#Then my entire fam made fun of me because they thought I was into anime and ‘distasteful’ and ‘immature’

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

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[babyangelsky]

My Favorite QL Couples* of 2024 💖✨

Welcome to Babyangelsky's 2024 Wrap Up! To commemorate my second year of watching QL dramas, and my first year of actually talking on my blog, I've compiled a series of lists to celebrate all the QL things I loved this year!

My only criteria was that the show had to have either aired entirely in 2024 or had the majority of its run in 2024. No other limits at all (except for tumblr's photo limit). Please feel free to take my categories and make lists of your own and tag me in them if you do! I'd love to see what stuck out to everyone this year 💜

💜 All the lists can be found here! 💜

Without further ado, I'm going to kick things off with my favorite couples of the year!

♡ Tongrak and Mahasamut (Love Sea)

My darlings. My absolute loves. I knew Fort and Peat were going to deliver something special when Love Sea was announced and I am so glad that I was right. My love for them is as boundless as the sea that bonds them.

♡ Almond and Latte (Knock Knock Boys)

These two snuck up on me something serious. I never expected them to be this sweet and soft and bring such comfort to each other. They were my unexpected delight this year and I'm so happy I got to watch them fall in love.

♡ Yu and Ai (I Saw You in My Dream)

These two snuck up on me too, honestly. Never ever thought I would love them as much as I do considering how late I came into this show, but I cherish them very deeply. They're the sweetest childhood friends to lovers and they love each other so much. I don't think I've ever been prouder of a confession than when Yu finally confessed to Ai.

♡ Ken, Seiji, and Japan (Deep Night)

*Not a couple, but a THROUPLE! 2024 was a year of many, many BL blessings, one of the best of which was the fact that we got CANON POLY SIDES COURTESY OF CHEEWIN! We all hoped, we all prayed, we all looked at the workshop photos and thought 'surely we cannot be wrong', and when it came right down to it, we all got exactly what we wanted! I only wish that we'd gotten more of them.

KenSeijiPan you will always be famous.

♡ Ozone and Pie (Battle of the Writers)

Speaking of wanting more, I cannot believe it took this long for Mark Sorntast to get to kiss a boy on screen but damn, was it worth the wait. I want an entire spin-off of daddy Pie and his puppy Ozone because they were truly the best part of this show.

♡ X and Namping (Every You, Every Me)

Thanks to its format, Every You, Every Me gave us lots of great couples and fun dynamics but X and Namping were my favorites, even though their story ended tragically. The love was brief but it was beautiful and real.

♡ Meiji and Freya (Deep Night)

As if giving us canon poly wasn't enough, Cheewin also decided to bless us with milf yuri and then stacked one more blessing on top and gave them their own spin-off miniseries so we could have more time watching them fall in love. They're beautiful and I love them. This is how it feels to win.

♡ Yuan and Qian (Unknown)

I can't think of anything to say about these two that doesn't involve making dying animal noises and gesturing helplessly and maybe crying so just imagine me doing that to convey how I feel about this couple BECAUSE THAT'S ALL I GOT FAM THAT'S ALL I'M CAPABLE OF I'M SURE SOME OF YA'LL UNDERSTAND

♡ Tai x Kram (Two Worlds)

These are by far my favorite roles Max and Nat have played to date. The utter soulmates of it all. The every version of me will love every version of you in every universe of it all. Perfection. I only wish the show had been longer so their love really got a chance to breathe.

♡ Anin and Pin (The Loyal Pin)

Now, if a love ever got a chance to breathe, it was this love. They made you feel it. The yearning, the joy, the sweetness, all of it. We followed it all the way from childhood and it was such a satisfying experience. I will always have a soft spot for couples that are deranged about each other, however loudly or quietly they may go about it, and my girls are no exception.

♡ Phee and Non (Dead Friend Forever)

*scream singing* WE COULD'VE HAD IT ALLLLLLLL, ROLLING IN THE DEEEEEEEEP *cries on the floor*

♡ Tan and Fang (We Are)

AouBoom are never not a delight when they're on screen together, and TanFang were a delight in a veritable sea of delights. They got together early on and spent the rest of the show giving nothing but the best most delicious established couple goodness.

♡ Muenfah and Teerak (Your Sky)

At the time of writing we've only had these two for a few weeks but that's more than enough time for their adorable sweetness to land them on this list. They're darling. The relationship may be fake (for now) but the love is real.

♡ Sun and Junior (Caged Again)

The same goes for these two, and isn't that just the surprise of the year? HOW DID THE PANTHER AND PENGUIN TURN INTO PEOPLE SHOW END UP GIVING US SUCH AN ADORABLE COUPLE?

♡ Shao Peng and Zi Xiang (See Your Love)

They're just so soft and so gentle and they make each other feel heard and understood and I love them so much. Their boyfriend era may actually kill me.

♡ Jack and Joke (Jack & Joker)

*gently shakes Yin and War* Would giving us just a little more horny, loving boyfriend era and fewer horrors have been so hard? Do ya'll think you can get away with it because you're so pretty and so beloved?

Because they are. And they can actually. And they did. I adore them.

♡ Yak and Dee (Wandee Goodday)

One of my favorite things in this life is when a fake relationship slowly turns into a real relationship and two people who think they can be casual about each other are actually completely incapable of being so. Yak and Dee gave me exactly that and I love them for it.

♡ Oyei and Cher (Wandee Goodday)

Another side couple for which I would absolutely love a spin-off, but we did get to see them have their wedding (the first GMMTV wedding since the marriage equality bill was passed!) which is just as good. The love they have for each other, the support they give each other is top tier. They have my heart.

♡ God and Diew (Monster Next Door)

If I were to give an award for amazing communication between a couple, I would absolutely be giving it to these two. It was so refreshing to see them not only love and support each other, but talk and listen to each other. They were a delight.

♡ Myung Ha and Yeo Woon (Love for Love's Sake)

They were so sweet and so sad and they saved each other by loving each other so much that it broke reality and I just love them with my entire soul.

♡ San and Vee (Century of Love)

When this was airing I talked a lot about how it didn't actually matter whether Vee was Wad or not and that what mattered was San making a choice but for the record? Vee was totally Wad. He and San were SOULMATES!

♡ Neil and Sea (First Note of Love)

What if a couple was so gentle and soft that it made you wanna cry? What if they saved each other with music? What if they made each other brave?

♡ Moo and Kang (Only Boo!)

My darling boys. My sweetest most adorable boys who make me wanna curl into a ball and cry happy tears because I adore them so much. Moo's singular desire in this life part from becoming an idol is to save up enough money to marry Kang and NOW HE CAN AND I'M IN MY FEELINGS ABOUT IT EVEN MONTHS LATER.

♡ Karan and Achi (Cherry Magic Th)

They're perfect. In every conceivable way. Their love was just so lovely, it was such a joy. Everything about it and about them was so lovely to watch.

��� Haruki x Jin (Our Youth)

These two have so much potential to hurt me. In fact, I'm almost certain that they will. But they just --*gestures helplessly*--you know? They hit exactly right for me.

[littlest-nightingale]

little! 13th Doctor because I've talked ab her as a caregiver but not as a little:

 • oh my god. she is a DISASTER

 • she goes to great lengths to hide her regression/not regress. like she is FIGHTING IT

 • about... 1-3 years old? she's little little

 • i genuinely don't think she had an entirely pleasant regression the entire time she was the doctor. i actually think she was that miserable. like maybe there were some regressions that were enjoyable but i think she was lonely and upset most of the time

 • she was absolutely desperate not to let the fam know. She didn't want them to think she was weak, and she definitely didn't want them to see her when she was so helpless.

 • part of it was definitely because this regeneration was a woman! lots of people started treating her differently when she regenerated into a woman, and part of that was that people thought she was weaker or dumber or more incompetent. So she definitely didn't want people to know she regressed! she didn't want to be viewed as more incompetent than people already seemed to view her as.

 • it was also because she was running from her issues. regression takes away what little filter she does have. if she was to regress and say something about the stress she was under, the fam would definitely start pushing her to talk about it, which she very much doesn't want to do!

 • finding out about the timeless child ordeal broke her. She had an entire childhood she couldn't remember because it was taken from her! and, because we know she could remember little glimpses of it, what if regression allowed her to remember. little bits and pieces. little glimpses into tecteuns experiments. maybe even the few times she was forced to regenerate.

 • after finding out, regression wasn't safe for her! memories she wasn't even supposed to have started slipping through the cracks, and unfortunately, her regression isn't entirely voluntary.

 • it didn't help that she spent 19 years in isolation immediately afterwards. she was stuck in that cell and she would regress and she would remember and there was nobody there to help her through it.

 • and even afterwards, she didn't open up about it. ever. She pushed through, she regenerated, and that was it.

 • in terms of regression gear, she has quite a lot. that doesn't mean she uses it.

 • 10, 11, and 12 were also regressors. 10 got a metric fuckton of regression gear and that collection has been modified and added on to with each new regeneration.

 • most of this is kept in a nursery/playroom originally made for 10, which she has asked the TARDIS to hide down the longest hallway she could generate (sometimes the TARDIS pushes the room forward. 13 doesn't take that well)

 • she keeps one stuffed animal in her room. one raggedy stuffed giraffe clara had gifted 11. it is hidden under her bed next to a teether and a box of stim toys

 • given her just. general autism. and how she is. she can get away with alot. she can have stim toys. she can stop talking. she can have cute onesie pajamas. you get the idea. so at least she has that.

 • but stepping away from the absolute misery, here's some happier ones:

 • i think there were positive regression triggers, even if she suppressed it. like at Yaz's grandma's wedding, when they were doing the henna tattoos (i believe that's what they were? im not too familiar with the culture, excuse me if i am wrong and feel free to correct me) as well as the fez, and getting her new clothes!

 • She has a tamagotchi! She is very good at taking care of it, despite it all. She also has a ds with Nintendogs, which was previously used by 11. it's modded so she can have more dogs than the game allows =]

 • she has matching bracelets with her giraffe plush!

 • Shes got a blanket with stars on it, sometimes she lays on top of it with her nightlight on because. sparkly

 • she draws on herself. yes she has paper yes she could draw on a more permanent surface but it's more fun to draw on herself

[chaosmagetwin]

Tonight, I watched ruin explorers! It’s an anime OVA (a mini series in this case) starring a human swordswoman (sometimes she’s a mouse)a catgirl elf mage, a human girl mage (antagonistic at first), a human master swordsman (also antagonistic at first), a red haired human prince (it’s sometimes green), and a dog’s owner who is also a conman. Also human. Spoilers below the cut.

It’s good! It’s really good. Unfortunately, I was watching with other people, and I was assigned to the character “Fam”, the elf catgirl, who is dumb and sweet and in the English dub (which is actually more fun and expressive than the sub, strangely enough) had a fantastic overly girly sweetie voice that I adored.

This made me hyper fixate on her. Just a little bit. As everyone watching it at the time was trans, we naturally had a very queer reading of this show.

Ihrie (human swordswoman) a total baddie. Whenever she casts a spell (which is like 3 times in the entire show), she turns into a mouse. She uses medicine to turn human again. Our read; transbien they/she, too competent for her own good.

Fam (elf catgirl mage) a bimbo catgirl who just wants to be friends with as many people and spirits as possible, because she’s lonely. She doesn’t use destructive magic because she doesn’t want to scare spirits away and be lonely again. She wears stirrup leg warmers. To our eyes; Transgirl, she/her, pansexual menace, but also too ditzy. In the canon, she’s head over heels for the red haired prince. In my head, she’s married to Ihrie, and also head over heels for the prince. And also for Rasha.

Rasha (human girl mage) a questionably smart mage who doesn’t seem to care about spirits. In our eyes; She’s terminally cis het, and also really into the prince. She’s competent enough, but also an asshole.

Miguel (human swords master (probably(not))) a braggart who constantly gets beat up for comic relief, but is actually a good sword man when things go down. Just… also a braggart. To our eyes; cis het. A moron. Likes Rasha, Rasha probably also likes him, they’re probably married, fuck this guy, no further thoughts.

Prince Lyle (the prince! Not evil! Probably!) A prince whose country was destroyed and now he seeks the ultimate power to kill the man who destroyed it. He’s kind of traumatized and sad and he had a fiancé who died. Very sad. Anyways, he’s beautiful and in canon, 2 of the 3 women are literally throwing themselves at him, and he is not interested at all. In our eyes; trans gay twink malewife that had a t4t marriage (his wife died, but due to translation, she was referred to as “my marrier”, which we took as very gay, simple as.) and now the boy is way too fucked up to ever contemplate moving on. We were pretty sure he was going to be evil, but it turns out he wasn’t? Very odd. Boys this pretty should be breaking hearts by being bad, not by being actually good but emotionally unavailable smh this is too realistic.

Galuf (the merchant miscreant conman) the comedic relief character. Unabashedly greedy. A worm. He’d sell his soul if it meant not getting a paper cut. We love him. Best worst boy. Despite being the oldest in the show, dude was batting at a solid .000 no wins, only losses. Love him. He’s the reason anyone actually meets up, works together, or is even on the adventure. He funds the expeditions. We have 0 thoughts on him, he’s perfect as he is in the show. No notes.

Now, that’s a lot of introduction to get to my fucking point, and my point is that I love Fam.

Like, just look at her. She’s so shaped. She’s so gender. I want to be her. She’s got the tall, the ears, the voice, the hair, she’s just so cool. Wish she was wearing more than a loincloth, but whatever, it was the 90’s.

She’s just the world’s softest girl. She just wants to be friends, and to not be lonely, and she is really pure. It actually sort of bothered me that the people watching assigned me to her, because she seemed too sweet, and also I’m... I’m not that dumb. I am occasionally that ditzy, I guess. I’m also not that monogamous, which my friends conceded was a fair point. While I was watching it, I just kept getting wrapped up in what Fam was doing, and wound up really kinning her, and did more than a fair share of projection.

Anyways, that was all, so, I guess that’s all to say that she’s going into my soul now, and I will come out the other side having been made anew, probably a bit dumber but much sweeter probably.

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEWS: “Enchanting Grom Fright”

The hype for this episode was unreal. We got the crew telling us that we weren’t ready on social media. It was a madhouse. To think that the little ship that could would have this big a leap in canon is unreal. Let’s just get to it.

The cold open starts with Luz trying to find more glyphs in her off time. I thinks it really shows her development so far. Now she’s willing to do the work to figure out her kind of magic, as oppose to say episode two where she just wanted to be great because she was “chosen.”

“My glyph skills are blossoming”

But then reality ensues...

Using the portal to let the wifi signal into The Owl House is not the dumbest reason I’ve heard to open an interdimensional portal between worlds but it is one of the most mundane. SOMEHOW, Luz can still receive texts from her mom FROM ANOTHER WORLD. Not that it makes too much of a difference since Luz barely answers them. 

As much fun as it is to focus on the magic and the shipping and the friendship and the curse, Luz still knows that she’s still lying to her mom. The guilt is there, but luckily being a main character keeps her too busy to think about it.

“Luz, time to fill that darling head of yours with...huuh huuh huuh HAKKK, mmm, mmm, mmh, delicious knowledge.”

Never change, Hooty.

It’s that time of year again that Luz doesn’t know about yet, Grom: The Boiling Isles’ weird version of prom. Every fantasy world has one. 

*hiss*

Amity bumps into Luz, and I know this is going to sound weird, but I really like Amity’s “Watch it, nitwit.” Amity’s character has changed and developed from our perspective which is the perspective of Luz and The Owl House fam. But she’s not a completely different character. Amity still has a bit of a temper and gets agitated easily. It makes sense to me and I’m glad I haven’t found anyone be like “Hey if Amity is nicer, why did she get mad when she bumped into someone?” 

Amity is nicer to Luz and co. because she’s gotten to know Luz and co. You don’t treat everyone in your life the same. Amity is one of those people that you need to defrost with first. Belief is backed up by experience and so are people’s personas. (Not that persona. I’m being serious here.) Because of Amity’s experiences, she’s believed that in order to survive she has to put people at arm’s length, then when she gets to know you, she’ll decide if she wants to let you in or not. So I guess that means that based on her interactions with Luz, Amity has decided...

You know what? I’ll save that for my Lumity meta.

The popular theory is that Amity was going to put her note in Luz’s locker, hence why she bumped into them. But actually seeing Luz and being announced as grom queen probably made her lose her nerve.

“Embrace your dreams...”

Amity is announced to be this year’s grom queen. Luz is happy for her before Amity runs in shock and embarrassment. Okay.

Luz discovers the gym’s weapons cache (not a thing I thought I would ever type) and Amity explains grom. Since Luz is from the human world and all that.

Grom is a monster that lives under the school and needs to be defeated every year so it doesn’t invade the town. It’s a classic shape-shifting fear monster. Odd are I have (and so have you) at least seen three or four of these in our lives already. Amity doesn’t want to show the entire school her greatest fear, especially since she already knows what it is. Luz suggest talking to Bump and Amity says she’ll try.

Another scene of Eda and King laughing and mocking Luz. Because I liked it so much the first time.

Eda gets dressed up herself because she’s volunteered to chaperone grom. Luz tells her that Amity is grom queen but wishes that she could take her place. We get...you know and Luz walks off. 

“I think we should kiss to ease the tension.”

Luz randomly meets up with Amity in the woods because I guess Amity had the same idea to take a walk to clear her head. Whatever. Amity tells Luz that Bump wasn’t going to change his mind unless Amity found a replacement. Luz volunteers because...she’s Luz, friend to all.

Except maybe that spider.

Top 10 Anime Betrayals

The Blight Siblings try to help Luz train against grom only for Eda to find out about their little plan. Here’s where we find out why Eda volunteered to chaperone a Hexside event even though she hates that place:

“What’s the fun in watching a kid get eaten by a monster if it’s my kid?”

That’s hilarious. To me. 

Luz and Amity have a moment before Luz’s debut and Amity thanks Luz for everything she’s done. They have more adorable banter before Luz takes the stage. 

“Wish me luck.”

“Luck.”

I’m guessing that’s not an expression in The Boiling Isles.

Luz faces Grom and it seems to be going better than everyone predicted until...you know

“Mija, this would be such a good shot for the trailer.”

Yup, we all predicted this. Luz’s greatest fear is her mom finding out that she’s been lying to her. Luz panics and takes off with Eda and Amity to chase after her.

Eda comes in for the save when Amity bursts in the scene saying “Boy let me tell you what.” She doesn’t really I just like saying that. You know, in my head. I mean, if you heard the way I was saying it out loud you’d probably think it was funny too but you know...text.

Grom gets a hold of Amity and transforms into her greatest fear. And we see why Amity didn’t want to face Grom in front of the whole school. She didn’t want everyone to see that Amity’s fear is very...emotional. Not physical. She’s not afraid of a giant spider or anything. It’s a little closer to the heart.

Amity clutching at her dress like a little kid is both the cutest and the saddest thing. This fear of hers is so bad it makes this fourteen year old feel like she’s four. I’m so sure she was about to cry right there. Or maybe that’s me. Could be both.

Luz picks up the note and discovers that Amity was trying to ask somebody out before she was announced as grom queen. Amity was afraid of being rejected. Luz tries to ease her fears by asking her out to grom. 

Trying seeing it from Luz’s point of view. She has no idea who Amity wants to ask out. Luz doesn’t even consider that it could be her because again, belief is backed by experience. Luz was considered a weirdo with no friends in the human world. She even said earlier in the episode that she got kicked out of her last school dance for dressing like an otter. Luz has no reason to believe that someone would like her romantically. She would like to. It is a fantasy of hers, but her experience tells her that other people don’t see her that way so she doesn’t consider that Amity wanted to ask Luz out.

I’ll save the rest for another blog post, although I did talk about this last year too.

But since Amity did want to ask Luz out and Luz asked her out instead, Amity’s fears are eased. Grom does what every fear monster does when their target overcomes their fears and says “Screw it, I’m just going to kick your ass!”

And then this happens:

As a Star vs the Forces of Evil fan, let me just say this is our Blood Moon Ball moment. The moment that the show tells the audience in John Oliver’s voice, “Yup this is the ship we’re doing so strap in folks.”

Luz and Amity work together to combine magic to take down Grom. It also helps that they eased each others’ fears. Luz can’t think about her mom if she’s focused on helping Amity. 

Luz and Amity defeat Grom in a blaze of glory. Luz being Luz, decides to ask Amity who she wanted to ask out just to see if she would tell you. Amity brushes it off.

“It doesn’t matter. After all, I already got to dance with the girl I like.”

Everyone celebrates but when Luz gets home she’s more tired than anything.

Maybe it was Grom, but Luz decides to give her mom a real answer. It’s been tough but it’s also been fun. There are good and bad days. Sometimes she feels like she doesn’t belong. But she has friends. They care about her, she cares about them, and that’s more than enough reason to stay. 

THEN THIS SHIT HAPPENS!

Yeah, the Meteora moment in Star vs the Forces of Evil. The moment where the show went “Never mind that shit. Here comes a complete change in the status quo.” 

Someone or something is sending Luz’s mom letters. It’s Luz’s handwriting, but it’s clearly not Luz since she can’t spell her name right. Season one already finished and we still have no idea what this is. 

I was all happy a second ago. Now I’m nervous as all hell. It’s a madhouse I tells ya. A madhouse!

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

Wow. Just wow. This episode had everything. Jokes, plot, romance, character development, cameos, dancing, girls, MOM(?), crashing on your couch because technically I’m homeless.

I shipped Lumity before this, but this was the episode that told me that yes it was going to happen. We’re all in. 

But it’s not perfect.

Yeah, did any of you noticed that I didn’t even mention the B-plot? I’m going to be honest. The reason is...

I hate it.

I hate the B-plot so much that I skip it every time I watch this episode. I still don’t think Gus is that funny or interesting. Hell, Skara’s mini plot with her date and/or boyfriend was funnier.

But everything else about the episode more than outshines the B-plot so I still give it a five.

Next time we finish up the lumity trilogy next time.

Dammit I said next time twice.

[qwertyfingers]

we know that bobby only watched ds9 and dean watched the tos movies for sure which implies he's seen tos as well (plus he calls jack spock). so what do you think everyone's favorite trek is? sam is without a doubt a tng fan first and foremost. i think out of all tos movies cas prefers the wrath of khan because he Feels Things when kirk and spock do the ta'al through the glass. charlie has definitely seen some trek (we've seen her llap), do you think she's into tos first and foremost? anyway let's talk about star trek nights in the bunker.

OKAY SO I HAVE. MANY MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS. SORRY THIS IS SO LONG.

like. like of COURSE bobby only likes ds9 of course he does i could have told you this without the show becuase like. bobby is That Bitch. i think rufus will have watched TOS at least because leonard nimoy worked hard on linking jewish faith and practices into the vulcan lore and i think that would mean something to him. bobby will catch rufus smiling at him sometimes while they’re watching ds9 and ask him what all gruffly and rufus will smirk at him and say something about sisko with jake and bobby with dean and bobby will just cough and take a swig of whiskey and rufus will raise his eyebrows but let it slide. rufus definitely makes a comment once about dean&cas being like jake&nog that totally flies over dean’s head but bobby is all knowing eyebrow raise about.

i think cas and jack would really like discovery. while it has some issues with inconsistency, pacing, being a little dark, it also does better than the other TV treks at utilising the nature of film as a medium to instill a sense of wonder, at space and the world, and that’s something they’d really appreciate. i have my own issues with disco, but an obol for charon is as close to the central core of trek that disco ever gets. cas and jack also like that one in particular because they like listening to all the different languages being spoken. they all love michael (everyone loves michael). cas’ faves are stamets and reno because they’re mean and gay, jack’s fave is tilly because she’s excitable and bright and he latches onto that. dean likes reno because she’s got spunk. sam’s fave is airiam and he will never forgive them for killing her off. sam, cas and dean all feel an uncomfortable kinship with both ash and culber - they’ve both been the one with monster teeming under the surface, controleld by something not themself, but they’ve also all spent that time in hell/purgatory, separated from everyone they love.

thinking about episodes that would really get to them all, darmok is. THE ONE. i have a whole unfinished essay about darmok as the platonic ideal of star trek; the perfect distillation of everything trek is SUPPOSED to be about. it doens’t always get there but by god it tries! that speech michael gives in the disco s2 finale - “There's a whole galaxy of people out there who will reach for you. You have to let them. Find that person who seems farthest from you and reach for them.” - that’s what darmok is about!!! it’s all about a situation where real communication seems impossible, where everything we know about talking and learning has broken down. and picard says, okay, i will find another way. i can’t relate to you, you can’t relate to me, but by god i’m going to try. we all meet people we have trouble communicating with in our lives, and often, those people will not care about changing their own ways to accommodate us. for people with autism, adhd, psychosis, the list goes on, this is a very common occurrence. it’s exhausting and frustrating and alienating. darmok is all about crossing that barrier. about reaching for someone through a world of difficulty and learning how to talk. learning how to share something with someone who seems out of our reach. it’s beautiful, it’s heartwrenching, it means more to me than i can easily put into words! 

anyway i think the bunker fam would experience a lot of emotions watching it together. there’s defintiely a lot of hugging eachother, sam cries a lot and won’t look at anyone until after the episode ends. jack just asks a lot of questions and talks about his progress learning sign language with cas. dean snakes his hand into cas’ halfway through and doesn’t let go. doesn’t show the emotion on his face, but he clutches harder at the emotional beats. cas runs his fingers through jack’s hair and thinks a lot, and decides not to say anything unless dean talks first. its just a Lot for everyone. 

dean def makes them marathon all the TOS and TNG movies. it’s an experience everyone needs at least once. i think you’re right about cas and TWOK with the ta’al through the glass, but also ‘this simple feeling’ and the hand hold would make him feel crazy. bones being the one that spock entrusts with his katra DEF makes dean feel some type of way because as much as destiel is kirkspock-coded, dean IS bones, and seeing spock trust bones so completely despite how at odds they were when they first knew eachother would dig deep into dean’s psyche and make him more than a little bit nutso. the movies are way too long for jack so he mostly sits and plays animal crossing while they watch and looks at the screen when everyone else gasps or when something exciting is happening that holds his attention for a while. sam’s fave is nemesis precisely because it’s terrible and he loves how camp it is.

dean has definitely seen all of trek. i refuse to believe someone who watches as much tv and films as dean wouldn’t sit and watch the whole shebang. i think he’s probably seen TOS and the TOS movies more than the others because its easier than sitting through 7 seasons, but i think rather than that being his favourite he’d just have really strong opinions about the best episodes of each one? like if you asked him what his favourite is he’d say you can’t answer that because they’re all so different from eachother

VOY - bride of chaotica, non seqitur, macrocosm for the favourite episodes. seven, janeway and tuvok would be his favourite characters. he think toms a bit of a knob but also feels a kinship with him for the similar brand of bab dad-ism but he wouldn’t be able to put that into words. he’s also a fierce defender of threshold being a good episode (he’s right for that)

DS9 - our man bashir it’s our man bashir. he doesn’t dislike ds9 but its very plot heavy and he didn’t care for it when he was younger. rewatching it after living through multiple supernatural wars he’d probably appreciate it more. i know for a fact he cries every time there’s an episode about sisko being a good dad. jadzia and garak are his faves

TNG - he LOVES q. he also absolutely will not be caught dead referencing how much loves q after cas comes into his life because sam will do the little brotherly knowing eyebrow raise at him and he will die of embarrassment. he regularly references ‘there are four lights’ because he’s a fucking nerd. he has made cas watch elementary my dear data and fistful of datas a half dozen times each at LEAST. cas KNEW how dean was going to be about the cowboy hat he’s defintiely got into full cowboy getup at home just for watching movies and in cas’ head star trek is fully to blame.

