#PACING-WISE IT MAKES WAY MORE SENSE TO DO THAT IN ACT 2

[deathbydarkelves]

Damn okay so apparently you actually cannot romance Karlach if you don't make a move in Act 1. which i did not. guess I'll just twiddle my thumbs then because I am way too far in on both saves to start over -_-

[theriverbeyond]

arcane s2 act 2 THOUGHTS, overall I think this was a lot stronger than the first act --- at the end of the day arcane is a character and relationship (primarily sisterhood/brotherhood/parent-child/family) driven show above all else, with plot as a sort of loose secondary, so like, even though i DO have plot critiques they're feel a lot softer just because the arc was genuinely so enjoyable to watch on an emotional level. anyway #SPOILERS and critiques below. well more like one big excessively long critique but I spent ages typing it all up so here it is:

i think my big critique thus far is pacing and story planning. there is just... a lot going on, for a 9 episode show. like a LOT. like way too much. and I think this was obvious in the first arc, and better managed in this arc -- but that is largely because this arc wildly narrowed the focus. this arc totally left out Ekko and Hermidinger(i can never remember his name. the squirrel dude), the new enforcer squad were basically back to being background characters, and while Sevika, Jayce, Victor, Cait, Ambessa were all present/involved in plot, they all took a big backseat screentime-wise. This allowed the act to really focus in on Jinx & Vi, Jinx and Vi & Vander, and Jinx & Isha, which is of course where the arc really shines -- but it brings BIG concerns for act 3, where presumably we will be back to having a full plate of characters. So I expect the "too much going on" issue to be more obvious in act 3, which is disappointing because that's like, the finale.

following from the above, there's a lot of skipping around that feels very economical but also like.... WEIRD! like.... we are watching a highlight clipshow? or something? Salo gets told "hey check out this healer" -> next time we see him he is totally healed. WHAT? like sure i dont care about him as a character, but that just feels kinda.... like we are really squeezing in here huh!! and we go from seeing Victor heal one dude in act1 -> next time we see him he has set up a whole commune and is playing big jesus. WHAT???? we dont get to see anythijg in the middle?? what about Jinx and Isha reuniting after escaping Stillwater but before finding Vi??? etc etc etc? and sure those scenes would be not be necessary on a "the plot doesnt work without them" level, but these types of "TITLE CARD READS: 2 DAYS LATER, AFTER THE GANG SETTLES IN" situations are happening SO frequently in this season that it really seems like they have too much story to fit into the time they are given, and are now aggressively trimming anything they can so stuff will fit and still make sense.

Basically what I'm saying is the show feels like my twitter reads, where Im a verbose mf and have to aggressively abbreviate words and cut sentences and rambling when I tweet so it can fit the character limit. and sure I don't need all those extra characters and words to convey my full meaning but "economical with time" is not really the best compliment I could give a show. Like why do you have to be so economical. why are we pinching pennies seconds here instead of modifying the plot to improve the pacing.

shallow critique but the "Jinxers" all getting blue hair and pronouns and pink accents was weird. like..... Jinx has a lot of symbols, like the monkey or the shark or whatever, that they could have easily done something like that. and the blue hair is GOOFY!!! the only one who gets a pass is Isha, bc her hair clearly looks like a quick dye/paintjob, versus everyone else who looks like they went to a salon.

I think this is, again, an issue of screentime economics, but im honestly disappointed in the CaitVi reunion. it's not that I dislike the scenes themselves, but it all feels so... easy! fast! like their breakup felt so emotionally resonant and them making up felt so quick. I have my fingers crossed for Consequences (and fallout from both Vi's alcoholic era and Cait's rebound bedsharing) next act, especially based on the preview, but like.... we have so much other stuff to tie up I am just not sure there is enough time for them to really deliver the impact that the breakup promised.

I've been told that they always planned for 2 seasons and had everything plotted out beforehand but the pacing is... really weird for something they had so meticulously planned for two seasons. It feels a LOT more like they wrote a story they wanted to tell, they were then given 18 episodes in which to tell it, and they decided they liked their original story so much that they didn't want to cut anything even though 18 episodes is a huge squeeze for this number of characters/this level of plot complexity.

And I think the quality difference is SO noticeable between the acts that are tight and focused (like this arc here, or the original season 1 act 1 -- both were tightly focused around Vander family dynamics, with some B and C plots. Compare that to act 1 of s2, which feels like trying to the contents of an entire pringles can into my mouth at once)

Related to that, I keep getting the sense that the writers want Specific Events to happen -- they want Jinx to care for someone that represents Powder, in order to coax out that part of her again. They want Cait and Vi to pull a doublecross deception on Ambessa. They want Victor to lead a jesus cult. etc. And then they draw a line from A to B in the most efficient way possible instead of doing things in a way that feels natural or actually rewarding. And then of course the specific Thing they wanted to happen does happen, and they do it really well. And it going really well retroactively justifies the hamfistedness of the setup, but also, should it? I talked about this issue for s2act1 last time but it remains, so.

Anyway that ways just way too many words to essentially talk about one issue. But that one issue (pacing/story planning) just... seeps into EVERYTHING, and I spent a long time typing all that out, so.

This is a bit of a complimentary critique, but I think the wild pacing means that there is a LOT of feeling jerked around emotionally, and I think the show is doing a pretty good job at making that feel exciting instead of confusing, so props for that

Ok now for stuff I liked, because despite my Hater Energy I loved this arc. that is why I have critiques. Because I love it and wish it was better.

like I said, Isha's introduction felt really hamfisted but I can't deny her story crushed my SOUL this arc. I loved that she was nonverbal, I loved her growing relationship with Jinx and it all definitely got enough screen time for Jinx's character development to feel natural/real/earned. I loved that. I cried. oh my fucking god. I love the thematic parallels of it all and I love how it puts Jinx into the role of a parent -- this WHOLE show is about family. sisters and brothers and parents and their kids. this is what it is ABOUT this is why i love this SHOW aughgaaiudsadsafdkha

Jinx's whole character development and everything is so. I don't have brain to write more about it tn but im like. yeah. i love it a lot. she allows herself to try to be the big fat hero...

I love women. This was such a good arc for beautiful handsome women.

I was suuuuper skeptical of Warwick -- I knew from fan speculation the likely connection between him and Vander, and also that he was a big fuckoff werewolf, and I was worried it would all be too goofy but really loved this. Jinx's look of utter terror when she didn't know if she'd killed her father/sister again, the hug, Vander's head touch with Vi, his love for his children bringing him back from thoughtless rage... i loved it. i can't even think about that last scene oh my GOD

I did just complain about the CaitVi reunion but as a homosexual I loved it a lot. Like. It was hot. There was spit and handcuffs and wrassling in the dirt. the almost-kiss when Cait pulled the bag over her head was more intimate than a kiss. there was name calling.

I love Cait having a rebound gf/fuckbuddy. It is SO funny to me, it's an excellent characterization moment for Cait, it's great tension that will HOPEFULLY have payoff in act 3, it's incredible fodder for angsty erotic fanfiction that I hope will soon grace a browser near me. and i hope it influences the CaitVi NETFLIX SEX WARNING scene that will soon grace a TV near me. I hope it is so long it compels me to write 1k words complaining that it was an irresponsible use of screen time

Jinx and Vi teaming up is another thing that felt too fast for me but like, was retroactively justified by how good it was. LIKE!!! Vi protecting Jinx. Parallels to childhood. Their sibling fight. How Vi reached out to her and welcomed her into the family hug. I'm emotional

We finally got to see BLOOD like I'm not a gore person, honestly, but act1 was pretty bloodless even during violent scenes, and I was a little worried that it would just be like that. but NO!!! Warwick's massacre was soooo good and got that blood spraying

I really like how Silco continues to haunt Jinx, and I love the way the show is exploring her grief and like... that she doesnt know who she is anymore. ough.

LOVE Sevika and Jinx's heist/disguise scene, especially all the animation/art details. Like the way Jinx's disguise is so poorly fitted, it's so good. I rewatched that scene specifically like, 4 times

Pitfighter Vi 🧎

as always super interested to hear other people's thoughts, critiques, critiques of my critiques, if im missing something big, etc etc.

[the-secret-keeper]

Part 2 to the Obey me X Twisted Wonderland / Barbatos X Reader

This was requested by @babyxwolfiex glad you liked the original!

TW: Talk of malnutrition, talk of extortion, though not described in detail the readers leg is messed up in the beginning, and angry demons attempting to maul a crow.

Enjoy!

"Very wisely put." Diavolo complimented, as Mammon moved to help me stand, while Barbatos bent down to properly heal my leg.

"You'll show us, darling?"

"Of course." I nodded to Barbatos. "Plus," I glanced at Satan, "I think he'll be the most interesting to watch react. I can guess how the rest of you will react." Satan raised an eyebrow to me, but said nothing, as they all stood to follow me.

"If you would like a tour of the school, I would be more than happy to-" Belphegor glared at him, causing Crowley to shut up.

"You are all more than welcome to come along as well." I extended an offer to the other Dorm Leaders as I walked towards the door. "But, when we get there, you may want to remain a few paces back." I paused, looking around the room. "You are all, unbelievable." I sighed.

"What?" Leona asked in an annoyed voice.

"For someone with such a presence, you all seem to forget him easily." I shook my head. "We will pick up Malleus before we head to my dorm."

"What?"

"For the heir to the throne of a kingdom, you sure do seem unconcerned that you completely forgot about him, Dire Crowley." I scolded him, causing him to sheepishly back off. "Besides, I want him and Dia to meet. I think they'd be good friends." I brushed off everyone looking at me, before taking the hand of my boyfriend and leading all the demons, dorm leaders, and the headmaster out of the conference room and to the mirror room.

Once we retrieved Tsunotarou, we made our way to the Ramshackle mirror, but I stopped everyone short.

"Look, I need to set some ground rules, because knowing my friends, they're still there." I sighed, glancing at the ground. I looked back up. "They have permission to be there, no you may not act as though they do not own the place, they practically live there with me when I'm not at their dorms. Grim, will be Grim, just appease him, it makes things easier. No he is not named after the money." I pointed at Mammon who had raised his hand. He put it down. "No fire magic, critique the house and you will be given to one of the dorm leaders and they will decide what to do with you. Despite everything, he does have his name on everything, so no you may not kill Crowley." I stated before muttering, "at least not before I can put everything in Crewel or Trein's name."

"Can I violently maim him?" Satan asked, sensing where this was going. I narrowed my eyes for a moment.

"I'll think about it. Oh, and Satan." He nodded. "Don't, run anyone over. Yes, you may take pictures, no, you may not keep him unless Lucifer says yes, anything else you may want to do with him you will need to ask him. Yes he can talk, he can also fly and use fire magic."

"What?" Asmo asked.

"Trust me, it's necessary." I promised before taking a deep breath, and walking through the mirror. "Welcome to Ramshackle dorm." I said, gesturing to my dorm. There was no noise, so I turned, only to see them all in varying forms of shock.

Asmodeus, he seemed to be gripping Satan's arm with all his strength, or at least a lot of it. I couldn't figure out whether or not it was because of the looks, or the condition.

Satan wasn't faring much better, but he was more angry than shocked, fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white and I was worried he'd begin drawing blood soon. His pupils were so dilated, I wondered how he could see.

Mammon was seemingly experiencing a mix of emotions. His eyes read as sad and worried, but his body language read as anger. Either way, he had grabbed my hand and wasn't letting go, though he wasn't hurting me.

Lucifer, once out of his trance, immediately began tearing Crowley a new one. Despite his anger, he was being at least somewhat diplomatic about it. Ranting off about health and safety codes, about endangering lives, and about how irresponsible he was being.

Leviathan passed out. Legitimately. Though I shouldn't be too surprised, I guess, since he's so similar to Idia and that's how he reacted the first time he saw my dorm. He probably put together very quickly that, when I have WiFi, it's shitty and isn't very often.

Beel, looked like he wanted to cry out of worry, but he was doing something much more important. Holding back Belphie, who had immediately lunged for Crowley upon seeing my living conditions. Beel has quick reflexes, and is very good at knowing what his twin is about to do, so it makes sense.

Barbatos, is hard to read as always, but judging by the fact that he's clenching his fists and glaring daggers at Crowley, he's furious. He's likely only holding back because Diavolo hasn't let him go loose yet. I squeezed his hand reassuringly, to which he latched onto my shoulders, quietly apologizing for not coming sooner.

