straightens the reporter's ruffled jacket.  

“Make sure you quote this accurately, yea? There is no pregnancy at this time. Don't touch me or my future wife again.” He pats the reporter on their shoulders with a little too much force and makes the man wince. 

“So you're not keeping the baby then?” The reporter calls right before the door shuts.

Draco’s jaw is clenched tight, he might even crack a tooth with how hard he is clamping down. You reach out and pet your hand along his face suggesting he turn to look at you instead of the reporter.

“Ignore him. Draco, look at me.” You say softly. Draco turns his head with your hand guiding him and then flicks his eyes to you. You reach up on your tippy toes to kiss him just on the corner of his mouth. “It doesn’t matter. They are going to report whatever nonsense they want. We know the truth. That's what matters. Come on let's get the paperwork filled out so we can keep in touch next time.”

Draco seems more put off about the suggestion of the paperwork but he takes your hand in his. Giving himself a small shake he forces a smile, “Lead the way.”

You decide to not comment on the thundering emotions rolling off of Draco, maybe the reporter shook him up more than you realized.

[]

You head to level one and ask for the communication forms and the emergency contacts. 

Bertha Jorkins, who is the nosiest person you have ever met, is a nightmare to work with. She likes to lean in and watch you write out every word. You try to angle your body just so Draco is in her way but she just bustles over to the other side of you and leans in.

“Ah, fiance now is he?” She says as you fill in the ‘relationship’ part of the documents. “Mr. Malfoy, pureblood right?” 

Draco gives a small grunt in response. 

“Oh how wonderful! And good on you if I don’t say so myself,” She elbows you and gives you a wink before lowering her voice just one notch so Draco can still hear her, “He’s good looking too!”

You force a smile and nod, humming in agreement. “And you’re half blood, right?” Bertha continues.

“Er, no, I’m pureblood too.” You say sticking the quill back in the ink well of Bertha’s desk. You pick up the parchment and blow on the ink softly to help it dry.

“Ah rotten luck,” Bertha says, clicking her tongue. She snatched the paper from your hands before rereading it. “Well at least this will be ready for you when you come back!” She scurries back behind her desk before sending all the papers off to be filed.

“What do you mean, come back?” You say cautiously. Draco is glaring between the two of you, also confused. 

“Oh well now you’ll be put on leave until after the baby is born.”

You have to close your eyes and take a deep breath before continuing. Your shoulders are tense as you lean in closer to Bertha. “Sorry, deary, I know what you’ve probably read but I am not pregnant.”

Bertha laughs and pats your arm gently, “Oh I know dear! I have a keen sense for when someone is pregnant! No dear, the ministry doesn't allow pureblood women to work during their engagement period until after their husbands first heir is born. They let you come back part time until the second is born though so that's nice. Such an old law, but alas they still enforce it!” Bertha is rattling on as chipper as ever as your whole world comes to a harsh stand still.

There is no way! You know ministry law inside and out. There is no way this is still a law. In this day and age?

“Right thanks Bertha, bye.” You snap and stomp off to the lifts.

Draco looks stunned and is feeling so relieved now. You shoot him a sharp look but he isn't looking at you. 

You make it to the main archives and the wizard who oversees the books brings over the employee handbook.

Damn her!

It's not Bertha’s fault but you still feel like it should be. At least then you’d be able to be angry at someone still alive! 

Draco is eagerly reading over your shoulder and he has a hard time schooling his face. He occludes his joy, clearly you aren't feeling the same way.

You stomp out of the archives and head to your main office. 

“This is utterly ridiculous!” You snarl under your breath. “I can not believe it! Purebloods! Always purebloods. Bloody can’t leave well enough alone!”

Draco watches you a bit amused. He thought he was going to have to pull some major strings to get you out of this job but clearly luck was on his side. He knew you would get over it soon, just give it some time.

You take a breath before knocking on Rakepick’s door.

“Enter.” She drones from the otherside.

“Ah, y/l/n, here to give your notice then?” She sounds snippy. 

“Actually I came to see if there was a way around this rule?” You lean over her desk, pressing your hands flat against the wood. 

Rakepick sighs and pulls off her glasses and rubs her eyes. “Y/l/n, you know as well as I that any rules have to be overseen by the committee and that rule, in particular, hasn’t been touched since it was first written in 1707!” She sounds strained. “Believe me if I could change their minds on my own I would! I have already sent in an appeal on your behalf but given that you already broke the rule they are not very giving. They are taking it as your lack of knowing instead of malicious defiance.” Rakepick slides over a bit of parchment that had in giant red letters ‘DENIED’ stamped across it. 

“My hands are tied.” She slotted her fingers together and rested her chin on top of them. “First Thomas and now you.”

“Dean put in his notice?” You thought it would take him a bit of time to fully commit.

“Yes, found it on my desk this morning.” She sighs and rubs her face. She catches sight of Draco in that moment and gives him a judgmental look. “Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco gives a small nod in return, you aren't sure you've ever told him her name. Not that it matters now.