TOS - oh there are so many good TOS eps to choose from. obv he loves most of the series becuase TOS has MANY banger eps, his favourites are probably like. mirror mirror, amok time (baby dean defintiely had some kind of crisis watching it for the first time; i know the rituals are intricate). i know deep in my bones that dean watched the conscience of the king (introduction of the tarsus iv massacre) once and then spent his entire teenage years writing fic about that in his head, whether he posted it or not. dean related too much to those experiences of shared hunger. city on the edge of forever is one of everyone’s faves for a reason (and i’m STILL mad we never got a closer take on that episode in spn it could have been so fun). 

ENT - he definitely thinks enterprise is stupid and he’s not wrong but he has also definitely watched it and been very repressed about the whole thing. mans was like oh i feel a kinship with malcolm reed the obviously repressed queer man. i will never examine this feeling ever again thank you <3 he also makes fun of archer for being obsessed with, of all sports, water polo. shran is his favourite character because he’s a little shit and makes him laugh, and t’pol, because t’pol is a badass and he’d appreciate that. i can’t remember the title of a single episode off the top of my head though lol.

i can see what you’re saying about sam being a TNG stan. i’m conflicted though, I feel like TNG’s generally the favourite of 1) obnoxious nerds who think knowing trivia facts makes them smart, 2) men desperately trying to seem masculine and 3) people who’ve watched it three times and have extremely complex thoughts on the personhood and rights of robots. i could see sam fitting into the third group, but people who are in it for the robot feelings are a coin flip between voyager and tng being the fave, and i just have a feeling that voyager would be his favourite. i know kid sam is getting gender envy watching voyager in shitty motels while dad and dean are out, trying to find the words for it. his first semester at stanford he talks a friend into giving him the janeway haircut and rides that high for months. sam’s favourite characters are seven and EMH. 

sam and dean have definitely had dozens of long drawn out debates about philosophical topics in star trek. do the holograms deserve rights and if so which ones. are the romulans and vulcans still meaningfully the same people. was spock right for trying to foment reunification by going undercover on romulus. can the borg be redeemed. etc etc.

i haven’t seen any of picard at all so i can’t comment. i also think sam and dean probably read a lot of the trek books? they’re pretty common to find in secondhand bookstores and cheap, would have been even cheaper back in the day. sam probably doesn’t care for them much, dean has a few solid faves though. i’ve only read the disco books so i can’t comment anything specifically (besides the fact that i think dean read dead endless and cried like a baby), but some of the TOS and DS9 books are gay as hell and i know dean was eyes emoji-ing that shit. 

[ryttu3k]

Part 2 of my season 12 reaction posts! Find part 1 (Resolution of the Daleks to Fugitive of the Judoon) here!

Praxeus

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Praxeus!

OKAY FIRST. THANK YOU, SHOW, FOR FIXING A BIG ISSUE I HAD WITH THE FIRST SEASON. So they were doing a thing where they’d introduce incidentally queer characters, have a female character mention her wife, stuff like that, only for them to die. This episode had Jake and Adam, married/separated/it’s complicated couple, who face huge amounts of danger, who both come close to dying, but who survive! And have a Big Damn Kiss! And walk off together holding hands! They survived!!

Plotwise, I enjoyed it a ton while watching, although in retrospect it did feel a bit free of danger. The companions were never in true peril because the Doctor can home in on them automatically, and we never got the true scale of the risk of infection, since the only people we saw get infected were in isolated areas. I would have liked to see, for instance, the threat of Praxeus spreading beyond just the very Hitchcockian birds; all of the peril was on an individual level.

Good message, if unsubtle. Mind you, that’s kind of Doctor Who’s thing, and it pisses off conservatives, so all for it, really XD (They must have loved the core relationship in this episode, too!) Like. Subtle doesn’t work. There are literally climate change deniers that exist. Sometimes you actually do have to tell a message with all the finesse of a sledgehammer because .

(Side note, I was deeply concerned when I saw the cowriter was the guy who did the hot mess that was Kerblam!, so at least this was just an unsubtle and kind of questionably written story instead of an actively harmful one.)

The companions: Ryan seems a fair bit more confident on his own? His initial scenes with Gabriela showed that he’s starting to work well even without backup, and picking up the bird proved to be a damn good call. Yaz and Graham were a fun pair, and Yaz got a lot to do when she and Gabriela (again!) got to explore, and I can definitely understand the conflict between curiosity/doing what’s right and safety when it came to the teleport scene. She does seem to be bordering on the reckless. Intriguing!

Minor plot snag - Graham knows how to set up an IV, presumably because of the shitload of time he spent in hospital! …And yet he doesn’t know what a pathogen is?

Friend note!

“fun fact about graham seemingly not knowing what a pathogen is! in my reading of the scene, i saw it as graham knowing what one was. with "Well, I’m glad you asked that…!” he seems like he’s actually sort of pleased with himself, like he’s about to launch into an explanation, and then IIRC there’s a very brief shot at Ryan giving him a Look and Graham immediately changes tone to “…cause I didn’t want to look stupid.” he immediately changes from boosting his own ego to bolstering ryans and im love"

In which case, good shit gooood shit.

SFX - the infection was creepy as shit. The very obviously puppet bird near the lab was hilariously bad.

Apparently the filming was tricky because it was super windy so all the shorts of Thirteen with her hair Like That weren’t planned, it just kind of happened. Love a fluffy ruffled Thirteen.

So anyway. People calling for more plot focus - literally this is the Doctor trying to distract herself and not focus on the plot! This is her avoidance tactic! Emotional honesty? Who’s she? She’ll get back to it eventually, but for now she needs a distraction after being punched in the emotions. Give her that for one episode, c'mon.

Ryan: “…I do a lot of running.”

Graham: “Whatever is giving off those weird readings… is on the other side of that wall!” Yaz: *silently turns scanner around* Graham, not skipping a beat: “…is on the other side of that door!”

Yaz: “I don’t want you to panic, but… we followed one of those things through a teleport and now I think we’re on an alien planet.” Thirteen: “…well, you don’t do things by halves!”

Thirteen: “That’s why you smell of dead bird! I thought you’d changed your shower gel.”

Thirteen: “I’m having half a thought. Ooh, this one tickles!”

Thirteen: “What can I say? I’m a romantic~”

In conclusion, Doctor Who said gay rights.

-

Can You Hear Me?

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Can You Hear Me?

Trigger warning for discussion of depression and suicide.

You know you're in for a wild ride when iView warns for horror themes instead of science fiction themes.

Overall: at first impression, it felt sort of mashed together? There's 14th century Aleppo, and there's 21st century Sheffield, and there's a deep space station, and there's creepy monsters and dream villains; I do kind of wonder why Zellin targeted a random girl in Aleppo as source for his pet monster, although targeting people like Ryan's best friend makes sense if he's deliberately trying to lure the Doctor to him.

The theme, on the other hand, of mental health resiliance and reaching out, was done incredibly well. Oh yeah there'll be more comments about it - the Guardian described it as 'adventures in Wokeness' - but damn, sometimes you need to hear it. I loved getting more of Yaz' backstory, about being a desperate teenage runaway at the point of being suicidal, and her reunion with the older woman legitimately made me tear up.

But like, goddamn. Her nightmare - she's still hearing that. She's still hearing her sister saying that she should "do it right this time" and that this time she won't call and that no one is coming and holy fuck. God this makes so many of Yaz' scenes incredibly painful in retrospect, knowing that she was at that point only three years before and that she's still dreaming that shit! It makes her recklessness terrifying!

Ryan's nightmare, and his experience with Tibo - it's quite reflective of the Doctor, too. She wasn't there, and Gallifrey burnt. And Ryan is realising this now, and really thinking about the potential future in Orphan 55. I think this is absolutely foreshadowing Ryan leaving at the end of the season (there's been a lot of speculation given Tosin's new TV role), and I think Ryan and Yaz' discussion at the end of the episode was a definite hint in the direction of Ryan choosing to going back to Earth.

Would have really liked Graham, during his talk with the Doctor, to gently remind her that she can talk about her own problems, although I can understand the narrative choice on why she didn't (although, yeah, would have been good for Graham to ask). Because, yeah, if anyone needs a sympathetic ear (...sans fingers) or a shoulder to lean on, it's her!! The entire theme of this episode was like... reaching out. Conquering your fears with the help of others. Sharing your fears to lessen them. Getting help. And the Doctor deliberately... not doing that makes it into an actual Thing that I think is going to seriously be addressed by the end of the season.

It's been such an ongoing theme. A bunch of episodes have started with an obviously depressed Doctor. The Fam has tried to raise the issue multiple times and have discussed it amongst themselves even more. Scenes like Yaz' reaction after being abducted in Spyfall (...which makes her, "I thought I was dead" part even more worrying) and being comforted by Ryan, not the Doctor... her whole reaction to Graham being like, "I'm glad you talked to me but I literally can't do the same in return" - if it's not addressed by the end of this season, it's at least going to have to be an ongoing theme, because it's becoming very deliberate now.

An interesting note: the actor who played Zellin (an immortal manipulator of nightmares) also voiced the Remnants (who were the first to mention the Timeless Child in The Ghost Monument). Coincidence or deliberate?

Assorted thoughts:

"I'm still quite socially awkward." There's socially awkward and there's emotionally repressed... (I saw a description of it on Tumblr as 'weaponised dissociation' and... yeah. And also yikes.) Also the way she was so closed in on herself, basically hugging her arms to her body! On a semi-related note, talking to herself in Aleppo was a bit depressing. Like it's continuing the theme of The Doctor Does Not Like Being Alone.

The finger thing - ew ew ew ew it's in their EARS ewww D:

Stylistic comment: the traditionally-styled animation for the Immortals' game was gorgeous.

"Try not freak out, yeah, but you're on a floating space platform trapped in a gravitational pull between two colliding planets."

"Thanks for lending a helping hand!" Companions just being, "...Doctor p l s."

On an old lore note, loved the callback to Eternals, Guardians, and the Toymaker! On a concerning note, man, the Doctor has so many issues with immortals. They abandoned Jack, there was the punishment they gave the Family of Blood, they had those Issues with Ashildr (from what I've read), now this, an eternal punishment with no chance of redemption, perhaps because she knows what immortality does? Parallels with the Doctor as quasi-immortal too, which Zellin even pointed out.

"You're wrong about humans. They're not pathetic. They're magnificent. They live with their fears, doubts, guilt. They face them down everyday and they prevail. That's not weakness. That's strength. That's what humanity is."

(Contrast: "That's what humanity is." The Doctor isn't human. She's not prevailing against her fears, doubts, and guilt.)

In conclusion, literally everyone but the creepy immortals needs a hug.

-

The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Haunting Of Villa Diodati!

tfw you think you're just going to get a nice spoopy historical and instead get major plot?

Overall impression: Well, Jack is going to be pretty miffed, given that the Doctor had to do precisely what he didn't want to happen - giving the Lone Cyberman what it wanted. To save Shelley, and also to save the future, although that does bring up the question on if the death of one person can rewrite the future, why doesn't that apply to literally everyone? Fletcher the valet and Elise the nurse died too, do their deaths have the same impact? Either way, the Doctor takes the Cyberium for herself - then realises that the Cybermen are inevitable, and returns it. And now she's trying to go and stop them. So... a bit conflicting in the message there, I think.

Yeah. Bit of a Trolley Problem there.

The characters were really fun. I did enjoy seeing Mary's sense of morbidness, but also her kindness and sympathy towards the Cyberman; you can see the foundations of Frankenstein there. I'm seeing some criticism of how Byron was portrayed as a coward, but eh. Nice little callback to Ada. Also I love how one of the rules was 'no one snog Byron'. Put that dirty boy back, you don't know where he's been! Glad Claire realised that too, although historically, she was already pregnant with his daughter at that point (and that didn't go well at all)... Either way. Good display of all these bright young reckless things.

(And yes, they were young. Byron was the eldest at 28. Shelley was 23, Polidori was 20, Mary and Claire were just 18. And while Claire lived to 80 and Mary to her 50s, the three men all died young, too - Byron at 36, Shelley at 29 - yes, from drowning, Polidori at just 25. Also wasn't mentioned that Polidori also created something on that Dark And Stormy Night along with Mary's Frankenstein - he wrote The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story!)

The Lone Cyberman (and I am deliberately using that instead of 'Ashad') - creepy as shit. Not just the whole Frankenstein look, but the way he acted! Not emotionless and blank, but actively manipulative and sadistic! Mary showed empathy and he actively threw it back in her face! I mean, yikes.

House was terrific and also spooky as hell. (Am lowkey miffed that no one went "VIBE CHECK!") The jumbled layout was quite Castrovalva, and I actually really dig that Graham got to see some actual ghosts. Ghostly sandwiches!

I think we got actual confirmation here that Yaz does have feelings for the Doctor? (Bleeding Cool News is pretty sure that it was for Ryan, but... lmao no.) BBCA twitter certainly thinks so!

Claire: "His answers only increase the enigma." Yaz: "I know someone like that." Claire: "This enigmatic person of yours... would you trade them for reliable and dull?" Yaz: "My person's a bit different..."

I MEAN.

(It got deleted. So. There is that.)

Thirteen: "Hmm. Fourteenth... no. Fifteenth century... touch more umami." (Doctor, have you been playing Detroit: Become Human again?)

Mary: "I don't think they're really from the colonies!" Byron: "No, she... is from somewhere much, much stranger." Polidori: "The North."

Thirteen: "YOU HAD ONE JOB."

Cyberman: "You appear courageous. But your vital signs betray a heightened state of anxiety." Thirteen: "Or as I like to call it... Tuesday."

Thirteen: "Yeah, 'cause sometimes this team structure isn't flat. It's mountainous, with me at the summit, in the stratosphere, alone. Left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now, or tomorrow. Sometimes even I can't win."

Claire: "You pursued Mrs Doctor without a care for my presence, belittled my thoughts and opinions... and then proceeded to use my person as a human shield." Byron: "...And?" Claire: "And the spell is broken... my lord." Polidori's face: "haha you fucked up dude"

Next week: Shit Hits The Fan.

-

Ascension of the Cybermen

In lieu of a proper post for Ascension of the Cybermen, here are a list of questions we need an answer for.

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

What is the Boundary?

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Are there any other large human populations left?

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

What's up with Yaz?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

-

The Timeless Children

WELL THEN.

While I gather proper thoughts on The Timeless Children, here are the questions I had from Ascension of the Cybermen, now with answers!

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Yup! Disguises for the win!

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

Brendan is a filtered overlay memory of one of the Doctor's former lives.

What is the Boundary?

An anomaly, as far as I can tell.

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

No idea!

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

No idea!

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

A big damn hero.

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

We're still not actually sure. Either way, he's an action figure now.

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

Yeah, sort of.

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Because Time Lords.

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

It's probably related technology! If the chameleon arch rewrites memories, this one just wipes them.

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Just warzone familiarity. Poor li'l bean.

Are there any other large human populations left?

Possibly! If the Boundary really did send them to random places, there still could be surviving pockets elsewhere in the universe.

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

Maybe a bit XD And now they're all on Earth, who knows?

What's up with Yaz?

Who knows?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Ko Sharmus sent it. Didn't send it far enough.

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

Same organisation Ko Sharmus is part of. Also, young!Ko Sharmus/Jack please.

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

In so many ways.

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

The Doctor!

More thoughts later!

-

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Timeless Children.

...Actually, first thought is the title. Timeless Children? Hmm.

Anyway. That is... sure a literally mind-blowing revelation for the Doctor, yes! Like, damn, the discovery that you're not even the species you thought you were, that your adoptive parent spent lifetimes abusing and experimenting on you, that your memories were routinely erased by people you thought you could trust (including your adoptive parent), that you're literally the progenitor for your entire species, that you've lost who knows how much time and who knows how many memories... yeah. Damn.

What's an appropriate birthday present for someone turning ten million?

Also, huh. Amidst all the old lore and casual mentions (like Borusa!) that got mentioned - were they taking hints from the Cartmel master plan? About the Doctor being some kind of founding figure for Gallifrey? Not exactly written as Cartmel had it, but that big main concept of the Doctor as a sort of... foundation piece of Time Lord culture was still actually there.

Brain of Morbius Doctors confirmed, I guess. I guess even Four was going, "...the fuck?"

Cybermen = still scary. Regenerating Cybermen = felt somehow obscene. Like, no, that's just fundamentally not right. Like the TARDIS responding to Jack by noping the fuck out kind of not right. God. And the Master was completely and utterly magnificently batshit, like, more than usual, come on, dude, you know they'd kill or convert you the second you turned your back.

Still. Deeply, deeply entertaining to watch just from a villain perspective, completely Chaotic, and like... I do understand where he was coming from? His entire life is a lie. His entire life is because of the Doctor, who, I think it's fair to say, he has Complicated Feelings regarding. (Their entire interaction this episode was a giant power play. Like damn guys just get into BDSM and leave the would-be genocide and universal takeover.)

Tecteun = Rassilon, I'm assuming. Goddamn. Like they were a pompous abusive asshole from the outset, this just kind of makes it worse. I also wonder if Rassilon chose the Master specifically to get the drums because he was friends with the Doctor? That actually may have been something the Master worked out himself, too. I mean, I'd be pissed off as well :-\

Also, how many people know about this? I assume Gat knew, since she was implied to be responsible for the mind wipes, but was it like... a super tightly-held secret or was it something a lot of higher-ups knew? Because that's fucked up tbh

Thought on the Master. Okay, he's hugely furious that he's been lied to, that the entire origin of his people is based on a lie, that his greatest friendrivalloveenemy is incredibly special and that a part of her is in him and not in the fun way, but like... I'm also wondering if he's looking at the Time Lords, the way they turned him into their puppet, how they drove him insane for their own purposes, then looked at the Doctor - someone who has also been used, abused, experimented on, manipulated, controlled, and went, "No. This is an injustice and the Time Lords need to be punished for it."

Oh, saw a nice theory regarding the TARDISes - Ruth!Doctor had the original busted police box TARDIS. When she was eventually taken in to be mind-erased, they sent the TARDIS off to storage to be eventually repaired. The Doctor manages to steal that one, goes to Earth, and it immediately gets stuck again because it's still broken. Explains how Ruth!Doctor can have the police box while also being pre-everything.

I really want the Doctor and Jack to sit down and have a nice chat about being timeless undying constants of the universe. Also for Jack to get one of the spare TARDISes around. Be kinda funny if he got the Master's old one, given the Year That Never Was, but it really is just sitting there. (Poor TARDIS stuck as a tree on a random wartorn planet in the far future, though!)

Also, Jodie was fucking magnificent in this episode. The hurt, the absolute fury, the almost glee when she's telling the Master he can't break her, her refusal to press the button at the end (so much like Nine's "coward or killer?" moment!)... just... so good.

Beautiful post I saw here on Tumblr - the Doctor as the Timeless Child, making the choice to help.

Amazing post here on Tumblr about abuse and repressed memories. Even if the Doctor doesn't remember it all, the abuse they underwent at the hands of a beloved parent figure still informs a hell of a lot of their behaviour, but it doesn't define them. The Doctor's need to run = informed by abuse. The Doctor's desire to help crying children = informed by abuse. The Doctor being an inherently good person = being their own person, no matter what their upbringing, no matter what their past was. They made the choice to be the Doctor, and that's a hell of an important thing.

Extremely painful post I saw on Tumblr about the Doctor being 'hip with the kids' by calling her companions her Fam but hell if they're not more family to her than her actual adoptive mother ow my heart.

Also, the scene between Yaz and Graham was so sweet <3 I do want to see Yaz, at some point, admit that sometimes she's so terrified she can barely move, and to tell him what she came so close to doing when she was sixteen, and Graham to just go, "Yeah, but you keep going." Also I'm trying not to think about how Yaz would respond to the Doctor going off on a suicide mission when Yaz was suicidal just three years earlier because ow my heart. She knows that Ko Sharmus went after her, she knows the Doctor might be alive, but either way, she's just seen someone she loves leave with the intention of dying (and Ko Sharmus too, actually). Someone please give her a hug. Actually please just let the Fam have a big group hug in general.

"Have you ever been limited by who you were before?" "Huh. Now that does sound like me talking."

So, remaining questions to be answered next season!

What actually is the Doctor? Since they were found near the Boundary, they could be from anywhere. It's fair to say they now are recognised genetically as a Time Lord, but what were they originally, why were they abandoned in the first place, and are there any more of their original people out there?

How do the Remnants know about the Timeless Child, or were they just picking up on that unconscious knowledge from the Doctor's own mind?

Like... we're generally under agreement that the Master, the eternal cockroach, survived, right? Despite definitely being lowkey suicidal like oh, was hoping the Death Particle would kill me? Like the Death Particle was made by the Cyberium, it could have gone, "Nah, keeping this one."

What's going on with the Kasaavin? Remember them? Still out there, stationed all through time and space? And are we going to see Daniel Barton again?

Is something going on with Yaz?

Will the Fam stay on? (I personally think Ryan will elect to stay on Earth to account for Tosin Cole's new TV role, and if Graham and Ravio enter a relationship, he might too.)

When will we see Jack again? If he was connected to the Lone Cyberman arc, that seems... pretty conclusively finished, unless we're going to learn more about it?

Is it Christmas yet?

............so the Christmas/NY special is going to start with Jack using his vortex manipulator to bust the Doctor out of prison and get back to the Fam and it'll never be mentioned again, right.

"At least buy me diNNER!!"

[pompadorkery]

What do you mean you find it hard to relate to female characters. It's a fictional universe, you can make them anyway you want. Lucy is pretty feminine and Anglo too. I realize almost all the moms of your ocs are bad or thier children hate them. I understand that you have an abusive mom but do you really have to projected on every character you have. Do you have something against women or your just not attracted to them. Probably the latter because all of your ocs are sex dolls.

Wow. Where to even start with this one.

Why do you think the majority of Hollywood action heroes or video game protagonists are cis white males?

It's because it's the easiest to relate to for the biggest demographic of their audience.

Many anime have just a boring plain normie male protag for the same reason. They're supposed to be easily relatable, and like a blank slate that you can project on.

For me, female characters are hard to relate to.

Growing up, I never cared for female protags or love interest characters. And usually actively disliked them. (Much of this is because female characters are generally poorly written in alot of media, but that's besides the point)

I have never felt "in touch" with womanhood. I could never relate to female characters because none of them were like me, or had the same thoughts or struggles I had.

The female characters I like now are generally mold breaking. They don't fit in the typical box. And they give me something I can relate to.

For example:

Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill. She's an absolute idiot and a total bimbo. She eats alot, she's loud, she's kinda useless at times, and she cares alot about her friends.

Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani from Overwatch. First of all, she's on the autism spectrum. She's rigid, stubborn, and can often come across as mean- but in reality she's just very goal oriented and likes things to be orderly.

While these are very different characters, I find alot of things in them that I can relate to and identify with. Not every aspect is true at all times, and there are plenty of things in their characters that I can't relate with, but regardless, there are aspects of myself that I can see in characters like them.

I've always related better to male characters. And like I said, much of the time female characters aren't written well, while the male characters are. I just always found them cooler. I liked their designs more, and they had more interesting stories. Whereas many female characters entire plot revolves around getting with the protag.

I've struggled with gender my entire life. I never felt like a girl. Even the people around me would say that I was such a "tomboy". I would often get told to dress more feminine, or that my haircut made me look like a boy, etc. One of my happiest moments as a teenager was when I got to play a male character in my high school's spring musical and during that entire time everyone referred to me in character, as a boy. I had a great time playing this character, and it really showed through in my performance. I was comfortable for once.

I identify as non-binary now, and I still have alot of questions about my own gender, and I'm still figuring alot of things out. But what I know for sure is that I'm not a girl.

Now, getting into my OCs.

You claim that all my OCs have troubled relationships with their moms, because I have a troubled relationship with my own mother.

2 of OCs.

2 of my OCs have mommy issues.

Out of all the characters I have, only 2 have issues with their mothers. So like, are you just pulling things out of your ass, or?

Lucy was abandoned by his mom at a young age and has alot of bitterness towards her because of this. Which is perfectly reasonable given the situation.

Sanka is just a brat. He still loves and cares about his mom, their relationship is just strained due to his own insecurities and self-loathing.

All my other characters either have no mother in the picture at all, or have perfectly fine and normal relationships with their moms.

Neither Sanka nor Lucy's moms are abusive. So it's pretty yikes of you to bring up my own abusive mother in this conversation. What are you trying to prove? In your concocted narrative, I'm writing characters with abusive moms because my mom was abusive and that's the only mother figure I know. So.... I'd be writing from experience.... in what world is that a bad thing?

You also mentioned Lucy and Angelo being feminine. "Feminine male" does not equal "woman". Those are two very different things. Just as a butch woman is not the same as a man. Experiences are completely different. Equating them is extremely sexist, and could be incredibly transphobic if you also think this way about real people.

And claiming I'm not attracted to women because my OCs are 'sex dolls'. Literally what are you even trying to get at? You do realize that real women and fictional characters are different, correct? Plenty of lesbians create stories or art about mlm characters. Plenty of lesbians draw gay porn. Are they not attracted to women because they draw men getting fucked?

I am bi. I also fall somewhere in the ace spectrum, due to alot of my own dysphoria. Of course I'm attracted to women. Real women are so incredibly sexy and beautiful and interesting. What isn't there to like? Just because I like making male characters doesn't somehow mean I hate women. I just haven't been able to create a fictional woman I find as interesting and captivating as real women are.

Also. I just enjoy drawing men. So a majority of my characters are gonna be men. Sue me. Sorry for enjoying myself.

And the whole "sex doll" comment. I answer the questions people ask. Which happens to be alot about sex. What can I say? People have cumbrain.

I'm also an nsfw artist. So obviously alot of the art I create is gonna be porn.

Is that the entire story of the characters? No, of course not! Do you think me and Ren would have enough storyline for an entire book if all the characters did was fuck? There's so much more to it than that. There's so much more that people don't see.

I mean, what's more interesting to see a drawing of:

Two characters in the heated embrace of love making

Or two characters sitting on the couch doing completely different mundane activities

There's a time and a place for everything, and sometimes drawing something simple and mundane is a fun look into a characters life.... But also I just like drawing dicks and the faces of people who are thoroughly wrecked.

Tl;dr- It's not that deep, fam.

[babyybitchhh]

Thotty Thursday: Part 2

The second installment of Thotty Thursday is upon us. Rejoice, heathens!

Now, let me just say that I’m picking dudes at random while trying to keep things balanced between old shows and new ones but ... y’all really bout to notice some patterns the more we do this so I’m just gonna wait for someone to call me out tbh. 😰

FYI, I like to think of myself as an equal opportunist thirster and if a dude is hot then he’s hot. I’m not one to question this shit. But when you get right down to it I have like four types: high IQ smarty pants, dummy thicc, dad and bad boy bastard. Our next snack belongs in the last category, without question.