Speaking of Diavolo, he was much closer to Beel in reaction, but was handling it more like Lucifer. He wasn't yelling, in fact he was trying to calm Lucifer down, but he was still berating Crowley for how he's been treating me.

"There you are!" I looked at my door.

"Boys!" I smiled. "Guys, these are my friends here. Meet Ace and Deuce, they live in Riddles dorm known as Heartslabyul. Jack is in Leona's dorm, Savanaclaw. Epel is in Pomefiore, which is run by Vil. And Sebek,"

"Is in the same dorm as my Young Master, Diasomnia!"

"I was getting there, Sebek." I sighed. "Boy, these are my friends and boyfriend from where I used to live. Barbatos, Diavolo, Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub and Belphegor." I finished introductions.

"Don't forget the Great Grim!"

"I could never, I was just saving the best for last." I assured Grim as he flew to in front of me. Satan, upon seeing Grim, calmed down immensely, and almost grabbed him out of the air. I figured that would happen. "Isn't that right, Satan? Only the best for the Great Grim." He nodded enthusiastically, causing Grim to laugh in a high and mighty tone and fly over to him.

"Good job." Barbatos whispered.

"I knew that would happen, it's why I gave him those extra rules." I whispered back.

"It's like there's 9 more Malleus'." Ace whispered fearfully.

"You are an idiot, Trappola." I scolded. "All of my friends, Tsunotarou included, are amazing. I mean, these nine are probably even more than what you're used to handling."

"They can't be more scary than Overblots." Epel agreed with me.

"Well," I said in a high-pitched tone, remembering the time Lucifer tried to kill me, Satan tried to kill me, Leviathan hurt me, Asmo hurt me, and Belphie did kill me, "I wouldn't, say, that." I laughed awkwardly.

"What are Overblots?" I froze at Diavolo's stern tone. He doesn't usually take that tone with me. I slowly turned, seeing all the demons staring at me. "Mc, what are Overblots?"

"It's, not,"

"It's a monster that forms when a person overuses their magic, becomes overwhelmed by negative emotions, and loses control of their entire being." Riddle surmised. "The Dorm Leaders, aside from Kalim, but including his Vice Dorm Leader Jamil, have all Overblotted. Mc is the one who saved us." The air grew very tense.

"You really are a therapist, huh?" Mammon tried to joke.

"I suppose. If only I got paid like one. Then I wouldn't have to rely on Crowley for food. Though, admittedly, I do often attend dinners and parties at other dorms, so it's not as though I'm completely deprived of food."

"You haven't eaten in three days."

"True, but there weren't any Unbirthday Parties during that time, and I didn't want to intrude on anyones dinner, seeing as I wasn't invited. I spend all of the little money that I do earn fixing this place up and making sure Grim is taken care of." I explained. "He's a very pampered kitty."

I felt Mammon let go of my hand. Mammon picked up his younger brother, still passed out on the floor, and handed him to Asmo, who complained but complied. Now the only demon without something holding him back, he lunged for Crowley.

"Mammon sit!" I commanded, causing him to fall immediately to the ground. I managed to get out of Barbatos's grip and approached Mammon.

"C'mon!"

"Mammon. You and I both know you would've killed him."

"Only a little."

"For most people, death is irreversible, dummy." I flicked his forehead. "I'm fine, really. Besides, knowing you lot, I'll be out of here before morning."

"You're exactly right." Lucifer grabbed my arm.

"Off." I commanded, and he let go.

"You're going to come back with us."

"This will not be an argument." I blinked at Barbatos, before nodding.

"But I will be able to come back, right?"

"Of course!" Diavolo guaranteed. "Now that we know where you went and how to get here, you can come and go as you please."

"Thank you."

"Can we keep him?" I laughed at Satan's question.

"No."

"Can we keep him?" I asked Barbatos, who looked at Diavolo.

"I see no reason why we can't have a marvelous animal such as this at the palace."

"Palace?!" I flinched at the outburst of the dorm leaders and first years.

"Did Crowley not tell you?" I asked the dorm leaders, not surprised by the first years confusion.

"It seems to have slipped my mind."

"Lucifer, please slap him." He smirked, moving towards Crowley, who began running away. "These men are demons, and Dia is Lord Diavolo, the next King of the Devildom. Barbatos is his butler. The other seven are the Seven Deadly Sins and the other seven rulers of hell." Malleus nodded sagely, as though he knew the entire time, though I had never actually introduced him to anyone.

"How did you meet these people?" Deuce asked, his voice going up in pitch as he frantically looked between all of them and me.

"Oh, they kidnapped me and I spent a year in the Devildom as an exchange student! I came back though. Could never really go back to normal life after that, and, of course, I couldn't really be separated from Barbatos for too long." A very loud resounding slap, followed by a thud rang out during the bout of stunned silence that covered the group.

"At this point, nothing about you shocks me. You could tell me you're an angel, and I'd believe it." Jack sighed.

"I'm not an angel, though I am descended from the reincarnated soul of one, and I know three."

"I believe it." He nodded.

"We should have a celebration once we return to the Devildom."

"Ooh! A party!" Asmo dropped Levi, who had begun to regain consciousness. "I'm down! Always ready for some fun!"

"What kind of celebration?" Lucifer asked, adjusting his glove as he returned victorious in his quest to slap Crowley.

"A festival!"

"Sounds fun, can my friends from here come?"

"Of course! The more the merrier!" Diavolo insisted. I beamed.

"You're all going to love hell!"

[nausicaaandhermouth]

some thoughts on act 1 so far. huge long ramble. spoilers obv. do share your own, would love to hear other perspectives or additions!

didn't really come in with much expectations, was just gonna receive openly whatever the writers had planned, so that's why i don't have much strong opinions for the most part 😭but on a story perspective, i do have some thoughts.

story-wise

considering act 1 was obviously going to be a huge shift from a first season and something that's meant to set up 6 other episodes, i'm still definitely feeling that the pacing could've been better, slower. the show's always had such tight pacing which has served it for the most part but it can also cut off moments where perhaps the moment could've been served better had it been a bit more drawn out.

s2's act 1 feels much faster-paced but my hope for the season overall isn't entirely tanked. could go several ways. on it's own, it feels a bit jarring, lots of information is being given in such short time. but also we don't know how that will stand once act 2 and act 3 are out. the latter acts could be more drawn out, justifying act 1's pacing, it could be even more squished, which would suck.

love how the characters given have only grown more important, the spotlight on them becoming more emphasised, even side-characters like salo seeming to have more presence this time around. also really like how already present characters were utilised to aid more prominent characters (elora, amara, huck, smeech). so i'm on the fence about officer nolen. it could've been an opportunity to develop a character that was already present in s1, so it's not all these new things compiling (which can further that sense of things going to fast) but more so building on what was already there.

there's also smth about how the dialogues were written that... idk, something about it isn't quite hitting. especially with jinx's. can't quite point out what. also "affection" holding jayce and viktor in the past???? kill me, my heart gave up after that point. the writers can definitely hurt you if they want 😭

animation, it's amazing, show-stopping, bound to be. never doubted fortiche. i always expect them to deliver, and they always delivers. quintuplets this time even. i particularly love smeech's design, how he moves, makes my skin crawl and i love watching it.

characters

the character arcs... also on the fence about that. same thought about it as the act's pacing. it's certainly quite quick, i wonder how it would've gone had they slowed it down. but i'd want to see act 2 and 3 in order to shape a better opinion on that, since act 1 obv stands to serve the latter acts, as well as carrying the story over from s1. that's a lot of weight, so that's my benefit of the doubt.

looking forward to how ambessa will affect the story. she's already such an intriguing character to begin with, and a good call too to introduce her in s1, so the audience gets that time to acclimate (what they should've done to other characters that may be of greater impact on s2, whoever those will be, but that's neither here nor there).

with caitlyn, i was never as invested in her story on s1, but act 1's changing my mind on that. it lowkey feels like a madness arc but in a... facism direction, as opposed to jinx's psychological madness. does make them interesting oppositions. curious to see how the writers will handle that, if they handle it at all.

jinx's change feels a little bit out of nowhere, i wish the writers would have explored the in between stage of this s2 jinx and s1's ep9 jinx. it was foreshadowed briefly in that apathetic look she had after silco died and the scenes after that, but how it was reintroduced in s2's act 1 feels like it developed further but we weren't shown. she's far softer in this s2 too, as far as act 1 shows, still deranged but far less, and it would've been nice if that progression was shown more rather than just the skip.

kinda liking how jinx and sevika buddied up, though also a bit rushed. they were so antagonistic towards each other in s1 that i feel they deserved something a bit more than what was given in this act. i can understand it from sev's pov, her loyalties lie with zaun - anything that fucks that up will be on her hitlist, and we know jinx can definitely fuck things up, and if jinx stops doing that, i can see sev acquiescing and being more open to allieship. but from jinx's side, she kind of just relented? the whole "something i could fix" thing has an interesting idea, maybe she just wants to stop fucking things up and sevika is a start? but it wasn't exactly explored all that much either. no idea. would love to hear other perspectives on this

as for the little girl, it’s definitely setting up that found family trope. i do worry that they’ll just jump to, like, ‘and now they have a deep bond and care a lot about each other because they spent time together!’ but then not show us. if they do, and it’s done well, that would be an interesting analysis. but more often than not it doesn’t go that well. another worry is that she'll be treated like sky - introduced just to die shortly after. however it is appearing like the kid will have more importance while she's alive, so that's great, but also,, don't tell me you envision her making it out alive 😭 i just hope it won't be rushed

jayce, my guy was struggling fr. he's remained consistent with his late s1 self which feels like a nice anchor, familiar, and i think they handled him better. though i suspect that that may be because he may not have as much of a larger arc ahead of him, he's got the divorce lined up for him, fighting for piltover, qualms with the arcane, not much else. it would be fun to see if they do add something else. looove how it really built upon who he was in s1 while introducing hints of who he might become later on, really love. one thing jayce does well and ik u can count in him for is his huge heart, so im glad that has maintained. i'm interested in how the writer's will go about crafting his conflict against the arcane or hexthing, whatever vik's wielding, since during act 1 he's still very much up for it.

viktor's change feels a bit more sudden, slightly jarring for me, but i'm not entirely opposed and i do kinda like it. to be fair it's untreaded ground he's headed towards, and we're not entirely sure what exactly the fuck the hexcore/arcane is affecting him. currently it feels a bit too quick, that jesus arc came outta nowhere (which isn't to say i don't like it, i absolutely love vik's jesus arc, but that's not as unbiased, i'm up for anything with this man), but it could be explained in the latter acts which will put his act 1 arc into better perspective. i'm hoping for that. love this seemingly overpowered man arc he's on, and i wonder how that'll be tackled later on, and jayce's reaction to it.

definitely feel like the arcane is manipulating him through guilt and grief, that’s how i’m perceiving sky’s part in his jesus arc anyway. vik’s whole aim for the most part of s1 was to help people, and so the guilt he would feel if he opposed those aims would be great. enough to be manipulated by it? we’ll see in the coming weeks.

the whole thing with the arcane being defiant because they keep testing/prodding it, i’m not entirely sure about. i don’t recall any seeds of that idea planted in s1 (though correct me if im wrong) so it feels like it sprung out of nothing, but we’ll see how that holds up after the next acts come out. i do like how the arcane's being treated like a character, that's interesting. even in s1 there were hints of that, and it seems like they're only building up on that, especially so if in fact vik's being controlled by the arcane in some manner.

mmmm that's all for my thoughts on, will definitely revisited after act 2 and 3 are out. no thoughts yet on mel, her real arc seems to only have started, but i'm intrigueeed. if it's anything arcane/magic related at all, im all up for it.

also i fucking screamed when silco sank 😭 look me in the eye and tell me they didn't show us that exact framing in s1 😭 THEY WERE TELLING US HOW HE'D BE BURIED SHUT UP

[agustdef]

Right Now

Pairing: Kim Yugyeom x Black!Reader

Genre: Angst, Light Fluff, Idol AU/Idolverse

Word Count: 1.4k

Warning: One cuss word; Language; Mentions of lack of eating, but due to workaholic behavior.

Rating: PG-13

Author's Note: I wrote this forever ago and never posted it, which makes no sense. ​

One thing that fans and choreographers had in common was that tour season was a whirlwind experience that came at you fast and had you begging it to slow down. Though to be honest Hana didn’t really beg for it to slow down, she went wherever it took her and that meant more work than all of the “off season” combined. Something she didn’t mind and to a degree could admit to loving.