“Well then.” Rakepick grunts and stands suddenly. “Lets go clear your desk off and I’ll walk you out.”

“Is that necessary?” Draco snaps, his tone is very on guard. He is feeling very attacked right now even though none of this is about him. You rest your hand on his arm.

“It’s fine, Draco, really.” You follow Rakepick out and to your office.

She leans in and takes your arm in hers, “If you dump him now you can be back at work by tomorrow.” She whispers at you. You can tell she is only half joking. You both turn to look at Draco walking behind you and try not to giggle too loud.

Draco gives you both a suspicious look and tries to walk closer to overhear what you are saying.

“I don’t know Patty, he is a really good kisser!” You whisper to her.

She chuckles and squeezes your arm again. “From what I hear it's not just his kissing that has you hooked!” She gives you a scandalized wink.

“I didn’t think you had time to read trash gossip articles.” You tease and lean in closer so Draco can’t hear you. The curiosity is slamming into your mind now, you even feel him reaching down the bond, like tapping you on the shoulder.

“That’s all I read these days. Anything that gives me a break from all the boring paperwork around here.” She snorts.

“Sorry to disappoint but none of it is true.” You sigh forlorn. You reach your office and wave your wand to open the door.

“So you aren't marrying him for his money while secretly having Potter’s love child?” 

Your cheeks are blazing right now so you busy yourself with gathering what few personal items you have and shrinking them into your pocket. A few moments and you have your face under control again.

“As amusing as all that would be. No, unfortunately I am independently wealthy and don't need his pocket change.” You say, this of course Draco hears. He scowls at you both which makes Rakepick laugh.

“Sorry, Patty, if anything juicy comes up I swear you’ll be the first to know!” You pull her into a hug. 

She squeezes you back, “Well just hurry up! The ministry doesn't care who the father is honestly just as long as Malfoy names them heir. Then you can come back and work with me! You do realize I will have to start interviewing people. And then hiring them! And oh sweet Rowena… Working with them.” She throws her arm over her eyes and groans.

“You are stronger than I am.” You pat her back affectionately.

[]

You are almost out of the building when a red paper airplane bumps you in the shoulder. You take it and unfold it quickly. 

‘2 weeks? No note?

-SS’ 

Fuck.

[]

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him!” You hiss as you hurry up the sidewalk.

Draco trails behind you, his cloak billowing in the breeze and brisk walk. “We only got your note the day before you came back! And how did you notify him before!?” Draco snips.

You freeze there for a moment, “I would owl him but clearly that wasn’t an option this time!” You narrow your eyes at Draco and continue on to Severus’ house. It wasn’t really Draco’s fault, you were just anxious about what Severus would say. You hated disappointing him. 

“Regardless, he is going to be upset.” You quip and raise your hand to knock. It's unnecessary because the door swings open as your hand swings to it. 

“Y/n.” Severus says in that tone that lets you know you are in fact in trouble. You haven’t heard that tone since Professor Sprout had to inform him that you were growing ‘medicinal herbs’ behind one of the greenhouses.

“Uncle.” You drawal back trying to mimic him. It usually made him not frown, which was basically a smile for Severus.

“Do come in. If you can remember where everything is.” Severus sighs and goes to the kitchen.

You roll your eyes dramatically behind his back and slump into the living room. Draco raises an eyebrow at you both but follows behind you shutting the door.

Severus brings in tea and hands you your cup directly and then motions for Draco to help himself. You tap the rim of your cup letting your wandless, wordless, magic sense anything amiss. Severus has never poisoned you or cursed you but he is disappointed if you don't at least check. 

You sit and wait, Severus always tries to wait you out. He thinks the silence will make you talk. It used to but nowadays you are able to sit just as long as he is. You once went four hours before he finally cracked and scolded you.

Your cup is almost half gone and Draco is nervously looking between you two. Every time it looks like he is going to speak Severus gives him a look and he snaps his mouth shut again. 

Finally Severus speaks, “Well?”

Draco stiffens, he really hopes Snape doesn't start yelling. He doesn't handle raised voices very well.

You look down into your cup before shifting your legs to get more comfortable. “I was trapped in a collapsed tunnel the whole time. I couldn’t send an owl.”

Severus stares you down. He is picking you apart piece by piece to determine if you are lying. He is sickeningly good at detecting lies. 

“Very well.” He says finally and sets his mug down and leans forward. “Now onto other business. When are you moving out?” Severus holds your gaze and you stare back. You set your cup down next to Severus’.

“Will you walk me down the aisle?” You counter and see him physically flinch back.

Something you learned from living with him so long is that Severus communicates a lot of what he is saying with his eyes. He thinks he is very guarded and closed off but that's only to people who don't know how to read him.

He wants to, he is overjoyed that you asked. But he is also terrified. During your time at Hogwarts Dumbledore made it clear that your relationship with Severus was a need to know basis and magically (literally) no students found out. Having Severus walk you down the aisle would make it known that Severus was something important to you. It wouldn't take long for people to connect the dots. 