He’s honestly prettier than me and that is not an exaggeration but don’t let his good looks fool you

This Arabian Nights styled dime piece has a mean streak a mile wide. Because of Reasons, ofc, but that don’t change the facts

Not only did he once punch a child in the face for no other reason than to assert his dominance (fact) he also pretended to cry in front of the person he hates most just to laugh about how they fell for his (flawlessly executed) act

He honestly may or may not have a few screws loose but that’s part of the appeal, you see. It adds a dash of spice to the meal

And you know what they say about crazy bitches in bed 😏

Full disclosure, I started reading Magi: Labyrinth of Magic before the anime aired and his name was originally translated as Judal so that’s what he’s always going to be in my mind. The official translation is Judar, and I respect that, but at the end of the day I do not know her

Judar who?

Can I also just take a moment to point out that gloriously long, thick braid he’s sporting tho

This man has hair for days and there’s just something I find incredibly attractive about that

I want to take it all down and carefully comb through it, play with it and style it again 

Really show him the attention he deserves

If he decided to suffocate me with it, well, I guess I wouldn’t complain about that either

Now, the setting alone had my interest PIQUED right out the gate because I love Middle Eastern inspired aesthetics and I truly don’t think it’s utilized as a setting half as much as it deserves to be. It’s very beautiful imo and the anime team did a pretty good job of capturing that vibe but if I’m being honest I think the manga was better (up to a point)

However there ain’t nothing quite like seeing your man move on screen or hearing his voice with your own two ears and when I say Judal put on a show each time he showed up ... 🥵

I think I can safely say my pussy clenched whenever I got so much as a whiff of him possibly making an appearance, PHEW

He’s just so pretty and mean

My favorite combo tbh

“But why do you like mean boys so much 🤔?” You ponder aloud and my answer to that is “I don’t know. I just do.”

Judal gets my kitty purring for a variety of reasons but the biggest is probably that I can’t look at him without imagining myself as his feisty little slave girl, wearing nothing but sheer silk and delicate gold chains, completely at his mercy ...

Oops, did I say that out loud? 😳

I mean, can you really blame me when he’s running around in those baggy harem pants though?? Can you really???

So the first thing you probably thought was: damn. This guy kinda dressed like a thot 👀

And you’re not wrong

Does he HAVE to dress like that? Strictly speaking, no. But I am definitely not complaining about his fashion choices

His titties are so close to popping out of that tiny little shirt that we’d be getting nip slips left, right and center if he had any more meat on his bones than that and trust me when I say he did that shit on purpose

This boy is SUCH a fucking tease and he loves the attention it gets him - first and foremost because he’s used to being the CENTER of attention but we’ll get more into that a little bit later

Hes just a tad 👌 narcissistic, loves to show off, definitely bipolar and is in a constant state of feeling himself so he’s hitting all his marks as far as I’m concerned

In short, he’s perpetually oozing big dick fuck boy energy and I live for it

That’s why he’s always showing up with that stank ass attitude, he knows damn well he can pull the baddest bitch around AND her man too

He’d fuck you and your boyfriend at the same time just to prove a point, that’s actually how petty he is

Honestly though I’d like to see ANYbody maintain their resolve when he’s laying on the charm and Judal’s just cruel enough to do it for shits and giggles

Probably wakes up in the middle of his sprawling imperial bed at two in the afternoon and says something like “damn, I need a little pick me up today” and then proceeds to manipulate and harass his lucky unfortunate victim of choice

He’s relentless too and will stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wants, even if that means breaking you in the process

Again, I like the challenge he represents

But also I just like a man who can make me cry 🤷‍♀️

And I don’t doubt he absolutely would. Tears probably turn him on tbh and I’m positive he’s got a bit of a yandere streak too

Are y’all seeing those patterns yet??

So did you guys notice that wand he keeps twirling around like a goddamn baton?

He’s a magic user, or in this case a magi which means he’s literally at the top of the food chain in this universe

He’s special special

Every ounce of confidence he has is rightfully deserved and even tho he’s not the strongest per say, he IS extremely powerful and his destiny as a magi is to influence the world

THE WHOLE ASS WORLD YA’LL

That’s why he’s got such a big fucking ego

I promise these aren’t major spoilers, so you don’t have to worry about that

When he was still a (too precious for words) child, he was abducted by an evil cult so that they could manipulate him and use his powers to influence shit in a bad way. The exact details of what they did to him are hazy, but based on the snippets we did get it seems like they basically put Judal on a pedestal and raised him as if he were some kind of god or a king

I’m talking waiting on him hand and foot, giving him whatever he wanted, essentially worshiping him and using persuasive mind control magic to convince him that he’s the best thing to happen since sliced bread

And it worked

Can you tell exactly how fucked up this kid is right now

Keep in mind here that I’m not saying his screwed up personality isn’t the result of some seriously bad mojo

Magi are supposed to be what tips the scales of fate in this setting which, generally, means for the betterment of the world and this whack ass cult pointedly steered him down a path he otherwise would not have gone

But it’s this tragic past of his that really brings the whole package together

He could be a mean pretty boy for no other reason than because he wants to and I’d still drop into a split on his cock

I like mean for the sake of mean too

It’s just that knowing what made him the way he is gives us the perfect amount of insight to truly feel sympathetic despite all the bad shit he has done and will continue to do

Personally, it makes me want to be the one to show him genuine, tender affection no matter how much he’s initially appalled by the mere suggestion so in a lot of ways it’s similar to how I feel towards Hiei

But that doesn’t mean I want him to change and start being n - 🤢 start being nice - 🤮

He’s perfect just the way he is and there’s just something about big, confident egos that gets me going like little else

And Judal seems to truly believe he’s the greatest gift the world has ever received and he’s not wrong about that imo so yeah he definitely has an attitude problem

But that also means he’s a spoiled brat tho and he’s definitely one of those dudes who needs to be dommed on occasion to really get the full experience 👀

I am not too shy to pin him down and milk his cock for all it’s worth, that is all I’m saying fam

And can I just point out how breathtakingly gorgeous he’d look all flushed and sweaty, whimpering like a needy little bitch in heat while having his prostate relentlessly teased for hours on end?

Goodness, it suddenly got HOT in here, is that just me??? 💦

Ofc the only way that’s gonna happen is if he allows it - which I don’t see being a common occurrence - but that’s why you gotta take advantage of that shit when it does 👀

On the topic of Judal being spoiled, I want to mention that there are actually TWO very different backdrops that I can thot around with him in, and I like that

There’s the fantasy Middle East setting ofc which I personally can’t get enough of

I’m wearing the slave girl Leiah outfit in my mind right now btw

But he also spends a lot of time in this worlds version of ancient China complete with all the dramatic robes and elegant architecture to really set the mood

He has an entire imperial palace on lock and if that doesn’t get you even a little bit horny then idk what to tell you

The royal family for the most part treats him like one of their own despite not being related in any way, if that tells you exactly how much clout he pulls in this setting, and even tho they’re essentially using him for their own gain Judal doesn’t seem to mind it one bit

He likes being at the top and having the freedom to do whatever he wants so if that means doing a little dirty work for the Kou Empire then so be it

And I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be a ride or die on these little errands

Like, just imagine this pretty boy pulling up to you on his flying carpet (that’s not a joke or something I just pulled out of my ass btw) and asking if you want to come back to his crib for some fun

You say yes, because you might be a thirsty slut but you’re certainly not STUPID

And he straight up takes you to a fucking palace

Be honest with me guys, how fast do the panties come off tho?

Be real with me here

This is actually just the plot of Aladdin but with the gender roles reversed 🤣

Fr fr though, A Whole New World plays softly in the back of my mind every time I think about this dude, except it’s much darker and ... explicit 😏

But my point here is that Judal’s got basically everything he could ever possibly want so he really just needs a pretty little concubine at his side to complete the picture

And I dead ass feel like it should be ME

When I say this man could get it ....

OOF

He is TROUBLE in its purest form and I regret nothing about my choice in fictional men

Absolutely nothing

He could honestly fuck me up seven ways to Sunday and I’d thank him for the honor

Spit on me, king. Please. I don’t need nothing else to sustain me

Unless you want to throw some of that choice dick in for free? 👀

Lord  have MERCY

[taehyung-rambles]

My Top 3 BTS Members from Each Era: Who Owned Each Era (Up to Permission to Dance)

Disclaimer: My Taehyung bias runs deep, so y’all may get mad at some of my choices--especially with the more recent stuff--unless you are fellow Taehyung trash. In which case, let’s talk.

Disclaimer #2: I’m not into any type of hip hop outside of BTS, so the rap verses usually have to stick out a lot for me to think it’s one of the best elements of the song. Though, I adore the rap line in BTS very much.

Disclaimer #3: Do not take a shot every time I say vocal tone/color because you will die.

So, I just made a BTS blog, and I wanted to start it off by talking about this. I realized while I was making this list that I tend to gravitate toward specific vocals and rap verses (from the maknae line and Yoongi, namely), so I’m sorry in advance if you don’t see your favorite person mentioned beneath a specific era, but these are just my opinions on who grabs my attention the most in each era; in other words, I’m not only ranking these based on who were the central members for that song, but also who jumped out the most to me. I mostly talk about these in terms of the vocal takes first and the total performance second with little consideration for how the music video was structured, though I may mention when a member’s concept is especially good for that era. K-pop does have a lot to do with total performance (vocal, choreo, wardrobe, etc.), but as I consume BTS’s music on its own more than I do their live performances, it was important to me to focus on the vocal before focusing on who killed the choreo. 

As such, you might see rankings in here that you don’t agree with because I thought a member may have dominated the MV but didn’t stick out to me as much vocally. This post is going to be very biased, though I did rank all of these with my honest interests in mind, so it’s biased for a reason. At the end of the day, BTS wouldn’t be BTS without all seven members, so even if I didn’t rank a certain member enough times in your opinion, I still love them so much and the music they produce. There is no “worst” member in each era. They’re all amazing all the time. So, just keep that in mind, and share your opinions with me in the replies!

P.S.: I tried to grab all the major MVs for the BTS singles that weren’t animated. Hopefully I didn’t forget anything, but there should be a mention of every MV that BTS specifically shot for that song and maybe a couple extras. I think the only exception is probably Make It Right since that MV was just a stage mix, but since there were multiple versions of it, I counted it in here. Same with EPILOGUE: Young Forever since it was almost entirely a compilation of old footage, but since it felt like a major MV, I included it. Also, I didn’t do various MV versions, obviously, since I’m focusing on the vocal before anything else.

P.S. #2: Sorry if these are out of order in some way; I tried to do them by when the MV was released. Also, sorry that some of the group photos don’t include everyone. The format I was using for the edits didn’t leave space to show all the members if the members were spread out.

Alright, so if I was being totally objective here and were to say who the top three members were based on the song structure and MV, it’d probably be Namjoon, Jungkook, and Jimin. However, being opinionated got me to these three.

Taehyung: If you’re thinking, “How can Taehyung be in the top 3 when he had no lines,” don’t worry. I was just as surprised as you are to have Taehyung in my top 3. I think it’s just that Taehyung’s (one) line was so heavy and had so much texture to it that it felt like bigger part than it was. I mean, I think it also has to do with me not knowing who my  number 3 would be for this song, and I decided that I would go with who’s vocal color fit this song the best, and that was Taehyung.

Yoongi: I mean, how could Yoongi not make the list? His first rap verse is iconic, and his second slaps. His voice has so much presence in this song that I can’t listen to it without looking forward to Yoongi’s part primarily. Also, you know those yips Yoongi does when he raps? That’s my favorite thing in the world, and No More Dream had a good amount of them.

Jungkook: We’re all aware that rapper Jungkook was an icon, and this song makes no exception to that rule. His verse is fire. Like Yoongi, Jungkook’s voice had a lot of character, as well. Legit, “see me, see me, yeah” gets stuck in head on a loop more often than is probably necessary. Ergo, Jungkook killed this era.

Full disclosure: I don’t really like this song. I did my best, though, to figure out which members interested me the most despite the fact that I don’t listen this song regularly like I do with most of the others. I would assume that the majority of people would probably list Namjoon and Jungkook along with Jimin in their top 3, but hey.

Taehyung: This is probably another confusing placement for Taehyung, but the pre-chorus he sang fit his voice nicely, or at least, his voice as it sounded back then. I don’t really think anyone stood out vocally in this song besides Jimin, but Taehyung put a little umph in his vocal, so it was nice since the pre-chorus is the catchiest part of this song for me.

Yoongi: Yoongi had the most interesting rap verse in this song, in my opinion. Like I said, I’m still not crazy about this song, but I thought Yoongi’s delivery of his verse was pretty engaging to listen to.

Jimin: Jimin almost feels like the only person in this song because his vocal sticks out so much. Not that I think the other members sound bad, because I think they all kill every song they do; it’s just the way this song sounds fit really well with Jimin’s vocal tone. Jimin ended up owned this era for me because he was so central to the sound this song was trying to produce.

I’m actually not sure what people’s top 3 would be for this song if we were talking about the majority of people. I’d guess probably Jungkook, Suga, and Namjoon? This song came down to the rap verses a lot more than I thought it would, but I guess that’s because a lot of BTS’s pre-2016 upbeat singles had diversity in the rap line while the vocalists had repetitive hooks and choruses.

Taehyung: I told y’all my bias was strong. I’m not putting Taehyung down for the sake of putting Taehyung down, though. I’ll be honest: besides the people in my top 3, I thought everyone did equally well with this song. Taehyung’s vocal stuck out just a little bit more for me than the other vocalists’. Just a bit. When Taehyung flips into his falsetto, it’s always really interesting to listen to. This is the first of many songs where, since the vocalists’ parts are repetitive and they all share the same parts, it really comes down to personal preference for vocal color; I just happen to like Taehyung’s.

Jungkook: I know Jungkook sings in this song, but his rap verse was lit as fuck. I don’t know how to talk about it in a way that makes sense, but listening to it is satisfying, you know? It’s an absolutely kickass way to open the song after the intro. I do think the parts where Jungkook sang fit his vocal tone particularly well. It’s not always the case with BTS songs that every member has a part that is made for their vocal tone--that’d be impossible to do--but they always sound good regardless. Sometimes, though, you get a piece of a song that fits the person singing it so well that it can’t be any other way, and that’s how I felt about Jungkook in this song.

Yoongi: As much as I love Jungkook’s rap verse, Yoongi murdered this song. Every time I listen to this song, my attention is snatched by Yoongi, full stop. I could be listening to this in the background, spacing out any type of detail from the song, but when Yoongi spits fire, I pay attention. I will say this again about other members in other eras, but Yoongi’s verse makes this song, which is why he owns this era.

This song has staying power, y’all. The rest of BTS’s older music sounds really nostalgic, but Boy in Luv just sounds like the kickass song that it is. I think most people’s rating of this era would be fairly similar to mine except for Yoongi. I imagine most people would gravitate toward Jin or Jimin. Honestly, picking the second and third members was really difficult because this song gave everyone parts that were perfect for them.

Yoongi: I don’t know if I should apologize for being so linear in my choices, but Yoongi is badass in this song. His rap verse said “listen boy,” and I’m still not over it. I usually don’t vibe with every rap verse like I did in this song, but even though all the rap verses were interesting, I landed on Yoongi because he caught my attention a bit more.

Jungkook: I think one of my favorite things ever in any BTS song is Jungkook’s rap verse in Boy In Luv. The percussiveness of it and the staccato way he delivers it are just so interesting to listen to. It’s also a really fun rap verse, but it’s dynamic, too. I want to acknowledge that if Jungkook had just been on the chorus, I would probably have stuck Jimin in my top 3 because his vocals have just a touch more texture in them during the chorus, but Jungkook also killed the chorus and the rap, so Jungkook it is.

Taehyung: I mean. From what I’ve seen of other people’s opinions of Boy In Luv, most of them agree that Taehyung had hella presence in this song. The distortion he puts on his voice, the growling, the parts of the song he ended up singing--it all contributed to him owning this era because it’s one of those moments where he fit the concept so well. Every member has a song or two like this under their belts where they embody the song, and this is one of Taehyung’s.

This is another song that I don’t really like, so don’t @ me for my opinions about this one. I did my best, fam. I think nearly everyone thinks Jungkook owned this era, and I imagine they would also include Jin and Jimin.

Taehyung: Not to be rude to the other members--including Taehyung--but since I didn’t find this song all that interesting, it made it hard to pick the second and third members. I don’t really think anybody but Jungkook stuck out. Taehyung’s verse was melodic and nice, though. Even though the “party party” part was dumb. Since, again, it’s a repetitive song, it came down to who’s vocal tone I liked the best. Taehyung’s vocal color is the most unique vocal color I’ve heard from any male artist, so slot number 3 he goes.

Yoongi: Again, this was mostly about whose rap verse I preferred because I’d already made my decisions about the vocalists. This isn’t a song where the rap verses stuck out at all for me, but Yoongi’s was percussive, so it was an interesting addition to the flow of the song.

Jungkook: I mean, this is a Jungkook song, you know? There are Namjoon songs and Hobi songs and Jin songs, and this one was Jungkook song. I don’t think he did anything spectacular with his vocals--which isn’t about him as a vocalist; it’s about the song itself not being dynamic enough to allow him to show off his vocals--but the way he used his voice in this song fit the tone of the song exactly. Taehyung usually has the monopoly on really gentle vocals for me, but Jungkook did really well with it in this song.

This one may get me some flack. Listen, there are parts of this song that I don’t really like--I will not say which parts--but most of it is fire as fuck, and I listen to this all the time. I know most people love Jungkook, Jimin, and Jin in this song. I get that. If I was being objective, I would agree with you. However, that’s the joy of opinions.

Jungkook: I know I said I’m not considering the choreo/MV as much, but Jungkook’s shoulders are loud, you know? Anyway, Jungkook fit this song really well. Actually, I think this is another song that everyone got a part that was meant for them. Jungkook did sound fire on the chorus, no doubt about it, but his rap verse was really dynamic, and Jungkook performed it really well. I have nothing bad to say about Jungkook in this song because it wouldn’t sound as good without his vocal tone.

Jimin: Look, I love Jimin’s sweet vocal tone that he’s used for most of BTS’s career; I even prefer it over his old vocal tone. However, sometimes you hear a song with Jimin’s deeper vocal tone where he puts distortion on his voice, and it slaps you in the face. This is one of those times. I mean, the part they gave him was perfect for what he was doing with his voice at this time. I think, in terms of uniqueness, Jimin would win every time in a debate about the Danger era’s top 3 members.

Taehyung: I barely ever see Taehyung mentioned when it comes to Danger, so this is probably an unpopular opinion, but his parts in Danger make the song. I’m not talking about the chorus--though I’m happy he actually sang in a good chunk of this song since he hadn’t been previously. In fact, I’m pretty sure Jungkook’s vocals were mixed louder than Taehyung’s vocals on the second half of the chorus--which was Taehyung’s part--during the production process. You can hear Taehyung, but Jungkook also sounds really clear on top of Taehyung’s voice. Anyway, what I’m talking about is the hook of the song. The money piece. This has happened more than once with Taehyung, and he always kills it. I vibe with the chorus, but the hook sticks in my head more than anything. So, for me, Taehyung owns this era.

I don’t understand what it is about this song that makes it so good, but it’s a bop. I still think, if I was thinking objectively, that my ranking would close to the same. Some people might choose Hobi over Namjoon or something like that, but ya know.

Jungkook: He’s so cute in this song, isn’t he? I know he’s supposed to come off as a bad boy, but he’s adorable. His parts in this song are really good though, and not just his rap verse. He’s used opposite Taehyung in this song, which was a really good choice. Jimin and Taehyung have the most opposite vocal tones in BTS, so they’re often played off of one another, but sometimes Jungkook’s vocals contrast really beautifully with Taehyung’s. Going from Taehyung’s richness to Jungkook’s clean and smooth vocals is really nice, so I appreciate Jungkook a lot in this song.

Namjoon: The way Namjoon opens this song is rad. It’s so distinct, and it’s the exact right tone to set the song off properly. It’s so damn catchy. Everyone in the rap line has really animated styles of rapping, but Namjoon is usually the most animated, and it really lent itself nicely to War of Hormone. Having him open this song was the best choice ever.

Taehyung: This is a Taehyung song, 1,000%. It was obviously supposed to be a Taehyung song, probably because of his vocal tone, though I’m sure his visual had a lot to do with it, too. Something happened to Taehyung with this single. It was like, all of a sudden, he found his charisma, and he’s been killing us all ever since. I don’t mean this in a negative way for the other members, but all the umph in this song comes from Taehyung. I think that’s how it should be because, if everyone had a vocal that sounded like Taehyung’s, it’d be too much--that’s why I like the way Jungkook’s voice compliments Taehyung’s. The parts of this song Taehyung had embellished the song perfectly, and it did wonders to show off Taehyung’s talent. The tone of this song just works with Taehyung at the center. Growling, attitude, stage presence, and all; Taehyung definitely owned the War of Hormone era.

I’ve got to say, BTS songs like this are catchy, but not something I pay attention to when I listen to them. I Need U, RUN, and Save ME are all like that. On top of that, they’re all pretty repetitive songs, and it’s hard to find each member individually in them--at least for me--so choosing the top 3 was difficult. I know a lot of people agree that Jimin owned this era, same with Yoongi. I imagine the third one, if I wasn’t being too opinionated about it, would probably be Jungkook.

Taehyung: So, Taehyung doesn’t have a lot going on in this song unless you consider the MV--which I’m trying not to do too much. I think, for this song though, the MV did come into play a bit more since it was basically a short film. Still, if I was only talking about the MV, Taehyung would be number 1. However, vocally, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot to go on. The reason he made my list, though, is that his vocals still stuck out to me despite the amount of lines he had. Taehyung’s got soul; we all know this. Any time he sings in this song, my mind goes, “Oh?” because, even though it doesn’t happen a lot, it lends a lot to the tone of the song.

Yoongi: For someone who doesn’t really love this song, I have to say that Yoongi’s part is really the only part that hits me. His vocal color and the way he decided to use his voice for his verse was gorgeous. It’s one of those vocal takes where the vocal jumps out above the mix, and it almost doesn’t matter what’s happening with the instrumental because the vocal is so nice. Again, this is something that happens with all the members, and I try to acknowledge them when I think it’s happened. So, here’s to Yoongi for killing it.

Jimin: When I think of I Need U, the only thing I think about is Jimin. I know you’ve got Jungkook on the chorus, as well, but Jimin’s vocal tone is the thing that sticks in my head. It’s so perfectly matched with the song and the production that it’s easier to find Jimin in this song than it is to find really stark evidence of the other members--again, that’s more to do with the song than with the members. This song just happened to fit Jimin’s voice in a special way, which is why he owned the era.

So, I’m gonna do the Japanese singles, too, because they have MVs and all that. However, fair warning, these singles usually end up coming down to whose vocal tone I prefer since they’re usually softer songs that lean more on the vocalists than the rappers. Jungkook is the center of MV, so I think he’d be most people’s number 1. After that, I’d think people would choose Jin and Yoongi, but that’s just a guess.

Jin: For You basically has Jungkook, Jin, and Taehyung each sing the chorus, so that’s why it comes down to vocal tone, especially since I think the vocalists stuck out more than the rappers in this song. I loved Jin’s light tone on the chorus of For You. His falsettos can sound different in different songs, but in For You, it was so delicate, and I loved it a lot. Jin usually fits really well in softer songs that still have a bit of pop to them, so he did well in this song.

Jungkook: I know this was probably meant to be a Jungkook song, so don’t @ me. It’s a song that’s set up for a very Jungkook vocal, if that makes sense. As in, it was made for Jungkook. He has a really nice, clean, smooth tone to his vocal in For You, and it’s pleasant to listen to. I think he went a bit softer with his vocal takes in this song to fit the tone, so it took some of the natural character out of his voice, but it was perfect for the tone of the song. Jungkook’s voice blended really nicely into the mix, so I like hearing him in For You a lot.

Taehyung: I don’t know if people out there prefer cleaner vocals in a song like this, but I really loved how Taehyung’s vocal sounded like it was changing the tone of the song. I do think that Jungkook and Jin’s vocals are probably best for the majority of the song, but the diversity that comes out of giving Taehyung a chorus is awesome. It saves the song from being flat. Taehyung’s deep vocal tone always sounds gorgeous, especially in softer songs, but he didn’t decide to use a gentle voice in this song like Jin and Jungkook did; his voice was a lot fuller and more forward, and I liked what it did in For You quite a bit.

This is the beginning of the “beat fetish” era of music--i.e., songs that are heavily dependent on the drop, which becomes almost a chorus on its own. Dope is a beat fetish song, and BTS has a few of them; thankfully, when BTS makes songs that are dependent on the instrumental to add character, it always sounds bomb. I know most people agree that Jungkook and Jimin kill in this era, so objectively, I think I’m on the same track, but I think I differ when it comes to Yoongi because I imagine most people would prefer Namjoon.

Yoongi: I just love his sections of this song. That’s it. I don’t really have a reason for liking his rap verses more than Hobi’s or Namjoon’s; I just find myself vibing more to Yoongi’s. I mean, Yoongi’s verse has a lot more bass to it than the other verses, and for a song that depends on the beat, it was nice to get some instrumentality out of Yoongi’s voice on top of the music itself. Plus, he’s got the “enemy enemy enemy; energy energy energy” part, which I freakin’ love.

Jimin: Jimin really sticks out in this song. There are very few BTS songs where it feels like Jimin has a lot of time in the spotlight as a support for Jungkook, but it did feel like that in Dope, and it was kind of cool. I don’t know that Dope needs a bunch of different vocal tones to make it work, and Jimin and Jungkook can sound very similar in songs of this genre. It worked really well to switch between Jungkook and Jimin with just a slight difference in vocal color coming through. That little bit of variation was interesting, and Jimin’s specific vocal tone shone nicely.

Jungkook: If ever there were a Jungkook song, my friends, this is it. It’s similar to Jimin in We Are Bulletproof Pt.2--that is to say, it’s almost like Jungkook is the only one in this song. Obviously, that isn’t true, and the other members stick out more in this song than in We Are Bulletproof Pt.2, but Jungkook is so clearly the face of this song. His voice is exactly what this song needs because the beat is so intense and Jungkook’s vocals are clean but with just enough grit added to complement the instrumental. Jungkook made this era his bitch, y’all.

As I’ve said, this is one of those background songs for me, and it really comes down to whose vocal tone I personally prefer. It’s not even about whose vocal tone blends in the best; it’s just about what sounds interesting to me. I think, objectively, the top three of this era would be Jungkook, Jimin, and maybe Namjoon. This is another one where, for everyone, the MV did touch my opinions on the rankings a bit. But I actually think the coolest parts of the MV align with what I have ranked already--except for the fact that Yoongi isn’t on my list despite having an amazing scene in the MV--so it worked out.

Taehyung: Taehyung’s voice just kills in songs like this. I know I keep harping on his vocal tone--and that’s not stopping any time soon--but his voice adds emotion to this song. It’s not a gentle vocal exactly, but it’s breathy; because his voice is also deep, it combined nicely to push the song into the chorus and then kick off the bridge. Actually, I adore Taehyung’s voice in the bridge because he puts a lot of character into it with his vibrato and the bends in his voice.

Jungkook: Like Jimin in I Need U, Jungkook permeates this song. The vocals for RUN scream Jungkook, to me, because he’s consistently lending his smooth vocal tone to the entire song. It’s a song that needs consistency since it’s quite repetitive. Again, it’s hard to find individuality with this song, though not as hard as it is with I Need U; rather than individuality, you have Jungkook’s clear vocal consistency that provides a nice foundation for the song to sit on, and that’s what makes it work.