And that is where the problem arose.

Yugyeom had his own tour dates to prepare for. Events that were some of his first since GOT7 left JYPE. They made him more anxious than when he had his members to rely on, so he put in more work than usual. But none of it was overworking himself or not taking the time to breathe.

With his new career within the R&B world he’d promised himself he’d take a little more control and do what worked best for him and the life he wanted to lead, even outside of music. It was a must, and it was hard because he was used to the go, go, go lifestyle of idol life, but he wanted to take his time. He had all the time in the world for the fast paced, always moving shit when GOT7 got deep into preparations for their July comeback - something he looked forward to.

But while he waited and geared up for his solo activities, he tried to impart some of that wisdom onto Hana. That meant talking to her about it and getting her to take breaks no matter how small and no matter what hops he had to jump through to get her to give in.

Of course, she had obligations so she couldn’t just ditch jobs. It would make people second guess hiring her or get her blacklisted from working with companies if she changed up on them at the last minute. But the problem wasn’t how many choreographing and teaching roles she took on, or at least not the one Yugyeom felt he could validly argue against. No, the issue was that she was also helping out other friends. She would workshop choreo, act as a member for demos, help them get into different companies to showcase they were the right fit for their artists, and even teaching classes with them when they asked at the last minute.

It left her with so little time to do anything else. Yugyeom feared if she was eating like she should have or getting enough rest in her own bed, because she hadn’t entered his in weeks.

The worry he felt was low at the start of the season, but peaked once some artists began to make their way out a bit earlier than the rest. There were so many last-minute details and intensive work to put in. He barely got a text out of her or anyone he could usually reach out to get ahold of her. 

Even popping up wherever she told him yielded low results with him hoping the intimidating nature of being some of her clients' elder age and industry time wise would be enough to ensure they got her to eat or drink something when he dropped it off.

After a while it went from pure worry to agitation. Something that made him lie in bed at night staring at the ceiling as he thought about it until he picked up his phone.

Yugyeom: You at home?

Minutes ticked by with him staring at the screen awaiting an answer, to the point that he found himself a little pissed off and ready to call her, but before he could his phone buzzed a few times.

Hana: No, in the studio

Hana: I had to finalize that killing part for P1Harmony’s new comeback

Hana: I thought I told you???

Yugyeom’s anger didn’t subside despite her answering him, in fact her words seemed to just maintain how upset he was.

Yugyeom: You said it didn’t need to be done for two weeks. Did they push it up?

Hana: No

Yugyeom: So, you’re finishing it at 2AM 2 weeks early because….?

Hana: Because I want it done

Hana: Not rocket science. I got the time so might as well

There were many times in life that Yugyeom wanted to cuss someone out or simply scream and that was indeed one of them. It was like she didn’t know how she sounded, but he knew better than that. Hana knew exactly what she was doing and what he was calling her out on, but she wouldn’t cop to it. No, she preferred to do the thing where she played dumb until he said it outright and even then, she would deny, deny, deny.

It took several deep breaths to get him to calm down and respond to her.

Yugyeom: Come here and I’ll help you

Hana: I’m not falling for your tricks to see me. I’ll see you in a few days

Yugyeom: For work

Hana: And dinner after

He was going to push the issue, but just as began to type another message came through.

Hana: Gotta go. Ireh is back and we’re starting up. Go to sleep. Love you!

Naturally, he knew that she wouldn’t respond to him after that, so Yugyeom threw his phone across the bed. Or he tried to, but the slight force behind it made it bounce and hit the floor instead. He winced hearing it but made zero move to pick it up. All his focus was on Hana. The woman who drove him up the wall but who he loved endlessly. 

The thing was he got it. There was no one more understanding than Yugyeom because he lived the life of someone whose work needed a lot of his energy and time spent with people like Monster Woo and other dancers showed him how much went into what they did. How much it could strain things. But all he saw was Hana running herself into the ground for no reason.

Of course, he had to admit part of it was for selfish reasons on his part. He wanted more time with her, even if it was a quick meal and falling asleep together. Spending quality time is something he loved to do with her, and he’d missed out on for months. However, the much larger reason was because he knew her and knew she was in her own head. Knew that a lot of the pressure to work, work, work stemmed from her need to keep herself relevant and employed in an industry that could truly break a foreigner, especially a Black one. She’d made a name for herself long ago and had the backing in the US, but working mostly in K-Pop was something new and she hated to fail at such a challenge.

That was the thing that kept him from losing his shit with her, but it was also the straw to break the camel's back. There was nothing left in him that said he should continue to let it slide, to not push harder for her to take a step or two back. Lines like telling her friends and colleagues to not reach out were ones he wouldn’t cross, but as he drifted off that night, he’d decided that he would put his foot down. 

###

Days went by with Yugyeom not reaching out to Hana after their last text conversation. She wasn’t surprised that he’d stopped talking; he had two comebacks and tour dates to prepare for. Not that that was the reason he’d cut off communication attempts. Hana was smart enough to know he was worried and probably pissed with her. Something she hated but knew she couldn’t control since she had things to get done and not a lot of time to do them.

Tour season meant a lot of work and she was no stranger to pouring a lot of herself into it, so she rolled with the punches without much complaint. Which didn’t make him happy with her, but she knew it was something she could manage. Something she could explain to him to get him to understand.

Talking to him was in that plan once she arrived at the dance studio that he was preparing for his tour in. She was a choreographer for some songs and might go with him. Though with all the opportunities that rolled her way it looked unlikely that she would. 

Another thing he would be upset with her about.

Upon her arrival she assaulted with the smell of food. As she walked further into the building those smells intensified and she basically drowned in them as she entered the break room area that the studio housed. 

Everyone sat or leaned against something eating and paying her no mind. It was confusing because she thought they’d agreed to have lunch before coming in, but things had seemingly changed. All without her being in the know, something that she could have brushed off as an over thought if not for the momentary eye contact, she made with Yugyeom as he got up to grab a drink. His expression was blank as he looked at her and before she could blink, he turned around and went back to his seat without a word.

It was clear he was icing her out, which made her upset and a little angry. Not that she had time to process or call him on it, because the moment he sat down people noticed her presence and Ireh popped up and ushered her to the table she was sat at.

“We’re going to start a little later, so get comfortable. I’ll grab you something,” Ireh said.

Hana opened her mouth to tell her she was fine, but then her stomach growled, and she became all too aware of her hunger. She’d had a late night and got to sleep even later. So, in order to get the bare minimum of enough rest she’d slept in longer than she would have preferred and grabbed a pastry from the convenience store on the way. She’d planned to eat another snack before they started because she needed to and because eating a lot before dancing wasn’t something that she loved. But if she was hungry enough for her stomach to make sounds, she knew that she needed to eat something more. Plus, she had more time than she thought.

Another thing that wasn’t shared with her.

That made her irritation spike, so as she shrugged off her hoodie and dropped her bag Hana found her gaze drifting to Yugyeom. He was carefully spooning rice into his mouth as he messed around on his phone, only looking up when someone spoke to him and making sure to never even turn his head in her direction.

His behavior wasn’t something Hana never experienced before, she’d endured the silent treatment a few times before and it sucked every time. However, when it was about something that was work related and part of her livelihood it pissed her off. Even if there was a whisper in her head voicing the reminder that she could slow down some and not push herself so hard. That she had enough jobs for the season and could chill the hell out. The voice was right, but she wasn’t one to acknowledge that when she knew she could keep pushing and be fine.

So, being upset with him would withstand. At least that was what she tried to convey by glaring at a man who refused to give her the time of day.

Before she could do anything drastic, like walk over to his table, Ireh returned with two containers and a bottle of water. Hana took them carefully and was surprised to find kimchi-jjigae inside one. It was the typical food delivered for a work lunch, but it was a favorite of hers and something she craved whenever she worked a lot. 

Something Ireh knew.

Once Ireh took a seat and began eating again Hana opened her mouth to thank her, but the woman shook her head.

“I barely even knew we were getting lunch today. You know who picked it out.”

“But he…”

“Hana, you know better,” Ireh said, but in Korean that time.

Though she often spoke both when talking to Hana there was something about the way she switched to it in order to scold that made Hana shrink into herself a little. It wasn’t that her feelings were hurt, but she did know better. Plus, Ireh was the oldest of four children, so she had the older sister act down pact, even if she only had less than a year over Hana in age.

Hana sighed. “I know.”

“If you know, then act like it.”

From there they ate in silence. The food was delicious, so Hana had zero problem finishing it and even after she was done the usual fullness never came. Which made her curse herself for clearly not eating enough especially because it wasn’t her intention, she just got easily wrapped up in things and forgot.

Once everyone finished, they cleaned up, and there were several minutes of sitting before everyone moved into the practice room. Hana brought up the rear and went to close the door behind them but was cut off by Yugyeom slipping into the room. He handed her a sports drink and continued to walk past her.

Or tried to but was stopped when Hana grabbed hold of his wrist.

“Yugyeom,” she whispered.

At first, she thought he would pull away, but after a few seconds he turned to her with an expression much gentler than the one he’d greeted her with.

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to…”

“I don’t have to do a lot of things, baby. But I do them because I want to and because sometimes people neglect to get them done.”

Not another word was said as he walked away, mostly because Hana couldn’t find any to say. There was the care behind his actions in those words, but she couldn’t miss the dig at the end. She knew it wasn’t meant to be all that hurtful, but she also knew he was being a little mean on purpose. Something that he wasn’t often, and she was unsure if she was angry, hurt, or simply upset that they’d reached that point.

In order to not have to figure that out she took a breath and stood off to the side while the head choreographer and tour manager spoke to them. When all information was disseminated they got to work going over the choreo with those who’d created it. Though the songs she’d worked on were early in the set list she went last and the entire time she refused to meet Yugyeom’s eyes.

Despite the tension they worked through the moves easily and corrected anything that seemed off. It was hyper professional between them and to a degree that made her feel worse, but the alternative of letting feelings leak through wasn’t any better.

After an hour and a half of going through everything they took a small break and Yugyeom tossed her a protein bar before taking a seat on the floor to catch his breath. The urge to say something flared, but Hana just took a seat and ate the bar without question.

Twenty minutes later they were back into the groove of things, but instead of checking for issues they decided to tackle the set list as it was. Most of the people he’d worked with weren’t coming with him, so it was the dancers with him while everyone else watched carefully.

Part of Hana wanted to sit it out because she may not have been going, but also because she was in a petty mood. The more time she and Yugyeom spent with negative emotions looming over them the more annoyed she got, and it was hard to push it down or reason with herself. But instead of taking that step back she got into position.

Keeping her mind from wandering wasn’t hard when she was dancing. It was her passion, so Hana always found joy in doing it. Especially because she’d been so happy when Yugyeom asked her to work on some of the choreo for him. She’d done so on some of GOT7’s music but working closely with the man she loved when he held the same passion as her put her over the moon. A feeling that found its way into her as she danced alongside him.

Their run through went off without a hitch and they were able to do it with very few breaks. Once it was finished, they all took a moment to catch their breath and then any issues were pointed out before they did it again. The second time around included moments where he would stop to talk or to head backstage for a bit, so it was less taxing and also showed there was a better flow of things.

Usually that would have been the end of it, but it was decided on one more run through. Yugyeom had been singing the other two times so to preserve his voice they just let the track play and he lip synced the lyrics. During that practice he found his flow in a way that wasn’t present before and interacted with the dancers more. Hana effortlessly played off that and more often than before they ended up close together dancing in a way that wasn’t so scandalous that they looked like they were five seconds from fucking, but enough to fit the vibe and the sexiness of some of the songs.

With the last song, Hana found they stared into each other’s eyes more than they had most of the day and so it took a moment to snap out of it and walk away once the music stopped. They managed to do so and keep to themselves as they listened to the tour manager again. Everyone was happy with the practice so it ended and though Hana knew most of them liked to leave quickly the speed in which everyone got out of there was next level.

In about two minutes only she and Yugyeom were left, and he was at the door with his hand held out to her. Again, the urge to be petty arose in her, but she’d gone a long time without any physical touch from him that wasn’t dance related and she craved it. So, after she grabbed her bag, she walked forward and laced her fingers in his.