“May 15th?”

“May 1st.” 

“Done.”

“Done.”

“Good!” You smile and pull him to his feet to hug him. He doesn't hug you back, of course, but you wait him out.

Rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath he finally hugs you back. “I don't know why you insist on doing this.” He mutters.

“Because you always let go last.” You say back. 

[]

You insist on walking for a little while after you leave Severus’.

Draco was the one who broke the comfortable silence, “What exactly just happened back there?” He was beyond confused and never saw two people communicate with such little being said. You were a very talkative person but once around Snape you suddenly spoke in short phrases. 

You chuckle to yourself, “Severus is going to walk me down the aisle and I will move out at the beginning of May. Officially.”

“Why haven’t you?” He tries to meet your eye but you look away.

“It seems silly now it's been so long but I latched on to Severus when my parents kicked me out. And then I almost lost him during the war. And I guess the thought that I wouldn't have a place to call home was too much to face.”

Draco was quiet for a long time. You reached a point where you could apparate without any muggles seeing you. Draco wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close against his chest.

“I’ve never had a place to call home before.” Draco whispers as he brushes your hair out of your eyes. “But here in your arms, this is home to me.” 

You breath catches and his hand cups the back of your head to tip your mouth up to his own. His lips linger on yours for a moment and he disapparates you both back to the flat.

[ossidae-passeridae]

Number 19 for the asking game, please!

Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Where there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Ooo this is a fun one!

I think my writing journey started with my father reading me a story. He did this from the day I was born, every night until I told him I was too old for that when I was about eight or nine. Sometimes it was books, other times it was semi-structured guided meditations for children designed to encourage imagination and storytelling. So my head has always been full of stories.

I wrote on and off during highschool, both on my own and collaboratively with friends. A lot of it was fuelled by wanting to be somewhere, anywhere else than where I was. Since I was stuck physically, the only way I could escape was in my mind. So that's what i did.

Then university happened, and sickness, and so on, and I was unable to write (fiction) for almost seven years.

It was my brother in law, of all people, who encouraged me to go back. He introduced me to a lecturer who he thought I'd get along with, who taught creative writing, and encouraged me to take a couple of their classes. I did so, and during that time rediscovered a joy in being able to play with words, in my little tinkerings being able to produce a response in the people who read them.

Where am I now? Well, further along than when I started in 2019, but not where I'd like to be. Writing is a learning process, and while I've learned a ton about pacing and dialogue over the last four years, I still have a long way to go. I'm good enough to get published traditionally, if I want it, but that's not something I'm pursuing until I feel more confident in myself.

At some stage, I'd like to take some more classes on the structure and form of novels in particular, because that feels like a blind spot of mine that's glaringly obvious. In particular, novels that don't follow a traditional format, and the manner of storytelling they leverage. Playing with form has always been a particular joy of mine, and I'd love to be able to do so in longform for once.

Oh and I'd like to make a children's book. That too.

[dojae-huh]

The creative producer confirmed that AI was used instead of a 3D model. He said he used "blend" of mediums. Which still makes me think a photo was placed a top of a 3D head/other person's head (or other way around) because of the difference in detail (hair). AI smoothes hair and make locks follow waves.

(A 3D model was made later. The statue also have the round nose. Oops.)

I don't think SM will stop using AI. They outsource production of MVs. AI is a new tool which is very close to the effects 3D modelling gives, which is attractive to videomakers (saves them time, lets them do it and have control over the desireable result instead of hiring others). With time they will learn how to do it in a way fans won't notice (basically, will do a less lousy job, retouch when needed).

As of now there are 300k views under the video. I'm afraid, it is not enough to push SM to choose "integrity" over "speed/lower costs of production".

Before AI, the practice of painting over photographs, editing photographs with filters to achieve traditional medium effect or a perfect skin, changing the shape of the body, glueing together several pictures (head from one, arms from another) for book covers and editorial pictures was widespread. With AI it is the computer programme that glues several sources (photo+photo or photo+3D model). In video-games actors' real faces are used for characters. That's why it is not an issue in the minds of people who work in the field. The old way or the new way the real people's images are altered.

Personally, I don't think Taeyong was disrespected (the intention wasn't there). I see no difference between a person's image used for a plastic standee/doll or a digital video (the same level of selling your own image, your face, Tae signed the contract). However, fans are the buyers of the final product so as consumers they can demand changes if they don't like something. I can't share the sentiment about AI in this case (as no artist was ripped of his/her drawing style), but I can agree that the likeness of the person rendered should be preserved better. Taeyong's nose is important, heh.

Would I prefer real photographs being used? Yes. It was possible to do away without AI in those shots. A dialogue about whether to use AI or not is possible with MV/album covers creators, the push against the practice. However, I think it will work only even if the opposition is done in a calm manner, from the artistic value point of view, whithout hysterics.