J-Hope: Hobi’s verse in RUN was something else. Melodically, I think it was the most interesting part of this song. It sounds so different when compared to the rest of the RUN; I mean, it still sounds like part of the song, but it almost sounds like they wrote his verse for something else and put it in this song instead, and doing that made the sickest section of RUN come to life. I absolutely love Hobi in this song; I vibe so hard. I’m giving the era to J-Hope.

Is this, like, a weird song to include on this list as an era? They filmed stuff specifically for this MV, right? That’s why I’m here. Whatever, we’re gonna talk about it. I don’t love this song, if I’m honest, but I wanted to be thorough, so I’ve got some opinions. I think, objectively, Taehyung would still be on the list, and probably Jin, too. I’m sure other people may choose Jimin or Jungkook, but it’s a short song, so who knows?

Jin: Jin’s vocal tone has so much texture to it in this song. He uses, like, intentional vocal cracks to add character into the vocal, and it really works. Vocal cracks can add a lot of emotion to a vocal take if they’re used correctly, and Jin is a master at it. Again, there isn’t much to say since this is a short song, but Jin sang beautifully.

J-Hope: So good, his rap verse is. He has the same melody as Yoongi in the beginning of his verse--and both of them sound great--but then Hobi’s melody changes and, all of a sudden, the music stops and Hobi continues rapping, and it’s so impactful. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a moment that gets your heart beating a little bit faster. I don’t love much of this song, but the end of Hobi’s verse is really special.

Taehyung: This is one of the few songs from before 2018 where Taehyung’s voice shoots through the entire song. He just has the “forever, we are young” lyric, but it’s sung so often, and it’s basically the center of the song. That notion is going to come up again in a minute, but anyway. Plus, Taehyung’s vocal color works well with the grandiose tone of this track. So, Taehyung owned the era for me since I feel like his vocal was central to the song’s overall sound.

We’re here with another repetitive, beat fetish song, but y’all, this is one of the most iconic songs of all time. Most, if not all, people say Yoongi owned this era. Then people would probably choose Jin and Jungkook. As this song is so repetitive for the vocalists--like, legit, three out of the four of them basically had one melody to sing over and over--I think it really comes down to which parts they gave the members and which parts I personally thought were more important to the song’s iconic reputation.

Jimin: No joke--even though this sounds like a joke--Jimin’s “la la la la la” part is one of the things that makes this song amazing. He killed it because he switched out the sweetness in his voice for something with a little more bass, and it came out perfectly. Don’t get me wrong; Jungkook’s “eh eh oh eh oh” is iconic, too; I just thought Jimin’s build into the chorus was so badass that I couldn’t leave him off the top 3 list.

Taehyung: Look, if Yoongi’s verse was different, Taehyung would number 1 in the FIRE era. I know he sings the same line over and over, but it’s the hook. It’s literally the part of the song that even people who don’t know K-pop is a thing know. I know this because I heard Taehyung’s part in this song everywhere when it came out, and I didn’t even know it was a BTS song. If you’re not counting the first line of the song, I really think Taehyung has the most iconic and memorable part in FIRE. Plus, the way he delivers it is absolutely perfect, and it’s legit all the song is for the last minute. No shade to the other members because they all have things that only they can do, but no one could pull of Taehyung’s line like Taehyung did. It’s such an important piece to this song, so I feel like Taehyung has to rank in the top 3.

Yoongi: After saying all that, even I can’t deny that this was Yoongi’s era to shine. As iconic as his opening line was, if that was all he had in this song, Yoongi wouldn’t have been able to own FIRE. It’s his rap verse that sticks out. He growls in his verse, did you know that? Holy shit, it sounds so cool. The entire verse a full ass mood, and I love it to bits. It’s got to be one of my favorite Yoongi verses in a BTS song. He was in his element in this era. Absolute legend.

This is another song that really comes down to how much I love the vocal takes since it’s really repetitive. I didn’t vibe with rap verses in this song, but that could just be because I don’t vibe with this song in general. Objectively, this is Jungkook, Jimin, and either Taehyung or Jin’s era. The reason I didn’t include Jimin isn’t because I don’t like his vocal tone in this song; I just went with the vocal characteristics that jumped out to me.

Jin: I’ve said this already, but Jin’s vocal texture is really nice in songs like this. I feel like, if I try and describe his voice, people are going to take it the wrong way, but his vocals are a bit more nasal and thin than the other members’, and it allowed him to sound really unique in Save ME. It added a lot of flavor to the song.

Jungkook: I know Jungkook is usually listed as number 1 for this era, and I don’t think that’s wrong. This is another song where Jungkook’s voice blends. It’s like the song was made for him, which is probably why he seems to permeate the whole song. The clear quality of his voice is really nice for Save ME.

Taehyung: My bias has decided that Taehyung’s vocal color is gorgeous in this song. No, honestly, even if I’m being objective, there’s still something to be said for how Taehyung contributes to Save ME. This is song that needs a little bit of soul, you know? And Taehyung’s falsetto is bit raspy in Save ME, which I think lends a lot to the emotion this song is trying to convey. Who owned this era will probably have very different answers depending on who you talk to; for me, though, it goes to Taehyung.

Objectively, Hobi and Jimin are always going to top this era, and I think most people would add Jin into the list. This is one of those songs where I disagree with the popular opinion just a bit--though there will be songs later where I almost entirely disagree with the popular opinion. Keep in mind, I’m focusing on vocal first and performance second. So, yes, if I’m talking about the MV, Jin absolutely sticks out. It’s just that my interests were drawn to other members vocally.

J-Hope: It really came down to the hook of the song, for me. I like Yoongi’s rap verse a little bit better, but Hobi is so freaking iconic on the hook of this song. That’s not to say that his rap verse was bad, though, because the rhythm it has is addicting. It’s a really good, intense vocal take that leads into the sharp decline of the chorus since the chorus is softer in the first half. The hook is where it’s at, though. Honestly, what a legendary part of this song Hobi has. And his voice pulls it off like no one else could--though Jungkook does do a wonderful job, too.

Taehyung: His voice just sounds so interesting in this song. I know some people may prefer Jungkook on the chorus because his voice is clearer while Taehyung’s is more delicate, but that’s why I like it so much. It sounds fragile, and Jimin and Jungkook chose a really forward sound for the chorus, so Taehyung stuck out a lot to me. At the end of the vocal run in the chorus, too, he puts a bit of static into his vocal to come down into his chest voice from his falsetto, and it sounds stunning.

Jimin: This is a Jimin song through and through. I love the diversity you get with Taehyung’s voice, but I also think Jimin’s sweet vocal color is a necessity for this song to sound amazing. Of course, Jimin sticks out in the MV, as well, but his vocals really made Blood Sweat & Tears special. Jimin also alternates between breathiness and full voice in a really masterful way, and it gives a lot of character to his vocal takes. Jimin owns this era, hands down.

This song deserves a Grammy, for real. I’m gonna make a post about that later, so I won’t get into it now, but damn, this song is phenomenal. I’m gonna get flack for my choices on this one, and I’ve accepted it. It’s such a gorgeous song that it’s hard to pick who stuck out, even if I’m being opinionated. Objectively, Jin, Jimin, and maybe Jungkook would probably be in the top 3, but there’s character in everybody’s voice in Spring Day.

Jin: Jin has this uncanny ability to sound ethereal when he sings, and it really showed in Spring Day. Jin was the perfect person to use to end this song; the uniqueness in his voice was a really impactful way to bookend Spring Day because it made it feel like a journey that had just ended. So much story was told through Jin’s voice in this song.

Namjoon: Namjoon sounds so fucking beautiful in Spring Day. If Jin was the perfect member to close out this song, Namjoon was the perfect one to begin it. He sounds gorgeous. I’m not gonna be over it for a long time, my friends. He should sing more, honestly; Namjoon’s voice is so smooth and relaxing. I adore him in Spring Day like nobody’s business.

Taehyung: I don’t know if this an unpopular opinion? So, Taehyung sounds phenomenal when he has to go up into the higher part of his range--which is a lot since most of the BTS songs are made for tenors, and he’s the only baritone. His vocal color is remarkably consistent, in a way that I haven’t heard with any other artist, all the way up his range, and it allows him to maintain the soulfulness in his voice regardless of what register he’s in. The way that manifested in Spring Day resulted in some of the most beautiful vocal takes I’ve ever heard. The vocal cracks, Taehyung’s deep tone, the breathiness snapping into heavy chest voice; it’s all so beautiful. His vocal at the beginning of the bridge is honestly one of my favorite vocal takes from any BTS song. I love it. This song is already emotional, but the way Taehyung’s vocals hit me in Spring Day is why I think he owned this era.

Most people agree that the rap line killed this song, right? That’s probably the top 3 for most fans. I don’t know if I’m gonna convey this properly, but this song is borderline dirty hip hop, right? It’s got really grungy beats, raps, and vocals, so that’s why I say that. The only other song like that in BTS’s discography--that’s a single, obviously, because there’s a good chunk of dirty hip hop B-side tracks--is MIC Drop. This is a preface for what I’m about to talk about, so bear with me.

Namjoon: I had a hard time picking between Namjoon and Hobi for my number 3, but both of Namjoon’s verses were animated in really contrasting ways, and that interested me a lot. The first one was brighter, and the second one had a lot more bass to it. I don’t know if this is the right way to explain it, but Namjoon’s pronunciation in his second verse was so satisfying. It isn’t exactly percussive, but it’s something close--like onomatopoeia--and I enjoy listening to it a lot.

Taehyung: Okay, I’m going to die on this hill--and I’ll bring it up again later--but when it comes to dirty hip hop, if you’re gonna have a vocal on it, Taehyung is always gonna sound bomb. This song isn’t quite the best representation of that because Taehyung doesn’t have that many parts, but you still get the idea. The natural bass in his voice plus the growl and distortion he uses in songs like this stands out in a big way. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a rap-heavy song like Not Today, which is a big compliment considering the vocals in songs like this aren’t usually meant to stand out as much as the rap verses are.

Yoongi: I don’t think I need to explain, but I will anyway. You get the intro with Namjoon, and then you come straight into Yoongi’s verse, and it’s such a satisfying way to start this track. Yoongi’s verse is definitely percussive and it works with the instrumental underneath so well. It’s somehow calm and exciting to listen to, and it gets you really hyped up right away. Yoongi does great things with his voice, too, because it sits really low before snapping up and then going back down; it’s so dynamic. What an icon, honestly. Yoongi kills the Not Today era.

What a pretty MV, you know? Not to throw shade, but whoever said Jungkook and Taehyung should have weird green accents in their hair was wack--even if it was the two of them that said it. Of course, I mean that in the best way possible because they look awesome; everyone looks fine as hell in the DNA MV. Anyway, so I think my top 3 is pretty common besides the fact that I don’t have Hobi. I know this is the “J-Hooooooooooooope” era, and I apologize. If I was just considering the MV and the choreo, Hobi would be number 1. Just know I freakin’ stan Hobi in DNA, okay?

Yoongi: Yoongi’s verse in this song has always stuck out to me a lot. It’s got a lot of pop to it, you know? Plus, after his first little verse, he sings opposite Jungkook, and it’s one of my favorite parts of DNA. Between the sweet vocals of Jimin and Jungkook that dominate the last half of the song and Namjoon’s verse that had a lot of bass, it was nice to have Yoongi pull the two halves of the song together with lower vocal that still sounded bright.

Jungkook: Y’all, Jungkook was absolute perfection in this song. I don’t know what it is, but the parts Jungkook had were tailor made for him. I’d say this is one of the few BTS songs post-2015 where Jungkook’s voice has a sweeter tone to it than Jimin’s, and it really works. It absolutely supports DNA the entire way through. Even though Jungkook’s voice blends into the mix seamlessly, he doesn’t get lost in it, and that’s why he stood out to me.

Taehyung: You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think this was Taehyung’s era. Obviously, some people don’t think that, but so many people agree that Taehyung is the face of DNA, and that’s so funny to me because he almost disappears after the beginning of the song. He’s got the intro, the first pre-chorus with Jungkook, and a couple lines in the bridge, but that’s it, and somehow most people ardently agree that Taehyung owns this era. Obviously, I am one of them. I mean, he barely ever gets to use his voice like he does in DNA; the depth is extraordinary. It sounds absolutely stunning. It’s 100% the key vocal in DNA, and it makes total sense as to why. Taehyung dominates this era, for real.

I know, I know; most people’s top 3 would be the rap line, but sue me, okay? This song is the real power of BTS, to me, because I love it even though I do not vibe with the rap genre in any type of way. This song is hella rap-heavy, and I think it’s bomb. Iconic, even.

Taehyung: Listen, I have things to say. You know what I said about Taehyung and rap-heavy songs. This song makes me a want a rap line B-side song with Taehyung as the vocalist so badly. Give me an album with Jin, Jungkook, and Jimin killing the vocal game on one song and Taehyung plus the rap line killing a dirty hip hop song like this, please. It would be absolutely epic. Taehyung’s distortion, growls, vocal color, all of it, lend themselves so well to this era. He’s got the same lines and melodies as the rest of the vocalists, but because he’s got grit, it sounds like this song was meant for him. The rest of the vocalists do amazingly, too, but Taehyung sticks way the fuck out to me.

J-Hope: Alright, I know Hobi is number 1 on most people’s list, and I apologize. I agree that Hobi killed this song. His vocal at the beginning is fabulous. He intentionally makes it sound more whiny and nasal, and it’s perfect. Hobi is such a vibe in this song.

Yoongi: It was very difficult deciding who to put down as the one who owned this era, but I had to give it to Yoongi because of his delivery. He also made his voice thinner like Hobi, and it lent itself nicely to his rap verse, especially since the vocal was really animated. Yoongi puts distortion on the end of his lines, too, and it sounds amazing. I could listen to Yoongi spit fire on this song for days.

I have opinions about this song. I’m fully aware that, objectively, the top 3 would be Jungkook, Jin, and Jimin, but like I said--opinions. This is another iconic BTS song--at least, in my opinion. Just like with FIRE, I remember hearing this song everywhere before I started listening to BTS. I’m gonna say some things now that you may not agree with, and that’s fine because this is a fun post to make, and I’m excited to see what everyone thinks; just know every BTS member is an icon in my eyes.

Jin: Yo, Jin sounds so fire in this song. In the MV, I’d say he sticks out a touch more than he does if you only consider the vocal, but the vocal is still astounding. It’s not really the range I’m impressed with because Jin is a countertenor, so the C5s he’s hitting are well within his comfort range, but the tone he has when he hits them is remarkable. They’re so clear, but they still have character to them. I stan.

Jungkook: So, Jungkook mostly has the same melodies as Taehyung in this song, which makes sense because Jungkook’s comfort range is slightly below Jimin and Jin’s--though above Taehyung’s. I think the way Jungkook sounds on the chorus is gorgeous. It’s similar to War of Hormone, where his clean vocals bounce off of Taehyung’s--which, in FAKE LOVE, happens in the first chorus--and it sounds so nice. Jungkook goes for narrower vowels, and it makes his vocal takes sound slightly thinner, so it adds an interesting dimension to the song since Taehyung goes wider on the same parts.

Taehyung: Here are my opinions; are you ready? For the life of me, I don’t understand why people stan Taehyung’s deep vocals in DNA and then don’t think the same thing about FAKE LOVE. The way Taehyung sounds opening up this song is just as impactful, to me, as his intro in DNA was. Plus, him singing the melody while Jimin sang the harmony at the end of this song sounded beautiful. The real shit, though, is the chorus. Taehyung’s vocal texture on the chorus is it, fam. I’m not going to say anything about anybody else because people can absolutely love different members as much as I love Taehyung, but to me, Taehyung’s vocal on the chorus was the stand out piece in FAKE LOVE by far. The emotion he conveys and the texture in his voice make him, undoubtedly, the top in this era, for me.

Is this another song where people stan the rap line? It’s more of a beat fetish song than a rap-heavy song, but still. Actually, I guess the top 3 would objectively include Jimin and Jin along with Namjoon, right? Anyway. I didn’t like this song at first, but it grew on me. It was definitely hard to rank, though.

Yoongi: Another fire Yoongi verse lives within this song. He’s so aggressive, you know? He uses that distortion that I love coming from Yoongi, and he does those yips that I stan. It’s a good verse in the first place, but Yoongi really brings it to life and adds a lot of grit to it, so I love it a lot.

Taehyung: I feel largely the same about Taehyung in this song as I do about Taehyung in Not Today and MIC Drop. First of all, Taehyung growls in this song, so that’s iconic and nostalgic at the same time. Second of all, how about that pre-chorus, huh? Again, I don’t want to directly compare him to the other members because everyone is bomb in this song, but Taehyung’s deep voice really brought out the best in the pre-chorus. Besides that, the vocalists kind of just went “oh oh ooh oh,” so my analysis ends here.

Namjoon: I really think Namjoon’s first, opening line in this song is one of the most iconic parts of BTS’s career. If I’m being totally honest, I vibe with Yoongi’s verse more, but Namjoon’s presence in IDOL is so strong that I can’t deny him the title of owning this era. He’s definitely the face of IDOL, and he deserves it because he’s a king.

Alright, so this is one of the most unique songs I’ve heard BTS produce, but it’s not one of my favorites. As such, I ended up being a bit more objective than usual because I don’t have the experience with this song to develop hardcore opinions on who should be in the top 3. I imagine most people would say Jimin, and then maybe Jin and Hobi, as well.

Jin: Jin is not on this list because of “el mariajin,” but that meme is iconic. Jin’s nasally tone really made this song sound special during his parts. It was interesting to listen to him sing because it sounded like it really fit his voice and didn’t at the same time. I absolutely mean that in the best way because I think that kind of disconnect between a song’s tone and the singer can be really fun if it isn’t the case because the singer is a bad match. So, I think Jin’s vocal was awesome and engaging in this track.

Taehyung: This song is another one where Taehyung gets to flex his lower register, and it sounds really pretty. I don’t feel like a lot goes on in this song, so it was hard to rank people, but I really liked Taehyung’s voice against the instrumental. This is a unique genre for BTS, and I think Taehyung’s voice found an interesting place in it that I liked a lot.

Jimin: I’d say this is pretty close to being a Jimin song. His vocal stands out so much on the chorus. This song needs Jimin’s sweet tone for it to pull of what it wants to, so the fact that Jimin got a good chunk of the key vocal in this track helped it a lot. I’m not sure what else to say about it, but Jimin’s voice really fit this genre.

This song is a vibe and a half. Weirdly, I thought it was too generic the first time I listened to it, but now I adore it. Objectively, I think my ranking would still be the same as my opinionated ranking. Well, Jimin and Yoongi might trade places or Jin might replace Yoongi, but whatever.

Jimin: Y’all I was so convinced this was supposed to be a Jimin song when I was first exposed to it. He’s got the sweet tone that matches exactly with the genre of this song, and his voice compliments Halsey’s so well. Jimin really milked his vocal color for all it was worth in this song, and it shows. He did amazingly.

Yoongi: Yoongi’s verse is a bop, guys. It almost sounds lazy the way Yoongi delivers it, and it adds so much character to the song. It’s also pretty animated considering that this song is quite mellow, and it offered a nice contrast between everybody else and Yoongi. I kind of want to bounce up and down every time I hear his verse. Don’t know if that helps convey my feelings about it or not.

Taehyung: Taehyung’s voice in this song is flirting if flirting was a sound. Like I said, I thought Jimin was meant to be the center for this song, but I’ve seen a lot of “Who Owned Each BTS Era” videos, and not a one of them has failed to put Taehyung in the number 1 spot for the Boy With Luv era. I, like, totally get it, though. The way Taehyung presents his voice in this song is somehow gentle and light, but it still has a bottom to it, if that makes sense. And his falsettos on the second pre-chorus? Shut up. This is one of those songs where Taehyung’s specific accent and pronunciation make the song so much better. I absolutely agree with people that this was Taehyung’s era.

This is one of my absolute favorite BTS songs. First of all, it’s relaxing as fuck to listen to, and second of all, the vocalists really did that, you know? This song is hard for Jungkook, who isn’t a countertenor, and it’s hard for a baritone like Taehyung, and they still slapped in Lights. I don’t know what I would say objectively about this song. I mean, objectively, looking at the members’ vocal ranges, Taehyung would still top the list because he had the hardest job. Then I’d probably say Jungkook and Jin.

Yoongi: I know I just said a bunch of shit about the vocalists, but Yoongi’s verse is so pretty. Relaxation is guaranteed upon listening to his verse. It’s kind of a rap, but it’s also kind of singing, and Yoongi’s voice is so lovely to listen to. I want to give a shout-out to Hobi, though, because I almost gave this spot to him. I just thought the melodies in Yoongi’s verse were a touch more pleasing.

Jungkook: Again, Jungkook used narrower vowels in Lights because that’s how he sings comfortably when he’s a bit higher into his range, and it pulled a beautiful tone out of him. His vocals were really gorgeous in this song. Once again, he had a nice contrast singing opposite Taehyung, so it made me appreciate his vocals even more.

Taehyung: Y’all Taehyung being able to sing this high up into his range for the whole song is already impressive, but also having to hit two Bb4s and a C5 on top of that is hella impressive for a baritone. Not only that, but his vocal color sounds stunning when he’s up that high. I said this earlier, but his vocal tone is consistent regardless of the register he’s in, and the way he mixes on the high notes is gorgeous for that reason. It still sounded intense and full and deep despite it being close to the top of his range. This song is a banger regardless, but Taehyung’s vocals are what make me listen to it so often because they’re so special to listen to. He definitely owned this era.

So, I stuck Make It Right on this list because, even though it didn’t have a MV filmed for it, it was still a song which got two MV versions--even though they were almost exactly the same--so I figured it read as more of a single than the songs that were called singles but didn’t get an MV, like Don’t Leave Me. I have no clue who would be the top 3 if you think about it objectively, but I think it’d probably be the either the maknae line or two of the maknae line and Jin.

Jimin: So, this is a repetitive song; it’s a really calming song, so the repetition isn’t bad, but repetitive it still is. Therefore, I was paying attention to vocal color more than anything, and Jimin’s light tone sounded so beautiful in Make It Right. First of all, he does sing a bit deeper in the beginning of this song, and that’s really nice because Jimin’s voice has a lot of character when he’s either lower in his range or belting. Secondly, Jimin’s falsetto in this song is so pretty. There are a few songs where his falsetto can sound much the same as Jin’s or Jungkook’s, but I thought Jimin’s falsetto jumped out a lot in Make It Right.

J-Hope: Hobi sang the same melody that Taehyung and Jimin did on the verse, but it was just a bit different, and I adore it. Hobi’s vocal color isn’t heard nearly enough, and when it gets to be front and center in a song like this, I love it. He’s usually the one in the rap line with the highest vocal tone, but when he sings, he comes out with this lovely, low tone that blows me away every time I hear it. In Make It Right, it made the melodies during Hobi’s part feel special, and there was just a touch of static on his vocal, as well, that brought the verse to life.

Taehyung: I don’t know if this was intentional, but Taehyung’s vocal in the Make It Right chorus sounded like it was mixed to be the main vocal. I don’t know if that’s because this song sounds like it was made for his vocal tone or not, but if I listen to the “oh, oh, I can make it right; alright, alright; oh, oh, I can make it right” lyric, I hear Taehyung’s voice on top and everybody else underneath. It’s gorgeous, though. That’s why I feel like this is his era because his voice runs throughout the entire song in a way that doesn’t happen often with Taehyung. The solo parts he had in this song were done beautifully, as well, because you got to hear him sing in his soft, full voice and then flip into the airy falsetto that sticks out in any song it’s in. I don’t know, I just thought Taehyung’s vocal sounded exceptional in Make It Right, which is why it reads as a Taehyung song to me, as well as a Taehyung era.

Y’all about to fight me in the replies over this one, I already know. ON and Black Swan are the two eras I’m most nervous about posting my opinions on, but it’ll be interesting to see if anyone agrees with me. I know Jungkook is most people’s number 1 for this era and that Taehyung, Jin, or Hobi fall underneath him; that’s totally fine. Jungkook killed it, and I’m not trying to convince you that my thoughts are the only correct ones in any way. If I’m being critical and not subjective, Jungkook absolutely owns this era. My ranking is as opinionated as it gets.

Jimin: So, I had a hard time deciding who to stick in this position since all the rap verses were fire, and Jin also sounded amazing, but I think it’s the fact that Jimin’s vocal sticks out throughout the entire song that made me choose him. This is gonna sound like a joke again, but the “hey na na na” part is, like, a key vocal for ON, and Jimin’s vocal color makes it into a memorable piece of the song. I don’t know if that’s weird, but Jimin felt very present in ON.

Jungkook: I’m sorry, okay? In a lot of ways, the bridge of ON makes this Jungkook’s era. It was an extremely difficult vocal to pull off, and the song basically stops to give Jungkook the spotlight in a way BTS music doesn’t ever really do. I get that the bridge is, in many ways, the center of the song. I was so close to giving the era to Jungkook, I swear, because he sounded gorgeous. Especially the rasp on his voice when he belts. The falsetto note at the top is beautiful, but when Jungkook comes back down in his chest voice and jumps back up to a belt before his solo ends? I mean, he’s an absolute icon.

Taehyung: The reason I have Taehyung down as owning this era is because his vocal sticks out more during the rest of ON. This period of BTS music, up to their 2020 releases, has been doing things for Taehyung’s voice. He sounds different from how he used to, and the tone he’s creating from the songs that BTS has been making recently is stunning. I thought it fit ON really well, and Taehyung’s voice popped out every time he sang. I adore Jungkook, and objectively, he killed this era with his vocals; it’s just that his voice popped in the bridge, and I decided to consider the entire song because the chorus and pre-chorus are my favorite parts of ON. I’m going to say a similar thing about Black Swan, but in a song where the chorus sounds largely the same, regardless of who’s singing, the fact that Taehyung’s tone stuck out despite that was big deciding factor, for me.

Hold on. I know this is a set of unpopular opinions, but remember how I said I was considering the vocal first? To me, these vocals sounded the most unique in Black Swan. Again, if this were about the MV, Jimin would annihilate everybody; if it were about the choreo, nobody could touch Jimin. It’s just not what I was considering when making these rankings. I did consider the performance for Black Swan, but Jimin didn’t have as many central parts in the stage choreo as he did in the MV; plus I thought Jungkook and Taehyung both killed the choreo, as well, so I that’s how I landed on these rankings.

J-Hope: I really love Hobi’s rap verse in Black Swan. His vocal tone is gorgeous, and it sounds really unique in this song. The melodies for his verse are really nice on top of the mix, so I think Hobi probably had the most unique-sounding vocal in this song; it made his verse stand out since the rest of Black Swan is quite dark in tone while Hobi’s verse brought a bit of pop to it.

Yoongi: That being said, Yoongi’s verses in this song slapped. Yoongi can have this deep, almost lazy-sounding vocal tone--as I’ve said already--with really relaxed pronunciation, and for a song like Black Swan, it matched it perfectly. My attention is always grabbed by Yoongi in this song because it fits the concept so well. Also, he picks up right after Hobi’s verse, which had a bit of a brighter vibe, and the way Yoongi pulled it into the darker pre-chorus was amazing.