Neither spoke as he led them out of the studio and to the car that he’d hired to drive them around. As they sat in silence, they continued to hold hands and didn’t stop until Yugyeom motioned her into the restaurant they’d planned to go to for dinner. The host led them to a private room and to Hana’s surprise JayB and Youngjae were already there. Both men were often late to dinners.

“Did you even shower?” Youngjae asked as he got up to hug them.

Hana rolled her eyes. “No time.”

“At least she’s not as stinky as him,” Jaebeom said as they switched, and he hugged her.

“Hyung,” Yugyeom whined.

That got a laugh out of everyone and that meant a pouting Yugyeom as they took their seats. A server appeared the moment their butts touched down and they ordered and awaited the drinks.

“So how did it go?” Jaebeom asked.

“It went well. Most of it was already ready, so from here on out it’s just correcting any problems and making sure that we’re one hundred percent happy with how the set list flows,” Yugyeom said.

“That’s good. I know it can be nerve wrecking to do the first solo show, plus it’s in person. Making sure it’s just right means you’ll do great,” Jaebeom said.

“I hope so.”

“Ah, our baby is nervous,” Youngjae teased.

More pouting ensued as they all laughed and Jaebeom reached over to pinch his cheek, earning a light slap to the hand which only made them laugh harder.

It took a few minutes before they settled and their drinks arrived in that time. In the restaurant they went to drinks were fast, but food was slow because they prided themselves in being made to order so most of the food was unprepped.

“Speaking of preparing, how is all the tour stuff going with the different artists, Hana?” Youngjae asked.

Something about the question excited her, but also felt heavy. As if she was beyond tired.

“Good. I thank the heavens that most have been doing online concerts and don’t have a lot of new music coming before tour. It makes it so that we’re mostly just going over things and learning a handful of new choreo. Most pick it up fast, but some of the rookies are so new to it that their nerves are making it harder for them to keep up. But I enjoy being able to help them through it.”

Jaebeom nodded. “I don’t know how you do it. Dance has been in my life a long time and b-boying could take a lot out of you, so I can’t imagine doing it as much as you do. Hell, as much as either of you do. And Gyeomie finds time to do it for fun.”

Hana glanced at Yugyeom, who’d gotten quiet, before saying anything.

“Yeah, it can be a lot, but you get used to it.”

“I just hope you’re taking care of yourself.”

Before Jaebeom finished his sentence Yugyeom scoffed, but Hana ignored it.

“I’m doing my best,” she said.

Another noise was heard but it was softer than the last in a way that Hana almost missed it. What she didn’t miss was the way that Yugyeom rolled his eyes.

If it was anyone else besides his members in that room she would have been embarrassed, but they knew how he could get and saw both of them at their worst. There was nothing they would judge them for or at least all judgment would come from a place of friendship and not rudeness.

Regardless of that it annoyed her, and she wanted to ask him about it, but instead took a deep breath and a sip of her drink. 

Seconds ticked by in silence before Youngjae broke the tension or tried to break it, because it didn’t let up even a little.

“So, you ready to go on tour with him? I know you haven’t done one in a few years, and you said you miss it.”

Anger gave way to discomfort then, and Hana paused for way too long.

“Uh… yeah. Some things have come up and so I might not get the chance to do it. But I am looking forward to it.”

“You might not go?” Yugyeom asked, shock and anger coloring his words.

“Yeah, I was going to tell you…”

“When?”

“After dinner. I thought we could talk then.”

Yugyeom’s face was stoic, and it was clear he fought to keep it and not allow anything else to color his expression as he looked at her. For several seconds all he did was stare, before he turned his head to look across the table.

“Hyungs,” he said, voice shaky.

Neither of them said anything, just nodded and got up. As they exited Hana heard Jaebeom mention sitting at the bar to give them a moment to themselves, but she was more focused on Yugyeom who’d risen from his seat and began to pace the room.

“Yugyeom,” she said softly.

Hearing his name didn’t stop his pacing or even get him to look in her direction.

“Yugyeom.”

Again nothing.

“Kim Yugyeom.”

That time there was a bit of anger in her voice, and she didn’t know if that did the trick or the use of his full name, but he finally stopped pacing and turned to her. She watched as he visibly took a deep breath and then leaned against the wall behind him.

“Do you know how worried I’ve been?” he asked.

Hana sighed. “I kn…”

“That was rhetorical. You know how worried I’ve been. You’ve had me checking in on you over the phone. Bringing you food and getting you to take moments to rest. You’ve seen my hold back because I know how you work, and I know it can be intense. I know that you do things a certain way and while it may seem like too much to be doing to me that you view it a different way. I know this industry is iffy and you committing to working mostly for this country’s industry is a lot because of the extra bs that comes with you not being Korean. I let shit slide because of those things. I put aside my worries because of those things, because I’m trying to be understanding. But there are limits.

“You push and push until you push me away. You’ve barely spoken to me for more than an hour in total over the last month. I have to work harder than one should to get proof you’re okay. To make sure that you’re eating and drinking. To ensure that you’re getting the rest that you need. And you don’t give a fuck.”

Throughout his speech Hana felt guilt creep in, but something about that last sentence shoved it down.

“I don’t care? How are you going to sit here and tell me that I don’t care? As if I haven’t been doing my best to keep in contact and as if I don’t always thank you for the things you do to take care of me. I’ve been busy, Yugyeom. You know how much comes up during these months and how much busier I get as tour dates get closer.”

“Fuck that busy shit!” he shouted.

That brought them to a standstill. Not because Hana felt threatened or anything, they cussed all the time so it slipping into an angry conversation didn’t faze her. But the way he raised his voice surprised her a little. It wasn’t scary, but it wasn’t like him to yell even though it had been softer than most people’s.

“Baby…” she trailed off.

Yugyeom’s face shifted from anger to a deep set frown and gentle eyes that told her he was tired and worried. Much more than he was letting on.

“I just… I want to take care of you, and I want you to take care of yourself. I get that you work hard, but you can work hard and also relax. Take moments to breathe. Have some sort of fun. You get into this work mode where it’s like you can’t seem to do anything else, even when there isn’t much else to do. And I get it, baby I do, but there has to be a line. 

“And I’m selfish. Outside of you being healthy I miss you. I’ve barely seen you for a month and it’s not like we haven’t crossed paths. I miss being able to spend time with you. Making up dances in the studio just because it’s fun, taking small trips for a day or two, you yelling at me because you hate the way that I cook, and just falling asleep by your side. I haven’t held you in forever.”

As he spoke Hana rose from her seat and moved over to Yugyeom, wrapping her arms around his waist before she pulled him close. She knew she’d not been thinking about herself much and just going with the fact that she felt fine as an indicator on if she needed a break. It worked for her, but it was a dangerous way to live and despite how much she hated to realize it, lack of eating alone was enough for her to know she wasn’t as well as she thought.

That coupled with the neglect of her relationship was a reality check of epic proportions. She’d expected Yugyeom to just go with her schedule without throwing him a bone in terms of even a little affection. Plus, there was the depriving of her own touch and time needs. All of it showed her that she’d been a mess masquerading as someone with their shit together for weeks.

“I know and I’m sorry. I got wrapped up in it all and forgot myself. But even so, I shouldn���t have forgotten your needs. Forgotten that I would have to put in the effort to fix things when I finally came down to reality and not just expected you to be understanding or that I could explain it away. You deserve better than that and I’m sorry I was giving you less than.”

Yugyeom wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. His body relaxed and so did hers. Not everything was solved, and it was something they would need time to get over, but Hana knew it was the start of a good thing and that she would do better. 

After a few moments Yugyeom moved away a bit and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. It was gentle and came with a spark that made it feel like the first time. A testament to how long she’d been in self-imposed exile of his touch.

As he pulled away from her, she made the mental note to overhaul her planner to work better for herself and her relationship.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you more.”

Yet another pout took form and as his lips parted to argue the boys reentered the room with the server right behind them.

“Sorry,” Youngjae said.

Hana waved them off. “You’re fine. We’re good.”

“Really?” Jaebeom asked.

“Yes.”  

A squeeze of the hand was all she needed to be sure of it.

They enjoyed the meal without the heavy weight of tension in the room and despite how she needed to get across town the next morning Hana went with Yugyeom to his apartment without argument. She said she would do better and that needed to be immediate.

Plus, when she woke up a little later than she’d planned she couldn’t be mad, because being wrapped in his arms was the best night sleep she’d gotten in a while. She planned for it to be a repeat performance for at least a week straight.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s14e1 stranger in a strange land (w. andrew dabb)

pre-ep recap being ac/dc shot down in flames much better fit than metallica's nothing else matters from 13x01 vibe-wise and matching the pace of the clips. good job, guys. and smooth segue to it being on in the car

s14e1 / the matrix

wtf jackles, what is this speaking voice/cadence. reminds me of keanu reeves?? usually when i make really out there sound associations, i'm a little high. but that is not the case today. he's acting more like an agent than neo, but getting the keanu vibes :p i can't think of what movie specifically i'm thinking of. the devil's advocate and constantine are the other two keanu movies i've seen a bunch, but i dunno

never good when i'm pulling a clip in the first few minutes 🥴 gonna be a 2-3 day watch i'm guessing.

also don't really understand the styling choices. i get that it helps make a big visual difference between michael and dean, but like. dude wasn't dressing like this old timey fancy man with a flat cap in the au world. is this 20s-ish? never seen peaky blinders but this seems kinda similar? reading about collar pins and bars now. lol

is this the grief beard i've heard about. well maintained, if so

MARY Sam, we’re gonna find him. Ketch is working that thing in London. Castiel is in Detroit. I know it’s been three weeks since Dean… Something will break. It has to. SAM Yeah. Yeah, you keep saying that.

so like why does sam need to be in charge and involved in this vampire thing with this bunker full of people? they were fully self organized and fighting before they came here. even if sam is de facto leader for whatever reason; delegate, my guy. no help to anyone if you're not sleeping. call jody in, i bet she could talk some sense into him. also vaguely funny that we're all Team Family Go! but the family i connect with the most for them is jody and her girls

CASTIEL Does any demon know where Dean Winchester is? KIPLING I’m sorry, did you just say you lost a Winchester? Because, one -- that’s… interesting. And, two, how is that you lost Dean? I thought the two of you were joined at the… [Kipling glances down in a suggestive way.] …you know, everything.

in a way i wish i could have watched this without any knowledge of fandom because my knee jerk response is, ew. because i just don't see anything between dean and cas, i have a hard time grasping they're even close, i've just tried to accept it because the show tells us all the time. but maybe i could have come around to it more if i didn't know about the screaming zeitgeist that is destiel. or maybe i'd have the same reaction, i don't know. but anyway perpetually disgruntled knowing that my reaction is always colored somewhat due to fandom. i try to watch objectively but i know my feelings on things outside the show color my feelings of stuff inside the show

oh, cas. what have you gotten yourself into this time.

mmmk

SISTER JO Why would he say “yes” to you? MICHAEL Love.

short and sweet

man i know jackles is trying to do something different but i do not enjoy the way he's speaking as michael. ok now i'm getting umm. brad pitt in interview with the vampire?? like when he's talking to what's his face. for the interview. lol. christian slater! kind of slow, flat fairly emotionless narration.

um. how in the world is nick's soul in his vessel? didn't crowley remake it or whatever? or did he not die at any point in the ... 7 years intervening between lucifer dumping him in s5 and getting popped back in during s12

from 12x13 CROWLEY I managed to pervert that spell. So your essence wasn't sent back to the cage, but instead, we found your discarded vessel a few years ago… repaired it, improved it, making it a fitting final home for the real you.

whatever, man. nothing makes sense to me anymore. also thinking about jimmy novak called being possessed by castiel like "being chained to a comet" - for all those years

NICK Ow. I don't get it. I don't understand how Lucifer could die and I could live. SAM Yeah, um… I think that maybe it's because the archangel blades were made to kill the archangel inside a-and not the person they, uh -- NICK Possesses and uses to almost end the world twice?

sure. SURE. that makes sense. not at all how anything else ever works on this show, but sure! i mean, i love mark pellegrino too but come on, guys.

SAM Stop saying that, please. MARY What? SAM “It's gonna be fine,” that everything's gonna be fine, we're gonna find Dean, and -- MARY We are. SAM You don't know that. Dean's gone, and we have no idea where he is or -- or if he's even still alive. You know, Michael could have… burned him out or… worse, and… MARY I know. I know he's out there, scared and alone. I know. I know he might never come back. Never think I don't know that. But -- I can't -- I have to think about the good, Sam, because, if I don't, I will drown in the bad. For Dean's sake, I can't do that. We can't do that.

that's fine and reasonable but it's also reasonable that sam doesn't want to hear a baseless placation.

jack getting a grandpa bobby now too apparently

completely zoning out on this demon monologuing. why did they bring the girl along who isn't a hunter. what happened to the devil's trap bullets? and couldn't they make the bullets made out of the angel blades they had on the au world? because with all the dead angels they surely must have a stockpile. wouldn't get this several minute action sequence with fake tension though so

SAM Enough! There will be no new King of Hell. Not today. Not ever. And if anybody wants the job, you can come through me. Understood? (breathing heavily) So, what's it gonna be?

lol okay

SAM It's the -- It's the magic egg that kicked Lucifer out of the President. I thought we could use it on Michael, but -- Ketch can't find it. So, that's another dead end, which is just awesome.

i'm glad the show remembered because i completely forgot about that thing. thanks for preemptively ruling it out

CASTIEL Sam, are you all right? SAM Yeah, I've been better. I've been worse. You? CASTIEL I'm -- I'm just sorry. I should never have gone to those demons. SAM Cass, I -- No, I-I-I don't blame you. I… Honestly, I-I wish I'd have thought of it first. If it meant finding Dean, I-I'd work with -- I'd do anything.

❤️ take what i can get. (still need to sleep, sammy)

MICHAEL Now, you -- you know exactly what you want. You don't pretend to want to help people or save the world. Your want is pure and simple and clean. And that's why you are worth saving. That's why we are going to work so well together. Because you -- you just want to eat.

LOL what. michael loves vampires!

!! omg lol i just reread my 13x23 with my whole "can't kill michael now that he's wearing dean" is that the whole reason we get pellegrino back as nick, so we can find out that archangel blades don't kill the vessel?? 😂

[caramel1mochi]

Weekend Together [Gekko x F! Reader] [2]

Heya! Welcome back!

Thanks for all of the likes, reblogs and follows, I can't tell you how much I appreciate every interaction on my posts! Also I feel a bit better I'm not the only one simping for fictional men, haha...

Anyway, please be patient with my abhorrent formatting I JUST discovered that shift + enter is a thing that exists and I'm very humiliated.

❤ฺ·。

Gekko x F! Reader

Part 1 - Part 2

Genre: Fluff

Synopsis: Gekko gets over his anxiety and finally asks you out, watching delightfully as you finally let your guard down. Or so he thinks.

。+❤ฺ·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ· +❤·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ·

Jett looked toward the group, clearly irritated.

“그 잘난 체하는 작은… we’ll show him, I’ll empty his wallet one of these days!” <That smug little…>

“Are you gonna mug him, or something?”

Gekko joked, but was quickly silenced once everyone’s eyes locked onto him; a sense of determination flooding each and every one of them. Maybe... too much determination.

Killjoy spoke up.

“Warten! The date! You’re going on that date, Gekko!” <Wait!>

“Date?”

“That’s right! You’ll go on that date and ask her where she’s from!”

Wingman gurgled on Jett’s lap, forcing a smile on the Korean’s face. Gekko quickly looked down on his bag to notice the empty display. But after the fifth time, he was hardly surprised she managed to steal him under his nose.

“See? Even Wings agrees!”

“That’s not what he–”

“Please, Gekko? For me? Think what that money could–”

Just as she went to speak another word to guilt him into following through, he put a hand on her face and pushed her away with an unamused expression.

“I’m not using A/N just so you guys can win a bet. She'd kill us if she found out, you know that?”

“Come on, fam. You’ve stalled for a whole week already! She’s probably forgotten about that Deadlock thing by now!”

Gekko blushed and leaned back on the seat once more. True. He’d even picked out a location and everything. Even the perfect time to go, one that would align with your schedule. But he just couldn’t make the first move, not when you’d barely even bother to say ‘hey’ back.

“Chale, man, I don’t even know how to ask her.” <No way,>

“Mate, look around you! You’ve got so much good advice just waiting to be handed to you. All you have to do is ask!”

He lifted his chin and looked towards the obvious solution that sat literally just opposite to him. That’s right, Killjoy and Raze, a set of warm smiles lifting their cheeks. The first ever officially established couple in the protocol.  How could he be so stupid? They're right there! He could just ask–

“Erm, mate, I wasn’t talking about them.”

Gekko met his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, fine. Show me your ways, wise sage.”

❤ฺ·。

Even when you were getting ready for bed, you had to run around for your nightly routine to make sure everything was ready. And by the time you finally laid down, covered yourself with the blanket and closed the lamp next to you, your phone buzzed with a notification.

With a deep sigh, you took the phone and checked the oncoming text. But it was from the last person you’d expect.

Gekko. 

‘Are you free tomorrow?’

Ugh. Tomorrow was supposed to be your private time. By the looks of things, he was about to follow up on that promise he made a week ago.  And what you hated more was that you remembered.

‘Yes. What is it?’

‘I was wondering if we could go out?’

…

Oh. Wow. 

You didn’t know what to say, really. He actually followed through. When’d he get so bold, anyway? He could hardly muster up a sentence around you, not when he starts acting like a teen who’s experiencing their first ever crush in their entire life. 

Oh wait.

But it still surprised you. Usually, you’d hang out with the posh ones. Professional, poise, well spoken. Two-faced. Which is why you were one of the superiors. So, in a way, Gekko was a refreshing change of pace.

So, whatever.

‘Sure. What time?’

Unbeknownst to you, as you put your phone down and covered yourself with your blanket, this simple text made Gekko’s heart skip enough beats it nearly constituted an emergency.

[compassrosegames]

Hooked On You - Analysis

Well, little more than an hour. About 1:20 though closer to 1:10 or so.

The basic premise is that you wash up on the shores of a mysterious island with four eligible ki- ahem, contestants for your romantic interest, all taken from the popular Dead By Daylight. Trapper, Huntress, Wraith, and Spirit. There is also Trickster, who is framed as a "nice guy" antagonist, as well as two "assistants" who are the organizers of this entire escapade (I get a kick out of how they both blink at the exact same time, it makes their occasional psychotic breaks ). As well, the Narrator and the Ocean both act as 3rd person narrators fighting over control of the fourth wall.

Overall it has a lighthearted tone with lots of comedic value, focusing on the ridiculousness of the premise, but leaning into it in a way that feels natural for an audience that is horny for a melange of ghostly murderers. There is also the mystery of how to get off of the island which is hinted at through several of the characters, including the Ocean.

This is more or less a standard visual novel where it takes a novel and breaks it into a quick time event of "How many sentences is this?" and "Oh shit what did I miss." I'm not really a fan of the genre of game just because a novel is easier to read, but this one really hooked me by the second day. The killer's dialogue is well written and they play off each other with very distinct voices. Every so often the player is presented with a choice of dialogue options, which may or may not affect the story further down the line, or even change the course of the current conversation. This allows for a decent amount of replay value as the game is only limited by the amount of text that is made. Mini-games also offer a change of pace while adding a sense of tension.

Which is one of the things that this game takes advantage of, it's Dead By Daylight repair mechanic, a small timing mini-game where the player has to hit a target with a spinner that progressively gets faster. This is notable in it's sheer flexibility, swapping images to make the mini-game more appropriate to the story setting. It can also be inverted where the spinner is an entire plate, and the target is mostly obscured until the 'hole' in the spinner is over it.

Like most dating shows, this game is divided up into "days" and "dates." It takes about half an hour to get through an in game "day" which is usually comprised of a morning, date, evening, and recap. The morning is where the player chooses who they will spend the day with. The date usually involves a quiz of relatively specialized knowledge involving three questions (I got astronomy and mycology). Which impresses your date if you get all three right. In the evening there is another opportunity to connect with another contestant, and then storytime. The recap is simply that, what all of the participants thought of the day. A little break in the tension, as well as a chance to reset everything and see how the killers will act the next day, leading to further anticipation.

Having gone through only about 2 and a half dates, there wasn't much time to really see how the story goes, but it was definitely intriguing and I do want to see one or two of the endings. With a possibility of me being murdered by one of the killers being an interesting option that I had forgotten to consider when booting it up.

Overall, mechanically it was what I expected. Basic visual novel broken up with choices and a versatile mini-game. Story wise I got invested in it far more quickly than I thought. I was skipping like half the text and still felt connected to the characters. Of course I accidentally got Huntress so that probably helped. The overall aesthetic also was well unified, the music, visuals, and relaxed tone of both the characters and the tropical aesthetic.

So this makes me want to take a look into character writing, or proofreading. Being able to give each character their own unique voice is going to be important for this kind of game, and since I am currently my own writer, that would be something to note. Being able to work with the material is also important, having lots of humor works here but it might not based on what kind of story I want.

[wifegideonnav]

well i… finished act 5 act 2. gonna have to rewatch cascade a bunch of times and probably read the act summary on the wiki but i have officially reached the end of the act

still enjoying it a lot but it’s getting harder and harder to read. summing up a rant i gave my friend, i’m not super in love with the sense of predestined futility - or more accurately, i don’t feel that the narrative has properly addressed that yet and justified why i should be reading about these characters who were like 100x doomed from the start.

there are so many characters and so much happening that nothing is lingered upon, which is nice pacing-wise but not so nice emotional-impact-wise. i also think the “everybody dies a bajillion times and it’s fine until all of a sudden it’s not” thing works against it in a sense, especially when the narrative doesn’t stop to mourn anyone who’s actually dead, bc by the time you realize hey wait maybe like. vriska or dad or feferi/nepeta/equius etc are dead for real it’s been like 200+ pages and you’re like well ok. what do i do here exactly.

and i know that that’s an intentional choice hussie made for how he wanted to craft his narrative - im wishing for things that he deliberately chose not to give. im not trying to say that these choices are flaws in his writing, just that as an audience member i tend to prefer the tlt method of dealing with death, where one main character dies and then the entire next book is about another ripping herself apart because of it.

im not giving up by any means, or even saying that this is what’s dominating my reading experience. like i said im still enjoying myself and appreciate most of the creative decisions that hussie is making. it can just feel very draining i suppose, watching these characters i’ve come to care about - almost all of whom are literal children - fighting so hard so futilely, and so far, imo the narrative hasn’t paid that off. however, with that out of the way, here are (some of, bc this shit was long as hell) my thoughts on the act, more or less in order:

i have literally no interest in johnkat. probably partially bc my friend is so into davekat that ive been conditioned to just wait for that to happen but also bc they have no chemistry. sorry to any johnkat shippers out there but idc it’s boring

i have slightly more but still negligible interest in john/vriska. probably bc i… don’t really care about john. sorry to any john stans out there but idc he’s boring

karkat and terezi sharing a keyboard to argue my beloved

rose my beloved. but also. sweetie :/

vriska my beloved. but also. SWEETIE :/

kanaya my beloved. you’re doing great no notes

oh yeah dave and terezi manipulated the stock market. still don’t 100% understand that but whatever good for them

yeah ok the dream bubbles. christ. like ok i GET it but they’re still annoying

i love jade’s dynamic with karkat she really goes from “teehee im just a silly little girl haha” to “im going to eviscerate this motherfucker”

bec prototyping himself was genuinely such a good reveal

is it just me or is john's power like. way lamer than the other kids' lmao. like it's still cool, def better than nothing, but come on

not too much to say abt the exiles but i love them

also with all the fucking timeline bullshit that's going on i literally can't wait to reach the end and reread with the uhsc mod that lets you follow a specific person's timeline. i canNOT keep track of what's happening when for who

it is literally so funny that vriska has been the cause of jade's narcolepsy this entire time. like wow girl you really took the opportunity to be a massive dick to her huh

LET'S BE SANTA

frogs. ok sure. why not.

fuck doc scratch all my homies hate doc scratch. i will say though. he is a fantastic character.

holy shit eridan and gamzee snapping and killing like everyone. that was buckwild what the fuck. not gonna lie idc that equius is dead, and nepeta, feferi, and tavros were never my faves. but got damn it sucks that they're dead. (ostensibly. still not one thousand percent convinced)

sad karkat :(

murderous kanaya :D

WV "DRIVING" AHHHH

oh god the ancestors. sorry but i simply do not care about that shit. like i know that they're actually relevant but. :/

also i don't like the trope of chains of events being echoed across generations. like damn get your own plot. also it ties into that determinism and futility that i'm grappling with

i will say though. mindfang mentally thanking redglare for taking her arm because then her battle against his honorable tyranny because it made it "a fair fight"? hot. i'm brave enough to say it.

aradia is cool as fuck. i wish we got more of her/her personality

aradia's ancestor is also cool as fuck. sucks that literally nothing she did to resist her fate worked or mattered

the scratch stuff is genuinely interesting narratively/in terms of a plot device. again it still sucks that the beta kids aren't actually going to get to win the game themselves. like i assume they'll be talking to/guiding the alpha kids but like. god it's so unfairrr i bet there'll be angst about this

rose going grimdark is so fun. also LMAO john trying to chat with her in that flash game portion

TEREZI god i love her. sucks that she killed vriska tho bc i love her and also i ship them. oh well murder is not necessarily a roadblock to them getting together. troll romance sure is weird. i have hope in my heart.

vriska isn't dead forever bc no she isnt <3

the betty crocker shit. is funny. and also stupid as hell.