Taehyung: Alright, so the vocals are my favorite part of Black Swan, but there’s so much processing on the vocalists that Taehyung’s vocal tone is the only one that sticks out to me, and that’s why he owns this era, in my opinion. Taehyung, even, almost sounds the same as the rest of the vocal line, but his vocal color is distinct enough that he sounds different where the rest of the vocalists sound pretty similar. Also, like Yoongi, Taehyung’s deep vocal tone complimented the song really, really well. Black Swan is another example of how the BTS music from 2020 allowed Taehyung to showcase a slightly different vocal color, so I had to give the era to him.

I think we’re in slightly less controversial territory now, so here we go. If you’re being objective, I imagine anyone would say Jungkook topped his era. After, that I don’t know who would be in the top 3 objectively, but I’d guess it’d probably be Jimin and Jin since they featured a lot in this song.

Taehyung: I’m not gonna lie: this is another song that’s pretty repetitive, and a song where the chorus sounds the same, regardless of who’s singing. It’s not a bad thing because all the vocalists have beautiful voices, but since Taehyung didn’t sing “stay gold” once in this song, he stuck out by avoiding the repetitive hook of Stay Gold. I mean, his voice works extremely well in songs like this anyway, but his lovely vocal tone was especially beautiful on the pre-chorus. I think the way he decided to deliver it was really impactful, and it’s probably my favorite part of Stay Gold.

Yoongi: I just love Yoongi in Stay Gold. Taehyung and Yoongi are a hella theme for me in this post, but what can you do? Jungkook technically starts this song by singing the intro, but Yoongi’s got the first verse, and the way he adds just a bit of animation into his otherwise relaxed voice is so nice to listen to. It’s a short part, but it still stands out.

Jungkook: This is another one of those songs that’s tailored to Jungkook’s vocal. Again, the chorus is pretty similar across the vocalists, but Jungkook’s adlibs are so pretty in this song. Jungkook usually does most of the adlibs for songs like these with Jimin backing him up, but Stay Gold had a handful of standout adlibs from Jungkook that added so much magic to the tone of the song. Plus, even though the chorus is what it is, Jungkook stands out elsewhere in the song, and his vocal color is perfectly showcased in those areas. The Stay Gold era goes to Jungkook.

I almost want to save this song for last because it’s so iconic already. Listen, it’s a basic pop song, but the way BTS does it makes it not sound basic. I don’t think it’s one of BTS’s all-time best songs, but I do think it’s been their most successful so far since it’s a basic pop song that can get popular easily, and I think it’s their most repeatable song. I could--and have--listened to this for an hour straight without getting tired of it. It’s because BTS did it, honestly. Anyway, objectively, I still think Taehyung would top this era, but I know a lot of people would say Jungkook should, which is fine; I can tell that, when they recorded this song, they wanted Jungkook to be the vocal center. Also, a lot people love Jin in this era, and they should. He’s a king, and he killed it. Adding onto that, this was a vocal track so Hobi and Yoongi didn’t get a lot of parts, but they killed what they had; I just wanted to say that.

Jimin: I had a hard time picking the third member, y’all. I was bouncing between Jimin, Jungkook, and Jin, and honestly, I think they all did equally well in this song. What made me pick Jimin is that his vocal tone in this song is so different from how he normally sounds--especially when he sings this live. I don’t know if it’s because he stays pretty low in his vocal range for Dynamite or because of the type of song it is, but Jimin’s voice sounded so full in this song. I mean, yeah, he has moments where his sweet vocal tone comes out, too, but he mostly showcases a deeper vocal tone. I love it a lot because it isn’t usual for Jimin, so I think this is a good era for him.

Namjoon: I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or what, but Namjoon kind of feels like the face of this song in a lot of ways. He did say he had a lot to do with the vocal in this song because he’s “in charge of English,” so maybe that’s it, but his part in the pre-chorus was a hella bop. He did it so damn well. Yoongi did, too, mind you; I just think Namjoon brought a little bit of flavor into it, you know? He had all the jams in this song, for real. I remember wanting to highlight Namjoon’s role in Dynamite when I was thinking about making this post, and now I’ve done it, so I’m satisfied.

Taehyung: Y’all. I don’t know if there’s any Taehyung era on this list that Taehyung embodies quite like he embodies the Dynamite era. This is, like, the only moment I’m going to talk about visual concepts in this post because damn. Whoever decided to put Taehyung in that green suit and give that shade of blonde hair was a genius. He was looking some type of way in this era. But that’s not the point of this post. Taehyung’s vocal tone was astoundingly well suited to this song. He sounded the most distinct from the other vocalists than I’ve heard him sound in a long time. On top of that, he got the last chorus of Dynamite, which is the money piece of the song, in my opinion. They really said, “Let’s do a key change in this already high-pitched song that’ll jump up to a C#5 right at the end and give that part to BTS’s only baritone.” I know Jin hit the same note, and he did it beautifully, as well, but a C#5 is more comfortable for Jin to hit than it is for Taehyung because of Jin’s vocal type. The fact that Taehyung nails that note in studio and live is insane to me. To go from one line in their debut song to this? Holy shit, you know? Anyway, we’ve been here forever. Taehyung owns this era because he’s a mad impressive vocalist, and he made Dynamite his bitch.

Are you still with me? I’ve seen a lot of people say this was either Taehyung or Jin’s era, but I think I’ve also seen people show love to Hobi. Honestly, this is such a lovely song that I would agree with anyone’s opinions on who owned this era. It really comes down to who’s vocals hit you in the feels in that special way, and I can understand why any of the members would do that for someone in Life Goes On.

Jin: So, it’s kind of hard to hear in the studio version because the chorus is just everyone’s vocals layered on top of one another with shifting main vocals--which is fine because it’s supposed to feel like BTS, as a whole, is singing this song to ARMY--but Jin’s falsetto is heavenly in this song. He sings lower in his register, too, but I’m really drawn to how light and pretty his harmonies were. You can really hear it when he sings live, but regardless, Jin was awesome in Life Goes On. Even his lower tone brought a lot of character to the song.

Yoongi: Yoongi hits my heart in this song, man. I know he’s kind of rapping, but it comes off as singing, and it’s so beautiful. I could fall asleep to Yoongi’s voice in Life Goes On. It reminds me a lot of Namjoon’s part in Spring Day; we get a unique, melodic vocal tone within Life Goes On that we don’t normally hear in BTS’s music because Yoongi doesn’t usually sound like this. It’s so nice to have Yoongi on a part like this. I support soft Yoongi on future BTS singles. 100%.

Taehyung: Everyone sounds beautiful in Life Goes On, okay? Let me preface with that. However, Taehyung’s vocals really do support the tone of this song. It’s one of those tracks that’s supposed to sound peaceful and emotional, and it seems like Taehyung always ends up being the go-to vocalist for supporting that kind of music. I love everyone’s part in this song; Jin is very ethereal; Jimin is light and sharp; Jungkook sounds clear and smooth; Yoongi’s relaxing vocals are gorgeous; Namjoon brought in a lot of lovely bass; and Hobi kills the delivery of his melodies. There’s just something about the soul that comes with Taehyung’s voice in Life Goes On that gets me. The fact that he was the lead vocal at the very end, too, with the “I remember” lyric was such a good choice because the flip between his breathy, low vocal and his stunning falsetto runs closed the song out perfectly. It’s kind of like this was a fun song that everyone contributed to, and then Taehyung came in and added emotion on top of the warmth you get from everybody else. In my opinion, Taehyung owned this era because he felt like a special highlight within Life Goes On.

Why do BTS’s Japanese songs always hit so hard? I think the only difference between my ranking and the majority ranking is that Jungkook would probably be in it. I understand because I, too, thought Jungkook would be in this. However, upon further inspection, Jungkook isn’t actually in this song all that much. I mean, neither is Taehyung, to be fair, but Jin, Jimin, and Taehyung dominated the last--almost--minute and a half of the song, so. Here we are.

Taehyung: When I first listened to this, I thought, “Wow Taehyung doesn’t actually have a whole lot going on in this song.” However, I think his vocals do sort of anchor Film out in a way. It’s not like he had any sort of crazy vocalization going on, but Jin and Jimin were singing in a really raw way; it was a brilliant touch to convey the tone of the song, but it was desperation, not sadness. Taehyung’s vocal is where the complete story behind the song becomes clear because he adds the missing emotion. I don’t think Film out would’ve been as impactful had Taehyung not been given the parts he was given.

Jin: I mean, Jin killed it. The MV is definitely a Jin MV, but even the vocal features him really heavily. And I loved it. Jin always shines in their Japanese singles, and I think that’s because they’re always created to be emotional. Jin absolutely pulled that off in Film out. He played along the line of calm and tension beautifully, so his vocals definitely add much of the character to the song that we got in the final product.

Jimin: Jimin’s vocals were stunning, let me tell you. He sounded gorgeous. The high notes he was hitting, the tone he chose, the emotion he conveyed; Jimin owns his era, no questions asked. The harmonies he had with Taehyung and Jin in the last two lines? Shut up. Jimin was incredible in this song. It’s not very often that Jimin’s vocals stand out like this, so I’m glad he got the opportunity to be the vocal center, even though it was only for the last half of the song. It was so impactful to listen to him, so I knew this era was going to Jimin the second I listened to Film out.

Was I hella biased about this one? Yeah. Do I know who objectively owned this era? Yeah, it was supposed to be Jungkook. He’s the center of this song, obviously. I’d say the objective view of this era would be what I have, just ordered different. Taekook would probably switch positions for most people. That being said, this song is hard, y’all. Hobi said the recording process was easier than with Dynamite, but if that’s true, then the vocalists really upped their game because there’s C5s all over this track. It’s also repetitive, though, so that’s why it ended up being about who sounded the best, to me, up in that really high range. First, shoutout to Jimin because his vocal sounded really pretty on the pre-chorus, and his part in the chorus was awesome. Also, as an aside, the flirtiness in this song and in the MV had me on the floor, for real. I’ve not recovered.

Jungkook: As I said, I’m aware that this is a Jungkook song. When appealing to the Western market--as they are with an English song like Butter--BTS usually push Jungkook as the center more than they do in their Korean-language songs. Jungkook is my number three because there was really no one else it could’ve been. Which is both about Jungkook’s presence in the song and about how incredible he sounded. Butter, unlike Dynamite, really let Jungkook’s vocal tone pop. Not that Jungkook sounded bad in Dynamite--not at all--but Butter let Jungkook really shine. He got to put a little grit in his vocal, he got to belt; I mean, he sounded bomb.

Jin: Jin featuring more in Butter than in Dynamite has me living, you don’t understand. Y’all, Jin sounded so good in Butter. I could talk about every single line he had in Butter and tell you why he sounded stunning on every one of them. Like, the pre-chorus? Jin’s falsetto was beautiful. The middle line in the chorus when he sings “talk is cheap”? It’s iconic. The way he sings his part in the second verse? I mean, please. I know this is a lot about Jin being my number two because of his vocal, but isn’t that what this post is about? He was a king, you guys.

Taehyung: I don’t think it’s that much of a biased stretch to say that Taehyung owned this era. I mean, we can talk about the center or the amount of airtime or whatever you want, but Taehyung stands out the most, vocally, in Butter, and them’s the facts. No, I do not accept criticism. Jin is a close second, but man, Taehyung sounded so special, to me. I usually don’t catch incredible vocal takes on my first listen of a song because I’m trying to process the newness of it, but Taehyung’s vocal tone took my attention right away while I was watching the MV premiere. I’m not gonna talk about him being a baritone and hitting C5s again because it’s gonna sound like nagging, at this point, but when he goes up that high, he sounds stunning. Stunning. Not to mention, the dance-pop vibe to this song suits his vocal tone so well. Taehyung got to play with his vocal so much in Butter, it seems, that he produced an amazing vocal tone just for this song--and it’s amazing. Taehyung owns the era because--well, because his voice has, once again, devastated me.

I gotta be honest with this one and say that, for the first time, I didn’t walk away from a BTS era going “that member definitely owned this era for me.” After going through the song for the second time after its release, I got a good lock on who I think is the number one, but that still left the last two slots. Number three was the one I really had trouble with, though, because Yoongi did really well with his part--especially since he doesn’t usually sing--and Jungkook’s adlibs were amazing. The problem was that all the members felt equal in this era, and that doesn’t usually happen. So, I really had to analyze what it meant for someone to own an era, and I ended up with these three members because they had the most memorable vocals. Other people would probably include Jungkook instead of Jimin or Taehyung and maybe even Yoongi--which I get because I almost did the same--but this is what I thought was true for me.

Jimin: Jimin almost got beat out by Yoongi, but that was only for a second because I really listened to all the adlibs and embellishments Jimin was doing with his vocal in Permission to Dance, and it made me think he was the obvious choice for my number three. My first listen of this song made me think Jimin was the one that stuck out the most, and obviously, that view changed, but I still think Jimin was a foundational piece of Permission to Dance. His vocal did blend with the mix really well, but his vocal tone actually shone a lot during his parts despite that.

Taehyung: He just can’t help it, you know? If we’re talking about standout vocals, Taehyung’s voice is gonna clinch it nine times out of ten. Permission to Dance is bright and fun, and I thought Taehyung’s vocal brought a lot of warmth to it that isn’t there otherwise. His vocal filled out the song every time he sang--during his verse, the choruses, and the bridge. Rather than being a foundation through his full vocals, though, his vocal actually made him stand out more as a special piece. Also--and I don’t know if this makes sense--but Taehyung’s voice made the song seem happier, in a sense? I guess that would come down to the warmth I was talking about. Anyway, the bottom line is that Taehyung, not only filled out Permission to Dance, but lifted it up and made it even brighter.

Jin: No holds barred, Jin killed this era. Jin also made Permission to Dance sound fuller, but Jin’s vocal had the added quality of making the choruses sound more impactful. Besides that, though, this song was just made for Jin. That’s really what it is. Jin’s vocal tone sounds absolutely gorgeous in Permission to Dance. I don’t know if it’s because of the key or the genre or the melody or what, but Jin sounded so powerful and resonant, and it was obvious to me that he stuck out the most. I don’t know how many others would agree, but I really think Jin shone the brightest in the Permission to Dance era, which is why I had to give to him. 

Thus ends this post that took me two days to complete. I know Taehyung made it into nearly every top 3, but again, it’s just my honest opinion. I always gravitate to Taehyung’s vocal more than anything else because I find his vocal color to be so unique and special. However, BTS is special because of all seven members. I may not have put your favorite member on my list for a specific era or gave them a lower ranking than you thought they should get, but just know that I wouldn’t love BTS’s music as much as I do if any of the members were excluded. All of them kill it in different ways, and all of them have eras where they are undoubtedly the face of the song. And this post is only about the singles, mind you. We haven’t even talked about some of the best BTS songs of all time.

So, I hope you don’t find my opinions annoying, and I hope you share your opinions in the replies, whether it be because you think differently or because you agree with my unpopular choices. Even though I talked about why I think a certain member owns a certain era, I’m just explaining my thought process; I don’t want to change anyone’s mind on who they love in each era because that’s the beauty of ARMY and BTS. There’s so much to love, so I hope to see some love for all the members in response to this post. It was fun; thanks for reading.

[demonwifey]

hey, welcome to the fam!! was wondering if you could do a strong-willed, hot headed fem reader who doesn’t put up w/beej’s shit but as soon as he starts to really get hot and steamy with the flirting she goes completely weak and sub? (bonus of beej knows this and takes advantage of it during petty arguments)

Ayyy, I definitely appreciate the welcome! 💚💜🖤 This is my first ask so I hope you guys enjoy!

Warnings: Cursing and sexual themes

Word count: 3,920 

Beetlejuice was a lot to handle. Everyone knows this. He was all too needy, flirty, and way too devious for his own good. It took a special kind of person to deal with the demon. While Beej’s favorite victims to terrorize were the Maitland/Deetz household, his attention shifted drastically when Y/N came into the picture.

Beej loved it when he could tease and pick on a person enough to put them in a flustered spur. The sound of someone being frazzled by his over the top flirting was his second favorite sound next to screaming in fear. Whether it was nose-poking, butt-grabbing, or his famous animated-ish grab and dip kisses, the demon would never hold back. 

   But see, you weren’t exactly an easy cookie to crumble. Although there were times that Beej’s shenanigans would get to you, you weren’t timid or shy. You actually stood up to Beetlejuice. Which ten times out of ten would completely shock him to the point of being surprisingly speechless. He was so used to getting his way and having everyone around him being apprehensive about his antics. But you were having none of it.

***

Beej knew you were a force to be reckoned with when he basically destroyed your bathroom. Since Beetlejuice was already dead he was always into the thrill of experiencing death multiple different ways (thinking about that part in the bootleg when Adam and Barbara said they wanted to cut off his head and Lydia deadass was like “You should…he’d love that”). You were sitting on the couch with your laptop looking up some new hair products your friends had mentioned to you. Having been focused on your screen you didn’t even realize your boyfriend was in the kitchen up to no good. Beej yanked the toaster’s cord out of the outlet and floated his way to your upstairs bathroom.

Not even 10 minutes later, the lights all around your apartment started to flicker and you heard a loud crackling sound coming from upstairs. Panic started to cloud up your head when you heard Beetlejuice yell in what sounded like pain and you immediately dashed up the stairs as quickly as you could. When you got to the bathroom, you were faced with the ultimate mess. 

Beetlejuice was sitting in the tub holding your, now smoking, toaster. His daily striped suit set was scattered on the bathroom floor. His entire body was black due to the burns and ash from the toasters burst while his already messy hair was scattered in different directions on his head. And to top it off your bathtub, which was originally white, was covered in nothing but black ash. You stood there in disbelief for a moment before running up to Beej who sat extremely still in the ruined tub. You crouched down next to the tub and gripped his shoulders. 

“Beej? Beej, look at me. Are you okay? Talk to me. Are you hurt?” You asked with clear worry in your voice. The demon man slowly turned his head towards you. Before you could register the fact that you asked these questions to a dead man, Beetlejuice let out a loud cackle while throwing his head back. 

“Hell yeah I’m okay, babes. That. Was. AWESOME. You’ve got to try it with me next time…well maybe not. You might actually die.” Beetlejuice went on his mixed tangent about not wanting you to die but also how much fun he just had being electrocuted because he was bored. You stared at the demon with your eyes slightly squinted before it all hit you at once and you went off. You stood up immediately with complete anger in your eyes and heat flowing through your body. 

“Beetlejuice. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?” You screamed at the man in the tub. He looked up at you with his head cocked to the side. Before he could say anything, you spoke again. “YOU REALLY JUST…SAT HERE IN MY BATH TUB AND ELECTROCUTED YOURSELF FOR THE FUCK OF IT? BECAUSE YOUR WERE BORED? DO YOU NOT REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS? OR HOW DANGEROUS IT COULD’VE BEEN?”

Complete and utter outrage filled your body as you hovered over Beetlejuice. He stood up from the tub and the water splashed around him and some onto you. He actually wasn’t completely naked as his lower half was covered by a pair of black and white boxers. He dropped the toaster back into the tub and held his hands up to his chest. 

“What? Babes, it’s fine. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m already dead. No harm, now foul.” He said smirking at you as if that was to make everything better. The young woman stared at him for a little longer, completely dumbfounded. She placed her hands to the sides of her face, trying to get her thoughts together. 

“Beej…I-. No harm? How the hell am I supposed to explain this to my landlord? Look at all of this! The tub is completely black and burned! And that was the new toaster my mom bought me a week ago!” You said gesturing to the disaster around him. He just looked around like a confused child, still not really grasping the reality of the situation. All you could do was let out a deep breath and run your hands over your face. Your mind scrambled with a million other things to say but you realized there was no point in wasting your breath.  

“Okay, you know that. Just get out of the tub.” You said as you moved to grab the toaster’s cord out of the outlet. After, you reached down to pick up his clothes and walked out of the bathroom. You heard the water splash as he got out and walked behind you. After you both were standing in your bedroom, you threw his clothes on your bed and turned towards him. You were already annoyed but the stupid smirk on his face made you even more agitated. 

“Well, babes. Had I known ruining your bathroom would’ve gotten me back into your bedroom, I would’ve done it a lot sooner.” He sauntered towards you with his hands upwards, as if getting ready to grab your breasts. Before he could get any further, you grabbed the towel off of your chair and threw it straight in his face. 

“Make jokes while you can, Beetlejuice.” You said with a heavy tone of exasperation in your voice. As he scrambled to remove the towel from his face, you moved past him to go back downstairs. He stared at the door as you exited, unsure of what was about to happen next. 

He dried himself off for a few minutes before putting his suit back on. Just as he finished tying his tie, you reappeared in the doorway holding a bucket full of what looked like cleaning supplies. Beej was confused before you lifted your hand and motioned him to follow you again. He did as told and you both were back in the messy room. You dropped the bucket on the floor with a loud thump and turned towards the demon. 

“Now, here’s what’s gonna happen. You and I are going to clean this bathroom and it is going to be spotless. Like nothing ever happened. Because if my landlord saw this, not only would she charge me a stupid expensive repair fee, I might actually get kicked out. So, you are gonna get on your knees,” You bent down to grab a large sponge and a bottle of tub cleaner before slamming it on his chest “And scrub the hell out of this tub like you’ve never scrubbed before. And if you so much as try to poof yourself away without helping, I will banish your ass in a heartbeat and you won’t see me for a good 3 weeks. Got it?” You commanded with utter authority and sternness in your voice. 

Without even needing to say it, Beej knew he couldn’t stand to not be around your for 3 minutes, let alone 3 weeks. And by the seriousness on your face, he knew you meant it. Nonetheless, Beetlejuice was shocked. No one had ever actually made him take responsibility for his actions, let alone LITERALLY make him clean up his own mess. To say the least the man was baffled, but intrigued. Beetlejuice just nodded his head quickly. You moved your hands away from him and bent down to grab your own materials. 

“Alright, bugboy. Let’s get to work.”

***

It had been weeks since that incident and you and Beetlejuice were back on good terms. The dead man actually ended up apologizing, which shocked you nonetheless. Of course he brought you a bouquet of dead roses, but that’s besides the point. It was still a sweet gesture that made you forgive him.

What he didn’t tell you is that he was completely turned on from the situation. You had put Beetlejuice in his place, and that wasn’t something he was used to. Ever since he met you you were headstrong and willing to take control. Most importantly, you weren’t willing to take his shit. And he loved that. 

Ever since that day, he did anything he could to get under your skin. Beetlejuice would burn your dinner multiple times a week, make too much noise while you were trying to sleep, or pick and poke at you while you were trying to get work done. Just anything and everything to make you snap and yell at him. Completely putting your dominant personality on display. Not to mention the way you took control with anger during sex drove him utterly wild. It was like finally seeing heaven for him. But after riling you up for weeks, he decided it was time for a change. 

While he absolutely adored your more assertive personality, he wanted to see it all come crashing down. He wanted to see that rage filled face to turn into a flustered one. He finally wanted to be the one in control. And he knew exactly what to do. 

One day Y/N came home from work completely spent. Tired, aggravated, and just plain annoyed. It was a complete case of the domino effect. The corporate bosses were frustrated about yet another thing and yelled at your supervisors. With that, your supervisors came back to yell at you and your coworkers about it. Everyone attempted to shift blame on one another, which led everyone in the office to be irritated with each other. It was a day from hell. 

Once you walked through the door, you kicked your heels off and threw your bag to the side. After hanging your jacket in the closet, you flopped yourself face down on the couch. You lay there for a good minute just needing some peace and quiet. Before you could even enjoy the moment, you felt a dip in the couch behind you. 

“Well hello to my favorite pair of sexy black lace panties.” You groaned quietly as you felt your demon boyfriend lift up your skirt and peak at your ass underneath. You reached behind and swatted his hand away. 

“God, Beej, not now. I just had the worst day at work.” You sighed out as you turned your body around to lay on your back and looked up to see his smiling face. Although Beej had been on your nerves for the past few weeks, the only thing that got you through the day was coming home to see his pale, goofy, smiling face. He reached down to grab your legs and placed them on his lap. Beej rubbed your thighs gently with his cold hand. 

“Finally ready to commit a work related homicide, dollface?” He asked, making his gritty voice quieter than usual. You let out another sigh. 

“Ugh, I’m seriously like an inch away from considering it. It’s like my bosses get their asses handed to them and then they come back to blow steam on us. It’s so stupid and frustrating.” You moved to sit up. “All I wanna do for the rest of the day is eat dinner and go the fuck to sleep.” 

“Yeah, no can do on that, babes.” Beetlejuice said with a smirk on his face as he continued to move his hands higher and higher on your lap. You narrowed your eyes at him, not really in the mood for any of his shenanigans at the moment. 

“And why is that?” You asked, already feeling your blood start to boil inside of you. Beetlejuice just continued to smirk without actually looking at you. 

“Because I~” His voice was starting to become more high pitched and you felt one of his hands already reach the top of your thigh under your skirt. “Mayormaynothavemadeahugemessinyourroomandyou’regonnahavetocleanitup.”

He spoke so quickly that you almost couldn’t understand what the hell he just said. Almost. You moved your legs off of his lap and looked directly in his eyes. 

“What kind of a mess?” You asked in the serious tone he was all too excited to hear. The demon shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. 

“Nothing too bad. Just me and the clones hung out. We watched some TV, played some board games, had some wrestling matches, had a big lunch date in your room. Oh! Can you believe we actually found a baby sandworm and watched it crawl up the walls?” By the time Beej had finished his sentence your eyes almost popped out of your head. You didn’t waste anymore time listening to him rant as you paced up the stairs to your room. You were met with a closed door and the fear of what was waiting behind it was all too real. You slowly put your hand on the door handle and twisted it slowly. 

Beej was still sitting on the couch feeling extremely proud of himself. It wouldn’t be long before-

3

2

1

“OH MY GOD BEETLEJUICE! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!” Right on the nose. The demon man lifted himself off the couch and strolled up to your room with satisfaction in his step. When he reached the doorway he saw you standing on the middle of the floor completely baffled, dumbfounded, and everything in between. 

To put it simply, your room was trashed. There was food and drink wasted everywhere. Your nearly organized bookshelf was emptied as each book was piled on the floor. Your bed was covered in shoe marks and crumbs from what looked like the last of the chips downstairs. Your comforter and sheets were all torn to shreds. Your closet door was open and most of your clothes were scattered everywhere. And just as you turned your head to the side, you immediately saw the sleeping baby sandworm in the corner. This was it. This was the day you were actually going to kill Beetlejuice, forget the fact that he was already dead. 

While your head scrambled for something to say, you looked over the said man in the doorway. Leaning on it with the biggest shit-eating grin you’d ever seen. You felt your mind become clouded with anger. You were ready to snap completely but before you did, you had to leave the room. You walked towards Beej, putting your man on his chest and pushing him out of the way. As he stepped backwards, you closed the door behind you. The two of your stood there for a second. You were trying your best to stay calm so you wouldn’t say something you regret. But, God, the stupid grin on his face was making it extremely difficult. 

“What…the fuck is your problem?” You gritted your teeth while saying. Beetlejuice cocked his head to the side. 

“What do ya mean, babes?” He asked in fake innocence. And that was the last straw. 

“I mean, why are you being such a dick?! For these last few weeks you’ve been doing nothing but irritate the hell out of me. First it was little petty stuff but now this?” You almost yelled gesturing towards your bedroom door. “Did I do something to you, Beej? Because this fucking ridiculous. AND THEN you have the nerve to say that I have to clean it up? Nope, fuck that. Get your ass downstairs, grab that cleaning stuff and fix my room!” You demanded with your usual dominant tone. You just expected Beetlejuice to follow suit like he always does. 