SAD KARKAT :((

ok i guess the stuff about karkat's ancestor and the history of the troll race is kinda interesting. whatever.

everyone's in love/hate with gamzee all of a sudden?? literally why. troll romance sure is FUCKING confusing

that was a pretty anticlimactic climax to the gamzee situation, gotta say

cascade was confusing as fuck i don't have thoughts on it yet

so yeah that's it! if you're still reading, why? let me know what your thoughts on act 5 act 2 were when you read it, or your thoughts on my thoughts lol. just pls no spoilers for anything past cascade!!

[midnightwind]

so I beat BG3 finally and I have.... Opinions. This is going to be Very Long and full of spoilers, obviously, so fair warning

So to open with, I do really like Act 1 and 2. They have solid pacing and while Act 2 might be missing more side content, it does makes sense given the whole curse making it difficult to move freely without always having a torch out which can severely impact some builds. So I'm glad we don't spend very much time having to deal with that. (I am dual wielding thief rogue scum, so the torch was Agony)

I think Act 1 does an okay job leading you towards the goblin camp as the big end all of the story section while letting you also decide to hop into the Underdark for extra optional content. The Creche is kind of nightmarish depending on your choices, but I think it's still good content. I simply don't care for the Gith much as a people, but they're an important story beat so it's nice to get more of them before you delve into cursed lands. A1 has a nice balance of exploring and side content to do and I really never feel lost or in a lull. I have a goal and the freedom to do whatever else I want on my way to it. Plus the companions have a lot to say and a bunch of interactions together, especially if you change out a member periodically to trigger new ones.

Act 2 is a bit more rail road-y story wise, but you have the little side quests for Astarion and Shadowheart to pursue, helping Halsin, and a few npc quests to pick up or find. I think the inn defense is a bit of a nightmare because Jaheira will sometimes just nuke the tieflings for daring to be near an enemy, so trying to keep everyone alive is.... it can be a lot. But that's going to be more rng to blame than anything else I suppose. And like, if you don't care about saving everyone then it's a breeze I'm sure, I'm just a goody two shoes. The only bad time I really had in Act 2 was due to bugs, so that wasn't the story's fault! (I fell through the floor and only survived because of Thief's passive to reduce falling damage) Well, okay, the Nightsong fight also sucked. Shove being a bonus action is bullshit and also why would they make that such a problem on a floating rock? I had to redo that fight so, so many times to have my party all make it to round 2 without someone getting launched into the void. But otherwise! The build up to Ketheric and actual execution of his fight were all really good. (Well, I skipped phase 1 of his fight because funny persuasion, but I digress)

They really made you worried about Ketheric, showed how much power and sway he had over the land, especially by making him the source of the curse that was poisoning the land. They went in on making him the big dead boss you had to work to beat. I was excited to see what Gortash and Orin had working for them in Act 3!

But then I actually did Act 3, and man, you can feel the rush here. There's just so much squished into the city to the point where having it split in half doesn't help. The game can barely handle how much it has to always have loaded and moving. And the amount of story feels like they were going to have 4 Acts total, but then were told to push the game out and they just had to throw it all into one Act and hope. I think having Tav deal with either Gortash or Orin for Act 3 would have been better for the pacing and allowed for both of the villains to get proper sway over the city they were taking over.

Gortash has some sway with the Steel Watch stomping around, but they really aren't all that threatening unless you decide to slap one on the ass in the town square. You get a glimpse at what they really wanted to do with Gortash at his coronation, but it never really leaves Wyrm's Rock. Maybe it's because I was playing Rogue and sneaking past every locked door, but I never felt like Gortash was a threat. He was more like a snotty kid in the corner muttering rude names at you. The second he tries to go for you without the public eye around, he's dead. He doesn't even do a good job manipulating you. He's all about schemes and having power over people, but his solution when he sees Tav and the gang is to just... ask them to kill Orin for him and share in the power afterwards. Which would make sense if he hadn't led with the whole killing his last partner idea. Why should Tav trust him to hold up his end of the bargain if he clearly would rather rule solo? If Gortash has full control over the city, or the beginnings of it, shouldn't he be making connections with the big entities? Shouldn't he know more about the group of adventurers set on ruining his plans? He clearly can have Orin walk around the camp whenever he wants, so why isn't he turning any of the companions' baggage against them? He could link up with Cazador to send Astarion into a panic, snap up any stragglers of Karlach's friends to keep her from playing baseball with his head, tempt Gale with magical secrets and knowledge of Netherese. He had an in against Jaheira with Orin's shapechangers infiltrating the Harpers, but apparently they suck at their jobs because they got caught instantly, and also the game just shrugs and doesn't have us save the Harpers. Like, so many of the companions are linked to Baldur's Gate somehow and it isn't used to control them. If you take out the foundry, Gortash is just a guy in a booby trapped room with two goons. There is some poetic justice there about how the schemer is just a man at the end of the day, but Tav doesn't do anything to take his power away outside of getting rid of the mechs and maybe changing a single day's paper printing, if you were so inclined. We have no chance to stop the coronation, to break up the blackmailing and mind controlled nobility, hell he doesn't even make it hard to walk the streets if you betray him! He's supposed to be the schemer, the brains behind the operation, so why does he just sit in his castle and do nothing? He could enforce a curfew, forcing the gang underground and into back alleys. Like, I could see it making some builds more tedious to get around with, but they needed to show his power over the city somehow. The Steel Watch just don't cut it, in my opinion. (I also basically one shot him in his fight with 0 traps even going off so perhaps my opinion is colored by that experience)

Orin, then, well... she barely exists as a problem honestly. She steals a party member a few days after Gortash warns you about her, but the reveal just removes the taken character and you're left down a man. She's a serial killer, Bhaal's own unholy assassin who can change her shape as easy as one dons a cloak. So why does she let her ruse be revealed so easily? I think it would have been more compelling, more insidious if she were to take Tav's love interest (or highest approval companion) and just never reveal it's her. You could stumble across the real companion later, mayhaps fleeing from the cult in the sewers, and be forced to make the call on who's real and who's the fake. We have multiple forms of revival in the game, so you could make this hurt without actually losing a companion forever. You would never know when the switch happened and if you chose wrong, imagine how gut wrenching that would be! Instead her cult is more annoying than she is. The whole Sanctuary mechanic is tedious, the amount of the fuckers in the city begs belief, and having to try to save random npcs on a bloody note proves extremely annoying quickly. We don't know the npcs being targeted which is fine, but when I've restarted 3 times to try and distract the 8 assassins with my party so they don't hit the 50 health citizen 20 times, I start thinking the random shop keep might be better off dead. And it is doable, to save them, it just takes so much to pull it off. Again, maybe it's because I was going through the game determined to save everyone, or near enough, so what should have been moments of feeling helpless were more just a huge pain in the ass. The threat of Orin is too simple because they drop the doppleganger act so fast. Plus, she even offers to call off the killings if you take care of Gortash for her and then meet her for a duel! She solves herself. I think it's honestly a disservice to the idea of the character and she feels like a lot of the ideas behind her just weren't given the time they needed to pan out.

And then we move past them, to the Elder Brain. You spend all of Act 3 working your way up to either taking over this thing or killing it. And then you get stuck in extremely long mob fights for the next few hours before finally reaching the damn thing and it's both a dps check and a fucking heal check. The whole endeavor was a pure slog to me and making the summon allies a full action made it feel like it was just never worth it, I could dish out more damage with my own actions. Plus, the allies can't even follow you inside to deal with the brain so at best you use an action to summon hopeful meat shields. It feels like a poorer version of the defense of Denerim in DA:O. The other companions aren't shown doing anything, or even really hinted at doing anything except for like, 4 of them being at the rallying meeting. And the choice between supporting the Emperor or freeing Orpheus! It felts terrible either way! Support the entity keeping you safe, but lying the whole time who doesn't seem willing to talk about it's plans after dealing with the brain or free the trapped Prince of the Gith and hope he doesn't instantly kill you or lead his people to kill everyone in a war of conquest under a new name because you honestly have no idea what he'll do. It's shit either way.

The actual character endings are rather sparse. Also, fuck whoever thought it'd be funny to have Astarion running off screen if you destroy the brain and the vampire rules reassert themselves. You spend the whole game with him mentioning loving the sunlight and seeing the world how he used to. And then you make it a joke when he loses that? It's a heartbreaking moment and it was ruined by having it framed that way. It felt cruel.

I only got to see the epilogue with Astarion, because I romanced him, and Karlach returning to the Hells with Wyll and while they were both nice, they felt very short. I wanted to see what everyone would do, if the gang would stick together or stay in contact. How would they settle into the remains of the city, who would tag along if Tav decides to adventure on, do they have reunions or get togethers, do we get to have that party? It feels so rushed, like a lot was cut to ship the game out, and the companions all suffer for it. Granted this is if you destroy the brain. The endings where you take it over seem even shorter, albeit executed well for the power trip they're setting up, but you don't get much beyond that to my knowledge. (I haven't gone back to see all of them yet) I spent something like 130-140 hours in this one play through. You spend the whole game working up to this confrontation, this resolution, and it feels so truncated. Even just a still image of the landscape or characters with some text slapped on top to detail how they wrapped up the adventure would have been better than having 80% of the gang forgotten. I didn't take them all out into the world, finishing their personal quests, to have them be left behind like that. I love them all and I wanted to see their happy endings.

I loved my time in Faerun, despite it all, and I'm just a little disappointed with how the last act played out. I wish the game had been allowed more time to be finished, for the love and care that so clearly shines in Acts 1 and 2 to be allowed to flourish in Act 3. The people who made this game clearly care, and they had a story to tell, and it leaves a bitter taste behind that they so clearly were not permitted to tell it how they wanted to.

[admhawthorne]

“You want to know who I made it here?” Kiryu snorted as he leaned back in his chair and glanced amusedly around his plush fortress. “Alright, in the beginning, I was confused because it shouldn’t have worked. The goddess who sent me here told me I’d develop powers and abilities as I leveled up, but there it was. I’d somehow managed to enable God Mode through the most well-known cheat code humans from our world have ever known. That had to be some Celestial programmer’s idea of a joke, but I took it.”

Nodding for the adventurer to sit in one of the conformable seats nearby, Kiryu chuckled. “Don’t look so surprised. You’re not the first the Celestial Temple has sent here, and neither am I.” He poured two glasses of wine from a freshly opened bottled, set one down for the adventurer, and began to slowly sip from the other. “The first thing I did was max everything out include my gold, bought the finest armor and weapons, and purchased all the maps so I could get a feel for the world instead of rambling blindly through it. It took me a couple of days to make it to the final boss’s lair, and, when I made my way inside, I quickly realized this was going to be a cakewalk.”

The adventurer took a cautious sip of the wine, decided it was fine, and took another, larger sip. “But why?”

“Because I was severely over leveled. I was ten levels above the final boss. It would’ve taken me a decade or more to grind enough to hit that level on my own.” Kiryu finished his wine and set the glass down. “I one-shotted him, which brought the goddess immediately into the world. She praised me for my heroics, talked about her confusion in how I’d accomplished everything so quickly, and then she told me I could ask her one question before she took me from this land and into the afterlife.”

The adventurer swallowed hard, flinching at the cold look in Kiryu’s eyes. “W-what did you ask?”