“No.” You were shocked, to say the least. You stared up at the man, expecting some kind of explanation. But his expression stayed at the same mischievous grin from before. You were about to completely lose it. 

“No? What the hell do you mean ‘no’?” You asked, frustration and anger leaking out more than ever.  

“I mean, I’m not gonna clean your room. That’s what I said, right?” At this point you could’ve sworn this was all a fever dream, it had to be. Your dead boyfriend just destroyed your room to hell and back, and is now denying to clean it. What was even happening?

“A-are you insane? You’re gonna clean this room, Beetlejuice, or-“

“Or what? You gonna spank me?” He cut you off all too smoothly. You weren’t even sure where that just came from. The first thing you noticed, however, is the changed look in his eyes. He still had a taunting grin on his face, but his eyes shifted from mischievous to…lustful? 

“I-I…no. But I’ll banish you for real. You know I will!” You spoke out, trying to stand your ground. Beetlejuice just chuckled and crossed his arm, almost with too much confidence for your liking.

“Oh, yeah? And for how long, babes? Y'know you couldn’t stand to be away from me too long, right?” The taller demon slowly walked towards you. Along with his own demeanor, something in you changed as well. You couldn’t put your finger on it at this very minute though. You took a few steps back as he approached.

“You-you’re talking a lot of shit but-“

“But what, dollface? Hmm?” He cut you off yet again. You felt yourself, quite literally, backed against a wall. Beetlejuice was now standing right in front of you. No, he stood towering over you. Something about his current mood change was making you feel small and timid. When you looked up to try and say something else, you noticed his hair had changed from it’s usual bright green to a dark magenta color. You were too busy staring to notice that Beej placed his hands on either side of your head on the door behind you.  

“Well? I’m waiting~” He said in such a low sensual tone that made you feel weak all over. Your mind and body had just done a complete 180. From being ready to rip Beej’s face apart to being turned on by his own tone switch, it was all too unreal.   

“I-you-“ You stuttered too openly. You were losing your dominant power right in front of him. And Beetlejuice. was loving every second of it.  

“Aw, what’s the matter, Y/N? Cat got that pretty tongue of yours? Why don’t you stop fussing and put it to work for me instead.” His gritty voice and patronizing tone mixed together so well. He moved one of his hands down to graze his fingers against your cheek oh so gently. You tried your best to hide the shiver that made its way down your body.  

“Beej, I-“ You timidly tried to speak up but it was still overshadowed by you looking down at the floor between you two. Along the way, you noticed the growing bulge in his pants in front of you.  

“Shh,” He cooed at you with his chilly hand placed on your cheek. “On your knees, babes.” 

Yet again, you were at a loss for words. On any other day, you would’ve told Beetlejuice exactly where to stick it. Not letting the petty demon even dream of pushing you into submission. But here you were, ready to drop to your knees and let him do whatever he wanted to you. You didn’t realize you stuck in your own thoughts until Beej moved his hand cup your jaw. He used a small amount of force to lift your head back up, forcing you to look into his golden eyes.

“I said, on your knees.” Beetlejuice looked straight into you as he spoke. As if your legs had a mind of their own, you followed suit. You slowly bent your knees and lowered yourself gently to the floor. With his hand still holding a firm grip on your cheek, your head was tilted upwards as Beetlejuice looked down at you. You two stayed like that for a moment. Waiting with so much anticipation, Beetlejuice released your chin and then moved to softly rub his thumb over your bottom lip. His entire expression is filled with lust and desire for you.  

“Hot damn, babes. You always look so damn good on your knees for me.” He almost growled out and he looked at you. You’d never admit but hearing him say that made you feel so many emotions at once. The most lingering feeling was the wetness that was currently filling your panties. While it seemed like your head was about to be clouded by nothing but pleasure and hidden sexual fantasies you didn’t even know you had, you were able to catch yourself. You snapped out of your submissive daze for a moment and touched Beetlejuice’s hand on your mouth. 

“Beej…you just trashed my room. And now you’re gonna turn it into a sex thing.” You asked. Even with your anger seemingly flushed away, you weren’t actually gonna forget the event that started this whole thing. Beetlejuice stopped running his finger over your lip for a moment before looking back towards your bedroom door. 

You felt a small twinge of regret when he stopped his motions. You probably just ruined the moment that you so desperately wanted. And already knowing the high level of pettiness Beej had in him, you wouldn’t be surprised if he stopped everything right then and there. When Beetlejuice looked back down at you, he had such a serious expression on his face. 

“Are you complaining, beautiful? You want me to stop?” He asked and you could hear the slight sense of concern in his voice. Beej was always sure to make certain that you wanted whatever he was giving you. He never pushed you to do something that made you uncomfortable or just did something for his benefit. 

Before you even said anything, you took your hand off of his. Your other hand followed as they both gently touched the front of his thighs. You then glanced down and realized that you were face to face with his extremely achingly hard bulge. You weren’t sure 100% of what the demon had in mind, but you thought you had a clue. One of your hands moves to graze at the bulge, letting Beetlejuice know everything he needs to know. You wanted whatever he was about to do to you, and you wanted it now.

“…No. Don’t stop, Beej.” You once again, spoke timidly. Wanting to give him the sense that had full dominance over you, you palmed at the strain on his pants desperately. The demon man looked down at you with the most lewd filled smirk you had ever seen. 

“Alright then, babes. Let’s put that pretty mouth to work.”

Okay, don’t panic. Because I most definitely have a part 2 in mind for this. But anyway, thanks for reading!

[stydiaeverafter]

ABC, it’s as easy as 911

Pairing: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand

Characters: TK Strand, Carlos Reyes

Tags: children, career fic, school, fluff & humor, established relationship

Words: 2K | Rating: G | On AO3

Summary: “I cannot believe I got roped into this,” TK said as he looked up at the entrance of Cedar Elementary School.

TK and Carlos are going to face their biggest challenge yet: A classroom full of children.

A/N: I’m a teacher so this fic was bound to happen eventually. Every year we have police officers and firefighters come to talk to the children, and their questions are always too darn good. But they’re always so happy and excited. They look up to these careers. So naturally, I had to write it and add some Tarlos. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks as always to my Junkyard Fam for the endless support!

ABC, it's as easy as 911

“I cannot believe I got roped into this,” TK said as he looked up at the entrance of Cedar Elementary School.

“It’ll be great, mi amor,” Carlos replied reassuringly as he rubbed TK’s shoulder. “We’re inspiring the faces of tomorrow. Think of all the good they’ll do someday.”

“Did my dad tell you to say that? Because I’m sorry to tell you, it’s not working.”

“Nope.” Carlos laughed as he maneuvered his way around a child zipping past on his bright blue scooter, “This is where it starts, you know?”

“Where it starts is with their sticky fingers.”

“What?”

“Kids,” TK said shaking his head and scrunching his nose, “they’re somehow always sticky.”

“I highly doubt that,” Carlos laughed. “My niece isn’t sticky.”

“Your niece is a baby. She’s not quite there yet.” TK squinted as they made their way inside, “You’ll see.”

The 126 and the Austin precinct were collaborating to teach the different schools in the area for Career Week. Their hope was to inspire the children so they could start to create goals for their future. Something to work for.

TK thought it was a wonderful idea, but he didn’t understand why his father made him come to the station. Mateo would’ve been way better at this than he was. The guy was a natural with kids. But his father knew he didn’t like children and that that was the reason for it.

The only thing that made this whole experience worthwhile was having his man by his side.

He looked over at Carlos as he spoke to the principal. The guy was beaming. He clearly loved children. He was just a natural with people in general, and they gravitated towards him as if he were a shining jewel. Which he was. A rare find that TK would be thanking his lucky stars for till the end of time.

He still didn’t want to be here.

Thinking of how excited Carlos was though, it did put the thought into his mind… Did Carlos want to have children? Was this the future he saw for himself? For them? Because the future TK saw had Carlos in it. He just didn’t know if that would involve children.

TK was saved from his inner monologue as the shrill bell started ringing in his ears. He proceeded to follow Carlos and the principal down the long hallway. The walls were covered with bright construction paper. One door looked like a jungle; the next one was the ocean.

“Here we are,” the principal said with a smile. “This is Ms. Carter’s classroom. The children are kindergarteners. They’re really excited. Thanks again for coming down!”

What kind of warning was that? TK thought. She was about to leave them to the wolves.

“It’s no trouble at all, ma’am,” Carlos replied with a kind smile. He was always so polite. A true gentleman. Which was how he always was with TK… with a few exceptions within the bedroom.

The principal opened the door, but as she introduced them, all TK could see were the mousy eyes staring back at him. His back hit the wall without realizing he had moved. It must’ve been the fear inside. They were going to eat him alive.

“Good luck,” she now warned without any actual help at all as she left them to the sticky little aliens. That’s what they were after all. A different species with whom TK would never understand.

“Boys and girls,” the teacher said walking towards them from the front of the room, “Please welcome Officer Reyes and Firefighter TK Strand.”

As they all said hello with a wave of excitement, one little boy with wavy blonde hair laughed, “What kind of name is TK?”

“That’s not very nice, Tommy,” Ms. Carter replied with a stern look. She looked apologetically at TK.

“The name I was born with,” TK replied with a glare. “What kind of name is Tommy?”

Carlos got closer and nudged him in the arm, mouthing the words be nice.

Dammit. He made a promise to his father, and he didn’t want to look bad in front of his boyfriend. He cleared his throat and tried to control his fiery temper, “My name is Tyler Kennedy. Which stands for TK. TK Strand.”

They all just stared at him. Well, this wasn’t awkward at all.

“Um, yes,” the teacher interjected with a nod, “We’re learning about keeping safe, so we were hoping you could tell us a bit about what you do and some helpful tips so we can stay safe!”

“Yes, of course. I’ll start,” Carlos smiled as he walked closer to their desks. “Can anyone tell me what they think police officers do?”

“They shoot bad guys,” a little boy in front said, making a gun with his fingers. “Pew pew pew.” Of course, there had to be sound effects.

“Well, it’s a bit more than that,” Carlos replied with a head tilt, his fingers tapping on the wooden desk in front of him, “My job is to help you and your families feel safe at your home or when you’re out in the world.”

“By getting the bad guys!”

TK felt his face break out in a grin. He had thought the same thing as a child. TK tried to hide it, but it was too funny. He wanted to see his boyfriend’s calm exterior falter a bit.

But it never did. “We also make sure people are driving safe and following the law. We want people to be kind to one another. But sometimes there are people out there that aren’t very nice. So we want to make sure you are safe with your family. That’s why it’s important to never go to strangers. It’s important to stay with someone you know. Don’t wander off.”

TK’s humor shifted into something else. He was amazed once again by Carlos’ demeanor. The man had a way of lighting up the entire room. He was fun and animated, making the children giggle and clap, but could also teach about the serious stuff in a way they understood but wasn’t scary. TK knew the information was now soaked up into their little spongy brains.

They had loved every word, but they especially loved it when he let them see and try on his handcuffs and then got to observe his other tools up close.

They clearly looked up to Officer Reyes as he finished up, TK could see it in their eyes as they literally looked up at him. He could see why. The man was perfect. TK felt a sense of gratitude once more.

Now it was TK’s turn.

TK had been through a lot in his life, the good the bad and the ugly, but standing in front of them...these little aliens, well it was a challenge for sure. Things were going to get crazy.

He cleared his throat for what felt like the millionth time and felt a bit dizzy. But here goes nothing he thought. “Thank you, Officer Reyes.” Carlos smiled at the children then turned to smile at TK, one that was just for him. “Now I’m going to talk a bit about firefighters and what we do.” He looked around, “Does anyone know what firefighters do?”

They all started blurting out excitedly, and the teacher had to remind the little ones to raise their hands - one at a time they’d be called on.

TK called on a little girl with pigtails, “Can you tell me what firefighters do?”

“They put out the fires!”

“That’s right,” TK said with a small smile. He circled around a few of their desks the air smelling of syrup. “Anything else?”

He called on a little boy with glasses who kept sneezing, “They save cats from the trees. Like my cat. My cat’s name is Whiskers. They saved Whiskers. He jumped up so high! And Whiskers couldn’t get down. So my mommy called them and they came over. They had to climb real high, but they weren’t afraid. They got Whiskers. Whiskers is fluffy and nice. Do you want to meet him sometime?”

“Sure,” TK nodded looking over at Carlos who was clearly holding in a laugh. The response was cute, but TK would never admit to it, “We do often save animals you’re right. Do you remember the number they called to save Whiskers?”

“Oh, of course: 911!”

“That’s right! You call and the dispatcher will connect us to you. It’s very important. We can help if there’s a fire, or if it’s an animal,” he nodded to the little boy with glasses and the boy beamed brightly, “we can help you if there’s a car accident! Any emergency.” He paused, “Does anyone know what we ride around in?”

“A firetruck!” The children yelled out in a chorus some clapping their hands in excitement; the desks shaking on the floor.

Wow. What a reaction. But TK understood it. He used to ride around on the truck with his father when he was younger. It was such a cool experience. Memories he’d never forget.

“Yes, we often call it a ladder truck, because it has a high ladder. Does anyone know why we would need a ladder that could go up way high?”

“To save people in buildings!”

“To save cats like Whiskers. That’s my cat!”

One child with something clearly stuck in his bright red hair asked, “Do we get to go for a ride?”

“Not today, sorry,” TK grimaced. They all groaned and whined. Oh no! He upset them. “You can stop by the Firehouse anytime though. We love visitors.” When it seemed to help only a little bit he tried a different tactic, “But do you want to hear a cool story about when I got stuck up on the ladder once and almost fell off?”

When his diversion had successfully changed the mood as they all cheered, he grinned. Maybe he wasn’t too bad at this after all.

TK suddenly began to lose track of the time. He went over the procedures if there was a fire and taught the children the moves. He showed them a few tools as well. They were really excited to learn about the hose that puts out the fires and the ax of course.

When the little girl with pigtails asked if girls could be firefighters too and the hellion Tommy said they couldn’t, TK stepped right in, “Of course they can! I’ll tell you this. There is a girl on my team named Marjan and she’s the bravest of us all. It’s true.” He knelt down by the little girl, “You can be anything you want to be. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. You were clearly born to save lives!” What happened next was something unexpected but it melted a piece of his heart forever. The little girl hugged him and said, “You’re my hero!” The little boy with glasses ran up and said as he joined in on the hug, “Mine too! Whiskers loves you.”

They all ran over to him. They told him they wanted to be a firefighter when they grew up. Ms. Carter rang a bell and finally asked them to return to their seats.

TK stood up and looked over at Carlos who clearly had tears in those beautiful brown eyes. Their future was looking clearer by the second.

Who knew that being around all these young children would impact him in this way? Damn, his father and Carlos had been right all along.

As their presentation came to an end, they both said their goodbyes and the little girl with pigtails handed him a picture she had colored of the fire truck. It was perfect and he was going to hang it up where everyone could see it, especially his father.

What they did mattered, both himself and Carlos, especially in the eyes of children.

“Not as scary as you thought?” Carlos asked as they made their way to his car.

“Nah, your boyfriend is brave, babe.”

Carlos nodded as he put some of TK’s tools into the trunk, “Don’t I know it. That’s why I knew you could handle them.”

TK just laughed and looked back at the school. It had been a good day.

“You were right by the way,” Carlos said with a laugh of his own as he walked closer to TK.

“Oh, about what?”

He grabbed TK’s hand and winked, “They are sticky.”

[ja-khajay]

what's your favourite movie and why? :~)

oh man it’s really hard to name a fav....... i’m not a big movie watcher in the first place :’) this is considering that and the fact I super rarely watch movies twice

though i’m gonna go with mad max fury road, as my FavTM! when i first saw a poster for it I only knew the franchise name and thought “they’re making a new one? smh, cashgrab” then the first trailer hit, I think I saw it on tumblr first, but I was transfixed. the way it was paced and shot was pure candy to me and when the movie finally came out in France I watched it five times in theaters.... I was completly obsessed with it for a while and I still rewatch it from time to time if I find a friend who hasn’t seen it!

as for why it’s my fav it’s a combination of simplicity, world building and hype factor. I’m kind of a difficult audience for movies because I really hate the way hollywood movies are acted and shot and it’s 90% of what you see :/ MMFR felt very different in philosophy and it just made for a great experience. list of things of the why :

it’s not complex. i like a good simple story and that’s what it does. it’s the only criticism I remember seeing about the movie and I think it’s stupid, the plot being that straightforwards is what you want in an action movie imo

the world is so well made and you see it in the little details. I adore worldbuilding and usually I feel dissapointed by people trying for the wow factor without answering basic questions and MMFR does the exact opposite of this. stuff like new slang, characters from different social classes, the politics of their little world, how people craft and eat. hell yeah

said attention to detail is reflected in the props and such of the movie it’s so fun to look at... plus I love crafts and the fact most of it isn’t CGI is so fun to think about. I’m (sigh) an artist and I really appreciate the concepts of the Things in that film...good design

it’s just really well paced and shot, you got nice colors and striking scenes galore. again nothing ground breaking genre defining but i’m here for mad max not fine art and it did more than what a mad max could have been!!! action is super well choreographed too. I usually hate action scenes for being too showoffy to the point of not being very readable

it’s one of those films that make me go ooh ooh ooh this next scene is so good at every new scene. I’ve watched it so much I could practically quote dialog at some point lol

it avoids the general hollywood feel I mentioned above which is hard to sum up but instantly makes film enjoyable for me

Now if you want a less mainstream movie I really like too, I’m nominating the rabbi’s cat! it’s technically not an original movie (comic adaptation) but they went for summing up several volumes of the comic in a single movie, the animation and voice acting is lovely and it’s one of those....simple yet smart and charming movies. I’m used to Sfar’s tone because I read his stuff growing up but for someone who hasn’t the writing will feel really original... Also it’s in a setting I rarely see represented ever (early century Algeria/Africa and all the colonization and wars by european powers). It touches on sensitive topics without being annoying which boy is rare, and it’s generally just a very fun film. Wish I could force every “muh adult animation” dudebro to watch it lol

The rest of my recs are gonna be basic “yeah im an animation student” ones because I tend to not watch live action asides from the ones my fam buys me tickets to so i’ll make it a short list

Akira and yes its as good as people say

same goes for Parasite if you’re among the 3 ppl on earth who havent seen it

the odd one out here : Kingsman, again its like if action movies were good which happens when hollywood isnt involved :)

Redline. its gotta be one of the dumbest movies ive seen and it’s phenomenal. the animation is insane the entire film is. watch it with overexcited type friends and a lot of beer and have the time of your life it’s free on youtube

[best-enemies]

For the fandom ask meme thing can I request the whole damn alphabet or is that not very cash money of me? I’m nosy lmao I wanna know all of them!

AHDKAJSDKJAHSKDA JACK YOU’RE THE BEST

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

I’ve had my current OTP for like almost 8 years and it’s, obviously, Thoschei (Doctor/Master). My other current obsession is the Gallifrey OT4 hehehe

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

It’s funny because I didn’t ship Hannigram at first... I’d thought the idea of a cannibal having a relationship was terrifying because what if they had sex and Hannibal got hungry in the middle of the act? Lmaoooo 

But yeah they’re my endgame now. I watched the show when it first aired and I was about 14/15 years old so now you see why I thought that. Although I’m still afraid I’m gonna be reading a fic and Hannibal will suddendly bite Will’s dick off or smth AKJHSAKJSAHSASKAJ

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will (be nice)

Uhhh Doctor/Clara. Mainly because I don’t like to ship the Doctor with companions (there may be one or two exceptions but I don’t ship them enough to actually say I ship them lol) and I don’t know I just never vibed with it

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)

Doctor/River. I mean, I did like it for a while years ago but now it’s just... eh. I think she has a waaay better chemistry with the 12th Doctor, but still don’t ship it. I might give it a try once I listen to the River audios but so far meh. I’m not much of a multishipper anyway.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what

God. I’ve written a couple of Academy Era (focused on the Deca) crack fanfics and I still have to translate them to English. They’re pure garbage but I love them. I have a lot of fun writing crack fics because they’re easier and I can ignore whatever piece of canon I want just for the laughs

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom

Guess it’s Doctor Who, been here (in and out of the fandom) for over 8/9 years

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

Uhhhh I think it was Han Solo and Leia, since I was a kid really. I wanted to marry both of them lol

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)

I had to google what a source text is and still don’t know

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

I don’t think so, but Twitter definitively has. I remember a couple years ago I was curious to see what voltron was about and watched a few episodes, it was ok, fun and cute but the fandom was so annoying I stopped watching it for good and don’t care about it enough to pick it up again

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr

I had definitively forgotten about supernatural until I saw it all over my dashboard in the year of our lord 2020 lmao like in my wholock days I tried to watch the show because everyone on my dash (is it still called dashboard?) was talking about it and I watched about 8 episodes before dropping it. But seeing it again on the dash was actually a happy surprise because the memes are too funny hahaha

K -Say something nice about someone in any of your fandoms

I’m extremely shy irl and on the internet as well but I wanna say that  @janeturenne is one of the best authors ever and her fanfics are a blessing in my life; also @thebraxiatelcollection who brings awesome content to my dash and is also one of the best authors. And of course, you, Jack, also one of the best authors god I’m so BLESSED

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves (chars you’re neutral on are fair game, as are chars you dislike)

Uhhh I guess I’m neutral about the current companions. They’re not my favorites but I don’t really dislike them - they had a lot of potential and chibs came up with some good storylines but did not develop them well in my opinion. I think Graham is a fun grandpa whom I’m going to miss when he leaves; Ryan is cool and could’ve done a lot more if the writers had kept a few things, it’d be awesome if he vlogged all of their adventures. He’s like the one I was curious to see more but sadly didn’t feel a connection; and Yaz, I hope she’ll keep growing and that her friendship with the Doctor will finally be developed to a level we can connect to her.

It sounds weird because with the fam it’s always ‘what I wish could have been’ because I never felt really connected to them :(

M - Say something genuinely nice about a ship that you don’t ship (or its shippers, or anything related to you)

Ok... I don’t really ship Rey/Finn but I think it’s one of the sweetest ships ever, and if they ended up together I’d be happy. They love each other and are there for each other always so, yeah :D

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

I don’t know if I got the question right but it’s three things I wish I saw more in my main fandom? Well, if it’s that, then, 3 things about the Doctor Who fandom: 1) people having more civilized or light-hearted discussions about things. Like, I genuinely disliked an 8th doctor audio I listened once that my friends loved, and they made fun of me and we joked about it. Also once we were in a live twitch video playing among us and discussing doctor who, and then we got into a ship “discourse” as a joke and nobody really cared and just laughed because everyone knew it’s fictional shit so why get mad over it? 2) Doctor Who has a titanic amount of content, it’s all canon but at the same time it’s not, so who cares? If you want to listen to Big Finish audios and if you can afford it, then lisiten; if you can’t, it’s okay, no one has the right to tell you you’re less of a fan. Just tell them to fuck off; 3) The best way to keep fandom alive is by creating content. Here in my local fandom we have several podcasts dedicated to all areas of the whoniverse (the show, the expanded universe, the audios, etc), those old fandom websites who do serious work to bring news to the fans, people who make subtitles for the classic series (we don’t have it available here so they do their best to make it accessible to other fans), accounts dedicated to promoting dr who fans who create content, and we even have people making their own audiodramas with dw characters and writing book-lenght fanfiction to help explain the show to people who’ve never watched it, and a great variety of things. I’ve seen a few of these things in the international fandom, mostly by older fans, so I wish younger fans about my age who have the means to make this kind of stuff would make it too. Maybe there’d be less twitter drama out there lol

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

“the killing moon” by echo & the bunnymen reminds me of thoschei. yep it was totally random

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)

The fact that we don’t have a pride and prejudice AU for brax/romana yet is driving me insane

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why

I’ve mentioned it before but doctor/river, don’t really remember why idk I just don’t vibe with it anymore. But also because thoschei has so many different pairings in 1 ship that I don’t really feel the need to ship them with anyone else lol

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships

GOD I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT’S SO SPECIFIC ok fellow academy era stans gather around if you have read Divided Loyalties there’s a scene where it SHOWS that Magnus had a crush on Ushas. And NO ONE HAS EVER TALKED ABOUT THEM and the power couple they would’ve made. I write them into all my fanfics in hopes of making other people ship them but I’ve had no success so far

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

The Master is a big fan of musicals and in the 77 years he spent on earth he watched every single one ever. I’m gonna be bold and say that when he was young, still Koschei, he was an artist, and thought about dropping everything to become an actor on Gallifrey. Time Lords do appreciate art, and have their own plays, but it’s just the same old and boring ones the young people don’t care about. The Master then created a shocking performance that was way ahead of its time and the older Time Lords were so appalled they banned him from writing and presenting plays and that’s his villain origin story

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

1) The Doctor and the Master married on Gallifrey and the entire show is just them having the most litigious divorce in the universe (still isn’t final because the Master has killed all the judges); 2) Ushas/The Rani is ace; 3) The Deca was a 10 people polyamorous relationship; 4) Romana and Livia were girlfriends at the Academy and they hate each other now because the break up was baad; 5) Romana writes fanfiction; 6) Romana/Leela had a thing in Davidia I KNOW it; 7) Leela pegs Narvin; 8) Brax has a life-size painting of Romana at his collection or a statue or smth; 9) Brax’s dream in Reborn is actually REAL and he’s married to Romana, Leela and Narvin all at the same time

U - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms

I don’t even think I’m in 5 fandoms but

Doctor Who: The Master, The Doctor, Romana, Leela, Sarah Jane, Bill (this was the hardest thing ever)

The X-Files: Mulder, Scully, Monica, and can I add The Lone Gunmen too?

Star Wars: Leia, Obi-Wan, Finn, Poe Dameron and honorable mention to Din Djarin and Grogu

Hannibal: Hannibal, Will, Bev, Alana, Chiyoh

V - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

That’s hard

Doctor Who: thoschei ofc, gallifrey ot4.......... uuhh as you can see i don’t ship many pairings in the show

The X-Files: Mulder and Scully. And whatever Scully and Monica had going on because they definitively flirted

Star Wars: Poe/Finn, Han/Leia, whatever Han/Lando had going on too

W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships

WHATVASHAJSKAJSA ok this is a little embarassing but I don’t have a lot of kinks for many ships... I guess I have some for thoschei like, choking, whipping, blindfolds/gagging, bondage, begging, biting, sem-public, phone sex, dirty talk, body worship, praise kink, etc. Alright alright I know it’s a lot but in my defense they've shown half of these on the show

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

The Master, Romana, Leela, Brax, Narvin, Bill Potts, Martha Jones, Sarah Jane, Donna Noble, Lucie Miller. No particular order for most of them but the Master is my precious baby and I will die for this mf

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)

Not many, usually the people I follow are in the same fandoms as I am but I’ve seen some mutuals reblog some Hadestown stuff which is a play that I’ve never seen but definitively would because the protagonists look hot 

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

I DON’T KNOW WHAT DOES IT MEAN

it took me three hours to do this but it was fun!! thank you bb <3

[a-very-fond-farewell]

The forbidden crack! Untamed prompts: 24/?

CLAMP AU n.3 [chengyu? yucheng? (JC/MXY) edition. don’t...question my taste bruh]: “Somewhere, sometime.”

[tw eating disorders mentioned + tw suicide mention (body sacrifice)]

[ok fam. ok. I get it. I would basically ship JC with a rock if it meant I could play with my crack AUs. but I have solid evidence for this one. I promise you.]

[so, “Kobato” from CLAMP is possibly my favorite series from them. it’s 6 volumes long, roughly 40 chapters (and I only recently found out there was an epilogue...even though it was not there in my published version of the series. bc your local cryptid did in fact buy the entire thing in the flesh, that’s how much I love it)]

[in this AU I’ll change some things for the sake of consistency, but I suggest you read it bc the hurt/comfort and pining is enjoyable...so...if you read my silly AU I’m afraid I will spoil the plot for u :( and that’s the last thing I want to do...I understand if you decide to go read the manga and skip my prompt. it’s ok, I’m fine, go and have fun ;-;]

[if you kept reading, hi :D]

[now. am I uncomfortable with certain common tropes in CLAMP’s work in general? yes. especially the age gaps between some of the characters, some of which are not adults. hence the reason behind the changes in this AU. but! the aesthetics fam. the beautiful drawings. the cute outfits. (*ﾉ▽ﾉ)

do you see these?? how cute would Mo XuanYu look in these fam?? I honestly hc him enjoying skirts and feminine outfits a whole lot, but you can imagine him with pants and they would be just as cute. my favorite one is the second from the left btw.]

(imagine Mo XuanYu like this btw and check out the fancomic by the same op! an anon suggested it to me a while ago and now I’m hooked!)

[other mangacaps bc you need visuals:

yeah. angry boy meets bby with a mission to accomplish, bonding over their inferiority complex. yep. I only love the nicest things in life. that’s me.

also look at my baby girl ;-; so cuTe]

[the title is from the ost from the anime series, “Itsuka dokoka de” (check it out!). the anime feels more cohesive than the original manga, possibly bc the pacing is handled a little bit better (since the manga was cut short and the end felt a bit sloppy, but the emotional engagement was still good). and I remember being 17 and crying like a baby when this song came in. if you don’t have time for the manga binge the anime instead! there are plot holes in both of them and the stories are different but still both very enjoyable if you like soft things and angsty vibes.]

[enjoy!]

*

*

When YanLi saw him for the first time in front of her door, at the beginning of spring, she thought XuanYu was too pretty and too young for his own good. Sitting across her on the floor, a tea set between them as he politely answered her questions, the boy couldn’t have looked older than sixteen yet he assured her he was of age and well into adulthood. Which seemed pretty difficult to assess, not with the way he dressed: cute button down, beret slightly askew on top of his pretty head and an old-looking suitcases in hand. She didn’t mention the stuffed black rabbit poking out from the front pocket of his luggage, which seemed more of a comfort thing than a reliable source of company.

Moreover, Jin Ling seemed transfixed by him, toddling his way towards their guest asking for cuddles... something her son had never done in front of strangers.

XuanYu refused to give his last name, nor did he have an ID he could show her, nor did he seem worried about how strange that was. And YanLi knew ZiXuan would have been against it, but she couldn’t leave the kid looking all over Lanling for a place to stay... so she gave him the only available room in their rundown pension.

She only hoped Jiang Cheng would be a nice neighbor and leave the kid alone. Who knew what horrors XuanYu was running away from, after all.

*

When XiChen heard from YanLi of her new tenant, he would have never guessed the kid to look so naive. Not in a bad way, mind you. But his smiles, for how genuine they seemed to be, looked a little bit too big. A little bit too strained not to be a distraction tactic from his part. Or maybe XiChen had lived too long surrounded by fake smiles and closed off people to not worry.

That’s probably why he gave XuanYu a job when YanLi asked him to look over the kid. More to prove himself there were still trustworthy people in the world than to give the younger man a chance. He couldn’t even pay him a full salary, not with the debt collectors breathing on his neck as he tried to run his late mother’s kindergarten.

But maybe that would have been enough for now. A starting point for something better, something new.

*

A-Yuan had always known the kindergarten used to be an orphanage back in the days, but now he had reached an age where doubts stuck to his head instead of being forgotten with the passing of time. Wen Qing and A-Ning were always busy -be it in the hospital or in university- and A-Yuan didn’t know if they loved him enough to keep him. Ever since granny had passed away he had wondered, day after day, when his cousins would have left him behind for good.

He was thinking about such things when he first met XuanYu, on the man’s first day on the job as a teaching assistant. A-Yuan was mulling over his sadness when XuanYu had come to his rescue, asking him what was wrong... before enthusiastically praising his cousins for working so hard after hearing they were late to take A-Yuan home. XuanYu stayed with him and they played on the swings as they waited for A-Ning to come pick him up, apologizing profusely.

On the way home, his cousin held him close and kissed his forehead as he asked him if he had had fun with the new teacher. And A-Yuan felt less doubtful afterwards.

*

After hearing the story from her brother, Wen Qing had made it her job to look into XuanYu and his weird approach to life in general. She took every opportunity she could grasp to spy on the younger man, lunch breaks be damned. She needed to confirm if the kid was a trust worthy person or a runaway child pretending to be older than what he actually was. Well, maybe tailing an unsuspecting young man on the streets of Lanling in scrubs and sunglasses would be considered a bit much, she could admit as much. But it was the thought that counted, no?

Her friend MianMian told her to knock it off and talk to the kid like a normal human being, but the truth was that... well, XuanYu was really too weird to be considered normal. He seldom put himself in dangerous situations without much care, such as picking up a random (and still lit) cigarette from the ground just to give it back to the person who had “accidentally dropped it”. Other times he would cross a road without looking left and right first, risking to be run over by cars at every corner. He never, never, fumbled with a phone and he frequently talked to himself... sometimes even directing his words to that creepy stuffed rabbit of his.

No thank you, Wen Qing felt safer behind light poles and crumpled newspapers held upside down. Even if that made her look sketchy as fuck.

*

Wen Ning made sure to arrive on time to pick A-Yuan up after that time, often chatting with XuanYu as they waited for his baby cousin to retrieve his backpack and raincoat. It was refreshing to speak with the younger man, no matter how weird he acted sometimes. Like that time A-Yuan asked him to tie his shoe-laces for him and XuanYu didn’t know how to do it. Or that time they caught the man taking a nap on the floor in the middle of the school hall. Or that time XiChen had ordered a cake for one of the kids’ birthday and XuanYu didn’t seem to know how to sing the birthday song.

Wen Ning had no place to judge, after all. But XuanYu’s smiles felt like balm on his heart. And if his sweet voice followed Wen Ning home as he bounced A-Yuan in his arms, well. Nobody needed to know that.

*

The last thing Meng Yao would have expected to hear that summer day when he called the kindergarten was a voice so different from XiChen’s. Startled, he had confusedly asked if the kid worked there and how so, given that the school definitely couldn’t afford to hire anyone. He ought to know. He was the debt collector.

But the kid apologized, introduced himself, and then explained XiChen had offered him a part-time job out of kindness more than out of need. The idiot. XiChen should have remembered who his money belonged to instead of taking charity cases left and right.

But when Meng Yao said as much to naive XuanYu, the other vehemently protested, surprising the debt collector with strong opinions on how he shouldn’t underestimate other people’s intelligence and kindness in the first place.

Meng Yao laughed out at that, genuinely so.

There was more to that kid XuanYu than what one would have expected.

*

Nie HuaiSang caught a first glimpse of the mystery man only in late summer, when XuanYu stepped into his cake shop to look at the display. His coworker MianMian seemed to recognize the younger man immediately, greeting him by saying they had a friend in common, namely Wen Qing. The kid merely tilted his head and answered he had never formerly met “Miss. Wen” and that he only knew who she was from what the woman’s younger brother had told him about her.

MianMian shrugged and smiled at him.

To which HuaiSang asked him what they could do for him and XuanYu... just... stopped working. Saying that he had wondered if he could do something for them instead. Apparently, Wen Ning had let it slip they were currently understaffed and needed a hand to deliver their sweets.

Delighted, MianMian set him to work, no matter how many times HuaiSang assured her they didn’t need to force the kid to help them... also because they didn’t actually have the means to pay him in kind. But XuanYu refused money altogether, simply asking them to let him help.

To their amusement (and horror) XuanYu didn’t know how to ride a bicycle, so he insisted on covering the deliveries by foot in the neighborhood instead.

HuaiSang called XiChen on the phone that same evening, asking him to give the kid some slack the following day. And maybe buy him some balm for blisters as well.

*

Jin Ling was young but he wasn’t stupid. Turning three had made him wiser, he knew as much. So he knew XuanYu was magical. He just did.

His pretty-gege talked with stuffed animals, always wore nice things, and kept in his satchel bag a vial filling up with magical candies every time he did something nice for others. A-Ling had seen it with his own eyes, that time XuanYu had put a plaster on his scrapped knee and blew on it to make the pain go away: the golden candy had appeared in the bottle out of nowhere and XuanYu had asked him to keep the secret.

And A-Ling may have been young, but he wasn’t a snitch.

No sir.

*

ZiXuan eventually stumbled upon their new tenant even though YanLi had tried everything in her power to prevent it. He was very displeased with her: taking a scrawny kid in, cutting his rent in half merely because he couldn’t afford to pay the room in full. Utter nonsense.

No matter how much this kid XuanYu praised A-Ling’s personality or YanLi’s cooking, no matter how much he smiled and made himself look accommodating and unthreatening. ZiXuan didn’t work pro bono even at the firm, let alone for his wife’s business.

Yet, when he asked to be let inside the kid’s room to formally discuss the terms of his contract (and tell him to pack his things and leave at the end of summer), ZiXuan was left speechless. There was no bed, no table or chairs. The fridge wasn’t humming and the AC wasn’t working. The only things he could see were the younger man’s clothes neatly folded in his open suitcase or hanging by the window to dry. No books, no snacks, no nothing.

Usually tenants brought their things in right off the bat, their stuff mailed in within a week after moving in. YanLi was very particular about it, she would have not overlooked something like that. But maybe she had been too busy with A-Ling these past few months and hadn’t noticed the kid was actually too poor to even breathe.

And now that he looked at him, XuanYu looked suspiciously skinny.

Was he sleeping on the floor? Didn’t he have covers for the colder season? Was his fridge broken, empty, or -gods forbid- purposely left with no power because the kid couldn’t afford the electricity bill?

“Do you actually live like this?”

XuanYu didn’t answer to that, but smiled anyway. It looked sinister in a way ZiXuan couldn’t explain, afraid of the things such a young man may or may not have endured in the past. And was maybe still enduring now.

The following day ZiXuan gave the kid their spare futon they bought in Japan on their honeymoon. They never had guests anyway and they could afford to pay for a tenant’s electricity bill every now and then, they weren’t poor.

Certainly YanLi would have agreed with him on the matter.

*

JinGy saw it. He did! He wasn’t lying! Xuan-ge was there, surrounded by darkness and shadows, looking over the children during their nap time, only a sliver of light coming from the door left ajar... casting shadows on half of his pretty face.

And he saw him reviving that stuffed black rabbit he always had on him.

The rabbit just rose on his hind legs and turned his head up and started whispering things to Xuan-ge, who nodded every now and then in deep though.

JinGyi had read about how paper-man talismans had been stuff of legends in the past. His books spoke of ancient times in which even corpses could be brought back to life. How even animals could turn into godly beasts if enough resentful energy polluted them. But he would have never thought magic could actually be real and so easy to play with.

And Xuan-ge had looked nothing but beautiful as he was talking to the stuffed animal, humming softly under his breath.

*

When Jiang Cheng dropped out of university for the second time, YanLi didn’t say anything and instead welcomed him back in his old room. So much for enrolling in law school at twenty-three, uh? ZiXuan would have been disappointed in him like the first time that had happened in his bachelor anyway, no point in avoiding the man. It was autumn anyway: it was either going back to the apartment complex or look for a new flatmate. But the school housing had rightfully kicked him out after dropping out in the middle of the academic year, so there would have been little hope for him to find a new place anytime soon.

What he did not expect to find was a new tenant living next door.

Sleeping in front of the door, clutching a satchel bag and a fucking stuffed animal on his lap.

Jiang Cheng jolted him awake and took in the sight of his shoulder length hair, his long lashes and sleepy eyes and thought he looked ridiculous. Wearing a silly hat and moccasins, purple shadows under his eyes, a confused expression on his worn out face. When asked what the hell he was doing there, sleeping out of his room instead of inside of it, the younger man said he had forgotten his keys inside that morning.

He was clearly an idiot, so Jiang Cheng walked away and returned to his room after more than a year away. If someone asked him who had rung YanLi to bring the spare keys to help the idiot he would have shrugged at them and shut the door in their face.

He didn’t have time for that, he had to think how to ask XiChen to let him back to work at the school the following day.

*

A-Qing had seen many things in life, met many horrible people, dealt with the scum of the scum... but she had yet to meet XuanYu. 

A menace. A hurricane. A fool. The amount of times she had had to scoop him up from the ground after he had clumsily slipped on invisible bananas and such should have earned her a honorary title for outstanding citizen. It’s been months since his arrival and the kids had already learned to make way whenever they saw him. He inspired fear even in their tiny heads, honestly. What a fellow teaching assistant, really.

She was just there to score brownie points for his electives and internship program to become a social service worker, that was true. But she cared about the kids enough to know she had to do something about that. The children loved XuanYu and they were this fucking close to either worship him like a small deity or criminal and something ought to be done.

The last thing she would have expected to see, however, was Jiang Cheng coming back so soon. Crawling back from university to ask to work there, wagging his tail like the lovesick dog he was. She could easily imagine what the older student would have said to XiChen, something on the line of “you know goddamn well I’m not doing it for the money. I grew up here, I don’t want to see this place crumbling down. I’m definitely not doing it because I’m in love with you and seeing you sad makes me want to gag.”

Well, maybe the last part could be considered artistic license from her part, but judging by what she could overhear behind XiChen’s office door... yep. She had definitely nailed the part about being fond of the ex-orphanage and for the rest... the sentiment was there. The pining bastard.

“Do you need anything, A-Qing?”, XuanYu asked her out of no-fucking-where, startling her as she pretended to dust off the floor very close to a door. Cheek-plastered-on-it kind of close.

“Nothing. Mind your business,” she answered, flustered as fuck.

XuanYu couldn’t be that naive, he knew what he was fucking doing. His creepy little smile so similar to the one the debt collect always had on his face. No wonder XiChen had fallen for such a tricky bitch.

“Then will you help me find JinGyi? He doesn’t want me to help him with his project for the festival and went into hiding again.”

There, that smile and knowing gaze. Judging poser. He looked much older than his alleged twenty years. He knew what he was fucking doi...

“You?!”

Jiang Cheng’s honest-to-gods screech pulled A-Qing out of her thoughts. She turned and had to witness XiChen amiably patting Jiang Cheng on the head as their boss explained him how XuanYu worked there. 

“It’s been almost six months now, he’s a very valuable kid and helped out around here while you were studying.”

Jiang Cheng was both livid and red with longing, because his touch-starved ass was all over that hand patting him platonically on the head. He was also angry, which was default for him... but there was something else underneath. Something promising in the way he stared XuanYu down.

Maybe A-Qing could win some candy by betting with the kids about such unexpected turn of events.

*

ZiZhen believed A-Yi. If his friend had told him the new teacher assistant was a witch then he was right. So they had started researching witches at the school, but only found a couple of colored books on the matter, mostly useless. All but one, telling the story of a nanny called Mary Poppins... some western thing.

But everything checked for the most part. The hat was there, every day a different one, but ultimately never leaving XuanYu’s head. The umbrella was not, but both him and A-Yuan had seen their gege with a parasol once and that was enough. His satchel contained infinite amount of things, from sweets to possessed stuffed animals, like a qiankun bag from the legends! He talked with things as if he could control them.

Well, even the teacher sometimes tried to convince the printer to work with sweet words, gently coaxing it back to life... maybe that was just how adults functioned. Even his dad would ask the fridge where his favorite cake had disappeared sometimes. Adults were weird.

*

Fuck Lanling. Rain day and night, autumn planning everyone’s demise by flooding every bloody year. Xue Yang was over it.

He took a random umbrella from the rack by the door of the convenience store and left without a second thought, already wondering what he could say to convince XingChen to offer him dinner somewhere new. The man wasn’t married anymore after all, so Xue Yang could technically have his way with him now, right?

“Excuse me!”

Xue Yang was not in the mood for people calling him out on his bullshit that night, but he turned anyway and saw the weirdest thing. A young man roughly his age, maybe a year or so younger, drenched from head to toe after rushing to him. He was panting, clutching a plastic bag full of cleaning supplies from the convenience store Xue Yang had just left.

“I believe you mistakenly took my umbrella,” the other said, pretty face framed by wet hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks.

Amused, Xue Yang shut the clear plastic umbrella he had “mistakenly taken” and held it at arm’s length by the handle, directing the pointy edge to the other like a sword. Hell if he was going to get wet himself, he needed to prove something to the idiot. He could handle a bit of rain for the sake of being dramatic.

“You want it back?” Xue Yang asked, rising his chin and arching an eyebrow at the other. The man nodded, holding his now wet beret in place on top of his head as if he was more worried about it falling on the ground than keeping his crown dry.

“I knew it was someone else’s when I took it.”

“But...?”

“And what’ll you give me back for it? What are you gonna do about it?”

This should have taught him not to mess with him: he didn’t even have to use his business tone to make the other take a step back. Meng Yao, the bastard, had taught him smiles went a long way in dealing with stupid people after all.

“Right, if I take it from you... you won’t have one to go back home with.”

Uh?

“Wait here. I’ll go buy you one at the convenience store. I’ll be back.”

Uh??

The idiot actually run back to the store and purchased him a fucking umbrella. And Xue Yang was twice as stupid because he waited for him to come back, startled as he was. The idiot was smiling megawatt bright when he came back as well, what the fuck?

The sick bastard extended the clear plastic umbrella to him like Xue Yang had done earlier, but he held it by the middle, as if surrendering his weapon. It was fairly similar to the one Xue Yang had stolen anyway, why bother asking for his umbrella back?

“Did your dead mother give this particular one to you or something?”

The bite in his words only mildly deterred the other man, who pressed his lips together before forcing an even bigger smile on his face.

“No. It’s pretty cheap. But it’s mine. It’s the first thing I bought with my money.”

Xue Yang left after that. With the stolen umbrella. Because he was still a scumbag and not a sentimental asshole. But he was very quiet that evening when XingChen treated him to some fancy takeout on his couch while lovingly drying Xue Yang’s hair with a towel.

Nothing made sense anymore.

*

Qin Su worried over Jiang Cheng. He was her best worker, but she knew for a fact that he had a million part-time jobs in town and she didn’t want to overwork him. She also knew he would give all of his hard-earned money to XiChen anyway. All to pay a stupid debt. The huge lovesick idiot.

Was he the fastest delivery driver? Yes. Was he the most well behaved of his staff? Not even close. But he was respectful enough to work over his issues and she trusted him with doing his job at the end of the day.

So when she found a young man in a frilly outfit waiting for her on the lobby of her shop asking for Jiang Cheng... well, she was pleasantly surprised.

He introduced himself as XuanYu and held a lunch box in his hands, saying Jiang Cheng had forgotten it at home. Which left A-Su properly impressed. How could a man as angry as Jiang Cheng secure himself such a lovely person was beyond her comprehension, honestly.

He was adorable and she wanted to be his sister like, yesterday.

But when Jiang Cheng came back from a delivery, entering the dumpling shop with his helmet still on, he stared XuanYu down and told him off right off the bat.

“Not you again,” he said, to A-Su’s utter confusion, “Can’t you take a fucking hint? I’m already avoiding you at work. I don’t want to be your friend.”

Something akin to hurt painted XuanYu’s feature for a fraction of a second before he could retrieve his smile and point at the lunch box.

“Your sister asked me to give this to you on my way out. A-Ling helped making rice cakes this time and wanted to hear from you if you liked them or not.”

Qin Su could have easily missed the change in XuanYu’s voice at that, that’s how much of a good actor he was. But Jiang Cheng had no face even to feel ashamed for lashing out at the kid like that. How much older could he be from XuanYu, three years? Two? Had nobody taught him some respect?

“XuanYu, if he bullies you again you come here. Am I understood?”

Like hell she was gonna let this gem of a child slip away from Jiang Cheng’s hands.

Not in a million years.

*

Song Lan breathed in and out. In and out. The clear morning air surrounded him like an old friend, hugging him closely as he clutched the papers for his divorce.

XingChen had signed them in the end. Five years together were now in the past for him.

Maybe they had been too young back then, when they had taken the chance to get married the moment the government announced the change in the law for people like them. How old have they been, twenty-three? Twenty-four? Another lifetime. An existence away.

He wished he could cry. It would have been easier.

But, as he turned a corner, someone stumbled into him and sent the papers scattering on the sidewalk. Song Lan tried to save them from being dirtied on a puddle but was unsuccessful. He didn’t know why he bothered anymore. It felt like the last piece of his lover had left and Song Lan couldn’t even prevent something as simple as that. XingChen’s signature dirtied in a pool, but not enough to be washed away. What a joke.

The young man in front him bowed down, apologizing profusely, trying to save the documents at the best of his abilities. He even suggested finding a public toilet to dry the sheets under the hot air blowing machine, the silly man.

Song Lan smiled instead, reassuring him it was fine.

He was fine.

But the kid accidentally read the first few lines of the agreement before looking up at Song Lan. And where he would have expected pity, Song Lan only saw consternation instead on his pale face. It was so startling to see it, that he had to crouch back down on the ground next to the kid and reassure him everything was fine. It was just paper, it wasn’t important, he didn’t have to feel so guilty about...

“It is important. Your life is important.”

Such a dramatic sentence, uttered so vehemently, should have sounded weird to Song Lan. Especially because he disapproved of such antics in the first place. But it sounded so sincere, so earnest that he felt touched for a moment.

So he helped the kid up on his feet and asked him to walk a bit with him, to keep him company. Reserved as he was, he would have never thought possible opening up to a stranger the way he did that day. But there was something calming about the kid, almost as if he had been put on earth to soothe other people’s existence.

So he told him how his husband had fallen in love with someone else, someone much younger than them. How this had strained their marriage even if Song Lan had known all along his husband had the ability to fall in love with more than one person at a time. But Song Lan was monogamous and would have never justified forcing his lover to suppress his feelings just to please him. So it had been Song Lan himself to call it quits and wish him all the luck in the world.

The kid had started crying at some point, without Song Lan even noticing at first.

“Why are you crying? Please no, I didn’t wan to upset you.”

“So much love. In different ways but... it’s too much. There’s so much of it, of course I’m crying for you and your loved one.”

Song Lan was many things. Too stern, too rigid, too peculiar about who could touch him or not, too cold in expressing his emotions. But he felt warm then, in front of a kid crying for him in the middle of the street, one day of late autumn.

“Thank you.”

***

XuanYu let it slip once with Mrs. Jin how little he remembered of his past. 

It wasn’t a lie, he really didn’t remember what it had been of him before he had met her, asking for a room. But the kind woman just assumed he was talking about his past or youth, so he didn’t correct her on the matter.

Knowing the truth would have scared her, after all.

But he still let himself trust her that day as they sat in front of a pot of tea and he pretended to drink and eat the pastries on the low table. He didn’t need to eat or drink. He wasn’t even sure he had a digestive system.

“I only remember... a song.”

“A song?”

“Yes. Someone singing every night before falling asleep. I don’t think it was meant for me to hear... but my body remembers the shivers. The feeling of being loved.”

“The body remembers the weirdest things, XuanYu. You should trust it more.”

He smiled at that, wriggling his hands on the handkerchief where he had hidden the pastries from sight.

“I’m pretty sure that song wasn’t for me. My body was merely there to listen.”

YanLi looked uncomfortable at that, something scary painting her features.

“Maybe I was eavesdropping,” he reassured her with a self-deprecating joke, not sure if that would have made her feel more at ease or not, “Maybe I was listening in, hoping such lovely words could be directed at me for once.”

Mrs. Jin sipped her tea for a long while afterwards, before finding the resolution to look up and stare him down with a serious expression.

“Unrequited feelings hurt, don’t they?”

XuanYu didn’t know what she meant by that, but he nodded anyway.

He heard something rustling in his bag and hid the sweets inside of it the moment YanLi turned to clear the table. If A-Ling heard someone munching their protests away from inside of the bag, he didn’t snitch on XuanYu and retrieved playing with Fairy on the carpeted floor next to him instead.

*

Lan Zhan was disappointed in him, XuanYu knew that much. They were admiring the sunset from the small balcony in their room, folding laundry.

XuanYu always wondered why Lan Zhan assumed the form of a black stuffed rabbit, of all things, but he didn’t want to pry. He didn’t even know his real name. The other had told him he used to be a human in his past life and that he hadn’t technically reincarnated in this lifetime. That his current form was just a mean to a goal, that he could use it to guide XuanYu and help him better that way without expending much spiritual energy.

He told him someone dear to him taught him how to manipulate paper-man talismans in his previous life. How similar the process had been to move around in a stuffed animal’s body. How convenient.

XuanYu believed he secretly loved it, even if Lan Zhan would have never said as much. He already talked very little to begin with.

“You told her you don’t remember your past.”

“That I did.”

“Don’t do it again”

XuanYu folded the last towel on his lap and then let Lan Zhan take a nap on it. He felt silly having to take showers and pretend to be a normal human being. He hated inconveniencing the Jins with him, accepting their bedding and paid kitchen appliances and so on. But if he wanted to accomplish his mission he had to make an effort to look normal... instead of spirited away from another world or maybe simply another era.

“I won’t do it again, don’t worry Lan Zhan.”

*

Lan Zhan was disappointed, but he was also patient to a fault.

Sure, it would have been much appreciated if Mo XuanYu didn’t lose him around every other day. This time the younger man had forgotten to pick him up from the floor where he had been reading stories to the children at the kindergarten.

But Lan Zhan was also a stuffed animal now, so it wasn’t like he could move around and risk being seeing by normal humans. His body was a vessel and any damage would have had repercussions on his soul as well. 

What to do.

He tried not to panic when he felt someone picking him up from the floor after an hour or so. He silently prayed for them not to be A-Qing: even in this life she was too smart for her own good and he couldn’t risk being found out so soon. Mo XuanYu wasn’t even halfway to complete his mission and Lan Zhan couldn’t...

“I’m sure A-Yu is looking for you, little guy. What are doing all the way back here?”

It was always difficult to hear his older brother’s voice in this life. To see his face, to notice how sad he was even in this new reincarnation of his.

Lan Zhan didn’t move a single muscle as XiChen dusted him off and put him in his apron front pocket as he looked for “A-Yu”.

In order to give a second chance to Mo XuanYu, Lan Zhan had sacrificed any possibility to ever reincarnate until his mission was accomplished. So XiChen didn’t have a younger brother in this lifetime and he would have not had one for a while. Lan Zhan missed him, but they had to wait for a bit more.

They still had three months to fill the bottle the King of Hell had entrusted Mo XuanYu with. Then he would have entered the list for reincarnation once more and everything will have been fine in the end.

Lan Zhan owed the kid his life, so he trusted him.

No matter what.

*

XuanYu remembered the boy who had stolen his umbrella. He remembered him well enough to recognize him when he found him crawling on the floor, a stab wound in his belly, one winter night.