“I asked her if this world would cycle through this whole huge evil destroys peaceful civilians until an adventurer comes to save them thing, which surprised her. Evidentially, it was something she’d never been asked. I assumed she’d say no because that would make sense. After all, I had just taken out the boss, so the world should be fine. Instead, she told me yes.”

“Yes?” The adventurer nearly fumbled their wine glass. “B-but why?”

Kiryu’s hands flexed in and out of fists. “Because this was her world, and she had decided it was one she would use to test the might of humans as she saw fit. Of course, I was appalled. There are real people living here; they’re not pawns in a goddess’s cruel games.”

Nodding, the adventurer seemed to be thinking very hard as they stared at Kiryu. “You’re telling the truth.”

“You must have the lie detector ability. Good. Use it as much as you want. In fact, here,” Kiryu waved his hands and several mana potions appeared, “to keep up your magic so you can continue to see I’m telling you the truth.” He stood and began to pace about his study. “I was this world’s hero, its savior, and I’d just learned that its goddess was also its biggest enemy. I couldn’t stand by and watch her keep doing this to these poor people over and over again, so I did what I thought was just.” He turned to face the adventurer. “I killed her.”

“So, you did kill a goddess!” The adventurer stood to face Kiryu, hand slowly going to their sword.

“No, I killed the final boss, and now you have to make a decision. Do you listen to the Celestial Temple and believe them when they say I’ve committed a heinous and unforgivable act, or do you side with me and remain here to continue protecting this world from the Celestial Temple’s cruel games? Which is it, Dawn. Choose wisely.”

Dawn could see Kiryu was still speaking truths, and she knew the Temple was often manipulative and self-serving. She’d spent a lot of time with the people of this world, and they were good, kind folks who didn’t deserve to be used as fodder. Sighing, she sheathed her sword.

“I can’t go back. They’ll either kill me or wipe my memory,” she stated sadly as she slid back down into her chair.

“You’re welcome to stay here. There’s plenty of room in this fortress for the both of us. Help me protect this land and its people,” Kiryu offered as he held his hand out in a gesture of welcome.

“I’m not like you, Kiryu. I’m not strong enough to hold up against a fight with gods,” she defeatedly replied.

He shook his hand at her, urging her to take it. “But you could be. Agree to stay. Pledge to protect this world, and I’ll tell you how.”

Looking up at him, she slowly took his hand and stood. “Alright. I pledge myself to protecting this world and its people until my dying breath.”

He smiled at her, his eyes dancing with excitement. “Good. Now, let me remind you of the Konami code…”

[tsunami1biggestwave]

#WAYS_TO_CONQUER_FEAR At the beginning of each new year many people consider making resolutions to change for the better. Of those who succeed in making resolutions many fail. But many fail before they give success a chance because of fear. Some are afraid of failure, others are afraid of success. Regardless of the source of the fear, it immobilizes too many and prevents them from achieving what they desire and are capable of. There is no more sure way to fail than to never try. This year, don’t let fear kill your hustle before you even get moving. This may help you! 1. Understand fear and embrace it. Fear exists to keep us safe. It is not inherently bad or good but a tool we can use to make better decisions. Fear isn’t designed to keep us inactive, but to help us act in ways that generate the results we need and want. Embrace fear as instruction and let it inform your actions, but not control them. 2. Don’t just do something, stand there! We tend to admire people who are quick to action, but being deliberate, creating a plan, and pacing yourself are also actions. Many a successful undertaking has been threatened or ruined by haste alone. When fear strikes consider whether the correct action might be to analyze the options and make a wise, well thought out choice rather than jumping to what seems right in the heat of the moment. 3. Name the fear. Sometimes merely stating what your fear is gives you the strength to deal with it. Say your fear out loud, write it down, or focus your mind on it. When you try to ignore your fear, it grows. When you face it, it shrinks. 4. Think long term. 5. Educate yourself. 6. Prepare, practice, role play. 7. Utilize peer pressure. 8. Visualize success. 9. Gain a sense of proportion. 10. Get help. 11. Follow others, find a recipe. 12. Have a positive attitude. 13. Be willing to pivot. 14. Focus on others as your motivation. Life has a long way in Fear! #abwenelson (at Jumeirah Grand Mosque) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8wvi8BBuC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[youareinlove]

I LOVE Emily Henry! I reread them all about 2 weeks ago. I think my ranking is

Beach read

funny story

book lovers

pwmov

happy place

In whimsy romance (what I call romcoms) there is a fine line of too corny to be true and fantastical enough to keep me interested. But ultimately, just because I like a trope, doesn’t mean the book sings. Because I can (and I want to) I’m explaining my ranking. Happy Place has fake dating, shared bed, and second chance but really falls flat for me because I think Harriet was working through a LOT and made 2 incredibly rash decisions at the end of the book. Idk the ending really soured it for me. I also am not a huge fan of the way they lied to the people closest to them like that (even if the friends knew).

Friends to lovers is my absolute favorite trope when done well. But even though they are friends their lives are so incompatible I had a hard time rooting for them. Also uChicago is an incredibly difficult college to get into and neither Alex nor Poppy give the vibe of Chicago students.

I love book lovers, but I fear this book suffers from “I just I like the other 2 more.” Also I don’t think Charlie and Nora are particularly romantic, so there is less whimsy in what I think could be an incredibly romantic small town. I do tend to love the rivals to lovers trope (as you’ll see soon).

funny story - I wonder if this is Taylor’s favorite. Miles reminds me of how I imagine Travis (though physically he’s more wyn from happy place). Feel like her writing really helped elevate this story and made the tropes feel believable. This book has my favorite side plots and location. The resolution to this book feels the warmest because everyone in their lives was also cheering them on at the read-a-thon.

beach read - my first of hers and forever favorite. Grumpy/sunshine, rivals with secret crushes to lovers, and forced proximity. And it’s so romantic. And I love their banter.

spoilers for all of these books ahead

ooh! my ranking is funny story > happy place > beach read > pwmov.

i think a lot of people feel the way you did about happy place and i agree that the ending felt a bit rushed and sudden, especially compared to the slower pace of the book up until the third act. things just suddenly move really fast in a way that's hard to keep up with as a reader, and it makes her decisions seem way rasher than the buildup to them would suggest. when it comes to them lying to their friends, i think it's understandable because the narrative explains why they feel the need to and their reasons make sense, even if they're misguided. but i do agree with your points overall, and most of why i enjoyed this one as much as i did was the friend group dynamic, because i think she did a great job of writing it

when it comes to pwmov, i really enjoyed how the narrative dealt with their incompatible lifestyles because to me, that was what made their arc interesting. figuring out how the characters were going to work through that inherent conflict and watching them grapple with it was a highlight of the plot for me, and i think pwmov actually addressed the "we have fundamentally incompatible hopes for the future" issue better than happy place did. the way poppy and alex settled on a compromise worked a lot better for me as well because their arcs justified the conclusion in a way that felt satisfying and not rushed. can't argue with your point about uchicago though, because i've never been to chicago but i'm sure you're right

haven't read book lovers so i'll have to get back to you on that one

it's so funny to me that you mentioned the similarities between miles and travis because i thought the same thing! they're so similar personality-wise and i absolutely noticed lol. i love funny story and i'm glad you did too

beach read is very cute! i've spoken very highly of it and i stand by everything i've said. i think it's a quintessential example of what makes emily henry's writing so great

[everybodysaycbx]

YOUR TAGS ON SOO’S FILMOGRAPHY ALFHAKHSAKBit really do be like that 😭😭😭

Like 75% of his stuff hits straight to the water pipes, even the stuff he only has a minor role in

LITERALYYYYYY its so hard to watch most of his stuff even tho i want to bc hes such a good actor but when theres a new movie of his coming out its almost always a serious drama and im like,,,,,,,,,,do i wanna watch him die again or do i need some happiness rn bcjskqkwjjdjshhhsqjj

probably why i rewatch 100 days my prince so often its my favorite kdrama of his (i love historical dramas so im biased lol) and yeah theres some sad and even tragic moments but its overall a good time and very interesting (plus he and nam jihyun are wonderful in this (and everything they do tbh) and so are the supporting actors

also now im going to use this as an excuse to ramble about my thoughts on the show bc i love it but i have Critiques™ so ill put a read more for spoilers bc ill talk about them a lot

almost all of these issues if not all are all about the writing so there wont be any criticism of the acting which i thought was pretty good overall by kdrama standards (there were only a few times where i thought it was detrimental to my enjoyment but again it was still more to do with my problems with the writing)

so to really get into it, the pacing suffers with the back half of the episodes feeling a bit rushed especially in the last few episodes. i didnt feel like the first half was dragging much except in a few areas but again it didnt detract from my enjoyment. the last id say 5 or 6 episodes really feel like they were speedrunning which made the ending less satisfying

so when i looked at reviews of the show years ago i saw many people criticizing how the main antagonist died bc it felt anticlimatic and i do agree, especially on first watch. while its not as jarring as the first time when ive rewatched it the way he dies still doesnt feel built up as well as it could have been and i think it could have worked if the pacing for the ending wasnt so rushed (plus the numerous twists during the last couple of episodes made it a bit hard to follow where it was heading and some of what WAS set up i think was lost in that but tbh thats par for the course for kdramas lol)

speaking of the ending, i get why it ended the way that it did with the marriage mandate happening again to make everything come full circle, but character wise i dont think it was the way to go. wondeuk has always expressed even before he lost his memory that he hated being royal and never wanted to live that life because of what his father did to get it. and even knowing that he wasnt wondeuk and was probably a noble at the very least he wanted to be with hongshim in the village or wherever they needed to go. hongshim similarly has already gotten used to being a commoner and has lived that way longer than her former life. even in the epilogue she doesnt really live her life as a noble even if her status has been reinstated. i think it wouldve made more sense if he renounced the throne and chose to live with her in the village.

adding to the last point, if they had stayed in the village together and he abdicated, then his half brother would be the crown prince and the queen wouldnt be on her bullshit even at the end of the show!!! dude literally killed the guy who was threatening you and controlling your husband and you still cant stop trying to fuck him over so your son can be king??? i know the evil manipulative queen is a trope in these but shes so illogical it was a bit annoying which is a shame bc i usually love those characters

the show like,,,,,less than halfway through forgets wondeuks half brother is even a character like why was he even there. theres some indication in the beginning of the show that he likes the crown princess but that doesnt really go anywhere (its only brought up in like 2 scenes at the beginning and in the epilogue wheres shes moved to a remote location with the baby and goes to visit for some reason.....dude yall had maybe 3 lines of dialogue between each other. why are you here) and he even tells wondeuk that he hates him but we never really figure out why bc he doesnt really want to be the crown prince that much (not that i can recall rn) so his only role in the story is to help the queen be a red herring but not be a real character of his own

this is more of what i felt upon rewatch but every time i rewatch it i find it more and more annoying but the palace drama where the queen is spreading rumors and then the guys who support the antagonist make fake fliers about how the kingdom wants her deposed for this in order to manipulate the king is just,,,,,extremely uninteresting upon rewatch. like so much is happening that goes on for so long and its dragged out for way longer than it should be AND it takes time away from the village plot with wondeuk and hongshim aka the actual interesting part. so now i mostly just skip those parts even tho when i first watched the show it was fairly interesting tho i felt it dragged on a bit too long so i wont say this is a huge strike against it or anything

while i knew the brother was going to die bc thats how these kinds of stories work i was still upset fjisjshdsjsh he was a great character and while i think it still makes sense why and its still narratively satisfying imo, i think it would still be satisfying if he lived and he and the princess escaped successfully. i think it would work a little bit better actually bc it would make the antagonists decisions make a little more sense in the finale bc not everything is going to his plan and hes losing more control (plus they deserve to be happy :(( they deserve the happy ending wondeuk and hongshim get too) plus it would still tie in with hongshims motivations for rejecting wondeuk initially before the epilogue

thats the last of the criticism but this isnt a praise so ill leave an idea i had for like a what if scenario ig: so i always wondered what would happen if either the antagonist doesnt get to wondeuk in time during the festival or he gets killed by the people the king sent to attack him and hongshims brother gets there to take them them plus her dad with them into hiding. and the awkward tension that would ensue when wondeuk either figures out her brother is the assassin thats been coming after them or just immediately knows when he sees him come to get them but they both dont want to hurt hongshim by telling her what they know about the other but shes distressed that they obviously dont like each other and this is all happening while theyre running around the woods and trying to find a place they can hide out and her dad is just,,,,,,,so confused the entire time but trying to make everyone get along fjwwqkdhuheuedh idk i could add to this later bc i have so many ideas on how it could play out but ill stop there fisksjbdjssjdjssj

[star-ocean-peahen]

Fucking lady Din i hated the Crystalized finale

Not just the finale even the entire second half of the season. I just binge watched it and it SUUUUUUCKED

HORRIBLE pacing. What even was that. None of the plotlines felt aligned or in sync and everything felt like it was moving incredibly slowly. We spent a good quarter of the season in the invasion.