Panicked, he asked Lan Zhan what they could do as he instinctively pressed the wound with his bare hands. Lan Zhan didn’t dare move not to attract attention on himself. The other man snarled out at XuanYu, asking him why did he even bother, seemingly recognizing him.

“I took your fucking umbrella. Hate me and leave me alone.”

“Ridiculous.”

Lan Zhan would have been proud of him for that remark, but XuanYu was too scared to think about it. He didn’t have a phone and he didn’t even know the number for emergencies. He wasn’t even qualified to be a teacher. How had he survived until then. He was useless and stupid and...

“What the fuck?” Jiang Cheng’s voice came in a whisper behind him.

What a sorry view the older man had to take in that night: a pool of blood staining otherwise clean clothes, a moaning boy on the ground in restless pain, a crying mess of a sad excuse of a human pressing on a throbbing wound next to him.

Jiang Cheng muttered something about the boy being one of Meng Yao’s men, that they should leave him there to die for all he cared.

The man under XuanYu barked back, telling him he had tried to “convince the idiot of the same”. But XuanYu was horrified by what he had just heard.

“People die for nothing. People die for fucking nothing. You don’t leave someone behind just because you fucking hate them.”

XuanYu has never cursed in this brief, borrowed life of his. Maybe spending so much time with Jiang Cheng had rubbed some of his habits off on him in the end.

Startled, Jiang Cheng seemed to agree with him because he fished out his phone and called an ambulance right away.

The stabbed man laughed at that.

*

Lan Zhan was clutched in XuanYu’s hands as they waited in the corridor of a badly lit hospital. The kid was crying, hard. He must have remembered how his family in Mo Manor had mistreated him in the past, how easily his own relatives had starved him off just out of spite. How already impossibly emaciated he had been when he had sacrificed his body for Wei Ying, to bring him back in a weakened vessel just to seek revenge. Just to let his hatred run free.

Such cruelty had earned him nothing but distrust from the hell judges, who sentenced him to never be reincarnated again. Only when Lan Zhan had ascended to heaven -many centuries after reaching immortality- he had been able to make them relent.

If Mo XuanYu could prove to be a good human being during a trial time of one year on planet earth, filling a vial with good actions in the form of golden gems, then they would have considered Lan Zhan’s proposal. Mo XuanYu would have atoned his sin and be granted a new life, a clean record, and a second chance at happiness.

Seeing someone almost die in front of him must have awaken something ugly in him. His stained hands, the iron stench in the air. All that blood... like the last thing he had most probably seen in his previous life before his body sacrifice. A scarlet array under his feet, another soul replacing his in his own body.

Lan Zhan let himself be held tightly in Mo XuanYu’s hands that night at the hospital.

And hugged back without anyone else noticing.

*

Xiao XingChen. That was the name of the man showing up at the kindergarten one week later. XuanYu had never seen him before, but the man hugged him in front of the kids, alerting both XiChen and Jiang Cheng.

“Thank you,” the tall man said in between tears, holding him tight.

“I don’t understand. I...”

“You saved A-Yang. Thank you.”

XuanYu pressed his lips together tightly at that, so overwhelmed he didn’t know what to say. His fingertips hurting with sometimes akin to electricity the more he let himself be held so fiercely by the other man.

He started crying in earnest only after the man had left, surrounded by the children who worried and fussed over him. He fell asleep with them during nap time and when he woke up he found Jiang Cheng placing a quilt over him.

Caught red handed, the older man feigned disinterest in the beginning... but then he sat down next to him. Just like he had done in the hospital one week ago.

“Did you see someone die before?” Jiang Cheng asked then, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, “You had such a strong... reaction to my words. It was insensitive of me. I apologize for angering you. I’ll better myself.”

XuanYu didn’t answer at that. 

Jiang Cheng would have never understood what it meant to sacrifice yourself to hatred and revenge. How much it had scarred him to be brought back to life, but only as a worn out set of robes on top of someone else’s soul. How distant he had felt when the Yiling Patriarch had inhabited his body and had let himself be touched by someone else.

Jiang Cheng would have never understood what it meant to be touched in the flesh but be utterly unreachable as a soul. Or how much it hurt to become an empty body filled by someone foreign and new. Someone who could wear his skin better than him.

Jiang Cheng would have never understood. And thank all the gods for that.

So XuanYu... Mo XuanYu kept quiet and smiled instead.

*

Lan Zhan didn’t trust Jiang Cheng. He hadn’t in the past and he wasn’t gonna start now. Wei Ying would have been so disappointed in him for thinking badly of his baby brother, but there was little Lan Zhan could do about that.

Wei Ying wasn’t there to judge him for it.

Mo XuanYu would wake up every morning and wash himself, get dressed and tidy up the room before leaving. He would fix his appearance in a mirror Young Lady Jiang had gifted him in autumn, making sure his hat was still in place.

“What would happen if I were to...?”

“You must keep your hat on... even when you sleep. You know this much.”

“I wear a headband to bed.”

“And what of it?”

“It’s... silly.”

“Nobody can see you in your sleep. Why the sudden worry?”

Mo XuanYu said nothing in response to that, but Lan Zhan knew. The kid had never worried too much about his appearance aside from looking proper and well dressed. He had never fussed over his features, but recently he had taken the habit to walk dangerously close to makeup stores and check various displays at the convenience store close by. Lan Zhan knew Mo XuanYu had remembered his past... how he had quickly realized he was already an adult. With needs and desires.

But now a brand new reincarnation of Jiang WanYin would wait for him every morning to walk to work together. Now Jiang Cheng acted pleasantly enough to be considered kind and doting to someone starved of affection like Mo XuanYu had always been. Which wasn’t planned, it had never been.

Lan Zhan didn’t like where this was going.

He didn’t like it at all.

*

Nie HuaiSang came to bring a cake for XuanYu one day or so before the end of the year, snow sticking to his hair and flushed cheeks.

“I don’t know when your birthday is... so I’m pretty sure I’m late to the game. But I wanted to thank you for helping me and MianMian that one time. So I made a cake for you. I hope you like strawberries.”

Mo XuanYu had no idea if he liked them or not. He couldn’t even eat.

He started crying in the middle of his room, where HuaiSang had placed the boxed cake on top of his low table.

Panicked, HuaiSang jumped up and out of the room to alert Jiang Cheng next door. But upon seeing the other man’s worried expression XuanYu cried even harder.

“What did you do to him, you bastard?”

“I’m not the one who used to prank people all the time. Grow up!”

“You clearly did something horrible to him for...”

“A-Cheng we’re not twelve anymore. Who do you take me for?”

XuanYu took his chance to stuff his face with cake, gulping it down bit by bit even if he knew he didn’t have the necessary organs to process it without vomiting it all out in an hour or so. He had tried many times to hold food down to no avail. His body rejecting it as if it was poisonous and dangerous.

He had tried so many times... to practice. To be able to appreciate YanLi’s generous cooking, to help A-Ling and the children at school prep their lunches and maybe... maybe to eat with Jiang Cheng every now and then.

Nie HuaiSang hugged him and patted his head, confused but too scared to ask for an explanation. Mo XuanYu smiled at him and lied, saying his cake was the best he had ever eaten. It wasn’t the best. It was simply the first.

He had no way to compare it with anything else, really.

*

Wen Ning had heard about his “stomachache” from XiChen, who had known all about it from YanLi and Jiang Cheng. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise for XuanYu when he saw the older boy in front of his apartment complex the last day of the year.

But it was a surprise.

“Can we talk for a bit?” Wen Ning asked, holding his umbrella up for XuanYu to walk beside him, protecting him from the icy snow.

They walked to the nearest park, sitting under the gazebo to watch the snow falling down. Their heavy coats keeping them warm, despite the cold.

They used to take long walks back from the kindergarten with A-Yuan after school, since the Wens lived close to XuanYu. Before Jiang Cheng came back anyway.

Wen Ning looked uncomfortable, fidgeting with his fingers as he tried to find the right words. He surprised XuanYu by telling him how, in the past, he had suffered from an eating disorder and had been hospitalized for a while in his teens. How worried his sister and their grandma had been for him, how much they helped him in his recovery. How alone he had felt for years still, no matter how loved he was.

“A-Yuan told me he never saw you eat. So I was wondering if you needed help.”

It wasn’t the case, but XuanYu knew he meant well. Telling him everything was fine would have only worried him more, so he tried to explain an half-truth that could satisfy him. Saying it was difficult for him to process food, that in the past he had suffered from malnutrition and now he had digestive issues.

He was talking about his past life, but he figured that could work as well.

When they parted ways in front of the apartment complex, Wen Ning asked to hold XuanYu’s hands for a bit. He cradled them carefully, as if they were precious. His slender fingers cupping XuanYu’s smaller palms almost reverently.

“I know you don’t feel the same about me. But I’ll ask you to look after yourself anyway. Not out of obligation for me... but out of respect for yourself, if nothing else.”

The moment Wen Ning let go of his hands, Jiang Cheng stepped out of the front door of the building and saw them.

He said nothing and walked away after stepping out of the gate.

*

Lan Zhan would have very much liked to flip a finger at Jiang WanYin’s forehead. Hard. Wei Ying would have done the same, he was sure.

Wei Ying would have also smacked some sense in his baby brother, forcing him to face his feelings and take responsibility for what he was doing to poor Mo XuanYu.

Who was currently waiting for the other man’s return like a dog by his room balcony, surveying the front courtyard like a bird of prey from above.

Lan Zhan tried to coax the kid inside, reminding him snow was still falling down and that his beanie was slipping away. He tried to be gentle about it, knowing how much XuanYu had grown resentful of the hats he had to constantly wear.

But the younger man simply shrugged, saying he wanted to wait for another five minutes. Just one more. Just to make sure.

Jiang Cheng didn’t come back that night.

And Mo XuanYu cried in his sleep clutching the half-empty vial to his chest.

Lan Zhan spent the night watching over him, singing to him the song he had written for Wei Ying. He snuggled close to XuanYu and made sure his wide headband was covering the crown of his head, before pressing himself to the other’s forehead.

He never stopped singing.

Wishing he could take all the pain away.

*

YanLi, A-Yuan and even ZiXuan knocked on his door to greet him into the new year, despite how XuanYu should have been the one to pay his respects to his landlords.

But they asked him to visit the funeral home with them instead, to say their thanks to YanLi’s parents with offers and flowers.

He dressed in his best clothes, having never been in what seemed to be a modern version of the ancestral halls of his childhood in a past life. The establishment was fairly sterile, with shelves filled with plaques and pictures instead of wooden inscriptions on an altar. The lot of them bowed and said their thanks, chatting with the late Jiangs almost as if they had never left. YanLi apologized to her mother for Jiang Cheng’s absence that year like any other year, while ZiXuan told his father-in-law how they would have visited the Jin ancestors during Chūnjié to make it fair.

XuanYu looked at them and barely kept himself from crying.

On their way back, YanLi explained her parents had died when she was still twelve and Jiang Cheng was merely six. How they had lived in the orphanage run by XiChen’s mother and made friends with the boy, who was YanLi’s classmate. How the siblings stayed there until YanLi came of age and got custody of her baby brother. ZiXuan’s family of lawyers had helped her pro bono and that was how she had met the man and fallen in love with him. Even if it had taken a while for ZiXuan to notice her at first, preoccupied with university and law school as he had been at the time. But the Jins helped her with the inheritance left by the late Madame Yu: the apartment complex where they currently lived.

Watching them explaining their past in such detail moved XuanYu deeply. Feeling as if they wanted to make him part of their family by filling in the gaps for him.

That was still his older brother after all and those were still his sister-in-law and his beloved nephew and he... he loved them. He had missed them so, so much.

And he was about to leave them again soon.

*

Wen Qing finally showed herself up one day at the park, when Mo XuanYu was taking Fairy out for an evening walk. She approached him by telling the younger man she had assisted in the surgery Xue Yang had undergone some time back.

Lan Zhan (hiding in the kid’s coat pocket) could see how startled the kid was at the mention of the criminal, but he decided to trust this version of Lady Wen as he would have done in the past.

Wei Ying cared deeply for her, after all.

Whatever truths she was about to entrust Mo XuanYu with, Lan Zhan knew the kid could take it.

He hoped as much, at least.

*

Jiang Cheng came back only for Chinese New Year. Saying he had stayed at XiChen’s since the winter break allowed them to take it easy and figure some stuff out for the following school year.

It hurt to know where he had been all along, but XuanYu braved a smile anyway. He knew how much Jiang Cheng cared for the older man, how much he wanted to save the school from the debt collector. How much he didn’t love XuanYu back.

So he let himself cry one last time before waking up one morning and deciding he had had enough.

He talked with Lan Zhan, asking him to tell him all about Wei WuXian and their love. If XuanYu’s sacrifice had allowed them to be happy as they deserved in the end. If Lan Zhan hated him now, for forcing him away from his loved one, who was currently waiting for him to come back to heaven.

Mo XuanYu knew the couple had sacrificed their chance at reincarnation to allow him to seek a second lifetime for himself. He knew Wei Ying watched over them from up above, waiting for Lan Zhan to secure a new life for the kid.

They talked all day and then well into the night.

By dawn Mo XuanYu had decided what to do.

*

XuanYu properly met Meng Yao one day of early spring, when flowers weren’t yet brave enough to poke their way out and greet the sun. The man was dressed in black, his hair cut short, a sigarette between his lips as he waited patiently for the kindergarten to open.

It was XuanYu’s duty to open that morning, so he was the one to greet the man.

Upon hearing his voice, Meng Yao immediately recognized him.

“There you are. I was waiting for you.”

“Me?”

“You’re the kid who answered the phone. And the one who helped my subordinate back in winter, right?”

His dimples were so deep, his face so pleasant.

Mo XuanYu remembered him from another lifetime. He remembered how much he had cared for his older brother Jin GuangYao. How hurt he had felt when the other had lied and accused him of harassment just to get rid of him.

But this was a new life and Meng Yao was just a man.

Who happened to have been married with XiChen for a while before turning to a life filled with crime and gang violence.

Wen Qing had told him Meng Yao had initially tried to live far away from his adoptive father Wen RuoHan. All for the sake of marrying XiChen and keep him safe. But XiChen’s mother still had had a debt to pay for the construction of the orphanage, a price too high for her to pay with her poor health and delicate disposition. A debt that XiChen had inherited from her when she had died.

That was why Meng Yao had left him: to go back to his father and ask him to handle the debt himself, supplicating him to overlook such small issue and let him dry XiChen out of every penny and cent instead.

Wen Qing may have learned this only from the gossiping running in her family, with the Wen Clan being as big as it was, but she was pretty sure of what she had told XuanYu. That Meng Yao had simply faked having fallen out of love with XiChen to protect him from his adoptive father and his cruelty. That XiChen still loved him and was waiting for him to fight alongside him instead.

Mo XuanYu knew all of this.

So now he could act and fulfill his mission.

*

“I want to pay the debt XiChen owes you.”

“You are full of surprises, XuanYu. And how do you plan to do that?”

“I can do many things.”

“You’re very pretty, you can make good money out of it.”

XuanYu considered his words before shaking his head.

“It’s not something I can do.”

“Then what can you do?”

“I’ll solve everything.”

“I’m all ears.”

“But you’ll have to stop making XiChen worry so much.”

“That’s not how business work...”

“Lie to me. Give your word and I’ll... I will solve everything.”

Meng Yao humored him and nodded.

Then and only then, Mo XuanYu took his hat off.

*

Lan Zhan had watched the entire scene unfold before his eyes without intervening, trusting Mo XuanYu with such an important choice. He took in the sight of the beautiful spiritual light shining brightly on top of XuanYu’s head like a crown.

His soul in full display, its energy so raw it had slowed down time all around them.

Lan Zhan turned around and looked at XiChen, who had just turned a corner and had been walking towards XuanYu to greet him good morning. Frozen in time, his older brother’s face still looked peaceful... simply because he had had no time to notice Meng Yao’s presence quite yet.

Lan Zhan turned once more and saw Jiang WanYin making his way in a rush towards them, surely to protect XuanYu from Meng Yao. When did he arrive? His features trapped in a perpetual frown, scared for the one he truly loved in this lifetime.

Then, Lan Zhan looked up at Mo XuanYu and saw him taking the bottle only half filled with gold... which symbolized his goodwill and generous spirit.

“Will this be enough to grant a wish, Lan Zhan?”

When XuanYu said his name like that he sounded so much like his Wei Ying, full of hope and love.

“It depends on the wish, A-Yu.”

“I reckon it’s not enough for a new reincarnation, eh?”

“It’s enough to save a life... but not yours.”

XuanYu looked crestfallen, but he persevered still.

The bottle transformed into a bag filled with money and XuanYu made his way to XiChen and left it at his feet before smiling up at his mentor and employer.

“I cannot rewrite the past, but maybe I can plan a better future for you.”

Still smiling, XuanYu slowly walked over to Jiang Cheng and said his farewells.

Then he crouched down and took Lan Zhan in his hands, kissing him goodbye on the head affectionately.

“Erase me well, Lan Zhan,” he whispered then.

Before disappearing into thin air.

***

Wei Ying had agreed with him, suggesting the idea himself.

In the end the King of Hell had granted Lan Zhan’s request and offered Mo XuanYu a second chance anyway. Since this new self-sacrifice had been fueled by positive emotions instead of anger and despair, the hell judges had considered the atonement fulfilled and put the kid’s name back on the reincarnation list.

Twenty years had past and many things had changed.

For starters, the kid’s last name wasn’t Mo anymore, but Nie. The boy had, in fact, born into Nie MingJue’s family and had lived overseas in Japan for a while before moving back to Lanling when XuanYu turned twenty. Nie HuaiSang had met him many times during summer vacations and other festivities, visiting his brother and his wife every chance he had gotten to dote on his cute nephew XuanYu.

Nie MingJue had done a remarkable job in protecting him from harm. So, by the time their little family had decided to move close to HuaiSang, XuanYu had become a well adjusted adult with a brilliant future ahead of him.

Nobody remembered him.

Or so Lan Zhan had thought.

Apparently, he had forgotten to wipe Jin Ling’s memories thoroughly. So, when The Nie family had come to greet HuaiSang’s friends YanLi and ZiXuan, A-Ling almost had a stroke out of incredulity and happiness for being reunited with his “A-Yu”. Even if Jin Ling was now older than the pretty-gege from his memories. Even if he had spent years trying to figure out why nobody seemed to remember the weird uncle living next door to his Jiujiu years back.

XiChen and Meng Yao had solved their problems and had started running the school together right after Wen RuoHan sudden and mysterious disappearance. The man had many enemies after all. 

A-Yuan had grown up into a fine young man, someone Wei Ying would have certainly been proud of, working with his cousin Wen Ning at the local botanical garden while his friends still studied in university. 

Nie HuaiSang had married Qin Su and opened a restaurant with her. 

MianMian and Wen Qing had decided to live together and adopt a bunch of dogs just because. 

Xiao XingChen and Xue Yang still lived together while Song Lan had found his way back to them after talking it out with the couple. 

A-Qing was probably running some sketchy business in social services to protect kids from horrible families.

Lan Zhan was still, unfortunately, a stuffed rabbit. Following XuanYu in his new life in the most unexpected of ways. In the form of the first present the boy’s uncle had gifted him in childhood. If Wei Ying had pulled a string or two from heaven to make that happen, well, Lan Zhan himself was none the wiser. The only thing he knew was that XuanYu had always taken him with him in all his travels even if he didn’t know he could speak. Lan Zhan had preferred not to reveal his nature and let the kid have a normal childhood. Especially since he had no memories of his past as a tenant in Jiang YanLi’s house. Nor of his life as a cultivator.

Wei Ying had agreed they could wait to be reunited again. The both of them wanting to look over XuanYu for a little longer before getting their own chance at reincarnation. They had all eternity to be together again... they could definitely wait a bit more for the kid.

All was well.

Aside from the other person whose mind Lan Zhan had conveniently forgot to wipe clean of any memory of XuanYu.

In his defense, Lan Zhan had tried to make Jiang Cheng forget. But something about XuanYu must have touched him so deeply... that Lan Zhan had not been able to do much about it. The kid’s smiles and clumsy antics would always linger in the back of the other’s mind no matter how much he tried to ignore them.

Coming back from his job at ZiXuan’s firm, exhausted and vulnerable, Jiang Cheng decided to visit his sister the same day Nie MingJue had brought his family there. So he was particularly weak to the sight of a bright, soft XuanYu when YanLi introduced her younger brother to their guests.

To Lan Zhan’s absolute delight, Jiang Cheng immediately bowed down to a scary looking Nie MingJue and asked his son’s hand in marriage.

Yes, grovel to this precious boy and learn your place.

XuanYu only tilted his head at that weird man bowing to his parents and smiled.

His laughter ringing up to the sky, where Wei Ying was still listening.

From where he would have kept watching.

*

[I worked so hard on this please reblog]

*

[kobato means “little dove” I thought it was cute since XuanYu is a magpie! + I wanted MXY a chance at life and for once this is a reversal-sacrifice from WWX’s part and I think it’s neat.]

[JC would be 43 or so... which yikes. but this is all I could do. I don’t like huge age gaps but at least everyone is a consenting adult, okay?]

[the thing that started this was like “what if LXC was an only child and LWJ did not reincarnate bc he’s still in the afterlife or something? then the entire thing escalated so...yeah.]

now I will cry for ages. I worked so hard on this good god D:

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEWS: “I Was A Teenage Abomination”

So if you read my previous review you know that I didn’t like the last episode. That scene of Eda and King mocking Luz almost made me drop the whole show, but the lesson at the end convinced me to to give the show another chance especially since the season just started. Good thing I did because wow did the show deliver.

I’m not the biggest fan of the magic school trope, but I can see why people use it. The most common settings for fiction are schools, homes and work places because they all force people to come together and interact. And while I do think all magic schools look alike (almost all of them) because they’re just castles, I don’t know if Luz, Eda and King can carry an entire show by themselves. A school would force new and different characters in. Variety is the spice of life as they say. What Luz needs is more people her age to bounce off of and we got them.

The episode starts hilariously with The Owl House fam at the beach collecting crap from a dead giant ass slug. It’s when Luz suggests that she might some actual witch apprenticeship in her...witch apprenticeship that Eda accidently lets it slip that magic schools are a thing that exists in The Boiling Isles. BTW, if everyone could do magic on The Boiling Isles, wouldn’t magic school just be called school or is there a separate school system where magic is just an elective you can opt out of? I’m thinking too hard.

Luz decides that being knees and elbows deep in garbage isn’t for her and walks off to find our first new friend, Willow.

Willow is just a little sweetheart. Friend to all plants, kind of a pushover, but kinda really not. She lets Amity walk all over her but that could be just because of their past history together. But as soon as Amity is out of sight, Willow lets the anger flow through her like the Emperor’s dialogue in a Star Wars movie. Also looking back on this episode, it’s so weird to see Willow wearing the abomination purple uniform. I guess because she wears plant track green for the rest of the season that seeing her in her old uniform is unnatural or something.

And here comes the spice of life, baby. When I first heard about Amity I didn’t think twice about it until I heard that she was going to be voiced by Mae Whitman. Freaking Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Yuffie from Kingdom Hearts 2, April O’Neil from TMNT 2012, Rose/Huntsgirl from American Dragon Jake Long, Tinker Bell in...Tinker Bell and Roxy from the live-action Scott Pilgrim movie. I had to see it. And wow. She’s so good at being such a bitch. It’s delightfully mean-spirited. But I think if you compare her performance here to later episodes (especially her first lines) you can sort of hear how Mae Whitman finds her groove to become Amity. Kinda like when you hear Marco Diaz in Star vs the Forces of Evil in the first episode and then in the last episode. But that’s nothing new.

My first impressions of the character were that she was going to be a Draco Malfoy clone, especially after how she put down Willow. Also this filled out enough Harry Potter tropes to make me think that they were going to go down a checklist or something. That’s just the way the world is now. Someone says magic school, first thing you think of is Harry Potter.

Luz has seen enough hentai to know where this is going!

But seriously back to the episode. Willow is surprised to see a human on The Boiling Isles and we see Luz pull her first scheme to help Willow: dress her up in as her abomination and sneak Luz into the school. Willow gets a good grade and Luz gets to see the school. Easy peasy, one two three-sy.

Another thought that I remember having when I first watched this episode was what the H is an abomination? I’ve known people to use the word when they don’t really like something but other than that I have no clue. It’s not the Marvel villain, and it’s not something that causes a feeling of disgust. It’s not even a biblical reference. I checked. It’s more like a golem, but whatever. It’s Dana’s fantasy world. So it’s not really a reference to anything.

And then we have our other friend, Augustus. A supposed human expert who thinks Luz should’ve had gills. Luckily Luz knew an Augustus in the human world that everyone just called Gus, so new nickname. He’s...smaller than the others but we find out in a different episode that he’s actually younger than everyone else and skipped a grade. He’s smart but still a kid.

“Boy, let me tell you what!”

Luz helps Willow get a good grade and this pisses off Amity something fierce because she’s (in this episode) the kind of person who needs someone who she knows she’s better than to feel good about herself. But we find out in a later episode it’s because she’s a stickler for the rules and abhors cheaters. (That’s a good word, abhor.)

Amity’s freakout at the cafeteria gives her an opportunity to call Principal Bump into the situation, but I’m still stuck on Luz being excited over a PB&J. LIke seriously? What has Eda been feeding her? Or not feeding her? She knows her has to feed Luz right? Humans gotta eat too. I have concerns.

Yeah no, your ass would be fired.

Bump tries to bump (lol I’m funny) Luz and it’s out that she’s not an abomination; she’s an intruder. The climax happens which is fine, but Luz punching out abominations reminds me of my argument on why zombies aren’t scary. I mean, if they are decaying flesh how would they have super strength or any strength? It makes no sense. If abominations are just walking piles of goo how would they have super strength? Magic? Is that gonna be your answer to everything?

“Curse you Boiling Isles public school system!!!”

I forgot to mention the B-plot with King and Eda and I really like it. I love the comedy in this show and the B-plot has all of my favorite jokes in this episode. I just get upset talking about it because I know some asshole is going to call it filler. I remember a time where “filler” was used to refer to anime only episodes or story arcs that were produced to let the manga catch up with some more chapters. Now everyone uses it to refer to stories they don’t like. Not stories that don’t further the main plot, but stories they don’t like. 

Animation is difficult and takes a lot of time and money. If they do something, they do it for a reason. If it doesn’t further the plot then it develops the characters. It’s okay for a comedy to just have an episode that tells jokes. That’s the point of a comedy, to be funny. It’s okay if an action show just wants to do a fight scene or a set piece. That’s what action does. But I know some dipshit is gonna reblog or reply and argue with me about what filler means or what it really means and yada yada yada. Free tip, do that and I’ll block you because this is my blog and I can do that. Also, fuck you.

“I have no son!” My favorite line of the episode.

The episode ends a little too neatly with Willow telling Luz that everything was resolved offscreen. Willow is now in the plant magic track. Amity is begging Bump for a good grade, and Luz is banned from Hexside. For now...

FINAL SCORE: 5 - Loved it!

This episode was a bunch of fun. It was super funny, introduced some great characters and saved my interest in the show. I knew I made the right choice to give this show another chance and it paid off. I wondered why they would introduce the school only to have Luz be banned but I just figured we would have more sneaking in scenarios. Egg on my face, huh?

Still this episode was a great time and I couldn’t wait for the next one.