Idk what was up with the cinematography but it looked worse than usual?? Like there were so many shots of up close faces that......weren't doing anything that needed to be zoomed in on?

Garmadon's a hilarious smartass and I genuinely enjoyed his segments but holy moly I did not like his relationship with Lloyd. Garmadon seems to be regaining his humanity but he never remembers himself?? Like he acts WAY more like the Garmadon from the Lego Ninjago Movie than the show Garmadon, who was, may I remind you, literally defined by how he loved his son more than anything else. And then in his "redemption arc" they're all like "he's trying to learn compassion and care so that Lloyd will forgive him" WELL HE'S DOING A DAMN HORRIBLE JOB OF 1. SHOWING IT AND 2. ACTING AT ALL LIKE GARMADON TRYING TO LOVE HIS SON. Seriously the way he treated Lloyd was SO out of character. It makes total sense if he's a broken echo of the real Garmadon and so he treats Lloyd with indifference, but they're presenting Garmadon trying to learn compassion as becoming the same guy he was before he was resurrected, and BOY HOWDY THOSE ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE.

Speaking of which: Lloyd why are you being so fucking nice to everybody. He doesn't WANT to forgive his dad. So much of the resurrected Garmadon's character hinges on him being the exact OPPOSITE of the real Garmadon! THAT'S NOT HIS DAD AND HE ACTS LIKE HE KNOWS IT!!! But then he goes and acts like he's kinda getting his dad back even though Garmadon's been a tremendous asshole to him the whole time!! All Garmadon did was not kill a guy (like anyone is allowed to be killed anymore in this show lmao) and Lloyd is suddenly acting like he's made up for what he did?? To be clear I don't think redemption is obtained by doing penance to the people you've hurt, but Lloyd, character-wise, has no reason to treat Garmadon like he's worthy of his trust and love besides his desire to change.

Coming off of that, the show has been so bastardized by misguided "protect the children" principles that it's actively harming the story. Lloyd's the good guy, so he has to forgive and befriend everyone who realizes they're wrong, no matter what they've done to him. Remember, Garmadon disowned him. Harumi made it very clear that she wanted to psychologically torture him and would do ANYTHING to make him hurt. Any love that Lloyd had for these people HAS to be tainted by how much hurt there is in the relationship. But no, he's the protagonist, and protagonists of children's shows have to destroy themselves loving people who hate them and aren't even allowed to feel bad about it.

Also (I think I'll make a separate post about this) the fight scenes have gotten so boring now that they're not allowed to punch. When they're engaged in combat they only ever shoot, dodge, run, and hide. It makes the show feel incredibly pretend and shallow, because they're shying away from actual emotional investment and consequences.

Nya. My love. My darling. Why do you want your powers back. I thought you losing your powers and becoming Samurai X again meant you were rejecting the broken standards and refusing to push yourself to become something that was contrary to your actual character so you could reclaim your symbol of self-determination and independence??? Wtf that arc was literally show long why why why does she have to get her powers back???

UGGHGHGGHGHGHGHGHG HARUMI WHY. We already knew her motivations made no sense but if she's so motivated by vengeance and self-preservation why is she throwing her character aside for a guy that she, oh yeah, hates so much that she revived his dead father to kick his ass?? And if that specific motivation is lessened now because she wants darkness to win the balance or whatever crap that was then why is she so driven to serve the Overlord. Again, if it's self preservation, why the fuck is she so obsessed with Lloyd?? She makes literally no sense.

holy FUCK is the sexism in this show getting obvious. The more I watch the more I see it's literally everywhere. Nya tells the boys to stop using their special thingy so their engines don't overheat. They snark at her and don't listen. Lloyd tells them the same thing. THEY TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY. I am genuinely happy Nya's back in the Samurai X role because that really is where she shines, but NO ONE FUCKING LISTENS TO HER OR RECOGNIZES HER WORK UNLESS THEY THINK THEY NEED HER. Believe me, I love Jaya, but their relationship as it functions is still backwards. No one listens to the girls unless they're doing work for them. UGHGUGHGUGUGHGHGHG

I'm sorry to say it but the Pixane moments felt soulless. I love Pix she's best girl and it was genuinely amazing the way she was carting around Angwy Zane. Her expressions and voice convey so much and it's incredible. But the moment when she woke him up from the coma felt so lackluster compared to the moments they've shared in the past. It's like the writers don't know how to write interesting and healthy romantic relationships after they've gotten together OH WAIT

How dare you show me a four-headed dragon and pretend it's Ultra after you killed them. How fucking dare you show me the ninja reaching up to pet the individual elemental dragon heads and pretend that Ultra never existed.

Lloyd's Oni form FUCKING FSM that was underwhelming. He just looked like a shiny gold Garmadon. He should REALLY have had a dragon/oni hybrid form because that MAKES MORE FUCKING SENSE-

BECAUSE. I hate the angle they went with where the Oni are just pure evil. Yep. They hate everybody and want to destroy everything. Not even human, how gross is that?? Taking things apart, wow, that's so evil for a toy line that depends on that concept. Totally evil, for no reason. I think my idea is SO much better and would have made at least more sense than "you must embrace the inherently evil part of you to defeat evil and darkness personified".

You know what they should have done?? Introduced the idea that Oni aren't inherently evil. That breaking things down is essential to making things better. They keep spouting about the balance and stick yin and yang symbols everywhere but then turn around with the pointedly Western concept of light vs. darkness. Only by accepting the parts of him he's ashamed of and confronting his fears would Lloyd be able to access his dragon and Oni powers. Seriously, cowards, give us dragon/oni hybrid Lloyd. Let him confront his mixed heritage in the way the First Spinjitzu Master and his sons were never able to. HAVE HIM FIND THE FALSITIES OF THE PAST'S LEGACY AND DISMANTLE THEM.

Also the Oni should have bird wings instead of scaly ones because the Dragon Form has dragon wings and the Oni form has.......dragon wings. Fluffy jet-black bird wings. Come on.

THEY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY THE WEEKEND WHIP??? IN ITS FULL VERSION??? INSTEAD WE ENDED ON SALLY'S SONG WHICH IS ADORABLE BUT FELT LIKE THE CREDITS OF A DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE AND NOT THE GOOD KIND???? i HEARD they had the Weekend Whip in there SOMEWHERE but I certainly didn't see it and I watched all the credits!!

WE HAD A BIG OLE SPEECH ABOUT HOW THE CORE FOUR CARED ABOUT EACH OTHER AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CALL EACH OTHER BROTHERS??? Like I know they've eased up on that in the newer seasons but COME ON IS FOUND FAMILY TOO DEVIANT FOR KIDS NOW??????

when the dragon ninja are hugging they don't even wrap their wings around each other. lmao.

Okay here are some things I found cool:

THE FUCKING CHICKEN!!!!!! ITS CHICKEN!!!!! ITS THERE!!!!!

why why WHY does clutch powers still have the teapot of tyrahn. why were a bunch of boys planning to jump him for it. why

genuinely the elements of this season are great. i LIKE seeing Harumi and Garmadon and Misako and random crystal generals and corrupted weapons of spinjitzu and dragon transformed ninjas and Nya as Samurai X and the paperkids. I think this season has so many great plotline concepts, but I don't like the way they executed them.

[letstalkabouttvshows]

This is my rant about RNM 4x06 - Kiss from a rose. Please, join me.

I need to vent about episode 6 and after I do that, I'll go back to my positive bubble. So bear with me for a few minutes.

I've been liking Season 4 so far. Let me start with that.

I think the episodes up to 5 had a good pace, and a good balance between individual plots, and overall, it was giving us the build-up for whatever bigger story arc this season has.

Up to 5, I got that feeling. Like, "ok, they are definitely building the tension and the stories to meet at some point where it will all fit".

Honestly, I still believe that and I still believe Alex (the only character that we don't know anything about plot-wise except he's in Jones's contingency plan) will play an important part in the bigger picture here.

But, episode 6 just overwhelmed me with all the things I dislike in this show's writing, all at once, and just made me annoyed as hell.

The pace 😡

For me, the first episode of the season that felt slow and disconnected as a whole. For five episodes we were having a solid pace and then, episode 6 just hit all the wrong notes.

Guest stars 😡

I love Eduardo, I really do. But all his scenes with his daughter felt overly dramatic and we met her, what? One episode ago? We don't care about her daddy issues, I'm sorry, but we don't.

Will these emotionally charged scenes between them have a place in the bigger story arc that's yet to be revealed?

Odds are, no. But even if it does set some kind of plot, still was too much for too little.

--

Bonnie, as Maria was last year for the first half of the season, it's turning into the main plot. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

The girl has the kiss of death, she did something awful to Michael, she still didn't share all she knows about Tezca, and yet, Max is sheltering her.

Max, the king of trust issues, let me add (I mean, make it make sense). At least she's not crashing at Malex's place.

I know we need guest stars to move the story along, and again, up to episode 5, it was making sense.

But now, we see more of her than we've seen Kyle, or Isobel or yes, ALEX, all season.

Will this have a point? A good resolution? Will all this time we spent with Bonnie be worth the screen time?

---

Tezca, for the first time this season, felt like a badly written villain.

Up to 5, we got the sense she's manipulating everyone. I mean, she took Alex first and nobody knows.

She knew exactly who to hit and what strings to pull.

Again, we had 5 episodes where Tezca was shaping up to be as manipulative as Jones but even edgier. Sinister.

The whole reveal of her true form, with the tattoos and her test to Bonnie (???) felt out of place and underwhelming.

Ok, she can't be stabbed to death but even that twist wasn't good enough to shake the feeling that they might turn Tezca in an all-over-the-place character.

Is it possible her scene at the station was all an act? One more manipulative thing she's pulling to deceive everyone about the plan?

GOD, I HOPE SO. Because this character has potential and would be a tragedy and a waste to not write her well.

Too much information with no real information 🤡

RNM has a way to throw a lot of information at us but when we think about it, there's no real information at all.

We know Max is the savior and has a lot of power. Liz has a part to play in the Ophiuchus movement. AGAIN, the bad guys movement, which means that's not good. We know Alex is part of a contingency plan created by Jones. We know he's in a hole. Dead or locked up. The options here a slim due to the fact the last time we saw him HE WAS GETTING QUICKSANDED. We know the alighting has begun.

And that's it.

There's no more information. They keep circling back to these huge points and they don't explain anything.

I get the build-up but we need to have some real answers. SOON.

The same arguments over and over again 🤡

Since episode 2, it seems like Echo has been arguing about the same things nonstop.

We get Max has powers he can't control. We get Liz has doubts.

In the same way, Michael's falling for the idea of a home planet seems like a broken record. We know Michael always wanted to go back. We get it. Now, move the story along. Get to the point already.

Get to the complicated part of it all because all the emotional struggle is already set up. Again, we get it.

The lack of simple logic 🤡

For a group that has a bunch of geniuses, they do often overlook the simplest of logic.

Like, if Alex's not reaching out, not checking-in, MAYBE there's something wrong.

Especially when the only mother figure he had growing up has died and the love of his life got sick for the first time. Oh, and yeah, there's a dark triad with a crazy shapeshifter with unstoppable powers.

These are all things Alex would go back to Roswell in a blink of an eye.

Why no one is finding it odd that he's not checked in yet?

There are other examples, fell free to add them in the comments if you want to.

My point is 😡🤡

Episode 6 was a mess when it's supposed to lead the way to midseason.

To set up the revelations, plot twists, story arcs, and all.

They had 5 solid episodes and all for what? For this episode to be the connecting element for the first half and second half of the season?

It didn't deliver. Unfortunately.

My hope is that episode 7 picks up the pace again and give us all we are craving for: ANSWERS.

And the missing piece that will make all these plots happening right now fit each other.

Ok, now I'm done. Back to my positive bubble until proven otherwise.

💜

PS: Feel free to rant in the comments too. It's a safe space. I think we all need it.